《MHA: Horizon》 Chapter 1: (Doctor and Adventurer) Chapter 1: (Doctor and Adventurer) I rmend reading the auxiliary chapter ''World Info'' before starting the story. Discord: https://discord.gg/K7f8qGpvuk pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- ---Japan, Tokyo, Flevance St, The Heart Clinic... Approaching midnight the streets in this area were always bustling. In the most crime-riddled area of the capital city, with gangs and viins always roaming about in the shadows these streets were never safe. All but one ce that is, The Heart Clinic. A three-story apartment building owned by a young couple who moved here a few years ago. Transforming this building into a lifeline for the dregs of society. The one ce where viins, gang members, and anyone who simply couldn''t use legitimate means could go to get anything from a few stitches to a full surgery properly done, no questions asked. Because of this, the entirety of this particr stretch of Flevance street is considered sacred ground. Any gang or viin who causes problems in this little area suddenly has to deal with every criminal from miles around hunting them down. Because nobody wants the only doctor that doesn''t ask questions to skip town because of stray bullets flying too close to them. The small sign on the door, a white square with a curved heart outline in ck, that''s the only lifeline people in this area have, and they''re willing to kill to protect it. Sitting on a clean metal chair a in-looking Japanese woman leans back with her eyes closed as her doctor works on her. Her top was already in the bin to be burned, soaked in blood from the two bullet holes in her left side, at the very edge of her torso barely missing anything important. "Never thought I''d see you bleed," the doctor said. A thin caucasian -Italian- man with blonde hair and a pronounced smile. Patiently and expertly working on the woman. "Kiku the untouchable finally takes a hit," he jokes bitterly, much to her annoyance. "Had to happen eventually," she says weakly, "that''s why I married a doctor." He chuckles quietly in response, "knew you kept me around for something. But I didn''t think a judge had guards that could hit you, what happened?" he asks while passing her a ss of whisky. "The judge didn''t," she pushes away the ss and leans back into the chair. "Got a message from Re-Destro on the way back into the country, open contract on the Yaoyorozu head, couldn''t pass on a paycheck like that," she says with a bitter smile. "So the son finally got sick of the old man not ying along." "Something had to give, and we got paid," Kiku says. "So Yaoyorozu''s guards. Makes sense, that much money, the old man could have hired anyone." "They were better than most, still garbage." "They hit you," he pokes. "They weren''t good," she snaps for a moment before calming down. "I was...distracted, got some news this morning, that''s all," she says quietly. "Well I hope it was worth it," he finishes stitching her up and bandaging her side. "Two more inches to the side and I would have lost you." "Lost us, you would''ve lost us," she corrects the now stunned doctor. Freezing for a moment Corazon silently pulls Kiku in for a tight hug, "we''re having a baby!" the young doctor announces happily. "Ow ow ow ow!" the woman pushes him away. In his excitement he forgot about her new wound. "Sorry sorry," he quickly holds out a hand to her and activates his quirk. Blue light radiates from his hand and passes through her body, barelyrge enough to cover her wound, delivering all the information about her physical state into his mind. "How is it?" Kiku asks. "You''ll be fine," he moves the light over to her belly and focuses extra hard for a few seconds. "And you''ll be fine too," he says to his undeveloped child. ---END CHAPTER Chapter 2: (Law Matani) Chapter 2: (Law Matani) Read auxiliary chapter World Info before starting the story. Discord: https://discord.gg/K7f8qGpvuk pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- ---4 Years Old... "I feel different...but nothing''s happening..." Law mutters sadly. At four years old and only ever being homeschooled by his parents, the extremely sheltered and protected Law Matani was shirtless with unkempt short hair, waving his arms around and punching the air, trying and failing to activate his quirk. "Hmm," his father Dr. Corazon taps his chin and studies the child. "Hold still," he says before reaching down and using his Scanner quirk on Law. "Your body changed, you certainly have a quirk factor and more mitochondria per cell than you did yesterday. Try this," Corazon ces his hand out with his hand facing Law, slowly flowing through the motion of activating his quirk. "Mmm," Law copies the motion and focuses, but nothing happens. As he''s about to cry his father speaks up. "Maybe you got Kiku''s quirk, do this instead," Corazon swings his hand in a Rock-Paper-Scissors motion. Copying his father Law does the action and is disappointed to find his hand hasn''t changed into a weapon like his mother''s. He''s seen his mother training before, with her Arsenal quirk she can reshape her limbs into weapons, everything from swords to high-power rifles with high-tech scopes. Getting frustrated Law continues shaking his hands up and down, waving them around more and more angrily. Seeing his son about to cry Corazon frowns and reaches out, holding the boy still and seizing his attention. "Law, that''s enough," Corazon says. "B-but, my quirk...my quirk." "It doesn''t matter what your quirk is," his father says. "You''re my son and that already makes you better than everyone else, even if you were quirkless that wouldn''t change." "But," Law stares down at the floor and balls his fists at his sides. "You and mom are always using your quirks, I wanted to be like that too, to help you two." "Hmph," Corazon smiles proudly at his son. "If that''s all you want then you certainly don''t need a quirk. It helps but you don''t need it to be an adventurer like your mom. And you definitely don''t need it to be a doctor." "But it helps," Law argues. "Yeah it helps, but no matter how strong a quirk is all it could ever make you is one of those silly heroes or viins in this society, but even All Might can''t reach into hell and bring someone back," Corazon smiles, swelling with pride. "But we can do that," he reaches out a hand for his son to take. "I can teach you everything I know and make you the closest thing to a god." "To be a god," Law mutters, mostly to himself, seeing his father in an entirely new light. Reaching out and taking his hand Law gives a joyous smile, "yeah, teach me!" he cheers loudly. "Hahaha," Corazon picks his son up and twirls him around. "I''ll start nning all the extra lessons you need from tonight!" "HUH?!" Law''s joyous mood immediately bes shocked. And so the road to being the world''s best doctor began. ---5 Years Old... "Are you really qualified to be doing this?" A man covered in scrapes and bruises asks Law. Sitting on a metal chair the young boy is carefully removing half a dozen bullets from the man''s leg. "Don''t talk," Law says through his surgical mask. Wearing a smaller version of hospital scrubs and a surgical mask, looking like a kid ying dress-up as he carefully removes the first bullet. "I''m just not sure howfortable I feel with-AHHHH!" the man screams out in pain as Law presses his thumb onto the now empty bullet wound. "I said shut up," the child snaps at his patient, earning a sheepish look from the grown man as he goes back to work. "I don''t want a bank robber with super-speed who somehow got shot questioning mypetence." The man just looks away, feeling the sting from the child''s words. "Hahaha," Corazonughs as he pulls the Antibacterial Curtains aside and enters the work area, wearing the same outfit as his son. "That''s right gotta keep these patients in line," the man says as he moves to take a seat not far away. Having just finished with his own patient, a member of the same heist team who also got shot, he''s now here to check on his son. "Are they gonna be ok?" the patient asks Corazon. "You morons will be fine," Corazon casually waves away the man''s concern. "That new hero showed up huh, Snipe?" "Yeah," the man mutters. "His bullets home in on targets, pretty much beats my speed quirk in a dash every time." Hearing both the men converse Law tries to focus on his work but struggles to ignore them. He makes it to the fifth bullet hole and raises his scalpel. ''Just a little more,'' he thinks to himself as he cuts down. As he''s about to make thest main incision, for the first time his quirk activates. His vision goes blue as if looking through thin ss. Moving the scalpel he barely shifts a few centimeters and to his horror, his patient''s entire leg is cut off. "What?!" he cries out in shock. The patient doesn''t even feel the cut, where the blood would normally be flowing freely is a seemingly invisible wall allowing the insides to be seen without disrupting them at all, preventing any pain or real injury. Effectively separating the leg by space instead of truly damaging it. Both men finally notice what''s going on as they look on the floor to see the leg just resting there with one more bullet hole that needs attending. "A---" the patient is instantly silenced as Corazon immediately pulls out his taser and zaps him unconscious, a handy device for any doctor who deals with criminals. "Law?" the doctor calmly asks, seeing his son frozen in shock at what he''d done. "Law why don''t you let me deal with this and you get cleaned up, your mom should being home from her job tonight remember..." Law lifelessly nods, still in shock, and silently leaves the room. As the child leaves Corazon picks up the leg and moves it over to an operating table. With no hesitation he takes out a scalpel and makes tworges incisions. Seeing the cuts appearing normally he puts the scalpel down and feels the area where Law had separated the leg from the patient. He sees the bone surrounded by all the flesh and muscle, blood still flowing through veins as if the body were still attached. He presses his finger toward the bone, but notices that there seems to be an invisible wall preventing the blood and other pieces from falling out of the open ''wound''. ''Hmm, it bleeds normally when I cut it so he didn''t modify the patient''s body. The point where it''s separated isn''t bleeding out and seems to be sealed by some kind of void space. The pulse is still flowing which means technically it''s still connected to the main body as well, what an incredible quirk...'' As Corazon finishes studying the limb the patient begins to stir awake causing the doctor to sigh. ''Can''t have this information getting out,'' he thinks as he saunters over to a locked cupboard and fiddles with thebination lock. Removing a small syringe of clear fluid he walks over to the man and stabs him in the jugr, with no emotion in his eyes he floods his bloodstream with death. "Too bad those bullet wounds cracked your spine, huh, you almost made it too, oh well..." he shrugs and begins to clean up... Taking the leg he carries it over to the body, and with no resistance, it re-attaches the moment he pushes the pieces together. The division that separated the pieces is entirely gone, as if it was never detached in the first ce. His eyes widen in surprise yet again as he feels the area where the separation was. "Can''t even tell anything happened here," he mutters, clear wonder in his voice. Corazon carefully cleans up while mulling over the quirk he just witnessed. Working with thousands of viins with all manner of quirks he''d never seen anything like that. "A quirk that lets you freely manipte other people like that, pull them apart, and put them back together at will. All without their consent as well, it really is perfect for a doctor," Corazon smiles, and looks down at his hands. He can''t help butugh as the absurdity sinks in. "All these centuries we surgeons were said to have the closest thing to a hand of God...and my son really has the Hand Of God," hisughter spreads throughout the room, thest thing the dying patient hears as the poison takes effect... END CHAPTER--- Waifu votes here please, noticed nobody made any requests in the auxiliary chapter and I''m still undecided :( Chapter 3: (The Matanis Last Supper) Chapter 3: (The Matani''s Last Supper) Read auxiliary chapter World Info before starting the story. Discord: https://discord.gg/K7f8qGpvuk pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- ---7 Years Old... In the same operating room where Law first used Hand Of God, lies an unconscious woman, her body missing the top half of her head as the oxygen mask ced over her mouth keeps her unconscious, but very much alive. The same invisible barrier of space rests at the point of separation from her body. At the other end of the room at a metal desk sits Law with the top of her head still very much alive in front of him. With his father looking over his shoulder, "Amputate," Lawmands while he carefully cuts her head down the middle, splitting her skull and brainstem in one swift motion. Once again harmlessly dividing her body. "There it is," Corazon says as he points to the blinking little bead attached to her brainstem. Focusing on the beadw raises his hand in a grasping motion, cing a little vial of water beside the head he focuses on both the water and the bead. "Shambles," hemands. A single drop of water swaps ces with the bead, dropping the blinking bead into her vial and cing a harmless drop of water on her brainstem. Releasing a tired sigh Law wipes the sweat from his brow. This was the final surgery of a very long day, the seventh bomb he''s removed from a person''s head in a row. Looking around he focuses and sees the bubble enveloping the room. A faint blue tinge hung in the air that was only visible to him. "Room," hemands and the bubble seems to pop. ROOM is the basis of his quirk, all his other techniques must be performed within this operating room, however, some effects will persist outside of this ROOM. The ROOM cannot exist without Law being inside. The size of his ROOM as well as how long it persists is entirely determined by his stamina, there is no other limit. No material can block it, no quirk can resist it, and no other person can perceive it. SHAMBLES is a technique that allows him to freely substitute the positions of any items within his ROOM. Effectively allowing him to warp around anywhere he wants as long as there is something to swap with. Working together both men reassemble the woman, quickly undoing the effects of his first technique. AMPUTATE, is a technique that ignores all physical resistances and divides space itself to cut matter. This technique does no harm to living things however and can be extended as far as his room reaches, although he requires a ded tool to use this. After putting the woman back together his father scans her. While less effective than Law''s SCAN technique which can pinpoint anything within his ROOM depending on his awareness, or allows him to target a particr organ within a person if he''s making contact while scanning them. Corazon took the lead in the final check-up as Law was already tired from constantly making ROOMs today. "She''s perfectly fine," his father said. "You know your quirk really is a miracle. Of all the people in this world, I do believe you''re the one that can be a god, all these new techniques always showing up. I couldn''t be happier, and you''re learning medicine so quickly too, now that really makes me proud." "I still have a long way to go, I can only operate on certain organs without you supervising me, brain surgery would have been impossible without you," Law says. "You''re still young, you''ve got time," his father removes his gloves and ruffles Law''s hair. "Why don''t you go see what your mom made for dinner while I deal with this," he gestures to the unconscious woman. "Remember we don''t want people seeing your face." "Right, don''t take too long," Law says as he removes his gloves and leaves to get cleaned up. Watching his son leave Corazon looks at the little vial on the desk still containing the explosive bead. Something that would have been impossible to remove without the phasing quirk that ced it there, "yeah, you''re gonna be on top of the world son..." ---9 Years Old... CLANG! On a highrise rooftop in Hosu city Law and his mother, Kiku, sh des. The professional Adventurer, as she prefers to call herself, educates her son in the art ofbat while his father handles more academic pursuits. "Faster!" she demands as she parries another of his sword strikes. "Your quirk gives you an absurd boost to spatial awareness, use it and increase your reaction time. You can get it close to zero with enough training." While Law was covered in sweat and panting heavily, she was as calm as ever without a worry on her face. He holds his sword out -a perfectly straight short saber reminiscent of a scalpel- and epts her challenge while she simply has her right hand in the form of a greatsword and gives him a bored look. Spinning on his heel Law turns his back to her and shes forward, shing at empty space. ''Shambles,'' he mentallymands, no longer needing the crutch of saying his intent out loud to activate his quirk. He and Kiku instantly swap ces. For the briefest instant, her eyes widen before she spins on her heel and easily parries his strike. "Not bad," sheplements while locking des with him. "But this isn''t a sword duel," she says before punching him in the face, knocking him onto his back. "Ow," he groans while rubbing his face. Kiku sighs and helps him up, dusting him off slightly. "Law, in this world the only thing that matters is power. Most of society isn''t allowed to use quirks because the people in charge know this is true. They can''t control everyone, so I need you to focus more on thebat applications of your quirk for when you need it, alright?" "Alright..." "The sooner you learn this the better. In this world there is no good or evil, there are no heroes and viins. The strong decide those things, they decide thebels and rules. The weak don''t even get to choose how they die, you have to be the strong," she says in a serious tone. As they take a break Law walks over to their backpack and takes out two burgers, handing one to his mother. Sitting with their legs hanging off the top of the building they look out over the peaceful mid-day city. "What do you think I need to work on more?" Law asks his mom as they''re having lunch. "Hmm," she thinks about it for a moment. "Well, you''re already past the first hurdle. See most people either don''t or can''t legally encourage their kids to use their quirk as much as possible, especially not as much as we do because, well,ws. That''s usually the first roadblock and you''refortable enough to instinctively use your quirk anywhere and any time. Now you need to work onbat sense and the size of your ROOM. Covering a few buildings won''t be enough if shit hits the fan after all." "Mhm, so just keep pushing my limits, I can do that," Law says. "Yeah but have fun too, maybe get a girlfriend? Not that I don''t like you being more mature than a lot of people but what''s the point of all the fighting if you end up alone," she leans over and pulls him into a hug. "That''s why I have you and your dad." "Mm, I rather just stay in the clinic," Law decides. "Tch, you''re gonna be one lonely god huh," Kiku says as her phone beeps. "That''s our signal." Raising a hand to her face she covers both her eyes. Activating her quirk her hand seems to tten before two holes appear, one in her palm and the other in her fingers to form high-powered scopes. Looking at the city below she sees her target. A tall and bald man in a three-piece suit with bodyguards surrounding him. Walking at his side is his trophy wife with their five-year-old daughter between them holding both their hands. "Gotcha," she says. "Pass me a round." Without looking Law reaches into their day pack and passes her a four-inch-long, .50 caliber bullet. "Thanks," she says as she holds it in her hands. Making a squeezing motion both her arms shift and twist into a massive rifle with a high-powered scope. "Contract calls for this to be messy, oh well," she says as she aims. "Can I get the next one?" Law asks. "Mmm," she considers it for a moment, "what the hell, you''re already nine, gotta get your feet wet at some point..." "Yesss!" he cheers, finally feeling like he''d be able to really contribute to her work. "Just in case, and I''ll be choosing all your targets alright, can''t afford any slip-ups," she takes a deep breath. "1500 meters on a crowded street in broad daylight, you know what most people call that?" asks says as she exhales. "Impossible," Law says, "but for us, it''s just another Monday," heughs. "Damn right..." Focusing her mind she gently squeezes the trigger, firing between her heartbeats to silence her targets''. With no issue the bullet tears through the air and one of his guards before hollowing out the man''s chest in front of his family, painting them all red. Watching through his binocrs Law doesn''t even flinch, over the years of being a surgeon and her spotter he''s quite used to the sight of blood. As the round is released the bullet shell pops out of her rifle as her hands shift back, slight red spot on her forearms from the heat of the shell. "Takt," Law catches the casing before it falls to the streets below them and stores it in their backpack. TAKT is his equivalent to telekinesis or gravity control, although it operates more vaguely as simply manipting space, allowing him to even move liquids or simplymand it in an area to raise a pile of sand instead of focusing on every grain. Howeverrger objects need more specific focus and consume more energy. He also cannot directly move himself with this technique. cing a hand on her shoulder arm where the injury is he focuses on her, "Booster Shot." She feels a small adrenaline surge as he removes his hand, and the sore sportpletely heals as if it were never there. Booster Shot was a more recent development, allowing him to convert his own stamina into healing for others, or to use it on himself to heal. If he uses it on a person or himself without needing any healing, it instead gives a physical boost proportional to the stamina consumed. Getting ready to leave the roof as sirens start ring and heroes rush to the scene, the duo casually enters the elevator and descends to the lobby. Kiku still rubs where her arm was stinging from the recoil and heat, thankful for her son''s healing technique. Unlike Lady Nagant, while Kiku can make any weapon her flesh is only reinforced to a certain extent, she also can''t separate body parts, therefore, making and firing ammunition is impossible with only her quirk, which leads to her preferring close-range fights overall. "So your birthday ising up, anything you want?" Kiku asks as they walk down the street, ignoring the fleet of emergency vehicles passing by. "Obsidian scalpels, maybe a new sword?" Law answers immediately. Kiku sighs, "sure, but how about you also pick something outside of medicine or training. I know those are your first loves but it''s ok to branch off a bit and have fun." "Hmmm," Law ponders it for a minute as they round the corner to their car. "What about a skateboard?" "Obsidian scalpels, a new sword, and a skateboard, that''s easy enough," Kiku muses as they make their way home. ---15 Years Old... Law had grown up quite a bit in thest few years, they suspect the mutations in his body -extra mitochondria in each cell- are what caused his height to shoot past both his parents. While they both stood at 177cm -5ft10 inches-, Law was already at 183cm, just a hair over six feet tall. His body was well defined, muscr but mean, clearly he was someone who enjoyed weight lifting but could also go for a long run whenever he felt like it. His skin was slightly tanned, an extremely light brown hue, partly his naturalplexion, and partly from how he spends his free time. But likely the most startling feature is the bluish-white eyes that seem to look past everything in front of him. Sitting around the dinner table Law dly digs into his Katsudon, a deep-fried pork cutlet on a bed of fried eggs atop a spread of white rice. Beside his te is a small ss of whisky. Both Kiku and Corazon have the exact same meal, a birthday and holiday tradition in their little family. Which is why they were eating it tonight, April 3rd, Law''s 15th birthday. This is what they ate the night they made Law and started their family, so they decided it should be a tradition. "So who is she?" Kiku asks. Law chokes on his rice for a moment, reaching for his ss to wash it down. "What?" "The girl you snuck out of here this morning, she forgot her jacket," Kiku says with a bored look. "Just some girl I met a few days ago, it''s nothing serious," Law says. "Another useless pretty face huh, why can''t you just find a nice girl that you''ll actually keep around for a change?" Kiku berates him. "Ugh, why would I ever do that, I''m fourteen and I''ve got money and power, that means the world is just full of options for me," Law boasts. "You sound just like your father, but he changed his tune when he met the right woman," Kiku says with a prideful smile. "Mhm," Corazon nods. "Then I started a family and it was honestly the best thing to ever happen to me." "Have you at least considered taking the actual medical license exam?" Kiku asks. "You know we have connections to get you in there, you''d easily pass and then we''d actually have a trusted license in the house, maybe even make the clinic legit." "I don''t know, I don''t think I want to get involved in government stuff. What we''re doing now works so why change it anyway." "I''m just suggesting options, you''ve got your whole life ahead of you still no need to choose now," Kiku says. "Well..." Law trails off nervously, "there actually is a job I was looking at." Both his parents give him a strange look before his father speaks, "what job?" "A simple hit." "Law," Kiku narrows her eyes at him. "We''ve been over this." "I''ve been watching you for a decade, studying constantly and practicing, just let me do one for once," he argues. Narrowing her eyes at him Kiku silently considers all their options. "If I say no will you do it anyway?" "Yeah." "Sigh, did you properly check the sources?" "Of course." "Where is it?" "Only one district over." "Target?" "Somewyer, works for an oilpany." "Pay?" "Two million dors," Law says. Kiku frowns and looks over at her husband. Corazon shakes his head, "if he''s going anyway then I''d feel better with both of you there..." "Damn it, fine, when?" "He has a case tomorrow afternoon..." END CHAPTER--- pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene still open to suggestions and ideas for this story since only the 1st volume ispleted :) Chapter 4: A/N Chapter 4: A/N Upload schedule: Every weekday Discord: https://discord.gg/K7f8qGpvuk pat.reon (5 Chapters Ahead) : Keanu_Eugene Chapter 5: (Ambush) Chapter 5: (Ambush) Read auxiliary chapter World Info before starting the story. Discord: https://discord.gg/K7f8qGpvuk pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- Law stood in the hotel room staring out therge windows. Fifteen floors up all he has to do is make one precise shot and this job would be done. On the bed rests his sword, a sleek 120cm -4ft- long white saber,pletely straight and razor-thin, custom made to simte the feel of a scalpel, a tungsten-carbon alloy perfect for his needs. The hilt was rectangr and matched the de perfectly, white with ck ents. "You ready?" Kiku asks. "Of course," Law takes his sword and draws it from the white scabbard. Lining it up with a painting on the wall he activated his quirk. ''ROOM'' A tiny invisible ROOM reaches the painting but no further, just barely touching the ink. "Injection shot," he says quietly. Lining up the de to where he wants, a bullet of invisible force ms into the ink but goes no further than his room''s limits. "You really got all the good stuff..." his mom mutters. An invisible and silent bullet, perfect for these types of missions as it can either harm inorganic objects, no matter how physically tough they are, or bypass physical defenses and do exclusively internal damage to organics. "Your stuff isn''t bad mom... I''m just that much better," he says with a cocky grin. "Oh yeah?" "Ach-" she smacked Law on the head. "Alright alright." As Law frowns and rubs his head Kiku looks at the wall clock, "It''s almost five, he should be leaving the office soon, get ready." "Right," Law walks toward the tinted window as she hands him a pair of binocrs. Looking down at the crowded street. Twones of light traffic but dozens of people on the sidewalk, either going home or to their evening ns. Focusing on the door he expects his target to be leaving soon Law keeps his eyes locked, ready to activate his quirk and get another clean job under his belt. "Breakdown?" Kiku asks over his shoulder, her eyes transformed into high-powered scopes to help locate the target. "Mom you know tha---" "Don''t care," she cuts him off. "Doesn''t matter how many jobs you''ve done, always good to double-check everything. Breakdown. Now." Law sighs, "Fine. Early fifties, grey suit, blue tie, has three horns on his head." "Quirk?" "Horns, he has horns," Law says in a bored tone. Kiku nods, "family?" "Doesn''t matter." "Reason for the hit?" "Doesn''t matter." "Payout?" "Three million," Law smiles. "Good, the only thing that matters is the contract, nothing is more sacred in this life," Kiku smiles, knowing this rule was properly instilled into their son years ago. "Look lively..." Law spots his target simultaneously, a short and rotund man, barely 150cm -five feet- tall. Wearing a grey suit with his blue tie, and sporting three horns. The face perfectly matches the picture in the request. Looking at the people walking about Law spots a gap in the foot traffic, the perfect spot for him to get his shot. "Easy money," Law says. ROOM A massive room, spanning over a hundred meters, invisible and undetectable as always, expands outward from his chest to epass everything. Creating his domain, with him at the center of it. ''Shambles,'' a butterfly knife appears in his left hand, without needing to swap ces with anything. Familiarity with an object or space allows him to warp them without requiring the crutch of a substitution item. "This would be a lot easier if hotel windows could open," Law sighs as he makes a slicing motion in the air. The lock at the edge of the window is sliced open, a perfect and routine use of Amputate to divide matter. Law ces the tip of his de just outside the window to prevent any ''bullet holes'' when he fires. ''Scan,'' his mind is bombarded with information about everything within his room, but he only focuses on his target. Scan gives him a perfect external breakdown of his targets'' body and passive awareness of everything within his room to an extent, but therger the room the easier it is to miss things. And gathering information about a person''s internal structure requires him to be in contact with the person, even if it is through gloves. "Almost there..." Law says as he focuses, aiming his de directly at the target. "Injection Shot," he mutters. A silent force bullet rockets from the tip of his de and crosses the street, clearing the distance in half the time it would take for a standard bullet while remainingpletely silently and invisibly. They both see the target get hit, a direct shot to the side of his head as he''s walking. Shattering his brainstem and killing him instantly, the sidewalk at the other end of the man cracks as a bullethole suddenly appears in it. As if it went clean through his head...but without ever breaking the skin. As always, internal damage only to organics. "Easy jo---" Law celebrations are cut short. As expected the surrounding crowd looks on in horror as the mall falls to the floor. But both Law and Kiku''s eyes widen in surprise as his body shifts and contorts. Transforming back to its original form, a brown blob of flesh, clothes and all shift with it. A momentter it truly reverts to the original form. A tall slender man with pale grey skinying lifeless on the sidewalk. "Shifter," Kiku''s eyes widen in realization, seeing the shapeshifting hero''s corpseying there. His bulletproof skin is obviously assumed to be able to protect him from them, but the hero couldn''t have known about Law, about how his quirk worked. "Mask on!" she yells. Law immediately shuts the window, and runs to the bed. Reaching into his bag he pulls on his ski mask, leaving only his white-blue eyes exposed, his mother wears an identical mask with her brown eyes revealed. Kiku taps a few buttons on her phone, disabling all the cameras and recordings on their route and prepared exit before throwing the phone onto the bed. Turning to looks back at her son, she nods. "Ready?" Law asks. "Let''s go," she reaches into the backpack they brought and clicks a button, leaving it on the bed beside the phone and anything else they brought. Law grabs his sword and focuses on where they need to go. "Shambles," he says as they disappear, reced with two blue marbles that tter to the floor. They appear on the roof of the hotel and begin running along the rooftops, understanding that escape was the main priority before they could do anything else. BOOM! As they leap off the roof and onto a neighboring building the room they were in seconds ago explodes into a raging inferno, destroying all evidence of anyone being there. With only their eyes exposed they simply had to escape now andy low for a while, they were certainly impossible to track. Running toward nearly the end of the second rooftop Kiku stops and grabs her head, "agh!" she yells in pain, feeling as if her skull was in a vice. Law stops as he feels a tingling at the back of his mind, but he automatically shrugs it off, the telltale effect of someone trying to use their quirk on him. Thankfully between his ego, willpower, and quirk, it was impossible for any other quirks to tell him what to do. Kiku however, without such resistance drops to one knee due to the extreme pain, on the empty rooftop Law knows they have no cover and picks her up, thankfully his mother was shorter and lighter than him, he could barely feel her due to how much energy his Quirk gives him. Scooping her into his arms and handing her his sword he takes off. "What is it?" he asks. "They''re tracking me," Kiku says. "We need to find the quirk user and kill him, then disappear. And if we can''t---" "We will," Law says. "We''ll both get out of this." "East, he''s East," Kiku says as the pain begins fading aware, yet she could feel the established connection tugging her toward the quirk user. Law turns on his heel and begins running East. ''ROOM,'' he creates a room as they arrive at the edge of the roof, quickly scanning for a few rocks on a rooftop across the street in front of him. ''Shambles.'' They both disappear. "You can put me down now," Kiku says as they step out of his room, causing it to copse immediately. Kiku stands on her own and points to a spot on the floor. "I can feel him down---" "Move!" Law pulls her out of the way as a sharp feather flies past the spot where she was. CRASH! Rooftop rumbles behind them. Turning around they both see a man in an aviator-style getupnding on the rooftop behind them, two wings of red feathers at his back where the lone feather that tried to attack Kiku returns to. The number three pro hero, Hawk, res at them, a long feather in each hand acting like a sword. Standing beside him is a tall hulk of a man, the ground beneath him cracked due to his roughnding earlier, his massive two-meter tall frame was swollen with muscles, and his entirely metal body shone under the sunlight. Chrome, the number twelve pro hero, his armored skin allows him to handle some of the physically strongest viins, and makes him immune to firearms and even tank shells. Hawks looks at both targets for a moment before speaking, and Law uses this time to create a room spanning two hundred meters, a tax on his stamina that he could truly feel, but making this room and scanning was essential to expect any more ambushes, he''d barely made a room in time to detect that sneak attack earlier after all. "Hmm, if you have a sword," he points at Law, "then that must make the woman Arsenal," he levels his feather sword at Kiku. "Did you find him yet?" Kiku asks quietly, neither side moves their eyes from each other as both her hands morph into swords, confirming Hawk''s suspicions. "Yeah," Law says. "I have his location, n?" "Kill them all, they''ve seen too much." "Mhm," Law nods in agreement, focusing on the person she pointed at earlier through the floor. While mother and son were quietly muttering to each other, standing fifteen meters away Hawks and Chrome were creating a simple n, not expecting the infamous assassin Arsenal to have backup. With the sensitivity of his feathers, Hawks felt the vibrations their words sent through the air, easily hearing their n. "They found Mind-Binder," he tells Chrome in a hushed tone, still staring down the viins. "Don''t hesitate to break them, they n to kill us all. I think the swordsman has heightened senses, you should take him." "Piece of cake," Chrome says. "Now!" Arsenal -Kiku- yells. To the shock of both heroes, Law turns toward her and swings at her neck with his de, drawing it and attacking before anyone can make sense of this betrayal. ''Shambles,'' in Kiku''s ce an older gentleman with grey hair suddenly appears, eyes closed and hands on his temple as he focuses to maintain his quirk on the woman, keeping his mind connected to the woman. Before he can open his eyes they''ve swapped ces and a sword shes through his head. ''Incision,'' Law enhances his sh to do more damage, unfortunately, this requires physical contact unlike Amputate, but the results are obvious as he bisects the man''s skull. Before the fresh corpse can hit the floor Kiku is swapped out once more. "Binder!" Chrome yells out as both parties rush each other, Chrome charges toward Law while Hawks has his sights on Kiku. Heroes versus Viins, a bloody battle begins... END CHAPTER--- pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene Chapter 6: (Critical Wounds) Chapter 6: (Critical Wounds) Read auxiliary chapter World Info before starting the story. Discord: https://discord.gg/K7f8qGpvuk pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- Rushing toward Chrome, the massive metal-ted brute, Law nces at Hawk, seeing the hero rocket toward his mother, swords in hand and three dozen small feathers flying alongside him like sentient knives. ''Direct confrontation isn''t our specialty, assassination is,'' Law thinks, his mind racing a thousand miles a minute to solve this problem. ''I need to save as many tricks as possible in case they have reinforcements on the way, and I need to deal with Chrome quickly before mom gets overwhelmed by those feathers, she can''t defend from all angles but also can''t hurt Chrome, damn it...'' Both pairs separate slightly and break into individual duels. Chrome punches down at Law with a massive metal fist, only for the swordsman to pivot and turn his back to the hero. ''Shambles!'' CLANG! de shes against metal skin as they swap ces and Law shes at his back. Arge gash is left on the hero''s back, but it draws no blood. Law leaps away as Chrome swings back to swat him. ''Damn power types,'' Law internally groans. Being an assassin, he rarely, if ever,es into confrontation with a power type, and certainly not one that''s in the top twenty Japanese hero ranking. Law tries to aim the point of his sword at Chrome to attack his insides with a force bullet, but the hero closes the distance between them too quickly. "Shining Fist!" Chrome yells out, his dazzling metallic fist striking Law''s sword, sending a wave of numbness up Law''s arms as it knocks him across the roof. Law rolls across the ground, then looks up just in time. "Shining Stomp!" Chrome yells as he descends onto Law, aiming to stomp on the assassin. ''Idiot heroes are always yelling,'' Law internally groans as he swaps ces with Chrome. Law fell a few feet to the roof andnded on his feet while Chrome suddenly appeared on the roof instead of falling, leaving a small crack because of his momentum. As Chrome realizes what happened he rushes Law, but the assassin was already a few meters away with his sword raised high. ''Injection shot!'' hemands while Chrome charges. "Argh!" Chrome copses with a heavy nk, cracking and chipping the concrete roof. Law had aimed for his thigh, tearing through the artery and tendon without breaking the skin, the hero copsed in pain as his fleshy insides we shredded. Chrome grits his teeth and makes an erratic, mad dash toward Law, realizing what had happened and making it difficult for the boy to aim. ''Injection Shot!'' The shoulder. ''Injection Shot!'' The gut. ''Injection Shot!'' The brain, finally killing the hero. CLANG! Chrome''s forehead ms against the concrete as Law turns toward Hawks and his mother. What he sees makes his blood run cold, but only for a moment, before it begins to boil. During Hawk''s short but lethal battle with Kiku, the assassin showed her decades of experience. During one of their shes she shed Hawk''s face, cracking his visor and nearly destroying his right eye. "Ugh!" he groaned, the feathers on his back pulling him away from her as he thrust his arms forward. All the feathers on his back react andsh out, four dozen small des shredding the assassin. Kiku freezes, eyes wide as she looks down at her own body, as if she''d been sentenced to death via firing squad, there were almost more holes than solid flesh on her torso. Understanding what just happened Hawks leaps forward with both his swords, taking advantage of this moment to eliminate her before anything unexpected happened. As both his des were about to make contact, however. "MOM!" he hears before he disappears. shing at the empty air in front of him when he appears at the far side of the roof. Looking down at Chrome''s body at his feet, no blood or visible damage of any kind, presumably unconscious, the hero couldn''t tell that his dear friend was already dead. Turning around he sees Law cradling Kiku as she takes what he expects to be her final breaths. His feathers tore through her and danced around inside her torso, putting all her organs into a crude blender, she was dead, she had to be, right? "BOOSTER SHOT!" "BOOSTER SHOT!" "BOOSTER SHOT!" "BOOSTER SHOT!" "BOOSTER SHOT!" "BOOSTER SHOT!" "BOOSTER SHOT!" Law screams over and over, his palm over her heart, and faint blue energy transfers from him into her. Unlike Recovery Girl''s world-famous Heal quirk, instead of using the patients'' stamina to force cell activation, Law uses his own stamina to regenerate their bodies. Thankfully his quirk had his body adapt to have much more energy than an average person. "She''s gone," Hawks says, walking up to Law with his feathers hovering around him, both feather swords still in his hands. "Surrender now, enough people have died today." Looking at his mother as she struggles to survive, Law feels rage like never before, not toward Hawks, not toward this situation, only rage at himself. Looking up his wide-eyed and pissed-off gaze shes with Hawks''s. He puts on a brave front, but using that much energy to keep her alive had his stamina greatly diminished. His room had shrunk from two hundred meters down to just barely fifty meters, but the steady, weak, but steady beat of her heart beneath his palm was well worth it. ''Now I just need to get us out of here so I can operate and save her,'' Law decided as he gently ces her down, rising to his feet, sword in hand. Hawks sighs, "I see, so it''s like that..." Law immediately rushes the hero, Hawks rockets forward, nked by a dozen feathers on each side, ready to bombard Law with an indefensible onught. Before they sh Law shrinks his room, even more, to barely the size of this whole rooftop. Removing all the unnecessary clutter from his awareness he focuses entirely on Hawks and all the feathers flying about. ''Shambles!'' CLANG! Law''s de shes with Hawks, and the hero''s eyes widen, realizing Law had swapped ces with a feather at his side. ''Shambles!'' CLANG! This time Hawks barely reacts fast enough, blocking a sh intended for his back, his feathers heightening his senses and awareness to react nearly as fast as Law, but not quite fast enough to really block anything. But Law had to allow him to block some. ''Shambles!'' CLANG! Hawks lifts both swords and meets Law''s strike to his left side, pushing back against Law, his confidence was built up enough. ''Shambles!'' Hawks reacts, and Law once again allows him to defend, blocking with both his feather swords crossed directly in front of him. And as their des meet. ''Amputate!'' Law''s sword delivers a sh that separates matter, taking advantage of Hawks''s confidence in his ability to parry. The hero''s eyes widen in horror as his feather swords are cleanly sliced through. ''Incision!'' After Law''s de breaks Hawks''s guard he changes the type of sh he performs. Switching from Amputate which harmlessly divides organic matter, to Incision, which increases the physical and destructive property of his sh. The moment his de makes contact with the hero''s armored chest te it sinks nearly an inch deep. Hawks doesn''t even register the searing pain until after all his feathers instinctively yank him backward. The sh that would have cut his heart in two and ended his career right there instead only sank an inch deep before his body was pulled back by his feathers. From his left shoulder to nearly his right hip Law''s de leaves a trail of blood and pain across his chest as all the avable feathers m into the hero and rocket away from the roof with him in tow. The blood that sprayed out of Hawks''s chest in his retreat sshed across Law''s mask, the normal obsessively hygenic surgeon doesn''t even pay it any mind as the hero retreats. Law doesn''t both to chase or even continue his assault, he drops his sword and runs back toward where his motherys, fighting to desperately cling to life. Dropping to his knees beside her he cradles her in his arms and ces a hand on her chest. "Booster Shot," he begs his quirk to heal her, and the blue light flows from his palm into her torso, her broken ragged breathing and irregr heartbeat don''t change. Faint and barely there if at all. "Room!" Lawmands, expanding his ROOM, creating thergest ROOM he could to get them out of here. He needed his operating tools. He needed life support devices. He needed...he needed. "Home..." he says in an exhausted voice, "shambles..." Both he and his mother disappeared from the rooftop... END CHAPTER--- pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene Chapter 7: (A Miracle) Chapter 7: (A Miracle) Read auxiliary chapter World Info before starting the story. Discord: https://discord.gg/K7f8qGpvuk pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "DAD!" Law screams, suddenly appearing in the operating room of their clinic. Kiku struggles to breathe as he holds her in his arms, rushing to ce her on the operating table. Leaving his mask on, Hawks''s blood drying and sticking the cotton to his face, ignored, he flicks his wrist and a scalpel appears in his hand. Tearing off her top he sees dozens of stab wounds, tunnels made by feathers flying straight through her and exiting her back. "Fuck!" he gets to work immediately. A minuteter Corazon barges into the room, the clinic thankfully already closed for the day allowing them to have privacy. The man freezes at what he sees, his wife on the operating table, an oxygen mask on her face, struggling to keep her eyes open. Thankfully Law''s quirk allows him to perform painless operations. He sees Law with a blood-stained mask, carefully but quickly operating on his mother, both hands in her chest cavity. "Crap," Corazon rushes to put on some gloves and join his son at the table, the slow and steady beeping of her heart monitor feels like sirens in his ears. "What hap---" His question halts as they both freeze, Law carefully removes one of Hawks''s feathers and lifts it up, it still subtly shakes as he holds it between them. They both share a knowing look before his father speaks, "you need to get out of here, I''ll keep her stable." "NO!" Law argues, tossing the feather aside and delving back into the surgery. "If I leave she''ll die, he destroyed her organs." "L---" Corazon stops himself, knowing Hawks''s could likely hear them with that feather, "son, you need to go." "No, just focus on saving her!" "G-go," Kiku forces herself to speak, her eyes meeting Law''s for a moment before she begins to pass out, her heart rate quickly plummeting. "Fuck!" Law makes a fist with each hand, leaving his thumbs sticking out, and ced them atop her chest, "Counter Shock." His hands spark. "Ah!" she jolts back awake, heart rate returning as he generated a current with his hands to act as a defibritor. "Booster Shot!" he gives her another dose of blue healing energy before he continues operating, paying his dad no mind. Looking between his son and wife Corazon ttens his lips, knowing exactly how stubborn the boy would be. "Fine," the man grits out. "You focus on her, I''m making sure you can at least get out of this clean," he rushes out of the room, pulling the Antibacterial Curtains shut behind him and following their n. All he had to do was make sure they couldn''t track Law, because they all knew that the heroes can''t actually hold him in custody. Eyes flickering back to his mother as she passes out, heart rate erratic, Law keeps muttering to himself. "I''ll fix this, I''ll fix this, I''ll fix this..." Over and over for nearly an hour, before the sirens start approaching. Law feels his mind bing more and more exhausted by the second, he doesn''t react when someone busts open the front door, turning the wood into splinters. The feather at the side of the room rushes through the curtains, but he continues operating on his mother. He hears his father yelling, three gunshots, then a body hitting the floor. His quirk allowed him to know what was going on, his father was fine, but none of his shots had hit, not surprising for a nonbatant. When the curtains are ripped open he sees Hawks staring at him with hate-filled eyes. His entire chest is bloodied, one arm across his chest while the other holds a feather sword. His red feather wings kept him off the ground to ease the pressure on his chest. "Surrender, now!" Hawks demands. Law''s eyes focus on Hawks for a moment, seeing the sweat on the hero''s face and the way he was careful with his injury, the venom in his re, and most importantly, all the feathers already surrounding him and his mother. Law returns his focus to his mother, and continues operating, "if I stop she dies," was all he said. "She''s already dead," Hawks insisted, "I put her damn organs in a blender, it''d take a miracle to save her, and you killed my friend! So get on the ground, now!" "I can heal her, I am a miracle, just need time," Law says tly. Hawks takes a more aggressive stance, feathers angling themselves to cut Law into pieces. Law ignores him, unwilling to ever leave his mother to die, so he continues operating. "Fine," Hawks mutters, telepathically instructing his feathers to attack. Two feathers tear into Law''s legs, trying to make him kneel. "Mmm!" he groans, but his arms and hands stay steady, his legs through sheer will remain standing, refusing to stop working on his mother. "Fine, " Hawks says, "but you asked for this." One long feather rockets directly to Law''s neck, nearly piercing the skin before it stops, and through it all, he continues operating. "WHAT?!" Hawks screams, holding his earpiece, he obeyed the order to stop his attack but couldn''t understand why. "What the hell could you ever need him for?" he growls out. Law listens in on the conversation, at least on Hawks''s side, but doesn''t stop operating, doesn''t even bother to move the feather from his neck. Hawks grits his teeth and is seething at the sight of Law, "this monster killed Chrome and you want me to wait?!" "---" "Who''s to say he won''t just warp away, we won''t get this chance again!" Hawks argues. "---" "You can''t be serious? You expect him to honor that?" "---" "Fine! But if he gets away this is on your head Nezu, this entire trap was yours anyway," Hawks grumbles. Law notices the feathers returning to Hawks''s wings, the steady beep of Kiku''s heart monitor is the only sound in the room for almost a minute. "She''s your mom?" Hawks asks. "Yes," Law answers surprisingly quickly. Hawks sighs, "can''t believe I''m saying this, you can finish working on her if you agree toe with me afterward, and we''ll keep you up to date on her status, we just want to ask you a few questions." "Deal," Law doesn''t even hesitate, not with how much is at stake. ---Task Force Control Unit... Within a nearby apartment, Nezu -A 90cm or 3ft tall white bear mouse with a scar across his right eye, wearing a pristine three-piece suit- sits at aputer desk. Through Hawks''s body camera he''s been seeing and hearing everything since the beginning of this operation. He''s now more thankful than ever that aside from the security posted outside only three pros knew about this operation, keeping it as insted as possible was the key to catching Arsenal. Looking at the threeputer screens in front of him he sees Law still steadily working on saving Arsenal, and on a separate camera, he sees The Heart Thief -Corazon- being loaded into an armored truck outside. Picking up his phone from the desk he looks at the time, nearly nine pm, yet he doesn''t even hesitate to make the call. It only rings once before a pleasant voice answers him, "Nezu? What''s going on, I''m about to make a big drug bust." "This is more important than that Naomasa, " Nezu says. "I''m sending you an audio recording, use your Lie Detector Quirk, if it''s legit then get over here immediately to cover for me, I''ll need to go see President Pantu..." "Huh? What''s this about?" Naomasa Tsukauchi asks, now much more concerned, especially if Nezu would have to go see Pantu, the president of the Hero Public Safety Commission. "I think I found our friend a doctor," Nezu hears Naomasa choke at the other end of the call. "Send the recording," Naomasa immediately demands. "Already sent..." Nezu leans back in his chair, paw pads nervously tapping the desk. Even with his Quirk -High Spec- giving him, a simple bear-mouse, intelligence beyond humanprehension, capable of outpacing the most advanced supeputers, he never expected to stumble upon such a miracle, assuming this was real. But all the evidence points to it being real. The constant beeping of Arsenal''s heart monitor was evidence that this was a real miracle, something they''d been searching the past four years for. ''Hawks definitely shredded all her internal organs, if he can save her...maybe he can even heal All Might...'' the bear-mouse dared to hope. Feeling his phone vibrate Nezu answers before it can even start ringing, "Naomasa?" "It''s real!" Naomasa''s winded voice answers back. "I''m running to my car now, send me your location then go talk to Pantu!" "Alright," Nezu hops down from the chair and begins walking to the exit, "when you get here make sure to keep his mask on, we need all the leverage we can get..." The current date is April 5th, 2114, 1 Year until Deku''s first day at UA, and 2 months until he meets All Might. END CHAPTER--- pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene Chapter 8: (Negotiations Pt.1) Chapter 8: (Negotiations Pt.1) Read auxiliary chapter World Info before starting the story. Discord: https://discord.gg/K7f8qGpvuk pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "Nearly 10 PM and you''ve got me here still, this had better be good Nezu..." Pantu says sharply, narrowing her eyes at the bear-mouse seating across from her desk. In the sleek minimalist office of the Hero Public Safety Commission president, she leans back into her chair. Her short ash blonde hair slicked back neatly, pearls around her neck. ck dress and suit jacketbination neat as ever. Slight wrinkles on her face showed her age but she still held a vibrant sort of vigor in her turquoise eyes. "I''ll make this quick so you can get to the airport," Nezu says. "I need full negotiating power on the Arsenal case." "Denied. Get out." "I can''t do that," Nezu says. "Something happened and now the situation has changed." Pantu raises a brow at him, understanding that he wouldn''t ask for such a thing without a very good and well-thought-out reason, "what on earth could make you want to potentially give that monster a pardon? She''s killed thousands of people, and dozens of heroes, she should be in the ground already, that''s why I gave you Hawks and Chrome, they''re not opposed to more...definitive, measures." "It''s not for her," Nezu says. Pantu leans back into her chair and raises a hand to her chin, "I''ll dy my jet, start from the top." Nezu looks around the office for a moment before clearing his throat. This made Pantu even more interested, she sits up and taps a button below her desk, shutting off all the recording devices in the room. "Alright, off the record, now from the top." "The n worked perfectly," Nezu says. "Any of the jobs she took for the next few months would have set off our trap, but we encountered an unexpectedplication." "How unexpected?" "Apparently The Heart Thief and Arsenal had a baby," Nezu sighs. This gets Pantu leaning forward, "wait, did he?" Nezu nods. "For her?" He nods again. "My god, to think those two monsters were connected all along." "Like I said, most unexpected." She gestures for him to continue and rxes back into her chair. "We lost Shifter," Nezu says. "How? His skin is supposed to be as hard as tungsten when he transforms." "True," Nezu says. "We chose him and Chrome for that express purpose, they can block anything Arsenal''s quirk has while Hawks is fast enough to subdue her, but we didn''t prepare for her son. He did...something, to Shifter, same as Chrome. It''s as if a bullet tore through them, didn''t even touch the skin, only internalponents." "An indefensible attack?" Pantu asks. "And he can warp, with undefined limitations." Pantu groans, warping quirks were near impossible to deal with short of a shock imnt, but getting approval for those were an entirely different humanitarian issue, yet it always seems like only viins ever get warping quirks, currently, no hero in the world has one, that''s simply how rare they were. "What do you mean undefined limitation?" "It''s the first and only instant warping Quirk to my knowledge," Nezu says. "He can swap the ce of objects or people at will or seemingly move freely without needing to swap with anything. We''ve seen conflicting evidence, there are clearly factors we aren''t aware of." "Alright, go on." "He used this substitution-based warping to kill Mind-Bender by swapping him with Arsenal before swapping them back, he was able to resist the telepathic connection when Arsenal couldn''t, and he somehow located Mind-Bender with no information." "Three dead pros, all from the top twenty," Pantu frowns. "Is Hawks alright?" "He barely survived their first encounter, after Hawks destroyed Arsenals organs her son almost cut him in half, but Hawks was fast enough to escape before bleeding out, he got stapled up before we made the arrest." "Hawks, the number three pro-hero, had to run?" "The boy is very well trained as you can imagine, certainly not the first time he''s crossed swords with someone." "How''d you arrest him if he can warp?" she asks. "We tracked them with a feather Hawks left in Arsenal, he was performing surgery on his mom when we got there, if he left she would have died so I made him a deal, he can finish the operation if he surrenders quietly." "She survived?" Pantu asked. "Somehow," Nezu says. "His operating skills and healing ability are a miraculousbination, certainly his father''s son." Pantu raises a brow at this, "healing?" Nezu nods, "another ability he has. Hawks confirmed the kind of damage she sustained, she should have been dead ten times over, but she''s stable and in custody as we speak." "And the boy?" "I heard over the phone on the way here that he kept his word." "And The Heart Thief?" "He shot at Hawks but was easily subdued without hurting anyone, including himself, he did manage to destroy all their records before we got there sadly." "Damn," Pantu rubs her face and sighs. "So two monsters made an even worse monster with however many abilities and some strange quirk, and you want what exactly?" "I have someone I need him to heal, I already have his psychosis solved, I know how to handle him, and if I don''t, it''ll only take one conversation to figure him out." Pantu shakes her head, "sorry Nezu but I''m not letting that hero-killing kid back into the public, starting thinking of a way to put cuffs on him that he can''t warp out of." "Pantu, it''s in the best interest of Japan that he epts this offer, and you''re the person with the authority to grant it." Pantu sighs, "who could be so important that you need this kid to heal, just have recovery girl do it." "We tried," Nezu says. "We''ve been trying for years with some of the best healers around the world, everyone says it''s impossible to even extend his time, Japan isn''t ready to stand without its symbol Pantu." Pantu nearly feels her heart stop at those words, "y-you can''t mean?" "Yes," Nezu nods solemnly, "this is our best hope, for All Might." "Damn it," Pantu sighs. "You understand all the things those two monsters have done, right?" Nezu nods. "So you know how much international pressure will be on me to sentence them to execution in Tartarus?" He nods again. "Sigh, I''ll agree with whatever deal you make so long as it doesn''t mean they all walk, at least not immediately, when things are more quiet in a few years I can get them out. You can give the kid a full pardon if you really think he''s worth the risk." "It''s hard to imagine a risk not worth taking for the potential to save All Might." "Why''d you keep this information from me anyway?" Pantu asks. "Can you tell me any more?" "I''m afraid not, I''ve already told you far more than I was ever allowed to, but I''m sure he''ll understand." "Mhm," Pantu nods. "Well, your connections are better than mine so if you couldn''t find a solution I certainly couldn''t have. What about the kid, what''s your endgame with him, after he potentially fixes All Might?" "All Might is already forty-eight years old, even if he was in perfect health, how much longer could we rely on him?" Pantu scowls, "you know the constitution and international herow states we can''t give a license to anyone that doesn''tplete a hero course," she reminds him. "I''m well aware of that, and I''m also aware that every country breaks that regtion, just as you''ve done for Hawks and a few others." "They were raised to protect Japan and her interests at all costs, I''m not giving your pet monster the same benefits as them." "That would likely be for the best, he already has the skills to deal with most heroes and viins, but hecks that heroic spirit, and I know the perfect ce to instill that into him," Nezu smiles victoriously. Pantu shakes her head, "you n to put that thing in a ssroom and tell it to y nice with the other children?" "I n to show him the virtuous and heroic path, and all the good he can do, but yes, cing him in a hero-centric environment for a few years is sure to help." Pantu shakes her head, "just don''te crying to me when he puts a knife in your back, it''s inevitable when someone is as hopeful as you are, which really doesn''t make sense considering you''re the smartest person on the by such arge margin." Nezu can''t help butugh at that, "maybe the people arguing with the smartest creature to ever live are wrong, I find that much more likely, he''ll be a great hero, you''ll see..." END CHAPTER--- pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene Chapter 9: (Negotiations Pt.2) Chapter 9: (Negotiations Pt.2) Read auxiliary chapter World Info before starting the story. Discord: https://discord.gg/K7f8qGpvuk pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- Standing in a small room with a control panel in front of him Tsukauchi has his arms folded across his chest. Wearing a bulletproof vest and his raid equipment, he has a small frown on his face as he stares at the ss in front of him. Aside from the small door and control panel the only feature of this room was the one-way mirror built into the wall. It allowed him to see Law on the other side, sitting on a metal chair that was bolted to the floor, locked in a room and hands cuffed to the metal table in front of him that was also bolted down. Staring at the viin Tsukauchi wracked his brain trying to make sense of this situation, feeling a creeping sense of dread as Law''s blue-white eyes seemed to stare through him. CLICK! "Hmm," Tsukauchi is startled out of his thoughts as Nezu enters the viewing room. "Oh, it''s you." "Expecting someone else?" Nezu asked, the mouse-bear had a stack of documents tucked under his arm. "Yeah," Tsukauchi sighs, "figured Hawks woulde in again to yell at me, what happened?" "Everything went well, although I had to reveal exactly who we want him to operate on," Nezu raises a paw to stop Tsukauchi''s response, "nothing more than a name, I assure you, not that I could lie to someone with your quirk anyway." Tsukauchi turns back to face Law and res at the viin, "so what now?" "Hmph," Nezu jumps up to the control panel, with some help from Tsukauchi. Standing on it he can finally see into the room, and he notices Law''s head shift. Eyes moving from Tsukauchi and onto him. "Can he see through the mirror?" "All I know is he can''t hear us." Nezu waves yfully, and Law raises his fingers in a bored gesture, hands still cuffed to the table. Both their eyes widen slightly at that. "Or maybe he can see us," Tsukauchi says. "But again, what''s the n?" "First catch me up to speed, give me the rundown of what happened after I left the operation," Nezu says. "Right. We locked up The Heart Thief first, we shipped him off to Tartarus immediately, Hawks supervised the surgery and when it wasplete I followed your instructions and had the kid brought here. Arsenal is stable, somehow, the doctors at central hospital are looking over her, but from what they''ve said so far, he really did perform a miracle on her." "Hmm," Nezu rubs his chin. "So his dad is in the most secure prison in the world and his mom is soon to follow, and thanks to the Hero and Viinws we can skip a trial if someone poses a sufficient threat or containment risk to civilians. That leaves this young man in a tough spot. From my assessment, he''s likely fifteen, if so much, that would match up to the dip Arsenal had in her contracts at that time. What about the boy after I left?" "Nothing," Tsukauchi says. "Didn''t resist, or speak, just made sure nobody took off his mask and did everything I said." "I expected that much," Nezu says. "And the documents?" "His dad burned everything they had on file, and set the entire building aze in the process. Pictures, contracts, contacts, any work history, IDs, don''t even know what he looks like under there," Tsukauchi gestures to Law''s bloodied mask. "All we''ve got to go on is what your program got." "I see... It seems my assessment of his mind was spot on, this shouldn''t take long at all," Nezu hops off the control panel and down to the floor. "Do tell me if he says any lies Tsukauchi." "Yeah, but don''t you want to call in Hawks or some more officers before you talk to him?" Nezu stops walking toward the door and turns back to Tsukauchi, he chuckles and shakes his head, "I''ve already sent them all away, only we three are here, don''t worry, we''ll be fine." Nezu adjusts his earpiece and exits the room, making a small detour to prepare something before speaking to the masked viin. Sitting in the interrogation room, Law was remarkably calm. Who wouldn''t be when you could leave at any time. He made a game of staring at the detective through the mirror. Using his quirk and his Scan technique to get a 3D image of the man''s movements, constantly keeping his eyes locked on him. While he kept hisposure his mind was making hundreds of contingencies. He''d have to leave and immediately go to central hospital to get his mother, but she''d be on life support so he wouldn''t be able to move her in his exhausted state. His dad would already be in Tartarus, and they''d surely take measures against a jailbreak, even if he can warp the results would likely be...bloody. So in the meantime, he knew he was stuck. After waiting for quite a while however, things began changing. ''Most of the security is leaving, and Hawks,'' he notices, scanning the ROOM again to make sure what he sensed in the building was true. Feeling one short figure approaching he knew exactly what was going on. ''Nezu is here in person, this must be a big deal...'' CLICK! The door swings open as Nezu walks in, the unmistakable mark of confidence in his steps. Hopping onto the metal chair opposite Law he has his back to the mirrored panel and ces two things on the metal table. A stack of documents, and a stic bottle of water, just simple water that can be bought anywhere, with a little something extra in it. Law''s eyes never leave Nezu, even as the man silently observes him, and they size each other up. Breaking the silence Nezu waves, "hi there, I''m---" "I know who you are. Smartest creature to ever live, helped countries restructure governments and infrastructure. Wrote herows across the world, principal of UA," Law says. "I was waiting for you." "Hmm, my reputation proceeds me." "Anyone who has anything to do with heroes should know you, not knowing who the number one hero supporter is would be idiotic." Nezu nods along, "very true for your line of work, and you said you were waiting for me?" "I only talk to the man in charge, and you ordered Hawks to stop, so you''re the man in charge, right?" Nezu nods, realizing that Law had been listening to Hawks earlier, "that I am. And would you care to guess why I''m here?" "To give me a shady deal," Law looks around at the room. "Would exin why I''m in some private building instead of a police station." "Very perceptive," Nezu says. "And what may I call you?" "Doctor," Law says. "Very well, Doctor. Both your parents are currently in Tartarus, measures are naturally being taken against any warping jailbreak," Nezu sees Law stiffen at those words, although he tried to hide it. "I shouldn''t have to tell you that those countermeasures include very messy results should they be triggered." "I''m aware," Law says with much more grit than intended. "Such measures are necessary considering the severity of your parents'' crimes," Nezu says. "A natural born prodigy moving from Italy to japan to be a doctor at only twenty, gets called in to operate on a modern Japanese princess...and instead of the simple stomach surgery, he cuts out her heart and disappears." Nezu''s words don''t affect Law at all, he shows no surprise or shame. "And Arsenal," Nezu says. "To think he stole the heart for her, for love, to keep her alive. A woman credited with nearly seven thousand confirmed kills, many of which are on very influential people, I''m sure you can understand the situation they''re in right now, yes?" "Execution," Law says. Nezu nods, "and you could very well join them, if we could contain you, which we can''t." "Certainly not with only two of you," Law says. Both Nezu and Tsukauchi stiffen at that, unsure how he knew that everyone else had gone, but this was all nned for. "It would make no difference," Nezu shrugs. "The people we had couldn''t stop you from leaving anyway so at least this way you don''t have to hurt them, besides, the fact that you''re still here and knew I came with a deal proves you''re smart enough to know what choice is best, and you understand the leverage I have." Law grits his teeth, "my parents aren''t ''leverage''," he says. "My apologies, but surely you understand what I mean, yes?" Law nods. "Well then Doctor, here is the situation, I need your skills for one job, then you''repletely free to go. I''ll nevere looking for you unless you do something to get on my radar, and you''ll have no connection to The Heart Thief or Arsenal." "Services?" Law asks, "you need me to kill or heal someone?" "Heal." "And what about my parents?" "Mmm," Nezu hesitates for a moment. Nezu reaches for one of the documents and ces it in front of him, reading it to Law. "If you sign this, it will state that you were groomed without choice in an abusive hous---" "Shut up!" Law''s yell causes Nezu to reel back on his chair. "You ever talk about my parents like that again and all the heroes in the world wouldn''t be able to save you," Law suddenly went from calm to seething with rage. Nezu takes a deep breath, says "I understand," and pretends like it never happened. Tossing that offer aside, along with a few others. "I assume you''ll never testify against them in any way?" "Correct," Law says. "I love my parents, and I''m proud of them, they taught me everything they knew and made me who I am, I owe them everything. I''ll never turn on them, and I won''t let anyone talk bad about them, got it?" "Understood," Nezu says, nodding and moves on to new documents. "Would you like some of the water?" CLING! Nezu looks up to see Law sitting back and cracking the seal on the bottle, empty handcuffs on the table, no longer running through the metal bar build atop the table. He''d swapped the cuffs and water, causing them to disappear from around his wrist as the water appeared in his hand. Tsukauchi wasted no time in telling Nezu what happened as Law leans back and takes arge gulp of water. Nezu only stares for a moment before turning back to the documents as if nothing happened, not at all bothered by the viin sitting across from him without restraints. Ignoring Tsukauchi yelling in his earpiece about how he should get out of there. As Law finishes the bottle of water Nezu begins speaking, "alright, I''ve found a solution to both our problems---" he pauses, seeing a thoughtful expression in Law''s eyes as he seems to be mulling over some thoughts. Without warning Law looks away and up down his mask slightly, spitting into the corner of the room before turning back to Nezu, mask back on properly to only show his eyes. "A biological tracker, very clever," Law says, a hint of amusement in his voice. Tsukauchi''s voice buzzes in Nezu''s earpiece, "he really did spit out the tracker, every little bit of it..." the detective says in a mix of horror and amazement. Nezu can''t help but lean back in his chair, " I designed that to meld with prisoners'' bodies so we can keep tabs on slippery viins, how''d you find it, much less expel it." Law only shrugs in response. Nezu sighs, still calm and focused, Law''s attitude is still well within the predicted margins for him. "I''vee up with a new deal that doesn''t involve you betraying your parents,munity service." "What?" Law asks,pletely confused. "Quite simple really," Nezu takes one of the documents from the bottom of the stack and slides it over so Law can read it. "You get a full pardon, their executions are withheld, and when your side of the agreement isplete we can even discuss reducing their sentence, depending on how well you do atmunity service ofcourse." Law looks up from the contract in front of him, more like a piece of paper with one signature on it, Hero Public Safety Commission president Pantu herself, the highest authority in japan aside from President Bosu, but in terms of hero matters, she was the head in most cases. "What''s themunity service?" Law asks. Nezu smiles and reaches forward in a handshake gesture, e study at UA, and be a hero!" END CHAPTER--- pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene Chapter 10: (Negotiations Pt.3) Chapter 10: (Negotiations Pt.3) Read auxiliary chapter World Info before starting the story. Discord: https://discord.gg/K7f8qGpvuk pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "Hero?" Law couldn''t quite wrap his mind around the absurdity and stupidity of that idea. "You want me to go to UA and be a hero?" "Precisely," Nezu nods enthusiastically, "starting next year, this school year... let''s just say things aren''t right just yet." "Why not just get me a Pro-Hero license now so I can start working off their sentence?" Law asks, "you know I''m already more capable than most heroes in Japan, just let me get to it." "Unfortunately the Japanese constitution and hero regtions forbid that, plus you''re only..." "Fifteen," Law says. "Exactly," although the truth was that Nezu wanted to force Law into a hero-centric environment alongside other young heroes for as long as possible, hoping that they rub off on him, but he would never say that. "And besides, if you are as good as you think then graduating UA shouldn''t be an issue for you." "It won''t be," Law deres, "but it is a waste of time." Nezu chuckles, "you''ll find that every year there are exceptional prodigies, I''m sure you''ll be able to find worthypetition, in fact, I guarantee you will." "I doubt that," Law says. "But obviously you won''t budge on this term, right?" "Right." "Sigh... so I heal your friend, attend UA, and how much can I get their sentence reduced?" "If you perform well enough it could be entirely," Law perks up at that. "But we can discuss that at your graduation, and every year afterward. Until then they will remain exactly where they are." "And they won''t be executed before that? I know that super high priority people like my parents are kept isted, I need some guarantee that this isn''t all for nothing," Law says. "You have my word, so long as you uphold your part of the contract, I will uphold mine," Nezu nods. Law sighs, "mom taught me how sacred contracts are, contracts and my family are all that matter to me, I never agree to a contract I can''t fulfill, and I never break a contract. I also don''t renegotiate the terms of any contract I agree to, even if the job turns out to be a lot tougher than expected, it''s on me to do the research after all." "That''s good, a strong sense of family and honor, even if the work you did was...less than clean, I can respect your work ethic and how professional you kept yourself," Nezu says. "I''m fully aware of how the world views us," Law sits back in his chair and stares at Nezu for a long while, then he sighs, then speaks. "Before I agree to anything, I''ve got some specific terms," he looks to the mirror, as if he could see Tsukauchi standing there. "I need to discuss them with you, only you." "I see," Nezu narrows his eyes slightly. "And I can trust that you won''t try anything harmful or deceitful when I order him to leave?" "Of course I won''t, I just want as few people as possible to know my business." "Detective?" Nezu asks. "He''s not lying," Tsukauchi says through the earpiece, "but that doesn''t mean I''mfortable with this." "Leave us detective," Nezu says. "I trust him..." After Law senses Tsukauchi leaving he nods to Nezu. The Mouse-bear removes his earpiece and sets it down on the table, turning it off. "Alright, what are these terms you want to discuss?" Nezu asks. "My face, and information about my family." "The police and government weren''t able to recover anything at all. All documents were burned in the fire your father started, all systems were wiped clean, they can''t even find the legal names you three were operating under, Law..." Nezu says. Law narrows his eyes at that, "I''m guessing you don''t include yourself in police or government?" "I''m an educator and consultant," Nezu says. "With the way you three operate I fully expected you to be concerned about this, when I realized I needed you I assumed it would give me good bargaining power, which it clearly does." "Does anyone else know?" Law asks. "No," Nezu doesn''t hesitate to answer, having Law all figured out by now he knew he was safe, after all, he''s the only hope Law has of saving his parents. And his parents are most important to him, followed closely by his ego. "Then let''s keep it that way," Law says. "What do you mean?" "If you could wave your hand and make a full pardon appear, I''m assuming you can make an ID and medical license or two appear, right?" "If I wanted to, of course," Nezu was very intrigued by this suggestion. "What do you have in mind?" "I don''t want my face being a hero, especially not at UA. Putting my face and Quirk in the spotlight is just inviting viins to pay my family a visit in the future, when I start my own family specifically." "I see," Nezu strokes his chin, "most people don''t consider that since being a hero means being a celebrity." "Most people are morons who don''t think a step past themselves, especially teenagers," Law says, a new harshness in his tone. "You disapprove of that?" "Obviously," Law scoffs. "I think they''re selfish, arrogant, careless, andck any sense of ountability if anything does happen, it''s disgusting. Can''t expect viins to follow the rules, so thest thing I want is to head back home from patrol and find my house turned to ash while my family was inside." Nezu taps his chin, ''so every thought goes into protecting his future or current family...'' he thinks to himself. "Understandable, I can have new identification created for your personal and hero use, including a mask." "Perfect." "And about the medical licenses, I''d have to review some of the medical notes in your father''s files, but from what I saw on the drive here, I don''t think a medical license for each identity is beyond reason, prodigies exist, more so than ever since the advent of Quirks." "Good," Law says. "I just need my hero and personal life as separate as possible, that''s very important to me." "So then we have an agreement?" Nezu asks. "On the day of the surgery, or whatever it is your friend needs, if you''ve got everything by then yeah I''ll y hero for you, anything to fix what I did." "What you did?" Nezu was suddenly very curious by this choice of words. "Sigh, I guess it doesn''t really matter since you have all the dirt on me," Law shrugs. "I chose that job, first one I''ve ever picked and it turned out to be a trap, I fucked us..." Nezu shakes his head, realizing that they''d both been so focused on the future that they never even discussed what happened, deciding to take a risk, he tells the truth. "It wasn''t your fault," Nezu says, causing Law''s eyes to snap to him. "There have been teams tracking her for nearly two decades, since before you were born. We finally had enough info to narrow down her pattern. For the past year, all her jobs have been tracked and some were even provided by us to get rid of certain undesirable people, to let the bait sink in." "What?" Law was amazed that they never noticed, but notpletely surprised since Nezu''s intellect is beyond even aplex supeputer, many of which he personally designs and sells to major governments. "Any job of the three dozen she would have chosen would have been the same trap, she taught you well, she always chose the perfect job, we just figured out how to appear like the perfect job. So if you''re going to be mad at anyone, to hate anyone, it should be me," Nezu says. Law doesn''t even hesitate to slouch down in his chair and shake his head, "no, you did your job well, I''m the one who failed. I fucked up so badly that I destroyed my family, maybe got them killed, and I''m guessing all our ounts are gone too?" Nezu nods. "Fuck," Law rubs a hand down his face. "The only person to me is me, they trained me to be my best self. I''ve trained so hard to be perfect, and I ruined everything. I saw her get hurt and I didn''t even think to check for feathers, this is all on me. Responsibility and ountability, right, that''s why I''m the only one who I should hate for this." Nezu sighs, "do you have a safehouse remaining?" "Of course, all our assets weren''t digital, just ny percent..." "Good, I''m sure you want some time to process this," Nezu takes one of the documents out from his stack and slides it over, face down. "This is the only one I printed, the other personal files are here," he ces a phone on the table. "And a tracker I can''t get rid of..." "Naturally," Nezu says, gesturing to the phone. "But from what I can tell, you and I will work very well together, be ready for my call, Law." "Thank you," Law says, suddenly feeling very tired as he feels the meeting ending, the adrenaline and anxiety cocktail that was keeping him going is finally wearing off. "I''ll contact you when I have everything ready," Nezu hops off his chair, takes the remaining documents, including the unsigned contract, and begins walking to the door. "You can get yourself out of here, right?" he asks yfully. "I''ll be fine, principal," Law groans at the word, already knowing this was going to be a long journey. With that Nezu nods and exits the room, shutting the door behind him. Law takes a deep breath, feeling exhaustion seeping into his bones. "Fuck me..." he groans, taking the picture from the table as well as the phone. "Shambles..." He disappears, swapping ces with a few raindrops from outside... END CHAPTER--- pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene Chapter 11: (The Plan) Chapter 11: (The n) Read auxiliary chapter World Info before starting the story. Discord: https://discord.gg/K7f8qGpvuk pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- Law stands in the shower, warm water flowing down his body, watching blood and water rush past his feet and rush down the drain. He sighs, feeling his bones ache, the stress and constant worry of his body slowly fading away under the water. After a short shower, he makes sure to get the dried blood out of his hair before drying off and stepping out of the ss shower. Looking at himself in the bathroom mirror, palms t on the sink, he can see the exhaustion in his own white-blue eyes. His hair was short and messy, with not a single scar or scratch on his muscr but lean body. He cracks a smile, the chiseled features of his face giving a wolfish, predatory appearance. "Not a scratch on me," he lifts a hand and feels his neck. Along with where the feathers had burrowed through his legs, they were perfectly healed, with no evidence of ever being injured. "Hawks, number three hero," Law scoffs and begins walking toward the bedroom, "what a fucking joke, couldn''t evenst a minute with me in a real fight." Entering the bedroom he walks toward the bed, the simple and small one-bedroom apartment, one his family had hidden away just outside of Tokyo that was made for times like this. In case they were ever fullypromised, with no ess to their ounts or contacts, all alone with a bag of clothes and cash. Located on the third floor of this five-story building it provides no real security, but nobody would look for him here. He gets dressed in a pair of ck sweatpants, leaving his shirt off as he takes out aptop from his duffel bag. Sitting against the backboard of the bed with theptop on hisp and the bag beside him, he takes another look through the phone Nezu gave him, the camera already torn out. "One contact and my family files," he says while scrolling through the few pictures he had. Only a couple dozen pictures of them on the rare outings over the years. Looking past his feet he sees the full body-length mirror not far away, he scowls at himself then begins typing on theptop. "Shit..." he mutters, reports of Arsenal and The Heart Thief being captured by Hawks are already on news websites. He checks international news sites, and only sees more of the same. Two international viins brought down by a young top-rated hero in Japan...they couldn''t get the stories out fast enough. "No real names, or faces, or extra information. Just a basic headline, and apparently Arsenal killed three heroes in the raid," Law shakes his head. "Nezu really did pull all the strings to make this happen." Law considers Nezu''s position once more, "the most influential person on the outside of world leaders," he thinks aloud. "If I were Nezu, I designed defense systems and infrastructure for countries and people across the world. I built supeputers that are nearlyparable to my own brain, I contributed more to hero society and the education of heroes than anyone else in history...I poured almost all of my money into helping heroes across the globe." Law sets theputer aside and brings up one of his knees, resting his arm on it. "If I''m Nezu...I can lock anyone away, or get anyone out, after the public forgets them ofcourse," Law nods to himself. "If he keeps his word this will be easy, but how do I make sure he doesn''t stab me in the back, I''m just another hero-killing viin to him..." Law holds his head for a minute, wracking his brain trying to think of a solution. "Never break a contract," he says to himself. "So I can''t hold the patient hostage..." "I don''t alter contracts," he groans. "So I can''t re-negotiate if it changes, that means I''m in this for at least four years until I graduate," he moves theptop aside and leans forward. "Four damn years," he rummages around in the duffel bag and fishes out the picture Nezu brought him. Taking out the picture he gently passes a hand over the paper, as if trying to feel that familiar warmth from it. A picture of them on what looks to be an isted beach area, him being only nine years old in the photo. Sitting beside his surfboard with both his parents beside him, their boards stood behind them. A popsicle in his hand just like them, all happily enjoying a summer day together. He can''t help but smile, feeling sadness beginning to take over, tears almost ready to begin flowing down his face. As he feels the dam about the burst, however... "Are you fucking crying?" His own disgusted voice ridicules him. Law''s eyeszily drift up to look at the mirror, still sitting on the bed, leaning against the backboard, yet his reflection is standing in the mirror, pacing side to side in the room. It stops, and stares directly at him. "What the fuck is wrong with you?" it asks, shaking its head in disapproval. "We aren''t some weak sniveling pussy who cries about his problems. We don''t waste our time in our own head thinking in circles like some useless impotent fuck! We get active and go solve the problem!" Law takes a deep breath, and the dam is reinforced, suddenly feeling much calmer and more steady. "That''s right," the reflection nods. "None of that crap, we were raised and trained to be perfect. We can solve this, I know what you have to do," the reflection points at him, "that means you know exactly what you have to do..." Law sighs, closes his eyes, and leans his head against the backboard, releasing a frustrated and annoyed groan. "I know, it''ll suck, but we''ve gotta do this. Nezu wants a hero, so we''ll give him a fucking superhero. Someone Japan suddenly can''t live without because we''re just that much better than the cape and spandex morons." The reflection opens its arms wide as if a crowd was cheering for him," we''ll have them begging us, all those useless, nameless, faceless, pathetic, stupid, fucks! All those damn ants that can''t fend for themselves or crawl themselves out of a burning building without some retard in spandex and a capeing to hold their hand. We''ll have them groveling at our feet, where they''re meant to be. They''ll want to build a monument to the sky with our name on it, and do you know why?" Law nods, a smirk growing on his lips. "That''s right," the reflection chuckles, "Because we''re just better than all those morons ying the hero-viin game. Better Quirk, better training, better in every way. They''re trying to chase our backs, so desperate to catch up while running with no legs, while we''re on the horizon, and once everyone sees how much better we are, they''ll understand that they need us, and we don''t need them." Law smiles at that. The reflection nods, "and they will give us whatever we want. They''ll give us whoever we want back." A serious look dominates Law''s face as his eyes harden, brows furrowed. "That''s right," the reflection says, standing proud to look at Law who was still sitting on the bed. "Once they see how superior we are, our family will be back together again, our mistake will be fixed. We destroyed our family, we made the mistake, and this is how we fix it, even if it kills us." Law nods. "And when we''re all back together, we''ll make sure they never have to worry about a thing again," the reflection gives him a sad smile. "We owe them that much, it''s the least we could do." Law runs a hand through his hair at the thought of that. "Hey hey," the reflection says in a soothing voice, "everyone wants a miracle, and that''s exactly what we are. People all around the world will be dropping to their knees to suck us off, we just need to make the most of it, and we''ve got a whole year to do it before we have to go to that fucking circus Nezu runs." Law takes a deep breath and then picks up the phone. "That''s right," the reflection says. "Call Nezu and tell him what we need, he wants us to be a hero. We''ll be a super fucking hero, so good that everyone else looks like the trash they are, and when everyone sees our value, when they all need us, they see that we''re a god, that we''re above them, when we show them...yeah, when we''ve done that---" Law smiles broadly, and a slight chuckle escapes his lips, "then we can do whatever we want..." END CHAPTER--- pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene 0_0 Chapter 12: (Horizon) Chapter 12: (Horizon) Read auxiliary chapter World Info before starting the story. Discord: https://discord.gg/K7f8qGpvuk pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- ---4 Days After Meeting Nezu... Sitting on the couch of his condo Law is wearing simple shorts and a t-shirt, all ck. A ss of scotch in his hand as he scrolls through a list of hotels in Switzend. ROOM! Taking a sip of the drink he enjoys the familiar taste of it, cing the ss down on the coffee table as he drops his phone. TAKT! It hovers in ce while he refills his ss with scotch. Refilling his ss he leans back into the couch and grabs the phone out of the air. ROOM! "This ce looks about right," he says, finding a reasonably priced hotel in Bern that suites his purposes, losing ess to all his family money truly hurt, and now he only has the cash they stored at this safe house. Just after making his reservation, the phone begins to ring. "Hello?" "Hi there, I''m outside," Nezu''s friendly voice answers back. "On the sidewalk?" Law asks while opening a ROOM, reaching from his location all the way down to the other side of the street. "Yes, I''m out front." "Holding it?" "Yes..." Nezu says a bit nervously, "I''m sitting in my car." SCAN! Law gets a full 3D map of the area, focusing on finding Nezu, sensing him in an armored SUV out front with his driver, arge metal briefcase in his arms as he sits in the back, phone raised to his ear. "Shambles," Law tosses an ice cube to the couch opposite him, and just before it hits the couch it swapped with Nezu, briefcase, and phone in hands. "Hngh," Nezu grunts as he falls from almost an inch above his new seat, looking up to frown at Law, "a little warning next time," he hangs up the phone and texts his driver. "Sure thing," Law says. "Is everything ready?" "I wouldn''t have called if it wasn''t," Nezu says. "Will you be able to operate here? If not I have a room reserved at a private facility." "Here will be fine, the bedroom is ready," Law shrugs. "I see..." Nezu silently looks around for a moment, taking in the simple apartment before noticing Law drinking alcohol. "You''re fifteen, you shouldn''t be drinking." "It''s been a rough week," Law shrugs. "Don''t worry it doesn''t actually do anything, want a drink?" "Do you have tea?" Law gestures to the kitchen, "feel free to do as you wish, I''d like to check out my gear," he nods toward the briefcase. "Enjoy," Nezu says excitedly as he hops down from the couch and walks off toward the kitchen. As Nezu walks away Law gets up and ces the briefcase on the coffee table before returning to his own seat. At the front of the metal case was a ck smiley face with checkered teeth,rge sold eyes, and a dot nose, six spokes protruding out of it with pieces of another broken concentric circle attached to them. "You got the trademark for me?" Law asks. "Of course," Nezu''s voice calls out from the kitchen, his body hidden on the other side of the counter. "Horizon: Miracle Solutions Ltd. That smiley face is a strange logo but it''s what you wanted." "My dad''s was hearts," Law says. "Mom''s was gears, this is mine." "Any all might inspiration?" Nezu asks cheekily from the kitchen. "Mmm, yes and no, I figured people are only gonna see my back when I leave them in the dust, so it should at least be smiling," Law chuckles darkly and Nezu just shakes his head. "You know you could have just said you wanted to heal people with a smile." "I rather not lie," Law finally opens the case. Staring back at him is a sleek visor, made of a super tough polymer, ck with two blue eyes and white on both sides. Simple but mysterious and intimidating, exactly what he wanted. Picking it up he gives it a once over, turning it at every angle and feeling it with his hands, smooth and cool. Looking underneath he sees blue circuits flowing within, entirely on the area at the back of the head. "Anything I should know about this?" He asks while putting it on. The moment it''s on he feels it tighten slightly, just enough to be perfectlyfortable, he also feels the base of the helmet extend all around. A hidden lip extends downward at the front andpletely blocks his mouth, and he feels something like fabric reach down his chin. "That feels weird," he says, his voice suddenly carrying a slight mechanical edge to it. "But...it doesn''t feel like I''m wearing a helmet...doesn''t really look like it either." He raises a hand to see if he could notice any visual change, but getting up to look into a nearby wall mirror, while the face of his helmet was still ck with two simple blue eyes, from the inside the world was crystal clear. Perfectly crafted one-way vision. Raising his head he looks under his chin, noticing the base of the helmet extend as if it tried to crawl down his neck, "huh...can''t even feel it, and it doesn''t bother my jaw at all when I talk." "Obviously not," Nezu says before taking a sip of his tea, now sitting on the couch. "Power loader and I designed it personally, as well as your new sword, but that will remain at UA until you officially enroll, you can''t take it off campus without a provisional license." "I see," Law walks back over to the case and inspects the other items. Finding a set of dark ck socks, long pants, gloves, and a long-sleeved shirt. Three of each. Looking inside them he sees that the outside is ck but the inside is white, with the shirt having his logo in blue on the ck side, and also in blue on the white side, as he requested. "Double sided huh." "You asked for a white with the blue logo, but this was a more functional idea, plus the fabrices in ck so this was also faster, all three body gloves are the same, and they be active when fully connected, that includes the visor," Nezu says. "Fully active?" "Try it on..." ROOM! Law picks up each piece and gives it a quick SCAN, then shifts his gaze toward Nezu. "I can''t see your face to know what you''re thinking," Nezu says, staring at the nk facete. "I''ll have to remember that, but trackers, really?" Nezu shrugs, "it was a good idea at the time, and I figured you wouldn''t have been able to find them." Law just sighs and grabs each shirt, focusing on the trackers and then looking at his ss of scotch, focusing on the condensation at the base of the ss. SHAMBLES! Three small ck objects, shaped like grains of rice, but one-third of the size, are swapped for drops of water. "Incredible," Nezu mutters in awe. "How were you able to find and iste them so easily?" "I''ll exin when the others get here, do I need to worry about a tracker built into the visor, or programmed into it?" Law asks. "No, there wasn''t any space for a tracker, and the only software is so you can use it as a wireless headset for your phone for better privacy, alongside the temperature control you requested." "Good, I''ll be taking your word for it, and thanks for not making the voice too mechanical." "All I did was program the fabric, power loader did everything else, he''s our resident support item genius after all," Nezu gloats, always happy to brag about his staff. Law begins putting on the gloves and socks, flipping them inside out so the white side was showing. "Speaking of UA, shouldn''t you be there since the school year just started...or is just about to start." "It began yesterday, but I don''t really have much to do this year since one of the first-year sses got expelled from the hero course." "What, what do you mean a ss got expelled?" Law asks, his slightly mechanical voice clearly surprised. "We have a certain strict teacher that is very harsh with what he expects of heroes, he put them all into the general studies department directly afterward." "Sounds like a dick," Law says. "He means well, his ways are just a bit cold at times, but he will be your homeroom teacher next year. His quirk may be needed to help guide you," Nezu says. "You mean to stop me from putting people in the ground?" "That''s one way to put it." "What''s his quirk, because it''ll some serious magic to stop me," Law says as he finishes with the socks and gloves. Standing up he holds the pants and shirt, studying them for a moment. "His quirk can temporarily erase other quirks," Nezu says. "Shambles," Law''s pants and shirt swap for the parts of the body-glove, now wearing the visor with his entire body covered in white fabric as the ROOM closes, retracting into himself. "Shambles? That''s what you call the warping?" Nezu asks curiously. Law just turns toward him, allowing the nk visor to stare at Nezu for a moment. "So Eraserhead huh," he looks at his body curiously, feeling the gaps between the separate pieces somehow being filled, as if the fabric itself was reaching out to the other parts and connecting. He walks over to the mirror and barely catches the tail end of the process, the turtleneck portion of his body glove reaching up to connect with his visor perfectly. "That''s creepy..." "Somewhat yes, but the smart fabric is needed to regte temperature, which is a necessity for how long you n to spend in that persona," Nezu exins. "And you looked into UA staff?" "Always best practice to scope out a site before you enter." "Fair enough." "I can feel it cooling me down already," he notices a small thermostat appearing inside his visor before it disappears. "Body temperature gauge?" "Precisely, as expected this equipment is purely forfort so don''t try to fight fire or ice user with this, it''s meant to keep you cool on a warm day or warm on a cold day, nothing more. You''ll still need a coat in the winter or ice-cream in the summer." "It''ll do, thanks. Now for the really important parts," he takes his seat back on the couch and pulls the case closer. Reaching into a smallpartment to remove some documents. Looking at the first set of documents, passport, birth certificate, ID, driver''s license, medical license, all for his real identity of Law Matani. "Wow," Law is genuinely surprised. "I expected just the basics honestly, medical license and even a driver''s license?" Nezu shrugs, "the doctors at central hospital put some of your more miraculous cases into a simtor after I gave them the relevant files. None of those people should have survived, they ever offered you a job. With that plus my own research, a medical license seemed earned." "At fifteen, I know that since Quirks shook up the world there have been prodigies in a lot of things so exceptions are made, but...never figured you would have gone for it." "Your medical skills are peerless, and you aren''t using them for evil anymore so it''s fine. The fact that your Quirk is a healing type made it very easy to get." "Makes sense." "The drivers'' license was a bit more difficult honestly, getting you a license to drive any ss of road vehicle in Japan, at fifteen, let''s just say I had to get creative with theputers. But it still only took me a few minutes." "I don''t like public transport so thanks, especially since if things go as nned I should be able to afford some nice cars soon." "Sooner than you think, you''ll get all the information when you get there in person, but you''ll certainly be able to get whatever toy you want." "Mhm," Law continues reading the documents until something catches his eye, "Law Matani, Quirk: Heal?" "Well, I couldn''t put Hand Of God since that would reveal you to be Horizon as well," Nezu says. "I get that your Quirk allows you to warp and heal but that name is so pretentious, are you sure you don''t want to change it?" "My dad chose it for me, and it''s very urate, so it stays, besides I can do more than just warp and heal." "Really?" "You''ll see eventually," Law says. He puts away his documents and takes a look at his second set, Horizon''s. "You have the body glove and visor listed as Lifestyle Support Equipment, good, they can''t legally have me remove or alter either then." "Exactly, and even the picture is just that of your visor, be sure not to alter it." "I know that much Nezu," Law continues looking through the documents, and he even has a driver''s license for Horizon as well. "I don''t think Horizon is gonna have any cars, he''ll probably have a driver...unless I have a second house just for my cars as Horizon since I won''t be able to bring them home...dual identity problems I guess..." "Precisely why so many heroes just go public." "Not worth it," he says sternly. "Put my current and future family in danger...I''d rather deal with the dual identity bullshit forever." "True, the media won''t report it much but viins tracking heroes to their homes isn''t all that umon, not with people being sofortable about showing their face." "Exactly, I don''t buy into the hero-centric media crap, I''ve been on the other side, I know how easy it is to track people down with just a face or Quirk name, never putting my family in that kind of danger just to save some strangers." "I certainly can''t argue against that, but most people don''t take things as extreme as you do, although they usually aren''t in such extreme circumstances." "I want Horizon and Law Matani to be as different as possible," Law says. "One is the perfect pristine hero, and the other is a guy who looks like he belongs in a gang, tattoos and all. Nobody will ever connect them in person, just as you''ve made sure nobody can connect them digitally in Japan''s system." "True, but one thing... you don''t have tattoos," Nezu points out. "Not yet..." "You''d go that far to separate your identities?" Nezu asks, not surprised but a bit concerned. "No face tattoos, but yeah I don''t see why not, when I retire or if I''m just off duty thest thing I want is people thinking I''m a hero and bothering me." Nezu chuckles, "most people can''t stop thinking about life as a hero, and you''re more concerned about when you settle down and start a family," he nearly spills his drink as his chuckle devolves into a mad cackle. Law just sighs and sits back, "don''t think anything else really matters honestly." Nezu catches his breath at this, "I can certainly respect your view on th---" BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! Nezu''s phone goes off, drawing their attention toward it. Nezu picks it up and looks at the message before turning to Law, "seems like your first patient is here... doctor Horizon..." END CHAPTER--- pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene Chapter 13: (Toshinori Yagi) Chapter 13: (Toshinori Yagi) Read auxiliary chapter World Info before starting the story. Discord: https://discord.gg/K7f8qGpvuk pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK! Law and Nezu turn to look down the connection hallway from their seats in the living room. "Right on time," Law mutters, still not entirely used to the slightly mechanical nature of his voice through the visor. Getting up he walks down the hallway and in a few steps is at the front door. Opening it he''s greeted by the sight of a 180cm -5ft11- man in a beige trenchcoat, a suit kept below it. And standing behind this man is a 204cm -6ft8- blonde man, with spiky hair with two bangs at the sides of his face. Blue sunken eyes and hollow cheeks, appearing emaciated, as if he was ready to fall over into a shallow grave. Both men stare back at Horizon, slightly surprised to be greeted by the ck visor that only had two triangr blue eyes. A white body glove hiding every piece of skin that would have shown with his pair of ck shorts and t-shirt. "Come in," Horizon steps aside and gestures for them to enter, locking the door behind them. Both men gave him a nod as they pass by. But Horizon can''t help noticing how the blonde man towered over his 180cm -6ft- self, along with the fact that his suit was a few sizes toorge, hanging off his frame. Walking behind both men the trio joins Nezu in the living room. "Now that we''re all here, how about introductions?" Nezu asks. ROOM! Horizon reaches out to the in-looking man in the trench coat, "I''m Horizon, the doctor." The man shakes his hand, "detective Naomasa Tsukauchi," after a firm handshake Tsukauchi steps back. "Detective? As in the detective from when I met Nezu?" Tsukauchi only nods and moves to take a seat. Next, the tall blonde man reaches out with arge hand, Horizon feels the man''s hand like a vice around his fingers for a moment, "Toshinori Yagi, it''s a pleasure to meet you, doctor..." Horizon''s face tilts downward, shifting from looking up at the man to looking at his torso, "wow, so you must be my patient," he releases the man''s hand. "Don''t worry Yagi, I can help you." "Please call me Toshinori if you''d like," the man says as he moves to join Tsukauchi on the couch, leaving Nezu and Horizon on single seats. "Yagi is shorter," Horizon moves to take his seat. "I don''t particrly care for naming traditions and formality, I always use the short or easier-to-say name," he shrugs. "Ahh, that''s fine as well," Yagi says. Horizon nods, then ps once to get their attention, "so, now that the small talk is over, how much do these men know about me Nezu?" "Only the bare minimum," Nezu says, putting down his tea cup. "Toshinori only knows that you''re a miracle doctor, detective Tsukauchi knows the circumstances under our introduction, but your name, face, and everything else has been withheld, as well as the specifics of our deal, just as I promised." "Good," Horizon reaches down to the table and picks up his ss. "Oh...help yourself to anything in the kitchen," the base of his visor retracts slightly so he can take a sip of his scotch. "So... I assume you''re the one I''ll be operating on in a minute or two?" he nods at Yagi. Yagi freezes, looking between Horizon and the ss of alcohol in his hand, then back at Horizon, "you shouldn''t drink before performing medical acts," he says. "Actually, you shouldn''t drink at all, aren''t you a minor?" "And you shouldn''t be alive with those injuries, but here we are," Horizon says. "..." "What? I can''t have one or two drinks before performing a super invasive operation?" Horizon asks, half-jokingly. Yagi and Tsukauchi freeze while Nezu quietly giggles to himself. "I''m kidding, alcohol doesn''t work on me, I just like the taste, also, don''t ever tell me what to do," Horizon says. Yagi looks at Tsukauchi while Horizon keeps talking, "besides, you''re already dying anyway, not like I could make it worse." As Horizon takes another sip the trio stared at him, Tsukauchi and Yagi were surprised by the casual manner in which he spoke about death, but Nezu wasn''t surprised in the least. "What do you mean?" Yagi asked. "Well," Horizon raises a hand to count on his fingers. " One; You''ve only got one lung and its barely functioning, two; your stomach is the size of an apple and is also barely functioning, three; both your intestines are missing most of their length, four; your bone marrow doesn''t have enough nutrients and can''t process enough water to make blood, and five; your left kidney has already failed." None of them are surprised by the diagnosis, this was all that they''d known for years, but Yagi asked what they were all thinking. "How do you know about all of that?" "When I shook your hands," Horizon says, cing his now empty ss on the table and his visor seals itself, voice bing slightly mechanical once more. "I did a full body scan of both of you, I can single out the obvious things with just a passing graze but if I''m going to scan down to the cellr level I need a few seconds." "That''s why you didn''t let go at first," Yagi says. "Mhm, and it''s also how I know that the detective has some kind of ear Quirk, unless those extra bones in there are for show," he turns to Tsukauchi. "So, Super Hearing?" Tsukauchi sighs, "lie detection, and impressively, you''ve never lied in my presence." Horizon chuckles, "I see why Nezu keeps you around, and yeah, lying is for people too weak or pathetic to handle the consequences of their actions, it''s beneath me." Tsukauchi shakes his head, "I don''t know if I should be impressed or concerned that you genuinely believe that..." Nezuughs, causing everyone to look at him, "well it''s good to see everyone getting along well enough." Tsukauchi grumbles but they ignore it as Horizon speaks, "so I assume you can''t tell me what caused the injuries, right?" "So long as you don''t share the information with anyone else," Yagi says. "Doctor-client confidentiality, I''ll take it to my grave." Yagi looks at Tsukauchi who nods, then he exins. "I was attacked, Rivet Stabs, Super-Power, Lighting Surge, and a few other Quirks, all at once." "I see, a team of viins huh," Horizon says. Yagi nods along, not wanting to expose the truth of All For One. "Well from the looks of it you''ve got, at best eight years." "That long!" Yagi''s eyes open wide. "But the other doctors said that my injuries...that nobody can survive in my condition..." "How long ago did this happen?" "Four years ago," Yagi says. "I see," Horizon leans back and taps the chin of his visor. "Well, you wouldn''t havested even a few minutes if your Quirk wasn''t so abnormal." Nezu, Yagi, and Tsukauchi all sit up straight at that. "What exactly do you mean?" Nezu asks. "His quirk is like nothing I''ve ever seen before, at least not outside of myself." "Your Quirk is like mine?" "No, not at all, your Quirk is obviously a power-type, theplete opposite of mine. But while mine allows me a sort of dominion over my mind and body like no other, yours provides energy at a cellr level. Your organs haven''t been able to sustain you for years but it''s like your Quirk has so much energy that it stretched your final few minutes into years. Assuming you never actively use your Quirk, the energy it provides you can take you to eight more years at best." "That long," Yagi whispers in awe. "But what if I do use it?" he can''t help but ask. "I can''t imagine a situation where you''d ever think that was a good idea," Horizon says. "Every bit of energy you expend is directly taking time off your life, the time you could be spending with your family or friends, if you want those full eight years then you should retire and try to take it easy." "Mmm, everyone says that, but I can''t do that, not yet, not until---" Yagi stops himself, realizing what he was about to say. "Not quite yet." "Well it''s your life, throw it away if you want," Horizon shrugs. "But for the record, I don''t appreciate people wasting my time, and me extending your life for you to throw it away is exactly that, you''re lucky being your doctor is part of my contract." "Thank you," Yagi bows respectfully. As he sits back up he then asks, "how exactly can you help me? The best doctors in the world couldn''t do anything," Yagi immediately panics and waves his hands about, "not that I''m doubting your abilities doctor!" Horizon grumbles slightly then thinks for a moment, "I won''t be able topletely save you from death, only extend your life slightly. If I was the doctor on site when you were first injured I could have gotten you back into top form...but at the time I was only eleven---" "You''re fifteen!" Yagi and Tsukauchi yell. "Huh, I assumed you knew," Horizon looks at Nezu. "I told you they don''t know anything but the bare minimum," Nezu shrugs. "Right, but I assumed you told them my age at least," Horizon sighs. "But anyway, perfect training since I was four then manifesting a powerful Mystery ss Quirk when I was five---" "Mystery ss!" Yagi yells. Horizon revealed this about his quirk simply because the ssification was on his ID. "Plus constant training...means I''m the miracle doctor of your dreams, at only fifteen," Horizon shrugs. "And yeah, Mystery ss." "A Mystery ss healing Quirk?" Yagi asks. "Healing, warping, some other things too," Horizon shrugs. "All that matters is that it''ll let me operate on you. I''ll be able to restructure your organs and some of your bone marrow while healing it, pushing cell regeneration as opposed to cell activation, which I assume Recovery Girl used a lot to keep you alive, right?" "Right," Nezu nods. "Yeah well, most Heal Quirks force cell activation, effectively healing you by cutting down your life span since cells can only divide so many times within a lifespan and that''s what it triggers. I''m able to use external energy to trigger ''cell regeneration'', which is an unnatural process that doesn''t cut into your lifespan. That paired with some of the other things I can do, I''ll be able to get you from eight years up to fifteen years...assuming you don''t use up more energy than needed to survive," Horizon shrugs, as if it were such a casual matter. "A living miracle," Nezu says, all while Yagi and Tsukauchi are staring in awe. "I see why you chose that name for yourpany." "Thank you," Yagi nearly doubles over as he bows, sincerely thankful for anything Horizon can do to help. "Is there any way we could have saved him entirely?" Nezu can''t help but ask, and all eyes shift to Horizon once more. "Yeah, organ transnts within a week or two of the injury. It''s toote for any of that now, his Quirk saturated the damaged tissue so much that if any foreign organs try to attach the energy it provides would overwhelm, reject, then destroy it," Horizon shrugs. "I see," Yagi says. "And are you ready to operate?" he looks around the small apartment, unsure of what happens next. "Yeah I''ve got everything set up," Horizon stands up and begins walking away, waving his hand in the air, "just follow me, this should only take an hour or two at most..." END CHAPTER--- pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene I update every weekday so see ya Monday :) Chapter 14: (Doubts) Chapter 14: (Doubts) Read auxiliary chapter World Info before starting the story. Discord: https://discord.gg/K7f8qGpvuk pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- Retrieving a bottle of water from the fridge Tsukauchi returns to his seat on the couch, anxiously waiting for All Might and Horizon to return, ready to act in case anything happens. Taking a sip from his water he ces it on the coffee table and leans back, ncing over at Nezu who was happily reading something on his phone. "How can you be so calm about this?" he asks Nezu. "About what?" "All of this, I know you have ''an intellect beyond humanprehension,'' as you say because of your Quirk, but isn''t this a bit much even for you?" Nezu puts down his phone to give Tsukauchi his full attention, "you don''t think we can trust Horizon?" "He has power, motive, and at the moment since he has Toshi under the knife, leverage," Tsukauchi says. "True," Nezu confirms. "Thankfully he doesn''t care about any of that." "And you''re sure of this?" "I already told you, I had him figured out from the moment I sent you that recording to verify. As powerful and capable as he is, his weaknesses are quite obvious, his family, and his obsessive need to upkeep any contract he agrees to, even if it turns out to be much more difficult than expected. He''d die before he breaks or renegotiates a contract, and all he wants is his family back, we can trust him so long as we don''t betray his trust in us...in me." "And what will Toshi think about you letting a serial assassin off the hook just so he can operate on him, you and I are a bit looser in situations like this, but you know he isn''t, not if it''s to save only his own life instead of others." "He''ll see all the good Horizon can do when he bes a hero," Nezu says matter of factly. "That should convince him that I made the right decision, plus, he''s only a child still. As mature and experienced as he may be, he''s young, without his parents whispering in his ear who knows what he''ll be." Tsukauchi sighs, "that''s what I''m afraid of, we don''t know what he''ll be. But we know what he is now, this could go very badly Nezu." "Or we could have a new national power on our hands," Nezu says. Tsukauchi immediately realizes what Nezu is thinking, he takes a deep breath and tilts his head back to stare at the ceiling. "Nezu," he pinches the bridge of his name, "what is his Quirk really?" "Hand Of God." Tsukauchi''s eyes shoot open and he stares at the bear-mouse. "What? What the hell does that even mean?" "No clue," Nezu shrugs. "He refused to give me more than a name, didn''t exin or list any abilities, but gave me the ssification, Mystery ss." "So you''re taking his word for it that his Quirk ''exceeds all logical and scientificprehension'' to be named Mystery ss, you realize only one person in history has ever gotten that ssification, right." "I know." "And how is our government dealing with Horizon suddenly appearing in their system with that Quirk?" "I''ve spoken to Pantu and Bosu about it, they won''t bother us," Nezu assures him. "And when America learns that they aren''t the only people with a Mystery ss, that suddenly Start and Stripe may havepetition..." "Obviously the requests will flood in for him to study and migrate to the states, but he''ll stay here since that''s his contract." Tsukauchi sighs, "you seriously want to make this kid into the next All Might?" "No, he''ll never be All Might," Nezu leans forward and takes a sip of his tea before he continues. "A few days ago he contacted me, told me he wants to show everyone how useful he is, its obvious what method of thinking he follows." "And what might that be?" "Simply that it''s better to be a necessity than to be liked. He will never be a symbol of peace like All Might, but he will be a dependable hero that Japan can lean on in the future, and that''s enough, don''t you think?" "Assuming he doesn''t put a sword in your back," Tsukauchi grumbles in response. "My Quirk hasn''t detected a single lie out of him, ever, but I just don''t like this whole situation. A confirmed killer walking the streets like a hero, sitting in a ssroom with people who want to be real heroes, it''s... I can''t even put a word to how messed up it is." Nezu sighs, "if people were incapable of change, especially people so young, then I would still be on my quest to eliminate all humans for what they did to me in thatb," he raises a hand absentmindedly to touch his scar. "I believe he can be a force for good, just like I am now." Tsukauchi relents, "yeah...I suppose that''s true. But I''m still not won over just yet, even if he does help Toshi. He''s dangerous Nezu, don''t ever forget that. Healing and Scanning aside, Warping is a monstrous Quirk in the hands of any enemy, and we know he''s good at fighting with it. Only a few of those Quirks exist in the world that we know of, and he''s the only one proficient or actively using his." "I know, all the more reason to finally have a hero with a warping Quirk, don''t you think." "Yeah, I suppose. But what about that thing he did to Chrome, tore through his organs and brain without cracking his tungsten skin, did he say anything about that ability?" "No, he refuses to speak on his Quirk, says the information is too valuable to be in any system or the hands of anyone else." "Of course he''d be paranoid, when considering his criminal life and history it makes sense." "Mhm," Nezu nods in agreement. "If he had the attitude of a hero I would have pushed for him to get a full hero license immediately, already more capable than most pros. But as you know, he needs time among aspiring heroes so that he can see what it''s really all about, it won''t work unless he wants to be a hero on his own." "If he''s as smart as you say then you realize he knows that''s your n, right?" "He does, he essentially confirmed as much, he also told me his n to use his new Medical License to build his brand, and I offered a way to help him." "Build a brand?" "Horizon Miracle Solutions," Nezu waves his hands about as if it were a big reveal, only to earn a nk stare from Tsukauchi. "What?" "I used my connections to get him ess to some influential people, that way when he enters UA he won''t be starting from zero in terms of name recognition." "And it''ll instantly put eyes on him, get him into more situations where he gets essentially forced to see how great heroes can be, and elerates his growth because of it. You''re using his n and poprity to guide him to be more heroic...that''s damn brilliant." "Exactly, since it''s the same as his own n nothing has to change, I''ve simply made it much, much more effective. But there is one thing I can''t ount for..." "What''s that?" "His attitude, you''ve heard him speak, what do you think?" "Aside from the fact that he''s an uncaring asshole?" Tsukauchi asks, recalling how casual Horizon was about delivering life-changing news and a death sentence earlier. He recalls what Horizon said about liars and people who break contracts as well, and something clicked in his mind, "he''s a very hard judge...of himself, right? He holds everyone to the same standards as himself and isn''t shy about telling them when they''re failing." "My thoughts as well," Nezu nods along. "He''s also very direct and abrasive, downright vulgar to get his point across most directly, hates being told what to do, and will attack anyone who even mentions his parents in a bad light, add the fact that he''ll talk down to or ridicule anyone who doesn''t meet the standards he has for himself and I don''t know what effect being at UA could have on him, much less being a full pro." "A powder keg to blow up in our face or to take down viins, damn..." Nezu nods along, "I''m sure he will do great things for us. And Japan will finally have its own Mystery ss hero, with All Might stepping down, hopefully soon, we''ll need it..." ---1 Hour Later... "You''ve finished already?" Tsukauchi asks, tant concern in his voice as Horizon takes a seat opposite him. "Yeah, it went exactly as I said, he''s already getting dressed and should be out in a minute," Horizon leans back and takes a deep breath. "Everything ready Nezu?" "You can head to the airport immediately, everything is already set up and they''re expecting you, and you''ll be using my jet." "Perfect..." A few minutester and Toshinori enters the living room, looking around and taking careful steps, trying to get used to the strange feeling in his body. Tsukauchi gets up and walks over to him, "how are you feeling? You should sit down. Is everything alright?" Toshinoriughs and pats his friend on the shoulder, "I haven''t felt this good in years, I can finally breathe properly...and, I''m hungry." "I fixed your stomach," Horizon says, already scrolling on his phone. "You went from having eight years to having fifteen years, don''t waste them. I''m sending Nezu a list of vitamins for you to take daily, they should help, plus a new diet. Aside from that, you''re all done here," he shrugs. "I see," Toshinori says before turning to Horizon and bowing,pletely doubling over. "Thank you doctor Horizon, I''ll never forget what you''ve done for me today." Beneath his visor Horizon rolls his eyes, "don''t thank me, thank Nezu, I was just doing my job and sticking to my contract, no big deal." "But still, thank you." "Sigh, yeah yeah, now if that''s all can we please wrap this up, I''ve got a jet waiting for me..." END CHAPTER--- Volume 1 isplete, onto volume 2... pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene Chapter 15: (The Miracle List) Chapter 15: (The Miracle List) Discord: https://discord.gg/K7f8qGpvuk pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- Sitting in the back of an armored SUV, Nezu''s armored SUV, Horizon idly scrolls through various vacation spots around the world. He is dressed in a simple ck suit to contrast his white body glove, visor, and a single ck duffel bag at his side, he nods along to the music ying, using his visor like a wireless headset to the phone Nezu gave him. He feels the care to a gentle stop and looks out the window. They''d already arrived at the airport, only a dozen meters away was Nezu''s jet. A luxury 20m -65ft- white jet with a decal of Nezu at the side waving and smiling. Along with ''NEZU'' written on the side is colorful letters. Horizon rolls his eyes as he grabs his bag and gets out, "when I buy mine I''ll make sure it doesn''t look like a five-year-old decorated it..." he grumbles. Walking to the jet he sees three people standing outside at the base of the short staircase. A man, a woman, and a third person with a strange quirk, they almost appeared to be made of water, difficult to tell if they even had a gender. All wearing dress shirts and pants. As Horizon walks up the first man extends his hand, which Horizon shakes, "I assume you''re the captain," he nods to the man. "That I am doctor," the man gestures to the liquid person standing beside him, "my co-pilot and our flight attendant, the weather is clear and we''re all fueled. It should only be seven hours to Bern." "Perfect, I''ll be in your care," Horizon nods to the others. The woman reaches to carry his bag but he shakes his head, "I''ll take care of it." "Oh, understood doctor," she politely nods and gestures for him to walk up the stairs. He doesn''t hesitate, but is sure to announce as he walks to the top, " I''d rather you just call me ''Horizon,'' doctor still feels a bit odd..." Atleast that''s what he said, but in truth, being called doctor annoyed him to no end. In his eyes, ''anyone can be a doctor, but the only me...is me.'' A few minutester and Horizon is sitting stiffly in thefy leather seat of the jet, a small table in front of him with a seat on the other side upied by his bag. Looking out the window as the pilots position the jet for takeoff he anxiously taps his fingers on the table. As he sinks into his seat when they begin elerating his tapping continues, quickly feeling his sense of absolute control being ripped away. He looks out the window to see Tokyo shrinking beneath them and less than a minuteter it''s far behind them. A few minutes after that and the view is filled with clouds. Before he realizes it the flight attendant is standing at his table, a pleasant smile on her face as she speaks to him, "would you perhaps like a refreshment to help you rx?" she asks, with only good intentions. It was impossible not to see his constant tapping on the table. "I''m fine, thank you," he politely refuses, trying to ignore the fact that they were already up to probably 1000mph -1600kmph-, as expected of a year 2112 luxury jet. "Just call if you need anything," she gestures to one of the buttons built into the table and a few other ces about the lounge area. "I will," he says, dismissing her. Trying to distract himself he reaches across the table and takes out hisptop, connecting his visor andputer he starts ying some music, light lofi background music, and starts typing. "I''ll call it ''The Miracle List,'' yeah," he thinks aloud, another attempt to distract himself from his current location. "Typing everything that I can heal is too long, so I''ll focus on what I can''t heal. Gic deterioration. Gic deformities. Some mental disorders too..." his fingers move like lightning topile the specifics of his arrangement. "When I work for people do I want them talking," he thinks on it for a moment then shrugs. "More chatter means morepetition, that means better bids, and I can go from unknown to celebrity during the sports festival, get ahead of everyone else," he chuckles. "I''ll make it so that they can reveal anything they want but I can''t, since I''m the doctor, special agreements for special scenarios of course," he sits back and looks at the document he made. Nearly five pages of specifics. Everything from what he provides to confidentiality to where he''s willing to travel to meet with patients. "And I should also tell them that I''ll only be able to travel outside of Japan for the next eleven months, that gives me a month to settle back in Japan before UA... doubt Nezu wants me ditching ss and hero duties because I got a nice offer..." He types some more, and before he knows it he''s already had a few drinks and a full meal while working. Finishing up thest of his document, it now being a full twelve pages of very clear and specific requirements and services, he only has one more thing to do. "Price," he mutters. Leaning back into his seat to consider it very carefully. "My clients are supposed to be the most wealthy people in the world, but I don''t really have any sense of how to price things like this...the standard prices dad used won''t apply here for what I''m trying to do. These people see every bit of money they spend as a flex of their status. And if I''m too conservative with the price they''ll think it''s bullshit...fuck." "How do you put a price on time? Time with a loved one, time added to your own life...how?" he spends a few minutes thinking about it before finally giving in, deciding that maybe some outside perspective would help. Pressing the button on the table once more the flight attendant quickly arrives. As she''s about to take the empty ss and te away he raises a hand to stop her, "I''d actually like to ask you something, if that''s alright with you." "Uh, I mean, yes sir," she nods. He gestures for her to take the seat opposite him which she does, after moving his bag. "How may I help you, sir?" "I''m trying to price my product, and I''m hitting a roadblock here, I was hoping you''d be able to give some perspective." "Oh, of course, sir," she smiles and nods, excited at the idea of a medical prodigy asking her opinion. "My product is time, how much would you pay for that?" She freezes, then looks confused, then shakes her head and blinks a few times. "Do you mean? Like rewinding time?" "No that wouldn''t solve anything," Horizon scoffs at the idea. "Rewinding time wouldn''t necessarily heal the things I can, I''m talking about a miracle cure. How much would you pay for something that would give you more time in your life, or with the people you care about, that kind of time." Her eyes widen at the idea, suddenly realizing she was sitting opposite something humans have been searching for since the beginning of time, a miracle elixir. As he waits patiently she scrunched her face, trying to imagine all the sick people she wished would get better. How much she''d pay to have her parents in perfect health, to heal her kids if something terrible happened. Eventually, she releases a tired sigh, and gives an apologetic look, "I''m sorry sir, but I think all lives are equally invaluable, none can be summed up for any amount of money. I''d give any and everything I have for what you''re describing," she nods. "All lives equal and precious?" he almostughs at the idea, a certain lightness in his slightly mechanical voice. "Well that''s a stupid idea," he scoffs. "But I suppose most people view things like that, that everyone is equal and should be saved instead of measured by the value and services they can provide... certainly makes pricing this a lot harder." She keeps a polite expression, suppressing her disgust at his words and the urge tounch into a tirade or simply yell at his tant disregard for human lives. Giving a polite bow she stands up, "I''m sorry I couldn''t be of any help to you sir," she says while clearing the dishes from the table. "On the contrary, you told me everything I needed, thank you," he nods and begins typing once more. As she walks away he continues speaking to himself, "I don''t need to put a price on anything. All I do is set the minimum and let them decide, how much they care and how much money they have will dictate how high the bids go, just need to set a minimum..." After a few more minutes of typing a page of rules for the bidding he saves the document once more, "Minimum bid of 10 million USD, gifts can be added but the cash bid dictates the initial ranking...perfect." He saves it onest time then hits send, almost instantly receiving a confirmation from the man he was on the way to meet. Checking the time Horizon closes theptop and leans back into his seat, seeing rolling clouds outside his window, Asia 38km below him. The view itself helped him rx and drift off to sleep. Only a few more hours until they arrived at Bern, and sleeping was the best way for him to not be anxious the entire flight... END CHAPTER--- pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene Chapter 16: (Swiss Vault) Chapter 16: (Swiss Vault) Discord: https://discord.gg/K7f8qGpvuk pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- As the ne descends to the runway, Horizon looks out the window at the mountainous swissndscape. Picturesque, somehowyered with the massive sprawling city of Bern, the capital of Switzend. One of the only ces Horizon has ever been that he can honestly say, perfectly blends traditional architecture and the modernity of 2114, it truly was a sight to behold. A winding river dividing the city, bridges built over it, appearing as if they were built hundreds of years ago, the style perfectly emted, but no older than he was. Skyscrapers reaching to the heavens as if trying topete with the mountains in the distance, a fruitless effort as the snow-capped peaks give a sense of grandeur that no skyscraper could ever match. He can''t help but smile beneath his mask, thankful that he''d never be able to forget this portrait-like view, with light snow falling upon the city. "I could get used to this," he mutters as the ne touches down. A momentter the jetes to a full stop, and Horizon gets up, bag already secured at his side, and makes his way to the exit ramp. He receives a stiff nod from the flight attendant before exiting the jet. Immediately greeted with the sight of a literal mountain only two hundred meters away. Covered in trees and grass, but with a section carved into it at the side of the runway. Doors running parallel to thending strip itself. But perhaps doors wasn''t the right word at all. "Wow," was all he could say. Two massive tungsten gates. Each is thirty meters tall and together fifty meters wide. The Switzend coat of arms pained in the middle of the otherwise ck surface, a red shield with a white cross. Making it to the end of the ramp his gaze finally drops, seeing all the fortified buildings along the runway and especially toward the gate. He takes a moment to appreciate no longer being on the ne. He had no fear of flying it itself. But moving at nearly 500 meters per second meant his Quirk was damn near useless, the travel speed would rip him out of his ROOM before he could give any realmands, it''s the only time he has no true control of his world. Casting that thought aside he focuses back on the view around him. The light snow falls around him as he turns to see two small carts, one with a driver already in the seat and a slim blonde man standing beside it, the other driver approaches and politely takes his bag, after some hesitation on Horizon''s part. "I see you''re awestruck by the magnificence of my nation," the blonde man says in clearly rusty Japanse, this thick ent somewhat slurring the words. He walks up and reaches out the shake Horizon''s hand. "I speak yournguages sir, we may speak normally," Horizon says while shaking his hand, oddly fluent Swiss German leaving his mouth. "And yes, this country is breathtaking." The man smiles and takes a step away, turning to gesture at the mountain fortress, "she truly is one of a kind," he says, returning to his usual Swiss German. "And it seems I stayed awake refreshing my Japanese for nothing, yes?" Horizon chuckles, "my mother traveled a lot for work, she taught me that learning anguage is always better than having a trantor, more reliable...and secure." The man nods, "a woman after my own heart, please allow me to properly introduce myself. I am Lock, I control this unique establishment," he gestures to the entire area around them. Looking down the runway Horizon couldn''t see the end, he also couldn''t see barriers in any direction aside from the mountain itself. "It certainly is a pleasure to make your acquaintance Mr. Lock, I am Horizon...and please, don''t call me ''doctor,'' it''s already gotten old for me," he chuckles. "I''ll be sure to keep that in mind, now, shall we," he gestures to the leading cart and Horizon begins walking toward it. "So, Mr. Horizon---" "Horizon is fine, no need for titles with me." "Ahh, then I suppose you may simply call me Lock," they arrive at the cart and both take their seats. " So, what has Mr. Nezu told you about us?" "Almost nothing," Horizon says as the cart begins driving toward the gates. "He said that you can facilitate my business, handle the bids and cash flow, as well as manage my assets." Lock chuckles, "he truly spoils me, he knows how much I enjoy giving the breakdown and tour." "Oh, then please, enlighten me on this mysterious ce." "This my new friend, is Swiss Vault," Lock says as they arrive at the gates. Unlike anything he expected, a portal opens a few meters before the gates for them to drive through. The border was angr, with each point appearing like a shining star, giving the sense that they drove into a constetion. The portal made it visible what was on the other side, a massive ck and gold pce-like atrium. Ceilings twenty meters high, massive columns of ck marble along the walls, guards standing posted. And a woman positioned above who was giving energy to the portals. "The doors never open if not absolutely necessary," Lock says. "She is our Gatekeeper, warping Quirks are among the rarest, only a handful exist, and we were fortunate enough to hire one." "Truly incredible," Horizon admits, opening a perfect Warp Gate is something that anyone could be envious of and see the appeal in. "A necessary measure to protect our assets," the cartes to a stop as Lock nods toward Gatekeeper. She closes her eyes and focuses, then a dagger appears to float above her, glowing bright white before staking the ground a few feet ahead of them. Another gate opens, this time leading to an office overlooking the runway itself. "My office," Lock says, gesturing for Horizon to enter. "I like your style Lock," he says, entering before Lock, followed by the bag handler who rests his bag on a table in the office. Lock moves to take a seat at his desk and Horizon sits opposite him, not spending more than a passing nce at the pristine and luxurious office, clearly ck and gold were Lock''s colors. "So, impressed yet?" Lock asks, a cheeky grin on his lips. "Nezu said you''d be impossible to impress." "This facility, and your staff, are incredible, but I''m still not sure what exactly it does." "That''s why we''re here, the fun part," Lock smiles. "What do you remember about World War three?" "The long or short version?" Horizon asks. "Short version." Horizon rxes back into his seat. "After the advent of Quirks countries started an arms race, five yearster war is dered after both America and Germany each invent entirely green and cheap alternative synthetic fuels using Quirks. Some militias took over Africa, and Europe tore itself apart." "Go on..." "And the entire world nearly burned itself to the ground. Countries had to call off the war because of internal threats, the first wave of Viins. Since then the entire world went from fighting each other to focusing everything on internal security, hasn''t been a single military skirmish between nations since, almost two hundred years," Horizon shrugs. "Did I mention what you wanted?" "Close enough," Lock says. "During that war, Switzend, like many nations, went bankrupt. We became scraps for everyone to pull apart, and because of our location, we didn''tst a week. Our main resources before Quirks were Salt, Granite, Sand, and Marble." "All cheaper than dirt because of early Quirks," Horizon says. "Exactly. We had nothing, and until fifty years ago we were heavily dependent on our allies to help us, until..." "Swiss Vault?" Horizon asks. "Exactly," Lock says excitedly. "Fifty years ago a mouse was discovered to have a Quirk---" "Nezu..." "Yes, High Spec, intellect beyondprehension. He saw our situation, and on his campaign across the world to design systems and infrastructure, he came to us. With his consultation, we reformed our national constitution, mainly in the areas of taxes and privacyws, and became the world''srgest asset and capital holdingpany." "Swiss Vault?" "Switzend," Lock corrects him. "We have no viins. Our best military assets are within this mountain protecting the vaults and supeputers, also designed by Nezu. Our business is money, and it''s brought us out of that slump and into fortune once more." "I see," Horizon brings a finger up to tap the chin of his visor. "And how does it work exactly." "In theory, it''s actually quite simple," Lock says. "Effectively speaking we offer a subscription service. You open an ount with us, we hold your assets and funds under the name of the Swiss government, insured by the Swiss government. And each year you pay either fifty million USD or five percent of your assets, whicheveres first. If the payment cannot be made or you cancel your ount, then all assets are transferred back into your name." "So if I get into any legal trouble..." "What are they going to do? You don''t technically own those assets since it''s on our name, not yours," Lock shrugs. "They can''t arrest Switzend, and with Nezu''s assistance we effectively have immunity so long as it''s short of starting a war." "But if my name is on it---" "No name," Lock shakes his head. "Only a number and biometric security, which is protected by our privacy section of the Swiss constitution." "Very smart, as expected of Nezu," Horizon says. "We are a full-servicepany to act as the middle man, so to speak. If you require any service that can be legally purchased in your current country and don''t want the hassle of sorting it out, we can take care of things for you. Want us to host a business for you, sure. So long as it involves money we have no issue with such things, and the infrastructure for your own business has already been constructed." "Hmm, no wonder Nezu sent me here. You''re exactly what I need, a way to move my assets without worrying about someone connecting my identities," Horizon says. "Another thing protected by ourws, I assure you. The only way anyone will know that either of your identities are connected to us is if you inform them," Lock says. "Right," Horizon nods. "I guess now we''ve just got to get to reading the contract..." Lock reaches down and rests a stack of nearly five hundred pages on the desk. Horizon loudly groans, "Of course..." ---2 Hours Later... "How are the taxws this simple?" Horizon asks, handing over the final page of the four-hundred-page contract before storing his copy in his bag. Lock smiles and chuckles slightly, "the office of many world leaders -at least the ones that can afford it- each have an ount with us. We also only offer services to people orpanies with a total value of atleast ten billion dors, you being the only exception. They have a very good reason to keep taxws...lenient, for us." "Wow," Horizon nods. "That''s a pretty high bar of entry." "Exclusivity and security demand it," Lock says as he sets the contract aside and reaches down, cing a ck briefcase on the desk between both men. "What''s this?" "Your membership package," Lock opens the briefcase and turns it around to face Horizon. He pops it open to reveal a few objects. A sleek ckptop, smartphone, and a banking card, all with Horizon''s logo already printed on them in blue. "So Nezu told you about the logo," he chuckles, reaching down to pick up the phone. The moment he does it activates, and begins powering up. "The biometrics were set to imprint when you touch it," Lock exins. "Your ount has officially be active and the bids for your services have already begun." "Scanned me through my gloves, not bad," he sets the phone aside to inspect the cards. "Those are directly connected to your ount, they''re made of tinum, and can be used with any bank globally, even the most obscure banks. And can only be used by your or any person you give ess to your ount." "So only ever me, nice. I assume theptop is the same thing?" "Exactly so. If any of these breaks or are reported lost we will contact you, or you may return here for a recement." "Good to know," Horizon puts the cards in his wallet and leaves the phone andptop on the desk. "And about the bids?" "Already connected to both your new devices, I rmend only using them for your business. We have one of the best cyber security systems in the world, best put it to use." "You really do provide everything, so, shall we see how good business looks?" "Be my guest," Lock gestures to the closedptop and leans back into his chair, watching Horizon open it up. With the screen facing away from him to protect Horizon''s privacy he only sees the blurry reflection in the visor as Horizon leans forward. Horizon couldn''t believe what he was seeing, the list constantly changing, the leading bid increasing by the second as people fought for the top spot. "This is a lot higher than I expected, and it''s barely been a minute," Horizon says in awe. "I may have changed it slightly," Lock confesses, causing Horizon''s head to snap toward him. "I did some data collection and found that the starting 10 million dor bid you set was too low, the clients felt insulted or as if they were being scammed, especially considering the services you imed to provide. So I changed the opening bid, 50 million was much more reassuring to them." Looking back to the screen Horizon saw the highest bid at nearly 200 Million and just shrugged. "Well, I won''tin...not. One. Bit. Looks like I''m on the way to hitting the ten billion dor requirement you have, huh?" Lock chuckles, "that would still make you ount number five thousand seven hundred and twenty-nine in terms of the pure liquid value." "How many do you even have?" "Five thousand seven hundred and twenty-nine, now that you''ve joined," Lock smiles cheekily. "But this is good, I''ve informed all those ount holders of your service and since Swiss Vault is the middle man, good business for you is good business for us." Horizonughs at that, "get your interests to line up with that of all the powerful people and you''re well protected, very clever." "Well, it was Nezu''s idea," Lock admits. "I''ll be sure to thank him when I see him, but for now, it''s time to get rich, I think I''ll quite enjoy that..." "And I''ll enjoy the business you bring us," Lock says as they shake hands, putting an end to this meeting... 12 Months Until UA... END CHAPTER--- pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene Chapter 17: (May 2114) Chapter 17: (May 2114) Discord: https://discord.gg/K7f8qGpvuk pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- Within a makeshift operating room, there are two men. Oneys face down, strapped to a soft massage table, his top bare, a rectangr hole running down the middle of his entire back, spinepletely removed. Looking into the exposed cavity the soft beats of his heart can be seen thumping away. His idle snores are soft and barely audible, and he feels nothing while the doctor works. At a small table way from the man sits Horizon, the man''s spiney on the metal table. The five bones at the base fractured and splintered, steadily being repaired and fused together. Unbing of the miraculous operation that was taking ce, the room looked no different than a simple bedroom. The steady beats of the heart monitor were barely heard over Horizon''s humming. His head bobs along to the tune in his mind as he casually performs the impossible. Horizon was wearing an outfit many would consider ill-suited to this usually bloody operation. Thankfully his Quirk allowed him to remove only the spine. A simple white suit, his body glove showing the same color, ck visor with blue eyes looking down at the spine as his hands moved about. Tweezers in one hand and a scalpel in the other, carefully binding bones and nerves back together. Thankfully his quirk allowed harmless and painless operations. As he finishes putting the final pieces of this bone jigsaw puzzle back together, Horizon can''t help but let a few words of the tune in his head slip out. "Best to, give me your loyalty, ''cause I''m taking the world you''ll see, they''ll be calling me, calling me, they''ll be calling me royalty..." He ces a hand on the now fully reconstructed spine and focuses his energy. "Booster Shot," he mutters. He feels his stamina drain slightly as blue energy radiates from his body and flows into the spine. The cracks and fractures on each segment perfectly heals, he hears the heart monitor spike for a moment before it bes stable again. As the assembly isplete a clear rectangr casing forms around the spine, appearing and feeling as if it were made of jelly. Leaning back in his chair he carefully picks up the spine, holding it delicately with both hands and rising from his seat, walking over to his patient. "So this is what three billion dors can buy huh," he chuckles to himself, cing the spine back into his patient as if he were assembling a basic puzzle. The spacial casing of the spine -the jelly-like rectangr shell- perfectly slides into the hole in his patient''s back. And as the pieces fit together, a blue sheen shimmers slightly as the jelly reverts into flesh and muscle, as if the back was never tampered with. Law shakes his head, "one day I''ll figure out how exactly that works," he mutters, cing his palm t on the man''s back. SCAN Remaining in physical contact he focuses on the man, scanning him down to a cellr level, searching for any abnormalities. To search for such tiny abnormalities he needs to remain in contact. If he were simply trying to rip out someone''s spine, however, once his ROOM is open he simply has to SCAN them once by making physical contact, even through clothes. Locating such a normal and massiveponent would be easy. Then he could walk away while focusing on them, and when enough energy is gathered, simply touch them once more and rip it out. Unfortunately, the process would have to restart if the room closes, needing to restart the entire surgery also wouldn''t return the energy hemitted to it. After nearly five minutes of searching, he perks up. Finding what he was looking for Law begins focusing his energy, feeling a slight strain as he tracked down all the medication in his patient. "Mes," hemands. Raising his hand from the man''s back, beneath his palm a small sphere of white clear liquid rises up,a-inducing medication torn out of the man. "GAH!" the man startles awake, panicking and falling off the table. Horizon stares at him, not expecting such a lively response. The table falls over as the man scrambles to his feet, looking around with wide eyes, not able to make sense of any of this. "Where am I?!" he demands, speaking perfect traditional Arabic. Horizon shakes his head and turns away, not paying the quirkless man any mind and moving to pack up his medical bag. As he begins sterilizing his equipment however a loud knock sounds from the double doors. "We''reing in, 10 seconds!" a worried voice booms out, also in perfect Arabic. Horizon pays it no mind and continues packing his things. By the time the doors are opened and two men with automatic rifles enter, just one step ahead from a robed elder gentleman, brown skin and a thick grey beard, head wrapped and his outfit draped in so much gold that it screamed ''Middle Eastern Royalty''. The man and his guards all freeze at the sight of the prince, standing on his own and staring at them. The prince asks question after question, demanding to know what was going on. Yet his father simply walked up and embraced him, holding his son close as both guards watch in amazement. The reunion is interrupted when Horizon zips up his bag and takes out a notepad, writing something down quickly before turning to both men. "This is doctor Horizon," the man says to his son. "He saved your life, please give me a moment with him, your mother and sisters are waiting for you upstairs." The man looks at his son once more and pats him on the shoulder, as if to check if this was a dream. "I- what?" the prince asks,pletely confused. His father nods and pats his shoulder, gesturing to the guards, "I will join you shortly, please, go see your mother." A minuteter and only Horizon and the Sheik are standing in the courtyard, his medical bag already at his side. Looking out at the garden the man wasn''t quite sure what to say, so he simply spoke his true thoughts. "I had my doubts about you, at least until now..." the Sheik says. "You threw that much money on something you had doubts about?" he joins him in speaking Arabic, although with a heavy ent, not practiced enough topletely shake off the Japanese tones. "Money is nothing," the man says. "When I heard he was in a car ident, that he''d never wake up again much less walk, it was the one time all my money and influence meant nothing. A dynasty that has controlled this region for hundreds of years...and we couldn''t do anything." Horizon nods, "money couldn''t buy time...until me." The man chuckles, "well said. And that is exactly why when I saw a person that sold time, I jumped at the chance." "After the first few clients, seems everyone wants more time." "We''re only human," the man shrugs. "We may be the richest and most influential people in the world, but we all want more time. Your service will always do well." "Better than I ever thought, honestly," Horizon admits. "Time is the only thing we couldn''t buy, so you can understand that we''re quite eager," the man says. "Mhm, and this is the part where you ask me to stay here?" The man can''t help butugh at that, "so this happens often then?" "Every time, without fail. Everyone wants a miracle in their backyard." "And you always refuse?" "Always, no matter the offer." The man raises a brow at that, "I''m willing to bet that I can beat any offer you''ve ever seen." "You can, but unfortunately I have a previous contract." "Honourable in the face of great temptation, very respectable," the man strokes his beard and nods. "My family would likely be unable to enter Japan when you settle your practice there next year, so I had to make an offer now." "Ipletely understand, but unfortunately Japan has the one thing nobody else can get me, and no amount of money can rece." "Family?" Horizon nods. "I see...then I wish you all the best doc--- Horizon," the man corrects himself. "Thank you, Sheik Amir," Horizon bows slightly. "Now if you''ll excuse me, I''ve never been to Dubai before and as this is my first day, I''ve made reservations to quite a fine establishment forter tonight..." ---5 Minutester... Sitting in the back of an armored ck SUV, Horizon leans back and scrolls through his phone. ''That''s all the clients in this region, time for eastern Europe... and I''ll even have time for the Grand Prix before going to Paris,'' he muses. ncing out the window to see the massive skyscrapers passing by as he arrives at his hotel. Putting his phone away he exits the vehicle and walks in. The valet immediately moves to take his bag, which only had a few medical supplies within, while another leads him inside. They instantly recognized him by his visor, as expected when you rent the top suite of their hotel for the entire week. Checking in he takes the elevator up to his suite and dismissed the staff, telling them that he''d like to rest from his flight into the country this morning. He ignores everything around him and simply walks to a particr window, directly across the street is another hotel, smaller and less prestigious, but it had everything he needed. Leaving his bag and everything else behind he opens up a ROOM,rge enough to reach across the street and into the other hotel. SHAMBLES He disappears, swapping ces with a napkin of all things. He reappears in the opposite hotel, in the penthouse suite. "Finally," he breathes a sigh of relief and removes his visor, walking around the suite to the bedroom where he changes his clothes. He packs his metal case with his Horizon gear as Law Matanies out once more. "Ok, a week in Dubai was fun but time to get the fuck out of here, lots of things to enjoy elsewhere..." he says. Exiting the hotel as Law Matani, who had been staying here for the entire week. He enters a limo, so over the top that nobody would ever expect him to be the mysterious doctor who the Sheik believed to have only arrived that morning. And who wouldn''t check out of the hotel for another five days... Perhaps paranoid, but he wouldn''t take any chances with having these two people connected. When the valet ces his bags in the limo he arrives at the airport in only half an hour. Greeted by the sight of his very own private jet. Larger than the average passenger ne as it was a double-decker, entirely refitted to be as luxurious yet functional as possible. Painted ck with gold ents, and the word ''Matani'' on the side in case anyone was curious about who owned it. Law steps out of the limo to be greeted by the flight staff at the ramp, taking a deep breath he looks around. Limo. Private jet. Private hangar. ''I love being rich...'' END CHAPTER--- pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene Chapter 18: (Two Types Of People) Chapter 18: (Two Types Of People) Discord: https://discord.gg/K7f8qGpvuk pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- Sitting submerged up to his shoulders in his hot tub Law has a ss of whisky in one hand and a textbook in the other. In the modest but luxurious bathroom, he has music ying quietly through the surrounding speakers built into the walls as hezily reads. The book in his hand is UA''s ''Hero procedure and regtions,'' and beside the tub was a stack of over a dozen other books that would be needed over the three-year hero course at UA. "Finally," Law sighs as he puts down his ss and turns to thest page. After reading it and the entire index at the back he sets the book down atop the pile and sinks down to his chin in the warm water. "Bunch of boring junk..." Law closes his eyes and enjoys the warm water for all of seven minutes before his music is overshadowed by a cacophony of loud chimes. "Mmm," he grumbles, knowing that specific ringtone. He sits up and flicks some water off his hand before reaching for his phone, thankfully waterproof, and answers the video call. "Kindate for a call don''t you think?" he asks in an annoyed voice. "Sorry I had some paperwork to deal with," Nezu says, sitting on the couch in his office with a cup of tea. "Figured you would finally go a day without calling me since today was the big sports festival, guess I was wrong..." Law sighs. "You''re too important for me to not check in on you," Nezu says. "So were you up to anything interesting, I hope I didn''t interrupt." Law rolls his eyes, "just got done with the stack of books you sent me, you can have them back when I get back to Japan." "Those are yours, you''ll need them during your time at UA." "No I won''t, I read them once, that''s all I need." "Oh..." Nezu nods along, "I see. Well, keep them, just in case." "Whatever." "Did you by any chance watch the sports festival?" "I caught the beginning of it in the car to my patient, but had to cut it off when I got there...also...what the hell was with the streaker?" Nezu chuckles, "Togata''s Quirk makes clothes...logistically difficult." "His hero suit has to be organic then, I know your handbook says it''s not allowed but you could have at least let him use the pants," Lawughs. "He insisted on sticking to the rules himself, that attitudebined with his excellent work ethic is what makes him one of our best, and soon to be one of Japan''s best." "Seriously?" Law asks, more surprised than anything. "The naked blonde dude, you sure about that?" "If you ever get to meet him you''ll find out rather quickly how capable he is." "I''ll take your word for it, whatever," Law shrugs. "You promisedpetition so I''ll take what I can get, phasing is pretty interesting at least." "Permeation," Nezu corrects him. "But good guess on the name." "Thanks, but is there a particr reason you called this time?" "I just wanted to inform you that Toshinori has been feeling much better this past month, he wanted to extend his thanks once more." "Just doing my job, is he taking it easy as I said?" "..." Nezu gives an awkward smile. Law straightens up and looks at the screen. "I don''t like having my time wasted Nezu, why have me fix something that''s just gonna break itself again?" "He''s a bit stubborn, unfortunately, he won''t listen to anyone." "Ugh, well I can''t extend his life a second time so whatever, once he knows what he''s doing," Law shrugs and sinks back down. "It''s his life, he can end it if he wants." "He fully understands the consequences of his actions," Nezu nods. "What about your other patients?" "You know I can''t discuss that with you Nezu," Law says. "I''m not asking for specifics, just anything super miraculous that nobody else would have been able to aplish." "Well..." Law thinks for a moment. "A few tumors here and there, heart disease in a few people. Failing organs, growths on the brain, and I fixed some spines so people could walk." "You say that like it''s nothing impressive," Nezu points out. "Oh I know how impossible this stuff is for everyone else, I''m just used to it," Law shrugs. "Didn''t really understand thest onepletely." "Hmm, what do you mean?" "Well, the man spends billions of dors for me to fix his kids spine right, cracks and shattered bones, the guy was in aa for a long time before me, but he''s quirkless." "What don''t you get?" Nezu''s voice was a bit concerned as to where this was going. "Why spend so much to save some Quirkless trash, just make another kid, or fucking buy a better one with all that money," Law shakes his head. "Honestly I''ll never understand that. He was from the generation before me so like 5% of them are quirkless, 1% of mine, just rece him." "Hmm, I didn''t realize you were that kind of person, not to this extent," Nezu had a disappointed tone in his voice. "What kind of person?" "Someone who discriminates...is it only about those that are quirkless?" Nezu asks bluntly. Law pauses for a moment, thenughs, nearly dropping his phone in the tub. "You''re kidding, right? You think I pay enough attention to those ants to care about where theye from or how they look or who they want to fuck? Like I care about that," he breaks out into a fit ofughter at the very idea. Him caring that much about useless people was so foreign to him. "Then why do you care if he''s quirkless?" "Because, Nezu, Quirks are nature''s metric of showing how useful you are. Better the Quirk the more useful you are. And quirkless people are level zero, anything they can do, someone with a Quirk out there can do it a hundred times better. You should know, your quirk is what separates you from the other mice, do you really think you''re of equal value to them?" Nezu stops and takes a moment to think of his response. "I can understand how someone born as powerful as you may think like that, but I believe all people are capable of great things, Quirk or not. Hopefully I can show you that during your time with me." "Trying to make me a hero is one thing, trying to convince me that some quirkless filth could ever be anything more than worthless is an impossible dream. Quirks give people inherent value, the fact that you''ve never had a quirkless hero in your school shows that on some level even you believe that. Anything they can do we can do better." "Hmm," Nezu doesn''t speak, realizing that this conversation would get absolutely nowhere. ''Law is from a school of thought simr to ''might makes right,'' he thinks as Law takes another sip of his drink. ''A school of thought where usefulness andpetence determine value. Not even morality or ethics are considered in his actions, only the most effective way ofpleting the task, and he''s willing to step down if someone is proven to be morepetent at a task than him... convincing him with words is impossible,'' Nezu sighs in temporary defeat. "Well, I''m d you don''t discriminate by race, appearance, or gender, that would be much more problematic," Nezu says. "I atleast know the requirements to prove you wrong, you will see that there are all different types of people in this world, and every one has a purpose, even if they aren''t born at the top like you." Law grumbles, "I wasn''t born at the top, I trained my ass off for 11 years to get here, before I even had my Quirk." "Oh, you never mentioned that before." "Because it''s not really any of your business, but don''t belittle my hard work by saying it''s all my Quirk. I was trained to be perfect, that''s why I''m better, and my Quirk manifested based on that." "What?!" Nezu didn''t miss that little bit of information that Law identally let slip. "Nothing," Law quickly says. "Just know that there are only two types of people in this world---" "People who are useful, and people who aren''t," Nezu says. "Nope," Law shakes his head and smiles before looking directly at the camera. "People who are perfect, and people who aren''t me..." Nezu is left speechless by that statement, and the moment he opens his mouth to speak. KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK! Law''s head shifts over to look at the door. "Sir, the captain says we''re twenty minutes from Mn, I need to secure the tub before wend," the flight attendant says in a sweet voice. "Sorry Nezu, gotta go..." END CHAPTER--- pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene Chapter 19: First Blood Chapter 19: First Blood So I just woke up and saw this story hit 1K+ power stones for the first time, figured you all deserve something for that, no this won''t be a weekly challenge. I just had a few minutes before my usual upload time and since I''ve already edited all the August chapters I decided to put this together, sorry if it''s a bit terrible, it was spontaneous and rushed :/ Think of it as a smaller and terrible version of the side stories on my pa.treon. Enjoy! Discord: https://discord.gg/K7f8qGpvuk pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- Sitting on the balcony of their rented beach house Kiku and Corazon are having breakfast, while the currently nine-year-old Law is more upied staring at the neighbors. "Hey finish your breakfast first," Kiku says, causing him to return his focus to the table, rolling her eyes at his eagerness. Perched only a dozen meters from the sandy shore in this remote part of Japan the beach house they rented was not very modest, but certainly served multiple purposes. A perfect weekend at the beach for a little surfing trip, rxing between Kiku''s big solo jobs, and Law''s first targets were their neighbors. It was perfect. "So you decided how you''re gonna take her out yet?" Corazon asks, taking a sip of his orange juice after finishing his breakfast. "Yeah," Law says to his dad after swallowing a mouthful of scrambled eggs. "I''m gonna just find a spot up on a nearby hill and use mom''s rifle," he exins casually. Kiku and Corazon look at each other for a moment, then both break out inughter. "What''s wrong? That''s how we always do things," Law says. "Nothing son," Kiku says. "That''s how I always do things, my Quirk makes me a living arsenal, hence the name, but you''re a walking talking act of god, look around you, there''s certainly something here you can use, after all, the best hits and the ones that nobody knows is a hit," she nods toward the ocean. It takes a second and Law immediately smacks his forehead, hard enough to leave a red mark. "I didn''t think of that!" Corazonughs, "because you look up to your mom too much, take the lessons she taught you and understand why they work, then apply them in your own way, that''s what you''ve always done in the operating room after all, and you''re already ahead of me...of course it helps that your brain is a cheat sheet," his dad jokingly adds. "Jealous?" Law asks cheekily. "Literally everyone is," Corazon rolls his eyes. "But the point is you need to get your own operating style." "Exactly," Kiku adds. "You can take everything we teach you to apletely different level, just gotta stop being us and start being you, and it''ll always be enough." "Yeah, you''re right," Law turns in his seat, seeing the ocean nearby, and the neighbors. A lovely Japanese couple with a picture-perfect family. But unfortunately, someone wanted to ruin it. Luckily it wasn''t his ce to judge, they were just names on a list after all, the first names on his list, he narrows his eyes at the woman as she ys with her kids on the beach. "I''ve got it," he says. "They always go in the water after lunch, it''ll be easy." "We''ll get packed up before then..." Kiku says, casually drinking her tea as their little vacationes to an end. Hours of beach funter they''re all ready to head back to Tokyo, with a long drive ahead of them. Sitting in the back of the jeep they rented for this trip Law is all packed and ready to go, his parents loading thest of their bags in the trunk and tieing the surfboards to the roof. He has his phone in his hands, his entire body tilting side to side as he ys a new racing game he installed. "Mmm," he hums along to the engine soundsing from his phone as both his parents get in the car, with his mom in the driver''s seat. "She in yet?" his mom asks. "Almost," Law says, not taking his eyes off the screen. His Quirk allows him to keep tabs on his target easily and with no indication that he''s doing anything. And a few minutester, "ok, she''s going in....shambles," he says. ---At the shore... While the Matanis were already at the road ready to leave Yua and her family were ying in the sand. The young couple, only thirty years old, and both their daughters, six and five years old respectively. She wears a simple blue bikini and sits in the sand with them, watching her husband help them make yet another sandcastle. Taking a look at the sparkling water in the mid-day sun she sighs and stands up, "I''m going in, anyoneing with me?" "Girls?" the man asks his daughter, earning headshakes from both of them. "Looks like we''re ying in the sand today, don''t go too far." "I know," she says, walking toward the ocean. He makes sure to keep an eye on the water, unknowingly watching his wife walk in for the veryst time. Walking into waist-high water Yua sinks down until up to her neck was submerged, feeling the gentle push and pull of the ocean rxing her body, eyes locked on the shore toward her family. She sees her husband and daughters wave, and she happily waves back, only twenty meters away from them. "Gah!" she takes a deep breath, and submerges her body entirely, disappearing beneath the surface to search for some sea shells. Looking down she sees a few in the fine sand, and the moment she reaches out to grab them. SHAMBLES! Her view suddenly shifts from fine sand near the shore, illuminated by the sunlight through only a meter of water. To dark and cold water, the shells are gone in exchange for massive rocks and kelp. "Ah!" she panics and screams at the sudden change, releasing the remaining air she had. Immediately looking up she sees the sun above, ten meters above her. Her eyes widen in horror as she puts all her energy into rushing to the surface. ''Nononononononoono!'' she screams over and over in her mind, desperate to get some air, to get back to her family. As her fingers just barely breach the surface, she feels air against her fingertips, freedom, life... SHAMBLES! "Ngh!" she suppresses her scream, suddenly feeling rocks against her back as she finds herself on the ocean floor again, restarting her journey. Desperately rushing back upward she doesn''t even notice the small rock sinking down, from the spot she had recently been in. ''NO! Please!'' she feels her throat burn as her body instinctively tries to breathe. "argh!" water floods her lungs, searing pain like swallowing red hot coals. She keeps fighting, working on pure adrenaline and primal instinct, and for the second time, she reaches the surface. SHAMBLES! "ngh...!" appearing on the ocean floor again she looks up, onest time. The light fades away as her body goes numb and cold. Her eyes stayed open, as if still desperately begging to live, to get onest breath, to see her family onest time. And she finally stops fighting, slowly floating with the current, as her family happily makes sand castles only a hundred meters away... A gruesome and confusing death, but everyone who investigated woulde to the same conclusion, a freak ident, swept away by the current and pulled under the water...no fault to anyone, just nature at work, a true tragedy... ---The Matanis... Looking up from his phone Law smiles, "it''s done, I did it!" "Never doubted you, clean efficient work, just like we taught you," his mom cheers him on, already driving away from the house. "Mhm, and you know, the first job is kind of a big deal," his dad turns around in the front seat to give Law a proud smile. "You know what that means?" "Katsudon!" they all yell at once, happy smiles all around. His dad reaches back and ruffles his hair, much to Law''s annoyance, "and since we expected this perfect sess, I even got us some special Wagyu steaks for burgers tomorrow." "Mmm," Law''s mouth starts to water at the thought, "I love you guys..." Kiku can''t help butugh, "don''t worry, we''ll always be here for you, no matter what, because we love you too..." Yet another happy family adventure for the Matanis, and one of the many jobs that would never be traced back to any of them. On the long drive back through rural forests, Law takes out his phone and ys on it until the battery dies, then takes a small nap, enjoying what he would see as an ideal childhood, with his perfect parents. The only people in the world who mattered to him, the only other people...who were truly perfect... END CHAPTER--- Nezu: You''ll be a great hero! pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene Chapter 20: (August 2114) Chapter 20: (August 2114) Discord: https://discord.gg/K7f8qGpvuk pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- The sun slowly begins to descend beyond the horizon, orange hues caught in the sparking ocean water. The eerily calm water barely ripples about in the bay. At the base of a small mountain only surrounded by trees and a single dirt road leading to the shore. Standing on a surfboard in the calm evening water, Law feels the gently shifting water rocking him side to side. Wearing only a pair of blue shorts his messy hair sticks to his head as he focuses. ROOM He creates thergest ROOM he can, extending a thousand meters in every direction. SCAN He''s assaulted by an influx of information in a sh. Everything from the beach and forests a hundred meters behind him to all the nts and animals further ind, as well as all the fish for a thousand meters in front of him. This secluded beach is the perfect ce for him to train between clients on this ind. Eyes closed he has both hands on the hilt of his new weapon. A katana, not his preferred de but one that would send the message he wanted to convey to the world. The weapon was a carbon fiber and tungsten mixture, specially made by Power Loader. The metal itself was white, even the de. The hilt and scabbard were the exact same, both with small ents of blue, and his smiley face logo with its checkered teeth along both this hilt and scabbard. The guard was small and also white with a blue edge. AMPUTATE He shes downward. The ocean splits before him, a thin devision of only an inch, not enough to disturb the water much before it merges back. His board gently rocks, slightly shaking his concentration. Therger the ROOM the more energy it would take to both open and maintain, and the more concentration it requires to keep it active. Law wipes a bead of sweat from his face, during all his traveling he took any chance he could get to find a proper training spot. ''Training with mom was one thing, that was all about assassinations, but ces like these are the best---'' AMPUTATE! Another thin division in the water before it instantly reforms. ''Heroes are always fighting in public---'' AMPUTATE! Another division, this time the board rocks and his concentration falters. His eyes snap open before closing shut again. In that split second his ROOM shrinks hundreds of meters. He takes a deep breath and pushes himself, opening it fully once more. AMPUTATE! Another sh before the water merges with itself. A straight line of dirt begins rising to the surface. The result of dozens of shes carving out a thousand meters through the ocean floor and bedrock, releasing stone and dirt into the water. ''Heroes fight in public, so I can be loud. And I''ll need to be able to handle anything, everything---'' AMPUTATE! He practices for another hour until... "Gah!" Law drops to one knee as his ROOM shrinks to only a few meters. "Alright, that''s enough for today, shambles." For a brief instant, his ROOM forcibly expands to reach the shore before he disappears, substituted with a clump of sand. He drops his surfboard on the sand and sheathes his de. He moved to sit in the sand and enjoy a refreshing bottle of water. Leaning against his cooler he takes a minute to catch his breath before opening another ROOM, his phone appears in his hand, warping from his jeep parked only a dozen meters away on the dirt road leading to this beach. Opening his phone he begins scrolling through his notifications. "Hmm, construction began, nice," he muses. His new home was finally under construction. "Now all I need is a ce in Musutafu to park so people don''t see Horizon driving the same cars as Law Matani, hopefully I get somewhere close to UA..." he continues scrolling. As he''s about to start searching for ces in Musutafu to buy his phone begins ringing. "Did you forget you already checked in on me today?" he asks. "This isn''t about that," Nezu says. "I may need you to return to Japan before next year, at least for a few days to visit." Law stiffens at that, "what happened?" "Nothing if I can help it," Nezu says. "Some powerful people are lobbying for your parents'' execution. People with a lot of sway from abroad and within Japan." "We expected that," Law says. "They''ve got a lot of enemies, but you said you could keep them alive, can you?" "Of course!" Nezu insists. "I may simply need to take drastic measures to keep them hidden, if ites to that then nobody will be able to get in touch with them for a long time, so I''ll try to arrange for you to speak to them." "I thought you said that''s impossible." "I will make it happen, I promise," Nezu says. "I''ll likely have to pull a lot of strings and use much of the favors I have, but I''ll make it happen, don''t worry." Law leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees, and holds his head, "right, not like I''ve got much of a choice, just keep me in the loop on this please." "Of course, I''ve already got some people taking care of things. You just keep doing what you''re doing, which, by the looks of it, you went surfing right afternding?" Nezu asks. "You found the Horizon social media ount?" Law chuckles. "I''m surprised you even made one." "It''s all about brand image, when I really go public during the sports festival I need something to feed the media, it''s hard to cheer for a ghost after all." "I see..." "Just curious, how strict is UA''s no scouting policy?" Law asks. "Extremely, no exception has been made, ever...aside from you." "Could you handle the bacsh if that got out?" Law asks, a calcting look on his face. "Hmm, if the person that was revealed proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that not scouting them would have been a terrible decision, otherwise it could look bad," he exins. "Ahh, then it''s a good thing I''m perfect huh." "Just think very carefully before you make such a decision, I can''t stop you from announcing that part of our contract, but I also have an image to uphold." "Don''t worry I''ll keep it pristine, but right now I need to go get food and prepare for surgery in the morning, then I''m off to Italy." "Italy? Again?" "Yeah," Law groans. "Just when I thought I did everything cool there---" "Including your maid." Law shrugs, "when in Rome?" "You were in Mn, and I recall you did the same thing in Paris." "French maid, c''mon who hasn''t thought about that," he scoffs. "Do you ever tell any one of these women that you''re fifteen?" "Mmm," Law thinks about it for a moment. "Ya know, between me being six-two, muscr, good looking, and rich, it neveres up." Nezu sighs, "thankfully Horizon has nothing to do with the extravagant yboy Law Matani, you''ve really gotten the hang of this dual identity life." "Honestly, warping makes it a lot easier. They stay in separate hotels within my range so they never even cross paths or go to the same ces, pretty easy when you can pull that off." "I assumed as much," Nezu says. "And how are you enjoying the new sword? Training in Hawaii with it must be fun." "It''s perfect, I just need a bit more time to get used to the curve of the de, aiming is a bit odd," Law says. "Ahh, that other ability you refuse to exin." "That''s the one," he chuckles. "You know you can''t keep them all hidden forever, right?" "Obviously," Law says. "But...I just feel morefortable keeping them to myself, it''s how I was trained and raised. Never reveal your hand until everyone else is dead. But when I''m in UA I can start to open up more, at that point you''ll have a real stake in the game, and it''ll really get people itching to recruit me after the sports festival." "That...is very concerning. And I''m d you''re already nning for your bid debut." "Yeah well... let''s just say if I did reveal my hand when I shed with Hawks things would have gone very differently, far from the only mistake I made that day..." An awkward pause settles between both of them before Nezu breaks the silence, "so, Rome again?" "Right," Law shakes his head, focusing back on the conversation. "Some sinner needs me to undo a divine punishment, and I''m charging him a lot more and making it somewhat public as the cost, you''ll see it on Horizon''s profile page, when it goes fully public," Law gives a heartyugh at that. "Sinner...is it who I think it is?" Nezu asks, a tinge of worry in his voice. "You''ve got a dozen supeputers for a brain, so I''m betting it is." "My god," Nezu mutters. "That''s exactly what he''ll be saying, I''ll be his new god..." END CHAPTER--- pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene Chapter 21: (Blasphemy) Chapter 21: (sphemy) Discord: https://discord.gg/K7f8qGpvuk pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "Wow," Horizon mutters in genuine awe, staring up at the twenty-meter-high ceilings. Marble floor, massive tiles lined with gold and tinum that lead up the wall and to the ceilings. A massive mural of angels bringing divine light down from the heavens as if they were here to save him. He walks carefully behind the Pope''s valet, taking in every possible detail, within the inner halls of the Pope''s personal atrium where he holds worship. "This sight never gets old," the valet says, an older gentleman with greying hair on his head. "Always so breathtaking." "Wealth without bound," Horizon says, wearing a brand new three-piece suit. White with a blue undershirt and ck vest, the jacket draped along his shoulders without his arms being in the sleeves. Attached to his shoulder themselves so they don''t fall. The sound of his steps faintly travels down the halls as he carries his medical bag at his side. "So this is what 2500 years of willing and unwilling collection from the masses will get you. I. Am. Impressed," he nods along. The valet casts an insulted nce back at Horizon, "this is what the faith of true believers gets you, doctor." "Right, the Vatican is filled with gold because of faith, sure..." Horizon shakes his head and silently follows behind the man. After a long and silent walk, they finally arrive at the sacred inner chamber of the pope. Opening the doors the Valet leads him into the massive chambers, lined with purple and gold silk. Each fixture appeared as if it would cost a small fortune, because it certainly would. The valet leads him to the bedside, and Pope Valentine greets him with a strained smile. His once vibrantplexion was now ashy and worn out. Skin hanging off his frame clearly showing all the weight he lost. "Pope Valentine," Law greets the man in perfect Italian, his father''s nativenguage. The pope looked somewhat surprised at this, "doctor Horizon," he nods weakly. "Thank you foring." Horizon turns to the valet, "you can go now everything from here is strictly between my patient and myself." The valet looks from Horizon to the pope, and receives a nod. "I''ll be outside sir," he nods and exits the room. As the door shuts behind him Law immediately opens a ROOM, a hundred meters in every direction around him he scans for cameras and recorders of any kind, finding none within the private chambers, but a group of guards moving to take positions outside. "Wow, lots of guards, not surprising," Horizon says as he moves to get a chair, cing it at pope Valentine''s bedside. "So, you read the special contract?" he asks casually. "You, are not what I expected," Valentine says. "I always heard you were so, strict." "Normally, yeah," Horizon shrugs, "but I find this funny." "You think my state, funny?" Valentine asks, not sure what he should be feeling, deciding to settle on confusion. "No, god no...oh, sorry," he says to the POPE. "But I do think it''s a bit ironic, you spend your life worshiping god and he puts a tumor in on your brainstem. And suddenly you, the man touted to have the most powerful healing Quirk of all time, is helpless, and dying." "I fail to see how my state is amusing to you," the pope says calmly. "Right, well, the custom contract I made for you says you get charged an absurd amount, which you''ve already paid -thank you for that by the way- and I get to take a picture with you when the operation is done and tell the world I saved your life. And you never get to tell anyone or thing what happened in here, right?" "Right," the Pope nods. "So, pope Valentine, what did you do for that miserable cunt in the sky to put a tumor in your skull?" Horizon asks. "I mean, normally he reserves his petty anger for the weak and helpless, he loves watching kids die, but you, his most devoted ve, why?" Valentine takes a deep breath as it all begins to fit together, "I see, you''re a non-believer." "Eh," Horizon shrugs. "Even if I did believe, anyone can tell your church is a business, and besides, you should be thanking that asshole in the sky I don''t believe in him, if I did, I would have let him have his way and just leave you to die." Pope Valentine''s face twitches, rage shing with serenity. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, focusing his thoughts, "what exactly is your point doctor, I do hope you intend to keep your end of the bargain up." Horizon chuckles, "oh don''t worry I''ll still save you, I never break my word. I just wanted you to know, you worship a vengeful petty bitch in the sky that turned around and put a tumor in your skull, and I''m the only one that can save you. I should be the one you convince billions of people to pray to so you can rob them. I...am the closest, you will ever get, to meet a god. I am your only hope of salvation, me, Horizon... I''m the only god you have..." his cold slightly mechanical voice says, sending a shiver down the pope''s spine. "Y-you..." the man mutters in disbelief and horror. "You''re a monster," he says in a quiet voice, all the authority he''d grown used to speaking with now gone. "No," Horizon stands up and opens his medical bag. "I''m a god, but of course you''d think I''m a monster, you''ve never been this close to one before..." ---20 Minutes Later... "Hngh," pope Valentine opens his eyes, feeling sleepy. Not weary and tired like his illness had caused, but simply sleepy. "What?" "Finally awake huh," Horizon says, already back in his chair beside the pope. "How long was I asleep?" the pope asks, not even realizing that he''d instinctively moved to sit up against his backboard. "Twenty minutes," Horizon shrugs. "Twenty minutes? But,the cancer?" "Gone," he points to the bedside table, the pope turns and freezes at what he sees, a small grape-sized ball of flesh in a cup. "Your god''s gift to you, perfectly preserved," he shakes his head. The pope stares at the tumor for a few minutes inplete silence, and as he does his body slightly glows as it bulks up to his regr body mass, no longer looking shriveled up. Now much more rotund. The power of the greatest healing Quirk ever, although the growlsing from pope Valentine''s stomach were another story. "Well, that didn''t take long," Horizon chuckles. "Time for our picture, don''t worry my ount is private until I''m ready to go public." The pope recedes into his mind as the next events happen. Lost in thought as Horizon guides him to stand for a few pictures,pletely zoning out and not listening to the doctor. "What was that?" the pope finally asks, snapping out of his daze. "I said my job here is done, contractplete, I''m leaving." "And if a new tumor emerges?" Valentine asks. Horizon shrugs, "the contract only covers one, I had to charge you more than anyone else for...moral reasons. The risk of undoing your god''s work after all," he chuckles. The pope sighs, already knowing it was no use engaging in this nonsense. "I understand, but may I ask one question?" "Of course," Horizon says. "Why did you never ask if I believe?" "That''s actually quite simple," he chuckles. "Why would I ever give a fuck about what you think, I just find this whole situation hrious." "Really?" "Yeah, and, I already know there is a god... I''m right here," he shrugs. The pope is once again shocked by the arrogance of one man, "you wish to be a god, is that your goal?" "No, that is what I am... but what I will be, is a hero." "Hero...wait a moment, you''re a child?" Horizon raises a finger to his visor in a shushing motion, "that''s a surprise for when I go public, let''s keep that between the three of us," he points upward, at heaven. The pope sighs and pats his shoulder, "son, I shall pray for you, for you to be a good person, and a hero." Horizon brushes his hand aside, "I''m perfect, and your prayers are useless, if they could work...you wouldn''t have needed me, save them for the sheep that follow you," he turns on his heel and begins walking away. As Horizon is walking away the pope only shakes his head and frowns, horizon waves back. "The next miracle I sell you costs double Valentine! And maybe consider putting a mural of me on one of these walls, it''d look better..." he says before exiting the room. As he leaves the pope makes the sign of the cross and says a not-so-short prayer, a futile effort to humble the ego of a walking miracle... END CHAPTER--- pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene Chapter 22: (Merry Christmas) Chapter 22: (Merry Christmas) Discord: https://discord.gg/K7f8qGpvuk pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- ---Japan, The Matani Estate... CLANG! The metal bar crashes down onto its resting ce above the weight bench. 440 pounds -200kg- of metal tes once againing to a rest. Law sits up from his spot on the bench and wipes the sweat from his face. Taking a deep breath he focuses for a moment then exhales, feeling his heart steady itself. In the past nine months since meeting Nezu, his life has changed so much, and now the dreaded day hase. He''d finally get to speak to them... He stands up and looks around his home gym, more like a minimercial gym, it even had a boxing ring. A wall of tinted ss windows shows the heavy snow falling outside, the gentle slope of his backyard hill covered in snow for a hundred meters before it cascades into the boardwalk separating hiswn from his private beach. Now risen to his full height the differences in him now and nine months ago are ringly obvious. Now standing at 192cm -6ft3.5- and more muscr. His much leaner physique was now gone in exchange for more muscle. Still perfectly defined and almost statuesque. Coming in at 190 pounds -86kg- with a head of messy ck hair and his cold white-blue eyes. His face was shavenpletely clean, but peeking out from his loose top, the most obvious standouts were his tattoos. As he turns off his music and cleans the sweat from the equipment he takes off his shirt to cool off, exposing his tattoos. A massive heart on his chest, covering much of his chest with the curved outline of a heart, the base of it as well as the two arches at the very top have tendrils extending out from them, three on each side. At the top they extend as if trying to go over his shoulder and onto his back, stopping in the middle of his shoulder. When the high arcs of each side of the heart meet they touch at the center of his chest connection to a checkered-teeth smiley face, Horizon''s logo. His shoulders have simr curvy hearts, concentric with a smaller identical heart within, his father''s symbol. Lower on his forearms is arge gear, his mother''s symbol, and within is a solid ck circle with spokesing out of it. Bits of a broken circle are attached to each of the six spokes. Lower down is the tattoo at the back of his hand, a solid ck circle with only four of the spokes protruding out, still holding bits of a broken circle on them. And finally the only non-symmetrical tattoo on his body, his knuckle tattoos. On his right hand, they spell ''GIVE'', while on the left hand is ''TAKE'', with only the thumb having no letters. Positioned in such a way that to read them he''d either have to hold his hands up like a surgeon having a nurse put on gloves for him, or more likely, he''d be giving you the middle finger. Perfect for the man who gives and takes both life and time from people. "Shambles," Law disappears from the gym and appears in his bedroom. Moving from the second to the third floor of his house, the floor which contains a few things, most notable his massive bedroom. With the connected private lounge, hot tub, bathroom, and office. After a warm shower he shuts off the water and runs a hand through his hair, not bothering to even use a towel he simply mutters "shambles," and appears in hisrge walk-in closet. The water on his body remained in the shower, allowing him to instantly dry off. With enough familiarity with an object, he could bring it to him without needing a substitution to make locking onto it or space easier. With enough familiarity with a location, he could warp around as he pleases. And he''d spend some time getting used to his new home. Getting dressed he pulled on a simple short-sleeved ck t-shirt, the same tattoo from his chest was printed on the front of the shirt in yellow. A pair of long ck pants, some simple dress shoes, and a long blue high cored coat. Leaving it open to show off the t-shirt, the coat also sports a print of his tattoo. The hearts on his shoulders are in yellow at the same spots. Everything Law Matani wears has his tattoos on it somewhere, and everything Horizon wears has Horizon''s logo printed on it. All done personally with the clothing press in his home. "Because branding is everything," Law mutters as he looks in the mirror. Putting two simple gold earrings in each ear, both sharing the earlobe, small enough to go almost unnoticed but enough to get someone''s attention if he wanted to. SHAMBLES He appears in his bedroom, seeing his body glove, sword, and visor,id out on the bed. Freshly cleaned, he sighs and moves to get his phone, keys, a simple ck and gold watch, and his wallet. After making a quick stop in the kitchen... SHAMBLES He appears in the only basement floor of this three-story house, his garage. Twenty-five cars, but he only ever really nned to use a few. Walking a few steps he arrives at a jet-ck two-door, four-seat, sports car, the same design from his chest on both its doors. A custom Pagani, made with the best 2114 tech a civilian can get. "Money well spent," he chuckles, sitting in the driver''s seat and starting the engine. The entire garage is drowned in a cacophony of noise for almost an entire second before it settles into a low grumble, still slightly echoing off the walls. Far too much power to be street legal in any country, but nothing a healthy donation to the police pension fund didn''t solve. ROOM Securing his protein shake he expands his room to 1500 meters and speeds up the ramp. He begins racing down his hundred-meter driveway to the first barrier. A tall ck metal fence formed a circle around his home, almost two hundred meters in radius. Already pushing nearly two hundred miles per hour -320kmph- by the time he''s a few feet from the still closed gate he smirks. SHAMBLES His car swaps ces with a few pieces of snow on the other side of the gate and he continues elerating. Out of the first barrier, he was suddenly driving down a road surrounded by forests. Large mountains in the distance just barely peaking over the trees. He slows down as the roads begin to wind, settling into a cruising speed as he takes out his phone. He idly scrolled through some options to order his breakfast. A few momentster and he arrives at the second barrier, a ten-meter tall metal barrier, and blocking the road is a solid ck gate which also had his logo in yellow metal at the center of it. The Matani Estate began here, then two kilometers in is the main house. And all of this is only twenty minutes from Musutafu. Following the only mountain road leading to his estate, empty as usual, he enters the city and switches his car into quiet mode to avoid waking up everyone too early. Before long he pulls up to a pizza shop, he can''t imagine they''re happy to be working on Christmas, but he also wanted pizza for breakfast. Shutting off his car he gets out and walks into the store, noticing that it waspletely empty, as expected. Approaching the register the man behind the counter gulps nervously. Appearing not much older than Law, no older than twenty. His eyes flicker up at Law, almost having to lean back to look at him properly, then they move over to the two small golden earrings in each ear, and finally down to Law''s hands, knuckle tattoos, not good news in his line of work. The man sighs, "seriously? It''s Christmas..." Law sighs even louder, "order for Matani? That''s me," he says tly. "Oh," the man looks away, "sorry I just---" "It''s fine, happens a lot, but maybe next time you think someone is here to hurt you at least prepare to defend yourself instead of waiting," he shakes his head in disappointment. "Right, thanks," the man moves to ce three medium pizzas on the counter. "That''ll be twenty-five dors." "Perfect," he takes out his wallet and drops a stack of hundreds on the counter, "Merry Christmas," he takes the boxes and leaves before the man can even process what just happened. Only driving a few blocks back the way he came Law pulls into an underground parking area, above it is a modest five-story building, nd and unassuming. The entire cepletely empty as he bought the entire building, converting the office space into a secondary living space for him, or more urately, for Horizon, if ever needed. Taking the elevator he enters the top floor suite, carrying a protein shake and his breakfast as he enters the living room. cing everything down on the coffee table he sits back and enjoys the view. On the other side of his wall of ss was still heavy snow falling from the sky. But only a few streets away was the foot of the road leading up to UA, the surrounding forest on the entire hill dusted white with snow. And he gets an unobstructed view of the entire thing from his fifth-floor vantage point. Taking off his coat and draping it on the back of the couch he takes a gulp of his protein shake before leaning forward. He opens one of the boxes, an extra cheesy Italian pizza greets him, steaming hot. "Mmm," Law grabs a slice with a napkin and takes out his phone. "I''m here," he says into the phone. "I''m just finishing up some work...but you do know we still have until one PM yes?" Nezu asks. "I rather not miss this," Law grumbles. "Just call when you''re done and I''ll bring you here." "I don''t like warping." "You''ll get over it..." ---4 Hours Later... Law is still sitting in his same spot, one less pizza -now just an empty box- and his protein shake already reced with a second one. He watches a fantasy movie on TV until his phone rings. Before it rings a second time he answers, "ready?" "Yeah I just got done here," Nezu says. ROOM Law extends his room all the way up the hill to UA''s main building. Five thousand meters up to Nezu''s office. SCAN Focusing on UA he doesn''t sense anyone but Nezu on campus. Opening his bottle he flicks a drop of water over to one of the single seats... SHAMBLES Nezu and the water droplet swap ces before it hits the couch. "Still annoying," Nezu says. Holding aptop in his arms. "That''s half the fun," Law says between quiet deep breaths, taking a sip of his shake as he closes his ROOM, the strain of maintaining such a massive ROOM eating away at his stamina. "So your Quirk does have a limit after all," Nezu says curiously. "Guess you aren''t as invincible as you im." "Tch, I''m actively trying to push my limits, but trust me, in a head-to-head fight, I won''t lose, not even against All Might." "Ohhhh," Nezu says dramatically. "Quite a bold statement, but I doubt warping and healing are enough to hurt the symbol of peace, perhaps one of the tricks you refuse to tell me about?" "You''ll have to wait and see," Law shrugs. A few minutester while Nezu is eating a slice of 5-cheese pizza, Law asks a curious question. "Do you always spend Christmas alone at UA, or is that just because of this?" "My work keeps me busy," Nezu says between bites. "So this is the usual huh." "Mhm, how do you normally spend it?" Nezu asks. "Well," Law thinks about it for a moment, deciding exactly how much to share. "Normally we have this little tradition, no matter where any of us are or what we''re doing, birthdays, christmans, and new years, we all get together and have Katsudon." "Katsudon?" "And a ss of whisky," Law shrugs. "So that''s where your bad habit came from." "Not a bad habit if alcohol doesn''t work on you." "Fair point, that sounds like a wonderful tradition, but one question---" "Why katsudon?" "Mhm." "It''s what they had on their first date." Nezu sighs and shakes his head, "do you know why we never expected you to be with Arsenal that day?" "Hmm, why?" "Because, every criminal psychologist we passed her file to came to one conclusion. A bloodthirsty psychopath incapable of caring, of feeling sympathy, of love..." Nezu freezes for a moment as he sees Law ring daggers at him, "BUT, we were wrong." Law''s gaze softens. "She does care, and love, for you, and your father. Maybe nothing even a step beyond that, but the fact that she cares shows we were wrong." Law nods, "I know how the world, and especially ces like America and Japan view viins, although Japan isn''t as brutal as America is on theirs, but I''m not gonna make any excuses. People make choices and if you can''t defend your choice or ept responsibility for it, then you shouldn''t have made it. We made ours, and now we''re paying for it, that''s all it is." "But you never really got a choice," Nezu says. "You''re still only fifteen, as aplished and mature as you are, you never really had a choice." Law scoffs, "tell that to Chrome, or Mind-Binder, or Shifter. I could have just stayed in the clinic with dad but I chose to be an adventurer like my mom too, I made that choice, and I led us here, to ruin..." "Adventurer?" "Not hero or viin, we just do whatever we want, hurting and saving people isn''t even considered in our lives, the most pure way to live," he says with a bit of reverence for the idea. "Like the ocean." "The ocean?" Nezu was even more confused now. "Taking and giving life without bias or personal attachment, too powerful for anyone to really stop it from doing whatever its wants. It''s perfection." "Why the ocean, of all the things that meet that example, why that?" Nezu asks, still wanting to learn more. "It''s where my mom began. Nearly drowned, got pulled into a current when she was a little girl, she managed to get onto a rock to survive, barely, but it taught her." "Taught her what?" "That the weak don''t get to decide anything, not even how they die," Law looks toward Nezu and smiles, "but the strong, we can do whatever we want...." BEEP BEEP BEEP! Nezu checks his phone before opening hisptop and cing it on the coffee table. "Tartarus is starting the video feed in a few minutes, get ready." "Yeah, I''ll be ready...time to say hi to my parents..." END CHAPTER--- pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene Chapter 23: (Toxic Matanis) Chapter 23: (Toxic Matanis) Discord: https://discord.gg/K7f8qGpvuk pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- Law leans back into the couch with his arms spread across the backrest as he nervously taps his foot. Feeling his heartbeat in his ears, staring at the ck screen on theptop as it connects to Tartarus. He nces to the left to see Nezu sitting quietly waiting for the connection to be established. "I can''t believe this is happening," Law mutters quietly. "I expected that the next time I see them would be when I get them out..." Nezu nods, "I know that''s what you expected, but with more and more international pressure demanding their executions we have to move them into isted confinement for a while, at least until the next big story overshadows them... this is the only chance you''ll have until you get them out." Law runs a hand through his hair, "thanks." "It''s the very least I could do, although getting a connection through Tartarus was difficult, even I didn''t have enough leverage for it to happen alone, thankfully All Might is a UA alumnus," Nezu says. "All Might? Did you---" "No," Nezu waves off his concern. "He trusts me enough to allow me to use his name without asking questions. And I sent Naomasa ahead to inform them not to say any names on the call, the camera in theptop also isn''t working, you''ll be able to see them but they can''t see you." "How much did he tell them?" "Only that they''ll get to speak to you without revealing your identity or connection, what you decide to speak about will only be known to yourselves and me, even the Tartarus guards won''t be able to hear you..." "Right," Law sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes to focus his mind. "Just a few minutes to unpack all the things that happened...no big deal," he says bitterly. BEEP BEEP BEEP! Before he can even focus the screen goes live, split down the middle, the left showing his mother and the right his father. His heart drops at the sight, a sickening feeling permeates his body as he stares at the screen for a few moments. To the left is his mother, strapped and chained to a metal cross with her limbs spread out, stuck upright with her body wrapped in white durable metal mesh fabric, and tubes flowing into the floor from in her wrapping, likely for waste. All to avoid her using her Quirk. Her long ck hair seems to blend and merge perfectly with the sleek grey metal cross holding her. Taking a closer look he sees the division between flesh and metal is non-existent, it was as if the cross was attached to her very skin. As he feels his rage bubbling up he looks at his father, the man was in a much different cell. While his mother was bound to a cross in her empty cell, his father had much more rxed amodations. The man sits on a metal chair, a metal table in one corner of his cell while a small single bed was neatly made in the other, wearing a white jumpsuit. What Law noticed however was a metal cord connecting to his left wrist, it didn''t take a genius to assume that it was also fused to him like Kiku''s cross. ''They basically merged them with Tartarus, since I can''t warp only part of an object I can''t just grab them out of their cell unless I can move the whole prison...and they probably have imnts that explode if I do move them,'' he scowls at the screen. Taking in the forlorn look of both his parents Law speaks up, "hi mom, dad..." They both suddenly burst with excitement at his voice, "Son!" they yell in unison, both equally surprised to hear each other''s voice, the entire family on this three-way call. "Have you been ok?" His father asks. "I should be asking you two that," Law frowns. "I''m sorry things went like this. I---" "It''s not your fault," his mother cuts him off sharply. "We trained you to do exactly what you did, and you performed perfectly." "But---" "She''s right son," his dad cuts in. "You can''t me yourself for this, you did everything right, but sometimes that doesn''t mean you win, that''s just life. We''re just d you''re not in here with us," the man chuckles, he actually manages to chuckle in this situation. The sound of hisugh surprises Law, bringing back memories of old. "So what have you been up to?" Kiku asks, "how did you manage this call into Tartarus of all ces?" Law takes a deep breath and gets right into it, without mentioning the specifics he exins everything, and their faces shift from curiosity toplete disappointment. "---And when I''ve done enough then I can get you guys out on some special conditions, then we''ll all be back together again," he says with a hopeful tune in his voice, for the first time he sounds like what Nezu would expect a fifteen-year-old to be like. That youthful vigor of hope that he always tries to nurture in his students. As expected it onlyes out when he speaks of or to his family. Dead silence fills the air as both his parents take in exactly what they just heard, and in one voice they speak in unison. "No." "What? What do you mean ''no,'' what''s wrong?" Law asks. "This isn''t right," Kiku says. "You got out fine, and now you''re giving up this chance at a new life, to be truly free, for us...no." "We chose the lives we did," his father says. "Now you get to start a new one, why waste so much of it chasing after the past?" "But I...no...this is how we get back together," Law argues, "this is how I fix it, how I make our family whole!" "You sound so fucking pathetic," Kiku spits out the words harshly. Nezu almost falls off his seat in shock. "We taught you better than this!" "Apparently not enough," Corazon agrees. "We don''t bow to anyone," Kiku says. "We do whatever the hell we want, because we''re adventurers. And we certainly don''t y that stupid hero-viin game, we''re above that." "And we especially don''t do things we don''t enjoy," Corazon adds. "You''ll hate every moment you spend risking your life and wasting your time to save those useless people who can''t fend for themselves, people who always need some wannabe heroing to hold their hand just to cross the street. You''re too good to be spending time on people like that." "But I''m not doing this for them!" Law argues. "I''m doing this because I want you two back. I just need to save enough people." "You need to follow your training!" Kiku yells. "Did you forget what the fuck I taught you?! Always talk only to the man in charge, and if he has leverage on you, get rid of it, so why haven''t you gotten rid of it?!" "..." Law sits back and just stares at the screen, he knew this is what he was supposed to do, but he just couldn''t bring himself to do it. "Because you''re my parents..." he says in a quiet voice. "Yes," Corazon agrees. "And parents exist to help their children, to nurture them and build them up. We''ve done that perfectly, you''re perfect son. You''re more than we could each ever be, you''ve taken everything we taught you to heights we could never have dreamed of, you''re a god, and now we''re holding you back from living the life you want." "Let us go," Kiku says. "Just let us go and they won''t have any leverage, then you can really do whatever you want, and nobody in this world can even hope to stop you." "But...but, you''ll die," Law says in a quiet desperate voice. "And you''ll be truly free," Kiku says, and both of them nod. "You''re a perfect god, and we''ve clearly outlived our usefulness, it''s time for you to show the world what you''re really about, and do it all your way." Nezu nervously fidgets about, not at all expecting this turn of events, and now slightly unsure of how things would go. A tense silence befalls the trio as Law leans back and considers his options. "You''re right," he says, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees, fingers knitted together under his chin. "I am a god, you trained me to be perfect and peerless, and I am. You''ve both outlived your usefulness to me." Both his parents smile at that, at the prospect of their son being truly free. "But," Law says. "Since I can do whatever I want, that means I can save you... because all I want is for us to be whole again, and to fix my mistake. So I''m going to y this game out,plete this contract, and save both of you, you''ll see." Corazon shakes his head sadly, but with a small smile on his lips. Kiku scowls, "you really are a fucking disappointment," she curses. And after a tense moment she cracks a wide smile, " but I also couldn''t be prouder, deciding your own path and not letting anyone stop you, not even us, that''s exactly the kind of person you''re meant to be son. Just do us one favor." "Anything." "Show them why you''re the best, peerless, a god. If you''re gonna y the hero-viin game, then crush everyone and everything that tries topete with you, alright." "Of course, that was always the n," Law chuckles. "We really couldn''t have asked for or raised a better son," Corazon admits. "Don''t let what happened to us distract you anymore, and remember, we love you, no matter what." "Yes, no matter what, we love you, always," Kiku says. "I love you too," Law says. "And I promise I''ll get you out of there, and then we''ll never have to worry about anything else again." Kiku chuckles, "in that case, we can''t wait to see what you''ll have be by that time, we''re counting on you." "I''ll be on top of the world, I promise." "We don''t doubt that one bit," Corazon says. "That''s where you''ve always been meant to be, we''ll see you then." "Yeah...I love you two..." Law says as the connection cuts off. As the screen shuts off Law leans back, head tilted back on the soft couch to stare up at the ceiling. Taking a deep breath he suddenly feels mentally and emotionally exhausted. To his left Nezu is breathing a sigh of relief, the conversation ended how he expected, but the road to get there was certainly filled with surprises. But at least now he''s seen firsthand where Law inherited his thought process. Nezu checks his phone then sets it aside, "they''re already moving them down to level-5 of Tartarus, down there on the deepest floor it''s inevitable the world forgets about them, we just need to wait for the international pressure to settle down." "Right..." Law sighs and gets up, opening a massive ROOM reaching 5km in every direction, enough to cover UA''s main building. Feeling it straining his energy he doesn''t let it show at all, the perfect facade of effortless power. "With that out of the way I need to get back on my routine, and I''ll need to go to Monaco to check the modifications on the new Megayacht." "Oh... And perhaps visit that Nami girl you were running around with a few months ago in Monaco?" "I prefer new shiny things," Law shrugs. "I just need to get as many miracles under my belt before UA, when Horizon goes public during the sports festival the higher the number the better it looks." "And how many have you done thus far?" Nezu asks. "Only eighty-seven." Nezu''s supeputer brain instantly does the math, "with a fifty million minimum bid that''s at least 4.3 billion, not bad for nine months of work at 15." "Yeah, nothingpared to you, but thankfully I don''t have most of my money wrapped up in UA and otherpanies, so I have more spending power than pretty much anyone else." "The joys of working in cash," Nezu muses. "Well, you can send me back to my office now, I''ll contact you if needed, aside from my usual calls." "Gotcha, see ya," Law snaps his fingers. SHAMBLES Nezu disappears from his seat, swapped with a single pen from in his office. Closing the ROOM, Law takes a deep breath and wipes a hand down his face, feeling the emotions hammering away at him. "C''mon," he says to himself. "You''re perfect, let''s just get the job done, just three months left until UA, time to make the most of it..." END CHAPTER--- UA starts the next chapter, expectations? pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene Chapter 24: (First Day At UA) Chapter 24: (First Day At UA) Discord: https://discord.gg/K7f8qGpvuk pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- ---April 7th, 2115, Matani Estate... "So are you excited for your first day?" Nezu''s cheery voice asks, excitedly waving to Law through the video on his phone. Law just sighs, silently cleans up his kitchen after making his protein shake, and grabs it as well as his phone. "It''s too early for you to be this excited," he grumbles. Nezu can''t help but shake his head as Law''s bare upper bodyes into view, all the tattoos exposed for him to see. "It''s your first day of school, the first day in a ce where you can use your Quirk without having to hide, you should be excited too." SHAMBLES Law appears in his bedroom and sets the phone down on the dresser. Wearing only a pair of shorts he walks over to his bed and sighs, then looks out to the sun already hanging above the ocean. "So early, is Yagi even there yet?" he asks. SHAMBLES His white body glove appears on his body, already covered by his UA uniform,grey zer with green pants, long red tie, and a white shirt beneath. A single button on each shoulder to indicate he''s in the Hero Course. In addition, he has a white Rolex on his left wrist and a pair of white dress shoes on his feet. The visor is already on his head, his voice now bes slightly more mechanical. "He''s on his way," Nezu says, seeing Horizon turn away from the camera and walk across the room. On the back of his grey UA zer, he sees Horizon''s logo. "Did you really have to put that on the uniform?" he scoffs. Shaking his head at the sight of Horizon''s logo printed in the same UA green on the back of the uniform. "Would you believe it helps with my Quirk?" "No." "Oh well," Horizon shrugs as he gets to the other side of the room. Reaching his table to pick up a katana, safely stored within the white scabbard decorated with Horizon''s blue smiley face logo is a 120cm -4ft- long white de, the guard is square with blue ents and connects to the 25cm -10in- hilt, which is also white with blue ents. Overall, his sword from the tip of the de to the end of its hilt, is one inch shorter than Tsuyu Asui. Picking up the sword he also grabs the briefcase-like metal case that was resting beside it, previously silver with ''19'' on it, but now repainted in white with his logo in blue on both sides. "Do you really have to put your logo on everything?" Nezu asks. "Branding is important." "I sent you your hero gear early for you to ''get used to it'' -and you still haven''t told me what that''s supposed to mean by the way-, not for you to deface UA property." "It''s not like anyone else is gonna be using my stuff," Horizon says as the hero gear disappears and the view suddenly swaps to his office. As he grabs a fresh ring binder notebook and pencil case, both also with his logo, Nezu sighs. "How do you even do this, is there anything you didn''t add it to." "No. Is this really gonna be a problem?" "Mmm, just try to only put it on things that are yours, meaning no more UA property." "Done," Horizon says as the view once again changes, this time Nezu recognizes the inside of his car. "Just gotta get this off..." he mutters before removing his visor. "Can''t let people see Horizon driving Law''s car after all..." While Horizon secures everything in the back seat Nezu can''t help but make a suggestion, "you know if you went for the copsable sword design we rmended this would be a lot easier." "And it would also be weaker, plus I needed the extra length in case I ever have to get too close to a power type or something, I''m tall, I might as well use it to my advantage." "And did everything else meet your standards?" "Yeah, looks good too." "Have you considered one of the more heroic designs I sent you, perhaps one with the giant scalpel for a sword?" Nezu asks. "Oh fuck no, I''m not some gimmicky hero, sleek efficiency, that''s part of the image," Law starts his car and begins driving. "I suppose your outfit does better fit your image, I''ll set out a spot for you to warp to, Toshinori has almost arrived..." Nezu hangs up, letting Law enjoy the short drive to UA in peace... ---15 Minutes Later... Law sits in his car and carefully puts on his visor, already parked in the garage of his Musutafu building. "ROOM," his perception expands, the few thousand meters between him and Nezu''s office are covered. He focuses on Nezu''s office and notices a single leaf, likely from one of the nts in the room, resting on the couch. "Shambles," he appears on the couch, sittingfortably in his uniform. In front of him is a coffee table, on the other side is an identical ck couch. To his right is Nezu''s desk with the principal sorting out some paperwork, a cab along the wall to the side of the room with a teamaking station, and a massive ss pane behind Nezu, looking out as Musutafu. "I can foresee that many people won''t appreciate your warping around campus," Nezu says without even looking up at him. "They''ll get over it," Horizon says. He raises a hand and snaps his finger, the katana and metal case appear on the couch beside him. With him getting more attuned to them he can freely summon them to his location once they''re within his room, but this is the extent of his control thus far. He closes his massive ROOM and opens a smaller one. ''SCAN,'' he gets an entire 3D map of the main building, four fifteen-story buildings connected by walkways halfway up and at the base, making a massive square shape. Four pirs supporting the future of all its students. He can ''see'' everyone moving about, all he gets are vague forms. As if they were all in ck and white with nk features, simple 3D outlines. With more dedicated focus he could hone in on singrponents, effectively if he were more perverse...or simply someone who wasn''t a doctor that was used to seeing people naked. He could peer past their clothes once it isn''t melded to their body and get a true outline of them. Looking around campus he could only see less than a third of the people he expected, not surprising since it was only 7:20 am, but he focused in on the cafeteria especially. ''I need to get used to this campus as quickly as possible so I can warp around, get ahead of all the lines Lunch Rush must always have, a cafeteria run by a pro chef hero must be good...'' he muses to himself as Nezu finishes up his paperwork. "Yagi is in the elevator," Horizon says. "He just got off the phone..." Nezu puts hispleted paperwork to the side and hops down from his chair, nearly disappearing behind his desk if not for his ears, casually walking over to his tea station. "Tea?" "I''m good," Horizon lifts his protein shake. "Ahh," Nezu begins making two cups of tea. "So will you ever tell me how that whole ''sensing people through walls'' ability works?" "That one, probably not," Horizon opens the base of his visor to take a drink of his shake. "But I''ll reveal some of my abilities during the sports festival." "Really? I recall you saying that information is power, I''m surprised you''d be willing to do such a thing," Nezu moves to sit on the couch opposite Horizon, two teacups in his paws. "It is, but I realized that I''m a rare case where knowing what my Quirk is will act as a deterrent, it''s like if you know someone has super strength you would work around it. But if you know someone is invincible you''d just avoid them entirely. Plus it helps that even if someone knows what my Quirk is, it''s indefensible," he shrugs. "I see," Nezu scampers up to take a seat on the couch, then takes a sip of his tea. "Well healing is one thing, but Warp is certainly one that no viin will be rushing to challenge, certainly not your type of instant warping. I haven''t revealed your abilities to anyone, not even your homeroom teacher. In fact, only detective Naomasa and I know that you can both Warp and Heal, even Yagi only knows about the healing." "Any particr reason?" "Your homeroom teacher, Eraserhead, he disagrees with me allowing you into the school without taking one of the entrance exams, but he trusts me enough to not question it...at least not anymore. He said he doesn''t care what Quirk registration forms say, only how you apply it, although Hand of God is left nk in the description section, that made him curious." "Right, his Quirk erases other Quirks, but he needs to see part of me that is still connected to me," Horizon raises his gloved hand. "My body glove prevents me from being influenced by his Quirk, but you already knew that since you always nned to pair me with him, so why allow it?" Nezu takes another sip of his tea then rests the cup on the table, "I trust you enough not to do anything drastic and get expelled, you''re a man of integrity, and you have too much to lose." Horizon nods and just leans back into the couch, taking another sip of his drink. "Good assessment," he looks at the door, e in!" CLICK The door opens and Yagi shyly peeks inside, "just as I was about to knock," he says while entering and closing it behind him. Wearing a simple ck suit a few sizes too big for him. "Good morning Horizon, principal Nezu," he sits beside Nezu, directly opposite Horizon''s gear. "Nice sword." "Thanks, how are you feeling?" "Much better," Yagi takes his cup of tea. "I honestly didn''t realize how much I missed solid food." "Have you been sticking to the diet?" Horizon asks in a near-threatening growl. "Of course! And I''ve been taking the vitamins you prescribed, I haven''t strayed once from them I promise." Horizon shrugs, "well it''s your life, end it if you want, now can we get this over with, I wanna go walk around campus. Are students allowed on the roof?" "No," Nezu immediately says. "Uh-huh, sure..." Horizon says with amusement in his voice, chuckling at the exasperated sigh Nezu gives him. "Just try not to cause too much trouble please." "Of course principal, now let''s get this over with, you know the drill," Horizon leans forward and extends a hand to Yagi, noticing that the man was slightly less skeletal than when they met a year ago. "Actually there is something else I''d like your opinion on before that," Nezu says. Horizon leans back and looks at him, "only Yagi is in my contract, I''m not Recovery Girl, I''m not healing everything you point me at..." "Nothing like that," Nezu waves his hands around dramatically. He then reaches into his vest and pulls out a remote. With a click, a hologram appears to hover above to coffee table. In it is a massive robot and what looks to be a girl with brown hair trapped under some rubble. The focus of the image is a green-haired boy in a tracksuit who looks to be running toward the robot while everyone else runs away. "What is this, a picture from the entrance exam?" "A video," Nezu says. "What happens next can potentially reflect poorly on UA, I''d like your analysis of his Quirk. His name is Izuku, and he''s about to destroy that Zero-pointer robot." "Why me?" Yagi raises a hand slightly, "principal Nezu has touted your analytical abilities when ites to Quirks as second to none, this is a chance for you to prove it." "I am second to none," Horizon insists. "Doesn''t mean I do charity, my minimum bid is 50 million for a reason, just give me the remote." Nezu tosses the remote and he casually catches it,ying back and ying the video. In the video Izuku runs forward a few steps before crouching down slightly, then his right arm and both legs buckle and strain unnaturally as the road beneath his feet cracks. Horizon pauses the video. "I''ve seen enough," he tosses the remote back to Nezu. "What?" Yagi asks, shocked and somewhat disappointed at how quickly the video was dismissed. "Let me guess," Horizon leans forward and pokes the hologram with two fingers, zooming in on Izuku''s feet. "Since the floor beneath him cracked so easily while his body didn''t naturally position itself to handle the impact, either he isn''t used to fighting or for some reason has never bothered to train his Quirk beforeing to this exam. Then considering the angles his legs are about to be strained at I''m guessing he breaks them, and his arm since he looks to be gearing up for a strong right, worse form than a rookie but it''s still a punch. Then he breaks his arm and falls to his death because he''s worthless trash, right?" Nezu and Yagi look at each other in amazement before awkwardly turning back to Horizon. "Someone caught him thankfully," Yagi says. Horizon ys the video and it happens exactly like he expected, aside from Izuku being caught. "Your analysis is truly incredible..." he says in awe. "Honestly I''m more surprised mister ''12 supeputers for a brain'' even needed help," Horizon chuckles and nods toward Nezu, taking a final sip of his shake. "My aptitude is almost entirely in logistics, the inner workings of Quirks is an entirely different situation," Nezu says. "Thankfully we have you, and you''re incredible both." "Is there anything you''d rmend for this boy?" Yagi asks, trying and failing to hide his excitement at the thought of Izuku having someone who can solve his problem with One For All. "Yeah, go do something where he doesn''t need his quirk," Horizon shakes his head at the video. "Can''t believe someone as pathetic as that actually had the balls to take the exam, honestly it''s so reckless and irresponsible that it''s almost impressive, but assuming by some miracle he doesn''t die the next time he does that, likely by identally sending power upward and breaking his own neck or spine, he''ll end up a cripple after a few more of those hits," he shrugs. "Recovery Girl is good but she makes the body functional, she can''tpletely undo damage to nerves, bones, and tissue, that''s all me. He''s just lucky his joints didn''t break this time." Yagi nearly throws up at those words, Nezu gives him a small pat on the leg to help him keep focused. He kneads the fabric of his pants and looks across to Horizon. "And how would you rmend he gets that power under control?" "Oh god," Horizon looks at Nezu, "please tell me you didn''t actually ept this useless fuck!" "We did." Horizon groans, "and is it in my ss?" "HE, is." Horizon throws his head back and groans even louder, "you promised mepetition and now give me a fucking cripple, what a disappointment." "You know in any other school you''d be punished for that kind ofnguage," Nezu says. "Your lucky our Hero Course students are expected to deal with that kind of behavior, the public won''t hold back with their words so we can use you to prepare them for that." "I don''t care about helping you train heroes," Horizon says. He points at Izuku on the screen, "and I''m not here to be a teacher. His problems are his level of mastery with the power flow, distribution, and regtion, and he''s clearly a moron for going this long in his life without solving that. Figured ten years of having a Quirk you''d stop hurting yourself, he must be a special kind of dumbass." "What do you mean by that exactly?" Yagi asks, hoping to get some insight into what his protoge needs. Horizon just shrugs, "that''s all you''re getting. I don''t help self-harming garbage, especially not for free." "Bu---" Yagi is about tounch into a speech when Nezu rests a paw on his leg, already knowing this would only escte, as has many conversations between him and Horizon this past year. "How about we get to why we''re here," Nezu suggests, getting a nod from both men. "Alright, just take my hand," Horizon reaches over the table. Yagi nods and takes his hand, and Horizon immediately begins scanning him. After a few seconds, Yagi lets go, but Horizon tightens his hold, "Hmmm, that''s odd..." he mutters Quietly, visor staring directly at Yagi''s chest. "It''s as if your Quirk is suddenly gone---" Both Nezu and Yagi stiffen at that, not liking where this is going, Yagi tries to yank his hand away only for Horizon''s free hand to also hold onto it. Horizon shakes his head muttering under his breath, "that''s impossible...Quirks can''t just...what..." he keeps scanning over and over for a few more seconds before looking at Yagi. "What happened to your Quirk?" he asks in a strange voice, both menacing and curious. All while constantly pouring more and more of his energy into scanning Yagi. Over and over, still unable to believe or make sense of what he was sensing in each cell. "I-I don''t know what you''re talking about..." Yagi tries to lie and fails miserably. "Tch, even if that was a convincing lie," Horizon raises his hands, still holding Yagi''s one massive right hand, "while I''m touching someone I act as a polygraph, something I developed after meeting the detective...so, be honest this time, what happened to your Quirk?" END CHAPTER--- Wow what a way to start the weekend, see ya''ll Monday :) pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene Chapter 25: (Unprecedented) Chapter 25: (Unprecedented) Discord: https://discord.gg/K7f8qGpvuk pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "So, be honest this time, what happened to your Quirk?" Yagi and Nezu both froze at those words, Nezu''s mind racing to solve this problem without starting a fight, while Yagi still had Horizon''s hand holding his right hand. Staring into the two blue eyes of Horizon''s visor. He felt a shiver run down his spine, all the hairs at the back of his neck standing on end. This sickening feeling, the sudden change in atmosphere. From a crude but necessary doctor to such an imminent threat. Yagi was astonished, but as All Might he''s faced worse. And as his bright blue pupils stare right back at Horizon, just as when he faced of against the symbol of evil and the countless viins in his life, his eyes never blink. Conviction and hope keep them bright and as unflinching as ever. "My Quirk was unique," Yagi said. "Unique how?" "It allowed the user to get rid of it, allowing me topletely rid myself of it, as you''ve detected." "Hmm, I''m not detecting a lie...but this...Quirks are part of us, part of our DNA, this doesn''t make sense, it''s hard to believe," Horizon says in a low, nearly threatening voice. "I know," Yagi sighs. "But this is the truth, I got rid of it when I realized that it was time for me to let go, for me to stop clinging to the past and focus on the future, when I finally epted what was going to happen to me," he lifts his left hand up to touch his side. A tense silence hangs in the air for a while as everyone holds their breaths, not sure what would happen next. "Can it happen to me?" Horizon asks. Yagi shakes his head, "no, this was a feature of my Quirk, it can''t affect others, and even if it could, you know I''m essentially Quirkless now, running on thest embers of my power." Horizon doesn''t detect any lies, so instead he focuses on Yagi''s body. Pouring more and more energy into scanning him, so much that he could barely support a roomrge enough to fit UA''s main building. He mapped much of his DNA and genome before taking a step back and dropping back in his seat. Mentally exhausted, although he refused to show it. To both the people sitting across from him, nothing changed. Taking a few deep breaths he steadies his mind, "I don''t particrly care about you, obviously I''m interested in how your Quirk managed to do that. But I just had to make sure that you can''t remove my Quirk," he shrugs. Yagi and Nezu both breathe a sigh of relief, "well I''m d that''s all taken care of," Nezu says. "But I won''t be healing him anymore," Horizon cuts their little celebration short. "What? Why?" Yagi asks. "Because you''ve wasted my time. I performed a miracle to heal you yet the energy reserves in you diminished so much, unnaturally fast. You''ve been using your Quirk damn near every day since that first day we met. Plus it''s not like I could do any more for you, just try not to get hurt, you''re in the contract so I''ll honor that...but I''d rather not waste my time healing self-sacrificial trash." "Ah---I see," Yagi bows politely, "thank you." "Your timer is down to six years," Horizon says. "That''s less than half of what I originally gave you, try not to waste it. Honestly, nothing about you is normal, not surprising since you''re the only person to probably ever exist that''s born with a Quirk while not having the extra bone in their toe that Quirk users have...such an odd case..." ''But one that I''ll eventually solve,'' Horizon thinks to himself as Yagi and Nezu share a moment of relief. ''I can''t mess with gics yet, but after an entire year of traveling and training I was able to map his gic sequences while making contact for a few minutes, I''ll figure out more about this whole situation on my own, pressing them any further couldplicate things and put my position at risk...'' "Thank you for not prying," Yagi nods respectfully. "And for everything that you''ve done for me." "Tch, don''t mention it." Horizon turns to Nezu and checks the time on his phone, only five minutes until homeroom starts. "Are we done here?" "Toshinori has something to take care of," Nezu gives Yagi a curt nod, thankfully he seems to have gotten the hint. "But you and I have some other things to discuss." "What things?" "Don''t worry, I''m sure you''ll at least find it entertaining." "Then I''ll be on my way," Yagi gets up and gives them both a nod, "I need to go make a quick phone call, I wish you both a good day..." Nezu nods and Horizon makes no effort to respond, only sitting in his spot and taking deep breaths, trying to restore what stamina he can after scanning Yagi for so many details. At the moment he didn''t even have a ROOM open, he was simply that drained. Stepping into the hallway Yagi immediately dug into his pocket and pulled out his phone. Seeing it was only a few minutes before homeroom begins he frantically called Izuku. ''As expected of a fanboy,'' he thinks as the call is answered before the first ring can even finish. "Uh, hello, I''m walking to ss..." Izuku says in a quiet voice, not wanting anyone to know he''s talking to All Might. "Right, young Midoriya, there''s something I need to warn you about before homeroom," Yagi scans the hallway, thankful the top floor of this tower was currently barren, as usual. "Warn me?!" "Settle down kid, it''s one of your ssmates, I need you to be careful around him." "Hmm, is he dangerous?" Izuku asks with a shaky voice. "In a way, listen I know you don''t have much time but I''ll make it real simple. You''ve got a lot morepetition than I ever expected, principal Nezu has been bragging about this kid for a while and it looks like it wasn''t all hot air." "The principal?" "Yeah, the same doctor I told you was able to somewhat heal me... that guy." "A doctor?! But I thought you said ssmate?" "I did," Yagi says. "He''s in your ss, he just turned 16, and he''s a serious monster, don''t give him any information about One For All, got it, stick to the cover that your Quirk is just Super-Power." "Got it...but, is it really that bad?" "Well, I just had a casual checkup with him, it took him all of two seconds to notice the difference from a year ago, that my Quirk is gone. He kept scanning me, he supposedly read my DNA, if that''s true then---" "He''ll notice One For All in me," Izuku sounded like he wanted to cry already. "Stop with the waterworks," Yagi groans. "Sorry..." he sniffles. "Listen, his Quirk is touch-based, just don''t let him touch you and you''ll be fine. But when he touches you he can also detect any lies you try to tell. Not to mention he was able to figure out what you''ve been doing wrong with One For All and how to fix it at a nce. He basically saw a picture of you before you left the ground to smash that robot and gave a full breakdown." "That''s impossible! Even you haven''t been able to---" Izuku cuts himself off. "WAIT! No! I mean I''m grateful for everything you''ve done for me it just---" "I know what you meant kid, it''s fine," Yagi sighs. "Honestly it felt like crap sitting there and watching him be better at my job than me, but the reason I''m telling you this is so that you don''t underestimate him, don''t give him any information at all unless you want him to put the pieces together, got it?" "Yes sir, I''ll be sure to keep my distance and not say a word." "Good, but don''t forget that there will be things you can learn from all of your ssmates, especially this one." "Of course, I always look for things I can learn from others." "That''s one of the many things that I like about you kid," Yagi chuckles. "As for the kid I warned you about, his name is Horizon, trust me, you won''t be able to miss him..." ---Nezu''s Office... "So what do we need to talk about?" Horizon asks. "Oh, Eraserhead is about to give your ssmates their first little taste of life in UA, I figured we could watch together," Nezu says cheerfully as he removes the remote from his vest and activates the hologram between them. This time to an empty training field. "Uh, shouldn''t you be at the entrance ceremony mister principal?" "Vice-Principal Ectosm can cover for me this time, I''d much rather be here. I promised youpetition, this is my first chance to make good on that promise." "And shouldn''t I be down there too, not that I want to be." "Oh this Quirk Apprehension test isn''t necessary for you, it''s simply a way of getting the message into their heads that Quirks are part of their beings. While society atrge suppresses the use of Quirks unless you''re a hero, here at UA we encourage Hero Course students to use their Quirks wherever they can effectively apply them. Most of your ssmates went to public schools where they would get in trouble for Quirk use so this message will take a while for them to understand." "Hmm, makes sense," Horizon thinks it over for a second. "Most?" "Mhm, Todoroki was homeschooled, just like you, and I assume he must have been trained very well by his father." "Todoroki? Like Endeavour?" "His son, yes." "Interesting, Endeavour is the hero with the highest level of Quirk-Mastery, highest in the world as far as I can see... it''s actually very impressive, even by my standards, if his son is anything like that it could actually be fun to p him around," Horizon chuckles at the thought. "Really? ''p him around'', are you that confident against the child of the number 2 hero?" Horizonughs at that ridiculous question, "trust me, basic elemental Quirks can''t beat me, no matter how strong they are, but that doesn''t mean I can''t have some fun before winning..." "They''re taking the field," Nezu says as neen students begin walking onto the training ground. "I''m sure at least one of them will have a Quirk you find interesting..." "We''ll see about that..." END CHAPTER--- Comment: Please don''t drop this book Me (Already writing the October chapters): I got you buddy pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene Chapter 26: (Disappointments) Chapter 26: (Disappointments) Discord: https://discord.gg/K7f8qGpvuk pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "He''s up, cripple boy," Horizon says, leaning back on Nezu''s couch with a bottle of water in his hand. "You''re calling him ''Cripple Boy''?" Nezu asks, watching Izuku walk up to throw the baseball. "It''s what he''ll be if he doesn''t get his shit together, but if Eraserhead is as much of a hardass as you said his hero career ends here," Horizon shrugs and gives the screen his full attention. Nezu takes a sip from his second cup of tea. "Unfortunately unless Midoriya has made some great improvements that appears to be the case, normally he''d expel you for not showing up on the first day of school, but since you''re with me he can''t do that." They see Izuku eventually throw the ball by only activating One For All in a single finger, and Nezu smiles, but Horizon just sighs in disappointment. "It''s rare for a Quirk to hurt the user like that," Horizon says. "Most Quirks have a kind of built-in recoil absorption, but somehow you let in two Quirks without that adaptation. One breaks bones and the other needs a diaper." "True, but Midoriya and Aoyama have great potential, as he''s just shown," Nezu says as they watch Eraserhead restrain Bakugo. As they continue watching the test, Eraserhead guides the students to the sit-up, pushup, and long-distance running sections, and both Nezu and Horizon can''t help but get a bit bored. "So how much did you tell your staff about me?" Horizon asks. "Absolutely nothing," Nezu cackles a bit but gets himself under control. "I think it''ll be quite amusing to see their reactions, especially since many of them were against me breaking our ''No Scouting'' policy for you, they were up in arms after I didn''t require you to take the entrance exam, or even the rmended students exam." "And you want me to show off and prove them wrong, right?" "Right, it''s quite obvious that I''m ying favorites for you, so I''d like you to show that I made the right decision to do so." "Not like that wasn''t the n anyway," Horizon shrugs. "Poprity is the easiest way to climb the ranks, so I''ll be using everything I can." "Excellent, now, did you see any Quirks from your ssmates that you believe can challenge you?" Nezu asks with a smirk. "Nope, not even close," Horizon casually says, then takes a sip of his water. "Todoroki?" Nezu asks. "I can Warp, that makes projectiles and brawlers pretty much useless, plus my sword can out damage literally everything in that ss. Could have maybe been fun if the guy would use his fire, but it looks like he isn''t confident with that side of his body." "Bakugo?" "Same thing as Todoroki, just he seems more loud and annoying. But he can''t hit me and I can beat his damage, very badly at that." "Hmm," Nezu strokes his chin for a moment. "Midoriya?" "Super-Power that he can''t even control, what a joke." "Iida?" "Warping makes speed irrelevant since my reaction time is near instant," Horizon shrugs. "Fumikage?" "Dark Shadow huh... I''m fairly sure it sucks against light, judging by the name and appearance, so I can counter it." "Naval Laser?" "That had better be a joke," Horizon grumbles. "Hardening?" "I can break any defense." "Zero Gravity?" "Doesn''t really work against people who aren''t dependant on gravity to move, like fliers or warpers." "Tail?" "Oh now you''re just trying to be funny," Horizon chuckles. "He''s basically any Quirkless fuck with a stick." "Invisibility?" "Hmm, I can sense people, but is it mutation or emitter type?" "Mutation," Nezu says. "Damn...if it was Emitter I''d be able to see her...but wait, if she isn''t blind then it''s an emitter type, right? True invisibility is impossible as a mutation because it would make you either blind or a pair of floating eyeballs," he says. "Her application said Mutation, and she''s been invisible since birth," Nezu says. "Perhaps it was wrong, but you''ll find out soon enough." "What about her?" Horizon asks, gesturing to a pretty girl with a wild ponytail. "The one doing situps with Jiro." "Momo Yaoyorozu---" "Yaoyorozu?" Horizon asks, surprise in his voice. "Never expected that, that family is almost as rich as me," he chuckles. "You would have bumped them off the top twenty most wealthy dynasties in Japan if your assets were publicly audited," Nezu says. "Still nowhere close to being number one however." "Well I''m sorry if I don''t have the biggest brain on the to work stocks and sell patents, but unlike you, I don''t have to sink all my money into funding UA, how much does it cost you a year? Construction is dirt cheap since Quirks exist, but you really like using robots..." "The cost is astronomical, plus the infrared security system is also quite expensive, since UA is a dozen kilometers across." "Yeah well I''m sure the hero tax on people like All Might and Endeavour paid for some of it, right?" "Aside from them that hasn''t covered much," Nezu shrugs. "But the tax isn''t about the money, not entirely." "Mhm," Horizon nods. "Apletely free education with all books and uniforms included...on the condition that you get 5% of their hero sry for the first 10 years of hero work, a good way to make sure you don''t let any good Quirks slip by just because they couldn''t afford the otherwise insane cost of studying here." "Exactly, and speaking of Ms. Yaoyorozu, she was a rmended student." "Really, her Quick is Item Creation?" Horizon asks, seeing her making roller skates and starting the long-distance run. "No, just Creation, any non-living thing can be made from her fat cells." Horizon stares at the screen for a moment, "she''s made a baseball pitcher, skates, a vice, car jacks, and a few other things...so either she ignores thews of thermodynamics...or her fat cells are extra dense because of her Quirk." "She hasn''t mentioned either of those," Nezu says. "She probably hasn''t noticed, most people don''t notice things like that. I didn''t notice the changes my Quirk makes to my body until I started cking out...wasn''t eating enough," he shrugs. "Well that exins why you''re always eating when I see you, you''re big but two pizzas is still a bit much." "You''ll get used to it, but as for Creation girl, I''m guessing she isn''t allowed to make firearms or certain weapons right, because from the looks of it her items don''t decay." "Nope, she''s forbidden from making any reusable illegal items, grenades and such are fine because they''re destroyed with each use, but guns are a no-no," Nezu says in a cheery voice. "Are you perhaps interested in her?" "I was..." "Really? Well, you do have a type from what I''ve seen." Horizon grumbles, "not like that Nezu, and you know I can''t date heroes, that''s a nightmare. Her Quirk, I''ve never seen anything so close to reaching mine, not as powerful but the versatility makes up for it. If she didn''t have such limited fuel then we could have maybe had a good fight, even I can''t be ready for everything she can do with that Quirk." "Exactly why we epted her, along with her getting the third highest score on the rmended entrance exam, but the first ce winner declined UA after the exam for some reason," Nezu says in a sad voice, a small sigh escapes his mouth as he recalls such promising talent walking away from UA. "Must have been one hell of an obstacle course race... too bad he didn''t ept, maybe he would have been somepetition." "His Quirk was wind maniption---" "Nevermind, add him to the trash pile..." Horizon groans in disappointment and leans back. Nezu shakes his head, "I just hope you don''t embarrass yourself when the timees to back up all your talk," he nces to the screen, seeing the fieldpletely empty. Looking at his phone he reads a short message from Eraser Head. "It looks like Midoriya won''t be expelled for his performance today." "What? That doesn''t make any sense, why?" "You can ask him when you see him, however, I have absolute trust in Aizawa," Nezu hops down from the couch and walks over to Horizon. "What?" he looks down at Nezu. "Your ssmates will be back in the ssroom soon to get a breakdown of the UA sybus, but I''ll need to steal Aizawa away for a few minutes to discuss some things with d King, he''s ss 1Bs teacher, let''s go to your homeroom, I''d like to say hello to your ssmates, and exin your absence so Aizawa doesn''t snap," Nezu makes a ''pick up'' gesture simr to a baby. Horizon groans and shakes his head, "I''m not carrying you." "C''mon, I''m less than a meter tall, look at these adorable tiny legs," he gestures to his feet and moves them about. "You''re 193cm -6ft3-, just carry me so we''ll save time." Horizon looks at Nezu, then at his metal case, and Katana, "I can''t believe this." "The sword can remain in my office, there isn''t a spot for it in the shelves," Nezu says. Horizon sighs and reaches down, cing Nezu to sit on his shoulder as he stands up, "I can''t believe I''m doing this, do you do this with everyone?" he asks while picking up his metal case, book, and pencil case, all with his logo on them. "Mostly with d King, he''s about as tall as you are, but a lot nicer." "You''ll get over it..." Horizon mutters as they leave the office, careful and bored steps toward ss 1A... END CHAPTER--- pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene Chapter 27: (Enter Horizon) Chapter 27: (Enter Horizon) Discord: https://discord.gg/K7f8qGpvuk pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "Don''t waste that much time walking back to ss next time," Aizawa grumbles as everyone enters the ssroom, the quiet conversations going silent as they find their seats. He looks over the ss, and nces at Izuku, "how''s your finger?" "Much better sir!" Izuku answers, raising his hand and waving around the bandaged digit. "Good, because this is how low the bar has been set, from this moment onward, I expect constant improvement from each and every one of you." Everyone stiffens up as his voice suddenly bes strict. "Look around, there are twenty students in this ss, and hundreds that want your spots, at UA we demand constant improvement, to stop improving is to fall behind, and people are just waiting for the chance to take your ce." Some people begin to sweat ever so slightly at those words. "Sir!" Iida raises his hand. "What is it?" "You said twenty students, but..." he looks to his left, past Koda, past Tokayami, to the empty seat behind Izuku and in front of Yaoyorozu. "He''s a special case, and he''ll be here shortly," Aizawa says. "For now I want you to focus on these," Aizawa taps the board and a long list appears. "These are your scores from the entrance exams and the test we justpleted, the rmended students are colored in blue while everyone else is in white, only because they had a different practical exam during the entrance exam, you''ve all been ranked..." A flurry of ''oohs'' is heard as each student scans the board. Yaoyorozu fights the proud smirk on her lips, yet blushes slightly, genuinely surprised to be at the very top of the board. Scoring 92 on the written exam, 3rd in the obstacle course for the rmended entrance exam, and first in the quirk test. The entire ss turns to her for a moment causing her to blush even more. Todoroki is in third, with Bakugo between them. And Bakguo''s face splits into a devious grin, suppressing his rowdy victoriousugh as he sees Izuku down at number neen. "As you can see," Aizawa says, "at UA,petition is one of our primary motivators. Every exam, every test, every mid-term and finals, you will be ranked like this and everyone will see your scores. You aren''t just trying to surpass yourself from yesterday, but all the people here sitting beside you." The entire room perks up at his words, suddenly feeling more and more pressure trying to crush them, the expectations of a UA student. For some like Iida and Bakugo, it made them stronger, made them want to fight harder and surpass their limits. For Yaoyorozu and Izuku, it made them feel to curl up into a ball and hide away. But everyone felt something at this realization finally setting in. "This year alone seventeen thousand people werepeting for these spots. In this room alone we''ve got two rmended students," most of the ss nces back at Todoroki and Yaoyorozu, "and seventeen public entrance exam students, if you ck off it''s over..." As Aizawa continues, most of the ss does the simple math and can''t quite get it out of their heads ''17+2=19, not 20.'' They look past Aizawa and to the board behind him, eyes dropping to the very bottom of the list. ''Horizon Entrance Exam Score:--- Written Exam Score:--- Quirk Apprehension Test:---'' Iida can''t help it and raises his hand, unable to fight his desire to stand and confront this. Eraser grumbles and nces over to him, "if you want to know just ask Horizon when he gets here," he says before going back to his terrifying speech. Iida sits back in his seat impatiently. Hearing that name and seeing it on the board confirms what All Might told him earlier, and Izuku begins sweating nervously, looking down at his hand. ''If he touches me he could notice how unusual One For All is, and connect me with All Might...no, with Toshinori Yagi, since he doesn''t know he''s All Might, I need to be careful,'' he clenches his fist and nearly screams in pain, forgetting about his injured finger. "Alright, now I''ll give a short breakdown of the sybus, in the hero course each homeroom teacher hasplete control over their ss, so---" KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! The massive door at the front of the room slides open. All eyes are glued to Horizon and Nezu, stepping into the room with the metal case for his hero costume hanging in his right hand, and a notebook and pencil case in his left. Towering over most of the ss and taller than Shoji by just 5cm -2 inches-, making him look like a giant before some of his peers. The UA uniform didn''t do much to stop the intimidating presence he gave off, silently turning his head, the ck visor ncing about the room,pletely unreadable. But this presence caused everyone to get confused when they looked up to see Nezu sitting on his shoulder, happily smiling down at them. ''So cute!'' most of the girls thought, while some people were just confused about the entire situation. "Hello everyone!" Nezu excitedly waves at the students. "It''s your favorite Mouse-Bear, impossibly adorable, and most importantly, your principal! Nezu!" he sees confused and amazed looks at his introduction. He taps the top of Horizon''s visor a few times, "and this is your ssmate, Horizon, sorry he''s a bitte. He actually got to school early but I called him into my office to deal with some matters, and we decided to watch your Quirk test from there, excellent work everyone! I can tell we''ve got a batch of future heroes right here." "You''re really the principal?" Uraraka blurts out, "you''re so cute!" Aizawa groans which they all ignore, and Horizon just quietly listens, currently acting as a statue for Nezu to sit on. "Of course I''m your principal Ms. Uraraka," he waves to her. "It was decided by who had the best hair, and naturally no human could ever match the luscious shine of my coat, so I''ve been the principal of UA for nearly fifty years." All but a few people freeze at that, since Nezu isn''t in the spotlight like most heroes young children will rarely know about him unless they have to. "He''s messing with you infinity girl," Horizon says, his slightly mechanical voice sending a chill down her spine. "He''s a mouse that developed a Quirk, High Spec, gives him a brain better than a dozen supeputers, ''intellect beyond humanprehension'' is the official description, he also pays for all the robots that tried to kill you in the entrance exam...most important person in UA." "And he''s so cute!" Mina can''t help but yell out. Earning a small chorus of agreement. Aizawa grumbles loudly, "Nezu, here for one minute and already turned my ss into a damn circus," he points at Horizon while everyone stares. "And you, don''t get toofortable because Principal Nezu is ying favorites, I expect you to work hard just like everyone else here, prove you deserve your spot." "But I''m not ying favorites..." Nezu weakly defends, earning a doubtful nce from everyone in the room. "Whatever, let''s go, d is waiting," Aizawa steps closer and Nezu hops down from Horizon''s shoulder and onto his, gettingfortable in his scarf. He turns to the ss, suddenly looking a lot less intimidating with Nezu on him, and speaks in a gruff voice. "I''ll be back in a few minutes to exin the sybus, don''t get rowdy..." "Good luck students, I''m expecting great things from all of you!" Nezu excitedly waves as the door closes, now leaving Horizon standing in front of the ss. ROOM He immediately turns to look at Toru Hagakure, the formerly invisible girl, now he sees an adorable and slim girl with short white-green hair and eyes excitedly bouncing in her seat, mouthing the words to a song as she looks around the room. ''Guess it isn''t a mutation, I should tell Nezu sometime...'' he turns without saying a word and walks to the end of the room, directly opposite the front door. "May I ask a question, Horizon!" He stops and sighs, turning to see Iida standing stiffly, eyespletely focused on him. "Well, I can''t stop you." "My name is Tenya Iida, it''s a pleasure to meet you," Iida nods, and below his visor Horizon rolls his eyes. "Get to the point Engine." "Right, I''d like to know why you don''t have any scores on the board," Iida points to the board behind Horizon, and he nces back for a moment to see. "Oh, that. Question, why do those exams exist?" He asks nobody in particr. "To test who is worthy of entering UA academy of course," Iida answers immediately. "Exactly," Horizon ces his one book and pencil case down on Aizawa''s desk and continues walking to the far wall. "So why waste time and energy on someone who you know will always get a perfect score, and is incapable of losing to anyone else at the exam?" "What are you saying?!" Iida asks, much of the ss immediately got heated at Horizon''s attitude and insinuation, Bakugo could almost feel his hands sweating as his veins bulged and eyes narrowed. Horizon taps the wall, the closest of the four marked rectangles almost reaching from floor to ceiling to the front wall, and outes a shelf with five simr metal cases. He ces his repainted case in the spot where number ''19'' would go while he answers, " I''m saying it''s impossible for me not to get a perfect score, or to get beaten by any of you," he pushes the shelf back into the wall and moves to get his things from Aizawa''s desk. Now turning to face the ss, "so while all of you were fighting your little hearts out to get these precious spots...I took a day for myself and went surfing," he chuckles at their angry and horrified expressions. Angry that he''d get such special treatment, and act like this toward them, but some were rightly horrified at a simple thought. ''If he didn''t need the exams, just what kind of a monster is it?'', mainly Todoroki, Bakugo, Iida, Izuku, and Yaoyorozu immediately thought of this, but over the next few seconds the thought entered everyone''s mind, causing his already intimidating presence to appear downright monstrous. And in their moment of horror and awe, that monster turned his attention to the most nervous, and sweaty person in the room, judging by how he was shaking and already had ayer of cold sweat on him. Izuku Midoriya. Leaning back against Aizawa''s desk Horizon keeps his arms at his side, palms down on the desk, and looks directly at Izuku. "So, cripple boy, Izuku Midoriya, why the fuck are you still here?" END CHAPTER--- pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene Chapter 28: (Diagnosis: Pathetic) Chapter 28: (Diagnosis: Pathetic) Discord: https://discord.gg/K7f8qGpvuk pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "So, cripple boy, Izuku Midoriya, why the fuck are you still here?" Horizon asks, earning shocked and angry looks from most of the ss. "U-uh, well," Izuku''s voice is barely audible. "Mr. Aizawa said that he still needs to exin the syl---" "At UA," Horizon exins. "Why are you still here at UA and not expelled, like you should be, well?" Bakugo smiles so hard at those words, leaning forward and almost growling out, "yeah, answer the question Deku!" "Hey stop!" Uraraka stands up and yells, "you can''t just go around bullying people like th---" "Heroes need to be able to stand up for themselves," Horizon says bluntly. "Let him talk, and honestly, you''re in the same boat. How the fuck do you get your foot stuck under a rock and need saving, when your Quirk is literally to make things weightless, well?" Uraraka freezes, and Horizon tilts his head, as if asking her to respond. "W-well my Quirk has a limit that---" "Excuses that I''m sure the people you fail to save will appreciate at their funerals, right?" he asks, and Uraraka feels sick to her stomach. "Still not at bad as him," her gestures to Izuku, now covered in a thin sheen of sweat. "You n to answer the question?" Uraraka silently takes her seat, head hanging in shame, and after a few moments, Izuku finally finds a voice. "Mr Aizawa said he wasn''t serious about expelling anyone," he says in a shaky voice. Horizon chuckles, "right, the guy who is our homeroom teacher because he expelled all of what would have been ss 2A on their first day...was kidding, really?" The entire ss breaks into murmurs at that, those at the lower end of the list realizing how close they were to really going home. Iida stands up and points to Horizon, "why are you bullying our ssmate, are you really so insistent on him going home?!" "It''s not bullying, it''s a reality check," Horizon says, causing everyone to look at him all confused. "Deku -nice name by the way- breaks his body every time he uses his Quirk, contrary to what you morons think, Recovery Girl doesn''t fully heal anything, she stimtes the cells of your body, essentially cutting your lifespan to elerate the healing time, and it doesn''t properly fix things like nerve damage." Deku looks down at his hand, a mortified expression on his face. "Wh---" "Meaning DEKU, only has about, three or four more chances before he bes a fucking cripple, or he just dies, his pathetic level of Quirk mastery doesn''t deserve to be here, he can''t even save himself..." Horizon says, but his true thoughts were so much different. Everyone in the room casts a wary look at Deku, all horrified at the damage he really takes to use his Quirk. "But I...I want to be a hero too," Deku deres, still sounding so unsure of himself. "Why?" "Why?" Deku somehow looks confused by the question. "Because, I want to help people, like All Might!" he finally sounds confident. Horizon groans loudly, "you put yourself and your family at risk because you''re a hero-worshiping piece of trash, even when you can''t control your Quirk...you''re even more pathetic than I thought, and you''re selfish too, disgusting." "What, how is that selfish? I want to help people," Deku mumbles out. Horizon just shakes his head, "look, either you quit now, or you''re gonna end up a vegetable with shattered nerves, or dead, that''s my professional opinion, and as the only person in the world who''d be able to heal you...I promise I rather watch you die than heal some self-sacrificing moron," he says coldly, then gestures to the door. "So...decide..." Deku stares down at his desk, hands kneading together, feeling the bandage around his finger. His mind flooded with countless horrifying thoughts. ''All Might said Horizon really is the best doctor, so if he won''t heal me then I''m done, I''ll be a cripple for the rest of my life, I''ll probably never be able to get out of bed. But this is UA, my dream, I can be just like All Might, I can help people,'' he looks down at his bandaged finger. ''But I''ll destroy my body if I keep doing this, and I''m nowhere near ready to control One For All...'' he mulls it over for a long moment before speaking. Looking directly at Horizon he has a determined look on his face, even as tears are flowing down his face and onto his desk, "oh great, it''s crying..." Horizon groans. "Sacrificing yourself for others is what it means to be a true hero!" Deku deres proudly. "I''ll break my body as many times as it takes, if I can at least save one person!" Uraraka and a few others look at him in amazement, awestruck by his determination, while others look at him like a moron, and Bakugo is seething with rage that he didn''t just quit. "Well if that''s your choice," Horizon picks up his single book and pencil case from Aizawa''s desk and looks at Deku, "honestly I was hoping when you quit whoever reces you would actually be able to give me somepetition... because this roster is disappointing enough without you dragging it down," he sees everyone re at him as he begins walking toward his seat. "But now I guess I''ll wait for you to cripple yourself or just die," he shrugs, stopping beside Deku and looking down at the crying boy, towering over him. "I just feel bad for your parents, they''ll probably have to take care of a vegetable for the rest of their life, but hey, maybe they''ll get lucky and your Quirk will kill you, then they can start over with a kid that isn''t aplete disappointment," he says before casually taking his seat. Most of the ss looks disgusted by his words, and questions why someone like him is even here in the first ce. "Dude what the hell is your problem!" Kirishima stands up and yells across at Horizon, meanwhile Deku breaks down into sobs, Uraraka and Iida already moving toward his desk to talk to him. "I had a very low bar when I entered UA," Horizon says, leaning back in his chair and taking out his phone. "I expected all of you to have at least a decent level of Quirk Mastery, sadly only what...three of you aren''t worthless. And one of you morons doesn''t even know what your Quirk actually does, not to mention cripple boy and Naval Laser who actively hurt themselves...the bar was low and you disappointments managed to limbo under it." "That doesn''t mean you get to be a bully, not manly at all dude!" Kirishima insists. "I agree," Momo says from behind Horizon, as he starts ying a racing game on his phone. "If anyone should be expelled, it''s you, that behavior was inexcusable, nobody deserves to be spoken to like that!" "Well, it''s a good thing I and most of the staff don''t care about what any of you think huh, they view this as practice for you to stand up for yourself and handle criticism from the press, another thing Deku is failing at. So why don''t you go fuck yourself Momo," he says while enjoying his mobile game. Momo looks mortified at his statement but can''t think of a proper response, so she just sits down and hangs her head in shame, ''I can''t even stand up to a bully, how am I supposed to be a hero...'' she berates herself. Everyone silently agrees to pretend Horizon doesn''t exist, burying any spike of anger caused by his attitude, leaving him to enjoy a few races on his mobile game, the audio connected directly to his visor allowing him to better ignore all their chatter. A few minutester the door slides open, and Aizawa immediately spots Iida and Uraraka standing at Deku''s desk. "Get to your seats," he mutters, not paying the crying boy any mind. "Sir, we have a serious situation here!" Iida says, causing Aizawa to stop and look at him. "Horizon just verbally abused Izuku, I believe his behavior is unheroic and should be reprimanded," he insists. Aizawa gives him a slow blink and sighs, looking between Horizon who was still ying on his phone, and Deku who was trying to wipe his tears. "Did he hit him?" "W-what?" Iida asks. "Did. He. Hit. Him." "Uh, no sir," Iida says. "Then get to your seats and start taking notes, I''m not repeating myself, and I''d like to make this quick to take a nap..." Aizawa turns his back to the ss and begins writing on the board. Everyone looks mortified at his non-reaction, and Iida casts an angry re at Horizon, who actually responds. Letting go of his phone for a moment to give Iida the middle finger, earning more grumbles from his ssmates. With a final pat on the shoulder Iida and Uraraka return to their seats, both still asionally casting res back at Horizon, Momo and Tokoyami felt disgusted by having to be desk neighbors with him, but he kept ying on his phone until Aizawa began talking. Opening his book and cing a pen on it, but just leaning back and listening, not writing at all. "Listen up," Aizawa says in a tired voice, he can feel the animosity between everyone and Horizon but ignores it. "You can call me Aizawa or Eraser Head, I don''t really care which, at UA your homeroom teacher decides pretty much everything, we stay with you from day one until graduation, then we get a new ss. As you all know the Hero course has a six-day school week, with Sundays off. Before lunch is the regr sses but after lunch is hero sses, the procedure to use the facilities are in the handbook, if you have any questions they should also be in there or you can log in to the school website and search for an answer, be sure to do both those things before asking me..." Aizawa goes on for almost ten minutes, asionally ncing over to Horizon, noticing his pen and book hadn''t moved once. The boy spent the entire exnation staring out the window at the massive forest outside while all his ssmates had their heads down diligently writing. Eraser shakes his head, ''thinks he''s too cool for UA...people like that neverst,'' he thinks to himself. Something he''s seen many times before. "And finally," Eraser says. "This is your homeroom, so unless you need to use other facilities for a lesson your teachers will being here to have sses. Keep it clean and tidy, or there will be consequences..." most of the ss shudders nervously at that, now knowing that he really does expel students. "Alright, that''s all," Eraser says and immediately begins walking toward the door. "Be sure to be ready for your first real day tomorrow..." While everyone breaks into chatter, excited about finally getting into their dream school, packing their books away in their bags. Horizon ces his book and pencil case in his desk and gets up, pushing in his chair and scrolling through a few recipes, deciding what to cook for dinner. A few people notice something strange about him, finally spotting the odd logo on the back of his zer. Some faces warp in disgust, others in jealousy, all because he somehow got away with defacing the uniform of their prestigious school. But a few others were already annoyed, believing to better understand him. Seeing him walk away with his phone in his hand, and his other hand in his pocket, no bookbag at all, onlying with a single notebook in fact. Almost everyone rolled their eyes, ''I thought UA wouldn''t have those cliche bad boy types,'' they thought. But everyone could agree, even Bakugo, they did not like Horizon, either for how he spoke to their ssmates, or how he tantly looked down on them... END CHAPTER--- pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene Chapter 29: (Student Life) Chapter 29: (Student Life) Discord: https://discord.gg/K7f8qGpvuk pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- TAP TAP TAP! "Hngh?" Horizon wakes up groggily after feeling someone tapping on his visor, lifting his head from the desk and looking around, seeing Present Mic standing over him and everyone in the room staring at him. Leaning back into his chair he stretches his arms out and cracks his neck before looking to Present Mic, "yeah?" Mic just looks annoyed at him, arms folded and tapping his foot, "it''s the second day of school, you didn''t bring your textbook, and you fell asleep in my ss. What do you have to say for yourself?" Horizon looks around his homeroom to see everyone else looking at him, each with their English textbook open and writing something from it. He nces at the board and sees the instructions, page number, and the paragraph they were expected to trante into English. ''Page 73 line 5'' "Right," he speaks in perfect English. " So, ''Roses are the most beautiful flower, but simultaneously are the most dangerous to hold''," he perfectly trantes the specific line from the book. Mic freezes, not expecting him to do that at all. "How did---" "I read the book once in the tub, and English is one of thenguages I''m perfectly fluent in," he says, still speaking perfect English. Looking down at his left hand he checks the time and turns to Mic, "lunch is in ten minutes, can I go early to beat the line...I really don''t need to be here..." At this point, everyone is paying attention to the English-speaking duo. "Uh, sure, just don''t get into trouble," Mic says and begins walking back to the board. "Thanks," Horizon gets up without sparing a nce at his ssmates, cing his nk book back inside his desk before leaving the room. ''I wonder what Lunch Rush is serving today, everyone always talks about how awesome his food is...'' he thinks to himself while walking through the hallways. Making it to the stairs he casually walks down to the first floor from the third where his ss is located, enjoying how empty the halls are. Arriving at therge cafeteria doors they open automatically, leading into a full-sized food court, no smaller than what would be found in a mall. Tables seating ten people each are set up all about the room with potted nts to break up the monotony of the room. The wall to his right is one massive line of food with servers manning the stations. In the middle of it all is Lunch Rush himself, dressed in a white chef''s hat and outfit, where his head should be is a strange hose leading over his shoulder and into his back. Horizon decides not to try and peek with his Quirk, simply walking through the cafeteria, noticing some nces thrown his way as the few people there are undoubtedly curious about his visor, but nobody really bats an eye at it. Such things aren''t umon, and he didn''t look that different from his math teacher, Ectosm. Although Horizon didn''t have the scary teeth or demonic voice. Walking about he takes a look at all the avable food and reads some of the menus, deciding to get a simple burger and friesbo, with a mango smoothie. With the paper bag in one hand and smoothie in the other he begins walking briskly back up the stairs. ROOM His room epasses the entire building, focusing on his ssroom for a moment he feels everyone packing their things as Mic dismisses the ss, as he climbs up to the second floor he makes his way to the elevator and sets it to take him to floor 15, the top floor. As the doors open and he steps onto the top floor, and the bell rings for lunch to begin. "Just in time," he mutters and follows the 3D map in his had, courtesy of his Quirk. The top floor of their tower only had Nezu''s office and a few other things, but what he needed was the far stairwell. Making it to the door he presses down on the handle. "Locked... of course, students aren''t allowed on the roof..." He looks left and right before performing a scan of the floor with his Quirk, sensing Nezu and Yagi in his office but the floor is otherwise empty. TAKT He lets go of his smoothie and food, leaving them to float in ce. Holding his hand out, palm up, he uses SHAMBLES to summon what looks like metallic throwing cards, sharp edges, white with his blue logo on them. Something he requested along with his hero costume, and thankfully he got his costume a few weeks early, getting himself familiar with everyponent so he didn''t have to substitute them to use SHAMBLES, he could freely summon them to him at will. Taking one of the ten cards he crouches down and slides it below the door, and into the stairwell. SHAMBLES He suddenly finds himself in a dark stairwell, thankful his SCAN made the map for him to follow. Taking out two more of the cards he holds them out for a moment. SHAMBLES They swap with his food and smoothie which he grabs as TAKT deactivated. Holding all his food in one hand he reaches out. SHAMBLES All the metallic throwing cards are summoned back to him, he keeps them in his hand until he reaches the top of the stairs, expecting another locked door. Sliding another card beneath the door he repeats the steps, and a momentter he''s standing under the mid-day sun, protected from the heat and re by his visor and body glove. "Wow," he can''t help but mutter, seeing thousands of meters of lush forest, with the asional massive building scattered about, all owned by UA. Mapping it with his Quirk was always ck and white, closer to echolocation than really seeing things, unless he was standing in the same room he couldn''t get a proper visual image of certain things, like Hagakure, even through her invisibility, but even that takes focus. Walking to the edge of the building he ces his food down on the wall, hopping up to sit on the wall, his feet hanging over the edge of the fifteen-story building. He leans forward slightly, seeing students walking about below him entering and exiting the building. Taking out his burger he begins eating, ying music directly into his visor with his phone. Eventually, he finishes his burger and moves on to the fries...and that''s when he gets some surprisingpany. Less than two meters away a small blue birdnds, slowly creeping closer and closer to his fries. "Hmm, hungry?" he asks, mostly himself. TAKT One of his fries suddenly floats out of the box and gently rolls toward the bird, which happily begins pecking at it. ''That''s cute...'' he takes out his phone and holds it over the edge, taking a picture directly down, his feet appearing as if he were standing on air, the fifteen-story drop in as day. TAKT He sets a timer on his phone and carefully floats it behind him, snapping an image of his back. feet still hanging over the edge, all of UA''snd in front of him, and a single bird sharing lunch with him. SHAMBLES His phone appears in his hand and he looks at the picture, ''yeah the public will like this,'' he says, taking in the picture, and his logo on the back of his uniform. He immediately posts it to Horizon''s social media ount, with his location. By the time he finishes his meal he checks his phone and can''t help but chuckle. "So Horizon the world traveler had barely a thousand followers, but I post one picture in the UA hero course uniform and I''m already at fifty thousand... this entire world really does worship heroes, fucking pathetic, but I can use it at least," he sighs andys down. Raising one foot up and leaving the other hanging off the edge, "I wonder what the first Hero ss will be like..." he muses. ---Nezu''s Office... "I don''t know Nezu, it''s supposed to be random," Yagi says, sitting on a couch with Nezu directly opposite him on another couch, a cup of tea in his hand. "It will still mostly be random, I just need you to make sure those two arest, that''s all. And it''s not like it matters who people are matched with at this point since none of them really know each other that well," Nezu says. "I just rather not lie to students, even a small lie like that." "I will be there to exin, and I''ll take full responsibility for it, you have my word All Might." "I guess," Yagi takes a sip of his tea. "Hey, could you have a talk with Horizon about the way he speaks to his ssmates?" "Oh, what about?" "Well Midoriya almost had...well not almost, he definitely had a small panic attack when I went to talk to him yesterday, Horizon said some really hurtful things. And he basically called the entire ss pathetic trash, or something like that...pretty sure they all hate him and it''s only the second day." "I rather not get involved in the personal affairs of my students," Nezu says. "But I''m sure it will all be cleared up by the end of your ss, I''ll exin all I can when I arrive." "Right, well I guess that''s something---" "And I''ll have a talk with Horizonter." "Thank you, I know we usually let students sort out interpersonal issues, but Midoriya needs a bit of extra help right now." "Mhm," Nezu smiles coyly, "remember that promise you made about not ying favorites, more difficult than expected right?" "I''m not the only one," Yagi says. "I don''t know what---" PING! Nezu immediately checks his phone, causing Yagi to raise a brow. "What''s wrong?" "Oh, nothing, Horizon just posted some pictures...apparently he''s having lunch on the roof, with a bird, he named it Pell," Nezu excitedly shows Yagi the picture, causing the man to chuckle. "Remind me again who is ying favorites, Principal Nezu..." "Hmph, this proves nothing," Nezu says while saving the picture. "He''s simply trying to build a brand before his big debut at the sports festival, he even has a packet ready to send out to media offices, he expects to do well, and will use the sudden flood of people searching for him online to boost his poprity." "That''s pretty genius actually," Yagi admits. "Heroes live and die based on poprity these days, getting a head start is smart. And since most people won''t have much to their name it''ll basically be him and Todoroki that the public can''t get enough of." "True, the son of the number two hero naturally will get a lot of attention, almost impossible topete with." "I''m sure Horizon will manage, you should be more concerned about your sessor, he''ll struggle in the sports festival if he can''t control his Quirk you know, and Horizon won''t budge to help." Yagi sighs, "I know... I just don''t know what to do...everything always came naturally to me so teaching is difficult." "The curse of having natural heroic talent...well, somewhat natural. I''m sure you''ll figure it out." "I will," Yagi says. "But right now, I need to go alter the script to fit your request, then---" his body releases steam as he bulks up, expanding to his full All Might size, 220cm -7ft2- and 263kg -580lbs- of pure muscle. Immediately filling out his usually oversized clothes. "---All Might will have his first ss!" he loudly deres. Nezu frantically waves his arms around, "what are you doing! Horizon is on the roof above us!" Yagi''s eyes widen as he immediately detes, a cloud of smoke forming around him for a moment. "Do you think he could sense that?" "I don''t know, but you need to be extra careful until we better understand him, and just like Midoriya you need to be sure not to touch him." "I already know that, I just hope Midoriya can avoid contact, or somehow tell a convincing story when it eventually happens..." Luckily for both men, Horizon was already asleep on the roof, taking an after-lunch nap... END CHAPTER--- pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene Chapter 30: (1:10000000000) Chapter 30: (1:10000000000) Discord: https://discord.gg/K7f8qGpvuk pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- Walking into his homeroom ten minutes before lunch ends Horizon notices that he''s thest to arrive, at a nce he sees everyone excitedly waiting, itching for their first Hero Basic Training ss. He doesn''t give any reaction, simply keeping his hands in his pockets and moving to his seat, walking past Toru, seeing her ying with her hair, Bakugo with his feet up on his desk behind her, and Deku writing something in his battered notebook, quietly mumbling to himself. Quiet conversations were happening among some students, including Tokoyami who sat to his right talking to Sero, who sits in front of Tokoyami. Horizon takes his seat and leans back in his chair, quietly yawning as he just wakes up. And behind him, Momo is reading over her notes from English ss while Todoroki is just staring out the window at nothing beside her. As he''s about to nod off into sleep again Tokoyami interrupts, "Horizon, are you awake?" "Hmm," Horizon sits up and looks over at Tokoyami, seeing both he and Sero looking at him nervously. "Yeah, need something?" "Sorry man," Sero says, "we honestly could tell because well, you know..." "I get that a lot," Horizon replies. The entire ss gets quiet to listen in, not expecting him to be this hospitable to anyone after his first impression yesterday. "Right, we were just wondering... did you get kicked out of English ss earlier?" Sero asks, scratching the back of his neck. "No, I asked Mic if I could go for lunch early since I''m fluent in English, and he let me go," Horizon shrugs. "You can speak English!" Kirishima yells in surprise, sitting three seats away. "Among othernguages yes, so I used the time to get ahead of the lunch lines..." "Very wise," Tokoyami adds. "We were caught in the lunch crowd, even with the size of the cafeteria, it can still get quite crowded, but Lunch Rush''s food is worth it." "Yeah, I don''t really like the cafeteria noise so I went up to the roof, by the time you guys were packing your things I was already on the top floor..." "The roof is off limits to students," Momo says, putting down her book to join the conversation. "Supposedly yeah, that''s why it was locked. Nothing my Quirk couldn''t get past, plus it was nice and quiet, and I got to take and post some nice pics too," he shrugs. "Really! Can we see?" Sero asks. "I can show you my profile if you want, I''ve got lots of cool pictures on it from the ces I go." "Sure, what''s the profile name?" Sero and a few other curious people take out their phones. "Horizon." "Just Horizon?" Tokoyami asks, phone in hand and typing it in. "It cost me a small fortune to get the original name, but having a trademark helps." "Your profile picture is the thing on your back..." Sero notices as he begins scrolling, eyes widening as he sees more and more pictures of Horizon all across the world in the past year. "Holy crap." "Indeed," was all Tokoyami could say as he was also staring at his screen. "The symbol is my logo, and yeah thest year has been exciting, figured I''d live it up a little before I''m spending six days a week in UA." "You call yourself a miracle? Seriously?" Jirou spins around in her chair, beside Bakugo, phone in hand on his profile, and casts a disappointed look at Horizon. "I am a miracle, one in ten billion." "The world only has nine billion people," she says. "Exactly, but I''m sure all the people I healed would agree I''m a miracle..." "I don''t think he has to worry about getting into trouble," Tokoyami says, still scrolling through the profile. "The firstment on his roof picture is ''This view never gets old,''....and it''s from Principal Nezu..." Everyone just gives Horizon a confused look and he shrugs in response. "Oh right," Sero snaps his fingers, causing all the people who were looking at Horizon''s profile on their phones to look up. "You mentioned your healing Quirk before right...when you said you''re the only person that could heal Midoriya." "True," Tokoyami adds, "but you also said it allowed you ess to the roof. I hope you didn''t break the locks then heal yourself after, destruction of school property is a serious offense." Horizon chuckles, "technically I didn''t use the doors, they''re still locked. And my Quirk isn''t just for healing...but it is the most powerful healing in the world...by an immenselyrge margin." "I thought Recovery Girl was the strongest," Tokoyami says. "The Pope is said to have the most potent healing Quirk," Momo corrects him. "Both good answers," Horizon says, leaning back in his chair with his back to the window so he can speak to everyone, almost all the eyes in ss now focused on him. "Recovery Girl and the Pope have the same Quirk, they force cell activation, the difference is Recovery Girl uses the patients'' stamina while the Pope uses his own. This means if someone is seriously hurt the Pope can heal them while she may not be able to heal them entirely at one because the stamina drain would kill them." "Her Quirk can kill you like that?" Sato asks, utter disbelief in his voice. "Yeah, and the Pope can identally kill himself the same way. They''re the same but he is better for big injuries on a single person, while hers is better for lots of smaller injuries...the kind of injuries students at UA always have," he nods toward Deku. "Oh, I get it," Sero says. "So one is a big health potion and the other is like a hundred smaller ones." "Basically," Horizon says. "But the issue is almost all healing Quirks are just variations of this same Quirk, forced cell activation. It causes your cells to divide by adding or directing energy in your body, but like I exined yesterday, this can''t heal things like nerve damage so all it does is elerate the rate at which you would have naturally healed, and since cells can only divide so many times within a lifetime..." "It''s like chipping away your life," Tokoyami says. "A noticeable amount?" "Unlikely," Horizon says. "But pennies add up to dors eventually." "How is your Quirk any different, mister miracle?" Jiro asks mockingly. "Because, my Quirk is the only one that heals without using cell activation," he says. Raising his hand for them to see his palm, a faint blue glow swirls in the middle of his palm on the white body glove. "I convert my own stamina into energy and use it to heal people, but unlike other Quirks, mine is true healing. I don''t activate cells, I give your body temporary cell regeneration...assuming your cells are normal," he adds. Understanding that for someone like Yagi adding brand new cells to join his power stockpiling Quirk would go poorly. Seeing them looking a bit confused he borates," basically if you lose an eye or limb Recovery Girl can''t fix that, but with me, I can help you grow it back, good as new, that also means no scars," he turns to look at Jiro and she sinks into her chair a bit. "Does that mean---" "No you don''t have a ss medic," he cuts off Sero''s train of thought. "Awe... but at least now we have a better idea of why you''re acting like that," Sero says. "Indeed," Tokoyami closes his eyes, trying and failing to look mysterious as he speaks. "Healing Quirks are rare in themselves, the rarest in fact, the most versatile and outright powerful healing Quirk in the world should be nurtured at a ce like UA, not enrolling you would be a disservice to mankind as a whole." "True," Horizon says, "but healing Quirks aren''t technically the rarest, just second ce, the number one spot is usually ignored because a lot of people think they don''t even exist." "What?" Tokoyami asks. "Warping!" Deku can''t help but blurt out, ovee with excitement that overpowers his anxiety and fears, turning to face Tokoyami. "Only around five warping Quirks have ever been discovered but none have ever gone pro, they all either get hired for private work or get recruited by their government, so naturally most people don''t think they exist simply because of how rare it is to even see one in action." Deku freezes after his rambling, now noticing all the eyes in the room on him, slowly and stiffly he turns back to face his desk and returns to his hero notes. "Right," Horizon gestures to Deku, "what he said. But as I said earlier, my Quirk isn''t a healing Quirk, it just happens that one of the things I can do is heal...honestly it''s like the third thing I discovered," he shrugs. "Your Quirk has multiple abilities!" Kirishima jumps out of his seat and yells. "No fair! I only have Hardening," he makes a fist and hardens it, causing it to look like a jagged rock. "Life isn''t fair, don''t be a pussy about it," Horizon shakes his head while most of the ss looks disgusted by his words. "Uh, right, sorry I was just surprised," Kirishima chuckles and sits down. Returning his full focus to the conversation, just as everyone else in the room was doing the same thing. "My abilities put together can perform miracles, that''s what I''ve been doing all my life, and all those ces you see me at on my profile are ces I went to perform those miracles...for the right price obviously," he chuckles. "And what do you consider to be a ''miracle'' exactly?" Shoji asks from the front of the ss. "Oh, the usual incurable problems," Horizon casually waves his hand in the air as he speaks. "Cancer in the brain, spine, or wherever else it is, shattered spine, blindness, deafness, heart disease, I cured diabetes once but that was a real pain in the ass, took me like twelve hours," he groans at the memory. "And I needed a lot of new tissue to graft onto the Pancreas, but yeah that kind of stuff." Everyone looks both impressed and horrified at how casually he''s speaking of these real miracles. "So you''re like a doctor?" Todoroki asks. "But what else can your Quirk do, if healing isn''t your only ability? I find it hard to believe a healing Quirk as capable as yours exists, much less having more abilities." All eyes shift to Todoroki, for most of the ss this is the first time they''ve heard his voice. "Oh, I could show you if you want," Horizon takes out his stack of metal throwing cards and raises one between his fingers. "C''mon, it''ll be fun, I''m just gonna---" "I AM HERE!!!!!!!!" All Might bursts into the room through the front door, causing everyone to begin murmuring in excitement, wearing an older version of his costume with red as the main color and a long flowing cape. ''Wow...he''s bigger than he looks on TV,'' was Horizon''s only real thought, not viewing All Might through the same hero-worshiping lens as most of the world. But the hulking 220cm -7ft3- figure was certainly imposing, especially considering All Might had the power and speed that would make him a threat to Horizon. ''I wonder if he''s faster than my reaction time...'' he ponders as All Might gives a basic breakdown of the ss. "Wee to the most important ss at UA High, think of it as heroing 1-0-1, this is where you''ll learn the basics of being a pro and what it means to fight in the name of good," All Might says while flexing for the ss. ''Fight for the government yeah,'' Horizon rolls his eyes at the over-the-top speech, while everyone just eats it up. "Now let''s get into it, today''s lesson is...BATTLE TRAINING!" All Might announces proudly, causing a smallmotion in the ss. ''Skipping the ethics and regtions and going in for hands-on training, can''t say I''m surprised...'' Horizon nods and leans back in his chair. ''Well, I''ll get to see if anyone here is any fun to p around at least.'' "But one of the keys to being a hero is, LOOKING GOOD!" All Might opens the shelves in the wall to reveal all the cases. Labeled number 1-20, with the number 19 white instead of silver, Horizon''s blue logo pained on the face of it. A loudmotion starts but some eyes nce over to Horizon, finally realizing what was in that case he had on the very first day. ''So he had ess to his costume early,'' they thought, curious about exactly what it could be. "Alright, go by your seat numbers ande get your costume, then head to the 1A locker room and get changed, I''ll be waiting at training ground beta!" All Might gives them a thumbs up and dazzling smile. Being number neen Horizon is almost thest person to collect his costume, but he doesn''t like waiting. "Time to get dressed I suppose," he grumbles and stands up, before Aoyama -seat 1- could ever get to the shelves. With both hands at his side. Iida immediately stands up to reprimand him, but All Might beats him to it, "young Horizon, you must wait your turn, patience is essential to being a hero, and you must be courteous to others," he says politely as Horizon is only two steps from his desk. "Uh-huh." SHAMBLES Horizon''s clothes are swapped out for his hero costume, his uniform stored safely and neatly in the metal case as the pristine three-piece white suit appears on him. White jacket and pants, matching the dress shoes he wears to school. His white Rolex stays on his wrist, a ck vest above his blue shirt with a long dark-blue tie. His logo in blue at the back of the white jacket, draped on his shoulder without his arms in the sleeves, kept in ce by subtle and clever buttons. Everyone freezes at the sight. "WARPING!" Half the room, including All Might, yell in surprise, eyes wide in shock. "Warping is one of my other abilities," he stops at Jiro''s desk and raises his hand. SHAMBLES His Katana appears in his hand, from end to end 145cm -4ft9- almost as tall as Jiro and Asui, but aside from the odd size, his logo along the scabbard and the white colour caught their eyes. Holding the sword at his side he looks down at Jiro, and she could just feel the smug grin behind his ck visor. "See, one in ten billion," he begins walking out of the room, not looking back as he says, "I''ll be waiting at training ground beta..." END CHAPTER--- pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene Chapter 31: (Battle Trial Start) Chapter 31: (Battle Trial Start) Discord: https://discord.gg/K7f8qGpvuk pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- Walking through the dark hallway Horizon eventually enters Training Ground Beta. Sword maically attached to his belt, phone in his left hand, and his set of throwing cards in his jacket pocket. ''Fast'' he thinks as he feels All Might rushing out of the main building and toward him. He doesn''t flinch when the giant of a man appears beside him, making a note that the speed isn''t impossible to deal with, but certainly difficult, at least once he already has a ROOM active. ''If he catches me off guard without a ROOM up, I''m dead,'' he concludes. Situations like this is exactly why he''d never reveal his ROOM requirement to anyone, not even Nezu. "Young Horizon!" All Might''s cheerful voice rings out, the man walks beside Horizon and moves to pat him on the back, but freezes a few inches away. ''Crap, that could have been bad,'' All Might thinks. Awkwardly lowering his hand to his side as they continue walking. ''He''s avoiding touching me...'' Horizon notes, but doesn''t react, still just scrolling on his phone. "All Might," he finally greets the man as they exit the tunnel, a fully built concrete jungle, five city blocks by ten city blocks. One of the many massive training grounds at UA, all paid for by Nezu, and constructed by Cementoss, Power Loader, and a small army of drones. "I assume Nezu knows about the Warping." "Naturally," Horizon says. "It is quite incredible, I''ve never encountered a Warping Quirk before," he admits. "I''ve only ever heard stories, but they all work by emitting something, either a portal or something else, yours seems to simply be instant." "It is instant," Horizon says, putting the phone away to look up at All Might as they wait in the training ground, on a street just outside the tunnel entrance. "And undodgeable, once I want something to move, it will move." "Quite the formidable ability," All Might holds his chin as he takes a proper look at Horizon''s hero costume. "A simple white and blue suit, the visor you always wear, and a Katana. I understand the sword, it works well for quick decisive blows since to my knowledge your Quirk doesn''t provide any damaging abilities. And considering how much Nezu brags about yourbat smarts you''d do well with a simple but versatile weapon, but why the rest of your costume." "What do you mean?" "Well, heroes are meant to be inspiring symbols," All Might ces his hands at his side and puffs out his chest, cape suddenly bellowing behind him with no wind at all. "Your costume is quite...normal." "I''m not wearing some stupid cape and spandex monkey suit," All Might feels an arrow hit his pride at those words. "Plus my costume serves its purpose, and tells people what I''m all about. I''m all business, no wasting time, just get the job done and move on. Everything from the sword to the colors I chose were picked for very specific reasons, I thought about my costume a lot..." "I see, still think you''d look good in a cape though," All Might nods a few times. "Some of your ssmates requested support equipment, do you have any, aside from that life support visor and body glove of course." "Yeah, just the sword and these," he takes out the small stack of cards. "They''re a super-durable alloy, and sharp." All Might holds one of the cards, and Horizon notices how careful the man was not to touch him, looking at the white card with Horizon''s blue logo on it, noticing how sharp the edges were, "so you n to use them like shuriken?" "Something like that," Horizon says, as the card disappears from All Might''s hand and rejoins the deck. "Well, I suppose you won''t need much to stand out, the worlds'' first and only Warping hero is enough to sell you to the public. But I''m sure you realize, Nezu has high expectations of you, and because of this everyone at UA has the same expectations, you''ve got more eyes on you than everyone else... aside from perhaps young Todoroki." "Just don''t stare, looking at divinity is a bad idea," Horizon turns to face down the tunnel, ''seeing'' everyone approaching them. "Only four of them have full masks, and the invisible girl is mostly naked...well, I guess that makes sense," he sighs. Only Sero, Sato, Iida, and Deku had full masks. "You can see them from this far away?" "It''s a bitplicated, don''t worry about it." "Hmm, alright, but why does the mask issue bother you so much, most heroes have public identities these days. Plus, not everyone can hide their identities, like Young Shoji." "True," Horizon says. "But being a hero means you have a target on your back, the higher the rank the bigger the target. And even if it''s a one in one hundred chance, you don''t want to be the hero that goes home to find his family killed by some revenge-hungry viin. Protecting your identity is the easiest way to avoid that, and by extension not going to UA, since the sports festival kills any chance of that." "I see," All Might thinks back to his master, Nana Shimura, how she lost her husband to this exact situation, how she had to put her son into an orphanage to protect him, all because she didn''t bother to protect her identity. "Honestly that''s not something most people think about, I guess the idea of helping people, or whatever else drives heroes to do what they do, it blinds us," he says solemnly. Horizon turns to look up at him, "you sound like you speak from experience." "It happened to someone I once knew, nearly broke her, but I guess most people just think they''ll never be the one in one hundred that''s unfortunate enough," he says quietly. It was odd seeing someone always apparently brimming with positive energy look so vulnerable, but Horizon didn''t believe anyone could genuinely be that positive all the time in the first ce. "What about you?" "Huh, what do you mean?" "Your face is the most famous, have viins ever attacked your family?" "I don''t really have any family, I never did, and I spend so much time on my hero work that it wouldn''t really be fair to them," All Might says with a smile, already having made peace with the life he chose, and the fact that he was given away at birth for not having a Quirk. Horizon chuckles darkly at that which catches All Might off guard, "you know, my mom warned me that I could end up like you one day, just another lonely god... and I guess right now I am." "I''m sorry to hear that..." A few momentster and the other students arrive, interrupting another quiet conversation between Horizon and All Might. Both men stop talking and look toward the ss, Horizon takes a look at all the costumes, noticing a few that he actually likes.. ''So Sero has the best of them, froggy is thematic and effective, and Bakugo''s is loud but appropriate... that means the worst one is definitely... Momo, just another pair of tits in a bimbo suit, but not like she needs the money...guess she''s a Midnight fan.'' He then nces over at Toru, only seeing pair of baby blue gloves and boots. Everything else is exposed to the elements, and subsequently, as the only person who can actively see her, his eyes roam her body. Short white-green hair falling just past her shoulders, with a petite body that''s obviously toned with all the right curves, the horny 16 year old part of his brain takes over for a moment before he snaps his eyes back onto All Might. All Might takes a few steps back so everyone can focus on him and begins exining. "Today we''ll be doing indoor battle training! Statistically, most viin encounters happen indoors, backroom deals, home invasions, secret bases, that kind of thing! Smart viins stay hidden as long as possible, so for this training exercise you''ll be split into pairs, one hero team, and one viin team, to have an indoor battle." "Isn''t this a little advanced?" Asui asks. "I agree," Iida says, raising his hand stiffly. "Wouldn''t it be proper to better familiarize ourselves with each other''s Quirks before entering such a scenario?" Horizon groans loudly and rolls his eyes, "don''t be such a pussy, viins won''t give you time to familiarize yourself with anything, and UA has Recovery Girl, just try not to kill anyone, plus experience is the best teacher, painful lessons are rarely forgotten." "Well said," All Might nods to Horizon, "although you should speak to your ssmates a little nicer." "No." All Might just fake coughs and ignores that, "right, so let''s begin." A flurry of questions is pelted at All Might causing him to wince. "Alright listen up," he takes out a small booklet and begins reading word for word. "The viins have hidden a nuclear device somewhere in their hideout, the heroes must stop them. To do that you must either use the Capture Tape provided to catch the viins, or recover the device, simply touching the objective will count as removing it. The viins win if they protect the device until the fifteen-minute timer is done, or capture the heroes with Capture Tape." "How will the teams be chosen sir?" Iida asks. "Teams will be selected before each match by random lots in the control room," All Might says. "But wouldn''t it be better to group us byparative skill for more of a challenge?" Horizon groans loudly, causing many annoyed res to shift toward him, "you don''t know enough about each other to judge that, and life isn''t fair, sometimes you get an opponent out of your league, get over it." "Exactly," All Might says. "Heroes are always at a disadvantage because we have to extra careful while viins can let loose with their Quirks, and sometimes we get ced into situations where we''re outmatched or a bad matchup, but heroes always have to pull through in the end! This best simtes that," he adds. "I see, I hadn''t thought about this as a proper simtion and only training, my apologies," Iida bows politely to All Might. "No problem, now follow me to the control room and we''ll get this started!" Everyone walks behind All Might to a building attached to the outer wall of the training grounds. On the short walk there a few people were mulling over the short briefing, begrudginglying to a conclusion that they wish wasn''t the case. ''Horizon is a jerk but he definitely knows his stuff, and his Quirk is insane...how do I beat Warping?'' A curious look from Todoroki and the heated re from Bakugo didn''t go unnoticed by anyone. And as they enter the room, arge room with a massive holographic screen on the far wall, with a guard rail and control panel. A small yellow box resting on the control panel with ''Lots'' printed across the front waiting for them. "Alright, time to decide the first team!" All Might picks up the box and turns to face everyone, digging on hand in and grabbing a ball. Half the ss get nervous, not wanting to be the first team, and certainly not wanting to get a bad matchup. And All Might is also nervous. ''C''mon, theirs are different so just make sure you save those forst!'' he reminds himself. Taking out the first ball "four," he reads aloud. "Seat number four." Iida steps forward. "You''ll be paired with number...seventeen," Bakugo steps forward. "And the next team is, five," Uraraka steps forward. "Paired with, eighteen," Deku steps forward to stand beside her. "Alright, teams have been decided!" All Might opens apartment under the control panel and takes out four rolls of thin tape and four earpieces. "These are Capture Tape, each of you get one, wrap it around your opponent and they''re out. Each team also gets a pair of these earpieces so you can talk to each other," he hands them out. Everyone puts in their earpiece and stores away their tape. "You''ll also get these," he reaches back into thepartment and takes out two booklets. "We''ve prepared a few buildings, so each team works with a different map, these are yours, the viins have five minutes to go get set up, then the timer starts, and the heroes wait outside until then." They all nod and begin moving out. As Bakugo and Iida are setting up as the viins Deku and Uraraka are chatting outside the building seemingly reviewing the floorn. All Might activates the cameras inside for everyone to watch. "Will we be able to hear them?" Horizon asks. "Only I can hear them," All Might says. "I have a control earpiece connected to theirs, the surveince in the building doesn''t have audio. I suggest you all take note of how they approach this situation and begin thinking of how to use your Quirk toplete the scenario." Horizon shakes his head, ''warp to the bomb and touch it if I''m the hero, or just have some fun testing people then touch the bomb...yeah, that sounds a lot more fun, I should let them know what I''m all about...'' "START!" All Might announces as the timer begins counting down from fifteen minutes. ''I''ll have to make sure Horizon is the viin because of his Quirk,'' he decides, forming the same conclusion as Horizon now that Warping was revealed. ''I wonder how Young Todoroki and Yaoyorozu will deal with Warping...'' END CHAPTER--- pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene Chapter 32: (Power VS Mastery) Chapter 32: (Power VS Mastery) Discord: https://discord.gg/K7f8qGpvuk pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "So who do you guys think will win?" Kaminari asks nobody in particr. Horizon nces over at him then turns back to the screen where Deku and Uraraka are still reading the map and strategizing. "Bakugo and Iida seem like a strong duo," Asui says. "Plus Midoriya hurts himself when he uses his Quirk." "Yeah but his Quirk is super strong!" Sato adds. "It would probably only take one hit to take one of them down, or both if he gets lucky." "Or Uraraka could float them into the sky," Shoji says. "Yeah but she has to touch them," Mina taps her chin, brain working overtime to consider thebatants. "Getting close is a no-no with Bakugo, taking a grenade to the face isn''t a good idea." "It''s starting..." All Might says as the timer begins and the heroes enter the building. ''They already failed,'' Horizon shakes his head in disappointment, something All Might noticed in the corner of his eye. ROOM! He creates a room three hundred meters wide, easily covering the building they were in. SCAN! He keeps a constant 3D map of the building and people moving in real time in his mind, lining it up with the five camera feeds on the screen. Noticing most of the cameras empty he feels Bakugo moving slowly, creeping up on the heroes. "Sneak attack iing," Horizon says, causing everyone to look at him confused, including All Might. "Whaddya mean?" Mina asks. "Three...two...now." BOOM! Deku just barely dodges an explosion to the face. All eyes are glued to the screen. "Dude how''d you know that?" Kaminari asks, eyes still glued to the screen but very creeped out. Horizon only shrugs in response. Watching the fight he ignores his ssmates impressed cheers as Deku performs some of the most basic -admittedly sloppy- moves. Horizon rolls his eyes beneath his visor, not at all impressed, as expected of someone trained by Arsenal, who mostbatants consider a closebat monster. Keeping his mental map up he sees Uraraka begin searching the upper floors for the bomb while Deku and Bakugo y cat and mouse on the second floor. "Bakugo looks feral," Horizon chuckles as he sees them brawling once more, or more urately, Deku barely dodging blow after blow. "His pride is immense," All Might says, "much like yours, but he''s much louder about it..." "Probably because unlike me he can''t back up his talk, so he always shouts," Horizon shrugs. "Both these teams are honestly disasters, let''s hope something exciting happens...oh..." They all see Bakugo yelling and aiming his gauntlet, and All Might immediately begins yelling to stop him. The entire building they''re in shakes from the shock of Bakugo''s explosion an entire block away. All Might gives another warning, before the fight continues, and Horizon is again disappointed by what he sees, until he notices something strange. Bakugo throws another big right hook, and in the moment Deku dodges Horizon puts the pieces together. Focusing on his map instead of what he sees from the cameras he notices Uraraka dancing around with Iida, constantly keeping herself at the edge of the fifth floor. And looking at it on the cameras it''s impossible to tell, but with his map showing the building''s five floors stacked he could see Deku constantly leading the fight to the middle of the second floor. ''So neither of them can win 1-on-1, so what''s the y if Deku can''t get away from Bakugo? If he hits him with his Quirk he also takes himself out and they lose, he needs to help Uraraka...or take out Iida, and he''s got the power to do it, oh, I see...'' All the pieces brought together in 0.01 seconds, the monstrous power of a brain developed to handle the information flow from his Quirk. "Man the heroes don''t stand a chance here," Kaminari says, joined by a few others asking All Might to call an end to this brutal beatdown. "Too bad the viins are meatheads, so the heroes win," Horizon says, suddenly silencing all the requests from his ssmates to end the match as they see Deku get pummeled. "Dude, are you even watching?" Sero asks, looking entirely confused. "Listen, because I''m only saying this once," Horizon says, even getting All Might''s attention as the battle rages on. "Deku is pulling Bakugo to the middle of his floor while Uraraka is trying to bait Iida into the middle of floor five while staying at the edges. Heroes can''t win 1-on-1 or in a team battle, they need a 2-on-1. But with a few floors between them, the only way to do that is..." he gestures for anyone to fill in the rest. And everyone stares at him looking confused. "Ugh," he sighs. "The cripple boy needs to punch the ceiling below Iida, if he hits Bakguo, even if he manages not to kill him it takes both of them out and Uraraka loses her fight, so they lose. Take out Iida or the floor below his feet and she can jump across and touch the bomb, easy win," he shrugs. They all stare at him as if he''s lost his mind. "They''ve been lining it up since the first time she tried to touch the bomb," he says. "The one good thing about Deku is that he knows how worthless he is, so at least he''ll focus on the objective victory instead of abat win..." He earns a dozen res with thatst statement, ''even when he''s given apliment he''s a total dick...'' they all thought. A couple of minutester and the observation room is silent as it ys out exactly as predicted. And everyone slowly turns to stare at Horizon in horror. "Told ya...I should have taken bets," he chuckles as All Might rushes off with two medical drones to collect the students. Horizon turns back to the screen, seeing Deku being loaded onto a stretcher, "honestly he did nothing right and somehow won, but at least it was a bit amusing..." "You know if you weren''t such a jerk you''d be pretty cool," Asui bluntly says. "Yeah, and how did you even know their n anyway?" Jiro asks, voicing the question that everyone wanted to ask. "I just considered the battlefield, Quirks, mentalities, and all the information I already had," Horizon shrugs as if it were nothing special. "It helps that meatheads are predictable..." ''So much for rmended students supposedly being the top,'' Momo nces between Horizon and Todoroki, who was also staring at him with a focused expression. Todoroki considered all his ssmates during the Quirk apprehension test, and not one of them seemed like anypetition, until today. ''Healing, Warping, and he''s some kind of genius strategist, I need to be careful oh my surroundings, and be cautious of any other abilities he may have...'' he turns away from Horizon and sees All Might entering the room with Uraraka, Bakugo, and Iida. As everyone gets settled All Might names Iida the MVP and asks for anything people noticed during the review session. And everyone immediately turns to Horizon. "Figure it out yourselves," was all he said, dismissing them. Momo scoffs and raises her hand, volunteering and giving a decent breakdown of the battle, and standing across from her Bakugo has his head down, feeling his ego get more and more crushed with each word she says. "Horizon, since you were able to predict every action in the match---" this gets Bakugo, Iida, and Uraraka staring at him bewildered, "is there anything you''d like to add?" All Might asks. "Not really." "Oh, because she said everything, or because you didn''t spot anything that she didn''t? I honestly expected that genius brain of yours to have noticed something..." All Might challenges with a wide grin. ''He''s ying on my ego...but if I just answer this one I can get them off my back for the other matches, and it''d be good for them to just know I''m better and not question me in the future...'' Horizon grumbles and turns to him, "I know what you''re doing, trying to y on my ego...and I''ll only allow it this once, then they can figure out everything in the other matches, got it?" "Great!" All Might gives a joyous thumbs up. "Alright," Horizon sighs. "Let''s start with the viins. Honestly, most of what you did was correct," most of the ss, including Bakugo, look surprised at that. "With Bakugo''s Quirk, a 2-v-2 fight is out of the question since Iida is melee, that''s just asking for friendly fire since none of us are familiar with each other yet. And he can''t be in the bomb room since his Quirk would just set it off. Sending him out to deal with the heroes makes the most sense, especially considering he''s the fastest person in the fight." Iida immediately raises his hand to correct that but Horizon cuts him off, speaking directly to him. "Consider your Quirk, Engine. High top speed but shit at cornering, in a five-story building full of narrow hallways and a cramped stairwell to the top where the bomb is. Compared to that Bakugo is good at cornering and can fly, meaning he can just hop out a window, fly to the top floor and get back inside, outpacing everyone. That''s what he should have done the moment Uraraka got away and Deku got a bit hurt, then you capture her and wait for Deku, easily winning, but he got tunnel vision and ovemitted." "I see," Iida and everyone else nods along, understanding what Horizon meant, while Bakugo just feels his ego get ripped apart more and more. "Like I said, the viin did everything aside from not regrouping right," he shrugs. "The heroes on the other hand," he turns to Uraraka. "You two failed literally the moment you step inside." "What?" she asks, looking confused and ashamed. "Use your head, your Quirk is making things and people float, yet you entered through a window on the first floor. The bomb will obviously be at the furthest point from the entrance which is the top floor, just float either both or one of you up a few floors to get the drop on them, would have been perfect in this case since Bakugo was already down on floor three when the timer began." "Oh..." she looks down at her feet, ashamed that she didn''t think of that. "Aside from theck of any thought toward the verticality of the battlefield from both teams, the heroes clearly look up to a certain meathead too much," he looks directly at all might, causing the man to nervously freeze. "What do you mean?" All Might asks. Horizon sighs, "what I mean is, you get away with being just one big veiny bicep because the difference in power between you and the people you fight is so vast, they didn''t have that advantage, and even if they did they shouldn''t try to deal with everything head on, because the one time they can''t overpower the enemy they will suffer for it, its a terrible habit." Horizon turns back to the ss as he continues. "If you try to just duel every enemy eventually you''ll lose. Use the uniqueness of your Quirk to your advantage in any situation you can, basically what I''m saying is find a way to cheat. Instead of just focusing on brute power, focus on mastery." "That''s the difference between people like All Might and Endeavour," Todoroki flinches at those words. "All Might has an insane amount of power, if you try to replicate that you will fail, and it will cost you. Endeavor doesn''t have that, so in exchange he makes up for it by being what I consider the only person in the world with perfect Quirk Mastery. Master your Quirk and utilize it to give yourselves every advantage, at least before ites down to some brawl, and if brawling is all you do, then you''d better be really damn smart about it, got it." Everyone nods along. "Good, your job is to be quick and efficient, not look good for the cameras, so less All Might, more Endeavor," Todoroki flinches again, balling his fists at his sides. "Aside from that, well, the heroes were pretty much trash at everything else too, they were overmatched, and Deku still has to break himself to use his Quirk because he''s pathetic so there''s that too, the only person who actually deserves a win here was Iida, the rest of you need to get your shit together." "Excellent points," All Might says. "But again, it wouldn''t kill you to be a bit nicer." "Well I''ve never done it before, so it could," Horizon shrugs, "best not to take the chance..." All Might sighs and announces the next match... After three more matches, each ending with Horizon not contributing anything to the review, near falling asleep with how bored he was at the simple battles. "Time for the final match!" All Might says. "Only four people are left, so let''s see how they''ll be paired up," he said, already knowing what teams Nezu chose. Horizon, Todoroki, Momo, and Ojiro, those were the final four. "The teams will be, Horizon and Ojiro as the viins, and that leaves Todoroki and Yaoyorozu as the heroes," he gives everyone the basic items, Capture Tape and earpieces. Horizon ces the earpiece in a smallpartment at the side of his visor and syncs to it, only taking a nce at the map before handing it to Ojiro and walking away. "Finally I get to do something..." he says while stretching his arms out to wake himself up. cing one of his metal throwing cards face down on the control panel he turns and leaves the room, Ojiro a few steps behind him still reading the map. All four students leave the control room to prepare, and everyone in the control room waits with bated breath for the most exciting match to begin... END CHAPTER--- pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene Chapter 33: Cross Posting on Scribble Hub for PC users Chapter 33: Cross Posting on Scribble Hub for PC users Yeah I''m Cross-Posting on Scribble Hub for PC users, that''s all, currently uploading everything there and here. Chapter 34: (Nezus Bet) Chapter 34: (Nezu''s Bet) Discord: https://discord.gg/K7f8qGpvuk pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- Walking to the designated building Ojiro and Horizon are side by side in the middle of the street, only two hundred meters away from the control room. Arriving in front of the six-story building Horizon enters without saying a world while Ojiro is still looking at the map in his hand. "Do you know where you''re going?" Ojiro asks. "Ofcourse." "But I''m the one with the map," he says as they effortlessly find the stairs. "I took a look at it, so I''m fine without it." "Oh...ok. Do you have a n? Todoroki and Yaoyorozu are rmended students so we should be ready for anything." Horizon stops as they reach the third floor, slowly turns and looks Ojiro up and down, then shakes his head and continues walking up the stairs. "Uh---" "Why are you barefoot?" Horizon asks. "Well, this is traditional," Ojiro pats his Karate Gi. "I''m aiming to be a martial arts hero, so I figured---" "That you''d fight viins with no protection as a melee fighter, with a Quirk that''s basically having a stick attached to your back...genius," he rolls his eyes beneath the visor. "Hey, it''s prehensile too, so I can grab stuff." "The only thing you''re gonna grab is some frostbite when Todoroki decides to ice the building, if you can avoid that then just make yourself useful somehow," Horizon sighs as they reach the top floor with the bomb. "Honestly a quirkless guy with a bat is better than you in this situation, assuming he''s wearing shoes." Ojiro suddenly looks like a kicked puppy as they enter the bomb room. Seeing the bomb in the middle of the room and a few crates scattered about Horizon just moves one of the empty crates in front of the bomb and takes a seat, leaning back against the bomb and waiting for All Might. "The five-minute timer starts now, use this time to carefully prepare!" All MIght announces in their ears. "Uh, so should we---" "Figure out the ice problem then talk to me..." A momentter Ojiro sees Horizon wave at a nk wall, but decides not to question it. Turning his back to Horizon and taking a ready stance facing the door to this room. ---Minutes Earlier... Moments after thest four students left the room four people entered. "Deku!" Uraraka cheered as she saw her friend, with his arm in a sling and bandages all over his body. Apanied by Aizawa, Recover Girl, and on Aizawa''s shoulder, Principal Nezu. "Hello students," Nezu happily greets them with an adorable wave as Deku moves to join Uraraka. Everyone is surprised by the new additions but dly wees them. "So, All Might, what have I missed?" Nezu asks. "They just left the room, Yaoyorozu and Todoroki are the heroes with Horizon and Ojiro as the viins, just as you requested." "REQUESTED?!" all the students yell in surprise. "Right, well I suppose I should exin," Nezu makes the ''pick up'' motion and All Might lifts him onto his left shoulder. "While all the other matches were random, I had this one nned out from the beginning, All Might was against this dishonest tactic but I persuaded him." Nezu taps All Might''s head, and the man simply takes out his earpiece and hands it to Nezu, who seemingly attaches it to his phone and amplifies the volume of it for all to hear, everyone then turns to look at the screen as he continues. "Before I exin, I should say that I owe all of you an apology, the students I mean. So I''m sorry for any awful thing Horizon has said to you, and I take full responsibility for them," these words cause everyone to stare in surprise, this was thest thing they expected. "I brought Horizon to UA knowing fully well that he would be like this, he is someone who only respects merit, and he isn''t afraid to speak his mind when anyone doesn''t meet his standard, the same standard he holds himself to. This attitude isn''t umon at all, especially not among pro heroes, that''s why many pros will only work with people of a certain rank. But because of that, it''s hardly ever as apparent as Horizon''s. This is mainly because he is someone that has proven himself capable enough to be among Japan''s top ten pro heroes," everyone, including All Might, looks both amazed and horrified at that revtion. And Bakugo feels like the earth would open and swallow him at any moment, because how else could he sink any lower than this? "A top ten pro?!" a dozen people yell out. Nezu nods politely, "yes, he entered UA based on his own merit. Not only is he a licensed doctor, likely the best in the world, but he''s also a top-levelbatant. Horizon is exceptional, even among the current pros, but due to thews he has to graduate a hero course to get his license," he says. It takes a moment for everyone, including the teachers to process exactly what he just said, even All Might didn''t know any more than him being a miracle doctor until today. "But what does that have to do with this match?" Eraser asks, as everyone else was just staring at the screen and listening to Horizon and Ojiro talk while walking up the stairs, trying to make sense of all this. "That''s actually Quite simple, I need Yaoyorozu to realize that Todoroki isn''t invincible like she imagines. She, like most of the student body, views rmended students above everyone else. But not herself, only Todoroki as he is at the top of this year''s rmended students. If she sees that he too can make mistakes then suddenly what she imagines as an impossible distance between them won''t be such a hindrance anymore. For Todoroki, I need him to realize that he isn''t invincible, he needs to be humbled before a viin does it instead. For Ojiro, I need him to realize that he cannot just ept himself as he is now. He must try to be more than he already is, or he''ll never improve, and he is also a test for Horizon." All Might raises a brow at that, "how is his teammate a test for him?" "Because, as capable as Horizon is, his mind is also terrifyingly bright, by human standards at least," he chuckles grimly. "I know he will be a great leader of heroes in the future, and this is his first test into that, and if during his time at UA his spirit bes more heroic, then I would have been right to bet on him, All Might, to rece you..." "What?" Eraser asks, not believing what he''s hearing, after all, he''s met Horizon. "You think he can be---" "Yes!" Nezu says excitedly. "If all goes well, he will be out next Symbol Of Peace!" All Might tries to keep a smile on, but from the corner of his eye he sees Deku one step away from breaking into a full sobbing mess. Hearing Nezu, one of the few people who knows about One For All dere someone else as the next All Mightpletely broke his heart, and All Might would need to have a talk with Nezu about thister. And in the far back of the room, Bakugo''s entire mind went nk, staring into nothing as the world seemed to get blurred. Heart pounding in his ears, breathing bing shallow, mouth drying up. For a moment he felt rage building up, his palm aching to st something, anything, until all the fight drained out of him and they just hung limply at his sides, staring at the screen with all the fight knocked out of him, just like Deku was. The other students had no delusions about their futures, they smiled and happily chattered for a moment, excited and amazed to have someone like that in their ss. And some -mainly Kirishima and Sato- were excited to train with Horizon. "That exins why you''re ying favorites," Eraser says. "I''m doing no such thing," Nezu says, and All Might, Eraser, and Recovery girl just shake their heads at the bold lie. "In fact, this matchup is tailored to be the most difficult possible for him, from the students present at their current level that is." "Hmm," Eraser thinks for a moment. "Todoroki and Yaoyorozu are versatile and powerful, plus they have more training than anyone other than Horizon...but if he''s as good as you im, he''s probably best in the school, by a prettyrge margin..." "He is," Nezu says confidently, causing Deku and Bakugo to feel a pit in their stomachs. "And honestly, I''m basing all of this on the information I have, I still don''t even know what his Quirk actually does," Nezu cackles wildly at the idea. "What?!" Eraser is equal parts horrified and pissed at the confession. "What if it''s dangerous." "Oh yes, the only abilities I know about are his Healing, Warping, and some strange ghost bullets..." ''Ghost bullets!'' all the students imagined a gun firing little bedsheet ghosts at people, some suppressing a chuckle at the idea and others feeling creeped out. "Look at this," Nezu says, then waves at the screen. And on the screen, Horizon turns his head toward their direction, staring at a nk wall, and waves back. "See, I don''t even know how that works." "That''s still creepy," All Might says. Everyone nods in agreement. "I''m hoping that this matchup can draw out some of the abilities he''s been hiding from me," Nezu says. "They have the highest chance of giving him a challenge, so this is the best bet...for now. It won''t take long until all of you are capable of fighting with the best of them," he gestures to the other students, earning wide grins from them. "This is gonna be awesome!" Mina cheers loudly, immediately joined by Uraraka, all swept up in the excitement as Deku and Bakugo just stand at the back of the crowd, feeling the immense pressure of a new rival. Everyone begins theorizing what his Quirk is and how the battle will go, meanwhile two of the unsuspecting pawns approach the battlefield... A momentter Todoroki and Momo are standing at the entrance, and Nezu turns the volume all the way up so everyone in the room can clearly hear. "For your own safety, wait outside," Todoroki says, and ces a single hand on the outside of the building. A thickyer of ice begins spreading out, moving around the outside and inside of the building, creeping up floor by floor all the way to the top. Todoroki exhales and ites out as frost mist, and Yaoyorozu takes a few steps back in amazement. As Todoroki enters the building the entire control room is silent, surprised by this disy of power. If not for what Nezu said earlier, they were sure this would be the strongest student in their ss. Deku and Bakugo felt nothing, already numb to the sensation of being outssed for today, now they were just watching with nk stares. "Well, I guess that''s that," Momo sighs, not surprised by how capable her fellow rmended student was, but a bit sad that she didn''t get to do anything. "He froze them to the building!" Sato yells, noticing Ojiro trying to move his feet, and Horizon now standing in front of the bomb with his feet also frozen to the floor. "Is it over already?" Hagakure asks, not seeing Horizon or Ojiro breaking out. "If you move your feet it''ll rip off your skin," Horizon tells Ojiro, and the students listening in wince as he stops moving immediately. "This is why you need shoes, moron." CRACK! He uses the scabbard of his sword to shatter the ice and free himself, taking a step back to sit on the crate and simply wait for Shoto. BOOSTER SHOT! Beneath his pants and shoes, even beneath his body glove, the near-frozen skin is immediately healed. ''Cold, as expected... and he perfectly froze the building, not bad,'' Horizon thinks as he sees Ojiro trying to keep his bnce. "Horizon broke out!" Kirishima cheers, clenching a fist in excitement, but quickly gets confused as he sees Horizon just return to his seat. "Hey! Why isn''t he helping his teammate?!" "Because he doesn''t care," Eraser exins, ring daggers at the screen, a deep scowl on his face. "He views Ojiro as useless in this situation, not surprising considering how he spoke earlier...too selfish to be a hero." "Agreed," Nezu says, still beaming with pride much to the annoyance of Eraser. "That''s why he''s in UA, to build his heroic spirit, and I''m sure as everyone grows he will see their capabilities and grow to respect them all." As Shoto begins climbing the stairs Eraser continues, "heroes should at least have a base level ofpassion for people, especially their teammates, BEFORE they''re allowed entry into UA," he says with a touch of venom in his voice. All Might and everyone else nods in agreement, but Nezu just chuckles. "I agree, but while UA only epts people who canrgely be considered prodigies, that includes all of you," he sees some students looking up at him with stars in their eyes. "We also realize that sometimes heroes aren''t born, they have to be built, and that is what UA is best at, right All Might?" All Might stiffens at that, and Deku swallows dryly, obviously knowing what Nezu was referring to, their inherited Quirk. "Right, Ipletely agree," All Might says. "It''s not about where you are now, it''s about where you can be if given the chance, and at UA, you''ve got until graduation to be your best self and enter the world." "Look it''s happening!" Kaminari excitedly points at the screen, causing Eraser and Nezu to get quiet for a moment. Shoto enters the frozen room, ncing around with an indifferent expression, he sees Ojiro frozen to the floor, as expected, but he turns to fully face Horizon, seeing him sitting on a crate as if this wasn''t a battle, perfectly rxed. ncing down he notices the broken ice, "you broke the ice, but if you don''t want to get frozen again, just get out of the way." "Really?" Horizon casually takes out one of his throwing cards, ying with it between the fingers of his left hand, sword in his right. Shoto takes a battle stance, right foot forward and ready to unleash more ice. "Don''t do anything, just surrender." Horizon chuckles, "oh, this is gonna be fun, go ahead, try it..." CRCHHH! A sudden torrent of ice fires at Horizon, Shoto took no chances at all, thick blue ice freezing half the room into a massive ice cube and causing ayer of thin mist to block their vision for a moment. "Huh?" Shoto and everyone else lookpletely confused and horrified at what they see, frozen in Horizon''s ce is Momo, already hugging herself, exposed costume providing no protection, skin already bing pale and frozen, almost up to her chest stuck in ice, and the bomb behind herpletely untouched. "T-Todoroki?" she asks through shivering lips,pletely bewildered. "He can warp people," Todoroki says, instantly realizing that Horizon was more dangerous than he realized. SHAMBLES! Momo disappears, copsing to the ground on the road outside. In her ce, the simple throwing card. ''Now is my chance!'' Todoroki rushes forward, and before he can even take one step. SHAMBLES! He''s suddenly standing beside Momo, looking around frantically for any surprise attacks. "His Warping is instant and irresistible, I didn''t even feel anything," he properly assesses. "Keep your eyes peeled for him to appear behind us." Standing back in the bomb room Horizon collects his card by warping it back into his hand, then draws his sword. Without turning his head he aims down to his right side. INJECTION SHOT! INJECTION SHOT! INJECTION SHOT! INJECTION SHOT! INJECTION SHOT! "Argh!" Todoroki screams in agony as he feels five bullets hit him, ripping through the building, his clothes, and the street below him, one in each limb and another in his left shoulder. Ojiro looks both confused and terrified as he sees the bullet holes appear in the floor. "Todoroki!" Momo forces herself up, limbs still numb as she looks down at Shoto. "He...he shot you?" she asks confused. Seeing the holes on both sides of his uniform and in the road, but his skin was untouched. "I don''t understand..." Back in the bomb room Horizon turns and begins walking to the far wall, toward the street. And with a wide swing of his sword. AMPUTATE! CRASH! The entire building is divided diagonally, with the face of it being cut off and sliding down toward the street. "Move!" Shoto grits out to Momo, seeing the face of the building, three stories of concrete sliding down toward them, and a massive sh mark in the road just in front of them. Horizon raises a single finger and flicks it upward to point at the sky. TAKT! The falling section suddenly begins floating, causing everyone to stare in surprise. Thesest two abilities were news even to Nezu, something that nobody missed with the way his mouth was agape. Horizon puts his sword away and walks to the edge of the building, the newly made balcony as it would seem, all while the cut-off section was now floating a few meters above the roof, directly above Shoto and Momo. Horizon looks down at them, and they could feel the judgment behind his visor, "so...surrender? Or I could drop it," he gestures to the building hovering above them. Shoto res daggers at him, but Momo doesn''t hesitate to take the initiative, "we surrender!" she doesn''t even put up a fight, something that would haunt her for quite a while. "The viin team wins!" All Might announces stiffly. "Well...those abilities are new," Nezu chuckles darkly, earning another set of res from Eraser while everyone just takes in the destruction on screen. The top rmended student was crushed, the second ce left helpless, and arge section of the building was held aloft in the air by nothing... ''Tch, damn it Nezu,'' All Might feels conflicted at what this means, thankful to have Horizon, but certainly not expecting his doctor to be such intensepetition for his chosen sessor, ''this was supposed to be Izuku''s year...where the hell did you find this thing!'' END CHAPTER--- pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene Chapter 35: (Battle Reviews) Chapter 35: (Battle Reviews) Discord: https://discord.gg/K7f8qGpvuk pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- SHAMBLES! Horizon appears back in the control room, standing beside All Might as he swaps ces with the card he left there earlier. All the students take a cautious step back in surprise as he reaches out and summons the card back into his hand. "Well, that was boring," he shrugs. "Can I go home now?" "You still have to review the battles after this," Eraser says. "Hero Course ends at five, as you know." "Hey I can dream," he takes a few steps away from All Might then turns to face everyone. "So, did you threee just to see me?" "Exactly," Nezu says. "But first, could you please deal with that," he gestures to the screen. All eyes snap back to the screen to see Momo dragging Shoto from beneath the building hovering above them, and Ojiro still frozen in ce. "Sure," Horizon raises a hand and gestures to the left with his pointer finger, and the floating building does exactly that, suddenly jerking to the left and shattering as it hits the road. "Done." "And can you bring them here?" Eraser asks. "They can manage without me." "Horizon," Nezu says. Horizon sighs, "ugh, fine," he takes out three cards and throws them to the floor. SHAMBLES! Momo, Shoto, and Ojiro swap ces with the cards. Recovery Girl immediately moves to heal them, ignoring their confused and surprised expressions. Horizon once again Warps the cards back to him, cing all ten back into his jacket pocket. "So, why did youe here?" he asks Nezu, looking up at the mouse that was still on All Might''s shoulder. Everyone just remains silent, carefully listening to every word. "I came to see you in action," Nezu says. "So...telekinesis and what, air shes?" "No and no," Horizon says. "Will you exin or are these more abilities you intend to keep secret?" Horizon shrugs, "I tell the world what to do, and it obeys, because it knows better, that''s all." Everyone sweatdrops at that response, but somehow at this point, they weren''t that surprised. "Well then, good job today everyone!" All Might loudly announces, feeling his time about to run out. "I''ll now entrust you all to Aizawa for more in-depth reviews. But allow this experience to expand your views, no matter how strong you believe yourself to be, there will always bepetition, I know this was a serious eye opener for some of you," he sees both Shoto staring daggers at Horizon while Bakugo looks heartbroken. "Even you, Young Horizon," he absentmindedly pats Horizon on the back, then holds his shoulder as he continues. "This is only the second day, if you don''t take things seriously you''ll find yourself struggling to even keep up with these young and talented heroes in training," All Might smiles brightly at everyone, seeing many of their faces light up at his words. Until he looks at Deku, apletely mortified look on his face, then he sees a look of disappointment on Aizawa and Recovery Girl as they just shake their head at him. ''Hmm, what''s going on?'' he wonders, until Nezu taps his shoulder and whispers something in his ear. All Might immediately freezes, then looks down at Horizon, not realizing that he was still holding the young man''s shoulder, and Horizon...he was staring at exactly where Yagi''s injury was. ''SHIT! The jig is up!'' All Might''s smile quivers for a moment as Nezu gives Horizon a subtle nod and they both turn back to the ss. Horizon sets the revtion aside for now as the ss is sent to get cleaned up and return to their homeroom for reviews. While everyone goes to the locker room he heads back to the homeroom. But before splitting off he hears them excitedly chattering about the final match, and he overhears a bit of what Nezu told them about him. ''So they know he''s betting on me...that changes nothing,'' he decides before taking out one of his cards, seeing the UA main building in the distance, and his ssmates walking a dozen meters ahead. SHAMBLES! He swaps ces with the book he left on his desk, appearing sitting on his desk as it falls to thewn outside. SHAMBLES! The book reappears, another item he waspletely attuned to for moments like these. Taking his seat he leans his sword against the window and getsfortable as he waits for everyone else. SHAMBLES! His hero costume swaps back for his uniform, as if it never left him, thankfully he''d basically done nothing but stand around since ss began. Back in the control room the moment the students left Yagi instantly deted, a small cloud of smoke appearing around him as Nezu hops across to Aizawa''s shoulder. "Well at least I don''t have to worry about him sensing me anymore when I transform," he tries to find a bright side to this, only getting unamused looks from everyone. "You couldn''t go one ss without messing up?" Recovery Girl asks. "Honestly it''s a wonder you became the world''s best hero..." "Do we need to worry about him running his mouth?" Eraser asks. "Him being Yagi''s doctor is one thing, but All Might is an actual big deal, this story is worth a fortune." "Horizon certainly doesn''t need the money," Nezu waves away his worries. "And more importantly, he''d never break an agreement, that includes patient-doctor confidentiality. All Might is safe, but we will have to speak with him after school to clear up some things." "Yeah, I figured as much," Yagi says, holding up his now baggy hero costume as it hangs off his frame. "But did you seriously have to hype him up that much in front of the students Nezu?" "I simply spoke the truth All Might, and it provided context that I''m sure he never would have volunteered." "And where did you find this kid anyway?" Eraser asks. "Warping, Healing, and whatever else he has, I know you said you found him to heal All Might, but he''s trained, very very very well trained. Were his parents pros?" "I don''t really see how that''s relevant," Nezu dodges the question. "What matters is that he''s here now and it is our duty to help him be a great hero, now that you''ve all seen what he can do I hope you all support me in that endeavor." "I still don''t like that he didn''t take any entrance exams," Eraser grumbles, "but I see why he got to skip them. Now I need to go to ss before they get caught up in the post-battle excitement..." "Right, thank you Aizawa," All Might politely nods as the man leaves with Nezu on his shoulder, then turns back to the screen, seeing all the destruction caused today. "And I should call Cementoss and tell him about this." "Mhm," Recovery girl agrees. "I don''t suppose you two could convince Horizon to help out at the infirmary could you, it''d be nice having an extra pair of hands...especially if that boy of yours is going to keep breaking his bones every day," she says with a bit a venom. "Uh, I''ve already got one conversation with Horizon that I''m sure he won''t be pleasant duringter today. If I ask him to do something like that...well, I''ll mention it to Nezu at least," All Might says. "Oh, I asked you because lord knows everyone here looks up to you, does the All Might charm not work on him?" she asks cheekily. "Honestly it has theplete opposite effect I think, he only really respects Nezu... even today he called me ''meathead'' a few times, and I''m his teacher," he sighs and rubs the back of his head. "But you are a meathead." "Ugh...not you too..." Yagi sulks as Recovery Girl just giggles quietly... A few minutester and Iida is the first to arrive, walking beside Deku and Sato, they pause for a moment at the front door to the ss, seeing Horizon leaning back in his chair ying a game on his phone. He''d already received a message from Nezu to speakter, so for now he was just putting the big reveal of All Might being sick aside. While most people would panic, especially his ssmates, he didn''t really care. ''Not my body, not my problem,'' he summarises, the thought of revealing this secret never entering his mind as Yagi was still his patient. "Hey Horizon," Sato waves politely while walking to his seat, at the back of the second column. "Nice work out there today," he gives a thumbs up. "You too," Horizon''s words cause both Deku and Iida to freeze, not expecting any kind ofpliment. "Guess you''re a wrestling fan..." He recalls Sato''s basic but effective wrestling moves used to subdue Shoji earlier. Sato blushes and rubs the back of his head, not used topliments, "thanks man, means a loting from the next Symbol of Peace." Deku''s heart aches at those words, another nail being hammered in to tell him how far he''d have to go, and how much further ahead hispetition already was. "What?" Horizon pauses his game and turns to face Sato. The rest of the ss walks in as Sato exins. "Oh, during your match Principal Nezu gave this big speech, said you''re pretty much guaranteed to be the next number one hero...and said you''re already good enough for the top ten, he said some other things too but I can''t really remember, sorry." "Oh, he revealed that," was all Horizon said, surprising everyone as he turned back to his phone. "So it is true," Shoto steps out of the crowd and begins walking to Horizon as everyone gets to their seats, the entire ss silent and listening in. "He''s a big dreamer," Horizon shrugs, not looking up at Shoto. "And you aren''t?" "Meh," Horizon shrugs. "Don''t really care for crap like that, being a hero is just a job, you people can kill each other for the top spot as far as I care..." Everyone is shocked, yet again. Their minds couldn''tprehend it. Here was someone that the smartest being in the world dered as the next Symbol Of Peace...and he didn''t want it, what they were sweating and bleeding for, and he didn''t even care. Shoto just res down at him, Horizon still just ying a game on his phone, "good, because the number one spot is mine, and I won''t lose to anyone, not even you." "Unless I wake up one day and decide to take it," Horizon chuckles. "Really isn''t anything you can do to stop me, you do kinda suck, remember?" "Get to your seats," Eraser enters the room, breaking up the tension. As everyone gets seated and he gets ready to teach some odd nces are thrown about, the moment of calm lets the thoughts get properly realized in all their minds. ''He thinks Todoroki is weak?'' Momo wonders, staring nkly at the back of Horizon''s head. Deku looks down at his bandaged arm, still in the sling, and frowns. ''I thought Kaachan was the biggest problem, but Todoroki is stronger than him...and Horizon is so far beyond that, why did All Might even choose me when people like them exist?'' Bakugo was nkly staring forward, his body and mind idly flowing through the motions as it tries to put itself back together. In a word, today had been ''humbling'' for him. Expectations and reality sh. Most of his ssmates were exactly as expected, weaker than him. But first Deku is able to actuallypete, and even win. Then Todoroki freezes an entire building with minimal effort. And then there was Horizon... the thought made him feel the throw-up and cry all at once. He clenched his fist at the memory, ''that damn rat thinks he''ll be the best, better than anyone, better than me? And he''s so strong, and he''s a genius from what Shitty Hair told me...how am I supposed to beat that?'' "Alright, let''s get this ss started," Eraser taps the board, and the pairs they were grouped in before appear listed. "This session is all about reviewing everything that happened, but let''s get the standout performances out of the way first." Most of the ss stiffens up at that, expecting some harsh punishment as a result of poor performance. "First off, this is the start of your real hero training, I expect constant improvement from this point onward, that goes double for you," he looks directly at Deku. "I took a look at the recording, you''ve got a good head on your shoulders, if you master that Quirk then you''ll be a useful and versatile hero in the future." Deku manages to smile, finally feeling like he got a win today. "The next standout is Bakugo, you didn''t work with your teammate and let your emotions cost you the victory. Terrible. Focus on building some discipline or what would have been easy wins will keep evading you." Bakugo just stares down at his desk, somehow going from the look of a kicked puppy to apletely beat-up puppy. "Todoroki," Eraser throws his gaze to the back of the ss, this confuses everyone as Shoto seemingly performed fine. "You''re confident in your abilities, clearly. But this world is a big ce, and today you were matched against someone clearly stronger than you. I doubt it would have mattered in the end, but you would have had a better chance had you not disregarded what Yaoyorouzu could have added, if you didn''t take the lead and sideline her. Your confidence is not unfounded, but leaping into unknown situations with no backup is stupid, even for the strongest heroes." Shoto just nods and nces over at Horizon, ''so even Aizawa thinks we couldn''t have won?'' was all he heard, was all many people heard. "And I saved the worst of all forst, you," he looks directly at Horizon, surprising everyone. Horizon doesn''t react, still leaning back in his chair and paying attention. "You not only disregarded what your ally could add, but you didn''t both to help free him from the ice at all. Helping your allies is the absolute basics, yet somehow you didn''t know that," Aizawa res slightly beforeposing himself. "Not to mention I can tell when someone isn''t trying, and you weren''t even half-assing it, that would be a lot more effort than whatever you did out there. UA is for people willing to put everything they have into being a hero, have some respect for your ssmates, and at least try, it''s literally the least you should do." "Got it," Horizon says, no intention to ever stress himself about any of this. "Right, now onto the main reviews..." END CHAPTER--- pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene Chapter 36: (Making Friends) Chapter 36: (Making Friends) Discord: https://discord.gg/K7f8qGpvuk pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "Alright, see you all tomorrow," Eraser finally wraps up ss, the sun already setting on the horizon as everyone begins packing their bags. Horizon just ces his nk book and pencil case in his desk and checks his phone. ''5 Minutes,'' Nezu''s text says. And he can feel Yagi still in the teacher''s lounge reading something. Focusing on Nezu he feels him talking to Recovery Girl over a cup of tea in his office, and decides not to interrupt. Bakugo is the first to leave, sulking away with a nk expression, and Deku immediately leaves his items and rushes out of the room to talk to him. Horizon only shakes his head and leans back, closing his eyes, trying to enjoy a few minutes of peace as everyone leaves. "Horizon," Tokoyami interrupts his ''me time'', "sorry to bother you but aren''t you leaving? I assumed you would have warped away the moment Aizawa dismissed us." Horizon looks to his right to see Tokoyami sitting on his desk, Sero at his desk in front of Tokoyami, turned in his seat to face Horizon, and in front of him, Momo and Jiro are talking quietly at Jiro''s desk. "Normally I would, but Nezu wants to talk to me in a few minutes, probably about the new abilities I showed and some other stuff," he shrugs. "Makes sense," Sero taps his chin and nods along. "Telekinesis and Air shes, pretty strong on their own but you''ve got both, I''m sure he wants to know more about them." "And in addition to your Warp and Heal, I can certainly understand why he has such faith in you," Tokoyami adds. "Don''t forget the Ghost Bullets," Jiro adds, causing both girls to join the conversation. "Yes those are quite dangerous, but Recovery Girl couldn''t understand how they worked," Momo says. "Atleast when Todoroki and I went to the infirmary before getting changed." "I assumed they were just Air Bullets," Jiro says. Horizonughs, "Air Bullets is a really pathetic Quirk inparison, mine are a lot more hard-hitting, but less versatile, they can''t be used to push objects or people around, only damage." "And they aren''t air," Momo says. "They tore throughyers of concrete but when they hit Todoroki it didn''t break the skin, destroying his clothes and the floor behind him, but never broke the skin, very odd." "Honestly most of my abilities are scarier if you know how they actually work," Horizon shrugs. "But until my big debut at the sports festival, I''ll be keeping everything close to the vest. I don''t like the idea of people knowing what I can do, but heroes have to be marketable to be sessful, and the public gets more invested if they can actually understand what you''re doing, that''s why signature moves exist." "I didn''t even think about that," Jiro says. "But its not like you have to do much, Warp alone would be enough to get every pro in the world sending you offers." "Indeed," Momo solemnly nods along. "A near-mythic status Quirk, and to think it''s only one of your abilities." This particr phrase causes Shoji to turn around, bag slung across his shoulder as he approaches the group. "I have a question." "Uh-huh," Horizon looks up at him. "What''s the name of your Quirk, or Quirks, I''d imagine it has to be something cool, mine is Dupli-Arms, it lets me duplicate any body part on the end of my extra arm tentacles, and they''re an enhanced version of my usual set," Shoji creates a second mouth at the end of a tentacle and smiles at them with it. "Any body part?" Horizon says with a curious tone, causing Shoji to groan. "Yes, even that..." "Ahh, thedies must love you," he chuckles, but everyone else in the conversation just blushes. "Somehow that''s always the first thing people think about," Shoji mutters. "It''s literally human nature, if we can''t fight it, fuck it, or feed on it, we don''t really care about it, our kids are the only exception... atleast for sane people." Momo cringes at the thought and his crassnguage, "then I suppose we should all introduce our Quirks, my Quirk is Creation, it allows me to create any non-living thing from the lipids in my body, I can essentially transform my body fat into items," she says with a proud smile. "That''s awesome!" Sero cheers. "So you can make gold and just get super rich!" "She''s already super rich," Horizon says. "She''s a Yaoyorozu..." Momo freezes, not expecting this to surface so soon. Forcing herself to smile she continues, "well yes, my family is ratherfortable, but I also cannot use my Quirk in such a manner. The restrictions because of its nature are numerous, including banning me from making certain items like firearms and precious gems and minerals, as well as currency. I also have to know the molecrposition of anything I''m making." "The most versatile Quirk in the world," Horizon says. "When we were watching the Quirk test in his office I told Nezu that nobody here could match me, but you''re one of the only people in the world that could make a n that I can''t predict, because basically anything in the world can be in your pocket." Momo blushes deeply, but a momentter she''s crushed by even more expectations ced on her, atop the mountain of pressure thates with being a Rmended Student and proving that you deserve your spot, now the potential future Symbol Of Peace isplimenting her potential. Jiro gives her a pat on the back and begins talking to distract everyone, "my Quirk is Earphone Jack, basically, my earlobes are Aux cords, I can plug them in to listen to music or amplify my heartbeat with them to attack, they''re also tougher than store bought jacks, oh, and I can extend them," she extends one all the way to the ceiling and taps it before recalling it. "Hmm, I didn''t expect the heartbeat thing, not too strong on their own but since they work with technology you can make up for that, at least they''re cute," Horizon says. Jiro fights through the blush, "uh, thank you," she twirls one on her finger. "And yeah my boots in my hero costume act as speakers and amps." "Smart, can I touch one?" Horizon asks inly. "Um, you want to touch one?" she''s surprised at how blunt he is. "That''s what I said yeah." "Right...sure," she extends one out to him, about a meter away until he reaches out and touches it, holding it carefully in his hand. SCAN He immediately gets a full breakdown of her body, he can even tell that she had rice and curry for lunch. But what really gets his attention are the extra bones in her ears and denseyers of cartge that make up her Earphone Jacks, hidden beneath ayer of soft skin. He also senses the many extra bones in her ears to better differentiate sounds, and finally, the nerve clusters that point out the tips of her jacks as erogenous areas. He seemingly absentmindedly begins ying with the jack, gently touching the nerve clusters at the end of it while turning to Sero, "so, Tape?" he asks. All while Jiro is frozen in embarrassment and panic, never having someone else, especially a boy y with her jacks, and not knowing how to handle the situation. "Yeah, I can just shoot tape from my elbows," Sero shrugs. "It''s pretty simple but there''s this guy in America, Web Slinger, his Quirk is simr and he''s in their top ten, so I''ve been trying to follow his lead." "Is it just one type of tape?" Tokoyami asks, now pulling all attention to him. "Nah, I can make a bunch of types, but the stronger the tape the more it drains out of me, and the more I use the more water it takes from my body. If I use too much I get really dry skin," Sero exins. "Web Slinger, that''s the guy who swings around New York," Horizon says. "But he''s also got super strength and a few other things, but I suppose you could try to make up for it with versatility." "That''s the n," Sero grins happily. "I suppose I''m next," Tokoyami says, being the next person in the circle before Horizon. "This is Dark Shadow," a birdlike shadow demon creature appears from his belly. Dark purple and seemingly having the same pattern as static on a TV. "Hi everyone!" Dark Shadow cutely greets them, currently only as big as a small dog. "Can I?" Horizon raises his right hand, asking permission to touch him, all the while still ying with Jiro''s jack in his left. ncing at her through the corner of his eye he could see her nervously sweating, standing a bit behind Momo and out of the circle, eyes zed over and staring at him. "Go ahead," Tokoyami says, and Dark Shadow bows its head. He reaches out and pets it, and Sero does the same. SCAN Pure energy made physical, he could sense everything within Tokoyami as well, including four apples. But what made him very curious and excited was the cells in his belly, seemingly constantly producing the same energy as Dark Shadow, but very fragile against other energy types, with no other information it could have taken him hours to solve. But the name Dark Shadow and its appearance was a dead giveaway as to what energy it was weak against. "Looks cool," Horizon says, pulling his hand away as Dark Shadow blushes. "So what does it do?" "Well, I can extend him a fair distance to fight for me, and some basic shapeshifting, nothing too crazy yet, he can also think independently or with my influence," Tokoyami says. "Versatile and it looks cool, you''ll definitely stand out," Sero says. "Assuming you can solve the issues with it," Horizon draws all eyes back onto him, his voice bing a bit more serious. "The obvious weakness is one thing, support items can fix that," he sees Tokoyami''s eyes widen in worry. "Don''t worry I won''t tell anyone, honestly I had it figured out since the Quirk Test. But your mastery level is around the weakest in the ss, right down there with Todoroki and a few others." Tokoyami nods, "improving my Quirk is one of the main reasons I''m here, I''ll be sure to consider your advice about support equipment as well," he retracts Dark Shadow. "Power vs Mastery huh," Shoji says. "You exined that earlier and I didn''t quite get it, but now I kinda do. With Dark Shadow, it''s more about how he uses it rather than just sending him out to box, right?" "Exactly," Horizons says. "Basic enhancer Quirks are easy to gauge because you can put a number to how good they are, how much they can lift or throw, that kind of thing. But with Quirks like all of ours, we need to be more tactful with how we use them, and some Quirks require both." "I see, and what exactly is your Quirk?" Momo asks, still oblivious to Jiro''s predicament behind her as he continues ying with the jack. "My Quirk is called Hand Of God, I''ve got a lot of abilities but the potential is boundless, only limited by time, experience, discipline, and energy," he shrugs. They all stare at him before Sero shakes his head and speaks, "that''s such ame name man..." "It''s meant to be descriptive," Horizon says. "Name aside, what exactly does it do? Like how does a Quirk that can ''potentially do anything'' even work, or exist?" Tokoyami asks. "It''s actually a lot more simple andplicated in certain regards than what I exined just now," Horizon admits. "All you need to know are the abilities it gives me, those shes, healing, the warping, the bullets, what you call telekinesis, and a few other things," he shrugs. "There are more?" Momo asks, a mix of surprise and fear in her voice. "Yeah," he says casually, fully aware of how insane this sounds, but used to it. "Honestly each of my abilities is equivalent to a Super Move from a Pro, I don''t even know what an intentional Super Move for my Quirk would look like." "Damn, I knewpetition at UA would be tough but this is insane," Sero says. "That''s a matter of perspective," Horizon says, dropping Jiro''s Jack which instantly retracts to the flustered girl, now covered in a thinyer of glistening sweat with her face beet red. She stared at him with a mix and embarrassment and anger. Forced to bite her tongue to prevent further embarrassment but also wanted to yell at him, partly for what he presumably unknowingly did, and partly because he stopped just before the finale, leaving her panties drenched and body hot with no proper payoff. Horizon just nces at her beneath his visor, an amused look on his face as he sees how flustered he made her, like putty in his hand. ''Too easy,'' he thinks to himself. "I figured you were over that whole phase man," Sero says. "You seem pretty chill todaypared to yesterday when you were just calling us worthless." "Not worthless," Horizon says. "Just notpetition whenpared to me, I don''t have a problem with people in general once they can stay in theirne. I just really don''t like when my time is wasted, or when people who are objectively trash think they can stand beside me...like Deku. I came to UA expecting everyone to have the most basic level ofpetence, honestly, he should quit and let someone from general studies take his ce, rather than waste time that can be used to train a useful hero..." "Isn''t that a bit harsh?" Momo asks. "Well the bare minimum for any sort of emergency service member is to be an asset, not another liability, if the first thing you do is hurt yourself, you''re certainly not an asset." They all frowned, but nobody tried to argue against that logic, they were all here to be heroes, people that the public could depend on during a crisis, not people who needed to be saved like everyone else. "I see," Tokoyami nods along. "While I don''t entirely disagree, everyone has the right to chase their dreams, and since he''s already made it this far there must be potential in him that our teachers recognize." The others nod along, but Horizon doesn''t react, and Jiro finally catches her breath. "Well I don''t really believe in potential, I believe in what you can do. I doubt civilians will ept ''I just needed a bit more training, I have the potential to save those people next time'' as an excuse." Everyone looks a bit sad at that example, another situation that they couldn''t argue against. "Well enough about such dreary things," Tokoyami looks past Horizon, leaning slightly to the side to see his sword. "May I try out your sword?" "You like swords?" "Everyone likes swords," and everyone nods in agreement. "You know, Nezu told me not to hand it to just anyone, especially anyone untrained, since it''s a bit special, but pain is a good teacher," he reaches out toward Tokoyami and warps it into his hand. "Just don''t do anything too bloody, I can heal you but I can''t get rid of bloodstains easily." "Thank you," Tokoyami reaches out and holds it, and the moment Horizon lets go the end of the scabbard hits the floor. "Heavier than the replicas I have at home..." he says. Now with someone of more average size sitting beside it, the sword was taller than the seated Tokoyami. Measuring in at 145cm -4ft10-, it was suddenly very apparent that the only reason they hadn''t properly realized how big it was is because of Horizon''srge 193cm -6ft3.5- size. "It''s almost as tall as me," Jiro -154cm, 5ft- mutters as Tokoyami carefully lifts it. "It needed to be bigger to fit all the Tungsten and Carbon Fibre into it," Horizon says. "Average katanas weigh about two and a half kilograms -5lbs- with the scabbard. This one is nearly three times that. I needed the durability because it''s meant for any close encounters with Power Type viins. Can''t have my sword breaking against their skin after all, and if I ever have to block instead of just warping away I''d like it to not shatter. Power Loader is a genius at support items so it only took him like a few hours to make it, he also made my visor," he reaches up and taps his visor. Tokoyami carefully unsheathes it, revealing the pristine white de with a blue edge, "is everything blue and white with you?" "That''s part of the Horizon brand," he shrugs. "Your Quirk must provide some sort of Super Strength then, if you can use this without getting tired, right?" Momo asks. "Not really...a byproduct of my Quirk is that I have enhanced physical attributes...nothing that would count as ''super'' in any way, just better than most. It''s also why I''m so tall, I mean Shoji is tall and he''s a Mutant type so it makes a lot more sense than me in some ways, and I''m taller than him," he shrugs. "Wait a minute!" Sero puts his hands up, causing everyone to stare at him. "Your Quirk...is super powerful, rare, versatile, and makes you tall and buff---" "I work out a lot to build muscle." "Man...life really does pick favorites, the girls are gonna be all over you," he groans in annoyance and jealousy. "UA is just one big gym for hero course students so we''ll all have people wanting us, plus we''ll be celebrities to the public. I mean literally all the girls in our ss are hot," Momo and Jiro both blush at that. "Yeah you''re right," Seo says. "But you''ve still got a lot more going for you than most." "Don''t forget super rich," Horizon adds. "Miracle Surgeries cost a lot, and I work for the highest bidder, it adds up, and being good-looking is just a bonus." "I hate you," Sero mutters jokingly. Horizon just chuckles, "it''s not that you''re bad, I''m just perfect..." For some reason, nobody could make an argument against that. BEEP BEEP BEEP! Horizon''s phone alerts him to a text, and ncing down at it for a moment he sighs. "Time to go see Nezu, I''ll see you guys tomorrow." SHAMBLES He disappears from his seat, reced with an inconspicuous pen. "Huh?" Jiro and Sero stare at it for a moment before it''s reced with one of his cards, then both that and his sword disappear. "I''ll never get used to that," Sero says. "But man is it cool, just being able to disappear whenever you want like that..." "It certainly is enviable," Tokoyami says. "Warping alone is enough for entire nations to fight over him, adding everything else is simply stacking the deck even further." "It''s no surprise they wanted him in UA so badly," Shoji says. "That power is too dangerous to be just out there independently, it''s like giving someone a button that prints money and asking them not to use it...uh," he looks at Momo awkwardly. "It''s quite fine, I understand," she says. "The Yaoyorozu''s were among the first heroes in Japan, and the first Hero Agency in this county, because of that we''ve always had exceptional Quirks, and although we haven''t had a hero among us in over a century, I too can see how my Quirk would be too great a temptation for most, even myself had I not been fortunate enough to be born into our financial situation." Seroughs, "yeah, if I had that Quirk back in middle school I''d get to buy all the candy and games I wanted!" "Eat a pizza and make a bar of gold," Jiro nods in agreement. "Definitely too much temptation for anyone that isn''t a hero." "Hmm, wait a minute," Sero put on his thinking face. "If she turns food into items, then isn''t her Quirk just fancy poop?" And thest thing he sees is Jiro''s jack flying toward him... END CHAPTER--- pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene Fun Fact, this conversation was supposed to be the first section of the chapter...but I have no self-control, and the friend group was influenced by a pat.reon poll+where Law sits in ss+Shoji is cool :) Chapter 37: (Fading Symbol, Paradigm Shift) Chapter 37: (Fading Symbol, Paradigm Shift) Discord: https://discord.gg/K7f8qGpvuk pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- Suddenly appearing beside Nezu on one of the couches in the principal office, Horizon closes his ROOM and rxes. He leans his sword against the wall, cing one of his throwing cards on the coffee table. "I should leave this here if I''m gonna be in here often," he says. Recovery Girl and Yagi sit opposite them, and the woman just shakes her head. "I''ve always imagined warping Quirks as these great mythical abilities...but yours is rather abrupt and annoying." "But more effective inbat than having to make a portal," Horizon says. "So, aside from you two who else knows about All Might," he gestures to Yagi, back in an oversized suit. "I''m guessing Eraser since he saw him dete after we left." "So you really can sense that," Yagi taps his chin in thought before getting back to the topic. "All the UA staff knows, we''re trying to keep it private, that includes the other students." "Yeah, viins would go wild if they knew you couldn''t kick ass like you used to," Horizon says. "Well you''re still my patient so this doesn''t change anything...if anything this is just annoying me even more, because now I know for sure that I extended your life just for you to exert yourself and undo my work...wasting my time..." "For the record, I''ve been trying to get him to retire for the past few years," Recovery Girl says, "but Toshinori has muscles for brains." "Yeah, I noticed," Horizon grumbles. And the proud number 1 hero just sits there feeling small as both his doctors cut him down. "So I assume whoever did that is gone now, right?" Horizon asks, gesturing to Yagi''s injury. "I''m surprised you could be hurt that badly, must have been one hell of a fight." "It was, and yes the viin is gone now, I made sure of it," a bit of rage bubbles up in Yagi''s voice before it disappears. "I see," the room falls silent as Horizon thinks for a moment. "Well this doesn''t change anything, but at least now I better understand why Yagi was so valuable to Nezu, and why you''re so desperate for a new Symbol Of Peace." "Not desperate," Nezu says. "We still have years of time, and there are many people I could have supported, but you were the most logical choice, even under the questionable circumstances," he says, trying not to give Recovery Girl and Yagi too many hints. "I still don''t see it, but whatever, are we done here? Honestly, it''s only the second day at UA and it already feels like I''ve been here a week..." "I''d just like to go over some of the new developments with your Quirk," Nezu says, Recovery Girl and Yagi begin moving to exit. "Have a good evening you two." They both turn and give a polite nod before leaving, leaving only Nezu and Horizon in the room. "So, Telekinesis?" Nezu asks. "Close enough." "Air shes?" "Not really but sure." "And the ghost bullets?" "Self-exnatory, right?" "Not at all, but they''re invisible and undetectable, very dangerous in the hands of someone with lethal intent." "I''ll take your word for it," Horizon chuckles. Nezu sighs and shakes his head. "You know you''ll have to give proper exnations for your big debut right, for marketability and all that." "I know, but until then let''s just say I rather keep it mysterious," Horizon shrugs. "Honestly when I exin what I can do nobody sane or smart will want to fight me, but the dramatic reveal will get a lot of views and make me even more famous." "And slingshot you ahead of your peers on the path to being a top hero..." "Mhm," Horizon nods. "Now, can we wrap this up, I wanna go get food and head home." "Onest thing, are you sure the situation with All Might doesn''t change anything between us?" Nezu asks, caution in his voice, but already predicting a certain answer. "Changes nothing," Horizon says. "I still don''t renegotiate contracts, but if anything this makes it a lot stronger." "How so?" "Well...now I know how badly you need me to step up as some great hero...and if you ever stab me in the back, I also know for sure the only person who had any chance of stopping me from turning Japan into rubble and ash, already has a foot in the grave. And you know I know this so you''ll stay in line." Nezu doesn''t react, perfectly predicting this response, "I see, well that''s good to hear, especially since I intend to honor our deal fully." "Good, now if that''s all..." "It is, I''ll see you tomorrow, I hope you''ve been enjoying your time at UA." "It''s pretty boring, but the people aren''t that bad, but I''ve had enough of it for today." "Mhm, and about your harsh words to Midoriya yesterday?" Nezu asks tly. "You gonna give me a ''y nice'' talk?" "No, I know you already understood the potential repercussions, not that there are any, but if you went any further---" "I wouldn''t tell him to kill himself...in school." Nezu sighs and shakes his head, "do try to recall you''re training to be a hero." "So is he, so he can either be a pussy and quit, or just get over it..." SHAMBLES ---5 Minutes Earlier... Wearing his UA uniform with his right arm bandaged up, Izuku rushes out of the main building, as always, desperate to catch up to Bakugo. "Khan!" He calls out, and Bakugo stops just in front of the main UA gate, not turning around to face Izuku. "Wait, there''s something I need to tell you!" Bakugo just silently stands there, back still facing Izuku, not bothering to respond. "I-it''s about my Quirk---" Izuku immediately freezes, questioning exactly what he was about to do. ''But I promised All Might I wouldn''t tell him, tell anyone. But it''s Khan, we''ve been friends for a long time, and I can tell it''s killing him inside that he thinks I kept this from him. He thinks I was just mocking him by pretending to be Quirkless...but will he even believe me, I barely believed All Might, and he''s All Might...'' "The truth is," he finally musters the courage to continue, determined to exin the situation to Bakugo. "My Quirk was---" "I don''t care Deku," Bakugo looks back at him over his shoulder, and Izuku can see tears flowing down his face, a mix of rage and sadness on his face. "Khan?" he mutters, not sure what he was even seeing, his symbol of victory looked so helpless, like he needed saving. "I don''t care about your Quirk, or you...I can''t," Bakugo says surprisingly quietly, as if this is the first time he''s admitting it to himself. "I failed at everything today, I lost to you of all people, then Ponytail and ss Face tore me apart in the review...and I agreed with them." "Kac---" "Then I saw them fight," he spits bitterly, now turning to face Izuku. "I knew I couldn''t beat Icy-Hot from his first move! Then that fucking ss Face had to go and crush him! And he''s the worst one! Heroes are supposed to give their all no matter what, and the real hero will always win! But he doesn''t even try...so why did he win?!" He wipes his tears with his sleeve and Izuku just stands helpless. "But I knew I couldn''t win, I couldn''t even beat you, how the hell am I supposed to fight them?! So I don''t care about your Quirk, or why you''re here...if I only focus on you I''ll never beat them, I''ll never be the best! So I''m done with you, Deku..." he mutters his name quietly and turns around, wiping his tears one more time. Bakugo grips his shirt and deres proudly, "I''ll work ten times as hard, I''ll keep giving it everything I have! I''ll beat Icy-Hot, and even ss Face... I''ll be the best hero!" he desperately pants, trying to catch his breath. And in a smaller, tired voice, he ends the conversation. "And every second I spend thinking about you, they get further ahead...so just stay out of my way..." Bakugo leaves Izuku frozen in ce, unable to say a single word as his mind still can''t process what happened. Watching Bakugo walk away Izuku looks down at his bandaged hand, seeing the tears falling from his eyes onto it. "Khan, you really think you can''t win?" he mutters to himself. "Then what am I supposed to do, he gave me this power and I can''t even use it properly, I had to break myself to barely get past you." Izuku looks up, ncing around the walkway to the main UA building, seeing all the statues of UA''s founders lining both sides of the path, then looks up at the intimidating building, the learning ground for All Might, Endeavor, Best Jeanist, and dozens of other top pros. "An entire campus of people more worthy than me to have this power All Might...you should have chosen one of them..." He blinks a few times, a dangerous idea popping into his mind. With some hesitation he reaches up to touch his hair, remembering how All Might passed One For All onto him only a month ago. "One For All should belong to the next Symbol Of Peace...Horizon..." END CHAPTER--- pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene Chapter 38: (The Man Who Has Everything) Chapter 38: (The Man Who Has Everything) Discord: https://discord.gg/K7f8qGpvuk pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- Standing on the beach Izuku watches the stars in the sky, enjoying the sound of gentle waves crashing and spotting a few people walking along what was a dump site, now a lovely beach thanks to all his hard work. He looks sad and uncertain, but his expression brightens as a voice calls out from behind him. "Young Midoriya!" he turns to see Yagi approaching him. "Sorry I had you waiting, there was a situation nearby that needed my help. Plus since we can''t talk on campus because of Horizon this was the only option to meet in person." "Oh, it''s ok...I needed the time to think anyway," he says, both men now facing each other. Yagi raises a brow at the contemtive look on Izuku''s face, "everything ok kid?" "Actually, All Might, I don''t think everything is," he looks down at his feet, worrying Yagi. "Well, spit it out, whatever it is I''m sure we''ll figure it out together." "That''s the problem, today... after seeing how hurt Khan was, thinking I''d kept this secret from him for ten years, I went to go tell him." "Oh crap, did you tell him?!" Yagi seemed more scared than upset, knowing Izuku isn''t the type to brag about things. "No, I tried, but he interrupted me," Izuku sighs and looks up at Yagi, tears flowing down his face. "He said that, that he didn''t want anything to do with me, that he had to focus on Todoroki and Horizon...that even he couldn''t beat them. That every second he spends thinking about me they just get further ahead..." "I see," Yagi raises a finger to his chin. "Apletely focused mind can aplish great things, his mindset isn''t wrong, but it can be dangerous if taken to extreme levels." "Yeah, but that''s not what I called you all the way here for." "Oh, you didn''t want me to go talk to Young Bakugo?" "No, it''s about something he said," Yagi quietly waits as Izuku carefully chooses his words. "He said that Horizon was so far beyond him...and since he''s already so far ahead of me, I don''t even know what that makes me. Not to mention Principal Nezu thinks he''ll be the next you, the future Symbol Of Peace...what I''m trying to say is," he takes a deep breath and bows. "I''m sorry! But I''ve decided to give him One for All." Izuku expects disappointment, or to get hit, but all that happens is Yagi mutters out a , "ah, I see." He looks up startled to see a sympathetic look on Yagi''s face. "What? You aren''t mad about me wanting to give away your Quirk?" "It''s not my Quirk any more kid, it''s yours, and I can''t stop you from giving it away if that''s what you really want to do, and it sounds like you''ve already made up your mind." "I have, I just think he''ll be able to help a lot more people than me with One For All." "You''re right," Yagi nods in agreement, and Izuku feels whatever little piece of him that was hoping his hero would argue with him get crushed. "Horizon is undoubtedly talented, I''d even say peerless and that''s considering most pros. Say, want to hear about the first time I met him?" he asks oddly cheerfully, ignoring Izuku''s watery eyes. "Uh-I---" "Great," Yagi cuts him off. "It was -as of yesterday- exactly one year ago. I know I only told you about him yesterday when school began but I''ve known him for a while." Izuku stares in surprise. "He''s the reason I can stay in my muscr form for so long, and help so many people, a real living miracle...and I thought that before I even knew he could fight," he chuckles. "See, I don''t think I''ve ever met someone like him, good at everything, powerful Quirk, genius mind, near perfect training from what I''ve seen, and he has the confidence to always speak his mind, he''s a perfect hero..." "Yeah," Izuku mutters, "that''s why I''m giving him One For All." "Well...almost perfect," Yagi adds, causing Izuku to look up in surprise. "What? You thought if he was actually perfect, and I met him before you, that you would have still gotten One For All, c''mon kid, you''re supposed to be smart, you must have realized there was a reason, right?" Izuku retreats into his mind for a moment,paring himself to Horizon. But in the end he just shakes his head and feels worse than before, "I can''t think of anything I''m better at than him." "That''s the point of One For All," Yagi says. "You don''t have to be born powerful, or talented, you''ve got the strength of all the previous users, all the previous heroes. No matter who gets One For All they will have the power of a top pro, and since it enhances any existing Quirk in the user, I''m sure Horizon''s Quirk -whatever it is- would be near almighty. He''d likely save so many people that history will forget about mepletely, he''s just that capable after all." "Yeah that''s what I figured too, but why didn''t you give it to him?" "Because, while One For All can give you the power of a great hero, it can''t give you the heroic spirit needed, and the desire to be a great hero," Yagi ces a massive hand on Izuku''s shoulder. "I saw that heroic spirit in you, stronger than I''ve ever seen in anyone, including myself. When you master One For All you''ll have all the power I did, and with your spirit, I can trust you to stay on the righteous path no matter what life throws at you, that''s why I chose you." "Really?" Izuku asks, fighting the tears and clearly about to lose. "Yup, Horizon has everything, a perfect life, and is a perfectly capable person, but you''ve got the heroic spirit I was looking for," Yagi gives a dazzling smile. Izuku breaks down into ugly sobs, causing Yagi to frown. "Seriously kid you need to get your waterworks under control..." "Sorry," he wipes his face a few times with his sleeves. "I just can''t believe you''d think that about me, I figured anyone at UA would be heroic enough." Yagi chuckles at that idea, "Young Midoryia, you''ll soon learn that for many people this is a job, and in Horizon''s case, it''s not even a job he wanted," Izuku looks surprised at that. "I don''t know the details but Nezu worked attending UA into whatever deal they made, that''s the only reason he''s there...see, he was never anypetition for One For All. So of course I''d bet on you to be the next Symbol Of peace." After heposes himself Izuku smiles at Yagi, "that''s exactly what I needed to hear, thank you." "Don''t sweat it kid, honestly the fact that you always put others above yourself is what makes you so heroic, but it clouds your vision when you try to objectivelypare yourself with your peers, get that under control along with your Quirk and you''ll see how fair the ying field is." "Really, even with Todoroki and Horizon?" Izuku doesn''t look convinced, and the way Yagi awkwardly rubs the back of his neck doesn''t make him feel better. "Well, Todoroki sure, but warping is just in unfair, he''s the only warping hero in the world too so he''ll surely be more popr at the start. You''ve got a lot of work to do to catch up to him, but the moment you make One For All your own, you''ll be neck and neck with your other ssmates." Izuku clenches his bandaged fist, already healed to the point of not feeling pain from it, then looks up at Yagi, "I''ll catch up, and I''ll be a great hero. I''ll save a lot of people, just like you..." "Now that''s what I wanna hear!" Yagi ruffles his hair before pulling him into a hug. ''You''ve got a lot more work ahead of you than even I can imagine, if all the supeputers in Nezu''s brain say betting on Horizon is the right move...then your spirit is in for one hell of a journey Young Midoriya...'' ---Matani Estate... PFF! Law''s MMA gloves smash into the heavy bag, drenched in sweat, shirtless, and wearing only a pair of shorts and shoes, he continues his evening workout. The stars are high above the ocean, offering an incredible view through the wall of windows in his gym. PFF! Another barrage of punches with pristine form. "Booster Shot," he mutters, and a surge of healing energy permeates his body, not finding anything to heal it enhances what is already there. BAM! His strong right ms into the heavy bag, with so much force that the four hundred pound -181kg- bag swings and nearly bes parallel to the ground, then the top of the bag rips, and it goes flying for a few meters away. A clear tear in the leather where his gloves connected. "Fuck, another one," he mutters while feeling his extremely temporary enhanced strength rapidly fade as the bag skids to a stop a few meters away. He looks down to see sand already leaking out of the bag. "I''ll pick up a new one tomorrow, should get one that power types use anyway..." he mutters while walking away, taking off his gloves. Whilst Booster Shot was energy intensive and extremely short-lived, it did allow him to increase his strength a respectable amount, still, nothingpared to what actual power types like Sato could unleash. At best it allowed him to unleash three times his base strength, while Sato has an x5 increase in strength at a minimum for three whole minutes from one activation of his Sugar Rush Quirk. Horizon only has x3 increase for a few seconds at best, and that''s after none stop training this past year. Barely any increase at all from what it previously was. Only good for one clean hit, otherwise it simply wasn''t economical to use stamina for it. "Not like I enjoy brawling anyway, but Booster Shot really needs improvement," he mutters while considering how weak his enhancement ispared to the rest of his ssmates, mainly Sato and Kirishima. After getting cleaned up he''s sitting in his massive kitchen at the counter. The entire open floor of his living and entertainment area was furnished, seemingly full of life, a perfect family home built at his request. But it was cold, and empty. And the man who has everything, the perfect life, the perfect Quirk, the peerless talent, everything people assumed when they saw or met him... he sat alone at the kitchen counter eating a massive te of Lasagne quietly listening to the news about Best Jeanist resolving a hostage crisis hours ago. Just ncing up from his phone he takes another bite of his food and looks across at the picture he brought down to have dinner with. The picture Nezu had saved a year ago and brought to him, the only physical picture he had left, as everything else was on his phone or in isted hard drives in safe houses. He, Corazon, and Kiku, at the beach after a certain surfing trip. ced in a simple picture frame and stood upright on the counter to face him. So while his ssmates were having dinner and chatting with their families, he did the same... "So, today was my second day at UA," he says, seemingly to nobody, but his parents were always the people he could talk to about anything, and this is the closest he could get to that. "It wasn''t bad, some of my ssmates seem nice enough... I think they know not to get in my way, so that''s good." He takes another bite of his food. "I got the Lasagne recipe right...well, I perfected it a while back, but it''s the first time I''ve made it in this house, you know? Can''t wait for you guys to try it..." He sees the new story change to Gang Orca. "Yeah, I already have everything ready, just need to get to the sports festival and take the spotlight. After that everything should run normally until I get my provisional license next year, UA lets second years take the test, but I''ll try to talk Nezu into letting me take it early, I''m sure he''ll like the idea," he chuckles. He finishes his meal quickly after that, cleans up, then takes the picture and warps into his bedroom. A massive bed with grey sheets, easily capable offortably holding five people of hisrge size. Plugging in his phone to charge heys in bed and takes onest look and the picture, eyes focusing on his parents, shaking his head at the memory of those words his mom said, and how true they are now. "I really am a lonely god," he mutters sadly. "But it''s only for a few more years...I''ll bring us back together, I''ll fix this, then we never have to set foot in Japan again..." He rolls on his side and ces the picture frame in the drawer of his bedside table. "And now I need to go back to pretending like you aren''t who you are, as if I could ever be ashamed of you," he says in disgust at the thought. Turning off the lights he takes onest look at the clock, groaning as he sees its almost 2AM, then covers himself in the nket and closes his eyes. "Just a few more years being a lonely god..." END CHAPTER--- pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene Chapter 39: (The Logical Choice) Chapter 39: (The Logical Choice) Discord: https://discord.gg/K7f8qGpvuk pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- ---1A ssroom 8 AM... Horizon leans forwardzily on his desk, idly scrolling on his phone. Constantly fighting his desire to take a nap as people chatter all around him. ''I''ll take a nap on the roof during lunch... I got too into my training yesterday, again...'' he shakes his head and straightens up, feeling Eraser walking down the hallways toward them. Doing a quick SCAN around campus he doesn''t feel All Might anywhere, but he notices a massive crowd at the front gate of UA. ''The joys of being a celebrity hero...and most of those morons never wear a mask, so those people and viins can just show up at their house,'' he looks around the ssroom, recalling how only a handful of his ssmates bothered to wear masks, at least of those who could realistically hide their identities. He didn''t judge people like Shoji...hiding all the extra arms was pretty much impossible, but he did question why they''d ever be a hero when they knew hiding was impossible. He turns to his side and calls out to his seatmate, "hey Tokoyami." The bird boy looks over at him and gives a polite nod, "yes?" "Why''d you decide to be a hero?" he asks in an obviously tired voice. "Oh, that, my Quirk can be difficult to control, dangerous in fact," Tokoyami summons Dark Shadow who happily waves at Horizon, looking more like a docile puppy under the morning sun. "The darkness in my heart is vast, I hope proper hero training can allow me to control the demon within." Horizon looks between the edgelord and his currently adorable Quirk a few times and just nods, "uh-huh, Quirk control...that''s pretty cool I guess." "What about you?" Tokoyami asks. "Oh, family reasons, and I made a deal with Nezu that I''d join UA," Horizon shrugs. "Wait," Sero swivels around in his chair to join the conversation, leaning forward on Tokoyami''s desk. "So the principal was the one who asked you to join, not the other way around?" "Why would I ever want toe here?" Horizon asks genuinely, and all the people around him aren''t too sure how to feel about that, about him disregarding what many of them had been dreaming about all their lives. Sero chuckles nervously, "well, you guys have a lot cooler reasons than me, my family has always been poor, figured this would be a good way to change that," he shyly admits. "That''s actually a really good reason, certainly one of the very few that I respect," Horizon says. "Plus you have a real mask to protect them, better than most." His response surprises those who were listening in, not expecting him to react positively to what many would deem a hollow desire. "Wait, what do you mean the masks protects th---" Sero is cut off as Eraser enters the room. "Get to your seats and quiet down!" he loudly announces, walking to the desk at the front of the ss with a tall stack of papers in his hands, sleeping bad draped over his shoulder. Within seconds everyone is silently facing the front of the ssroom, their sleepy teacher yawning as he nces about. ''Yeah me too...'' Horizon thinks, feeling sleepy as well. "Alright listen up, now you''ll have to make a decision that will determine your future, so think very carefully about this..." Horizon raises a brow at this while everyone else stiffens nervously, now wary of Eraser''s record of expelling students. "You need to pick a ss representative." The entire ss bursts into chaos. Everyone trying to prop themselves up, yelling and shouting, small arguments breaking out. Horizon closes his eyes to tune it all out...until Bakugo starts yelling. And suddenly it felt like someone was hammering away at his skull. "SHUT UP!" the entire ss falls silent and stares at him. Taking a breath he turns in his seat to look at them, half of them standing where they were to lobby for themselves. "Write your vote on something and put it on the desk at the front of the ss, QUIETLY. I''ll count them up, just stop making noise, it''s annoying." Sensing the irritation in his voice nobody argues, simply returning to their seats to prepare their votes. Eraser opens his sleeping bag and starts getting into it, "I don''t care how you do it just have an answer before my nap is done..." Horizon gets up and walks toward the front of the ss, waiting not so patiently for everyone to submit their votes, and one by one they begin flooding in. Some people like Bakugo only take as long as it would to write his own name on paper, surprising absolutely no one. Others he could tell were overthinking it, having some sort of internal struggle, he rolls his eyes at Iida who was shivering and sweating at the back of the ss, pen shaky in his hand as he considers the options. ''What am I supposed to do here?'' Iida wracks his mind. ''Obviously I''d love this position, the first step in being a great leader of heroes like my brother, the first step in living up to the Iida family name...but am I ready?'' he looks across the room to see Izuku. ''He''s certainly a lot more heroic and perceptive than I am, sacrificing himself to save Uraraka at the entrance exams, and he was able to figure out the rescue points part of the test, while I just ran away and thought about myself.'' He feels shame bubbling up at those memories, the shame of not being the hero he thought he was. The hero he wants to be, a hero just like his brother. To be Ingenium. He looks to the back of the room, at Momo and Todoroki, ''rmended students, certainly above me. Both powerful and having great analytical minds, nearly peerless,'' he looks toward Horizon at the front of the room. Idly standing by as Asui submits her vote. ''Nearly...but he''s even above them.'' Iida recalls the first time they met Horizon, all the things he said that made them disgusted and angry. ''His attitude is appalling, unbefitting of a hero, nothing at all like my brother. But he is capable, and a ss representative is supposed to be a leader. Someone we look toward in times of crisis or for more mundane activities. My attitude and style will certainly be better for the day-to-day operations of our ss...but if a crisis happens, Horizon is easily our best bet as a leader.'' Iida massages his temple, a thin sheen of sweat on his face, ''Horizon showed he can lead, and has the respect of the ssmates at the least, with onemand he organized this vote and took charge...and I just sat here and hesitated, if that were a dangerous situation I could have cost us lives...'' Iida grits his teeth and begins writing, ''heroes make the best choices to save the most lives, and I''m not quite there yet...'' ''H-O-R---'' he swallows his pride and makes the only logical choice. "Alright," Horizon ps once to get their attention, stopping all the murmuring. "All neen votes are in, let''s get this over with...these are the top three votes..." He begins writing on the board. Horizon- 6 Votes Momo- 2 Votes Izuku- 2 Votes Horizon isn''t surprised at all. ''I didn''t make any effort to actually get votes, but the main thing people are being judged by is likely the Battle Trial we had yesterday. And since I crushed that they voted for me, plus Nezu''s big speech about me being the next great leader of heroes certainly helps a lot...guess this was inevitable.'' He looks back to see everyone trying to theorize who voted for who, and somementing theirck of votes. ''Yeah I would have definitely given the responsibility for these people over to someone like Iida since he has a stick shoved all the way up his ass, but this''ll look pretty good when I''m being scouted, not that I need the help...but every bit counts. And a perfect school record will still hold value...guess I''m ss rep,'' he decides in barely a moment. Bakugo is seething at the sight, balling his fist so his palms don''t start crackling. "Wow!" Kaminari gawks. "You got six votes?!" "Yup," Horizon shrugs and lifts the stack of papers they submitted. "Feel free toe count them if you want." "Give me those!" Bakugo rushes up and takes the votes and counts them. "ARGH!" he scorches them in his hands then stomps back to his seat. "Guess it''s legit," Kirishima chuckles. "Anyway we''ve got a tiebreaker so I guess I''ll go with---" Uraraka''s hand shoots up as she springs to her feet, "shouldn''t we decide as a ss!" "No, because I didn''t vote earlier," Horizon says. "I would have voted for Iida by the way, but I''ll use it to get Momo as my second seat." Momo''s eyes widen in surprise, the most capable student in their ss actually choosing her, she could almost feel her cheeks burning. And Iida is dumbstruck at Horizon''s words, expecting what he saw as their clear distaste for each other to make that possibility impossible. And a soft smile forms on his face as he realizes that who he saw as the only real choice for this role, also saw him in a simr light. "That''s why you said ''neen votes'' earlier," Jiro realizes. "Plus I didn''t see you write anything, not that you would have to since you''re counting." "Oh...ok," Uraraka says, failing to hide the disappointment in her voice, and sending an apologetic look at Deku. "Ugh," Horizon rolls his eyes. "Look, I know you wanted your friend to win or whatever, but this isn''t about who you like, it''s about who is right for the job. If you only think with your heart you''re gonna get people killed because when they need a hero that will make the right choices you''re gonna let feelings guide you. So how about instead of always propping up that loser you work on yourself and be someone worth voting for...because right now, it''s pathetic how you follow him around like a lost puppy." "I, um," Uraraka just sits down and ces her hands in herp, staring down at her desk and trying not to cry, eventually quickly failing. "And now it''s crying...whatever, Momo, congrattions..." Momo wants to feel proud of herself for being elected, but looking across at Urarka who was quietly beingforted by Iida, then to Horizon at the front of the room, she wasn''t quite sure if she made the right decision voting for him. A sentiment shared by many people. "Alright," Eraser stands up in his sleeping bag and unzips it, walking over to Horizon. "Congrattions or whatever, these are yours," he gestures to the stack of paper from earlier. "Fill them out before the end of the day and return them to me." Horizon doesn''t react and simply takes the stack of paper. Then Eraser sees Uraraka crying and sighs, "every time you get up here and address the ss someone starts crying, what you said wasn''t entirely wrong, but you don''t always have to make people cry. Part of being a hero is making people feel better," almost everyone nods along. "Tch," Horizon sees Uraraka wiping her tears and shrugs. "Heroes also have to be tough, she''ll get over it." "Your path is gonna be a lot harder this way, just saying, anyways make your first address as ss reps then get ready for first period," Eraser says before leaving the room, and a momentter Momo is standing beside Horizon. For the first time she realizes how imposing he is, never really standing beside him before, her head barely reaching his neck, she could certainly disappear behind him. A feeling that she''s had since the first time they met. And one that''s only gotten stronger each day. "Well, I guess I''ll go first," Momo says nervously, giving everyone her best smile. "As your ss vice representative, I pledge to solve as many of your issues as possible within my power for us all to have afortable and productive learning experience. That way we can all be our greatest selves and be great heroes in the future!" She gets a chorus of resounding cheers from the ss. And everyone silently turns to Horizon, hoping for something simr. "Uh...no, fuck all of what she just said," he says dryly, causing everyone to just stare nkly. "You''re training to be pro heroes, people that the useless general public look toward as problem solvers. That training starts now, do whatever you can within the rules to solve your own problems before youe whining to either of us, got it?" they nervously nod along. "Good," he continues. "We aren''t here to babysit you, don''t only depend on other people, if you''ve done your best and still need help with something thene to us, but only for things within our responsibilities, that''s all." He takes the stack of papers and returns to his desk, silently filling them out. Low chatter begins once more, but the ss eventually agrees with him, not wanting to be heroes that had to rely on others, but heroes people could rely on. ''Maybe he won''t be that bad...'' Momo thinks as she fills out her own vice representative form... END CHAPTER--- pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene Chapter 40: (Trespassers) Chapter 40: (Trespassers) Discord: https://discord.gg/K7f8qGpvuk pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "WHAT?!" Horizon statles awake, nealy rolling off his spot on the roof as rms start ring. Sitting up he immediately opens a ROOM, not sensing any fights taking ce. "A mob?" he senses dozens of people rushing the front of the school. SHAMBLES One of his throwing cards appears in his hand and he immediately throws it across to the other tower. SHAMBLES He swaps with the card before recalling it, casually walking to the edge of this tower and looking down. "Ahh... the hero-worshiping trash broke in," he mutters, watching the press desperately scramble like the ants they are, Eraser and Present Mic already blocking them from the main doors. "So much for the UA barrier keeping them out, wait," he shrinks his room down until only the main campus and the main gate were inside, then focuses on the main gate. "They broke it? Guess one of them has some serious balls, not bad." After a few minutes the police arrive, quickly kicking the intruders off UA property and clearing them from the sidewalk. And momentster Nezu, Midnight, and Recovery Girl walk out, moving toward a pile of rubble where the main gate was. Horizon stays on the roof, watching the pros inspect the gate, until Nezu turns around and looks up at him, seeing him standing on the ledge, his toes at the edge of a fifteen-story drop to the ground. All the others turns around, and he sees Recovery Girl and Present Mic panic before Nezu gestures for him to join them. ''Hmm, alright,'' he throws down a card, and a moment before it reaches them swaps to it, then summons it back to himself. "So you really can Warp," Midnight says, her sexual persona cast aside to deal with this serious matter. "Among other things," Horizon says, looking down at Nezu. "You need something?" "Could you take a look at this for me, you may see something we don''t," Nezu gestures to the pile of rubble where the gate was. Appearing like ck sand. "Sure," Horizon walks up and touches the rubble, SCAN. "This is the gate, three feet of solid steel, disintegrated." "Disintegrated?" Eraser asks in surprise. "We know the Quirks of all the press that was here, none of them could do that." "And even if they could, they wouldn''t," Mic adds. "They know how illegal it is to just use your Quirk in public without a hero license, and especially how bad it could get if you attack UA." "I see," Nezu taps his chin and considers his options. ''Closing school for the day could cause a panic over nothing, and this isn''t the first time a viin would have done something like this. The teachers and upper-year hero course students can handle the run-of-the-mill viins, once the main campus hasn''t been infiltrated we should be fine.'' "How do you want to proceed?" Recovery Girl asks. "Let''s have a full sweep of the main campus," he turns to Horizon. "Can you check for anyone suspicious or new, or any destruction like this at least?" All the other staff look toward Horizon, not sure what the hell Nezu was talking about. "Sure," Horizon shrugs, much to their surprise. ROOM! He expands his room five hundred meters in every direction, with him in the middle as always. Enough to cover the four main towers and all the training fields and courtyards directly around them, and since his room is a massive sphere, he also got the sewer system. SCAN! He focuses for a few seconds, then shakes his head. "Nothing new or destroyed, aside from one person." All the staff stands on edge at that, Eraser and Midnight ready to rush into action. "Is Thirteen in the staff lounge?" Horizon asks, and everyone rxes. "So you really can do that huh," Eraser says. "And yeah Thirteen is here as a guest lecturer, Nezu bribed her with a fancy new facility and a big budget." Nezu smiles proudly at that, "nothing but the best for my students of course." "Right, well I only scanned everything for a few hundred meters around me, sewers included, I can expand my range if you want..." "The security system can handle the rest," Nezu says. "This building is where most of the students are so it''s our main priority, but right now you all need to get to ss, lunch is about to finish, you should get to ss Horizon, and congrattions on the election." Horizon rolls his eyes, "right, as if you didn''t n that." Nezu smiles innocently, "I have no idea what you''re talking about!" "Whatever." SHAMBLES! "Wow," Present Mic says as Horizon leaves. "ying hide and seek with him must have sucked." "I don''t know," Midnight smiles lecherously, "I bet he could find all the best spots..." Recover Girl smacks her in the shin with her walking stick. Eraser just shakes his head, "let''s just be d he has whatever he just did, the security system can do the rest. And at least now we know a bit more about his warping, he can just find something and decide to move it...there''s warping, then there''s that." "I told you he''s impressive," Nezu boasts. "Plus I''m sure it will make your rescue training lesson a breeze for him." "I''ll probably have to stop him from warping the dummies out, just to make sure he knows the procedure." "Isn''t he a doctor?" Midnight asks. "I figured he''d know how to take care of people." Recovery Girl frowns, "his bedside manner is by far the worst I''ve seen...well, there was that one surgeon I worked with for a while in Central Hospital, he was also horrible... and we know how that turned out..." "The important thing is that this campus is safe and we''re learning more about our students," Nezu quickly changes the subject from Recovery Girl''s story. "I think it best for Aizawa to join All Might and Thirteen for rescue trainingter, better safe than sorry." "I agree," Eraser says. "I''ll go talk it over with them so everyone is on the same page..." After making a quick detour to the washroom Horizon takes a casual walk into ss, letting his body wake up after that refreshing nap. Walking past ss 1B''s homeroom, their neighbors, he can''t help but stop in front of the ss panels separating them from the hallway. Freezing in ce he slowly turns, seeing one of the students finishing up a snack, or more like starting a snack. With white hair and void ck skin and features, only his smile and eyes standing out on his shadow-like body, the boy was sitting at the second tost seat in the back of the first column, eating a cookie, a meter-wide chocte chip cookie. "I need this in my life..." Horizon mutters and immediately walks to the back door of ss 1B. With three quick knocks he pulls the door open, thankfully not sensing any teachers on this floor yet so he had some time. "Yo!" He leans into the room and casually waves at everyone, and the entire room falls silent as everyone turns back to stare at him. "Uh-hi?" The orange-haired girl in the back of the first row greets him, only a meter away from him. "Can I help you?" "Yeah, I''m Horizon, the 1A ss Rep, just wanna know where he got that," he points directly to the massive cookie. "Please tell me Lunch Rush sells those." "Uh sorry man," Kuroiro turns around and smiles apologetically. "Yui made this," he gestures to a girl at the front. Short ck hair and a nk expression on her face. "Bakery Quirk?" "It''s Size, hi, I''m Kendo by the way," the orange-haired girl greets him with a handshake. "I''m the ss Rep for 1B." "Nice to meet you," Horizon steps into the room and shakes her hand, and suddenly Kendo''s looking up at him. SCAN! He immediately senses the odd Telomeres, bones, and stem cells in her hands. "Oh, Big Fists?" he asks. Kendo''s eyes widen in surprise as they break the handshake. "How''d you know that?" "Lucky guess," he shrugs. "Anyway, I should get out of here, d just left the teachers'' lounge with Eraser...really sucks that I''m stuck with tail-boy and Deku while you guys get cookie girl," he sighs and begins leaving. "Wait," Kendo says, causing him to stop and turn back to her. "Since you know mine, what''s your Quirk, Horizon?" Kendo raises a hand and erges it to the size of a car door, flexing it, and then brings it back to normal. "That''s fair, my Quirk is called Hand Of God, it lets me do a lot of things." One seat away Ibara -a girl with green vines for hair- flinches at the sphemous name. While everyone else just looks confused. "A lot of things like what?! With a name like that it has to be strong, right?!" A silver-haired boy excitedly asks, eyshes so long it appears as if he were wearing a domino mask. Kendo sighs, " and this guy with no manners is Tetsutetsu, he gets excited meeting new people." "And you''re the first person from your ss we''ve met!" Tetsutetsu says. "Right, well I figured you''d meet us at the sports festival anyway, but yeah my Quirk lets me do things like Warping, Healing, Telekinesis, Invisible Bullets, and a few other things," Horizon says, enjoying their looks of disbelief and amazement, unsure if to believe something that impossible. "Ohh, you''re that guy," a girl with green hair says, only 156cm tall, Setsuna Tokage. "What guy?" "Well there was some chatter about a student that can warp," she says. "I heard some people talking about it, they thought it was a third year but apparently this debunks it...so it''s you..." "I guess so, apparently word got out faster than I expected." "People love to gossip about what the Hero Course Quirks can do," Kendo says. "I''ve even got a friend in the second year that heard about you, but the rumor started when someone heard Ectosm talking, so nobody knew who it was." "Makes sense, well now if anyone asks you know who to point them toward," Horizon says casually, as if it wasn''t the most sought-after Quirk in the world. "So how does it work?!" Tetsutetsu asks. "Like do you open a big magic gate and walk into it or something or what?" Horizon sees everyone staring at him expectantly and beneath his visor he can''t help but smile, always willing to have some fun with new people. "I''ll show you," he walks toward the window at the far side of the room, and looks toward the massive open training field. Four hundred meters of dirt before a concrete wall, and behind it a massive grass field. "Tetsutetsu, do you see that field out there?" he points out the window, and everyone follows his directions to stare at it. "Yeah." ROOM! For 500m in every direction, his ROOM opens up. "Good, get ready to take a picture," he turns back to Tetsutetsu and raises his hand, ready to snap his fingers. SHAMBLES! The boy disappears, swapped with a small rock the moment he snapped his fingers. "WOW!" people gape and yell out in surprise, never expecting to actually see a warping Quirk in person. "Where''d you send him?" Kendo asks, concern in her voice. "Outside." SHAMBLES! They swap back, and Tetsutetsu has his phone in his hand. "That was so weird, one second I''m here and the next I''m out there," he points to the window. Then shows them all the pictures he took from the grass field. A chorus of praise echoes out before Horizon feels Eraser and d walking down the hallway. "I need to get going, teachers are almost here," he begins walking away. "If you guys ever wanna trade I''ll give you tail boy and Naval Laser for cookie girl," he casually says without looking back. "MMM!" Yui says, still not talking but expressing her... something, nobody waspletely sure. But they had a fair guess when Ibara looked at her with clear worry in her eyes, "really, the sphemous boy?" "MM!" Ibara just frowns and decides to ignore it, ''I''ll pray or her to make better choices in the future...'' As Kendo is getting her ss under control, trying to get their excitement down after Horizon''s Quirk disy, Horizon walks back into 1A to see everyone standing around chatting. "Get to your seats, Eraser is in the hallway," he walks to his seat while everyone scrambles about. A momentter Eraser walks in a starts ss, getting everyone ready for Rescue Training and handing out their hero costumes. And now they were all just standing outside waiting for Eraser to bring the bus around and take them to Thirteen. Horizon was standing beside Momo, both in full costume like almost everyone else. Only Deku had his PE outfit on since his costume was destroyed. He just stands back while Momo adds him to a ss group chat, other students scattered about having light conversations. "So you really like this ss Rep stuff huh?" Horizon asks, watching her put his number into the group chat. "Well it''s best to stay on top of things and proactive, being prepared is always a must," she gives him a beaming smile. "That''s why I voted for you," Jiro adds as she joins them, Mina and Kaminari beside her. "I figured you''d be super responsible with us." "Just don''t babysit them too much," Horizon says. "Yeah I''m with Horizon on that," Mina adds. "He made a pretty good point earlier...he actually almost always has a good point, he''s just a total jerk at expressing it." "Really?" Horizon asks jokingly. "You guys have only ever seen me be either nice or neutral, you really wouldn''t want to see me actually try to be mean..." Those words send a shiver down their spines. "So who do you guys think the third pro is, Aizawa is supposed to be taking us to meet them and All Might right?" Jiro asks. "I hope it''s Midnight!" Kaminari cheers, immediately joined by Sero a few meters away. "It''s Thirteen," Horizon says tly. "THIRTEEN!" Uraraka screams, as if trying to rival Mic, Horizon tunes out her and Deku as they begin having a fanboy meltdown of some kind. "How do you know it''s Thirteen?" Asui walks up and asks, now joining the circle. "Nezu asked me to do a quick check of the main campus earlier after the rm scare, found her, Eraser mentioned she''s here as a guest teacher. Something about Nezu giving her a dream facility or something," he shrugs. "Wow they asked you to check the school, that''s a pretty big responsibility, Principal Nezu really trusts you a lot," Asui points out, and everyone nods along. "I just had to check if anything was off with the main campus building, Eraser''s here," Horizon nods toward the bus before it even rounds the corner for them to see. ''Did he just ''sense'' it?'' a few people wonder as it stops in front of them. "Alright everybody in," Horizon orders, and everyone silently boards. He and Momo boardst, entering to see the openyout in the first half of the bus. He spared an odd nce at the small robot driving the bus with Eraser in the seat behind it. "How far away is this ce?" "Only 3 kilometers, should only be a five-minute drive," Eraser says as everyone gets seated, with Horizon and Sato sitting beside each other in the front while Momo moves to sit with Jiro in the middle. Horizon leans back to enjoy a quiet ride, an impossibility with his ssmates, and naturally, the conversation drifts toward heroics. Opposite him, Kirishima sighs, "man I hope I can do something to stand out today, it''s hard enough trying to go pro with just my in Quirk but thepetition in this ss is insane." "Well at least you don''t have to worry about Bakugo," Asui says. "He''s way too loud and violent to ever get public support, especially considering what his Quirk is." Bakugo''s eyes snap open, he leans forward to respond, but just decides to bite his tongue and sit back. Not in the mood topare himself to the obviouspetition, ring at Horizon sitting close to Asui. This reaction doesn''t go unnoticed by Deku, who just looks down at hisp, kneading the fabric of his PE clothes nervously. "Yeah Todoroki and Horizon are the mainpetition," Aoyama says. "And moi of course, my Naval Laser is stylish, shy, and powerful, the people will be sure to love me." "Too bad you need a diaper," Horizon mutters, causing everyone tough lightly. "Then I guess that leaves Todoroki," Sato says. "Fire and Ice in one Quirk, pretty hard topete with, I mean I''m in an even worse boat than Kirishima, at least his hardening can look cool." "If you stack enough wins it doesn''t matter," Horizon says. "Endeavour is intolerable but he''s got by far the most resolved incidents in the world, even more than All Might, yeah it helps that his Quirk is shy, but themission uses raw numbers to calcte rank too." "Easy for you to say," Kaminari groans. "You''re Quirk is warping, that''s like a golden ticket into the top ten, plus all the other stuff you can do, and you''re good in a fight too, honestly man it''s like you were grown in a test tube to make us feel bad..." "I kinda was," Horizon says tly, causing everyone, including Eraser to stare in worry. "Not the test tube thing, but my parents have been teaching me since I was five, homeschool and all that, everything from the basics to medicine tobat and Quirk training, not much of a surprise that I''m so much better," he shrugs. Todoroki frowns at that description, memories of his horrendous childhood with Endeavour surfacing, the thought that he and Horizon weren''t that different slowly forming in his mind. A dangerous assumption. "That exins why you''re so much better at this stuff," Sero says. "You''ve been at it for like ten years, most of us didn''t start training till a year or two ago," most of the other students nod in agreement. "It helps that your Quirk is super cool," Mina says. "But I guess all the homeschooling and training exins why you suck at making friends huh?" "Excuse me?" Horizon leans forward to look at her. "What do you mean?" Mina raises her hands in surrender, "nothing personal, just...people respond better when you''re nice to them, you''re super abrasive and direct, not cute at all." "It doesn''t matter," Horizon says. "All that matters ispetency, everything else is secondary." "Ohhh," Mina gets a thoughtful look, the pieces finallying together. "That exins why you suck at making friends, you just don''t think social skills matter," she snaps her fingers, solving the case. "Why would I care if---" "We''re here!" Eraser announces as the buses to a stop. Stepping off the bus they''re immediately greeted by an absurdly massive concrete dome. The massive simtion area Nezu had constructed to Thirteen''s specifications. And standing in the middle of the massive red pathway leading into the fancy orange entry doors is the hero herself. Space Hero: Thirteen, looking like an extra puffy astronaut in her white spacesuit-themed costume,plete with a ck bowl-like headpiece with tworge white eyes. Deku and Uraraka immediately go into full hero-worshipping mode as Horizon walks behind everyone with Eraser and Shoji. Not paying much attention to Thirteen''s speech as she exins the facility. ''So one big dome with a half dozen natural disaster environments built inside...pretty smart to have this honestly,'' he couldn''t help but admit it was one of the most intricate and clever things he''s seen at UA. The Unforeseen Simtion Joint, USJ for short. By the time the speech finishes they''re standing inside, at the end of a long and wide walkway leading to a massive set of stairs down to the main floor. Arge water fountain is in the exact middle of the dome. A smaller red dome at one end, covered in me decals. A fire rescue simtion area. A simr dome painted white and blue, the hurricane zone. He also saw a shipwreck zone, a smallke with a medium-sized ship floating in it, and a tall curving waterspout to simte a waterfall. A mountain andndslide zone with loose rocks, some small steep drop-offs, and crumbled buildings, likely also doubling as an earthquake zone since this is Japan. ROOM! Horizon opens a 250m room, covering the entire USJ facility and taking a few SCANs. As Thirteen is exining Eraser stands beside her, noticing Horizon''s head moving about, looking between all the different zones. "And that''s exactly why this facility was constructed," Thirteen continues exining. "Today you won''t be fighting or destroying anything, you''ll strictly be using your Quirk to rescue and save people, that wa---" "Shut up," Horizon rudely interrupts and begins pushing through the crowd, head on a swivel looking between all the zones. "HEY!" Thirteen yells, "you c---" Eraser steps forward and raises a hand to silence her, "Horizon, what are you sensing?" Horizon draws his sword and points at theke, "something is distorting space at the bottom of theke...actually, in all the zones..." ''This feels familiar,'' Horizon thinks. ''It''s still forming but I''ve felt this before... BLINK!'' he recalls the Warp user in Swiss Vault, how she''d bend and fold space before forming her Warp Gates. "It''s a Warp Gate Quirk!" Horizon says, "I can sense viinsing out!" Eraser and Thirteen are immediately on guard, turning toward the stairs ready for action. "Everyone stay together!" Eraser says. "Left!" Horizon yells causing everyone to turn, and a small ball of purple mist begins expanding in the air to the left of them. "Hor---" A deep shrill voice begins speaking through the mist. AMPUTATE He shes the air, and as his invisible sh hits the mist, the conflictingmands of space cause the Warp Gate to copse instantly. ''I can close them!'' he thinks, then immediately dumps more stamina into his ROOM, expanding it another 3KM. SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! "What the hell?!" Thirteen yells as she''s suddenly in ss 1A''s homeroom, standing at the front of the ss where the teacher''s desk was. Everyone else was standing behind their desks with their chairs missing, and Horizon''s desk was swapped with Eraser. "Everyone ok?" Horizon asks, trying to keep his breathing steady so nobody realizes how much stamina he just dumped into that move. "Looks like everyone is fine," Eraser says. "I need to go alert Nezu, Thirteen stay with them!" he orders, rushing toward the door while everyone is still reeling from what just happened. But before Eraser could even reach the door. WARP GATE! The entire floor bes purple mist, rising up, climbing the walls and the ceiling where both Asui and Sero had already stuck to, reflexively leaping away from the floor. Horizon instantly raises his sword to sh the Warp Gate, but freezes. ''If I cancel the gate then everyone could get fuck up,'' he notices their legs already knee-deep in the purple mist. ''And if I try to Shambles us away while part of us is in it, could it rip us apart?'' He can''t take the chance. And the moment it waspletely sealed, they were in a different space. And his ROOM copsed... END CHAPTER--- pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene Chapter 41: (USJ) Chapter 41: (USJ) Discord: https://discord.gg/K7f8qGpvuk pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "ROOM," Horizon unconsciously says aloud, the moment his feet touch the ground and light hits his eyes, standing in the middle of what looks like a copsed mountainside in USJ. "RNGH!" he turns just in time to see a massive hulking viin. 300cm tall and built like a hulk, ck-purple skin with tears exposing the muscles beneath. Its brain was exposed for him to see, with a beaklike mouth. The monster cleared the two dozen meters between them in a blink. AMPUTATE! Horizon casually shes out, his sh reaches the other end of the USJ dome and leaves a line in the concrete wall. Buildings copse as they were simply in the way, but Nomu remains standing. He stumbles and flinches, but to Horizon''s surprise, he doesn''t get divided in two, the sh across his chest immediately heals and he swings at Horizon. SHAMBLES! He picks a random rock from thendslide zone and swaps with it, appearing behind Nomu, just in time to see the air pressure from its punch carve out a piece of the mountainside, a ten-meter-wide trench extending for dozens of meters. "Super-Power?" he questions, and expands his room to epass the entirety of USJ, already hearing explosions echoing out across the dome. "What the hell is going on here?" he mutters to himself as Nomu instantly turns and rushes him again. An unintelligible shriek is the only sound it makes. It was far too fast for his eyes to keep up, but thankfully that''s what his room was for. SHAMBLES! He swaps with a rock directly beside it the moment it swings another strong right hook at his visor. SCAN! the moment his hand touches its side, and everything freezes. He feels it shifting from a strong right hook to a backhand at his head, and the rest of the information floods in, and all the information floods in. ''All my ssmates are here in USJ, and the Warp Gate viin is at the fountain fighting Eraser and Thirteen with a few dozen viins. My ssmates are scattered about but look to be holding up, at least for now. But this thing... It''s like Frankenstein''s monster, a cobbled-together assortment of body parts, fused with science, Quirks, and Drugs, its mind doesn''t have any sentience, only the ability to followmands. And it''s Quirk...no, Quirks. I can feel multiple Quirks. Super-Power, it has super dense muscles with ayer of sticity...Shock Absorption. And Stem cells, Super-Regeneration, that''s why Amputate didn''t work, it healed as my sh was dividing it, effectively healing around the cut before it was finished. But nobody knows how Amputate works, they think it''s Air sh, so this guy wasn''t built for me...he was built to kill All Might. But All Might''s Quirk is an umtion type, starting from zero and getting stronger through his life, I don''t think this thing can hit the same highs, it''s more like Deku, starting with a lot of power that can''t increase, Super-Power. And if it''s here to kill All Might, and he isn''t here...then why is he attacking me instead of the Pros?'' Horizon feels a Warp Gate preparing to open down at the fountain. ''The Warp Gate viin said ''Hor---'' before I shut the gate in his face, my name maybe? But they can''t know about my Quirk...a spy? But he probably locked onto us when he first entered USJ so if I warp everyone anyway he''ll just drag us back, best leave everyone to deal with the fodder while I take care of this guy. If any students or teachers die here my ss and graduation could be in danger, and that puts my contract in danger... I''ll deal with this guy before sickly All Might shows up and gets hurt even more, or worse, the viins get lucky... I won''t let anyone die or get hurt, I won''t let some stupid viins put my contract at risk!'' An obscene amount of information was processed and a n formted, all in the time it took Nomu to realize Horizon had warped to his side and touched him. SHAMBLES! He narrowly warps away from a vicious backhand, another swath of destruction carved out by the air pressure. ''The Hurricane Zone would have been perfect for this fight, I could have used the rain, but I can''t feel it, so power is probably out in a few ces...'' He constantly flickers about, evading strike after strike while shing into Nomu. ''NO!'' he feels the Warp Gate viin opening a gate and immediately shes down in its direction, toward the main za and water fountain. AMPUTATE! The sh cleaves through the entire mountain zone, dozens of meters of solid rock before hitting the air and reaching all the way to the fountain, mming into the Warp Gate and closing it. Their game of extreme tag continues, every time Nomu would swing Horizon warps away and shes. The entire mountain zone was shed and smashed to pieces, bing more and more unstable by the second. ''This thing isn''t alive, so let''s try something drastic,'' he sees Nomu turn and beeline toward him with a left hook, grips the hilt of his sword tightly, and prepares himself. SHAMBLES! One of his throwing cards appears in his left hand and he throws it above himself, and the moment the punch is inches away from his visor. SHAMBLES! He swaps with the card, appearing directly above Nomu''s exposed brain. "Incision!" he yells and thrusts his sword down into Nomu''s brain, feeling the Super-Regeneration trying to literally push the de out of its body. "Counter Shock!" Arcs of blue electricity flow down from his hands and into the de, reaching the brain and spine of the Nomu. ''Shit, SHAMBLES!'' he disappears with a rock meters away as Nomu reaches up to crush him in a massive hand, not even phased by a shock to the brain. Their battle continues as Horizon tries to form a new n. ''I haven''t sensed a Warp Gate for a minute, Eraser must have used his Quirk on him, that means if I take this thing down there and he blinks things could go very badly, I''ll have to deal with this solo...but since it has no organs, it''s just a ball of muscles and nerves, not to mention if I remove the brain it''ll probably grow back... I need to think of something drastic...'' Horizon predicts an obvious grab at super speed, stepping outside of the arc and making direct contact with his de. Metal against flesh. INCISION! BOOSTER SHOT! He feels the shock absorption kick in instantly, as if he swung a kitchen knife against a steel wall, the recoil rattling his arms. ''figured as much, my enhanced direct shes don''t work...its as if this damn Power Type was built to counter me...'' Nomu takes the chance and raises both arms up, mming down and destroying thendslide zone. "Shit!" Horizon yells as the entire mountainside begins to crumble, and all of USJ rattles. SHAMBLES! He disappears, swapped with a viin in the congration zone before the shockwave killed him. Now within the smaller red dome were a few five-story buildings, the zone where everything was on fire. "I''m not sensing it rampaging anymore," Horizon mutters, feeling Ojiro fighting nearby. The basic thugs around hime to their senses and immediately rush him, proving to be no challenge. The first was just a muscr man, two meters tall withrge fists. As he tries tond a sloppy punch Horizon swings his sword, cutting the man''s right fist in two leaving a bloody stump before kneeing him in the torso, knocking the wind out of him, and taking him out of the fight. The final two were twins, two women with Quirks that gave them guns for index fingers, taking aiming and firing a constant stream of bone bullets at Horizon. ''Trash,'' he thinks to himself before swapping for one of the women, causing both sisters to riddle each other with spiked bullets. "Horizon!" Ojiro yells as hends beside Horizon, clearly happy to see an ally. "Dude, what''s going on?" "Just some---" Horizon freezes, then looks up to a certain part of the dome. "Shit!" Nomues crashing through the top of the dome, shaking the entire structure and causing spiderweb cracks to spread through the roof of it. CRASH! Nomu brings down two buildings and tears up the road as he makes his entrance, immediately locking onto Horizon and rushing him faster than either student could see. SHAMBLES! They both swap with nearby rubble as Nomu punches where they were, Ojiro''s heart skips a beat when he sees the air pressure of that punch bring down multiple buildings. "I''ll deal with this, you stay with the Pros," Horizon says before swapping Ojiro for a viin near to Eraser. "Huh?" The man asks confused, "argh!" he yells as Horizon stabs him in the leg from behind him. He looks up in time to see Nomu already about to punch him, ''SHAMBLES!'' he swaps out for rubble, and the viin he just stabbed be red mist when the punch connects. "Ok, let''s go..." he says to Nomu, challenging the monster... ---4 Minutes Later... Half the ss was rushing toward the main za, the first to finish up their fights. Most notably was Deku, being carried by Sato because of his broken legs, shattered when he used his Quirk to push Mina to safety from falling debris. "What''s with all the shaking?" Todoroki asks, leading the pack beside Bakugo and Kirishima. "It''s Horizon!" Ojiro says. "He''s fighting some super strong viin, they''ve been moving between zones and tearing them up..." Some people silently nod along, having seen pieces of the battle earlier as they warped and jumped between all the different zones. Bakugo just grits his teeth and keeps quiet, head on a swivel as he feels quakes happening all around them as the duo constantly move their fight. Down in the main za Eraser is panting, quickly running out of energy, one elbow slightly disintegrated, the skin gone to reveal muscle beneath. Thirteen wasn''t faring any better, currently fighting with one hand, the other hanging limply at her side, broken. "Kurogiri, get us out of here!" Shigaraki demands, scratching his skin to the point of drawing blood, his disheveled blue hair and all the hands attached to his body and face giving an eerie feeling to all the students around. "I can''t," Kurogiri says. The purple mist man tries to open another Warp Gate only for it to instantly copse. "Horizon keeps cutting them, we need to kill him, but somehow Nomu still hasn''t managed..." "Damn it," Shigaraki scratches his skin even more, staring at the heroes opposite him as the standoff continues, Eraser having canceled his quirk for the moment but Thirteen standing guard with her ck Hole Quirk so he couldn''t rush in. "He''s the secondary target, but we weren''t told he''d be this strong..." he turns to see a dozen students rushing at him. Todoroki, Bakugo, Momo, Tokoyami and Kirishima led the pack. As they were ready to jump in and break the deadlock, Horizon swapped ces with one of the basic thugs, he ignored everyone and just looked toward the water fountain, ''exactly what I need.'' "Horizon, what---" Eraser is cut off by what sounds like a massive explosion, a huge gust of wind pushes everyone back as Nomunds in the za, scattering everyone. Eraser blinks, and Shigaraki feels his Quirk return. The monster wastes no time rushing Horizon again, faster than any of them could see, Horizon warps away, thankfully his back was against the water causing the Air Pressure to make a rift along theke. AMPUTATE! Standing at the fountain he shes down with one hand, holding a throwing card in the other. A massive sh reaches out, cutting through Nomu and the water, slicing the ship floating on theke in two and leaving a thin slit in USJ''s dome. ''That thing is strong, like All Might,'' everyone thought, ''and he''s been fighting it all this time...'' Nomu is staggered for a moment before his Super-Regeneration kicks in, then he immediately turns and digs his bare feet into the stone floor, cratering the ground as he pushes off. Midway through the rush, two attacks reach out to intercept before Nomu gets to Horizon. "DIE!/ Heaven Piercing Ice Wall!" Bakugo and Todorokiunch their strongest attacks, ice, and a powerful explosion. The heroes and viins alike are amazed by their power, but Nomu just backhands the air and destroys all their efforts. In the same instant that it ice and smoke are swatted away, causing everyone to crouch down as the wind tried to rip them off the floor, Nomu swings out at Horizon. Before their eyes, he warps Nomu above him, swapped with the card he just tossed over the fountain. ''C''mon, make it rain,'' Horizon thinks as he feels Nomu now falling, twisting its body down to punch directly under it, inches away from Horizon''s skull. SHAMBLES! The moment the punch is about to make contact he swaps with a piece of ice close to his ssmates. An explosion of dust and water forms a mushroom cloud of debris dozens of meters high, as if it were raining. "Game over," Horizon says, a vicious smile on his lips, but all they could see was the nk visor as he shrinks his room. From covering all of USJ to only the main za, he swaps to one of the water droplets in the air, and swaps Nomu for another. The Room shrinks to only cover a few dozen meters around them. Before anyone could realize what was happening he hsed out, AMPUTATE! Nomu flinches, the cut across its face instantly healing. ''Change the angle, make the lines cross, separate the pieces,'' Horizon decides. AMPUTATE! Another clean sh. SHAMBLES! Before it can heal he appears on the other side of Nomu. AMPUTATE! It crosses the previous sh, effectively cutting a piece of the monster out. SHAMBLES! He fails to warp the piece away before it heals. "What the hell is he doing?" Kirishima asks as the students stare in wonder. Seeing Horizon and Nomu constantly flickering about, but nobody has time to realize or even give a response. After the first dozen shes, he finally gets the first sess, SHAMBLES! A chunk of Nomu''s arm swaps for a drop of water and hits the floor. Then another piece of the monster. Then another, and another. "NO!" Shigaraki screams, "That''s impossible, Super-Regeneration is still active!" By the time Horizon was done the entire floor and fountain were sliced and diced into little pieces, and Nomu was a still living puzzle on the floor, waiting to be put back together. Shigaraki was seething with rage, "damn it, you cheated! Kurogiri!" he turns, and finally notices Kurogiri already frozen in a thick block of ice. "No!" Horizon''s ROOM immediately copses as he drops to one knee, over a hundred shes in such little timepletely emptied out his stamina. "Stupid, viins," Horizon nces over to his ssmates as he takes exhausted breaths, then looks toward the viins. Kurogiri is a popsicle and Shigarai is already pinned down by Eraser. "So much for UA being a breeze huh Nezu." ''I guess I''ve got a lot of work to do...'' he decides, realizing that there were some situations that he just didn''t have a proper answer to... END CHAPTER--- Hyper-Regeneration is a really damn bad matchup for Law, the more I thought about it the more it makes sense, and thematically someone with that Quirk would counter a doctor. Didn''t feel like making USJ into a 5 chapter mini-arc so let''s just get to the fun stuff. I finished writing this volume recently so this week its daily uploads, curious to see how many power stones we can get :) pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene Chapter 42: (Debrief) Chapter 42: (Debrief) Discord: https://discord.gg/K7f8qGpvuk pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- Minutes after Nomu was defeated, Kurogiri and Shigarami were already knocked out. All Might and the other Pros arrived and quickly swept up the other viins, which leaves us where we are now. With Horizon standing at the fountain speaking to detective Tsukauchi. "Are you sure it''s alive?" Tsukauchi asks, looking at the dozens of pieces of Nomu on the floor, all the police officers standing around with disgusted looks, metal cases ready to store the pieces, while others kept loading up viins. "It is," Horizon says, "it''s a walking corpse made from a few different people, it wasn''t really alive in the first ce, more like the muscles were just gettingmands. But it''s alive, if you put these pieces in the same box you''ll have to deal with it again so don''t do that." "Freaky," the detective says, noticing one of the eyes still looking around as part of its head was still intact. "What kind of monster would think to even do this..." "No clue," Horizon says. "Now since you know I didn''t kill anyone can I go join the others?" "Right, I''ll be over in a bit to get all the other stories..." Taking a rather exhausting walk up the massive staircase and out of USJ Horizon sees a dozen prison busses parked outside, a small army of police cars apanying them. Off to the left, he sees all his ssmates standing with Present Mic at a UA bus, clearly waiting for him. Quietly chattering about their first viin experience. "Horizon!" Mina yells excitedly, causing everyone to turn toward him. "You were super cool in there, the way you cut up that viin." "Thanks," he says in a tired voice. "We ready to go?" "Yup," Mic says. "We were just waiting for you, Eraser and Midoriya are already at Recovery Girl, Thirteen too..." "Great, let''s get out of here..." Everyone boarded the bus and Horizon immediately gets a text from Nezu, ''My office,'' was all it said. ''Of course...'' Present Mic sat at the front while the robot was driving, with Horizon only one seat behind him, sitting beside Momo and Jiro. Everyone is still chattering about what they just encountered when Todoroki''s voice cuts through the noise. "Horizon," his monotone voice silences the bus, sitting closer to the back while Horizon was at the front. "Yeah?" Horizon asks, leaning back and trying to rx. "We know the viins made that creature to kill All Might, but how did you beat it, it was as strong as him, it even shrugged off our best attacks," he nces at Bakugo who was one step from exploding at the memory. "But you beat it by yourself, how?" Even Present Mic turns to look at him, not sure what kind of answer to expect. "Simple, because I''m better," Horizon shrugs. Everyone just res daggers at him before he continues exining. "I had to ovee its Quirks, Shock Absorption, Super-Power, Super-Regeneration, and anything else it had. Power types are easy for me, but the regeneration was a real pain, without that I could have handled it in one sh. Plus the fact that I had to deal with Kurogiri, every time he made a Warp Gate I had to take a second to close it before he decided to move any of you around again, honestly it was more of a challenge than I ever expected to face at UA." They look both amazed and horrified that a student could deal with a situation like that. "Your reaction in stressful situations is also admirable," Momo adds. "You instantly warped us back to our homeroom from USJ when the viins arrived, if he wasn''t able to warp us back then I''m sure you would have done that again." "Yup." "Man to think you got the final boss while we had to clean up those street punks...not that I could have done anything to help, I mean one of his punches was destroying buildings, I''m not ready for that yet," Kirishima whines. "Good job ss Rep!" Everyone echoes his cheer, and they could slowly feel the distance between them and Horizon widening. No, not widening, they were simply realizing how far ahead he really was. Shoto quietly sits and stares at Horizon, ''I wonder how much he suffered to be this strong, I can''t imagine what he survived...'' Bakugo just res out the window, a new sense of numbness spreading in his chest, as if his body didn''t have that burning desire to catch up anymore, as if he was slowly realizing how hopeless it was. Iida was proud of himself, he now knew for sure that he made the right choice voting for Horizon. And sitting directly beside Horizon, Momo frowns and tunes out Jiro who was chatting with her. Suddenly there was an infinite chasm separating her, the Vice ss Rep, from the ss Rep. Her doubts and insecurities about her own value suddenly amplified to heights unheard of for her. Jiro notices the change in Momo''s mood and rests and hand on her leg, giving her a concerned look, but Momo just puts on a weak fake smile, not even fooling herself. Stepping off the bus Horizon ignores everyone and makes a beeline to Nezu''s office, quickly entering andying down on one of the couches, not even wanting to activate his Quirk to swap his hero costume. Leaning his sword against the coffee table he closes his eyes and nods off, taking a small nap while the Pros finish up... ---2 Hours Later... TAP TAP TAP! Horizon wakes up groggily, seeing Yagi standing over him tapping his visor as if it were a fishbowl. "Mmm," Horizon groans and sits up, looking around to see Nezu and Tsukauchi on the opposite couch already. "How long was I asleep?" "It''s only five," Yagi says, taking a seat beside Horizon. "You''ve had a long day, makes sense that you''re tired." "Yeah, from doing your job..." Horizon groans, and everyone frowns in response. "So why am I here?" "We just need to ask some questions, mainly about the Nomu," Tsukauchi says. "Right, go ahead." "What can you tell us about it?" "Pretty much everything," Horizon shrugs. "Well they cobbled together four corpses to make it, one was a base and the others for the Quirks. Shock-Absorption, Super-Power, Super-Regeneration, a perfect All Might killingbo." "That matches what Eraser said Shigaraki was boasting about," Nezu says. "You got all that from touching Nomu?" Yagi asks. "Yeah, it was nasty," Horizon says. "The thing was a walking corpse so I didn''t mind cutting it up. It wasn''t even sentient, only the parts of the brain needed to eptmands were working, the strain of multiple Quirks is too much for a body to handle, something had to give." "Any idea of how it was done?" Yagi asks, a bit of trepidation in his voice. "With medical operations or did it seem a bit more...natural..." Horizon raises a brow at that, "well I could tell it involved a lot of drugs and operations, the pieces were put together and grafted before the brain was rewired, Super-Regeneration helped pull it all together, but that''s a one in two hundred thousand Quirk, if it''s even thatmon." Yagi, Tsukauchi, and Nezu share a look of relief, d to hear that it wasn''t as simple as someone cing a hand on a viin and giving him multiple Quirks. "And about Kurogiri?" Nezu asks. "Warp Gate guy," Horizon sighs. "Didn''t get to touch him, I just kept canceling his Warp Gates from wherever I was in USJ at time. It has a pretty obvious tell for me, not the first Warp Gate I''ve encountered." "Really!" Both Tsukauchi and Yagi are surprised, but Nezu just nods along. "Right, her, but this was of apletely different nature," Nezu says. "Plus this one didn''t need an anchor," Horizon adds. "Worked by either coordinates or lock-on, not sure. But After I warped everyone back to my homeroom he pulled us back into USJ, our feet were already in the mist so I didn''t want to cancel it or try to rip us out---" "Good call," Yagi says. "That could have gone bloody." "I figured as much," Horizon says. "Then I just cut up Nomu, you pretty much know the rest." "I see," Tsukauchi finishes writing everything Horizon said. "Anything else?" "Yeah, I think the viins were targeting me, anything on that?" Everyone in the room stiffens at that. "There was mention of that from Aizawa," Nezu says. "The viins said that since All Might wasn''t there they would kill the secondary target, you. But the fact that they were also able to identify you, that is concerning." "Unless they got in touch with one of my patients or something, but that''s unlikely," Horizon says. "Nobody would hand over a miracle cure. Coupled with the fact that they knew we would be at USJ and who would be there...you''ve got a leak." "Possibly," Nezu says. "But I''d rather not jump to that conclusion, we need to have a united front instead of all suspecting each other, especially right now." "I just hope you find the leak before I do," Horizon grumbles out. "For their sake, I hope so too," Nezu says. "Anyway, now we only have to deal with the matter of our PR nightmare, all eighty viins have been arrested and are already en route to Tartarus, including Nomu." "And the school was searched, so my job here is done," Tsukauchi stands and politely nods to everyone. "I''ll let you all deal with this while I continue investigating this League Of Viins." "Thank you for all your hard work Tsukauchi," Nezu politely bows to the detective before he leaves the room. After Tsukauchi leaves Horizon rxes a bit more, "so, is this crap stopping the Sports Festival, because that really messes up my n..." "I think it best that we continue as usual, with added security," Nezu says, ignoring Yagi''s worried look. "We need to show the public and our students that this incident won''t hinder us at all." "I suppose that''s right," Yagi says. "And M---our students need the opportunity to make their proper debut to the world." "Good, because I''ve had the info packs ready to send to news outlets for a while," Horizon says. "When I win the sports festival and everyone is searching my name they''ll find what I want them to find." "Careful now Young Horizon," Yagi says. "If you''re too confident victory could slip away from you. People are most vulnerable when they think they''ve won." "I''m not arrogant," Horizon says. "It''s a proper assessment of my skillpared to everyone else I''ve seen, honestly the closest is probably Bakugo and he''s hot garbagepared to me." "Well I''ll be sure to watch your performance closely," Yagi says. "One thing, since my Quirk is warping, it''s legal for me to summon my sword right?" "Completely, after the game officially begins that is," Nezu says. "But if you cause too much damage with it you''ll be disqualified, the same goes for everyone and their Quirks too." "Easy win then," Horizon says. "Well now that we''ve handled those things, I just need to figure out the PR nightmare this situation has caused. People are already demanding All Might step down for the safety of the students," Nezu says sadly. "Why not tell the truth?" Horizon asks tly. "What do you mean?" Yagi asks. "Well, if you just consider it all at face value, viins made this incredibly intricate master n expending a crap ton of resources to kill All Might, only to be stopped by a ss of first years three days into school, their homeroom teacher and a rescue hero that almost never fights. Viins suck and UA looks good and---" "And," Nezu cuts him off. "You''ll want us to name you specifically and credit you with taking down their weapon and disrupting their Warp Gate user, ying an instrumental part in our victory, and putting the spotlight on yourself even before the sports festival." "Well," Horizon shrugs. "It''s not like we''d be lying." "But we''d ce our students in the crosshairs of any revenge attacks, and antagonize the viins by humiliating them," Nezu points out, a serious frown on his face. "That''s why I already disregarded this option, while I am proud of my students we still don''t know the full extent of the League Of Viins." "Yeah, but you''d put most of the heat on me, and I''m certainly good bait," Horizon says "Hmm, if another attack happens and any student gets hurt we''d be in a lot more trouble after pulling such a stunt," Nezu says. "I already n to more properly inste the school and all our teaching schedules." "Smart move," Yagi says. "And I should make a better effort to actually be here, I got sidetracked doing heroics and wasn''t even here when my students needed me..." "Agreed," Horizon says harshly. "You made a deal, honor it, no matter what. Breaking contracts is grounds to be put down, remember that." Yagi just looks at him a bit nervously, "right...yeah." "Well I should get the press statement out," Nezu says. " I''ll follow Horizon''s n, showing that everyone at UA is capable will look much better, I don''t want any students scared toe to our school." Nezu immediately takes out a tablet and types up a proper statement. And twenty minutester it''s posted. "Already at five million views and it''s only been seconds!" Nezu chuckles. Horizon''s phone immediately begins going off, he unlocks it to see his ''Yay!'' profile going crazy. "And I''m already at a million followers," he can''t help butugh. "Man those hero-worshipping idiots are too easy..." "Hey now, you shouldn''t call your fans that," Yagi says. "Tch, fuck those sheeple..." BEEP BEEP BEEP! Yagi''s phone goes off, he reaches for it so quickly you''d think it burnt him. "Emergency Hero Network alert," he says, then his face looks drained of all life as he sees the article. He ces it on the table for Nezu and Horizon to see, an entire city block turned to rubble. Dozens of armored trucks and cop cars were crushed and tossed about as if they were nothing. "What the hell did that, where is that?" Horizon asks. "That, was the League Of Viins convoy," Yagi says. "Apparently they were attacked by something, hit with a EMP and attacked before anyone could respond, no survivors or witnesses, but lots of missing prisoners, including a certain trio..." "Let me guess," Nezu groans. "Shigaraki, Kurogiri, and Nomu..." Yagi just nods sadly, knowing this fight was far from over... END CHAPTER--- So I failed to exin properly the interaction between Amputate and Super-Regenerationst chapter and a lot of people got mad, it''lle up again and I''ll go more in-depth at that point, just need you to trust me until then, Law is still op :) pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene Chapter 43: (Understandable Assumptions) Chapter 43: (Understandable Assumptions) Discord: https://discord.gg/K7f8qGpvuk pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- Sitting in a dimly lit room, All For One is in his usual ck formal suit, his head exposed, various tubes inserted into his skin to help keep him alive as he sits with his oldest friend. His head only had a mouth, no ears or other sensory parts, no hair, appearing burnt and battered, like a rotting potato that a child stitched together. The giant 225cm -7ft4- tall man, just barely taller than All Might, rxes in hisfortable chair and listens to Dr. Garaki prattle on about his creations, the man''s pride in his Nomu''s boundless as always, only second to his admiration of All For One himself, not even the value of his own life could match those things. Dr. Garaki was a short and portly man withrge sses and a thick white mustache contrasting his bald head. Appearing no older than sixty, but in truth, he was the second oldest person on the, at over 120 years old, second only to All For One, a being that has existed since the first generation of Quirks. "Any news Kyudai?" All For One asks in a deep yet calm voice, and the doctor just sighs as he looks at the screens in front of him. "Honestly this is a waste of time," the man grumbles, the only person in the world who could speak to the demon lord so casually. "I don''t get why we even gave that brat those two Nomus, especially Kurogiri, after we took over a decade to create his Warp Gate Quirk, that damn man-child could never be your sessor master." "Tomura is still young, Kyudai, he will make mistakes---" "And get two of our Nomus caught," the man grumbles. "Yes, but we already have someone en route to rescue them...all three of them, and collect the simple thugs to make more Nomus." "To think that I may one day have to work with that child," Garaki begins silently crying at the thought, looking at his dear friend and master with sadness in his eyes. "If only I could heal your body, then you could rule forever as we''ve always wanted." "I know doctor, but that dream died when All Might and I had ourst encounter, now he is teaching, certainly trying to find someone to inherit his power, his next bet for the Symbol Of Peace, so I must do the same and pass everything to a sessor, wouldn''t you agree?" Garaki sighs, "I just wish I could have done more, a hundred years of experimentation, yet I can''t save the person who matters most to me...I feel useless." "No no no Kyudai, it''s not your fault," All For Oneforts his friend. "You are the only person in this world who cannot be reced, my oldest friend and confidant, in fact, your usefulness has even outlived me...or at least it will." Garaki can''t help but shed another tear at those words, but he''s unable to ept what forgiveness All For One was offering. BEEP BEEP BEEP! Garaki turns back to the screen, "it seems UA has released a report, now we can get some idea of what happened at the USJ." "Indeed, our trojan told us one part of the story, but I''d like to see how they spin this tale," All For One says. "How will UA handle the media after they''ve been attacked, and the Symbol Of Peace wasn''t even there to help, a difficult situation, but I''m sure Nezu will solve it." "Yes, that High Spec wielding bear-mouse," Garaki grumbles as the news report reads the document aloud. "If it were possible to create a brain that could handle that Quirk we could dominate the world, easily." "Assuming we could even get to him," All For One says. "UA has some of the most meticulous and weaponized security in the world, and he never leaves his fortress. It''s like a private country within Japan, it''s honestly a miracle the USJ attack was even a sess." "Thankfully you have people everywhere," Garaki says. A few minutester and the news report isplete, propping up Horizon, Thirteen, and Eraser, while putting down the viins for foolishly attacking UA, eighty viins infiltrated, and all were arrested, including their abomination of a superweapon, now publicly known as Nomu. In the end, the viins didn''t manage to damage any of the students, and a quick trip to Recovery Girl fixed both pros. "Exactly as we heard, it seems his ssmate was the main problem...that Horizon kid," Garaki said, not thinking much of the fact that viins were captured, they''d be back soon enough anyway. "But to think he beat Brainless and nullified Kurogiri, very impressive." "More than just impressive Kyudai, superhuman," All For One says, a vicious smile on his lips. "It wasn''t clear before, but I believe this confirms it. First Nezu ims he is capable of being the next Symbol Of Peace, then our friend inside tells us his Quirk is warping, among other things. But now he has offensive power that I only suspected people like All Might, Endeavour, and Star and Stripe to possess, quite a scarybo." "You think he has One For All? That All Might passed his Quirk onto this child," Garaki thinks about it for a moment and can''t help but agree. "That would exin how he beat Brainless that was built to kill All Might, but how would we know for sure? We already had our people in the Hero Public Safety Commission check, his private record just says Hand Of God." "Because of Nezu." "Nezu?" Garaki asks, not putting the pieces together. "Yes, he has been blocking all of our contacts, any attempt we made to track or contact Horizon this past year was blocked, we couldn''t tell by who, but it could only be Nezu. We assumed the miracle doctor had friends in high ces, but now we know he has a sponsor at the very top of this world." "Then it''s a good thing we didn''t manage to make contact with him to get you an appointment for healing," Garaki sighs in relief. "Things could have gone very poorly, and we don''t have any way to deal with his warping since its so instantaneous...with a massive range too." "Yes, but this report also made it obvious that Horizon is the next One For All user," he says, confusing the doctor slightly. "I''m sorry but I don''t follow, the report only said what we already confirmed happened," Garaki says. "Yes, exactly. But Nezu would never put a student''s name in such a report and antagonize us, even if he thinks the entire League Of Viins was arrested, he would quicker pin everything on the teachers and All Might to make them targets instead of students, this shows his absolute unshakable faith in Horizon to defend himself from any viins we send after him, its rming how much confidence he has in the boy, even if it''s only so because they believe I''m dead." "Hmm, One For All would exin that level of confidence in the kid for sure, should we take the bait and attack him, we don''t have any more Nomus that can match Brainless so it''ll be a while before we''re ready," Garaki says. "But taking One For All is worth it." "No, that won''t work, my body as it is right now can''t handle the power amplification of my little brother''s Quirk. And even if I went in person he could simply warp away, I would need a reason for him to stay in the fight, and hostages don''t work since he will simply remove them too," All For One says, then he frowns. "I''ll have to make things personal, make him want to fight me." "Our spy says he''s an asshole so that''ll be tough," Garaki says tly. "Honestly unless we can get Nezu or someone he cares about I don''t see how this will work." "Well luckily we are not alone, I''ll contact all the people I can, we''ll dig up all the information we can on Horizon, he must have someone or something we can take to piss him off, every man has something they care about. Oh, and I''ll contact the Aoyama family as well, make sure they know their new role in all of this..." "And what about the so-called League Of Viins?" Garaki asks, clearly annoyed at having to indulge All For One''s desire to groom Shigaraki. "When they escape it will cause much panic, especially considering who we sent and how he operates, it would be best to shift the focus away from UA to ease the mind of those students." "The other Hero Courses across Japan?" Garaki asks. "Precisely, and it will y into Nezu''s n to make Horizon looks even better, we need him confident in himself to the point that he would fight anyone, and we need UA and All Might safe from media scrutiny, killing someone is easier if they stay in one ce six days a week after all, much better than when All Might was running about Japan and Horizon was traveling the world." "And how would you like to deal with the other Hero Courses?" Garaki asks. "After he gets back from rescuing them we could just warp him into those schools, it''d be easy." "No," All For One disregards that idea entirely. "Let''s ramp up production of Nomus, Tomura needs his own army, he isn''t ready tomand you or him just yet, far from it actually. We''ll send a few dozen Nomus out to one school at a time, but make sure they''re all weak. We want the media shaming the other schools for failing while UA has a first year that was able to stop a monster intended to kill All Might. Oh, and you can collect the corpses to make more." "Hmm, that many will take at least a month." "If we needed them capable of epting orders yes," All For One says. "But these are just wild animals to be unleashed on students to stack bodies, we''ll make them quickly and let them run wild until the pros put them down, and Kurogiri will collect the bodies." Garaki smiles at that, "that much gic material will greatly help my research, and a lot of those kids probably have strong Quirks too." "Not to mention this will further make them believe that I''m dead, because why would I ever expend resources that don''t directly hurt All Might, it''s so out of character that it can''t be me," he smiles victoriously at the thought of them thinking he''s gone. "A single move with so manyyers, your evil genius is truly unmatched my friend," Garaki says. "Now I need to be ready to operate on many fresh subjects..." "Yes doctor, if all goes well I''ll have to build you yet anotherb," All For One chuckles darkly before loud beeping interrupts them. Garaki takes out his phone and checks the message. "Good news I expect, as usual from him," All For One says. "Mhm, both the Nomus are recovered, Kurogiri is a bit damaged from the ice and Brainless needs to be put back together," Garaki says happily. "And Tomura?" "Oh, the brat is fine too, they''re already at another safehouse," Garaki immediately begins typing on hisputer. "I''ll start looking into which schools we should hit first, Japan has thousands of Hero Courses, aside from Shiketsu we need to make sure the targets we select have people with useful Quirks." "Good, and have Kurogiri warp me to their location when the coast is clear, I''d like to go in person to greet them, after all, my presence is the greatest reward I can give him." Garaki nods in agreement, "well he never fails, and he exists to serve and protect you, honestly the fact that his body can handle seven Quirks without any modifications helped make the foundation for my Nomu program, I can''t imagine a better bodyguard and attack dog, if anyone deserves to see you in person it''s him..." All For One smiles proudly, "yes, I too am quite impressed by him, Gigantomachia..." END CHAPTER--- pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene Chapter 44: (Declared: War On Heroes) Chapter 44: (Dered: War On Heroes) Discord: https://discord.gg/K7f8qGpvuk pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- Sitting in his kitchen Law enjoys a simple dinner of white rice, ck mushrooms, and grilled chicken. After a long and admittedly difficult workout, Law sits at the counter and turns on the TV, taking a sip of his water as the news starts. "Wee to Shinjitsu news," the anchor starts, a slender older gentleman with water for hair, styled like a constantly flowing waterfall but never reaching past his shoulders or even touching his grey suit. "Following the viin attack at UA''s disaster simtion facility yesterday, new information has been uncovered." Law takes another sip of his water and continues eating, eyes still on the screen as the man continues. "The statement released by UA only hours after the attack has beenpletely confirmed by the administration, the police have also confirmed via statements and ims the viins made during the attack that they fully intended to attack and kill All Might, our Symbol Of Peace. Seventy-seven low-level thugs were gathered as well as the ringleader, a blue-haired man with dried and cracked grey skin and multiple detached human hands gripping his body, he goes by the name ''Shigaraki'' as far as officials know." A picture of Shigaraki appears, bound in metal restraints. "His Quirk is a disintegration Quirk, when all five of his fingers on either hand touch anything it immediately begins falling apart, organic and inorganic matter alike. Apanying him was his presumed second inmand, the man identified by the name ''Kurogiri'', a viin possessing the most rare and sought after of all Quirk types, a warping Quirk, specifically Warp Gate. His real face and body structure are unknown as the purple mist created by his Quirk never leaves his body." A picture of Kurogiri appears, bound from head to toe in metal restraints, the purple mist seeping through the gaps in the metal. "Guess he needs to move his body to activate Warp Gate," Horizon can''t help but smile at that, another way Hand Of God is better. "And finally we have the bio-engineered creature, codenamed a Nomu," this time a much less clear picture appears, a distance shot from within USJ by one of the few working security drones that were signal blocked from the main campus, but thankfully the cameras worked. The picture was of Nomu standing beside Shigaraki, Eraser and Thirteen were in the corner of the frame, surely moments before Horizon entered to finish the fight. "This creature was created by horrific means, using four separate corpses as gic material to force their Quirks into one being. It has no sentience and is technically dead, a walking corpse only existing to obeymands. Truly these viins have hit depths previously undreamt of by even the most wretched of scum," the man shakes his head in disgust before he continues. "This creature was created specifically to kill All Might, it had abination of Quirks which have thankfully been identified, by the work of Horizon during the fight and the arrogant boasting of Shigaraki. Shock Absorption, Super-Power, and Super-Regeneration." They show a few short clips of Nomu punching, ripping apart thendscape with pure air pressure. "Nezu really went all out with building my reputation," Horizon chuckles, fully understanding what the next part of the announcement would be. "Thankfully the viins failed to hurt any students, and the Pros only had minor scrapes," the man said, sounding relieved and somehow proud. "While the ringleader and other viins were distracted for most of the incident the Nomu was defeated," a picture of the destroyed fountain and diced-up Nomu appears on the screen. "The remaining thugs were easily dealt with by the students until more heroes arrived," the man says, his voice clearly swelling in anticipation. "The leader Shigaraki and his assistant Kurogiri were blocked by the present Pros, Eraser-Head, and rescue hero Thirteen. And the Nomu was defeated, by a student no less..." He pauses for a moment, and Law rolled his eyes. "Talk about building hype." "That''s right, a student from ss 1A defeated the monster that they built to kill All Might," a picture of some students walking back into the main campus, stepping off the bus, appeared on the screen. Clearly shot from beyond the UA boundary in the street, the image was barely visible. "Ok that''s more than I expected," Law admits. Seeing a picture of him, dressed in full Hero Costume, walking beside a slightly blurry Momo and Tokoyami, with a clear arrow pointed at him. "This student has been allegedly identified as the ''Horizon'' from UA''s report," the man says excitedly. "Credited with taking down the Nomu -which was made to kill All Might-, as well as nullifying Kurogiri''s Warp Gate to prevent further havoc and violence. Truly a promising start to the career of a future hero. No other information is known about him and UA won''tment further, but I''m sure we''ll be seeing him at the Sports Festival!" Law smiles at that, "yeah, when I win..." "But sadly the viins were not done here," the anchor says. "While the strength of UA''s ss 1A and two of their Pros was enough to defend their students, today has proven that is not the case of other Hero Courses across Japan." Law sits up at that, not sure what the hell he was talking about. "After their bloody and devastating escape from custody yesterday, Shigaraki, Kurogiri, and the USJ Nomu have yet to make another appearance. But a scourge of much weaker Nomus has attacked seven Hero Courses today alone. Dozens have been reported dead at each attack, and most of the corpses were taken for what officials believe to be further experimentation and creation of Nomus," the man sounds moments away from crying. Law looks genuinely confused at that, "why didn''t they just wait and attack UA again? That doesn''t make much sense..." "It seems that the viins care about more than just killing our Symbol Of Peace," the man says bitterly. "They want to destroy all our hopes and dreams, to eradicate our guardians and the great ces we''ve dedicated to training and raising them. They want to kill all heroes, and yes, they are certainly a fearsome foe..." The man''s expression shifts from sad and somber to determined, almost angry as his flowing water hair begins swirling and bubbling. "But we won''t break that easily!" he yells out, raising a fist to the sky, a fanatical tinge in his voice. "UA and their first years of ss 1A have proven that these viins can be defeated! So I''m sure that the Pros will capture them, and if they ever have the chance toe face to face with All Might, he''ll Smash them into pieces and lock them in Tartarus with no issue, as he always does to the scum that threatens the safety of our beloved country!" The man tries to catch his breath from his rant that Law would bet surely inspired the masses. "Well shit," Law chuckles. "That worked a whole lot better than expected...and Nezu really went above and beyond with that picture of Nomu''s defeat," Law takes out his phone and sees Horizon''s Follower count steadily marching toward 3 Million, sitting at half that number when he sat down to eat. "Heroes live and die by poprity and public opinion, so I''ll be living very well." The man finallyposes himself, his hair returning to gently flowing streams, "however, unfortunately not everyone shares these hopeful views. Public outrage and scrutiny at the security and conduct at the attacked Hero Courses have never been higher," pictures of protests and borderline riots appear on the screen. Law rolls his eyes, "scared people not sure what to do when their heroes start seemingly failing, not surprising at all since most of them probably can''t even fight some Quirkless brat with a knife." The screen then has a picture of crowds holding candles and cing flowers at the gates of multiple Hero Course schools. "Others havee out in force to share their sympathy for the lives lost because of these viins and their monsters. And some are even questioning the capability of the Pros at the affected schools, with good reason of course. And a vocal few are calling for All Might to stop teaching and resume his patrols, equating this attack to hisck of presence on the streets." "Bullshit, he''s always ditching school to babysit you useless fucks," Law grumbles, now finishing up his meal and moving to do the dishes. "But no matter the oue, one thing is clear," the news anchor says. "These viins have dered war on all heroes, no matter if you are training or a fully licensed Pro, and I know our heroes won''t let this stand, so if the League Of Viins is watching this, my message to you is, ''Enjoy thesest few days of freedom, because they''re quickly counting down...,'' now onto other news, Hawks---" Law cuts off the TV immediately. "A war on Heroes," he considers it for a moment. "Well, wars need War Heroes on both sides... guess I''ve found another easy way to climb the ranks, now I should call Nezu and thank him for the poprity boost..." END CHAPTER--- pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene Chapter 45: (Superhuman Potential) Chapter 45: (Superhuman Potential) Discord: https://discord.gg/K7f8qGpvuk pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- ---Friday, 2 Days After USJ... Law sat at the patio furniture outside his home. The massive 20m by 10m pool was clear and stagnant under the mid-day sun, tempting him after his workout. Leaning forward, wearing only his workout shorts, elbows resting on the table as he drinks some water from his bottle, MMA gloves and hand wraps in front of him, new but already torn up from constant abuse. Law leans back and takes a deep breath, body covered in sweat and aching from another sessful workout, but it wasn''t enough. "Not nearly enough," he grumbles, thinking aloud. "I won the fight but I didn''t really beat Nomu, not enough...and my style just isn''tpatible with something like that. Since the League Of Viins escaped with it then I may have to face it, or stronger Nomus in the future. But how do I solve the problem?" He takes anotherrge gulp of water and runs through the possibilities. "Super-Regeneration is one in a two hundred million maybe, I doubt they''ll have more Nomus with that, I should focus on the other aspects first. I never thought a Power Type would be able to make me actually try but that thing had a serious mix of power and durability, I won, but it wasn''t clean, and it was far from economical or efficient," he grumbles, remembering how tired he was after USJ. Law considers the scenario more thoroughly, "the main threat was the immense speed paired with my energy expenditure, I''ve got Shambles, Amputate, Incision, Booster Shot, Scan, Counter Shock, and Injection Shock, in addition to the cost of creating and maintaining a Room. Amputate, Counter Shock, and Booster Shot are by far the most costly, but those are the ones I would need the most to deal with another Nomu, along with Shambles to dodge attacks. I need to either develop something that can deal with Nomu''s power and regeneration or figure out how to make my moves more economical...or increase my stamina pool even more." He sighs and rubs his head, "fuck, I''ve rarely really fought Power Types and they''ve always gone down in one hit, this Super-Regeneration shit is a nightmare. It takes me months or years to n and execute new moves, not to mention how long it takes for me to practice enough that I can use them smoothly." Horizon warps his phone into his hand, reading the most recent news alert, the 19th Hero Course attack by the League Of Viins and their army of Nomus. "Looks like regenerating Nomus are super rare, and none as strong as the USJ Nomu, I''ve got a lot of offense already, if I''m gonna be a hero there may be times when I can''t move myself or people for whatever reason, and I''m sure an army of monsters with multiple Quirks can have a reason or two... I''ll need some kind of defensive move for a change." Horizon taps the table for a minute, considering how he could solve this problem, never before needing to consider defense because he could always warp away, but now he actually had to at least pretend to care about other people and their lives. He rolls his eye at the thought. SNAP! He snaps his fingers as the thought forms," I don''t need to create a new offense if I just upgrade the ones I have. Incision amplifies my shes, paired with Booster Shot it can sh through a lot of stuff, if I increase my base strength and Incision then I can at least stall better until openings show up...assuming I have to fight that same Nomu again." He quickly opens his phone and searches for ''Endeavor catches falling car,'' and he instantly gets hundreds of video results. Tapping the first he''s greeted by a video of Endeavor hovering in the air and catching a car as it falls from the overpass above him, then descending to the ground and gently cing it down, with a lot of obvious effort. "Ok he made that look a lot easier than I expected," Law admits, Endeavor was his gold standard for most things he considers when judging a hero. Perfect Quirk Mastery, perfect battlefieldmand, a great strategic mind, and excellent at Quirk analysis in battle, now he had to add this to the list. "I don''t know if I can tap into mytent superhuman potential to that level," he mutters. "Since his Quirk works by changing his skin and body structure and giving him a lot more energy we should be in the same boat. He''s like an inch taller than me but I''m only 190lbs -86kg-, and he''s like 260 -118kg-, that''s a lot more muscle backing him." Law considers this approach. Taking a more brawler style in certain situations and using his Quirk more sparingly. That''s what Endeavor does and his Quirk has clear limits, he needs energy to use it and he makes sure to space out his big attacks from what Law can see, likely due to overheating he figures. Certain Quirks give passive effects, for example, Iida''s legs are super strong topensate for the Engines in his calves. Other Quirks have bonuses that seemingly don''t make much sense, like Endeavor and his low-level superhuman strength, even though his Quirk is all about fire. This ''superhuman potential'' is exactly what Law intended to take advantage of. Since his Quirk requires a high level of passive energy in his body the limits of baseline humans, -Quirkless people-, don''t exactly apply to him in some regards. This is mainly why he believes Quirkless people to be obsolete and that they simply cannot live up to the potential of those with Quirks. Because they operate with the now ancient expectations humans had, but now anyone with a Quirk could potentially exceed these limits in ways that their Quirk simply wouldn''t lead you to believe. ''Quirks are just nature''s way of pointing out that your limiters are off, that you''ve taken the next step to evolve,'' is exactly how Law would put it. "I''ll have to bulk up, go from lean 193cm to maybe a few steps closer to Endeavor, but that means..." he frowns at the very thought. "Fuck, I already eat so damn much because of this Quirk and now I''ll have to eat even more, and probably sleep more...that''s gonna be a pain in the ass." For the next half hour Law sits there crunching numbers and ordering a lot more food from his grocery delivery service. Realizing he''ll have to drink a secondrge protein shake every day and either fit three more meals into his diet or make his existing meals a lot bigger. "I wish I could just photosynthesize," he sighs. "Just wake up, drink water,y in the sun, and enjoy the gains...lucky damn nts...I bet Ibara can do that if she tries hard enough, would make sense with vines for hair..." Saving his meal and workout n Law opens the ss group chat for the very first time, seeing over a thousand unread messages over thest two days. Since this chat was only made minutes before boarding the bus to USJ he can already guess what they were talking about. He sees a few mentions of his name with people tagging him to get his attention, but he just ignores them, clicking the members'' list for the group to see Momo as the administrator, then scrolling halfway down the list. "Gotcha, you''re strong but not All Might strong, you''ll be a good baseline for me to push myself to insane levels of base strength..." he says while hitting call on his ssmate''s icon. A few secondster and on the second ring his call is answered. "Uh, hello?" Sato asks warily. "Yo, Sato, you busy?" "Wait, who is this?" "Horizon," Law says, not understanding the confusion. "Wait...why isn''t your voice all robot-like, it''s usually kinda roboty," Sato says. Law looks genuinely confused at why this was so strange, "because I took off the visor since I''m at home." "Thates off?! Dude, we thought that was your face!" "Huh! Wait! Did everyone think that was my face? Is that why nobody ever asked about it?" "Pretty much man, I mean we all had some chats about it and figured it best not to ask, I mean why else would you wear it 24/7" "Because I don''t want everyone knowing my business?" Law asks expectantly. "Nah that doesn''t make sense, why wear that thing in school anyway," Sato disregards his logic immediately. "Wait, is the body glove also just you being paranoid?" "It''s not paranoid," Law growls out. "Dunno man, sounds like what a paranoid person would say..." Law pinches the bridge of his nose and just sighs, "ok, can we get to why I called you please?" "Oh right, sure thing ss rep, what''s up?" "It''s about your Quirk, strength enhancer right?" Law asks. "Yeah it''s called Sugar Rush, I eat 10 grams of sugar and get a time 5 boost in strength for three minutes. But as the time runs out I get really sleepy, then I crash. Every 10 grams more increases my strength by another one time and extends the limit, but only a little bit on the timer part, and I crash even harder afterward," Sato exins with a bit of hesitance, feeling rather self-conscious describing his clearly limited Quirk to Horizon of all people. "Hmm, a rushdown Quirk that''s good for one quick charge that''s sure to take down some viins," Law says. "Clear strength and limits to be trained too, good potential." "Thanks man!" Sato''s voice suddenly had a smallyer of pride. "I''m actually calling you because I''m starting a new training regiment at home and needed someone topare to." "Oh, what do you need to know?" "How much you can bench without your Quirk, I can solve the rest from there," Law says. "Oh, just 700, naturally my Quirk makes it easier for me to hit high numbers since it''s all about muscles. It basically puts my regr muscles into a ''power mode,'' for a bit." Even through the phone Law could tell Sato was shy about his personal records, even as impressive as they are. "I see, I''m only at 400 right now, I think I can get my base stronger than yours but obviously you have a multiplier and I don''t... that''ll be a good challenge," Law says. "That''s awesome! And if you ever need a gym buddy you know how to find me!" "I don''t work out in the body glove or visor, sweat and all that, so I rather train solo, nothing personal." "It''s cool man no hard feelings, I''m just happy to help." "Since you helped me I should at least return the favor, it''s only fair," Law says, trying to keep the debts even between him and his ssmates as much as possible. "I see you eating sugar cubes and cookies during training to trigger your Quirk, right?" "Yeah, I bake em myself, taste great and the sugar is for my Quirk," Sato says inly. "Yeah well, half of being a hero is public image, so cut that shit out unless you only n to market yourself to kids. Head to the support department and get some high-density sugar pills made, easier to store and you canbel them ''Power Pills'' or something for branding, and you can sell them as candy or whatever when you go pro, they won''t taste as good but you''ll get more sugar per handful and won''t take as long to enter a fight." "Oh wow..." Sato pauses for a moment. "I didn''t even think about the support department being able to do stuff like that, I''ll get on that right away ss rep. Thanks for the advice!" "Just returning the favor, I''ll see you Monday." "Yeah yo---" Law hangs up before Sato finishes talking. "Honestly, he and cookie girl would have an epic bakery," Law mutters, nodding along at the idea of a bakery that sells meter-wide cookies. "Now that''s a dream I can get behind..." Gulping down the rest of his water Law gets up to go enjoy a shower, tonight Law Matani was going out on the town... END CHAPTER--- pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene Chapter 46: (Working The Press) Chapter 46: (Working The Press) Discord: https://discord.gg/K7f8qGpvuk pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- Walking along the sidewalk in his full uniform Horizon nces down to his wrist, reading the time on his white a blue Rolex, seeing its barely half-seven. "Right on time," he mutters. The early morning sun beaming down on him, to his right is a massive twenty-meter-tall ck wall. UA''s new barrier, reinforced while school was closed for the past five days. Two feet of solid ck steel wrapped all around the school''s perimeter. ROOM! He opens a room for two hundred meters around him, sensing a mob of reporters and other members of the press hounding every student as they enter UA, the first day back since the USJ incident. These people were the reason he was walking to school instead of warping from his building directly onto campus, his name and face, or at least Horizon and the picture of his visor had been trending for the past few days. In the midst of more and more attacks on Hero Courses, Pros dying as well as students, by the dozens each time, he was credited with stopping the most powerful of all the Nomus, the USJ Nomu, one that has yet to make a second appearance. His ''Yay!'' profile has been on fire ever since, everyone bombarding him with questions and requests for interviews, but he''s ignored them all, until now. Entering the final stretch he sees the press mob ahead, nearly blocking off the school gates. Delving a bit deeper with his SCAN he senses turrets and other drones in hiddenpartments of the school''swn. ''How do they even build things that fast...'' he can''t help but wonder, always amazed by the efficiency of Nezu, Cementoss, and Power Loader. "It''s Horizon!" he hears one of the reports yell, a petite dark-haireddy in a blue suit, mic in hand and a cameraman beside her. She excitedly points and breaks into a full sprint. The entire crowd follows, moving the dozen meters between them so fast that he could feel someone getting trampled at the back. The entire crowd clears the gateway for the other grateful students to pass andpletely blockade Horizon. "Good morning," he greets politely, his slightly mechanical voice surprising them somewhat. A chorus of greetings responds to him, and he even hears some murmurs of people wondering about why he wears his visor, everyone who saw the report only saw his ss in full costume so they expected it to be part of his costume. "Horizon, can we please ask you some questions?! The public is in dire need of more information regarding the events of this past week," the samedy takes charge. All cameras raise and turn to him, recorders and notepads rise up and everyone gets quiet. "Sure," he says, surprising everyone. They''ve been at UA sincest week Monday when All Might was announced as a teacher, and not even students would give a proper statement, they never expected to get information about this war against heroes so easily. All eyes flicker over to the woman, a single bead of sweat runs down her face as she realizes everyone was suddenly counting on her to ask the right questions and not ruin this golden opportunity. The biggest story in Japan for thest decade, and they had the main participant in front of them, a clear golden ticket. "Right, do you feel UA failed in any way to protect you and the other students during the USJ attack, the famed UA Barrier was breached and students were attacked, you could have possibly been hurt, do you put any me on the school for this security breach?" "No," he says immediately, surprising everyone. "I''ve seen some of the time and effort put into keeping the students here safe, UA has the best security of any Hero Course in the world, and it''sparable to most ces just short of Tartarus. The only reason it couldn''t stop the League Of Viins is because of Kurogiri''s Warp Gate Quirk. In our superhuman society, it''s virtually impossible to defend against everything, and warping abilities are by far the rarest and most dangerous, especially for matters of infiltration. All the resources in the world can''t stop a viin from warping if they really want to." Much of the crowd nods along as the woman responds, "you say that, yet you were credited with halting any further warping, preventing the viins from regrouping and escaping, do you have any insight on how you did that, sharing such important information could truly limit the usefulness of the viin''s Quirk. They''ve already attacked 37 Hero Courses across Japan and the death toll is well in the hundreds, do you not feel that you have a responsibility to best educate others to protect themselves against these enemies?" "That''s impossible," Horizon says bluntly. "It''s unfortunate that so many have died to those monsters, but as far as I can imagine, I''m the only counter to Warp Gate, my Quirk is entirely unique for many individual reasons, far more powerful than even Kurogiri''s. But sadly there is only one of me and I''m at UA, this is just the life of a hero, fighting impossible odds to protect others, we don''t get to run away just because the viins have an advantage, they almost always have an advantage, the other Hero Courses will endure and rise up even stronger than before I''m sure of it, because that''s what heroes do, right?" They all nod along solemnly, feeling an odd mix of emotions from his somewhat inspirational, but ultimately bittersweet words. The woman gives a weak smile and lifts the mic up slightly toward him, still looking up at his towering figure. "And how do you feel about the fact that viins are attacking Hero Courses as a whole? Some are ming the viins while others are ming the heroes, as someone who helped in thwarting one of these attacks what is your opinion on the matter?" "It''s apletely logical move," Horizon says bluntly, causing everyone to wince. "It''s not morally right or a good image, obviously, but viins don''t y by the rules of society, that''s part of their whole idea. Hero Courses train the people that will likely lock each and every one of them in prison for a long time, why would they ever wait until graduation to fight instead of killing students within days of schools opening? How many viins do you think wish they ran into All Might and Endeavor back when they were students and much weaker than they are now?" "I see," she says. "And about the Hero side of things?" "This was an eventuality, but I''m not quite sure why people are so surprised and outraged," he shrugs. "Yes it''s unfortunate that you sent your kids to school and they get killed during the first week, but now or after graduation, what''s the difference, this is what you sign up for once you enter a Hero Course, and you know the enemy doesn''t care about things like rules or ages. If anything the public is to me for this tragedy..." "What?! How is the public responsible for this?!" Her question and tone resonated with the mob, with red faces and scowls all around. "Because, there are 114 Thousand active Pro-Heroes in Japan," Horizons says. "The public is so reliant on Pros to do everything for them that more and more Hero Courses are constantly popping up, it was only a matter of time before they would be attacked when viins are backing into this much of a corner. If the public were less reliant on Hero Courses constantly pumping out Pros there wouldn''t be thousands of kids itching to start fighting to the death against viins right now, and this could have been avoided, but, with that being said. In superhuman society, heroes are somewhat of a necessity to keep the peace, so it''s a difficult situation for all sides involved." "I see," she nods along, understanding that this matter was anything but simple. "And do you have anyment on All Might taking the teaching position instead of doing heroics full time as he has for the past decades, some specte that this is him announcing a soft retirement." "Hmm," Horizon looks around to see everyone genuinely terrified of that idea, the Symbol Of Peace retiring, not something most citizens in Japan ever wanted. "Well All Might is 49 now, certainly around the age when people in such taxing jobs start to retire," the color drains from a dozen faces. "But, I''ve spoken to him a bit, and he''s still incapable of ignoring anyone who needs help, that spirit is what made him the Symbol Of Peace, and it''s just as strong as ever." They all look relieved to hear those words. "And speaking of his inability to ignore those in need, how do you feel about All Might not being there during the USJ Incident to stop the viins?" "It''spletely fine," Horizon says, this time the mob expected this answer, already getting a better idea of how he thinks. "All Might is a new teacher, he''s clearly still adjusting to his role. The fact that he prefers to teach using battlefield scenarios and training rather than on the chalkboard shows that. I''m sure in time he''ll get the hang of it, he waste that day because people elsewhere needed saving and he got sidetracked, but is that really something that we should call getting ''sidetracked''?" "What do you mean?" A man in the back of the crowd asks. "Well, on one hand, he was supposed to already be at USJ when ss began, and if he was the viins wouldn''t have had any hope," much of the crowd smiles at that, always proud of their Symbol Of Peace. "But on the other hand, we signed up to be heroes, right? So even if someone died I still wouldn''t me All Might one bit. We are training to risk our lives to save others, if he abandoned those people who needed saving toe and save us instead, do we really deserve to be called heroes at that point? Is sacrificing ourselves not what we signed up for? Even if we all died, those people he saved would be alive, and that''s all that really matters..." The reporter and many others wipe their tears, moved by the words of a true hero, and Law just rolls his eyes at it all... "I see," she sniffles quietly andposes herself. "Truly a heroic view on things. And what of the UA Sports Festival in two weeks, do you feel safe attending that, that UA can protect not only the students but also the civilians that will be there?" "I''m sure Principal Nezu will spare no expense or manpower to ensure the security of everyone, between all the Pros that teach at UA, including All Might, not to mention that Endeavor will likely be there because his son is in my ss, we''ll be fine," Horizon says casually. "And speaking of your ssmates, did this attack have an adverse effect on them in any way? And what can you tell us about the youngest Todoroki?" "UA provided counseling and medical treatment, and from what I can tell they''ve only gotten stronger from this experience," he recalls what he saw while skimming the group chat yesterday. "And Todoroki is quiet and keeps to himself, I haven''t really spoken to him much," he shrugs. "I see, that''s very good to hear at least," she gives a sincere smile. "Andstly are you excited about the UA Sports Festival, the entire world will be watching your ss especially, and after those short clips of what the USJ Nomu was capable of, people have already been specting about the overall winner, between you and Todoroki, although we don''t know what either of your Quirks are..." Horizon chuckles at that, "well, winning isn''t all that matters at the festival, at least not for me. What matters is that I show the public that they can trust and have confidence in me to protect them in the future, I''d like to show them and the world that everything will be ok, because I am here..." The entire crowd gets chills at that, his already heroic presence constantly building and building, and now it felt as if they were standing in front of a future top Pro. No, they knew they were standing in front of a future top Pro. The reporter wipes another tear, and he rolls his eyes once again, thankful that his visor was one way. "Such an incredible outlook on this situation! I''m sure you''ll do great things to help everyone in the future!" the press mob gives him a round of praise before settling back down. "And how do you n to show us that this is your time, your era?!" the woman asks. Horizon shrugs, "there really isn''t anything I can do to prove that, that''s for all of you to decide for yourselves, right? So, just keep your eyes on me, and I''ll show you what I''m capable of...Just watch me..." They all look at him with stars in their eyes before he checks his watch. "I''m sorry to cut this short, but it would set a bad example if the ss Rep waste for homeroom," he says apologetically. "Oh," the woman bows respectfully, and most of the mob copies her, "thank you for speaking to us! We''ve been here for days without onement, this truly was a blessing." Horizonughs at that, "Heroes are public servants, I don''t mind talking to the press, at least to let you know that everything will be alright..." After some polite and thankful farewells, he quickly walks into UA, for the very first time using the main entrance. Walking through the halls he sees more than a fair share of people giving him amazed and worried looks. Some were amazed by those clips of USJ Nomu and knowing that he stopped it, and some worried that a 1st year was that powerful. That''d he''d show them up in the future. He turned to a group of girls who were in the upper years, quietly murmuring and stealing nces at him as he walks through the halls. He gives a polite wave and half of them start blushing wildly. ''Ok, this is gonna be really damn fun... but I guess I''ll have to keep ying up the hero bullshit for the press, whatever, its just for a few more years...'' END CHAPTER--- pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene Chapter 47: (Mounting Pressure) Chapter 47: (Mounting Pressure) Discord: https://discord.gg/K7f8qGpvuk pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- Entering through the back of his homeroom Horizon is greeted by the sight of most of the ss, standing around and chatting with each other. As he begins walking to his seat Sato gives him a polite but somewhat awkward wave, "hey Horizon, how''s the new workout going?" Kirishima and Deku were standing at the back of the ss with him chatting, all turning as Horizon joins them. "I was just telling these guys about the UA gym, man they''ve got everything here, I can even work out while using my Quirk since the weights go up to tens of tons," Sato excitedly says. "Damn," Horizon says, genuinely impressed, but not really surprised. "I don''t like sweating in this get-up so I''ll keep working out at home, I even bought a new heavy bag, one of the kinds that Power Types use." "No way!" Kirishima gets excited at the thought. "Those things are crazy expensive, I wanted to ask my parents for one, but honestly I''m not that strong yet, Hardening gives more physical power but nothing like Sato and Izuku have." Deku just stays quiet, hoping and praying Horizon continues to ignore him. "That''s actually why he called me," Sato says. "Wanted to know my bench press record topare or something, something about a training routine." "Pretty much," Horizon nods. "Figured if I can get anywhere close to your current power -atleast before you activate your Quirk-, that will be pretty helpful in the future, even if my Quirk isn''t really affected by strength in most cases." "What''s the record?" Kirishima asks excitedly, and all eyes shift to Sato causing him to blush a bit. "I''m at 250lbs -114Kg-." "Oh," Sato rubs the back of his neck. "I just hit 800lbs -362Kg-, but honestly thest few years it''s barely even moved at all so I think I''m at my limit, or at least close to it." "That''s almost nine of me," Asui says as she walks over to them with Mina and Uraraka. "Crazy strength Sato, I bet you''re even more amazing when you use your Quirk." "4000lbs is more than most thugs can handle," Horizon says. "Pretty sure Death Arms is only at half that...but he''s one of those useless D-List heroes, you can definitely aim higher than that if you''re this strong at the beginning of UA." Once again everyone is genuinely surprised at Horizon for not being aplete jerk, even giving apliment. "Yeah!" Uraraka does a small hop as she cheers on Sato. "And most rescue situations can actually be solved by your current limit so you could already have a job out there, getting people out of car wrecks and copsed buildings, things like that!" "But wouldn''t this also mean you''ve got Super-Strength too?" Mina asks Horizon. "Seems like a lot when you add it to the other things you do. But you do at least seem super muscly and big, like a smaller All Might! Atleast from what I can tell since you always have on a jacket and suit." "Well, yes and no," he says. "My Quirk makes me...well the best way to think of it is like I''m a perfected human, meaning if someone without a Quirk can do it, then I can do it better before I even use my Quirk, this pretty much goes for everything, including muscles and strength. So I don''t have any real Super-Strength like Sato or All Might, nothing that crazy, currently I can only bench 400lbs," he shrugs. Tokoyami spins around in his chair to look over at them," it''s concerning that I can''t tell if you''re serious or not when you call yourself a ''perfected human,'' don''t you think?" "It''s more factual than anything else," Horizon says. Nobody is sure how to respond to that. "So what''s the new workout?" Kirishima asks, mostly to break the tension. "Nothing really changes honestly, just more steaks, weights, and protein shakes," Horizon shrugs. Sato snaps his fingers, "that reminds me, I already visited the support department this morning, they said they''ll have the Power Pills ready by tomorrow for me, thanks again for that idea man." "It was the least I could do." "Oh yeah, Principal Nezu mentioned that remember," Asui says. "He said you''re like a super genius at Quirks analysis, that you even knew how to fix Midoriya''s problem by pretty much looking at a picture, that''s incredible. Is that what you did for Sato?" "No," Horizon says. "I just told him to get the support course to make Sugar Pills to activate his quirk so he doesn''t look like a joke forcing down cupcakes before fighting viins." "But you could help us if you wanted to, right?" Mina asks. "Easily, I already know what all of you have to do to either improve orpletely change the way you view your Quirks, some of you don''t even know what your Quirk actually does or what ss it belongs to," he turns to look down at Deku as he continues. "But it''s your Quirk, so figure it out yourself, can''t depend on people to hold your hand for you, right?" "Well I guess I won''t ask you to help Midoriya," Asui says bluntly. "Smart move Asui." "You can call me Tsu," she says. "Normally only my friends can call me that...but even if you''re a huge jerk we''re all in the same ss and trying to be heroes, so I''m sure once we get to know you you''re pretty nice." "I''ll take your word for it, Tsu." "Oh yeah!" Hagakure rushes over into the circle, grabbing Mina by the arm and both looking at Horizon. "So we were wondering..." "What do you look like under the mask?!" they both yell at once. Mina continues, "so Sato may have mentioned in the group chat that this whole outfit cane off and we''ve been curious ever since, like is it for your Quirk like Aoyama''s belt? Are you shy? What is it?" "Yeah, what do you look like under the mask?" Jiro asks, walking over with Shoji and Momo. "I must admit I''ve also been curious," Momo says shyly. "But it''s quite alright if you don''t want to tell us, we won''t force you to do anything." "You CAN''T force me to do anything," he corrects her. "But, muscled, well defined, tattooed, and handsome, what''d you expect?" All the girls in the room were currently in therge group at the back of the ss, and Horizon could see them all zone in and out ogling his body. He smiles devilishly at that and enjoys it until Sero''s loud groan snaps them all out of it. "Maaannnn, life really does y favorites..." he rests his head on his desk in defeat. Kaminari copies him and begins sulking too. ''I''ve got everything and nothing,'' Horizon thinks as more small conversations start up. Eventually, he finds himself sitting at his desk, Tokoyami beside him in his seat, Sero on Tokoyami''s desk, and Momo leaning against his with Jiro standing in the walkway. "So you really think that...?" Sero asks Horizon. "It makes sense," Horizon shrugs. "Why would the viins attack if the heroes will be on alert now, plus they know that I can shut down the Warp Gates, and while I''m doing that All Might can deal with the USJ Nomu, even if it''ll take a lot out of him UA will have a lot of other heroes at the sports festival, including his dad," he gestures back to Todoroki, who was sitting quietly and ignoring everyone. "Attacking would be stupid." "But they''ve also got whatever caused the jailbreak," Tokoyami says. "The police suspect it to be a Nomu with Gigantification, if the footprints are anything to go by." "Won''t matter," Horizon says. "The USJ Nomu was a very rare instance of anything taking more than one of my attacks, without Hyper Regeneration nothing else can do that, not even All Might." "That''s a bold im," Momo says. "You may be overstepping a bit by saying that." "Nah, I''ve spoken to All Might, among other things...I know the limits of his Quirk," Horizon says confidently, but everyone else didn''t believe him. Only Deku knew exactly how true this statement was, but he couldn''t risk saying anything. Sitting one seat away Shoto cast an icy re at Horizon, and closer to the front Bakugo just sank lower in his chair. "It makes sense that people would at least be worried," Jiro adds. "I mean the number is in the hundreds now, Hero Courses all over are either turtling up or postponing sses, it''s kinda arrogant of UA to just expect not to even be attacked, even if All Might is here." "Yeah, but if anywhere in Japan is safe, it''s UA," Sero adds. "Or Tartarus," Momo says. "Those are the two ces in this half of the world with the greatest security." Horizon grits his teeth, but immediately lets the feeling go, not wanting to think about Tartarus. "I''m more surprised that everyone from the ss got toe back," Horizon says. "I figured at least some of your parents would be smart enough not to send you back here." "Well it wasn''t that smooth for me," Sero says. "But I managed to convince them since All Might is here, it''s either this or I go wash dishes for the rest of my life...don''t really have much in the way of high paying skills," he admits nervously. "This is the only ce I can train my Quirk," Tokoyami says. "It''s too dangerous not to control the darkness in my soul." "Honestly you just need a therapist," Horizon says seriously, earning odd looks from everyone. "Your problem is all mental," he shrugs. "Well in my case my parents understand how much this means to me," Momo says. "They argued of course but I was eventually able to convince them...it may have gotten a bit ugly at the end, unfortunately," she says sadly. Jiro puts a hand on her shoulder, "I''m sure when they see all the good you do it''ll be alright." Momo nods thankfully, "thank you Jiro." "Couldn''t be me," Horizon grits out. "If you were my daughter and told me some stupid shit about wanting to be a hero I''d lock you in the mansion until you got over it." "How can you even say that!" Jiro takes an aggressive stance immediately. "You''d stop your child from following their dream just like that?!" "I rather have a living kid that hates me than a dead kid that followed her dreams, yeah, she''d get over it." Jiro just shakes her head and scoffs, "to think the only reason I got toe back was because we''re in the same ss," she rolls her eyes at that. "Huh?" "My folks saw some of the clips of Nomu at USJ... they figured if my ss Rep could take down something like that which was built to kill All Might, I''d be safe if you''re around," she grumbles reluctantly. "Awe, making sure your parents like me already?" Horizon teases jokingly. Jiro blushes and turns to hide her face, only earning a fit of giggles from Sero. "Those clips really were spectacr," Tokoyami says, getting them back on track. "To think you were able to keep up with that monster, it was so fast and strong...truly built for destruction." "True, but if I lost to some meathead brute my mom would probably beat me into the hospital," he says jokingly,pletely oblivious to the concerned nces of his ssmates. "I mean she''s been training me since I was five to kick ass and I lose to the first viin at UA...that''d be a pathetic waste of her time,plete failure," he scoffs in disgust. Everyone took what he said at face value, although truthfully this was mostly his view on the situation, not his parent''s. Failing in such a manner would make him a pathetic failure, undeserving of all the years of work they put into training him...in his eyes that is, because he knew their love for him is truly unconditional. Put his ssmates gave him sympathetic looks before quickly moving the conversation along, speaking of the protests and vigils held across Japan at various Hero Courses, about how faith in heroes has already begun declining. Yet only one seat away Todoroki looks at Horizon in sympathy, lifting a hand to his scar as he suddenly doesn''t feel so alone. Coming to the very dangerous assumption that Horizon suffered exactly as he did, in the same situation as him. With abusive parents and a traumatic childhood. In a hate-filled household. In a loveless home. Because how else could someone be so strong, be everything his own father bred and trained him for, if not forged in hate and abuse? He opens his mouth to simply ask, but just leans back in his chair, looking forward. For a moment Todoroki considers reaching out to him, but he ultimately decides to stay put and just focus on his own issues. The best decision of his otherwise very short life... "Get to your seats!" Horizon announces suddenly, and everyone scrambles about with no hesitation, already used to his strange ability to sense things. "Morning ss," Eraser enters a minuteter, not even ncing at everyone, already knowing they were seated and waiting. "Horizon," Eraser immediately res at him, then his eyes lighten up. "Good job dealing with the press this morning, but the other teachers and I would rather you not make any more statements, just in case you say something wrong eventually." "Gotcha," Horizon says. ''I guess those reporters really work fast, perfect.'' "Alright ss, today we''ll be changing up the schedule for a while, as you all know, in two weeks the UA Sports Festival starts. This is your first of three chances to impress Pros, and the entire world, because everyone watches this event. Because of that, we''ll be postponing your afternoon Hero Basic Training to allow you all to do more independent Quirk training, if you need ess to the special training grounds tell your ss Rep and he''ll submit the requests to me Remember you''re not the only people who will be training at school for this. UA has 100 Hero Course students who all want space to train as well, not to mention the hundreds of other students that may be training to get one of these spots." Everyone gets nervous at that, "what do you mean sir?" Iida asks. Eraser gives him a bored look, "what, you thought I was joking when I said you had to constantly prove you deserve these spots? It''s basically impossible for anyone to transfer into the Hero Course from another course after the first semester because by then you''ll be so far ahead that it would upset the lesson n and they''d just flunk out, so this is their big chance to take one of their spots. If any of them take a podium spot then we''re making room by removing whoever gets the lowest spot between both Hero Course sses," he looks directly at Deku. "But honestly if any of them impress either d or me we could just instantly swap you out." "So no pressure huh," Kaminari says nervously. "Just perform or have our dreams crushed..." "We crushed dreams by taking these spots," Horizons says. "Life isn''t fair, and not everyone can be a winner, there are no participation trophies in the real world." "Exactly," Eraser says, noticing how much he''s been agreeing with Horizon since the second day. "But more than just keeping your spot, you need to impress the Pros and scouts that will be watching, this year especially since we''re opening the internship program up to first years." "Internships?" Mina asks. "Think of it like being an unpaid assistant," Eraser says. "You get to shadow a Pro mainly to see the back-end of hero work, how to run an agency and handle patrols, things like that, it''s not just all fighting viins. Your options will be based on who scouts you at the festival, so put your best foot forward." "YES SIR!" most of the ss responds, while Horizon just nods along. As Eraser leaves everyone begins chatting and hyping each other up about the sports festival, but Horizon just takes out his phone and texts Nezu, requesting a specific spot for some more secluded training. ''With UA facilities and space avable I''ll be able to develop a lot faster...this''ll be even easier than I thought...'' "---I guess you aren''t worried." Horizon looks to his right to see Tokoyami talking to him. "What? About the sports festival? Nah not really." Behind him Momo was a nervous wreck, piping up in a shaky and shy voice, "I suppose you''ll ce highly, we''ll all be fighting just to remain in the Hero Course..." Horizon spins in his chair so his back is facing the window, leaving Momo to his right and Tokoyami in front of him, "you say that like your Quirk isn''t Creation, but honestly if I didn''tpete they still wouldn''t kick me out," he shrugs. Everyone around him is only half surprised by his tant boast. "Do you think Principal Nezu would allow such a tantly show of favoritism?" Tokoyami asks. "Honestly no, but it would be really dumb kicking out the only counter to Kurogiri, don''t you think?" They all just silently agreed with his logic until Sero spoke. "Damn, guess you aren''t under pressure like the rest of us...so that means you''ll say, maybe just take it easy on us?" Horizonughs at that, "oh no, I''m gonna win, not just win, I''m gonna crush everyone so badly there is no doubt that I won...because when you''re perfect, just winning isn''t enough..." And for some reason not a soul could muster the strength to argue with him... END CHAPTER--- pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene Chapter 48: (Gold Medal Challenge) Chapter 48: (Gold Medal Challenge) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- Running at full speed Law feels the cool night air crash against him. Breaking what would have been mythic Olympic records before the advent of Quirks 300 years ago. Wearing just his UA blue and white PE pants and the white reinforced dress shoes from his Hero Costume he sprints shirtless and without a body glove, a thickyer of sweat glistening on his body, sticking his short spiky ck hair to his face and head. Sword at his side, already drawn, he rushes down street after street under the moonlight, hearing loud nking in the distance ahead of him. ''Last one...'' he reminds himself, picking up the pace. Rounding the corner he sees a long street of four-story buildings, unpainted, nk, as if this was an abandoned construction site, even the roads were concrete and had no lines, just a vague form so you''d know what they were meant to be. "Gotcha," he smiles viciously, looking up at the Zero-Pointer, a massive 60m -196ft- tall green robot with four legs and a rectangr head reminiscent of a cannon. "Inferior! Human!" The robot yells, nearly shaking the street as it rushes Law. Breaking into a full sprint once again Law feels the soreness in his legs begging him to stop. He raises his left hand and flicks his pointer finger upward. TAKT! Chunks of concrete from the road, rough and unrefined butrge boulders either way are ripped out of the ground. He runs from one to the next to the next, ascending like a staircase until he''s 30m in the air. The robot''srge wed handes down to p him out of the air. BOOSTER SHOT! INCISION! The healing energy floods his body, not finding any wounds it once again boosts his physical might. His sword connects to the metal and cleaves the hand in two, 10m of metal and wiring shed in one smooth motion. Flipping in the air he reaches down while upside down and grabs the robot''s arm with his free hand. BOOSTER SHOT! His fingers try and fail to grip into the metal, sliding off "shit," he mutters. Until he finds a groove between the massive tes to grip onto. He pivots and finds his footing, running up the robot''s arm toward the shoulder, only for the other arm toe out to swat him like a bug. Another sh divides the massive palm, and he feels himself barely hanging on, exhaustion catching up to him. He ignores the sound of metal crashing to the ground below, falling to the roof of a building and copsing a floor or two, nothing Cementoss couldn''t fix. Making it to the robot''s head he shes down with both hands, once again amplifying his sh as much as possible. CRAANG! The robot splits directly down for a dozen meters, "shit..." He warps away as the now deactivated robot copses, destroying a few buildings. On a nearby rooftop, he looks back at the copsed robot, frowning at the damage of hisst attack. "My physical attacks are still so pathetic..." he deactivates his Quirk and begins taking a rxing walk back to the front of this training ground. ---Minutes Later... Sitting on the roof of the ten-story concrete control tower at the entrance to this training area, Law has his feet dangling over the edge. The shirt of his PE Uniform and his body glove were neatly folded beside him, both sporting Horizon''s logo on the back. His swordys sheathed beside them along with his cards as he enjoys a drink from his water bottle. Apanied by the cool night air and the sight of the full moon above this training area. A square concrete jungle 300m wide. UA''s newest addition to their list of massive training areas that puts them a cut above all the other Hero Courses. CLICK! Law hears the door to the roof open behind him, he instantly opens his room, then rxes as the door opens, deactivating his Quirk once again. "So how was tonight''s training?" Nezu asks, casually closing the door behind him and walking up to Law, standing beside him at the edge of the roof. "Same as always, but getting better," Law shrugs. "That''s good to hear, plus I''m sure Cementoss will appreciate not having to rebuild this entire training ground first thing in the morning, a weed change I''m sure from the past week..." Nezu takes out a sandwich from behind his back and hands it over to Law, "steak." "Thanks," he begins unwrapping it and eating. "Well it''s almost 9 PM, you should eat something, and considering how much you eat I figured you could use it." "Mhm," Law swallows and takes a drink of water, "trying to bulk up is a real pain in the ass, howe you''re here?" "Well it''s already Friday night, just one more day until the Sports Festival, I figured I''de see how the new move you''ve been developing is going." "Surprisingly well," Law admits. "Usually it would take months or years to figure out a new one, but since I''ve got a lot of space and freedom here to move around and get rowdy it''s a lot faster, but that''s probably because of how simple the new move is..." "Well, I''m happy to hear that," Nezu sits at the edge of the roof with Law. "It''s certainly good that Training Ground Zeta is useful, since it was built to your specifications." "Mhm," Law takes another drink of water. "No cameras or pests to bother me, that''s the best part honestly, my own little yground. Especially since working out in the body glove is a nightmare, way too sweaty, it basically bes a wetsuit." "Gross." "Exactly, but thanks to this ce it''s ready for use...just nowhere near as efficient as my other abilities." "So you just, what, decide to do something and your Quirk makes it happen?" Nezu asks, still trying to understand what Hand Of God does. "Mystery ss, beyond human and scientificprehension," Law shrugs. "As far as you need to know I can do whatever I want." "Aha, but I''m not a human," Nezu points out. "Still not saying." "Oh well, it''s not like you need help training it, so you can take care of your own Quirk training." "Exactly, only three people in the world know how my Quirk works, so I''m keeping it that way," they both settle into afortable silence for a moment, until Law continues. "Is everything ready for the Sports Festival in two days?" "Oh, of course, Pros from all across the country have been hired as security, and even if he isn''t technically working at the Sports Festival, Endeavor has already called me and confirmed that he''ll be there." "So the rank one and two heroes, assuming you can even count on Yagi..." "We can, he is still hell-bent on being the Symbol Of Peace, but between those two and you being present the League of Viins should be smart enough not to show their faces." "Mhm, and speaking of Yagi, what''s up with him and Deku?" Law asks without even looking over at Nezu. "What exactly do you mean?" "Well, I noticed him using his Quirk to talk to Deku a few times these past two weeks, seems like a waste of his time using his energy on that loser," Law says. ''He''s only doing that because he knows you can ''sense'' him,'' Nezu thinks to himself. "Well he''s fulfilling his duty," Nezu says. "He''s trying to help Midoriya to control his Quirk, he knows the importance of the Sports Festival, especially for Hero Course students, and he wants all of you to have the best possible chance of leaving a good impression during your debut." "Well he should be more discrete about it," Law says. "It''s a bad look having the number one hero constantly having meetings with one student." "Says the student so well connected with the school Principal," Nezu points out. "Yeah, but if I didn''t know better I''d think All Might was his dad or something, at least with us nobody will make such a stupid mistake," Law chuckles, looking down at the Bear-Mouse. "And why couldn''t Yagi be his dad?" Nezu asks, curious as to exactly what Law thinks about the mentor and sessor connection. "Because I''ve seen Yagi''s medical records, no kids, plus he''s told me that," Law says. "But if someone doesn''t know better it''s the logical conclusion, since at face value their Quirks look identical." "You think they aren''t?" Nezu is both curious and amused by where this is going, half expecting Law to have figured it out by now, but grateful that Midoriya has avoided physical contact with him until now. "Well they look simr, but I know Yagi''s Quirk makes his cells like steel that''s somehow stic and swelling to contain more and more energy. It lets him umte and stockpile power, right?" "Right," Nezu doesn''t bother trying to hide that fact. "Right, that means he started weak and became stronger over his lifetime, but Deku said he broke his arm as a kid using his Quirk, that it''s always been strong. So it can''t be an umtion if it starts that strong, because he would have had time to learn it while it was stockpiling power, but to other people who don''t know about Yagi''s Quirk they may look the same." "True," Nezu says. "His Quirk did start with rather insignificant and unnoticeable strength, while Midoriya has such incredible power from the beginning." A technical truth, as One For All the Quirk, did start weak. Nezu simply ys along with Law''s theory. Realizing that the idea of trading and passing on Quirks was so impossible to all but the very few who knew of All For One and One For All that even Law didn''t consider the possibility. Especially since Yagi does in fact have an umtion Quirk, but Midoriya was able to skip the long umtion process by having all the stockpiled energy transferred to him. "That makes sense," Nezu says. "Atleast you''re the only one who noticed, thankful nobody else can see through walls." "I can''t technically see through walls, but no, everyone noticed." "What?!" "Oh yeah, he interrupted Deku and his friends in the hall and Uraraka mentioned it, pretty much everyone knows Yagi is training him." "Oh...I hope they aren''t jealous or resentful of it," Nezu says genuinely, making a mental note to scold Yagi for his carelessness. "Doesn''t matter," Law chuckles. "Yagi is just one big veiny bicep, he doesn''t have the brainpower to figure out what Deku is doing wrong, as obvious as it is..." "And I still can''t convince you to help?" Nezu asks. "I rather deep throat a whole cactus that help that trash." "That''s excessive..." Nezu sighs. "Not like I care what happens to them at the Sports Festival, I''m just gonna win, have some food from the stalls,unch my career, and wave for the hero-worshipping trash in the stands," Law shrugs. "Gotta make sure I look good for the cameras after all." "Well if you''re so confident I''m sure you''ll be fine, but don''t underestimate your opponents, it could cost you, maintaining the top spot at UA is difficult for countless reasons." "If you say so..." "Have you considered who you''d like to intern under? I''m sure the moment you start warping about everyone will flood us with requests, not to mention you''re already famous with how you''ve worked the press thus far." "Well ideally I''d get Endeavor, but he famously never takes interns or work studies students," Law shrugs. "Hawks is rank 3, but...I don''t think that''ll go well for anyone involved..." "It would be a shame to lose a top ten Pro so young," Nezu nods in agreement. "Jeanist is rank 4, him?" "Yeah we''d probably get along from what I know, but I prefer people who are a bit more active, I''m starting from a better spot than the other students but I still need to rack up a lot of credit by stopping viins, can''t do that sitting in Jeanist office all day." "So you want to go looking for trouble? Well, Endeavor has the highest number of resolved incidents in history, globally that is." "Until I go Pro at least," Law smirks at the thought of watching those numbers climb. "But I think Miruko will be best to intern and have my work studies under next year." "She isn''t interested in working with anyone," Nezu says. "And even if she was, I can''t trust someone of her disposition with one of my students, same with All Might, not that teachers are allowed to host internships." "Yeah but, I can handle her meathead terrible decisions, consider it?" "I''ll think about it, but that woman only has one brain cell and all it does is lift weights and punch viins, not a role model for my students..." "Yeah but her being a meathead will let me run around and handle viins," Law shrugs. "After her would probably be Ryukyu and Gang Orca, I''d be shocked if I need anyone outside of the top ten." "You forgot Edgeshot, your Quirk would be perfect for his stealthy style." "Yeah but I need cameras around to boost my poprity, kinda works against the whole ninja thing he has going for him." "That makes sense, well I''m sure you''ll have your pick of the litter when they see what you can do." "Yeah, and the gold metal will look good on me," Law chuckles. "But you know, there is one thing that would really help my 4-year n..." "Oh, what''s that?" "A Provisional Hero License," Law says. "I know normally Hero Courses only sent second-year students to take the test but, if I get it in year 1 then the three-year trial will be done just a few months after graduation, and I''d be able to do some frence hero work whenever I''m not stuck in UA." "Well that is normally the case, but I intended to have you take the exam in June to get it." "Really? Wait, ''intended'', you changed your mind?" Law asks. "No, with the War On Heroes dered by the viins we''ve decided to have a summer training camp for the first years, we intend for all of you to take the September exam, just a few days before that semester starts." "Why not just have me take it in June anyway?" Law asks. "You know I''ll pass anyway so what''s a few months early? Plus that way I''d get all summer to fight viins." "I''d rather have your entire ss take the exam together, teamwork is an importantponent in passing the exam." "Do you honestly think between now and September I''ll suddenly want to help those idiots pass that exam?" Law asks with a nk expression. "Good point," Nezu says. "But keeping you with them is currently vital, we believe that the main reason the viins haven''tunched a second attack at UA is because you can shut the Warp Gate Quirk down." "I can''t babysit them forever Nezu, and I''d like my summer free..." "Hmm," Nezu thinks for a moment then nods, giving Law a brilliant smile. "Alright, if you can keep your word and win the UA Sports Festival, I''ll let you take the license exam at the end of June. But it has to be a perfect and absolute victory..." Lawughs at this easy challenge, "one gold medaling up..." END CHAPTER--- pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene New discord link because we had some issues this weekend, all good now :) Chapter 49: (Sports Festival) Chapter 49: (Sports Festival) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- As the bell for lunch rings, everyone begins packing up, and Sero turns back to look at Horizon. "Hey you gonna disappear during lunch again, you can totally eat with us if you want." "I''m actually gonna head down to the support department to talk to Power Loader, I need new shoes for my Hero Costume," Horizon says. "Oh...that''s too bad," Sero mutters sadly. "Ugh, ignore him," Jiro walks up and says, ready to go have lunch with Momo. "He just wants you to have lunch with him to get noticed by your fan club." "Well, some of them are pretty cute," Horizon adds. "Can''t me a guy for trying and all that..." He sees Sero give him a thumbs up. "It is kinda creepy the way they''re always lurking around me, but that''s part of the whole being famous aspect of heroics these days." "Well I''m certainly not jealous of that, having people always watching you and following you around seems like a nightmare," Jiro mutters as she walks past them and toward Momo at the back of the room. Tokoyami nods in agreement, "unfortunately it''s the life we signed up for by attending UA." "Once you---" Horizon stops talking, head snapping to the doors on the other side of the room, "there''s a mob outside." Everyone remaining in the room gets on alert immediately, silently looking at the windows leading into the hallway. "What the hell do these people want now, how many selfies do I need to take with students before it gets old," Horizon mutters while getting up and walking to the door at the front of ss, walking past Bakugo who was still packing his bag. Pulling open the door he finds himself staring at a horde of first-years, towering over them. "Wow he''s huge!" "So he always wears the mask?" "Does he have the sword? I can''t see!" "He''s intense." And a dozen other lines are fired off as the crowd gets a bit rowdy. "I see...only first years...so you''re here because the Sports Festival is tomorrow, right?" he asks. A few people nod nervously in response. "Well, now you''ve seen us, so you can stop blocking the doorway now, my ssmates want to go get lunch," he says casually, ignoring a few people who were tantly taking pictures of him. "Wow," a purple-haired boy with tired baggy eyes pushes his way to the front, now standing beside a short girl who was seemingly recording. "I can''t tell if you''re arrogant or confident, but you know we''ve heard a lot about you, constant chatter in our ear from the news, from clips online, from our friends. But don''t think that means that we can''t take your spo---" "Shut up," Horizonmands, causing everyone to freeze, feeling waves of annoyance radiating from him. "Whatever derations of desires, dreams, promises, and feelings you''re about to vomit at my feet, swallow it. The truth is nobody in the world cares about any of that trash, we got the speech about you taking our spots, we''re over it, you want them? You want to prove to UA and whoever else that you belong here instead of us? Then shut your mouth, and get to work." He gestures to the gathered mob that was now getting annoyed. "Win," he says, catching them off guard. "It''s literally that simple, no talk, just action. Prove you should be here instead of us, because your words don''t matter if you can''t back up the talk. So how about you go n your strategy for tomorrow, or literally anything more useful than this crap, now, get out of our doorway..." Horizon immediately begins walking forward, and everyone gets out of his way, an ocean of people that were all talking parting to get out of his way. Annoyance transformed into respect, although they had to admit they didn''t like his abrasive manner of speaking. Meanwhile back in the ssroom, his ssmates were more than a little surprised that he was so pleasant to the visitors, but their determination only grew, now seeing the mob of people that were aiming to rece them. ---20 Hours Later... Standing with 11 other first years Horizon nods along to everything Ms. Midnight says, all wearing their PE Uniforms, with his having his logo in ck at the back of it. The shirt of his PE Uniform opened to show off his white body glove beneath, his logo in blue on his chest. "---I expect all of you ss Reps to keep everyone in line out there, at least while in the stands, I want you young and hot-blooded students running wild in the games," Midnight says in apletely serious tone. "Yes ma''am!" everyone yells while Horizon only nods. "Good, we start in 5 minutes, get to your waiting rooms, and wait for the announcements..." Leaving the room Horizon is walking beside Kendo, her PE Uniform on with the arms rolled up to her elbow and legs rolled up to her knees. "So you excited for this?" Kendo asks, her nervousness showing as she looks up at Horizon. "It''s just apetition, all I''ve gotta do is win." Kendo frowns at that, "yeah I figured you wouldn''t be nervous, you''ve been in the public eye for weeks, half the people are here for you... and you''re so strong," she mutters quietly. They arrive at 1Bs locker room in the stadium and stop at the door. They both face each other as he speaks, "no need to be nervous, just do your best, that''s all you can do anyway," he raises a finger to her chin, lifting her head to get a proper look at herrge teal eyes. "And besides, even if the gold is mine, you''ll look incredible in silver...good luck." He casually walks away leaving her to stare at his back, her face sporting a faint blush as her mind catches up to her body, "huh? Wait a minute...THAT JERK!" she takes a breath topose herself before entering the room to address her ss. Walking into the 1A locker room Horizon sees Deku and Todoroki looking one second away from a fight, with Kirishima standing beside them, the entire room tense and silent, everyone looking at the duo. "Save whatever crap this is forter, we go out in four minutes," he announces and closes the door behind him. Everyone started getting more nervous or excited as Horizon takes out his phone, doing onest check on his online presence. ''Hmm, that video of my speech yesterday is trending, guess that girl was recording, not just taking pictures...and people think I was being motivational to ourpetition...ok, I''ll take it...'' he can''t help but smile at that. ''Even when I''m not trying this is too easy.'' Minutester they''re all walking into the stadium as Present Mic announces all the sses, A through K, all 11 years-1 sses. 220 studentspeting for the top spot. "Holy crap," Sero mutters nervously, standing toward the back with Horizon and Sato as they all walk into the arena. "This is a lot more intense than it looks on TV..." And in truth, it was, even for Horizon. Standing in the arena, soft grass all around, a twenty-meter raise at the edges where the first row of views was sitting above. The absolutely gargantuan stadium was nearly 70 meters -220ft- tall, with rows and floors of seats for all 200 thousand spectators, including the private boxes at the top behind tinted windows. Looking around as the other sses enter the arena he can see a few people holding up posters with his symbol on them, fans cheering specifically for him. He smiles at that, raising his hand to give a polite wave before Midnight begins talking. "Now, for the student pledge, we have... KATSUKI BAKUGO!" Midnight proudly announces, and while Bakugo stalks up to the stage, both hands in his pockets, a fair amount of the students look at Horizon in surprise. He shrugs, "Bakugo got first on the public entrance exam, he represents more of you, its the logical choice..." was all he said before Bakugo began talking. Bakugo opens his mouth to speak, then closes it, ring at all the other students before focusing his gaze on Horizon at the back of the ss. "I''ll give it my all, and I won''t let anyone stop me from being the absolute best Hero...not even you ss Face..." Horizon lifts a hand, and where his entire ss expects a middle finger, he gives a thumbs up, "do your best Bakugo!" he cheers on his ssmate. Everyone who knows him is surprised by this, until they remember exactly where they are, ''public appearances...'' they recall he''s always talking about that. But they also knew exactly why he meant, ''do you best, it won''t be enough.'' And clearly, Bakugo understood this too as he stomped off the stage fuming mad. "Alright, time for the first game!" Midnight gets the crowd stirred up once more. "An obstacle race, the course is 4km around this stadium, Quirks are allowed of course, do whatever you''d like as long as you stay on the course, first to cross the finish line wins!" "It''s like they''re handing me that gold medal," Horizon chuckles as his ssmates just re in envy, already knowing how this will go. "Now get to your starting positions!" Midnight gestures to therge red hallway built into the stadium. Everyone immediately rushes for a front spot, toes against the starting line, but when the crowd moves Horizon is just left standing alone in the middle of the arena. Midnight has to stop herself from telling him to get to the starting point, saving herself from looking foolish on TV. As everyone gets settled the stadium fallspletely silent, and the timer begins. 3 Horizon opens a room, 700m in every direction, just enough to cover the entire track. A quick SCAN feeds him all the information he needs. ''A minefield, a horde of robots, and...when did they even have time to dig that hole...god damn Power Loader...'' 2 He finds a pebble at the finish line, identifying the banner held between two posts. 1 Horizon takes onest look at the crowd, most people excitedly watching the starting hallway, some of his fans looking at him in worry. ''This is the first time the public will know what my Quirk is...time for the big debut.'' "START!" Midnight announces. SHAMBLES! "WINNER!" Present Mic immediately announces, and Horizon truly takes the stage... END CHAPTER--- pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene Chapter 50: (All Eyes On Me) Chapter 50: (All Eyes On Me) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- Appearing at the finish line Horizon sees the stadium only a hundred meters away down the dirt track, not even a single student has made it through the gateway and onto the track, yet he grabs the banner at the finish line. "WINNER!" Present Mic''s voice rings out, reaching the crowds in and out of the stadium, like music to his ears. He drops the banner and starts taking a casual stroll back into the stadium. All the camera robots along this stretch of the course turn and focus on him, so he takes his time to give everyone a good look at their future hero. Both hands in his pockets he listens to Mic hype him up, a wide smile beneath his visor. "First ce goes to Horizon! No surprise there when you put a warp user in a obstacle race folks!" Mic''s voice echoes through the stadium and outside to the nearby crowds andpetitors. "He''s the ss Rep for the famous ss 1A, one of the most talented sets of students UA has ever had, credited with taking down the USJ Nomu on his own and he even acts as our counter to other Warp Quirks, a pir of security for everyone around him! It''s no surprise that he''s favored to win this whole tournament, especially when you know his Quirk can do a lot more than warping! Supposedly already so skilled and talented that if he were a Pro they''d have to make room in our top 10 for him!" Horizon sees arge burst of frost erupt from the narrow hallway and stops, taking in the sight of a few Hero Course students avoiding Todoroki''s attack and pulling ahead with him. "He''s even a world-ss doctor at only 16!" Mic announces loudly, catching even Horizon off guard, "With hard work and talent, all bolstered by having the single most powerful Heal ability in the world! He''s a real tough contender for MVP in any party!" ''Did Nezu tell him more about me?'' Horizon wonders. "But these aren''t the words of this announcer folks! The super genius behind UA, Principal Nezu confirmed all of this himself, this is why one year ago he broke his iron d ''no scouting'' policy to get Horizon into the Hero Course, he''s simply ying on a whole other level!" ''Nezu definitely told him that part...'' he think while arriving at the frozen students. Somement their failure, others crying, not because their feet were frozen to the ground, but because this was their only real chance to transfer into the Hero Course. And Horizon sees them look up at him with admiration, jealousy, and even a hint of fear and worry as he reaches where the ice is, surely shaken by Mic''s announcement. SHAMBLES! He warps back into the arena not far away from midnight. It takes a moment for people to realize what just happened, then the entire stadium shakes with uproar and apuse, the public finally getting a glimpse of what his Quirk is, now understanding why he was so integral in defending UA during the USJ incident. "Your first-ce winner for the obstacle race!" Midnight proudly announces as his name appears on the scoreboards. Horizon waves back to the cheering crowd as Mic continues announcing what happens during the race. As everyone focuses on the race Horizon quietly makes his way to the seats on the third level reserved for his ss, aware of all the eyes on him from the Pros in the audience. As he expected, and pays no mind to. Even as Endeavor''s fiery re drills into his back while he walks out of the arena. Walking to his seating area he sees Nezu already there, arge tablet in his hand with numbers constantly flowing across the screen. "Don''t you always act as the umpire for the 3rd year games?" Horizon asks, taking a seat beside his principal. "Normally yes, but I need to keep an eye on the security systems due to the increase in viin activity, Ectosm is filling in for me." "Ahh, makes sense, and you gave Mic how much information about me exactly?" "Only what he announced," Nezu says. "He was the one who actually asked me about you after the Obstacle Race was decided, it was very obvious who the winner would be, so he wanted something to get the crowd all riled up." "Always the showman," Horizon says. "You''re one to talk, you''ve been rather pleasant in the public eye. From your social media profile, to the interview you had, to how you''ve acted today, it''s quite remarkable, and just a little bit scary." "Well it''s not like I''ve ever lied, I just say things in more pleasant ways...even if it is really damn exhausting." "Yes, but I''m sure it''s worth it for you," Nezu says as Horizon takes out his phone. "Shouldn''t you be watching thepetition?" "Not really, I doubt any of these people can even make me sweat," he shrugs and starts scrolling. "My followers doubled, nearly 7 Million already, how many people are watching the games live?" "Hmm," Nezu fiddles with his tablet for a second. "Nearly 300 Million, I''m sure as more and more people get interested they''ll search for you online and find your profile." "Well best to give them something to chew on," Horizon starts uploading a few files. "There, just put that picture of me and the Pope on my profile, and sent some anonymous information about me to the press, all about the world traveling miracle doctor Horizon." "The public will surely love you, a capable hero that isn''t camera shy," Nezu chuckles. "Most heroes don''t work the poprity aspect of their job enough, even though it''s a clear factor when determining hero rankings, among other things. The people need to know about you to know that they can count on you after all, by the time you graduate your media presence should be quite good." "I''m looking for better than just good," Horizon says, putting away his phone and watching the games. "I n on entering the top 10 directly after graduation, maybe I''ll make a big push and take the number 1 spot... that''ll surely get me what I want." "Hmm, I thought your n was to win by showing how capable and dependable you are?" "It is," Horizon nods as he chooses his words carefully. "But these people," he gestures to the crowds. "They''re too stupid for that, they like shiny shy things. If being capable is all that mattered Endeavor would be rank 1, he''s got the most resolved incidents in the history of heroes after all, but clearly, it''s not enough. I''ll be more capable than Endeavor and more beloved than All Might, that''s how I''ll win..." Nezu smiles and focuses on the race, "I''d expect nothing less from you, as our future Symbol Of Peace..." As the other students arrive at The Fall, a massive hundred-meter-wide pit with t pirs littering it, all connected by heavy-duty cables, Bakugo takes the lead. Showing off his unrelenting resolve and desire to be the best, he just barely edges out Todoroki who has to skate across the cables by simply flying across the obstacle, widening the gap between them. "Flying huh..." Horizon mutters, now seeing a girl with pink dreadlocks using some support equipment to hover above the ground and slingshot across the pit. "Oh, I was always curious about that," Nezu says. "About what?" "Why can''t you fly?" "That''s a weird question to ask someone," Horizon says, seeing Shoji spreading his arms to do small glides from pir to pir, overtaking most of thepetition to get the eleventh ce. "I just assumed you''d be able to fly like most people with Telekinesis, either by holding your own body...although it''s extremely rare for people with such a Quirk to be able to affect living things. So I assumed you''d do the usual approach by controlling something like your clothes or shoes to fly around," Nezu exins. "Tried that as a kid," Horizon grumbles. "It''s literally the first thing I did when I created TAKT---" "TAKT?" Nezu asks. "My ''Telekinesis,'' I wasn''t lying when I said it''s more like Imand the world to move and it obeys. Because of that, it can get messy if I try to move multiple objects in sync for delicate tasks, since it''s more like I give and control a vector to an object instead of wrapping it in energy and moving it." "Ahhh," Nezu immediately gets the picture. "So you nearly pulled yourself apart with it..." "Something like that, and even if that doesn''t happen the clothes will just get torn off me," Horizon grumbles out. "But on the plus side, that means you can use it on anything while most Telekinesis Quirks require you to make contact first, like the 1B student''s." "Pretty much." "From...any range?" "I''m not telling you my range, but yeah, it helps if I''m closer and can see the object at least," Horizon says. "But if you were in your office right now I could throw one of the couches in there at your head, while sitting way out here, wouldn''t even have to do more than flick a finger." "And is there a weight limit to what you can lift?" Nezu asks. "Not in the same way that Urarak has a weight limit to hers, my Quirk doesn''t have limits like that." "So you always say, and how are the new shoes treating you, I didn''t notice any difference," Nezu says. "They look the same, but these are boots," Horizon pulls up the leg of his pants to show the change, dress shoes visually but providing a lot more support for his shift into being more brawlic. "Perfect for kicking in some teeth." Nezu chuckles nervously, "don''t forget you''re supposed to be a hero..." "KATSUKI BAKUGO TAKES SECOND PLACE!" Mic screams at the crowd, and everyone erupts into cheers as Bakugo enters the arena, followed closely by Todoroki and Iida. "They all looked pissed," Horizon says. "Well second ce isn''t enough for UA students," Nezu says. "Not to mention Iida came fourth because he stepped on and mine, I''m sure he wanted to win since this is a race, his area of expertise, and his brother is probably watching." "Oh yeah, Ingenium, guess that''s where he''ll be interning." "Oh yes that request came in days ago," Nezu says, hitting a few options on his tablet and bringing up a massive list. "Your internship requests have already hit over one thousand, and it''s only the first round, Todoroki is trailing behind with two hundred." "Not surprising, if he ever grows a brain he''ll be useful with that Quirk, too bad he''s a tactless meathead like All Might." "You really shouldn''t be hard on them, they are still students after all." "Exin that to the viins that want them dead, and things will only get harder for them when viins watch this and learn about them. In my case when I exin my Quirk viins will start running away from me even more..." "Well that remains to be seen," Nezu says as the students begin pouring into the arena. "So, can you tell me what the next game is gonna be?" "I''m not allowed to, but since I don''t think it''ll matter for someone like you, it''s a Cavalry Battle," Nezu casually says as the first twenty people arrive in the arena. "Ugh, teamwork crap...actually, how specific are the rules?" he turns to look down at Nezu, a mischievous aura wafting off him. Nezu gives him a curious look, not sure how to feel about this, "well, what do you have in mind?" END CHAPTER--- pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene Chapter 51: (Quality?Quantity) Chapter 51: (Quality?Quantity) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "The first game isplete!" Midnight announces. "The top 42petitors will be advancing into the next round! Don''t worry if you didn''t make the cut, we''ve got other opportunitiester for you to shine!" Standing with his ss Horizon doesn''t react, even to all the clearly worried gazes befalling him. Mic''s announcement had the desired effect at least, all eyes were on him. The tension was palpable, everyone wondering how they could beat someone that Warps, but his ssmates have been considering this for the past month, results? Inconclusive... Looking around as the second game was being decided Horizon recognized most of the people who qualified, including everyone from 1B, some of which were not present when he first met them. ''So everyone from the Hero Course got this far...even Deku managed to get 23rd, Aoyama somehow got 42nd, barely making it in...and the purple-haired guy from yesterday got 30th, nothing special I guess...'' he concludes. "In first ce of course we''ve got our resident warping doctor, Horizon!" Midnight announces as his name appears on the board in first ce. "But remaining on top takes a lot of skill, especially at UA," she licks her lips lecherously. "And in the next game that''ll be even more difficult...CALVARY BATTLE!" Everyone begins murmuring but she quickly silences them and begins exining. "You''ll all have fifteen minutes to break into teams of up to 5 people, you''ve each been assigned a point value based on your ranking in the obstacle race! The points start at 5 points for 42nd ce, 10 for 41st, and it keeps increasing by 5 until you get to Bakugo in 2nd ce. The point total will be worn above the shoulder on one headband by the rider and will represent the entire team, the teams with the most points at the end of the 15 minutes get into the final stage. And at the very top, the first ce holder is worth..." she points at Horizon. "TEN MILLION!" All eyes once again fell to Horizon, and he immediately raised his hand. "Yes?" Midnight asks. "Since I don''t need any rag-tag team...I''ll be ying solo," Horizon says. Midnight frowns at that, "well I don''t thi---" she stops talking and raises a hand to her earpiece, then she just frowns. "The judges say it''s allowed if you can stay off the ground, but are you sure? Allies will y a huge part in this..." "I''m Horizon," he says. "That''s enough." Midnight gives a vicious smile, "that kind of bold and confident talk is a real turn-on! Horizon will be ying solo!" The hologram shifts to ce ''Horizon-10 Million Points'' in the top spot. "Everyone else, you''ve got fifteen minutes..." As everyone is scrambling to make their teams Midnight looks up to where Nezu was sitting, shaking her head, ''you''re making your favoritism of this boy too damn obvious Nezu...'' "Looks like Horizon is ying solo folks!" Mic announces. "Let''s see what his homeroom teacher has to say about that!" Eraser sighs and shakes his head, "Horizon has a habit of thinking he doesn''t need any help, it showed itself in training and during USJ, fortunately, both times he was enough to ovee anything that was thrown at him, but even if he manages to win this its a horrible habit for any hero to have, because the one time you aren''t enough, you''ll die..." "Excellent insight!" Mic cheers on his friend. "But what do you say his chances are of winning this game?" "If the objective is collecting an item...he''ll win," Eraser says tly. "This is more of a battle for second ce, but that doesn''t mean everyone else won''t be giving it their all." "Well there you have it folks, unshakable confidence from his homeroom teacher, looks like Eraser Head has a favorite!" "What! I don''t ha---" the mic cuts off as they both begin bickering. --15 Minutes Later... All the teams were decided and everyone took their positions. "Alright, the countdown starts now, one minute to mount up!" Midnight says. As everyone gets their riders into position Horizon notices all eyes flicker over to him, standing at the far end of the arena. With his 10 Million point headband around his neck, he turns his back to them and lifts his hand, flicking a finger upward. TAKT! A two-meter cube of rock is pulled out of the floor and he steps onto it before it fully rises to float a meter above the ground. "Telekinesis!" Mic shouts. "It''s not Telekinesis," Horizon says, the mics in the arena transferring his voice across the stadium. "Imand the world to move, and it moves, that''s all." He raises one hand and summons his cards from his Hero Costume, then swaps one for the chair at his desk and takes a seat, still floating on the cube above the floor. "Is that even allowed?!" Mic asks. "It''spletely legal!" Midnight says. "Warping items is fine once it''s done after the game starts!" As the viewers and people outside of their ss are surprised Present Mic continues talking, "if he can keep that up for fifteen minutes then I guess he could be fine, if he can defend his headband for fifteen minutes that is!" "I''ve seen him rip the tops off buildings," Eraser says in a tired voice, "he''ll be fine...besides, I doubt anyone will attack him..." "BEGIN!" Midnight yells, and everyone bursts into action. All teams rushing each other, explosions and ice flying about, yelling and all types of Quirks being fired left and right, yet nobody even bothered Horizon, leaving him to sit with his 10 Million point headband and y a game on his phone. After five minutes of intense fighting, still nobody even bothered to go near Horizon, "are they afraid of him?" Mic asks, clearly confused as Horizon just sits there on his phone, floating on the rock. "It''s because they understand," Eraser says. "They know that if they get close he''ll just send them to the other side of the arena, and even if they manage to get his headband, they can''t stop him from getting it back. He''d warp it back to him before the game is done and get first ce, the logical thing to do is focus your energy on headbands that don''t threaten his position, that way he ignores you and you get to keep your points..." "No wonder he''s so cocky! With a quirk like that anyone would be!" Mic says, the audience begins muttering at the revtion. "It''s not baseless confidence," Eraser says, and the crowd focuses more on his words than the ongoing fights, excited to hear anything about this new rising star. "At first I assumed he was another arrogant brat who''d either wash out of UA or I''d expel, but every time I see him in action I realize more and more how wrong that assumption was. He can always back up his talk, and when it''s time to really rise to the challenge he crushes thepetition. Even when the viins attacked he took on by far the strongest viin while protecting everyone from Kurogiri, he''s not all talk and baseless confidence. And he isn''t one of those people born with a godly Quirk and simply using that to get an easy life. Behind everything he says and does is over a decade of relentless training. He''s the rarity of someone born at the top with a godly Quirk, yet instilled with a monstrous work ethic, constantly pushing himself over and over to bring out his absolute best self, that''s how you be a licensed doctor at 15, that''s how you stand up to a viin most Pros can''tst seconds again. Even his ssmates have noticed that, his blunt and matter-of-fact way of speaking doesn''t push them away anymore, because they know it''s just how he truly sees things, the most effective way possible, and that''s why they don''t even bother to approach him. Because they know he won''t hesitate to show them exactly how far ahead he is, and they understand how far they have to go, it''s also what makes that fire in them rage...because when you''re sitting in a ssroom with someone like that, you either crumble under the pressure, or rise to the challenge." "Wow! You sure you don''t have a favorite?!" Mic asks jokingly as the crowd just stares at Horizon in a new light. Eraser elbows him in the head, "I don''t, and it wouldn''t be him of all people, Heroes should at least try to be team yers," he says while ring down at Horizon, sittingfortably in his chair and ying his game while everyone else is fighting, giving their all. ---1 Minute Remaining... Sittingfortable and finishing up another race on his phone, Horizon sighs loudly and reaches out to his side with his right hand, grabbing Jiro''s Earphone Jacks. All the cameras turn to them as she tries and fails to pull them out of his grip. "Someone finally attacked Horizon!" Mic announces, causing all the teams to spare just a nce in his direction. "What are you trying to do here?" He swivels around in his chair to look at Jiro. Her as the front horse with Sato and Koda at the back, Torupletely naked on their shoulders, no headband, zero points. "Uh," Jiro chuckles, nervous and scared. "Desperate times and all that..." "I see," Horizon rests down his phone, noticing all cameras facing him, "I don''t have a massive power output like Kaminari, but," he sparks up some blue electricity in his left hand, inching it closer to her Earphone Jacks. "My control is a lot better..." "WAIT NONONONONONON!" Jiro screams. "Counter Schock." "ARRRGHHH!" Her entire team screams as they copse to the floor,pletely unconscious. "He can use electricity too!" Mic screams, riling up the crowd. Across the arena Kaminari pouts, "c''mon man...I''ve only got the one thing and you had to steal it..." "TIME IS UP!" Midnight yells, ending the game. "In first ce, no surprise here, Horizon!" Mic announces, the massive screens reying the moment he fried Jiro''s team before showing him still sitting casually in his chair. "In second ce, team Bakugo! In third ce is team Monoma! ss 1B came out to represent! In fourth, we''ve got team Todoroki, followed by team Midoriya barely edging out team Shinso for fifth ce. 16 people from these teams will be going onto the tournament stage...but first...a 1-hour lunch break!" Mic announces. After sorting out who gets topete from the bottom teams, and some people opting out, all the names immediately appear on the board, already lined up in their brackets for the tournament. ---Tounament Round 1... Horizon VS Monoma Shiso VS Sero Midoriya VS Todoroki Hatsume VS Kaminari Awase VS Bakugo Iida VS Kirishima Tokoyami VS Uraraka Momo VS Juzo Looking up at the board Horizon immediately begins walking away toward the cafeteria, seeing Jiro and her team being carted off to Recovery Girl in the distance. ''Monoma...I saw him copy Juzo''s Quirk earlier... looked like he needed to touch the person, this could be interesting...'' "Horizon," Monoma says, causing Horizon to look over at him as he approaches. "Hey, I''m Monoma, guess you and I are up first huh," he falls into step walking to the cafeteria. "Looks like it, so I''m guessing you''re trying to figure out what Quirks you can copy from your friends to use against me, right?" Monoma chuckles, "naturally, I need to prepare before the battle, we can''t all have built-in power like you. But Tetsutetsu told me you''re pretty cool, well, he said ''super manly,'' but it''s the same thing, I hope we have a good match." "Sure, I hope to learn a lot from it..." Horizon says as they enter the cafeteria, going their separate ways until the gruesome and bloody match begins. END CHAPTER--- pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene Monoma doesn''t hate ss 1B because when everyone was at the door to 1A Horizon didn''t leave a bad impression, in canon Bakugo treated them badly and that''s where it started :) Predictions for the matchups? Chapter 52: (Built Different) Chapter 52: (Built Different) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "Twelve million and counting," Horizon says while scrolling on his phone. Looking at the picture he just took and posted outside the stadium. He, Death Arms, Kamui Woods, and Mt. Lady. "I''ve already got more followers than those three put together...they really don''t know how to work the sheep," he mutters. "And now for the first match!" Midnight announces. His head snaps up and away from his phone, quickly putting it in his pocket. Standing in the dark tunnel leading into the arena he sees the now constructed cement stage built by Cementoss. The crowd is going crazy as the first round of the 1-vs-1 tournament begins. "Let''s start big, with...1A''s ss Rep, already showing that he''s a prodigy even among all our genius aspiring heroes, Horizon!" Horizon steps out of the tunnel, full PE Uniform on, the shirt unbuttoned for everyone to see the body glove on his chest, his logo in blue atop the white fabric, just barely distracting people from how the fabric clings to his chiseled body and exposes his muscles. The same symbol is in ck across the back of his PE Uniform for thepetition to see. He takes his time walking up to the stage as Midnight announces Monoma, stirring the crowd into a smaller but still absurd wave of chaos. Eventually both students are standing opposite each other on the stage, looking around to see all eyes on them. One-on-one Horizon''s size shows, standing 20cm -8in- taller than Monoma, the much thinner andnkier blonde contrasting greatly to Horizon''s now bulkier build, still lean but muscles clearly making themselves known through his uniform. "Are both of you ready?" Midnight asks. Monoma nods. "Actually," Horizon speaks up, surprising everyone. "Since your Quirk is Copy I''m sure you''ve prepared something for me, but I''m curious, would you like to copy my Quirk?" "You would let me just, copy your Quirk? Just like that?" Monoma asks skeptically. "I''m curious about what happens if a regr person tries it, since it is the most powerful Quirk in the world," Horizon shrugs as everyone just stares in surprise, never expecting such a tant and seemingly oundish boast. "Well, if you insist," Monoma smiles sinisterly. "Since you''re the main character here I''m sure I can use that power to win this match..." Horizon chuckles and pulls up the sleeve on his left hand, separating the glove and sleeve of his body glove to expose the inner forearm of his left hand, where there were no tattoos, gesturing for Monoma to make contact. The audience is at the edge of their seat to see what happens. Monoma raises a brow at the sight of Horizon''s watch. "You brought a Rolex to a battle? That seems rather careless..." "Oh please, the USJ Nomu couldn''t even hit me, how would any of you ever manage to break it?" Monoma narrows his eyes at him and reaches out, touching Horizon''s skin with his fingers. Horizon feels a tingling at the back of his mind and shrugs it off. "That''s odd," Monoma says. "I felt it, but...it didn''t let me Copy it." "I rejected your Quirk, I just wanted to see if I could." "You re---" "For real this time," Horizon once again presents his arm, "no tricks." Monoma looks equal parts annoyed and impressed, but can''t pass up the chance to be the main character for a short while. Without hesitation he reaches out, and immediately feels his entire body tingling as the Quirk manifests within him. Monoma shakes his head a bit and stumbles back, a wide smile on his face as he giggles like a madman. "You ok?" Horizon asks, slight concern in his voice as he and Midnight watch Monoma begin to hop in ce. "I feel great. Like I could run a marathon. It''s like a sugar rush. Is this how you always feel? It''s incredible. What does your Quirk do anyway? Man this is great. Everything is all tingly." Monoma breaks out in another fit of giggles. "Oh no," Horizon says, earning concerned looks from Midnight and the audience. "Ok Monoma, listen very carefully to me," he raises his hands gently to keep Monoma calm. "You need to cancel Copy on my Quirk, and no matter what, don''t try to activate it, alright?" Midnight immediately walks over to Horizon, ready to rip her costume to sedate Monoma. Monoma looks confused, then with all the energy in his body, his fight or flight response kicks into overdrive, "why would I do that? This is a trick isn''t it? You don''t want me to win! But I can feel it, I can win, this feels great," he raises a hand and swings it at Horizon, "warp away!" "Oh crap... I didn''t think his body would react like this," Horizon says, and everyone hears through Midnight''s mic. "Like what?" she asks, now seeing Monoma frozen in ce, blood quickly flowing from his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. "Monoma!" "It''s fine...kinda," Horizon says, holding her back from rushing forward and approaching Monoma. "It''s just my Quirk." The entire arena is deathly silent as the scene unfolds. Monoma copses into Horizon''s arms and he gently ces him on the ground, immediately summoning his healing energy into his palm and cing it on the unconscious Monoma''s head. "Your Quirk?" "He tried to activate it, so it started killing him," Horizon says. "My Quirk requires the user to essentially be superhuman in terms of how much energy is in your body and how much information your brain can process. His body tried to rapidly increase the energy capacity within it, hence the sugar rush, and his brain tried to expand, tearing itself apart, hence the bleeding. But that isn''t enough for my Quirk. You also need to be able toprehend what you process...meaning he literally wasn''t smart enough to sort and apply the sudden influx of information my Quirk caused, his body tried to adapt by ripping energy away from anything that wasn''t his brain to force more growth." "It tried to make his organs fail," Midnight mutters out in shock and horror. "What kind of Quirk does such a thing, how is that even possible?" "My Quirk ignored the safeguards that Copy has built into it, I didn''t even think he''d be able to copy my Quirk, figured it''d be a dud. He''s a lot better than I thought. But he just isn''t built like me, to handle this kind of situation..." "Superhuman," Midnight says, recalling what Horizon just said. "Will he be ok?" Horizon takes his hand away from Monoma, standing as the medical robots bring a stretcher into the arena, "he just needs some drips and sleep, he''ll be fine in a few hours, but I doubt he''d remember any of this," he shrugs. As the robots load Monoma onto the stretcher and haul him away only Horizon and Midnight are left in the arena, "that''s some Quirk you''ve got there..." she says awkwardly, trying to get the atmosphere back in a good mood. "Yeah, but it''s not meant for regr humans, anyway I guess this means I win, right?" Midnight nods, "Horizon moves on to the next round!" The crowd goes wild once again, as if they didn''t see a teenager almost die in front of them. "Didn''t even have to throw a punch or get him out of bounds... pretty easy." Midnight rolls her eyes, "try not to do things like that to all your opponents please, you''re not supposed to kill your opponent, you''re training to be a hero remember," she warns him. "Hey, I didn''t know that would happen." "Which is the only reason you aren''t disqualified, but don''t pull a stunt like that again," she res at him. "Gotcha," he says before walking off the stage. Making his way back to his ss''s seats he sees Momo wave for him to sit with her and Jiro. "So you always put people in the infirmary?" Jiro asks with a bit of edge to her voice as he sits on the other side of Momo. "I just got out of there after you tried to fry my brain and now Monoma''s in there for pretty much the same reason." "Hey you attacked me, and as for him, it''s not my fault he isn''t built to handle my power, but it''s not surprising, mortals and divinity have a terrible track record when they meet..." END CHAPTER--- pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene Chapter 53: (Round 1-First Half) Chapter 53: (Round 1-First Half) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "Did anyone see that guy use his Quirk?" Horizon asks, sitting at the end of the front row in 1As seating area above the arena. With Momo to his left, Jiro beside her, Tokoyami just behind him with Tsu, the other students scattered about chatting quietly. "I don''t recall him using it in the previous events," Momo says, all their eyes falling to Shinso as he enters the arena, Sero standing happily across from him. "Well if he wins he''ll be against me next, so it doesn''t really matter," Horizon shrugs. "You could at least pretend to be a bit apprehensive to the challenge," Momo says. "Some would say it''s unsportsmanlike to speak in such a way of yourpetition, even if it is true..." "That cocky attitude is gonna bite you in the ass someday," Jiro mutters, Earphone Jacks still bandaged from the electrical burns. "I doubt that, but even if it does, it won''t be in a tournament like this," Horizon says. "This event has a clear out-of-bounds rule, so I can honestly win whenever I want. That''s the same rule that gives other people a chance but limits others simply based on the matchup, but even if it were to the death I''d still easily win..." "What do you mean?" Tsu asks from behind him. "Well...take Tokoyami VS Uraraka for example. Her Quirk requires something to activate it on, make a car weightless then throw it and deactivate her Quirk at thest moment for maximum damage. But here she doesn''t have any items aside from her clothes and herself, if she makes herself weightless Dark Shadow will swat her away and she can''t adjust her trajectory in the air. And she''d have to get close or touch Dark Shadow to make Tokoyami weightless and throw him away." "Well yes but then she can toss him out of bounds and win, right?" Momo asks. "Nope, not a chance in hell," Horizon says. "At least not if Tokoyami has a brain." "I do," Tokoyami says behind them. "See, easy win," Horizon exins. "If she touches him and removes gravity from him and Dark Shadow, since they are one being, then she''ll try to throw him out of the arena, but he can just anchor himself by having Dark Shadow dig into the floor, and since she''s tiny and Dark Shadow has some muscle to it..." "He''ll throw her out instead," Momo says. "I see...I hadn''t considered that people can anchor themselves." "Same thing Kirishima would do with some hardening on his fingers, use them like spears," Horizon shrugs. "This is a shitty setting for Zero Gravity, either she throws them before they anchor, or she somehow overpowers them...both situations are basically impossible. And a lot of people like Bakugo and I don''t even care if she makes us float because we have either aerial or instant mobility." "I will admit I came to the same conclusion," Tokoyami says. "But I didn''t want to speak down on my ssmate''s chances in such a way." "It is what it is, some people just aren''t meant to fight in a setting like this..." "I failed to consider the matchups and environment properly," Momo quietly admits. "I have much to learn." "Same here," Jiro says. "But at least your Quirk can be useful in an event like this, I''d probably just get my Earphone Jacks pulled out of the air, and then they''d toss me out of the arena." "Probably," Horizon says. "You''ll notice all the one-trick pony style Quirks getting taken out quickly, assuming they even made it this far, honestly I would have bet on Tokoyami meeting me in the finals if so many people didn''t have a direct counter to him..." "Likewise," Tokoyami says, surprising all of them. They''d never expected Horizon of all people to speak favorable to his Quirk, and for him to agree as well. "These conditions are among the worst for Dark Shadow..." "LET THE SECOND MATCH BEGIN!" Midnight yells, causing the crowd to erupt in noise. Sero immediately fires off two lines of tape, trapping Shinso as they wrap around his arms and torso. As he''s being dragged to the edge of the stage Shinso yells, obviously panicked, not expecting the instant attack, "do you really think people will ever let someone with such freaky elbows be a hero?!" "Ye---" Sero froze, eyes going dull and arms falling to his side. "Good, now walk off the stage," Shinsomands, and Sero does exactly that. The audience was able to hear everything thanks to the mics, and Eraser immediately gave an exnation. "Hitoshi Shinso, Quirk: Brainwashing, he can control people who respond to him, it requires him to activate it so its only when he wants...A perfect Quirk for dealing with hostage situations and most viins. But because UA makes students wanting to enter the Hero Course fight robots he couldn''t even use it...a clear oversight on our part..." he says in a tired voice. As Shinso and Sero clear the stage Momo turns to Horizon. "Looks like all you have to do is not speak and you''ll win, I guess you''re practically in the semi-finals already." Horizon sighs, "honestly I was hoping to at least have some fun...but I guess it''s just a bunch of easy fights." "You know you''d be a lot cooler if you were nice to people," Jiro says. "Like heroes are expected to be, like All Might," Momo adds. "Yeah, and I''d always be exhausted from that crap, I already have to act like these people are worth saving to their faces," he gestures to the cheering crowd as Deku and Todoroki take the stage. "I''m not doing that shit around all of you too." "If you don''t care about people, why are you here?" Tsu asks. "Because being a hero is just another job, the reason doesn''t matter...just do it the best you can, no matter what. Does it matter if I''m not some bleeding heart moron like All Might if I save just as many people?" They think about it for a moment, then Momo nods in agreement, "well, I guess it doesn''t." "Exactly, all that matters, is whatever the reward is, I think it''s worth risking my life and the life of everyone I care about...at least if I was showing my face and using my name like you people..." Before anyone can even question what he means, a gust of cold wind sts the crowd. "He''s breaking fingers," Horizon says as he notices what just happened, Deku did a super strong flick to shatter Todoroki''s ice attack. "Such power, both of them!" Tokoyami yells. "If Todoroki has a brain he wins in the next attack," Horizon says, causing everyone to nce at him before setting their eyes back to the stage. Another sh, Deku breaks a second finger to counter Todorki''s ice, keeping them at a stalemate. Horizon leans back in his seat, obviously disappointed. "Never mind I guess, should have expected this when two of the most pathetic levels of Quirk Mastery in our ss are put together...freaking meatheads, I at least expected more from Endeavor''s kid," he grumbles. They all keep those words at the back of their mind, not quite understanding them, and certainly not willing to ask him directly, knowing he''d likely verbally rip them apart for even doing that. "What are they even talking about?" Horizon questions aloud as the battle rages on. "Feelings? ''It''s your power''? Did I miss something or are they just as emotional and stupid as I thought?" "Both," Tsu says. "Todoroki dered war on Midoriya while you were off talking to Midnight and the other ss Reps." "On Deku? Talk about punching down...but not by much honestly." "You truly think them that simr?" Momo asks, her invincible image of Todoroki long since shattered and reced with Horizon. "Well they''re both meatheads iling at each other screaming about feelings aren''t they," he gestures to the arena where the fight kept going, "you tell me." "Right," she nods along. "I also saw them speaking privately while we all went for lunch, maybe something happened that we missed." "Whatever it is, it''s brought out quite incredible power from both of them," Jiro says. "Powerful doesn''t mean good, or useful," Horizon says as the fight continues. Eventually, after a lot more broken bones, screaming, and tears, the final sh ends with Todoroki activating his fire for the first time since joining UA. Everyone hears Endeavor yelling, but pays him no mind and an explosion rocks the arena, Cementoss erects soft walls to ease the damage. And when the mist and dust clear, Deku is crumpled against the far wall while Todoroki is cushioned by his ice... "TODOROKI WINS!" Midnight announces. "Looks like the pennies are adding up," Horizon says, looking at Deku''s mangled arm and fingers, dark purple and torn up as he gets hauled off to Recovery Girl. "Will he be able to move his arm again?" Momo asks, clear concern in her voice. "Yeah, but regr healing Quirks can''t fix that...he''ll have serioussting damage this time, the damage is adding up more and more with each use, best guess, one or two more injuries like that and he''s out of the Hero Course." "Unless you heal him," Momo says. "The only way that''s happening is if he can afford to outbid my other clients -which he can''t-, and I''d need to somehow agree to heal someone that will certainly hurt themself again. I''ve only ever made one exception for a person like that, I''m not making it a habit." "Well, what if I were to bid for him?" Momo asks. "it would be a shame for someone with such a heroic spirit not to see their dreams be real, just think about all the people he can save." "I don''t think your allowance is gonna cut it, actually I don''t think your family can afford it," Horizon says. "What if it does?" Horizon chuckles, "of course the rich girl doesn''t know the cost of anything...minimum bid is fifty million...and let''s just say the leading bid for my next operation is a lot higher than that, even you can''t afford me." Momo looks genuinely confused, while everyone who knows the actual value of money looks horrified. "People pay that much for healthcare?" Momo asks. "No, I don''t sell healthcare, I deal in time," Horizon corrects her. "I can give and take time with the people you love, so tell me, is there anything you wouldn''t pay if I''m the only person in the world that can give you time with your loved ones?" Nobody responds to that for a long tense moment until Tsu speaks up. "You really can charge whatever you want..." "More than that, I can do whatever I want, because I''m Horizon, everyone wants a piece of me...I''m a walking miracle, do you honestly think any politician is gonna risk moving against me now that the word is out that I can practically heal anything?" he chuckles darkly, knowing the media was already devouring that anonymous information they received earlier. "If Recovery Girl decided to murder someone in the street the government wouldn''t touch her...I can''t imagine what I could get away with..." The cold and sharp edge in his voice sent a chill down their spines. Someone seemingly all-powerful and untouchable, a truly dangerous existence. By the time everyonees to their senses, Hatsume has already surrendered after using Kaminari as a practice dummy for her capture devices, more amusing than anything else for people who aren''t interested in support equipment. ''Hover Soles huh,'' Horizon eyes the boots she has on that let her float above the floor. ''That looks fun...'' "And with that, the first half of the first round of this game isplete!" Midnight announces, "now let''s wee our nextpetitors..." END CHAPTER--- pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene Chapter 54: (Round 1-Second Half) Chapter 54: (Round 1-Second Half) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- Sitting in the waiting room, Iida anxiously taps his foot, looking at the screen in the corner of the room. "As expected from Bakugo," Iida says as he sees his ssmate immediately st Awase out of the arena, putting a quick end to theirckluster match. "I just hope I don''t disappoint Tensei," he says while getting up and walking outside. Thoughts dwelling on his brother, the number 19 Pro Hero Ingenium. He is fighting to live up to the hero his brother is, the hero his brother believes he will be. He walks past Bakugo, paying no mind to the focused look on Bakugo''s face as they pass each other in the tunnel to the arena. Standing at the edge of the doorway he takes a breath to calm himself, listing to the crowd cheering as Present Mid announces Kirishima. And a momentter he is called to the arena, quickly walking onto the stage to stand opposite Kirishima, a friendly smile on the boy''s faces as Iida just gives a small smile and a curt nod. "BEGIN!" Midnight announces. Iida immediately hops backward, putting nearly a dozen meters between him and Kirishima. Kirishima just barely missed as he had lunged forward to grab Iida, not wanting him to get any distance to reach higher speeds. Iida bursts into a sprint, the cheering crowd blocked out, only seeing himself and his opponent, another step toward the hero Ingenium, toward his brother. The Engines in his calves kick into second gear, unable to reach 3rd gear without a full 30 meters. But it''s enough, Kirishima can''t react in time as Iida rushes past him and pivots, grabbing his shoulder and arm, feeling his skin like a rock beneath his fingers as he twists his body to throw Kirishima out of the arena. CRACK! "Huh?!" Iida feels Kirishima be entirely immovable, just barely turning to see a hardened fist flying toward his face. "Ach!" Iida winces as he leaps back, putting 10 meters between them and softening the impact of Kirishima''s punch, a massive gash spanning his entire cheek and leaving a bruise on his face. "Kirishima anchored himself to the ring!" Present Mic announces as everyone notices one of his feet hardened and ankle-deep in the cement stage. "A genius move, who would have even thought of that!" Iida rxes slightly and evaluates the situation, knowing that attacking Kirishima head-on would likely hurt him more than his opponent, instead taking the time to breathe and let his engines cool down a bit. "So you were paying attention earlier as well..." Iida says, baiting Kirishima into a conversation. The mics focused on the arena transmitting their voices to the stands and everyone watching at home. "Yup!" Kirishima gives a dazzling smile. "I may not like the way he says things, but Horizon is a genius at pretty much everything, especially Quirks and fighting, so when he talks, I listen...and that includes earlier when he used me as an example of how to deal with people that want to knock us out of the ring...guess I got lucky huh," Kirishima chuckles, not at all ashamed to admit that this wasn''t his strategy. "I see, and I entirely agree with that sentiment," Iida says, backing up slightly and shifting down into a runner''s stance, looking up and narrowing his eyes at Kirishima. "But as I recall, he said your strategy won''t work if I can simply rip you out of the ground with pure power...right?" Kirishima smiles, excited to test himself against Iida, hardening his fist and nging them together, "bring it!" "RECIPRO....BURST!" Blue mes burst out of Iida''s exhausts on both legs, all twelve ports drawing the eyes of everyone as for the first time he shows off his Super Move, something developed for this tournament, to show his brother how far he''se on the path to being a hero. The cement beneath Iida''s feet cracks as he rockets forward, most of the crowd and even the Pro Heroes can barely recognize him as a blur, Kirishima premptively hardens as much of his body as he can, crossing his arms in front of his chest and bracing himself. As Iida is about to make contact he finishes his charge with a leap, raising both his feet up to dropkick Kirishima directly against his arms. "OVER TORQUE!" Iida screams as he draws out all the power he can from his engine. The hardening on Kirishima''s forearms is shattered as the cement around his foot is ripped apart. He rockets out of the arena and ms into the far wall as Iida drops to his feet, taking deep breaths as his engines sputter out. The entire arena is silent as most of the people try to understand what they just saw, or more likely, what they didn''t see. One moment Iida says Recipro Burst, and the next, the match was over... "Iida wins!" Midnight announces, and the crowd takes that as the queue to go wild. Midnight looks over to Kirishima as he gets to his feet, the skin on his forearms missing along with a massive chunk of the reinforced wall missing where he hit, blood dripping to the grass at his feet. "Kirishima?" "I''m ok!" He dly announces, wincing in pain slightly as he raises his hand to give Iida a thumbs up, "that was awesome man! You''ve been holding out on us!" Iida gives him a thumbs up and a smile, "you certainly were a worthy opponent!" Even if he didn''t win, many Pros in the stands make not of Eijiro Kirishima''s manly spirit and tough Quirk, contributing greatly to the internship offers he would inevitably receive. While Cementoss began working to fix the stage Iida and Kirishima made their exit, Iida only shared a polite nod with Uraraka as he returned to his locker room to make his way back to his ss in the stands. Normally he would have wished her good luck, but with how anxious and focused she was he didn''t want to distract her in even the smallest way, and he can''t me her one bit for how she felt. Everyone was listening in earlier when Horizon spoke about this matchup, Tokoyami is an intimidating foe...and Horizon says in this environment she can''t win, Iida only hopes she will be able to find a path to victory that none of them have been able to see. Iida makes it back to the locker room and takes out his phone, deciding to use the TV in the room to not miss any of the match that he surely wouldn''t have seen walking back to the stands. Dialing his brother''s number he lifts the phone to his ear as the match begins, seeing Tokoyami give a polite bow to the girl as Midnight begins the match. His brother''s voice greets him, "you''ve reached Tensei Iida, sorry I can''te to the phone right now as I''m currently busy, but if you leave a voicema---" Iida hangs up. And at the same time Midnight calls the match "Tokoyami wins!" Tokoyami bows politely as they both exit the arena, Uraraks looking thoroughly defeated even if she didn''t take any direct hits. Dark Shadow simply grappled her and lifted her off the ground to remove her leverage, tossed her out of the ring, defeated by ring-out. "So quickly," Iida mutters, if he had decided to walk to the stands then he would have surely missed the entire match. A momentter Momo enters the waiting room, looking nervous, caught off-guard by him still being there. "Sorry, I''ll leave you to prepare," he gives her a polite nod which she stiffly returns and exits the room. Momentster Momo is walking out of the tunnel and up the stair to the ring. "From ss 1A, Momo Yaoyorozu!" the crowd goes wild as Momo gives a polite wave. "And her opponent, from ss 1B, Juzo Honenuki!" Midnight gestures to thenky ash blonde spiky-haired boy. Only an inch taller than Momo withrge eyes and pale skin, his mouthcking lips, exposing his blocky teeth entirely for everyone to see, much like Ectosm. Bothbatants give each other a polite yet serious nod before the match begins. ''I''ll have to act first since I don''t know his Quirk, I need defense and offense...maybe if I can knock him out I can win, otherwise, I''d likely have to---'' "BEGIN!" Midnight interrupts her thoughts. Momo immediately creates a sword in her left hand and a metal shield on her left, rushing forward. Juzo drops to the floor before she can even take a second step and ms both palms onto the ground. The entire arena suddenly bes soft causing both of them to sink into it. Momo sinks up to her neck in barely four seconds while Juzo only sinks to his knees, beads of sweat running down his face as he tries to catch his breath. His control was still not perfect, otherwise, he could have simply used his Quirk to soften the cement under her feet alone, but because he wanted to make the ground as close to water to sink her as quickly as possible, he lost a bit of control with the affected area. His Quirk, Softening, it allows him to make any inorganic material into soft mud, the viscosity of the mud is controlled by him of course, but he still hasn''t fully mastered his Quirk yet. The ground immediately hardens around Momo as Juzo steps out of it. "Momo, can you move?" Midnight asks, seeing only the girl''s head sticking out of the flow. Momo scrunched up her face and shakes her head, unable to bring herself to say the words. Midnight nods in sympathy, "Juzo wins!" "Another near instant victory!" Mic announces as Cementoss fixes the stage and frees Momo. "As expected from one of our rmended students folks, don''t let ss 1As fame distract you from the talent of ss 1B! We''ll be back with the second round after a ten-minute snack break!" Those words reach Momo''s ears as she walks back to the locker room, and the moment she''s alone the dam breaks. Tears begin flowing freely down her cheeks as she sits on a bench in the locker room, quietly sobbing. The mounting pressure being too much for her to take, now feeling as if the teachers agreed, that they saw her as so unworthy of being a Rmended Student that they simply forgot she was. ''How can I even me them, of course, they think I''m unworthy...I''m so useless...I can''t do anything right!'' she berates herself, tears flowing more and more as the volume of her cries increases. More thoughts constantlyparing herself to the other Rmended Students, to the other students in general, to HIM of all people. And what feels like a momentter, he walks in, heading to his match with Shinso. Horizon enters the room and quietly closes the door behind him, confidently walking toward the other door to enter the arena. Momo stares at him, trying and failing to stop the tears, stifling her sobs, wanting nothing more than him, the person in UA she admires the most, her gold standard for being confident and capable, the person that has so quickly be somewhat of a hero to her, to reach out and extend a hand to her. To lift her up, like any hero would when they see someone in need. But instead, he walks right past her, not even sparing her a nce as he speaks, "don''t cry about your problems, just work to fix them, get better so you don''t repeat them...this is so fucking pathetic..." Those words were all he needed to tell himself to pull himself together after losing his parents, but here, it only made Momo burst into loud sobs. Being called pathetic by him of all people, it was more than her heart could take at the moment, even ifter she would better understand what he really meant. Her sobs continued even as Jiro entered tofort her, and even as Mic announced the next match. Horizon VS Hitoshi Shinso, Round 2 of the matches, the quarter-finals begins... END CHAPTER--- pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene I really hope by now ya''ll weren''t expecting him to be nice just because its Momo. Bakugo>Iida>Tokoyami, these are my personal fave 1A characters, finally got to give Iida some spotlight, made me really happy :) Chapter 55: (Beyond Control) Chapter 55: (Beyond Control) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- Horizon stepped into the arena to the sound of the crowd trying to deafen him with cheers. Looking around he saw people frantically waving at him giving them a polite wave in response before cing both his hands back in his pants pockets. His PE Uniform shirt was still open, exposing the white body glove below and the blue logo printed across its chest, matching the ck version on the back of the shirt. Throughout the entirepetition, everyone could tell that he''s beenpletely unbothered, strolling past the finish line while everyone else was fighting to survive. And nothing changed as Shinso entered the arena to stand opposite him, wild purple hair and dreary eyes ented by a frown on his lips. Midnight quickly dered the match to begin, setting off the first match of the semi-finals. But neither student bothered to move, Horizon stayed rooted in ce looking down at the shorter boy, and Shinso looked up at his visor with a bored expression, even as the crowd fell silent in anticipation, they did nothing. Shinso looks up at the announcer''s booth and groans, rubbing the back of his head. "I guess since Eraser Head revealed how my quirk works...I certainly can''t expect mister miracle himself to be dumb enough to actually talk to me, right? I mean, you''re supposed to be a genius evenpared to everyone that''s ever attended UA...so maybe I should just surrender rather than pushing my luck, right? Even with a Quirk like yours, once I get you to talk it''s game over, but that''ll never happen now that you know how I operate, I just hope I''ve done enough for the Pros to see how useful I can be...." Beneath his visor Horizon rolls his eyes, "and why would I ever be concerned about some weak, untrained, one-trick-pony, that can''t do anything without his Quirk?" The crowd gasps in shock and horror, people all around the world who ced bets on Horizon felt like crying. But Shinso looks confused, shaking his head, not understanding this anomaly. "Why...why isn''t my Quirk working on you?" he asks, feeling his Quirk connecting but being shrugged off. "Tch, in what world do you, or anyone else for that matter, ever get to tell me what to do?" Again Brainwashing connects and is shrugged off, "this...this doesn''t make sense, I felt it connect!" Shinso begins panicking. "Did you honestly think your Quirk was invincible?" Horizon asks, a small chuckle leaving his mouth as he shakes his head. "There is no such thing as an invincible Quirk or person, everyone and everything has a weakness...unfortunately for you, the weakness to your Quirk, is me." "Weakness?" Shinso asks, taking a step back in surprise. "Your Quirk operates on a Telepathic foundation, same as Eraser Head, or actual telepathy and body maniption Quirks. Those simply don''t work on me without my permission," Horizon shrugs. "I''ve shrugged off people a hundred times more powerful than you," he recalls Mind-Binder, from the day his parents were taken. "That''s impossible!" Shinso growls out. "Yes, I am impossible, I get that a lot," Horizon gloats. "My Quirk allows me to simply reject Quirks that try to manipte my mind or body, pathetic little things trying to tell me what to do, as if they have any right. See the only boss of me, is me, I simply exist beyond control...so how about you get off my stage, because you''re all out of tricks..." Shinso feels his emotions swelling, being looked down on once again by someone with a more ''heroic'' Quirk, by UA''s new golden boy from the sounds of it. All logic demands he take the opportunity to walk away, escape unharmed, he''s already proven how useful he is by getting past Sero. But he drops into a fighting stance, untrained and sloppy, but determined, gritting his teeth, charging forward. Wanting nothing more than to prove himself, by taking on the top Hero Course student. "Takt," Horizon takes his right hand out of his pocket and flicks his pointer finger toward the sky. One word and no effort seemingly crushes a dream as a thin pir of cement is raised from the ground and quickly ms into Shinso''s torso. Lifting him a few meters in the air, folded over the top of the pir,pletely cked out. "Shinso is out!" Midnight announces, causing the crowd to go wild yet again. "We''ll be taking a five-minute break before the next match to repair the stage!" Cementoss begins walking over to the stage, intent on using his Quirk to safely retrieve Shinso and repair the floor Horizon uprooted. Horizon takes bored steps off the stage, making his way back into the tunnel and to his seat, at least that was his n. He saw Todoroki standing in the tunnel, ready for his match against Kaminari, intending to pass by his ssmate without saying a word. "Wait," Todoroki raises a hand to block Horizon as Cementoss begins working on the stage. "I want to talk to you." "The feeling isn''t mutual---" "It''s about my father," Todoroki says. Horizon decides not to simply push past him or warp away, curious about what he could learn about Endeavor, the only person with perfect Quirk Mastery, to his knowledge atleast. He takes a step away, almost leaning against the opposite wall, hands still in his pockets, "I''m listening..." "I recently became...inspired, by my new friend, to ovee my past." "What?" Todoroki takes a deep breath to calm himself, not quite sure how Deku was able to reach out and help people so easily, but determined to do the same thing for Horizon. "My Quirk, Half-Hot Half-Cold, is the result of a Quirk marriage." "I already knew that," Horizons says. "What?" Todoroki looks shocked, not expecting Deku to b about this. "How?" "Seriously? What are the chances of the most powerful fire Quirk making a kid with a Quirk that perfectlypensates for its weaknesses?" Todoroki nods stiffly, "I see, that makes sense, well. The purpose of all of this, was for me to be a stronger Hero that All Might himself, something my father could never be, so he forced me into that role. He wanted to create the perfect Hero, someone who could do things that nobody else could dream of matching." Horizon nods, prompting Shoto to continue. "Because of this, I''ve been trained since the day I manifested my Quirk, non-stop, relentless, torturous training. Until my mind and body couldn''t take anymore, and he just kept going. Eventually, it became too much, and my mother tried to stop it," Shoto winces at the memory of Endeavor hitting his mom. "Things only got worse from there." "Mhm," Horizon just nods, not really paying much mind to any of this story, simply not seeing how any of this family drama would involve him. Shoto raises a hand to his scar, drawing Horizon''s eyes to it. "The suffering and torment I went through, it left scars that can''t be seen as easily as this one, the kind of things that I''ll be trying to heal for a very long time, on my entire family." He nces to the arena to see the preparations nearplete. "My friend reached out a hand, to help me move forward and heal from my past, so I''d like to be someone that can do that for you, so that we may move forward together, I want to be someone like him..." Horizon blinks a few times,pletely confused but seemingly unaffected from what Shoto could see because of his visor. "What?" "To be as strong as you are, even stronger than me...I can''t imagine the hell and torment you must have endured from your parents, the way you always speak of them harshly training you, since you were very young...I believe you and I are the same, forced to carry out the desires of our cruel and abusive parents...so we can walk forward together. To carve our own path in this world, as heroes." Betraying all the rage and fury Horizon felt, he simply leaned forward and rests a hand on Shoto''s shoulder, "good luck in your match," he says before walking away, leaving Shotopletely confused. Fighting outside of the arena would get him in trouble and put his contract at risk, so he''ll save it for when they fought in the next round. Shoto just frowned, looking at Horizon''s back as he walks away, oblivious to the surgery preparation already happening, to the operation room he was already standing in. "I guess I''m not as good as saving people as you, Midoriya," Shoto mutters as the next match begins... END CHAPTER--- pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene So if you''re surprised that he can just ignore Shinso''s Quirk...he already shrugged off a top 20 hero that was all about telepathy like 6 chapters in, now you know how it works. Chapter 56: (Quarter-Finals) Chapter 56: (Quarter-Finals) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- Standing in one of the bathrooms of the stadium Horizon is leaning forward, both hands down on the counter. This was one of the bathrooms only essible to students on the upper levels, and he was currently using it to get some control of himself. From beneath his visor he stared into the mirror, but instead of seeing the visor starting back. He saw Law Matani, face bare, pacing around shouting and screaming. All the emotions he felt when Todoroki began running his mouth. Insulting his family. Making his insane assumptions. ''He needs to pay,'' the reflection says, his voice in a low growl as it stands in front of the sink, ring at Horizon. ''People need to learn not to make assumptions about our family, not to talk about them...'' "Yeah...I''ll educate him," Horizon says in response, and they both nod at that. Logic and reason gone the moment someone mentions his parents in such a way. "Kaminari is frozen in ce!" Mic''s voice echoes through the halls and into the bathroom. "That means Todoroki advances to the semi-finals, and his next opponent will be Horizon!" Horizon stands up properly, smiling at the announcement, a smile shared by his reflection, his inner voice. "Looks like I''ll get my chance..." he mutters before leaving the room. Normally he''d just warp back to his seat instead of taking the short walk, but at the moment he couldn''t. One of the few times he''s vulnerable is when preparing for an operation, such as right now. Normally he''d be safe in a private room with his patient, make contact once, find what he wants to extract, then gather the energy to make it happen. But this was different, he didn''t have the luxury of keeping in contact with his next patient. He simply had to make contact for barely a few seconds, locate his target, then break contact and begin focusing his energy. And right now he was still entirely focused on Todoroki who was walking through the locker room. Using another technique would disrupt this and restart the process, and he''d rather not take the chance, he also wouldn''t recover any of this spent energy or the sum used to keep open a room that could span nearly half the stadium to keep them both inside it. Most notably thus far he used this technique to extract the drugs from the son of a patient in Dubai. He''s so focused that he doesn''t respond while passing by Tokoyami, just giving his ssmate a polite nod as he heads to his waiting room. And he pays no attention to Iida''s phone conversation, but at a nce he sees tears rolling down the boy''s face, a petrified expression seizing him. Immediately shoving that to the back of his mind, it was simply not his problem. Arriving back to where his ss was seated he stands at the back almost against the wall, noticing Momo and Jiro sitting at the front. Jiro turns around to shoot him a dirty look while Momo doesn''t respond to his return. ''What the hell is her problem?'' he wonders, genuinely not understanding how his words weren''t seen as encouragement. It''s how he''s always been raised to think after all. Horizon remains at the back with his arms folded across his chest, everyone could somehow feel the subtle anger radiating off him, wisely deciding not to bother him for idle chatter. And a momentter Tokoyami and Juzo take the stage. "And now for thest bout of the quarter-finals!" Midnight announces, catching everyone off guard. "Unfortunately Tenya Iida had to leave early for a family emergency, so after this match, Bakugo automatically advances to the next round!" Bakugo gets visibly enraged at that, not having the full challenge he wanted to prove that he''s the undisputed best. Now if he wins people would be able to doubt his victory because of this free pass to the semi-finals. Horizon also sees Deku sitting with Uraraka, she takes out her phone immediately, likely to text Iida. Deku had both his hands in casts, his right arm as well. And both his legs were covered in bandages, along with his torso. ''The pennies are adding up...'' Horizon thinks, noticing the scars and newly crooked fingers on Deku''s right hand as the girl walks past him, phone to her ear to call Iida. "Now onto the match!" Midnight gestures to Tokoyami. "ss 1As dark samurai himself, Tokoyami, and his seemingly invincible Quirk, Dark Shadow! Versus..." she gestures to Juzo. "ss 1Bs leading star, Juzo Honenuki, and his versatile Quirk, Softening! Are you ready?!" Both boys nod, staring nkly at each other. "BEGIN!" "Da--argh!" before Tokoyami can even summon Dark Shadow Juzo ms both palms into the ground, using his super move. "Muddy Swamp!" Juzo yells out. "A super move!" Mic''s shocked voice electrifies the audience. "Looks like the rmended student is here to show out!" Before Tokoyami could even summon his Quirk Juzo had already softened the entire stage, causing the bird boy to sink up to his neck into the softened cement before making it thick enough topletely trap him, exactly like he did to defeat Momo. Juzo pants a few times, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead, still standing ankle-deep on the softened floor. "Done, you''re immobilized!" "ss 1B is here to show out too!" Mic screams, echoed by the crowd. Seeing Tokoyami breaking out into a cold sweat, his expression changing to one of pain and terror in a heartbeat, Midnight moves to end the match. "Tok---" "NO!" Tokoyami interrupts her, drawing all eyes to him as the stadium and Juzo silently wait to see what he does. "Too much Darkness...can''t control... DARK SHADOW! STOP!" The softened cement around Tokoyami ripples, Juzo immediately ms his palms into the floor and hardens it into solid cement once more, trapping Tokoyami and his own ankles in the floor. But Tokoyami keeps struggling, "it''s too much! DARK SHADOW! NO!" The entire arena cracks and begins breaking apart as Juzo looks down horrified, feeling something moving below, shaking the entire stage. "R????????R????????????R??????R?????????R??????????R????A??????A?????A??????A???????R??????G??????G?????????H????????H??????!??????????!????????!?????????!????????" An explosion of cement and dust shakes the entire arena, a gust of wind much smaller than Deku''s finger flicks rushes past the crowd in every direction. The ten-meter-tall outline of Tokoyami''s shadow monster Quirk manifests for all to see, screaming and roaring in a way that made most of the attending Pro Heroes recoil in fear. Blood curling and throats drying up, sweating profusely at the terrifying aura of destructive force. A momentter the dust is cleared up and everyone gets a glimpse at the massive shadow demon before the sunlight beats it back into submission, causing it to shrink back into the docile Dark Shadow. "I''m sorry Fumi," it politely says, shyly kneading its hands together as the boy is on his hands and knees on thepletely destroyed stage trying to catch his break. "Juzo?!" Tokoyami yells, looking around for his opponent, terrified at the idea of hurting him while everyone just stared in shock. Off a fair distance away, he sees the walkway leading to the stage ripple and a handes out, Juzo crawls out as if it were a swimming pool with a small bruise on his face, and stands up. "I''m ok! I softened the ground before I hit!" he announces happily. "That''s one serious Quirk!" "I''ll say," Midnight says, causing all eyes to move to her as she pushes some rubble off herself, pieces of her Hero Costume torn to show off some of the bruises that attack gave her. "Juzo is out of bounds! Tokoyami advances to the next round!" The crowd erupts into cheers, but cutting through it all were the words of Pro Heroes considering everything they just saw. ''Those kids are amazing.'' ''Did you see how strong that bird guy was, I bet he''ll be a top pro once he can control his Quirk.'' ''Yeah no kidding, he''s already stronger than me!'' ''That mud kid was amazing too, his instincts are insane.'' ''And he reacts Quickly too, I guess both sses are good huh, not just 1A.'' ''Yeah well he is a rmended student, what do you really expect?'' the chatter goes on and on and Midnight announces the short intermission for Cementoss to repair the arena...again. ''Strong in darkness and weak in light,'' Horizon thinks as he considers what he just saw. ''Tokoyami said that he''s here to learn to control his Quirk, but from the way he speaks it''s all mental, his Quirk isn''t really the type that you can train to increase the power...so he''s all mastery and equipment to change the variables at y...I wonder if he sleeps with all the light on to----'' "Hey Horizon," Kendo snaps him out of his thoughts by tapping his shoulder, leaning up slightly to get in his face. "Kendo, what''s up?" he asks, putting aside his anger for the moment. "Just here to congratte you, well more like congratte your ss. Juzo was ourst chance to win a medal, but I guess it''s all ss 1A from here," she shrugs. "I guess that''s one way to look at things," he says. "Our four strongest are in the semi-finals, but it looks like I''ll be beating Bakugo in the finals..." "That confident huh." "My Quirk lets me see the future," he says casually. "Really?!" "No, but that''s part of the benefit of my Quirk, yuou''ve got no idea what I can do," he shrugs. Kendo blushes slightly, not from any infatuation at all, but from falling for his simple trick. "Well if you can warp, heal, make electricity, and use Telekinesis...foresight really isn''t that big of a leap in logic." "I suppose that''s a fair conclusion with the information you have, I should get to the waiting room, time for my big debut." "Oh, right, good luck, we''re all rooting for you," she erges her fist to give him a thumbs up. "If I win do I get a giant cookie?" "Well, Yui thinks you''re cool...I think, kinda hard to tell since she doesn''t really talk, but Shiozaki says she thinks that...I''m sure she won''t mind," Kendo says with a slightly nervous smile. "I''ll look forward to it..." Making his way to the temporary locker room ten minutes early Horizon feels his surgery preparationplete, now freeing him up to use other techniques without resetting his progress. Breathing a sigh of relief he no longer feels restricted, always hating that feeling of having limits put on him. Eventually, he rounds the final corner sees the locker room at the end of the hallway, and sees his ideal internship choice standing right in front of it. Too bad it was also the person his parents were assumed to act like. Endeavor turns to look directly at Horizon, seeing the boy walking toward him visor unreadable, and Endeavor''s expression matching it entirely. With mes on his shoulders, boots, arms, and face to form his mask, only leaving his red hair exposed and his body covered by a dark blue skin-tight suit. His hulking 6ft5 -195cm- figure was actually taller than Horizon, if barely. Weighing 260lbs -118kg- of muscle, clearly defined by his body suit, truly an intimidating vision and presence. The man with the world record for incidents resolved, far surpassing even that of All Might, someone so useful that despite his coarse manner of speaking to others he''s still risen to being the number 2 hero. With only pure effort and usefulness...Horizon''s gold standard for heroes. "Horizon," Endeavor says. "Since you''re the boy''s next oppone---" Endeavor suddenly finds himself outside the stadium under a few trees. Warped away without him noticing any movement at all from Horizon. "Tch, that truly is as annoying as I expected..." he mutters while angrily making his way back to the stadium. ''But if anyone can truly push Shoto to his limits...it''s him, his greatest obstacle to be the undisputed strongest hero, Horizon...'' END CHAPTER--- pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene Chapter 57: (Mystery Class Monsters) Chapter 57: (Mystery ss Monsters) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- Standing in the tunnel leading to the arena Todoroki watches the crowd once again lose themselves as Midnight announces his next match. With a sigh he raises his left hand, creating a small flickering me in his palm. "Midoriya... you showed me what it means to be a hero, to help people," he crushes the me in his hand, snuffing it out. "But I don''t know how ready I am to start moving forward, but maybe I can help someone else..." He sees Horizon enter the arena, hands in his pockets, not waving to the audience at all. ''Something is off,'' Shoto realizes, Horizon''s showmanship was suddenly taking a back seat, he was far more serious. After Midnight announces his name Shoto begins slowly walking to the arena, his mind working overtime to go over his n onest time. An exercise in futility. ''Freeze him as fast as possible, if that fails and he summons his sword I can use my heat to disce the Air shes...'' he thinks, keeping it simple and adaptive. "Are both of you ready?" Midnight asks, and neither boy reacts. Horizon just looks down on Shoto, and he looks up at Horizon who was towering over him. Only ten meters between them. But from this far away the presence of Horizon felt more intense, as if he went from being mildly annoyed at everyone to being outright pissed. All for a reason Shoto couldn''t understand. "Uh, ok," Midnight said awkwardly, "BEGIN!" Todoroki immediately lowers his stance, feeling the right side of his body cool down, a thickyer of ice spreads across the arena, cracking and breaking up before reaching Horizon. ''Heaven-Piercing Ice Wall!'' The ice on the floor erupts into a sharp burst of ice thrusting up at Horizon, and the moment it''s about to make contact. SHAMBLES! His vision is suddenly blocked as Horizon appears in front of him, his right hand outstretched already and touching Shoto''s chest. MES! "Hng!" Todoroki stumbles back, vision going blurry for a moment as he drops to one knee, breathing heavily. He looks up, trying and barely forcing himself to stand, seeing Horizon looking down on him with both hands at his sides. Stumbling back one more time Shoto raises his right arm, trying tounch more ice, only for him to feel as if he got the wind knocked out of him. Wincing in pain and nearly doubling over he sees Horizon tilt his head slightly. "My Quirk!" "You really should have kept your mouth shut," Horizon says before stepping forward, connecting a solid right cross to Shoto''s face. His vision goes ck for a moment as he feels his body crumple toward the floor, only for searing pain on his head as Horizon catches him by the hair, holding him up. "Mmm," Todoroki''s words fail, seeing blood dripping from his mouth, three teeth ttered across the floor. "So weak," Horizon says, holding Todoroki by the hair a few inches off the floor, much to the horror of everyone watching. Fighting through the pain Todoroki raises his right hand to Horizon''s face, intent on using his Quirk once more. SHAMBLES! They both appear a few meters away at the ice structure Shoto made, with Horizon mming him into it face first. SHAMBLES! They appear at a different piece of the ice and Horizon smashes his face in one more time. Todoroki hangs limply in his hand, easily getting tossed back to the middle of the arena, rolling a few times before crumpling to the floor, blood running down his face from his mouth and forehead as Horizon walks up to him. Shoto fights through the pain, forcing himself to sit up, looking up at Horizon with confusion and anger, ring as best he can with a bloody face. Midnight raises a hand to her earpiece as Horizon casually walks over to Shoto, "Nezu, he''s gonna kill him," she mutters. "No he won''t," Nezu says. "He''s being a bit rougher than usual, clearly something is off, but he won''t kill him. The risk isn''t worth it." ''What the hell does that mean,'' Midnight wonders, seeing Horizon standing above Shoto. ''So he won''t kill him because of the risk instead of because it would be the wrong thing to do...not much of a hero.'' Shoto once again fruitlessly thrusts his hand forward, this time his left hand, trying desperately to make a me so Horizon would have to back away, adrenaline and fear gripping his heart and mind as nothing happens. And in response Horizon only tilts his head, hearing the audience murmuring, trying to figure out what happened. "You still haven''t realized? Your Quirk doesn''t work anymore." "Hngh?" Todoroki''s swollen and bloody mouth can''t even form words, but the audience echoes his confusion. Horizon sighs, deciding to start his big debut scene now, he can already hear the people all around the world constantly screaming his name, and he''d get to teach Todoroki never to talk about his family again... "Your Quirk has three simple weaknesses," Horizons says. "Overuse your right side and you get frostbite, left side leads to heat exhaustion...but even if you could perfectly control them, you still need stamina. All I did was remove the source of your stamina, and without it, your body won''t allow you to activate that Quirk, no matter how badly you want it." Todoroki looks up at him, not understanding what he meant at all, then stares down at his hands, currently kneeling before Horizon. Trying and failing to create fire or ice. "Here, let me show you," Horizon holds out a hand, and in it appears a beating heart, red and healthy, preserved in a jelly-like clear cube. "Your stamina engine..." Todoroki''s heavybored breathing suddenly bes desperate panicked pants. Sweating profusely as he grips his chest, tearing at his shirt and undershirt. His body and mind flooded with panic and fear. All while some of the audience reel back in horror or lose their lunch. "IS THAT HIS FREAKING HEART?!" Mic screams, followed by terrified murmurs all around the stadium. A momentter Shoto rips open his top, exposing his creamy skin, well-defined abs, and a square hole in the middle of his chest where his heart should be. Hepletely freezes, looking into his own body. Even more people lose their lunch as the cameras focus on him and the beating heart in Horizon''s hand. "Don''t worry, you''ll be fine unless something happens to this," Horizon gestures to the heart, then give it a light squeeze. "Arrngh!" Shoto screams out, clutching his hollow chest and doubling over. "Oh don''t be such a baby, I barely touched it," Horizon scoffs. Todoroki reaches up, still in immense pain he desperately reaches for his heart, only for Horizon to take one step back taunting him. "This should teach you never to talk about my family," Horizon says, clear for everyone to hear him. He raises his free hand, summoning his sword to his palm, and immediately swings down. "NO!" Midnight rips her costume, releasing a pink mist. But he''d already shed Shoto, shing his head diagonally, seemingly killing him. Everyone reels back in horror but Horizon dodges Midnight''s whip before warping away, just in time to avoid Cementoss''s cement attack, a wave of the substance trying to swallow him. "HE''S NOT DEAD!" Horizon yells, causing both Pros to freeze, still ring at him, but their eyes flicker off to the side for a moment. They see Todoroki cut into two pieces on the floor, his arm reaching out randomly, confused and dizzy. And Endeavor is already kneeling beside him, not sure if he should reach out and help or just wait, frozen in fear and confusion, all his mes currently shut off as his world crumbles apart. Midnight is the first in the arena to snap to her senses, everyone else still staring in shock, "HORIZON! This must be one of your Quirks, start exining or you''re disqualified!" she says, ignoring whatever interests Nezu had in the boy. Unable to stand by as someone possibly kills one of her students. Horizon straightens up, still surrounded by the pink mist she was emitting, her Quirk, Somnambulist, a powerful sleeping agent that''s even more potent against men. "Quirk, singr," he says, straightening up and summoning his scabbard onto the de, holding his sword in his left hand and Shoto''s heart in his right as he makes his grand reveal." "My Quirk gives me multiple abilities, each capable of being a powerful Quirk on their own," he looks at the surprised faces of the crowd, until now many people either didn''t bother trying to solve his Quirk or assumed it was some sort of spacial control ability. "Obviously, everyone has seen my warping," he shrugs. "And you all know about my healing, but.. AMPUTATE, those are my ranged shes," he lifts his sword to draw their eyes to it. "A lot of range and they divide things as they are, oveing feeble things like resistance and materialposition, if it exists, I can divide it." "We thought those were Air sh," Midnight says. "And now you know better, I simply cut reality," he says with a humourous tone, as if suppressing a giggle at all the surprised faces. "Any living thing I cut with the ranged shes is harmlessly divided of course, "he raises the beating heart. "Next I suppose is Counter-Shock, it lets me generate electricity. Takt, again, not Telekinesis, I just order the world to move and it obeys. Booster-Shot, temporary surge in physical strength. Injection-Shot, invisible bullets that also ignore defenses, they only do internal damage... And a few other things I''ll keep up my sleeve, but that''s all everyone has seen me use today, you''ll have to keep watching for more," he says casually, enjoying all the murmuring from the crowd. "What kind of Quirk is that?" Midnight asks, both intrigued and wary of him, no longer sure if he was even human. "A virtually endless bag of tricks, the ability to manipte the world around me in whatever way I desire, that''s the power of my Quirk, HAND OF GOD!" He boldly announces. "Japan''s first, and the world''s second...Mystery ss Quirk!" For a long moment, everyone is so surprised that they''re silent. Then realization hits. They have a Mystery ss Quirk. A superhuman prodiy at UA. Training to protect them. To be a hero and fight for them. They have a new top-tier hero right in front of them. And the crowd goes absolutely wild, screaming and cheering to the point that Horizon felt as if they were trying to rupture his eardrums. "Oh, and one more thing," he makes a show of taking a deep breath, pulling in as much of Midnight''s sleeping gas as possible before breathing out, and everyone gets quiet to listen in, excited to learn more about their future superhero. "Mortal ailments and diseases don''t really work on me because...well, you get it, right?" he asks jokingly, seeing Midnight just nkly staring at him as he shrugs off her Quirk. "But hey, at least you smell good." She blushes slightly at that but quickly looks unamused as he walks over to Shoto and Endeavor. "You can have this back," he says to them, tossing the heart down at Shoto only for Endeavor to quickly react, snapping out of his trance and gently catching it. "Next time he runs his mouth about my family I won''t be putting him back together for you." Horizon snaps his fingers, and Shoto''s pieces flicker about for a moment before he appears perfectly assembled on the floor in front of his dad,pletely unconscious from the shock of being divided and the heart attack. "Todoroki is unable to battle, Horizon wins," Midnight announces in a confused and worried voice, immediately running over to Shoto and calling some medical robots to help her. Endeavor barely snaps out of his stupor as the robots arrive with a stretcher, and by the time he looks across the arena, Horizon is long gone. Another person he was destined to y second ce to suddenly appeared... Sitting in the locker room Horizon idly scrolls through his ''Yay!'' page, watching his follower count climb to twenty million as his name is trending. His mind no longer as angry now that''s he''s pped Todoroki around a bit... ---Kamino Ward, Tokyo, Japan... Sitting in hisrge chair All For One mutes Shigaraki''s video call and turns to doctor Garaki who sat beside him, narrating the action of what happens on screen since All For One had no eyes, only ''seeing'' with infrared. While Shigaraki was ranting about how unfair it is for the heroes to have that cheat code called Horizon, the adults decided to have a constructive conversation. "A Mystery ss Quirk," Garaki says. "To think a third would appear so early, and within our very own borders..." "Hmm, but this is also problematic, Nezu has him in that fortress six days a week," All For One says. "We can''t get to him in there unless I go in person, even if we send Gigantomachi he can''t capture someone who will warp away." "Neither can you, at least not yet," Garaki says. "Mmm, my sources within the Hero Commission are slow but useful, apparently Nezu kept his information from them as well." "But even if that n works, is engaging him truly wise?" Garaki asks. "Mystery ss Quirks are head and shoulders above all others, that was the reason we sent Arsenal to kill that girl all those years ago in America...too bad her sister also had the same Quirk,that damn Star and Stripe..." "Yes but this time I''m sure we can have some leverage to bring him to us, and I''ll be using Shake Down." "That will kill you!" Garaki yells. "Rx doctor," All For One chuckles at his friend''s worry. "I won''t be using it directly, we''ll ce it in a Nomu." "Hmm, I won''t have enough time to clone it in that case with the amount of Nomus we''re currently making, but I suppose with a Quirk like that you only need one use." "Precisely, we simply need to wait for our spies to do their job..." All For One then unmutes Shigaraki''s screen and the incessant rambling about the unfairness of this whole situation continues, causing both men to groan in annoyance. Since the appearance of this new walking miracle, All For One couldn''t care any less for his apprentice, now only keeping him around to hurt All Might. Both he and doctor Garaki were counting down the days until they could dispose of him... ---Off The Coast Of New York... Standing atop a next-gen X ss fighter jet America''s number 1 hero stands tall, moving 3000 kilometers per hour, the wind blowing her long blonde hair. Standing at 6ft4 -193cm-, the same height as Law, but slightly more muscr. Her entire costume is styled like an American g, her cape made of red and white stripes, long and flowing. Blonde hair modeled after All Might''s. And the entire skin-tight suit is red and blue with the same stripes as her cape mixed in. Metal bracing around her midsection and shoulders purely for aesthetics. Smiling proudly, Star and Stripe, America''s number 1 hero, and currently the single most powerful person in the world. Casually walking across the hull of the ck jet under her feet, as if it weren''t even moving, Star makes her way to the front and leans forward, looking through the ss to wave at the pilot. Inside she sees a brown-skinned man seemingly made of rock, average height and build but shaped strangely, with a bushy white mustache, hand on the flight juke controlling the aircraft. "How is the sports festival going?" Star asksmander Agpar. "The first semi-final match is starting," he says. "It''s Endeavors son against that Horizon kid." "Did All Might make an appearance yet?" Star asks, her inner fanboying out. "How about we deal with this nuke then you can watch it yourself, he''ll probably only show up for the medal ceremo---" they''re both cut off by a beeping in their ears. Star immediately stands upright atop the ne and folds her arms across her chest, focusing her eyes to see kilometers away. "It''s on the radar now, get ready," Agpar says. "Yeah, I can see it," she says. "Fly directly into the nuke, let''s make this quick so I don''t miss All Might''s appearance, you keep an eye on the tournament for me..." "Damn Evolutionists," Agpar grumbles. "If we could just bait out their leaders we''d be able to lock them all up, bunch of cowards won''t show up as long as you''re in America..." "Can''t me them," Star chuckles, "I''m the strongest woman in the world..." They both immediately notice the dot on the horizon, the nuclear missile heading directly for Manhattan, powerful enough to crater the entire ind. After Agpar sets them on a collision course he turns back to his phone, watching the sports festival live as Star deals with the nuke, there couldn''t a more rxed duo in the face of a superweapon. As the missile gets close enough Star activates her own Myster ss Quirk. "NEW ORDER: The Atmosphere around me will gather and materialize into an avatar of me, one thousand times my size!" Star decrees, and her Quirk makes it so. Around and behind her the air gets heavy, invisible to the naked eye but to her, she saw a naked version of herself, a colossus of solid air with the jet at the waist. Smiling fearlessly as the missile gets closer. She throws a quick jab, and the avatar does the same, making contact head-on with the missile and detonating it a kilometer away. Star and Agpar fly directly toward it, not that they had a choice with the jet already being inside the 10km st radius, 2310 technology truly is noughing matter after all. With a thought she deactivates her order, and the avatar immediately disappears. She extends her right arm forward after quickly moving to stand at the very nose of the ne, making sure the st wave would hit her before the ne. "NEW ORDER: The nuclear explosion and connected shockwave willpress into a spear for me to throw!" The moment the shockwave touches her hand, exactly what she said urs. New Order, the Mystery ss Quirk, bestowing the wielder with the voice of god. Allowing her to speak and bend reality, with limitations of course. Amon trend between the two Quirks of this ss to exist. While Hand Of God makes the user act as god, imposing their will on the world with them standing at the center of their universe, this simply allows the user to be the voice of god, imposing their will on reality through words. While Hand Of God has much less limits after an ability is created, New Order allows its user to effectively change the world at will, but the trade is that New Order has many more requirements for activation. But Hand Of God has clear limits in itself. Such as the way it can only exert that much will onto other living beings. Making Law unable to simply grab people and toss them around while alive. Or the fact that every time Law uses Shambles he first locates the object or person within his room, the more focus and energy he takes to perform an in-depth SCAN of the area the faster he will run out of stamina. It is for this reason he doesn''t simply use dust particles to warp about, as focusing on them wouldpletely drain him after two or three warps at best. Anything an average human would be able to see and hold is many orders of magnitude easier and more energy efficient. But neither Hand of God nor New Order can do truly anything, simply because God cannot tamper with free will. If these truths were made public, the ssification would almost unanimously change from Mystery ss to Divine ss. So it''s to the surprise of no one when the nuclear explosionpresses into a spear shorter than Star herself. Holding the red spear of energy and force in her grasp, Star rears back her arm and puts her back into a throw. With her immense physical power, currently, the strongest on the. Combined with the weightless nature of the spear itself, the clouds above them shatter as a red trailing beam is left in the wake of her throw. Saving millions of lives and doing more than most of the world''s heroes can, with two simplemands...the strength of Mastery Level 80, Mystery ss Quirk. One-VS-One,pared to every otherbatant on the, at least in their current state, Star and Stripe is entirely invincible, she simply will not lose. Agpar simply sits back and continues watching the sports festival, even as a beam of red energy rockets toward the sky and pierces the outer atmosphere. Sending the nuclear st safely into space. "Uh...Star," Agpar says, a hint of concern in his voice. "I''m changing our route to Washington DC." "Huh, what''s going on, did President Harrison call?" "No, but he will...apparently his doctor is Japan''s new rising star." Star chuckles at that, "that Horizon kid, not surprising since he can warp." "Yeah, not just warp...looks like you aren''t the only Mystery ss anymore..." Star''s smile falters as she stands with her arms folded, raising a finger to tap her chin as she considers what this may mean for them and the world. Then her smile returns. "Well then, I can''t wait to meet him..." END CHAPTER--- For anyone wondering, if Star fought Horizon to the death as they are currently...he has almost no chance of surviving. Been waiting for weeks for ya''ll to get to this chapter :) Chapter 58: A/N Chapter 58: A/N Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene Wow, thatst chapter was definitely my favorite at the time of writing it. This author''s note is just a small update. Previously chapters would state that you could get up to 5 chapters ahead on my pa.treon. This is no longer the case and therefore that will be changed moving forward. The tiers have been adjusted and the highest tier will give unlimited ess to my edited stockpile of chapters. Currently, that means ess all the way up to chapter 80, that''s 1.5 months ahead. Anyway, that''s all for this announcement, feel free toment anything you want to tell me here or join the discord so we can chat. And I hope you''re enjoying the story :) Chapter 59: (Invaluable Resource) Chapter 59: (Invaluable Resource) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- Sitting in the waiting room Horzion is leaning back in a metal chair by the wooden table, lockers and benches on either side of him as he taps his fingers on the surface. In front of him was his phone, face up showing his profile, the follower count now breaking past 50 million. He didn''t bother returning to the stands after his match, Tokoyami was already in the tunnel by the time he defeated Todoroki, so he simply warped back into the waiting room. Currently, Cementoss was still fixing the arena, but the world was already reacting. "900 Million, that''s the goal," he mutters to himself, seeing the follower count begin to teau. "If I can get to All Might''s follower count then I know I''m in a spotparable to the best hero in history...that''ll give me all the leverage I need..." His n was simple, for most it would be impossible, but for him, it was a set of basic steps that pose barely any challenge. First, he would need to make his grand debut, which he did against Todoroki. Albeit a bit angrier than he intended. Now the entire world knows he''s a Mystery ss, everyone will want to have him on their side, assuming they didn''t already want him as a miracle doctor. His following and influence would immediately balloon, which he can easily track as online followers for a simple metric, keeping the goal to surpass All Might in influence and reach simple. Next, he simply has to finish up his match against Bakugo and win this tournament, proving he''s a truly peerless student with unfathomable potential. After a few simple months, he''d get his provisional license and start doing actual hero work to continue growing, and if things go as nned he''ll enter the top 10 Pro Hero Ranking the minute he graduates. "Then a few more years of this hero crap...and by that time All Might will be retired or dead, so naturally people will look to me as his next recement, and I''ll be their perfect Symbol of Peace until I get what I want..." He smiles at the thought of that, having the entire country, maybe the entire world groveling at his feet. He''d finally be able to fix his mistake and bring his family back together. Then they''d never have to set foot in Japan again. CLICK! Horizon looks up to see Nezu entering the room, his tablet held under his arm as he reaches up to lock the door behind himself. "Here to congratte me?" he asks jokingly. "I never doubted you, but you were a bit rougher than expected," Nezu says while taking a seat beside Horizon, cing his tablet on the table and taking out his phone as well. "You knocked out some of his teeth, not to mention the things you did with your Quirk." "I barely touched him, he''ll get over it," Horizon scoffs. Nezu just sighs and shakes his head, not at all surprised by this response. "And yet he''s still in shockying in the infirmary," Nezu shakes his head. "Anyway, you said that he mentioned your parents, I assume what he said couldn''t have been good. But I never expected behavior like that from Todoroki." "He made assumptions and tried meddling where he shouldn''t, he won''t make that mistake again, and now everyone else knows not to do the same," Horizon growls out. "And what did he---" "I''m done talking about this." Nezu bites his tongue and just nods, "understood." After a long pause, he realizes Horizon was in a bad mood from simply recalling whatever Todoroki said and decides to change the subject. "Aren''t you going to ask why I''m here?" "No, but you''ll tell me anyway." "Fair enough, so, you sh...reality?" "That''s one way to put it yes, it ignores all defense and materialposition, can even sh Warp Gate to make them copse." "But you couldn''t just dice up the USJ Nomu because?" "Super-Regeneration, it acts like stitches pulling the parts back together, I don''t think all will be that fast, but for that one it was. It''s like since the Nomu is so full of energy and reactive stem cells they start growing to reach out and reconnect, even if I don''t technically hurt them..." "I see, and I assume the Injection-Shot bullets operate the same, but they somehow do real internal damage." "Pretty much." Nezu sits back in his chair just taking in the power of his Quirk, understanding that there was still so much he didn''t know, and would certainly never be allowed to know. By definition Mystery ss Quirks are beyond human and scientificprehension, he knew no matter how hard he tries, and how much time he has, without Law exining it he''d never get any closer to figuring it out. "I assume you''re banning my sword," Horizon says. "Oh most definitely, many people were concerned seeing a student cut into pieces, and the morality of removing a person''s heart is still being questioned." "It''s not like it killed him," Horizon shrugs. "Well Pantu already called me the moment you made the reveal, she''ll be calling back any minute now to discuss the contract we all agreed to." Hearing that Horizon sits up, "is she trying to change it?" "She didn''t say, but I decided no matter what she wants everyone who signed it should be in agreement...seeing as we all have much to lose and gain from it." "Mhm," Horizon just nods and leans back, trying to clear his mind. Not even a minuteter Nezu''s phone rings, he immediately answers and puts it on speaker, resting it on the table between them. "You''re on speaker," Nezu says. "Only Horizon and I are here..." ''President Pantu'' was the name on the screen, the head of Japan''s Hero Public Safety Commission. "Good," her calm and feminine voice flows through the phone. "Let''s skip the pleasantries, I just got off the phone with a lot of very powerful people, they don''t want Horizon taking the hero route." Nezu doesn''t react, expecting this oue, simply nodding along. "Because they want to keep their potential miracle elixir safe?" "Essentially yes, people aren''tfortable with the man that can cure and heal any non-gic disorder putting himself in danger like amon hero, he''s been deemed an Invaluable Resource, a ss zero security case." "What?" Horizon asks, not understanding what that means. "That ssification list was created by the United Nations," Nezu says. "Until now the only ss zero was me, people deemed too valuable to mankind to allow any risk in insuring their safety, that''s why UA is able to be an armed fortress in such a restrictive nation like Japan." "That''s putting it lightly," Pantu says. "UA is all but its own sovereign nation, I can''t even send officials on campus without presidential approval. Not to mention any action Japan takes against UA needs United Nations approval, plus every other country wants Nezu to live in their borders..." "Ok, so what does this mean for me?" Horizon asks. "Whatever you want," Pantu says. "Money, influence,nd, we''ll get you whatever you want, and provide full-time 24-hour security, not that you need it. But we can''t take the risk of losing you." "What about my parents? I don''t alter or renegotiate contracts, and I definitely never ever break them, if I change anything then I want them out," Horizon was a hair away from angrily growling out those words. Even now the idea of notpleting a contract as he agreed to made him sick. "They can''t just be let out that easily," Pantu says. "Look, you''re mom killed a lot of powerful people, and a lot of people between her and her targets got killed too. She was the most effective killer in the world and everyone knows that, which means all the powerful people in every country in the world want her locked up, forever, because she is one of the few people who could kill most of them. If we let someone like that out with any kind of deal suddenly big countries andpanies stop trading with Japan, or start pressuring us in other ways." "How bad is it? And how soon can they get out?" Horizon asks. "It''ll be at least a few more years," Pantu says. "And as for how badly...well thest time you spoke to them I had them moved into solitary and they''ll be there until release. A lot of powerful people were lobbying for immediate execution but I sold them a story about getting intel from them to buy time. They''ve been in solitary since Christmas." Horizon sits back for a moment and considers his options, then decides to just test the waters a bit. "OK, and if I drop out of UA and take the safe life, what''s the deal to get them out?" "Uncertain, I''d have to move some things around." "Mmmm, don''t like that," Horizon says, tapping the table a few times. "Guess I''m staying in the Hero Course." "But the risk---" "Is fine," he cuts her off. "See I''m gonna be Japan''s greatest SUPER-Hero, unrivaled. I''ll fulfill the contract the three of us agreed to in a few years, then you do your part and get them out of Tartarus, because otherwise, things get messy." "Are you threatening a government official?" Pantu could hardly believe what she was hearing. "No no no, that''s not very heroic at all...but. If say, you break the contract, or try some underhanded government bullshit to stop me from being a hero, or I so much as sense any foul y, this story goes from me being a hero to protect all the idiots that can''t defend themselves...to everyone counting how many people...and heroes...and cities...get between me, and you, and I just don''t think you have enough." A pregnable silence fills to room, the air tense in anticipation of Pantu''s response, until a soft and defeated sigh sounds through the phone, "alright," she says. "I''ll try to get them out before approaching you again with this offer. I technically don''t have any legal grounds to stop you from being a hero so this was all a matter of your choice anyway, not that any legal red tape would work with Nezu in your corner." "Very true," Nezu says. "Look on the bright side of things," Horizon says to her. "You''ll get an unbeatable super-hero, Nezu gets his new Symbol of Peace, and I get my parents back, you keep your end of the deal and everyone wins, simple." "I''ll take care of it," Pantu says. "I suppose the only thing left is to congratte you on winning the sports festival." "The first step to being your next Symbol of Peace," Horizon says jokingly. "Right..." she abruptly hangs up. "So did that go how you expected?" Horizon asks Nezu. "Entirely." He looks at Nezu skeptically, "you really predicted that even being a miracle elixir isn''t enough to get my parents out? Really?" "Of course," Nezu says. "Humans at their core are fragile and scared creatures, for most of the powerful people that could sway such a decision releasing the best contract killer in history, the person most likely to eliminate them or their families...simply isn''t worth protecting a miracle elixir that they''d likely never need or use for themselves or their loved ones." "I see, because people never think bad things will happen to them. They never think they''ll be the one to get sick...just like those idiots who run around ying hero never think they''ll be the one to have a viin track them back to their family..." "Sadly that is the nature of being human, you all think you''re so special and unique, and that very fact makes you all the same." "Is that how you think I view things?" Horizon asks, a soft curiosity in his voice. Nezu looks at him a bit surprised, "is that not how you see yourself? Special and unique, unlike anyone else, I figured that''s why you''re so harsh on others." "It''s...it''s not that simple." "We''ve got some time," Nezu says, gesturing to the screen in the corner showing the stage now about to bepletely repaired. Horizon thinks about his words for a moment then speaks, his voice taking a softer and kinder tone, an almost startling change from his blunt and abrasive way of speaking. "When I was a kid," he says. "When I first asked my parents to teach me, medicine, fighting, this was even before I knew how to use my Quirk, they never held back. It was tough, but I did it, because it''s what''s expected of me. Push me, break me, watch me fall, and just wait as I pick myself back up, over and over and over. It taught me a lot, and they taught me a lot. I knew I was different, smarter, stronger Quirk, just better than anyone else. But it wasn''t enough, I had to train and study every day for years, until I figured out what it means to be truly perfect. The world doesn''t slow down for you to learn, so I had to learn fast or deal with the pain of failure, and there was a lot of pain...but it made me stronger. It made me the culmination of everything they are in my own ways, and I couldn''t be happier to be who I am now, I just wish they were here with me to see it. Buting to this ce, honestly. I don''t expect anyone to ever match me, no Pro, no ssmate. But I despise people who clearly aren''t trying hard enough to live up to their full potential. I don''t care if they want to live a life of mediocrity, but I''ve worked too hard and sacrificed too much for them to think they''re my equal or evenparable just because they''re a Pro or in my ss. And I especially don''t like when they think we''re the same. We just aren''t the same. People who never try to be more than they currently are, than the world tells them they are... those people don''t deserve to ever stand beside me, and sadly almost everyone I''ve met here is doing exactly that. But at least most of them know their ce by now. As for things like Quirks, since we''re training to be heroes it matters a lot, some are just so obsolete that they should never have gotten this far. But once a Quirk can be truly useful I don''t really care so long as the user has decent Mastery of it. But some people are just so pathetic...ten years with a Quirk yet you still break your arm to throw a punch, or can only control half the Quirk, or don''t even know what your Quirk actually does. I''m stuck in a ssroom with that after all I''ve done...and you expect me to just y nice, really?" "I see," Nezu nods solemnly, taking a moment to consider everything he just heard. Now gaining a deeper understanding of how Horizon thinks. "So you don''t like when people think they are your equal, without living their life always giving their all, constantly going Plus Ultra..." "Not Plus Ultra," Horizon says. "That means to go beyond your limits, I have no limits, I just am. But the point is they just don''t try hard enough..." ''A massive ego,'' Nezu thinks. ''Powered by years of hard work, boosted to absurd levels by his superhuman talent, and all bnced by apathy toward anyone or thing not relevant to him...a dangerous sociopathicbination, especially with such a powerful Quirk...'' "Well this certainly taught me a lot," Nezu says happily, hopping down from his chair. "Like what?" Horizon asks. "Well...the only time you ever speak with such care and love in your voice, is when you speak about your parents. I think that''s the most important thing to take away from this, now I''ll let you get ready for your next match," he gestures to the screen in the corner. Turning to it Horizon sees Tokoyami pinned down by Bakugo, a constantly exploding palm held close to Dark Shadow like a shlight. "Guess its time to wrap this up..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 60: (Foundational Difference) Chapter 60: (Foundational Difference) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- Watching Horizon walk onto the stage, back to his showmanship, waving at the adoring crowd, Bakugo can''t help but feel his adrenaline start pumping. His breath became hitched, standing in the entrance tunnel hidden away for a few seconds longer he walks over to the wall and ces his forehead against the cool concrete wall. Feeling his palms already sweating he squeezes his eyes shut, pushing the doubt and anxiety down, like he''d done so many times when thinking about Horizon. The seemingly invincible wall standing between him, and the person he always thought he was. "Katsuki Bakugo!" Midnight announces, and he immediately scowls and begins walking out. The entire world watching him, everyone expecting him to lose, already counting him out. The doubts from the crowd reaches his ears, breaking his heart but making his blood boil. ''Why are they even having another fight?'' ''He''s Mystery ss, that''s unfair.'' ''If Endeavor''s son lost this isn''t fair.'' ''Won''t he just cut this kid in half?'' His rage just kept building and building, but in the back of his mind, a small voice couldn''t help but agree with everything they said. Before he knew it Horizon was standing in front of him, towering over him as always. To his eyes it was as if Horizon blocked out the sun, the same feeling he got when standing in front of All Might. But this was different, this time the monster wasn''t trying to protect him, it was staring down at him. Ready and willing to crush him. Burying those feeling Bakguo res at Horizon''s visor, ignoring Midnight''s hype-building speech for the finals. "Bring out the sword," he demands, earning a confused head tilt from Horizon. "It got banned," Horizon shrugs. "Some crap about cutting people up isn''t a good look." "If you don''t have it, then how am I supposed to count this as a real victory?!" Bakugo screams. "You need to be at your best!" "I''ve still got more than enough to deal with someone at your level," Horizon says calmly, taking his hands out of his pockets and letting electricity crackle, jumping between his palms. "Just takes one touch and you''re done." "Counter Shock," Bakguo growls out, now even warier of Horizon''s touch, but his n doesn''t change. st Horizon to hell and don''t let him touch you. "BEGIN!" Bakguo immediately rockets forward, clearing the ten meters between them and cing his palm in front of Horizon''s chest, a meter of space between them. In the same instant Horizon had warped one of his cards to him and threw it past Bakugo. ''He''s gonna swap and appear behind me!'' Bakugo nts both his feet on the floor, one hand out in each direction. sting both his sides at once. BOOM! Light and smoke block his vision as both angles are sted. "You know I have more cards right?" Horizon''s amused voice asks from behind him. Bakugo immediately spins around andunches into another attack. BOOM! This time his eyes open in horror. Dreams and ego arepletely crushed in one instant as Horizon''s massive hand palms the back of his skull. Reacting quickly he uses an explosion to spin himself, jumping up andunching a roundhouse kick to the side of Horizon''s head. He can''t even feel the material of Horizon''s visor before the man is swapped out with a metal calling card. This pattern goes on for a dozen explosions, Horizon always warping away at the veryst moment. Until seemingly Bakguo gets lucky. His bare explosive palm makes contact directly with Horizon''s visor. Palming his entire face. The entire audience is shocked, surprised this would even happen, and Bakguo''s smile nearly rips his face open as he finally sees victory. ''I''ll blow that damn fish bowl to hell!'' BOOM! Bakguo''s suddenly looking at the arena, seeing all the cracks and pebbles caused by his own explosions. Nothing and nobody in his way as searing pain burns through his clothes and scorches his back. His own explosion ragdolling him across the concrete and leaving him crumpled in a heap. "Damn it!" Bakugo punches the concrete and forces himself to stand, bloody knuckles dripping on the arena as he res at Horizon. And still, Horizon waspletely untouched. ''I was touching him and he still dodged it...that shouldn''t be possible!'' Not even the visor was slightly singed. "He baited me into hurting myself," Bakugo mutters, feeling his arms nearly numb from the constant fighting. "You know I really wasn''t kidding when I said none of you can eveny a scratch on me," Horizon says jokingly. "You just aren''t enough." Bakugo growls loudly, rushing Horizon like a desperate animal. ''I just need time, keep him cocky so he doesn''t get bored and end the fight, keep him talking so my arms can rest, then I''ll st this whole damn stage away!'' Surprising everyone Horizon takes a casual fighting stance, keeping one hand in front of him and the other hanging at his side, an open palm taunting Bakugo. Bakugo''s strikes were fast. Heavy hits. Each kick was parried by the most casual of motions. Each punch was easily blocked by Horizon''srger and faster physicality. For an entire minute, this cycle continues. No matter how hard Bakguo fought he couldn''tnd a single hit. ''So he''s even a monster without his Quirk!'' everyone quickly realized. Not knowing he was trained by one of the best technical fighters in the world. But improvement is the standard at UA, and heated battles bring up a swell of desire that forces improvement. Bakugo''s mind seemed to settle, his movements less primal and more fluid. His attacks harder, his strikes faster. His eyes could suddenly better interpret what he was seeing. With one of the most intuitivebat minds in the world, he began putting the pieces together. It didn''t make sense at first, not until he punched up at Horizon''s visor, causing the man to swat it away and just touch Bakguo''s face before retracting his hand. Proving for what must have been the 20th time in this fight that he can win whenever he wants, pissing Bakugo off even more. But that punch was just a distraction. A showy strike sure to fail against someone of this level. All for Bakguo to test his theory and kick with as little motion as possibly toward Horizon''s shin. But Horizon dodges it, casually moving his foot out of the way...before Bakguo made any real noticeable motion forward. Bakugo immediately leaps backward, heels knocking away the pebbles on the stage, each one a win condition if Horizon decided to put an end to this match, a reminder that he was just ying with Bakguo...all while Bakguo was giving more than he had ever before. "What''s wrong?" Horizon asks, his tone casual even as Bakugo was panting heavily and covered in sweat, still feeling the searing pain on his back. Bakugo smiles victoriously, "I figured it out!" His words confuse everyone watching, the entire world excited to hear whatever grand reveal he had. "Figured what out?" "How you do it, how you always warp to the perfect ce, how you always know what to do, how you dodge every hit no matter how sneaky it is! All of it!" Horizon raises a brow beneath his visor, curious and amused, knowing Bakguo can never have figured out his ROOM. "Alright, enlighten me," he says jokingly, cing both hands in his pocket as Bakugo takes a few deep breaths. "Foresight!" Bakugo decrees. "Foresight?" "It''s how you do it," Bakguo says. "You couldn''t have dodged everything naturally, and myst attack was a feint to set up a kick...a kick I didn''t even get to throw because you dodged before my leg really got moving...that''s only possible if you can see the future." The entire stadium is silent, staring at Horizon. Minor time maniption Quirks aren''t as rare as warping or healing, but they are usually useless. Gathering and controlling Cronons -the identified time particles, discovered two centuries ago-, most Quirks just used it to slow the time of small objects, Foresight is an anomaly in itself. "I see," Horizon says, looking around at all the amazed and excited faces. "Well seeing the future is the best way to justify what I did... but that''s not one of my abilities." "What?" Bakugo looked dumbstruck. Horizon taps the side of his visor, drawing all eyes to his head, "it''s my brain...genius. In this world my brain is second only to Nezu himself, but while all his processing power is good for science and management...I''ve got a lot less than him, in exchange for having a really good brain for battle. Inbat like this where it''s just me and you, I can monitor every move your body makes, even the smallest millimeter of movement is noticeable to me. And since I process info faster...I effectively transfer all that intake into my head, and use my perfect reaction time to move. Get it? I can''t see the future, I just start moving after you, and your brain is so slow it looks like I moved first," he shrugs. "A decade of training with mom made me really damn good at closebat like this." Bakguo''s veins bulge, "so you''re such a damn nerd that you fight better than us too!" "Uh...sure?" "This...this isn''t right," Bakugo mutters. "This isn''t how heroes fight!" "Oh god, it''s gonna cry," Horizon mutters out in disgust, shaking his head in disappointment. "Are your arms rested enough yet? Just do your final attack and let''s wrap this up," he says in a bored tone. "You...you knew, and you still let my arms recover? Why?" "Because it doesn''t really matter in the end. How hard you, or any hero or viin fights, it''s all futile in the end," Horizon spreads his arms, riling up the audience. "Because I am here..." "RAARRRGGHHH!!!" Bakugo rockets into the air, carried by explosions. Instantly enraged like never before, hearing Horizon of all people use All Might''s line, and the entire crowd cheering for him. Cheering for the next Symbol of Peace. Bakugo puts everything into his next attack, soaring thirty meters above the arena before rocketing down. Using his explosions to spin himself like a top, forming a twister of smoke around him as he gathers as much air as possible to make the explosion hit that much harder, all while keeping his eyes on Horizon, standing casually in the middle of the arena. As he''s only five meters away he flips in the air, risking everything and mming both his palms down at Horizon. "HOWITZER GRAND IMPACT!" BOOM! The entire stadium and the surroundingnd are rocked as if an earthquake hit. Midnight and Cementoss are blown away as the deafening explosion rings out, mming them against the far wall of the arena. Cementoss barely softens the wall in time to catch them and prevent any damage. And as the dust clears, everyone sees the absolute carnage caused by the attack. Bakugo was kneeling in the middle of the crater, the entire stagepletely dug out, rubble and dirt scattered against the far walls. A hole two meters deep at its lowers point. He''s on his knees, sitting up, hands hanging limply at his side. Bloody and broken, all purple-ck and swollen, His entire shirt and much of his pants destroyed, leaving scorch marks across his body, and his head swaying left and right, barely staying conscious as the adrenaline starts to fade. "Wow, that''s a lot better than I expected," Horizon''s voice is the only sound in the arena, the dust, and smoke blowing away to reveal him standing behind a blue energy shield in the shape of a dome nearly at the edge of the crater, just barely within bounds. "You...how?" Bakugo mutters weakly. "Antibacterial Curtain," Horizon raises his right hand to tap the blue shield. His left hand was still outstretched, releasing the shield from the palm. His new ability, Antibacterial Curtain, named after the curtains in hospital operating rooms. A modified version of his healing energy, instead of dispersing away from itself to permeate others, it is attracted to itself, hardening to form a shield. His inexperience with this ability leaves much to be desired, not that he can let that be noticed. He immediately drops the barrier and begins walking over to Bakugo, putting his left hand back in his pocket. "You...had that... the whole time?" "Only since after USJ," Horizon admits. "After meeting Nomu I realized there was a lot of merit in defense, so I decided if I''m going to be a hero, eventually I''ll have a moment where I need to stand my ground and protect the people behind me, so I made a shield ability," he shrugs, as if it were the most normal thing in the world. "You just made an ability," Bakugo mutters in disbelief. "You can just make new Quirks?" "That''s one way to look at it," Horizon was now standing directly in front of Bakugo, forcing him to look up at him. "Still working on something to deal with Super-Regeneration, but I''ll get there eventually..." Looking up at Horizon, Bakugo couldn''t hold back his emotions anymore, tears freely streaming down his face. In all his years watching All Might he''s seen the hero gets hurt, get cut, take hits...bleed. But here stands Horizon,pletely untouched by anything they threw at him. By anything Bakugo threw at him, in this moment the shadow he casts dwarfed even All Might, and Bakugo hated it more than anything. "This isn''t supposed to happen," Bakugo doubles over, his forehead nearly touching the ground, arms hanging at his side. "This isn''t how heroes win!" Nobody understands what he means, only Deku could find the meaning in his words, and it hurt him to see Bakugo brought so low. "What the hell does that mean?" "You can''t be a hero! Heroes put their heart and soul into everything they do! But you...you refused to take us seriously! You just came out here and mocked us! You''re not a real hero, you refused to give us your all!" Bakugo screams, his voice cracking and straining with each word. "Is that what you really think this is?" Horizon asks in a serious voice. "Bakugo, it''s not that I refused to fight seriously, I''ll never make that mistake again...but you just aren''t enough to make me fight seriously, none of you are, and even if you were, I''d still win, because unlike you, I have a reason to fight." "Reason to fight?!" Horizon raises a foot and steps on the back of Bakugo''s head, the blonde immediately forces his broken arms to move and press against the ground to support the new weight, and Horizon just begins talking to the world, with both hands in his pockets, and the second best student under his boot. "Most of you don''t have any real reason to fight. You''re a bunch of pathetic childish fanboys that only want to be heroes because you think it''s cool. You put your life and the life of everyone you love at risk every time you suit up, but you''re too selfish to think about that, right? You never think about anyone past yourself, past what you want, just a bunch of pathic wannabes that don''t understand the true cost of being a hero. You have everything, but you''re here risking it all for people you don''t even know, for strangers that you''d never even talk to...you put your own home in danger to save them...HA! As if anyone with that reason can ever beat me. Everything you are, just like most of the people in our ss, is fanboy nonsense. ''Inspired'' by heroes to throw your life away and let your family suffer for strangers...see even if we were equals, I''d win. Because you fight for strangers, and I fight for my family...for my parents." Everyone stares in surprise, not expecting such an intense rant from him, all while Bakugo struggles to keep his body off the ground. Horizon''s voice bes slightly sad, "my parents taught me everything they knew, I am everything they are taken to heights unimagined. I love them more than anything in this world...but now I''m all alone in this world...but one day I won''t be. I''ll take everything my dad taught me about medicine, and everything my mom taught me about fighting and being an adventurer...and I''ll use it to fight for my future, for the family I''ll have one day. For them, for my kids, for the people who matter the most to me. That''s what my foundation is built of, and every improvement I make gets stacked atop it, and gets supported by that. And what''s yours again? Fanboy trash about wanting to be like All Might and throw your life away for strangers? Right?" Horizonughs at that. "And yet you act surprised when everything you did, all the blood and sweat and work, everything you are, crumbles against me...built on a pathetic foundation like that. You don''t even have a reason to fight, and you''ll never be enough, so get off my stage." CRACK! He presses down, smashing Bakguo''s head against the floor with his foot, instantly knocking him out. "HORIZON WINS!" Midnight announces, to the surprise of absolutely no one. His rant reached the ears and hearts of hundreds of millions of people, including the man who would be his Hero mentor, and a major catalyst for his rapid rise to the top of this world... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 61: (Most Valuable Person) Chapter 61: (Most Valuable Person) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "Need more practice," Law mutters. Sitting in his building a few kilometers away from UA he''s currently on the couch. Looking through the one-way ss wall at UA atop the massive hill at the edge of the city, the gargantuan stadium he was in moments ago dwarfing all the nearby buildings. Currently, he was on the couch, the same ce hest spoke to his parents. His visor was on the coffee table in front of him, apanied by his second meal shake of the day. And his upper body waspletely exposed. Looking down at his left arm he could see reddish-purple bruises littering his hand and arm. The entire limb and connected shoulder were sore. And both his legs were in the exact same state. "Energy efficiency of Curtain is still trash," he says aloud. Then takes his shake and downs a mouthful of the vani-vored drink. He turns on the tv, muted, to track the progress of Cementoss making an entirely new stage and repairing the arena after the finals. "Blocking one of those attacks from Bakugo nearly took everything I had," Law says, now delving into his full assessment. "Curtain is new but that''s still uneptable, not to mention I need to get my physical power up so if I''m unable to handle the constant shockwaves my body doesn''t get messed up." He takes a look at his arm and shoulder before the bruises begin to heal, and two secondster they''repletely gone. In truth, he could have healed them whenever he wanted, but confirming the visual state of his body is always good to be absolutely certain. At atleast in situations where the enemy can''t punish him for such cocky actions. "I''ll also need to get Curtain down to being second nature, it still takes almost a second for me to go from thought to action with it...way too damn slow for me. I guess I could drop rubble on myself to train it, but I need to make it at least six times more efficient. I would have passed out if I had to make another Curtain for even one second after blocking Bakugo''s attack." He takes another mouthful of his drink, forcing it down. "God I hate this weight gain diet...there has got to be a better way to get the amount of calories I need...whatever, problems for tomorrow." He notices the rubble almost cleaned up for Cementoss to begin repairs. "At this point if I fought the USJ Nomu again it would go the exact same way. I don''t have a way past super-regeneration yet, and my Curtain can maybe take two punches at best before I ck out from fatigue... I''d have to pull another one of those omni-sh moves out of my ass to kill it...fucking pathetic," he mutters before getting dressed. Leaning back in his seat and forcing himself to drink the 1800 Calorie shake, his second of three daily shakes. At this point eating is a genuine chore for Law, at first he tried preparing meals beforehand. But now he''s so sick of seeing food that he just blends everything into a shake and has it that way, and it''s only been two weeks. The thought of doing this for years to bulk up and maintain his new muscles is excruciating to him. "There has got to be a better way to---" his words are cut off by his phone ringing on the table. Someone he hasn''t seen in months, but he certainly expected this call the moment he went public as a Mystery ss. In fact, the main reason they kept his Quirk ssification a secret for this long is to prevent Japan from being flooded with calls exactly like this. The caller ID only had three words, ''President John Harrison'', with a small American g picture behind it. Law puts back on his visor as he answers, wanting to maintain the slightly robotic tinge to his voice that the visor gives. "Horizon?" A cool and collected voice asks, clearly an older gentleman, seemingly amused by this whole situation. "John, it''s been a while," Horizon says, speaking perfect english. "Don''t suppose you''re calling because you need another check-up?" A soft chuckle flows through the phone, "no no, the whole family is fine. Honestly, we''ve never been better than these past few months after you came to clean us up." "And you''ve been sticking to the diet?" "Religiously," the president says. "But, well, I didn''t expect my family doctor to be Mystery ss, I mean. YOu mentioned that you''d be starting school this year but I didn''t think I''d be sitting on the couch with my kids and seeing you at the UA Sports Festival." "Well, it never really came up," Horizon shrugs. "How''d the family take the whole ''cutting Todoroki''s head up'' thing?" "The missus is mad at you for showing our kids that, the kids cried...they''ll get over it, not like you hurt anyone." "Very true, and I won, it''s been a good day." "That it has been...and I''m hoping I can make both our day a lot better," John says. "But before we continue, you are a real Mystery ss, right?" "Yes, don''t believe me?" Horizon asks. "Nezu would have released a statement countering it if I wasn''t." "I know, and I do trust you, you''re my doctor for christ''s sake. But it''s just a bit odd that your Hero Commission hasn''t sent me or any other world leader a notice not to contact you. That''s standard procedure for any top hero. Hell, I can''t even contact any of Japan''s top three hundred without calling Pantu first." "Hmm, I assumed she would have put a warning out too." "I guess she has absolute faith in your patriotic spirit huh? So...how unshakable is it?" Horizon chuckles, knowing exactly where this is going. "Very shakable, but, she knows I don''t ever break contracts, you know this too. And I''ve got a few more years ying hero for Japan until the contract is up and I get what I want." "What if I can double her offer?" John asks. "You can''t," Horizon says. "Look you control the richest most advanced country on the, but I need to finish this contract before I do anything, at that point, we can talk." "Mmm, fair enough, a man of integrity, that I can respect. But seeing as I''m up for re-election next year if you even just made a small trip back stateside I''d help me out a lot, and I''d make it worth your time." "I''ll probably be too busy bing a top hero over here, but I do n to leave Japan when this is all over." "Ohh..." "Yeah, what can you offer?" "Well considering I control America, a twenty billion annual sry, on top of having all expenses paid so long as you take residence and citizenship within our borders. You''ll have a full Pro Hero license immediately but only work when we really really need you, best to keep our miracle elixir safe after all. And whatever else you want...oh, and you don''t pay taxes ofcourse." "And this is for the current me, what about me after a few more years of training here?" "That entirely depends on your status at that time, how high are you aiming, top 10?" "More like Symbol Of Peace," he hears the president choke on the other side of the call. "Won''t it be a bit disastrous to be their Symbol Of Peace then just leave?" "Not your country, do you really care?" "Fair enough. Well, we can always negotiate at that time, but what I offered you earlier is the baseline since you''re a Mystery ss...and a warping healing one at that." "Mhm," Horizon mulls it over for a second, seeing much merit in moving to America after this contract isplete. "America is nice enough, has everything I really need, I guess after this contract is done we can talk John, assuming you''re still president at that point." "Oh, I will be," Johnughs. "After I tell the big political lobbyists that I have you already considering moving to America in a few years they''ll make sure I get elected next year, can''t have a man with Horizon''s personal number out of office right." "So you insured your spot with this one phone call, very clever." "You have to be clever to be president, but you need to be a good president to remain president," John says. "I''d like to think I''m both." "I don''t think even the people who hate you can deny that," Horizon shakes his head at how ridiculous this man always is. "There is one thing I''d appreciate if you could do for me actually..." "Oh, what''s that?" "Can you stir the pot in the background, just a bit?" "How so?" "Well, I assume you were the first to call me because you used America''s influence to bully the other world leaders into backing down, right?" "Threatened them with sanctions they couldn''t afford," John says. "What about it?" "Then you''re in a perfect spot to get them thinking I''ll never leave Japan, everyone wins, especially since Japan will feel extra safe with me so persistently sticking around." "But you''d lose out on the other offers." "Can they offer me anything better than you? Because I don''t think they could even match your offer," Horizon says. "True," John thinks about it for a few seconds before he grunts. "Alright, I''ll put the word out that you refuse to abandon Japan as things stand, that should help boost you in the local hero ranks over there, and I''ll tell my people over here that when your contract is done we get the first bid. But I hope you know there is already an intense political shadow war behind the scenes just for ess to you, this could get ugly, you cool with that?" "Sounds like we''ve got a deal, and next year if I''m not busy doing hero work or school I''ll pop over to the states to shake your hand, maybe some lucky press takes a few pictures of us at lunch or something." "That''ll easily keep me in office, just the usual annual checkup." "And everybody wins, perfect," Horizon says. "It''s always a pleasure talking to you mister president." "Likewise doctor, now it looks like the stage is just about done...oh, that reminds me, congrattions on the gold medal by the way, certainly a performance for the history books." Horizon chuckles at that, ncing over to his tv to see the arena nearly fully repaired. "The first of my many entries in the book of history sir..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 62: (Peerless) Chapter 62: (Peerless) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- ''I hope this ceremony is quick,'' Horizon thinks to himself, standing on a circr concrete pir as it slowly rises out of the floor under Cementoss''smand. The dim lights is suddenly reced by the afternoon sun. Silence destroyed by the cheers of the roaring crowd. Three such pirs rise out of thewn in the fully repaired arena. In the middle on the tallest stands Horizon, still in his full PE Uniform with the front open. To his right on the second highest spot is Bakugo, both his arms in casts and bandages wrapping most of his torso, silently staring down at his feet with an unreadable expression, clearly deep in thought. And to his left on the third ce pir is Tokoyami, standing proudly with both hands at his sides, perfectly neat and respectable. And standing in front of them are all the first-year students, looking up at their winners. "Your podium spot winners!" Midnight proudly announces, gesturing to the three students. She steps in front of Tokoyami and waves toward him, all the cameras turn to the boy, "in third ce, actually sharing this position with his ssmate Todoroki -who is currently dealing with other issues-," she casts a slight re at Horizon. "Is 1As warrior or darkness, Tokoyami Fumikage!" The crowd goes wild, and Tokoyami can''t help but flinch at the sound of people chanting his name, trying his best not to blush. "And in second ce," Midnight walks in front of Bakugo for everyone to focus on him. "Showing off his incredible explosives move in every stage of thepetition, Katsuki Bakugo!" All the cheers be support for Bakugo, but he just keeps staring down at his feet. The echoing support of the people being warped and twisted by his own worldview, shifting and melding with his inner voice. And Bakugo hears it all. He hears that he''ll never be enough, and he can only agree... "And finally, the person you''ve all been waiting for, mister miracle himself, HORIZON!" The crowd shakes the stadium,pletely growing out Midnight''s words. Down in the mess of students Jiro flinches and covers her ears as the chanting begins. "Ho-ri-zon! Ho-ri-zon! Ho-ri-zon! Ho-ri-zon! Ho-ri-zon! Ho-ri-zon! Ho-riz-on!" Seeing all the cameras on him Horizon creates a room just big enough to reach 1A''s homeroom a few hundred meters away and gives a simplemand. SHAMBLES! His PE Uniform swaps out for his full Hero Costume, now revealed for the entire world to see as he points his weapon to the sky. And the crowd can''t seem to get enough of it. And unfortunately for anyone with sensitive ears, it only gets worse when All Might appears, leaping from atop the stadium down into the arena with absolute ease. Not wanting to waste time All Might quickly move to take the medals and begins handing them out. All while trying not to imagine the annoyed look he knew Horizon was likely giving him below that visor. While picking up the bronze medal and moving toward the stairs at Tokoyami''s pir he notices Izuku out of the corner of his eye. Seeing the boy with his right arm in a cast and bandages across his legs and torsor, aplex expression of sadness, disappointment, and pain, is written across his face. ''This was only the first year young Midoriya, I''m sure you''ll get one of these medals and make your debut next time...but I hate to imagine what thepetition will be able to do by then,'' All Might thinks while approaching Tokoyami. In truth he knew Izuku''sckluster performance in the eyes of everyone would hurt the boy, but he was more worried about the pain that woulde tomorrow. With over three decades as a Pro Hero he knows exactly how the media loves a good story, and the moment hended in the arena he could feel the atmosphere shift. It was no longer as simple as the people seeing All Might hand out some medals. The way everyone perked up with hope would have been normal at his arrival, had those looks been directed toward him. But they were all looking between him and Horizon. Between the best heroes from two generations. Between the future Symbol of Peace, and the person he''d be passing that torch to... He just hopes Izuku is able to handle the realization of how the world views them. And keep working despite everyone telling him how futile his efforts are. "Young Tokoyami," All Might says, towering over Tokoyami as he ces the bronze medal around his neck. Giving him a short hug and pat on the back he takes a step back and then continues. "You''ve clearly got a lot of work to do before you can fully control that Quirk of yours, but it is powerful, so I''m sure you''ll be able to protect and save a lot of people. Just don''t be too reliant on it, alright?" "Your words humble me, taming the darkness in my soul is my burden and I will be sure to conquer it," Tokoyami nods politely. "Uh...right," All Might fake coughs then quickly moves on to the silver medal, not sure how to respond to the little edgelord. ''Teens are so weird these days...'' he thinks to himself while approaching Bakugo. "Young Bakugo," All Might doesn''t see the boy look up to even acknowledge him, and wisely decides to just give him a short hug before putting the medal around his neck, and still he doesn''t respond. "Clearly winning means a lot to you, and I don''t disagree with your views on what it means to be a hero. Always giving your all to save as many people as possible, to always win...but the sad reality is we as people can only do so much. Part of growing is to ept what you can''t do, and perfect the things you can..." Bakugo just stands there like a statue as All Might takes the gold medal and moves over to Horizon, only giving the boy a pat on the shoulder. "Horizon, and in full Hero Costume no less," he chuckles, seeing the boy in his suit and holding the sword. "You truly do make being perfect look easy. Your presence has a profound effect on your peers, forcing them to improve just to keep up, all while you yourself are always improving. But being a hero isn''t only about fighting and saving, it''s also about this," All Might puts a hand over his own heart. "How you make people feel in here, words are a powerful thing, especially yours. You''ve got everything else down enough to already be a top pro, I have no doubt when you understand how to inspire people that my era will officially be over..." The entire stadium seems to hold the same breath, a deathly silence befalls everyone as All Might gently ce the gold medal around Horizon''s neck. As if passing the torch, from one Symbol of Peace, to the next... While everyone looked at the scene with stars in their eyes, feeling safe knowing that All Might was teaching to prepare someone like Horizon as his sessor, beneath his visor a set ofpletely different thoughts were swirling. ''Huh, so the medal is real gold,'' he first thought. With it handing in the middle of his chest he gave it a quick scan. ''500 grams of solid gold...in today''s prices that''s like $25,000. Nezu really has more money than he knows what to do with, well, me too I suppose.'' Then he looks around at all the people staring at him, as if they''d seen a second lifeline. All their hope for the next generation, the generation without All Might. And he rolled his eyes. ''This is way too fucking easy, these worthless people are so desperate for someone to solve all their problems for them that they''ll just throat the first cock that they think can do it...pathetic, but whatever, works for me...'' ---30 Minutes Later... Now back in his full school uniform Horizon sits at his desk in the 1A homeroom under the golden light of the setting sun. Everyone else was still changing and getting cleaned up so naturally he has some time to himself. He looks at the gold medal still around his neck for a moment, ying with it in his left hand as he takes out his phone with the other. Quickly finding the best pictures people took during the sports festival and posting them to his ''Yay!'' profile, now at 70 Million followers. One picture for each of his best moments, and there was nock of options since everyone had eyes and cameras on him. The first was him grabbing the banner at the finish line of the Obstacle Race, his first win of the day. The second was him sitting on his ssroom chair atop a floating stone, ying a game on his phone while everyone elsepetes in the Cavalry Game, his second win. Then there were his personal favorites, the pictures from the fights. Him holding Monoma and healing him. Him standing casually and looking up at Shinso, who was doubled over a thin cement pir that suddenly rose from the floor and knocked the wind out of him. The picture of Horizon looking down on Shoto, holding the beating heart in his hand, that was his second favorite. Buts his true favorite...that had to be him standing in a crater with Bakugo on his hands and knees groveling at his feet, and his foot firmly on Bakugo''s head keeping him under his boot, right where he belongs. And the final pictures he posted in this collection, one of All Might giving him the medal, and a full shot of him in Hero Costume wearing the medal, perfect for the hero-worshipping sheep. A few momentster and their other students enter, all aside from Shoto and Iida. Horizon keeps ying with his medal as everyone silently enters and takes their seats, suppressing their excitement at just finishing their first sports festival since Eraser was one step behind them, now at the front of the room. "Alright listen up," Eraser says, drawing all eyes toward himself. "Good work out there, it should be obvious where you have to improve so just keep working at it. You''ve got the next two days off so I''ll see you all here Wednesday morning, but then we should have all the internship offers sorted out, dismissed," he quickly shuffles out of the room. The moment the door shuts behind Eraser the entire ss erupts like a powder keg of excitement, everyone bombarding each other with questions. And while all of this was going on, small conversations starting up, and people throwing praise andpliments at Horizon from all sides. He sees a small Hero News alert on his phone, one that would lead to aplete change in the future of UA, and especially ss 1A forever. ''Hero Killer Stain strikes again! iming his 70th victim! The Number 19 Pro Hero found dead in Hosu City hours ago, the hero Inginium is no more...'' END CHAPTER--- Volume 3plete, please leave a review if you can. All spection for the future of this story is weed. And yes Tensei Iida is dead. Chapter 63: (A Day In Tokyo) Chapter 63: (A Day In Tokyo) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "Huh, green..." Horizon says, currently sitting at a metal desk and holding a small eyeball between his fingers, now reassembled and securely in a jellylike cube of space. On the table in front of him is another identical eye, along with the five-month-old baby they belong to, sleeping happily as if it weren''t currently in surgery. Horizon ces both the eyeballs beside the baby and Shambles all the parts to properly merge together, then leans back in his chair and stretches. Looking at his watch he sees it''s just barely noon and immediately gets up, packing his medical bag, a simple white duffel bag with his blue logo on either side, then picks up the still-sleeping baby in his other hand. Cradling the baby to his chest he takes his bag and gently opens the door, immediately greeted by a Latino couple. The man in a simple ck suit and his wife in a blue dress, both immediately rise to their feet as they see him enter the room. "Complete sess," Horizon says quietly, not wanting to wake the baby. They both rush over and thedy all but snatches her son out of his arms, hugging and kissing the baby as tears stream down her face. She mutters a stream of ''thank god'' for this miracle, and Horizon uses all his willpower not to groan and roll his eyes. ''God wanted your baby to be blind, but yeah...thank him...whatever,'' he keeps his opinions to himself since these are just normal customers he''d likely never see again, traveling to the other side of the world just for his services. After the family gawks over their now fixed baby the man leads his wife out of the room before returning to have a small chat with Horizon. "You truly are a miracle worker," the man says in his native Spanish. "You tter me," Horizon responds in the samenguage. "Truly, I just wish more people could experience this, or you could have more openings." Horizon chuckles at that, "but if miracles weremon then they wouldn''t be miracles...and I wouldn''t get to charge so much." The man can''t help butugh at that, remembering the nearly half a billion dors he paid for this appointment. "A very wise policy, but think of all you could do with more than one client per week." "I wish I could do almost a dozen every week likest year, but sadly I''m in UA six days a week, it just can''t happen," Horizon shrugs. "To the highest bid goes the miracle." The man shakes his head and smiles bitterly at that, "then I am thankful to be the highest bid this week, doctor," he extends his hand. "Again, it''s just Horizon," Horizon shakes his hand... ---5 Minutes Later... SHAMBLES Horizon suddenly appears into his penthouse suite in Saitama Tokyo, only a few blocks away from the hotel that he had just been operating in. "Finally!" he groans, dropping his medical bag and removing his visor, revealing his face covered in sweat, hair matted to his head. As he summons the card he just swapped with back to his person he begins undressing, ready to just get cleaned up and find something to eat. Completely exhausted from performing a five-hour surgery. Not only performing Lasik Sugery on both eyes, but also brain surgery and nerve reconstruction to connect those eyes to the brain. 5 Hours. 400 Million USD. 2 Healthy working eyes. A fair deal? Not really his ce to decide, all he knows is he got paid. Getting ready for a shower he looks out his window to see the city in front of him. From where he currently was, Minato prefecture was 25km away, the home of the All Might hero agency, currently not operational since he''s in Musutafu to teach at UA. But only 5km away in the heart of Saitama prefecture was the massive 50-story tall Endeavor Hero Agency. The most active and effective hero agency in the world, with the most annual incidents resolved for the past 15 years in a row, globally. Just barely poking out among the other buildings in the skyline of that particr area, but half the height of the building Law was currently standing in. While most Hero Agencies were smaller and more modest, more along the lines of Best Jeanist who only had a 5-story building, Endeavor and All Might had monolithic skyscrapers, earned by the sheer number of cases they''ve resolved. "No wonder this penthouse is so fucking expensive," Law grumbles. "Would have to be a dumbass tomit a crime this close to Endeavor and his ming idiots, and just one prefecture over is king meathead himself...for now." ---30 Minutester. Sitting at a balcony table in a restaurant only a few blocks away from his penthouse Law is enjoying his lunch. Wearing a simple ck t-shirt, short sleeves to expose his tattoos, and a low cut to show off a bit of the ink on his chest. Along with simple blue jeans and a ck belt, his white and blue watch was swapped out for a ck and gold edition. Grilled beef, white rice, fruits and vegetables, and a ss of orange juice. Nothing fancy, dessert is what he was really here for after all. This restaurant is famous for its Parfait. Feeling his phone vibrate on the table Law flips it over to nce at the screen, slightly missing the fact that the caller ID would just appear in his visor when it was on, now aware that he''d have to make sure nobody saw Nezu''s name if he was calling him. He nces about for barely a second, all the other patrons focused entirely on their food. "Gild, what''s going on?" Law asks, rxing back in his seat. "Everything is ready for tonight," a cheerful man answers through the phone. "All the fighters are lined up, the tickets are sold, invitations sent out...and we''ve even got some early bets starting." "The best fighters?" Law asks. "Well you only gave me two weeks to put this together, but a big pot always attracts the best fighters...and they''ve never seen money like this before, hell I''ve never seen money like this before." "Anyone special?" "Well you wanted brawlers, we got some E and D list Pros, and a special treat or two, but no Pro above that would get caught dead in this, reputation and all that shit." "Tch, don''t they knowws only apply to poor people," Law chuckles. "Obviously not, that''s why they''re heroes," Gildughs so hard Law has to move the phone away from his ear. "Anyway, not everyone can just make a generous donation to the cops retirement and disability fund like you alright." "Hey now," Law sounds amused and offended. "I don''t bribe them to give me a pass...I also donate to the fire department...ya know...the Matani Estate is very charitable to our brave servicemen and women." Gildughs into the phone again, "you say that like you don''t remember what happened the night we met..." "Uh," Law thinks about it for a second before lowering his voice. "Yeah we were in Shibuya after the supercar auction, and you tried to fight me because your favorite girl was in my room and you were in the mood to do coke off her tits..." "Wait..." Gild thinks about it for a second. "Oh yeah...guess the fire was with someone else huh." "Definitely..." "Well, anyway, I''ll send a car for you and whoever you''re bringing tonight." "It''s just me tonight. The new job keeps me busy sadly," Law says. "Well I''ll find some pretty things to keep youpany in your private box, I''ll call if anything changes." "Gotcha, just---" BOOM! The building opposite Law suddenly begins crumbling as a gigantified viin, 15m -45ft- tall, erupts from it and begins swinging wildly. "---Gotta go Gild," Law says before hanging up. Simply remaining in this seat as all the other patrons begin scrambling about, watching the fight with mild amusement. ''Honestly, I feel like every other viin has gigantification with howmon this shit is...'' But as he''s about to get bored the massive,nky and thin, grey-skinned viin is suddenly attacked by a flying hero sting out of the building. Delta Stream, he wore a skin-tight all-red suit with a long flowing cape, and hanging from his arms was another hero wearing a grey and blue costume with a red cape, the suit rose into a hood that covered his right eye, leaving only his left eye and mouth exposed, X-Less. Watching the duo zip around Law couldn''t help but enjoy the show. Some may call it gluttony, or maybe just being ungrateful. But the human desire for more is insatiable. And for as long as he could remember, Law Matani has always been jealous of those who could fly. Delta Stream throws X-Less high into the air, and on the way down he lines up his eye st, and first a wideser down at the viin,pletely knocking him out. ''Laser eyes are so damn cool,'' Law thinks to himself. ''Maybe in ten years I''ll have enough energy for that...'' But not before the wild iling arm catches Delta Stream with a lucky strike and knocks the hero into the road below. And without any physical augmentation effect on his body, simply pure flight is his only ability. SPLAT! Watching from two stories up on the balcony Law sees X-Less holding Delta Stream in his arms as the hero takes hisst breath. If only they had a doctor on the scene with a healing Quirk, or even better, someone with a warping Quirk that could have helped him avoid being hit. But s, Horizon was not at the scene, just Law Matani watching with uninterested eyes as yet another hero dies. "Fuck," Law mutters under his breath, turning around to see the entire restaurant empty. "I''m not gonna get my parfait..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 64: (Power Brawl) Chapter 64: (Power Brawl) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- Sitting in the back of a fully armored SUV Law idly taps the armrest and nods along to the soft hum of music. The windows were cked out from both sides, making it impossible to know where you were being taken. All cellr signals were blocked the moment the door shut behind him, and the divider between him and the drivers was up the entire time, without his particr Quirk he would have had no idea that he was currently being taken through a tunnel beneath Mt. Tanzawa, just outside of Tokyo to the south-west. This was the standard procedure for all of Gild''s events, hosted in a multitude of massive private and secret facilities across Japan. While he didn''t have the same level of efficiency in construction or wealth as Nezu, Girl could undoubtedly get the job done over a few years by bribing the right people. And with the wealth of investors and clients he has, hollowing out part of a mountain isn''t the mostplicated matter. Feeling the vehicle stop for a moment, Law then notices them moving up a cargo elevator, at least twenty stories. ROOM! His room spreads out for 1KM in every direction, giving him a full map of the tunnel system, a sonar map of all the other guests and vehicles, and even a full disy of the massive octagon he was currently being taken to. As the elevator stops the vehicle drives for a few seconds before the door opens on its own, prompting him to step out. And the moment he does he sees Gild Tesoro, the greatest underground showman in Japan. Standing at 2.5meters tall -8ft2-, absolutely towering over Law and even making All Might look small. Slicked back long blonde hair with shades atop his head, and wide muscr shoulders, all wrapped in a pink suit with gold ents and a white undershirt. Ten golden rings on his fingers and countless other essories adorning him. His presence could not be missed, especially when standing next to Law, currently wearing a ck suit with a gold undershirt, the Matani Estate logo on each shoulder -his shoulder tattoo of intricate hearts-. "Always thest to arrive eh?" Gild shakes his head as he gestures for Law to follow him. Now walking through a luxurious hallway,pletely unbefitting of what should otherwise be a service entrance. "Well I''ve still got a few minutes before the first fight, plus I figure since I''m putting up the cash for the prize and keeping the lights on for tonight, they wouldn''t mind waiting a few minutes," Law shrugs. "True, my usual sponsor got here early as usual, and he''s always thest to leave, guess you wealthy people have that inmon," Gild chuckles as they enter Law''s private booth. A massive viewing room with a red carpeted floor. A private bar with a gorgeous woman behind the counter, and a slew of illegal drugs off to the side on a trolley. One-way ss walls separate them from the octagonal ring below, and hundreds of people infortable seats below surround the ring. All dressed immactely, enjoying alcohol and any other vice they wish, some more focused on using the screen built into the chairs to start cing bets and reading the odds. Law sees a couch closer to the ss with a few scantily d women enjoying drinks on it, and one pats the spot between them giving him a sultry look. He only shoots Gild an usatory nce. "What?" Gild shrugs. "You pay top shelf, you get the full Gild Tesoro experience." "Well, might as well get my money''s worth." "That''s the spirit," Gild gives him a light pat on the back, which nearly palms his entire back. "And some of these people are dying to meet the mysterious sponsor, this is a good chance for you to kick open some doors and invest in whatever schemes they have going." "My investmentpany is maxed out on capital right now," Law says, keeping his cover of a young genius investor intact. "Maybe after I cash in next year." "Well, I''m sure they''ll remember this night, nothing like rum, drugs, and whores to make friends over..." "Don''t remind me," Law groans. Gild justughs and begins walking away, "just tell the bartender if you need anything, and that includes her...and try to enjoy the show, you''re paying for it after all," he calls out over his shoulder while leaving the room. Law considers it for a moment, the looks between the bartender anddies on the couch, all magazine worthy, then back to the bartender, "I''ll have a martini, dry..." he ordered before sitting with his temporarypanions. He tunes them out for a minute and focuses on the crowd. ''Politicians, big business types...judges? Must have taken some damn good bribes to be able to afford a ticket to this, hell to even get a invite...'' Law sits back as Gild enters the ring by being raised on a tform in the middle of it, 3 mics floating round him, solid gold. His Quirk, Gold Maniption, it allows him to meld and shape any gold he touches for up to 10 minutes after touching it. Since he can''t generate the substance however finding a use for it is rare, but he quickly became a world-ss jeweler before getting busted for illegal Quirk use. But now he''s 26, and he runs events like this as Japan''s best underground showman. After being arrested for such an illegal Quirk use it''s difficult to find a job in Japan that will trust you enough to allow you to start building credibility, but he still does love making jewelry, hence him making Law''s current favorite ck and gold watch and gifting it to him. A peace offering for their first meeting, a fight involving some whores, cocaine, alcohol, and a lot of ice cream. Law cringes at that particr memory as the bartender plops down in hisp and leans back against him, raising his martini to his lips. ''Time to enjoy the show...'' "WELCOME EVERYONE!" Gild starts his announcement, earning a round of cheers from the audience. "I''d say ''I hope you''re having a good day,'' but if you can afford to be here you''re certainly doing better than most...and you''re about to have one hell of a night! Well, tonight we''ve got one hell of an event for you. Tonight''s sponsor wants bloody brawls, no fancy tricks, just muscles, knuckles, and blood!" The crowd goes wild, and Gild smiles at all the rich people and their boring lives, excited to see people kill each other. "Normally the prize is decided by how much you all paid to get in here...but tonight is a bit different, the pot was decided weeks ago! That''s right, one person is bankrolling it, and I think we can all agree the fighters are gonna be fighting extra hard tonight!" The screens above the ring show a 32-fighter tournament bracket, four stages then the finals. "That''s right, 32 fighters, one champion, but this isn''t winner take all, we want everyone doing their best in every stage! Every fighter has a wallet, and that wallet, at this very moment, has $500,000 in it! Every win adds exactly one million dors. It takes four wins to get to the finals, that 4.5 Million, to do whatever you want it!" The crowd falls silent, everyone suddenly realizing that this was almost five times the usual grand prize that fighters get at these events. Many people move to shift their bets, now knowing people will be fighting extra hard for that kind of life-changing money. "And the grand prize..." Gild smiles wickedly, he could almost see the crowd falling off the edge of their seat as the tension builds. "The winner of the entire tournament, their wallet doesn''t go to 5.5 Million....but 50 MILLION DOLLARS! That''s 50 mil in untraceable cash...without taxes of course, because you all know what we say about taxes here, right?" He hears a chorus ofughter from the crowd. "Taxes are for---" He lifts his mic to the crowd, "POOR PEOPLE!" they all yell in unison. "Hahahha, now who''s ready to see some blood?!" The crowd goes wild once again, and Law enjoys his drinks andpany as he sits back and waits for the carnage to unfold. Ready to watch some Power Types brawl it out and kill each other, all the get a better and more up-close understanding of the mistakes they usually make while fighting. If he wants to shift hisbat style a bit then he''d need experience, and this is just a way to fastrack that. Plus he''s always looking for new and creative ideas... As the first match is beginning, Law sees what looks to be a man a simple strength enhancer enter the ring with a guy that has a strange Quirk that generates extra muscle fibers across his body. ''Gross,'' was his only thought, and thedies sitting atop and beside him reel back in disgust. But luckily for them, that particr individual would only win this round, because Muscr is a big fish in a little pond, while Gild was able to cast arge international with the cash prize Law offered. Opening his ROOM one more time Law does another scan of the entire arena, not sensing anything weird, and he recognizes everyone in the other VIP Booths, so he simply closes the ROOM and enjoys his night. However, on the top level with Law''s booth are a few others, only 8, one for each side of the ring. But in one of the rooms directly opposite him is arge man wearing a simple suit, not currently connected to any lift support systems, sitting on arge chair alone. A ck industrial mask covering his head. All For One, the usual sponsor of these events, purely to scout unique and useful Quirks, this time simply getting to be a guest and save some of his money, enjoying the show. He always arrives first to take a look at the list of fighters, and always waits until everyone else leaves before getting more hands-on with the fighters. Because of this, he''s fortunate that Law wouldn''t sense anything off -not that his ROOM was currently active- but forter when Kurogiri opens a Warp Gate to retrieve his master. The demon lord sits and enjoys the show, while the future Symbol Of Peace does the exact same. So close to meeting, but yet so ignorant of the negligible distance between them. But fortunately for all the otherwise defenseless spectators, and the currently unarmed Law, their meeting was nearly 3 months away, near the end of July. When Horizon and All For One would finally meet, and the fate of the world will rest in a simple contract... END CHAPTER--- Just curious, I got done with chapter 90 a few hours ago and that means I''m officially writing the December chapters right now. By then how far into the MHA timeline do you think we''ll be? Chapter 65: (State Of Oppression) Chapter 65: (State Of Oppression) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- ''Why did I make this meeting so fucking early...'' Horizon thinks as he struggles to stay awake, sitting in afortable leather chair, wearing his full Hero Costume, minus the sword of course. Currently, he is in Tokyo, Detnerat headquarters. He is sitting on his chair with a small coffee table between him and the other chair, looking out over Tokyo through the wall of massive windows on the top floor of this forty-story building. Behind him wash arge desk and a more formal setup, the entire far wall consumed by a well-stocked bookshelf. The 9 AM sun was finally gettingfortable in the sky, keeping Horizon awake as he stretches and yawns. ''Where does Gild even find those girls...fucking animals,'' he thinks with a small and tired smile on his lips,pletely hidden beneath the visor. Hearing a click behind him he stands up and turns around to see the massive double doors open, and in walks Rikiya Yosubashi, the CEO and founder of Detnerat. Or as the members of his Meta Liberation Army know him, Re-Destro. A viin plotting the downfall of the oppressive Quirk society that most people are content with. "Mister Yotsubashi," Horizon greets the man, giving him a firm handshake. The man was of a muscr build beneath his ck suit, white stripes running vertically along it. Standing at 6ft -182cm- tall, wearing a green tie and light green undershirt. His hair was orange and receeding with a prominent widow''s peak, exposing two small moles on the left side of his forehead. The support item genius who founded Detnerat, for the Meta Liberation Army to take a more prominent role in society and equip themselves. Under the guise of making Lifestyle Support Items to amodate the variety of needs caused by certain Quirks, all while quietly making weapons for viins and their members alike. "Horizon, it''s a pleasure to meet you," Yotsubashi says, quickly breaking the handshake. "And please, call me Rikiya, I am hoping for this to be the start of a long and prosperous friendship." "Well, I certainly hope so as well Rikiya." Rikiya directs Horizon back to his seat and both men getfortable looking out over the city. "Are you sure I can''t have my assistant get you anything, maybe some tea?" "No I''m quite fine, but I am very curious about why you asked for a meeting rather than simply making the delivery," Horizon says. "Ahh, just as I assumed, you wouldn''t want to waste time, we''re both quite busy from what I understand," Rikiya leans back and reaches into his jacket, taking out what appears to be a candy bar. A sleek white wrapper with Horizon''s blue logo in the middle of it, nothing else on the package. Horizon takes it and feels the weight of the bar in his hand, asrge as a chocte bar that only had four blocks, but almost as heavy as a small bottle of water. "It''s even smaller than I expected," Horizon says, fiddling with it in his hand. "We managed to get the form you requested down to half the expected size, but, legally I must advise against consuming an entire one of these bars within 48 hours, and the deal you signed also specified that these are not for resale, only personal use....if a child ate one of these it could literally kill them." "I''ll keep them on high shelves," Horizon chuckles. "You never specified exactly what these are for," Rikiya mentions. "Does your Quirk need a fuel to trigger it perhaps?" "No, I just got really sick of having to eat eight meals a day to bulk up, it made me start to hate food, this will solve that problem." "Oh...that''s not what I expected, either way, the first three shipments have been sent to UA," Rikiya just rxes in his chair as Horizon puts away the bar. "Well I''m sure you can afford it, but does UA not provide these services through their legendary Support Department?" "Not to these specifications," Horizon says. "If you want something simple like sugar pills they can handle that, but they don''t cook or process food, any Quirk that needs to eat a lot is generally left to figure it out themselves." "That makes sense since it''s students working on the gear of other students," Rikiya says. "But you are quite far ahead of the others, your website went online and is already causing a bit of a stir." Horizon chuckles at that, "people really got so surprised that I opened a website to sell merchandise, they act like you need a Hero License to do that. Once you aren''t falsely advertising yourself as a hero it''s fine, just trademark yourself and build a brand." "People are also upset that you''re undercutting their prices," Rikiya points out. "Well, I''ve got the money to afford it. I don''t care about profits, just building the Horizon brand." A short and oddlyfortable silence befalls the room as Rikiya leans forward, nodding quietly as he finds his words, knowing the next few moments could either guarantee absolute victory for his movement, orpletely destroy it. A once-in-a-lifetime chance to sway a Mystery ss to their side. "May I ask a more personal question?" Rikiya asks politely. "I assume that''s why you wanted to meet in person, I hope you aren''t going to offer me a Support Item sponsorship, I''m not really allowed to use outside stuff while studying at UA," Horizon taps the side of his visor. "Nonono, thest this I need is Nezu destroying mypany. But...I will admit now that your public file is no longer hidden, very sparse but still public topanies like mine. I do have some people very excited to make a better version of your visor, maybe one that''s a bit smaller while still keeping you alive," Rikiya suggests. "I prefer this style, but thanks for the offer," Horizon says, ying along with the info on his public file that his visor was a Lifestyle Support item, making it illegal for any authority in any country to force him to remove it. "Well if you change your mind, you have my number, but now I''d like to ask a more serious question." "I''m listening." Rikiya pauses for a moment, feeling his heart rate steadily increase before he takes a deep breath and calms down a bit, "how do you feel about people not being able to use their Quirks freely? I have a theory that you''re bing a hero partly so that you may legally warp about, otherwise Quirk use is illegal without a Hero License. Do you have any opinion on that legal system?" "Hmmm, well, that''s a bitplicated..." "How so?" Rikiya asks, leaning forward to listen carefully. "Well, on one hand, yeah I think people should be able to use their Quirks. It''s kinda like a few hundred years ago when people weren''t allowed to be openly gay, right? Quirks are part of you that you can''t deny and should be free to express." "Right, exactly." "But..." Horizon gestures to the city. "If someone is gay they don''t develop possibly city-destroying abilities, they''re still just a regr person. So on one hand, sure it''d be great if people could just be themselves in regards to Quirks...but on the other hand, anyone who thinks there shouldn''t be any Quirk regtions clearly underestimates how stupid the average person really is. People can''t be trusted to use power responsibly, they need a rigid rule structure or else everything will quickly devolve into chaos. And in the cases of Quirks, everyone has to be held down the same way unless they have a license, because if we say something like ''harmless Quirks can be used freely but offensive Quirks can''t be,'' then that''s a whole other discrimination problem, and that''s how current society makes viins. By putting stupid Hero-Viinbels on everything. For every person that gets to freely fly around the sky, you''ve got to consider some idiot with a fire Quirk identally burning down a house, it''s best for everyone if nobody but the Pros can use Quirks." Rikiya sits back and taps his chin, considering Horizon''s words very carefully. Atleast on the outside he was, internally he was absolutely outraged that Horizon would agree with the government, now knowing that this future Pro would likely be the greatest threat to their revolution. "And how do you treat unauthorized Quirk use?" Rikiya asks. "Just between us, generally if you aren''t causing amotion or bothering people, I don''t really care, but---" Horizon raises his hand to halt Rikiya''s response. "But, I''m only one person, if I take that stance it''s one thing, but if the government takes that stance it will cause chaos. Plus honestly since I''m gonna be a hero I should be more strict with thews, give people an inch and they''ll take a mile and all that," he shrugs. Rikiya considers how to best use this information to push the agenda of his movement, and the gears finally click into ce. Horizon is building a brand. He''s not afraid to speak his mind. Legally he''s essentially untouchable. And he has strong beliefs that he will dly tell people about...all he needs is a few cameras on him. "I see, and would you be willing to speak openly about the points you just made, regaining Quirk use, and the statement you made about society creating viins?" "Huh?" "Well... have you heard of Chitose Kizuki?" Rikiya asks. "President of Shoowaysha, obsessive journalist, impossible hot bluedy, yeah," Horizon sees Rikiya''s brow twitch slightly at thatst descriptor. "Oh...and the secret girlfriend of Rikiya Yotsubashi?" "I can get you an interview with her," Rikiya says,pletely ignoring thest insinuation. "She''d love to have you on her talk show and it would help to build your brand, I can''t imagine it will be easy to build any Hero reputation before you get your Provisional License next year." "Hmm," Horizon considers it for a moment, knowing an interview with her would put more eyes on him, good or bad he just needed people watching him. "Can the interview be at the start of summer?" "I''m sure she won''t mind, although I don''t---" Rikiya pauses, then sighs, feeling like an idiot. "Because you''ll have your Provisional License after June..." he mutters. "I''m already better than most pros, why waste time when I could be helping people," Horizon shrugs, chuckling quietly as Rikiya shakes his head. "I''ll have her call you, assuming it''s alright if I give her your number?" "Prettydies are always weed," Horizon sees Rikiya give him an annoyed look. "I''m kidding, I won''t flirt with your girl, not like I could do anything even if I wanted to," Horizon raises his gloved hand to tap the side of his visor. "Oh, right," Rikiya gives him a sympathetic look, unable to imagine what it must be like to always wear that visor and body glove. ording to Horizon''s file they were both needed for him to properly function. BEEP BEEP BEEP! Rikiya''s phone immediately goes off before the conversation can get started again. Taking it out he gives Horizon an apologetic look. "I''m sorry but something hase up at theb, I''ll have to cut our meeting short." Both men rise and Horizon gives him a polite handshake, "it was a pleasure meeting you." "Well if you ever want to set up another meeting you have my number," Rikiya says, "and please just call if you need a different vor for the meal bars." "Will do." SHAMBLES! Horizon disappears from the office, and swaps for one of his metal cards before that too disappears. Rikiya grits his teeth at that and begins walking out of his office toward his researchb, taking out his phone and calling Chitose, or as the Meta Liberation Army know her, the viin and head of their public rtions and propaganda department, Curious, the queen of their army. Before the first ring can finish she answers. "Rikiya?" Her cheerful and excited voice flows through the phone, "what''s going on?" "I just got you an interview with mister miracle himself," Rikiya immediately pulls the phone away from his ear before her excited screech can start. "When?!" She asks after settling down. "July, he wants to get his Provisional License first, of course this is all to be kept quiet." "I know that, obviously," he can just feel her eyeroll through the phone at this point. "Did you get a number?" "Yes, but you won''t be getting it, I can''t trust you not to get excited and badger him with questions." "Will you give it to Skeptic to track it, maybe bug his phone?" she asks. "Absolutely not," Rikiya says. "I had Skeptic do a very light check on the number, it flows through Swiss Vault." "Oh, Nezu''s security program..." Curious mutters. "Well anyway, what''s he like, did he agree with us?" "Mmm, not exactly. He doesn''t particrly care about abiding by thews of this oppressive society, he even uses his Quirk to warp about, but he also doesn''t care about the people who, unlike him, aren''t above thew. The people like us who live without being able to fully express what makes us special." "So he''s a selfish jerk," Curious says. "Essentially, yes. But he does have some opinions about this society and hero-centric culture that we can certainly use to stir up the people." "Ohh, that''s good, what about his Quirk, did you get anything about that?" "I decided to not push my luck and ask," Rikiya sighs. "Being what is technically a viin sitting across from one of the most powerful people on that that is clearly itching for a chance to make a name for himself as a hero...that was stressful enough. Thest thing I need is him being suspicious of me poking around at his Quirk." "But you could have just taken him out there right, if you were that stressed out, yes?" Rikiya stops walking, considers it, shakes his head, then keeps walking. "My Quirk converts stress into power, but there isn''t enough stress in the world to beat him, but I do believe with the right incentive he can be swayed to our side." "But what can we offer someone like that?" "That''s what we need to figure out, but he certainly doesn''t seem like one of those golden-hearted heroic types, he clearly wants to be famous and influential, he has some hidden motive." "Hmm, but is it worth the risk, he is super dangerous after all," Curious mutters quietly, not liking the idea of having to fight Horizon. "Yeah, it''s worth it, because it''s Horizon, he''s invincible..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 66: (Legacy and Grief) Chapter 66: (Legacy and Grief) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "These things are a lifesaver," Horizon says, standing in his Musutafu apartment watching the rain beat down on the city, including UA off in the distance. In his hands are three of his custom meal bars, which he carefully ces into his jacket pocket. The thousands he bought were already scanned for anything suspicious before he brought them into this property for storage. "Room..." SHAMBLES! He suddenly appears in his seat, only a few ssmates quietly chattering about, not even batting an eye as he warps his card back into his hand and puts it away. He immediately shrinks his room down from a 5km radius to 20 meters, just enough to know when Eraser was close. Behind him, Momo was reading a book, quietly enjoying her morning and waiting for ss to start. At the very back of the room stood Sero and Tokoyami with a few other ssmates, he could hear them excitedly talking about people recognizing them from the sports festival three days ago. And in her seat closer to the front Jiro was listening to music, her Earphone Jack plugged into her phone. But all the chatter suddenly stopped the moment Iida entered the room, Deku one step behind him. Horizon spared him a nce before leaning back and ignoring him, but most of the students got up from what they were doing to give their condolences. Over the past two days, Ingenium had been on every news channel, it would be impossible not to know about his death by now. Their first taste of what they truly risk by bing a hero. Listening in on the conversation Horizon hears Iida''s cheerful responses, telling his ssmates that he''ll be alright no matter how many times they asked, and he doesn''t think anything of Iida''s responses. "Eraser ising," Horizon announces, and everyone scatters back to their seats immediately, sitting quietly and waiting for their teacher. ROOM. He shuts off his Quirk and leans back, expecting to fall asleep during math ss this morning. Thus far he''s slept through almost every single ss that wasn''t geared toward heroics. He even sleeps through Midnight''s ''History of heroics'' sses, and since UA doesn''t grade the Hero Course students on ss work, he doesn''t bother with in-ss work. Topensate for the life of their Hero Course students UA doesn''t give any kind of project or group projects to them, or grades on sswork, only exams. This is entirely because students will likely be getting Provisional Licenses and have to take days out of their school week to do hero work, missing sswork would be unavoidable, so everything is staked on the exams instead. Because of this everything you need to pass the mid and end-of-semester exams is in the textbooks, and since those exams are all that matters, and Horizon has already read the books...he can sleep all he wants in ss. Only the afternoon sses would even need his attention, so until lunchtime he can just rx. Thus far only Mic keeps waking him up, and that''s almost entirely because of how loud the man can be when he''s teaching. "Good morning ss," Eraser says in a tired voice, hearing a chorus of polite responses from most of the students. Unlike his usual walk to the front podium, this time he turns to nce at Iida, seeing the boy as studious as even he just gives him a short sympathetic look before continuing on. "So by now I''m sure most of you have had to deal with the public," Eraser says. "UA gives many advantages, this is one of them. Every department is about either training heroes, supporting heroes, or teaching people to manage heroes, but this has caused the effect of us having all eyes on our Hero Course students. Because of this students tend to get famous before going pro if they really stand out, and since your ss is already more famous than most hero students, some more than others," he nces at Horizon and Todoroki. "I''m sure you''ve had to deal with people wanting to talk to you or get pictures." He sees most of the ss nod, either having people they know call them or dealing with fans while traveling to school this morning. "Well, how you deal with this is important, having your identity out there can be good to build a legacy or fanbase, but privacy is also valuable. In a society of celebrity heroes most people just lean into the fame side of things, whatever you choose, just think very carefully before youmit. You can''t be officially listed until you get a Provisional License andpletely the three-year probation period with it, at that point you couldpletely reinvent yourself, but remember, some things you just won''t be able to hide or bury, so your careers have already begun..." Many students nod along nervously, genuinely never having considered these things before, stillmitted to being celebrity heroes...because that''s just how most pros do it. And most of the top 10 Pros -with the exception of Hawks, All Might, and Yoroi Musha- have public identities. Not to mention that only Yoroi Musha has a proper mask, the other two have their face exposed and are in their hero person 24/7 -before All Might got injured-. But Yoroi Musha is literally known as ''the senior citizen hero,'' so of course most people think he''s old-fashioned for separating hero and personal life. After a few more minutes of talking from Eraser, Ectosm politely knocks on the door and opens it, ready to begin their day with an intense math ss...or in Horizon''s case, nap time. ---9:15 AM... Hearing the bell Horizon wakes up and stretches, sitting up in his chair just in time to see Ectosm leave the room and everyone getting up, ready to do whatever it is they do during recess. "Hey Horizon," Sero gets his attention. "Since it''s still raining, are youing to the cafeteria with us? Can''t imagine you''d wanna go up on the roof in this weather..." "Sure," he says, normally he''d have to go force down an entire meal shake at this time, but thankfully that isn''t the case anymore. "Actually I was hoping to speak to you about something," Iida interrupts them, leaving Deku and Uraraka to approach Horizon. "Privately if possible." Horizon just sighs and nods, turning in his chair to face the walkway. Sero smiles awkwardly and quickly moves to catch up to Tokoyami, Momo, Jiro, and Shoji, who were waiting at the door for him and Horizon. A few secondster and only Iida and Horizon were in the room. Iida carefully takes a seat on Tokoyami''s chair and swivels to look at Horizon, hands in hisp and aplicated expression on his face. "Ok, what do you want?" Horizon asks. "I assume you heard the news about my brother..." "Yeah, Stain got him," Horizon says casually. "I''m a doctor, but not the therapy kind, if that''s what you''re looking for." "Well, actually, I''d like to know how you do it." "Do what?" Iida takes a deep breath and slouches slightly, for the first time Horizon sees him not being stiff as a board. "At the sports festival, you spoke freely about how you lost your parents, that you''re alone in the world...but you''re still moving forward. My brother was the most important person to me, I''m not like you, I still have my parents, but it still feels all hollow without him, how did you fix that? How did you keep going when it felt like part of you is missing?" "That''s actually easy," Horizon says, causing Iida to look at him in surprise. "You don''t fix it." "What?" "You don''t fix it, because you can''t." Horizon''s voice bes surprisingly gentle as he continues, "every day it will hurt, and it''ll never stop, no matter how many people tell you it will get better, it doesn''t. But you grow, and the more you grow the smaller that hole in your chest seems inparison. It doesn''t stop hurting, you just get bigger and stronger so the pain seems like less, but it will always be there, at least that''s my experience with it." Iida looks down at the floor between them, letting his words sink in, realizing that maybe he wasn''t crazy for thinking that he''d never be able to move on from this as he''d read about. "But what if Stain is still out there?" Iida asks, looking up at Horizon. "What do you mean?" "Well, what if I can''t let that fact go, that the monster that killed my brother, that killed a true hero, is still out there and will kill more people," Iida grits his teeth, a look of fury on his face. "What if I need to know that he will never do this again, not to anyone?" Horizon sighs and shakes his head. "Look, I don''t really believe in revenge for things like this, I mean your brother was a Pro Hero, this is the risk of the business. You can''t get mad when someone trains and signs up to fight killers every day, then one killer gets lucky." "You expect me to just let it go?!" "No, but I expect you to understand the risks and consequences of actions, you can''t act surprised when a soldier gets shot just because he was your brother. Heroes die every day, that''s the job, that''s literally what all the government propaganda convinces people to do, why should it be any different just because it''s someone you love?" "But my brother was a good person," Iida argues. Horizon rolls his eyes beneath the visor, "the world doesn''t really care about that, but I can see you''re too invested to think about this logically so how about this, what''s your n?" Iida looks confused, not sure where this is going, "my n?" "Yeah, you seem like you have one, probably a stupid one." "I...I don''t think I should tell you." "If you tell me, I promise I''ll keep it between us, no matter what," Horizon says. "It''s a contract between us, and I never break a contract." Iida looks at him skeptically, but decides to trust Horizon, he''s never once seen him be dishonest, and he does value his opinion very highly. "I''m going to kill Stain," Iida says, a look of rage shing across his face at the thought. "I figured...since I promised I would keep this between us then I won''t report it, not that I would either way. What you want to do with your life isn''t my problem, once I''m not there it can''t bite me in the ass," Horizon shrugs. Iida looks taken aback at this, he was expecting a lecture on how wrong killing was, that''s what any other Hero Course student would do at the very least, but Horizon barely bats an eye at his n. "Thank you for understanding," Iida says. "Ok but let''s y the scenario out," Horizon says. "Are you gonna wait until you get a Provisional License?" "I can''t wait for that," Iida says. "Ok, so illegal Quirk use, that''s grounds to get you expelled if it''s done to intentionally harm or kill someone. Basically anything but an absolute emergency, or if a Pro Hero gives you permission to engage while you''re working under them, that''s technically not legal but once you don''t get hurt nobody would cause a fuss. But they''ll never let you actually fight a viin before you get your license, so you''d have to go solo. And the cops will immediately know you went after Stain because of the obvious motive. So bye-bye hero career. But all of this is assuming you get caught or someone interrupts the fight, which is super likely since Stain only hunts in the abandoned edges of big popted cities. If you don''t get caught it''s all fine...well, if you live, which you won''t." "But---" "No," Horizon interrupts him. "No way around it, he will kill you. He''s killed dozens of Pro Heroes, including your brother who has the same Quirk as you, but with an extra what, fifteen years of experience and probably more power, do you really think you can kill someone that your brother couldn''t?" Iida just detes, falling into silence for a tense moment as he quicklyes to the same conclusions as Horizon, but then he gets an insane idea. "What if you help me?" Iida asks. "No, not worth the risk of getting expelled." "But he''s killed dozens of people, including my brother, think of all the people we''d be saving," Iida pleads. "Not my people, not my problem," Horizon says. "All that matters is my contract with Nezu, and I''m not fucking it up for anything, especially for some revenge crap, leave me out of it." Iida just sits there for a moment, then eventually agrees. "You''re right, this is my fight, not yours. I''m the one who inherited his Ingenium name, I should be the one to avenge him, to prove that I''m worthy, for Tensei." "Whatever, just leave me out of it, and if anyone asks I didn''t know anything," Horizon says in a serious tone. "Because I promise if you tell anyone about this conversation, they''ll never find any of your pieces..." A single bead of sweat rolls down Iida''s face as he nods stiffly. And a momentter the bell rings as everyone begins flooding back into ss... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 67: (Life As Horizon) Chapter 67: (Life As Horizon) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- Sitting in UA''s cafeteria Horizon is at a corner table. At the end of one row, five seats on each side, he''s beside therge ss wall separating them from the pelting rain that''s still pouring outside. The cafeteria was bustling with excitement as everyone gets lunch, unable to go outside to eat, the building was even more full than usual. Many people notice Horizon sitting alone at a table that seats ten people but wisely decide not to approach him, either understanding that he was waiting for his ssmates, or simply not bold enough to interact with him. At the moment he was staring outside at the rain, sitting in peaceful silence, ignoring the table two rows away filled with girls that were not-so-subtly staring and giggling at him. What they could never realize was the little game he was ying to pass the time. UA''s entire main building was currently within a ROOM, 500 meters wide. And Horizon was straining his mind, focused and locked onto one single raindrop. Even among the pelting rain and harsh winds, he focuses on the single raindrop, constantly maintaining SCAN on it, and every time it''s about to hit the floor. SHAMBLES! It swaps with another at the top of the room. Exercises like these were by far the most difficult and exhausting, focusing on something so small for that long. Like visually trying to track one needly in a wave of identical needles as they all fall from the sky. After five minutes of this, he can feel himself getting slightly tired, his brain demanding more and more energy by the second. Beneath his visor his eyes were closed, forehead wrinkled as he ignored the sudden grumbling of his stomach, pushing his stamina limit again and again. "Enjoying the rain?" Momo''s gentle voice snaps him out of his trance. He immediately deactivates his Quirk and turns his attention to the mob of his ssmates. With Horizon to the far right of the table as they all take their seats, food and trays in hand. Sero sits to his left, with Tokoyami, Shoji, and Ojiro beside them. Opposite him is Momo, Jirou beside her, followed by Aoyama and Koda. ''I guess if tail boy and frenchie are this close to me there must not be any seats left...whatever,'' Horizon doesn''t pay much mind to it. "Thanks for saving us a table man, this ce is packed," Sero says before he starts eating, only to notice that Horizon didn''t have anything in front of him. "Uh...you gonna eat anything?" "Yeah I''ve got it," Horizon pulls out one of his meal bars, a in white candy bar item with his logo in blue on the front. "You have your own candy bar?" Momo asks, raising a brow at the item. "Not a candy bar, a meal bar," Horizon sighs. "I''ve had a weird journey with food over the past year...and now this is where I''m at." The entire table cranes forward as he raises his hand and flicks his fingers upward, the bottom of his visor reveals the previously invisible seam and slides up, just barely enough to reveal his mouth as he eats what looks like a regr gran bar made of four blocks. "That''s not what I was expecting," Jiro mutters aloud. "Your mouth is all...normal..." "What did you expect?" "Like, maybe no face at all?" "Same here," Sero says. "Well sorry to disappoint but...I''m pretty good-looking, not that you''d even see it." Momo swallows a bit of rice and gives Horizon''s meal bar a curious look, "is that perhaps needed to fuel your Quirk? Much in the same way I need to eat a lot of fats for mine." "Uh, not really, but kinda." "How does it fit into this great ''food journey'' from earlier?" Tokoyami asks. Horizon takes another bite, eating the third block of his meal bar before speaking. "Well, about a year ago when I lost my parents I met Nezu after that," the casual manner in which he mentions such events startles everyone just a bit. "He gave me an offer to join UA and helped me setup my business...suddenly I''ve got all the money in the world, buying everything I could want and eating my favourite foods for every meal, made by pro chefs...But after a month I was sick of it." "But that sounds incredible," Aoyama says. "A truly luxurious life, truly Magnifique." Horizon pauses, then looks at Aoyama, and speaks in perfect French, "so are you actually French or just ying it up for attention?" The entire table freezes, and Aoyama has no idea what Horizon just said. "Figured as much," he finishes his meal bar and returns to his story. "So anyway I realized that half the fun for me was actually cooking. Like since I was four my dad and I cooked almost every meal together, my mom would have to travel a lot for work so it was just us most of the time, it was kind of our thing...well that and operating on people. I was missing that, so instead of hiring a chef I''d just buy property wherever I''m traveling to, have it stocked when I get there, and take it easy with cooking. This was all good until USJ." "The viins ruined your diet?" Jiro asks skeptically. "Pretty much. After dealing with the USJ Nomu I realized that my Quirk is really strong, but eventually I''lle face to face with a problem that I don''t have an answer to, it''s an eventuality in a world of superpowers, even for me." "So eating helps you prepare?" Sero asks. "I''m trying to bulk up," Horizon says. "I''m stacking lean muscle, trying to go from 190lbs to maybe 260lbs. But I already had to eat a lot before I was bulking, so preparing that much food got exhausting. Two days in and I was just throwing everything into a blender and drinking it, eight meals a day...I hated it." "Yeah that sounds like hell," Jiro says. "So how do the meal bars help?" "Well each block is 2000 calories, and each bar has four blocks." "So you just ate 8000 calories?" Momo looks horrified at the idea, especially seeing as how Horizon did it so easily. "Yup, I eat one or two of those a day, maybe more depending on how hard I trained that day. I only got them yesterday from Detnerat so it''s new, but I like em." "Won''t you get fat?" Ojiro asks, "or does your Quirk burn it all away?" "Well that part is a bitplicated but...remember when Monoma copied my Quirk?" "You mean when you almost killed him?" Sero asks. "That wasn''t Horizon''s fault," Momo says, "he didn''t know that would happen, right?" "Well, kinda," Horizon says. "And you still let him do it?!" Jiro yells. "What the hell is wrong with you?!" "Rx, it''s not that big a deal, it''s just how my Quirk works. It''s like this, to control the world around you, you have to understand the world, and before you can do any of that, you have to understand and control yourself." "Uh... you lost me," Shoji says. "Ok so imagine you could control everything that happens in your body. If you will it you could spike your testosterone to help build muscle mass and bone density, you could control other hormones and muscle enzyme production, you could will your heart to stop or arteries to squeeze shut... you can even tell your body how much of each nutrient to absorb from the food you eat." "Perfect control of your own bodily functions," Momo mutters, half horrified and half amazed. "Your Quirk allows that?" "Can''t control the world if you can''t control yourself. When Monoma got flooded with information it wasn''t about the world around him, it was about his body. He got hit with a map of every cell in his body and all the chemical processes that were currently happening or that are possible, his brain was overloaded, and since he had perfect control of his body he instinctively gave his brain permission to rip energy away from everything else and inspire rapid growth topensate." "So he really was killing himself with your Quirk?" Jiro asks. "Yup, it lets you bypass the built-in safety features that most Quirks have. Like how Sero can''t die from making too much Tape, if his Quirk was more like mine he would be able to bypass that biological failsafe and just die if he wanted," Horizon shrugs. Momo snaps her finger, realizing where he was going with this. "So your Quirk consumes more calories for brain function than other people, that''s why you can eat this absurd amount." "Bingo, smart girl," Horizon says, causing her to blush slightly. "Average personmits 20% of their calories to brain power, I''m more like 70% if I spend all day training. And even when I''m sitting in ss I''m usually doing something to train my Quirk, because I''m training my Quirk and body I have to eat an absurd amount to support both. That''s the downside of having a big brain, takes a lot of energy." The table is silent as everyone processes what he just said,ing to the same realization. ''So when he''s just sitting bored in ss...he''s actually training his Quirk, that''s insane...'' "So what''s in the meal bar?" Shoji asks. "Well, it''s a unique blend of everything I need, superpressed down and made to dissolve Quickly in my stomach. If a regr person ate one it wouldn''t end well." "How bad is it?" Sero asks. "Well...if someone tiny like Jiro ate a block she''d sleep for a day, if she ate an entire bar her hormonal system would go crazy and she''d go catatonic and have serious liver and kidney failure within a few hours." "So basically its poison for anyone that can''tmand their body to process specificponents," Tokoyami says. "Is there at least a warning on thebel? And I''m surprised you''d reveal a vulnerability such as this to us..." "Well first of all, I don''t think ''Horizon needs food to make energy and survive,'' would be anything groundbreaking, it''s not like going a day or two without food would kill me...but I''d be really cranky." "I see, likewise," Tokoyami agrees. "As for the warningbel...why would I need that? My logo is on it, if you eat food that isn''t yours then die that''s not my fault," Horizon shrugs. "Tch," Jiro shakes her head in disappointment, "do you sometimes forget that you''re training to be a Pro Hero?" Horizon chuckles, "it''s adorable that you still think being a Pro Hero needs you to be a good person, " Jiro blushes at that but keeps ring at him. "It''s just a job Jiro, once I get the results people want they won''t care about anything else. You people really think too highly of this hero-viin nonsense." Feeling Jiro about to lean forward and start a heated argument with Horizon, Momo rests a hand on the girl''sp and interrupts her, "so how has your weight gaining been progressing?" "Very quickly," Horizon says. "Normally it would take years to gain 70lbs, I''ve been gaining about 6 each week, already up 18lbs...that puts me at 208lbs." "That''s so unfair," Sero groans. "Hahaha, well...I control hormone and enzyme production, among other things, stacking weight is easy. But I''ll still have to eat a lot to maintain it sadly...but hey, the girls are gonna love it even more." "You mean the fan club?" Jiro points to the table two rows away with her Earphone Jack, filled with 1st-year girls stealing nces at Horizon. He decides to y along and give them a friendly wave causing Jiro to just frown and roll her eyes. "Man you''re so lucky," Sero grumbles. "I posted that selfie we took and the onlyments I get are girls asking about you..." "Well you know what to do, hit the gym, train, study, and be direct in telling girls what you want. It''s literally that easy. Just be a strong dependable guy that gets to the point, you''d be surprised how well they respond to that." "You make it sound so easy." "Because it is," Horizon shrugs. "Look at it this way, you''re gonna be a famous Pro Hero, money, fame, women, all that stuff. If she says no then just move on to the next one, don''t dwell on it, and don''t chase her, there are millions of beautiful women in Japan...hell, I haven''t seen one bad-looking girl at UA alone...at least not yet. But there is only one you..." "But some girls y hard to get, right?" Momo asks Jiro. "I''ve never really had friends before so...that is something girls do right?" "Uh yeah some did that in my middle school," Jiro says, ying with her Earphone Jacks nervously. "Aren''t guys supposed to like that?" "Idiots yeah," Horizon says. "If a girl is ying silly games like that then she doesn''t respect your time and isn''t worth it, no matter how hot she is, just find another one." "That seems a bit harsh," Tokoyami says. "I just don''t like my time being wasted," Horizon shrugs. "So you ever gonna ask any of them out?" Sero asks, ncing over at Horizon''s fan club. "Nope," Horizon says. "Thest thing I need is a serious rtionship right now, I''ve already got a lot to deal with. Casual stuff is fine but the problem with that as Horizon is..." he raises a hand to tap his visor, and everyone immediately understands. "Oh yeah, how would that even work?" Shoji asks. "Well probably just shut all the lights off and go by feel, or use a blindfold," Horizon shrugs. "Won''t taking it off kill you?" Momo asks. "It is a Lifestyle Support item is it not?" "Taking it off long enough for us to have some fun won''t kill me Momo," she immediately starts blushing and hiding her face which causes him tough. "Honestly you two girls are way too easy to fluster...or maybe you''re normal teens and I''m just not bothered by this stuff, you know, cuz I''m a doctor. But hey at least it''s cute on you two." Jiro just stares down at herp and grumbles something under her breath, luckily Horizon doesn''t have super-hearing and was already chatting with Sero as the table devolves into the usual cafeteria noise. But Momo hears the, ''why do I have to like such a jerk...'' leave Jiro''s lips...and she silently agrees,ing to the same conclusion. All while Aoyama was quietly taking in the entire conversation, taking note of all the little things Horizon revealed that he''d report to All For One... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 68: (Hero Names) Chapter 68: (Hero Names) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- Sitting in ss with everyone else Horizon sees Eraser Head trudge in, sleeping bag slung over his shoulder. ''God I hope we don''t have hero training in the rain,'' he thinks, hoping that even if they havebat training this afternoon it will at least be inside. "Today you''ll be picking hero names," Eraser says, and the entire ss goes wild. "Settle down!" Everyone sits quietly as he continues. "Since we''re opening internships to first years because of all the increased viin activity, you''ll need Hero Names to operate in the field. They don''t be permanent until you get a Provisional License andplete the three-year trial period to be an official Pro Hero, you''ve got until then to think of your final one. But some of you will likely get famous enough that you won''t be able to just swap it, so make these temporary ones good enough to be the real deal in case that happens." ''I wonder what these people are gonna choose,'' Horizon nces about the room, already having thought up some cool names for his ssmates, but their names aren''t his problem. "Anyway, Midnight will be handling this, it''s not really my specialty," Eraser sits in the corner in his sleeping bag and begins nodding off as Midnight enters. Half the boys in ss are immediately entranced by her skin-tight and provocative outfit, but Horizon just rolls his eyes at her grandiose speech. "---now for an example," Midnight eventually says. "The best Hero Names tell a story of who you are, so how about we have Horizone up and exin his since it is already decided." The entire ss turns to him, but only a few hadn''t figured this out already. "Alright, but I''m only doing this once..." Horizon says as he walks to the board, writing his full Hero Name and title. ''Horizon: The Miracle.'' Notably ''Horizon'' was in English while the rest was Japanese. he then turns to the ss to exin. "So... usually the title, in my case ''The Miracle,'' would be at the front and some stupid corny shit like ''The miracle hero'' or something like that. I changed it to the back and made it shorter as a show of finality and to make it all sleeker. ''The Miracle'' is descriptive, because I do perform what would otherwise be miracles. And ''Horizon'' is always in English instead of Japanese, because I want the meaning of ''the limit of a person''s knowledge and experience,'' rather than the sunset over the edge of the world stuff... Oh, and another reason I took it is thatpared to everyone else that''s how far ahead I am...but Nezu prefers the idea that when people see me on the Horizon they know everything will be ok. But just between us, my logo is on my back for a reason. So yeah everything from my name, to the visor, to my Hero Costume and weapon, all are designed to give a sense of efficiency and superiority...and it''s been working..." He silently walks back to his seat and leans back in his chair. "Uh...right," Midnight awkwardly coughs to get all eyes back on her. "Well there you have it, a well-thought-out Hero Name and image, so think very carefully about how you want people to look at you in the future when deciding your names." The entire room suddenly feels a lot more pressure on them, realizing that they''d hardly given any thought to their image as a hero, now wracking their brains to think of something good. "Alright, who wants to go next?" Midnight asks ten minutester... After the final name is revealed Horizon just shakes his head as he recalls what they''d all be called. ''Shining Hero: Can''t Stop Twinkling, actually retarded. Pinky, sounds like a character from a children''s book, made for very slow babies. Rainy Season Hero: Froppy, cute, and simple like her. Uravity, from the same book as Pinky. Martial Arts Hero: Tailman, at least its better than Tail Boy, guess he doesn''t have much to work with anyway. Stun Gun Hero: Chargebolt, that''s actually a good one. Sturdy Hero: Red Riot, fanboy nonsense. Petting Hero: Anima, also from the same children''s book, but sounds like it shouldn''t be allowed near children. Sweets Hero: Sugarman, from that same children''s book...what is wrong with these morons. Tentacle Hero: Tentacole, not awful, guess he doesn''t have much to work with. Hearing Hero: Earphone Jack, the music girl is the least creative in ss, that''s surprising, prettyme name. Taping Hero: Cellophane, not bad Sero. Jet-ck Hero: Tsukuyomi, ok that''s cool. Stealth Hero: Invisible Girl, descriptive, can''t be mad at that. Deku, also descriptive, guess this will eventually be ''cripple boy''. Everything Hero: Creati...what a fucking disappointment, guess she''s in the same book for slow children. And Bakugo, Shoto, and Iida are all undecided or using their first names...'' As Midnight leaves to go file the names Eraser returns to the front of the ss and taps the board once. "Alright, these are the offers you each received from the sports festival, you''ve got until Friday afternoon to decide who you''ll be interning with and submit the forms. Even those who didn''t get offers will be interning with someone, you''ll have a list of forty agencies to choose from." He steps to the side for everyone to get a good look at the board. Horizon- 8452 Bakugo- 4132 Todoroki- 3476 Tokoyami- 623 Iida- 187 Kirishima- 92 Momo- 48 Sero- 27 Nobody is surprised at how many offers Horizon got, they expected that every agency in the country would want the only Warping hero in the world working for them. Seeing him at the top of every list was amon urrence by now. "Think very carefully about who you choose," Eraser says while passing out the forms, cing a massive stack on Horizon''s desk. "Consider what type of hero you want to be, what aspects of it you want to focus on. If you want to focus on rescues then maybe you should pick an agency that matches that. You should also consider location and local crime rates depending on how much action you want. If these pros take a liking to you they could keep investing in you and sign you as a sidekick when you go Pro, and if you don''t act properly you could quickly be someone that Pros will avoid working with. So mind your manners. The internship willst one week and you''ll be staying with the pro until it''s over, so also be aware of that when you''re preparing." Looking at the stack of paper Horizon''s eyes are immediately glued to the name at the top of the very first page. ''Endeavor actually sent me a request...what the hell,'' he sits back and stares at it. ''This is literally the perfect choice. But considering my rtionship with Shoto it''s probably not the best idea to go there and get involved in that bullshit. But it''s not like he can hurt me since he''s the #2 Pro Hero in Japan, and maybe he just wants to know why I kicked in Shoto''s teeth. And if needed I''ve got dirt on him because his idiot son put his family business out there, that way I at least know he can''t do anything to make me look bad as some stupid revenge.'' Horizon flips the first two pages, since the agencies and heroes are ordered by ranking he only checked the top ten, not seeing Mirko. ''Guess my golden ticket to actually fight viins didn''t send an offer. The one time I actually want one of those stupid fucking meatheads around...and at least Hawks was smart enough not to send me an offer, whatever, Endeavor it is,'' he immediately begins filling out his form. As Eraser leaves the room people begin discussing their options, and Tokoyami turns to Horizon. "You''re already filling out the form?" "Yeah, have you decided yet?" "I received an offer from Hawks," Tokoyami says. "I hadn''t expected to be noticed by someone so capable. Or for any pro to tolerate the darkness dwelling within me..." Everyone around immediatelyunches a barrage of questions at Tokoyami, jealous and excited at the idea of their ssmate working with the #3 Pro Hero. "What about you?" Tokoyami asks Horizon, and all eyes turn to him. "Oh, Endeavor sent me a request," Horizon shrugs, and the entire ss falls silent, nervously ncing between Shoto and Horizon. "My father sent you a request?" Shoto growls out, obvious anger on his face. Horizon slowly swivels around in his chair to look back at him, "don''t take it too seriously, probably wants to know why I had to put you in your ce, then he''ll just put me on desk duty while you two run around the city. I just need my record to show that I worked with him, that''ll open a lot of options for me in the future...not that I need the boost, but better safe than sorry." Everyone just silently watches the interaction, as Shoto looked up at Horizon his face went from anger to slightly fearful, and he immediately looked down at his desk. "Oh c''mon," Horizon groans loudly. "No need to act like a pussy around me, I barely even touched you in that fight, get over it. So long as you watch your mouth you don''t have anything to worry about..." he turns back to his desk to fill out the form. After a few minutes, he gets a notification on the inside of his visor. ''Nezu: My office after school.'' ''Oh great, it''s gonna be one of those days...'' END CHAPTER--- C''mon, did you really think I was ever going to have Law work with Mirko...the horny doesn''t control this story :) Chapter 69: (Awakening Thesis) Chapter 69: (Awakening Thesis) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- Sitting in Nezu''s office, in Nezu''s chair, Horizon has his back to the door as he stares out the window. ying the same training game he''s been at all day, constantly moving the same raindrop from one inch above the floor to the top of his room, quickly exhausting himself through focus and Quirk use. Hearing the door open behind him he closes his room and spins around to face Nezu and Yagi, with Nezu holding a small gift bag in his arms. "You look good in that seat," Nezu says as he and Yagi move to sit on one couch. "I look good in any position of power," Horizon gets up and moves to sit opposite them. "But if I wanted to work hard all my life without going anywhere, then sure I''d be a teacher..." "Ouch," Yagi says. Nezu just sighs, "it''s been all of 5 seconds and you''re already insulting us." "So what''d you need to talk to me about?" Horizon asks. "I''ve already given Eraser my paperwork." "I saw, he''s already filed it, Endeavor...are you sure that won''t be a problem since, well, the sports festival." "I''ll handle it," Horizon says. "So, what''s up?" Nezu quietly starts making tea for the three of them as Yagi speaks to Horizon. "Do you recall the first time we sat here, when you gave a breakdown of what young Midoriya was doing wrong with his Quirk?" Yagi asks. "Yeah, what about it? I already told Nezu I''m not here to teach, especially not that loser." "I see," Yagi taps his chin and leans back, considering his options, eventually deciding to take the direct approach. By this point, he clearly understands that Horizon doesn''t like his time wasted. "What would it take for you to help him." "Eh, double my bank ount?" Horizon shrugs. Yagi considers it, then turns to Nezu. "You can''t afford that," Nezu says inly. "And I''m not spending the worth of a small country for this." "Two small countries," Horizon says with a chuckle. "Is there anything that could change your mind?" Yagi asks inly. "Why do you care so much about him?" "Well, he''s one of my precious students. With the internships starting Sunday it''s possible that something could happen where he''d have to act, right now if he does that he''ll probably die." Horizon leans back and nods, taking in the answer. "Ok, so that''s half the reason, what''s the other half?" "What do you mean?" "Well, you told me the problem, you didn''t tell me why you care so much about Deku," Horizon points out. Nezu just shakes his head before sipping his tea. Clearly amused by how hyper-aware Yagi was that he was currently walking a minefield. "Well..." Yagi awkwardly rubs the back of his head, trying to find the words. "I''ve taken an interest in him. I actually first saw him a year ago, I saw him stand up to a viin even knowing that he couldn''t use his Quirk. He ran in and tried to help, and probably would have died if I didn''t show up, but he tried when others were standing around doing nothing...I can''t help but want to nurture someone with such a strong heroic spirit. Seeing him on the first day at UA...it felt like destiny telling me I had to teach him to be a great hero." Nezu was genuinely impressed with the lie. Littering the tale with truths kept Yagi''s emotions at the surface, had this been anyone else they would have easily epted this truth, but Horizon isn''t just anyone... "Close," Horizon says. "But you''re still holding something back, so the full truth, or I''m gonna lean forward and polygraph you. Because if something didn''t change you would have asked me to do this sooner." "Gran Torino sent Midoriya an internship offer," Nezu says bluntly which causes Yagi to sputter and panic. "Who the hell is Gran Torino?" "He was Yagi''s teacher, he only spent one year at UA, and was close with Yagi''s mentor...so he''s kind of like Yagi''s uncle I suppose," Nezu says. "Oh, so Yagi told him about Deku...now he wants to meet Deku...but Yagi is scared that Torino will be disappointed by his non-existent teaching ability, right?" Yagi feels an arrow to the heart. "Exactly," Nezu says. Another arrow to the heart. "So can''t teach and he''s a pussy...damn meathead," Horizon grumbles. "Mhm," Nezu takes another sip of his tea, and by this point, Yagi is slumped forward on the couch. "Still not enough of a reason for me to care about teaching Deku anything." "What if it helps your reputation?" Nezu asks. "I''m not going for the ''golden-hearted hero'' reputation, so I''ll pass." "What about as a genius Quirk specialist," Nezu says, knowing exactly what buttons to press to get Horizon to y along. "The world doesn''t actually have many of those since humanity has mostly just epted Quirks and doesn''t bother looking deeper...but you have a theory or two that could put you on that short list." "My Quirk Mastery theory, you want me to publish it through UA?" Horizon asks. "It would push your imagine that much further," Nezu says. "Hmm," Horizon leans back and considers it while Nezu takes a box out of the bag he brought. A brand new chess set. As he''s setting up Horizon just leans forward and picks up the small rulebook included. "Never actually yed before..." "I''ve always wanted to y you in chess," Nezu says with a smirk. Yagi just sits back and drinks his tea, watching Nezu prepare the board while Horizon learns the rules, and a minuteter Horizon puts down the book and gestures to the board. Nezu moves one pawn forward. "Have you, decided on your answer?" Nezu asks. Horizon moves his piece, "I need real publicity." Nezu makes a move, "what do you mean?" And between each sentence, they''d make a move, their own little chess timer. "I need witnesses, publishing the thesis isn''t enough, I need people to see me in action breaking down his Quirk." "We can''t do that," Nezu says. "But I will second your thesis under my name, and use my connections to help get it passed around in the scientificmunity." "That''ll work, what about Hero Network ess?" Horizon asks. "Giving you ess to that is treason." "For anyone else, yeah, but you''re Nezu. And I need ess if I''m gonna be doing solo work during summer." "Hmm," Nezu pauses, breaking the momentum of the game to consider his next move. Then he just sits back on the couch, done with the game. "If I''m agreeing to these terms then this needs to be a full ss instead of a 1-on-1 session with Midoriya." "Quirk Mastery 101...fine, but they get the basic rundown then I help him," Horizon says. "I won''t be giving you ess until you get the Provisional Hero License." "Not like I''d need it before that," Horizon shrugs. "Quirk use is illegal in public, and I''m not really the type to go meddling in other people''s lives." "But a hero''s job is to meddle," Yagi blurts out. Horizon pauses, then slowly turns his head toward Yagi. "Oh...that exins a lot. Deku learned that shit from you, then he taught it to Todoroki...then I kicked in Todoroki''s teeth because of it, good job, All Might." "Huh, that''s why you---" "Nezu," Horizon cuts off Yagi. "We have a deal? I teach one ss, you publish and push my thesis to get me some spotlight, and I get Hero Network ess when I get the license." "Deal, have the thesis written and sent to meter tonight," Nezu says. "Have a good night Horizon." "Yeah, you too." "Have a pleasant evening," Yagi says. "Don''t ever tell me what to do," Horizon immediately warps away, swapping with the card he left in his apartment in the city before it warps back to him. Yagi just sighs and downs the rest of his tea, "he hates me." "You''re being dramatic, he doesn''t hate you, he just doesn''t respect anything about you," Nezu says inly. "How is that supposed to make me feel better?" "I was only correcting you, anyway now you don''t have to worry so much about Midoriya, Horizon will take care of it. But you should tell Midoriya to try and avoid contact with Horizon." "I''ll be sure to do that, I can''t believe he figured it out when neither of us could, even you." "Well, Quirk application and development isn''t something I''m good at, at least not for battle Quirks. My brain is hardwired for algorithms and logistics after all, at that, I''m far beyond everyone, even him," Nezu says. "And you''re also the only person that can properly negotiate with Horizon, or maybe it''s just because it''s me, well?" "A mix of both," Nezu says. "I''m the only person he''s ever truly lost to, and we have a certain understanding. Thankfully he is a professional about it, so we get along just fine." "I suppose that makes sense, but didn''t that deal seem a bit one-sided, you gave him a lot, all things considered. I honestly feel kinda bad now." "Any improvement to his public image is a step closer to him embracing the role of a true hero, and bing our next Symbol Of Peace," Nezu proudly says. "Getting him to help Midoriya was honestly more of a bonus for me." "I see, but you realize that if young Midoriya master One For All, he could very well ovee Horizon and be the next me. You''ve essentially helped thepetition by doing this," Yagi says. Nezu hops down from the couch and begins cleaning up the teacups, "well he is one of my students so it is my duty to do anything I can to help him. But I doubt this will truly matter that much." "You''re really that confident in him huh..." "Well he''s Horizon, there really isn''t anypetition, but I''m sure Midoriya will still be a great and powerful hero in his own right," Nezu says with a small chuckle. "Well we''ll just have to see what the future has in store for our students," Yagi says as Nezu begins clearing the chessboard and packing it away. "Howe you didn''t finish the game?" "Oh we did, he would have won within the next seven moves." Yagi''s eyes open in absolute shock at that, "I thought you said you were the smartest on the earlier? And didn''t he just learn to y from the book?" "I am, but his ability to intuitively understand things, especially regarding Quirks andbat is second to none, the only person whoes close...at least from my former students, would be---" "Endeavor," Yagi says. "Guess they''re pretty simr in that regard, and neither of them like me..." "Well Endeavor is overlypetitive," Nezu says. "But at least for Horizon you know he just doesn''t like you as a person." Yagi groans, "thanks a lot...just what I needed to hear." Nezu packs up the gameboard and turns to move to his desk, but he pauses, just staring at his desk and chair, a mischievous grin on his face. Yagi raises a brow and asks quietly, "what are you smiling at?" "I was just thinking, he really did look good in that chair..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 70: (Horizon Sensei) Chapter 70: (Horizon Sensei) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- Sitting in the cafeteria Horizon was at a quiet table with Sero, Jiro, Momo, and Sato. While they were all enjoying their food he had already eaten his meal bar and was just scrolling through his ''Yay!'' profile. "Kamui Woods, that''s pretty cool," Jiro says to Sero. "He''s new but pretty popr, and he works just one train stop away from here." "Yeah, honestly I didn''t even know who he was until I saw he sent me an offer," Sero chuckles in embarrassment, rubbing the back of his neck. "I looked at some of his videos online, his Quirk gives him wooden limbs that he can grow to swing around and restrain people, basically like a different version of my Quirk." "That''s so lucky," Jiro says. "I''m honestly a bit jealous, sound-based Quirks aren''t that rare but heroes with them are. My options would basically be Mic or Gang Orca, but teachers can''t use us as interns and Gang Orca didn''t send a request." "Not surprising," Horizon says without looking up from his phone. "You didn''t even get past the cavalry game, everyone probably just thinks you have long earlobes since they never saw you use sonic attacks." Jiro frowns and res at him, "you say that like you aren''t the one who eliminated my team...not that I me you or anything since it was apetition." "It doesn''t matter how you feel. You lost your headband because you gathered a weakbination of Quirks for your team. Then you attacked someone you knew you had no business fighting out of desperation, so you got punished. If you aren''t smart enough to put on a show for the pros then none of them are gonna care about you. Should have at least used your Quirk to shatter the ground or something so they know you aren''t just hitting people with your ears." Jiro just frowns and looks down at her food, while Horizon is still casually on his phone. "Right, well I''m gonna be over in Aldera with Death Arms, maybe we''ll see each other during the week Sero." "A team up, that''d be cool," Sero gives her a thumbs up. "That''s actually who I was gonna work with too," Sato says. "But I think I''ll apply at someone else, I just don''t think Death Arms can teach me what I want." "What exactly is it that you want?" Momo asks. "Well, I''ve been thinking. Maybe I should learn some more technical fighting, like I''ve been wrestling since middle school but if I''m gonna be a pro I should know something like Karate right? So I''m looking for a martial arts hero, maybe I''ll ask Ojiro where he''s going and apply with him." "Bad idea," Horizon says. "That''s aplete waste of time. Stick with Death Arms, or maybe someone like...I dunno some other meathead brawler." Momo gives him a strange look, "but aren''t you always saying people should avoid being ''meatheads''?" "Yeah, I figured if I learned a martial art it''d help me out a lot, like maybe from Gun Head." "Nope, waste of time," Horizon says. "Viin fights aren''t in a ring, or fighting for points, think of it as to the death, no rules. If you try something super technical like Karate it could work, or one of the movements could leave an opening for you to get stabbed. If you try wrestling you''d be able to pin lots of viins, but then their friend stomps on your head." "Ouch," Sato rubs his head. "Ok, so what should I do." "Boxing, kickboxing, maybe some Brazilian jiu-jitsu. The goal in a streetfight is to keep your guard up, stay on your feet in case you get jumped, and never take your eyes off the enemy. You do those simple things and you''re better than most. Trying fancy shit looks cool and can work...if you''re a lot better or stronger. Keep it simple and it''s much more reliable. Jiu Jutsu is like wrestling with actual finishers, boxing and kickboxing are endurance, bnce, and striking, you''ll learn them a lot faster than karate or anything like that." Sato falls deep into thought as he quietly considers his options. "But don''t you know multiple fighting styles?" Momo asks Horizon. "Yeah, and they took me 11 years of non-stop training to master, you''ve got 3 years and you also have to train your Quirk, learn academics, and how to operate as a Pro Hero. Keep it simple and efficient. I don''t even need the fancy shit 99% of the time." "Damn," Sero says, with a dramatic whistle. "No wonder Bakugo couldn''t hit you...totally not fair." "I get that a lot," Horizon sees a message from Nezu pop up, asking him toe to his office. "So what about you Momo?" Horizon says while getting up. "Oh, I''ve already requested my internship be with Uwabami," Momo says proudly, clear excitement in her voice as she gives him a dazzling smile. "Oh," he sounds almost disappointed, but mostly surprised. "I didn''t think you were trying to be one of those heroes..." "Huh, what do you mean?" Momo asks. "It''s nothing important, none of my business anyway," Horizon warps one of his cards into his hand and ces it on the table in front of Momo. "I need to go see Nezu, do me a favor and keep this on you in case our talk runs a bit too long..." He immediately warps away, leaving them all staring at the metal card with his logo on it. Twenty minutester Momo is walking at the head of her ss, everyone now changed into their Hero Costumes. While making their way to training ground Beta, she idly stares at the metal card in her hand, intensely studying it. "Sooo," Mina speaks up, leaning forward a bit to get a look at the card. "Can it do anything cool?" Momo narrows her eyes at it and shakes her head. "It appears to just be a carbon-metal alloy, the edges are sharp but I doubt he intends to use them like weapons. But it does have his logo on both sides." "Maybe he needs his logo on it to warp around with it," Mina says. Behind them Iida speaks up, "but he warps with other random objects and people as well. I think his quirk is less restrictive than needed a marking of some kind." "Maybe it lets him see us," Mina suggests. "What do you mean?" Momo asks. "Like he gave it to you so he could see into the locker room while we changed." Momo and Jiro blush furiously at that before Jiro speaks up. "I don''t think Horizon is the type of person to do somethingme like that." "Yeah," Tsu agrees. "Besides can''t he just see through the walls?" "He can do that?!" Mina asks. "Well I don''t know, but it would exin how he can see where he''s warping, right?" Tsu says. "His quirk is so weird," Mina sighs. "Maybe it''s actually part of his Quirk or something? I mean who knows what weird things he can make..." "Well, you could just ask him," Jiro suggests. Mina chuckles nervously at that, "uh...I''d rather not get into a discussion about Quirks with him...he can be a bit much sometimes and my Acid isn''t really impressive." Mina''s eyes shift over to Momo, she gives her ss Vice Rep a pleading smile, "but you could ask him Momo." "Hmm," Momo gets a bit nervous at the thought, but she remembers Horizon hasn''t been mean when they discuss his Quirk. She nods, determined to get to the bottom of this, "alright, I''ll ask him when we see him. I''m sure it''s simply tooplex for us to understand, his Quirk is Mystery ss after all, by definition it''s beyond humanprehension." A few momentster they round the final corner and enter the tunnel to training ground Beta, only to get confused by the assembled crowd. Eraser Head was standing off to the side with d King -ss 1B''s homeroom teacher. Also joining them were Midnight, Ectosm, and Snipe. And in the middle of the road in this city-styled training ground was all of ss 1B. Everyone was in full Hero Costume. The teachers just nce at 1A and turn back to their conversation, but Kendo takes the initiative as ss Rep to walk over. "Hey 1A, nice costumes!" "Likewise," Momo says as everyone just stands around confused. "What''s going on, is this a joint training ss?" "Huh, your teacher didn''t tell you?" Kendo ask. "Apparently Principal Nezu asked Horizon to teach us something today," she shrugs. Most of 1A wince at that idea, and some begin sweating nervously. ''Maybe if I stand at the back he won''t see me,'' Deku thinks as he begins taking careful steps to the back of the crowd. Kendo notices their reaction and tilts her head to the side,pletely confused. "What''s wrong?" "Uh, it''s just that, well, Horizon has very high standards for everyone around him, and he can be a very...honest, person," Momo says. "What?" "Tch," Jiro rolls her eyes. "What she really means is that mister miracle thinks anyone who isn''t at least near perfect is garbage and he''s aplete ass about it." Kendo''s eyes shoot open in surprise as her ssmates begin walking over and introducing themselves. "Really? He was always so cool around us, I never would have guessed." "Well the asshole in him onlyes out when people challenge him, disappoint him, or if he thinks they''re wrong...so we have to deal with it a lot," Jiro growls out. "Because mister ''I''m perfect'' always finds something wrong with us..." "It can''t be that bad," Juzo joins their little chat, wearing his full costume with his face blocked by the visor, simr to Horizon and Ectosm. "It is," Jiro says. "Just try not to get noticed by him." "I think it''s actually good for us," Momo admits, surprising her ssmates. She sees their nervous looks and corrects herself. "What I mean is, whilst I''m sure he could be nicer, and kinder, and more pleasant. His harsh words push us to prove him wrong by improving... it''s like he''s worried about us in his own sort of loving way..." Kendo sees the blush on Momo''s face and immediately realizes what''s going on, ''oh...she''s in denial. Well, he''s pretty cool at least so I kinda get it, but he just sounds like a jerk to me.'' "Being a bully doesn''t help anyone," Jiro argues. "He''s just an ass sometimes but gets away with it because he''s Nezu''s favorite. He can''t just go around tearing people down like that, think about their mental health." "Oh, then you should talk to him about it," Juzo rmends. "Uhh..." Jiro sputters and begins ying with her earlobe nervously, looking at the floor between them. "Well...I mean... it''s not that simple. Like it''s Horizon, he''s kinda a lot you know." Kendo raises a brow, looking at Jiro''s reaction at the thought of confronting him, seeing right through what most would think is fear of him, but what is more likely a fear of disappointing him. Looking between Jiro and Momo she just shakes her head, ''maybe his Quirk is pheromones or something, he can''t be that bad if he''s got both of them acting like this...'' "Huh!" Momo gasps in surprise as Horizon''s card flies out of her hand and floats roughly two meters away from them, hovering in the air. SHAMBLES! He swaps with the card, appearing in full Hero Costume, sword at his side, with Nezu sitting on his shoulder tapping away on a tablet. "That really is convenient," Nezu mutters, still tapping away. "Much better than using my adorable tiny legs." Horizon ignores him and just looks around at everyone, seeing both sses mingling, and already seeing Deku trying to avoid his gaze, standing at the other side of Iida. Off to the side he sees Sero and Kodai talking, well, Sero is talking, Kodai is just nodding along with a nk expression. ''Really? Took him all of five minutes to find the hottest girl in their ss, nice work Sero.'' "Alright, everyone shut up!" Horizon yells out, slicing the crowd. "Wee to Quirk Mastery 101, a one-time-only ss where I exin exactly how to get the absolute most out of your Quirk..." He sees almost everyone in his ss smile widely at that, as if a golden ticket to being a top pro fell into theirp, because that''s exactly what him teaching them personally would be. "Don''t get too excited, I''m not gonna hold your hand and spoon-feed you the answers. I''m giving you the breakdown then what you do with it is on you, now... let''s start..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 71: (Quirk Mastery 101) Chapter 71: (Quirk Mastery 101) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (up to 30 chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "Alright, let''s get started," Horizon says. Currently, both sses were standing spread out in front of him in a shady area, their teachers at the side quietly observing, Nezu on d King''s shoulder. "This is gonna be a lot for some of you to remember, but it should all be published on UA''s website after ss, so you can find it there. But here goes. Quirk Mastery isn''t that umon to hear about, at least in the most basic sense. But Quirk Mastery and Quirk Training aren''t the same thing in my mind. Quirk Training is to increase the power or precision of your Quirk. Quirk Mastery is to reach the upper limit of your Quirks capabilities in terms of practicality and uses. One is making your punches stronger, the other is learning how to punch." Iida raises his hand to ask a question. "Put your damn hand down, no questions, just listen," Horizon says, causing most students to stiffen up. "Anyway, experience and pressure are how you improve Quirk Mastery, but that takes a lifetime if you aren''t focused on it, which I always am. You need to train power and mastery so they augment each other. I judge people in fields like Heroics based on Quirk Mastery, any moron can use super strength to punch and lift weights to boost it, tactful and precise Quirk use is what more people need to develop. I''ll give my breakdown of how I''ve made the levels for you to study and grade yourselves, and where I think each of you is currently. But remember Mastery isn''t Power. Some Quirks are powerful even without knowing how to use them, like Deku''s Super-Power. Others take a lot of mastery but can only achieve a fraction of the raw power, like Creation for example. In theory, she can make something to match the strength of his punch, but while she has to decide what to make, then understand the materialposition, then put it all together in her mind. All he has to do is throw a punch, get it?" Everyone nods along. "Because Quirks have been around for so long people just ept them as the norm and arecent, it''s extremely rare for someone to reach their full potential because of this, especially since most people either don''t have a license or reason to use and train their Quirk. Most people just depend on others to deal with big problems, but if you''re gonna be a hero you can''t do that, you''re supposed to be the problem solver after all... Alright, time for the breakdown of Mastery Levels. Each level is pretty self-exnatory in what you have to do to get to the next one, it took me all of two seconds to figure out what each of you has to do to get to level 80 so if you put your mind to it you can probably do it. First, we have the Negative Levels, this is where using your Quirk causes serious self-harm and can kill you...Deku." Deku just stares down at his feet as everyone looks over at him. "I literally had to add this level because of you, because you''re just that damn special," Horizon shakes his head. "Anyway, people at this level arepletely useless and shouldn''t be put in any position where other people are depending on them, like being a Hero for example." Deku gets a slew of sympathetic looks, and the ss 1B students begin to realize exactly what Momo and Jiro were worried about. "Next is level 0. These are the people who have a quirk but don''t know what it does or never bother to use it. The only person here is Toru." Everyone looks confused at that and Toru raises her hand, Horizon sees her entirely naked form jiggling as she moves and pays it no mind. "What?" "But my Quirk makes my skin and body invisible, it''s a Mutation Type so I can''t train it," Toru says. "Everything you just said wasn''t just wrong, but alsopletely stupid," Horizon says harshly. "If your Quirk was physical invisibility you wouldn''t be able to see, since light has to actually hit your eyes for that to happen, you''d be a pair of floating pupils. Secondly, I know your Quirk isn''t a Mutation, it''s an Emitter, you''re just too dumb to know how to turn it off. " He raises a hand to silence her response, certainly an angry one judging by the pissed-off look on her face. "The reason I know it''s an Emitter than bends light around you, is because my Quirk allows me to ignore light-based illusions, meaning I can see you in as day, green-pink hair and all." Everyonepletely freezes, including Toru, her mind racing to try and figure out if this was a sick joke. But he said green-pink hair, she doesn''t even know her own hair color, but that''s what her mom has. "AHHHHH!" Toru holds her chest and immediately runs away, crying and screaming all the way out of the training ground. "Tch, it''s not like I haven''t seen people naked before," Horizon shrugs. "I am a doctor after all, I can be professional about it..." Midnight res at him, "good luck exining that to a teenage girl," she begins her brisk walk to catch up to Toru and calm her down. "Whatever," Horizon looks back to the others, seeing most of the students blushing at the scene that just unfolded, he rolls his eyes and continues. "Anyway, at level 20 you''ve got an understanding of how your Quirk works and what it does. By now most of you are here at the very least. At level 40 you''refortable with your Quirk, which means you skip the mental processes of activating it, you treat it as just another part of you, obviously, Mutation Type Quirks have this since their Quirk is always on. At level 60 you can instinctively use your Quirk appropriately in most situations. Think of the way Bakugo fights,pletely instinctual and intuitive. He doesn''t need to think to alter his approach angles with explosions, it''s all automatic in his mind and trantes perfectly to his Quirk." Bakugo keeps his expression neutral at thepliment, swallowing his pride andpletely focused on learning anything he can from Horizon. "After that, the next breakpoint is level 80. In terms of Heroes, this is when you''ve figured out every possible Super Move and way to use your Quirk, and you''ve hit the ceiling of power. This is the cap for most Quirks and people, no matter how hard they try they''ll never get past this, even after a lifetime of dedicated training in many cases. This is the part you just have to be born with the capacity to go beyond. Quirk Awakening..." Horizon sees everyone but Nezu -who he''d exined all of this to beforeing here-, lookpletely confused by this. Even Nezu didn''t understand until he eventually broke it down. "Quirk Manifestation is when you develop a Quirk, but Quirk awakening is when you remove the limit of it. You need to fully master your Quirk, then you get to level 81+ Here you either have a fundamental rule or mechanic of your Quirk altered and shifted. Or a previous limit of your Quirk is removed. A good example would be if you could shoot water from your fingertips. First, you''d be able to shoot regr water. Then you''d hit level 20 and be able to shoot it from all fingertips. Then you hit level 40 and you don''t have to even think about it because it feels so natural. Then you hit level 60 and the entire mental process of using it is done automatically. After this, you begin developing Super Moves, at this point most people can get to here within a year of training, so all of you should be here before the end of this year in 7 months. Level 80 is when you''ve discovered and mastered all the possible uses of your Quirk to an absolute degree. It''s easy to think of this like mastering all the abilities of your Quirk. Obviously for some Quirks, it''s less about the Super Move and more about the fundamental nature of your Quirk. In the case of Momo, we can''t expect her to know how to make everything in the world, so she''d instead have to study the fundamental nature of her Creation Quirk. She''s a convenient example since her Quirk is so unique andyered. If your Quirk has potentially endless applications like ours you need to study the foundation of it all... Beyond level 80 is when you''re awakened. Back to the example of shooting water from your fingertips, in this case, you may be able to generate water from any part of your body or control masses of water. It literally could just be that simple, ''awakening'' sounds grand, but sometimes it''s a quiet change." Iida raises his hand again, and this time Horizon gives him a nod. "How would one train for an awakening after reaching level 80?" Iida asks. "Self-study, intensity, and time. Those are the three things you need. Intense emotional situations where your back is against the wall, a true understanding of the self, and a lot of time using your Quirk. I''ve been studying Quirks for years and I''ve only found two people who I know are awakened. My dad is the first. He was the doctor delivering me, there wereplications and to figure out what went wrong he had to awaken his Quirk then and there, to save everything he cared about. That intensity, understanding, and absolute sense of self for what he wanted led to him awakening his Quirk. The other is Endeavor, his work ethic is superhuman but eventually, he stopped growing in power and began making more and more Super Moves, he must have realized he was at his limit. Then against one viin he went beyond his limits and used blue mes for the first time, burning his own arm. I''m willing to bet that''s his awakening. Either changing the fundamentals, breaking the rules, or amplifying what you can already do. That''s what it means to be awakened. But it won''t happen if you don''t want it enough. You must have a true sense of self, you cannot awaken if you don''t understand who you truly are. Quirks aren''t just muscles, they permeate the body and mind, when you train it you can''t ignore that." Horizon sees everyone nodding along deep in thought. TAKT! He brings Nezu''s tablet over to his hands and taps the screen a few times, causing a hologram to appear above it. A 2-meter square with a long list on it. 1A Quirk Mastery: Deku=negative Toru= 0 Aoyama =10 Tokoyami= 15 Shoto= 20 Uraraka = 20 Kaminari= 20 Kirishima= 20 Koda=25 Shoji= 25 Sato=30 Sero=30 Mina= 35 Jiro= 35 Momo= 40 Iida= 55 Bakugo= 65 Tsu= 70 Ojiro= 80 "Obviously this is my own opinion from the outside looking in, you know more about yourselves than I do...hopefully. Also, I don''t know 1B enough to make a proper judgment so you''ll all have to self-reflect a bit more. Notice how Todoroki is down toward the bottom while Ojiro is at the top. Tail doesn''t need much Mastery to get to level 80 because of how basic it is, but with a fraction of the Mastery, Todoroki is a lot stronger just because of the power his Quirk has. If he was at level 80 with Ojiro he would be a lot stronger. Still would have lost the sports festival, but still a lot stronger. For example. In the fight against Deku, after seeing the first attack all Todoroki had to do was make a pincer attack with his ice since Deku can only defend one angle at a time. But since he uses his Quirk like some idiot meathead...all he did was throw ice around like a moron. Trying to use power topensate for mastery nearly cost him the match." "What about you?" Jiro asks, not staring at the list and simply speaking aloud. "You aren''t on the list." "Probably at level 100," Sero says. "Actually I''m at level 60," Horizon''s words surprise everyone. Seeing them all gawking at him he sighs. "Clearly you all missed half my lecture, Power doesn''t equal Mastery. My Quirk is powerful but I''m nowhere near mastering it, or even figuring out all my basic abilities. I''ve got a lot of room to grow. But with that being said, I do know what my Awakening is, kind of, I just need to wait for my body to be able to hold enough energy so I can actually use it. Along with just using my Quirk a lot to get morefortable with it. A lot of you are probably gonna get to level 80 before me, but it won''t matter, even at that point I won''t need any awakening to stay in the top spot..." His words leave a sour taste in their mouth, but they certainly weren''t going to argue against it. "Alright, that''s the Quirk Mastery thesis breakdownplete..." ''Well that wasn''t so bad,'' Kendo and Jiro think. "Now, Deku, get up here..." ''Oh crap,'' most of 1A gives Deku a sympathetic look... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 72: (Level 0) Chapter 72: (Level 0) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (up to 30 chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- Hearing Horizon call his name Deku hesitates to step forward, looking over at Eraser Head for any kind of help, only getting a bored look in response. "Hurry up!" Horizon says. "I don''t have time to waste on this shit. I promise I''m only helping you because Nezu made me a deal, not out of the goodness in my heart...honestly, when this is over I''ll think you''re even more of a pathetic piece of shit that doesn''t deserve to be here than before..." ''Well, he''s always mean to me...but if anyone can figure out what I''m doing wrong it''s Horizon,'' Deku thinks while walking forward. "Stand right there," Horizon points to a spot a few meters away from everyone. And Deku silently obeys. "It took me all of two seconds to figure out your Quirk so you should be able to get this down Quickly once I exin it, watch me." Horizon warps his sword out of the scabbard and into his hand, then turns to the city blocks of buildings in the training zone. "Your issue is how you treat Quirks. You''re such a pathetic fanboy that you think Quirks are more special than they are, it''s just a part of you. And because you''re an All Might fanboy you''re trying to be like him and that''s what''s killing you." "What?" Deku asks. "You think all might powers up to throw punches, but he doesn''t. He''s always using his Quirk, he just amps it up at the moment of impact. If he didn''t every movement would rip buildings out of the ground. And if he put all his power into a punch it would rip his arm off, that''s what you''re doing." "So I need to use my Quirk more in everyday life?" Deku asks. "No that would kill you. You need to stop treating your Quirk like some grand power and start treating it like another limb. Watch." Horizon does a wide horizontal swing, without his Quirk, and nothing happens. Then he does the exact same motion again, slicing everything with absolute ease... AMPUTATE! All the buildings from where they stand to the other side of the training area, hundreds of meters, are cleanly sliced in two, leaving a thin horizontal line only a few feet above the road. The sound of cement cracking and breaking echoes around as some building copse under the sudden shift of weight. Down the street they hear cement breaking as what could have been a small town is effectively destroyed. But the buildings beside them stay standing, only with a thin sword sh along the walls. "See, the same sh, but they didn''t look any different. One did nothing and the other destroyed all the buildings, that''s what you need to do." Horizon warps the sword back into the scabbard at his side and turns to everyone. Seeing them all looking at him,pletely horrified by how easily he wiped out a small town. "Hey!" he yells at Deku, snapping him out of his stupor. "You need to learn to use your Quirk to augment your regr actions before using it for the big attacks." Deku considers it for a moment then realizes what he''s saying. "So I need to run before I can punch!" "Uh...sure. How do you normally visualize it?" "Oh, like an egg in a microwave, I''m heating it up...but I can''t seem to stop before it explodes." "Oh wow...you''re retarded," Horizon says. "What?" "You use the image of something that will explode, then act surprised when you do explode. Like of course you''re a little retarded since it''s been at least 10 years and you still can''t figure out the basic function of your own Quirk...but still, I''m more and more surprised every time we talk...not in a good way." "Uh...I...yeah," Deku just quietly agrees, realizing that from Horizon''s point of view, this was the best exnation. He couldn''t tell him that he''d only had the Quirk for 2 months at this point. "Anyway, forget about the egg in the microwave, I want you to visualize yourself." "Myself?" "Yup, but as an empty vessel, a hollow shell with no blood." "No blood?!" Deku asks. And everyone just focuses in even more on the lesson. "Blood is power and energy for the body, that''s the image you want in this case. Treat it like your Quirk, if mentally your body is filled with blood, boom, you die." "I see," Deku taps his chin. "So this way I can more urately control how much power I send to my arms..." "Nope," Horizon says. "You''re still missing the point." Take one drop of blood and stretch it to cover your entire body, activate your Quirk like that." "One drop?" "That way the strain is evenly distributed, too small to damage you while giving you a lot of benefits." Deku falls deep into thought as he closes his eyes and begins visualizing. And Horizon turns to Eraser Head. "Eraser, I need you to leave, can''t have him thinking anyone is going to save him..." "What?" Eraser asks. "I can''t leave my students to get hu---" he''s suddenly swapped with a leaf somewhere else in UA. The other teachers are about to speak up but Nezu just waves them off before Horizon exins to Deku. "Having a safety encourages failure. This way, if you fuck up, you die, that''s all. So don''t fail..." "This doesn''t seem safe," Uraraka speaks up. "That''s the point. Pressure builds character, you either break like a rusty pipe, or be a diamond..." A small distance away from Horizon, Deku was still focusing on the mental image of his hollow body. Taking one drop of glowing blood and stretched it, impossibly thin until he couldn''t even see it anymore. One For All: 2% Deku opens his eyes, feeling his muscles tingling. "This feels...good." "Do a standing jump," Horizonmands. "Alright," Deku goes into a full squat then jumps up, clearing six feet before crumpling to the floor. Unable to keep his bnce while controlling his Quirk. "Ouch..." Seeing Deku down on his hand and knees Horizon shrugs. "It''s a start, increase the power as you see fit and you''ll be fine. But overdo it and you''re gonna break yourself." "Thank you," Deku says. "You really are amazing, to know so much about Quirks so quickly." "I know." "Uh...is that it?" Deku asks, not sure if the lesson is done. "I got you from self-destructing all the way to level 0, what else do you want from me? You had ten years to figure this out but still resorted to being a pathetic fucking leech, have some pride and figure the rest out yourself, get to work." "Sorry!" Deku bows respectfully and does a small run back to his ssmates, clearly excited about the progress he just made. "Anyway, my job here is done. Self-reflection and discipline are all you need, you can figure the rest out yourself, probably, and if you can''t, that''s not my problem," Horizon shrugs as d King walks over with Nezu on his shoulder. "Alright students," Nezu cheerfully says. "You''ve all got the rest of this ss to figure out what you need to do ording to what you''ve just learned. The uing internships will be a good chance to learn about the background work of running a Hero Agency and managing the logistics of taking down viins. But it''s also a good chance to ask Pros about Quirk use and see what you can learn from how they operate. Be sure to take full advantage of it." "Yes sir!" Most of the students respond. d walks over and Nezu hops across to Horizon''s shoulder and takes a seat. Horizon hands his tablet back to Nezu and they begin walking out of the training area. SHAMBLES! Eraser swaps back with the leaf and runs face first into d''s back, stumbling back and just shooting Horizon a dirty look. "Care to exin yourself?!" Eraser yells. Horizon stops and just looks back at him, "I don''t like repeating myself or arguing, it''s easier to just move you...not like you can do anything to stop it." Eraser res at him, "don''t do that again." "Sure sure," Horizon turns and continues walking back to the main campus. Momentster he''s sitting in Nezu''s office, finalizing the edits on this thesis before Nezu can make it public. Now adding himself to the very short list of credible Quirk specialists and researchers in the world. Another de to show how truly invaluable he is. "Tomorrow I''m leaving school early," Horizon says. "Well, I don''t believe Eraser has anything nned for Hero Training tomorrow, just a breakdown of how Hero Agencies operate so you all aren''t going in blind." "Things from the textbook, I won''t be missing anything then." "May I ask why?" Nezu asks. "Well, your n is that wee here Sunday morning, get out Hero Costumes, then take the train to wherever we''re going. I don''t like public transportation, especially when I''m sure to get people annoying me." "And Horizon doesn''t have a license, or own any cars or property, so you can''t drive over in uniform," Nezu says. "Yup, so I''ll just drive over to Tokyo as Law and rx in my penthouse there," he shrugs. "Is having a dual identity worth it? I''m sure you could have a lot more if you just used Horizon. People would be offering you things... and I know you enjoy femalepany, lots of heroes take advantage of their status for that." "If I want something I can get it myself, and as for women. Well...just shut the lights off...and if all else fails, you''d be surprised by how many women and willing to put on a blindfold," he says with a mischievous chuckle. Nezu shakes his head, "you''re ridiculous." "Only in all the best ways..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 73: (Playboy Law Matani) Chapter 73: (yboy Law Matani) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (up to 30 chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- ---11:00 PM, Minato Tokyo... Outside the most popr nightclub in Tokyo rgely because the All Might Hero Agency is only a few kilometers away-, swarms of people are lined up and waiting to enter. The sound of muffled music echoes through the building and into the street. Beautiful women as far as your eyes could see, and twice as many horny men trying to get their attention. But all eyes shift to the road as three jet-ck armored Rolls Royce SUVs show up. All have gold ents, with an intricate gold heart on the hood ornament. The convoy stops and security personnel exit the lead and rear vehicles, moving to quickly open the door of the main vehicle. And out steps Law Matani. His family crest on the hood ornament, the intricate hearts he reserves for making a statement and drawing all eyes to him. His suit is a simple and ck, well-fitting, golden shirt with the top button undone to show off the very top of his chest tattoo. A ck and gold Rolex on his wrist, keeping his family colors alive. Everyone immediately saw him, and after snapping out of it they took a good look at his face. While he was tall and well built, not umon in the age of Quirks, his face still looked a bit too young to be in a ce like this. But when he walked up to the bouncers with his four bodyguards around him as the others went to park, they simply let him through without raising a single brow. The moment they entered the club it felt as if he was hit by what he assumed Jiro''s attacks felt like. Music so loud that he could barely hear himself think. Walking through the main walkway he sees a massive dancefloor ahead of him. Dim lights, and harmlessser shows on the ceiling. Arge bar off to the side. Off to the perimeter of this room were a few booths with tables, filled with people having a good time and enjoying their Saturday night. But while most girls here would be impressed by men having a table, Law was ying on a whole other level now, he has an image to uphold after all. So he takes a hard left and walks past another pair of bouncers. They open a ss door leading up a short staircase, and the moment he and his security are inside the door shuts behind them, and the music goes from deafening to low and muffled. Barely background noise. Walking up the stairs they find themselves in what could be mistaken for an entirely different business. A high-ss lounge area, withrge soft seats. A smaller bar with an older gentleman mixing the drinks. And of course, women in short skirts walking around serving them. Looking around Law quickly finds his target, a middle-aged Japanese man. Bald head and thin,pletely unremarkable on first impression. A simple ck and white suit and silver watch that didn''t stand out in this room. Looking around he sees a few celebrities and personalities, but he walked right over to the man in question. "Mister Matani," the man gets up and greets him with a smile before he bows. Law gives him a much shorter bow, closer to being a simple nod. "Mister Kito, I hope you''re having a good night." "It would be impossible not to after thatst phone call we had," the man gestures for them both to sit as the security stands a few feet away, giving them privacy but still keeping an eye on Law. Law sits before Kito joins him. "Well I''m just d to finally meet you in person," Law says. "Well you''ve been buying businesses from me all across Japan," Mister Kito says. "This one was more of my son''s project originally, but when you told me you''d be in Tokyo and wereing here, I just knew I had toe meet you. You haven''t been to any of the others you bought." "Well, I''m always working, I''m sure you know how it is. Working so hard to keep your family strong that you don''t get to spend much time with them or even for yourself." Mister Kito nods, giving Law a look of sympathy. "Young and dutiful, a good man. But I must ask something..." "Oh, what might that be?" Law asks. As Mister Kito opens his mouth to respond, two young women approach the table with trays in their hands. One has a dark wine bottle and two sses, while the other has what''s clearly a cigar box. The women set the table and pour the drinks before quickly leaving. "Awamori, I always drink this to bless any business I do, it has never failed me, and cigars," Mister Kito gestures to the sses. "Well, to good fortune," Law shares a drink with the man, feeling the clear rice wine trying to burn his throat on the way down. "It also fuels my Quirk," Mister Kito says, reaching into the cigar box and taking out two cigars. Cutting them and then snapping his fingers, a small candle me appeared above his thumb. As he''s lighting the cigars he chuckles, "not much in the way of fighting viins, but I''m always ready to have a cigar, a bad habit I picked up some from business partners abroad...just don''t tell my wife," he chuckles. Lawughs and takes his cigar, taking a puff of it and enjoying the vani scent it gave off. "My lips are sealed, and as for the me, well, right now I think that''s exactly the right Quirk. So, what did you want to ask me?" "Oh, right," Mister Kito leans back and puffs his cigar. "I did some research, called some friends. You''ve been buying restaurants, bars, lounges, buildings, and all kinds of businesses. But you never rebrand them under the Matani name. You simply leave them be, and in some cases where you have the option to buy a majority, you only buy roughly 40% of the business. I''m curious about why that is, you could be making a lot more money, and I know some people that are more than willing to help you find more things to buy." "Well, it''s not about the money honestly," Law admits. "And I''d love to talk to your friends about expanding my reach, because that''s what it''s all about. I want influence as far and wide as possible. Owning 40% of a business is enough where you can use that business whenever you want, but you don''t have to attend meetings, at least not in my case. I want an easy life where my money works for me, and allows me ess to things at a moment''s notice. Restaurants, clubs, bars, lounges, hotels, everything. I''ve got the capital, I might as well use it," Law shrugs. Mister Kito smiles and nods, realizing Law wasn''t a threat, just another young man who wants the freedom to do whatever he wants. He was no threat to Mister Kito and his friends that wanted an irond grip on the economy. "I believe my friends are in perfect positions to work with you Mister Matani. They can get you into the highest level of many businesses, and since you don''t want a controlling interest, it will be much easier." "Perfect..." In truth Law somewhat had to do this. Not for any economical reason, but just so he could go wherever and do whatever without people having to check who he was. It was a way to get Law Matani more famous and separate him from Horizon. Horizon who will never be putting his name down as the owner of any property. Horizon who doesn''t drive or have a car, or a house. Horizon who isn''t a yboy that looks like he''s in a gang, knuckle tattoos and all. Law Matani and Horizon are so far apart that you''d never even believe they''d get along, much less be the same person. Because how could the future Symbol Of Peace, look and act like a mob boss under his Hero Costume? Thankfully at least since Swiss Vault never uses names they could use the same ounts to purchase things since it''s so heavily insted, mostly by Nezu himself. So he didn''t have to sacrifice too much of his lifestyle as Horizon. After a few more minutes of exchanging information and casual chatter, Mister Kito leaves Law to enjoy the night, and runs off to spend some time with his mistress. Finishing up his drink and cigar Law gets up, and makes a post on his Law Matani ''Yay!'' ount -which currently has 400k Followers, nothingpared to Horizon''s 80 Million-, to show the world how shy his life is, further dividing himself from Horizon. Then walks over to the ss wall separating them from the dance floor on the ground floor. One-way ss so he could look down at everyone without them even knowing he was there. And looking down he saw exactly what he wanted. He spots a group of four girls standing at the edge of the dance floor, with no guys in their group. Two girls are cute, but only human. Meaning they simply looked like cute Japanese girls, boring and easy to find. But the other two...they were truly quirky. One had bright green skin and orange eyes, long ck hair on her head. Short and slender but she has curves in just the right ces. The other looked like a regr Japanese girl, except she had ram horns on her head and white curly hair. She was also tall, 183cm -6ft-, but her body was...in a word, stacked. ''A sheep Quirk...'' Law assumes. Even in this day and age some people avoid begin intimate with Mutant Type Quirk users, but Law was already bored of normal, he enjoys unique experiences...and that includes his women. Understanding this he ys it to his advantage, looking about the club until he finds something he can use. A table of four guys that seem to just be enjoying drinks, two girls with them. Snapping his fingers one of the servers walks over to him, seeing him looking down at the dance floor. The woman was no taller than Tsu, causing her to stand a bit further away rather than crane her neck to look up at him. "Do you see those guys there?" He points to the table of guys. "Yes sir." "Good, I want you to tell them, that I''m sending two girls over to their table. And those girls are gonna think that they bought them champagne, it''s on the house." "Sir?" the woman looks confused by this. "I''m trying to help them impress some girls," Law says. Then points at the four girls. "Them, the two in-looking ones, but when you tell the girls to go over to the guys, make sure you tell them only those two..." The woman looks even more confused, but quickly hops to the task when he hands her a two thousand-dor tip. As Law sees the n in motion he takes a quick walk down toward the four girls, leaving his security upstairs. Getting to them before they could get the message. Normally he''d just go talk to them, but he really wasn''t feeling like putting in any effort during a conversation tonight. He''d just create a situation where they choose him. Using his Quirk he feels the server now approaching the girls and gets to them before her, just barely. "Heydies, you girls having a good time?" he says casually, just waiting for the server to get here. Thankfully he''s attractive so that makes things much easier, and he sees smiles all around, but instantly focuses on the two unique girls as they all make fast introductions, and the moment the girls are starting to loosen up around him. "Excuse me," the server interrupts them, giving Law a brief nce. "You twodies have been invited to a table across the dancefloor, your champagne bottles are waiting for you," she says to the ordinary girls. Both their eyes lite up, and they turn to their friends. "Only you two, sorry," she says to the girls, gesturing for the ordinary girls to follow her. The two girls look conflicted, looking between their friends and the server, until Law speaks up. "Hey it''s ok, everyone likes champagne, in the meantime, the three of us will just be at my table upstairs," his suggestion gets both the Mutant girls smiling, and before he can even continue talking they''re pouncing on the idea of ditching their ordinary friends. His game n was extraordinarily simple. 1-Set the bait, in this case, champagne. 2-Get rid of the girls he had no interest in, but he has to make it seem like it''s their choice. 3-Get the Mutant girls to feel like they lost to their friends since they didn''t get an invite. 4-Invite the Mutant girls to his table which is of higher perceived status than the table downstairs, therefore putting them above their friends. In this case, it worked because from his experience, women love feeling wanted...and women especially love feeling wanted above other women. Normally he could just talk his way into this, but since he has the money and influence but none of the time, this was easier. And that''s how he got to where he is now. At his table upstairs, enjoying a drink with Mita, the tall girl with ram horns. And Toko, the girl with neon green skin. Both wore short dresses to show off their goods. "So I''ve been wondering, how old are you?" Mita asks, narrowing her eyes at Law as he takes a sip of his drink. "How old do I look?" "You can''t be older than...eighteen," Toko says. Lawughs and gives them a cocky smirk. "Clubs don''t allow anyone under 20 inside, but if you must know. It''s my Quirk, keeps me looking youthful...also really makes it difficult for women to take me seriously since they prefer older men..." "That''s amazing, I wish I had that Quirk," Toko says. "Well if you y your cards right tonight, your kids could have it." "Ach!" Mita chokes on her drink while Toko just startsughing. A joke that only works if they find you attractive, otherwise it could get you into trouble. "So do you girls live around here?" Law asks. "I''m actually not from Tokyo at all, just visiting for a week. Maybe we can keep in touch for a bit." "Yeah we work at the aquarium," Mita says. "Yeah," Toko nods along. "So are you here on vacation or business?" "Eh, clearly a little bit of both. But my job is really boring..." "Really?" Toko asks. "With all the tattoos and how cocky you are...I guessed crime family." "Me too," Mita admits. Lawughs at that. "So you thought I was in the Yakuza or something and still followed me up here?" Both women look at each other, then nervously look at Law. "Rx I''m not in anything like that. My career isn''t really exciting so I try not to talk about it but...I''m in banking." Toko moves a bit closer to him, pressing her shoulder against his arm, and takes his hand, raising it to rub a thumb over his knuckle tattoos. "Well...would you believe me if I said it''s high-risk banking?" After a few more drinks and some time talking about nonsense, Law finally decides it''s time to close the deal, he had to go meet Endeavor tomorrow after all. "You know I''d love to keep talking but, the music here is really loud," an obvious hint that he just wanted to get out of here since they could barely hear the music. "How about we finish our drinks at my ce, and my bar has what I need to show you my signature drink..." Both women share a look, and at once they decide that the night has only just begun... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 74: (A New Endeavor) Chapter 74: (A New Endeavor) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (up to 30 chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- ---6 AM... Walking through the halls of his Hero Agency, Endeavor has a smirk on his face as he moves toward his office. Leaving his personal chambers after his morning workout and shower, he''s excited for Shoto''s arrival in a few hours. He''d finally get to show his son exactly what kind of Hero he is. The result of a lifetime of hard work and dedication. He hopes that just maybe Shoto would be impressed and soften up to him. Getting to the top floor Endeavor opens the door to his office, and his mood immediately sours. "What the hell are you doing here?" he asks. His office was absolutely massive and high-end, with two couches with a coffee table between them. His desk is off to the side with a wall behind it. And to the right of his desk was a ss wall overlooking Tokyo. Currently, Horizon was sitting on one of the couches scrolling through his phone, head nodding along to the music being yed into his visor. Sword leaning against the couch at his side. Tapping his phone a few times he puts it down and looks over at the furious Endeavor. "I was just checking my post. People are excited, I posted a picture in here to announce my internship." Endeavor stomps over to him and res down at Horizon, "I mean, what are you doing in my office, in my building? How did you get inside?" "Uh...I can warp, obviously. What you think I need doors, like a peasant?" Endeavor wants to yell at the boy, but instead, he takes a deep breath and the mes on his shoulders and face dissipate. Without a word he moves to sit opposite Horizon and just silently stares at him, trying to figure out how to approach this situation. "Is Shoto here already?" Endeavor asks. "Nah he''s probably just getting ready for UA, I took my Hero Costume and spent the night in Tokyo." "You aren''t supposed to have your Hero Costume outside of school under normal circumstances like that," Endeavor narrows his eyes at Horizon. "So?" Endeavor sighs, expecting this to be difficult but already getting sick of the attitude. "Do you want tea? Can you drink tea?" he wasn''t sure what the deal was with Horizons visor. "I can, but I don''t. I''m good for now," Horizon says. "So, can we just get to the point please? You never offer students internships or work studies. Shoto is obvious because it''s your kid, but why me?" "Hmm, I appreciate that you don''t like small talk," Endeavor admits. "The reason I extended an offer to you is because, I want to ask you some Questions." "My Quirk is none of your business." "Tch, not about that, about your parents..." "Mmm," Horizon growls lowly and sits up. "What, you didn''t learn from what happened to Shoto? Are all the Todorokis gonna need me to teach them this lesson?" "I want to know how they seeded where I failed," Endeavor says quickly, causing Horizon to pause for a moment then leaned back into the couch. "Ok... you have my attention, exin yourself." "I assume Shoto told you about...my mistakes." "Mistakes? You mean the child neglect, child abuse, domestic abuse, Quirk marriage, Quirk breeding, all that shit?" Endeavor looks ashamed, eyes dropping down to the table between them. "Yes, my mistakes." "Ok, what about them?" Horizon asks casually, as if they were talking about the weather. This confuses Endeavor, he''d expected hate and anger, not, nonchnce. "You...aren''t angry?" "Huh, why would I be angry? Not my family, not my problem. Who gives a fuck what you do in your house," Horizon shrugs. "That...is concerning." "It''s more concerning that the #2 Hero is such a shitty dad, so you''re in no position to judge anyone here." Endeavor nods in agreement. "And if you brought me here for family therapy, sorry but I''m not that kind of doctor. I deal in real medicine, not make-believe bullshit." "Therapy is real." "For real pussies is what you mean," Horizon scoffs. "If you''ve got problems just get over it." Endeavor blinks a few times, taking a moment to really wrap his mind around what kind of person he was currently talking to. Not at all liking the idea of someone so powerful with this kind of mentality. But as Horizon said, he''s in no situation to be judging anyone, so he just lets it go. "I want to know how you were raised," Endeavor says in a serious voice, getting them on topic. "Shoto was born and raised to be the absolute strongest, but in raising and training him, I destroyed my family. I allowed my ambition to burn everything and everyone around me, they all hate me, I hate me, for what I''ve done. For all I didn''t do. I want...I want to atone. I don''t think I want them to forgive me, I don''t think I can be forgiven. But I''d at least like for them all to be together, even if it is without me." "Very touching I''m sure," Horizon rolls his eyes beneath the visor. "Why the sudden change of heart?" "You." "Me?" "When I saw you defeat Shoto, when I heard about your Quirk. I realized it was all a pointless ambition of mine. And when I thought Shoto died...I didn''t know what to do. I''d never felt so...so powerless. I wanted nothing more than to get a second chance, to fix everything I did to my family. And then you put him back together, and I got my second chance." Horizon chuckles at that, causing Endeavor to re at him. "Sorry, sorry. It''s just that...I beat Shoto so bad you got character development," another chorus of chuckles. "Can you help me or not!" Endeavor yells, mes erupting on him again, now pissed off. "Your parents trained you to be powerful, yet you always speak of them with love, how?" "Alright alright," Horizon raises his hands in surrender. "But I need something from you." "Huh?" "Work studies, at your agency." Endeavor calms down, now more professional as they discuss business. "Hmm, my Hero Agency is the most sessful in Japan, working here you''d likely be able to make more money than anywhere else, even as a student." "Don''t care about the money. A standard contract is fine," Horizon says. "I''ve got more money than I know what to do with already. I just need to work at the best agency, under the best hero. Most of my work will be independent after I learn how you operate." Endeavor raises a brow at that. "Shouldn''t you be trying to get All Might to teach you?" "I need someone skillful, not a meathead that''s just born strong. You''re my gold standard for Pro Heroes, you''re the only option for me." Endeavor smiles at that, hearing someone actually acknowledge his skill and hard work instead of just gawking at All Might''s raw power. "Alright, but you''ll need to get your Provisional License first, so the contract will have to wait until next year." "June actually," Horizon says. "I''ll be taking the exam early, everyone else has to wait a bit longer." "Hmm, I see, you''ve got yourself a deal," Endeavor leans forward and shakes his hand. This was everything Horizon needed. A spot in a well-connected agency that gets a lot of big cases, he''d get Hero Network ess from Nezu, then he can start resolving incidents and solving cases solo after he figures out how Endeavor operates and adapts his style. "Ok," Horizon starts, and Endeavor focuses on not missing a single word. "From what I understand you basically made a kid and forced him to be a hero and it destroyed your family. I don''t know how to fix it, but a major difference that my parents did is that they didn''t force me to do anything." "What?" "When my Quirk first manifested, we thought it was a dud, apletely useless Quirk. I was crying, and my dad offered to teach me medicine. He knew I was hoping for a Quirk like his so I could help out in the clinic. I asked him to teach me, so all the stress and studying I had to deal with, it was all my choice. A few weekster I asked mom to teach me how to take care of myself, to be an adventurer like her. I wanted to help her out one day, so she began teaching me. I could have just decided to do nothing and be nothing...maybe things would have turned out better that way. But I chose to learn from them. They would have loved me either way. From the moment I was born I was already perfect in their eyes, because I''m their son, and that will always be enough. True unconditional love, I''ll never get that anywhere else. But I chose to live a life of hard work and pain, I chose to learn everything they knew and take it to heights unimagined. I chose to be Horizon. It was all my choice. You removed the option for anyone in your family to choose, you forced your dream onto them. How could they ever not hate you for that? Obviously, there is a lot more to it than that, but this is just the main difference I see, because I imagine many of the harsh, painful lessons my parents taught me, were a lot worse than what you did. Partly because they knew I could just heal myself. But I asked for it so that''s on me. But I''d imagine it helped a lot that, well...I''m not a pussy," he shrugs. "Anyway, that''s my take on it." "I see," Endeavor rubs his chin, deep in thought. "I have much to think about. As for your internship. I''ll have to leave you in the care of my head sidekick Burnin, Shoto needs help controlling his fire so that''s what I''ll be focusing on with him for a while. We won''t be leaving the gym here, you and Burnin will operate as usual for this agency." "Sounds perfect." "Good, I''ll have Burnin show you to your roomter...and teach you to use doors. Don''t just warp into rooms like you did earlier." "People who can warp, should warp. I don''t tell you not to have those ridiculous mes on your shoulder and face...serious, a me mustache, really?" "My Quirk use isn''t illegal, and my mes don''t look ridiculous!" END CHAPTER--- Chapter 75: (Tokyo Central Bank) Chapter 75: (Tokyo Central Bank) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (30+ chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- Aside from a stopping few minor thefts, Horizon hadn''t done anything exciting on the first day of his internship. Today would be much more exciting. Walking through Tokyo with Burnin -Moe Kamiji-, Horizon is one step behind her as people constantly stare at them on the crowded streets. Burnin was a youngdy, Endeavor''s most famous and powerful Sidekick. Her Hero Costume was rather simple. A grey double-breasted mini-dress with orange and ck lining and ents. Two rows of buttons down the front of it and short slits at the sides so she can move easier. Her belt has a temperature gauge for a buckle and a small fire extinguisher at the back of it. Strong thick legs in knee-high socks and short boots. And a pretty face was somewhat hidden beneath a ck mask. But in reality, the mask barely did anything. Beacuse her entire costume was topped off with a head of green fire for hair. Seemingly appearing more like a liquid that''s frozen in ce, wild and messy. Perfectly matching her fiery personality and rambunctious nature. All fit into a 169cm -5ft6.5- package, one inch shorter than Momo. Walking in front of Horizon the top of her head just barely reaches his neck. Burnin raises a hand and stops abruptly, focusing in on the earpiece connecting her to the Endeavor Agency. "What''s going on?" Horizon asks. A momentter she turns around and looks up at him, "some viins attacked the Tokyo Central Bank and took hostages, the cops want us there to help out, let''s go!" Without waiting for any response Burni''s hair expands and all the loose piece meld together and grow, lifting her off the street and rocketing into the air. Now soaring over the streets below she begins the somewhat long trip further into the heart of Tokyo to go help out. "Great...this is gonna suck," Horizon mutters as he sees her disappear over the buildings. Already knowing he''d be quickly drained after this. ROOM! He opens thergest room he can, 7km in every direction, 2km more than before he joined UA. Having such a wide open space to train has done wonders for him already. This brings his area of influence to a total 14km diameter. As always he''s in the middle, a blessing sometimes, and a curse in moments like these. Focusing toward the southeast of his room he tries to find anything he can swap with. SCAN! The influx of information is instantly processed, but he can feel the toll on his mental stamina from scanning such arge area. SHAMBLES! He swaps for a candy wrapper he located in a back alley before instantly closing his ROOM. "Four more of these to go..." he mutters, and starts the taxing process all over again. SHAMBLES! Law appears on a sidewalk, one more warp away from his destination. He shakes his head to stay focused, and opens another room. SCAN! ''Oh, you can''t be serious...'' he sighs, finding nothing to swap to...an entire area of the citypletely cleared out because of this bank heist. ''Fuck it.'' He raises his hand and flicks a finger upward. TAKT! At his desired location a peddle is ripped out of the sidewall by a seemingly invisible force. Focusing on small objects is already difficult. With TAKT, if he can see them it''s much easier tomand them to move. Using SCAN and TAKT to move things that he''s far away from him is taxing but has its uses. But TAKT has a limit that only he and his parents know about. Without adding much more energy and focus he can onlymand things to move as fast as gravity would naturally allow them. For example, he can only move a rock as fast as it would naturally fall. Increasing the speed and force requires more energy, eventually leading to diminishing returns on his stamina use. So ripping a pebble out of the floor, from this far away, without being able to even see it... With his ROOM already pushed to the limit, it felt as if he tried to rip the sports festival stage out of the floor. SHAMBLES! He appears in a deserted alley one building away from the police barricade. Immediately shutting down his Quirk he leans against the wall, taking a moment to catch his breath. Squeezing his eyes shut he regains his focus enough so that nobody would realize he isn''t at full strength and stands up straight, walking toward the police barricade as if nothing happened. In truth without the need to follow the rules and maintain his heroic image, he could have covered the 28km much easier. Open a room, swap for a car or even a dumpster, something big enough that he doesn''t have to strain his mind to find and lock onto it. But he''s Horizon. He doesn''t move people''s property so freely. Finding litter was the more heroic option, therefore that''s what he did. Thest thing he wants is people questioning his Quirk use, especially since he doesn''t have a Provisional License yet so this is all technically illegal Quirk use. And as for ripping a piece of the ground out, he knows he can''t make a habit of that. Property damage is what keeps people like Mt. Lady poor and low in the rankings after all. ''So what if a few people die because I take longer,'' he thinks to himself. ''The important thing is that if this was going to be some rampaging monster like the USJ Nomu, I''d need to show up at full strength. I need to figure out this mobility problem.'' Walking out of the alley he sees a mob of news teams already set up with cameras and mics. Beyond them is a line of policemen and 10 Pro Heroes, all waiting patiently for an opening in this standoff. Behind the news teams are a mob of civilians, so swept up in the idea of heroes that they don''t even realize how dangerous this situation is, so confident that nothing would happen to them and heroes would take care of it all. ''Disgusting, the bystander effect in full action...'' Horizon thinks as he walks up, making a show of it. "Excuse me, can I please get by!" He loudly asks, causing the crowd to turn around and stare at him. A chorus of cheers and chattering erupts as all the cameras turn to him, and one lucky reporter manages to shove a mic toward his face as he pushes through the crowd. "Horizon! Do you think the hostages will be ok?!" The reporter asks, and Horizon stops. The crowd waits anxiously for his answer, some of them having family and friends trapped inside, now seeing a shining beacon of hope that the situation would be taken care of. That Principal Nezu''s bet, the future Symbol Of Peace has arrived to save them. Turning to the reporter Horizon speaks in a gentle voice, still sounding somewhat mechanical. "You don''t need to worry, everyone will be fine." "Are more Prosing?" another reporter asks, "the current Pros have just been standing about doing nothing, how long until enough Pros are here to go in and deal with these viins?!" Horizon looks at him and chuckles before answering, "this problem is already resolved, you have all the heroes you need, because I am Horizon, and that''s enough..." he walks past the police barricade without saying another word. Stepping into the police area Horizon sees the massive bank,rge white columns, and a stone staircase leading to the door. All the windows were currently painted over, a bright purple color, as well as the ss doors. Looking up to the nearby rooftops he sees armored police officers with rifles aimed at the building, trigger fingers itchy and waiting for the right order. He also sees a few Pros he''s standing spread out in case any of the robbers try to run. None of them having a Quirk applicable to this situation unless a fight happens. "Horizon, this way please," one of the officers says, even the regr uniformed officers wore bulletproof vests and were carrying around rifles, obviously ready to put these criminals down if necessary. Following the man he''s led into a mobilemand unit, a small room with monitors connected to nearby street cameras to keep eyes on the building. In it are a few people on headphones looking at the screen and coordinating efforts, likely calling in more Pros, and standing behind them is an officer in a trench coat pacing back and forth. He was an older gentleman with grey hair and a thin mustache, but his eyes seemed youthful the moment theynded on Horizon. "Horizon." "Captain?" Horizon asks while shaking his hand. "Yes, I''m the captain in charge of this operation," the man looks confused for a moment. "The Endeavor Agency told us you''d arrive with Burnin..." "I can warp, she has to fly, I got here first. I don''t think we have time to waste with innocent lives at stake sir." "Agreed," the man nods. "Endeavor is busy but your dispatcher at the agency was confident your Quirk could handle this situation." "What''s the situation?" The captain leads him to a table with a floor n of the bank, he points at the vault room, "a dozen men, one of them has a Drill Quirk, transforms his arms into drills, he''s breaking into the vault here." "How long until he gets in?" "It''s been ten minutes so I''d rather not find out." "Hostages?" Horizon asks. The man points to the main floor of the bank, "two dozen, men, women, they let the kids go. But one of the kids had a note, said they strapped half a pound of C4 to each hostage, and they im that the lead guy is holding a dead man''s trigger." "So if he gets shot or hurt, boom..." "Exactly," the captain says. "We managed to get some intel on their Quirks. Nothing that packs a punch, basic strength enhancer, and some standard Mutant Quirks." "Alright," Horizon nods. "Let''s confirm what we can." ROOM! He closes his eyes and focuses, his ROOM expanding to cover everything for 200 meters in every direction. "Get some men to clear the sewer system," Horizon says. "What?" the captain taps one of the men behind him who immediately take off his headset to listen in. "They entered through the front door but they''ve got another guy with a drill Quirk in the sewer. And he''s got one big guy with him." The captain looks surprised and confused, but he''s ultimately grateful. "Half a pound of C4 times 24, that''s a dozen pounds, not enough to bring down a building that size but anyone in the main room when it goes off is probably dead...the Pros on hand should be enough if these guys are as weak as you say. Ok, I''ve got a n that can end this now..." ROOM! Law takes a deep breath as his Quirk deactivates. "I''m listening..." the captain says. Five minutester Horizon is standing with nearly fifty officers and 8 Pros, two having just arrived. They were all facing the front of the building ready for action. There was an assortment of rocks scattered about on the street which they were all staring at, guns lowered. The news cameras were confused at what was going on, then they saw Horizon raise his hand. And snap his fingers. SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! The two dozen hostages suddenly appear where some of the rocks were, without the bombs strapped to them. For a moment they look bewildered and confused, then some of their eyes settled on Horizon and they slowly began to realize what was going on. The surrounding crowd began to cheer as the police escorted the hostages to safety until this situation was resolved. A momentter all the cops returned and pointed their guns at the remaining rocks, ready for action at a moment''s notice. Horizon raises his hand again, making a show of snapping his fingers. SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! Thirteen naked and unarmed men suddenly appear in front of them, immediately freezing at the sight of all the guns aimed at them. And in the middle of all the officers, Horizon stood with his sword drawn and also pointed at them. "You should surrender, this isn''t a good look," Horizon says. Half the men raise their hands, the others keep them down to preserve what little dignity they had left. Less than a minuteter all the men were arrested, each wearing handcuffs and a cloth sheet, stuffed into the back of armored trucks. The captain walks up to Horizon as the men are sent off, giving him an apprehensive look. "You sure about this?" he asks Horizon. "Of course," Horizon says. "If I warp him and he moves his finger the bombs go off, and we can''t take their word for it that it''s only C4, the best course of action is to make sure they never go off, this ensures that." "Assuming he doesn''t freak out when it happens," the captain says. "I''ll get ahold of it before he can do that, trust me." "I obviously do...just, cutting people up is really freaky..." "I get that a lot." "Well at least wear a vest," the captain says. "Your circumstance is pretty unique so I''m letting you use your Quirk, but if you get hurt then we both get in serious trouble, you could get expelled and I''ll go to jail like those guys..." "How about a camera, I''ll warp away if things go bad, I promise." "Fine...I really hope I don''t regret this..." END CHAPTER--- pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (30+ chapters ahead) I''ve also made some new tiers on pat.reon starting this month soe give it a look if you want :) Chapter 76: (Mobility Issues) Chapter 76: (Mobility Issues) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (30+ chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- SHAMBLES! Horizon swaps with amp on the second floor of the bank, wearing a small camera on his tie from the police officers. Casually walking he hears frantic pacing downstairs, boots ttering on the stone tile. Looking over the second-floor balcony he sees a man in a simple ck suit, an automatic rifle in one hand and a detonator in the other. He wore a bva mask on his head, only showing his eyes and mouth, all in looking. Horizon slowly draws his sword, making sure the camera he''s wearing gets a good show, and endpoints it at the man. He gently swings his sword, the white de and blue edge move as he speaks quietly, just barely enough for the camera to hear. "Amputate." The man''s hand with the detonator is lopped off at the wrist, yet he doesn''t feel anything or even react. "Shambles," the hand swaps for one of Horizon''s cards, and he immediately applies pressure to the thumb, making sure it can''t leave the trigger. Feeling the pressure now on his hand the man panics and raises his left hand to look at it, only to freeze, seeing his bone and flesh exposed yet still feeling his hand. "AHHHHH!" He shrieks in shock. "Amputate," Horizon shes once more, this time destroying the rifle the man held. The man didn''t even notice the rifle being bisected as he just drops to his knees, scared and confused as he clutches his wrist with his one remaining hand. Horizon takes the time to stroll down therge staircase to the main floor, walking past all the bombs and clearing his throat for the man to look up at him. Through his teary and scared eyes, Horizon looked like a monster, a demon. The detonator in his left hand, and a severed hand in his right, yet he carried himself as if it werepletely normal. "What did you do to me?" The man asks in a shaky voice, looking down to see his wrist wasn''t even bleeding. "Rx, it doesn''t hurt, I''ll put it back when you''re arrested...I mean how else would the handcuffs work," Horizon shrugs. "I''ll be ok?" "You''ll be ok, just walk outside and hand yourself over..." And that''s exactly what happened, clutching his severed hand the man walks outside without his mask on, peacefully handing himself over to the police. And the bystanders and officers alike cheer for Horizon, as he resolves his first big incident. A bright start for their future Hero. The bomb squad rushes in, and one of them stops by Horizon. "I didn''t touch the bombs," Horizon says as he carefully hands over the detonator to the man. "Well done, good work Hero," the man quickly nods and rushes off to join his men. ''Well that''s a first...and I''m already sick of it,'' Horizon thinks. Horizon quickly calls one of the officers over and hands him the served limb and body camera, leaving the man thoroughly disgusted and shocked as he walks away. Seeing Burnin talking to the captain. "Well look who finally showed up," he says to Burnin. "Well, we can''t all warp. But good job, you ended things smoothly and didn''t even need my help!" She gives a dazzling smile and a thumbs up. "You really did good work Horizon," the captain says. "I can''t wait to see what you''ll be like as a Pro, now, I need to go make a statement to the media." "Mind if I join you?" Horizon asks. "Uh, they can be pretty intense." "More intense than a hostage and bomb situation?" "Fair enough, follow me." Falling into step behind the captain Horizon and Burnin stand by and listen to him exin what happened to the media, until he eventually passes the attention over to Horizon. "---Thankfully Horizon showed up so the situation was resolved minutester without anyone getting hurt or needing to fire a single bullet. He was instrumental in resolving this incident and my report as well as the body camera footage will support that. Those will be released to the publicter today..." The captain immediately and wisely walks away before they can pull him into another barrage of questions, heading off to handle cleanup and write his report. Now standing in front of the mob with Burnin all eyes and cameras were on him. And the barrage of questions began. "Horizon! How do you feel after resolving your first official incident involving civilians?!" "Saving people always feel great," Horizon says. Publicly saving people does feel great, because the more he saves the closer he is to saving his parents. "How has it been at the Endeavor Hero Agency?!" "It''s been great, he and I have an understanding of what we expect from each other. Endeavor is my gold standard for Pro Heroes so working with him will teach me a lot. I aim to learn as much as I can from him to help as many people as possible." "How was the n that handled this bank situation devised?!" "When I arrived on the scene the captain and I put our heads together to utilize my quirk effectively and efficiently. Working together with our brave police officers thankfully we were able to avoid any violence today." "Would it be right to say that you with the support of the police resolved this incident?!" One reporter asks. "Not at all," Horizon says. "I assisted them in whatever way I could. Having a powerful Quirk doesn''t mean I''m the lead in every situation. In this delicate and vtile situation power is hardly relevant. These men and women have years of training and experience that I''d be foolish and ignorant to ignore and act as if I know better than, they''re the real heroes here..." The nearby police officers look genuinely surprised at this response. Not expecting or used to this much credit being given to them, especially from a Pro Hero. In this world, you''re either a Pro Hero, or you''re nothing, even if your job is so intertwined. Horizon knew this, and every word was carefully chosen to be extraordinarily humble, because he knew this would be seen as a tant lie when the bodycam footage and official reports show him doing most of the work. That would then make him look even better in the public eye, and that''s all that mattered. ---6 PM... Laying in his room at the Endeavor Hero Agency, Law has all the lights off as he scrolls through his ''Yay!'' page. Seeing everyonementing on histest post. After the police published the details, bodycam footage, and the media agencies posted their own pictures. He put the most ttering bits and pieces together and posted it on his page. His room didn''t have much else to do. It was small, with a bed, wardrobe, desk, chair, and bedside table andmp. Only the essentials. With a single warp he could be in his Tokyo penthouse to enjoy all itsforts. But if something happened here he could miss the alert and lose a precious chance to build himself up, it simple wasn''t worth the risk. Currently, he had a meal bar in one hand and his phone in the other, his body glove was neatly folded at his desk and his visor was atop it. He sees the 1A group chat going wild with everyone asking him how the bank situation was and if he''s ok, he looks at the messages but doesn''t bother responding. Then he gets three messages. One from Sero telling him how cool he looked on the news. Another from Jiro asking if he''s ok. And finally a message from Momo that read, ''I hope you''re alright, it seems at least one of us is doing real heroic things at our internship...'' Horizon just raises a brow at it and leaves her on ''seen'' like the others. He had bigger things to worry about than their poor choices. Finishing his meal bar and drinking some water he goes down to the basics to figure out exactly how to solve his current problem. ''Ok, what do I know? I know my Quirk works in a sphere. I know that the ROOM always extends with me in the middle. My own universe where I''m the center of it, as a god should be. I know once I''m in there I''m powerful. ...But today I realized that my lifestyle has always been me fighting somewhat on my own terms. When I worked with mom she taught me to pick my fights, so I could usually just wait for my target. But heroes are reactive, not proactive. Now that I''m ying Hero I need to be able to chase people. Once I get to the fight I''m fine, but getting to the fight is a serious problem. If one of those bank guys were strong earlier I could have been in trouble. If the USJ Nomu was there I''d be dead because of how drained I was just to get there. I can''t afford to spend that much energy just to get to an incident in the future, I need mobility outside of my ROOM...'' "But how the fuck do I do that?" Law asks aloud. "If I could just move about like Hawks or Burnin, or even Bakugo..." Law sits up, suddenly struck by an idea, by something that caught his eye at the Sports Festival. "Hover Soles..." he quickly finds Mei Hatsume''s match against Kaminari, plus some clips of her during the cavalry battle and obstacle race. "They let her hover above the ground...but I''ll need something a lot better than that, and a lot less goofy." Law is about to call Nezu when he hears a loud knowing at his door. ROOM! SHAMBLES! He''s sudden in his body glove and visor as he walks to the door, opening it to see Endeavor standing there in casual clothes and a coat. "Yeah?" he asks, standing at almost the exact same height, face-to-face with Endeavor. Endeavor takes a good look at Horizon, now realizing how muscr he was under that suit, because that''s what he''s in almost all the time either in the UA uniform or his Hero Costume. "We''re going to dinner, dress casually," Endeavor doesn''t even wait for a response, just starts walking away. "Well...I could still eat I guess," Horizon shrugs and goes to get some clothes on. Completely oblivious to how much Todoroki family drama was about to unfold... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 77: (Nightmare House) Chapter 77: (Nightmare House) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (30+ chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- Sitting in the back of the car Horizon is leaning against the door, head nodding along to the music being yed in his visor. He wore a simple blue t-shirt with his logo on the back, a pair of matching pants, along with his Hero Costume boots, and his watch. Keeping his cards in his pocket just in case. Across from him on the other side of the back seat, Shoto stares out the window as they drive past the houses. And in the front seat Endeavor and the driver are entirely silent the entire ride. Getting an alert Horizon takes out his phone to check it, seeing a text from Nezu. ''I got your request, but support items for Hero Course students must be designed by fellow students. I''ll pass the request to Power Loader for him to assign the appropriate student...'' As Horizon closes his phone the cares to a stop in front of a traditional Japanese mansion. ''Huh, I expected more...'' Horizon thinks as they all get out of the car and follow Endeavor to the front door. Walking through the courtyard he opens a room for 100 meters in every direction, 200 meters across in total. SCAN! He senses an old woman, setting a table and finishing up some cooking. Helping her is a youngerdy with sses. Aside from them nobody else is here, and he doesn''t sense anything unusual for a ce like this. Entering the main house they all take off their shoes as Horizon hears a set of footsteps approach, feeling the younger of the two women doing a small jog down the hallway. "Shoto!" Fuyumi Todoroki rounds the corner with a wide smile. Fuyumi was a in-looking woman, 22 years old with a slim build and short stature, only standing at 160cm -5ft3-. Her most striking feature was the head of white hair with small patches of red sprinkled about. Along with the square ck sses on her face just barely hiding her gray eyes. ''Huh, she sounds just like Jiro...'' was Horizon''s first thought, while Fuyumi just froze for a moment, trying to process what she was seeing. Her eyes widened for a moment to take in Horizon''s jarring look, not expecting him to always be in a mask and body glove, and also not expecting him to be almost as tall as Endeavor, although you''d have to look very close to notice the 1cm difference. But then her stare turned into a harsh re and scowl, "why are you here?" "Huh?" Horizon looks at Endeavor. "Your dad said you wanted me here." "He told me one of Shoto''s ssmates was working with him...he didn''t say it was you," she growls out. "What''s your problem with me?" Horizon was genuinely confused, all while Endeavor and Shoto wisely kept quiet. "I''ve never even met you before." "You nearly killed Shoto!" "Tch," Horizon scoffs. "I barely touched him, and he was never at risk of death. Honestly, he got off lucky considering how much he ran his mouth before the fight." "Got off lucky?!" Fuyumi gestures at Shoto. "He still has nightmares about waking up with no heart!" Horizon looks around even more confused, "how is it my fault that he''s aplete fucking pussy, just get him therapy or something. Isn''t that what you losers do?" Fuyumi''s face goes red, but Endeavor steps in before she goes into a full tirade, "let''s all just take a moment and go to the dining room, we can talk this out there." The harsh re he gives Fuyumi immediately has her mouth shut, but Horizon just rolls his eyes when it falls upon him. As Fuyumi stomps away Horizon just sighs and follows Endeavor into the dining room. Stepping into the dining room Horizon sees a low table and floor mats for them to sit on. A full traditional dinner to match the clear style of the house wasid out for them. "So your family doesn''t believe in chairs," Horizon says. "Or anything from the past four centuries..." "You don''t believe in tradition?" Endeavor asks as they all take their seats. He sits at the head of the table with Shoto and Fuyumi to his left, and Horizon opposite them. "Tradition is just peer pressure from dead people, it''s obsolete. And if I don''t let living people tell me what to do why would I ever listen to corpses." The room falls into a tense silence as everyone starts eating, Horizon mainly eats white rice and some grilled fish. But eventually, he just gets annoyed by Fuyumi sitting opposite him staring daggers at his visor. "What?" He asks her. "Nothing," she begins ring even harder. "Just say what''s on your mind already." "Why did you do that to Shoto at the sports festival?" Fuyumi asks. "He doesn''t talk about it, but I''d like to know what someone could do to deserve that. I know my brother is a good person so I just can''t believe he deserved it." Horizon puts down his chopsticks and looks at her, closing his visor before he speaks. "He decided to run his mouth about my parents, so I made an example of him. Now everyone knows if they do something like that I''ll kick their teeth in, happy now?" Fuyumi looks even more confused now. "That doesn''t seem like Shoto," she turns to her brother. "Shoto, did you really do that?" she asks in a much more concerned tone. Shoto takes a while to think about his words, trying very carefully not to repeat his same mistake. "I made a wrong assumption. I couldn''t understand. You always spoke of how harsh they were with the training you, from the same age as me. I just...I never considered that you could be trained and raised to be this powerful without hate and abuse." "Wait, so it was a misunderstanding?" Fuyumi asked. "Shoto assumed that your parents were like our dad?" "Yes," Shoto says, and Endeavor hangs his head in shame. "But clearly I was wrong, very wrong." "And now you know better," Horizon says. "Because as anyone who saw the finals knows, my parents were perfect, and everything I do is for them." Fuyumi''s eyes dart back over to him, "then why didn''t you just exin the situation to him?" "Because my family situation is none of his business, just like this family isn''t any of my business. I don''t need to exin a damn thing, I just have to make sure that if he runs his mouth I teach him a painful lesson that he will never forget." "That''s not very heroic," Fuyumi says. "Neither is what your dad did, and he''s still the #2 Pro Hero," Horizonpletely shuts her up. "I was only trying to help, as Midoriya did for me," Shoto says. "I figured we could walk the path to healing together." "Of course Deku had something to do with it," Horizon rolls his eyes. "Well the important thing is I taught you a valuable lesson, don''t meddle where you aren''t wanted...and I certainly don''t want you." The table falls into a tense silence for a few more minutes before Fuyumi starts up another conversation. "So, do you still look up to my dad after knowing all of this?" All eyes move to Horizon as he answers. "I never cared and I still don''t care about Enji Todoroki. But the hero Endeavor is still my gold standard for pretty much everything needed to be a Pro Hero, that hasn''t changed." Endeavor puts down his chopsticks and gets up, startling Fuyumi. "Shoto,e with me, we need to talk..." he says before walking into the courtyard. Shoto sighs and follows him, leaving Horizon and Fuyumi at the table. "So...enjoying the food?" Fuyumi asks. "It''s good, did you help that olddy cook?" Fuyumi looks surprised, "how do you know about the housekeeper, you haven''t seen her and we didn''t tell you." "I know everything." Now she looks creeped out, "uh yeah, it''s actually my recipe but she helped me prepare it." "I guess that makes you my favorite Todoroki." "Really?" she raises a brow at that statement. "It''s not that hard to do. Shoto sucks at literally everything in my eyes, as a person Enji is ''meh'' at best. I count Endeavor separately so he''s still great. But you''ve cooked for me and you''re willing to stand up for your brother in the face of someone who can literally shut your brain off with a thought. How am I not supposed to like a woman like that?" "Her eyes go wide in surprise. Can you really do that? The brain thing." "No, but half the fun of my Quirk is that I can say crazy stupid things and people have to assume at least a little bit that I can really do it," he chuckles. Fuyumi sighs and shakes her head. "I hope this isn''t you trying to flirt with me. You''re 16 but I can''t date anyone so young, it''d just feel weird, not to mention I don''t date heroes...plus, I''m a teacher so I''d feel extra creepy." "This isn''t that, I promise. You can''t pay me enough to date someone with this much family baggage." "Oh wow, exactly what I want to hear right now," she sighs. "It''s already hard enough getting a date when people learn who my dad is, they''re either scared of him or trying to use me to get to him..." "One more reason to keep my identity private. So my kids won''t have to deal with that crap one day." "Yeah, you won''t have any trouble finding someone, mister genius, doctor, hero, Quirk researcher," she rolls her eyes at how absurd his resume was. "Plus handsome and rich, can''t forget those." "Sigh, because of course you are. Why did you decide to be a Pro Hero anyway? Adrenaline?" "Nezu made me a deal, he''d get me something I want if I graduate UA, that''s all." "No wonder he published your Quirk Research paper on the official UA website." "You read it?" "All fifteen pages. All the gics stuff about superhuman potential went a bit over my head, but seemed pretty smart. It''s so weird for someone young to be an official Quirk Researcher, it''s usually old men." "Well that''s because you need time and experience for it, that''s why it''s usually older doctors." "Yet you did it at only 16." "I''ve lived a lot of life," Horizon shrugs. As Fuyumi is about to respond suddenly the entire house shakes violently. Horizon instantly opens a ROOM and scans around, realizing the problem was just outisde. With a deep sigh he gets up as she''s trying to crawl under the table, thinking it was an earthquake. "Not an earthquake, just dramatic people..." he slides open the paper doors leading to the courtyard for them to see what was happening. Shoto had an absolutely furious look on his face in the middle of the courtyard. Across from him Endeavor was standing with a me in his right hand. All around Endeavor was a massive pool of boiling water, and to the far sides were the massive ice shards that didn''t instantly evaporate. Shoto tried to use a Heaven Piercing Ice Wall, only for Endeavor to instantly melt it the moment it even got close to him, showing that as they are now, Shoto is nothingpared to his dad. Endeavor deactivates his Quirk and just looks heartbroken as Shoto starts yelling. "You think you can ever atone, that we''d ever forgive you! After you destroyed us! You tore us apart! You put mom in the hospital! And now you want to tell me that I can choose to stop being a hero?! If I stop now then what was all our suffering even for?!" Shoto was seething with rage, and Endeavor just stood there, not saying a word to defend himself as his son stomped away into the house. Shoto looks back over his shoulder to say onest thing, "I never want to see you again, consider this the end of my internship..." Fuyumi breaks down into sobs and runs after her brother, and Horizon just shakes his head at all this family drama. ''This house really is a fucking mess...'' END CHAPTER--- Chapter 78: (The Hosu Attack) Chapter 78: (The Hosu Attack) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (30+ chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- ---6 PM, Endeavor Hero Agency... Stepping out of his room Horizon sees Burnin in full costume leaning against the opposite wall, giving him a vicious smile. "Ready to get started rookie?" "What are we even doing?" Horizon asks, falling into step beside her as they walk through the hallway to the elevator. "Well, yesterday we got a request from the heroes at Hosu. Since Inginium died their organization sort of fell apart. His agency had 65 Sidekicks and he lead them all, they''re still trying to figure out how to work without him leading." "So they''re like ants running about?" Horizon asks as they enter the elevator, noticing Burnin hitting the garage button. "Pretty much, so they called us to send some people to help out on patrols, the rest of my team had the day shift." "So we''re the night shift...what about Endeavor?" "He still hasn''t left his office, he''s been catching up on paperwork all day...very bad mood." "Tch, so just us?" "Yup, but you''re supposed to be the strongest anyway, right?" Burnin shrugs. "Why? Are you worried? Isn''t your catchphrase ''I''m enough''," she tries to copy his deeper mechanical voice and fails horribly. "I don''t have a catchphrase, but I am." A momentter they arrive at the basement garage, and Burnin takes out a simple car key and leads him over to a basic and inconspicuous red car. "I guess we''re expecting a fight huh," Horizon says while getting into the front seat, having to adjust it for his size, and cing his sword in the back seat. "Best to be prepared!" Burnin turns on the radio and begins singing loudly, not caring that she''ll annoy him the entire drive. Agency cars aren''t umon at such top-tier Hero Agencies. Cheap and receable cars that look inconspicuous in most situations. Bought for transport and insured with the agency,pletely expected to be destroyed if a Hero has to drive it to abat zone. BOOM! 1km outside of Hosu the car shakes violently as an explosion goes off in the distance. Horizon and Burnin see a massive fire tearing through the city and she immediately pulls over. "What''s going on?" ROOM! SCAN! 5km of information floods his mind. "Nomu attack, two dozen of them, let''s go." SHAMBLES! They both disappear and arrive at the heart of the action, a seven-story building waspletely on fire, heroes already rising over as a swarm of grey Nomu are destroying everything. ''Grey Nomu, they can''t regenerate ording to the intel we have,'' Horizon thinks as he rushes forward. Charging a Nomu with four arms, 3 meters tall andnky, brain exposed as per usual. Two other heroes attack before he can close the distance, dressed as ninjas they throw a dozen shurikens each, all of which bounce off the monster. BOOSTER SHOT! INCISION! Horizon shing the Nomu in two, directly down the middle. Another sh cuts the brain in half. Looking back he sees Burnin rip a chunk of her hair out and hit a grey Nomu with it,pletely exploding the top half of its body. ''Above,'' Horizon senses a Nomu flying through the air and shes at it. AMPUTATE! The winged grey Nomu gets shed in two, hopelessly iling as it falls to the road below. Burnin immediately pounces to finish it. "Make me some rubble!" Horizon yells out. Shrinking his ROOM enough to epass all the Nomus, allowing him to give them his full focus. "I''ve got it," one of the nearby Pro Heroes yells out, a hulking figure with erged fists. He punches the ground and shatters the road, scattering rocks all across the street. "Get away!" Horizon yells, and the nearby Pros understand exactly what he''s about to do and get to his sides or behind him. SHAMBLES! A piece of rubble gets swapped for a nearby Nomu. AMPUTATE! He shes it from range, leaving it iling around on the floor as he repeats the process over and over. One of the Nomu has some sort of speed Quirk and tries to rush him, but instead of warping away he simply raises a hand. CURTAIN! Every bone in the Nomus hand and arm shatter against the blue energy barrier, Horizon drops the barrier and shes directly, cutting the monster in half. Horizon immediately returns to the original n. Many of the Pros stand around ready to act in case his n fails for some reason, while a few others try to get the fire under control. And nearly twenty Nomuter, a ck Nomu shows up. ''Shit,'' Horizon immediately realizes what''s about to happen. Burnin grabs a massive chunk of her hair and hurls it toward the pile of Nomus and the ck Nomu all in one go. All the other nearby heroes with ranged abilities do the exact same, stacking on the damage. AMPUTATE! AMPUTATE! AMPUTATE! AMPUTATE! AMPUTATE! AMPUTATE! AMPUTATE! AMPUTATE! AMPUTATE! AMPUTATE! AMPUTATE! AMPUTATE! AMPUTATE! AMPUTATE! AMPUTATE! AMPUTATE! Sixteen shester there are massive slices in the road, and a pile of smoldering corpses burning in front of them. Horizon could still feel the heat from the intense green mes Burnin made, the road melting away around and below the Nomu corpses. "Let''s get back to it..." While Horizon and the Pro Heroes were finishing up the Nomu and putting out the fire, on a bullet train passing by Hosu another situation was happening. Deku was wearing his new Hero Costume, pinned down to the floor by his internship mentor Gran Torino. An elderly white-haired man who was only 1 meter tall. Currently stepping on Deku''s back with his yellow boots and leaning forward the push his face into the floor of the train. Only a few feet away was the door of the moving train, and Deku was just about to reach for it when he got pinned down. "What the hell are you doing brat?" Gran Torino asks. "Going to Hosu," Deku says. "People there need my help." "What about the people here?" "What? The train is fine, my friend is in Hosu, I...I have a bad feeling, like I need to save him, please, let me go." "Think about the situation more clearly," Gran Torino says. "You''re on a moving bullet train, you open those doors or rupture the side of it and this thing stops, then whatever crisis is happening here has these passengers trapped in it too, is that what you want?" "But...I..." Deku''s voice shrinks and he just rests his head on the floor, mind and heartpletely conflicted. "But he needs saving, I can feel it...I should have done more when I saw him." "Perhaps, but your duty is the protect as many people as possible, that includes keeping these people away from that mess," Gran Torino sighs, seeing Deku making an angry face as some tears begin flowing. Sitting on the floor beside Deku he gives him a pat on the head. "You''re just like Toshinori, you know that?" "What?" Deku looks at him in surprise. "Yeah, no matter the situation he''d be unable to sit by when he knew someone needed saving, but that also caused him to make a lot of choices that he''dter regret. If that''s the mindset you have, it will hurt even more if you ever fail, so you have all the more reason to master your Quirk and grow strong. That way you won''t have to make the hard choices like these, you''ll be able to save a lot more people than even him..." Sitting up Deku wipes his tears, looking down the train cart at all the people staring out the window at the burning city, all the people he protected by simply allowing them to continue to the next stop. Only fifteen minutes after the attack began, it was already dealt with. Horizon and Burnin were currently standing to the side looking at the massive pile of incinerated meat, the road melted to such an extent that it was still bubbling and swelling the flesh. While they were taking a breather the other Pros were helping the fire trucks put out the ze as best they can, unfortunately, Manual, a hero with water maniption isn''t present at the moment to assist. Standing beside Horizon, Burnin currently was missing almost all of her fiery hair, leaving her nearly bald. Her scalp waspletely covered in small green mes. "Howe you didn''t sense the Warp Gate?" "Because I wasn''t expecting one," Horizon shrugs. "Any now?" "No, I didn''t sense any viins around in my range so I wouldn''t know." "I get it, its kinda like they sucker punched you, that makes sense. So what was your n if I wasn''t here?" Burnin asks. "For what, the ck Nomu?" "Yeah." "Well evenpared to these the USJ Nomu was a lot stronger,the first one we dealt with, and the second one just had basic Power, and didn''t have anywhere near as fast healing. I could have handled it solo." "Maybe I should have let you," Burnin rubs her head. Horizon chuckles, "how long does it take to grow back when you overuse it like this?" "About twenty minutes when it''s this extreme. If Endeavor were here he could have waved his hand and incinerated those healing bastards." "Hmmm, I''m still trying to form something that can deal with them, I don''t think I''ll always have a top fire Pro in my pocket." "Why not just make mes of your own?" Burnin asks. "It''s not that simple, I won''t exin but let''s just say I can''t," Horizon says. "But you can make lightning, that takes a lot more energy." "I don''t make lightning, I amplify my bioelectricity and bring it outward,pletely different. And since I don''t have a fire inside me I''d have to do a lot more work than it''s worth." "Ahh, I see...so what you''re saying is," she looks up at him with her Cheshire smile, "I can do something mister miracle can''t," she devolves into a mad cackle as they wait for the police to arrive in force and deal with this. Horizon rolls his eyes, used to her antics and aggressive personality by now. ''Creating fire huh... focusing on such a small particle would exhaust me. And using TAKT to cause that much friction in anything would also entirely drain me, fire is just too damn erratic. Not to mention how much energy that would take...same reason I can''t just warp around using dust in the air... I''m sure I''ll think of something to deal with the ck Nomu, and I''ll be ready if I ever see the USJ Nomu again...'' END CHAPTER--- Chapter 79: (Momos Contract) Chapter 79: (Momo''s Contract) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (30+ chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- ---Saturday Afternoon, 7 PM... After finishing his internship Horizon alsopleted his weekly appointment, and now he was ready to go home and train, now having a better understanding of exactly what he has to work on. In the private underground garage of his Tokyo penthouse Law is dressed in a simple gold t-shirt with the Matani crest in ck on the chest and a pair of ck jeans. Loading his Hero Costume case and sword into the trunk of his car he hops in the driver''s seat and starts driving back to Musutafu, having to enter the city to then ess the road to his home outside the city. cing his phone in thepartment on the dashboard it automatically connects. "Call Nezu," he orders, and the phone begins doing exactly that. Cruising down the street he hears the call connect. "Hello?" Nezu asks. "Yeah, I''m leaving Tokyo now, just wrapped things up at Endeavor''s Agency." "Oh, that''s good. I''m dealing with some other problems at the moment, I assumed you call to find out about that..." "What?" Law sounds confused. "I was calling to ask about that Support Item I requested." "Oh, did you not see the news?" "No, what''s up?" "Apparently during the Nomu attacks in Hosu two days ago, the Hero Killer Stain was busy, he killed three more people. They only found the bodiesst night." "While I was there? Must have been at the very edge of Hosu." "It was, I''m currently dealing with a media nightmare because of it." "Why? Who''d he kill?" "Native, Manual, and your ssmate, Tenya Iida." "Ohh...so that''s why the ss group chat has been going extra crazy, that makes sense." "You didn''t look at it?" "I assumed they wanted to ask about those two big incidents I resolved. I''m not gonna read two thousand messages from those people." "Well everyone knows, and I''ve had a swarm of reporters at the gate ever since the bodies were found." "Shit, Is this gonna make you close school, because the faster I get my item the faster I can get used to it." Nezu sighs. "Well, I''m d to hear how worried and heartbroken you are..." "Heroes die every day Nezu, it''s an upational hazard. Plus I''ve only known him for 5 weeks, and we didn''t exactly get along." "Do you get along with anyone?" "A few, mostly the pretty girls and Sero..." "Right, well this shouldn''t change anything with the school schedule. We''ll offer to counsel any students who need it and your ss will have a mandatory session talking to Midnight." "Ugh." "There will also be a special mourning ceremony Monday morning." "So I should show upte to skip all that crap, thanks for the warning." "We''d appreciate it if you can say a few kind words actually, since you are the 1A ss Rep." Lawughs at that. "No." Nezu sighs again, "fine, but please just show up on time for the ceremony, it won''t be long." "Yeah yeah, and how is the media dealing with this?" "It''s been a long time since we''ve had an active student die," Nezu says. "But with how many students have been killed due to the Nomu attacks on Hero Courses the public isn''t reacting too poorly, inparison we''ve only lost one student and it was away from campus." "Uh-huh, and how do they feel about you letting him go to Hosu knowing that''s where Stain likely was and his brother died there just over a week earlier? They could assume that it was a revenge scenario gone wrong," Law says. "Some of them did, but we''re fighting that idea with his pristine character. Also, I''m pushing media outlets to focus on your work from this week." Law nods in agreement. "Show off that Horizon solved a hostage situation and dealt with about twenty Nomu while other Pros were mostly useless...prop up your best student so they don''t notice the dead one." "That''s the n, it''s been mostly working to prevent people from digging deeper." "Good," Law turns onto the highway to leave the city. "Thest thing I need is UA being stalled for any reason, especially because some morons can''t ept being a Hero is actually dangerous. Now that we''re done talking about the shit I don''t care about, what''s the deal with my Support Item?" "It''s mostlyplete, beyond your specification." "Uh-huh, what do you mean mostly? How much longer?" "It''ll take one month for us to get a shipment of the alloy needed for the fuel cell. It''s normally not used in objects this small so they have to make it custom." "I really don''t have a month to waste, the support course is gonna be open Monday right?" "The design and construction studios are always open, and the person that''s been assigned to you always arrives early and leaveste, she should even be there tomorrow when school isn''t in session." "And all she needs is thisponent?" Law asks. "Exactly." "Ok, can you send me the specifics of it, molecr makeup and all that..." "If you''re thinking of using Yaoyorozu, you should know that it''s against regtions to use her Quirk like this because of the value of thisponent, and how easily it can be weaponized. You need approval, and she won''t agree to help you." "If I get it done can you handle the paperwork for me?" Law asks. "Legally my answer is no, but good luck, I''ll send you the data in a moment." "Thanks, now I''ve got to call Momo..." A few minutester Law sends the data to Momo and immediately calls her. "Hello," she answers on the very first ring, some excitement in her voice although he could tell she''d been crying. Law just rolls his eyes, not having time for talking about Iida, "Momo, are you free tomorrow?" He hears her drop the phone on what sounds like tiles before picking it back up. "Yes! I mean...it depends on what you want..." she tries her best to not seem interested, failing miserably. And Law chuckles, he''s far from an idiot, especially when ites to women. He''s known for a while that both Momo and Jiro somehow have an interest in him, there simply isn''t any benefit to bringing it up. He expects and hopes that it will fade as theye to their senses. "Sorry to disappoint but not for a date," Law says jokingly. "What! Why would I ever be thinking that?!" "Uh-huh, no idea...anyway. Take a look at the item I sent you, how long until you can make it?" "Give me one moment to look at it..." Law waits patiently until he hears her answer. "The mass of this, even for a two-inch cube is a bit much, it would take everything I have." "Can you do it?" "Yes, the materialposition isn''t thatplex, at least for me, but I can imagine via technology getting these metals to bond in such an intricate manner is difficult." Law sighs, "woman, the things I''d do to have your Quirk... Anyway, can you bring it to UA tomorrow morning? It''s thestponent I need for a support item, otherwise, I''ll have to wait an entire month to get one made. Apparently, they don''t fabricate that alloy in that size." "I can understand why," Momo says. "These bonding agents work better the more mass the item has, making one of this size would cost a small fortune. But that''s exactly why I can''t help you. My Quirk prohibits creations such as these without permission from a relevant authority, I''m sorry but unless I receive clearance or it''s an absolute emergency I can''t help." "The most fun Quirk and you''ve got a stick up your ass that prevents you from enjoying it...that''s a damn shame." "Hey!" "I got permission from Nezu, he''ll deal with the paperwork, so, tomorrow?" "Alright, I''ll help you out," Momo says, suddenly much happier. "No, this isn''t you helping me, it''s a trade." "What?" "I really don''t like owing people anything, so figure out something you want, within reason, and we''ll make this a small contract. " "Something I want? Like what?" "How am I supposed to know, but this is a one-time thing so you''d better be smart about it." "I already know what I want!" Momo suddenly blurts out. "Wow, that was fast, ok what is it." "Can you teach a ss where you tell us all how to improve our Quirks? You said you already figured it all out right, so how about that? That way the most people will benefit!" "You want me to spoon-feed 18 people the answers to fix their life as a Hero...no. That''ll take too long." "Um...then how about just some of us? Helping us to be better heroes?" she says in a timid voice. Law sighs, "let me guess, you and Jiro?" "Huh, how did you know I was going to include Kyoka?" "Because you two do everything together, you''re basically attached at the hip," Law says. ''You even have a crush on the same guy...'' he thinks to himself. "Kyoka and I are just fast friends, like you and Sero." "Uh I wouldn''t say that, but whatever. So tomorrow morning at the support department." "We''ll be there..." Law hangs up on her immediately and focuses on the road. "Honestly, the things I do for Horizon..." Law mutters as he continues the journey home. END CHAPTER--- Chapter 80: (The Workshop) Chapter 80: (The Workshop) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (30+ chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- Standing outside the support course design building Horizon is watching a video on his phone, having the audio yed directly into his visor. Not bothering to put on his uniform since it''s Sunday he has his body glove and visor on. The boots from his Hero Costume. A pair of blue pants and a white t-shirt with his logo on the front in blue. And a white and blue hoodie with his logo on the back. His Hero Costume case was in his hand along with his sword as he focuses on his phone, watching the same videos that has been circting all day about the Hero Killer Stain. Exploring his past, motivation, and ideology. "So do you own anything that isn''t blue and white?" Power Loader asks as he walks up to Horizon. "Or that doesn''t have your logo on it..." "No," Horizon says as he puts his phone away, holding his Hero Costume case in his right hand and his sword in the left. Power Loader nods for Horizon to follow him as they enter the building. "I hope you aren''t a fan of that Stain guy," he says, overheating the video earlier and knowing what it was. "He''s a moron." "Worse, he''s a madman. Anyway about your request, it''s not the first time we got a request for something like this, but without a Quirk that powers it the allocated budget for students just doesn''t cover it, not to mention the legality of it." "I figured Nezu wouldn''t mind." "He doesn''t, only because it''s you. He''s not very subtle about that, even increased the allocated budget to your support equipment topensate." "Well it makes sense, I''m Horizon, it''ll be worth it." "Humility goes a long way kid." "Not my style, anyway are you sure whoever he assigned to this project can actually do it? I was kind of hoping you''d make my equipment, as you did before UA." "No can do," Power Loader says. "Having the Hero and Support courses work together like this is essential for development. But with that being said, before anything is handed over to our students for use it has to get approved by me first." "And Mei got approved?" "More often than not, she''s a real genius when ites to mechanical engineering. And she''s not afraid to fail, that''s important in learning. It''s only been five weeks and she''s already made twenty items. Not to mention she learns so fast that she''s lightyears ahead of the previous top genius at this time in their school life." Horizon looks down at Power Loader and raises a brow, "wasn''t the top genius you?" "Until her, yeah it was. But you know what they say, the rookies will tell you when it''s time to quit..." Arriving in front of a massive door Power Loader slides it open for them to see Mei sitting on the floor putting together some machine parts. Mei Hatsume was a short girl with pink dreadlocks, only 157cm tall -5ft2-, currently wearing her uniform skirt under some coveralls that were tied off at her hips. And a ck tank top covering herrge chest. "Mei!" Power Loader has to raise his voice to snap her out of her own little world. Seeing Horizon she immediately hops up to her feet and rushes over, "hey mister famous, wee to myb!" Mei gestures to the workshop behind her. Filled with her projects and tinkering, parts and pieces on desks and shelves along the walls. There were even a few suits of armor hanging from the ceiling on chains, a full mad inventors workshop. "Well, I''ll leave before something explodes," Power Loader says before rushing off. "Uh, do things explode a lot with you?" Horizon asks, looking directly down at Mie who was staring up at him with those yellow crosshair pupils in her eyes. Since she''s only an inch taller than Jiro she just barely reaches the middle of his chest, making him seem that much more imposing. "Things explode sometimes, that''s life. Don''t worry nothing I have nned for you will do that." "I hope not, so, how do we start?" "Follow me!" Mei turns around and stiffly marches off. ''So normal people are rare in UA...'' Horizon thinks. He follows her over to a separate desk at the back of herb that has arge metal case atop it. Mei opens the case to reveal his requested Support Item. A metal device appears simr to a skateboard. Roughly 1 meter long and 25cm-10in- wide, but it was three inches thick, appearing like a b of metal. Colored white with blue ents, and Horizon''s logo at the top of it. "Pick it up," Mei says. "A bit heavy," Horizon says as he lifts it up, cing his case and sword down on the desk beforehand. "50lbs, but it expands when powered up...hopefully, and gets a bit tter. This is thepact form for transporting it." Turning it to see the underside there are tworge circles, at a nce he couldn''t understand what they are or how they worked. His focus is on biology not technology after all. "Repulsor lifts," Mei says. "They push against gravity to keep you in the air, it''s the same tech the military uses for those fancy jets in America, but the civilian version. Because of that plus the power system it needs this baby costs more than the entire budget allocation to three other students put together, and you''ve still got room for more stuff. It''s rare for anyone to ever even max out their budget considering Principal Nezu funds it." "Is it really that big?" Mei chuckles, "let''s just say before we had that invention contest to decide who''d get to work with you...things got a bit..punchy." "Were you winning?" "I don''t wanna talk about it. Anyway, I''m making your stuff now, that''s all that matters." "Fair enough, so about the hoverboard, specs?" "When we get the power conduit...you should be able to match or move faster than anymercial ne, should be fun. And it can support four hundred pounds of weight." "That''s good, doubt I''ll have any passengers but it''s good to be prepared." "Yup," Mei gives him a beaming smile, excited to see this inventione to life. "So, whatcha gonna name this baby?" "What?" "Well, every student names their equipment, like the Yaoyoletard, or the Uragautlets, that kinda thing." "That''s stupid." "What about your sword?" "Scalpel, but swords aren''t clothes." "Neither is a hoverboard." "It doesn''t need a name, Momo should be here in a few minutes, anything else I need to know." "Yeah, you''ll need these to stay on it," she fishes around to find a pair of boots just like his current set, but they felt slightly heavier. "Maic?" "The soles are a special material that the repulsor will pull toward the top of the board, that way you don''t fall off at 600mph -965kmph-, that''d get messy." "The Gs would kill me before that," he says. "My body can''t handle that kind of strain, I can heal but that''s only for so long. I''m not going that fast." "Really? I thought you had Super-Strength or something." "What? No." "Well I mean, you said your Quirk can virtually do anything so everyone kind of assumed you''d have that," Mei shrugs. "But then again you talked so big but now we know you can''t even fly..." Horizon sighs, "I swear you people all act like everyone else in the world can fly, not being able to fly is normal." "Sorry." "Whatever, just tell me how to operate this hoverboard." "Sure, it''s super intuitive, you just have to..." ---5 Minutester... "Ok, anything else?" Horizon asks as she finishes exining the details of his hoverboard. "A lot of stuff actually," Mei says excitedly, getting very close to Horizon, but unlike the usual students he doesn''t back away, standing his ground as her chest presses against his abs and she stares up at him hungrily. "You''re already super famous, so I wanna upgrade all your things so people will know my name too." "So branding?" "Something you clearly know about, but I''ll also give real upgrades, I''ve already considered a few." "So you''re basically using me as a model and billboard...Ok, let''s hear them," she steps away and he leans back against the desk. "First I was thinking of a new visor!" "You can''t change the look," he immediately says. "I don''t exactly have a face so I can''t go changing the visor all the time." "Won''t change anything about the look, but I saw the build for the current model, I bet with some time and that big budget you got I can usepression tech on it." "In what way?" "Think of something about the size of your phone, then you put it at the back of your neck, and BOOM! It expands around your head into the visor." "So I can always have it on me." "Yup," Mei says. "That way if it breaks and you can''t breathe you at least can have a spare or two. I can''t imagine it feels good having to wear that visor as a life support item all the time, this way you don''t have to be worried about it breaking." "That sounds perfect for me," Horizon says. "Anything else?" "Retractable sword?" "No." He gestures to his sword, "retractable swords are the first thing I researched, but the trade-off in durability isn''t worth the portable nature of it, I need reliable things." "That makes sense, I assumed the durability wouldn''t matter since your sword never actually touches anyone." "It does when I want to do real damage." "Mhm," Mei taps her chin a few times as she considers what else there is. "Well, I guess all that''s left are the body glove and Hero Costume. They were designed to befortable in a variety of natural temperatures but not much else, is there anything you want to add or adjust with it?" "Actually...I''ve been ignoring equipment for a while so since I''m here..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 81: (Rebranding) Chapter 81: (Rebranding) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (30+ chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- Walking through the halls of the support department engineering building Momo and Jiro were in full Hero Costume, with the former carrying a metal case at her side. "I can''t believe you got me into this," Jiro mutters, nervously twirling her Earphone Jack. "Surprisingly he didn''t evenin about it," Momo says. "I expected him to be strictly against teaching anyone, but he seems to be honorable about this agreement." "Well he''s full of himself," Jiro rolls her eyes. "If there is one thing we can count on, it''s that Horizon always wants to look and be better than everyone around him." "True, but he''s also capable. Learning from him can do wonders for us." "Yeah, but why''d you bother pulling me into it?" Momo looks over at Jiro, genuinely confused as to why the answer wasn''t obvious. "Because you''re my friend, and improving is always better when it helps your friends as well, right?" "You''re too nice for this world Momo," Jiro mutters. "Let''s just hope he isn''t a jerk to you again, you didn''t let me yell at himst time but I don''t know if I can do that again." "Kyoka, he wasn''t trying to harm me with those words, I think they were his way of inspiring me." "Well a Hero isn''t supposed to talk to a crying girl like that, they''re supposed to say nice things." "Well that''s why he''s at UA, to learn things like that," Momo says as they arrive at the door to Mei''sb. Momo politely knocks before sliding the door open, then she freezes. Staring forward with wide eyes as her face goes beet red. Jiro raises a hand to cover her eyes, but still peeks through her fingers like the closet pervert she is. Constantly looking away but unable to resist stealing nces at the scene. Standing in the middle of the room was Horizon, only wearing his body glove and visor, all his clothes neatly folded off to the side. All his muscles were and the clear separation of them was visible for the first time since they''d known him. Still somewhat hidden by theyer of white fabric, but enough to leave a very clear image of what was hidden below. This alone would have been enough to make both girls into a sputtering mess, but he was facing to the side, giving them a full view of what was going on. In his hands, supported by the one hand so clearly cupping her ass was Mei Hatsume, still fully dressed and currently having her legs wrapped around his waist as best they could. Both her hands carefully feeling the muscles on his chest and his abs, trying to memorize every surface of his body. All with an excited smile on her face. Horizon''s free hand is what fried Momo and Jiro''s brains, as it was currently freely cupping Mei''s breast over her tank top, clearly enjoying itself, gently kneading her, not even stopping as he looks over at his ssmates. "Um, SORRY TO INTERRUPT!" Momo yells and pulls the door shut, heart pounding in her chest. Beside her Jiro wasn''t faring much better, but Momo knew she had to take the lead. ''I can''t just be a coward about this,'' she thinks. ''I have to act as if nothing happened, as if...as if the boy I like wasn''t just...just, why was he even holding her chest?!'' her face shifts from surprise and embarrassment to frustrations and a bit of jealousy. Jiro just raised a hand to her mostly t chest, now feeling much worse about her tiny proportions. She nces over to Momo to see the girl take a deep breath and puff up her chest, clearly subconsciously trying to make a show of her assets as she opens the door. Opening the door they see him gently set Mei down on her feet, and they both just look over at Momo and Jiro. "Did you bring it?" Horizon asks, and Momo just wordlessly lifts the case, never taking her eyes off Mei while Jiro continues to stare at the floor. "YES!" Mei rushes off and snatches the case out of Momo''s hand, then charges away toplete the hoverboard. Watching her rush off Horizon turns to both girls, seeing their reactions to what they walked in on, but just ignores it. "So, guess I''ve got to give you a rundown of this Hero stuff so w---" "Are you friends with that girl?" Momo interrupts him, eyes glued to the back of Mei''s head. "Not really." "Oh, but you were just...you had your hand on her... it''s just that---" "It''s really none of your business," Horizon says. "But if you must know, she gets a bit invasive when taking measurements, I thought it was only fair I return the favor," he shrugs. "You expect us to believe that?" Jiro asks. "Believe what you want, I really don''t care either way. So, who''s first?" Neither girl answers, so Horizon just sighs. "Fine, I''ll start with the easy one, Jiro." "Excuse me?!" "Not like that, pervert. I''m talking about the Pro Hero crap." "Uh, sorry, yeah I''m listening," Jiro says. "Ok so half of being a Pro Hero is the public image, the other half is being useful. All you need to do is use your Quirk more and train it harder, you can figure that out yourself. The problem is your Hero Costume just screams ''I went dumpster diving at a rock concert and found this trash,'' it''s ugly." "HEY! My style is punk rock!" "Yeah, and it''s great for the 1% of people who like that style. But for everyone else you''re just a tiny girl in some ugly clunky boots, a top that does fit and has rips in it, and a jacket that isn''t sure what it''s supposed to be. The average person probably thinks you look like you bought it in a thrift shop." Jiro bites back all the angry things she wanted to yell at him and just grits her teeth, taking a deep breath and hearing him out. "Ok, so what do you suggest?" "Get something more functional and sleek, you don''t need to go with a skin-tight suit but just something that isn''t as baggy for viins to grab onto, not that they should ever be that close to you. You also want to change your equipment, amps in your boots are ok but you need to extend your Earphone Jacks all the way down to your feet, that takes time and increases the surface area of a target for the enemy. Get a pair of headphones or something that you can just plug into and send sound to the other speakers on your body." "Yeah that makes sense," Jiro says. "At the USJ I couldn''t use my Quirk when Kaminari got held hostage because the guy could see it moving to my boots. If I had it plugged in closer to my ears it''d be easier." "Exactly. You also need a mask. I know you people areplete fucking idiots who want to be celebrity heroes, but the mask isn''t just for you. It''s so people don''t see your face and track you down to kill the people you care about. Don''t be a selfish moron, wear a mask." "That''s why you wear a mask?"Jiro. "I too must admit I''ve been curious," Momo says. "But I assumed it was simply either part of your face or to help with daily life, that would make it very rude of us to ask, so please don''t answer if you don''t want to..." Since in this world the ''human'' form is so vast and varied, having someone with his visor as their genuine face isn''t such a stretch so nobody genuinely thought about it, already used to growing up around Mutation and Transformation Quirk users of all sorts. "I get that you could have assumed that, but I figured when you heard my name it would have been obvious that the visor is mostly just that," he says. "Did you think my parents wrote ''Horizon'' on my birth certificate? I''m obviously hiding my identity. The better question is why aren''t any of you?" "Huh, but why would you do that?" Jiro genuinely asks, and Horizon feels a small spike of anger at how sincere it was. "Don''t you want the world to see how cool you are? Isn''t that what you''re all about?" "Do you have a family?" Horizon asks Jiro. "Uh, yeah, it''s just me and my parents..." "Good, and how would you feel if... let''s say you spent all day saving people you don''t know, then went home to find your family dead because some viin you once fought saw your face, got your name, then got your address?" They both wince at that. "Some people like Shoji and Mina can''t really hide their identities...which is why I honestly wouldn''t be here if I was that recognizable, but for those who can, you should, you always should," his voice takes a serious and almost warning tone. "To me, no faceless nameless mob of useless civilians will ever be worth risking my family, so I wear this somewhat inconvenient body glove and visor whenever Horizon goes out. Because I''m sure the one in a hundred, or maybe a thousand heroes that loses their family because they stupidly decided not to wear a mask wishes they were as...admittedly paranoid, as I am." "I see," Momo mutters quietly. "So it''s a sacrifice for the people you love, like you said at the sports festival. Everything is for your future family..." "I''m not losing my kids or having them get hounded because I selfishly wanted to be a celebrity," Horizon says. Both girls feel their hearts melt at those words. "The final thing is your god awful Hero Name, seriously, Earphone Jack. Any monkey can think of that, and it wouldn''t even be the most creative one it thought of." "But it''s simple and effective," Jiro says. "I like her Hero Name," Momo adds, causing Horizon to look at her. "Really, the girl who named herself ''Creati,'' which sounds like a name you pulled out of a picture book for retarded children, the same book with great names like Pinky, Froppy, Uravity, Anima...you like Earphone Jack...what a surprise." Momo looks down at the floor, having the name she''s been excited to make her own for the past 8 yearspletely bashed by Horizon of all people. "But what''s wrong with that?" Jiro asks. "Hero Names are supposed to be fun and make people smile right?" "No, what kind of moron thinks like that. Your entire image is supposed to be built so people know you''ve got things under control when you arrive. You have to properly cultivate your image, without a good one you''ll never get into the top rankings." "Unless we do excellent work," Momo adds. "No, that''s not enough. People like cool shit, ''Earphone Jack'' isme. You have to think about your image more. You know why I chose my name, but my costume is also part of it. My colors are white and blue, the same colors as surgeons and nurses. Widely recognized as positive andwful colors. It calms people down when they see a guy in a white suit. My sword is a Katana. I personally prefer a broadsword but I''m using this because all around the world people fetishize Katanas as this honorable thing. I use a Katana, suddenly I look more heroic. Especially since the de is white with a blue edge." "Wow, you put a lot of thought into this stuff," Jiro says. "And here I thought you didn''t care about this..." "I have more reason to care than any of you, Aux." "Aux?" "My suggestion for a new Hero Name, short and cute like you, and people can actually chant it. Also, it''s not that far from Earphone Jack, all without soundingme." "Huh, I like it," Jiro says, giving him a beaming smile. "IT''S DONE!" Mei loudly interrupts them, holding the hoverboard in her hands. "Check it out." The first thing Horizon notices is that all the bits of blue are glowing slightly, and that she''s casually moving around what was 50lbs as if it were nothing. And as she hands it over, he realizes it''s weightless. "Wow, nice." "Yup, my babies are the best! I''m sure we''ll make some great babies together!" Mei cheers. Momo and Jiro gape in shock, and Horizon doesn''t bother exining. "Great, you and Jiro can talk about her upgrades while I take this for a spin...and give Momo some training." "Shouldn''t I be there for training too?" Jiro asks. "Nope, it''s just the basics of how she should use her Quirk, I can''t give her any real training." "Why not?" Momo asks. "I''m not training either of you because it''s a waste of time for me to train beautiful women, they just won''t try hard enough," Horizon shrugs. Momo blushes while Jiro gets pissed at those words, "what the hell kind of sexist thing is that?! Where did you even learn something so stupid?!" "My mom," Jiro immediately freezes, taking one scared step back as all the color drains from her face. "Uh, I mean...I''m sorry, it''s just that...why did she say that?" Horizon just shakes his head and sighs, "because, beautiful women can always quit and find someone to take care of them or some other shit like that. You always have an easy way out. The way I train will make you want to take that easy way out...so I rather train someone who I know won''t quit and waste my time." "So you won''t train us because you think we''re beautiful?" Jiro asks,pletely confused. "Exactly. Now, let me get dressed and we''ll get out of here Momo." "Right!" ROOM SHAMBLES Horizon''s clothes suddenly appear on his body, all but his boots. Walking over to Mei''s workstation he takes the new boots and begins putting them on manually. After putting them on he looks up to see Momo and Jiro staring at him while Mei was already tinkering with something else. "What?" he asks. "You were doing it like a normal person," Jiro says. "Why didn''t you warp them on like usual?" Because they''re new. Because he hasn''t been attuned to them. Because he can''t. "Because I felt like it," he says, picking up his sword and hoverboard and walking toward the door. "Hey Mei, Jiro needs a full design overhaul, you should take her measurements!" "Ahh!" Jiro shrieks as she feels a pair of hands roaming her legs and chest. Momo looks over at her, not sure what to do, both her and Jiro already blushing and Mei ignores all social norms to get her precise measurements, tackling the tiny girl to the floor, exactly like Horizon said. "Hey, what are you doing? Don''t touch that!" Jiro yells out, looking to Momo for help. "We''re gonna make some great babies!" Mei says with a manic look in her eyes. "Momo! C''mon!" she hears Horizon call out from the door. Momo gives an apologetic look and wishes her luck before rushing out of the room. Abandoning her best friend to be molested by UA''s resident mad scientist... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 82: (Glass Ceiling) Chapter 82: (ss Ceiling) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (30+ chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "You''re already quite good at that, most impressive," Momo says. Currently, she was walking down the sidewalk over to arge grassy area of UA where the trees were spread out. They couldn''t see a few students scattered about on the grass studying, and eventually found a spot they liked. All the while Horizon was flying about on his hoverboard as if it were the most normal thing in the world. "That''s why I chose a hoverboard," he says. "What do you mean?" "I like surfing, skating, and longboarding, those skills transfer to this really well. And since I''ve been doing them all my life this is as natural as breathing." "Oh, so you chose something you wouldn''t have to learn from the ground up." "Yup, Mei''s originally countered my suggestion with a jetpack since she already had a prototype made, then she tried to get me to wear some rocket boots. But this way I have one less thing to constantly practice...plus...those other things look way too goofy. This is more elegant and graceful." "Public image," Momo says as they arrive at arge tree with nobody nearby, a few groups of students scattered about in casual clothes studying for the uing mid-terms. "Yup, now take a seat and we can start." "Alright," Momo makes a nket and sets it down on the grass, dropping down to her knees and looking up at him as he sits on the hoverboard. It had now shifted into its expended form,rger, 30cm wide and 120cm long, bing slightly thinner as the parts adjusted themselves to widen the surface area. Still in his white and blue with the blue ents glowing. And two glowing blue circles on the underside of it keeping him above the floor. Horizon sat atop it with his swordying across hisp and feet hanging over the edge. Casually looking down on her. "Before we start, howe neither of you asked me about that whole Iida situation?" he asks. "Oh, well. Everyone had been talking about it in the group chat the past few days and you never joined. We figured you wanted to grieve in your own way and not talk about it." "Sure, good call. I don''t wanna talk about it," Horizon says. That simply sounded much better than ''I couldn''t care less that my ssmate is dead.'' so he just let them think what they want. "Alright, now where do we begin?" "Yeah, not sure with you exactly, normally I''d start with the first impression you give, but I mean," he gestures to her. "The bimbo suit works for what you want so I guess it''s fine..." "Excuse me?" "What?" "Bimbo suit?" "Yeah, your Hero Costume, aren''t you gonna be one of those heroes that just shows off her tits to get easy money?" Momo jumps up to her feet to get in his face, "I''m trying to be a hero to help people! Not to show off my body for attention! How dare you assume such disgusting things without even asking me!" "But you went to Uwabami? She''s like in the top 3 bimbo heroes, why else would you go there?" Momo freezes, then drops back down to the nket, "she was the highest ranked Hero that requested Ie intern with her. I didn''t know we''d just be her personal assistant and model in some stupidmercial..." "Oh, so you didn''t do research and wasted your time...like a fucking retard." Momo looks like a kicked puppy at that statement, "I''m already so far behind, and I wasted an entire week while others were getting ahead." Momo was almost to the point of tears just thinking about her wasted time. "Is that why you were crying yesterday?" She nods weakly. "Huh, I assumed it was for Iida." "Him too," Momo says. Horizon sighs. "Alright, fine, well like I told Jiro, public perception is everything. And the first thing the public sees when you dress like that is just a pair of great tits and a pretty face, at that point they''ve already made up their mind about you. Because of that, you''ll never get to the very top ranks." "But Mirko is very attractive and she''s up there." "She also doesn''t have her tits falling out of her top and is such a meathead that she never ys up the cute stuff. Her brain is just one veiny muscle that counters the usual public perception. You won''t have that." "But if I work hard and just do my job well would that matter?" Momo asks, and Horizon groans. "Ok let me put it like this. Midnight is basically the queen of the bimbo heroes. She has a perfect and exemry record, a crap ton of incidents resolved and big viins defeated. But she never gets into the top few thousand. No matter what she does she''ll never get there, because other Pros know she''s capable. The Hero Commission knows she''s capable. Even Nezu bringing her into UA isn''t enough. It''s no ident that she''s the only hero at UA that can''t get into the top 10k. Japan is a conservative society. She perfectly crafted the image of some sex-crazed whore. She''s never had a single scandal aside from the government asking her to put on more clothes, and because of her need to sexualize everything and show off her body they make sure that no little girl sees enough of her to think ''I wanna be just like Ms. Midnight when I grow up.'' Get it? And you''re about to be in the exact same boat. I suggest you call Uwabami and cut yourself out of thatmercial as a start." Momo falls silent for an entire minute as she considers what to say, then looks up at him. "But my Quirk requires exposed skin, what about that? What if I can''t save someone because of it? Shouldn''t people be able to look past my body and see me as a hero?" "In a perfect world you can wear whatever you want, but this isn''t a perfect world. In fact it''s so far from perfect that being Hero is a job. People look at you and see a pretty face and amazing body, and since so much of it is being shown they will make assumptions. You''re 11/10 fuckable and they know it, so just avoid this entire problem by changing your brand. Just wear a crop top and some shorts, same surface area. Or you can just use a zipper. Honestly, I assumed you just wore the bimbo suit because you liked it....didn''t think you were dumb enough not to think of a zipper." Momo smacks herself on the forehead, "I can''t believe I didn''t think of that!" "Wow, so you are that much of a dumbass...every time I think you people have a brain your prove me wrong... Anyway, I rmend the first option, you still don''t want your tits to be on tv. And as for saving people, you can always just make more clothes if needed, not to mention the higher your rank the more team-ups you get called in for so the more people you get ess to. Endeavor got like three requests every day, because they know that since he''s high rank he''ll be able to cover their weaknesses if things go wrong." "I see, and what do you suggest? Just a crop top and pair of shorts?" "And a mask, you want to separate Momo and Creati...oh, we''ll also have to change that horrific name." "But I''ve always wanted that name, I thought of it when I was 8." "It shows, and it''s stupid. Creati only tells people that you can make shit, but it doesn''t make them feel anything. Most Quirks can''t deliver that sense of awe, but yours can." "Then what do you suggest?" "Go biblical, I named my Quirk Hand Of God to make a real statement, so why not reference the act of true creation." "Oh...Genesis?" "Exactly, sounds a lot more epic than Creati. And it''s actually a full word." "I''ll do it!" Momo says, a broad smile on her face. "You really did put a lot of thought into what it means to be a Pro Hero. Meanwhile all anyone else is doing is training." "Well, that''s because you''re all morons," Horizon shrugs. "Now let''s talk about your Quirk and fighting style." "Mhm," Momo''s expression gets serious, knowing this is what she''s been struggling with since joining UA. "As you know my Quirk lets me create non-living objects from the lipids in my body. As for my fighting style...I''ve been struggling with thattely." "I noticed," Momo feels a jolt of shame and embarrassment at that. "The problem with your style is that you don''t understand how to cheat." "How to cheat?" "Yup. Your Quirk is simr to mine in some regards. We have a deep bag of tricks that can counter many situations, because of that in some cases it''s easier to react than act." "Yes, if I can know what the enemy can do then fighting them is infinitely easier." "Same for me, but unlike you, my attacks don''t drain my body in the same way. You have a finite amount of ammo that can''t be replenished without food. Because of that, you need to cheat. Think of it like rock-paper-scissors. If you know the opponent has rock, you will throw paper. In this case, if the enemy is Kaminari, you make the instion nket you''ve used before, right?" "Right. But what if I don''t know?" "Then you cheat, you either avoid the first hit or bait them into showing their move, then you figure out what you need to counter them, then you win. This works better with knowledge before the fight or if you have an ally that can take the first hit for you. But you can use it solo if you''re good enough at understanding a situation and thinking quickly, you''re good at the former, but I can see on your face that you overthink during fights." "Yes, that has been a problem. That cost me during the sports festival." "Yup, all you had to do was be patient, and the moment he softened the stage you make a pole directly down to vault toward him, easy win, but you threw your hand at the same time as him when you made a sword and shield. It''s not a bad start, but this time he had paper and you had rock." "So I should focus on my ability to adapt to an ever-changing battlefield and think more quickly. Sobat training?" "Yes, and you also need to have standard responses. That way you don''t have to actually think. Our Quirks require a lot of steps before we can actually use them, the morefortable you are and familiar you are with an action the smoother and faster it bes. Think of it like this... Electric viin- instion. Fire viin- fire suppressant foam. Power-type viin- either capture items or tase them. Or stall until backup arrives. Currently, your big attack is making two canons, that''s stupid. I get that you can''t make guns and some other weapons, so the government lets you make things that other people generally can''t arm, but there are so many steps between staff and canons. The energy use is just too much in most cases for you to just use it on one big shot. Your quirk is forbat support, like Jiro, don''t forget that. Just like her, you should be very careful about getting close to them, even if you do have somebat training, it will eventually fail if you keep testing it." Momo takes a moment to process everything he just said, then takes out her phone to make sure she doesn''t forget anything. "Alright, and what about my Quirk?" "Well, you''ve got me for a while since I need to fly around to get used to this," Horizon takes out his phone and calls Momo. "Keep me on speaker." Standing up he looks around and gets ready to fly around for a bit and familiarize himself with the hoverboard and new boots. "We''ll start small. In parallel processing, you need to be able to think about two actions at one at the same time. Focus on making marbles in the material I name. The first is for the left hand, and the second is for the right, at the same time. Then we''ll move onto bigger moreplex objects." "OH!" Momo says. "I get it, you noticed I''ve only been making one object at a time until now. And when I make multiple it''s always something simple and of the same material, you''re very observant." "Well I like looking at you, start with copper and nickel, tell me when it''s done..." he flies off, staying low to the ground and weaving between the trees. "Hmm, so he likes looking at me," she giggles quietly to herself. Feeling a bit of triumph over Mei. "I can hear you," Horizon''s voicees through the speaker of her phone, causing her to blush up a storm. "Get to work." "YES SIR!" Momo immediately raises her hands and begins focusing on the materials she wanted to create. Intent on not wasting a single precious minute of her training time with Horizon... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 83: (Therapy) Chapter 83: (Therapy) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (30+ chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "Iida was one of my best friends, and it''s my fault he died," Deku says. It was now after lunch, the first Monday after their internships, and he was sitting opposite Midnight on a couch in the teacher''s lounge. He wipes his tears and sniffles as she carefully takes notes. "What do you mean it''s your fault?" Midnight asks. "I knew something was wrong," Deku confesses. "I felt it, I wanted to ask him more, about his brother, about how he was feeling. But he''d always smile and tell me he''ll be ok. But he always looked like he was angry inside, like he needed someone to save him from that anger...he was my friend, and I didn''t save him." "So you feel guilty because you think you could have done more?" "I could have done more. If I just acted he would still be here, he''d still be alive. And I had another chance. a second chance at Hosu." "At Hosu?" "Gran Torino and I were on a train moving past the city when the attack happened. I knew I had to go help, that my friend was in trouble and if I didn''t help something bad would happen. I knew he needed me to save him, but I couldn''t go..." "Hmm, before you said you ''didn''t'' save him, now you say ''couldn''t'', what changed?" "We...we were on a bullet train. I was about to force the doors open when Gran Torino tackled me... he told me that if anything like that happened the train would stop, and everyone on it would be stuck in Hosu with the viins that were attacking. He told me that I had to do what would keep the most people safe...I hated it. I hated it so much! I knew I had to save him but I just...I just gave up and rode the train to Shibuya. And after all of that Horizon showed up and barely anyone got hurt! He dealt with the Nomus before they got anywhere near the tracks! I could have gone and saved Iida and everyone on the train would have been fine! I let my friend die!" Deku was desperately panting at the end of his rant, clutching his chest as Midnight slides the box of tissues closer to him. "What you feel is entirely normal for Heroes Midoriya," Midnight says. "Really?" he says after wiping his tears. "Other heroes feel like this?" "Of course. The entire basis of our profession is asking ''what if?'' What if a viin attacks? What if someone gets into an ident? What if nothing happens? Because of this, we do have to make the choices that will protect the most people, but sometimes that choice means we know there are some people that we aren''t saving at the moment. There will always be people in the world that need saving but we can''t help them, and no hero can save everyone in the world. Not even All Might. But in situations like what you were in you also have to consider the possibilities. Instead of judging your past self based on what you know now, consider the information you had at the time. What if Horizon wasn''t there? What if the Nomus did make it to the track after you stopped the train? What if those people got put in danger and Iida was fine? I know this may seem cruel, but you made the right choice with the information you had. Adding more people to the list of potential victims is never the right choice. This is one of the most difficult lessons any Hero can ever have the misfortune to learn, I just wish you didn''t have to learn it so early in your career." A pregnable silence fills the room as Deku considers everything she just said. But he couldn''t get over it. He couldn''t forgive himself for not acting, for ignoring his instincts, for letting his friend die. "But what if I was strong enough?" Deku asks. "What if I could save everyone? What if I can protect all my friends in the future?" "What exactly are you thinking Midoriya?" Midnight asks, raising a brow at the frustrated look on his face. "That I''ll train harder. If I had full control of my Quirk I could have saved everyone, my friend would still be alive. He died because I''m so weak... it''s all my fault---" "It''s not your fault." "He died because I was weak!" Deku freezes, then takes a moment to calm down just a bit. "Sorry for yelling." "It''s fine." "I just want to be stronger. Strong enough that I never have to choose. That I can save everyone. That I never have to ignore my instincts again...because I''m sorry if it makes me a bad Hero, but I''ll never be able to live with myself if I know someone needs saving and don''t do everything to save them..." Giving him a look of pity and sympathy Midnight sighs. "An admirable goal, but if you''re sticking to it then you have a lot of work to do, Deku," she makes sure to call him by his Hero Name this time, managing to get a small smile on his lips. "I''ll keep everyone safe." "Good, just don''t put everything on your shoulder to the point that you subconsciously view your friend and peers as useless, alright? Things are easier if you have people supporting you. Your Quirk is strong, but don''t get the idea that you can do anything and don''t need anyone. We''ve got one person like that here, and that''s more than enough." "I promise I won''t." "Good, now head back to ss and send me Horizon..." One minuteter as Midnight is finishing up her notes on Deku Horizon appears on the couch opposite her. Without swapping for any object. He no longer needs to swap to move himself about within UA''s main campus since he''s been constantly using his Quirk here for weeks. "Horizon, how have you been?" Midnight asks,pletely used to him abruptly warping about campus. "Great actually," he leans back against the couch, getting morefortable. "Can you just mark this therapy thing asplete so I can go?" "You don''t think you need any guidance." "Well I''m not a pussy, so no. Plus, are you even qualified?" "I''m a certified counselor, just like Hound Dog, but he''s more for disciplinary matters. This requires a woman''s touch." "All I heard is that I''m still the only doctor in this room." Midnight sighs, "Nezu says it''s mandatory, that means you have to stay and talk to me." "I don''t ''have'' to do anything, but fine." "Alright, how about we just get to the point here, since you clearly hate the idea of talking about your feelings. How do you feel about Iida? Especially since you were in Hosu when it happened." "Heroes die every day, it happens. And as for me being in Hosu, that doesn''t mean I knew he was there," Horizon shrugs. "So you don''t feel anything? Someone you spent the past month getting to know is gone and you''re...fine?" "I barely even knew him, and he certainly didn''t like me, I''ll be fine." "Really, and you think this is normal?" "What do you mean?" "Well... you''re the only one of your ssmates that hasn''t been affected by this event, don''t you think that''s odd?" "No," he shakes his head. "I''m used to being the only person in the room that isn''t some pathetic weeping bitch. You just can''t recognize that I''m perfect because you''re so used to dealing with trash..." ''Wow...now I see why almost everyoneined about him...and I need to talk to her about the kind of men she''s attracted to...'' Midnight thinks as she takes some notes. "Do you ever think that this attitude of yours can cause problems in your life?" "What attitude?" "Well, your view on things and people is extremely callous, and some might even say toxic." "Why would I care what people think?" Midnight sighs, "how about we start from where you learned this, what were your parents like?" Horizon sits up and leans forward, voice bing a low growl, "mmmm, don''t go there." Midnight sees her opening, realizing that his emotions only truly showed when this topic came up, so she decided to push her luck. Unlike at the sports festival, he couldn''t simply attack her here, this was her chance to understand him better and help him be a kind and caring hero. "I''m just concerned for you. From what I can see they instilled in you some problematic views. Perhaps they didn''t show you enough affection?" she sees his hands gripping his pants, a good sign that she''s pushing all the right buttons. ''He''s probably two seconds from going on a rant about how perfect they were, giving me all the information I need.'' "I''m quite fine with affection, they taught me perfectly," he growls out. "Really? Because with the way you act I imagine it will be difficult for that goal of yours. You confessed to the entire world that you want a family one day, kids of your own. But do you think anyone wants to be in a rtionship with someone so cold and uncaring, or much less have children with you?" "And what the hell would you know about any of that, you think I want to be with someone like you?" "Oh please," Midnight raises her hands to show off her chest and fluff her hair, giving him her most seductive look. "What man wouldn''t want a woman like this? You''d be lucky to have me..." As she says that Midnight notices Horizon suddenly gets rxed,fortably leaning back against the couch and putting one hand up on the backrest. And Midnight suddenly feels like she went from being in a room with an erupting volcano to sitting in front of a hungry tiger. "Well not exactly, I mean you''re just not that type of woman. Oh don''t get me wrong, almost all men would be lining up to fuck you, personally, you''re exactly what I''m looking for when I''m traveling and only staying in ces for a week or two. Atleast to the public you are...that''s the idea, right? That you''re just another dumb bimbo trying to find horny men. The cum rag that Pro Heroes pass around behind the scenes, right? So yeah I''d have you for as many nights as it takes to get bored...but only for the nights. I''d never parade you around to my friends. And I''d certainly never let you meet my parents if they were still around. You''d never be my girlfriend, and you''d never get a ring...just like you don''t have one now? And you probably never will." Midnight keeps herposure, letting him get it all out and taking careful note of what he says and how he says it. "Some women don''t want to get married." "More like you just can''t even if you tried," Horizon says. "I mean who would want you? You''re supposedly the whore of our nation''s Heroes, nobody wants to be the guy with the wife a hundred people have fucked. And you''re already 32. You''re tits and ass are either sagging or about to. Your face is gonna be wrinkled soon. You bet everything on sex appeal and destroyed your future, and it''s all about to run out. Now no man will take you seriously, you''ll probably never have kids. Your hero career will always be suppressed by the government because you''re a horrible role model for your girls. You''re the definition of a leftover woman. You''re gonna die alone, and before you die you''ll already be forgotten. Compared to that, I''m Horizon. Most valuable man in the world. I''ve got everything, I''m a miracle, I''m perfect. I never need to settle for less, I''ll have all the women I want and all the kids I want to have. And you would have lucky to even get a night with a man like me, because you''d never get more than being our toy for the night, and he''d certainly never consider making you anything with a title. So remind me please...why the fuck do you think you''re in a position toment about how my parents raised me or how I''m living my future?" He puts his other hand on the backrest of the couch and rxes even further, waiting for her feeble reply. Taking a deep breath Midnight releases a deep sigh and shakes her head. "Alright, this session is over, you can head back to ss now..." "That''s the first useful thing that mouth has done all conversation," Horizon says before he warps back to ss, leaving her alone in the room. Midnight just rolls her eyes and begins jotting down notes, but as she gets to thest line. Tears start falling onto the page. Now alone her professional and stoic mask breaks, and all the things he said suddenly be infinitely more real. Only secondster she devolves into a weeping mess. And thest thing she wrote in her notes... ''Don''t talk about his family...'' END CHAPTER--- Chapter 84: (Exam Preparations) Chapter 84: (Exam Preparations) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (30+ chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- Sitting in Nezu''s office Law was enjoying a meal bar, waiting for the principal to enter. And a few momentster he walks through the door holding a stack of papers under his arm. "So, how was your internship?" Nezu asks as he walks over to his desk to get to work. "Eventful and sessful. Endeavor agreed to give me a contract once I get my Provisional License." "Oh, that''s incredible, but expected for you I''m sure." "Naturally. What''s with the papers?" "Let''s I need to sign and send it to the concerned parents. People are worried about the safety of their children. And I need to send in another official report to the Hero Commission. And what do you think of the Hero Killer Stain?" Nezu asks. "Is that why you asked me toe here in person, scared I''ll switch sides?" "No I asked you toe to see me so we could discuss another matter entirely, but I figured we could get to this first." "Alright," Horizon finishes his meal bar. "Stain is a dumbass, and like it or not heroes are a necessity. A lot of them are useless and shouldn''t have licenses but I''m not gonna go kill them because of it...that''d null my contract." "And it''s wrong to do that." "Whatever..." "Well that''s good to hear, still somewhat concerning but good," Nezu says without looking up, still signing papers. "Those posts you made after the bank incident and the Hosu City attack were a great help in preventing UA from being bashed. Thank you for that." "Miracles are what I do remember, what about the Provisional License Exam?" "I already signed you up, and I assume you''ll be training even more for it. Some people may try to target you to test themselves. You''ve got seven weeks before it''s time for that." "Only a moron would attack me intentionally. That''s like handing me free points, or whatever they rate based on. But yeah I''ll amp up the training even more." "Don''t forget your Mid Term exams also start this week." "Ugh, that''s so annoying." "I don''t see why you''re groaning, you don''t even have to study for it..." "Doesn''t mean I like them. Usually I either train my Quirk or sleep during sses, now I''ll have to stay awake and write some stupid exams." "I''m sure it won''t be that bad." "We''ll see, so what''d you want to talk about anyway. I''d like to get to my training ground and get to work." "Two things, the first being your counseling session," Nezu says. "Did perhaps anything interesting happen during it?" Horizon pretends to think about it for a second before shaking his head, "no not that I can recall, why?" "Really? So you didn''tsh out at anyone today..." "Ohhhhh, do you mean some nosey bitch that decided to run her mouth about my family? Yeah, I reminded her where she belonged...nothing to take note of." Nezu sighs. "She gave me a long list of mental issues you may possibly have and rmended mandatory professional therapy sessions." "Ugh, of course she would," Horizon grumbles. "I''m not going." "I know that. I understand how pointless it is to have you change through words." "Good. So what''s the next thing you need to talk to me about?" "Your family..." "Seriously, did we not just go over this?" "Not your parents, your uncle." Horizon immediately sits up and looks at Nezu, who hops down from behind his desk and takes a seat on the couch opposite Horizon. "So, I assume you knew about him?" "My parents kept no secrets from me," Horizon says. "But what does he have to do with anything?" "The Italian Hero Department is running a big operation to capture him and the other members of his organization, they called me in to help with logistics, and maybe find some patterns." "And you want me to tell you something about him..." Horizon sighs. "I''ve never met uncle Domingo, he''s not even really my uncle. Not since he sent mom to kill dad." "That''s how they met?" "Yeah, a few years before they had me. Grandpa died...well my uncle killed him. My dad was the resident doctor and sessor, so naturally, he sent mom to kill him. Assassin and mafia doctor fall in love, she gets caught up in some shit, then one of her clients offers to get her out of it if she epts a lifetime contract to work for him. Then she marries my dad to get him over here and they make me. He''s never been back to Italy since, and I''ve only visited the fun ces. I''ve never even met any family beyond my parents. They stopped being family the moment they tried to kill my dad." "And who was this client she worked for?" "That''s really none of your business," Horizon says, still intent on protecting his client''s information. "But he''s basically why she couldn''t just quit after having me, every few months he''d send a contract, and she''d also take a few on the side to keep other contacts and powerful people happy. It''s not a business you can just choose to retire in. She retires and a lot of people get sent after her, and by extension, us..." "I see, well fortunately your on the heroic path now..." ---6 Weeks Later... "Listen up," Eraser addresses everyone at homeroom first thing in the morning. "You''ve got one week until your final exams. I''m sure you''re all constantly studying and reading ahead, because these will be a lot harder than the mid-term exams. It''ll test you on everything you learned in ss and in training, be ready for it. These are your mid-term results, I expect to see improvements from all of you." Eraser taps the board and a list of neen names shows up before he leaves the room. The entire ss is fixated on the board, immediately finding themselves on the ranking and realizing how much that had to improve, all but one person. Mid-Term Rankings: 1-Horizon...1000/1000 2-Momo...938/1000 3-Bakugo....910/1000 4-Deku...890/1000 5-Shoto....850/1000 and the list goes on and on until Kaminari at the bottom in 19th ce. "Dude how the hell are you at the top?" Sero is the first to ask Horizon, but everyone else was thinking the exact same thing. Most people tantly stared in confusion while others were just annoyed that he once again get a perfect score. "Because that''s where I belong, obviously," Horizon says. Sero just rolls his eyes as Jiro does the same. Behind Horizon Momo sighed, hoping to at least bepetitive with him in this, her main attribute all her life, but now resigned to the fact that she''d likely never catch up to him...but walking behind him wasn''t that bad at all. "Seriously man, you sleep in ss all day and then get a perfect score, what''s the secret?" Sero asks. "Is it the visor, does it give you cheat sheets for the exams?" "The visor can''t do that. Do you honestly think I need to study for this stuff? It''s simple...plus I feel like sometimes you people forget that I''m literally a genius doctor even without my Quirk...how would high school exams be any issue?" "Oh yeah...I guess it''s not really fair huh," Sero says as the room devolves into constant chatter. Horizon just leans back in his chair and focuses on warping around the leaves outside, constantly training his Quirk. ''The first rule of having a perfect memory? Don''t tell anyone you have a perfect memory... because then you can''t conveniently forget all the pointless crap people always pretend to care about.'' After a few minutes of chatter, a few students get Momo to agree to help them study, and of course, being the ray of sunshine she is, she invites Horizon along. "I don''t think I''ll be of any help to the group, geniuses make the worst teachers," he says. "Plus I don''t do sleepovers." "Oh, I see," Momo looked down at the floor between them as beside her Jiro tried to quietly signal to Horizon that he should ept. All he does is roll his eyes beneath the visor and say "good luck on the study session I guess, see you Monday," before warping away to his training area in UA. "Honestly I thought they''d be over this stupid crush by now..." he mutters while getting ready for his final week of intense training. Preparing for his next step, taking the stage with his Provisional License... END CHAPTER--- A small reminder that you can read ahead on pa.treon, and over there we''re already in next years chapters :) Chapter 85: (Erasers Request) Chapter 85: (Eraser''s Request) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (30+ chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- ---Tokyo, 7:45 Am... "I still think this is highly unnecessary..." Eraser grumbles. Rubbing his eyes as they entered the Tokyo area, waking up from his short nap. Sitting across from him in the back of their limo was Horizon, now wearing his new Hero Costume. The designs and colors were the same, but the material and body gloveposition were the critical changes. His visor was now upgraded by Mei, copsable into a small te no bigger than his phone. Capable of connecting to more functions via his phone so he''d have the check it less, and much more intuitive. His jacket and vest were a rather expensive and somewhat...legallyplex and difficult to acquire, carbon fiber mesh weave. Resistant to small arms fire in their entirety, at the cost of just being slightly heavier. His body glove had the most visible changes, if it weren''t hidden beneath his Hero Costume. While it was still primarily white, there were now thin blue lines in the same color as the logo on that back, running along the divisions of his muscles. Making his muscle definition that much more obvious to the naked eye. It also now extended to cover most of his head, only leaving openings for his nostrils, eyes, and mouth. Especially since the new gel-armoryer is heavier than his previous body glove, made to stiffen when enough pressure is exerted. Perfect for any closebat encounters. His gloves had the only truly visible changes while he was in full Hero Costume, now having clearly armored knuckles with the same blue lines. In many cases, these upgrades are less than useful. Viins tend to be viins because they have a Quirk that the average person can''t ovee. Armor that can resist small arms fire or stiffen to ease the force of a punch didn''t do much in the long run. But Horizon has a healthy amount of paranoia. He never expects to be hit, but still prepares for it. Not to mention how difficult it was to get any equipment that doesn''t have a connection with your Quirk. Hero Costumes legally are only allowed to be weaponized in ways that directly rte to the Quirk of the user. Thisw along with the limitation of armor stops an esction and arms race between Heroes and Viins. If every Hero wore full armor, soon all the viins would do the same. Because of that, thesews were made so regr police officers wouldn''t be entirely helpless since they only have pistols. Heroes always y at a disadvantage because of rules like these, but in exchange, they get the full support of society in the form of formal education facilities that help them train their Quirk and entirepanies devoted to creating equipment for them, along with fame and fortune of course. For example, a 25-year-old Bakugo as a Hero, is many times more powerful than he would be as a viin. Because he would not have gone to a school specifically designed to improve his Quirk use and equip him forbat if he chose the viin path. Horizon managed to get away with these upgrades because of two simple reasons. Firstly, his body glove and visor are listed as Lifestyle Support items, therefore it''s easier to get upgrades if he simply says it will help him live easier. And more importantly, he''s Mystery ss. Nobody, not even Nezu, knows how his Quirk works. The only people that could say Hand Of God isn''t affected by these upgrades are him and his parents. Hearing Eraser''s words Horizon turns his attention from his phone, putting it away to speak to his teacher. "Most people would just enjoy the free limo ride," Horizon says. "It''s not efficient. We could have easily got on the bus with ss 2B." "I''ll pretend you didn''t just suggest that. I don''t do public transportation." "It''s not public, it''s a UA bus," Eraser says. "Where I''d probably be hounded with questions because unlike my ssmates, they''ve never met me, annoying. No different from if I ever lose my mind and decide to take a train, like a peasant." "So what, do you just drive everywhere?" Eraser asks, ignoring that ''peasant''ment. "I''m only 16, so I can''t get a car license in Japan, and I don''t have a motorcycle license. I just have this chauffeur service on standby in case I ever need to go anyway. But normally I take an armored SUV...but I figured a limo would give us some space." "Until you get the Provisional License, then you can just use your hoverboard in public," Eraser says. "Exactly, it''ll be fun." "Honestly I don''t know what''s more annoying, having you always riding that thing around school, or the fact that you can just warp around UA freely now...can''t even avoid you by walking into an empty room." Horizon chuckles at that, "well, people who can fly should fly, right? And UA encourages Quirk use once you aren''t affecting others." Eraser actually cracks a smile at that, "I had a friend who said almost the exact same thing, he''d always float around on his cloud..." "Someone who understands the fun aspect of having a Quirk, for most people the novelty of it is gone by the time they enter UA. But I love warping about, and I''m still just 16, so of course I''m gonna y with my new toy." They enjoy afortable silence for a moment before Horizon takes out his phone and quickly sends two messages, then puts it away. "Looks like homeroom just finished, they''re getting ready for the practicals now..." "One of your friends just messaged you?" "ssmates, Momo and Jiro," Horizon shrugs. "Told them ''I''m busy today'' and left it at that." "Huh, you didn''t tell them what we''re doing today, I figured you''d rub it in their faces." "I don''t brag, I state facts. And as for me not mentioning it...what I do is none of their business." "That''s fair, I just figured you''d at least tell those two, consider well, you know..." Horizon sighs and shakes his head. "Yeah, I know. Really hoping they just get over this stupid crush, I''ve already got a lot on my te, don''t need girls that I have to see almost every day on it too." "Well today is thest day of the first semester so, they''ve got a lot of time toe to their senses." "Hey, I''m not that bad..." "Really?" Eraser asks. "Because I''m missing my sses important first semester finals because Midnight refused toe here with you, she said ''I don''t want to talk to him alone ever again,'' anything you could tell me about that?" "She didn''t tell you?" "It happened in your counseling session so no." "Well you''ll just have to live with the mystery, but shouldn''t you be here since I think this is more important anyway?" "If you were anyone else, yes, but you''re Horizon, this is more of a formality for someone at your level. My time would be better spent watching your ssmates fight the teachers. I''d then be able to form a better n for their summer camp training." "So d I don''t have to do that crap..." "Actually---" "No." Eraser rolls his eyes, "I''m not saying you have to go, but I''ve been training Shinso after school since the sports festival." "I know, I can sense you in the forest near Training Ground Zeta." "That''s still creepy. But he''ll be joining the summer camp. I initially nned for him to join you all in the second year but we''ve got an open seat now, and the faster he starts the easier his life will be." "True, think you can find someone to rece frenchie and tail boy? I say we trade them for Kodai." "Did she give you that stack of giant cookies so you''d ask this?" "No, I just think it''s a fair trade." "I''m not trading anyone. Also, along with Shinso, I''d like your help to train Toru during the summer camp." "I thought you said I don''t have to go to that?" "You don''t, but I''m asking you to help train your allies. You''re literally the only person in the world that we know of who can understand and instruct them in training their Quirks. All I''ve been able to tell Shinso is to use his more and from longer range, but after your big ss about Quirks I figured since I''m focusing on power, you''d be able to handle mastery." "And Toru? You realize I''m not someone she wants to ever talk to, right? She hasn''t been fully nude since I revealed I can see her, and hasn''t spoken to me or even looked at me. Any time I nce at her even when she''s in full uniform she runs out of the room crying...or hides behind Ojiro..." "Yes but she literally joined the Hero Course because it was the only way she could have a meaningful life, at least in her mind. You realize how difficult it is being an invisible girl all your life right?" "Ojiro doesn''t seem to mind..." "Why is it so difficult to get you to help anyone?" Eraser asks, now exasperated. "Why are they too dumb to understand their own Quirks?" Eraser sighs, "the summer camp is all of July, I only need you to be there for however long it takes you to train Toru, I''m sure if you tell Shinso and me what to do we can handle the rest ourselves." Horizon leans back and considers the situation for a moment, then nods. "Alright, I''ll be there for thest week in July." "Hmm, what''s the catch? Nezu said you''re never easy to convince...at least not for free." "I want to make my work with Toru public, if I''m taking a week out of my Hero time then I''ll use it for my Quirk Specialist time. A girl stuck being invisible because nobody else could figure out her Quirk should help that." "Alright, I''m sure she''ll agree. Is there anything specific they should do before you get there?" "Yeah, have Shinso increase his pain tolerance and focus. And for Toru, meditation." "Meditation? Really?" "Yeah, the issue is all mental, just like Tokoyami." "To---" "No, I''ve agreed to help two, that''s more than enough, birdie can figure out his issues himself." "Hmm, that''s fair," Eraser says as the limoes to a stop in front of a massive stadium. A momentter the driver opens the door and they both step out, all eyes on them. Horizon immediately sees students from Hero Courses around Japan taking out their phones to get pictures of him. With his jacket draped over his shoulder and sword at his side he gives them a small wave, hoverboard in his left hand. "I really hate having all these cameras on me," Eraser says. "I miss when my identity was private..." "Well maybe you should have worn a better mask," Horizon says while he sees some students approaching to likely get a selfie or two with him. Eraser rolls his eyes, feeling as if he was standing beside All Might, and not in the good sense. Another Hero leaning toward the fame thates with being a Pro Hero. ''But at least Horizon wears a mask to keep his identity secret...'' he thinks as the mob gets closer. "Meet me inside when you''re done with your fans, the sooner you get your Provisional License the sooner we can get out of here, oh and lunch is on you..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 86: (Provisional License Exam) Chapter 86: (Provisional License Exam) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (30+ chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- SHAMBLES! Horizon warps outside of the waiting room and into the stands of the arena. Appearing with a red sash slung across his shoulder. Looking around he sees rows upon rows of blue chairs in the stands. The 1km wide stadium in which these exams were held is the most absurd infrastructure built to train heroes aside from UA itself. As he walks toward Eraser Head sitting in the stands, checking his phone, he looks to his left, seeing a fully constructed small city. Completely operational and furnished. He also sees a few other zones, such as a mountain area, a forest, ake, and a suburban area. An evenrger version of the USJ, a government-funded facility of course. "How did you do?" Eraser asks, putting his phone away as Horizon sits one seat away, leaning his sword and hoverboard on the seat between them. "Well they won''t reveal the overall results until it''s over, but the written exams were easy. Nothing the textbooks didn''t have." "What''s the next step?" "No idea, they just gave me a sash and said to get my Support Items and head to the arena, everyone else is changing clothes." "I see, well, a little advice. I''m sure with your warping you''ll be fine, but part of the exam is always disaster rescue, try to be gentle. We haven''t done a lot of proper rescue training with you guys yet so just copy what the others are doing." Horizon chuckles, "sometimes I feel like you people forget I''m literally a doctor, I know how to deal with injured morons. Plus, I''m always gentle." Eraser sighs, "that''s exactly what I''m afraid of..." After a few minutes, Eraser and Horizon see people pouring into the arena, all in their full Hero Costumes. Almost everyone here was a year 2 or 3 Hero Course student. But Horizon was by far the most powerful in this venue, only two people here would give him a challenge today. "Good morning everyone," a tired voice speaks through the speakers in the venue. "Congrattions on passing the written exam. 6000 Students applied to this venue, but only 4000 of you managed to get past the first stage. Next is thebat portion. Each of you was given a red sash to wear when you exited the written exam room, assuming you passed. There are 4000 of those in total, when you collect and wear 4 at once, they will be green and you will advance onto the next stage. That means only 1000 of you will move on from here. Only the red sashes are usable. Once they turn green collecting them won''t get you anything, so just get off the battlefield once you''re green." The man yawns into the mic and Horizon gets up, taking his sword but deciding to leave his hoverboard with Eraser. "You''ve got ten minutes to get ready, then the timer begins..." Leaving one of his cards on the seat Horizon warps onto the battlefield, now standing in the mountain zone. Loose rocks all about, seeing people scrambling to find a desirable spot. ''Good call,'' he thinks after seeing a few people that were heading for this zone immediately turn around when he arrived. ''Avoiding me is definitely the best choice at this stage. All I need is to collect four other sashes. But if all I do is warp them onto me then I won''t really learn anything. I should at least try to get something out of this...'' "30 Seconds left to prepare," the announcer says. Looking around Horizon still doesn''t see anyone nearby. ROOM! He''s forced to extend his room for nearly 100meters before he finds a small team in one of the office buildingsying in wait, a team of five people, one more than he needed. "Ok, start." SHAMBLES! Five rocks roughly twenty meters away from him are swapped out for the students. Four boys who all had a simr outfits, but in different colors. Blue, red, white, ck, and gold. "Oh great, I''m fighting the fucking power rangers..." Horizon grumbles as they all look around confused, eventually spotting him. They all share an awkward nce with each other, then ck punches forward with both hands. Horizon just tilts his head as both are shot off from the shoulder and rocket toward him, or at least that''s what he expected. But instead, they just moved at a casual jogging pace. SHAMBLES! Horizon swaps both arms for some loose rocks at his feet and steps on them, pinning them in ce. Without taking his eyes off the opponents he shakes his head, "what Quirk is that, detachable arms?" "Yeah, now give em back!" The ck outfit student yells. "Oh my god, are you guys first years?" "Third years," Red says. "Come on man after this we''ve only got one more chance to get a license, can''t you just let us go?" "Well..." Horizon holds out his hand, palm facing the floor. SHAMBLES! One of the detached arms is traded for ck''s sash, which Horizon immediately uses Takt on to raise to his hand, slinging it across his shoulder. "Me or someone else, with a garbage Quirk like that you''re just a walking bag of free points..." "You jerk!" Blue screams out, leveling both hands at Horizon, t with his fingers facing forward. Ten fingernails are fired like bullets at Horizon, he instantly warps his sword out of the scabbard and into his hand, deflecting them to either side of him. He prepares to deflect another set of attacks, only to notice that Blue''s fingers are bleeding as the nails slowly grow back. "Oh that''s disgusting, are all your Quirks garbage?" "Gazer!" Red screams out as he rushes forward, his footsteps suddenly heavier, but not showing any signs of actual super strength. ''Mass control?'' Horizon questions. Gazer -Gold- immediately fires off two thin golden energy beams from his eyes. ''Ok that''s cool!'' Horizon thinks as he raises a hand. CURTAIN! Thesers m into the blue dome he''s suddenly standing inside. Red reaches him in no time and is about to punch the dome aiming at his head, the mass in his fist increased a dozen times via his Quirk. Gold stops thesers as Red is about to connect, avoiding friendly fire. SHAMBLES! Horizon drops the curtain and swaps with Gold. Red punched Gold in the back of his head,pletely knocking him out and crumpling him to the floor. "Gazer!" Red turns around with fury in his eyes, just in time to see Horizon already standing beside ck -who was still missing one arm- and put a hand on his shoulder. "Counter Shock!" "AARRRGGGHHH!!!!" ck gets tased and falls to the floor. As Red is rushing back to help his friend Blue leaps forward with his still-growing nails to engage in closebat and gets tased as well, leaving White standing a few feet away in a fighting stance, waiting for Red to show up, their only Power Type. Horizon turns toward White and stares at him, raising his sword and aiming toward Red off to the side without taking his eyes off White. "Injection Shot," Red feels a bullet rip through his thigh causing him to trip and m his face into the stone ground. "Injection Shot," his other leg feels the exact same thing, immobilizing him ten feet away, leaving him groaning in pain. White sees this and takes a few careful steps away from Horizon, hands raised to fight but trembling the entire time. "Shambles," the red sashes from the three newly downed people appear on the floor by Horizon. With a thought, he raises them up and puts them on, all while White is watching in horror, and they immediately turn green. "So, what can you do?" "Uh...I, ah, I can throw my voice," White says in a shaky voice. Horizon sighs, puts his sword away, and shakes his head. "So that''s why you didn''t help them, because you''re pretty much useless..." "Well, I---" "Give me your sash," Horizon holds out a hand for it. "What? But you already have five, you passed." "Yeah, but you don''t deserve to, so hand it over, now..." Momentster "Horizon is the first to advance," is announced over the speakers as he enters the next area. Taking off the sashes and cing them on the designated table for the staff to deal with. Sitting in the waiting area he takes out his phone to y a game and pass the time, seeing a message from Sero about him and Ojiro getting past Power Loader for their exam, but ignoring it. ''Honestly, this exam is easy and these people are disappointing...'' Whilst Horizon was enjoying the half hour before the final students pass the current round, apletely different situation was unfolding at the opposite end of the arena. Within the control room the proctor, Yokumiru Mera, a man with messy beige hair and heavy eyebags was yawning as he looked at Horizon''s records. ''A perfect score...I can''t fail him from the written section, and he got past thebat stage easily enough. Warping makes him a guaranteed pass for the next stage, the only way to get past him would be to defeat him, or make him hurt an ally or civilian...'' He looks up at the other Hero Commission employees in the control room who were regting this exam. They werepletely oblivious to the ulterior motive he had to achieve today, and how much sleep he''s been losing over it. ''The boss gave me orders, so failing really isn''t an option since I know so much...I guess I''ll have to depend on those two to be a wall for Horizon...'' he gets up from his seat and enters the hallway. Walking a few doors down he enters a room with two people sitting patiently enjoying some refreshments. The two people were brought on for the express purpose of dying or stopping Horizon''s hero career, under false pretenses of course. The first was the #9 Pro Hero, Gang Orca. Standing at 202cm -6ft8- and wearing a formal white suit and pink tie. His Mutation Quirk gives him the appearance of an Orca, a menacing presence hiding a soft and kind heart. He was brought here under the somewhat false pretense that Horizon requires more of a challenge and the Hero Commission wants to see exactly how capable he is. They told him that they expect great things from Horizon and want to see how he''d do against a current top Pro. Across from Gang Orca, however, was the current #7 Pro Hero, Mirko. Standing at 159cm -5ft2- brown skin, with white rabbit ears andrge feet thanks to her Rabbit Quirk. This muscleddy only needed to hear one thing to agree to this n. All she wanted was a chance to fight Horizon, a Mystery ss Quirk user. "Looks like I''m depending on you two to put him to the test," Mera says in a tired voice. "I''ll have him on the ropes in no time!" Mirko says with a vicious smile. Across from her Orca shakes his head, "I still feel like this is a bit much, has themission really thought this through? It could be discouraging for him?" "I assure you we''ve already considered all possibilities..." Mera says before leaving the room, telling them to get ready. ''If this doesn''t work the boss will have to take drastic measures...if this gets investigated I''ll get locked in prison forever...if I''m lucky, treason, abuse of power, fraud... I just hope this ends here...'' END CHAPTER--- Chapter 87: (Gang Violence) Chapter 87: (Gang Violence) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (30+ chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- Entering the same arena from thebat stage, Horizon immediately sees a swath of destruction. Copsed buildings and rubble all around. The entryway and a few areas directly around it were clear of any debris. And directly in front of the entrance was a massive green circle, marked by a glowing line. Currently the students were looking around trying to get a grasp on the situation, and Horizon was off to the side simply waiting for instructions. "Wee to the final stage," the announcement says. "999 of you advanced to this round, your goal is simple. We''ve ced actors to y the part of civilians that are trapped in the debris and rubble. You have to find and rescue them, when all the civilians are relocated to the safety area at the entrance the exam isplete and we''ll calcte your scores. Your job will also be to keep the civilians safe within the safety area as well. The scenario is a simple terrorist attack. Alright, begin..." The moment the voice stops almost everyone rushes forward to begin searching for civilians, desperate to get some points. Horizon takes out one of his cards and looks around, finding a nice open spot to begin warping people to. ''I''ll just warp them out of the debris and let everyone else deal with the first aid crap,'' thinks literally the only doctor in the arena. He sees a few students nearby looking at him expectantly,ing to the same conclusion as him and ready for some easy points. ROOM! He opens a modest room of 300 meters. Immediately locating some civilians. After rescuing the first dozen civilians without saying a word he''s already bored, just waiting for the exam to be over. BOOM! The arena shakes as part of the wall crumbles, and out floods men in ck body suits and grey masks withrge ster-looking devices on their left arms. Everyone in the area turns to see the neers with worried looks, and those looks be horror when Gang Orca and Mirko step out of the dust cloud, dozens of their footsoldiers running out and charging forward at the safe zone. "I get it," Horizon says, causing everyone nearby to look at him. "They said we need to keep people in the safe zone, these are the viins that are trying to challenge that. If you can''t fight just focus on treating them..." he says before casually walking toward the viins. Horizon walks toward the viins with both hands in his pockets, even as he''s standing only thirty meters away with their footsoldiers nking his sides, all aiming their weapons at him. Orca res at him, and raises an arm to the side to stop Mirko from charging in, causing her to shoot him an annoyed nce, tapping her foot in excitement to fight. Theye to a tense standoff for a moment as both teams analyze each other. ''Gang Orca and Mirko...they shouldn''t be that big of a problem,'' Horizon thinks while creating a new ROOM, spanning 100m around him, just enough for the uing fight. ''I can''t Amputate them, that would end the fight too quickly and I wouldn''t learn anything. This is a good chance to test out my new style of more direct confrontation. Of all the heroes Mirko is physically second only to All Might, at least when ites to striking power. And Gang Orca is also a brawler with raw power like Shishido...I can''t waste this chance.'' On the other side Gang Orca is the only one of the Pros doing any strategic thinking, Mirko is much more like Bakugo,pletely instinctual. He looks at Horizon as menacingly as he can, yet Horizon doesn''t react. ''Fearless...his Quirk is powerful, but he''s a bit too cocky...'' he looks past Horizon to see other students in a quickly cobbled-togetherbat formation a hundred meters away. ''Well at least he inspires confidence in others, they''re willing to bet on him to deal with most of us and are waiting to deal with whatever gets past him...a good n in this situation. Fighting beside Horizon isn''t good if you don''t know what he can do. Once we get in too close for him to use that sword we''ll be fine...'' Orca decides as he raises a finger to scratch his head. "Alright, fire," he orders, and all the viins with weapons do exactly that. In the first wave, two dozen people fire shots of liquid cement out of their Cement Guns. A capture tool used to restrain Power Types from a distance. A cement-like liquid which begins expanding when it hits the air and then hardens. As each of the shots is only 3 meters away from their shooter, en route to hitting Horizon. SHAMBLES SHAMBLES SHAMBLES SHAMBLES SHAMBLES SHAMBLES SHAMBLES SHAMBLES SHAMBLES SHAMBLES SHAMBLES SHAMBLES SHAMBLES SHAMBLES SHAMBLES SHAMBLES SHAMBLES SHAMBLES SHAMBLES SHAMBLES SHAMBLES SHAMBLES SHAMBLES SHAMBLES SHAMBLES All the shooters swap with their projectiles, and because his warping doesn''t cancel momentum, they shoot themselves in the back. Seeing what happened and his men stumbling forward as it hardens on their backs Orca raises his hand to stop them. ''He doesn''t need to move to activate warping, that''s problematic, so his quirk really doesn''t have any tells.'' "Let''s just kick his ass already!" Mirko yells from beside Orca, her patience running thin. "Ranged attacks don''t work," Orca announces, "just leave him to us, go test the other students!" As he says that Horizon begins rushing forward, surprising everyone as he doesn''t even draw his de. Gang Orca''s men do as they''re told and rush past him, a mob of viins moving like a wave moving around a boulder. "FINALLY!" Mirko yells as she rushes forward, spinning into a roundhouse kick aimed directly at Horizon''s face. SHAMBLES! ''What!'' Gang Orca is surprised as they swap ces, leaving Horizon standing a few meters away and Mirko all the way back where Horizon was. BOOSTER SHOT! Horizon swings out with a strong right, boosting it just before the moment of impact. "Too cocky," Orca says as he swats the punch away, countering with a hard left jab. Horizon raises his left hand as if to catch the punch, "Curtain!" his barrier forms and blocks the hit. As he blocks Orca is already rearing back his right arm to strike again, and Horizon does the same. BOOSTER SHOT! He amplifies his strength multiple times, a stronger punch than he''d ever done before, intent on testing himself against Gang Orca. Horizon drops the barrier and his right fist shes with Orca''s. ''FUCK!'' he feels all the bones in his hand and wrist shatter on impact. Orca reaches out to grab his neck. SHAMBLES! He swaps with Mirko who was already behind him to surprise him with a kick, causing her to hit Orca and send him rolling across the floor. "Crap," Mirko sees Orca try and fail to catch himself in a controlled roll. Turning around she sees Horizon standing up and flexing his right hand, the bones already healed as if they were never damaged. ''How do I get close to him, outspeed him?'' Mirko actually stops to think, growing more and more annoyed every time he warps her. "Stop warping me away you coward!" She screams at Horizon. A momentter she hears Orca getting up behind her and walking toward them. "I''m just testing out some new things, so fighting both of you at once is annoying," Horizon says. "Don''t stop rushing him," Orca says, already standing beside Mirko and dusting off his white suit. "His warping must require some focus, even if it''s minimal, we can use it to stress him out." "Good n, won''t work, but good n," Horizon says jokingly. "Arrogant child, and if we beat you?" Orca asks. "Yeah...if," Horizon''s response pisses off both Pros. SHAMBLES! He swaps with Mirko, already swinging a punch directly at Orca''s face, making full contact. Orca stumbles back, ''I actually felt that one, his file didn''t say super-strength...'' Mirko turns around and rushes the duo, only to be swapped with a nearby rock. And every time she''d get too close he''d do the exact same thing, all while brawling with Gang Orca. Sitting in the stands, already having repositioned to be closer to Horizon''s fight Eraser Head is looking at it with very critical eyes. Seeing Horizon and Orca brawling, admittedly a one-sided brawl. For every three hits Horizonnds, Orca woulde close tonding one, only for Horizon to either avoid it, block it, or parry it. ''Gang Orca clearly fights like a boxer, but Horizon is a lot more technical than any one martial art can make you....'' Eraser notes Orca being pushed back, but Horizon''s hits are carefully ced to inflict as much pain as possible, even at the cost of an opening to perform a knockout hit. All while constantly warping Mirko to the edge of his room. ''I see, he''s using the pain to make it difficult for Gang Orca to focus, he''s scared of his Sonic Wave attack. He wants to keep the brawling going. He''s using two of our strongest heroes as practice dummies, intentionally holding back to test...something, I wonder what.'' After a few rounds, Eraser sees Gang Orca with cuts and bruises all over his body, and the knuckles of Horizon''s gloves worn down just a bit. BOOSTER SHOT! Horizon rears back for a strong right,nding it directly in Orca''s face and causing him to take a few steps back. "Heh, you''re out of steam," Orca catches his footing and smiles viciously at Horizon, ring at the boy. "That hit was a lot weaker than the others, you''re getting tired huh..." "How about youe and find out?" Taking a deep breath Orca straightens up, then steps forward and throws a strong right. ''Sonic Wave!'' Using the punch as a distraction he barely tilts his head down and releases his sound attack, the sonar of an orca amplified to absurd levels, enough to shatter concrete with one attack and nearly grind it into gravel. The clothes on this right arm gets caught in his own attack, destroying his entire right sleeve and causing massive cuts on the skin. Had it not been for that arm Horizon would not have warped away before the attack even hit. But the fact that the fabric of his sleeve was destroyed was also a warning, otherwise, the invisible sound wave would have hit and possibly given him a small opening. The moment the fabric was destroyed Orca and Horizon swapped ces, and the stone in front of Orca waspletely pulverized by his Super Move. He cuts it off, ready to turn around and swing at Horizon, but freezes, feeling a hand holding the dorsal fin on his back. "Counter Shock!" "ARRRGHHHG!!" Orca''s smoking and twitching body crumples to the floor. And in the stands, the scouts for Hero Agencies, Pro Heroes, and exam proctors all gape in horror and amazement. All aside from Eraser Head, whopletely expected this from Horizon. But he can''t help but smile as Mirko stops running and just takes a casual walk toward Horizon. Her face nearly turned purple from how pissed off she was. Turning to look at her Horizon sighs, ''shit...Gang Orca was physically tougher than expected, if I couldn''t finish him with just physical power then Mirko is out of the picture...guess I''ll test out how good Incision is.'' "Finally ready to get your ass beat?!" Mirko drops into a fighting stance, eyes focused on Horizon. He just draws his sword without taking his eyes off her, "show me what you''ve got, bunny girl..." Mirko grinds her teeth in rage as she rushes forward, the ground beneath her feet cracking as their fight begins... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 88: (Rabbit Hunting) Chapter 88: (Rabbit Hunting) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (30+ chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- Mirko rockets foward, faster than Horizon can ever hope to physically react to. Luckily his ROOM ovees that, allowing him to analyze and predict the simplistic movement of her fighting syle. INCISION+BOOSTER SHOT! He swings his sword, this time using both hands. His sword and the metal tips of her Hero Costume boots sh. A moment before impact she adjusted her feet to kick the side of his sword instead of the de. All while in mid-air she knocks his sword to the side with one leg, andunches and vicious kick with the other. As it''s about to m into his visor. SHAMBLES! He swaps ces with her. And she simple continues the kick until she''s spun around to kick where she was a moment ago, once again missing him by a hairs breath as he swaps ces with a nearby rock. The air pressure from her kick rips up the ground in front of her for a few meters as shends on her feet. "Those cheap tricks won''t work on me!" she screams while rushing him again. ''Ok, she''s definitely a better fighter than All Might, I guess having less power means she has to be to pull off the same meatheadbat style for this long...plus she''s all instinct which means the time between taking in stimulus and acting is a lot lower than other people. That means my warping won''t be as effective at close range to get free hits, she''s like an extreme version of Bakugo...no, Bakugo is like a discount version of her.'' BOOSTER SHOT! Instead of trying to amplify his offense Horizon does something he learned a long time ago. The exact same thing he taught Deku. Spreading the energy around his body, focusing on the muscles needed for mobility rather than power in this case. Since this ability activates at the speed of thought, just like his warping, he can afford to do this. Trying as best he can to bridge the infinite gap between his mental processing and his physical reaction speed. "Lunar Rush!" Mirko strikes with a flurry of powerful kicks, each packing enough force to knock out Horizon if theynd a solid hit. He barely manages to parry them with his de. Even with his boost to agility and dexterity, he couldn''t keep up with Mirko physically. She wouldunch one kick, and because of her speed, he''d barely be able to react, only defending or directing them to the side, not fast enough to capitalize on an opening to counter-attack. His arms were numb at the fourth hit, now he couldn''t feel them at all. Booster Shot constantly heals the stress only for her to start the process all over again with a few hits. Eventually, she drops down to her hands and spins, raising both her legs up while supporting herself with her arms. Her first kick in this stance knocks his sword to the side, but he sees an opening. Pivoting and stepping back to avoid the second kick he spins around. BOOSTER SHOT+INCISION! His de cuts into her thigh, reaching nearly an inch deep before it stopspletely. It could easily go a bit deeper at the force he swung. But it stopped, and Mirko lept away with it still in her leg, ripping it out of his hand. The grip strength of her leg muscles is far superior to the strength in his hand, and if the de isn''t physically cutting, Incision can''t enhance anything. She reflexively flexed her muscles and stopped his sword. The difference between someone with a true Power Type Quirk, and someone with an ability that only replicates that effect. Just like the USJ Nomu was healing so quickly that when he tried to pierce its brain with Incision that the sword was being pushed out. Because of this change in the battle, he doesn''t doubt that Mirko is at least on par with its striking power. Mirko takes the sword out of her leg and holds it tauntingly. "Not so tough without your little toys huh!" "Would you believe it''s only for picking up girls?" "Awe,pensating for something?" She gives him a dark chuckle, dropping into a fighting stance to finish him off. "Aren''t we allpensating for something?" Horizon shrugs. "I mean, you only focus on violence because you''re not smart, right?" Mirko immediately sees red. SHAMBLES! Horizon warps his sword back into his hand. Being someone who trust her instincts, and her prey instincts amplified hundreds of times over by her Quirk, Mirko feels all the hairs at the back of her neck stand up. Suddenly it all fell into ce in her brain. ''He really wasn''t taking us seriously. Something changed. He''s different now. What''s happening? I should run. What?! I don''t run! Heroes don''t run away! But this attack! DANGER DANGER DANGER!'' She sees Horizon casually swing his sword through the air. Her pupils dted, a dangerous attack that her body couldn''t withstand or resist. Heart rate hitting new record highs. AMPUTATE! Horizon swings horizontally. Mirko ducks down, dropping to all fours. She knew she couldn''t take that hit, it would end her fight. But her brain wasn''t sure what was going on, so she treated it like a gun. She could dodge bullets with her raw speed. Kicking them out of the air wasn''t anything special for her. But this was different, these attacks hit instantly, so she had to do what Pros that can''t dodge bullets do. Dodge gunfire. See where the barrel is pointing and get out of the way before the trigger is pulled, to the untrained it looks like the same thing, but dodging gunfire is much easier. So before he can finish his quick sh Mirko is already ducked down, the top half of her rabbit ears get amputated but she doesn''t feel it. Before Horizon can adjust his sword she rushes forward, cratering the ground beneath her with how fast sheunches into action. As if time was frozen around her as an entirely new level of adrenaline took over, she got in front of him and does a small jump, making her body parallel to the floor, seeing his left hand reach out as if to grab her. CURTAIN! Both her feet m into the dome of energy that he quickly formed. Her dropkick hits it harder than anything had ever before. And the Curtain shatters. BOOM! The area in front of her gets pulverized by the air pressure of her kick and a dust cloud is kicked up. "Argh!" Mirko reaches up to grab her ear, the most sensitive part of her. Only to realize they aren''t there. "I swapped ces with them," Horizon''s voice says from behind her, where her ears were. "You!" Mirko turns around just in time to see the world going sideways. All her limbs were quickly and quietly Amputated, causing her to begin falling to the floor as just a torso. "Shambles," Horizon swaps for one of her legs and catches her by the neck, holding her up so she was at his eye level. Everyone looks on in Horror as he holds the limbless Mirko above the ground as if she were nothing, then her other leg swaps for the unconscious Gang Orca, directly below her. "You''re better than I thought, at least for your style." Mirko snarls in his face, "next time I''ll kick your ass!" "Says the woman with no legs." "Yo---" "Counter Shock!" "ARRGHHHH!!" To her credit, it takes an entire three-second tasing to knock her out. Then he simply drops her atop Gang Orca. "Shambles!" he reassembles her, then looks around at everyone staring at him and the unconscious heroes. Walking back to the safe zone as the final few civilians are rescued Horizon takes a few deep breaths, intent on taking it easy for the rest of the day. ''I''ve still got so much improving to do. My physicality isn''t enough. My stamina pool isn''t nearly enough... I''m nowhere near where I want to be, where I can be, I need to step up my training...'' Even beating two of the top 10 Pro Heroes that were fully intent on defeating him wasn''t enough for Horizon. It wasn''t nearly enough. Because to him, this is simply what''s expected. But to everyone else, it was an absurd achievement. And from all the people nearby taking pictures, it was one the public would soon know about. As the exam is finished Eraser just sighs and shakes his head, seeing Horizon proceed to get his final score with the others. Then he looks over to the Pros as medical teamse to wake them up. ''Mystery ss or not, the kid is a freak. Most viins wouldn''t dream of beating one of the top Pro heroes, much less two. But why weren''t these wearing any kind of restraints? It is an exam after all. Hmm, they probably just figured since it''s Horizon at this venue they needed a challenge. That kinda makes sense I guess. With how much Nezu brags about him I wouldn''t doubt if that''s the case. I guess it doesn''t really matter. Either way, his obsessive nature, Quirk, and capabilities are abination you''d find inside any viin''s nightmares. It''s game over for them...'' While the students were waiting for their final scores the head proctor, Yokumiru Mera, was pacing around his private control room at this venue with his phone to his ear. All the tiredness in his demeanor waspletely gone as he anxiously waited for someone to answer. In this simple room was a wall of monitors. On thergest was a live feed of Gang Orca and Mirko being woken up and treated. On another was Horizon sitting in the waiting area for his final results while everyone else was leaving to go change. And on the third was his results, a perfect score in all stages. Making him one of three people alive and active to ever get this score in Japan. Tied with Endeavor and Best Jeanist. "Hello," Mera says as the call is answered. "----" "A perfect score." "----" "Yes, I know, it should be impossible. But he beat them. I''ll send you the recording, if it isn''t online already. Some of those kids had their phones out the whole fight." "----" "Yes, I know this wasn''t the n..." "----" "He only warped out about a dozen civilians." "----" "Are you sure I can''t fail him on that? I mean he spent the entire time fighting after that and ignored everyone else." "----" "Well I guess it''s true that nobody else could stop them, but if you really want him to fail I can make it happen." "----" "Alright. Then I guess this n is a bust. We''ll have to get him off the hero path some other way." "----" "Yes," Mera sighs. "I understand how detrimental it is for our ns if Horizon bes a Pro Hero." "----" "That''s true. But at this point can anyone stop him from being the next Symbol Of Peace? He beat 2 of the top ten Pro Heroes. Most viins never even get past one..." "----" "Yeah, I guess the next best thing is to put a deal together, get him to break whatever deal he has with Nezu, ande to our side..." "----" Mera sighs and hangs up, then turns to look at Horizon casually scrolling through his phone in the waiting area. "To think I''d have to be so scared of a kid...but a world where he bes the Symbol Of Peace, is a world we can''t survive..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 89: (Hero Plan) Chapter 89: (Hero n) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (30+ chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- Sitting in the back of the limo Eraser is eating a simple bento box while Horizon enjoys a meal bar. Horizon takes out his phone and quickly takes a picture of his Provisional Hero License. It was simr to a driver''s license, but of course, it''s supposed to have your true legal identification. So for someone like Endeavor, it''d have ''Enji Todoroki'' followed by his Hero name, and a picture of him without his Hero Costume. Revealing it would announce yourself to the world and tell everyone exactly where you live. But for Horizon. All it had was the name ''Horizon.'' No address, no other identification. And a picture of him wearing his visor. Perfectly keeping himself insted. It didn''t even have his date of birth. "Nezu really went out of his way for this trick..." he mutters while taking the picture and posting it on his profile. Since it waspletely harmless he didn''t really mind, not to mention impersonating him would lead to...very dangerous situations, and is illegal. For the same reason, people don''t impersonate top Pro Heroes. Some viins want to make a name for themselves by killing a top Pro. Walking around dressed as a top Pro, is an easy way to get attacked by someone who at least thinks they''re capable of killing that hero. There are much easier ways tomit suicide than that. ''Time to start hunting down some viins!'' was the simple caption he puts with the picture before posting it. And Eraser''s phone immediately goes off. He takes it out and checks it then nces at Horizon. "What''s your n for actually taking down viins?" Eraser asks. "What do you mean?" "Where do you n to patrol? Saitama with Endeavor and Burnin?" "Minato Tokyo." Eraser raises a brow at that, "why there?" he takes a bite of his lunch. "Because the All Might agency is there. It''s the most densely popted ce in Japan, but because of him instead of being the most crime-filled, it was also one of the safest. But now since he''s in Musutafu, and you know...the other thing." Eraser nods, not wanting to speak about All Might''s condition aloud, even in here. "Yeah well, viins are slowly waking up to the change. The crime rate there has been doubling every week or so, it''s the highest it''s been in decades already." "So you''re taking his old territory?" "Yup, and there aren''t even many agencies there since he did so much work that they either moved away or starved and went bankrupt. Nopetition." "Endeavor is sending someone with you?" "Nope, all solo." "Without Hero Network ess that''ll be hard to do, what do you have, an old police scanner?" "Since I''ve got this Provisional License Nezu pulled some strings to get me a Hero Network ount. I''ll be plugged in and cops can call me for help. Or Pro Heroes can request a team-up." "Giving someone without a full license ess is treason. You''re supposed to finish your three-year Provisional License time before you get a full license. Not to mention if you break any rules it could get your current license annulled and make you take the exam over, if you don''t get expelled. And if you aren''t in a Hero Course you can''t even take the exam..." "I know how it works. Rx, Nezu got Pantu to approve it, I think. I don''t know, didn''t bother asking. The point is it''s legit, with special approval and all that. This way I can operate solo. It''s better that I do things this way, even if at the moment I''ll technically have to be attached to the Endeavor Agency on paper, working with him is good to show that he trusts me to handle myself and viins. But I also need to be seen working solo so people don''t think I''m actually trying to be a Sidekick. I''m nobody''s Sidekick." "Hmm, makes sense. The press can be brutal aboutbels. If you have Endeavor in every case you solve then the media will treat it like you''re just an essory to him." "Exactly what I''m trying to avoid, especially since I n to open my own Hero Agency as soon as the three-year trial period on the license isplete." "Well it''ll be done just three months after you graduate, that means you''ll be 19...youngest Hero to ever open an agency. Even Endeavor spent a year as a Sidekick before opening his at 20, and Hawks was the same age as that when he appeared on the scene." "Yup, my glorious three-year n." "How many days is Nezu giving you off from school for Hero Work?" "He''s giving me Thursday, Friday, and Saturday." "Half the school week...well, I guess it makes sense since it''s you. And since it''s you I assume you''ll be working on Sundays too?" "That''s usually when I have my patients, but yeah I''ll work when I''m not dealing with that." "Right, sometimes I really do forget you''re a doctor." "Best in the world." Eraser groans and rolls his eyes. "Yeah, well clearly people don''t mind challenging you just because of your reputation. Gang Orca and Mirko..." "Yeah, themission must have wanted to give me a challenge," Horizon says with a shrug. "Makes sense, if they weren''t there I would have just warped everyone to safety. Keeping me distracted was the best way to make sure I didn''t just carry everyone else." "I still don''t like it," Eraser says. "People who are ahead shouldn''t be punished, they should be encouraged to keep improving. You worked hard to get to the point where that exam would be easy, they just increased the difficulty to spite that, there weren''t any lessons to be had there..." "Well I appreciate it, honestly," Horizon says. "I''ve been struggling to get a good fight with a true Power Typetely. Deku is too much of a little bitch to fight me, Kirishima sucks at anything other than just being a meatshield. And Sato gets tired too quickly. Gang Orca and Mirko were perfect." Eraser sighs, "you know if you were nicer to Midoriya he''d probably spar with you. Maybe you should consider it." "Maybe he should finally grow some balls and go fuck himself, he pulls away anything I''m near him, like he''s scared I''m made ofva or something." "So does Todoroki," Eraser says. "It''s a healthy reaction after seeing you rip out a still-beating heart." "Ugh," Horizon groans. "That was over a month ago, when will you people just get over it already." "Have they given you any warning about that?" Horizon sighs. "Some crap about not removing organs unless absolutely necessary, but I can cut people up since it doesn''t kill them. Surprising they haven''t said anything about me being able to just use Incision to cut a car in half if I wanted to." "Please don''t kill anyone." "As if I''d ever make a sloppy mistake like that." "You''re supposed to say ''I''d never do that since I''m a hero,'' or something like that." "Whatever..." The limo soones to a stop at the front gate of UA. "We got back before school finished," Eraser says. "Get to your homeroom and wait for the others, I''ll go put your Provisional License Exam score into the system for your final grade..." ---20 Minutes Later... Horizon is sitting at his desk, now back in his regr uniform. Scrolling though his phone he''s taking in all the reactions of people online. And he saved a certain picture. It was one incredible shot of him walking away with his sword still drawn, and a few drops of blood on it. And behind him, clearly visible, were Gang Orca and Mirko, absolutely beaten down. The ground around them was torn up from Mirko and Orca''s previous attacks. He couldn''t upload this picture himself to his profile, that would simply be unprofessional and seen as bad taste. His image is all about being the perfect hero, and being respected by other heroes is part of that. He was sure there were people already dealing with those who uploaded these pictures. But they couldn''t exactly put the news back into the bottle now. The world already knew, and on his profile, they would always appear in his ''tagged photos'' tab. A few momentster and all his ssmates begins pouring into ss, most don''t pay any mind to his sudden appearance at the very end of the day. But Sero, Momo, Jiro, and Tokoyami immediately begin chatting with him as they all get into the ss, with Jiro leaning against Tokoyami''s desk to face Horizon. "Dude you missed the practical exams! Where were you?!" Sero yells out. "I was busy, it''s no big deal." "I don''t think being Principal Nezu''s favorite is gonna cut it this time," Jiro says. "Aside from Kaminari and Ashido, you''re technically the only person that failed." "The idiot duo failed...how shocking." Jiro chuckles at the unintentional pun, "yeah they got matched with the principal, it wasn''t even close." "Did he do the crane thing?" "Y--- how''d you know?" "Well, he told me about it a while ago over a chess game, said it''s easier than ying against me. He hasn''t won even once, 33-0." "Are you sure you''re human?" Tokoyami asks, genuinely curious as to how beating Nezu at chess was possible. "I''m human, his brain just isn''t wired forbat, and Quirks, I''m better at that. Anyway did anything fun happen at your exams?" "We used our new Hero Costumes!" Momo says excitedly, then her voice drops a bit. "But you weren''t here to see them." "Oh yeah, those were pretty cool," Sero says. "I kinda prefer Momo''s old costume honestly." Jiro jabs him with an Earphone Jack for saying that. "Ouch! Hey! I mean I like the new ones, especially Jiro''s cyborg look." "Cyborg?" Horizon asks. "Copying someone?" Jiro just blushes and looks away. "It''s not that I was copying you, it was just the best I could think of on the spot with Hatsume." "Well if you''re gonna copy someone, it might as well be me..." After a few minutes of everyone talking about how their they finally got to Jiro. "Wait, you really thought Mic was ''just an announcer,'' seriously?" "Well, I didn''t think he nearly rupture my eardrums. He just seemed really goofy..." "You know, I figured since sound-based Quirks are so rare for heroes...that you would have done your research," Horizon says. "Mic is literally the most powerful offensive sound user in Japan, I mean when he was born he blew out the ears of everyone in the room. Only that one guy from the Philippines is better." Jiro scratches her cheek, not realizing how much she underestimated him, "damn...yeah well I guess I''m pretty dumb for not checking that." "What happened to your knuckles?" Tokoyami asks Horizon, noticing that the knuckle pads on his new body glove are all scuffed. "Oh, that," Horizon raises his hands to show them. "Wore them out punching Gang Orca in the face." The entire ss goespletely silent and just turns to stare at him. "Oh, it''s on my profile, the whole fight and the aftermath, check it out..." and that''s exactly what they all do. "You got your license!" Sero is the first to yell out. "And you beat up two of the top 10 Pro Heroes...damn," Jiro says. Behind Horizon, Momo was intently staring at the shaky video of the fight, more and more amazed by him, realizing that all the extra training the entire ss was doing since Iida died wasn''t nearly enough. Not with someone like this sitting beside them. "Howe you were the only one that took the exam?" Tokoyami asks. "Not that I believe I''m ready for such an honor..." "Well, that''s pretty simple, because I''m just better than all of you..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 90: (Pool Party) Chapter 90: (Pool Party) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (30+ chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- SHAMBLES! Horizon suddenly appears at the UA pool, immediately noticed by all the girls of ss 1A and 1B enjoying the mid-day sun. They all immediately stop their volleyball game in the pool and stare at him, noticing his new body glove with the separations, appearing like armored tes. "It''s like a mini All Might..." Setsuna can''t help but blurt out, earning a set of nods from the others. Horizon was now standing at 194cm -6ft4- and 260lbs -118kg-,pletely filled out with muscles, all exaggerated by the design of his body glove, a terrifyingly imposing figure. While all the girls were wearing their UA one-piece swimsuits, effectively a skin-tight pair of shorts and t-shirt, Horizon had on a pair of shorts and a hoodie over his body glove, all in the same blue and white colors. None of them even noticed theptop in his hand, too busy ogling him. And Toru hides behind Momo. "I''ll go get the boys!" Mina says as she hops out of the pool and runs off, snapping them all out of their daze. "I''m gonna get some work done, try not to bother me," Horizon says to the girls. He turns to make his way to the furthest of all the stic tables and chairs set up in the shade, all in red and ck, Momo''s creations. "You really can''te in?" Kendo asks, causing him to turn back toward them and sigh. He taps his visor, "I don''t like getting the body glove wet, and if the visor fills with whatever it feels simr to getting waterboarded...so no thanks." "Oh, that''s too bad I guess." "It''s fine," Horizon tells her, "it''s not like I''d get in that even if I could...it''s all fun and games until Kaminari sneezes..." Some of them wince at that mental image. All the girls watch him walk away, noticing his logo on the side of his shorts and the back of his hoodie. "Does everything he wears have his logo on it?" Setsuna asks, a short girl with sharp teeth,rge eyes, and green hair. "Yes," all the 1A girls respond at once in the same tired tone. "He''s a lot bigger than I thought, it''s pretty intense," Kinoko Komori says. A short girl whose head was barely above the water, eyes covered by therge mop of brown hair stuck to her head. "He''s been bulking, a lot," Momo says with a slight blush on her face. "But yes his physique is quite, mmm...intense." Kendo rolls her eyes, already fed up with her friend from 1A, then sshes Momo, "you know if you said that to his face...visor? Is there a face under there? Whatever, if you said that to him you''d probably get somewhere, it''d be better than just living with a crus---" Momo tackles Kendo and ps a hand across her mouth to shut her up, and Jiro just sinks up to her neck into the water, hoping Kendo doesn''t set her sights on her next. And all of this happens, devolving into a ssh fight while Ibara is just ring at him, remembering the only small conversation they''ve ever had. Setting up hisptop and connecting it to the Hero Network, Horizon begins working as all the 1A boys enter. All were wearing UA swim trunks. Horizon notices Sero instantly make a beeline toward Kodai and just shakes his head, delving into his work. ''Last known locations...'' Horizon is typing away and marking points on a map of Tokyo. The massive region had almost a hundred red pins all across it, but he eventually noticed a pattern. ''Ok, so Stain kills 6 people in each area before the Hero Presence gets increased then he hops to the other side of Tokyo...makes sense, they''d move the stronger Pros where they think he is. So that''s why he''s mostly killed D-listers so far. Picking off the weakest of the pack, makes sense.'' Horizon pulls up a list of Heroes, trying to find any connection between them, and at first, he finds nothing. Until... ''There we go. All D-list losers that can''t do shit, aside from Inginium at least. Plus they all had a stack of branding and endorsement contracts,pletely going against his ideology of being a hero as a service instead of a job. He doesn''t randomly attack heroes, he tracks them. He''s more like a hero hunter, or a creepy stalker. He just got done in the outer region of Tokyo...so the next ce would be, Shinjuku.'' Horizon looks up to see the other students setting up a game of water polo with a Momo made, then focuses back on the screen. ''Top heroes in Shinjuku Tokyo...'' before long he finds his target, or more urately, his bait. ''Reacher...the stretchy arm hero, honestly Stain, you''d be doing us a favor...'' He continuespiling the data and double-checking his thesis along with a few others. Hoping to catch Stain before his interview Saturday night, five days away. Leaning back after an hour of working he sees almost everyone getting out of the pool. He also notices Momo and Sato missing. ROOM! He immediately finds them at the entrance to the school collecting a stack of pizzas, fifteen boxes high. Since UA is already closed for the summer Lunch Rush isn''t avable, so other arrangements were made. Closing his ROOM and ignoring everyone again he puts the finishing touches on his n, taking out his phone and checking Reacher''s public ''Yay!'' profile. ''The idiot is always uploading, still working in Shinjuku, guess I''ll head to Tokyo tomorrow and keep an eye on him. The cops must have found this pattern by now, but I guess they either didn''t connect the final part. I guess it makes sense, Stain operates like a more sloppy version of how I''d n hits with mom. He''s clearly got some training in gueri warfare, and I hear he uses a sword, could be fun.'' "Hey, mind if I join you?" Horizon looks up to see Sero holding a pizza box in his hand, and two cans of cold soda in the other, already taking a seat beside him at the rectangr table. Horizon was currently sitting at the head on one end with Sero to his right. "I''m surprised you aren''t eating with your girlfriend," Horizon says as he takes a slice of pizza. All the other tables were quickly filling up as everyone got out of the pool to eat, and Horizon noticed Kendo making her way over to him and Sero. "Dude it''s really not like that," Sero says. "Yes, it is," Kendo sits at the other head of the table with a paper te in hand carrying her pizza, and a can of soda in the other. "C''mon everyone knows you like Yui." "What!" Everyone stops what they''re doing and turns to look at their table, causing Sero to just pretend he didn''t yell anything. "I mean, I don''t know what you''re talking about." "C''mon, it''s super obvious, you should just tell her already," Kendo says. "I''m pretty sure she knows and is just waiting, if she didn''t like you she wouldn''t spend so much time with you anyway." "What? Really?" Sero asks. "Do you really think she''d spend so many lunch breaks eating with someone from another ss just because...really?" Sero looks genuinely confused, "but you eat with Horizon all the time, does that mean---" "No," Kendo chuckles at that. "I almost did at first...then I spoke to him and I realized," she looks up at Horizon. "No offense, but you''re kinda the worst." "You''re objectively wrong," Horizon says. "I''m the best thing that could ever happen to any of you." Kendo raises a brow at that. "Do you not remember the first time you spoke to Ibara?" "Hey I call it as I see it, and I don''t waste time when I talk." "She didn''t deserve that." "Yes, she did," Horizon says. "I mean c''mon, who walks up to someone and asks them to repent and go to church to ''cleanse their soul,'' that''s not normal." "She means well, and you didn''t have to call her...that." "Well in my defense," Horizon says. "If she wasn''t such a ''god-fearing cultist cunt,'' I wouldn''t have called her that." "Heathen," Ibara says, standing a few meters away and clearly eavesdropping as she gets her food. Horizon looks directly at her, "pretentious nun..." "Ok stop it," Kendo says loudly, stopping this from escting any further...again. "You need to repent," Ibara says,pletely ignoring Kendo. "Well I''d say ''go fuck yourself,'' but you people still think that''ll send you to some fire pit right?" Ibara''s vine hair stands up and Kendo hops out of her chair, then raises her hands to try and calm her down. "He is a disgusting being!" Ibara tells Kendo, and before she can respond Horizon speaks up from behind her, still casually eating a slice of pizza. "In all the best ways babe, give up the chastity vow and I''ll show you..." A single vein bulges on Ibara''s forehead, then a momentter she takes a deep breath and calms down. "Violence against thy neighbor is not the way of the lord," she says before walking to the other side of the shaded area to join Kodai and Toru. Kendo huffs and returns to her seat, giving Horizon an annoyed look. "You know as a ss Rep and HERO, you''re supposed to de-escte situations like that, not make them worse." "Oh please, if she did anything I would have just warped her to the other side of UA, she could use the walk to calm down." "That''s still awful." "Whatever, can we get back to this moron now," Horizon gestures at Sero. "Can we not?" Sero asks. "So anyway, why haven''t you just asked out Yui yet?" Horizon asks. "It''s not that easy man." "Uh, it literally is---" "What''s easy?" Momo asks as she and Jiro join the table with their meals, sitting to the left side of Horizon, with Jiro closest to him. "Sero is being a pussy about asking out Yui," Horizon shrugs. "Oh that," Jiro says. "You guys know too?" Sero facepalms, now even more embarrassed. "Dude you told Mina, all the girls in our group chat knows about it, including Kodai." "That bbermouth is the only reason I''m even here anyway, girl can''t keep anything to herself," Horizon grumbles. "What do you mean?" Momo asks. "Well when you made this pool party for the girls from our sses, she told Kirishima, then he told Sero, then Sero asked me toe so he could talk to Kodai and see her in a swimsuit," Horizon says. "I only came so he could ask her out, otherwise I''d be in Tokyo right now..." "I thought you came because I exined that this is a great opportunity for our sses to bond?" Momo asks. "What? Don''t be stupid, why would I ever care about something like that? I''m here because Mei has some equipment for me, wouldn''t havee to the pool if Sero wasn''t begging me." "I didn''t beg," Sero says. "I have the chat Sero...it was pathetic." Sero opens his mouth to respond, but just closes it and epts his fate. "Too bad Shodai couldn''t make it," Kendo says. "Without him, the boys from our ss couldn''te, since he''s the male ss Rep...technically the overall Vice Representative." "The short silver-haired guy?" Jiro asks. "I thought Tetsutetsu was the Vice Rep..." "Nope, it''s Shodai." "What''s his Quirk?" Horizon immediately asks. "Oh, Twin Impact, he gets to remotely trigger a second impact after making contact with something, it''s pretty cool and unpredictable," Kendo says. "Honestly I''m kinda d they couldn''t make it," Jiro admits. "Kirishima and Tetsutetsu together always gives me a headache." Everyone at the table nods in agreement. After a few moments, Sero asks something that''s been bugging him a bit. "Hey Horizon, why are you so adamant that I ask out Yui? I mean...aren''t you all about being the best Hero or something, I figured you''d see girls as a distraction or something." "A life without love isn''t really worth living," he says casually, causing all the nearby tables to fall silent and nce over at him, never expecting to hear something like that. "You sound like you talk from experience..." Momo says. "Yeah, I do. I figure if you''re interested in someone, you owe it to yourself to tell them, because one day they''re here, and the next they''re gone. Especially in a career path like ours," everyone immediately thinks of Iida. "You can''t afford to waste time, because before you know it, they''re gone and you''re all alone..." "But, what if they say no?" Sero asks. "Then don''t be a pussy, just get over it..." All the girls who were listening sighed in disappointment. ''So romantic, but he had to ruin it at the end.'' After a few minutes of casual chatter, all while Sero was deep in thought, Kendo nudges Momo. Momo gives her a confused nce, before Kendo gestures to Horizon, then stares directly at Jiro. She was the only girl who knew about their shared crush, mainly from Momo confessing about it one night at their internship with Uwabami. Both girls pretend not to know what she''s trying to get them to do, so Kendo decides to raise the stakes. "So Horizon," she calls out to him, causing him to look up from the messages Mei just sent him. "Since you''re so gun-ho about people dating and following their passion for one another...what if, let''s say, I liked you?" END--- Chapter 91: (Im The Prize) Chapter 91: (I''m The Prize) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (30+ chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "So Horizon," she calls out to him, causing him to look up from the messages Mei just sent him. "Since you''re so gun-ho about people dating and following their passion for one another...what if, let''s say, I liked you?" The entire area falls silent, and Kendo almost flinches at the re Momo was shooting at her, while Jiro was just staring with wide eyes... "Hng!" Kendo tries and fails at keeping a straight face, flinching as a sharp jolt of pain shoots through her leg, casting an annoyed nce at Momo. The girl had kicked her as if she was trying to break her shin below the table. Horizon sighs, then looks over at Momo and Jiro, making it obvious that he knows exactly what''s happening. Both girls look at him in horror, realizing that he''s known for a while about their feelings. But they werepletely mortified, petrified with fear and embarrassment, not wanting to react and make what was happening even more obvious. He turns to Kendo, "well, in theory, if I knew someone had a crush on me I''d hope theye to their senses. My life is already filled with enough things pulling me in every direction, don''t need to add romance to the mix." "I see," Kendo leans forward, propping up her chin on her hand. "But what if I was too interested in you, that no matter how much of a jerk all my friends say you are, I just can''t stop myself." Those words hit Momo and Jiro like an arrow to the heart, having spent many conversations trying to convince themselves to just get over him. "I feel like you''re too smart for that," Horizon says. "Plus I''m not your type." "Yeah that''s true, I prefer passionate and direct guys who are actually kind and nice to people...definitely not you, mostly because of thatst part, but can you please humor me?" Horizon sighs, "fine, I guess we''re doing this," he sits back in his chair and thinks for a moment. "Well, if a girl liked me I wouldn''t mind, so long as she''s actually cute." "What''s your definition of cute?" "Eh, if she''s not fat we can judge from there," he shrugs. "What if it''s her Quirk?" "Then I''m sure she can find some guy out there that will ept her as she is...but I don''t date fat girls." "How can you say that?" Jiro asks. "You aren''t supposed to body shame people, what kind of Hero are you?" "This is being a hero," Horizon says jokingly. "Maybe if I shame them enough they''ll hit the gym, see, I''m saving lives, protecting them from heart attacks." Jiro is about to start an argument but Kendo interrupts, "ok what else." "Well, it''d have to be casual if you and I started dating, hypothetically." "Obviously hypothetically." "And of course I''d have fun with other beautiful women," Horizon shrugs, and everyone looks at him with either confusion or disgust. Kendo blinks a few times thenes to her senses,pletely thrown for a loop by thatst bit of information. "What do you mean?" "What? I figured it''s self-exnatory, you would be my girlfriend and I''d asionally have fun with other women." Kendo looks even more confused, her brain slowly frying as she tries to make sense of this, Momo and Jiro werepletely frozen, and Jiro looked disgusted by the very idea. All while the others were staring in bewilderment. "Ok," Kendo snaps her fingers. "So you''d want an open rtionship?" "Yeah, but only on my side." Kendo just looks even more confused. "But, how is that fair?" "It''s not," he says without missing a beat. "B-but...what?" Kendo gives up trying to understand on her own. "Why?" "Because, I''m Horizon," he sees everyone still looking at him confused, and judging by the look Jiro was giving him she probably wanted to stab him, but Momo didn''t seem all that surprised the more she thought about it. "Let me exin it like this, alright. So I''m impossibly rich, influential, powerful. World leaders have me on speed dial and are sending me emails every other day with offers of insane proportions to move to their countries. They''re willing to do some insane things if I ask. Not to mention I''m one of the single most powerfulbatants in the world...all at 16. Add this to the fact that eventually, I want to have a family of my own, and at that point, she''d have to do nothing but be beautiful, make some babies, not fuck other guys, and deal with the house stuff while I''m out performing the asional miracle. I''m literally a golden ticket to the easy life for any woman lucky enough to catch my eye. I''m standing at the top of the world, I''m irreceable and peerless. And all of this for the low low price, of me getting to fuck whoever I want. All while my girlfriend or wife or whatever ispletely taken care of. See I literally cannot be reced, I''m the grand prize at the top of the top shelf. Hmm, seems unfair to you?" They all think about it for a moment, and it leaves a rancid taste in Kendo''s mouth, but she can see his logic at least. "Ok, that sort of makes sense, even if it''s a bit weird..." Kendo says. "Unless you''re a king...or even better, Horizon," he says jokingly. "History is my blueprint on this." "Ok, but what if a girl you like isn''t ok with this?" Kendo asks. "Tch, so what? I''m too good for any of them, plus beautiful women are everywhere in my world, she''d easily be reced." BAM! Jiro ms her palms onto the table and jumps up to her feet, ring down at Horizon with venom in her teary eyes. "You! You! You sexist misogyni---" SHAMBLES! She''s suddenly swapped for a leaf somewhere on campus. "Sorry but I don''t have any tolerance for crap like that," Horizon says. "She''ll walk back in a minute or two..." "Well, that could have gone a lot better," Kendo sighs as everyone tries to awkwardly pretend that didn''t just happen. "Yeah well, now you know what I''m all about..." While the casual chatter began once more, and some people dove back into the pool, Momo sat at the edge of the pool staring at nothing in particr. Taking in everything Horizon said moments ago. Realizing that both she and Jiro were hesitant to say anything outright to Horizon. Partly because they were scared, and partly because they simply enjoyed things as they were, with the three of them being friends. ''If he even considers us friends and not just ssmates,'' Momo thinks. But she will admit that part of her still wanted more, she''d never had a crush before, and being homeschooled she''d never even had a friend before. So they were both very important people to her. Growing up in an environment where arranged business marriages weren''t umon she understood exactly what Horizon meant. ''He''s truly standing at the top of the world, so why would he ever settle for anything less...than everything...'' But her best friend, Kyoka Jiro, was raised in a much more...modern culture. Momo can''t help but frown as she looks at the water moving about as her friends swim. Realizing that it would be difficult to keep them both close to her if she ever moved forward with her crush, assuming she''d ever work up the courage. And that Kyoka would never indulge her idea of how this could work out for all of them... Eventually, Jiro silently walked back into the pool area and just sat beside Momo, still fuming mad. Partly angry at Horizon, for even suggesting something that shed with her worldview so heavily. But far more enraged at herself...because she didn''tpletely hate the idea. And both girls just sat in silence for a long while before forcing themselves to try and enjoy the rest of the day. An hourter Eraser Heades by and shuts down the fun, telling everyone their pool time was up. And as everyone shuffles out of the pool area Horizon is still sitting at the table finalizing some things for his summer Hero ns. "You know you could have handled that a lot better," Kendo says, staying behind a bit as everyone else heads to the showers. "I prefer to be honest with what I want, besides, hopefully now they''ll get over that crush they have." "Why didn''t you just tell them that you''re not interested?" "Because I wouldn''t turn down some casual fun, but I figured they''d lose interest once they know what I''m all about." "And you really never nned to just confront it?" Kendo takes a seat beside him. "I was hoping they''d get over it over the next month. From tomorrow you''ll all be going off to the training camp. No phone or contact with the outside world, including me, for a few weeks. Usually that''ll kill a crush, right?" "Right," Kendo smacks herself on the forehead. "Unless I make you give them something to think about all camp...damn it." "Yup, you''re a moron." "Hey! I was trying to help my friends face their problems head-on." "Seems to me like you were just meddling in things that don''t concern you." Kendo rolls her eyes at that, "well considering all the rants I''ve had to listen to about how great or how cool you are from them, I think it concerns me..." "Well, in their defense, I am amazing." "Ugh, whatever. What''ve you been researching here anyway?" "Oh, by the time you get back from camp I should have already caught Stain," Horizon says as if it''s no big deal. "Stain! Seriously?!" "He shouldn''t be a problem, it''s just another viin anyway." Kendo is almost creeped out by how casual Horizon is about his target. "So you aren''t doing this for revenge or anything?" "Revenge? For what? Iida?" "Yeah." "Nope, he''s just another name on the list, nothing more and nothing less." "Well, I guess that''s one way to look at it. Most people really don''t like anyone that kills heroes, especially Tetsutetsu." "Steel boy? Why?" "Some viin killed his dad about a year ago, that''s why he joined UA, to protect other people from things like that, just like his dad." "Who was his dad?" "Oh, he was the number 14 Pro Hero at the time, Chrome." "Oh, I heard about that, unfortunate..." Horizon says, remembering when he killed Chrome on the roof during that fight at the start of this. "Yeah, well anyway I should go change, and I need to go apologise to Momo and Jiro, I honestly expected that to go a lot better than it did." "Good luck with that, I''m gonna check on my gear." A few momentster. SHAMBLES! Horizon appears in Mei Hatsume''s design studio, seeing the girl work on what appears to be the internal wiring of a piece of chest armor. "Mei," he calls out, only to get ignored as she grunts in frustration at the nopliant tech. "Mei!" She pauses and turns around, ring at him, "your new visors are on the table," she says harshly then points at the far table, a small metal case the size of a shoebox on it. "Stressed out?" Horizon asks, a calm and amused tone in his voice. Mei huffs, "yeah, this damn thing keeps burning out." "Mmm, maybe you should rx a bit." Mei takes a closer look at him, noticing that this time he didn''te in uniform or Hero Costume. "You don''t have a tie on, and I don''t think I''ve got anything here that---" "It''ll be fine," Horizon says, walking over to the light switch and raising his finger to it. "Don''t need a blindfold in the dark..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 92: (First Case) Chapter 92: (First Case) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (30+ chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- Laying in bed at one of his Tokyo properties, Law is in his full Hero Costume aside from his visor, casually scrolling through updates on the Hero Network with his phone. His sword and hoverboard are on the bed beside him, and one of his new visors is in itspact state in his pocket. This is his third night spent in this property, and once again he''s bored out of his mind. His ROOM was open, extending to 1500 meters around him in every direction. Enough to easily contain Reacher''s nightly patrol pattern, keeping his bait close by. Suddenly Law sits up, sensing something approaching Reacher, moving quickly. "Well it''s about time...at least I think that''s Stain, sensing swords...and throwing knives, that should match the wounds on the other heroes." He reaches into his pocket and takes out what looks like a ck piece of metal the same size as his phone. Standing up he ces it behind his neck and it expands, covering his bava mask and forming his full visor. Appearing exactly the same as before, but now more easily transportable. And he even asked Mei to add a camera feature, realizing how useful the body camera footage was for the bank heist that he stopped. Focusing on Reacher he feels Stain approaching him, sprinting across a rooftop and tackling Reacher as he slingshots out of the alleyway. He always uses his extended arms to grab the ledges of buildings, but this time it seems that Stain was waiting for him and starts the fight by cutting one of them off. "Ouch..." Horizon shakes his head, now sensing Reacher trying to run. Only for two throwing knives to stab his thighs. "Those probably hit the bone and major artery, he''s not going anywhere." Reacher drops to the floor, and he feels stain immediately take out a tanto -short katana- and throw it. Reacher had extended his arm to the ledge to at least fall into the street, but Stain pierced his limb with the de, throwing it a moment before the arm could properly begin extending. Horizon feels Reacher flip onto his back, raising his sword to his face and biting it with his teeth, ripping the de out of his arm and iling his one remaining arm about to ward off Stain. "Bad move moron..." Another sh. And his one remaining arm is severed on the floor, leaving him to il about and scream while bleeding out. Stain raises his sword and breaks into a full sprint, leaping a dozen feet -4m- into the air and dropping with a two-handed sh directly at Reacher''s skull. SHAMBLES! Metal shes with metal as Horizon suddenly swaps with the de on the floor and blocks Stain''s jagged and damaged katana with his pristinerger de. "Wow, you''re not what I expected," Horizon says as Stain skids back across the rooftop, caughtpletely off-guard by this new arrival. Under the full moon, he could see exactly what Stain was. A tall andnky man, wrapped in loose bandages with a long red scarf and mask, all torn and tattered. His chest had a bulletproof vest with des strapped all across his body, but he was currently only wielding his damaged and worn-out katana. Horizon doesn''t move, and neither does Stain, all while Reacher is bleeding out on the floor, fading in and out of consciousness. Without warning, Stain hurls four knives at Horizon. "Takt," he speaks for the camera, and stops all the des in ce, holding them in the air. A mourous stunt that is much more difficult than making something move, to cancel its momentum he has to apply the same about of energy in the other direction, much more difficult, especially on small and fast-moving targets. It would be easier for him to catch a falling bus than to stop a bullet for this reason. Stain throws another set of knives, but this time Horizon raises a hand. "Curtain," he creates the transparent blue dome around him and Reacher, with both severed limbs also inside it. Without missing a beat he drops down and ces a hand on Reacher, even as Stain rushes forward and shes at the barrier a few times, not even scratching it. "Booster Shot," Horizon begins healing Reacher with one hand while maintaining the barrier with the other, right in front of Stain. And the viin stops attacking. "I''ll fix your limbster, right now I just need to stop the bleeding..." Stain takes a step back, looking genuinely surprised at the scene. "The great pretender...wasn''t a fake Hero?" he asks in a deep raspy voice. "Just surrender," Horizon says, not caring to debate ideology with Stain. "Fight or save, glory or service...and you chose service," Stain says with a sick smile. "Like a Hero, a real Hero...like All Might," he immediately turns and begins running away, leaping from roof to roof as fast as he can. ''What the hell is he talking about...wait. Does that moron really decide who lives and dies based on that? If you choose to fight or save? That''s so dumb...'' A momentter Horizon is done healing Reacher, and the man beginsing back to consciousness. Thanks to Stain''s early departure he was able to drop the barrier and retrieve the limbs. "Ahh...my arms hurt, what happened?" Reacher stirs awake. "I reattached them, they''ll be sore for a few days but you''ll be fine," Horizon says as he sits the man up. "Just stay behind me alright." "What?" Reacher asks,pletely confused, not seeing any danger around them. Without warning, Horizon summons one of his cards to his hand and throws it forward. "Shambles," Stain swaps with the card, being ripped from his location nearly 1km away. The sudden change in location causes the viin to freeze, "warping others, how troublesome," he growls, turning to square up against Horizon. "Saving or fighting, right? Well, I can do both, and I''m really damn good at them, so, please surrender," Horizon says in a calm voice, sword drawn at his side. Stain lowers into abat stance, ready to rush forward, "I don''t want to kill you, I don''t kill real heroes, but I''ll just cut you up enough that it puts you to sleep," his eyes drop down to Reacher who was sitting behind Horizon. "And I''ll have to kill that one all over again." Horizon hears Reacher make a scared noise behind him and has to suppress his groan, rolling his eyes in his visor, "don''t worry, he won''t get past me." Hearing those words Stain feels his blood racing, "a heroic deration that the people behind you would always be safe, I just have to test it!" he rushes forward. "Show me your resolve Hero!" "It was more like a fact," Horizon says as Stain jumps and shes diagonally. "Incision," he says for the recording as their des sh. Stain''s worn-down de is easily cut in half and Horizon''s katana shes into his left shoulder, carving all the way down to his right hip. "Shambles!" Horizon swaps ces with the shattered de, avoiding the spray of blood that hits Reacher and grabbing Stain by the arm. "Booster Shot!" He swings him around overhead and ms him into the concrete roof, cracking it and nearly sinking Stain into it. "Argh!" Stain feels his arm that was grabbedpletely shatter along with the connected shoulder and cor bone. He reaches for a throwing knife with his other hand, swinging it across his own body to stab Horizon in the shin. CRACK! Horizon kicks Stain''s fingers that were holding the de as hard as he can, Booster Shot plus his steel-tipped Hero Costume boots shattered all the bones in those fingers and fracture the wrist, as well as knocking the hand away. "That''s enough," Horizon drops to a knee and puts a hand on Stain''s head, using his superior strength to easily pins the man to the floor. "Counter Shock!" "ARRRGHH!" Stain''s short-lived scream is punctuated by the silent rooftop. "Cybeic upgrades," Horizon shakes his head. "Those make you really damn vulnerable to electrical attacks, not that it would have mattered. No more terrorizing the street, Hero Killer Stain," he makes sure that the camera gets a full breakdown of what''s happening before turning around. The only thing the camera sees is Reacher looking at Horizon with stars in his eyes and a massive smile on his face. "You did it, and you save me, thank you!" "No need to thank me, this is just what heroes do, now let''s get this guy to the cops, then I can do a proper check-up on you. Sounds good?" "Yeah, that sounds great..." Horizon makes sure to give the best first impression possible of hisbat and overall style, because this will be his first case as a Provisionally Licensed Hero, so he had to make it count... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 93: (Curiosity) Chapter 93: (Curiosity) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (30+ chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- All across the world, millions of screens shift from whatever they were looking at to one of the most important live videos of the year. The 200 Million worldwide views immediately see a stunning woman. Chitose Kizuki, or as her viin associates know her, Curious. The head of public rtions and propaganda for the Meta Liberation Army. The secret lover of Rikiya Yotsubashi, Re-Destro, former leader of the Meta Liberation army, but still acting as the leader to all the non-executive members. But in truth, he has now demoted to second inmand under their new leadership. She was a slender woman, only thirty years old, and already the head of thergest publishingpany in Japan, a feat achieved by abination of passion, hard work, and having powerful supporters. The viewers saw her, with pale blue skin and light purple hair, long and flowing past her waist, nearly hiding therge golden hoop earrings behind the strands. Poised and elegant in a dark purple dress, her ck eyes and blue pupils looking directly at the camera, a delightful smile on her lips. She appears to be in a lounge of some sort, sitting on a luxurious single-seat couch, a coffee table in front of her with two tea cups and a copy of her own book. And beside her on arger couch is the much-anticipated guest. Horizon, in full Hero Costume, waiting patiently for her to begin. Sitting so close to her people finally got a proper look at exactly howrge he was, now almost the exact same size as Endeavor, only 1cm shorter. ncing between him and Chitose in all of her 155cm -5ft2- glory made him seem much more intimidating. "Wee, everyone, to this much anticipated exclusive interview with Japan''s rising star, Horizon," she announces in a sweet voice and gestures to him. "I''m always happy to help people get to know me Ms. Kizuki," Horizon says politely, giving the camera a small wave. "Oh, please call me Chitose, I''m hoping we''ll be friends by the end of this," she says half-jokingly. "Wow, I thought we already were friends," Horizon feints offense, getting a chuckle from her. "Well, then I guess we are, so, how about you introduce yourself to the people at home and we can get into what they all want to see..." "dly," he looks directly at the camera. "Hi everyone, I am Horizon, Doctor, UA First Year Student, ss Representative of the now famous ss 1A, Quirk Specialist, and most recently, Provisional Hero operating within Japan, and eventually, a Pro Hero protecting Japan." "Wow, that''s quite an impressive resume, and all of this at only 16." "Well, I wake up early," he says jokingly. "And are you ready for the long list of questions I''ve prepared? I''ve also scoured the inte for the most popr mysteries and theories people have about you, and some of those are rather interesting." "I can handle it, we''ve got an hour or two to chat anyway." "That''s exactly what I want to hear, so let''s begin with the most relevant question regarding your introduction," Chitose takes out a small red notepad from beside her leg and flips it open. "So why exactly does someone as wealthy and I assume influential as you, decide to spend his time-fighting viins? I''m sure if the leaked information about your miracle doctor business is to be believed, you can retire now and never have to work again." "Ipletely understand this line of thinking," Horizon says. "What I''ve done truly isn''t logical. Nobody with such an easy life, at least no sane person, would go looking for conflict. Go looking to join a line of work where you have people that are willing and able to hurt or kill you. It simply isn''t logical. But heroes aren''t logical. They never have been and never will be, their desire to protect others ovees logic, and that''s why I do it. Lots of heroes are in it for fame or money, but I have those, I''m just here to save people. Nobody bes a firefighter because of how well it pays, at least not if you don''t absolutely have to. You do it because you want to help people that need help, and you''re willing to get hurt for them. That''s why I''m at UA. That''s why I work so hard. That''s why I started this path to being a Pro Hero in the first ce, because someone out there needs me to save them, and I think that''s enough of a reason to do anything..." Millions of hearts at lit by the conviction in his voice, and Chitose finds herself giving this man, the most dangerous threat to their movement, a genuine smile. But she has answers to excavate. "You say that, but you famously criticized your ssmates and millions of Pro Heroes around the world for deciding to be a hero, in your grandiose rant before you won the Sports Festival - congrattions on that by the way-, but don''t you think that makes you a hypocrite?" "Not at all, I believe it can be easily misconstrued to appear that way but those are two entirely different choices that result in the same oue." "What exactly do you mean by that?" "Well, the main issue I have is that most people don''t acknowledge the risk. Most of my ssmates didn''t even think past the fame and fortune of being a Pro, or were so caught up in their hero worship that they didn''t consider the true risk of this job. Heroes die all the time. And worse than dying, viins can attack your families, it''s surprisingly easy for the average person with an inte connection to find where you live, especially if they know your face and Quirk. Everyone ignores this because we naturally want to think that we''re special. That the bad things will never happen to us. ''We won''t get sick, so we don''t need insurance,'' that mentality. True and absolute arrogance, in its most selfish form, it''s absolutely disgusting, and I stand by everything I said during the Sports Festival..." Chitose nods stiffly, her heart sent on a small race by the true intensity and vitriol of his words. Being a viin sitting only feet away from Horizon was stressing her seasoned journalist nerves. "I see, and what makes you so different from them exactly?" she asks. "Because I''ve already lost everything," Horizon says casually, as if it were nothing. "What are viins going to do? Kill me? Take my money? So what," he shrugs. "You aren''t worried about losing those things?" She asks in genuine amazement. "They don''t matter, the only thing that matter is who you go home to every night. Siblings, parents, kids, and I don''t have any of that. I go home to an empty house, and train, every night. They can''t take anything that can hurt me, because I already lost is all, now I don''t really have anything left to lose. Atleast nothing that I genuinely value." "I see..." she takes a moment to appreciate the bit of genuine sadness in this voice before continuing. "And do you ever n to change that?" "Hmm, what do you mean?" "Well, the people, mostly women, are curious about what kind of women you like, and if you ever n to start that family of your own that was mentioned at the Sports Festival. You did say that your visor was partly to protect them after all." "Ahh, of course, the dating questions." "Unavoidable for any celebrity I''m afraid," Chitose gives an apologetic look. "Well, the visor and body glove are both Lifestyle Support items---" "So they nevere off?" "I can manage a few minutes without them, but let''s just say there is no Horizon without them." "And yet you chose a line of work where they''re likely to break, is that the smartest idea?" "Well maybe I just like to live dangerously," Horizon says. "And as for me dating, I''ve currently got a lot on my te, so dating anyone would be entirely selfish as I just don''t have any time for that. I think everyone deserves better than that..." "I can''t help but agree with you," Chitose says. From her experience, she wishes she had more time with Rikiya, but they both lead powerfulpanies in Japan and barely have any free time. Horizon nods along, knowing exactly the secret romance she couldn''t mention. "Now, with the gossip questions out of the way, let''s get into the hero talk." "dly, what would you like to know?" "Well, for starters, your Quirk, is there anything you can tell us about that?" "Sure, so my Quirk actually pulls energy from the Earth itself for me to manipte the world around me with no limitations outside of creativity. It''s an infinite power for me to use however I want." Chitose''s eyes open wide, "really?" "No I''m just messing with you," Horizonughs. "Half the fun of being Mystery ss is that nobody else knows how it works, that means no matter how ridiculous the things I say I can do, part of you has to believe me." "So may I assume you won''t be sharing any new information about it?" "I''ve shown off my abilities and even gave a rundown at the Sports Festival. I''ve gotten stronger since then but nothing has changed that much, and my video from two a few nights ago when I took down Stain gives a closer look at how I fight." "Yes, the video on your profile that has nearly one billion views, can we please talk about that." "Well I assumed we would, what would you like to know?" "Why did you go after Stain?" "Well, his name exins that quite well, ''Hero Killer Stain'', seems simple enough. He was actively hurting people, I decided to stop it." "Was it perhaps also because he killed one of your ssmates? Tenya Iida." "Not at all," Horizon says. "Iida dying was a tragedy, and likely an avoidable one at that. But it did not sway my motivations and intentions at all. I simply wanted to stop Stain from killing people." "Some people say you may have wanted revenge, that''s why they think you went alone." "No, I''m strictly business when doing hero work. The reason I went alone was purely a strategic move. And if I wanted revenge, there would be no camera. I recoded it so people can get a glimpse of how I operate and be able to hold me ountable." "I see, but how exactly was it more strategic to not have some backup?" "In this case, I did some research and realized that the minute the police got ahold of Stain''s pattern they''d allocate more heroes from nearby areas to where they expect him to be and where he wasst spotted. This is why I was in Hosu in the first ce, Burnin and I were going there to help beef up patrols. But after that incident every time they''d organize that movement he''d notice it, then head to apletely different area. This way I worked alone so there wasn''t a swarm of heroes to alert him, and thankfully it worked out. He didn''t get to kill anyone in Shinjuku because I stopped him." "And earned his twisted sense of respect, now people online are referring to you as a ''true hero'', using his exact words." Horizon shakes his head at that, "maybe those people should reconsider where they get their ideology from. I personally wouldn''t take guidance from a serial killer who murders students and Pro Heroes. Besides, it doesn''t matter why people want to be a Pro Hero. I never get upset at people for their reasons. Fame and fortune are perfectly fine objectives. Once they understand the risk and can actually be valuable in the position, then they can do whatever they want." "I see, well taking down Stain was a great start to your career. Already working independently, although you are on paper a Sidekick at the Endeavor Hero Agency, how does that work?" "Well, Endeavor and I have an understanding. He trusts that I am as capable as I appear, and of course, he''ll call me in if a big casends on his desk, but he lets me do my own thing." "In Minato Tokyo mostly, All Might''s turf." "Not for much longer, it''ll be mine after I graduate," Horizon says. Chitose stares at him in shock, "what do you mean?" "Well, there won''t be anypetition by then..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 94: (Puzzle Solved?) Chapter 94: (Puzzle Solved?) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (30+ chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "Well, there won''t be anypetition by then..." Horizon''s words strike fear into the hearts of millions, and sets a sinister smile on the face of a few heinous people. "What do you mean? Is All Might nning to retire?" Chitose uses all her focus to sound worried and not let her excitement surface. "No no, he''s determined to be a hero as much as possible," Horizon says. "But All Might just turned 50, do people really expect him to be their hero for another 50 years?" "Oh, so then what exactly are you saying?" Horizon sits back for a moment and considers how he should word this, then he nods and just speaks honestly. "The fact is, All Might is 50, he does so much work, an insanely disproportional amount in fact. That other heroes have slowly becent and weak. Even if they don''t realize it, they''ve started just depending on All Might to do most of the work himself, but he''s only one man. Everyone thinks he''s invincible, but time is undefeated, and eventually, it''ll beat him too, and this country isn''t ready for a world without All Might. Minato Tokyo is a perfect example of that. Viins are bing more populous and bold there every day because he''s teaching in Musutafu now, that''s a microcosm for what''ll happen in all of Japan within ten years maybe. And heroes aren''t ready." "But Japan has 116 thousand Pro Heroes," Chitose says. "Yeah, a good number on paper. And those same papers will tell you that our society is oversaturated with Pro Heroes, but none of that data matters when the people are useless. I was appalled by what I saw at my license exam. The government is going for a quantity-over-quality approach, allowing in thousands of people who have no ce on a battlefield, especially not as heroes. Obviously not everyone is abat-oriented Hero, Thirteen and Uwabami are the top search and rescue heroes for a reason, but a lot of people are going to be inbat-based environments and have no business being there. Our society is too over-reliant on All Might holding us up on his shoulders, and the moment he steps down everything will descend into chaos. Nobody wants to think of a world without him, but if you don''t ept this reality then how can you prepare for it? The only Pro Hero who never epted this status quo, who kept pushing to do as much as he possibly can, is Endeavor, and that''s why I''m working with him and nobody else. Half of all the Pro Heroes aren''t worth the stic their license is printed on, just sitting in their office or walking down the street collecting money and attention. That''s why the Nomu attacks on the other Hero Courses have been so sessful, most of those Nomu aren''t anywhere near as strong as the USJ Nomu. Yet dozens of Pro Heroes are dying every time they show up. The League of Viins realized this status quo and is punishing us for it, because they know All Might can''t be everywhere. So yeah, there is nopetition, and apparently, I''m the only one seeing this problem and taking steps to prepare for the eventuality. All Might is 50 and Endeavor is 46...who is gonna be your Symbol Of Peace after them, somezy hero like Hawks? Tch, I don''t think so..." "I see, that is a scary reality to ept for most people," Chitose says. "People around my age have never even known a world without All Might protecting us..." "ept it and prepare for it, that''s all you can do." "I agree," Chitose was both excited at the idea of a world without All Might, but also terrified at the thought of a more powerful and mature Horizon taking his ce, someone who they seemingly can''t even hide from. "And how would you rmend this be done? Some people have always been pushing for the Quirk restrictions to be lifted to an extent so they may take a more active part in stopping viins, do you agree? Should those with what society deems as ''heroic Quirks'' be allowed to use them?" Horizon takes a moment to understand the question. Realizing immediately that she was asking about a few different issues. "No I don''t think that''s the right way to handle this at all, because then you''d just get the same problem with more coteral damage," he says. "Allow me to make it clear that I don''t believe in these nonsensebels. There are no inherently ''heroic'' or ''viinous'' Quirks, only Quirks and the people who use them. If you gave All Might''s Quirk to a bad person you''d have a superviin. So the Quirk doesn''t make the person into a hero or viin, only what they chose to do with it. Putting people in these stupid brackets, especially as children, is how you get viins. Because if all your life people are telling you that you were born to be a viin...why would you bother trying to be anything else?" "I couldn''t agree more," Chitose says. "For both my appearance and my Quirk people always expected me to be a viin, I''ve had to ovee a lot of adversity to get here because of how I was born." "And I wish the world would stop doing that, and allow people to be who they want to be, instead of simply expecting them to conform to a hero-centric worldview. And clearly, you''ve ovee all of that to be the head of a massive publishingpany, well done Chitose." "Thank you," she gives a polite nod. "But why don''t you think people should simply be allowed to use Quirk, and what about if the Quirks were harmless?" "Because that''s how you cause chaos and viins. Allowing people to use their Quirks will cause chaos. For every person that can fly a house will burn down because some kids were ying with a fire Quirk. This will lead to only some Quirks being publicly epted. Not to mention some people without shy Quirks will begin to feel left out as everyone around them is using a Quirk while they can''t, the same problem some people have now with the Quirk License system. The alternative would be making only the harmless Quirks legal to use, but that''s just another form of discrimination for things that people cannot control. Discrimination and envy will lead to resentment...and that''s how some of the worst and most horrific crimes happen. In this world, some Quirks are the equivalent of being born with a gun for a hand a few hundred years ago. Our society works as a superhuman society because everyone must assume unless they know otherwise, that if they''re in a room with strangers, at least one person was born with a gun for a hand, or some other dangerous Quirk. This subliminal fear and understanding keeps people in line, that''s why more people don''t go around using their Quirk. Viins tend to be people either stupid, desperate, or arrogant enough not to care about this unspoken rule." "So you''re saying a world with open and unrestricted Quirk use would devolve into chaos, and a world where only harmless Quirks are allowed to be used would build more viins?" "Exactly, the best way is the current system, where nobody but the Pro Heroes are allowed to use their Quirks. Therefore everyone has a path to get a Quirk License that they can choose to take." "But not everyone has a Quirk that can get them there," Chitose says. "True, but life isn''t fair. And at least this way they''re part of the 99% of the world that isn''t a Pro Hero and don''t feel as left out, even if I''m sure some of them will still try to be viins in some attempt to prove they don''t need a license. Atleast until an actual Pro Hero puts them in jail..." "I see, but what do you rmend we do to prepare for whatever the country will look like in twenty years?" "Well, you''ll have me here, so that handles a lot of major threats," Horizon says jokingly. "But the problem is that we''re saturated with useless Pro Heroes. Like Compass Kid...he literally points in cardinal directions, that''s his entire Quirk. Or Leaf Man...he throws leaves at people, and they aren''t even that sharp, if you can''t even stop a corner store robbery why are you even a Pro Hero? The 116 thousand Pros in Japan need to stay as is for now, but the license exams need to be improved. One thousand people passed at my venue alone, and everyone has six tries in their time at Hero Courses, or they can even be held back to try againter. I think they should only pass around 50 to 100 people for each exam, preferably 50. Making it morepetitive to weed out less valuable people. A morepetitive environment will force improvement. Right now Japan is rxed because we have All Might and that''s what''ll ruin us. Make the exams morepetitive as well as the actual environment outside it. Set a percentage of incidents resolved per region, and if Pro Heroes working in the area can''t do their part, kick them out. Do it gradually over time so you don''t have an influx of unemployable citizens but over ten years it should be done. Currently, a lot of Pro Heroes deal with one incident per week because they patrol in the middle of nowhere out in the country and just ept a government sry every month. That behavior is only tolerated because All Might does so much work that his presence suppressed crime across the country. Currently, we can afford to have them cking off, but the world won''t always be peaceful. We need to crush those pathetic parasites before they get us killed..." "Wow, you''re clearly very...passionate, about this," Chitose says. "I don''t like people who do things like that, sitting on the sidelines and allowing others to do all the work but still getting a piece of the prize...I don''t believe in participation trophies. You either do the work or you get nothing." "Ipletely agree," she nods along. "But as a Quirk specialist, aren''t you concerned about what such a difficult environment will do to us as a species?" "What? I''m sorry I don''t understand the question." Chitose takes a deep breath, knowing exactly how much was on the line, how close she and the other executives came to death just so she''d be forced to ask this one question. "Quirks are said to be an evolutionary product of a gue centuries ago, humans adapted faster than ever before, leaping hundreds of years ahead in one generation. Because of this, some people are worried that we can''t actually keep up with that adaptation. Your Quirk Mastery Thesis has been publicly adopted by Hero Courses around the world and was even approved by the United Nations Quirk Research department. However, a popr theory was rejected by them a century ago and has be something of a dark rumor or myth, I was hoping as a Quirk Specialist I could get your opinion on it." "The Quirk Singrity Theory, right?" Horizon asks in a bored voice. "Yes, that''s the one..." "Well, that matter is quite simple. You''re worried that people will instinctively breed more powerful Quirks because of the suggestions I just made. And since the theory said this type of instinctual breeding will create Quirks that the human body can''t handle...those generations will eventually begin to, self-destruct, forck of a better term, Right?" "Precisely." "Well, contrary to what some fringe cultists and fanatics will have you believe, that theory is actually a pile of garbage." "Really?" "Entirely. Whoever wrote it was a pessimist with no faith in humanity as a biological lifeform, they clearly saw Quirks as a deific gift of some kind that was so far beyond us, and that adoration of Quirks lead to negligence of the obvious. We adapted to Quirks in one generation. Yes some of us are born with mutations that make it difficult to safely use our own Quirks, but mutations happen in every species. Only ten in every hundred million people have those, and it''s almost always because of a hereditary gene issue from a recent rtive like a grandparent who was Quirkless. As the generations keep going on there will be fewer Quirkless people. In my generation, less than 0.01% are Quirkless or born with such a mutation. Humans are annoyingly resilient, the earth wants us gone more than any other species, but we''re stubborn. Our bodies will naturally adapt along with Quirks, we won''t just suddenly start being born with Quirks we can''t handle, at least not on arge scale. There will only be a very rare few that have that issue. And I''m actually a perfect example of why this theory is garbage." "You? How so?" Chitose asks. "Think about it. Of all the people in this world, don''t you think if this theory was real the two people with Mystery ss Quirks, would be the first to die..." "Ah, that''s an excellent point, I hadn''t even considered that." "Assuming reproduction rates remain as they are and all the people with the absolute strongest Quirks only have kids with each other. If we ignore the side effects of inbreeding, I''ve already estimated it''ll take nearly 1300 years before the first person outside of a freak mutation, is naturally born with a Quirkparable to mine or Star and Stripe''s. Humanity will be fine." "Well, I''m sure many people will be happy to hear that," Chitose sounds genuinely relieved, especially since it would now be easier to get people into the Meta Liberation Army. "So, is it entirely impossible?" "In a world of superhumans nothing is impossible, especially when you consider that you''re talking to the guy that can warp around and divide reality." "That, was not the answer I wanted to hear, if I''m being honest." "You don''t have anything to worry about, the only way for a Quirk Singrity to ur would be if---" Horizon freezes. Then leans forward, clearly deep in thought. All the pieces came together in his mind. Something so far-fetched that he didn''t even consider it, especially since as far as he knows, he was the only person that can make it possible. Hepletely forgets about the cameras on them as all the puzzle piecese together... "The Nomus," Horizon says in a low voice. "I''m sorry but, what do you mean the Nomus?" He sits up and looks at her, "the Nomus are the key. We''ve been looking at them all wrong. The cops and heroes think that the League of Viins just wants to destroy all heroes, but that''s not a realistic n. They want control. Nomus aren''t weapons or abor force, at least not intentionally. That''s why no two are the same. They''re experiments, intentional and focused experiments. Because people think that the Quirk Singrity will make people strong enough to end the world, and the only way to make that theory into reality is...to force multiple foreign Quirks into one body." Chitose''s eyes opened wide, horrified that not only had he figured this all out so quickly, but that someone was actually attempting this insane n. "Can they pull that off?" "It''s not impossible, but I''ll never be stable unless---" Horizon considers what they''d need to do, then shakes his head. "No, they can''t do it. The best they''ll be able to do is make stronger Nomu." "So they n to make an invincible Nomu?" "No, Nomus are just failed trials...they n to weaponize the Quirk Singrity, they n to upgrade Shigaraki..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 95: (New Plans) Chapter 95: (New ns) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (30+ chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "What an unexpected oue..." All For One''s deep and shrill voice mutters quietly. He was sitting in his dark room atop therge andfortable chair, multiple life support devices plugged into him to help keep him stable. And off to the side was a screen ying the final moments of Horizon''s interview between himself and Chitose. The entire interview took just over an hour, but for the future demon lord of Japan, it gave enough answers for a lifetime. Standing beside All For One at the moment was Kurogiri, the most essential of all their Nomu, currently waiting patiently for anymand his master gives. "Call Ujiko," All For Onemands, and the screen hears his voice and obeys. "Master," Dr. Ujiko answers, his camera shut off so only his voice wasing through. "I assume you saw that interview doctor..." "Of course, and once again I must insist that we do away with those pathetic League Of Viin children. You only took control of the Paranormal Liberation Army weeks ago when this interview was announced, and look at how well they did with your instructions. Perfectly executed, they got all the answers we needed out of Horizon, without alerting him of any viin involvement." All For One sighs, once again having to deal with his friend being sick of sinking precious Nomu resources into Shigaraki''s little games. Kurogiri speaks up, "shall I transport Gigantomachi to terminate the League Of Viins master?" All For One shakes his head, slightly annoyed that he seems to be the only person interested in keeping Shigaraki around. "No Kurogiri, I still have use for Tomura Shigaraki." "Do you still intend to stick to your original n?" Ujiko asks. "No, we now have confirmation that the n is unnecessary. I no longer need any sessor, transferring my original Quirk into storage until Tomura is ready for it is pointless. And I certainly prefer using the superior original than the cloned version I would have had." "Then why do we need the brat if you don''t n to pass everything down to him?" "Because, my dear friend, I will live forever. But before that, I will use Tomura as an ace to wrench All Might''s heart, my greatest heinous act to spite him, and Nana Shimura. Until then we shall keep Tomura in the dark about the Meta Liberation Army, so long as they don''t sh we shall be fine." "I shall inform Tomura of this new rule," Kurogiri says. "Yes, now doctor, shall we discuss the exact contents of that interview? It seems Horizon is already lined up to the next Symbol Of Peace, I''d like to do something about that if possible, after I get healed." "Hmm, do you still believe he can heal you?" Ujiko asks. "The risk is quite immense, exposing yourself to someone so close to All Might, it could be detrimental." "Has he not proven his genius time and time again doctor?" "Well, he has. Although I still believe my Quirk Singrity theory is correct, I can admit there is much merit in his analysis. His mind is wasted as a hero, just imagine all the things he could do without those silly things like ''Human Rights'' and ''War Crimes'' limiting him, nonsense ideals only made to hinder the progress of science...he could be truly great standing beside us." "True. And he clearly has a deep understanding of Quirks and medicine. Not to mention his terrifying intellect and intuition, Aoyama was able to confirm many things, but listening to those many recordings of him talking in school is nothingpared to the way he so easily figured out our goals." "He''s a problem master." "No Ujiko, he''s the one and only solution. Because I now know that for certain he can heal me..." "Hmm, perhaps we should sacrifice the spy and have him ask for some sort of confirmation. The moment you make contact they will surely find him, so it makes no difference. Not to mention the risk involved in revealing yourself is too great, they''ll instantly be searching for you." "A problem if I followed our backup n. But now I shall retain my original Quirk, I have nothing to fear. But of course, this is assuming they''d ever find me. I have purposely kept crime low in this area since Horizon entered the scene. His omnipresence is quite problematic, I can''t afford to have him anywhere near me." "I see, and what exactly did he say that has you so sure that he can perform this operation?" "Because he said he can." "What?" "You still fail at understanding people Ujiko, Horizon is a being of arrogance and absolute certainty in himself. When asked if creating a perfected Nomu was possible, his exact words were, ''they can''t do it...'', so he must think that he can." "And with his track record, it wouldn''t be that far of a stretch. But rebuilding someone from the genes up, even with a century of practice I''m still working on the process." "Yes, but as brilliant as you are my friend, you aren''t Horizon. Do remember that he''s a living miracle doctor, you should try to have some faith..." "Sigh, alright, but only because this man is our only hope at fully healing you." "Thank you." "But that leaves an even bigger problem now," Dr. Ujiko says. "Now we know he can heal you, how do we make an appointment?" "Hmm," All For One falls deep into thought, considering his hundreds of contacts in and out of Japan that had enough leverage to make most people in the world do whatever he wants. But none of them could affect people like Nezu or Horizon. They were the kind of individuals that nations would have gone to war for just centuries ago, they cannot be pressured by political or financial means. And he knew physically threatening Horizon wouldn''t work, it would be the same as if he was threatened, and it would end very poorly. His usual offer in cases like this would be a Quirk. Giving someone a second Quirk, a minor one that wouldn''t overload their brain. That was enough to make most people do whatever he wants. ''His arrogance would see that as an insult, and we''d get into a pointless fight...'' "We need leverage," All For One says. "Aoyama reported that Horizon has no family, and from what he said during the interview I detected no lies." "ssmates?" Ujiko asks. "He doesn''t particrly care about them." "What about Principal Nezu? With an army of Nomus, Gigantomachia, yourself, and Kurogiri, it''s possible." "But unlikely, not to mention holding a hostage doesn''t work with Horizon. I believe the best n is to wait. One of my friends in the Hero Public Safety Commission gave me some interesting information and I''m trying to make certain connections. But it will be a week or more before any answers are found." "That would leave two weeks before he heads to the training camp to meet up with his ssmates, a perfect ce for an ambush." "Not an ambush doctor, just a chat. I have nothing to gain from fighting him, but everything to gain from bringing him to our side." "I see, Shakedown is almost ready for such an encounter, either way, that is, it should be ready in ten days." "Good, but I''d like to have as much information as possible before going into a potentially dangerous situation, at least now that I''m not as powerful as I once was, how about we provide a little exercise to Horizon..." "Hmm, what do you suggest?" Ujiko asks. "Let''s just send a few demolition squads of Nomu into Tokyo and see how he does. Such an intense situation should force him to show more of his cards." "Standard Nomu?" "Mmm, no, I think it''s about time he had a rematch with the Brainless, let''s see exactly how much stronger he has be since the USJ..." "This should provide useful information," Ujiko says. "Kurogiri, warp all the Nomu fromb 17 into Shibuya, I''m sending them amand to destroy everything and kill everyone..." "Understood," Kurogiri says before expanding his Warp Gate and leaving the room... While these ns were being made, just above the Shoowaysha publishing building, standing on his hoverboard 100 meters above the city, was Horizon. Currently, he was apparently looking out at the massive Tokyo area, the skyline expanding beyond the reach of his vision, brightly lit to the point where he couldn''t see any stars in the night sky. But an important conversation was taking ce in his visor at the moment. "And you''re sure about this?" Nezu asks from the other side of the call. "Of course," Horizon says. "Cloning takes a lot of power and requires these preservatives and chemicals in bulk, track those shipments and you''ll be one step closer to finding the Nomu production facility." "Hmm, alright, I''ll forward this to the police, but how did you figure out that they were cloning." "How else would they have so many copies of Super Regeneration? It''s a one in 300 million Quirk but they''ve had multiple Nomu with it, seems fishy. Not to mention at the rate they''re burning through gic material it makes sense to invest in cloning. Cloning sentient beings is against humanitarianw, but clearly they don''t care about thosews. And since only around 5% of Quirks can be used offensively in any useful capacity they can''t just destroy every useful Quirk when a Nomu dies, they need spares." "Curate as many useful Quirks as possible for when they operate on Shigaraki...how terrifying." "Pretty much." "But I must ask, what if a person was born with multiple Quirks? Would all of this be necessary?" "What? That''s a weird question," Horizon says. "I''m simply curious." "Ok, well...if you were born with multiple Quirks your body would have a safeguard so all of this wouldn''t be necessary, not at all. You''d just exist like that and be fine," Horizon shrugs. "But it''s not like that''s possible. The way Quirks work there can''t be one person with multiple Quirks." "What do you mean?" "The best way to describe it is like this, Quirks aren''t attachments onto a person, they''re part of a person. It''s like adding a scope to a gun, the scope is the Quirk. Then you add aser sight, in a sense that''s another Quirk. But the entire thing, the entire person is still one weapon, with appropriate attachments. That''s why it all works together. So suddenly instead of a scope and aser sight, the Quirk is just ''attachments'' or something like that." "Like Todoroki?" "Exactly. If he was a Nomu he''d have Endeavor''s Hellme Quirk, and his mom''s ice Quirk. But since he was born like that his gic structure made it into one Quirk, half-hot half-cold. Compared to that, Nomu is like the gun but instead of proper connectors you use tape to hold it all together, that''s why they aren''t fully stable, because the tape is always falling apart. A person cannot be born with multiple Quirks, because when you''re being made from the genes up they''ll be treated as one Quirk, even if you have multiple abilities." "I suppose we''ve grown so ustomed to Quirks that we identify abilities as Quirks rather than the Quirks themselves," Nezu says. "Yeah, that''s why Shoto''s Quirk name is so stupid, Endeavor was clearly thinking of it as his Quirk and his wife''s being in one body, but it''s an entirely new Quirk..." "I suppose I should add this to your Quirk Specialist data, along with your breakdown of the Nomu structure." "Yeah, that''ll----" BOOM! A loud explosion rattles the area, reaching all the way to Horizon from nearly 20km away. "What was that?!" Nezu''s panicked voice asks. "Check the news, I''ll call you backter---" Horizon hangs up and begins racing into the city on his hoverboard, moving 100km/h. Toward a massive skyscraper that was on it was down, about to tten the streets around it that were already on fire... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 96: (King Of The Hill) Chapter 96: (King Of The Hill) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (30+ chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "Oh, you''ve got to be kidding me..." Horizon mutters, the image of a city on fire reflected on his visor. Flying above everything on his hoverboard he sees dozens of pale green or blue Nomus running rampant, attacking anyone they can find and already engaged with a few Pro Heroes. He could also see a few news helicopters and drones flying about. At the epicenter of the attack is a massive skyscraper, 200m -650ft- tall, the upper fifty stories currently tilting over as it threatens to tten the surrounding buildings, the bottom ten floors already an inferno burning away at the supports. ROOM Horizon creates a ROOM 2km wide, as always with him in the middle, still hovering high above the city. "Shambles," he swaps out Nomu by the pairs for rumble close to the epicenter of the attack. Second by second he pulls them away from scared and panicking fleeing civilians and brings them back to the middle of the battlefield. "Now I need to get people out of here," he draws his sword and turns his board, facing away from the hoard of Nomu that the Pro Heroes were currently trying and failing to take down. "There, a deserted area," Horizon points the tip of his de at a faraway building, located at a massive intersection that was already empty. "Amputate!" he casually swings out, shing one of the ten-story buildings diagonally. The building is immediately shed, and the weight is enough to make it slide down to the streets below and shatter. "That''s enough rubble, now I can get these people out of here," he holds his sword to the side and focuses. "Find all the people close to the danger, then...Shambles, shambles, shambles, shambles..." dozens of times he repeats. He''s absolutely sure to narrate, because his visor was recording, and he wants everyone to know exactly how capable he is. As he''s almost finished evacuating the unfortunate people that got stuck on the battlefield Horizon feels a sudden annoyance behind him, "seriously..." he looks down and sees a flying pale blue Nomu with bird wings ascending toward him. Looking past it he sees groups of up to ten Pro Heroes unable to even take down one Nomu at a time, thankfully more were arriving by the second. "They can''t even stall these things for me to warp the civilians out of here...Shambles," he swaps ces with the Nomu in mid-air as it swings at him with massive talons. Suddenly appearing behind it he turns in ce and shes its back, "Incision," he smoothly cleaves through the wings and bisects the Nomu, leaving it to fall to the streets below in two dead pieces. "Ok, back to work," he shrugs off the minor annoyance, and returns his focus to warping everyone away. Less than a minuteter all the civilians are safely at the edge of the battlefield, and Horizon finally gets to turn his attention to the Nomu below. BOOM! The lower section of the leaning skyscraper suddenly explodes a gas line meets the mes. Horizon now finds himself looking up as the building begins falling directly toward him. "Yeah, of course that would happen..." he says in an annoyed voice. Then closes his ROOM and flies toward the exact middle of the building. Putting his sword away he extends both hands forward as if he could catch the building with them. ROOM! 1km wide with him in the middle, his ROOM forms. "Takt!" he makes a physical pushing motion with his hands, because he needs absolute focus on this. Suddenly he''s feeling his mind strain to stop the falling momentum of the entire building. His room shrinks to 900 meters. Then 800. Then 600. Then 300. And at just barely 250 meters, the building stops falling, almost entirely horizontal to the floor it floats in the air. His Quirk used tomand the entire structure and everything within it to simply stop. Currently, his hands were directly above him -as if he were physically holding it over his head,- almost touching a ss window. Looking up he and his camera sees all the furniture and items within, floating in ce as if frozen in time. Chairs and desks and even pieces of paper andputers, all floating in ce instead of falling to the street below to cause more chaos in the fights. "Ok, that''s a first," he does his best not to let his exhaustion be obvious as he speaks. "How far away are you?" Horizon groans at the response he gets in his visor, his backup was minutes away at best, then turns to the city below, seeing almost every fight halted. Heroes were staring up at him in horror and shock, amazed that he caught a skyscraper and is holding it above them. And around them all the Nomu are staring at him, their damaged minds taking a few moments to process the new orders, an attempt to test him, sent directly from All For One. ''Kill Horizon, the one with the sword and ss mask...'' All the Nomu either begin flying, taking massive super-strength-enhanced leaps, or wing at nearby buildings to climb them and reach Horizon. A few even begin throwing objects. "Crap," Horizon uses his hoverboard and flies down, ready to join the battle. Descending to the streets he faces a bat-winged thin Nomu head on, and points his sword forward. "Injection shot!" heunches three bullet that destroy everything from the brain to the exit point in the back of the monster. "Nope, can''t do much of that," he says, feeling the strain on his energy nearly shrink his room even more. At this point, it was barely encircling the building and surrounding street. "They want me to drop the building, let''s take ''em down quick!" Horizon yells out to the other heroes as he reaches the street level, snapping them out of their daze and back to their senses. As the fight begins Horizon hops off the hoverboard and puts his boots on the ground. Partly because he didn''t want to give the Nomu any incentive to fly about, that way all the heroes could actually affect them. But mostly because he didn''t want his hoverboard to break since at the moment he can''t risk using his more energy-intensive abilities, Shambles, Amputate, and Booster Shot. Horizon shes through yet another Nomu before leaping backward, dodging a bodym from an obese grey Nomu. "Seriously?" He rushes forward and pierces its head, before cleaving down and cutting it in two, "Incision." He looks around to see all the random heroes struggling with these weak Nomu and gives an annoyed growl. "Damn paper heroes..." Heunches into a killing spree, shing apart Nomu as fast as he could, growing more and more annoyed by theck of support most of these Pro Heroes offered. Eventually, however, Horizon began getting winded. Slowing down, moving about the battlefield less. Pausing more between kills. "What the hell is taking them so long..." he mutters under his breath, seeing a few more Nomu charging at him only to get dogpiled by some nearby Pro Heroes. "Damn it," Horizon rushes forward as they get knocked back, "if I could just drop this building I''d be fine," he kills one Nomu, splitting it down the middle with his de, but his sword got stuck halfway through its tough body. Its kic absorption Quirk ate away at the energy in his sh, leaving it somewhat stuck in the corpse. Horizon takes a step back, dodging an extended spearlike tongue from another Nomu. Turning to look at it for a moment he reaches forward and grabs his sword, then hurls it at the new attacker, impaling its brain and killing it. Pivoting on his heel he spins andnds a strong right fist against the skull of another Nomu, staggering it slightly as its thin andnky frame is pushed back, Normally he''d use Booster Shot to enhance his strength and do much more damage, but that takes too much energy. As it stumbles back arge and burly Pro Hero tackles it away from him and drags it to the floor, immediately joined by two other Pros to pin it down. Taking a few quick steps away Horizon retrieves his sword and sprints over to them, executing the Nomu they''d been holding down. Then he takes a step back, hearing the constant fighting all around, seeing buildings crumbling each minute, but out of his ROOM, out of his influence, he was stuck in this zone, with the remaining Nomu that were alling after him. His exhaustion begins showing as he takes a few breaths, leaving the Pros to stall for a moment. One of the men approaches him, a look of fear and panic on his face. ''Pathetic,'' was Horizon''s only thought, someone that''s expected to be a Pro Hero showing weakness this easily. But this was the natural response on a bloody battlefield, filled with destruction and corpses from both sides. "Do we have a n?!" The man asks, and Horizon just sighs. "If they take me out that building falls, then the subway below us copses, a lot of gas lines go boom and this city starts burning...even more. They clearly know that so just keep using me as bait, I''ve already evacuated most of the people from inside buildings, focus on the fight," Horizon says, "just stay close to me, and we''ll win." The man''s expression shifts from fear, to one of relief, then confidence, "right...right!" Horizon nods and walks back into the fight... After just another two minutes of fighting, with Horizon being one of the few people present who can handle the Nomu with physical Quirks, he''s already on hisst leg. To the news drones above he still appeared strong and confident, but the people present could feel it, he was slowing down, even more, they now had to stall the Nomu for much longer before he moved on to the next. BOOM! A nearby building outside his ROOM explodes into rubble as a handful of corpses, formerly Pro Heroes enter his room and stter across the floor. And a secondter, Brainless, the USJ Nomu itself appears on the battlefield. ''I really don''t have the energy to deal with this thing right now...and this room is too small to y cat and mouse...'' Horizon subtly gives amand to his visor which calls his hoverboard back to him. Most of the volume of this ROOM was in mid-air, with only the very edge of it being at ground level since it was made at the middle of the building in the air, leaving that as the epicenter. "Blind him," he orders the nearby Pro Heroes, and they obey like the sheep they are. Immediately throwing any attacks or devices they have at the USJ Nomu, causing it to freeze as its sense of sight was gone. In these few seconds Horizon hops on his hoverboard and takes to the sky, ''all I have to do is stay in this ROOM so it doesn''t close, this building falls and the chain reaction of gas lines and the copsed subway tunnels below us will cause a lot more damage than these useless fucks dying...'' As the smoke and dust clears, the USJ Nomu is still standing there, then it immediately looks up and locks onto Horizon. The Nomu immediately jumps, cratering the road at its feet and knocking all the nearby Pros and Nomu away by the sheer shockwave caused by the explosive burst of energy. Seeing iting Horizon stands confidently on his overboard, arms folded across his chest as it rockets toward him. And almost at the veryst moment... "FLASHFIRE FIST!---" Endeavor ms into the side of the Nomu like a fiery meteor, the sheer heat from his presence causes Horizon to instinctively fly away from him as he carries it off to the side, out from under the building. Horizon felt his skin begin to sear and pop, even beneath all the measures to deal with standard environmental heat and cold, standing beside a worked-up Burnin was a mild annoyance. But being within 15 meters of a worked-up Endeavor nearly made his blood begin boiling. Endeavor takes Nomu just far enough away, then spins and throws him directly up into the air. All the while Nomu never once takes its eyes off Horizon, who was still standing on his hoverboard in the same pose, trying not to give the impression that his skin felt like it was in a microwave. As Nomu begins falling back down, all the mes around Endeavor that aren''t on his feet to keep him airborne gather into this right hand, and he punches directly up at the Nomu. "---JET BURN!" A pir of intense orange mes fires out of his fist,pletely engulfing the Nomu. Looking up Endeavor sees Nomu still falling toward him, super-regeneration fighting against the inferno, in only a few seconds it would be wing at his face. ''This is that monster that attacked UA...built to kill All Might, a perfect counter to Power Types. Too strong for me to physically match, I can''t let it get to the floor where it has leverage...but I''ve got the most firepower of all me users. I am its ultimate counter...'' He grits his teeth and raises his temperature, even more, feeling his arm begin to burn and his skin starts drying out, a hint of fever begins creeping across him as his bodily functions begin to deteriorate as he starts overheating. "They tried to kill All Might...with something this weak!" The entire attack bes a bright blue me for barely a second,pletely incineration the Nomu, leaving only charred carbonized husk to fall to the street below. Endeavor turns around to see Horizon hovering a few dozen meters away, then nces down at his ming Sidekicks already dealing with the Nomu below, arriving seconds after him since they were much closer when this attack happened. Compared to them, he was twice as far away, he had to fly all the way from his agency after the police called him. Hovering over to Horizon he looks up at the floating building, but puts the sense of wonder to the back of his mind and focuses. "Will you be alright to keep this thing up while we deal with them?" "Yeah, I can do this all day...but still, make it quick..." Endeavor immediately cuts off the mes on his feet and drops down, catching himself closer to the ground and joining the fight, which would now be over soon thanks to his involvement. Horizon sighs in relief, "finally some backup arrives..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 97: (Public Opinion) Chapter 97: (Public Opinion) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (30+ chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! "Ugh..." Law groans as he rolls over in bed, immediately grabbing his phone and pulling it under the covers to shut off his rm. Forcing his eyes open he sits up in bed and looks to his left, seeing the sun rising over the horizon. Stretching his arms out he yawns, still feeling exhausted from the Nomu attack yesterday, "ok, gotta take it easy on the hero crap today..." he mutters while getting out of bed. Almost an hourter, after a quick shower Law is sitting in his living room with hisptop on the coffee table, eating a meal bar and scrolling through his phone. In this high-end and modern penthouse located in the middle of Minato Tokyo, almost everything was grey, white, or ck, simple with sharp angles, andpletely spotless. Sitting on the white coffee table was hisptop, and connected to it was his visor, currently transferring all the footage from thest 24 hours into theptop. Beside it was the metal box he''d gotten from Mei a while ago, currently open to reveal a set of visors, 5 in total, and an empty slot for the currently active one. All are folded down to be easily transported. Across from him was a massive tv built into the wall currently ying the morning news, HNN, the Hero News Network, was coveringst night''s attack and giving people a rundown of exactly what happened and the death toll. They were still pulling bodies out of the rubble or dering people as lost and missing, likely taken back to the league by Kurogiri. Law takes a sip of water and finishes his meal bar as the video transfer isplete, and immediately begins cutting the video to upload it. Isting all the footage from the beginning to the end of each incident is all the editing he does, simply finding where it began and where it ended. Any more cuts than that would cause people to potentially be suspicious of what he''s hiding. And people being skeptical or not trusting him would defeat the entire purpose of him making these video uploads. "Finally," Law uploads the video and just sits back, waiting for all the views andments to flood in from his 95 million followers. After defeating stain he''d gotten a small boost, with some people even calling him ''true hero'' so much that it began trending online, much to his annoyance. But he certainly wouldn''t stop them from spreading his name and praising it. After a few minutes, as expected, his phone begins ringing. Law just puts it on speaker atop the table andys down t on the couch to take a small nap. "Yeah, you saw the video?" he asks without even looking at the caller ID. "Not exactly what I expected," Nezu''s voice responds through the phone. "What do you mean?" "Well, the news drones only got close enough to see bits and pieces of the chaos, since Nomu would attack them. But on the screen, it looked as if the building got stuck somehow...the Pro Heroes reported that you caught it. But, as any reasonable person would, I didn''t fully understand what they meant by ''Horizon caught the building...'' I didn''t know you could do that." "What do you mean? You know I have Takt." "Yes, but moving some rocks and moving 215 thousand tons is an entirely different story." "It''s just a bigger rock," Law says casually, then yawns. "Honestly none of you people that can be rank #1 Pro Heroes are normal...are you still tired?" "Woke up too damn early." "Understandable after the night you had, so did you need any special circumstances to hold a skyscraper in mid-air?" "Nope." "So you really can just, do that, whenever you want, really?" "Yup." Nezu sighs, "can you at least see why this makes some people nervous..." "Viins yeah, figured the general public would be ted to see it. Don''t they worship king meathead because of how hard he punches, it''s basically the same thing." "Normally yes, but it''s very clear to them that you have a mean streak in you, and it seems aimed at other heroes more often than not. Your public approval rating plummeted after your interview, paired with this video proving the reports to be urate, people are going to be nervous." Law gets slightly annoyed by that, "seriously? After all the people I savedst night, they''re still unhappy? What did I even say in the interview that got them mad?" "You mentioned All Might''s retirement," Nezu says bluntly. "So? Do they really expect him to fight forever? I at least told them 10 years, but we both know he''ll be lucky to live 4 more years." "A single person can understand that, but collectively as a society, people are scared to hear things like that and will react poorly. Many of them have never known a world without him and don''t want to imagine that. Your projected approval rating rose up to #11 after the sports festival from #37 because you defeated Stain and posted that video. Plus he called you a ''true hero'' so some people take that seriously. But now it sank from #11 all the way down to #53 because you mentioned All Might retiring. Not to mention a lot of Pro Heroes hate you because you essentially called them useless and demanded the Hero Public Safety Commission fire them." "Because they are useless and should be fired." Nezu sighs, "if you must know, the few Pro Heroes you mentioned have been constantly harassed online for the past few hours and even had people arrive at their homesst night demanding they retire. Your words have actions." "And so do their bad choices, heroes are basically celebrities and cops rolled into one, they signed up for this." "Nobody wants to have their life ruined by a few words from an interview," Nezu says. "If it can be ruined that easy then it wasn''t much of a life anyway. Besides, there will be growing pains...assuming you people even want to prepare for a world without All Might. So the public is a bunch of pussies that can''t handle the real world...no surprise there. How''d you even get these stats anyway? I thought only fully licensed Pro Heroes have an approval metric..." "I made a system to predict at what rank a Pro would debut at for themission a few decades ago, this way they notice talent early so other countries aren''t the first to make offers." "I guess that makes sense, so I''ve gotta get to #1 on it and I''ll be that much closer to my end goal, seems simple enough." "Much easier said than done." "Well of 115 thousand people I''m in the top 100, so what''s the top spotpared to that." "Ahh, speaking of our hero-saturated society, Pantu asked me toe up with a more intense numeric system to give out Provisional Licenses." "Taking my advice on going for quality instead of quantity?" "It at least appears that way. Your ssmates have only done one week of training thus far, I hope over the next seven they can reach a point where the License Exams won''t be impossible." "How tough is themission gonna make them?" "A one percent pass rate." "That would mean...for the average exam around fifty people pass." "Extremely difficult," Nezu says. "Yeah but if you start taking the exams in the first year that gives you six tries, if you can''t pass in that many chances then it''s time to pack your shit and leave. And that''s assuming you don''t get held back in the Hero Course so you have even more tries." "Yes but some people also get in trouble after getting the Provisional License. If you''ve been found viting anyw it can be renounced or suspended, or in extreme cases, you''d simply be expelled and cklisted. If it''s renounced you''d have to retake the exam to get a new one which would restart the entire 3-year trial period. But usually, people get into trouble because they begin selling merchandise and marketing themselves as a Pro, which is illegal without a full license. We''ve almost had a few cases of that in the past here at UA, it''s usually treated as a minor mistake and only given a 3-month suspension." "Yeah, but I work around that particr issue since I''m not marketing myself as a Hero, just as myself. Since ''Horizon'' is on my ID and birth certificate it''s more like I''m just a regr celebrity that branded myself to be my own product... an easy workaround for me. And this way I don''t have to wait three years before I get to start building my career. I mean the new rookie heroes climbing the ranks are Mt. Lady and Kamui Woods, they''re in their mid andte twenties. I''m more popr than them already because I don''t have to get a Provisional License, then wait 3 years to be a full Pro Hero, then start marketing myself properly, then make my own agency to get out of someone else''s shadow. I just kinda skipped the big time-wasting parts of the process..." "And used the Sports Festival as arge fancy advertisement," Nezu says. "Isn''t that what it''s for?" "Yes, but most people can''t actually capitalize on that use. It''s normal for Pro Heroes to just get a look at potential sidekicks." "Yeah well, one more thing I''m better at than the current Pros, add it to the pile of reasons they don''t like me," Horizon says with a shrug. "It''s not all bad press for you at least," Nezu says. "What do you mean, people liked what I had to say?" "People all around the world overall think much more highly of you, it''s only Japan that felt slighted because of your views on All Might''s longevity. Across the world and especially in more rural areas that are much more conservative with views and traditions many people loved what you had to say. Especially regarding the hero-viinbels put on people for things they cannot control. Many Quirk eptance movements are seeing you as their own savior, and people have already been protesting the ''Heroes who look like they should be viins'' official listing. I suppose most Pro Heroes are just so busy or self-absorbed that they never really stop to think about the ugly side of society, although atrge people try to ignore the discrimination and hate certain Quirks can inspire in others." "Can''t hate people for things they can''t control, it should really bemon sense, but people are just too dumb for that..." "Very true." "Hey! I can say that because I''m human, but yeah..." he shares a smallugh with Nezu. They fall into afortable silence for a moment as the video he just uploaded begins ying on the news, he nces at his phone to see it''s already at a few million views. And the news anchor begins narrating everything that happens, causing Law to mute the tv. "Do you think we''ll be ready for it?" Nezu asks, his voice quieter and more concerned. Law sits up, looking at the phone slightly confused, "ready for what?" "A future without All Might, without our Symbol Of Peace...his presence alone suppresses crime in any country he''s in. I can''t imagine what will happen when he announces his sudden retirement." Law falls silent for a moment, understanding exactly how important this was for Nezu. He''s spent his entire life, ever since heroes rescued him from thatb, supporting and nurturing Hero Society. All he''d been working toward was a world at peace, and the closest he''s evere was Toshinori Yagi, All Might, and now that dream was slipping back into impossibility. Law sighs, "don''t worry Nezu, we''ll be alright, in a few years All Might can retire knowing everything will be taken care of, so long as I am here..." END CHAPTER--- A small reminder that 30+ chapters ahead are avable on pa.treon: Keanu_Eugene Chapter 98: (Criminal Adaptation) Chapter 98: (Criminal Adaptation) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (30+ chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- Flying above the buildings in Minato Tokyo, Horizon stands on his hoverboard and listens to music within his visor. Nodding along to the beat as he tilts slightly and shifts from flying above buildings to flying above roads. Reaching the edge of his Room he makes sure to get eyes onto the trailer truck he''s been following before closing his current Room and opening a new one, then he drifts back over the buildings and out of the line of sight for the truck. "People rarely look up, but better to be safe than sorry, especially when I can sense them anyway. An entire week following these annoying leads...time for me to cash in," he mutters to himself as he continues following the truck around. A minuteter as he''s still following the truck, he gets a call from Nezu. "Shouldn''t you be asleep by now?" Horizon asks. "I was about to get some rest, but I just found this interesting article about you..." "Well I stopped a runaway car yesterday, but it''s been a slow week." "Not ''you'', I meant Law Matani." "Huh, but I haven''t even done anything." "Then why is there a picture of a certaindy leaving your apartment this morning?" "The purse designerdy, what about her?" "It''s a bit of a scandal...seeing as she''s married to someone slightly famous." "Shit," Horizon sighs. "Didn''t know she was married. Is this gonna be annoying?" "I doubt it, he''s just a baseball yer, he can''t cause someone at your level any problems, and nobody is foolish enough to challenge the Matani Estate---" "But this puts me in the public eye, and now people will actually know about the Matani Estate, fuck." "Exactly, I assume you already had a n for this?" "Yeah, most of the things I buy retain their original names and are controlled by subsidiary asset managementpanies, which are all owned by my anonymous Swiss Vault ount, it''s all airtight." "Good, I just called to give you a bit of a warning, if you keep going like this the quiet life of Law Matani will be very loud very quickly." "I''ll be more careful in the future." "d to hear it." Nezu hangs up and Horizon just grumbles to himself, "of course it''d be my dick that gets me into trouble...I''ll just have toy low until people forget. Some hero will do something and nobody will even remember Law Matani...like take down a big drug operation in the same city." Horizon sees the truck pull into the port at the edge of Minato Tokyo. As it drives between all the stacks of shipping containers Horizonnds on a tall crane that didn''t have any lights on it, allowing himself to staypletely hidden. He hops off the hoverboard, leaving it parked and hovering in ce as he walks to the edge of the crane. Crouching down he reaches behind his back. Contrary to the appearance of his Hero Costume, Horizon actually had a few items strapped to the back of his belt, concealed by his flowing jacket draped across his shoulders. Mainly were a few beads which expand when crushed into a cast, big enough to incase a limb. Too weak to act as a capture tool but good for a doctor to have. A small medical pack, with only a scalpel, morphine, needle and thread, bandages, and alcohol for cleaning wounds. And the item he pulls out, a small digital scope. As he takes it out and powers it up the sight is disyed inside his visor, making it so he doesn''t have to lift it to his face, simply using it like a camera. Zooming in he sees the driver and passenger, two in-looking tall men open the back of the truck, and one door to the warehouse opens. Four more mene out and begin helping them move crates, nd and unmarked, each as big as a backpack, adding them to the rows already neatly packed into the shipping warehouse. He senses another 12 men scattered about, all carrying rifles, aside from the drivers who had concealed pistols. ''Time to get some probable cause,'' he thinks, zooming in on the crate itself. TAKT! He focuses his energy on the crate and causes it to slip out of the man''s hand, falling on its side and causing the top to pop open, exposing the pale green liquid, packed in small ss vials. ''Gotcha,'' Horizon then zooms in on each of them men, inputting their faces for his facial recognition system to sort through. Yet another upgrade which was suggested by Mei. It''s not as instant as what''d you''d find inside a police station, but it can eventually get the job done. Using his Hero Network ess from his phone to gain ess to the criminal database. "Shambles," he warps into the back of the dim warehouse. Still feeling all the men at the front loading boxes he carefully and quietly opens the top of one crate, getting an up-close look. Rows upon rows of neatly and securely packed vials of drugs. "Trigger," Horizon mutters to himself, mostly for his camera and mic to pick up his narration. "Imported from Eastern Europe and sent to Japan. Thetest highly addictive Quirk enhancement drug. And since this warehouse is on the dock and a truck just came from ind to add to this cache, I''m betting all of this is shipping to south America. Otherwise, they would have just gone from Eastern Europe and used the New York port. A lot of people are gonna die if viins get a supply this big...18 men, all armed. 16 with assault rifles, and two with pistols." Horizon takes out his phone and does a few simple searches, using his authority via the Hero Network to get the information he needed. "The dock opens in two hours and the ship beside this warehouse is scheduled to depart in three...I need to deal with this now." The sound of metal nging as the warehouse doors close echoes about, and the few lights inside the warehouse go out. "Huh,plete darkness, that''s useful. A bright white three-piece suit really isn''t good for stealth anyway," he chuckles lightly Horizon send a quick alert to the police, receiving confirmation that they''d be arriving after gathering some backup. Horizon sees his facial recognition system finally get one hit, the driver was the only one with a criminal record. "Aggravated Assault, Quirk: Contortionist...his entire body is double jointed...well that''s something." Focusing on the man Horizon waits a few minutes until he strays away from the others, then. "Shambles," Horizon swaps the man with a card and immediately grabs his throat with one hand and his arms with the other, choking out the man as he struggles beneath Horizon''s greatly improved physical strength. "Shambles," Horizon recalls the card to him before anyone stumbles upon it, as the man finally goes unconscious. "It''s Horizon! He warped someone!" Horizon hears from the man''s radio. But he doesn''t sense that anyone even noticed this man was gone, and they were all scrambling to get to each other at the front of the warehouse. "How the hell..." Horizon throws the unconscious man over his shoulder and warps back to the top of the crane, then recalls the card he swapped with to get up there. He notices the remaining 17 men all taking up a strange formation, obviously trying to keep eyes on each other. ''How the hell did they even know I was here...'' he wonders, watching them all gather. Using the scope he can see a few of them visibly shaking at the idea of being hunted by him. ''Street thugs paid to do the boring job of guarding a warehouse nobody was supposed to know about, and now they have to fight a god...yeah, I''d be shaking too.'' "You there man? Where are you?" Horizon hears through the unconscious man''s radio, shrugs, and picks it up. He keeps an eye on the men while speaking, "so, how did you know I was here?" He sees all the men stiffen, looking at each other nervously as they realize how real this situation was. "We aren''t talking to you!" The presumed leader yells into the radio. "You just did, but hey if you tell me I''ll take it easy on you, or you could surrender now and save us all the hassle..." "Why don''t youe down here so I can put a bullet in yo ARGH!---" the man drops to the floor as two hits of Injection Shot tear through his thighs, muscle and bone obliterated with ease. All the other men begin frantically looking around, wanting to help their ally but forced to leave him reeling in pain as they try to cover each other. "So, anyone else?" "Ok, I''ll talk!" One of the men drops their gun,pletely terrified, and raises his hands to the sky in surrender. "Perfect, so, start talking," Horizon says through the radio. One of the other guards doesn''t like this and raises his weapon at the traitor, "you fucking rat ba AHHH!" Injection Shot tears through his arms and legs in rapid session. "Oh god," the other men drop their weapons and raise their hands to the sky. "Please don''t hurt us!" "Start talking, how''d you know I was here?" "It''s the watch," the first man who surrendered says. "They''re new, a lot of people are selling things that they say can help defend against you, most of em are trash scams but our watches alert everyone connected if we skip distance!" "Hmm, let''s test it, Shambles," Horizon swaps one of the men for a gun they threw a few meters away. The watch at his feet and on all their hands start beeping immediately. "Ugh, this shit is gonna be annoying, but I can adapt too," he says to himself, then opens the radio connection. "Anyway, just stay like that until the copse, if any of you move, you''ll join your friends on the floor, I''m watching you..." Horizon calls the police to alert them of the new situation, and not even 20 minutester a horde of squad cars and armored trucks arrive to cart off these men to prison. Individuals who don''t pose a threat to society on arge scale are reserved for Tartarus, these small-time criminals would simply go to a regr prison, or plead ignorant of what they were guarding and only get an illegal firearm possession charge. The maximum charge for that alone, 15 years. Since they didn''t use their Quirks that will help their case a significant amount. Now they just had to get their story straight and pretend they didn''t know what they were protecting or moving. ''Assuming they''re smart enough to do that,'' Horizon thinks as he sees the truck with the men driving away. Now only the lieutenant in charge of this case and the evidence squads were on the scene with him. "You know you really should have waited for backup," the leading officer says, looking up at Horizon. "Sorry I didn''t want to risk them changing the situation further, but luckily I got them all to surrender peacefully." "Not surprising, it''s you," the officer says. "Any advice for the doctors on how to deal with...whatever you did to those guys?" "Treat it like they got shot with regr bullets that tore right through them, do you have any info on this?" Horizon says while handing the cop the watch. "Hmm," the man looks at it for a few seconds then recognizes it. "Yeah, big-time criminal organizations have been showing up with these, but only for the top lieutenants, or I guess in this case when they''re guarding twenty million in drugs." "Apparently it''s for warping." The man gives Horizon a confused look, "what? these let them warp?" "No, it''s to alert the connected watches that someone warped you. Best guess, it uses precise real-time GPS, if you suddenly skip over a few meters it alerts everyone." "Hmm," the man taps his chin a few times. "One of those Anti-Horizon devices we''ve seen selling for a fortune on the ck market..." "There are more, what are they?" "Well, a Horizon-repent tear gas?" "Annoying...but I mean who doesn''t that crap annoy?" "True. Big rubber pads that absorb your shes?" "That''s stupid." "A special ring that makes it difficult for you to sense and warp people?" "That...people are actually stupid enough to buy that?" "We''ve caught about 200 people across the country with it on," the cop gives a disappointed sigh. "Idiots, even if any of this crap did work, wouldn''t stop me from warping toward you instead..." "Oh yeah, good point. But yeah thest main one is the most expensive, Welding." "Welding?" Horizon asks. "Yeah, the League of Viins is spreading misinformation that you can''t warp things that are molecrly bonded to other things, like if two things are welded together you can''t just move one piece." "Ok, so they have welders?" "The Weld Quirk, they''ve apparently got like a dozen small Nomu that people can rent to weld their products down so you can''t warp it away, it''s stupid but people actually believe it since the League Of Viins has a pretty good reputation right now." ''Hmm, Awase from 1B has that quirk, and whoever in Tartarus used it to weld my parents to the prison so I can''t warp them out. Shigaraki has a brain after all, not that it takes much to figure something like this out, but still annoying...'' "Yeah that''s ridiculous," Horizon says, ying off the idea as another failure. "Anyway since we''re just about done here I should get back to patrol. I just didn''t want these drugs in my part of Tokyo..." "Yeah, thanks for stopping these guys. Um, can I maybe get a picture with you?" the cop asks nervously. "My kids would love it." "Sure thing, I''m always happy to help the cops any way I can. Heroes can throw punches but beyond that, we can''t do much, so honestly, just between us, I think you guys are the real heroes..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 99: (Roadside Assist) Chapter 99: (Roadside Assist) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (30+ chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- ---6 Am... Driving on the highway between Musutafu where UA is and Tokyo, Law is sittingfortably in the front seat of his new Rolls Royce Suv, bought yesterday simply out of necessity. There was hardly any traffic, at least not on his side. The morning rush was always heading into Tokyo, fortunately, he was driving the other way, toward Musutafu. Taking a bite of his morning meal bar his head nods along to the soft music in his car, clearing his mind and trying to rx a bit after the past three weeks of none stop heroics. In the trunk was arge ck and yellow duffel bag. Within this was his case containing his Hero Costume, his box of new visors, his sword, and his hoverboard. Suddenly Law''s music cuts off as his car receives a call through his phone. "Answer," hemands, and the call connects. "How long until you get here?" Nezu asks through the phone. "Maybe ten minutes, I''m almost in Musutafu already." "Are you driving?" Nezu asks, sounding confused. "Yeah, what about it?" "You have a hoverboard as fast as anymercial ne, just fly between cities." "Yeah but I just bought this car and I''d like to have some fun with it, that''s all." "Ahh, sometimes I forget you''re still a child, and children like toys." Law rolls his eyes, "if that''s what you want to call my cars and jets and guns, sure." "What guns?" Nezu sounded concerned, "Law Matani doesn''t have a firearms license." "Rx, I keep em at home, I have a holographic range in my yard." "You keep illegal firearms in your home, you do realize how serious of an offense that is, right?" "How would anyone ever know?" "What if they hear you using them?" "I own everything for a kilometer around my house and there isn''t any other property or even a usable beach in that mountainside..." "What if someone hears you anyway?" "Ok...and what cop is ever going to execute a warrant to raid the Matani Estate, I didn''t donate 200 million to their pension and relief fund just because I like cops, they fuck with me and that money stops flowing. Plus, it also lets me actually use my cars and not have to worry about speeding tickets, Matani vehicles are untouchable." "That is such a gross misuse of the system," Nezu scoffs. "Says the dealmaker himself..." Nezu sighs, "ok, that''s fair. So, what car did you buy this time? That bike you were looking at?" "Rolls Royce SUV, I like nice andfortable things." "You bought that for personal use? I thought you only chartered the armor ones for public appearances." "Yeah well, normally I stick with the ''family car'', it was already a tight fight when I got it. But now I''m 195cm -6ft4- and 265lbs -120kg-, it''s a bit ufortable. Plus those things have like no trunk space, and my sword is like a whole other person. It''s like having Asuiying down stiff in my trunk..." "Odd choice of measurement, but ok, I see your point, but I can''t rte since I''m tiny and adorable." "ording to you." "Yes, ording to the smartest person on the," Nezu says, and Law rolls his eyes. "That still hasn''t once beat me in chess." "That''s a low blow, you know that''s unfair." "Whatever, anything else?" "I saw your big drug bust in the news, very impressive, although the video you posted showing how you dealt with the warehouse situation was very..." "What?" "Let''s just say, some of your assassination training was showing, it didn''t look very heroic." "It was effective, there wasn''t even a fight because of it." "Yes, but part of being a hero is inspiring people." "Ok, and I''m inspiring them to do clean and efficient work, but why are we even talking about this? Any updates on finding your spy?" Nezu groans, "I tore through our internal systems from top to bottom, the leak wasn''t digital." "So it''s a person." "A potentially unwilling or oblivious person, for all we know they could even be having their mind read whenever they leave campus." "Or they''re a filthy traitor and need to be put down," Law growls out. "Let''s not jump to conclusions, we need to be very careful of how we deal with this. I can''t even have anyone aside from All Might keeping an eye on how people are acting, if anyone knows we suspect a spy that could cause chaos or they''d simply hide their tracks better." "Just have me and Tsukauchi Polgraph everyone, it''ll just take an hour to hit the whole school." "Oh...you''re so willing to reveal that aspect of your Quirk now, you''ve kept that and Scan hidden so well until now." "I just really hate traitors." "Well, I''d prefer to find the spy without them knowing---" "To use them as bait and take down Shigaraki, smart, but what if something happens?" "That''s why we have you here, and we''ve taken extra precautions to inste the Summer Training Camp, the location isn''t even within our systems. And aside from you and the Pro Heroes nobody has any technology." "Unless they smuggled one," Law says. "Or made one, or has a Quirk that can send messages..." "You really suspect Yaoyorozu? Even with how fond of you she clearly is?" "I don''t suspect anyone particrly, not until we have more information, but it''s almost definitely a student." "Mhm, I came to the same conclusion, but none of their records show anything to indicate a connection to viins. Everyone at UA is a prodigy in what they do, and the background checks showed no criminal history from any of them or their parents." "That you know of," Law says. "But I''ve got dirt on someone, not that it proves anything here." "Anything I should know about?" "I don''t discuss former contracts." The line goes silent for a few seconds, and Nezu immediately puts it together. "Oh...she did contracts for the Yaoyorozus?" Nezu asks. "I can''t confirm anything, but how''d you get that idea." "None of your other ssmates could afford her, but the only high-profile death that benefits Momo''s parents was...her grandfather? Oh my god." "Well I wouldn''t know anything about that," Law lies, "But sometimes old people need a little nudge to give you your inheritance." "From the way she speaks she has no idea," Nezu says sadly. "Don''t know what you''re talking about... just focus on the spy problem, one mystery at a time." "Of course, and what abo---" BOOM! Law''s car literally jumps a few inches off the ground and ms back down, along with every other car on either side of the highway. Everyone ms the breaks and grinds to a halt. ---What''s going on?!" Nezu''s voice was suddenly worried. Law sighs, looking out his window to see Mt. Lady in her 20m -67ft- form, white and purple one-piece suit and mask on with one broken horn essory remaining on her head. She was currently fighting two Gigantified viins, each a head shorter than her, appearing to be twins of some sort, one red and one blue. Both arenky giants at 17m -55ft-. As they fight at the side of the road, tearing up the trees and dirt, Kamui woods swings into the fight andnds on the shoulder of his secret girlfriend -ever since the Sports Festival-, extending his hands out. "Lacquered Chain Prison!" Both his arms extend and grow into argework of tough branches. "Nothing to worry about," Law tells Nezu as he watches the fight. Looking forward he sees people actually getting out of their cars with their phones out to record the fight, ''great...and now I can''t go anywhere, fucking morons.'' Law looks back at the fight just in time to see the red viin drop down into a low stance, avoiding Kamui''s binding attack to kick Mt. Lady in the shin, causing her to tilt forward in pain. His presumed brother slips to the left andnds a solid left hook to the side of her head, rattling her brain, but impressively she only stumbles off to the side, clearly dazed. Kamui leaps off her shoulder and toward one of the viins, only to be snatched out of the air, the gigantified viin wraps both arms around him to suffocate him. "Great forest growth!" Kamui yells out, and suddenly a slew of branches begins growing and breaking through the gaps between the giant''s fingers. Connecting at the other side and locking his hands together. But Kamui also immobilized himself since he can''t detach from his wooden creations, they are his arms after all. "Mt. Lady!" Kamui screams out, snapping her out of her daze just in time to dodge a shoulder charge from the other viin. Stepping to the side she lowers her head and charges at him, before leaping up and mming into his side with a devastating dropkick. The crack of his ribs echoes for a hundred meters causing all the onlookers to wince in pain. All while the other viin was constantly mming his restrained hands into the forest floor, failing to break apart the wooden cuffs. Looking up from Kamui Woods stuck to his hands and over to his brother, he sees Mt. Lady m her shoulder into his gut after a devastating charge and pick him up, then m him into the ground. BOOM! All the cars jump an inch off the road and the quakes ripple out. Mt. Lady and the viin are suddenly in a wrestling match, trying to restrain each other, but exactly as Horizon warned Sato...wrestling doesn''t work in a street fight. The viin restrained by Kamui Woods breaks into a full sprint and leaps high into the air, aiming both his feet down at Mt. Lady''s head. "Mt. Lady!" Kamui yells out, still attached to the viin. She looks up just in time to see both feet only twenty meters above her face as the other viin tries to hold her still. "CURTAIN!" A blue dome forms just in front of her face, covering her entirely and catching the full weight of the dropkick without even cracking. Horizon had appeared on the scene, swapped for a piece of rubble in her hair, now standing atop her long blonde hair. One hand outstretches toward the sky and projecting thisrge Curtain from his palm. Seeing him the viin immediately leaps off the shield, turning around in mid-air andnding, breaking into a full sprint in the opposite direction, heading toward Mustutafu only one mile away, back where this chase began. "Seriously?" Horizon asks nobody in particr as his Curtain drops, then simply summons his sword to his hands and shes outward. "Amputate!" the gigantified man''s legs detach from the knees downward and his face smashes into the forest floor. He groans in pain the quicklyes to the horrific realization that his legs were missing. As one giant is panicking Horizon hops down to Mt. Lady''s shoulder and gets closer to the other. The man was still pinned by the woman andpletely frozen in fear, now face to face with Japan''s Mystery ss Monster. "So...you gonna surrender or do I need to cut you up too?" The man immediately shrinks down to his regr size, sheepishly nodding the entire time. As the other giant is panicking over his severed legs Mt. Lady just gives Horizon a cute pout. "We had that under control you know, you didn''t have toe in at thest moment like that to take the credit..." "If I thought you had it handled I wouldn''t have gotten involved," Horizon hops off her shoulder and summons his hoverboard under her feet, staying at level with her face. He gives the people on the highway a polite wave as the remaining viin shrinks down and surrenders to Kamui. "Thank you for the help Horizon," Kamui says as he approaches them and hops up onto her other shoulder, both the viins quickly restrained at regr sized by his wooden limbs. "Your assistance was greatly appreciated." "No problem, but hey, I''m kindate for something, so you don''t mind handling the paperwork on this, right? I''ll send a reportter..." "What?" Kamui asks, "but this was technically a Team-Up, we need to have abined re---" "Great. Thanks. See ya!" Horizon warps away, swapping for one of his cards before that too disappears. He arrives back into his car without anybody noticing, too busy taking pictures of the Pro Heroes. "He was a lot nicerst time we met him," Mt. Lady mutters as she shrinks back down. "Now he''s sticking us with most of the paperwork..." "We should be thankful he was here, that kick would have been very bad if it did connect," Kamui gestures to the two unconscious viins in his grasp. "Now let''s hand these two over to the police, how about we get some Dango then head home?" "That sounds great!" Her mood suddenly bes happy at the mention of food, especially when she''s not paying. "Let go!" she begins marching away. And Kamui can''t help but appreciate the little victorious strut she does, taking in her assets for a moment before catching up to her. ''We''ve been heroes for years and the public is only now recognizing us, but people like Horizon show up and suddenly we''re nobody again'' he thinks to himself, rather sadly, realizing his ambition of being in the top 5 is unlikely to happen. Looking over to Mt. Lady happily walking beside him he can''t help but admire her, even with her torn-up suit, bloody and bruised face, and all the dirt and debris in her hair. Absolutely beautiful. "Maybe this is enough..." he mutters absentmindedly. She immediately turns to him, "enough what?" "Huh...I mean, enough hero work for today," he says quickly. "So, what vor are you trying tonight..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 100: (Camp Gameplan) Chapter 100: (Camp Gamen) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (30+ chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- Sitting in Nezu''s office Horizon was reading through a few documents. Scrolling through Nezu''s tablet a bit more he looks up at Nezu who was typing away at theputer before putting it down. He was currently wearing a casual outfit, a blue t-shirt, and track pants with some ck running shoes. His bag for camp and sword were on the couch opposite him as they both wait for Eraser Head. His Hero Costume and extra visors were safely packed inside it, along with the hoverboard. "Ok, what you guys came up with isn''t bad, not optimal but not bad," Horizon says. Nezu doesn''t bother to stop his work, "well those training programs are only for the first month. The outdoor area will allow them to let loose without bothering each other, as well as get some proper survival and rescue training. If we did thetter on UA it wouldn''t give the same sense of danger, they need that for proper practice." "So there is a second part?" Horizon asks. "The first week in August the students can spend at home, then they''ll have all-day sses at UA to train Super Moves and the technical aspects of their Quirks. Not to mention all the costume upgrades we expect them to make." "I see. So training in the woods for a month to gain muscle, and training at UA so they know how to punch better...pretty simple." "Mhm, and what do you really think of the training programs we have them on, mister Quirk specialist." Horizon rolls his eyes, "fine. They''re mostly fine, Shoji should be trying to push the limits of what he can make and how many rather than just trying to use them better. That way his brain will adapt to process more input. And Jiro needs to learn to control her breathing, that way she''ll better understand the uses of a fast and slow heart rate, since her Quirk amplifies her heartbeat to attack, the others can figure out the rest themselves." "I''ll message Eraser with these changed," Nezu sends a quick message and then resumes his paperwork. "Mhm." "Do you n to do any personal training?" "Some, having all the space at UA is nice but I couldn''t put a move I''ve been thinking about into practice here...if it goes bad I''d rather not be so close to a popted ce. An empty forest should be perfect." Nezu stops working and looks up with wide eyes, "Do I need to be worried?" "Mmm, nah." Nezu resumes his work. A momentter Horizon stands up, "Eraser is here, guess that''s my ride. I''ll see you in a week." A momentter Horizon is sitting in a simple ck car, on the more modest and practical side of things, with Eraser Head. He was in the front seat with his bag in the trunk, the entire back seat filled with boxes of supplies Eraser had packed to take back to the camp, and Horizon''s sword diagonally across the back since it couldn''t fit in the trunk. Sitting in the front seat while Eraser was driving Horizon tried and failed to getfortable with theck of leg room in the car, being forced to just deal with it for the one-hour drive. "Honestly I''m surprised Nezu doesn''t have a set of cars for UA to use on the roads," Horizon says as they begin driving toward the deserted mountain roads, leading out of Musutafu. "Well the point of UA is that nobody ever has to leave the campus," Eraser says. "Yet we''re having a training camp in the mountains..." "Because it''s the best way to cram a semester or two of practical hero training into a month. Some of your ssmates aren''t ready to go up against 2nd or 3rd year Hero Course students in the exams, so this training is for them more than anyone else." "How has that been going?" "Surprisingly well, they''re all very motivated to train, partly because of Iida, and partly because they don''t like the way you talk to them." "Act like a bitch and I''ll treat you like one, it''s that simple," Horizon shrugs. Eraser sighs, "that is exactly what I was referring to." "Whatever, they''ll get over it. Nezu mentioned you had outside help at the camp, anyone good?" "The Wild Wild Pussycats," Eraser says in an even more annoyed tone, somehow. "I should have guessed that. All went to UA, in the same ss. Specialize in mountain rescue, and they''re in the top 50 Pro Hero ranking so they aren''t useless." "Yeah, and only one of them is annoying," Eraser grumbles. "What do you mean? I''m guessing it''s Ragdoll, right?" "Nope, she''s actually fine, it''s Pixie-Bob." "The sexy blonde? Really?" "She''s always nagging me about when you''re gonna show up...she''s a fangirl." "Oh, that could be fun." Eraser nces over at him then focus back on the mountain road they were already on, "normally I don''t have to tell people not to do this, but in this case, ''don''t go trying to seduce a teacher'', got it?" "What a wild and insane assumption, how unexpected. I''m just curious about why she could possibly think so highly of me," he says in a yful tone, betraying his words entirely. "Right, because you suddenly care about that. Just don''t do it." "It''s not illegal, I''m already 16." "It may not be illegal, but it''s hical," Eraser says. "Well Heroes followws, not ethics," Horizon argues. "If we cared about ethics we wouldn''t be arresting Vigntes every day." Eraser looks pissed off for a moment, then fades back to the mask of indifference. "We stop them because most of them end up dead since they''re untrained." "By choice, since it''s their choice to join the fight. Because they''re following their personal ethics, and so well I...within thew ofcourse." "I can''t believe you spun something so horrific and made it work for you." Horizon chuckles and takes out his phone, "that''s half of branding and maintaining a public image, which I''m pretty good at. But it does help that I''ve been wless in the public eye anyway." "Yeah, and for some reason the way you talk about certain things doesn''t turn people away fro---" Eraser''s eyes go wide as he sees Horizon scrolling through his phone, amon sight since the teen was usually bored during sses. "What?" Horizon asks, seeing the reaction. "Why do you have your phone? You were supposed to leave it at UA." "Nezu let me keep it, it runs on the same insted server as his personal phone, viins can''t hack it." Eraser visibly calms down at that, "really?" "Yup, I mean he did design it and build all the software in it, it''s unhackable. Besides, aside from All Might and probably Recovery Girl, I''m one of the very few people he knows isn''t a spy." "Really, how is he so sure?" Horizon sighs, "do you honestly think I would need any help to kill All Might, I''m probably his worst possible matchup. Quirks like that just can''t beat me in a deathmatch." Eraser thinks about it for a second, then nods in agreement. "That does make sense, anyone else?" "Let''s find out," Horizon casually reaches over and puts a hand on Eraser''s shoulder. "Are you in any way helping or contacting the viins?" "No." "Guess you''re clean too..." "What? That''s it, you trust me just like that?" "No, I trust me to see through any lie you try and tell, I''m a pretty good judge of character like that." "You really are insane," Eraser says, dismissing it as nothing serious. In truth exactly as Nezu said, Horizon was keeping Scan and Polygraph as hidden as possible, and moments ago he did use them on Eraser, finding the man to bepletely clean. Now he had one more person that he knew was clean, at least in the case that they weren''t willingly aiding the viins. ''Now I just need to find the leak and put a few holes in them, get the answers I need to track down some big viins solo, then I''ll hand what''s left over to Nezu and his people...'' After a few minutes, Eraser nces over to see what Horizon was doing on his phone, noticing him scrolling through the Wild Wild Pussycats ''Yay!'' page. "What are you doing?" "Research," Horizon says, as if it were obvious. "What kind of research?" "The Pixie-Bob kind...what kind of Pro doesn''t have a solo page? Everything they do is as a team, it''s creepy, as if they''re attached at the hip." "Some people can only be themselves in a team they trust, and working alone can be dangerous," Eraser says. Horizon sighs, "there isn''t anything useful here, guess I''ll have to just wing it..." Eraser smiles, "then I at least have nothing to worry about, you''re horrible with female Pro Heroes." "What? No I''m not, I''m great with women." "Yet Midnight can''t stand your guts for whatever reason, Mirko wants to cave your skull in because you kept calling her an idiot, and from that news clip I saw, Mt. Lady is at least annoyed at you for stealing the spotlight this morning." "Ok, I guess that''s fair. But I''ve just never really tried with one of them." "If you say so, just try to keep it in your pants during school hours and especially on campus, and for the record, I think you''ve got enough girl problems. Most of your female ssmates either just tolerate you, openly dislike you...or are Momo, and whatever the hell has been going on with Jiro. You''ve got the branding thing done properly. The best way to destroy that pristine reputation and image is to get women involved. They''re just drama and distractions waiting to happen. You''ve got bigger things to focus on, like your Pro Hero career." "Oh yeah, is that what you tell yourself to cope?" "Hey! I''m trying to give good advice here." "Advice I already know, but I spend almost all my time either training or doing Pro Hero work, I like to have fun every once in a while..." Eraser gives an annoyed groan, "the fact that you''re even thinking about this is disgusting, but I trust Pixie-Bob to conduct herself like a proper hero." "Don''t know why you''re acting surprised," Horizon shrugs. "Honestly sometimes I feel like you people forget that under this visor I''m only 16...fancy shiny toys and beautiful women are still on my mind, a lot." Eraser actually looks over at Horizon for a moment then sighs, and facepalms. "I''m so used to speaking to you and treating you like another Pro Hero or teacher that I honestly forgot...I shouldn''t have even been discussing things like this with you in the first ce." "Don''t be too hard on yourself, it''s not your fault I''m closer to being a pro than a student, I just hope she sees things the same way..." Horizon nods, pleased with himself as he keep scrolling. ''Train those two losers, work on my new move, fuck a hot blonde...this is normal summer camp stuff, right?'' END CHAPTER--- Chapter 101: (Family Plans) Chapter 101: (Family ns) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (30+ chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "Wow everyone is already training, pretty good," Horizon says as their car arrives at the main building. A small two-story spa building surrounded by a massive forest walled off on all sides by mountains. "You can sense them?" Eraser asks as he shuts off the car. They both get out and Horizon takes a moment to stretch his limbs, finally free from the cramped seat. "Mmm, yeah. Everyone is training in a rocky field a few hundred meters that way," he points in the direction of the training area. "Some are in the forest with some big dude...guessing that''s Tiger, doing muscle training. And Momo and Sato are...eating cake?" "Fuel for their Quirks," Eraser says as Horizon retrieves his bag and sword. "Can you warp these into the training area for me?" he gestures to the boxes on the back seat. "Yeah, Shambles," Horizon snaps his fingers and they disappear, swapped with a lone leaf. "Well that really is convenient, anyway I''ll get back to your ssmates, I''m sure Pixi---" "HORIZON!" Pixie-Bob steps out of the main building with a broad smile on her face. Wearing the Wild Wild Pussycats uniform, a miniskirt, boots with metal soles, and a crop top designers like a frilly vest. A spin on the ''french maid'' outfit people enjoy. Her signature color is blue to make her stand out from her allies. All wrapped around a 166cm -5ft5- fit and toned stacked blonde with long hair. Wearing a long blue and white striped tail and oversized cat paws in the same colors to match her outfit. And arge metal headgear shaped simr to cat ears with a transparent ss visor across her eyes. Seeing her marching toward them Eraser wisely decides to leave and go find Mandy, "she''ll show you around..." he says to Horizon, not in the mood to deal with this blonde ball of energy. As she gets up to Horizon, seeing him standing there with his bag in one hand and sword in the other, suddenly Pixie-Bob is staring up at him. Almost a foot taller than her with a physique like All Might. "Wow, you''re a lot bigger than I expected, you look smaller on TV..." "Well hello to you too, and that''s probably because you''ve seen me standing beside All Might...he isn''t normal." "Ohh, that makes sense! Follow me I''ll show you to your room," she gestures to the main building. "Lead the way." As he''s walking beside her Horizon can''t help but notice a small child in the training area with one of the Pros, but doesn''t think much of it. "So Eraser says you''re a fan, what caused that?" "Tch, I told them not to mention that," she leads them into the reception area of the spa and begins walking toward the stairs. "It''s not like I''m a fangirl or anything. It''s just that my life would be a lot easier if more capable men who thought like you existed." Horizon chuckles at that idea, "another me...don''t think the world can handle that. But what do you mean exactly?" They begin going up the stairs. "It''s just that when we were all watching the UA Sports Festival, the things you said, the conviction in your voice, it was incredible," she takes a deep breath before continuing. "I''ve been trying to find a nice guy to have a family with for the past year, but all the strong capable guys just want younger girls and don''t want anything serious...and I''m running out of time. Hearing you talk about how you''d fight and fight no matter what for the family you''ll have one day. It just gave me real hope, it was everything I needed to hear." Horizon looks over to her as they reach the second floor, seeing her smiling happily at him, with teary eyes and all. "I''m sure the right guy wille along, you''re young and hot, he won''t be able to resist." Pixie-Bob wipes her eyes as they begin walking down the hallway passing a few rooms." thanks, it''s just nice to know I''m not the only hero that wants this future for themself. It feels like everyone around me just wants to work until they die and keep focusing on Hero Rankings, then that makes me feel like I''m some kind of a fake hero that''s being selfish for wanting to have a family and quit." "That''s the same n I have," Horizon says, catching her off guard. "What?" "I don''t n to go full throttle on being a hero forever. When I have a family of my own I''ll focus more on the Miracle Doctor side of Horizon again. I''ll leave the fighting viins for people that rather save strangers than go home to their families. It may not be what people think is heroic, and maybe it is selfish, but I just don''t care. My people alwayse first, nobody else matters." They stop in front of thest door and Horizon sees her staring up at him. "Don''t ever feel guilty for putting the people you love first, and wanting to be in their lives to take care of them and watch them grow, I think that''s the most beautiful thing a person can do in this life, and its the least you deserve for all you''ve done..." Looking into her bright blue eyes Horizon sees her pupils dte as her brain short circuits, staring up at him with pleading eyes, ''wow...strong reaction and I haven''t even started trying yet...'' "I wish I thought as far ahead as you," Pixie-Bob admits quietly. "You''ve still got time, just trust the process." She gives him a toothy smile and nods happily. "Alright, we can chat after you get all settled in," she slides open the door to reveal a simple butfortable room, with a connected bathroom and shower. "Wow," he says as they both enter. "Yeah, we all bought thend in this valley and set up this resort a few years ago. Usually, we''re never here so we rent out the ce year-round. The Hot Springs are pretty popr actually." "Smart move." "Yup, you got one of the rooms, the Pros are in the other rooms but the other students are down on the first floor. Nezu said your special circumstances need privacy so this is your ce for the week. The boys from each ss are in one of the big open rooms downstairs. All the girls got put into one big room since its not many of them. But you''re up here." Setting down his bags and sword Horizon turns to Pixie-Bob who was standing at the window in the room looking out at the forest, "so, what other fun things are there for us to do this week?" ---10 Minutes Later... Walking up the stairs toward Horizon''s room, Mandy, the leader of the Wild Wild Pussycats. A woman built much like Pixie-Bob, only a hair thinner and slightly less curvy, with dark red hair and a light red version of their team''s uniform. As she arrives at the second floor she keeps her casual pace toward Horizon''s room, until she stops dead in her tracks. Her ears just barely pick up Pixie-Bob''s giddy voice, hearing her speaking between giggles. "Wow, it''s so big---" Mandy blinks a few times, not sure of what she just heard, she takes up a more brisk pace. "Are you sure---ok let me, just...like this?" she hears Pixie-Bob''s voice even clearer now. "Yeah, just like that," Horizon says. "Don''t let the size bother you it''s just like any other one..." Mandy breaks into a full power walk and arrives at the closed sliding door. BAM! The ms the door to the side, looking at them with pissed-off and manic eyes, gritting her teeth. "WHAT THE HELL IS---" she freezes, seeing Pixie-Bob waving around Horizon''s sword with a wide smile on her face. Looking between Pixie-Bob''s confused expression, Horizon sitting on the bed casually instructing her, and the 145cm -4ft9- white Katana with a blue edge...it all came together. And Mandy decides to pretend she didn''t just barge in here expecting something else. "I mean, what''s been taking you two so long?" Mandy asks. "Oh, Horizon was showing me how to use a Katana, but this one is really heavy." Horizon shrugs and gets up, "the alternative was a copsable one, but that''s less durable, I rather have this. Also, I asked Pixie-Bob to show me her Quirk." "Yeah look," Pixie-Bob gestures to the dresser, where a small dirt statue of Horizon, just three inches tall was standing. "I made him this with Earth Flow." Mandy just sighs and rolls her eyes, "you''ll have time to chatter, right now you''ve got students to deal with. They need more earth walls to practice on, let''s go..." "Want me to warp us there?" Horizon asks as they all file out of the room. "Actually I wanted to ask you a favor," Mandy says, and Pixie-Bob immediately falls back a bit so they were both walking in front of her, something Horizon didn''t fail to notice. "Ok, what do you need?" "It''s about my nephew, Koda." "So that''s the kid with..." Horizon pauses and opens a room, finding his target. "With Ragdoll." "Wow Eraser really wasn''t kidding," Mandy says. "That''s both impressive and really creepy, and it works on people you''ve never seen before, it''s like a better version of Ragdoll''s Quirk." "I''m the better version of a lot of Quirks, so what do you need?" "Koda''s parents, my cousin and his wife, they were a hero team, Water Hose. They died recently and well, he hasn''t been the same ever since." "How''d they die?" "There was a viin that wanted to go on a rampage, and they died protecting the civilians, but he got away..." "Ok, so what the kid needs me a sign a shirt or something? Hoverboard ride?" "It''s a bit moreplicated than that," Mandy sighs. "You see Koda''s staying with me now. But ever since his parents died, he''s really grown a hatred of heroes. He mes people wanting to be a hero for why his parents didn''te back home, and when he saw that clip of your speech from the Sports Festival, it only made him hate heroes even more." "Oh, the whole ''heroes sacrifice themselves and their families to save strangers thing,'' ok, so?" "Well, I was hoping you could talk to him about that, maybe tell him that what they did was right. I mean they saved dozens of people from that monster. They''re heroes. So if you, the only hero he doesn''t hate, and the person everyone is calling the ''true hero'' says they made the right call, maybe he''d listen." Horizon stops, causing Pixie-Bob to bump into him and stumble back a bit. "Sorry," she says. He ignores her and turns to Mandy, "so let me get this straight. You want me to say that they made the right call. When not one, but both parents decided to die and orphan their kid, to save people they don''t even know. Did you not listen to anything I''ve been saying? About how people with families waiting at home shouldn''t be heroes exactly because of things like this. And now what? You want me to go back on everything I said just because it''s someone important to you? The people close to you should alwayse first, and I''m sorry for what happened to him and his parents, but they knew exactly what they were doing, I just wish their kid didn''t have to live with the consequences of it. But the way I see it, I tell him they did the right thing and he bes just like you, another person brainwashed by the hero-centric media propaganda to throw your life away and destroy your family for some losers on the street...absolutely disgusting. Your people are supposed toe first, anyone else is an afterthought, parents should know that better than anyone. So no, I won''t be talking to him, because at least now he won''t grow up to throw his life away like them. He''ll actually be there to see his kids grow up." "How can you be so cruel!" Mandy yells. "His parents, my cousin, they were good people, good heroes, real heroes! Don''t you think every child should grow up knowing their parents were good and just people, that every child should look up to their parents as heroes! That''s what I''m asking you to help me with!" Horizon''s voice bes a low growl, causing a shiver to travel down Pixie-Bob''s spine and Mandy to take a careful step back, "I''m not lying about my beliefs just because it''s convenient for you. Just be d I was polite about it this time..." He immediately begins walking away, leaving both women in the main building. Mandy was fuming, "how can that be a hero, he''s such an...an...an ass." Pixie-Bob looks at her friend, nodding along but the voice in her head couldn''t disagree any more. She agreed entirely but just didn''t have the heart to start that catfight. Then came Horizon. The conviction and intensity in Horizon''s words as he spoke the things she''s wanted to say for so long, it cemented the idea in her mind even more. ''I need to find a guy like him...'' END CHAPTER--- Chapter 102: (Summer Training) Chapter 102: (Summer Training) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (30+ chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- Walking through the rocky training area Horizon is surrounded by a circus of students training. Everyone using their Quirks none stop, he sees Sero atop a small hill constantly firing off streams of tape non-stop. Sato and Momo are sitting at a table eating sweets while constantly using their Quirks. Mina is trying to melt a massive boulder while Jiro is standing slightly off the side talking to Eraser Head. Horizon sees a set of massive gashes in the boulder away from Mina, ''so Jiro was constantly stabbing into the rock with her jacks. Since they''re organic they should work like bone and heal to be stronger and more precise...Eraser must be giving her my suggestion about her heart rate.'' Sparing a few people a nce, and having a small chuckle at the sight of Uraraka inside a gain bubble ball rolling down a hill, ''training to fight the nausea of using her Quirk huh'', he makes his way to the edge of the training area where the forest begins. There he finds yet another member of the Wild Wild Pussycats. Yawara Chatora, Tiger, standing at 190cm -6ft3-, he had brown skin, lighter than the color of his particr Pussycat''s outfit. Wearing the same crop top and skirtbo as the others. He was slightly shorter and less muscr than Horizon, but the way he was treating his students and the looks on their faces clearly showed he was intimidating. But after training with Arsenal, it takes a lot to rattle Horizon. Approaching the small grassy clearing between the trees Horizon sees the man yelling at the Power Type students. Or more urately, Power Type student. Because only Deku technically fit that description, and the only other student in this training section was Hitoshi Shinso. Both were in their PE Uniforms like everyone else, but Shinso was stuck training physically since nobody else could actually resist his Quirk, and he needed to catch up physically to Hero Course students. Looking at him Horizon could see that he put on some muscle, nothing absurd like Horizon''s gains but he certainly wasn''t thenky stick from the Sports Festival. He was also wearing a shorter version of Eraser Head''s scarf capture weapon around his neck. ''Oh...so we have two Aizawas now,'' Horizon thinks as he sees the bags under Shinso''s eyes. "C''mon!" Tiger screams at Deku. One For All: 5%! Dekuunches a smash directly at Tiger''s chest. Using his Quirk, Pliabody, Tiger makes his body pliable and flexible, twisting his torso for the strike to miss. "Too obvious!" Tiger yells as he connects a right hook into Deku''s side, knocking him a few feet away into a tree. Deku falls to the floor, and within seconds he''s back on his feet, much faster than the first day of camp. For everyone here, their 3 weeks of training have caused extreme improvements. "Nice hit," Horizon says, causing all three people to turn toward him. "Atleast I think it was, hard to tell with how your Quirk works." "Thanks," Tiger says as both Deku and Shinso stop training to listen in, then he immediately turns to them. "I didn''t say you could rest! Pushups! Now!" They both instantly drop down and continue. "I''m actually here for Shinso, time for his Quirk training." "Oh, alright, Shinso you''re training with Horizon now." Tiger turns back to Horizon as Shinso gets up and dusts himself off. "So how''d you like your room?" "It''s great, honestly this entire resort is exactly what I needed after thest few weeks of Hero work." "Mhm," Tiger nods, frowning as he knew what Horizon meant. "Thatst League Of Viins attack was despicable, honestly I was against you even leaving Tokyo toe here. And that was even before that attack happened, taking you out of the field just isn''t smart. But Principal Nezu insists on you helping them with their Quirks. Besides it''s not like us Pro Heroes are helpless, and now the viins know that too after Endeavor incinerated the USJ Nomu." "Yeah, but most people aren''t Endeavor," Horizon says. "That''s true, but while you''re a one-of-a-kind urrence, you aren''t the only powerful future Pro Hero in your ss. In fact, I don''t think UA has ever had a ss with this much talent in it." BOOM! The sound of a loud explosion echoes through the training area as Bakugo starts training on the other side of the camp. "Speak of the devil huh," Horizon chuckles. "Yeah, by regr standards there are some impressive people here, but nothing about me is normal, and that includes my expectations from people." "That much I''ve overheard," Tiger says quietly. "Your ssmates were worried about having you see them train, you really should work on your attitude, it''ll make it much easier to have friends." "Tch, if they''re so worried about what people think then they''re too pathetic to be around me anyway, just get better, it really is that simple." Tiger frowns at that, "for some people it''s not that easy." "Whatever," Horizon turns around and begins walking away, "Shinso, c''mon..." Shinso falls into step behind Horizon as they walk across the field, all the way to Ragdoll who was sitting on a stack of wooden boxes. Sitting beside her was Toru, earning her PE Uniform, and they were both watching Sato and Momo constantly eating at a table a few feet away, seemingly chatting about something that was making Toru nervous. As Horizones into view of everyone Momo immediately starts choking, scrambling to find her water. Not wanting him of all people to see her like this. Sitting at a short table scarfing down a whole wedding cake with her bare hands while constantly using her Quirk...notdylike at all. But while she scrambles to wipe her hands and face and drink some water, Horizon walks past without even sparing her a nce. "Toru, training time," Horizon says. Toru just looks away and leans over to Ragdoll. Ragdoll was the final member of the Wild Wild Pussycats that Horizon would meet,pleting the set. She''s also the person who came up with the idea for the group. She was a short woman with long green hair andrge eyes, with golden pupils. She wore a yellow version of the Pussycat''s outfit and had pink whiskers drawn onto her face with makeup. Toru fails to make herself small enough to hide behind Ragdoll before the woman hops off the crates and stands in front of Horizon. "Hi there!" She says in an excited voice...far too excited for him to deal with at 8 am. "Hey, I''m Horizon, I''m just here for Toru to start training." "Yeah about that," Ragdoll gives him a sheepish look. "So before you start...could you maybe give her a small apology?" Sitting nearby both Momo and Sato stop eating, suddenly bing very worried for everyone involved. Shinso just stands back, not interested in any of this nonsense. "Why would I ever have to apologize to her?" Horizon looks up to see Toru looking down at the floor, almost two weeks after he''d revealed he could see her and she hasn''t been able to talk to him or even look at his face...visor. "Well you embarrassed her," Ragdoll says. "C''mon just a small apology." "Mmm," Horizon looks past Ragdoll and directly at Toru. "I don''t owe you anything, and you''ll never get one. And since I''m the only person that can train you to control that Quirk, either get over it and stop wasting my time, or go fuck yourself..." Horizon turns and begins walking away, toward a spot he can use to train them, not even bothering to wait for Toru. As he''s a few steps away he feels a tingling at the back of his head, someone trying to make a connection to his mind. He slowly turns around to look at Ragdoll, "Don''t try that again." She looks confused and scared, "why didn''t that work." "Because I don''t want it to." Ragdoll shakes her head, not understanding. Her Quirk, Search, allows her to make a connection to up to 100 people and save them in her mind, within the range of a few miles she can then locate them. This Quirk has no time limit, and if the about of people stored is reached then the first to be added is reced. "It''s for safety," Ragdoll says. "Everyone at camp has to be in my Quirk in case someone gets lost." "I''ll be fine, just stay out of my head..." Before Horizon can even take a few steps away, Toru stops him, running up to him and Shinso. "Wait!" she yells out. "Please, teach me how to control my Quirk!" Horizon turns around to see Toru staring up at him with a determined look, forcing herself not to look away. "Good, now hold still." "Wha---" Toru freezes as he puts hisrge hand t across the middle of her chest. "This is step one," he says before anyone can start yelling, holding her shoulder so she doesn''t break contact. "Listen very carefully to me, your Quirk cannot be deactivated in your current state. Have you been doing the meditation exercises I suggested?" "Mhm," Toru nods stiffly, eyes closed and blushing up a storm. Off to the side, Momo absentmindedly red at the scene, angrily eating pieces of cake. "Good, that makes you aware of this state, next I''m going to remove your heart." "WHAT!" Toru screams out. "Wait you can''t do that," Ragdoll says, approaching to try and separate them. "She''ll be fine, this is what my Quirk does," Horizon says. "This will put her body into a kind of ''emergency power'' mode. Right now her power consumption on her Quirk is so minimal that she''s never even noticed it, but this should shut it down anyway." He feels Toru breathing quickly, terrified of the idea. But she''s so desperate for this. Desperate to have somewhat of a normal life. Meet a boy, fall in love, have a whirlwind romance, and have a family. And now she didn''t have to wait to be a Pro Hero for someone to finally notice her. "Mes," Horizon says, and outes her heart. He cradles her with one arm so she doesn''t fall and puts the Heart behind his back. All before her eyes open. Showing someone their own beating heart always ends in disaster. And everyone around is amazed at what they see, Toru Hagakure, short, slim, stacked, pale skin and greenish-pink long wild hair. As shees to her senses and looks down at her hands, the tears begin flowing, and they can''t seem to stop. "Ugh," Horizon drops her to the floor causing her to wince as Ragdoll rushes over. "Focus on your own body and get used to this state, then when I give you back your heart you should be able to mentally put yourself into this state." The girl barely responds between sobs and Horizon just begins walking away, signaling Shinso to join him. Shinso actually has a horrified expression on his face, seeing this on a rey is one thing, but witnessing Horizon remove a heart in person was downright horrific. The already intimidating reputation and presence just seem that much heavier. Off to the side, it took everything for Momo and Sato not to lose their lunch. Sato quickly lost that battle, while Momo forced herself to hold it down, trying her best not to appear weak in front of her crush. As Shinso falls into step behind Horizon he nces over to see Pixie Bob working with Juzo and a few others. But she gives him a small wave which he actually mirrors. "Alright Shinso, let''s get some actual training in..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 103: (Camp Gossip) Chapter 103: (Camp Gossip) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (30+ chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- As the sun was setting and training was done for the day, Pixie-Bob eagerly volunteered to go find the final student, Horizon. Aside from him, everyone else could be called by Mandy''s Quirk, but Horizon always has to be ''difficult''. He''dpleted training with Shinso hours ago and was doing his own training now. In a small rocky area at the end of the training area, she sees him standingpletely still with both his arms out. His hands sped together as if he were hiding something between them. ''Hmm, I wonder how this is training his Quirk...'' she casually strolls up to him. And the moment she''s within ten meters. Taking that one step forward into his room she suddenly feels her foot get cold. As if she stepped into the winter season all of a sudden. She immediately hops back, and sees Horizon turn to her, now sensing her as she entered his room. "Are you ok?" "Mmm, yeah," she taps her foot a few times to make sure. "I guess I should have called out to you, but I figured you''d just sense me walking over here." "I was focused on something else," he shrugs and walks over to her, raising a hand to touch her shoulder. "Hold still." As his hand touches her shoulder he does a full Scan of her body. Finding no damage from the sudden cold or other effects, and her body functioning perfectly...if only running rather hot. "Ok, you''re good." "Did you just give me a checkup?" She gives him a slightly worried look. "Shouldn''t you ask permission before that?" "I try to keep certain things about my Quirk quiet, so I hope you can keep this between us. I can trust you, right?" She shakes her head, exasperated by his casual attitude about this, then nods. "Alright, but only because you''re a doctor, just don''t do that to me again without asking first." Horizon chuckles at that, leaning down to tower over her, getting much closer to her face. "Well it didn''t tell me anything new, already knew you were hot, now I just know what the right spots are..." Him being this forward with his intentions causes her to freeze, then she furrows her brow and shoves him back as hard as she could, forcing herself to take a step back as she couldn''t move him. She angrily stomps her foot and folded her arms, "I''m supposed to do the teasing!" She points an using finger at him. "Don''t you know you''re supposed to get all flustered and shy, this isn''t cute at all!" She yells before turning and stomping away. Horizon gives a loud and genuineugh as he begins walking behind her. "You know maybe I should get you upset more often," he focuses on the unconscious sway in her hips as she''s walking away. "This view is definitely worth it..." Pixie-Bob freezes, gives an annoyed groan, then continues walking, not correcting her strut at all... By the time they arrive back at the main building two hundred meters away Pixie-Bob has already settled down and is walking beside Horizon. "So were you trying to make an ice attack, maybe something like Todoroki?" She asks. "Not really, that''s just a side effect." "Oh, so what were you trying to do?" "I''d rather not say, but you already know more than anyone else, let''s just keep this between us." "Oh yeah, no problem," she nods along happily as they continue to chatter. Their arrival at camp isn''t missed by many people, Pixie-Bob was always a ball of energy that had everyone drawn toward her. And Horizon usually had a presence that could fill any room. So when they walked into the clearing with herughing at something he said, it earned an annoyed look from Momo. An exasperated sigh from Eraser Head. A nce from Jiro who just put her head back down and kept trying to ignore her feelings. And an enraged, vicious re from Mandy, directed directly at her best friend. "Ah---" Pixie-Bob winces as Mandy uses her Telepathy Quirk to begin screaming directly into her head. "Sorry I need to help Mandy with something, have fun cooking," she says before rushing off to follow Mandy inside. "Alright," Horizon doesn''t pay it any mind as he looks about the clearing. Lots of long pic tables were already set up with raw food lining them. sses 1A and 1B were trying their best to prepare their curry, and Horizon couldn''t help but roll his eyes at how helpless most of them seemed. "Hey, Horizon!" Sero yells out, waving to him from a table with Momo, Jiro, and Kodai. "You cook a lot, can you help us out man, we haven''t made one decent meal since camp started." Aside from Bakugo, all the other students look to him as their savior, finally having someone who can actually cook. "You''ve got to be kidding me. None of you idiots can cook?" Sero chuckles nervously, the only person willing to speak up at the moment, "well Sato just bakes, and Bakugo can cook but he sucks at telling us how to do stuff...Tsu cooks simple stuff, but since it''s a lot of food it never turns out good." "Great," Horizon walks up to the ingredients and takes a look. "Add this to the long list of things you idiots are bad at...anyway, just do what I say and we''ll be fine..." Twenty minutester after Horizon tells everyone exactly how to prepare the food...and has to teach some basic cooking skills. Kaminari and Ojiro are standing at one of the firepits after loading it with firewood. "Man can you believe this," Kaminari says to Ojiro. "He''s good at everything and can cook too...how are guys like us supposed topete with that." "Yeah, all I''ve got is a tail, not much to work with even before we were stuck in a ss with him." Kaminari sighs, "all the girls are gonna be all over him, there won''t be any for us," he whines. Ojiro awkwardly chuckles and rubs the back of his neck, "actually...Toru and I kind of, sort of, maybe said we liked each other a month or so back, and now that she thinks she can learn to control her Quirk she wants us to start dating..." Kaminari freezes, "what!" he lunges forward and frantically shakes Ojiro by the shoulders. "How can you do this to me, she''s like the cutest girl here!" "Well, I didn''t know that at the time! I just thought she was really cool and fun!" Ojiro pries Kaminari''s hands off him. Everyone notices this scene, and the other girls immediately look at Toru, understanding exactly what Kaminari must have now learned. The look in Mina''s eyes told them that the girls'' room would be filled with chatter tonight. Approaching the duo Horizon turns to Kaminari, "why haven''t you lit the fire?" "Huh," he snaps back to his senses, "oh sorry man Todoroki is in the bathroom, we''re waiting for him to get back." "Just do it yourself, you''re wasting time." "Uh, I''m the electric guy, not the fire guy, Jolteon not reon," he says with a giggle. Beneath his visor Horizon rolls his eyes, "no, you''re just a retard, Takt," one of the pieces of firewood raise out of the fire and into his hand. cing it horizontally between his palms he focuses on his hands, "Counter Shock." Both his hands begin to spark before the electricity begins traveling between his palms through the wood, a few secondster it cracks slightly, then begins smoking, and suddenly he''s holding a burning piece of firewood and drops it back into the firepit. Everyone just looks on in surprise as Horizon raises his palm in the same manner and shows the energy leap from one to the other in small arcs. "Wow, I didn''t know I could do that..." Kaminari mutters. "Tch, Electric and Fire Quirks are the most well documented after Strength Enhancer, learn to read, then pick up a book." "But I can''t do that," Kaminari says, copying the same motions and using electricity on both hands, but it refused to leap from one to the next. "You just need to train more, you''re the only electric type in our ss and yet you''re the worst electricity user...plus the girls you''ll want don''t want silver medalists, that should be motivation enough." "Ouch," Ojiro says, feeling secondhand pain just from hearing that. Horizon abruptly turns and begins walking back to his table to do the final checks on all the food they prepared. "None of you have entirely new Quirks, just learn from people who came before you. It''s a lot easier than figuring it out yourself like I had to..." Kaminari just sighs and detes, "sometimes I really wish I could hate that guy," he then turns to Ojiro. "Howe he''s never so hard on you?" "Well my Quirk is just a tail, he only gets mad when people aren''t optimal or as strong as they could be...I don''t have as much wasted potential since it''s just a tail," Ojiro shrugs. "It''s probably the only benefit to my Quirk being so boring, Horizon just ignores it." Later while everyone is eating, Horizon is sitting with his usual people. Sero, Momo, Jiro, and Tokoyami. But this time Kodai was beside Sero silently enjoying her dinner. At the far side of the clearing Deku, Shinso, Uraraka, and Todoroki are eating together with a few others from ss 1B. "So you literally caught the building," Sero says in amazement as Horizon shows them his ''Yay!'' profile, catching them all up on what happened since they started camp. "Yeah, it''s been a long few weeks. There were a lot of small time cases between Stain and the Nomu attack, then there was the warehouse of Trigger." "I guess you really didn''t need this camp huh." "I''m mostly just here to train those two, and some fresh air is nice. We''ve got six more days here so I''m gonna try to get some training in too of course." "Always striving to improve," Momo says as she finishes her food. "As one could expect from Horizon." "Well my journey to being the #1 Pro Hero has already begun, no time to ck off now." "I thought you said you didn''t care about rank," Jiro says, finally speaking to him. Then immediately goes back to her food, trying to ignore him once more. "Things have changed, that rank is useful. And honestly, where else would I be if not #1...the other spots just don''t fit me," he shrugs. After some more light chatter and everyone filling him in on how their camp experience is going, dinner is finally done and everyone starts packing up. Washing their dishes and heading inside to get cleaned up and enjoy the hot springs. Yet as Horizon is sitting outside and scrolling through his phone, one person takes the seat opposite him. "Shouldn''t you be with the other girls," he looks up from his phone to see Kendo sitting across from him, her knuckles bloody and bandaged from today''s training. "I just wanted to talk to you, what? Can''t I just talk to you?" "Here to confess your boundless love for me, already?" Kendo rolls her eyes, "you really aren''t my type, maybe if you weren''t such a jerk to almost everyone around you, but I just want to talk about something like that..." "Did Sero finally tell Kodai he likes her?" "No, he''s still being all shy about it. All the girls already know, including her, so she''s just waiting. But I''m here to talk about the other two..." "Oh, that," Horizon puts down his phone to give her his full attention. "What about them?" "Well since all the girls share one room here...it came out pretty quickly with who likes you, and now the other girls know that they like you." "Still? Was what I said at the pool not enough? I really don''t have time for any serious rtionship stuff..." "Trust me, we''ve tried more than a few nights to talk them out of it, but Momo thinks you''re some kind of perfect faultless god---" "urate." Kendo stops and gives him an annoyed look, "and Jiro says she''s over you... the poor girl is so deep in denial it''s drowning her." "What does this have to do with me?" Kendo sighs, giving him a pleading look, "honestly, I don''t think this will stop until it either blows up in their face or they get what they want...or whateverpromise you all make. But I''m just asking, as a friend, we''re friends right?" "I''ve never really had friends my age before...but I think we''re close to it." Kendo looks a bit saddened at that, "well, as your friend, because we are friends, please don''t hurt them. Because Momo and Jiro are my friends too, alright?" "Yeah, however this ys out, I''ll be nice about it." "Thank you," Kendo gives a polite nod and stands up to leave. As she leaves Horizon returns to his phone, "teenage romance bullshit, like I have time to focus on that, I''ve got viins to hunt..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 104: (Camp Fun) Chapter 104: (Camp Fun) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (30+ chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- Before sunrise Horizon is already standing in the training area, his Room expanded to the limit, reaching 7km in every direction, just barely enough to touch the lowest clouds. Wearing only his white and blue Horizon brand hoodie with the middle open to show off the design of his body glove, and a pair of blue shorts. He swings his sword with perfect two-handed form, shing at the clouds. Sensing everyone getting dressed and waking up he feels the Pros already moving. And he can sense Pixie-Bob approaching him, but she stops 20 meters away. "You cane closer this time," he yells out to her without stopping his strikes. "You aren''t supposed to be outside without permission, you''re lucky Ragdoll''s Quirk doesn''t work on you or you''d be in big trouble." "I just like to get some training in without people crowding me, waking up early is the easiest way to do that." "Sword training?" She asks, now standing just a meter away from him, eyes drinking in his physique, tracing every inch of the body glove. "And Quirk training," he stops and turns to her, then points the sword at the closest cloud. "See that cloud?" "Yeah." "I was shing it." She looks more closely at the cloud, then turns back to Horizon. "But it just looks like a normal cloud, shouldn''t it be like...split down the middle or something?" "It''s water vapor, cut smoke and it just reforms, it''s the same thing. My cuts aren''t air shes so they don''t push the cloud apart...I''m just practicing my range." "You need more range than that? For what? You n to cut the moon in half?" "Just in case," Horizon shrugs. "Plus it helps me burn energy so I can sleep better." "Oh, I usually have trouble sleeping too, want some help with that?" Horizon freezes, then looks at her, not seeing any change in her excited demeanor. "Well, I figured we were at least a day or two from that stage, but sure..." Pixie-Bob looks confused for a moment, then a look of realization dawns on her, then she just pouts. "I meant we could have a spar!" "I''d rather not. My Quirk makes sparring boring in most cases, practicing my shes burns more energy, no offense." Pixie-Bob res at him, "sounds like you''re scared to fight a real Pro." Horizon sighs, "well fine, alright, rules?" "Well, try not to cut me up or anything like that, ok?" Pixie-Bob says while making some space between them, backing to 20 meters away. "Ok, and how hands-on can I get?" "As much as you want, but this kitty has ws and I will use them," she swipes at the air a few times between them. "Worth it," Horizon says jokingly, and sheathes his sword. "Call it." "Finally, let''s see if you''re all talk...FIGHT!" Pixie-Bob yells out. Suddenly the palms of her cat gloves begin glowing blue as her Quirk activates. She bends down to nt her palms on the floor. Using her Quirk Earth Flow she can mold dirt and rock to form objects or even golems to obey hermand, or she can simply alter the terrain to suit her needs. SHAMBLES! Before her palms touch the ground to activate her Quirk, she swaps ces with his sword and feels hisrge hands at her hips, holding her aloft in the air to face him. Feet dangling a foot from the floor. "Counter-Shock!" "Ahhh!" She screams, but nothing happens. "Huh?" opening her eyes she sees Horizon''s visor just looking up at her, then feels hisughter reverberate through her as he tosses her just a foot into the air and catches her. Holding her in a full and more intimate princess carry. "So, still think I''m all talk?" "Mmm, no, you win," she folds her arms across her chest, surprisingly not bothered by the way he''s holding her. "I always do, I tried to warn you." "But why didn''t you shock me?" "I prefer you how you are." "How is that? Not fried?" "Pretty." Pixie-Bob stiffens in his arms, then sighs, "did this spar even do anything for you?" He tightens his grip on her for a moment, making her much more aware of how close she was to him, "yeah, this is pretty fun, but if you''re talking about helping me sleep, nope." "Well let''s see," Pixie-Bob turns to him and taps the side of her headgear, causing a few numbers to appear in her clear visor as the tint bes slightly yellow. "What''s that supposed to be?" "A high energy power reader, Ragdoll invented it based on her Search Quirk, it lets us lock onto energy readings if they''re big enough. Todoroki and Midoriya have pretty good readings while their Quirk is active and in use." "Oh, and what''s mine?" "Mmm, it''s t right now but I''m in scanning mode, just activate your Quirk and we''ll see." "Ok---" BOOSTER SHOT! BOOSTER SHOT! BOOSTER SHOT! BOOSTER SHOT! BOOSTER SHOT! "---Well?" "Wow," Pixie-Bob was literally reeling back from the reading she was seeing. He''d dumped nearly half of his power in one go. "You''re at 170...that''s unreal." "What''s the record?" "All Might, we met him once at the annual hero rankings ceremony, that was about nine years ago. He scored over a thousand, the scanner doesn''t go that high so it broke." "And my ssmates?" "Well, only Todoroki and Midoriya had readings that I bothered measuring since Kaminari has a set amount of AMPs he can hold. Todoroki got 70 and Midoriya got 50 while using his Quirk to spar with Tiger, but I think he can do more for a big attack." "Huh, so even holding back I''m still using more energy than them. How do I get one of those scanners?" "Oh, sorry it''s Ragdolls Patent, aside from us nobody gets them. It could be dangerous in the wrong hands," Pixie-Bob gives him an apologetic look. "Well I guess that makes sense, maybe I''ll put in a request to---" Horizon suddenly stops talking and gently sets her down on her own feet. Suddenly she goes from enjoying his warmth to standing on her own feet as if they weren''t just sharing a moment, "what''s wrong?" "Company," he nods toward the woods where the others would soon be emerging from. "Oh, right. Yeah if Mandy saw that she would have yelled at me again..." she mutters. "Again?" "We don''t have time to get into that," she says as they see everyone entering the training area, with Shinso making his way toward Horizon. "Well we both have trouble sleeping, so you can tell meter." Pixie-Bob gives him a mischievous smile before walking away, heading toward another day of training with Kendo and her other designated students. ---8 PM... After everyone ate, another delicious meal thanks to Horizon, they all got cleaned up and half of the students came back outside to talk a bit. Or in this case, y cards. "Horizon!" Mina yells as she sits on the bend across from him, sliding to the side and shoving Sero down a seat or two so she''s directly in front of Horizon. "Mina." "Let''s y," she takes a deck of cards from her jacket and sets it down on the table. "No." "C''mon, it''ll be fun, just you and me, we can make a small bet if you want." "Uh-huh, a small bet," Horizon immediately figures out what she really wanted. "And if you win?" "Oh nothing much, hehe," Mina looks toward a table where some of the girls were sitting with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "I just wanna know who you think are the most attractive girls in our ss." "Right, so this is a game of truth with extra steps, and when I win?" "How about I do the same but with the boys?" Mina asks. "No, I don''t really care about what you think about anything, how about after you see your hand on the first game I''ll make my request." "Deal!" Mina says. "I don''t know many games but, how about this, each of us gets three cards face down. and the highest hand wins, ace is 1. We both start with 10 chips and first to 0 loses." "Seems simple enough." "Ready!" Mina says. "Ok, deal the cards, then I''ll think of something." After Mina deals the cards she ces the deck in the middle. As she was dealing Horizon checked his cards, Queen of Hearts, Queen of Diamonds, and Jack of Hearts. A nearly invincible hand. He only lifted them up slightly before setting them back down on the table, not wanting her to see the reflection in his visor. As Mina sets down the pack she raises up her cards a few moments after he sets down his, a wide smile splits her face as she gives him a victorious look. "You should just give up now," she says. "Oh really, how confident are you in that hand?" "I''m gonna win!" Mina deres. "Ok," Horizon takes out his phone and types out something on the screen, then carefully shows it to her, leaving everyone around thempletely out of the loop as they all watch the game unfold. "Keep this between us." "What?! Seriously? C''mon!" "If you''re so confident then betting that shouldn''t be an issue right," Horizon shrugs. Mina gets a slight purple tinge on her cheeks and she gives him a sheepish look. "Alright, deal, you''re on!" "Perfect," Horizon takes another peek at his cards, after a few seconds he sets them back on the table face down. "I''ll raise you all my points," he reaches forward and flips the top card from the deck. This allows her to better estimate what was in his hand and alter her bets ordingly, but at this point it was useless. She had no choice but to bet everything to match him. She feels her heart drop to her stomach, looking down at her hand, Queen of Hearts, Queen of Diamonds, and Jack of Hearts. A nearly invincible hand. ''No way, he can''t have 3 kings, that''s like...one in ten billion odds or something, he''s just messing with me to freak me out,'' Mina thinks to herself, unable to read Horizon through his visor. "Alright," she says and flips over her cards. Revealing the Queen of hearts, Queen of Diamonds, and Jack of Hearts. "You lose," Horizon says, flipping his cards to reveal 3 kinds, a perfect hand. "WHAT! No way!" Mina jumps up to her feet and stares down in shock, "no way, rematch!" "No, when camp is over you can pay up." Mina opens her mouth to argue, but just shuts up and sits down, trying to at least keep some dignity. "Don''t worry you can take your time, the longer you take the better it gets anyway," Horizon says. "But this is what you get for going about it like this, you should have just asked. In terms of who I find most appealing in our ss. Well, Momo is the hottest, but Jiro is the cutest by far. Then Toru is cute but she never shuts up. Then floaty follows Deku around like some pathetic puppy, it''s still disgusting. Then Tsu would be a lot higher, but I''d never let that tongue anywhere near me after seeing her handle rubble and people with it. Andstly is you." "Me?" Mina asks, looking slightly hurt by that. "You''d be almost at the top, but..." "Because I''m pink, and have horns?" "No, because my trust issues andmon sense demand I not put my dick in a potential acid fountain, that''s all..." Everyone, even Mina winces at that image, unable to argue with the logic in that statement. "Next time you want to know something, just ask. I appreciate people being direct and not wasting my time, ok?" "Yeah, thanks anyway," Mina gets up and quietly heads over to the girl''s table, and a momentter they all head inside, likely to discuss the results she got. After they leave Sero leans forward to Horizon, "so...what did you get from Mina?" "I don''t think she''d want me to tell anyone, sorry." "Awe, c''mon, not even a hint?" "Nope." Sero sighs, "alright fine, but how''d you do that thing with the cards, 3 Kings, that should be like, one in a hundred million or something." "It''s 1:132,600. And all I did was use my Quirk, she never said we couldn''t. UA Hero Course encourages Quirk use wherever possible, right?" "Really, how, could you see her card like you sense people?" Sero asks. "No, I can''t do that. All I did was look at my cards, see I had a super strong hand. Shambles it so they swap with her cards without her noticing, then I kept shuffling the garbage hand she got until I got 3 kings from the deck. Simple." "You did that without us seeing the cards move?" "Takes a lot more focus but it''s not impossible, now if you don''t mind," Horizon stands up, sensing the teacher about to tell everyone to get to bed. "I need to go prepare for the rest of my night..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 105: (Late Night Chat) Chapter 105: (Late Night Chat) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (30+ chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- Stirring awake at night, Momo sits up and unzips her sleeping bag, feeling her head throbbing from all the training she''s done today. ''Just five more days Momo, this is what it takes to be a great Hero,'' she thinks to herself, looking around to see all the other girls scattered about the room on their sleeping bags. She passes a hand through her long hair, currently down instead of in her signature spiky ponytail, and carefully gets up, using the moonlight to avoid stepping on anyone. Wearing just a pair of pink shorts and a red t-shirt with ''Genesis'' printed on the front, she arrives at the paper sliding door to the room and carefully opens it, taking a look back to make sure she hadn''t disturbed anyone. Scanning the room she sees Tsu tightly bundled up in her sleeping bag. Jiro isying halfway atop Setsuna, and Toru and Mina sleeping atop each other. Momo frowns slightly as she sees Mina, the girl had refused to tell them what Horizon won from her, but from her reaction, they all assumed it was something rather naughty. Before she knew it Momo was ring at Mina, a slight tinge of jealousy and envy bubbling up, but she just takes a deep breath and lets it go. Mina only pulled that stunt with the card because of her own self-depreciation after all. The girl was sick of hearing Momo im that Horizon would never be attracted to her and decided to go to the source. Stepping out of the room and closing the paper door Momo makes her way over to the dining area, getting a bottle of water and making a painkiller in her palm to deal with the headache. As she''s walking back to the girl''s room, however, she hears the sound of a door closing,ing from the lounge area of the resort. Momo is immediately on alert, knowing that at this hour only Eraser Head and d King would be up, but they always stay in one of their rooms to discuss training progress. With careful steps she keeps one of her hands behind her back, ready to make a weapon if needed. But as she slowly pushes open the door, she sees Horizon sitting on the couch, scrolling through his phone. There was a half-eaten te of cookies and an almost empty bottle of water on the coffee table in front of him, showing he''d been there for a while. "Horizon?" Momo asks, causing him to look up from his phone. "Yeah?" "It''s past curfew, you should be in bed," Momo says, entering the room and closing the door behind her. The room was simple andfortable with a door on either side, a waiting area of sorts for the resort. "Says the girl that''s awake," Horizon says. "I just had to get some water, but clearly you''ve been here for a while, you should set a better example as our ss Rep." "I''m working on something," Horizon says. "I''ll be in bed in a few minutes, don''t worry." "Oh, hero work, I suppose that''s a good reason," Momo nods along. "Very well then, goodnight." "Mhm," Horizon just nods as she turns around and begins walking away, enjoying the sight of her with her hair down for a change. But she stops at the door, as if frozen for a few seconds before stiffly turning and walking back over to him, "may I speak to you about something?" ''Ugh...seriously,'' he nces over to the other door, already annoyed with Momo''s bad timing. "Sure, but make it quick please." "Thank you," Momo takes a deep breath and scrunched up her face, focusing hard to gather her thoughts. "I like you," she blurts out. "I know." "Uh..." he can almost smell the smokeing from her brain,pletely caught off-guard by his response. "Really?" "Since I''m not stupid, yeah, I knew for a while." Momo just looks confused, "and did you also know tha---" "That Jiro likes me too, yeah, all the blushing and stuttering among other things, not subtle from either of you." Momo starts blushing exactly like he just said and begins ying with her hair, "well... I was wondering if...maybe we could..." "Date?" Horizon puts down his phone to finally give her his full attention. "Is that what you want?" Momo just nods, so nervous she couldn''t even speak. "Ok, so I assume you''ve gotten past and epted everything I said at the pool then?" "It''s not what I imagined for myself, but yes," Momo says quietly. "So you''re ok with being with someone knowing all of that, plus the fact that my hero work is currently my first priority so I won''t have that much time for you, really?" "Yes," she says without even hesitating. Horizon rolls his eyes beneath his visor, "and what about Jiro?" "Kyoka?" "Mhm, Jiro, pretty sure she still likes me too. And she''s not just your first friend, but also your best friend. Are you ready to hurt her like this? You''re a nice and good girl Momo, I can''t imagine you''re ok with hurting your friend and ruining your friendship over some guy, especially for one that won''t be entirely focused on you. So, again, are you sure about this?" Momo opens her mouth to answer, but after a few moments, she can''t even speak. She looks down at the table between them and her shoulders drop down, "I...I think, I enjoy things as they are, and I don''t want anything or anyoneing between my rtionship with Kyoka. I''m sorry, but I don''t think I can get involved with you like this," she says with teary eyes. Beneath his visor Horizon just raises a brow, not sure why she''s the one crying when he''s getting ''rejected''. "It''s ok Momo, I understand, you just don''t want anyone to get hurt," he says in aforting voice. "Don''t worry, we can all just be friends." "Thank you," she bows quickly and rushes out of the room, just wanting to get to the bathroom and sob for a few minutes. After she leaves Horizon just sighs and looks toward the other door, "she''s gone, you can get back in here." Pixie-Bob immediately opens the door and steps in, wearing a set of thick blue pajamas. Just a moment before Momo entered she had gotten up to go turn off the oven, causing the noise that alerted Momo in the first ce. Walking over to the couch she casually drops back down into Horizon''sp, this time having her back against his chest. They''d been up for nearly two hours just... ''talking''. "So what was that all about?" she asks as he puts his hands around her waist. "Wow, I didn''t take you for the eavesdropping type Ryuko." "I''m not, but I was already at the door when she started asking about dating you." "I know, it''s nothing major." "Really?" She closes her eyes and leans back into him, "sounds like two girls in your ss like you, they''re cute, and good girls, why not ask one of them out? Or just ept her offer?" "Well aside from the fact that everything I said to her ispletely true, part of the reason is that I like the social dynamic of my ss as it is. I''ve got enough on my te, I don''t need to add women to the list. Getting into anything serious or a rtionship where I''m stuck in a ssroom with her four days a week sounds like an eventual problem. Plus if something doesn''t work out I''ll be stuck with her for the next three years, no thanks." "So you turned her down because of that?" "No, she rejected me," Horizon corrects her. "I never rejected her, that could have caused her feelings or whatever to get hurt, and that could be another issue to make my time at UA annoying. I just pointed out why she shouldn''t want to be with me." She thinks about exactly what was said in that conversation and shakes her head, "you''re like some kind of evil genius..." she mutters. "How dare you," he says jokingly, "I''ll have you know I''m going to be the #1 Hero one day." Ryuko smiles, feeling his hands moving under her top and up her toned belly, "you know, usually when people say that I don''t take them seriously, but I think you''ll get there one day, honestly." "It''s an eventuality, especially with a Quirk like mine..." he says as Ryuko begins to moan and grind in ce in hisp as his hands move up to her chest "Mmmmhmmmmmm." "Crap," Horizon says, causing her eyes to shoot open. "What''s wrong? Is it Mandy?" "Eraser ising this way," Horizon says. "How about we finish our chat in my room..." Before she can even respond he stands up with her in his arms. "Yeah," she says, "we''ve still got a lot of talking to do." "Shambles..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 106: (Friends and Teammates) Chapter 106: (Friends and Teammates) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (30+ chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- Opening his eyes Law couldn''t see anything in the room. It was entirely pitch ck aside from the small streak of light seeping in beneath the door. Opening a small Room just big enough to cover the building Law focuses on his bed. He was currentlypletely naked with Ryuko -Pixie-Bob-, wrapped around him in her best impression of a Boa Constrictor. SHAMBLES He warps his phone into his hand and holds it down, preventing the light from illuminating his face as he peeks at the time, just a few minutes before 5 AM, the Pros would be waking up any minute now, but at the moment he could sense them all sleeping. "Ryuko, I should get you back to your room now," he says, giving her a gentle shake to wake her up. "Mmm!" She groans loudly and pulls the covers over her head, tightening her grip on him. "Five more minutes..." Rolling his eyes Law runs his hand down her back reaching all the way down to her ass and gets a firm grip on her, causing her to immediately wake up, then pulls her into him. "You need to get to your room before Ragdoll wakes up." "Ugh!" Ryuko groans and adjusts herself toy her head across his chest, moving her hand down his muscled chest and to the grooves between his abs. "I''m so tired, I''m gonna be sleepy all day." "Thanks," Law says, his quietugh feels like a rumbling under her head. She sighs and opens her eyes, only seeing darkness, unable to even spot an outline of his face. "Let me get my clothes and I''ll get going." "Well...we''ve got a few minutes, and I can warp you there instantly, lets''s try to enjoy the morning, how about it?" She raises up a bit and leans forward, bridging the gap between them and carefully using her hands to find his face to kiss him. Instead of the passion and almost desperation in her actionsst night, now she felt much more rxed andfortable, as if this was nothing new for them. She pulls back and takes a deep breath, "and just so you know, I''m really really happy that the muscle look on your body glove wasn''t just for show...I like these," she runs a hand down his abs. "Well, that''s a side effect of my training...but d you like it, now, let''s get our morning started..." ---5 Pm, 12 Hours Later... At the outdoor cooking area, Pixie-Bob is in full Hero Costume helping Mandy move some boxes of food around. Transferring food from the freezer to the tables, for Horizon to direct the others to cook once again. Setting down another box she follows Mandy into the kitchen, only to have Mandy turn around and face her, looking at her with an annoyed look. "Um, is something wrong?" Pixie-Bob asks, not quite sure what was happening, and hoping it wasn''t what she thought it was. "So you just disregarded everything I said yesterday?" Mandy folds her arms below her chest and res at her friend. "What do you mean?" Mandy sighs, "Ragdoll woke up a little after 1 AM, and she decided to check on everyone. Care to guess where her Search Quirk found you?" Pixie-Bob feels a pit in her stomach, "wait, I can exin!" "Save it," Mandy raises a hand to stop her. "I''m not going to yell at you, I decided to spend today thinking about a punishment for you, but...with some convincing from Tiger, I''ve decided to let it go this time..." "Really?" Pixie-Bob gives her best puppy dog eyes. "Ugh, yes, really. Stop looking at me like that..." "You''re the best!" Pixie-Bob wraps her friend in a tight hug, but is immediately pushed away. "But you can''t let this happen again, got it?" Pixie-Bob nods. "Normally you know we don''t really care to bother you about stuff like this, most summer flings we can ignore, but this one has to stop. Technically it''s not against thew. But UA trusted us to teach these young heroes, not to have sex with them. It''s aplete breach of their trust and ethics, not to mention if this gets out through one of those chatty teens it could reflect poorly on our entire team. Your reputation is our reputation, remember that." "Right," Pixie-Bob looks like a kicked puppy. "Sorry." Mandy sighs and pulls her into a light hug, "I know you''ve only been thinking about finding a guy and starting a family, and I know Horizon makes you feel special and happy, that''s why I''m not being too hard on you for giving in. But this has to stop, what you do after the camp is none of our business, but until then, just try to stay away from him for the next 5 days, alright?" "Yeah, I''ll stay away from him," she promises. "I knew I could count on you," Mandy says. "Now let''s go get the rest of this food out there..." While Pixie-Bob was dealing with her team leader and best friend, Horizon was having troubles of his own. With everyone else filing out of the training area he waspleting his final attempt at using his new move. With both hands cupped together in front of him, he was shivering and shaking. Around him for ten meters under the setting sun, small bits of frost could be seen scattered about the rocky floor glinting in the light. There were lines in the frost, however, perfectly straight lines all pointing directly toward Horizon. He''d spent all day to achieve this, he barely had enough energy to get this far. He didn''t have enough control to prevent the frosting side effect. And now his body was aching, freezing, and exhausted. "Argh," Horizon cancels his Quirk and stumbles back, nearly falling over from exhaustion. Taking a few shaky steps he makes his way to a rock rising out of the ground and takes a seat, trying desperately to catch his breath. His visor was coated in sparse bits of frost, and looking at his body glove he could see the same thing. But quickly he felt the heat returning to his body, his shivering slowed and ceased a minuteter. And then he finally looked at his numb hands, they seemedpletely fine. Until he turned them to look at the palms. The palm of both gloves waspletely burnt away, exposing the blistered skin beneath with 2nd-degree burns eating away at deeper bits of skin, like a horrendous and painful rash. "Great, so I can''t do anything right with this new move, can''t even protect myself from it, at least I brought my backups...one more thing I''ll need to thank Mei for." Taking ten minutes to rx a bit Horizon sees Sero approaching him, likely to call him to dinner since everyone else was already gone. Looking at his palms he focuses his energy and heals them, as if they were never hurt at all. That was thest of his energy unless he wanted to ckout, at least until he rests a bit. "A month or two and I''ll have this ready for use," Horizon mutters before Seroes into earshot. "Trying to rece Todoroki?" Sero asks jokingly, looking at the frosty floor that''s already melting away. "No I can''t make ice," Horizon says matter of factly. Sero looks confused at that statement, "does the ice you just made know that?" "It''splicated, don''t worry about it. Is the dinner stuff ready?" "Yeah, but we can handle this one, it''s burgers!" "Oh thank god," Horizon says. "I need a shower and a nap." Sero sits beside Horizon, taking a moment to rest his tired body too. "So, how''s your progress going?" "With what, Yui or training?" "Yes," Horizon says. Sero sighs, "honestly I don''t know what I''m waiting for with Yui either, but it just makes me all nervous thinking about it." "Ok, so you''re still a pussy, nothing new there---" "Hey!" "What about training?" Sero huffs and just tries to rx, "it''s been going good. I can make a lot more tape now, and it''s a lot stronger and stickier too, plus I think with some more practice I might be able to make a few types, pretty cool right." "Yeah not bad, now you just need to optimize it with precision practice and equipment, and maybe learn how Eraser controls his scarf thing." "Yeah, but that''s what the next part of this summer is for, right? Technical and precise Quirk use." "Pretty much, just focus on getting your Provisional License, then we can do a few Team-Ups." Sero looks surprised at that, "seriously? I figured you''d be like ''I work alone,'' or something like that." "I do work alone, this isn''t me asking you to form a team with me, it''s just a Team-Up to show that I''m a capable leader. I changed my n from being a great hero to being the absolute best. All Might is strong, but Endeavor is strong and is a good leader, even with people he''s never met before. If I can show everyone I''m a good leader and I''m super strong, then that #1 spot is already in my hand." Sero nods a few times, tapping his chin and thinking it over, "and this way I''d get to be on your profile as Cellophane, that way I can start a personal profile and get a big boost in followers, right?" "Exactly, just don''t mize it and you''ll be fine." "Nice, but uh, why me?" "Unlike the other people in our ss, you''re useful and tolerable, that''s a rarebination in my life." "Uh, thanks?" "You''re wee. But seriously, don''t ck off on your training, if you''re gonna embarrass me you can be damn sure we won''t be teaming up. I don''t have any time for people that will make me look bad." Sero gulps nervously, "don''t worry man I won''t let you down!" he gives Horizon a wise smile and a thumbs up. "I''m counting on you, Cellophane," Horizon reaches out to give him a fist bump, which Sero dly epts... ---3 Days Later... Lying in his pitch-ck room. Law is in bed with Ryukoying on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. Just like they''d spent every night since the very second, together, enjoying their summer fun. "You should really try out the hot springs, atleast once. It''ll definitely help you recover after training." "Too risky, being out in the open like that, and I don''t like getting the body glove wet." "Well, tomorrow we''ve got something special nned, so nobody will be at the resort here. You can try it out then, no chance of anyone identally walking in on you." "Really? What are you nning?" "Well, since you guys only have two more nights here we figured a little friendly game would be nice. A Test of Courage!" "What, like a dare?" "No, you walk through the forest and each ss takes turns scaring the other, we didn''t involve you because you''d just sense all the tricks and ruin it." Law can''t help butugh at that, "yeah that''s true, it''s really hard to surprise me, too bad you can''t join me in the Hot Springs huh..." Pixie-Bob immediately sits up, straddling his hips and nting both hands on his chest, still not seeing anything in the pitch-ck room. "Actually, we could go right now if you want, it won''t be as good as directly after training, but I''d get to go in with you...if you want." "In what world would I ever not want you in a Hot Springs with me?" "Will I have to wear a blindfold?" she asks. "Yeah, but don''t worry, I''ll keep you close to me..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 107: (Training Camp Results) Chapter 107: (Training Camp Results) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (30+ chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- After getting cleaned up from today''s training everyone sat around in the dining area outside. With this mountain training camp about to end the girls were currently having a discussion about how much progress they''ve all made All the girls from both sses were sitting at one long table, with multiple smaller conversations happening. "So you can really control it now?" Uraraka asks, looking at Toru sitting across from here, as usually since Horizon arrived the girl ispletely visible to them. "Yeah!" Toru says, and she immediately begins to flicker in and out of view. "Oops, it still does that sometimes when I get excited, but I got back my heart today and I''ve been practicing a lot." "The Stealth Hero: Invisible Girl!" Uraraka says, "people are gonna love you." "Plus now you get to wear a costume instead of walking around naked right?" Jiro asks. "Yeah, one of those skin-tight organic suits should work, a thinner version of what Mina uses! It''s gonna be super cute...and pink!" "Yay!" Mina yells out and pulls Toru into a tight hug, "we''re totally gonna match!" Both girls devolve into a fit of giggles. "Oh, that reminds me," Uraraka says. "I need to go check out the Support Department when we get back to UA. I''m thinking of getting some super heavy stuff added to my costume." "Like Tungsten weights?" Momo asks. "With you Quirk, they can be weightless until you throw them, but did your stamina increase enough to carry them around all day?" Uraraka rubs the back of her neck sheepishly, "well, I''m not quite there yet, but we''ve still got another month before the License Exam so I''ve got some time. I pretty much focused on dealing with the nausea of my Quirk these past few weeks to improve my mobility." "I''m sure you''ll improve greatly before the exam, so your new equipment should provide a great boost to yourbat power," Momo says. As the girls continue to chatter for a few minutes, as the moon is high in the sky Pixie-Bob gathers everyone''s attention. Using her Quirk to raise a teau of dirt under her for everyone to look up at her. "Alright everyone, time for the Test Of Courage! ss 1B is up first as the scare team, so all of youe with me and everyone else waits here...and no peeking!" "Finally!" Mina yells out, getting excited about the uing challenge as half the students begin following Pixie-Bob. "Not you Ashido," Eraser says, drawing her eyes over to him, already standing beside him are Kaminari and Monoma, shoulders slumped. "Your nightly remedial sses aren''t postponed because tonight is different, get inside, c''mon..." "Awe, sorry Mina," Toru gives her a sympathetic pat on the back as the girl sulks and walks away. After half of the students clear out the girls continue their chatter. Meanwhile, at Horizon''s table. Sitting with Sero, Sato, Tokoyami, and Shoji, they were discussing only the most important and critical of topics. "Sero, look," Horizon raises his hands and sighs. "What you just said, that war crime of an opinion to have...is fucking retarded." "Hey! I think he''s the best, I mean why else would he always be around," Sero says. "He literally only looks...slightly, barely...just the slightest bit cool," Horizon says. "But you''re telling me, in the year 2315, with over forty generations and thousands to pick from...you really think Charizard is the best pokemon. Seriously?" "C''mon it''s a good pick, right guys?" Sero turns to the other boys in the conversation, only getting weird looks from them. "Guys?" "He isn''t even a dragon type." "He''s been weak since generation 12." Sero just gets beaten down by their words, "alright alright, fine, what''s yours then?" he asks Horizon. "Legendaries?" Horizon asks. "Nope, everyone always pics Rayquaza," Sero says, and they all nod along. "Ok, that''s fair...probably---" "HEY GLASS FACE!" Bakugo interrupts their essential conversations. All the people present turn to see him stomping over to their table, being followed closely by Kirishima who was trying to stop him. In one hand was a tablet of some kind, and in the other was a baseball. Horizon just sighs, expecting something annoying, "what do you want silver medal?" "Mmmm, catch," Bakugo tosses him the baseball which he easily catches. "What?" "Throw it, as hard as you can, you''re the only person here that''s never done it, I wanna see how we stack up." Horizon looks at the ball, then looks at Kirishima, hoping he can make some sense of this. "Bakugo just got the top score again," Kirishima says. "Before you got to camp Yaomomo took the top spot, Midoriya got to second, but now Bakugo took back the top spot...but I kind of mentioned that not everyone was technically listed." "And silver medal wants to see my score, great," Horizonzily gets up. "What score am I gonna beat?" "Check it," Kirishima turns the tablet to Horizon. Bakugo- 815m Momo- 780m Izuku- 770m "Isn''t floaty supposed to be here?" Horizon asks. "On the official UA list, yeah, but this is just for friendlypetition, can''t really get better than infinity," Kirishima says. Horizon shrugs, "so the score to beat is 815 meters, I didn''t even do much training today so I don''t even need to warp it." "What? You think I can''t catch up to you if you go all out?" Bakugo asks, words carried with a deep growl. "Well, yeah, I''m already miles ahead of you. I improve faster than you, and I train harder than you. Get used to that silver medal," Horizon says as he takes a few steps away with the baseball. ''And why the hell would I tell you my exact maximum range,'' he thinks to himself while winding up his pitch. ROOM! He forms a small room only 5 meters wide. BOOSTER SHOT! He focuses some of his energy on his body to boost his pitch. Everyone looks on as he winds up his pitch, not expecting him to simply throw it instead of warping it away. BOOM! The ball shatters the sound barrier as it rockets through the cool night air. Jiro flinches and grabs her ears, not expecting the sudden sonic boom so close to her. As it disappears into the night people begin muttering, making their best guesses at exactly how far it would go. BEEP! The tablet goes off, indicating the ball stopped moving. "Wow," Kirishima says, looking at it. "1170 meters...damn man." Horizon just shrugs, barely feeling the energy use from that pitch, "figured I''d keep it reasonable. Plus I''m trying to take it easy tonight." Bakugo just snatches the tablet from Kirishima and stomps off, and a momentter Horizon warps the ball back to them. "Thanks man," Kirishima picks up the ball and rushes off after Bakugo. "So you really weren''t kidding when you said you were muscling up huh," Sato says as Horizon returns to the table. "Oh yeah, in a lot of cases it''s more economical and effective to just punch someone in the face rather than using any of my other techniques, figured it''s an easy way to be more economical with my fighting." "Is that why you look like a mini All Might?" Asui asks from behind Horizon, at the table with all the girls. "You really looked like him at the pool...with all the muscles I mean." Horizon turns back to look at her over his shoulder, "yeah, like what you see Froppy?" Her expression remainspletely t, unlike Momo who frowns at that reply, and Jiro who just keeps her head down. "Yeah, you look good, but you get ugly when you start talking, still a total jerk. Not my type." "I''ll get over it," Horizon says, turning back to everyone. "But yeah, figured there is a lot of merit in taking the All Might approach in certain situations. But the difference is I won''t hit the same peak power as him, and even if I do my body won''t be there for any other 15 years. Plus I''ll fight with a brain unlike him. The meathead tactics of ''just punch them harder'' is really dumb." "But it always works," Sato says. "All Might has never lost, so how dumb can it be?" "Bad habits can get you good results, but that doesn''t make them good habits. If you only focus on the oue you''ll never truly reach your full potential. It''s like if you lift weights with bad form. Yeah you''ll move the weights, but eventually, something will go wrong, bad practice with good results is still bad practice." "Huh, I guess I never thought about it like that," Sato says. "So how much do you lift now anyway?" "I bench about 2500lbs," Horizon says, as if it were normal for someone without a Strength Enhancer Quirk. "I don''t think I can get much higher than that right now, but obviously it gets a lot better when I start using my Quirk." "That''s without your Quirk?" Sero visibly flinches at the idea of lifting that much weight, almost like lifting a 4-door car. "That''s insane." "I get that a lot..." A few minutester Pixie-Bob returns to collect the other students, leaving Mandy and the others to organize the route for the Test of Courage. "Alright 1A, let''s get this started!" As everyone gets up and gathers around Horizon turns and begins walking toward the main building, "good luck," he says offhandedly. "You aren''ting?" Sero asks, causing everyone to look at them. "Haunted house stuff doesn''t really work on me, I can sense them, remember?" "Oh, right." "Yeah, plus we''ve only got tomorrow night here then we head out, I wanna enjoy the Hot Springs," Horizon shrugs. "Wait!" Jiro says, obviously worried, already trying to hide behind Momo. Admittedly she doesn''t do well with anything spooky or horror rted. "But if you leave then one of us has to go solo, since that means our ss is missing three people." Seeing the girl obviously afraid Horizon just sighs, not in the mood to be dragged into this just so someone doesn''t have to go solo. "You''re a hero, you''ll have to deal with viins, and you''ve already fought some of them before. You''ll be fine with some haunted house game," he tells her. "Being afraid is fine, letting it control you is inexcusable, you can ovee this." "Oh...Thanks," Jiro nervously looks down at the ground as Momo gives her hand a reassuring squeeze. "Fear not madam," Aoyama speaks up, "I shall be the one to go alone, my dazzling style will keep me safe in the night." "Good luck with that frenchie," Horizon says as everyone else gives Aoyama an exasperated look. "Well now that everyone is ready, let''s get moving," Pixie-Bob waves for them all to follow her. "And be sure to enjoy the Hot Springs Horizon, we''ve only got two more nights here so let''s all make the most of them..." Horizon can''t help but smile at that as everyone begins walking away, knowing exactly what she meant... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 108: (First Encounter?) Chapter 108: (First Encounter?) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (30+ chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "How is this so much better than my hot tub..." Law mutters as he rxes in the Hot Spring. At the edge of the water with his back to the war stone wall, both muscled and tattooed arms were resting up at the edge of the pool. His body was entirely exposed, with his body glove and visor nearby. His phone was ying soft music nearby, with a Room open for 25 meters in every direction, enough so he doesn''t feel the strain while making sure nobody sneaks up to take a peek at him. After a few more minutes Law checks his phone, seeing it''s been almost a half hour since he got into the Hot Springs. "This was a lot more fun with Pix---" Law stops scrolling as he notices something strange. His phone had no service. "Huh, I thought it was impossible for Nezu''s tech to lose signals..." Law says as he checks the setting. ZZZZT! Suddenly a bright and sparkling Lazer beam cuts through the Hot Spring, barely missing the main resort building. "So much for rxing," Law mutters as he warps out of the water. Then swaps all the water on his body for his body glove and visor, and suddenly appears in full Hero Costume as he expands his room to 1000 meters wide. SCAN! He feels everyone stillpleting the Test Of Courage, but two people were elsewhere. Ragdoll and Aoyama were far off course and separated from everyone else, in a dire situation. "Shambles," Horizon suddenly appears beside Aoyama, staring down a green-skinnednky Nomu, and a young boy in a ck middle school uniform, wearing a gas mask and carrying two gas canisters on his back. In his hand is an old-fashioned revolver, at ease pointing toward the floor, and a thick pink fog swirls around him, only a few inches from his body. Behind Aoyama is Ragdoll, down on the floor and bleeding from her head, while Aoyama was stuck in a standoff with the viin and Nomu. But everyone froze when Horizon arrived on the scene. Unlike his previous encounters, this Nomu seemedpletely unresponsive to anything around it. ''So I''m guessing this loser can''t give itmands, so it''s in standby mode...plus his Quirk is some toxic gas, not lethal since he has a gun. And he isn''t immune to it because he has a gas mask...but I am. I guess he''s just weak.'' "What''s going on here?" Horizon asks, noticing the viin frozen in fear. "I got lost and she came looking for me, but this viin attacked us!" Aoyama yells, voice cracking with almost every word. "Twinkler, tell the others the League of Viins is here," Horizon says, seeing the viin''s gun trembling, unable to even raise it toward him. "I''ll deal with this..." Both Aoyama and Ragdoll immediately disappear, swapped with rocks from the dining area. SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES!------ Horizon swaps everyone but himself back into the dining area, leaving him and the viins staring each other down. "So, how''d you find us?" Horizon asks. The boy doesn''t respond, only raising his pistol and opening fire. One round is fired, yet it stops a foot in front of Horizon, held in the air by nothing. A precise and wasteful use of Takt, but it always got the message across. Horizon carefully and gently plucks the bullet from the air, holding it between his fingers as he walks up to the viin. BANG! Another bullet stops just inches ahead of him, echoing through the forest and helping Aoyama get his warning across. And again Horizon plucks it out of the air. By the time he gets to the viin, the boy is shaking, absolutely stuck with fear, revolver dropped to the dirt, staring up at Horizon as he towers over the viin. Over a foot taller than him and muchrger. "You have a name?" Horizon asks, his voice surprisingly calm all things considered. "M...Mustard..." the viin stutters out. "Mustard...gas, catchy," Horizon raises his hand with all the bullets and holds it out. "These are yours." Mustard raises a shaky hand and collects the bullets. He doesn''t dare take his eyes off Horizon. Horizon, however, takes his eyes off the viin, looking across at the tall andnky Nomu, "well, clearly you don''t have the authority tomand this thing...so let''s make this quick." "Argh!" Mustard chokes as Horizon grabs his neck, immediately and painfully strangling him, easily lifting him off the floor so they were at eye level with each other. "Do you know anything about how this attack was nned?" Horizon asks. He only gets the sound of choking from Mustard. "Right," he reaches up and rips off the gas mask, loosening up his grip so the boy could speak. "I''ll try that again, what information do you have? How many viins are here?" "Just six of us, and some Nomu," Mustard barely gets out, feeling the grip beginning to tighten again. "How did you find us?" "I swear I don''t know anything about that, please, I only joined the league to---" Horizon immediately begins strangling him again, not interested in any silly motivations. "Counter Shock," Mustard''s convulsing body is burnt by the strong current thatpletely knocks him out for at least a day. "Shambles," he swaps Mustard for Eraser. "Horizon?" "Six viins plus some Nomu, keep everyone at the main resort and I''ll try to pick them off." "Got it," Eraser says, and is swapped with a lone rock, sending him back to the others. As Eraser disappears Horizon scans everything within his Room again, but doesn''t detect anything aside from Mustard and the Nomu in front of him. Because the others simply haven''t received the signal to arrive just yet. So he keeps his attention on his Room while turning to the Nomu standing beside him. ''Why would Shigaraki give a Nomu to someone, without allowing them tomand it? Or without giving it a presetmand, doesn''t really make sense...'' He reaches forward and touches it, and it doesn''t even react. ''Hmm, what is that? An antenna Quirk? Radio? Signal? I guess this is what''s causing the signal drop in the area, and a Telepathy Link Quirk, weirdbo...but useful.'' Horizon takes a step back and reaches for his sword, and the moment his hand touches the hilt. "A-arsenal," the Nomu says in a broken raspy voice, and Horizon freezes, just for a moment. INCISION! He shes it in two, pretending as if that word meant nothing to him. Looking at the bisected corpse on the floor Horizon just sighs and focuses on everything around him, not sensing any neers. And the moment he puts his sword away. "Arsenal''s son?" A voice echoes out from the Nomu, deep and haunting, but not the voice of the monster itself, this time using it as a puppet. ''No, that''s impossible. I''m insted. Nezu made sure nobody could know. Nobody can know! This is a bluff, a hard bluff. This can''t be happening.'' "It seems we have much to discuss, doctor," the voice says again, and a small purple Warp gate begins forming a few feet away. "I find myself in need of a miracle. And as far as I know, only you specialize in such a procedure." Horizon leaps backward and readies his de, prepared to sh the Warp Gate the moment Shigaraki showed his crusty face. But he never did. Instead, the Warp Gate expanded to 8ft wide, and out stepped a tall man in a simple ck suit with a white undershirt. Standing at 225cm -7ft5-, even taller than All Might. And seemingly having an almost identical build, simply better hidden beneath the formal suit. Horizon felt his blood crawl as the eerie presence made itself known. Nothing that he was paralyzed by, but the sense of danger he felt was new. Real. ''This guy is making me nervous? What? Me? Why?'' he questions, not understanding what was going on. And looking into the ck industrial mask with tubes connecting it together, he only got more confused. But the moment the full body got revealed. All For One, the incarnation of Evil. The would-be Demon Lord of Japan. Horizon rxed slightly, still on guard but now more confident against his foe. ''Oh... it''s just him,'' Horizon thinks, having been aware of this person for years. "Finally a hero with a sense of ss," All For One says jokingly, adjusting his tie to make his point clear. Side by side they looked very simr, in three-piece suits, full face masks, tall and muscr. Two sides of the same coin. No, two sides of the same coin... "I had no idea Arsenal had a child, how extraordinary," All For One says, standing only ten meters away with his hands at his side. "..." Horizon doesn''t answer at first,he shrinks his room down to only 50m wide, giving all of his focus to the neer, then simply raises his de to point at All For One, "are you leading the League of Viins?" "Oh, is that the game you''d like to y?" All For One asks, yfully, amused by Horizon attempting to avoid the question. "Alright, I''ll y along, hero..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 109: (Devils Deal) Chapter 109: (Devil''s Deal) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (30+ chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "Are you curious about how I know such things?" All For One asks, Horizon had taken an offensive stance with his de facing forward, but has not bothered to strike as of yet. "..." "Ahh, so you don''t feel like speaking, well luckily I quite enjoy the sound of my own voice," All For One releases a deep chuckle, receivingmunications from the other viins directly into his head. He focuses everything he has on Horizon, not taking any chances with this Mystery ss anomaly, just as Horizon is focusing everything on him. Bothpletely ignored the fights that were about to break out, not particrly caring enough to look away to save anyone here. Noticing this standoff wouldn''t break All For One got to the point of why he''s here. "For the past twenty years, Arsenal has been doing quite a lot of contract work with me, but naturally not under this name. You may know me as, ''Mister Collector'', yes?" Horizon doesn''t respond, but this matches exactly what he knew. There were no secrets between him and his parents, including who they do business with. While he doesn''t know all of his mom''s past contracts, he knows the most high-paying clients. And this man is at the very top of that list, but he''d always ask for the corpses to be dropped off at certain ces. Heroes, civilians, and viins, all with unique Quirks. "But I hadn''t known she had a family, I''ve only met her in person once in fact, she was strictly professional and covert, but so efficient... it''s a real shame she''s locked away in Tartarus..." Horizon''s grip on his sword tightens, and All For One doesn''t miss it. "That''s actually how I put the pieces together. After your grand reveal at the Sports Festival, I assumed your parents were dead and gone, but only a few dayster...the lines within the Hero Commission were going mad, quiet calls pulling all the files they had on three particr people. Horizon, Arsenal, and The Heart Thief...a heinous duo, and an up-anding hero, how strange." "That doesn''t prove anything," Horizon says. "True, but I have friends everywhere, and they gave me everything they could find...including some very hidden reports about a certain swordsman doctor with a warping Quirk being arrested along with that duo. How strange, but I must admit, Nezu did his job exceptionally well. I couldn''t find a real name or face for any of you, and I couldn''t even call you because he''s so intertwined with you. That''s why I''m here in person." "We live in a superhuman world, coincidences can happen, and anyone can use a sword," Horizon says, still unknowingly avoiding All For One''s lie detector Quirk. "Very true, but we both know it was you, in fact, you''ve already confessed as much." "Excuse me?" "Ohe now," All For One gestures to the forest around them, and the dead Nomu on the floor. "As if the great and powerful Horizon would have allowed any viin to warp here, or not simply cut me down already, you''re obviously smart enough to listen to what I have to say, and that means it must be true. Because if I didn''t have leverage, you''d be trying to cut me into little pieces right now..." The air between them bes tense for a moment, then Horizon sighs, "what do you want Collector?" "Well firstly, that isn''t my true name, I am, All For One." Horizon chuckles at that, "All For One? You''re a fanboy? That''s a myth, you named yourself after a myth?" "No, it is my true self, but there are so many more benefits to hiding from the world," All For One raises his hand to the side and creates a small flowing tendril of water, then one of fire, then iron spikes from his fingers. "Enough proof for you?" "Mmm, if you''re really the ''Demon Lord'', why hide from the world?" "Oh, that''s half the fun, I''m not ready to take over yet. When I do that humanity will unite against me, so I have to make sure I can fight them all. And besides, the greatest trick the devil has ever yed on humanity---" "Is convincing them he doesn''t exist," Horizon finishes the quote. "Ok, so assuming you''re real, what do you want?" All For One cancels the Quirks and drops his hand, "a doctor." "A doctor? Really?" "Ohe now Horizon, you''ve obviously put the pieces together by now, All Might must have told you about our fight five years ago, that''s why he was in such a rush to pass it down to you." "So you''re the viin that hurt him," Horizon mutters quietly. He sees a plume of smoke rising out of the forest far to their left but ignores it. "And pass what down to me?" "Hmm," All For One ispletely thrown off by this. "Ohhh, it seems I got some things wrong. But if you aren''t it, then this is how powerful you are naturally...you Mystery ss people really are a different breed." Horizon just keeps the sword ready, now even more on guard, giving the benefit of the doubt that this really was Japan''s mythic Demon Lord. "That disastrous fight didn''t only injure him, but also myself," All For One says. "Now I need this mask to help me breathe, and I can''t even hold anywhere near as many Quirks as I did before. My body is simply failing. It would take a miracle to fix me, from a gic level upward." "And I specialize in miracles, so you came to me." "Precisely. I am the living embodiment of your correction on the Quirk Singrity theory, and I need you to help prevent it." "So you''re why they need to build the Nomu creatures, their test runs for making you a new body." "And you canplete it, can''t you?" "I can do anything, and I assumed you''d want to have eyes and a nose again," Horizon says as he rxes slightly. All For One reaches up to his mask, "X-Ray Vision?" he asks Horizon. "So what''s the deal?" Horizon asks, ignoring All For One''s curiosity about how he saw past the mask, not wanting to reveal Scan to him. "ckmailing me?" "You really think so little of me," All For One sounds genuinely offended as he takes an even more rxed posture. "Arsenal was one of what society would call, ''a horrific and dangerous mass murderer'', someone raised by her won''t truly care about heroic nonsense. The only reason you seem to care is because of whatever deal you''ve made with Nezu, I assume if you save a million people they get released, yes?" "That''s none of your business." "True, and it simply does not matter," All For One says. "Because I need you to be willing to help me, because it won''t do any good if my surgeon wants to kill me. And if the truth is revealed the government will likely execute your parents to prove that they don''t y favorites. And if that happens you won''t be helping anyone. So I''ll simply give you what you want. I will free them for you." "How?" Horizon asks, he''d spent weeks thinking about this. But Tartarus''s defenses would detect any changes within the prison the moment he does it. And with them molecrly bonded to the prison he can''t warp them out. They''d be executed the moment he tries anything, that''s the standard procedure for all the cells in Tartarus, everyone would be killed rather than having anyone escape. "I have friends everywhere," All For One says. "Shutting down the execution procedure would allow Gigantomachi and myself to invade the prison, free them, and recruit some new blood. But it would also reveal me to the world...and I''d rather remain dead for now." "So it can''t be done?" "It can be, but you''d simply have to prove to me that my sacrifice is worth your favor." "As if I''d operate before getting paid," Horizon says. "You bring them to me, safely, then I fix you. The operation itself should only take a week or two, depending on how many Quirks are in there." "Really?" "I can''t transfer Quirks between people, but if someone is force-fed a few Quirks I can make it act as one." "You''ve considered this before?" All For One asks. "You keep sending Nomu after me, of course I studied them, but I''m guessing your Quirk isn''t a Frankenstein''s Monster situation," Horizon tilts his head a bit to show he''s studying him. "Oh, and how do you think it works?" "Hmm," Horizon looks him up and down, then pauses for a moment to think about it. "Your Quirk works like a server and the other Quirks are just files on it for you to ess. I assume you have mutation Quirks that give things like horns and ws, but even those aren''t active since you haven''t used All For One to trigger them. And All For One lets you cut and paste gic code from person to person, but you can''t make a copy of the Quirks, it''s the basis of everything. But the Nomu don''t have All For One, so they have all the Quirks active all the time, and that''s why they can''t really think, right?" All For One is genuinely stunned, including himself, only two people have ever understood his Quirk so well. "Mmm," All For One gives an annoyed growl, "a perfect and intuitive understanding of my Quirk, you''re much more dangerous than expected." "I get that a lot," Horizon says. "So if we''re done here, can you go collect my payment, I''d like this all to be over as quickly as possible." "I''m afraid I still need proof before I reveal myself to the world," All For One says. "And I never break a contract, so I''ll at least need payment before I break this one..." "Well that is unfortunate, we seem to be at an impasse, but there is one solution," All For One says. "And what might that be?" "I know you are proud, as am I, but I mean no insult by this." "Hmm?" All For One raises his hands, palms up to reveal the holes in his palms, "allow me to grant you power, to give you more power than you can naturally handle. If you solve the mystery of your own body, of your own mind, and should you survive I will dly break the barriers of Tartarus and deliver your parents to you." Horizon considers it for a long moment, this was an easy way out...assuming All For One could be trusted. But that was the problem, if this person was the real All For One, then he definitely couldn''t trust them. Allowing him to make contact with those hands and mess with his body, and if they can''t ovee or steal his Quirk he could simply be killed by one of the other dozen Quirks. It wasn''t worth the risk. Hand Of God is far too valuable for either side to risk losing. "Sorry," Horizon raises his sword, "but I''m never letting you mess with my body, when you get them then we can talk, and I''ll do you the courtesy of not telling anyone about this..." "Well that is unfortunate," All For One sighs, "but at least I don''t have to be too careful, you can heal anything I''m about to do to you..." All For One immediately raises his hands. AIR CANON! END CHAPTER--- Chapter 110: (Superhuman Limits) Chapter 110: (Superhuman Limits) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (30+ chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- AIR CANON! All For One sends a massive column of air forward from his hand directly toward Horizon. SHAMBLES! ''Hngh,'' All For One feels himself being knocked across the forest, immediately swapped with Horizon so the air ms into his back. He gets ragdolled through a hundred meters of trees and dirt before he rolls and stops himself in mid-air, using Air Walk to stand above the ground. Scanning his surrounding with his Infrared Quirk he sees the destruction his path caused. ''So unlike mine, his warping is instant and cannot be resisted, extraordinary...'' All For One staggers forward, passing a hand across his chest he feels his ultra-durable and expensive suit shed. And a momentter the entire torso of it is shredded. The sound of trees toppling and rocks crumbling bombard him, his Vibration Sense Quirk recing his ears, now alerting him to all the trees in this area being cut down. Dozens of mad but targeted shes of Amputate. Back at their original location, Horizon sees his attacks cutting down the forest, and in the suddenly low-cut area is All For One, still hovering in the air, and slowly turning to face Horizon. Reaching up he grabs his shredded jacket and shirt and simply rips them off, exposing his muscled torso, with massive scars all across it. "Amputate!" Horizon sends an attack directly at his head, and shatters the mask. "No," All For One grows sharp ck tendrils from his arms with Rivet Stab and reaches out to grab all the pieces, his face -orck thereof- now exposed. "Shambles," Horizon wars all the pieces away, swapping them with random leaves. "Trying to suffocate me!" All For One yells as he takes a direct approach, suddenly flying directly at Horizon. AIR CANON! + SPRINGLIKE LIMBS! + KINETIC ENHANCER! All For One stretches both hands outward at Horizon and releases two massive bursts of air. SHAMBLES! As expected Horizon warps away, but All For One reacts quickly, only losing track of him for a second before pointing a single finger at him. LIGHTNING BOLT! A bolt of ck and red lighting crackles to life and shoots in a straight line toward Horizon. It nearly touches his visor before he warps away again, this time on the other side of All For One, but only 10 meters away. His sword was already lined up with All For One''s brain. ''Injection Shot!'' He fires a dozen shots, causing All For One to shake his head in annoyance. Blindly swatting behind him he releases a gust of wind from his hand to clear the area, once again missing Horizon. "Dragon me Breath!" All For One says as he releases a methrowing of red fire from his mouth, not aimed at Horizon but at the trees on the floor, setting them alight before he rises into the air. "That''s enough using leaves to warp, don''t you agree..." All For One senses Horizon is still on the ground. "Let''s raise the stakes," he rockets down from the air and ms both palms into the ground. The air from his impact stirs up the mes and spreads them further, then a new zing heat spreads out. "Magma!" beneath his palms the ground melts into bubbling magma as he flies back into the air. And Horizon immediately takes to the air after summoning his Hoverboard, continuing their battle. All For One is more grateful than ever that he abandoned his original n. As they constantly y the cat and mouse game, with Horizon using Amputate over and over, constantly switching his tactics as All For One is forced to use more and more Quirks and ware himself out. Across the forest, the tremors from their battle are felt even while everyone else is fighting for their lives. ''Had I kept to my original n, this situation could have been impossible,'' All For One thinks as they continue fighting. ''Giving my original Quirk to Tomura would have left me with only the more physical Quirks, and physical Quirks aren''t enough against Horizon...I need as many tools as possible to deal with him...'' After a few minutes of the fight raging on, the entire section of the forest below them was a raging inferno. "Takt!" Horizon raises both his hands, raising every burning tree or loose rock for a hundred meters and sending it all at All For One. As if they were attracted to a ck hole pulling them in. "Tough Scales + Reinforce!" All For One''s skin bes even more durable as he forms lizard scales across his body and guards with his arms, feeling trees and debris m into him from all sides. The mes andva were burning him, taxing his regeneration, but not enough to end the fight. He was suddenly trapped, as if in a small burning hovering in the air. "Absorption," All For One absorbs all the me. "Strength Enhancer x12!" he flexes and spreads out his arms, knocking the tons of lumber and rock away with absolute ease. Taking a few deep and exhausted breaths All For One feels his scars beginning to open, his Hyper-Regeneration was failing as his body became more and more sickly with every Quirk use. He had to end this fight soon. ''Why can''t this guy just fucking die!'' Horizon thinks, seeing his n working, pushing All For One past the limits of his sickly form, he warps close to All For One, deciding to change up his approach, knowing he too had a limit to how much he could do. Finally he was getting the chance to go for a killing blow and silence this threat. BOOSTER SHOT + INCISION + COUNTER SHOCK! His sword was brimming with blue lightning as he shes downward, seemingly catching All For One off guard as the de connects to the side of his neck. ''Finally, he changed his approach, it only took a few minutes, thankfully'' All For One thinks as he sets his Horizon-specific countermeasures into motion. A strategy he and his own doctor spent much time developing. ''Static Cloak + Energy Enhancer + Multiplier + Lightning Bolt!'' As the sword connects Horizon feels a sudden shock of electricity overload his body and mind, as his body is about to begin convulsing his Quirk shuts off,pletely terrifying him. His brain simply couldn''t focus while flooded with current, exactly as Dr. Garaki suspected. Quirks that require such great focus can usually be dealt with in this manner. ''Amplifier + Recoil!'' As Horizon convulses, before he can even begin to shake his Katana shatters along with the bones in his right arm, the damage was reflected back at him at many times the magnitude. Pivoting on the air All For One swings out with a harsh backhand at Horizon''s face, his right arm, unfortunately, gets in the way and is entirely mangled because of it. ''Strength Enhancer X2'' the backhand connects and shatters Horizon''s visor and jaw. "Shakedown!" All For One gives themand, finally seeing his opening. A hole appears on his shoulder and outes a Nomu, grey and pale, only asrge as a housecat, and it leaps directly onto the convulsing Horizon. "NNNNNARRGJJHGHAHG!" Horizon''s mind is overwhelmed. The current flowing through him causes pain and confusion every time he tries to activate his Quirk. And the Nomu stuck to him as he was falling is constantly shaking all the particles in his body and connected to him. Exactly as a microwave works by shaking water particles until they heat up, this Quirk does exactly that...but it also hurts the user. As they begin falling the two hundred feet to the floor below Horizon''s Hero Costume ispletely shredded, his new body glove fares better but his skin below is ripped apart. His guts only stopped from falling to the floor because the body glove was in the way. His internal organs straining and trying desperately not to fail as he experiences pain like never before. His left eye pops as the fluid in it is moving too much for the eyeball to contain it. Had his visor not been broken earlier the stter would have blocked his view. But now he was only wearing his bva mask, already matted with blood, only showing his right eye, his popped left eye, and his bloody mouth and missing teeth, jaw hanging lose, mostly kept in ce by the body glove. His Quirk constantlyes on instinctively to heal himself but is immediately shut down by his brain copsing because of the current. All in a matter of seconds before the Nomu shakes itself to death and bes a useless corpse, falling to the fire below. As he''s about to begin falling out of the air properly, All For One aims his right palm at the hero. ''Air Canon + Kic Enhancer!'' BOOM! The final st of air is fired, knocking him out of the air and into a new section of forest. Finally getting a chance to breathe All For One takes a few deep breaths before levitating down to Horizon. Finding a few trees snapped in half from his fall, a small trench carved out. And the hero in question face down in the dirt, still awake, but convulsing uncontrobly as the current is still running through his mind and body. "The single most powerful Quirk in the world..." All For One takes a desperate raspy breath as hends and begins stumbling forward. "But when it''s off, you''re still just a human, weak to all the same things as a regr human...exploitable." As All For One takesbored and careful steps forward, all his old injuries begin opening as his healing Quirks begin failing. One by one he feels them bing useless as his condition worsens. His muscles stiffen and his bones ache as he''s quickly deteriorating. Then he finally arrives at Horizon. "Ngh!" Horizon tries to protest, finally feeling his mind free, but his body was failing. "Rng!" He creates a Room two meters wide, the best he could do at the moment, forcing himself to twist his head and look up, All For One sees the blue healing energy trying to permeate his body. Trying to fix his broken legs so he could get up, or maybe his jaw, or his eye, or one of the many ruptured internal organs. "This will only take a second," All For One takes a knee in front of Horizon, leaving him on the floor as he palms his head. ALL FOR ONE: Quirk Absorption! Suddenly All For One feels resistance, unexpected from any Quirk aside from One For All. ''If any Quirk could resist me, it''s his,'' he thinks as he puts his back in it. As if he was in a tug of war for his life, constantly trying to rip Hand Of God away from Horizon. Wanting to simply dump this Quirk before it kills him into a Nomu, then have Garaki use it to heal him. ''Damn it!'' All For One struggles for nearly a minute, but no matter how much he tried he couldn''t break past the Quirk, it simply wouldn''t budge. Unlike the gic error caused when trying to steal One For All, this Quirk was simply defiant. ''Cloning this Quirk would likely be impossible, I''ll have to change the n again and revert it to what I said to him,'' All For One gives one massive pull on Horizon''s Quirk, trying to rip it out of him. And as the struggle is at its peak. ALL FOR ONE: Quirk Transfer! "Energy Saver, Energy Enhancer, Energy Dynamo, Life Force!" he dumps the four Quirks that received the least resistance from Hand Of God and pulls away, rising to his full height and stumbling back. "Uggrhmhhh!" Horizon groans as he begins to vomit up blood and convulse. Have a seizure from the sudden mental overload. All For One just sighs, knowing it''d be impossible to imprison him at the moment, and doubling down his bets on Horizon healing him. Focusing on his own body All For One gives more conscious thought to his healing Quirks, trying to look strong as his wounds kept opening to drench him in blood, until a minuteter Horizon looks up from his puddle of blood with his one good eye. "Energy Saver, Energy Enhancer, Energy Dynamo, Life Force. Those Quirks will do wonders for you, but you''ll be dead before the next semester starts. If you solve the mystery of your own body and survive until then. I will bring them to you, and you will heal me, until we meet again, doctor..." Sending his signal to Kurogiri, the familiar purple mist manifests around All For One and absorbs him, whisking him away to his doctor for a much-needed check-up. And suddenly feeling the adrenaline in his system no longer necessary, Horizon cks out for a much-needed nap, face down in his own blood. Completely defeated... END CHAPTER--- Another volume done, now onto the next. I''d really appreciate a review if you''ve made it this far. Feel free to hop into discord so we can chat or justment any thoughts you''ve had thus far :) Chapter 111: (Terminal Pt-1) Chapter 111: (Terminal Pt-1) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (30+ chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "How long has it been?" All For One asks. He stirs awake inside arge cylinder filled with purple liquid,pletely naked with tubes connected to his body, able to speak through the air mask strapped to his head and covering his mouth. In this dimly litb, there are dozens of other simr capsules with unstable Nomu, slowly bing more stable and ready forbat by the second. The experimental High-End Nomu prototypes. In front of All For One is Dr. Ujiko -publicly known as Dr. Shodai Garaki-, studying his friend''s physical state on a tablet in his hands. "You''ve only been asleep for two days since fighting Horizon, but the damage is much more severe than expected," Ujiko says. "How extensive?" "Well, from what I can tell. During the fight, he must have forced you to use Super-Regeneration as much as possible." "He understood the nature of my Quirk," All For One says. "Constantly changing his approach to make me actively use other Quirks before striking and forcing me to activate Super-Regeneration, very clever..." "I see. Well, thankfully the first thing you did when you got back was dump almost a dozen Quirks into some of the standby Nomu to help me stabilize your body. The damage you sustained lowered your limit, but not as much as when you fought All Might a few years ago." "My more powerful Quirks had to be released to the Nomu, now I mainly have Mutation and other physical Quirks forbat." "It should be no issue," Ujiko says. "The police reports have you mentioned by name somehow, but this facility ispletely insted. And All Might with his sickly state would never think to look here in Kamino Ward for you. Some of your friends in the force have even spread some misinformation about a hidden mountain base containing Nomu." "Good, and my lifespan?" All For One asks. Ujiko falls silent for a moment, then forces himself to speak the terrible truth, "your life expectancy has dwindled from 10 to 6 years. I''m not sure what Quirks you gave Horizon since the gic markers for the ones aside from the new Nomu Quirks are all there, but perhaps they could have helped?" "Worry not, that''s more than enough time for my new resurgence in power. And as for the Quirks I gave him... Energy Saver, Energy Dynamo, Energy Enhancer, and Life Force." "Quirks you had dozens of copies of thanks to our cloning program, very wise. But why not dump a few weak Mutation Quirks into him? These Quirks seem tailor-made to make him unstoppable." "An unavoidable consequence, but his Quirk is quite problematic. I tried to give him ''Extra Hand'' and ''Third Eye'', but it refused Quirks that couldn''t optimally integrate with itself. I had no choice but to give him those energy production and optimization Quirks." "So it prevented you from stealing it, and even when you used its own ''pulling force'' against it to sneak in a few more Quirks, it reflexively sorted them out. It''s a shame you didn''t have time to get some samples to clone it." "Hmm, I doubt cloning it would be possible. To clone it you must understand it, and if it could be understood Nezu would not have named it Mystery ss...it is beyond the scope of ourprehension I''m afraid," All For One says sadly. "I suppose his potential doesn''t matter," Ujiko says. "Even if he can somehow integrate those Quirks properly, he''ll never be able to use them without great mental feedback." "What do you mean doctor?" "Well, to integrate multiple Quirks means to shut off the brain so all instincts align perfectly, like quickly resetting the mind. This is why live subjects never stay that way for long. The process is painful and not fast at all. Until he does this, which he will likely never consider, he won''t be able to put much mental strain on himself, and considering his Quirk, that should greatly limit him. I imagine it would take a great shock to snap all his mental processes into alignment, not to mention the more powerful you are the more difficult it is...unless you intentionally try to do this." "I see, but I don''t believe it would matter if those Quirks did work for him. After he fixes my body, I will be even stronger than he could imagine. And with my new gicposition I will no longer recognize my little brother''s DNA in the makeup of One For All, and that will allow me to finally steal it." "Assuming the boy lives, it really would take a miracle for him to survive the next month..." "Exactly why I went to him, he specializes in miracles," All For One says. After going further into the specific limitations of his new body and the repercussions of that fight, they finally arrive at the specific intentions of that night. "So he refused to even leave with you, notpletely unexpected," Ujiko says. "He inherited his mother''s obsessive desire to hold to any agreement she makes," All For One grumbles out. "A sensible decision considering that had he left with me then potentially his parents would have been executed." "And of course, he''d never trust you to touch him considering your Quirk, a wise policy since you did try to take his Quirk." "Very wise indeed. Had I stolen that Quirk I would have immediately dumped it into a Nomu before it killed me, then halted all our production to focus on it." "But even then, without Horizon it would likely be useless," Ujiko says. "The best route to healing you is to have him do it himself." "Then we have work to do, I have absolute faith in Horizon solving the issue of his body, and mine, so we must prepare ''Machia, he will need further modifications to raid Tartarus with me. The power we have currently simply won''t be enough." "I''ll have it done right away, and would you like an update on the other results of the training camp raid? The Vanguard Action Squad had some...mixed results." "Tch, Tomura and the other pests don''t matter to me, let them y viin all they want. My main focus is and shall remain our dealings with Horizon." "Naturally yes, the brat and his group of rejects simply have to keep causing chaos so the heroes stay busy," Ujiko says. "And what of Detnerat, and the Meta Liberation Army?" "Hmm, they will remain hidden for now, I don''t want them making any moves or being involved with Tomura''s affairs. They are much more capable and far-reaching on a political and economical level, and their message is much more appealing to grow an army. I shall keep them in my back pocket until I''m fully healed and ready to rise as the one true Demon Lord..." "A glorious day, the one we''ve awaited for so long, now we only have to find the current One For All user and deliver him to you when your body is ready." All For One grits his teeth, "yes, if not Horizon...then it must be someone else from that year group. But nothing stands out as having that much power...aside from---" "Izuku Midoriya," Ujiko says. "But the boy still injures himself, even after his fight with Muscr at the training camp, both arms and a broken leg, I find it hard to believe All Might would select someone so ipetent." "True, but let''s keep an eye on him when the new semester begins." "I believe you mean ''if'' the new semester begins," Ujiko says. "If?" "The bacsh after this attack is far too great for even UA to ignore, students died after all. I suspect the number of returning students will be greatly diminished, much like all the other Hero Courses around the country." "Unless they catch Tomura," All For One says. "I can''t risk Horizon''s school being stalled. That would greatly upset him since I assume part of his contract to get his parents back is graduating from UA. If he turns against us because of this then we will lose." "Hmm, if things look to be heading in that direction I''ll send some anonymous tip to the heroes about the brat and his gang of losers, the Vanguard Action Squad being arrested should satiate the media and have schools returning to normal." "Yes, but not Twice." "Hmm, his Double Quirk is invaluable for what we want, a potential instant army... if he can pull himself together," Ujiko grumbles in disappointment. "Such a waste to have that Quirk on a person so pathetic." "Yes, but his mental state makes him easy to guide and manipte, and that is much easier than wasting resources cloning and training that Quirk all over again." "He''s already been ranked as an S-ss threat on the Hero Network, along with you. Obviously, the public is none the wiser about your existence, the Hero Commission wants to keep it as quiet as possible to prevent mass panic or a sudden wave of new viins. They''re doing our job for us." "Good, now we simply have to wait for---" BEEP BEEP BEEP Ujiko''s phone goes off and he immediately checks it. "What is it?" All For One asks. "Our contact inside Tartarus finally got to visit level 5 of the prison today. It seems we will have to alter our n once more, it won''t be as simple as wrecking the prison and taking them out of it..." All For One sighs, "it''s rarely ever that simple for me, so what changed..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 112: (Terminal Pt-2) Chapter 112: (Terminal Pt-2) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (30+ chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "Mmmm," Law groans as he finally wakes up. He takes a deep breath before he opens his eye, his entire body stiff and aching. Every small movement sends a jolt of pain through him. Opening his eye he sees a in white ceiling with the light off, the room was lit up by the moonlight with a smallmp in the corner of his eye. "Where the hell..." he mutters, slowlying to his senses and trying to get up, only to drop back into the bed, the pain of simply sitting up was too much for him. Feeling around the bed he notices he''s in a hospital gown with a thin sheet tossed over him. And raising a hand to his face he doesn''t feel his visor or body glove, just an eyepatch over his empty left eye socket. "You''re at UA," Nezu''s voicees from his left, and he turns his head to see the principal sitting on a chair beside his bed. Horizon just turns to face the ceiling and closes his eye. "How long was I out?" "10 Days, you began waking up a few minutes ago and Recovery Girl thought it best that I was the only one here when that happened," Nezu says. "The body glove, the visor, my face..." "I''ve trusted her with big secrets before, some that even you don''t know. And I brought you here because having only her see is much better than all of Central Hospital where the others were sent." Horizon sighs and tries to rx, focusing on his own body, "what happened?" "Well, tell me what''s thest thing you remember?" "Mmm, Kurogiri warped him away before I cked out." "So you don''t remember walking back to camp on two broken legs like a zombie, and constantly muttering All For One?" Nezu asks. ''Fuck, I guess they know about him already,'' Horizon realizes. "Everything after he left and I cked out is gone, the next thing is waking up here right now." "I see, and your Quirk?" Nezu holds his breath, already knowing what the simtions said if All For One got Law''s monstrous Quirk. "He tried to take it, but I''ve still got it," Law says. "What did I miss when we were fighting?" "The newly formed League Of Viins: Vanguard Action Squad attacked the others, you dealt with one of them, Mustard." "The gas kid?" "Yes, some of the others were quite dangerous, but thankfully some of our students and the present Pro Heroes were also capable enough. We suffered some losses but, things would have been much worse had you not fought One For All." "Losses?" "Kaminari, Koda, Sato, Pony, and Kinoko," Nezu says in a sad and small voice. "Mandy and d are still in the intensive care center at Central Hospital, most of the others have been released already." "Fuck, and I''m guessing the press is all over this," Law says. "As expected, but we failed to protect our students. Regardless of the fact that dozens of students from other courses have been killed or taken and turned into Nomu, UA is held to a higher standard by the public and itself." "But?" Nezu sighs, "but, themission wants to suspend all Hero Courses until these viins are apprehended or at least weakened." "So they want to surrender for a while?" "Sadly yes, but the police already have an investigation underway and are preparing a counterattack, but considering who the ringleader is---" "They want me on the team, of course." "All Might should be enough, it''s not like he hasn''t beaten All For One before, but better safe than sorry." "True, what state was my body in?" Law asks. "I''ll give my full reportter, but right now, I need a full self-check-up." "You were already unconscious when the ambnces arrived. They thankfully scanned your body before trying to remove the body glove. If they removed it your guts would have fallen to the floor. Whatever All For One used shredded most of your skin and popped your left eyeball. It also caused most of your internal organs to rupture and bleed out. Not to mention the dozencerations in your brain. You were beyond saving..." "Yet here I am, how?" "Your body began trying to fix itself, at least make itself stable," Nezu says. "But every time we tried to drive away you''d start failing again. I had a temporary camp set up before you were stable enough to be brought here. Also, one of the medics tried to remove your mask and you unconsciously broke his arm...were you also asleep for that?" "Yes, but he really should have known better." Nezu just shakes his head. "I had you brought to recovery girl for her to take care of the rest." "Thanks, guess that exins why I feel like I got stuffed into a blender," Law mutters. "It seems you aren''t invincible after all..." "I never said I was, I''m perfect, not invincible," he says that as if it makes the most sense in the world. "How does that even work?" Nezu asks. "I''m perfect, because I''m their son, and that''s all I ever needed to be to be perfect. But I was never under any delusion of being invincible, not when Star and Stripe exists...but I definitely never expected to get my ass beat by anyone else..." "The more I learn the less sense you make," Nezu shakes his head. "Will you be able to heal yourself from here?" "Yeah, I can handle it." "I''ll have your new equipment in my office when you''re ready. I really am d you''re alright, or at least you will be, if you get back into form before we confront the viins please tell me, we need all the powerful people that we can get." "Yeah, but first things first, right?" Law asks, knowing that he wasn''t going to help them take down All For One. "Besides, if I managed to take him down, All Might and a dozen Pros should be enough, especially since he''ll be weaker now. I should have beaten him bad enough that he had to dump some Quirks at least, and maybe he won''t be able to self-heal." "Ohhh, I''ll be sure to inform them of that, but for now let''s keep this all confidential." "Naturally. I''ll let you know when I figure myself out, or when I need something," Law opens his eye and turn his head to look at Nezu, now noticing his disheveled fur and droopy eyes. Clearly, he''s been beyond stressed out over this entire situation. "You can rx now, I''m back," Law says. Nezu manages to smile at that, "you''re thest point we have toward keeping the Hero Course open for the new semester, the public iscking faith in UA''s defenses...but when word about your fightes out, they''ll have unshakable faith in you, after all, you did fight the worlds most powerful viin..." "Yeah, I''ve just got to train a lot harder... it''s not as lonely as I expected at the top, so I just need to hit a whole other level." "I expect nothing less from you," Nezu takes Law''s phone out of his pocket and puts it on the bedside table. "Keep this on you in case anything happens." After talking for a few more minutes Nezu leaves to go coordinate the strike against the viins, finally leaving Law to properly assess himself. ROOM! Law barely manages to make a room 10 meters wide. And he immediately feels like his brain is in a vice, quickly being crushed. The Room shrinks to 5 meters and the pain diminishes greatly. "Shit," he mutters, lifting a hand to his nose, feeling a trickle of blood flowing down to his lips as he forces himself to sit up. Moving his hand to his ear he feels blood flowing down the side of his head. cing his hand over his chest he focuses on himself, "Scan," he gets the new map of his body, apletely warped and twisted gic code. Noticing the genes wanting to adapt and bind he looks deeper, seeing the conflict as all the Quirks fight for his brainpower and cellr space. Ripping his body and mind apart as they fight for dominance. No. Fight to be second to Hand Of God. "I really won''t survive a month...I won''t die but I''ll go fucking braindead, he really did kill me," Law mutters, the realization slowly dawning on him that his days were limited. "I need to solve this before I do anything else," Law reaches for his phone and immediately begins doing some research, and it only takes him a few minutes to get everything he needed from the Hero Network Quirk Database. "I must have subconsciously blocked ipatible Quirks, just like I automatically detect things that I eat that can''t be processed. Energy Saver...if this is the same Quirk he gave me I only need 1/8th of the energy, food, and sleep I''d usually need to function. So that should make me a lot more economical with my energy use for Hand of God. Energy Dynamo...so my cells just produce more energy from the same input. So my base reserve is increased and my staminaes back faster. Oh, this is gonna be fun... Energy Enhancer...the energy I produce is more ''refined''? What the fuck does that even mean?" Law looks down at his body and focuses on himself once more. "Feels like I can just hold a lot more while the others increase production and efficiency...plus its a lot more easy to draw out. Ok, that''s great," he continues his research. "And thest one he mentioned, Life Force... doubles life span at the cost of athletics, so this is the piece of shit that has my body feeling sore and stiff...guess that''s the first one to get sorted. Not like I needed help with my lifespan anyway," Law scoffs. "As if I''m some pathetic moral..." After a few more minutes of research, Law decides it''s time to get out of bed, but before that he calls Nezu. "Nezu...is my scalpel in your office?" "All your things are here, aside from the new sword, Hatsume is still working on that." "That''s fine, I just need the scalpel, I''ve slept enough, it''s time to get back to work..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 113: (The Almost Perfect Being) Chapter 113: (The Almost Perfect Being) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (30+ chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- From the moment Law woke up at UA, the first thing he began working on, as always, was himself. While the heroes were preparing for their own battles, students and parents alike were grieving. His ssmates were constantly trying to get in touch with him and calling each other crying about what happened. Some were even training harder than ever before, ming their own weakness for what happened. Law left UA and immediately went to his nearby building in Musutafu. Only 5km from the school, locking himself into the medical suite which most of his properties have. Currently, that''s exactly where he was, trying to solve the mystery of his own body, but unknown to him, he''d done all that his Quirk or any science could do. So sitting on a metal chair wearing only a pair of shorts, surrounded by all his medical equipment. Law''s body operates on his head, which was harmlessly decapitated and ced on the table in front of it, trapped in a vice to keep it steady. There was a monitor in front of his face and a camera directly above him, looking down into his exposed brain so he could see what he was doing along with his ability to simply sense it, visual indicators were critical in operations like this. His movements with the scalpel and tweezers are more precise than ever as he does the final inspection on himself. Looking at the monitor with his one eye he makes a few more adjustments and quickly heals them, then moves to clean away the excess blood. As he puts the final touches on and ces the top of his head back on, Law frowns at his own work, at himself. Then moves to ce his head back on his neck. After two days of non-stop work, he still couldn''t find the one thing that was holding him back. He simply couldn''t make any sense of it, exactly as Dr. Ujiko predicted would happen. After over a century of research on gics and Quirks, Dr. Ujiko only recently identified this issue, and has yet to find a reliable solution to it. If it were a matter of science then Law would have found it immediately, Ujiko is sure of that much. But this is a matter of the ''heart'' and ''mind'' not being aligned. Something so out of the realm of medicine that Ujiko went mad before he could figure it out. The practical effects of psychology on the human mind and body. The answer was so ridiculous that any genius medical professional would have to be crazy or stupid to ever consider it. ''You simply don''t want it enough,'' is exactly how Dr. Ujiko would exin it, and if Law knew what it was, he would absolutely agree. Law was able to do what Dr. Ujiko could not, he solved the issue of the physical form handling multiple Quirks. Through his focused and obsessive work ethic, Hand Of God now acts in a way simr to All For One within his own body, acting as a pseudo-host while All For One was the true host to the other Quirks. While All For One is somewhat of a switchboard with ess to multiple Quirks, Hand Of God uses his additional Quirks to buff itself by an order of many magnitudes...if only Law could ess all of that power. Now all he needs is the answer Dr. Ujiko has about the mental side of this process, and the mad doctor needs his answer to the physical form. "Onest check," Law mutters as he puts himself back together, getting up from his chair and walking to the washroom. Standing in front of the mirror he sees himself looking almost exactly the same, his hair was cut a bit shorter by Recovery Girl to inspect his fractured skull properly. His white eyepatch was still over his left eye, covering the empty socket. And bits of his skin were still pinkish and would be for another week or two, from where they were torn apart before he regenerated entirely new flesh these past two days. cing a hand on his chest he focuses on himself, "Scan," he mutters, going back to the absolute basics. Veering all the way down, what would have strained his previous energy limit before felt much less substantial now. Once again he was able to study himself down to the unchanging Telomeres and his own helical gic code. "Huh, the extra energy from the Quirks that were killing me, is the only reason I can fix myself...great," Law grumbles as he continues his in-depth scan. "I don''t sense anything wrong. I integrated them perfectly, but...things still hurt when I draw on too much power for anything. That shouldn''t happen, that doesn''t even make any sense. Everything is perfect within my body...maybe I''m missing something." He does another Scan, still finding nothing. "Mmm, fine, one way to figure this shit out," he summons his phone to his hand for the first time since leaving UA, seeing the battery running low and a hundred missed calls from his ssmates, Pixie-Bob, and Nezu,bined of course. He immediately calls Nezu. "Hello, what''s wrong?" Law asks, still looking in the mirror. "I couldn''t get ahold of you these past two days, is everything alright?" Nezu asks, clearly worried. "I was operating on myself, he messed up some things that''ll take me a while to fix. I think it''s feedback from when I resisted his Quirk. I can walk it off." "Oh, I see, I finished reading your report about that fight, I saw you mentioned that, and he was after something aside from your Quirk apparently, any idea what it was?" Nezu asks. "I''ve decided to edit your report somewhat before I pass it to themission, so this won''t be mentioned to them." Law sighs, "right, because if people know All Might apparently has something that he wants and that''s why some kids died they''ll be pissed at him and UA...but no I don''t know what. But he was convinced All Might gave it to me." "He didn''t tell you?" "No, but you clearly know what it is, so care to exin why I almost got killed?" Law asks, slightly annoyed. "That isn''t my secret to tell, unfortunately." "Well, you could have at least warned me that there was actually a person that can steal Quirks running about. Maybe I wouldn''t have gone around announcing how powerful my Quirk is if I had a heads up!" "We thought he was dead, that All Might killed him. I understand how frustrating this is to you, but some secrets aren''t mine to tell. I''m sure you of all people can be thankful that I''m so respectful of the wishes of others," Nezu says. Law takes a deep breath and calms down, "yeah, you''re right. Plus I don''t think I would have believed you, a Gene Modification Quirk is a bit far-fetched, even Monoma''s Quirk is super rare. But one that lets you permanently alter your genes and the person you''re touching. That''s insane." "Yes, if cloning science wasn''t so far along, a few centuries ago he would have been in Mystery ss with you and Star." They both fall into afortable silence for a moment, just imagining the damage such a Quirk could do had it been revealed to the general public. Or had he gotten ahold of either Mystery ss Quirks. "Have you made any posts yet?" Nezu asks, breaking the silence. "Posts?" "The medical reports from the attack were leaked, I''m currently narrowing down exactly who leaked it to the press and they''ll be dealt with severely. But people are terrified of the damage you sustained." "Can''t really me them," Law shrugs, raising a hand to touch his eyepatch. "Almost anyone else would have died from just half as much damage, go ahead and tell them I already healed from the injuries and I''m taking some time to get back into fighting form." "I''ll do that right away, but the sooner you make a post the better, seeing is believing after all," Nezu says. "Maybeter, right now I need toe back to UA, I need a lot of your robots and ess to my training area...and my new sword." "I thought you said you needed time to recover from what happened to your mind." "Yeah, and this is how I need to spend that time. I''m not sure how to deal with what''s happening, the more I use my Quirk the more I''ll know, trial and error Nezu." "Well, you''re the doctor, I''ll have everything sent to your training ground for you..." "Thanks," Law hangs up and rests his phone on the sink. He leans forward, putting a bit more of his weight on the sink before reaching up and ripping off the eye patch, exposing his stitched-shut eyelids. Reaching up he uses Mes to easily remove them, and the skin immediately droops down to reveal the empty socket. The nerves within were already healed, so he knew what he had to do. Taking a few deep breaths he grits his teeth and summons his scalpel back into his hand, and immediately insterts it into his eye socket. "NNNNGHHH!!" he groans in pain as he has to destroy the healed tissue at the end of the nerves that would have connected to the back of his eyeball. "FUCK!" he drops the bloody scalpel in the sink and leans forward, allowing a few drops of blood to fall into the sink, actively suppressing his brand new Automatic Regeneration instinct. His Quirk would now immediately open the smallest possible Room whenever he''s injured and begin healing, even if it wasn''t optimal. That''s why the ambnce couldn''t leave without him constantly falling into critical condition, any time he left the room the healing would stop, and momentster a new Room would form to restart the cycle. Fighting the urge to put a hand over his eye socket Law looks into the mirror with a pissed-off expression, willing more and more energy into the newly injured nerve endings so the eyeball can regenerate properly. Surprisingly his right eye, therge and bright light blue pupil, begins flickering. Appearing like a glowing crystal at this moment. He has to fight the urge to jolt back in surprise as a thin blue mist begins pouring out of the left eye socket and dissipating in the air, and momentster he feels a brand new eyeball forming in his skull. And as the new eyeball is fully formed, drops of blood flow down from the eye socket like tears, pushed out by the new eye. It too flickers for a few seconds before both eyes glow solid bright blue. For all of two seconds they glow and release the thin blue mist from their pupils when Law gives them more energy, until... "ARGH!" Law groans and shuts his eyes, feeling his brain in a vice once more and the same problem takes hold again. Like hot spikes being hammered into his skull. After a long minute to catch his breath, he looks back into the mirror and grumbles, "ok...that''s new. But the glowy eyes take too much energy, so I''ll just set that aside for now. Right now I just need to see what I can do about this damn mental feedback..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 114: (The Processing Problem) Chapter 114: (The Processing Problem) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "Curtain!" Law manifests his blue dome barrier from his palm and projects it a few meters around himself. Standing within his personal training ground at UA, he''s surrounded by city blocks of rubble, formerly concrete buildings. Currently, there were two more of Nezu''s robots ahead of him, battering the shield with rubber bullets. Behind the shield, he was currently wearing just his pair of UA''s PE Uniform, leaving his top exposed, and using his new sword. The new sword was an exact copy of his previous de. A long katana with a white de and blue edge, along with a matching scabbard and hilt. After taking some time to get ''attuned'' to it he can now use it with his Quirk, getting him ess to all his abilities once more. His visor was off to reveal himself drenched in sweat and with a constant trickle of blood running down from his nose and ears. It was currently sunset, and he''d been training and studying himself here since sunrise...yesterday. Taking breaks between sets of training to eat and get new robots, not that he needed much rest or food anymore, among other things he noticed about himself. As the rubber bullets continue Law focuses on the Room he was currently in. Only spanning the few hundred meters of this private training area. "Scan!" The sudden influx of information floods his brain, as usual. Every piece of rubble and stray leaf. Every robot and all the rubber bullets in the air appear frozen as it is all filed into his mind. His perfect spacial awareness once again shows how invaluable it is as he tracks exactly how he has to move his sword to deflect some bullets and rush forward. But things aren''t so simple since All For One. Now the information is apanied by a desynchronization of his Quirks. His mind and ''heart'' are being pulled apart to do conflicting tasks in a way he couldn''t detect or understand. BA-DUM! His heart speeds up for just a moment as a thin blue fog begins emanating from his now glowing eyes, feeling the power flowing through him his shield glows brighter as the blue bes less and less transparent, it too begins releasing the same Energy Vapor as he''s unable to regte his output. But all of this happens in less than one-hundredth of a second, and a momentter. "Argh!" a hail of rubber bullets m into Law as his Quirk shuts off. The sudden influx of information conflicts with his instincts and Quirks to hit like a white-hot stake being hammered into his skull. The loud impacts of rubber bullets hitting his tough skin echo out once more, 23 shots to the chest and abs leave purplish-ck welts and have him stumbling back. Dropping to one knee he tries to focus his mind, hearing the constant clicking of the empty guns twenty meters away before the two robots begin walking forward. Opening his eyes he looks at the ground, vision blurred from the sheer pain of what he just felt. As if his head was shoved into Endeavor''s mes. He sees more and more blood dripping down to the floor, feeling another fully flowing stream running down from his nose and out of his ears. Feeling his lunch about to spill out he covers his mouth and forces it to stay down, rising to his feet, and swaying slightly as he does so. Seeing both the robots slowly approaching he grits his teeth as the pain in his head diminishes quickly, just as it always does. Then he takes a deep breath, filling his chest, and looks down to see all the rubber bullets that were stuck to him falling to the floor. ROOM! He creates a room 50 meters wide. "Booster Shot," the ckish-purple welts on his chest where the bullets hit begins glowing with his usual blue Healing Energy, much brighter than before meeting All For One, and his skin immediately returns to normal. The exact same routine as he''d been doing all day with his injuries. Lowering his stance slightly he rockets forward in a full sprint. Still keeping himself enhanced with Booster Shot he easily breaks past 60mph, -96km/h or -26m/s-, and closes the distance between him and the robots. Ignoring the pain caused every time he has to move his body beyond the standard everyday movements. The downside of Life Force, the Quirk which gives him double the vitality at the cost of making athletics severely limited. Even now all his muscles constantly felt stiff and sore no matter what he did to alleviate it. Arriving at the robots he swings at one with his sword. Booster Shot + Incision! His enhanced sword shes down harder than ever, it easily cleaves through the robot, slicing reinforced titanium alloy as if were nothing. The usual training robots were built to be slow and fragile, but these are Nezu''s Campus Defence robots...without the live munitions of course since this is training. BA-DUM! As his de is about to exit he feels another jolt of pain. The same blue Energy Vapor had just barely begun manifesting around his de before his Quirk shut off and everything went ck. Less than a secondter he wakes up while rolling across the hard concrete floor, skidding to a stop and looking up just in time to see the other robot retracting its hand. Reaching up he feels some blood at the back of his head where it had punched him the moment he lost focus. "This is just embarrassing...I''m worse than Deku," Law grumbles as he struggles to get up, running at it with his tired body and empty hands. His sword was sent flying out of his grasp as he was knocked across the ground. ROOM! He creates a Room just big enough for both of them. "Booster Shot!" He yells out while swinging with a strong right, embedding up to his shoulder in the robot as he punches it apart. He pulls out his arm and the robot harmlessly falls to the floor, leaving him to look down at the cuts and bruises on his arm already glowing blue and healing up without anymand from him. "Ok, that''s pretty useful. Reflexive healing isn''t worth all this bullshit, but it''s nothing toin about," Law mutters as he looks around, seeing his sword on the floor a few meters away. Done with his training for now, until he takes a break and gets some more robots, he takes a step forward to go collect his sword. Then feels as if his legs are about to give out. "Nope," he sits right where he is and just leans back against the robot, deciding this was as good a ce as any to rest. Closing his eyes and ignoring the blood running down his head and now dripping onto his chest, he tries to enjoy the cool evening breeze as the sun sets over the horizon. "Ok Law, two days of training and studying...what do you know?" he asks himself, thinking aloud before he consciously decides to just think to himself, at least while on UA campus, since everything here can be assumed to be free data for Nezu. ''Ok. So I''ve still got Hand Of God, my original Quirk. Then I''ve got Energy Saver, which lets me work on 1/8th of the food, sleep, and energy of a regr person for all my necessary functions. And it lets me sleep onmand and stay more alert during sleep...but that second part may just be because of Hand Of God... Energy Dynamo, my body produces energy more efficiently...I basically just have more output for the same input. This also helps my stamina recovery a ton so I can just rest up quickly and get back into fights. Then there''s Energy Enhancer...kind of vague from the Quirk Database, but at least in my case it lets my body produce energy that''s more easily usable, and optimizes it even further. This is probably why my eyes and stuff are glowing and releasing that weird Energy Vapor... And then the colossal pain in my ass, Life Force. Doubles my capacity...not that I can fully use it without having a seizure, but at least it doubled so one day I will be able to. But the doubled lifespan did nothing for me since my Telomeres are perfect thanks to Hand Of God. Not to mention the fact that my body is always so fucking stiff and sore makes doing anything but walking painful...I hate this fucking Quirk!'' Law takes a moment to calm down, warping his water bottle to him to take a drink. ''Ok, so I know Hand Of God is still fine, all my abilities work. The other Quirks should have integrated fine. And Life Force should have been fixed so the drawback of limited athletic ability is gone...so what the hell is going on? My body is fine, my mind is fine. My Quirks...no, just Quirk. Since I more or less integrated them all into Hand Of God it''s just one Quirk now. Plus they all just enhance my own Quirk anyway. I even said it myself, one body cannot have multiple Quirks because once they''re fully integrated it bes a new Quirk. I followed my own logic, the correct logic, and I feel like it''s still trying to kill me.'' Law growls in frustration and ms his hand into the concrete floor. And the moment his skin makes contact his Quirk activates a small room, just big enough for his body, automatically boosting his physical strength to crack the floor. Looking at the damage he lifts up his hand, and notices it was healed instantly. ''Well...once I keep the information input to only what is absolutely necessary I should be fine. And I''ll have to try to keep my adrenaline and heart rate down. The higher those get or the more into a fight I am then the more likely my Quirk is to just try and pull in as much information as possible. If I do that in a big fight it could kill me. But I don''t even know what''s wrong with me to set a timeline for solving this. And if I can''t solve it and school starts up in three weeks All For One is probably not gonna attack Tartarus. Seeing me alive should be enough proof, but if he gets any hint that I''m not healthy it''s all gone. Why would he bother with his part of the proposed contract when he knows I can''t even hold up my end of the---'' Law stops his train of thought, realizing in his haste to pull himself together and understand what was going on hepletely overlooked something. "The spy," he mutters. ''I won''t have to worry about him finding out anything if I just find the spy and ki--- hand them over to the cops...stupid hero bullshit. And if I kill the spy then Nezu is probably gonna easily figure out it''s me, then I would have voided my own contract like a dumbass. But yeah, hand them over to the cops and give Nezu the credit, that way he doesn''t think I did it just to hide my failure. Ipletely forgot about his spy in all this chaos, but once I get rid of that person then All For One will just assume I''m healthy and attack Tartarus, he gets them out, I fix him up, then we leave Japan forever...easy. Too bad I can''t take credit for the spy, that would help me out a lot, and I could let Nezu say he ordered the investigation so UA looks better too, but I can''t have my name anywhere near this mess.'' Law sits on the floor for a while longer, putting all the pieces he had together. ''All For One is old, damn ancient. 300 years old, his spy could be anyone, and I''m assuming they even know they''re the spy. It could just be using Telepathy to rip information out of them when they leave school. But no, they''d have to either be one of the teachers, but only Eraser, Nezu, d, and All Might knew where the camp was. I know at least 3 of them are clean, and d got hurt too badly to be the spy, he almost got put into retirement from that fight. Then there would have to be an incentive...All For One can give people Quirks, the best incentive. But among the remaining teachers, they''ve all got pretty good Quirks, and I don''t think he would have used the Pussycats since even he couldn''t predict Nezu asking them for help. So then that leaves the students, and as a doctor and Nezu''s favorite, I''ve got their medical records on my phone, just in case I had to perform any field medicine. I guess it''s about time I finally have a look at those...'' END CHAPTER--- Chapter 115: (Clashing Plots) Chapter 115: (shing Plots) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- Flying across the open countryside Horizon is on his hoverboard, moving at 300mph -482kmph-, wearing his full Hero Costume with his sword at his side. With the sun nowpletely hidden beyond the ocean he makes his way southwest, away from Musutafu where UA is. Taking a casual stance on the hoverboard just as he would his surfboard or longboard he has his phone out as he scrolls through his ''Yay!'' ount. Seeing tens of thousands ofments on hisst post, a picture of him in full costume, announcing to the world that he''s alright. Seeing the worriedments and people cheering him on he can''t help but roll his eyes at the pathetic sheep. ''People are still following this ''True hero'' bullshit Stain was preaching, serious?'' he wonders, noticing some custom emojis and stickers in thements of Stain proiming Horizon to be exactly that. Shaking his head at the absurdity of Hero worshipping people he continues listening to his music as he rockets through the air. Just a few hundred meters above the rural area between cities he''s protected from the cold night wind by his body glove and visor. Redundant copies were made weeks ago by Mei, foreseeing that one day his costume would be damaged. BEEP BEEP BEEP! Horizon sighs as his music is cut off, and ''Hanta Sero'' is projected on the inside of his visor, an iing call. "Yeah?" he answers the call. "Are you ok man?!" Sero yells into the phone. "Better if you weren''t yelling in my ear," Horizon says. "Sorry, it''s just, from what the news said, the leaked reports, we weren''t sure if even you could survive that." "Tch, barely a scratch, regrowing the eye was a pain but I''ve done worse things." "What? When?" "Mom was very hands-on and thorough with training. The point is I''m perfectly fine now, how are you and the others doing?" "Well we''ve all been put on house arrest right now," Sero says. "All the Year-1 Hero Course students or older Hero Course students from UA without a Provisional License have Pro Heroes watching them, unless they''re at an agency." "Really? Who do you have?" "Jolt," Sero says in a defeated voice. "Seriously, you got just grown up Kaminari?" "Uh...too soon man," Sero says in a low voice. "Oh right, that happened," Horizon says dismissively. "How is everyone taking that?" "If by ''that'' you mean watching our ssmates die in front of us...not good. Only a few of us were there when that fire hit, those blue mes were something else man." "Hmm, how did that even go?" "Well I don''t know the full details but some of the Nomu had this Quirk called ''Absorb and Release'', they used it to keep Bakugo and Todoroki busy while the rest of us were under attack. Some psycho named ''Muscr'' was mangling up Midoriya pretty good but thankfully he won that fight. The rest of us were dealing with some of those Nomu...it was like they knew all our Quirks and prepared Nomu just for us..." "Probably because that''s exactly what happened," Horizon says. "About half of you showed off what you could do at the Sports Festival, but from what I know they even had counters to people like Jiro and cookie...they can''t know about that from the sports festival since both of them didn''t use their Quirks." "Wait...you think they have a spy?" Sero asks, terror in his voice. "But it''s UA. Plus none of us even had any phones to call the viins." "Well I''m on my way to solve that problem tonight, so you''ll find out how it goes pretty soon..." Sero takes a deep breath, unable to fathom that someone at UA would be an undercover viin. ''But if Horizon has suspects then...it has to be true, Horizon doesn''t make mistakes, not with things this big.'' "Ok," Sero mutters, clearly pissed off. "Ok?" "Yeah, when you find whoever it is, give them a bit of payback from all of us," he growls out. "That lizard guy got Koda...the big guy with the ma pushed Sato into the fire...that freaky girl with the knives got Pony, and Shigaraki decayed Kinoko...and Kaminari, man..." "The report didn''t go into the specifics, but what happened to Kaminari?" Sero falls silent for a while, Horizon hears a few sniffles before he begins speaking in a shaky voice, "he jumped in front of us...I was out of tape and he jumped in front of us when a Nomu stretched its arm like a dozen meters to grab any of us. He thought he could just fry it like the others, and it worked. But that damn clone guy, he just kept making more and more, it was too much, and Kaminari ran out of power...we couldn''t get to him in time..." "Did Twice kill him?" Horizon asks inly. "No, some of the Nomu just...they pulled him apart," Sero immediately begins breaking down crying, much to Horizon''s annoyance. "That''s unfortunate..." was all Horizon said, realizing it would be much harder than expected to re-open the Hero Course after that. "Yeah," Sero says before his voice bes angry. "So when you find whoever brought the viins there, who killed Kaminari, you give them some payback for all of us, alright?" "I''ll take care of it, and Sero." "Yeah?" Horizon pauses for a moment, genuinely trying to figure out how to say this in the nicest way possible. "Kaminari died a Hero," he says in a surprisingly soft tone. "But that''s worthless if all you do is cry and mope around like a pussy, get to work, save some lives, that way he''s worth more than just who he saved that night, got it?" "Uh, yeah...got it," Sero mutters as he presumable wipes his tears. "Good, I''ve gotta go, Nezu is calling," Horizon hangs up before Sero can respond and answers Nezu''s call. "Where are you?" Nezu immediately asks. "Out, why?" "You left UA a few minutes ago without telling me, I''m concerned, how are you feeling?" "Better, I''m going to deal with your spy problem, my way." "That is a very delicate matter Horizon." "Well right now it''s costing us lives, so are you willing to let more people die or should I just handle it now?" The call is silent for a few seconds. "That''s what I thought." Nezu sighs, "what condition are you in, can you fight?" "Not optimally, not for a while, but I should be fine for tonight." "So not against someone like All For One or the USJ Nomu?" "Not a chance, I still need time, did you forget what condition I was in? It''s only been two days since I woke up remember." "I see," Nezu pauses for a moment and Horizon overhears some nearly inaudible chatter in the background, so clearly Nezu wasn''t alone. "And is the data you gave us on All For Oneprehensive of what you know." "Excuse me?" "Is there anything you could have missed?" "You doubting me?" Horizon asks, getting annoyed now since he did put everythingbat rted into his report, the deal with his parents simply wasn''t necessary to be reported. "No, I''d never do that," Nezu admits. "But the police are doing an investigation and want to n a counter-attack, they want as much information as possible." "I see, so they want me in the raid team...that makes sense, but it''ll probably be weeks before I''m ready for any high-level fights." He hears more indiscernible background chatter before Nezu responds. "Well that''s unfortunate, but we simply don''t have that time to wait. Yesterday the League Of Viins attacked the Hero Commission branch in Warden City." "Warden City...but the only thing that branch has is---" "The prisoner transfer documents for all the prisons across Japan," Nezu says. "We believe they n a mass jailbreak of all their allies we''ve arrested since the USJ incident. And the existence of this Vanguard Action Squad proves they''re actively recruiting, snuffing them out before they go on a recruitment drive is our priority." "Yeah before they have another army aside from the Nomu, I assume the public doesn''t know about the impending fights." "We manage to me the destruction on a gas leak since it all happened inside the building, another reason why Kurogiri is so high on our priority list." "That makes sense, well sorry but I won''t be in top form for at least another few weeks, got a lot to sort out." "Well we managed before you, we can still do just that, please do bring back anyone you believe is the spy unharmed if possible." "No," Horizon says bluntly. Nezu groans, "do remember you''re trying to be a Hero, I''m more upset than anyone about what happened to my students, but we must not let our emotions blind us. I''ll call youter tonight. Right now I have a press conference to deal with, the media is already setting up downstairs and waiting for UAs exnation on how it will continue forward..." "I''ll try to watch it if I can, good luck." "After tonight, everything will be fine, your next semester should be rather smooth." "Well, I hope so," Horizon hangs up, breathing a sigh of relief. Resuming his music and putting his phone away he considers the conversation he just had. "Nezu kept calling me Horizon, never once used my name,bined with the muttering he''s not alone, I was extra careful because it''s probably Detective Tsukauchi there since he was giving me otherwise ssified info... and I''m guessing All Might or Eraser if they were nning a counter strike, you need those two for a smooth attack against All For One..." He crosses a few more miles, still not seeing his target city anywhere ahead of him, deciding to not speak aloud for now in case Nezu is bugging him. ''All For One sent the league to get the Tartarus prison documents, if anywhere has ancient files about theyout it''s that branch of the Commission, he''s nning to get them out already. Luckily I really didn''t have to lie about not being in fighting form to go up against someone that strong, even with help. Now all I''ve gotta do is have the cops wait until I''m in top shape. But by that time All For One and...Gigantomachi, whoever that is, will attack Tartarus and get my parents back, then I''m out of this country forever, after fixing his body of course...'' ---Nezu''s Office... Hanging up after his call with Horizon, Nezu is in his chair, sitting behind his desk. In front of him on one couch was Yagi, wearing his All Might costume, the modern version currently hanging on him as if he were a coat rack. Beside Yagi was Detective Tsukauchi, wearing full SWAT gear with a rifle at his side. Opposite them, both wearing simple ck business suits, were d King and Eraser Head. "Horizon won''t be avable sadly, he''s still recovering," Nezu says. "Then we''ll just have to continue forward without him," Yagi immediately says, already not wanting to waste any more time. Both Tsukauchi and Nezu share a concerned look while Eraser and d notice but aren''t in on the full secret. Nezu turns to them both, "can you both please head down to the press conference ahead of me, there are a few things left to discuss..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 116: (Our Purpose) Chapter 116: (Our Purpose) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- As Eraser Head and d King leave Nezu''s office, the atmosphere bes much more tense. Tsukauchi and Nezu share a knowing look at Yagi looks confused. "What''s wrong?" Yagi asks, looking between his allies. "We should get in the helicopter and head to Tokyo, Gran Torino should already be at the police station waiting for us." "Or..." Nezu says, "we could postpone the raid." "What?" Yagi stands up, looking horrified at the very thought. "But Principal Nezu, this is the best chance we''ve got!" "Just for a few weeks," Tsukauchi says, looking up at his friend. "Schools are out so the League Of Viins can''t hit any Hero Courses until summer ends in a few weeks, by then Horizon should be back in action for him to help you take down All For One, for good this time." "You..." Yagi stumbles back in disbelief, "you think I''ll lose?" "We didn''t say that," Nezu says. "But we have one of the most powerful people in the world on standby, if we wait, he will be ready." "Assuming the viins will still be there," Yagi says. "We don''t know when they''ll move onto another hideout, and Horizon said he won''t be ready for weeks, we need to strike now and defeat All For One with a decisive blow." "The n won''t change," Nezu says. "The tracker Yaoyorozu made is still transmitting from the same location in Kamino Ward, and the police have eyes on the hidden bar where the viins are living at. We''ll still have two teams, one to attack the Nomu facility in Kamino Ward, and you''ll still lead the team at the bar which will be fighting the main viins." "But we want Horizon with you at the bar," Tsukauchi says. "When All For One shows himself it''ll be good if both of you take him down together. Nezu has a pet monster in his pocket, it''s about time we put it to use." Yagi doesn''t understand what he means by that, only knowing Horizon as a student, "pet monster?" "Nevermind that," Nezu says. "Tsukauchi and Horizon didn''t meet on the best terms. But when All For One shows up at the bar it''ll be best if you, Horizon, and Endeavor are there together." "You''re asking me to put one of my students in a fight again All For One? How can I do that and still call myself a Hero?" "Horizon isn''t just any student," Nezu says, earning a confident nod from Tsukauchi. "He severely hurt All For One in theirst fight, with you and Endeavor there, the three of you can easily end that demon..." Yagi pauses, then looks between Tsukauchi and Nezu, people who have been with him from the start of his career, from before he even got One For All in Nezu''s case. And for the very first time, he sees more than just concern in their eyes. "You don''t think I can win?" Yagi asks in a quiet voice. Tsukauchi sighs, "it''s not that we doubt your power. We just don''t want to risk losing you, as a friend, and as the Symbol Of Peace. Think about what happens if something goes wrong." "Nothing will go wrong," Yagi says. "If this semester has proven anything, it''s that everything can go wrong, no matter how much we try to prove otherwise." Nezu hops down from his chair and begins walking toward the opposite couch. "We''ve assembled powerful heroes to assist you, but the Hero Commission has run simtions already, if the enemies have too many Nomu, this can go bad very quickly." "You could die," Tsukauchi says, surprising Yagi. "And what do you think happens if All For One manages that for the world to see...society would be thrown into chaos." Yagi looks down at his baggy Hero Costume, reaching up and pulling the fabric at his chest. Years ago he would have filled this costume out 24/7, but now he stands as a husk of his former self. And even his greatest supporters are so worried about him that they don''t want him to fight. To be the person Nana knows he would be. Toplete the task she entrusted to him. He recalls the night he lost her, how he and Gran Torino were forced to run away, leaving her to stall All For One, and how she stood alone. "But I won''t be alone," Yagi says, gripping his costume. "I''ll have squads of powerful and just Pro Heroes with me. I''ll have more support than anyone before me. Yes, I am weaker than I was years ago. But I''ve regained some of my past power thanks to Horizon healing me. I''m still strong enough toplete this task. Strong enough that I don''t have to involve one of my precious students in this battle, because how can I ever call myself a teacher if I''m so weak that I have to do that? How could we call ourselves Heroes if we have to depend on him for the most critical battles of our lives? Is this not my purpose? I was entrusted with this power to be the Symbol of Peace. To be All Might. But as a holder of One For All, above everything else, OUR purpose, is to defeat All For One. To ensure the safety of this world, and all the generations that will inherit it from us. So no, I won''t be leaning on one of the very people I''m fighting to create a better world for in this fight." Yagi begins growing, taking his muscr form andpletely filling out his costume until it was skin tight. Raising his fist in front of him and looking at it, only feeling a fraction of the godly power that once coursed through him. "One For All...this is its purpose, OUR purpose, but I''llplete this task here," he looks up at Nezu, giving him a broad smile. "So Izuku Midoriya can find the new purpose of this power, and forge his own destiny, because as a Hero, and as his teacher, that is my duty...that, is why All Might exists..." The intensity and conviction in his voice were astonishing as always, and both Nezu and Tsukauchi couldn''t help but smile, feeling the familiar warmth of his zing will just as bright as it was before their previous battle. Tsukauch chuckles, fishing the keys for the helicopter door out of his pocket and getting up, ready to make his way to the roof and fly them to Tokyo. "There really won''t be another Hero like you," he gives All Might an exasperated look. "Now let''s go deal with this viin for good, then we won''t ever have to think about him again," he begins walking toward the door. "Half right," All Might says, turning to give Tsukauchi his brilliant smile, "this viin ends tonight, but I''m sure of another thing, there will be another Symbol Of Peace, and he''ll be more than I could have ever been..." As All Might and the others meet up in Tokyo to finalize their ns for the raid, Nezu heads downstairs to meet up with Eraser Head and d King. Their part in this n was to hold a press conference simultaneously with the raid, proiming that the police force and UA were currently looking into the viin''s ns and location but had yet to find any concrete leads. No students, not even Momo herself who provided the tracker knows about the raid. And even the police and Heroes that will be helping haven''t been told anything before tonight, to prevent the viins from learning through a spy. That''s exactly why Nezu didn''t mind that Horizon was dealing with the potential spy issue, because he wanted this entire problem to be dealt with tonight... ---Aldera City, 250KM Southwest of Tokyo... Sitting at his desk in his room Deku was currently writing some notes for his Hero Studies. Trying to figure out a way to ease the damage his arms are taking during battles. His hands were currently functional but bandaged up for the next few days. "And I''ll have to figure out a way to convince mom to let me return to UA next semester," he mutters absentmindedly. "Maybe I can get Principal Nezu to talk to her, or maybe All Might cane to do it in person. But she''s so scared I''ll break my arms one or two more times and be crippled forever as the doctors said. But if I figure this out before then it won''t matter. ''It''s a power distribution problem''...Horizon said this before, but he also said that because I look up to All Might so much it''s limiting me," he stops writing and sits back in his chair, staring down at his book. Currently, there was a sketch of his Hero Costume with armored arms. A solution he knew simply wouldn''t work. "What did he mean by that, thinking like All Might will hold me bad?" he reaches for his phone and clicks on the 1A group chat, seeing a conversation going on, mentioning the press conference that was about to start. "I should watch that so I at least know when school will be reopening," he mutters while opening the member''s list for the chat, he sees Horizon listed in it and is tempered to call him. "If I call him he''ll probably call me stupid again and hang up...assuming he''d even answer, ugh..." Deku holds his head in frustration. "Oh, I know, I''ll just ask Sero to ask him for me." He finds Sero''s contact but stops before he can call, "no, Horizon would figure it out...and thest thing I want to do is get Sero yelled at. Plusst time he said I rely on other people too much right now, so I should at least figure this out myself. ''Heroes are problem solvers, not liabilities'' was what he said...I think," Deku returns to his notes for a few minutes, thinking up anything he can... "Izuku!" he hears his mother''s scared voice echo down the halls of their small apartment. Deku is immediately on alert, knowing there was a police van outside with a Pro Hero nearby to stake out the house. Just as with all the Hero Course students from UA. But he didn''t hear any fighting. ''Warp gate, Kurogiri!'' he immediately concludes, activating his quirk and rushing down the hall, terrified of the idea that the viins are in his house, hurting his mom. Terrified that All For One realized that he has One For All and not Horizon. Rounding the corner he pivots on the ground hard enough to crack the concrete and turns into the kitchen, ready tounch into a powerful Smash. But he freezes, seeing the small kitchen upied by two people. Inko Midoriya, leaning with her back to the counter absolutely terrified, breathing heavily and gripping her chest from the sheer shock. And sitting at the small kitchen table. Horizon. In full Hero Costume with his sword out, clearly ready to use it... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 117: (No More Secrets) Chapter 117: (No More Secrets) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "Deku, exactly who I came to see," Horizon says as he gets up, seeing Deku frozen in the doorway. He leaves his sword on the little table and walks around the small kitchen, gesturing to Inko. Inko Midoriya, Deku''s mom, short and chubby at 160cm -5ft3- with green hair much more like Asui than Deku. "You should go take a seat," he gestures to the table. Her eyes look over from him, to the table he gestured to with his sword still atop it, then back to him. Suddenly aware of how muchrger he is in person than on TV. "Wh....what''s going on here? Is something wrong?" Inko musters up the courage to ask, trying desperately not to be bullied in her own home. Horizon sighs and looks over to Deku, seeing him still frozen in the doorway, "I just have some questions for both of you, so how about you both take a seat so I can get out of here...oh, and the team that was watching you won''t be bothering us for a while..." "Bu---" "Mom," Deku cuts her off, and she looks over to see him already sweating nervously. "Let''s just do what he says..." Horizon doesn''t miss that both Deku''s hands are at his sides in tight fists, ''well at least he''s ready for a fight...'' Giving her son a silent and nervous nod Inko carefully walks around Horizon to sit at the table, opposite Deku. "Hands on the table," Horizon says, and they bothply, altho she''s ring at him the entire time. Standing back at the counter and facing them Horizon folds his arms across his chest and looks at the duo, nothing striking between the two, and after a silent minute to let their imagination run wild, he gets to the point. ncing to the TV in the corner of the kitchen he sees the press conference at UA starting, but ignores it to focus on the task at hand. "So you both know that UA has been attacked twice by now, right?" They both nod. "And I''m here to solve that, by whatever means necessary, that includes the bloody and painful ones," he says. Inko begins shaking in fear while Deku just turns and res at Horizon, ready to use Full Cowling to defend his mom at a moment''s notice. "Y...you can''t do that," Inko says. "Oh, why not?" "Because it''s against thew! And you''re a hero, right, aren''t you?" "Yeah, so?" Horizon shrugs. "Laws only apply to receable people, like you two, I''m Horizon, I can do what I want, now. What do you know about Deku''s Quirk?" "Izuku''s Quirk?" she looks between Horizon and her son,pletely confused, and even more so by the horrified look on his face. "What about it?" "Oh, ying dumb?" Horizon gets up and walks over to her, gently cing a hand on her shoulder. Deku grits his teeth in frustration, already activating Full Cowling at a low percentage. "Was he born with his Quirk?" "What? Of course he was, it''s his Quirk," Inko says, not understanding such a silly question. And Horizon detects no lies. "Have you had any contact with any viins?" Horizon asks. "No, why would I ever do that, what''s this about?" Inko asks, even more confused. "Hmm, so Deku left you out of the loop," Horizon lets go of her and begins walking around to Deku. "You see I find it very strange that I get attacked by a viin that can steal and redistribute Quirks...and I''ve been suspicious of UA having a spy in it since USJ, then I check all the medical records from the people at camp to find... Deku here was registered as Quirkless until the day before the first day of UA...then he shows up with a Quirk that''s perfect for catching All Might''s interest since they''re so simr. And he acts in a way that would perfectly convince All Might to take an interest in him. Not to mention that broken arm he said happened when he was a kid that caused him to never want to use his Quirk...wasn''t on his medical record." Horizon ces his hand directly atop Deku''s head, and the boy just stares forward at his mom as she puts the pieces together. "Izuku?" she asks in a horrified voice, unable to fathom the possibility of this being true, and her tone alone breaks his heart. Tears began flowing down his cheeks as he realizes he had no way out. If he lies he''ll look guilty and Horizon will just beat him unconscious and drag him off to jail. And if he confesses then he''ll be telling them both All Might''s secret, disappointing his hero and informing the one person that he''s never supposed to tell about One For All about it. "So, Deku," Horizon says, with his hand on Deku''s head as he Scans him. Finally able to make contact he realizes that Deku''s cells are identical to All Might in how the Quirk functions, but somehow Deku''s Quirk stores energy much faster. ''He must have also been given some sort of energy Quirk so he didn''t have to use it for as long as All Might to have the same amount of power'' Horizon thinks, trying to make sense of it. "Were you born with that Quirk, or did All For One give it to you?" Deku freezes, his fears bing reality at that moment. Neither option was true, and All Might already told him Horizon can detect lies through touch. Any lie would probably result in him being tased by ''Counter Shock'' and taken away, then his mom would think he''s a viin and a spy, so desperate for power that he''d help kill thousands of people, including his own ssmates. Squeezing his eyes shut he grits his teeth before simply being honest. "All Might gave me his Quirk and is training me to be the next Symbol Of Peace since he can''t fight as much anymore!" he blurts out in one quick breath, taking deep breaths afterward as if he was about to pass out. But finally feels a weight lifted from his chest as his mom now knows the truth. "What?" Horizon now sounds more confused than anyone else, "All Might can pass on his Quirk?" Deku and Inko silently stare at each other, she looks at him in disappointment for keeping this from her. And he just begins crying even more after seeing her face. Horizon just takes a moment to process everything. Weeks ago he never would have believed any of this, but now he knows that ''naturally'' transferring Quirks is possible, and the fact that he didn''t detect any lies makes it all but certain. Add to it the fact that Deku''s oundish story makes a lot of things he''s noticed make much more sense...he had no choice but to believe it. "So All Might passed his Quirk to you after I healed him, because a year ago his cellr energy was a lot higher than on the first day of UA, and I''m guessing you get the stockpiled power of the previous user as well instead of starting from zero...exins why he''s running on thest fumes of his Quirk." Horizon takes a step back and groans, then take the seat at the head of the table leaving Deku to his left and Inko to his right facing the tv. Reaching forward he grabs Deku''s wrist to make sure he can''t lie, "thisplicated everything so much more. Ok, fuck it, start exining, now!" Inko ispletely silent as Deku exins, and Horizon only nods along and takes in everything, not wanting to interrupt and cause Deku to exclude anything. And at the end of it, he feels more pissed off than anything else. "So Nezu knew all of this and just didn''t bother to tell me...could have saved me a lot of trouble..." Deku just looks down at the table as Horizon lets go of his wrist and leans back in his chair,pletely exasperated. "So all of this crap is because All For One identally created a powerful Quirk because he decided to give his little brother a Quirk even though he wanted to stop him...what a moron. And now he can''t take back the Quirk because it probably has simr gic markers to himself and that causes interference. You realize he was at the summer camp and attacked me because he assumed I had your Quirk right?" Deku just nods, already being informed of everything by All Might, but now the guilt was multiplied once more, sitting here with the person that almost died protecting them from All For One himself. Adding to the weight of his dead ssmates and the injured Pro Heroes still in the hospital. He was questioning if he should even return to UA, or any other Hero Course. Now giving serious thought to being a Vignte, because that way at least All For One wouldn''t have to kill his ssmates to get to him. "Tch, no wonder you got into UA without any control, and this definitely exins why Nezu is always asking me to help you train. All Might passed his Quirk onto you, and since they don''t have much time left they need you to master it as soon as possible...but for some reason, Nezu is still betting on me instead, very strange. Well whatever, doesn''t matter, but seriously I get that he''s only got a few more years to live, but All Might could have really chosen someone a bit morepetent..." Deku and Inko both look at Horizon, facespletely mortified by that sudden announcement. Looking at Deku he just sighs, "what did you think would happen with injuries like that, c''mon, don''t be that stupid. The energy of One For All was keeping him going, and you''ve got the engine now..." Izuku feels his entire world crashing down for the hundredth time in these past few months. Suddenly learning that after everything, he would soon be losing All Might as well. "Then that''s why," Izuku wipes his tears, "I''ve got to be stronger." "Ugh," Horizon gives a disgusted groan, "not doing great so far, well, I guess I''m done here. You two clearly have a lot to talk about, and I''ve got to have a chat with Nezu about this stuff. Oh, and don''t tell anyone I was here and what I was doing. I''ve got another suspect I''d like to surprise tonight..." Deku nods, then looks over at his mom who didn''t even react, she was just staring daggers through him. Absolutely livid that he did all of this behind her back. Lying to her for months. Feeling the tension in the room Horizon is about to get up when the TV suddenly switches over from the boring press conference. "BREAKING NEWS: All Might and a strange masked viin are fighting in Kamino Ward!" Everyone in the room turns to the TV. Seeing All Might standing on a cleared-out battlefield in what was a popted city area, surrounded by rubble as All For One stands on the air above him. "Shit," Horizon immediately warps his sword back into the scabbard and rushes off, racing through the night sky on his hoverboard, rushing as best he can toward Kamino. Toward the end of All Might... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 118: (Glorious 3-Year Plan) Chapter 118: (Glorious 3-Year n) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "Are you sure?" All For One asks. The past and future Demon Lord was once again sitting in his usual chair, deep within his secretb at Kamino Ward, Tokyo. At his side was a phone with Ujiko on the other side, giving him an update on the information they recently decrypted. "Unfortunately so," Ujiko says. "Plus ''Machia won''t be ready for at least another week, but how would you like to proceed with this new information, it could turn out very badly for everyone involved..." All For One silently ponders this for a moment, then gives a sinister smile. "Oh my dear friend, you''ve never been able to see opportunity in such risky ventures, but this is my specialty. Some major changes are needed, but we will still prevail. So on the contrary, I believe this works out much better for us. Continue preparing Gigantomachia, I want him to be our guard dog against any international aid, in the case that I''m not enough of a deterrent, he will at least make other nations hesitate to send any help to Japan." "You may consider it done." "Good, now transfer some of the recovered data into Aoyama''s data core, no doubt either Nezu or Horizon himself will find it, in the case of thetter that will help us sway his views on things even further." "The ''Hero'' files?" "Precisely, and nothing more, we don''t want to change his course until it benefits us," All For One says. "But now the main concern is that the Hero Public Safety Commission knows of my existence, and they also have a proper viin in Tomura...even if it is in reputation alone, they need not know how ipetent he is..." "True, the less that brat appears the better," Ujiko agrees. "But I still fail to see exactly how this helps us retain our final goal, or improve the n in any way." "Well that''s quite simple, we must---" Kurogiri''s purple mist begins swirling beside All For One as he warps into the room. "---Master." "Hmm, Kurogiri, report." "The leads we spread about have been collected by the police, they are en route to the bar to arrest Tomura and his associates as we speak. All Might and Endeavor are leading the charge along with many other top Pro Heroes." "Good, but why are you here and not with Ujiko at hisb?" "Because Pro Heroes have also been detected closing in on this location master." All For One growls lowly at that, "they tracked me here, that should have been impossible...I even made sure Ragdoll neverid eyes on me to track me," he takes a moment to consider the options, then nods. "The n has further changed, Kurogiri, go save Tomura and the other children. They shall act as the main threat to Japan in theseing years, but do not inform them of the Meta Liberation Army, keep Re-Destro under a tight leash, and make him aware of Gigantomachi so he doesn''t step out of line. I want the Meta Liberation Army ready for my return, the League Of Viins will not matter at that point, they are straw dolls living beyond their use, protect Twice, above all else if necessary..." "Yes master," Kurogiri immediately warps away, dutifully obeying All For One. "Return?" Ujiko asks. "Where are you going?" "I shall be going away for a while, sadly you''ll have to y caretaker to the League for some time." "What?! But why? Where will you be?" All For One gets up and holds the phone in his palm, his flesh begins shifting and sparking, connecting to the phone with a few of his Quirks as it is absorbed into his palm. "This should allow me to project everything we say during the uing fight, to properly set the stage for Japan to crumble, all before my grand revival," All For One says, confusing Ujiko. "I''m sending you a detailed set of instructions doctor, the Hero Commission will need your services in the future, very soon in fact, make yourself avable in BOTH instances..." "You still haven''t told me where you will be!" "Tartarus," All For One says bluntly, and Ujiko chokes on the other side of the call. "I''m about to have my final fight with All Might, and no matter the oue I won''t be strong enough to resist arrest. Removing myself as a potential scapegoat for anyone. Because the only way not to be med, is to not exist within this world..." "You can''t be serious! We could just go to a different country, that should get the me away from us entirely." "No, we''ve already overyed our hand without knowing enough. I''ve sent you my glorious 3-year n, and when it isplete, I will rise as the Demon Lord reborn, and rule the country, as is my right." Ujiko sighs at the other end of the call, already skimming the document All For One made and sent within the past few seconds with his collection of Quirks controlling the phone. "Of all the things we''ve disagreed on over the years, this is at the top of the list, easily," Ujiko says. "And you''re sure you can build him up while constantly stoaking their fears?" "More than simply that, I must also properly destroy All Might, from that heroic image, to his annoying smile. To his fully clean and spotless public image. I must make way for Horizon to be the new Symbol Of Peace. This is exactly why I''ve kept Tomura alive for this long, his connection to All Might shall rock the foundation of Hero Society and make the sheep question everything. The decline in people signing up to be heroes will only decrease after all is revealed, a perfect environment for me to ascend." "Hmm, I strongly disagree with this n," Ujiko sighs. "But I trust you, I shall make myself avable for the Hero Commission, but please, be careful..." "Worry not, it takes more than some dying old man that only knows how to punch to truly defeat me, I shall always rise stronger than ever---" CRASH! The building shakes and All For One hears concrete shatter, a few seconds of battleter and the area goes silent as all the Nomu in theb are defeated, but the room he stands in was untouched. "We shall meet again in three years doctor," All For One hangs up before Ujiko can respond, already clearing all the data from his phone and tapping into local broadcasting systems. He wants the entire world to see their greatest viin fall. He wants them to see their greatest hero broken. And he wants them to hear exactly why, Horizon, is the next Symbol Of Peace... Ripping the tubes out of his face and straightening his tie, he puts on his rebuilt life support mask and casually steps out of the room. He''s immediately greeted by a quarter of the 5-story building copsed. Mt. Lady was hunched over at full size holding a pair of Nomu in each hand. Best Jeanist had a few others restrained, along with Gang Orca standing on a pile of others. Behind them Pixie-Bob had a few Nomu sank up to their necks into the floor,pletely restrained. And flying above was Hawks. Most of the heroes froze at the sight of All For One, knowing exactly who they were dealing with. All but two atleast, Best Jeanist immediately swings his hand and makes a tight fist. "Hmmm," All For One hums, more out of curiosity than difort as his own clothes be a constricting prison, pulling his hands to his sides and forcing his legs together, tightening hard enough that a normal person would have been crushed into a paste. "A very fast reaction time, as expected of you two..." Mirko was already leaping down from the roof above. "Luna Arc!" she ms down with a full-powered axe kick aimed directly at his head. All For One just barely moves his head, preserving his mask and allowing her to hit his shoulder with all her might. "Impact Recoil!" As her leg connects the force is equally directed back at her, knocking her high into the air, but doing no damage to her. "Hmm, all these Pro Heroes, but you didn''t bring Horizon...that must mean you just aren''t trying to win. As if I could ever be defeated by such a motley group---" They all focus up even as he''s still restrained, ready for a fight, but not even a secondter both his arms begin to swell and coil within his sleeves andpress themselves. Taking in much more air as hebines Quirks for his best-ranged attack. "Air Cannon+ Springlike Limbs+ Shock Absorber+ Muscle Enhancer+ Strength Enhancer X12!" Jeanist immediately swings his arms outward and reaches out to control all the fabric around him. "st Wave!" The entire city block shakes as All For One pushes all the air directly downward, setting off the local earthquake sensors, and bringing all eyes onto their fight... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 119: (Dominos Pt.1) Chapter 119: (Dominos Pt.1) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- Standing on air in the middle of the battlefield. A freshly made crater in the middle of Kamino Ward, copsed building surrounding it with countless people buried beneath, All For One appreciates the destruction he caused. Taking casual steps forward as if the air beneath his feet was sold he ''looks'' around, noticing the Pro Heroes from moments earlier at the edge of the crater. Most battered and bleeding from that one attack. Noticeably Hawks and Jeanist were awake, Gang Oraca dove atop them to shield them with his body, while Mt. Lady tried to block as much of the st as she could while cradling Pixie-Bob. Mt. Lady was the most damaged,pletely cked out and bleeding from her head. "Quite impressive," All For One say, seeing Hawks and Jeanist on the floor and unable to move. "Your allies shielded you, but you wouldn''t have survived if Jeanist didn''t move all of you away from the st at the same time. Such refined Quirk use is truly rare. You''re no Horizon, but I see why the Commission foolishly brought you into this fight." Jeanist uses his Quirk to control the denim of his own costume and struggles to make himself sit up to face the viin. "Oh no, I insist," All For One says in aforting voice, "no need to get up just for me." He points forward at Jeanist. AIR BULLET! An invisible shot of air ms into Jeanists gut and burrows through him, shattering the ground behind him. Jeanist falls back and Hawks struggles where he''sying, focusing as best he can he summons the very few feathers that both survived the st and didn''t get buried in the rubble. All For One sees a handful of feathers struggling to fly over to the pile of Pro Heroes and is not impressed, instead deciding to look around at the few news helicopters already in the area, as well as the many news drones. ''Ahh, Ujiko sent them...no wonder they were able to get here this quickly,'' he immediately realizes, d his friend was ying along. Keeping the act up he ys it up for the cameras and the transmission of his voice that was going to nearby devices, including the news teams. "To think this is what top-tier Pro Heroes amount to," he gestures mockingly to the pile of Pros as the feathers begin moving the regr-sized ones away from him, rather slowly at that. "A failed assault and now a pitiful escape attempt. How disappointing. I nearly died fighting Horizon, and at that point I ambushed him. But now all of you are crawling away, after surprising me with an attack you had weeks to prepare for...how pathetic can you be... Honestly," he raises his hands, palms facing toward the group as his sleeves swell up again, readying the same attack but on a smaller scale. "If this isn''t enough of a reason to make way for the next generation, I can''t imagine what is." Hawk''s eyes open in horror as he realizes what''s about to happen. Only he and Mt. Lady were in the same spot, opting to move everyone else first, and he wasn''t able to move her in this form. But even the others were only a few meters away, they''d die too. "Air Ca---" "ALL FOR ONE!" everyone turns to see All Might soaring through the air heading directly toward the viin. "Oh, here to try and kill me again, All Might?!" All For One yells as they sh, the impact from their palms locking and grappling in mid-air sends a shockwave through the battlefield and down the surrounding streets. Two people well beyond their primes, but stronger now than they would have been without Horizon existing. All Might is healthier than he would have been. All For One retained his original Quirk instead of using a copy as he intended to transfer the original to Shigaraki The shockwave from the sh stirs Mt.Lady awake, just barely enough for her to begin shrinking, and knocks the other Pro Heroes including Hawks back a few feet. The helicopters struggle to remain stable and some of the heavy-duty drones crash into the ground below. "You''ve gotten weaker, All Might!" All For One yells as they continue to struggle for dominance, both already standing on the ground, the earth beneath their feet cracking and breaking apart. "And you''ve finally realized how ugly you are, hiding your miserable face!" All Might yells back, taking a direct dig at the mask. AIR CANNON! Two sts of air leave All For One''s arms and knock All Might back for nearly two hundred meters, destroying multiple buildings as if they were nothing and surely injuring people in the process. As All Might continues crashing through buildings, All For One returns to the air and casually dusts off his suit, still appearingpletely untouched. But everyone watching, from the heroes to the news teams and all the civilians viewing this were experiencing fear like never before. For the first time to their knowledge, the Symbol Of Peace was actually being matched in power. Knowing this All For One takes the opportunity to add his input, "I''ve gotten much weaker since fighting Horizon, but this should be enough to deal with All Might," a factual statement, at least in regards to his power, but he leaves no room for doubt that these heroes are struggling with a weaker version of what Horizon fought. A momentter All Might rockets upward and out of the massive dust cloud that thest attack caused as the buildings were destroyed. And as he''s high in the air he turns and punches the air behind him hard enough for it to redirect him toward All For One. "Oh, not so fast All Might, you''ve got heroing to do," All For One casually raises his right hand and points the palm toward the injured Pro Heroes, "Air Cannon!" Another st of air fires out, but this time All Might elerates by punching the air again, swinging both his arms back at once simr to Bakugo''s explosive flight, and gets in front of the st. "Smash!" He punches the air st with one of his own,pletely canceling it out and forming a horizontal trench between them in the floor. "Oh, how annoying that must be," All For One says tauntingly, "unable to use your full power because those pathetic excuses for so-called ''Pro Heroes'' are in the way..." All For One raises both his hands this time, releasing a massive st as he did before to knock All Might away, and this time he simply has to guard with his forearms, grit his teeth, and stand his ground. The costume on his forearms is torn away as his skin is bruised and gets some small cuts. But at either side of him, the stone floor is carved out a few meters deep, and it parts around him like a ''V'' extending back for dozens of meters. All Might feels these few massive attacks already taking a toll on him, but thankfully his body isn''t nearing its limit yet. ''But I''ve only got a few more minutes at this rate...I need to end this fight quickly,'' All Might thinks, and thankfully help arrives. "Hey brat!" Gran Torino flies into the battlefield,nding beside All Might, eyes never leaving All For One. "Sensei? What are you doing here?" All Might asks, all the while All For One is more than happy to give them a moment. He uses the time to choose the best possiblebination of words for what he''s about to do. "Todoroki can deal with those Nomu," Gran Torino says. "Kurogiri warped Shigaraki and the other viins away, so when they''re done they''lle here to help with search and rescue," he looks back for a moment to see all the Pros behind them. "You deal with that thing, I''ll get them out of your way beforeing back..." All Might gives his sensei a brilliant smile and nods once, then rockets off toward All For One. "Detroit...." All Might closes the distance and prepares a heavy downward punch with his right hand, "smash!" All For one raises his forearms and blocks the hit, but the force causes All Might to push him back while still making contact, taking them further away from Gran Torino by the second. A world-shaking brawl ensues, or more urately. All Might begins a relentless assault while All For One simply hardens his body with Tough Scales and Strength EnhancersX12 to soak up the blows. As he begins loosening up his defenses and fighting back, hends a few solid haymakers on All Might, bloodying his lip. But All Might has always been a superior brawler, the best in the world in fact. "SMASH!" All Might punches him directly in the face, shattering his mask and revealing his disfigured head for the entire world to see. RECOIL! All Might is knocked back a few meters by his own attack, creating space between them as All For One retreats out of his striking range. "Well, my masksted longer here than it did against Horizon, it seems children really are the future..." "You''re even worse than I thought," All Might says, ring at All For One''s disfigured head. "And don''t you dare speak about my precious students! Today I''m going to defeat you so that you can never hurt them again!" "Ohh, is that so? It''s a shame you only care about protecting children now, isn''t it, All Might?" "What? What are you saying, I''ve always tried to protect everyone, no matter what!" "Not everyone, not every child," All For One raises a hand to his head and picks the bits and pieces of his mask off, and tosses them aside. "What about Shimura?" All Might grits his teeth, the vein on his forehead immediately raise as he gets pissed off, "don''t you dare speak my master''s name!" "My apologies, but I didn''t mean your master, not her...I meant the person you truly failed, her grandson. Tenko Shimura!" All Might prepares to attack, readying another Detroit Smash to punch All For One''s teeth out. "Why would I ever care about someone as pathetic...as Nana Shimura!" Enraged, All Mightunches into his attack and All For One immediately backs up, raising his left hand to mirror All Might''s attack. As they get closer, All For One hits exactly where he knows it will hurt. "Why her when her grandson is still alive, Tenko Shimura!" All Might leaps up and begins closing in, "or as you know him, TOMURA SHIGARAKI!" "What---" All Might''s eyes go wide as his entire world crumbles, that burning rage he felt moments ago was reced by guilt and confusion. But above all else, shame... a shame for failing Nana''s legacy this badly. Emotions so powerful that the logical thought that this superviin was lying didn''t even ur. Because All For One knows, emotions will always be All Might''s weak spot, and Nana Shimura is a giant shing target. And as their fists collide, both hands give everything they can. But after that strike to the heart, All Might''s spirit cracks, and All For One seizes the opening. RIVIT STABS A series of ck spikes protrude from All For One''s skin as their left fists collide and expand like sharp tendrils, piercing and burrowing into All Might''s entire arm. "ARGH!" All Might screams in pain as he feels the sharp spikes pierce and shatter his bones and muscles, from wrist to shoulder, all shredded inside and out. And in the same moment, All For One raises his right hand, palm facing All Might as he grabs his face, "Air Cannon!" BOOM! The symbol of peace is sent flying directly downward into the earth below. The entire world holds its breath, desperately hoping for All Might to be alive, but also at the edge of their seat for answers. Both afraid and curious about exactly what All Might and All For One were talking about. And unfortunately, they''d get exactly what they wanted... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 120: (Dominos Pt.2) Chapter 120: (Dominos Pt.2) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- As the dust is slowly dissipating across the battlefield All Might is revealed,ying in a shallow crater. As if it were an early grave, a heartwrenching scene for the millions watching live. His frail and thin form is now exposed for the world to see, his left armpletely shattered and bleeding in multiple ces. And a look of sorrow on his face, as he stares up at All For One. The viin was still standing on the air, but his right arm was bleeding profusely and his dry, painful coughs, as well as his wheezing, carried across the battlefield. This battle was taking a serious toll on him, and he has to make a real effort just to catch his breath. ''All Might is ever weaker now than I suspected, and Gran Torino will be back in a few moments,'' All For One thinks. ''How should I y this out? If I win then my ns fail, so I must find a way to lose and make it believable...but this could be a great chance to finally kill All Might. No, he is already dying, I doubt he''ll be alive beyond five more years at this rate, and that arm is useless...unless Horizon fixes it, which he will. Well, I suppose I could have some fun while tearing them down, making way for Horizon to ascend to his spot...'' All For One decides as he notices Gran Torino about to re-enter the battlefield, already done taking the injured Pro Heroes to safety. "It seems your true self, the weak and disappointing failure is now exposed to the world, oh great and powerful Symbol of Peace," All For One says mockingly, raising a hand to his face as he continues coughing. "Don''t take any pride in my injuries, I assure you that had Horizon not beaten dozens of Quirks, including Super-Regeneration out of me, I would not be taking this route...even now you''re nothing without someone else starting the fight for you, bleeding for you..." "Don''t listen to him Toshinori!" Gran Torino yells as he flies back into the battlefield, standing between All Might''s crater and All For One, as if he could do anything. "He''s using lies to stir up your heart just as he did before, tune them out!" "Lies?" All For One asks, seeing All Might still staring up at him, not even making an attempt to get up as his mind was still reeling. "No lie can ever hurt as much as the truth. And if I recall correctly, before she was his master...Nana Shimura was your friend, Gran Torino. You were both there when I crushed her hopes and dreams! When I mangled her pathetic self so badly that she begged me to finish her! When she learned that mercy does not exist in my world! You and All Might both ran away! You left her to die! You abandoned her! And All Might didn''t stop running until he got all the way to America, then he builds himself up as the so-called Symbol Of Peace. He''s the fake, he''s the liar, he''s the con artist here. Convincing the world that he was anything but a coward and a snake that would abandon the people closest to him to save himself, and you''re no different!" Gran Torino feels the guilt and heartache swelling in his chest, but he just res at All For One and forces it down. "Nana sacrificed herself so that we could live, so that he could be All Might, be someone powerful enough to stop you! To be the Symbol Of Peace!" "No," All For One says, "she was just another hero destroying herself and her family for people who don''t matter. You may think I struggled to recruit Tomura, but it was remarkably easy, because of ''Heroes'' like you, like All Might, like her. A boy that was abused because he loved heroes, but his father hated them. Nana Shimura''s own son whom she abandoned to pursue her career, after the life he had it was no surprise he hated her. And when young Tenko Shimura developed a seemingly viinous Quirk and idents happened, the boy was alone on the streets for days. Before I found him nobody ever offered a helping hand. They were all so sure a Hero would save him...so where were you, Hero? Oh, that''s right, you were off protecting this society that abandons people that don''t fit their golden standard, right? One that shuns people who look different or don''t have ''heroic'' Quirks. One where the only people worth admiring are those that put on silly costumes and run around inflicting violence onto others, approved by the corrupt and vile government of course...is this really the kind of world she caused so much pain for? Is this really what she died for? What a waste of a life..." Gran Torino''s re softens, the look on his face alone is enough to admit guilt, and his silence only supports it. Unknowingly confessing to the entire world that was watching and listening. "To think abandoning her family to bet on All Might, would lead to this," All For Oneughs at the idea. "A viin that wants nothing more than the destruction of this unjust hero society, and who has the power and support to do it, her own grandson! I can''t imagine what he''ll do when he finally hears all of this, when he learns exactly why she abandoned them, when he hears these words..." Hearing those words Gran Torino almost freezes, almost sumbs to his own emotions, but with his senior experience, he calms his mind. Unlike Yagi, he''s long since made peace with the circumstances of Nana''s death. And he epted the cost of never having any contact with her family afterward. Even if he never imagined it could go this far, even if her own blood flows through a monster like Tomura Shigaraki. Looking at All For One he sees the viin once again coughing, trying to catch his breath. And ncing back over his shoulder he sees Yagi stillying on the floor, frozen, with a look of despair on his face. ''You''ve always been too emotional boy, but we don''t have time for this, All For One probably isn''t attacking yet because he either wants to torture us like this for the world to see...or he''s unable to because of the state of his body, I can''t be sure with a maniac like him but we don''t have time toy around...I''m not one for this sappy crap, but here goes...'' Gritting his teeth Gran Torino swallows his pride, and prays his words are enough for this to work. "All For One," he says, looking directly at the viin, "you''re right..." "Hmm" All For One detects no lies in this voice, and his curiosity is piqued. "What are you ying at?" "Nothing, you''re absolutely right," Gran Torino says. "Nana Shimura, All Might''s master, my friend. She died while we ran away, she had to give up her son and her family because she was a hero, because she had to continue being a Hero. And if Tomura Shigaraki is truly her grandson, if they suffered because of this, then I am sorry. Unfortunately, some heroes are so blinded in saving others that they can''t see what happens to the people around them, to those who need them most. But I stand by every choice Nana Shimura made!" Gran Torino smiles brightly and ces his hands on his hips. "She was a true hero, she sacrificed everything for us, for the future. Yes, we ran away while she fought you, while she died. But I''m sure she faced death with dignity, without begging a monster like you for mercy, she died fighting as a Hero. She died fighting for the future. Because she knew her limits, she knew she couldn''t be what the people needed. So she bet more than just her life on everything we needed. Someone brave, someone powerful, someone honest and just. A person who puts everyone ahead of himself! Someone who could bring about a peaceful world where people don''t have to be afraid of monsters like you and your army of Nomu! A true hero who could be a pir for all of society to look at as the golden example of all we should strive to be! Someone we could all lean on when we don''t know what to do or if we''ll ever see tomorrow! Someone she believed was capable of bing our greatest hero, and our very first Symbol Of Peace! She bet everything, and she was right, because no matter what, no matter how many monsters are sent after the people of this world, they never have to live in fear! Because thanks to her nurturing, thanks to her guidance, thanks to her sacrifice we finally have someone she believed couldplete this task as well as take you down. It''s because of the sacrifices of Nana Shimura that---!" "I. AM. HERE!" All Might immediately stands up, back in his muscr form with his left armpletely torn up and mangled, hanging limply at his side. He res up at All For One and grits his teeth while stepping out of the crater, standing beside Gran Torino. "Sorry sensei, I let him get in my head...we''ll deal with the other matterster, for now, let''s take this viin down," All Might makes a fist with his right hand and prepares to engage. "Yes, for Nana," Gran Torino takes a deep breath, using his Jet Quirk to fill his lungs, ready to propel the air out of his feet to engage. The fight to close an era moves to its final conclusion... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 121: (Dominos Pt.3) Chapter 121: (Dominos Pt.3) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "Together!" All Might yells as both he and Gran Torino charge All For One. All For One raises his right hand toward them, "Air Cannon!" The massive column of air rockets toward the Pro Heroes and they both take to the air, leaving it to hit between them and crater the ground below. Gran Torino just barely keeps up with All Might as he rockets through the air, using his right arm -his one good arm- to constantly hit the air and bounce off it. All For One for one wisely moves away from them, floating higher into the air and back toward the far end of the battlefield as he observes. ''I should have already done enough to set the new era into motion by now...all that remains for this fight it is to break All Might properly so he can live out the rest of his short life full of regret and suffering. If only Gran Torino hadn''t managed to snap him back to his senses just now...'' Watching both the heroes move through the air All For One barely has another moment to think before they''re both on him. "You''re harmless," he says while swatting away Gran Torino. The man had circled around and tried to deliver a dropkick to his back and actually seeded, because All For One simply knew the damage was negligible. As both his feet mmed into All For One''s back it felt like kicking a titanium wall, ''damn, he''s still this tough after all the damage he''s taken,'' Gran Torino think, before a jolt of pain shoots through both his feet. "Rivet Stab!" All For Onemanded ck spiked tendrils to extend from his back and bore through his clothes, through Gran Torino''s boots and feet then angle themselves like small fish hooks, sticking the Hero to him. "Aghhhh!" Gran Torino yells as the searing pain surprises him. Above them, All Might notices what''s going on and considered not connecting his hit, he''s already rocketing down at them with his right hand cocked back to deliver an angry strike. Seeing his student hesitating, Gran Torino yells out, "just do it!" "Detroit---!" All Might''s fist connects to All For One''s forearm, "SMASH!" BOOM! All For One is sent spinning toward the battlefield below,pletely losing control of his orientation. As they''re tumbling through the air Gran Torino reaches down and pushes against the viin''s back, ripping himself away from All For One and tearing out chunks of his flesh along with snapping the regr and Quirk-rted bones of his feet. "GAHH!" He takes a deep breath, filling his lungs with air before expelling it out of the soles of his feet. A spray of blood exits his boots as the usually invisible air is mixed with his blood. While spinning through the air, for a split second he sees Yagi standing on the floor not too far away, once again shrunk down to his frail self, desperately trying to catch his breath. ''Damn it kid, you had better appreciate whatever time I can buy you,'' Gran Torino thinks as he spins so his feet are facing away from All For One, then releases another bloody st of air. As All For One is barely back on his feet he shakes his head, trying to get his brain to stop rattling, feeling his forearm that took the blow already gonepletely numb. He raises a hand to the connected shoulder to pop it back into ce, and as he does, "Hng..." he takes half a step forward, feeling Gran Torino dropkick the back of his head. He was now so hurt he could barely keep his 360 awareness up, causing more and more blind spots to arise. Even his Infrared Quirk was now only fully optimal in front of him. "You''re annoying me," All For One says as he spins around, ready to st another column of air at Gran Torino. "SMASH!" All Might ms a fist into his gut the moment he turns around, a spray of blood leaves All Might''s mouth as All For One grits his teeth and is sent flying back into the wall of the crater they were fighting in. "Took you long enough," Gran Torino grumbles as hends beside Yagi, now back in his frail form after that punch. "Sorry sensei, it''s hard to maintain that form after using an attack," Yagi looks down at Gran Torino, seeing him bleeding out from his feet while standing on the ground, the old man does his best to look unbothered by the pain, not wanting Yagi to worry about such a thing at the moment. But Yagi is the greatest Hero because he worries more than anyone, "you should get out of here and get your feet treated, those injuries could damage your Quirk!" he says. "It did damage my Quirk, I won''t be able to use it after this," Gran Torino gives All Might a serious look, "but once we take him down tonight then I won''t have any reason to use it, so let''s wrap this up, we''ll use the Matador routine..." JET! Gran Torino immediately sts off, leaving a red mist behind him, quickly feeling himself be more and more light-headed as his blood runs out. "Why can''t you Heroes just die," All For One grumbles as he pulls himself out of the wall and stands on the ground, looking at Gran Torino charging at him. "A desperatest rush from a washed-up old man...as expected from someone who has failed so much in one lifetime..." All For One is only 2 meters away from Gran Torino, his entire view blocked by the short man and his flowing yellow cape as he reaches out to grab him and end him once and for all. However, as his hand is about to make contact, Gran Torino smiles. JET! He pivots in the air and sts off to the side, revealing a determined All Might directly behind him only a dozen meters away from All For One. Perfectly hidden like a Matador behind a cape... By the time All For One raises his hand All Might is too close to be dodged, and he won''t have enough time to make a st of air powerful enough to stop the punch. Seeing All Might readying a smash, even with his left hand hanging limply at this side, the hero rushes forward. And All For One feels a jolt of fear in his heart. "Warping!" he yells,pletely panicked, not wanting to show this Quirk to the public but now having no choice. Gran Torino begins throwing up a brown sludge that smells like a sewer. It pours out of his mouth and surrounds him before curling in on itself and he disappears. And in the same moment, he appears between All For One and All Might, sped tightly in the viin''s massive hand. All Might tries his best to ease off the force of his punch but his fist still connects with Gran Torino''s face. "Sorry!" he screams as Gran Torino''s teeth are shattered, sandwiched between All Might''s fist and All For One''s hand. Reacting immediately All Might opens his hand and grabs Gran Torino''s torso to pull him away from the viin. "Rivet Stab!" "Ach!" Gran Torino spits up blood, eyes going wide as the ck spiked tendrils pierce his torso and throat from All For One''s palm, slicing through him and into All Might''s palm on the other side. All Might''s eyes go wide in horror, seeing his Sensei, the person that''s been with him from the start of his journey to now, undoubtedly dying. ''Horizon can fix him, we just need to get sensei out of here,'' All Might realizes, now more d than ever that Nezu has that miracle in his pocket. All Might rips his hand away from the spikes before they extend any further and dig into his one good arm -his right arm-, and reaches forward once again to grab them and shatter them to free his sensei. "AIR CANNON!" All For One immediately activates his Quirk and releases a massive column of air from the hand holding Gran Torino in the palm. His body doesn''t even get thrown across the battlefield. Instead, it appeared as if All For One shot red mist and confetti at All Might before the air pushed him across the crater. "That was close," All For One says, seeing All Might frozen in shock at the other side of the battlefield, looking down at his clothes and hand, covered in blood that mostly wasn''t his. Focusing on the floor in front of him the viin sees a massive stain on the stone, looking like a stter of yellow on blue to his Infrared Quirk. The remains of Gran Torino. All Might''s chief instructor. "I tried not to reveal my Warping, but you forced my hand," All For One says in an annoyed tone. "That''s quite the ace to keep up my sleeve. It''s obviously not as refined or powerful as Horizon''s, but any Warping Quirk is enough to make someone a national-level asset...or threat, but revealing it was preferable to losing like that, to some pathetic washed-up failed Pro Heroes..." Seeing Yagi back in his frail form with blood running down from his mouth, nose, eyes, and ears, from excessive Quirk use, All For One feels pleased with the results of this battle. He looks around to make sure the news drones and helicopters were seeing and hearing everything, and thankful they weren''t scared off by the shockwaves. Across from him, Yagi heard everything, and almost all of it went in one ear and out the next, almost all of it. "Sensei," Yagi looks up at All For One with a zing fire in his eyes, "sensei was a true hero!" he buffs up into his muscr form. "I won''t let his sacrifice be in vain, I won''t allow it!" The look All Might gave would have any other viin surrendering or experiencing a heart attack, pure fury and violent intent. "Then let''s end this, All Might!" All For One says as he lifts his right arm up to his side as All Might does the same, each gathering all their strength. All For One''s arm begins to transform as he stacks multiple Quirks. Bing a massive hulking mass of flesh with multiple arms melded into each other and silver spikes protruding from them. ''Strength Enhancer X12! Spearlike Bones! Kic Booster X4! Hypertrophy! Springlike Limbs! Scale Armor!'' "Come now, All Might!" All For One says as his arm is now twice asrge as his entire body, "your final desperate punch, against my ultimatebination of avable Quirks!" All Might grit his teeth and epts the challenge, making a fist with his right hand and begging One For All to give him all thest embers of its power within him. Dumping so much of his power into this attack that he can feel his very life force being stripped away. "ALL FOR ONE!" All Might screams out as he rockets forward, destroying the stone in his wake from his sheer speed as he arrives in front of his target. "ALL MIGHT!" All For One punches forward, meeting All Might''s strike with everything he had. "Recoil!" All Might feels the force of his own punch directed back at his right arm and the bones in it instantly shatter, piercing the skin and causing blood to spray out. "Nnnnggghhh!" All Might grits his teeth and digs deep, taking a step forward and stomping down, digging into the stone to find his footing as he pushes back against All For One. All For One feels himself losing ground and can''t make sense of it, "impossible!" "UNITED---!" All Might feels the bones in this right arm being crushed more and more under the force, the tendons beginning to tear, unable to keep this up. "STATES---!" his shoulder starts giving out, be he also noticed All For One''s monstrous arm shrinking, losing power. "OF---!" he stops fighting back. Allowing All For One to crush his right arm, but he turns his body with the punch. The viin stumbles forward,pletely confused but aware that All Might just lost his one functioning arm, the fight was over. Right? ''No, All Might never gives up,'' All For One realizes, a moment toote. "SMASH!" All Might flexes all the muscles in his left arm, thepletely mangled arm, flexing so hard he forced it to make a fist and tense up just enough for him to get all the bones into roughly the proper alignment. Like trying to fit dozens of pieces of shattered chalk back together and holding it together in a vice made of pure muscle. As All For One stepped forward he sank his fist into the side of the viin''s skull, caving it in andpletely rattling his brain! "RAAAHHHH!!!!" All Might screams out as he twists and follows through with the punch, embedding All For One into the stone floor, even as his left armpletely ruptures and eventually explodes from the One For All Quirk overloading it. Leaving him with just a stump below his shoulder on his left side, and a mangled right arm hanging at his other side, staring down at the viin below him. All For One was barely conscious, feeling his brain shutting down, unable to move, almost unable to think, and certainly incapable of activating any Quirk. Even his Infrared was knocked out, a massive fist-shaped dent in the side of his head made sure of that. But he could still feel All Might''s presence above him, it was unmistakably self-righteous and repulsive to him, unmistakable. As the helicopter spotlights fall on them, both men make their final statements to the world before exiting the stage. "Thank you, All Might," the viin says, wheezing between words, causing All Might to stare down at him, already reverted back to his frail form. "You have saved me...for viins like myself...cannot exist in this world, with Horizon...as the Symbol Of Peace..." Hearing that All Might felt much more at peace, looking at the stump where his left arm used to be, he doesn''t feel that pressure as much as he did before. The pressure to do everything himself. He realizes that, either Izuku or Horizon, the future was in good hands. So he smiles, then calls on what barely-existing power he has to take his muscr form onest time. He forces his right hand into a fist and barely raises it to the sky, stumbling but catching himself. With a fist to the sky, he shows the world that he won. That the viin is defeated. That the crisis was resolved. But even as he cked out in the same pose, still on his feet, fist to the sky. Everyone knew that this was the end of All Might. They shed tears of joy for his victory, and sorrow for what woulde next. But little did they know, that everything went perfectly ording to All For One''s n. That the dominos have been lined up and perfectly set. And WHEN they fall. Japan WILL fall with them. And the Demon Lord shall rise, reborn and stronger than ever... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 122: (Shattered Pillar) Chapter 122: (Shattered Pir) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- Flying on his hoverboard, Horizon res at his phone as he soars above Japan. He was pushing his speed up to 400mph -643kmph- as he was watching the live news broadcast on his phone. With the audio projected into his visor, hepletely ignores everything and focuses on the fight. Listening to All For One''s words he can''t help but scowl. "Nana Shimura...she really just destroyed her family to save strangers, disgusting..." he mulls it over for a few seconds before realizing something. "Wait, if All Might called her his Master...he has the body of a Quirkless person, so he must have gotten One For All from her. And she had to have gotten it from someone, All For One attacked the camp for it so he knows about it. Plus everything Deku just said means...how many people did that Quirk get passed down to before now? Oh, that was a smart move, finally got rid of the distraction," Horizon mutters as Gran Torino is turned into bloody mist by All For One. ''Now I just need All For One to win or warp away so he can keep up his end of our deal...'' Momentster his hopes are crushed when, as always, All Might ims victory. ''Fuck,'' he frowns at the screen, seeing All Might standing unconscious with his right fist raised to the sky and his left arm missing from just below the shoulder. ''Ok, I guess I can work with this, heal up All Might, get some more credibility from all the crap All For One was spouting during the fight about how if they wanted to guarantee victory they should have brought me. Then I guess since All Might is definitely forced into retirement by this I can fill the much more tant power vacuum, thankfully I''ve already prepared Minato Tokyo to be my territory. And since All Might used to be there they don''t even have many Hero Agencies in the first ce because he always put them out of business... I guess I''ll have to ask Nezu for more days away from UA to do hero crap. Two days a week is already pushing it but maybe I can get Thursdays too. That way I can do hero work from Thursday to Sunday. Plus I can just start hunting down the League Of Viins immediately, if I lock up all of them before I graduate that''ll get me to the #2 spot, if not number one. Hmm, #1, Endeavor probably wouldn''t be that easy to get ahead of, but now he''s dealing with his nightmare family bullshit so he''s distracted by that. Plus I need to train up Sero so people know that I''m a capable leader and keep working on myself, that''ll get me to the top spot,'' he decides, considering the finer points of his n as the scene changes on his phone. Instead of the battlefield, the news helicopters follow the ambnce as it rushed All Might to Central Hospital, by far Japan''s second-best medical facility. Second only to whatever room Horizon happens to be standing in at any given moment. Seeing this he hops onto ''Yay!'' to check how the inte is reacting to All Might''s fight. And as usual, it was having aplete meltdown. Multiple discussions and topics were trending, many of which involved people putting together any possible evidence of All For One existing over the years, but of all these people none would ever openly admit to being in coboration with him. Not while he''s in jail, too far for his influence and power to protect them. Checking the other topics Horizon sees almost unanimous praise for All Might, and some people are a bit too trigger-happy with the ''in memory of'' tributes. "These fuckers really haven''t figured out that I''m his doctor, as if something like that would kill him...hell, he can''t even die unless I allow it." Poking around a bit more, he found exactly what he was looking for. Absolute chaos. People were crying and panicking all over the inte about the Symbol Of Peace being done, obviously forced to retire, and Horizon smiles below his visor. Because chaos, brings opportunity. "Looks like you sheep need a new shepherd...oh, sorry, you civilians need a new ''Symbol Of Peace''," he chuckles at the ridiculous thought. A few minutester and Horizon sees posts appearing, people already theorizing how this will shake up the Pro Hero Rankings in Japan. And a momentter another alert catches his eyes, "wow...that''s a big drop," he says, staring wide-eyed at his phone as the projected devaluation of the Japanese currency is shown. "Makes sense, people really don''t have any faith in countries without strong heroes, crime is definitely going to skyrocket now that All Might is down, so people can''t invest in Japan as safely...good thing none of my money is stored here." He opens the notification up to see the projected drop at 5%, such a sudden drop is catastrophic for the economy, and that is only for tonight. "All the more reason to get out of this country...but I guess when I''m the top hero it should be stable again at least." Before he could look any deeper into the immediate effects of this battle Horizon''s phone begins to ring, and he immediately answers. "I''m already flying to Central Hospital," he says. "Oh thank god," Nezu''s worried voice flows into his visor. "You''re wee, but care to tell me what the fuck is going on?! Why didn''t you even tell me there was a counter-attack happening tonight?!" "I wanted to involve you, but I was ordered not to," Nezu says. "Ordered?" "Pantu, she had some information that the viins were especially monitoring you, since only you can stop Kurogiri---" "I''m not sure how that would work, but I guess it''s not impossible. And if I moved in their direction they''d have just warped away...that wouldn''t have worked out for them but I see why someone could think that, but what did you have nned to stop them from just running away?" "All Might," Nezu says. "And he was sure that All For One wouldn''t be able to run away from a chance to settle their differences once and for all." "Tch, I still should have been there, All For One said it himself that he was done for if they had me with them," Horizon grumbles. "True, but All Might didn''t want to put any more students in danger. We lost quite a few students during the training camp, we can''t lose any more of you." Horizon doesn''t even doubt that statement. He''s met the man after all, someone with such a strong ''Heroic Spirit'' would never allow one of his students into a fight like that, even if it was Horizon. "Heroic to a fault, so how''d you even find them so quickly? At the press conference tonight you said the police had no leads yet, you lied?" "A necessary deception," Nezu says. "It caused both UA and the police to take some hard criticism in the minutes between that statement and the reveal that it was all a clever lie. We had hoped that the assault would have gone smoothly without anyone dying." "That''s always the hope," Horizon says. Nezu sighs, "true, so far, aside from the civilians, Gran Torino is the only confirmed death, along with some police officers." "Arrests?" "Only All For One, the others got away from what I understand, teams are moving in to investigate the buildings as we speak." "Shigaraki and his group of losers shouldn''t be as dangerous without their backed, but we still don''t know who is making the Nomu for them." "We assumed it was All For One," Nezu says. "If he''s a gicist then possibly, otherwise they''ve got someone who knows his way around a helical gic code and pharmaceuticals..." "Hmm, we''ll have to look into it, but it won''t be easy until we have some of their group in custody to question." "Yeah that''d make things a lot easier," Horizon says. "How''d you even find the viins so quickly?" "Oh, I half expected her to have already told you...Ms. Yaoyorozu attached a tracker to one of the Nomu at the summer camp, with some help of course." Horizon doesn''t know if he should be annoyed or surprised that now is when she chooses to be capable, when she had the best opportunity topletely fuck him over and ruin his escape n. "Good job I supposed," he says in an extremely bored tone, deciding not to think about it too much. "You should tell her that in person sometime, how much longer before you get to the hospital?" "Half hour, is that ce secure enough?" "The Commission is having all nearby heroes and a lot of police head there now to secure it, they expect trouble since All Might is the patient...every viin wants to be the one to finish off All Might." "Better the hero the bigger the target on your back," Horizon says with clear disgust in his voice, "even extends to your family sometimes." "Mhm, will you be able to save him?" "From what I saw and what I know of his condition, he''s got about a 1% chance to live, it''ll take a miracle basically...so yeah, he''ll be fine when I''m done, but..." "But what?" Nezu asks, scared to hear the answer. "The hero ''All Might'', is done, you know that right?" Nezu sighs, "yes, I prepared myself for this a long time ago, but I don''t believe he''s ready to hang up his cape." "He won''t have a chance, and you''re a lot more ready than most, have you seen how the media is reacting?" "Insanity and chaos, as usual." Horizon shakes his head, "people just aren''t ready for their one support pir to shatter like this. An entire society leaning on one person is destined to fail, the system has to change if you want it tost." "True, but thankfully, until those changes happen the masses will be a bit calmer since they already have an idea of who their next pir shall likely be...right?" Horizon rolls his eyes, "first things first, so for now let me just try to pick up the pieces of thest one..." As Horizon continues his flight to Tokyo, both men would be proven right on this very night. Countless people demanded that the Japanese constitution be ignored in the case of Horizon. Allowing him to be a fully licensed Pro Her withoutpleting the trial period or graduating from a Hero Course. A move made out of desperation and fear, because with All Might seemingly dead or out of action, people wanted someone they could hide behind when things got dangerous. And as if to prove Horizon''s point about society needing to not depend on one person to this extent, over the next 24 hours, the Japanese currency would lose 12% of its total trading value. Soon trade and shipping would begin to slow as crime skyrockets, and at every level of society, people would feel the repercussions of this night in their wallets and bellies. The shifting tides as the eras change. Chaos, until Horizon rises to be their next Symbol Of Peace... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 123: (Broken Symbol) Chapter 123: (Broken Symbol) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- ---10 PM, Tokyo, Central Hospital... In the massive za leading up to Central Hospital. At the foot of thergest medical center in this part of the world, the building itself stood out from the grey and dull buildings around it. A monument of white stone and brilliant shimmering ss dedicated to medical services and research. This legendary establishment was previously considered Japan''s greatest house of medical miracles before a particr prodigy recently dethroned it. But opposed to the usually serene and hopeful atmosphere of his ce, all around it was currently in chaos. In the za, Pixie-Bob was currently fighting for her life. Wearing a white top and blue dress with stockings, her scouter quickly equipped as she rushed to help in the fight. ncing off toward the edge of the za, past the chaos that was the Pro Heroes and police fighting the viins, she sees the mobs of people, scared and desperate for answers. Barely held off by the police barricade at the edge of the za. "What the hell do they think they can even do here," she grumbles, her anger flowing through. These people were putting more than just All Might in danger, but also Mandy who was still in the hospital. Edgeshot and a few other Pro Heroes were in the za with her, and more and more viins were drawn to it like moths to light. Every viin wants to be the person who executed All Might after all, that was an easy im to fame for viins in this situation. Up above as the fight raged on, destroying the za and inching closer to the hospital, Horizon was already flying above Tokyo on his hoverboard. The news feed was ying on his phone as he approached to give him a better view of the chaos. And looking below him, all the people filled the massive street in front of the hospital like ants, all so heartbroken and scared of the idea of being without All Might that they rushed out of their homes just to be here. ''Just to stand around being fucking useless liabilities...'' While he was making his final approach, at home, everyone was glued to their screens, including all of 1A. Some were frozen in shock after the Kamino fight. Others were still crying their eyes out. And along with them, everyone felt their hearts drop when someone broke through the crowd. A short in looking woman, only standing at 122cm -4ft- uses her Quirk, mming her fists together while stuck in the crowd just a few meters in front of the barricade. BOOM! A shockwave turns everyone around her, police and civilians alike into red paste, tearing apart the skin on her knuckles as well. The entire battlefield is silent for a moment as shock washes over them, and in that moment she takes massive leaps forward. The clothes and skin on her legs are shredded with each step as the shockwaves propel her forward. "I''m the only one that gets to kill him!" she screams at the top of her lungs as she takes a massive leap from the ground. Intending to jump into the tenth floor of the hospital. But while in mid-air, barely a meter from the ground... "SHAMBLES!" Horizon appears behind her atop the small crater herst leap caused, harmlessly swapped with a pebble, and leaving his board floating above -it would simply wait for him on the roof-. He reaches out and immediately grabs onto her ankle. BOOSTER SHOT! He rips her out of the air and ms her face-first into the concrete floor, and without releasing her leg. "Counter Shock!" "Ahhhhhh!" she screams as the crackling electricity burns massive scars all up and down her body before he releases her leg, and the entire crowd is just staring at him. ''Huh, guess I need to relearn how to regte the power of that move now that I''ve got so much more energy...'' he thinks before turning and walking toward the hospital entrance. He gives some of the viins a quick nce and they immediately raise their hands in surrender, realizing their window of time to kill All Might was done. A perfect entrance to reassure the media that no matter what happens he''ll alwayse back stronger. The much more efficient thing would have been to simply warp into the hospital and trust the other heroes to handle this. He''s sure between Edgeshot and Crust being outside they had it handled. But All Might is about to retire, so he needs all the chances he can get to establish himself, even if that means risking seconds in which All Might could die. ''Better a dead martyr than a living cripple anyway...'' he thinks while walking toward the hospital. His presence truly did settle the tension in the air. Aside from the people still mortified by so many sudden deaths in the crowd, the viewers at home who barely saw that were relieved. After learning Horizon lost to All For One they feared the worst, but now he''s back and seemingly just as strong as ever. And he''d definitely save All Might...right? The moment he entered the door and was away from the cameras however, he shrank his room to just barely cover the hospital. SCAN! Everything and everyone within his Room was suddenly fed into his mind, giving him a searing headache that would soon fade. But he found his patient, he also noted all the police officers patrolling the halls of the hospital and lining the walls leading up to the operating room. Some nurses were running about in a frenzy getting everything the surgeons needed to save All Might, but they''d never be enough. SHAMBLES! Horizon swaps ces with the surgeon standing directly beside the operating table, then looks around at all the surprised faces. "Get out, now..." And surprisingly they do exactly that. No one so much as opens their mouth to say a single word to him. Leaving him standing in the operating room with Yagi on the table. Laying unconscious with a small stump where his left arm was, hastily wrapped up, his Hero Costume torn up and hanging off him as if he were a clothes hangar. His right hand was broken up and bloodied with much of the skinpletely torn off. And above all of that, he was still covered in Gran Torino''s blood with some bits of him stuck in the costume. ''Never thought I''d actually operate in a hospital...now let''s see exactly how damaged you are,'' Horizon thinks as he rests a hand on Yagi''s chest. The entire operation room fades away as he focuses on Yagi''s body. Feeling him down to a cellr level, using more and more energy to help get him stable. He hears the heart monitor slowly but steadily increasing to an eptable speed. "Ok, step one done, now let''s get a visual look," Horizon says as he reaches behind his back, taking his scalpel out of the small medical pouch below his jacket, then cutting Yagi''s Hero Costume off to expose his torso. ''Fuck...'' he sees the previous injury ruptured, now he can inly see why it took so much energy to get him stable, because his Quirk is so desperately focusing on this injury that it''s allowing the rest of him to waste away. Looking around Horizon sees another table as well as all the machines and supplies the doctors and nurses expected to need, and he frowns at his current predicament. ''If I remove his heart to monitor it the shock of that will kill him...time to get creative...'' Removing his sword from his hip, scabbard and all, he throws it behind him, and it hovers in the air. He then does the same for his jacket, making sure nothing could get in his way. AMPUTATE! He separates Yagi''s head, then carefully pulls one of the tables over with Takt and rests it atop it, very gently. Making sure not to remove the anesthesia mask. ''Ok, now let''s see under the hood,'' he carefully slices horizontally at the side of his torso, removing the topyer, half an inch -1.25cm- deep, and simply lifting off the top and cing it on the second table. Now seeing the organs and still beating heart exposed -protected by a translucent jelly-like barrier of space-, he gets to look directly at all the damage. ''Hole in the heart. All his ribs are broken. His one good lung is already flooded and copsing. One good kidney already failed. Liver nearly destroyed. Intestines shredded. His throat is almost entirely crushed, but the breathing tubes can deal with that for now. I''ll need to deal with the brain problems after...that''ll be a whole other can of worms. And after all of that, I''ll deal with the cracked spine. Then I can deal with the more normal things, broken bones, dislocated jaw, shattered orbital floor...the missing arm. Doubt I''ll be able to regenerate one for him, his body just won''t be able to sustain that much mass, but he''ll get over it.'' All of this analysis happens in the time it would take a normal person to get over the shock of seeing his organsid bare. Horizon immediately gets to work to save Yagi, to save All Might. Aside from the terminally ill patients he''s saved, by far his most miraculous operation yet. And certainly the most high profile. He truly is the only person who could possibly save him... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 124: (The Miracle Ward) Chapter 124: (The Miracle Ward) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "Hmm," Horizon groans as he wakes up, shaking his head and looking around at the hospital room he was in. He''d fallen asleep sitting on a chair beside Yagi''s bed. ncing over at the man he sees him stillpletely cked out in the bed, now wearing a hospital gown andying under a nket, with only a few machines connected to monitor him. And his left arm was now properly healed just enough to seal off the stump. Looking to his left Horizon sees the windows currently blocked by the blinds, for security and privacy. He takes out his phone to see hundreds of unread messages and a few notifications, alerting him that his name was used in major news articles. "5 AM," he mutters while getting up. Stretching his limbs and cracking his neck, the soreness in his body still lingering. ''Life Force is a pain in the ass, but Energy Saver is nice, one hour of sleep after being so tired after that operation and I''m back to full. Plus I''m not even that hungry, so that part of the Quirk is just great. The best part is probably that I can sleep onmand...Now I just need to figure out how to spend all this extra time and energy...'' Looking back down at Yagi, Horizon just shakes his head. Hoping he didn''t make a mistake saving him instead of just letting him die like a hero, like he knew All Might most likely wanted. Just imagining the hell his life would be now, forced onto the sidelines while everyone else has to protect him. ''This had better get me the massive boost in public perception I''m hoping for...'' Horizon thinks as he begins walking to the door. Opening the door and stepping out of the room he enters the well-lit hallway, immediately greeted by a row of police officers in riot gear, ready to act as ast line of defense in case the viins got inside somehow. Looking to the end of the hall he sees a vending machine and immediately makes a beeline toward it, ignoring all the officers entirely to get himself a snack. Settling for a bag of chips and a bottle of water, he sees all his change in the machine, enough to buy nearly two dozen more items... "Hey," he quietly signals the officer''s standing guard, "I left money in this thing if you guys want a coffee or something..." and he walks away before the men can even act on what he said. Making his way to the main desk on this floor he decides exactly how he''ll be spending his time here. ''Well if I''m in this ce until Yagi wakes up I should at least get some use out of it. Central Hospital has an entire research wing and the most diverse Quirk selection in terms of people I can get hands-on with. This is a perfect ce to get some work done, and healing people always looks oh so ''heroic'', I''ll just help some people and get myself ahead, win-win...'' Arriving at the main desk on this floor he sees a few nurses filing paperwork, busy as always, and quietly approaches them. "Hi there," they all pause and look up, eyes going wide as they notice who is talking to them. "Uh...how can I help you?" the woman asks politely, partly star-struck and somewhat fearing the worst, that he was here to deliver bad news about All Might. "Yeah, I need ess to the list of current patients." "Sorry but, that''s for staff ess only, you''ll need special permission before I give you that." "Mhm," Horizon nods a few times. "Look, all I want to do is go around helping who I can, the sooner I start the more people I can help before I have to leave...do you really want to be the person standing between people getting the treatment they need or dying?" All the women look at each other, before ncing at a data pad behind the counter. "If this goes bad, you didn''t get this from us," the woman says, handing him the data pad and returning to her work. "I''m Horizon, it''ll be fine, and thank you." He takes a few steps away and begins scanning the list of patients in the hospital. First by keywords, sorting for people with brain-rted issues. Then by Quirks, preferring people with those that heavily strain the mind. "Mandy, she''s in worse condition than I thought," he says, reading her file and analyzing the scans they did after her massive concussion. ''Her Telepath Quirk is exactly the kind I want to get some hands-on time with. A chance to poke around with her brain is priceless, enough of that and maybe I''ll figure myself out...'' He adds her to the queue, then begins sorting by age, and stage of illness. Afterpiling the list, very heavily influenced by his own needs of course, he looks around to find a sign, needing some directions. "Ahh, so the Maternity Ward is that way..." Five minutester and he''s done with his snack, already at the other end of the hospital. Standing in front of a door with his next patient for the night. Carefully and quietly opening the door, he sees arge window with a view of the city outside. The room was dimly lit as the sun will be rising soon, and in it is a woman. Exhausted,pletely asleep. And beside her bed is her baby, in a stic box that helps him live. Multiple tubes were attached to him just to keep him alive. But as he approaches he can''t help but feel bad for the boy. Looking out the window and then back at the baby, he shakes his head, ''you wouldn''t even be alive long enough to see one sunrise...don''t worry, I''ll fix that.'' And Horizon immediately gets to work. The baby itself was born with an unidentified Quirk that caused abnormalities in the brain. Effectively making it braindead upon birth. The hospital noted the potential cause as ''Neural Overload'', which is as close as Horizon got to the exact problem that he''s having with his brain trying to process all the new Quirks. So this is his first of many attempts that simply will not work in helping him to understand his problem. Because as Dr. Ujiko said, no sane person, and especially not Horizon, would ever consider the insanity of death being the answer. He would instead bash his head against the wall over and over and never make any progress in solving the mystery of his own body. One of the only things his Quirk couldn''t detect or manipte within himself, was the very instinctual nature of a person at an innate and primal level. Within the hour, the woman wakes up to something she never imagined she''d experience. Her son was crying, loudly, as if he were testing the limits of his lungs. Her eyes shot open as she instinctually tried to get up, only to weakly prop herself up on her elbows, staring wide-eyed at Horizon who was cradling her crying son. All the colliding thoughts made her freeze. She''d been unconscious sincest night and was inbor during the fight. She didn''t know why Horizon was here, she didn''t know about All Might. She didn''t know what he did, but none of it mattered. She just started crying as he took a step toward her and gave her the baby. Looking at her son through teary eyes she holds him closely, never wanting to let him go, enjoying the sound of him crying, like music to her ears. "You don''t have to worry, your baby will be perfectly healthy now," Horizon says, his voice barely reaching her as she is so focused on the baby. "Now it''s just hungry, you can handle that..." Horizon quietly makes his exit without her even noticing, and by the time he''s already operating on his next patient, she finallyes to her senses and gets ready to feed her baby. But looking toward the door she gets a confused expression on her face, recalling one strange thing, "it?" ---8 AM... Finally done with the children Horizon is making his way toward the main treatment wing of the hospital. Looking down at the data pad and carefully avoiding the light foot traffic in the halls he updates thest patient''s information in it and opens up the file on his next patient. ''Shino Sosaki, Mandy, multiple brain hemorrhages and concussions as well as swelling and inmmation...ouch, been there, not fun.'' But as he''s passing by the final stretch, he stops abruptly in front of therge stic window. Nearly spanning the entire room it allows people to peer into a nursery. Filled with babies in their little beds, carefully wrapped up and sleeping peacefully. The scene stops him dead in his tracks, and he can''t help but take in every detail. It was oddly beautiful to him, all these babies ready to go home with their families. All the little beds having nametags for the child and the parent''s information. The parents'' names were on top with the child below. And almost all were filled with the names of three people. One unfortunate soul only had one name on it, at the top, and that made his heart wrench. "You''ll be ok, but it probably won''t be easy, trust me on that," he says in a sad and small voice. For some reason this sight brought up all the lonely feelings he''d cast aside, buried in constant work and training, and yet he couldn''t look away. After staring at the room for over ten minutes, a familiar voice snaps him out of his daze, "are you ok?" "Huh?" he snaps out of it and looks down to his right, seeing Pixie-Bob, or since she''s not in costume, Ryuko, staring up at him. Wearing the same outfit fromst night with the right side of her head bandaged. "I asked if you''re ok, you''ve been standing here for a while." "Oh, yeah, I''m perfect, what about you? And why are you in this area?" She gives him a dazzling smile, "the nurses said it''s ok if I help out with the babies, they usually need volunteers." "Yeah, I should have guessed. Were you alrightst night?" "Yeah I was fine," she says, "the viins stopped attacking right after you arrived, guess they realized it was pointless to keep trying. Then more and more heroes kept showing up to help, and since they''re all still outside I came in to get patched up...and check on Mandy." "Did one of them hit you?" Horizon asks, gesturing to her head. "Oh, no, just before you came inside I might have tried to scan you, and well," she raises a hand to the side of her head to make an exploding motion, "pop, I guess we need to add you to the list of people we shouldn''t use it on." "Good call, hold still I can help," he slowly reaches up and rests a hand gently on the side of her head. She unconsciously closes her eyes and leans into his palm as a soothing sensation flows through the cuts and bruises on her head. As he withdraws his hand she sees a glimpse of the blue energy on his palm before it dissipates, "wow, I can''t even feel it anymore," she says while rubbing her head. "Because it''s as if it never existed, perfect regeneration." "That exins why you survived those injuries, and do you still have the... you know," she gestures to her left eye. "I grew it back." "I''m d to hear it," she frowns and looks away, clearly ashamed, "at least you didn''t have to suffer that injury permanently from our failures at the camp." "Is the public still being hard on you guys for that, even after knowing about All For One?" She nods weakly, "not like we can use him as an excuse when only you even saw and fought him. But between failing to protect the students and getting injured ourselves. It doesn''t matter that we aren''t even abat team, people are calling for us to retire?" "Hmm, and will you?" Ryuko looks around nervously, as if she were scared her teammates would hear her, "I...I''m going to. I haven''t told anyone yet, not until everyone is healthy again. But I just don''t want all of this anymore. It''s already hard enough to start a family with a good guy when the public is always following you around. But this kind of attention only makes it worse. I know some people still believe in us, but...I just want to be selfish for once..." Horizon turns back to face the nursery and she follows his lead, "and you''re worried that your friends won''t like your choice?" "Mhm." "I don''t think you''ll need to worry about that, yeah this may destroy your team, but once they meet your kids they''ll be happy for you, as if nothing ever happened. Plus I don''t think they''ll be mad at you for this in the first ce." "Yeah, we''ve been together for over te---a while now, I don''t want anythinging between us. And I already know it could be a battle to get my kids to not want to be Pro Heroes since I was one and they''ll be surrounded by them. It would only be worse if I don''t retire before raising them." "Well ifst night taught us anything, it''s that being a Pro and being a parent each takes time away from the other, something always has to be sacrificed..." "Yeah, that''s exactly what I''m afraid of, especially with that Nana Shimura and Shigaraki story being leaked." "What?" "Oh, you didn''t know?" she gives him a confused look. "It''s all over the news, did you not check your phone?" "If you saw how many messages I have you''d understand." "Yeah, you''re pretty popr. But someone totally leaked all the ancestry of Shigaraki back to her with all the files and stuff, and by ''someone'', we mean All For One." "Trying to ruin All Might in any way he can, damn." "That''s not all, between the formal suit, and the full face mask, and the super powerful Quirk...people kind of think that All For One is yo---" "My dad?" She nods sheepishly. "Not many people, just a few idiots, you know how the inte is." Horizon considers it for a moment, then just shrugs, "honestly, I can understand why they think that." Ryuko just shakes her head at his dismissal of it, "yeah, I knew you were too nice to be raised by a monster like that." "Exactly, and by the way, if Mandy has any issues with you quitting, just tell her I said to get over it, she''s about to owe me one." Ryuko''s eyes lit up, "are you gonna heal her?" "Yeah, I just got done with the kids so time for the adults," he hands her the data pad, allowing her to scroll through what should be highly confidential files. But he''s been operating on people and children without asking permission all night, but of course nobody would have any issue with this. Because as far as they know, he could just put the cancer back. "Wow," she says while scrolling through the list. "You''ve done a lot already, but it really is only kids so far, howe?" Horizon chuckles at that, "because adults I don''t care for, but this," he gestures to the nursery. "Like little balls of infinite potential," his voice had a certain weight and conviction to it that stirred up something in Ryuko. "This is the closest we can get to magic, how was I supposed to start with anything but that?" She gives him a dazzling smile, staring at him with hopeful eyes, "I didn''t think you cared so much about...I mean, uh, I knew you cared of course, you''re a hero after all. But...I didn''t think you had such a soft spot for kids." "Just until they start disappointing, that''s usually what adults always do...or when they turn 7, at that point it''s time to grow up and get your shit together," he shrugs. Ryuko''s smile drops as she sighs, feeling the wind knocked out of her sails, "you just had to ruin the moment, but I still think you''re just a big softie." "Think what you want woman, I''ve got work to do," she gives him back the data pad. "If you''re hereter I''ll take you to lunch, until then, have fun at mom practice..." ---30 Minutes Later... "Ugnh," Shino -Mandy- stirs awake, feeling a searing pain in her head that quickly fades away. Opening her eyes she''s immediately blinded by the sunlight streaming into the window, taking a moment to adjust before looking around. She was in a hospital gown, in a hospital room, and standing beside her...Horizon. "How are you feeling?" Horizon asks. "Tired," she answers quietly. "That''s normal, what''s thest thing you remember?" She closes her eyes and tries to recall, "the summer camp, viins attacked, that damn viin hit me with a rock," she grumbles. "Good good, that''s thest thing that happened before you got knocked out." She opens her eyes and looks up at him, "how is everyone?" "We''ll get to thatter when Ryuko is here, for now, I just need you to stay calm for what I''m about to tell you, alright?" She immediately tenses up, expecting the worse. The 16-year-old side of Horizon shows itself as he smiles deviously below his visor, finally getting a chance to do this to someone. "Shino...you''ve been asleep for 7 years," he lies effortlessly. She freezes, then takes a few seconds to process what he said, then realization hits. "WHAT?!" END CHAPTER--- Chapter 125: (Yagis Contract) Chapter 125: (Yagi''s Contract) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- Standing on the roof of Central Hospital, pacing back and forth under the moonlight Horizon was reading the datapad he''s been using to select patients, carefully scrolling through the list and adding notes to everyone he thinks can be useful. All while having a phone conversation in his visor. "---It really is that simple," Horizon says. "I give you some training then we go from there." "Well when you say it like that anything sounds simple," Sero says. "But don''t I have to wait for the exam next year?" "Nah, Nezu told me he''s making some changes but the n to have you guys take the September exams hasn''t changed. When the second half of the training camp starts you''ll be training with me instead of the teachers, we''ll get a lot more work done that way." Sero is silent for a while before finding his words, "you really are serious about this huh?" "Obviously, building a team is the easiest way for a Hero to show leadership, but if I''m gonna put my name on you then you better not embarrass me...I''ll make you eptable for my standards, then you''ll crush the exam, easy." "Huh, that makes sense," Sero thinks about it for a moment. "But wouldn''t it make you look even better to have a full team?" "Ugh, let''s just see how it goes with you first, and just between us, I don''t think a lot of people in our ss are worth training..." "Dude, everyone knows you think that, it''s not a secret." "Whatever, just promise me you''llmit to the training, alright?" "Of course!" Sero says. "I get my license, get onto your profile in a few pictures, then get seen by everyone and they all want to hire me to work in their agencies, that''s everything I need!" "Knew you''d be perfect for this," Horizon gives a light chuckle. "Yeah, so I guess I''ll talk to youter, I''ve gotta get some sleep forter." "Your date with Kodai huh," Horizon says in a mischievous tone. "Huh, how''d you know about that, ruined my big reveal," Sero whines. "I was talking to Momo yesterday and she mentioned it...seriously, one day after themission stops locking you in your house with cops outside and you''re already going out with her, nice." Seroughs nervously, "yeah well...with how the camp went, all the people that didn''t make it, we decided not to waste any more time." "Good, life is too short for that," Horizon says. "Yeah, so are you and Mo---" Sero is cut off as Horizon hangs up, not bothering to waste his time on that topic. Horizon shakes his head, happy for his ssmate, but is in no rush to join him. "1 AM, I should get some sleep," he mutters. SHAMBLES He swaps with the card he left in Yagi''s hospital room. He sees his hoverboard leaning up against the side of the wall along with his sword, but as he looks over to Yagi, he sees him awake,ying in bed staring up at the ceiling. His eyes flicker to the heart monitor, seeing everything stable, then back to his patient. "You awake?" Horizon asked, speaking very slowly. "What do you remember?" Yagi''s eyes flick over to him before looking back at the ceiling, "after I beat him, I raised my fist to the sky...and everything went ck." Horizon gives a sigh of relief and then makes his way over to his chair, sitting beside Yagi''s bed. "That''s good, that means you remember pretty much everything. They found you standing just like that,pletely unconscious..." Horizon reaches out and rests a hand on Yagi''s side, giving him a full scan to see nothing outside the scope of expectations. "So sensei, Gran Torino...he''s really...he''s gone?" Yagi asked in a broken and tired voice. "Yeah," Horizon withdraws his hand and startsposing a message for Nezu, telling him Yagi is awake. "Look I''m not really the best person to talk to for these kinds of questions, so how about you just get some rest and Nezu will---" "I don''t need any more sleep," Yagi says in an annoyed tone. Then takes a deep breath and detes, feeling the sadness taking over him more than before. "I just want to know what happened, I just...I need answers, please." Horizon sighs, "honestly you people are so damn needy..." "You''re my doctor." "Oh, just shut up with your excuses, nobody wants them," he shuts off the datapad and turns toward Yagi. "Ok, now what do you want to know?" Once again ignoring Horizon''s horrendous bedside manner, Yagi thinks very carefully about which of the burning questions he should ask first. "What happened after the fight?" "You knocked out All For One, the other heroes eventually dealt with all the Nomu. Some escorted All For One to Tartarus and the others brought you and the injured heroes here. I got here a few hourster...and now we''re here." Yagi takes a minute to think about this, "how long have I been asleep?" "So far, we''ve been here two days." "Two days," Yagi''s eyes shot open as he tries to get up, only for him to flop back down into the bed, "ngh!" he groans in pain, his entire body aching from that simple movement. "Moron, what are you trying to do?" "I need to get up, to show the people that I''m alright." "But you''re not alright," Horizon says, and Yagi looks at him, not quite getting the message. "Yagi, your cells don''t even have enough energy to transform even once, look at your arm." "My arm?" Yagi looks to his right, seeing his armpletely bandaged up, then to his left, "what..." he mutters, a look of horror on his face as he sees the stump reaching just below his shoulder. "Yeah, those injuries plus your Quirk being all spent...sorry but you''re retired, and that''s my professional opinion, I couldn''t even risk regenerating your arm because your body probably can''t sustain the same mass as before," Horizon says bluntly, almost making Yagi wish someone else delivered the news. Yagi justys in bed for a few minutes processing this, trying to wrap his mind around life without being a Pro Hero. Deciding to put those thoughts aside for now, as he''d need a lot more time to figure himself out, he gets all the answers he can out of Horizon. "Did we capture any other viins?" "Nope, just All For One, all the others got warped away." "The civilians?" "The cops evacuated people really quickly but...not everyone got out in time." Yagi feels his heart drop, suddenly the weight of his own injuries was dwarfed by the harm he brought to those people. Horizon could easily read this reaction, Yagi''s emotions clearly painted on his face, and he simply rolls his eyes. ''Annoyingly heroic...no surprise, I guess that''s what I should have expected from him.'' "I need to make an apology to those who got hurt," Yagi says, and Horizon immediately sits up. "Bad idea...you should definitely not be in the spotlight, at all, at least not where the press can ask you questions." Yagi gives him a confused look, "why not, what happened?" "Well, All For One was broadcasting the entire fight, everything you guys said. About the past, about Nana Shimura, about Shigaraki... and some papers got leaked connecting the dots, you should talk to Nezu before doing anything." Yagi was brought to tears by that. And as he quietlyid in bed shedding tears for his master, for her now damaged reputation after all she sacrificed to help people. After she gave up everything she loved for them, and now from the sounds of it, the public would forever despise her for it. Horizon just sat there and looked at him in disgust as he cried and wallowed, thankfully his visor hid his face from Yagi. ''I guess I won''t be getting any answers about One For All tonight...I''ll talk to themter back at UA about that.'' As Yagi is wallowing in his sadness Horizon responds to a few messages from Nezu, organizing transport for him and Yagi back to UAter. As he''s messaging Nezu, Horizon tunes out Yagi''s whining as best he can, until he''s addressed directly. "Horizon," Yagi says in a desperate and hoarse voice, looking at his doctor through blurry eyes. Horizon sighs loudly and turns to Yagi, seeing the absolutely broken Hero, a broken man, and gives him no sympathy, "yeah?" "I need your help, to make things right with my master." "The deaddy? What are you even talking about? You know I can''t resurrect people right?" "Tomura Shigaraki...Tenko Shimura, can you help me with him?" "If you think I''m the kind of person to talk to viins about feelings...you''ve got the wrong guy." "I know that," Yagi says. "But the sooner he''s captured the better, that''s all I want. I don''t want my master''s legacy to be the pain he''s out there causing, at least no more than it already is..." ''He should be asking Deku to do this shit since he''s his sessor,'' Horizon thinks. ''But I guess it makes sense to ask me if he wants actual results...'' "So you want me to go out of my way to deal with the League Of Viins to capture their leader?" "When Shigaraki is in Tartarus, then maybe I can talk to him about why my master had to make the sacrifices she made. Let him know about all the people she saved," Yagi says. "Good luck with that," Horizon says. "But I''m still just operating in Tokyo, and the league has been spotted all over Japan." "Hurting people, and you''re one of the most equipped to stop them," Yagi says. "After all the boasting Nezu''s done about you, I''m sure you could do it." "Sounds like you want to open a contract, is that it?" Horizon asks, smelling blood in the water. "Huh, what? But you''d be helping people, is that not enough?" Yagi asks. He was genuinely surprised that simply saving people wouldn''t be enough motivation for who is most likely the future Symbol Of Peace. "The league of viins isn''t in my ns, at least not in terms of going out of my way to hunt them down." ''I see, he simply doesn''t want to deviate from his n,'' Yagi thinks. ''But if Nezu brought him into UA he must have the desire to be a hero, to save and protect people...his interview with Chitose proved as much. Maybe he just needs more time to be open about his desire to help people...'' "Alright," Yagi says. "What will it cost?" "An endorsement," Horizon says. "My hero career is off to a great start, but if it''s revealed that All Might, the great and powerful Symbol Of Peace, had me treating him for a year before I even entered UA, well...that would help out a lot." "You want me to tell people about my injury and about you treating it when we met?" "They already somewhat know about it since All For One called me your doctor and mentioned it, you''d just be confirming it." Yagi goes silent for a while, considering the pros and cons of this. He''d spent so long hiding his weakened state from the world, but now the secret was already out. It was nothing to reveal what people already know in a chance to set the record straight for Nana and Shigaraki, right? "Alright," Yagi says. "But the entire League Of Viins: Vanguard Action Squad, as well as Shigaraki and Kurogiri." Yagi actually forces his right hand to move so he can extend the bandaged limb for a weak handshake, unable to even close his fingers. Horizon nods and touches his hand, he intended to lock them all up before going Pro anyway. It would secure his spot in at least the top 5 upon getting a full license. Horizon touches his hand then pushes it back down, "put your hand down before you break something, and yeah, I''ll have it done before I graduate," he says while Yagi thankfully puts his hand down. "That''s a lot faster than I thought, can you really find them all that quickly?" "It''ll be difficult with Kurogiri in the mix, but I need to find Shigaraki before that long at the very least..." "Why is that?" Yagi asks. "Because you want to talk to him, and honestly, even with the schedule and diet I''ll have you on, I doubt you''ll live much past my graduation..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 126: (Changes On Campus) Chapter 126: (Changes On Campus) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- Sitting in the back of Nezu''s luxury helicopter Horizon looks up from his phone to nce over at Yagi beside him. The man was now dressed in a blue All Might tracksuit with his arm in a sling, asleep beside Horizon. Thankfully inside the helicopter was almost entirely silent, and as Horizon looks out the window, he saw UA below them as they descend to the roof. ''What the hell is going on here?'' he asks himself. As they''re above the school he sees rows of what appear to be apartment buildings. The entrance to the main campus was at the south gate, but a hundred meters away from the main campus were these buildings. Twelve to the North, the East, and the West of the main campus. All perfectly lined up in long rows. ''Three rows of buildings, and one for each ss and the teachers of that year...oh you''ve got to be kidding me,'' Horizon groans loudly, causing Yagi to stir awake. "Hmm, are we there?" Yagi asks as he slowly wakes up. "Yeah," Horizon turns to the pilots and gets up, stepping toward them. "No need tond, I''ll take it from here." The pilot hears him and turns back, "what do you---" he sees the empty cabin and immediately understands. "Oh, right, he can do that." ---Principal Nezu''s Office... "Huh, I didn''t even feel that," Yagi says as he appears on one of the couches, Horizon is sitting across from him on the other. "My warping is perfect, that''s what makes it so fluid duringbat." "And very convenient," Nezu says, hopping down from his chair and making his way over to the couches, sitting beside Yagi. "Now shall we discuss the future, things have changed quite dramatically these past few days." Horizon leans back and rxes while Yagi tenses up, "has my retirement been announced yet?" he asks in a sad voice. "No, but it is expected after people saw the footage of that fight," Nezu says, then he turns to Yagi and rests a tiny paw on hisp. "Don''tment the fact that you can''t go around fighting viins anymore. You''re still All Might, your role has just changed. We will always be grateful for all the good you did for us. All the sacrifices you''ve made and still continue to make. Sincerely, thank you, as a Hero and as a person I''m always grateful for all you''ve done. But this isn''t the end of All Might, it''s simply a change, from the person fighting viins on the front lines, to the man teaching others how to be the best heroes they can be, and I''m sure everyone will appreciate that as well..." As Nezu and Yagi go back and forth patting each other on the back, Horizon just rolls his eyes and takes out his phone, assessing the situation with the country. He sees his name in a swarm of trending articles. ''All Might and Horizon left Central Hospital earlier this morning!'' ''Horizon refused to enter any of All Might''s information into the hospital database and has given noment about his health!'' ''Horizon fully healed 34 patients during his 2-day residency at Central Hospital!'' ''Will Japan ever recover from this economic crisis!'' this headline was posted with a string of market evaluations, monitoring the quickly falling economy. Horizon just shakes his head, ''and this is why I didn''t hold my money in Yen...well that and not wanting the Commission to be able to freeze my ounts.'' After looking at a few more articles, one very interesting picture catches his eye. ''Who will be our new Symbol Of Peace?!'' with a picture of him and Endeavor standing together, taken after thest Nomu attack on Tokyo. ''Well I guess I should let Endeavor hold that spot until I graduate, he''ll be too busy dealing with his family drama to be any realpetition anyway,'' Horizon thinks as he checks on his ''Yay!'' profile, seeing that he''s almost at 100 Million followers. His goal was All Might''s 600 Million, and he was sure that would happen sooner rather thanter. The simple truth is that All Might rarely if ever used his ount or had any presence of his own volition. It would have been more beneficial to follow HNN -Hero News Network- to get updates on him, the man only cared about helping people, yet he was so good at it that his presence online became overwhelming as a side effect. He''s just so good at being a Hero that he didn''t even have to try to get people to like him. Or at least, he was that good... "Can we get to the important stuff now," Horizon interrupts their conversation. "You can get back to jerking off his ego when I''m out of there," he tells Nezu. Both Yagi and Nezu give a disgusted look at his choice of words, "Horizon is right, we have much to discuss," Yagi says. "Very well then, first would be the consequences of announcing your retirement, as well as how we''ll be doing it," Nezu says. "What do we expect?" Yagi asks. "Crime rates have already started climbing, but people are still hesitant to partake, we estimate that crime rates will increase to at least 10 times what they were during your time. After that, it should teau for a while then begin another decline as other heroes start locking up the new viins." "Damn, 40%," Horizon says. "No wonder so many people are hesitant or just pulling their investments out of Japan, but on the plus side, I''ve been buying a crap ton of property in Tokyo since the values are dropping like crazy. Honestly by the end of it, I''ll own a lot of Minato Tokyo," Horizon shrugs. "That doesn''t seem very heroic," Yagi says. "What? I''m helping to stabilize the economy, and I''m keeping rent prices the same instead of raising them, that''s very heroic if you ask me." "You''re looking to profit from chaos and fear." "No, I''m making money from people being stupid." "Can we please focus," Nezu interrupts them before they start bickering. "The Hero Public Safety Commission doesn''t want the retirement announcement made until tonight, by then they should have all the Hero Agencies and police stations around the country ready to deal with the massive influx of criminal activity." "Should I head back to Tokyo?" "No," Nezu says. "We don''t know what people will do when the news hits, they could try to attack here. I''m confident in UA''s defenses and the teachers but I''d like you here just in case." "Great, I''m a fucking babysitter now," Horizon groans, and Yagi dies a little inside. Going from the protector of the people to someone who had to depend on his student to protect him... was heartbreaking at every level. "I''ve already had an operating suite assembled here at UA for you, you can use it to monitor All Might, and we even used the same specifications as the one in your house," Nezu says. "Yeah, I sensed it, but just remember I''m only his doctor," he points at Yagi. "I''m not gonna be acting as Recovery Girl 2.0 for UA." Nezu smiles nervously, his n already shot through, "we''ve also been constructing the dorms, as I''m sure you''ve noticed." "I have," Horizon growls out. "I''m not a fan..." "This is what''s best for all the students," Nezu says. "Even with All For One locked away, we don''t know how powerful the League Of Viins will grow in the future, having everyone under the protection of our improved defense systems is the best option." "And this way they can train more since they''ll be living so close to the facilities," Yagi adds, "I''m sure the Hero Course students as well as the Hero Support students will appreciate that." "Well the Support Course students are already here," Horizon says. "I can sense a few of them with Power Loader in thebs, but the dorms haven''t been officially announced yet, right?" "Right," Nezu says. "But I must admit part of the selling point is that you will be living on campus for most of the week. People were questioning if we should keep All Might around or even reopen the school since the reveal of...Nana Shimura." Yagi feels a knot in his stomach, "they expect Shigaraki to attack here as vengeance against me..." "It''s a fair assumption," Horizon says. "But I''m already acting as an anti-Kurogiri of sorts, at least to their knowledge. So really, this is likely the only safe ce for Yagi." "Precisely, also, consider how convenient it will be to have your training ground so close by." "It already was, I''ve been living at my Musutafu penthouse for most of the semester," Horizon points out. "But fine, whatever, I''ll move into the dorms. But I''ve got some conditions." "Let''s hear them." "Let me customize my room, I need certain things because of my circumstances," he taps his visor. "Done." "And I need 24/7 ess to the training areas and equipment," Horizon says. "Why would you need that?" Yagi asks. "I only need one hour of sleep, might as well get some use out of that extra time." "That exins a lot," Yagi says. "No wonder you''re so good at so many different things, you had more time in your day than the others." "What? No, this is new. I hit a new level with my Quirk and the energy in my body is much more efficient." "Oh..." Yagi lets it process for a few seconds before he realizes. "Wait, your Quirk can just do that?!" "I can do a lot of things none of you will ever know about." Yagi sighs, "some people really do get all the good stuff." "Says the man that could part the clouds with a punch..." "Focus please," Nezu calls their attention to him. "Yes you will have ess to the training areas, but you''ll have to keep training after 8 PM quiet, no ripping buildings out of the ground and throwing them, some of us need sleep." "Understandable, when do the dorms open?" "They''ll bepleted next week and will open the following week. That gives us 2 weeks to prepare the students for the Provisional Exam, although you will be taking charge of training Hanta Sero, yes?" "Yeah, I''ll have hime here tomorrow so we can start, if I''m on house arrest anyway I should get some value out of it." "You aren''t on house arrest," Nezu said. "Quit being so dramatic, everyone knows nobody can stop you from going anywhere you want." Horizon looks away, "tch, whatever." Nezu just shakes his head and moves on, "now aside from all of that, my main concern is getting the students to actuallye back next semester. I''ve had a few parents email me and already remove their children from UA, some requested transfers to other simr courses, and others are taking them off the hero path entirely." "Well you''ve had 6 students die, four from my ss alone, it''s a sensible move. I would have taken my kid out the moment Iida died, not that my kids would ever join a Hero course in the first ce." "Really?" Yagi asks. "But what about all the good they could do?" "And what if they end up like you?" Horizon asks, "Do you really think any parent wants that for their child?" Yagi just looks down at the table, knowing the obvious answer to that question. "The changes around campus will help them feel at ease," Nezu says. "And with the new 5-day school week instead of the previous 6-day setup we had, students will actually have more free time, in theory. We expect those Hero Course students to do their own training, at least for people like yourself and Bakugo." "What about my hero work days?" "You''ll have your weekends as well as Fridays, when Kurogiri is captured we''ll discuss giving you back Thursday." Horizon just gives a low growl, "well that''s just great. Now my hero time is getting reduced because I have to babysit these losers..." Nezu just smiles nervously at that, "yes well, while you''re making yourself at home the students and their parents will be visited by the teacher to talk over the finer details. The ones who requested it that is." "Did anyone from my ss drop out?" Horizon asks. "Only two, I was honestly rather surprised at such a low number, but even more surprised at exactly who it was." "Let me guess, Jiro since she got knocked out pretty bad at the summer camp. And Ojiro because of the broken leg..." "I would have expected that as well," Nezu says. "But the first was actually Ms. Yaoyorozu." "Momo? That doesn''t make any sense...but I guess her parents probably want to lock her in a tower after all the chaos. Can''t really me them." "They requested that I speak to them," Nezu says. "I suspect they want me to side with them, since they''ve already been in quiet talks to get her into some finance schools." "Smart more...I''m just surprised she never said anything during our call yesterday. Anyway who is the other one, Bakugo?" "Close, but it''s actually for the same thing, aplete end to their hero career, Izuku Midoriya." Yagi''s heart nearly stops as he hears that, and Horizon just nods. "I probably should have guessed that, it''s a logical response from any worried parent," he turns directly to Yagi. "Especially when she finds out someone gave him their Quirk and encouraged him to hurt himself...you didn''t even ask her before giving her kid One For All, good job, hero..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 127: (Settling In) Chapter 127: (Settling In) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- Sitting behind his desk early this morning, Nezu is checking the media response from All Might''s official retirementst night. Moments after the Hero Public Safety Commission made the statement the inte had aplete meltdown, as it always does when anything happens. As expected the general public was terrified of a world without their Symbol Of Peace, and the viins were cheering. He''d already built a program to track new viin recruitment groups online, and just overnight dozens of people got caught in the. But looking through them he only saw small fish. "The League Of Viins must have a more intricate recruitment system, assuming they''d even bother bringing in people. Thus far aside from the Vanguard Action Squad members they only have Nomu with them...and whoever is making all the Nomu." Sending the data to the police he moves over to the news websites, seeing much of the same panic and chaos. Then finally over to All Might''s ''Yay!'' ount. "Well this is surprising," Nezu says as he reads the most recent update. It was a long-winded message from All Might to the world, as expected. Going on and on about how thankful he was to have had the time to help people and shared how hopeful he is to see what the world will be in the future. But what surprised him the most was the second part, about his injury "He actually told people about All For One hurting him 5 years ago...and thanked Horizon specifically for repairing enough of the damage over a year ago, so he could ''vanquish his evil foe'' once and for all." Nezu hops over to Horizon''s profile to see his follower count up by 10 Million overnight, and he immediately puts it together. He then reads the end of All Might''s post, about howmitted he is to guide the next generation of heroes to the best of his ability. "Well, I guess I should be ready for public bacsh about him being here, but hopefully it should pass quickly." After finishing up his analysis Nezu turns to the camera system to find his main investment. "Hmm, new upgrades maybe?" He asks himself, watching Horizon speak to Mei outside of the Support Course building. He opens a new window on hisputer and doesn''t see any requested items from Horizon. "He must now be putting in an order, well I''m sure between Ms. Hatsume and Power Loader it''ll be fine." A few secondster Nezu sees Horizon abruptly turn his head toward the entrance of the school, and another secondter Hanta Sero appears on thewn beside them. Carrying a suitcase at his side. His other items were already being sent overter today. The three students chat for a while before Mei shoves them away, clearly too excited over whatever idea they just gave her to keep chatting with them. As Horizon warps them away, Nezu notices how disheveled Mei is, but he doesn''t think much of it. Support Course students were normally too busy working to care about appearances. "Well...aside from that one Year-2 girl," he recalls the Culture Festival beauty pageant winner fromst year. Suddenly there is a knock at the door, drawing Nezu''s attention away from his work. "Come in!" The door opens and in steps Yagi, wearing a simr tracksuit to what he had on yesterday. His arm was no longer in a sling but still tightly bandaged up. "Principal Nezu." "All Might, how are you feeling?" "Better than yesterday at least." "Mhm, you should be resting." "Even if I wanted to, I can''t sleep anymore," he makes his way over to one of the couches and sits down while Nezu continues working. "I can''t stop thinking about what Horizon said yesterday." "Which part?" "About Inko Midoriya hating me for endangering her son like that. About young Izuku never being allowed to be a hero again. About her likely forcing him to give up One For All entirely." "All extremely likely, if not absolute certainties," Nezu says. "And what do you intend to do about it?" "I don''t know. I was actually hoping you''d have some answers for me." "Hmm, well, maybe it''s just time to be honest, about everything." "But she already knows everything," Yagi says. "About the Quirk yes. But she doesn''t know why you chose Midoriya. You could have picked anyone, but you picked her son. He may not have been your first pick, but he is the sessor you chose." "Yeah, thankfully you warned me against giving my power to Horizon, now that I''ve been around him for longer I''m sure I made the right choice with Midoriya." "I suggest you tell her that part too," Nezu says. "People look to Horizon as a golden standard for what Hero Course students should be, and on paper, he is. But we both know hecks the heroic spirit, and that''s what you saw in her son." Yagi smiles at that, now absolutely sure he made the right choice in Izuku Midoriya, "yeah, I''m sure she''ll understand." Nezu gives the delusionally hopeful man a nervous smile, having dealt with parents after their children get hurt. He knows fully well that they''re anything but reasonable, and Inko Midoriya had every right to be absolutely furious at All Might. "Well, you''ve got a few hours to prepare, I''ll be sure to call you when they get here," Nezu says. ---11 AM, Training Ground Zeta... In Horizon''s personal training ground, both he and Sero were standing opposite each other at one end of the site. Horizon was currently wearing just a pair of shorts and sneakers over his body glove, matching the blue and white with his logo on them of course. Sero was wearing a pair of simple gym shoes, ck shorts, and a white t-shirt, both were bloodied and battered and stained with sweat, much like the owner. Standing with his hands squared up Sero''s hair was soaked with sweat and matted to his head. His face was bruised and swollen with cuts on it from all the sparring. His forearms especially were bruised purple with pieces of skin torn off. As his breathing was tired and uneven, Horizon stood there casually with one hand at his side and the other in front of him. Sero''s back was currently to the wall, so he moved forward, trying desperately to finally get a hit on Horizon. With a wild right hook, heunches forward. Horizon knocks it aside before punching him in the gut with the same hand. "Ngh!" Sero stumbles back. CRACK! The same fist knocks out some of Sero''s teeth. The sound of them ttering to the floor is closely followed by Sero dropping face-first against the concrete. He spits up blood and groans, desperately fighting to stay awake. He''s seen what Horizon''s punches can really do, he knew all morning his friend had been going easy on him. But that didn''t mean it didn''t still hurt. This was a new kind of pain, this pain felt different. "Nghhhhhh!" Sero moves a hand to feel his mouth, crying out in pain when he feels his busted-up gums and teeth, his mouth was already swollen. Looking up he sees Horizon, stillpletely wless, walking around as if they hadn''t been training for almost four hours. "Oh don''t be such a fucking baby," Horizon says. "Anything I do to you I''ll fix when we''re done, how else are we supposed to do it all over again tomorrow." Sero hears this and reaches up to feel his mouth, another jolt of pain has tears forming in his eyes. He knew what he signed up for, but he didn''t think Horizon was serious when he said it would be this bad. "Oh great, now it''s crying," Horizon says in palpable disgust as he looks back. "You need to get back on your feet, now! Don''t you know the longer you stay down the longer you get your ass beat, that goes for fights and life, so get up!" "Arughhh!" Sero tries to get up only to crumple back to the floor, his body tensing up and aching as pain wracks him. Horizon begins pacing back and forth in front of him, his patience melting away by the second. "We''ve only got 2 weeks before everyone else gets here to finish the training camp! If you wanna get stronger, this is the change! You''ve got a long way to go, and this is how I''ll make you stronger! I''m gonna beat you, break you, and you''re gonna get back up. Because none of it matters if you don''t get up Sero. We aren''t moving onto Quirk training if you can''t even get up from this. If you can''t even function in a normal fight!" Horizon looks over to see Sero finally on his hands and knees, but it took far too long. "Did youe here just to waste my fucking time?!" He walks over and kicks him in the side, sending him rolling across the floor and leaving himid out on the ground yet again. "You took too damn long, now get on your feet, faster!" Sero can barely breathe, feeling his newly cracked ribs pinching him with every forced breath, trying to roll to get himself upright. He pushes his forehead against the ground to start getting himself up, tears and blood fall to the concrete in unison as he pushes off it with his tired, bloody, sore hands. "Finally!" Horizon says as he sees him get to his knees. "Mom had me doing this shit when I was 5, you''re lucky she''s not the one training you today...hell we won''t even have time to get to the really fun stuff before graduation, so I''ll only give you the basics. But that''s all you''ll need anyway." With one final push, Sero forces himself to his feet. Holding his cracked ribs and swaying on his feet, tears running down his face and blood flowing out of his busted teeth and gums and onto his shirt. "Finally," Horizon walks up and raises a hand to hold his face, and Sero flinches, "rx, healing time." Sero sees the blue healing energy forming in his palm and closes his eyes. He feels a strange yet soothing sensation envelop his entire body. The pain in his side and chest slowly fades away as his breathing bes regr. He feels the swelling on his face go down and his lips and mouth return to normal. And the most odd sensation of them all, he feels his teeth growing back as they push his lips away, gums repairing themselves perfectly. Sero opens his eyes to see Horizon standing in front of him expectantly, he turns to the side and spits out the blood and pieces of teeth that the new ones pushed out. ''His mom must have been a monster to train a kid like that,'' Sero thinks, but wisely keeps it to himself. "See, no need to be such a little bitch about it, you''re perfectly fine," Horizon says, taking a step back from Sero. "Now put your hands up, let''s go again..." "But I feel all sore," Sero says even as he raises his hands to fight. "That''s a cebo effect, your body can''t tell it''s healed because cellr regeneration happens so quickly, you''ll still be tired but slightly less so at least, now less talking more fighting, Cellophane..." Hearing that Sero rushes into another session of pain, but this time with a wide grin on his face, now absolutely confident in Horizon. ---2 PM... Sitting in a shady forested area of UA, Sero was below a tree with his lunch. A container with spaghetti, meatballs, a side of steak slices, and four boiled eggs, alongside a bottle of water. He was currently staring down at the delicious meal, but the thing that scared him the most...the sheer amount of food it was. He was sure the container was the size of his head. "Maybe I''ll just get used to it..." he mutters before digging in. He certainly wouldn''tin, his situation was changing for the best with the new changes at UA. He now had the fancy new dorms instead of the tiny 1-bedroom apartment he and his dad shared. His dad no longer had to pay for him to travel to and from school 6 days a week. And now Horizon was paying for all his meals to be prepared and delivered by a nearbypany. But thatst one is what bothered him so much. When Horizon agreed to help him he expected just some basic training and advice. But it seems Horizon is obsessive with doing the best he can to keep to his end of the deal. Now Sero is under a lot of pressure not to disappoint. Because when he''s good enough Horizon is gonna help him get the boost he needs, to properlyunch his own career, and the veryst thing he wants to do is disappoint him. ''But this is just so much food...'' Sero thinks as he looks down, only to notice half the food is already gone. ''Wow, I guess I was more hungry than I realized, never mind.'' SHAMBLES! Horizon suddenly appears a few feet away from Sero, holding two pizzas in one hand, and with his other hand wrapped around Mei, who was holding their drinks. "Enjoying your food?" Horizon asks, and Sero just gives him a thumbs up as he continues eating. As they both sit down to join him, Sero looks over to Mei, noticing that she literally looks like she got hit by a bomb. Her clothes were spotted with ck ash and she sat down with her pink hair all frizzy. "Are you ok Hatsume?" "Lab explosion, it happens," she says as if it were the most normal thing in the world, then before Sero can say anything else she reaches out and grabs Horizon''s left hand. Horizon was currently eating a slice of pizza with his right hand and turned to look at her, "you built it already?" "Mhm, take off the watch," she says, noticing his Rolex was still on. "Shambles," he warps it onto his right hand. She fishes into her pocket for a second and takes out what looks like a t white bracelet, with his logo on it. That familiar checkered smile logo that''s on everything he wears. She puts it on his wrist the leans away, "ok, now link it to your phone and set what you want to disy. It should link to the visor too through the phone." "Hmm alright," Horizon takes out his phone and quickly connects it, and it projects a small screen across his forearm, currently disying his vitals. He ps his watch other it to help keep it hidden while disying the screen. "It''s perfect, thank Mei." "Just remember to say who made it on that website of yours alright." "Yeah yeah, I know." As Mei begins eating Sero leans over and gives the screen a confused look, "but can''t you already monitor your vitals with Hand Of God, why do you need this?" "It''s for more than just my vitals, sometimes I just need to view more data when running some cases," he says. But that was only half true. This was almost entirely so he can monitor his vital whenever he experiences an ''Overload'' and cks out because of the new Quirks. This device, in theory, would help him figure out what''s wrong with himself. "---wait so your dorm is finally ready?" Mei asks Horizon, after they''re all done eating. "Yeah, Nezu just sent me the message, I''m checking it out right now, seems perfect," Horizon says while looking in the direction of his room. "That''s still super creepy," Sero says. "How does that work anyway?" "Eh, think of it like echolocation, but it''s super precise. Like I can get a view of someone, what''s in their pockets, count how many pieces of candy is in a pack, or if I felt like it I could just see what they''re like under the clothes," Horizon shrugs. A cold shiver runs down Sero''s spine, "thatst one is super pervy, do you actually do that?" "No, I''m too ssy for that," Horizon says tly. Sero''s eyes shift over to Mei, seeing herpletely unbothered, "this doesn''t bother you at all?" "Huh, why would it bother me, he''s already seen me naked a few times," Mei shrugs. And Sero''s brain begins melting, "oh...oh! Sorry I didn''t realize you two were a...sorry!" "We aren''t a couple, and stop being weird," Horizon says. "Yeah, I don''t have time to waste on boys!" Mei deres proudly, "I''ve got babies to make!" "Uh..." Sero gets confused all over again. "But...don''t you need boys to make ba---" "Gadgets, she means gadgets, oh my god," Horizon groans. "Just keep this between us alright." "Got it," Sero gives them both a serious nod. "But speaking of Hero Equipment, shouldn''t I---" "Yes!" Mei yells out, eyes lit up and ready to work. "No," Horizon shuts them down. "When he''s mastered his Quirk enough then he can use them, otherwise they''ll just be a crutch..." They both frown at him, but can''t deny the logic in that. Horizon suddenly turns toward the main campus, "damn," he mutters. "What happened?" Sero asks. Inko Midoriya pped the taste out of All Might''s mouth is what happened. "Uh...nothing, we should get back to training, and I''m sure Mei has some stuff to do," he turns to her, "I''ll warp you overter, alright." "I want some chocte." "I''ll figure something out..." As they''re packing up he senses Inko now hugging All Might as she''s crying her eyes out, ''should have expected that, it did make Deku after all...'' END CHAPTER--- Chapter 128: (Full Dorms) Chapter 128: (Full Dorms) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "Is this what death feels like?" Sero asks in an exhausted voice. He and Horizon were currently walking back toward the dorms, the sun just beginning to set behind them. While Horizon was once again spotless, Sero''s clothes were bloodied and stained as usual. As the boy barely had the energy to walk back to his room Horizon was idly scrolling through some Hero Network articles on his phone. "Probably, take a look at this," Horizon shows Sero his phone. "Huh, they added you to the S-ss listing, along with All For One and...Twice?" "League Of Viins clone guy," Horizon says with a shrug. "Apparently his Quirk lets him make infinite clones of himself or his target once certain conditions are met, and the clones can use the originals'' Quirk too." "Damn," Sero thinks about it for a moment. "That listing is for people that can overthrow a small country on their own...its kind of weird to go from only All Might and Endeavor on it, to now the five of you." "This goes public tomorrow, only the Hero Network knows for now, seems themission really wants Twice locked away. But that makes sense, he''s definitely the most dangerous viin in the league." "Isn''t tomorrow also the All Might tribute event over in Hiroshima? Seems like people will be swarming you at that huh," Sero says. "That''s unavoidable. I''ll just head to Tokyo tonight, do some work at Central Hospital, then I''ll head over to Hiroshima in the evening." "Seems kinda hectic, even if you only need one hour of sl---" Sero''s words fail him as they arrive at the dorms. The rather high-end 5-story apartment building -with an underground gym- is now fully lit up, for the first time since they''ve moved in. "Looks like everyone is done unpacking," Horizon grumbles. "Bye-bye peace and quiet." "I''m just d Yui is finally on campus," Sero says as they begin walking up the stairs. "Not that I didn''t enjoy spending all my time with you and Hatsume of course." "I get it, kinda...not really, whatever." "You could if you just---" "Drop it." They both arrive at the doorway and can already see some of their ssmates gathered in themon area catching up. "Well the important thing is that you''re totally willing to... let''s say warp me into her room...right?" Sero gives him a nervous smile. Horizon just shakes his head and chuckles, "only if she asks me to, but honestly, her room is on the," he pauses for a moment and focuses on the 1B dorms. "Second floor, you can manage that easily enough." "Uh can you not do the whole ''sensing people'' thing on her, it''s kinda bugging me." "It''s honestly not as pervy as everyone seems to think it is, also, I''m a doctor," Horizon says as they arrive in themon area. Almost all of 1A was there just staring at them, or more urately, staring at Sero. "Dude are you ok?!" Kirishima yells as he runs over. "It''s cool man, Horizon always heals me after training," Sero says. "You look like you fought a bear," Uraraka says. "What kind of training was it?" "The effective kind," Horizon says. "You should have seen him on the first day, he was a mess. But after two weeks, he''s almost not a little bitch, almost." "You guys have been here for two weeks?!" Kirishima asks. "C''mon why didn''t you invite me to join you?!" Horizon gives an annoyed sigh, "probably because you never stop yelling..." Momentster and Horizon is sitting on the couch in themon area as Sero rushes away to go shower. Leaving Horizon to catch up with Tokoyami, Momo, Shoji, Kirishima, Mina, and Jiro. "Really? My parents were against the dorm idea," Tokoyami says to Shoji. "But I convinced them that this was best to control the darkness in my soul." "Well I live pretty far into the country so living here is easier than renting an apartment in Musutafu," Shoji says. "Huh, mine just want me to follow my dreams, they know how much this means to me after all," Kirishima says. "Same here," Jiro says. "Dad was really against meing back to UA, but with All For One gone and after watching All Might''sst stand he couldn''t say no." "Mine weren''t that sure," Mina confesses in a somber tone. "But I mean, if we give up, then Kaminari''s sacrifice isn''t worth as much as it could be...so when I exined that to them they understood." "Yeah," Kirishima agrees. "What Horizon said really was manly, we''ve just got to work harder to save as many people as possible, that way people who sacrificed themselves are worth the most they can be." Horizon looks slightly bewildered for a moment, before realizing Sero must have told them what he said about this situation. ''I''ll need to have a talk with Sero about quoting me...but I guess it worked out this time.'' "My parents still aren''t entirely convinced if I''m being honest," Momo says. "But we''vee to an understanding, so I simply have to show them all the good I can do as a Hero." "An understanding?" Horizon asks, not liking the forced smile she gave them when saying that. "They just need time to warm up to the idea, that''s all," the look she gave him screamed that there was more to tell, but she didn''t want him to pry, so he just let it go. "Well surprisingly nobody dropped out, definitely wouldn''t have let my kids back here after all the shit we dealt with," Horizon says. "You realize you''re partly why we came back right?" Jiro asks. "What do you mean?" "Well after you fought All For One for us, not to mention all the other things you''ve done, how could we not want to be by your side in any way we can?" She says while ying with her earphone jacks. "Plus having you around is as good a security system as we could get, you make me feel safe---make us feel safe, yeah, that''s what I meant." Horizon sees the sympathetic look Momo and Mina are giving her and rolls his eyes, "yeah yeah, if you say so. Atleast we don''t have the 6-day school week anymore, that''s a relief." "You could say that again," Shoji says. "But I''m spending most of my extra time in the gym anyway," he gives Kirishima a fist bump. "Plus we can''t actually leave campus on our own," Mina whines. "Not until we''ve got a Provisional License and permission from a teacher...unless," she gives him her most pleading look. "I''m not walking you around town," Horizon says. "Plus Nezu is pretty much trying to chain me to UA until Kurogiri is locked up." "I guess you have as much freedom as the rest of us, the burden and responsibility of being powerful," Momo says somberly. Horizon actually manages tough at that idea, "good one, but nope. I can do whatever I want, because I''m Horizon. I just need to keep UA in one piece so the Hero Course doesn''t get scrapped. But he did limit my Hero days a bit more, down to 3 days a week instead of 4." "He took away Thursday?" Tokoyami asks. "Yeah," Horizon grumbles. "And my favorite restaurant usually has their special dish on that day...I guess I''ll just have to use the fact that I''m Horizon to see if I can get it anyway. Plus the fact that now I''ll be spending Sundays in Central Hospital..." "Wait, that''s real?" Jiro asks. "Sorry it''s just, when I read that you were now healing certain people for free, it just...seemed so out of character for you." Momo nudges her friend, "Kyoka! Regardless of how Horizon may act toward us, if he didn''t care about people he wouldn''t be training to be a Pro Hero." "Yup," Mina gives him a devious smile. "You''re just a big softie aren''t you, I bet you just couldn''t help healing the first sick person you saw in there!" "That''d be the second bet you lost to me...and I''m still waiting on payment for the first one," Horizon''s words cause her to just sit back and stare down at herp. "Man I can''t imagine how hard it was to keep a secret like that," Kirishima says, confusing everyone for a moment before he continues. "Knowing All Might was running on limited time for over a year...must have been brutal, I''m horrible with secrets." "I''m a doctor, it''s part of the job," Horizon says. "As the post on my profile said, I did try to convince him a lot to stop being a Hero and conserve himself, but he has some kind of mental defect where he can''t see someone in need and not do something to help, tragic really." "You mean heroic, right?" Shoji asks. "I said what I said..." After a few more minutes Sero joins them, now cleaned up and ready to rx a bit before bed, and maybe walk over to 1B dorms to visit Yui. "So are you guys ready for training tomorrow?" he asks them, noticing Horizon busy scrolling through something on his phone. "Heck yeah man!" Kirishima jumps up excitedly. "I''ve been stuck at home bored out of my mind, nothing gives a good workout like UA." "I believe Quirk control is what the next part of our training is," Tokoyami says. "I''m curious as to how the teachers will help us take them to the next level of mastery." "Oh yeah you guys start training Super Moves tomorrow," Sero says, causing everyone else to get excited. "I''m sure they''ll be pretty cool!" "I wonder if they''d give me a sword," Tokoyami mutters. "Ooo, a shadow sword!" Mina cheers. "The point of a super move isn''t to look cool," Momo scolds them. "It provides arge advantage when apprehending a viin, ending the fight swiftly and efficiently." "But it also has to look cool," Sero says. "We started the Quirk part of my training a few days ago and he exined it like this," he nces over to Horizon, seeing the man not taking them on. "you''ve gotta make it strong to end the fight, but also cool so people can recognize it, its a fine bnce like that." "Oh, do you have any yet?" Mina asks him. "Well, I''m still working on making my Quirk stronger for now," Sero says. "But I''ve got tomorrow off since Horizon is gonna be heading to Tokyo tonight, he wants me to spend the day just researching simr Quirks to see what kind of moves they have." "Oh, like that guy you interned with, Kamui Woods right?" Kirishima asks. "I thought so too, but apparently Wall Crawler is way better for my Quirk, good thing we''ve got lots of videos of him fighting viins in America huh." "Well, it''s a good thing you''ve got mister Quirk Specialist teaching you huh," Mina pouts yfully. "howe he isn''t teaching anyone else?" "It''s best you don''t know," Jiro says. "Trust me, it''s not a pretty answer..." Mina just gives her a confused look and Momo nods in agreement. "Looks like a lot of big names are showing up," Horizon suddenly mutters, causing everyone to look at him, eyes still glued to his screen. "What do you mean?" Sero asks. "At the party thing tomorrow?" "Yeah, apparently Korea and Thand are both sending their #1 Heroes..." "Wow," was all anyone could say. "It makes sense, somewhat. If they allowed them to leave the country, it would have to be for something like this, it would have to be for All Might." "Those guys are pretty intense," Kirishima says nervously, "you''re gonna be meeting them?" "Honestly there aren''t any #1 Heroes that aren''t intense, but it''s nothing I haven''t dealt with before. Just think of it like talking to Endeavor," Horizon shrugs. Jiro recoils at that, "you mean the scary angry massive dude that''s always on fire...no thanks." "Fair enough, either way, I need to finish my business here then go get ready to head to Tokyo, so I''ll see---" "Wait!" Mina yells out, jumping to her feet and signaling him to stop. "You weren''t there for the dorm roompetition, c''mon, let''s see your room...uh, please?" Sero immediately beginsughing, "this really isn''t fair." "Hey, thedy asked..." and Horizon would dly take the chance to show off how much better he is. And that''s how they all found themselves here. Standing in Horizon''s dorm. They hadn''t even discovered it because it simply wasn''t on the floor map of the dorm building. All the assigned rooms were clearlybeled, but the 5th floor on both the boys'' and girls'' sides was nk. "This can''t be fair..." Jiro mutters quietly, yet everyone but Sero was thinking the same thing, he''d already gotten used to seeing Nezu y favorites with Horizon these past 2 weeks. The entire top floor on the boys'' side was converted into one massive dorm. They were standing just inside the entrance, with a pair of couches and a small coffee table setup, much like Nezu''s office. A bit further in was a desk with hisputer, and the three monitors currently active with various media outlets disyed. There was arge TV slightly further in at the foot of hisrge bed mounted to the wall, and finally another door, leading to his private washroom and shower. "This is like a whole apartment," Kirishima says. "How''d you even get this?" "I told Nezu I wanted it, also a lot of this stuff serves a function for me," Horizon says. "Ok so theputer, that connects to UA servers. Nezu has a custom supeputer here and I''m using that to help my work in Central Hospital. Since I''m in the research wing with my Miracle Suite setup, this way I can run simtions while I''m here. Just like how majorpanies use virtual simtions rather than animal testing...and I don''t think Nezu would approve of me using animals anyway. Then of course my bed...needed that to be bigger. The one I had at home wouldn''t fit in the standard dorms and this is a slightly smaller version. Closet and TV, the usual stuff. Private washroom and shower," he taps the side of his visor. "The ones everyone else has to use on the first floor are inconvenient for obvious reasons." He then points to the corner of the room, "mini fridge, it''s just for the stuff I might want in the middle of the night, oh, and this," he walks toward the windows and taps a button at the side. Metal shudders extend from the top of the windows topletely seal them off, not allowing any light inside. "Seems like a fire hazard," Momo says. "I can literally warp..." "But I''d say you definitely win the dorm room contest," Momo says, and everyone nods in agreement. "I still can''t believe your dorm is literally four rooms put together, you''re so lucky," Mina pouts cutely. "Well if you''re one of the reasons people feel safe returning to UA, you can ask for stuff like this too, now if you don''t mind, I need to get packed." ---2 Hours Later... Sitting at hisputer Horizon is pouring over every news article he can find about the special guests for tomorrow. Thest thing he wants to do is make any bad impression on them, having the chance to meet two Rank 1 Pro Heroes at once is monumental, 3 if you count Endeavor who will be there. And four considering All Might will be there as well. ''I should at least be able to hold a conversation and y nice with the people I''ll bepared to...'' After a few more minutes of learning anything he can about them, he double-checks his scheduled patients for tomorrow, then swivels around in his chair, looking directly down. "Right, everyone should be getting ready to sleep, nobody to really bother us during our chat, time to see if my theory is right..." Looking down at the floor, he was currently using his Quirk to sense past the ground, down to the 3rd floor. Directly at Yuga Aoyama, his second candidate for All For One''s spy... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 129: (The Worst Kind Of Person) Chapter 129: (The Worst Kind Of Person) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- SHAMBLES! Horizon appears in Aoyama''s room, standing silently as he goespletely unnoticed. Aoyama was currently staring at himself in one of the many mirrors covering every surface of the room, Horizon appeared to his far left putting him just barely out of eyeshot. ''Well if this is the spy, no wonder All For One didn''t give him a good Quirk, he''s just not worth it,'' Horizon thinks as he watches him do a few poses in the mirror. "Hey, Frenchie!" Horizon calls out. "EEEEPPPPP!" Aoyama nearly jumps out of his own skin, holding his chest and breathing heavily as he stumbles back. "Horizon? I didn''t hear you knock," he says,ing to his senses and trying to seem calm. He notices that Horizon is in entirely casual clothes -above his body glove of course-, but it is a strange sight, to say the least. He also didn''t have his sword with him. "I didn''t knock, or use the door," Horizon says. "I''ve just got some questions for you." "Oh, well I''m always happy to help a ssmate and fellow Hero in training!" Aoyama says excitedly, meaning every word. "Perfect," Horizon immediately disappears and Aoyama feels hisrge hand palming the back of his head, fingers acting like a vice to keep him stuck in ce. "Uh...this is a bit painful," Aoyama says. "Just a few more seconds," Horizon says casually. And a few secondster... MES Aoyama''s vision goes ck for what seems to be just a moment before he wakes up face-first on the floor of his room. Feeling entirely exhausted he barely managed to sit up and look around, looking over at Horizon who was scrolling through--- "What are you doing with my phone?" Aoyama asks in a tired voice, slowly shaking off the weariness as he stands up. "Nothing apparently, it''s clean," Horizon shrugs and drops it on the bed. Walking over to Aoyama he reaches down and grabs him by the head, easily lifting him off his feet till they were at eye level with each other. "Argh!" Aoyama struggled but couldn''t pry Horizon''s fingers off him, and he couldn''t seem to activate his Quirk either. Trying to shoot Horizon -who was standing directly in front of his Naval Lazer Belt-, only caused him to feel more exhausted. "I''m gonna need you to tell me, are you a spy for the viins?" Aoyama''s eyes shot open, "what?! Why would you think that?!" Horizon tightened his grip causing the boy to scream out. "Answer the question, are you a spy for the viins?" "No!" He lied, and Horizon detected it. "AHHHHHH!" Aoyama''s screams echoed through the dorms all the way outside, causing most of the students to wake up in a slight panic. "I know that''s a lie, so instead of asking again I''ll get to the important bits, how''d you contact them?" Horizon''s voice was eerily calm, setting off every kind of rm in Aoyama''s head. "I didn''t---ARGH!" Horizon gives him another not-so-gentle squeeze. Then he reaches up to Aoyama''s arm, and without a moment of hesitation. BOOSTER SHOT! He snaps his arm like a twig with pure grip strength. "ERAHHHHHHHHHHGH!" Aoyama''s screams bounce off the walls, making sure everyone was awake. "Now look at what you made me do," Horizon says in a low growl. "Tell me, how did you contact the viins...or I''ll move on to the bones that aren''t broken...yet." Aoyama gives his most determined look even as tears flow down his face, refusing to say a single word to Horizon, focusing on the searing pain in his arm instead. "Fine, be like that..." Horizon grabs him and shoves him face-first into one of the full-length mirrors, cracking the mirror and cutting up Aoyama''s face. As he keeps pressing Aoyama against the mirror, slowly grating his face from the very top all the way to the bottom of it, his voice is failing to conceal his anger at this whole situation. "AHHHHHHHHH!" Aoyama''s screams echo out yet again as he desperately tries to reach back and stop Horizon. Soon after there is a loud banging on the door, but Horizon ignores it while Aoyama can''t even focus enough to make words. "Whenever you''re ready to talk," Horizon says as he''s almost done grating his face down a third of the mirror. He only gets more screams in response, and louder banging on the door. "Mmm, Shambles," he warps everyone else out of the dorm and into thewn, effectively silencing the pounding on the door. As he''s still grating away at Aoyama''s face, the screams keep echoing out, as Horizon begins thinking aloud. "You had to have contacted them at the Summer Camp, but no phones or tech was allowed aside from the teacher''s stuff, my items, and---" even as he''s almost done with the right side of Aoyama''s face his head shifts down, looking at the belt around the boy''s waist. "Lifestyle Support Items...it''s in the belt," Horizon growls. Aoyama immediately tries harder to struggle out of his grasp, and Horizon simply and quickly swipes his face the rest of the way down the mirror. Nowpletely and permanently disfiguring the right side before lifting him off the ground by his hair. "No! You can''t!" Aoyama screams as Horizon reaches around to rip off the belt across his midsection. "I need it, it''s a Lifestyle Support Item!" Aoyama reminds him. Much like Horizon''s visor, Lifestyle Support Items are effectively part of your human rights, they cannot be removed even if you are arrested, therefore items like Aoyama''s Naval Laser Belt are required to have a safety feature, in case he needed to be arrested and have it sealed up. As Horizon grips the top of the belt he feels both Aoyama''s hands grab onto his wrist, desperate to stop him, "my rights!" "You''re a traitor, a dealbreaker...you have no rights," Horizon says as he rips it off and drops Aoyama in the shards of the mirror. Aoyama crumples to the floor, expecting his Quirk to go haywire and cause him even more pain now that his belt was gone, but nothing happened. He looked down at his bare stomach and didn''t see anysering out of his naval. His mind couldn''t understand what was happening, but he barely had the energy to stand, and the pain in his face was almost paralyzing. His broken left arm was already numb and swollen, and looking into a fragment of the mirror, the entire right side of his face looked as if someone tried to use a cheese grater to expose the bone below. He couldn''t even feel it, just numbness and an asional short burst of excruciating pain mixed in when the fragments touch the nerves. And the only doctor that can properly fix this, is the one who did it to him. He''d be disfigured for the rest of his very miserable life. As Aoyama came to terms with what was about to happen, what he was about to experience, and what his parents were soon to go through because of him...a new set of tears begin flowing. Absolute despair. While Aoyama was having a mental breakdown on the floor behind him, beginning a longwinded speech and a list of excuses. Horizon was tearing open the back of his belt, exposing the motherboard. ''Hmm, I''m not very good withputer stuff...but that blinking light is probably a tracker or transmitter...and that, must be a storage drive,'' Horizon says as he takes another look at theponents. With SCAN he can''t actually read letters or differentiate the colours of things, and since he isn''t versed in technology more than the basics...mostly due to time constraints while studying many medical fields, an understandable reason. Breaking down theponents via materialposition was impossible for him. He couldn''t tell theponents apart until now, reading thebels, and even now, they didn''t look entirely out of ce for this level of advanced equipment. With his back turned so Aoyama couldn''t see he quietly removes the data drive and pockets it. ''If this has info leading back to the League Of Viins, it''s best if I use it so that themission doesn''t get it, since All For One has spies in there. Plus this way I can hunt them all down solo, get all the credit, and get Yagi his chat with Shigaraki...everyone wins,'' he decides. Holding the belt in his right-hand Horizon turns around just as Aoyama ends his grand speech...which he barely paid any attention to, it was everything he expected honestly. The moment he figured out that Naval Laser was ipatible because it was bestowed upon him by All For One, everything else fell into ce. Horizon rolls his eyes as Aoyama finally shuts up, done with his ranting. About him being born Quirkless, his parents finding All For One to give him a Quirk so he''d be epted into high society, about them being threatened with death if he didn''t do everything All For One was saying. Looking down at him Horizon just sighs, "every time one of you quirkless fucks tries to y hero it''s a pain in my ass...why can''t you just ept that life isn''t fair. Not everyone is special, some people like you are just meant to be throwaway side characters, you''re just not the Hero of this story, I am..." Aoyama looks down at Horizon''s feet, not sure how to feel about that. "But this was my chance, to be a Hero, to save mama and papa, to be like all of you," he looks up at Horizon with pleading eyes. "You''re a traitor, a dealbreaker, you''re nothing like me." Aoyama actually manages to suck in a deep breath, ignoring the pain for a moment to make his point, "you fight for the family you will have one day, and I did these heinous things for the family I have now...we may have taken different paths, but we''re the sa---" Horizon immediately kicks him in the face, hard enough to lift him all the way up to his feet as if he were standing, and grabs him by the neck "We are not the same!" he yells, before taking a moment to try andpose himself. "And no matter how nice the motive, it doesn''t change the monsters we are, good luck..." Aoyama''s expression turned from absolute fear to confusion with thosest two words. Then a momentter he was thrown harder than he''d ever been before, hurled all the way back to the other end of the room, and smashed through the window. His entire world went ck for what seemed like barely a second as he experienced pain like never before. Standing in Aoyama''s room, Horizon was looking at the hole in the wall, and the now-shattered mirror that was covering it seconds ago. Then his gaze dropped to his right arm, with blue energy mist rising from it. Yet the moment he focused on it he felt as if a nail was hammered into his skull, and his Quirk entirely shut off. Staggering backward until his back hit the wall. He reached up to hold his head, but only felt his visor. "Ugh," he groans in annoyance, "that''s new... so sick of this fucking bullshit." Shaking it off as best he could, Horizon walked over to the hole in the wall and looked down at the frontwn of the 1A dorms. sses 1A and 1B were gathered there with Eraser and d, all crowded around Aoyama who was a mangled mess on the floor. He seemed barely conscious as Deku and Momo were tending to his wounds, d King was trying to get his ss to go back to their dorms but they were being rowdy, and Eraser was on the phone, likely trying to wake up Recovery Girl. But after a look at the crowd Horizon figured it was Nezu on the other end, they all clearly knew what happened here, and realistically only Nezu could get anything out of him if that was the case. ROOM! He feels a slight sting as he opens a Room just big enough to warp down in front of the crowd. Most of them take a cautious step back, a very smart move. "You''re expelled!" Aizawa immediately yells, "I don''t care if you''re Nezu''s favorite, go pack your things!" Horizon just turns to look at Eraser, then ignored him and walks a few steps to where Deku and Momo were trying to treat Aoyama. Momo was currently crouched down beside Aoyama as Deku was trying to put some splints on his mangled limbs, she was making bandages for his face, but they both stopped to stare up at Horizon with wide eyes. Horizon just lifts a foot and presses his shoe against Aoyama''s disfigured face, "Arghh!" his pained scream ripples out, sending a cold chill down all their spines. Eraser readies his Capture Weapon and almost throws it out to stop him, but restrains himself. Not wanting to get sent to the other side of UA, he was still needed here to sort this out. Aoyama groggily wakes up to see Deku and Momo''s worried faces above him, then fear manifests on his face and his eyes fall to Horizon. "Oh look, the traitor is awake, you shouldn''t waste time trying to help it." Deku moves to argue but is silenced by what happens next. Horizon casually warps Aoyama''s heart back into his hand and drops it on thewn, "try not to lose that again, I won''t be so gentle next time." Seeing everyone just staring at them in surprise he looks over at Eraser who was ring at Aoyama, and tosses him the belt. "Have Nezu take a look at that, it''s how he got them to the summer camp, it has a tracker." "Mmm," Eraser just grumbles as he looks down at the blinking tracker. "You know you''ve got some questions to answer, both of you..." "I''ll send Nezu the video of our," Horizon nces down at the brutalized Aoyama, "friendly chat," he says before warping away. As he warps away Aoyama is left with only Deku tending to his wounds. Some of the others wanted to help, but after their friends died because of him, they just couldn''t bring themselves to do it. Now sitting in the grass on the other side of Aoyama, opposite Deku, Momo just stared at the boy in wonder. Not sure what was going on in his mind, watching him try to tend to Aoyama with no hesitation. She looked down at the injured boy unsure of what to do, even as Eraser finally got into contact with Principal Nezu. For the first time in her life, she was unsure if a person deserved her help. But she did it anyway. Making bandages and gauze as well as some alcohol to clean the wounds, she''d wait until Recovery Girl was here to deal with the heart. But even while she treated him, Aoyama looked up and saw a tant expression of disgust on her face, one that never would have been there had she not been so enraptured by a certain someone... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 130: (Commission Secrets) Chapter 130: (Commission Secrets) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- ---1 AM... Horizon was sitting patiently behind his desk in his office at Central Hospital, staring at theptop in front of him. His keyboard was pushed to the side along with the monitor on his desk, they were usually what he''d use, connected to Japan''s medical database and Nezu''s supeputer back at UA. Allowing him to run simtions and scout patients from all across the country to be sent here, to the Miracle Suite. Checking his phone he sees it''s 1 AM, his private client would be here in just over an hour, he now has all his clients meeting him here and is using the hospital instead of meeting them at hotels and such. His eyes nce back to theptop, seeing the files almost transferred out from the data drive connected to the side of it via an adapter. He''d been careful with this, inserting a viin''s hardware into anyputer is dangerous. So he bought a freshptop and didn''t connect it to anything before plugging it in. He also broke the webcam that came installed onto it, just in case. Thest thing he needs is to plug this into his phone or his actualputer. He''s sure Nezu''s security can easily handle it, but the risk simply wasn''t worth it. While Horizon sat patiently in his office he leans back and unlocks his phone. He opens it to see the ''Future Heroes'' group chat running wild as 1A and 1B students are discussing Aoyama''s betrayal. He looks to the group chat icon, seeing what was the picture of everyone at the summer camp already reced to get rid of the traitor. Skimming what the rapid conversation was discussing, it was mostly about people being unable to sleep, even after detective Tsukauchi had rushed over to question everyone else, and the teachers turned the dorms upside down in one more search. Looking at his direct messages he sees one from Nezu, confirming that there wasn''t a second traitor, at least not a knowing one. He sees a slew of questions from fellow students about the whole situation. No messages from Sero, because he knew Horizon best among all the students. And a concerned message from Momo, asking if he was all right. ''I''m fine,'' he sends her a fast reply and can''t help but shake his head. ''Did you really think diaper boy can hurt me, seriously?'' ''Not at all,'' her reply was instant. ''I was simply asking how you are dealing with the betrayal from someone so close to us. Some of the others aren''t taking it well at all, it''s quite a scary thought after all...'' ''It really doesn''t bother me, I expected this on some level, that''s why I wear the visor. You idiots gave him all the info about yourselves and by extension your families, you should be worried, not me.'' Momo types for a while, then deletes the message, then send a new one, ''you''re right. I suppose that''s why so many of us can''t sleep, we''re all just here trying to help each other feel safe.'' "What the fuck does that mean?" He asks himself. "Did all these losers dogpile in themon room or something?" ''What do you mean?'' he sends her. ''All the girls are having a sleepover in my room at the moment, learning about Aoyama was, a lot.'' Horizon''s newptop beeps as the data drive finally opened up, spewing dozens of folders onto his screen. He nces back down at his phone to see Momo typing another message and interrupts her, ''hero work, gotta go,'' before putting his phone down. "Ok, let''s see what we''ve got here," Horizon begins sorting out the folders. Finding file after file of recorded audio from Aoyama''s belt. "Recordings. Recordings. Recordings. All useless garbage, Aoyama wasn''t around to hear anything critical, and definitely nothing that can hurt me. All For One had already spread information about Weld making my life annoying, nothing I can''t ovee with just one more sh...but what the fuck is this..." Horizon finally gets to a file simply titled ''Hero Public Safety Commission,'' and his interest is piqued. "What the fuck are these names," he sees dozens of folders within this folder, allbeled with things he''d never seen before. "Are these all heroes?" he opens the first one. "Raised and trained by themission to..." Horizon shakes his head, hardly able to believe what he''s reading. "To eliminate Pro Heroes that threaten the stability of society via corruption or heinous acts." He''s taken aback by this, not by the fact that this exists, but by the fact that it fell into hisp so easily. "Why would this be here, it makes no sense to put this in the belt...unless," realization dawns on him. "All For One knew I''d find this, and he has something in here he wants me to see. Ok, show me..." Sorting through all the files he sees dozens of Pro Heroes, most not household names. Just people that got into the top fifty and remained there until they retired or died. A few werepromised and had to be put down by the others, but then he got to the people he could recognize. "Kaina Tsutsumi, Lady Nagant. Mom was always a fan of yours...she thought it was suspicious when they said you just had a mental breakdown and got into a fight with other Pro Heroes. Looks like ording to this she...holy shit. Killed the previous President of themission, and now she''s in level 4 of Tartarus." He looks a bit more, finding the final group, the current agents of themission. "Mind-Binder, well I remember what happened to him. Chrome, so you were Tetsutetsu''s dad, and Shifter...guess meeting me didn''t work out very well for all of you." Horizon leans back in his chair and thinks it all over. ''So when they assembled a team to deal with ''Arsenal'', they didn''t just send Heroes, they sent a hit squad. If I wasn''t there they definitely would have just killed her. Mom knows too much about too many powerful people all around the world. International pressure to execute here would be too great for most countries to ever stand against. Having this information from themission itself is good, I can make sure they lose if they try to fuck me over, but I doubt it''lle to that. I''m too valuable, they just need to be patient for me to solve their problems, and at this pace by the time I graduate, within one year of that I''ll be #1, then they won''t have any choice but to hand my parents over. The contract is held and everyone wins...'' "I definitely can''t let anyone know I have this, not until I eventually need a bit more leverage, prove that I can and will burn it all down if they try to fuck me over. Any sooner than that and they''ll see me like a rabid dog that needs to be put down...I just need to y the part of a guard dog on a leash for them, at least for now." Horizon lets out a frustrated groan, "why can''t things just be fucking simple, do the job, get paid, and everyone moves on," he signs and continues digging only having one more file folder remaining. ''Keigo Takami,'' he clicks it, and immediately freezes at what he sees. "Hawks," he lets out in a low growl, then immediately catches himself. "No, revenge doesn''t get me anything," he reminds himself. "Hawks...is someone I''ll be forced to work with, to y nice with, he''s a top ten hero after all, and I''m Horizon, it''s inevitable," he closes the file and begins sorting through the other data, sifting through it for anything about the League Of Viins. ''All For One, was that your n? Make me kill Hawks or something so I end up in shit. Break my contract and get my parents killed, get mebeled a viin, and turn me against the Heroes...so you finally have someonepetent on your team instead of the league of losers you''re stuck with. Nice try, but I''m a lot more, practical, than that. Thest thing I want is to get any deeper in this Hero-Viin nonsense.'' A simple assessment, but sadly without the key pieces of information hecks, the pieces All For One builds his master n atop, even Horizon cannot figure out the vast and glorious scheme. ''Nothing about Shigaraki or his team, or where they make the Nomu, or how, useless shit---'' his mainputer alerts him of something, pulling his attention to it. Horizon shuts off theptop and checks the progress his simtions have made. "h h h useless nonsense," Horizon mutters while looking at his research. "Bunch of useless shit about curing mental degenerative disease. Dementia, Alzheimer, I''d have to sink weeks into solving those and they can''t even work for me. I guess it makes sense since my brain patterns are simr enough to someone within the final stages of those, at least for the seconds that I''m cked out. But since I''m the only person in the world that can map the genome efficiently and urately enough to solve it, I''ll keep this in my pocket until I need leverage...'' "Alright," he looks down at his phone to check the time. "Time to get to work being a doctor, then just that partyter..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 131: (The 3rd Party) Chapter 131: (The 3rd Party) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- Sitting opposite Yagi in Nezu''s private luxury helicopter, Horizon is idly scrolling through some reports on his phone. He was wearing his usual Hero Costume with his sword resting beside him, while Yagi wore a simple ck suit with the left sleeve tucked away. On ount of him still missing that arm. Horizon nces out the window where he sees Hiroshima in the distance, their destination for the evening. Then looking across from him he sees Yagi meticulously reading a set of shcards, mouthing the words as he rehearses his speech onest time. Yagi sighs in frustration and leans back, "I don''t think I can do this, maybe we should turn around." "We aren''t turning around," Horizon says. "I already left Tokyo to go to UA to get you, now I''m here just to bodyguard you for the evening, how much of my time do you n to waste?" "Sorry, but I just don''t think I can go stand in front of everyone, for them to see me like...well," he gestures to himself. "Like this." "Those idiots worship the ground if you so much as walk on it, you''ll be fine." "But I''m All Might," Yagi says. "How am I supposed to stand in front of them to ept the awards and honors...when I can''t even protect myself anymore, much less anyone else." "Nobody expects people to be heroes forever, time is undefeated in that way, well not for me, but you get what I mean, right?" Yagi looks a bit confused at that, "what do you mea---" "Just focus on being honest with them. Despite all the things online about Nana Shimura and the conspiracy theories." "Not conspiracy theories," Yagi says. "What All For One said was true, which is why it hurts so much." Horizon sighs, "you golden-hearted types always try to me yourselves for things you can''t control, it''s stupid. You saved a lot of people, don''t let anything diminish that, focus on that and you''ll be fine." "Easier said than done," Yagi mutters as he goes back to rehearsing his speech. As they arrive above the city, the skyline of Hiroshima is dazzling under the night sky, but Horizon is looking out over the ocean, to a barely visible light in the distance. Even as the helicopternds on the roof of the most luxurious hotel in the city, he barely acknowledges any of it. "I suppose it''s time to make this official," Yagi grumbles as gets up, stepping out as the pilot opens the door. Looking back Yagi sees Horizon step out, then he begins walking toward the elevator on the roof. Ignoring the pool and lounging area. He sees three people standing in front of it to greet him, two in-looking men in ck suits, and the woman in the middle. Around his age, slicked back blonde hair, pearls around her neck and hanging from her ears, and wearing a loose ck gown. "President Pantu," Yagi greets her with a polite handshake. "Always a pleasure to see you, ma''am." "You as well All Might," she says with a kind smile. " Before we go inside I''d like to personally and professionally thank you, for all that you''ve done, for all that you''ve sacrificed...the world is grateful for you, as a Pro Hero and as a shining example of all we can be." "Thank you ma''am, I only hoped to do good and help others in my time as a Hero." "You really are the best of us," Pantu gives him a genuine smile. "My men will escort you inside and out of this cold air, everyone inside is quite excited about the ceremony itself," she steps aside and gestures to the elevator. "You aren''t going down with us?" Yagi asks. "I''d like to have a word with him," Pantu gestures to the side of the roof where Horizon was gripping the railing, staring out at the lights in the distance. "Oh, I see, I''ll go on ahead then," Yagi''s voice hid it well, but her words felt like a punch in the gut. ''One minute you''re on top, and the moment you aren''t useful anymore they move on immediately...but this is for the best, Horizon can actually protect people, while I need someone to protect me now.'' As the elevator closes Pantu looks at the helicopter to see the pilot waiting inside, ready and on standby for Horizon and All Might to leave. Taking a deep breath to steady herself she schools her expression into an ice-cold mask, then slowly walks over to stand beside him. She doesn''t say a word, simply looking up at him. Leaned forward, hands gripping the safety railing hard enough to crush the metal, his visor was unreadable but he seemed, agitated. ''What is that?'' Pantu wonders as she sees a strange blue energy vapor rising from his hands before it quickly stops. Her eyes then move up. Looking from his visor into the direction he was facing, she saw a barely visible light on the horizon. 10km out into the sea, connected by one massive and heavily secured bridge. Precisely 12km from where they currently stand. Tartarus. The most secure prison on this side of the world, onlyparable the America''s New Alcatraz. She''s skeptical at first, ''he can''t possibly be sensing within Tartarus, from 12km away...that''s impossible, he''s powerful but not that powerful, right?'' Her skepticism immediately fades as he speaks in a low growl. "Where are they?" "Hmm, what exactly do you mean?" Pantu asks. Horizon stands up straight and turns to face her, his presence strong and rigid. Hiding the fact that below his visor, below his mask, he was bleeding from the eyes, nose, and ears. His brain felt like stakes were being hammered into it. That it took everything in him not to sway in ce with the wind. All because he opened a 24km wide room to Scan inside Tartarus, for barely a few seconds. He could feel his energy levels remaining fine, but processing it, as always, was another story entirely. "You know what I mean," Horizon says. Pantu turns away from him to face Tartarus, "tell me what you see then, and I''ll rify," she seemspletely unphased by his attitude. Horizon just growls and turns to face the prison as well, but doesn''t open a new Room, "prisoners, lots of them, a scientist of some kind, short, portly,bcoat, sses...he''s monitoring All Fo---" "That''s enough," Pantu cuts him off, not wanting him to delve deeper into the fact that Dr. Shodai Garaki was hired to build the containment unit to counter All For One''s many Quirks. He was their best choice for a Quirk specialist since the only person considered to be above him, would likely be Horizon himself. He also came highly rmended by many trusted people -who all shared a certain mutual friend-. And giving Nezu any ess to Tartarus was simply out of the question with how obviouslypromised he is when ites to Horizon. "You''ve made your point," Pantu says. "I had them moved after the sports festival." "Why?" Horizon asks. "Because before then, I didn''t realize exactly how powerful you were, I had to keep them out of your reach...you get them out too early and suddenly we have multiple countries breathing down our necks," Pantu says. Horizon doesn''t speak for a while, then says in a calm voice, "your neck, not mine. And you do know I can detect any lies you speak, right?" he lied, still unable to use Polygraph without physical contact, which he currently doesn''t have. He focuses on her expression, but she gives him nothing, until, she smiles. Pantu smiles at that, confusing him, "no, you can''t...because that''s actually my Quirk. You should do some more research on a person before you try to bluff them, not that you''d ever find my Quirk on file...and it will stay that way, understand?" "Mmm, understood," he grumbles out. "You know, I always wondered what you''d be like, the third signature on my contract...and I was right, you really are one seriously cold bi---" "It''s needed for my job," Pantu says. "How have you been holding up your end of the deal thus far?" Horizon rxes and simply shrugs, "ying hero is easy for someone like me, I''m sure you''ve had a team or two tracking my progress, right?" "Naturally, you''re a massive gamble for us. I signed that contract expecting just a doctor, but instead of some crumbs, I lucked into the whole pie...lucky me." "Don''t get toofortable," Horizon says. "I''ll be your superhero or whatever, but it''s just a job, nothing more and nothing less." Pantu raises a brow at that, "and what would it take to make this a lifetime contract?" Horizon immediately steps away from the railing and leans in a bit closer to her, "since you''ve got some lie detection Quirk then you''ll know how serious I am. If you try to fuck me over in any way...I''ll burn everything to the ground, I''ll rip Tokyo out of the ground, raise it into the sky, then drop it on your head. Just. Like. That." Pantu keeps her stone-cold expression, even as Horizon walks over to the elevator and leaves her on the roof. Knowing she can''t let up her facade for even a moment Pantu remains calm in case Horizon was still ''watching'' her. ''I need him to help stabilize Japan at least, but from the way things are moving, he''ll be the #1 Hero the same year he graduates. I''ve got just over 3 years to stabilize Japan and deal with this contract situation. And if I try to undercut him in any way,'' Pantu looks out over the city, all the people living their innocent lives. Lives that Horizon has said he''d snuff out if necessary, if she pushed him. ''I need to extend the timeline of his contract, the longer he stays working for us the better, because we really can''t afford the alternative...'' Taking out her phone Pantu immediately calls the Hero Public Safety Commission HQ and gives orders to the analysis and simtion teams. "I need a full rundown of Horizon versus any avable Pro Hero we have, use all gathered intel, and I need a projection of exactly how long it will take for Japan to be stable, League Of Viins as primary chaos catalyst." "Yes ma''am," the person at the other end says before Pantu hangs up. "That should tell me how long I need to extend his contract for at least. Honestly Nezu, you just had to find the kind of monster we can''t even use a leash on...because the more we use it, the faster he snaps..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 132: (#1 Heroes) Chapter 132: (#1 Heroes) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- Finally sneaking out of the main room Yagi manages to escape to the hotel''s balcony. A massive garden area that overlooked Hiroshima. With the moon high in the sky and reflecting off the ocean in the distance, the cool night air nearly made him shiver, no, it felt oddly warm. He breathes a sigh of relief, feeling the tension in his body rx, then looks down at the medal in his hand. ''For going above and beyond as a citizen and a hero...or something like that,'' he thinks. He couldn''t really remember what Pantu said when she presented him with it on stage. Or what the other dozen or so medals and des were for. He mindlessly begins walking to the railing, to get some fresh air, and take a break from people bombarding him with their gratitude for all he''s done. It all felt so hollow, undeserved. ''I''m here, weak and frail, helpless, when I''m supposed to be protecting everyone. But even tonight I need someone to protect me when I leave UA.'' Yagi can''t help but look down at the medal in disgust, as if it insulted him. And before he knows it he''s leaning against the railing, holding it out above the street below, ready to get rid of it. As if it could ever help ease his shame, as if dropping it to the street below would fix anything. As if--- "What are you doing?" A deep voice asks beside him. "Huh!" Yagi nearly fumbles and drops the medal but barely catches it, breathing a sigh of relief as he looks to his right. Standing only a meter away was Endeavor, Enji Todoroki in a formal ck suit, leaning against the railing with his phone in his hand. The former #2 Hero, now the temporary #1. Pantu has already spoken to both these men regarding the rankings, unlike the public, they already knew Endeavor would officially be the #1 Hero during the annual ceremony in November. Four #1 Heroes in one building, at one event. An astronomically rare urrence. Japan''s former #1 -All Might. Japan''s current #1- Endeavor. Thand''s current #1- Buakaw. Korea''s current #1- Hodori. And if counting who everyone assumes is a future #1 Hero, Horizon, that makes five. "When did you get here?" Yagi asks Endeavor after recovering from the surprise. Endeavor nces down at his phone, seeing that Shoto read his messages but hasn''t responded...as usual. Then looks to Yagi. "I was here before you, but you were too in your own head to notice." ''That exins why I''m not freezing in this wind,'' Yagi realizes. "You should go back inside, that''s where the cameras are, isn''t that what you''re all about?" Endeavor asks gruffly. Yagi just shakes his head and goes back to leaning on the railing. "That''s why I''m out here actually, same as you I''d imagine. I didn''t see you inside, not even during the presentation, are you avoiding their questions too?" This gets Endeavor curious, "what do you mean ''too'', since when do you avoid people?" Yagi falls silent for a while, ying with the small medal in his hand, rolling it between his fingers. "Have you ever felt, like all your life you''ve only been focused on one thing, and you thought you were seeding...but after it''s all done you realized you failed anyway." Endeavor nces down at his phone, still seeing dozens of messages over the past two months with not a single reply from Shoto or Natsuo. "Even you can''t fight viins forever," Endeavor says. "Is that what you wanted to do, or would you be happier if you died fighting?" Yagi doesn''t even think about it for a moment, because he''s thought about it a lot these past few days, "maybe," he mutters. "Tch," Endeavor scoffs, "you''ve done your part, more than your fair share at least. You know better than anyone that even you can''t save everyone, just try to enjoy retirement somehow..." "That''s impossible while Shigaraki is out there," Yagi says, and Endeavor immediately realizes what''s wrong. "So that''s what this is about, you feel responsible for him." "My master neglected his dad, to train me. That chain of events led us to where we all are today, how am I supposed to not feel responsible for that, at least partly." "Hmm, ''Heroes are willing to hurt the only people they''re truly required to protect, for the sake of strangers...'' at least I think that''s what he said," Endeavor says. "All For One?" "Horizon, during the sports festival, it feels like every day he''s more and more right about that," Endeavor nces down at his phone, still seeing no replies. "It''s given me a lot to think about, the things that happened these past few months." "You and me both," Yagi actually manages to chuckle at that, enjoying how much more friendly Endeavor was being at the moment. "I have to somehow get used to being the one who needs saving...while my master''s grandson is out there hurting people, and I can''t even stop him. And you need to focus on being the #1 Hero, being the new symbol for the people of this country." "Mmm," Endeavor grumbles, "That hasn''t been on my mind as much as I would have expected, I''ve been distracted by some personal issues. How has Shoto been doing at UA?" "He''s the same as always, it''s always been a bit difficult to read him, is everything alright?" "Everything is fine," he lied. "But I suppose now you can finally give your full focus to teaching those students how to be proper Pro Heroes." Yagi chuckles at that, then gestures at his missing arm, "I suppose this is what it took to get me to stay in one ce, but yes that''s my n. You''re always wee to stop in at UA if you want to visit, or maybe even teach a ss. Oh, never mind, you''ll be too busy now that you''re the #1 Hero, my apologies." "#1 Hero," Endeavor mutters, taking onest look at his phone before putting it away. "I always thought I''d be happy to hear that...but this just feels rotten." "Rotten?" Yagi aks. "Undeserved," Endeavor says. "I never truly surpassed you, I''m only here because of the gap between me and all the others, I was the only real option to fill the space you left, it''s a hollow promotion." "That doesn''t change what it means, what it requires of you," Yagi says. "It doesn''t matter how you got to this spot, what matters is that you show everyone that you deserve it, that you show yourself you deserve it." Endeavor falls silent for a while, carefully considering everything he just heard. Realizing it was all true, that he couldn''t change the past, he just had to show everyone who doubted him that he is a worthy #1 Hero. "But what if that isn''t my focus anymore?" Endeavor ask. Yagi ispletely blindsided by this, "but being the greatest hero has always been your focus, what are you talking about?" Endeavor just frowns at that, "hurting the people close to you in order to be a better hero to others, that''s not something I want to do anymore. But the only way I can even think of atoning is to prove that this wasn''t all for nothing, that the suffering wasn''t for nothing. That I am a great hero, someone they can look up to." Yagi gives him a confused look, "atone? What are you talking about?" Endeavor''s eyes open wide for a moment, realizing he''s said too much, "sorry, just ignore that I said anything." Yagi gives him a strange look but doesn''t judge, "it''s fine, but what does this mean for your ns as the new top pro?" "Time beats everyone, it''s undefeated," Endeavor says. "Horizon said that during his interview with Chitose, right?" "He also said that it won''t beat him...whatever that means, but what I mean is. I don''t want to be the next you, and I don''t even want to be the future me, at least not the me I thought I was going to be. The #1 Pro Hero Endeavor that I always wanted to be, he''s just another monster I want nothing to do with now. Now I just want to fix all the broken things in my life, no more hurting people to save strangers, at least not if I can help it. I''ll take the time to mend the things that matter most..." "I see," Yagi nods a few times. "But that would mean stepping down as the #1 Pro, because from what you''re saying this will take all your focus." "It likely will." "But, you and I both know, with me gone, the #1 could only be you. The only current pro I''m absolutely certain of leaving this country to, is you," Yagi gestures to the city in front of them and gives a genuine All Might brand smile. "When all the people cry out, gripped by fear, I know for certain they''ll be alright, because you are here." "Tch," Endeavor scoffs, "you''re as dramatic and corny as ever, but I''m not stupid enough to step down. I understand the state of Japan as it is, if I refuse this spot then things only get much worse for the country." "Oh, right," Yagi puts his arm down awkwardly. "So what is your n then?" "Three years, in three years he''ll graduate and easily overtake me to be the top pro. Then I will have more time to focus on what''s important. Until then, I''m stuck as the #1 Hero." "Hmm, I always expected you to hold onto this spot until the end... I guess these past few months have really caused a lot of unexpected changes." "I''m not delusional," Endeavor says. "Even if I wanted to do that, the moment he graduates I''m back to Rank #2,peting with you was nearly impossible, but I could at least see a path forward. But there is nopeting with that thing Nezu found..." "You''d be surprised," Yagi says. "There could very well be another young man with incredible potential ready to rival him." Endeavor just shakes his head at that, looking at Yagi as if he was an absolute moron, "it''s Horizon, he has no rivals." "But he isn''t the only Mystery ss," Yagi points out. "True, but Star is much older and already in her prime, and he''s already likely at least somewhatparable. By the time he graduates, he''ll be ahead of her, even tonight, three of the current top 10 most powerful heroes in the world are in this building, and he''s still arguably stronger than any of us." Yagi just forces a smile, wishing Deku all the luck he can give, but he''s also d Endeavor isn''t nning to overburden Shoto with the impossible task of surpassing someone like Horizon. "Speaking of the brat, shouldn''t he be glued to you for the night?" Endeavor asks. "Oh, Horizon said he''ll keep track of me with his Quirk, it''s still a bit creepy but that way he doesn''t have to shadow me all night." "Hmm, I see." "When I came out here I saw him take your seat actually, the one you never used." "Isn''t that at the table with---" "Buakaw and Hodori," Yagi nods. "That''s partly why he bothereding tonight, he wanted to meet the other Rank #1 Pro Heroes." Endeavor looks genuinely bothered by that idea, "Horizon, speaking to heroes from other countries...that sounds like a fight waiting to happen, maybe we should go check on them befo---" BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! Endeavor''s phone goes off and he immediately checks it, hoping to see a response from either of his sons. "What is it?" Yagi asks, seeing his focused expression as he looks at the phone. "Kurogiri and Twice were spotted on Mt. Fuji, the two most valuable members of the league, and that close to Tokyo, that can''t be good, looks like Horizon and I will be leaving early..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 133: (Monsters and Freaks) Chapter 133: (Monsters and Freaks) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "What the hell..." Horizon mutters, standing toward the far end of the room. Dozens of heroes and politicians scattered about in their best gowns and suits, all either standing or sitting at designated tables to chat and show off to each other. But what was on his mind was Yagi, he''d just sensed him walking onto the massive balcony, and just as he was about to go check on him, Endeavor began talking to him. "Well I guess he can take care of him for a while," Horizon mutters, only this time someone actually heard him. "Is something the matter?" Best Jeanist asks him, snapping him back into the moment. Looking at Jeanist he sees him wearing a dark blue suit with the cor still reaching up to his nose. "Sorry I was just checking the perimeter, everything is fine," Horizon says. Jeanist takes his word for it, because why wouldn''t he, everyone in the room believes in Horizon as their future #1 Hero after all. Taking the moment to chat with Horizon he stands beside him, looking over the room, "you handled tonight well, quite tactful." Horizon just shakes his head, "dealing with a mob of excited heroes and politicians and...rich people," he sees Rikiya -Re-Destro-, and Chitose -Curious-, chatting at a far away table. "Yes, but don''t forget that these people make our jobs possible, many individuals wouldn''t be able to act as Pro Heroes without the support of society, its what keeps us ahead of the viins." "Doesn''t mean I want to be in a room with them, but this is part of the job, right? ying nice..." "The most important part when considering all of society," Jeanist says. "Our presence is a deterrent, especially as a top Pro. And helping people feel safe is part of that. Thankfully when you''re #1 I doubt you''ll need any help, considering how well you''ve already been making an impression for the nation." "Hmm, is that what you wanted to remind me about?" "Somewhat, but mostly I wanted to see how you were handling the pressure," Jeanist turns to full look at him with sympathetic eyes. "The pressure thates with being a top 10 Pro Hero is vast, being the #1 is infinitely more so. But to be under the pressure of everyone expecting you to be the next, the stronger and even more deific version of All Might, while being a student, I dare not imagine that..." Horizon pauses for a moment before he responds, "the weight of the world is inconsequential,pared to the standard I hold myself to,pared to who they need me to be." Jeanist sighs, "you #1 Heroes really are odd, but I suppose that''s what makes you the real super-humans." "It''s necessary," Horizon says, "normal people can''t handle the weight of 300 Million lives counting on their every move." Jeanist just rest a hand on Horizon''s shoulder and shakes his head, "I do not envy you young man." As he withdraws his hand Horizon turns toward him, "hmm, I should have asked sooner, how are your lungs?" "Oh, that. Honestly I usually forget about that injury until someone brings it up, and it makes me quite happy knowing that you offer such a service for free at the hospital now." "Yeah well, just doing my part." "Yet you didn''t heal everyone from that night, only a few, why is that?" Horizon''s shoulders noticeably stiffen at that, "because Hawks can take care of himself..." he says before walking off. ''What an odd response,'' Jeanist thinks, keeping that in mind as he goes to catch up with Ryukyu. Walking away from Jeanist Horizon weaves through the chattering people, ignoring a few lovelydies trying to get his attention and some older gentlemen itching to offer him more brand deals that he''d simply ignore. ying along with Stain''s ''True Hero'' nonsense means he can''t actually mize himself as much as other heroes, but that was never his concern, he''d trade all his money to get his true goal. ''Time to make a great first impression...'' Horizon thinks as he sees his future peers. Sitting at arge round table at the front of the room, close to the stage Yagi stepped off of moments ago, Buakaw and Hodori. Buakaw was arge man, to say the very least. Standing at 6ft6 -198cm-, packed with just as many muscles as All Might below his traditional robes. Gold and white to show his status and reputation, light brown skin with short spiky ck hair and solid golden eyes. He looked entirely calm and collected which is an extreme contradiction to how everyone kept away from the table mostly because of him. His immense and intense presence was unmistakable even in this room. The man calmly running his red prayer beads through his fingers was a monster standing among the absolute strongest in the world. The pride of Thand, a prodigy thatpletely reinvigorated the nation''s interest in Muay Thai, a grandmaster at The Art Of 8 Limbs, even before using his Quirk. Born with a Quirk perfect for appearing as a guardian of his people, and even better topliment his fighting style. Buakaw: The Pride Of Thaliand. And his wife sits beside him, the absolutely beautiful Lady Priestess, wearing shrine maiden robes and munching away at a sd in front of her. A model woman to represent their nation marrying their greatest hero and the pride of the nation, it was almost too perfect to be real. And sitting across from them chatting up Uwabami, The United Democratic Repulic of Korea''s #1 Hero, the infamous skirt chaser, Hodori. After world war 3, North Korea was destroyed and captured by China, but after world war 4 it was handed back to the Korean people to create this new nation. Many others were formed in this manner. And to represent this nation is their current #1 Hero, Hodori, the strongest full-beast-transformation Quirk in the world. The youngest current #1 Hero in the world, at only 26 years old. Standing at 7ft -213cm- but very thinpared to Heroes like Endeavor, All Might, Star and Stripe, or Buakaw. Wearing a grey suit with no tie, and the top buttons undone he has his arm around Uwabami''s shoulder as she giggles at something he said, blushing wildly. She seemed lost in his piercing red eyes, and looking closer Horizon could see his spiky white hair almost swaying back and forth, as if it were moving on its own. Horizon just rolls his eyes at them, ''Hodori didn''t bring any of his usual girls...guess he wants to try the local fruits.'' Approaching the table he sees all the empty seats beside both couples, all reserved and all the people were present, but for one reason or another, nobody wanted to be too close to these two, much in the same way people keep a reasonable amount of space between themselves and Endeavor. And on the other hand...nobody wants their wife at the same table with Hodori. ''Monsters and freaks'', that''s exactly how most knowledgeable people would describe these men. While there is no official international Hero Ranking, every government is acutely aware of who the top 10 most powerful heroes of all the local Rank #1 heroes in the world are. But while Star can easily defeat anyone lower than her on this ranking, that truth is not the same for the other rankings. Aside from her being a higher rank doesn''t guarantee victory against a lower rank. #1-Star and Stripe. #2-Endeavor. #3-Buakaw. #7-Hodori. And eventually when he bes a fully licensed Hero, Horizon will join the other monsters and freaks of this world. Rising to be a god among people, among even the super-humans. But until that, with All Might gone, Star and Stripe is no longer argued being at number 1 or 2, but is solidly at #1 in the world. "I hope nobody here minds," Horizon says, in English, as he takes Endeavor''s reserved seat at the table, having been ignored by the man in question. "But I figured I should at least introduce myself. I''m Horizon." "Buakaw," the man says in English as he extends a hand which Horizon shakes, much more pleasant than his appearance would portray. "And this is my wife." "Lady Priestess," Horizon says, and she gives him a pleasant smile and a nod. Both men nce over at Hodori, only to see himpletely ignoring them and focusing on chatting up Uwabami. Buakaw and his wife give the young hero an annoyed look but quickly ignore him. "So are you enjoying your time in Japan?" "Absolutely," Priestess says, "your country is quite lovely, but we''ll be leaving before sunrise." "Ahh, I was curious about that," Horizon looks at Buakaw. "Itsmon knowledge that top Pro Heroes can''t travel abroad so easily, heck I can''t even leave Japan without approval from Pantu and President Bosu...so how did two #1 Pro Heroes manage to visit us so quickly?" "In most cases that would be the case," Buakaw says. "But I owe All Might personal gratitude from some guidance he gave me very early on, the first time we worked together. They simply couldn''t stop me froming here at this ceremony to honor him." "So they decided to just y nice instead, that makes sense," Horizon says. "That must have been nice," Hodori cuts in, "damn Korean government told me toe and show face, some crap about Japan and Korea being neighbors so showing support being necessary." "It''s only one day for you," Buakaw says. "I''m sure you can manage spending one night in Japan. Not to mention showing international solidarity among Heroes and governments is important. All Might showed very well how important it is to have a positive international reputation. If we ever fail then I can at least feel hopeful that powerful heroes will aid my people in my ce, at least until they get back onto their feet." "Tch," Hodori scoffs, "doesn''t matter if you just never fail. But the travelling isn''t the problem. I didn''t spend years collecting a perfect Harem of supermodels to be pulled away from them for some stuffy ceremony." Buakaw and his wife look slightly disgusted at that, but Horizon doesn''t react. "Well I suppose I can see that being annoying," Horizon is sure to keep things polite, "So what''s Hero work like in your countries?" "Scouting new opportunities?" Buakaw asks. "Not at the moment at least, I was just curious about how wild things can get." "Hmm," Buakaw things about it for a moment. "In Thaliand underground Heroes are far more effective and sessful. Most of the influential viins are smart enough to adapt and avoid direct conflicts which puts a focus on tracking and infiltration, as well as stealth." "I read about that," Horizon says. "Nobody wants to get into the ring with you, at least not after the first few years, so you forced the viinndscape to adapt and work around you." Buakaw nods," the same would have happened in your nation, at least at the same scale. But unlike Thaliand the more shy viins can''t simply cross the border to escape All Might and do their business then return, since your country is a collection of inds." "Sounds like you''ve got a lot of free time," Hodoriughs. "Makes sense that most people don''t want to deal with Virya, there isn''t much in this world worth taking that many punches from you at once." "You could achieve the same result if you took things a bit more seriously," Buakaw says. Hodori does a low growl, more annoyed than anything else. Looking at Buakaw he gives him a toothy smile, showing off some of his teeth bing razor sharp fangs before they shift back to normal. "I try to keep it yful because I just get too excited," Hodori chuckles, "I''m just an extremist like that, not to mention seeing me fighting like that scares the girls..." "Well I guess that''s...a reason," Horizon says. "Oh right, speaking of women," Hodori nces to Uwabami, making sure she couldn''t understand what they were saying in English. "Is bunny girl making an appearance at this thing? I was hoping to take her back to Korea with me, atleast for a few nights." Horizon pauses for a moment, then responds, "I don''t sense her around, sorry." Hodori frowns, "how about a number for Midnight?" "Sorry I don''t have that." "Tch, guess you''re useless," he leans back and pulls Uwabami a bit closer, leaving herpletely oblivious. After talking for a short while Horizon''s phone eventually goes off, along with Jeanist and Ryukyu. They all see the alert regarding Kurogiri being spotted near Mt. Fuji, sent to specific top Pro Heroes for this capture mission. "Sorry but, Hero work," Horizon says and everyone at the table politely nods as he gets up and walks outside. Endeavor looks up from his phone to see Horizon approaching him and Yagi. "Jeanist and Ryukyu are already flying off," Horizon says. "I need to take Yagi back to UA, you can ride with us in the helicopter." Endeavor looks between Yagi and Horizon, then reluctantly nods, "alright, lets go deal with the League of Viins..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 134: (Bait and Switch) Chapter 134: (Bait and Switch) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "Something doesn''t seem right here," Horizon says as the helicopternds. As they touchdown at the very edge of the Mt. Fuji Forest, both he and Endeavor step out. Only two other people were here, Ryukyu, the dragon hero, and Best Jeanist, the fibre hero. Standing in a small clearing at the start of this trail, with thepletely dark forest ahead of them. "What doesn''t feel right?" Endeavor asks, he''d changed into his Hero Costume but kept his jacket out, just to keep the mes covered so they could properly approach. The mes on his body were also off at the moment. As the four Heroes meet up, with everyone aside from Horizon having a shlight to navigate the forest, they can feel the cold night air warming up as Endeavor stands beside them. "Has anything happened while we were waiting?" Endeavor asks his peers. "Can''t tell, we can hardly see anything," Ryukyu says. "The others should be here within the hour so we can get this strike started." "First we need to find the base," Jeanist cuts in. "The people that were climbing the mountain only spotted Kurogiri and Dabi here, deep in the forest, but they saw them close to the trail and not near any clear base of operations." "I see," Endeavor nods then turns to Horizon. "Do you sense anything?" They all looks over to Horizon, seeing himpletely facing the forest and ignoring them, to them he looked like a statue, devoid of any emotion or struggle thanks to his visor and rxed posture. But below that his mind was in immense pain as he was forced to process every leaf, tree, rock, everything for 14km in every direction. Eventually he stops and catches his breath, keeping hisposure to appear perfect and strong, the ideal hero. "I found something, Shambles..." All four of them immediately warp toward the mountain, appearing inrge clearing that''s torn up as if it were a dig site. "Hng," Ryukyu stumbles and catches herself on Endeavor as her heels dig into the soft worked dirt. "A little warning next time please." "He never gives a warning," Endeavor grumbles as he helps her up, "and yes, it is always that annoying." As Horizon is walking around Jeanist takes out his phone to check their position, "he warped us 12km away from where we were. What did you find?" "Look at this," Horizon says, and they all look over to him, seeing him looking down at the ground. But unlike them he didn''t have any light, he was simply standing in the dark looking at the floor. "Does your visore with night vision?" Endeavor asks as they walk over with the shlights. "No." "Do you naturally have night vision?" Ryukyu asks, now getting a bit creeped out by how strange Horizon is. "No, just looks at this rock." As they sh the lights onto the rocks, they notice its arge stone perfectly cut, with the other section missing. "Was there a fight here?" Jeanist asks, looking around at the torn up dirt surrounding them. "This ce does look like a battlefield." "No this isn''t frombat," Horizon says. "This rock wasn''t cut by conventional means, its a spatial cut." "Like yours." "Like Warp Gate," he looks to Jeanist. "Show me the map of the trail those hikers said they were on." "Here," Jeanist shows them all the map, and Horizon immediately notices something wrong. "That''s over ten miles away, they literally can''t see or atleast identify viins from this far out, especially not since they''d be walking at ground level in the forest." "You think they lied?" Endeavor asks. "Hmm, anywhere Kurogiri is, I''d have to be, its a simply way to control what region I operate within." "But there wasn''t anything they''d want from your location tonight," Ryukyu says. "Unless---" "All Might," Endeavor says. "I''ll call Nezu, there isn''t anything here, and if they removed me to send him at Yagi then he''s probably enough to deal with UA, even with Eraser Head there," Horizon says as he calls up Nezu. "Him?" Ryukyu looks confused. Horizon just points to the upturnt dirt at their feet, "this wasn''t a battlefield, its a footprint, the league has some kind of giant they''re confident in. You should call Pantu, tell her it was a distraction." Endeavor nods and immedaitely begins making the call. But even as Horizon was speaking to Nezu, he had to withold information. All For One mentioned Gigantomachia to him, it was obvious that he saw that viin as second only to him among viins, and the name was a dead giveaway. He just hoped UA could hold out until he got there, because he couldn''t reveal that he knew any more than he told them, even if that means Yagi has to die to keep his secrets. ---Hiroshima, 9 PM... Standing out on the balcony at All Might''s tribute g, Pantu had her phone to her ear with a dozen security officers around her. "How sure are you?" She asks Endeavor through the phone. "I agree with Horizon, its the most logical move to deal a blow to our society, killing All Might and destroying UA in one fell swoop." Pantu barely thinks about it for a moment, "alright, I''ll contact the others and have them prepare to defend UA until you and Horizon get there to finish the fight, but Endeavor." "Hmm, yes?" Pantu doesn''t even look conflicted at what she was about to say, "if ites down to it, don''t sacrifice yourself for All Might, for anyone." "What?!" "Listen, this is the one thing he was never very good at, but you need to stop thinking as a regr hero and start thinking like our new #1. Losing him would hurt, but we can recover from losing a already retired hero than losing our new #1, there isn''t exactly a list past you to fill that role." "We have one more, and I''ve already urged you to simply give him a full Pro Hero License, UA is a waste of his time, he could be saving lives." Pantu shudders at the thought, Japan could handle the League of Viins. But she wasn''t sure they could survive Horizon. "Rules are rules for a reason, I won''tpromise them for anything, even fo----" "What the hell?!" One of the security officers exims, causing Pantu to give him an annoyed look before tracking his gaze to the sky above the city. Looking up she sees arge purple cloud, a Warp Gate opening a few blocks away from this very building. Above the city, looming above the innocence below. "HEROES!" Shigaraki''s deep and angry voice rings through the city from the Warp Gate. "Endeavor?" Pantu asks. "I can hear it, keep the call open." "False defenders of hypocrites! Monsters no different from me, but allowed to exist because your government deems your violence as profitable! Government sponsored thugs and killers! And now two guests havee to this fraudulent nation of false idols, two kings of their ownnds, visiting the kingdom of a fallen lord, a broken symbol!" "How far away are you two?" Pantu asks. "Horizon flew ahead but he''s atleast two hours away, we aren''t even at UA yet ourselves." "Now to wee these visitors to our unfair society, to greet them by letting them revel in their true violent nature. Your two Kings, against our Rook!" Shigaraki''s voice stops for a moment, then All For One''s sickly and deep voice echoes like thunder across the skyline. "Gigantomachia, as Shigaraki says," the pre-recorded messagemands. "Kill Buakaw and Hodori! Show the other nations how hospitable thisnd truly is!" "R?????????A??????????????????A???????????????????A????????????????????????????????????????A???????????????????????????????????R?????????????????????????????????????????W????????????????????????W??????????????????????????????????W??????????????????????????W?????????????????!??????????????????????!??????????????!?????????????????????????????????????" A thundering roar causes most of the city to recoil in terror as something leaps out of the Warp Gate. A giant with slightly tan skin, only standing at 12m tall as hends into a nearby skyscraper like a cannonball, brining down the entire building and killing hundreds through sheer destruction. The quakes shake her, and dust block Pantu''s view, then the screams and destruction truly begin. "Get here, now," even now her voice remainspletely cold as she speaks to Endeavor. Beyond her line of sight the fight instantly begins as nearby heroes throw themselves at the monster. Before long Machia is already growing, now standing at 20 meters tall, a hulking frame with a mound of muscle on his back, like a living mountain. A body covered in rough skin and a head of spiky brown hair. And most importantly, specially made pants that expand with him. And as a few insignificant Pro Heroes were feebly trying to poke the giant, he stands up straight and leans back, taking in a deep breath through his nose. "Heroes!" Machia screams as he immediately drops down to all fours and charges directly at Buakaw and Hodori''s scent. "Ma''am we need to leave," one of Pantu''s security agents urges her as she scowls at the path of destruction moving toward her, tearing through multiple buildings. "Get those two out of here first, before they---" she says, only to be met by her worst case scenario to be reality. "We aren''t leaving, he only wants us, evacuate the others," Buakaw says, already standing behind her. And by the time she turns around he simply jumps off the roof toward the fight. "C''mon," Hodori gives her a yful look, "did you really think we''d take that nobat order from our countries seriously, in a situation like this? Who cares what some stuffy people in suits want, we''re heroes." "No, we can''t afford to---" "You worry too muchdy," Hodori cackles as he leaps off the roof. "Its time to have some fun!" Pantu could feel her blood pressure rising by the second, keeping her stone faced fa?ade as the battle begins. And only a few streets away in a dust cloud, a sh of gold causes her to squint as Machia is sent tumbling down the street. And all the tremors caused by Buakaw''s punch didn''t make her feel any better, especially when Machia gets back up and charges back in. ''These idiots, having a few thousand people die is nothingpared to the consequences of having them fight, even if they win...I really wish we had another All Might,'' Pantu thinks. And just like that, the next stage in All For One''s glorious n begins, another domino is set... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 135: (From The Old Era) Chapter 135: (From The Old Era) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- The road cracks below Buakaw''s feet as hends upon it, having leapt from the skyscraper a few streets away. Standing like an obelisk in the street mobs of people run past him to get away from the iing viin. With each of Gigantomachia''s steps, the ground trembles, people be more scared, and by the second, more people abandon their vehicles and flee on foot, desperate to get ahead of the destruction. "HERO!!!!" Machia''s voice shakes the city as he crashes through a building, locking eyes with Buakaw, who doesn''t even flinch. As the Machia rushes forward, on all fours he''s already standing at 20 meters tall -65ft-, Buakaw takes careful steps toward him, ignoring all the civilians around them. Machia growls and raises his hand as he arrives in front of Buakaw, ready to m down and tten the hero. ''Virya: Art of Eight Limbs!'' BOOM! A sudden burst of golden light blinds everyone as Machia is sent careening down the street, rolling multiple times before crashing into a 5 story building, copsing it atop him. The shockwave clears out the street, sting away all the rubble and even vehicles, causing even more coteral damage. Terrifying the crowds of people that were only standing meters away, but even as the golden light blinded them and the st cleared the street. They werepletely unharmed. As the dust clears Buakaw is standing with both his arms glowing golden, brimming with energy from his Quirk, Virya. A solid-energy emitter Quirk. He rips off the top of his robe to show his perfectly sculpted muscles, golden rivers of power glowing between them, showing off the definition even more. And around him, all the civilians that would be dead are trapped in glowing blue bubbles of energy. Buakaw doesn''t even bother to nce at the people trapped in the Hymn Of Protection, the signature move of Thand''s Head Priestess, his wife. Machia only takes a second to get back on his feet, shaking his head slightly from the punchs he took, too fast for him to even realize what really happened. As Machi charges yet again, his Quirks now take full effect. And Buakaw matches his rush, meeting him in the middle. As they''re rushing Buakaw notices some strange things about his opponent. ''He''s growing...'' Buakaw notices Machia grow to 22 meters -72ft- in a matter of seconds. His Gigantification Quirk adapting to the surprising power of his opponent. Machia ms down with his right hand to tten Buakaw, only for the hero to leap up to his face andnd a strong right, to his jaw, the exact same ce as before. But this time Machia stands his ground. ''He''s tougher now?'' His Quirk, Fierce Gains, allows his muscles and skin to harden to exceptional levels. Inbination with Pain Blocker and Energy saver, this makes Machia a tank that has to be dealt with sooner rather thanter, because the longer you fight the stronger he gets, and in a match of attrition, his primary Quirk will ensure his victory. "RAARRRWWW!" Taking the hit to his chin Machia doesn''t waste any time bringing up his other hand and swatting Buakaw out of the air. As the bubbles containing the civilians are floating away Machia ms his hand into the road, breaking through to the sewer below, but Buakaw isn''t there when he raises his hand. "This doesn''t seem like regr Gigantification," Hodori says, catching Machia''s attention. Looking to the side he sees both heroes standing therepletely unharmed, at thest moment Hodori used his astonishing speed to get Buakaw to safety, fashionablyte as always. "The league has those Nomu monsters, this is likely the same situation," Buakaw says as they rush forward. "Let''s tear him apart!" Hodori yells out as his shoes tear apart, his feet and hands transform into ws with white fur, his teeth be fangs and his eyes shift into a bright red while the hair on his head bes wild, the white appearing as if it were glowing slightly. "No!" Buakaw says as they dodge and weave through Machia''s attacks, "lead him to the park!" "RARGH!" Hodori doesn''t even form words to respond, instead leaping up to Machia''s neck and punching at his jugr, ws first. CRACK! His hand reaches up to his palm into Machia but the size of his opponent and the toughness of his skin makes the injury irrelevant. Hodori removes his hand and just barely leaps away in time to avoid being swatted, looking down at his broken ws, covered in Machia''s blood, already regrown by the time hends. "Fine!" Hodori relents, deciding to ''y nice''. ''Virya Shot: Rapid Fire!'' A dozen fist-sized shots of golden energy hit Machi in the face, slightly annoying him and pulling his attention from Hodori toward Buakaw. "You''re supposed to be hunting us, soe get us," Buakaw says as he does a dozen more punches in the blink of an eye, eachunching another shot of energy. He immediately takes off toward the nearest park, trying to find an open space so that they may really fight. Hodori falls into step beside him as they run, all the while a walking natural disaster is giving chase behind them. "Can''t you just knock him out?" Hodori asks. "I need space if I''m to do that, and against someone like this we don''t know what other Quirk he could be hiding, we need to make sure he doesn''t have any more tricks to surprise us with." Only a few secondster at their immense speed, they arrive at Hiroshima''s Atomic Memorial Park, seeing that it''s already been evacuated. This gives them a few city blocks worth of space which they don''t have to worry about. And as they turn around to face the viin... ''What the hell?'' they both think at once, nowying eyes on the transformed Gigantomachia. Standing at 25m -82ft-, the mound of muscle on his back now transformed into massive spikes across his back. His hands were now adorned with gargantuan ws and anotheryer of tougher armor. His jaw detached and reinforced before sliding up above his eyes to protect his face, and his teeth became sharper and tougher, as well as growing tworge tusks from the bottom of his mouth. Quirk: Mole. A transformation Quirk that gives the user the properties of a Mole, allowing better burrowing and digging, higher mobility, enhanced senses, and toughness. Combined with his Quirk: Dog, this makes it possible for him to pick up a scent from hundreds of miles away, effectively if someone is on the same continent they will eventually be found by him, and if he already has their scent, they can''t even hide. BOOM! The sound barrier shatters as Machi brings down his wed hand to crush the two heroes. Hodori immediately dashes away, understanding your limits is important, especially to survive as a top pro. His quirk is good in physicalbat but not meant for slugfests like this. Atleast not at this level. But Buakaw...he''s always been this type of monster. A kind and gentle man for 99% of his life, thest person to start or escte a fight. But this is the 1%, this, is Buakaw in the ring. ''Virya: Art of 16 Limbs!'' Hodori nces back to see the hand m down on Buakaw, as a golden light is released from his body. BOOM! The entire park shatters, and all the surrounding buildings begin crumbling from the force of this impact. Hodori is careful not to lose his footing, staying on guard for any surprise viins joining the fight. But Buakaw is standing strong, beneath the giant''s hand that never touched the ground. Buakaw had his arms up against the palm, caught by his sheer physical power as his body glows. And his 6 arms match Machia''s strength. "RAARGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!" Buakaw''s scream rips through the air as he tosses Machi toward the other end of the park, sending the giant tumbling and tearing up the area. Hodori takes a step back in surprise, not by the power he just witnessed, everyone knows Buakaw is a monster in the ring. But from the anger and hate-filled expression on the kind man''s face. As Buakaw hunches down and rushes forward, the 4 additional glowing golden arms protruding from his shoulders and back begin tounch energy shots with each punch as he closes the distance. The solid-energy arms match his flesh and blood arms perfectly, the sight was something that very few people ever experienced fighting against, and none have eversted more than one round against it. Buakaw leaps up and meets Machia''s fist with his 3 right fists, the impact knocks both men a few meters back before they charge once again. Shutting off their brains and just fighting. And to Hodori, no matter how rxed and calm he tried to remain, to contain his instincts, to fight his nature, to reign in his Quirk. The gleeful expression on his face told apletely different story. "This is...so much fun!" He screams out as his shirt and pants begin tearing apart. White fur begins growing out from his body as it begins bulking up, ck stripes flowing across it as he takes his hybrid form. His eyes focus in on Machia as all his fur stands on end and his tailes out. Quirk: Tiger, a transformation that allows the user to do anything a tiger can but magnitudes better. Of all the Pro Heroes, the second most powerful animal transformation Quirk. Only beaten by America''s #3 Pro Hero, the man with, at the moment, the strongest punch in the world. Hodori''s roar rips through the park, but both the otherbatants are too focused on each other to notice. Until a white blur ms into Gigantomachia, knocking him onto his side and disrupting the stalemate. And as these monsters continue to fight, the news helicopters and drones are recording everything, the fight to officially end an era... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 136: (To The New Era) Chapter 136: (To The New Era) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- ---2 Minutes 40 Seconds Remaining... Machia gets back up and charges into the fight once again, only to be hit in the back of his head by Hodori. As his face is sent toward the floor Buakaw crouches down and focuses even more energy on his arms. ''Virya Blitz!'' As if the world entirely froze, with Machia''s face only inches away from him, Buakaw unleashes two thousand punches so fast that it once again appears as a golden burst of light. BOOM! The shockwave from all the punches isbined into one because they effectively happened simultaneously. Machia isunched into the air and ms onto his back. As he''s on the floor Hodori crunches into a prowler''s stance, rocketing forward, destroying the ground at his feet and the sound barrier in his way as he shes at Machia''s jugr once more. This time up to his forearm sinks in, but then he immediately withdraws his arm and leaps away as the giant swats at him. Seeing the iing hand he leaps up and kicks it away, but Fierce Gains is working overtime now. The same Quirk that had Machia''s skin and muscle toughen around Hodori''s arm moments ago, trying to crush it to pieces in the wound. Also causes the giant''s entire body to harden even more. And Hodori''s kick connects to barely do any damage, only knocking the arm away. Feelingpletely pissed off by the toughness of his opponent, Hodori''s muscles bulk up as he goes further into his transformation. His ws now begin glowing red as his eyes leave a red trail of light with every movement. "JUST DIE!" Hodori screams as he charges forward and punches Machi in the head. A flurry of relentless blows that would make almost anyone into a corpse. The wind and tremors from his attack has rubble and debris blowing toward the edges of the battlefield. "Together!" Buakaw screams as hees down rocketing into Machia''s forehead, six arms crashing down like thunder. ---1 Minute 10 Seconds Remaining... Flying across Japan on his hoverboard, Horizon has left the other heroes behind simply because they couldn''t fly as fast, or as far. Looking at the fight being projected into his visor, he''s on the phone with Nezu discussing exactly what is going on. "Are you sure UA is safe?" Horizon asks. "Completely, this is Shigaraki trying to take a ce on the international stage." "By killing two #1 Pro Heroes?" Horizon asks. "Sounds like a fast way into the grave." "Hmm, in most cases yes. If a #1 Hero dies in his own country that''s fine, but to have one die in another country would be a massive blow to that country, and demand retaliation. This is why most viins don''t attack heroes when they travel abroad. If Buakaw or Hodori die in this battle then the United Nations Hero Department will have to send heavy hitters to Japan to wipe out the league. Because allowing Shigaraki to exist after something like that would simply make all heroes look weaker, and potentially set the precedent for him to hunt down their top Pro Heroes one day." "I still don''t see how this is a win for him," Horizon says. "Nobody can deal with Star and Stripe knocking on their door, even with Gigantomachia..." They see Buakaw and Hodori still trading blows with the viin, but this time the fight strays out of the park slightly as Machi knocks Buakaw through some building a few blocks away. But Hodori takes center stage to draw all eyes onto him for Buakaw to get back in the fight. "True," Nezu says. "But that may not be the point." "What do you mean?" "Well, he doesn''t have to get everyone after him, he simply has to show that he''s willing and capable of atleast starting the fight, even if it''s only until Star and Stripe enters the battle." "So this is all a publicity stunt, a show of force?" "Possibly...but either way, I fear that Japan is already in shambles. The fact that a viin feltfortable enough to attack our guests, and our Top Pros weren''t around to help, it''s a bad look." "So on the international stage---" "We''re on our own, that much is already certain..." ---15 Seconds Reaming... With Machia constantly getting up no matter how much they try to rattle his brain, Buakaw and Hodori are more annoyed that exhausted. And for the first time in his life, Buakaw was actually concerned about the bell, this round was about to finish, and the fight wasn''t anywhere near over. With a low growl, he leaps away from the battle, leaving Hodori to deal with Machia for a moment. Making a fist with each hand he covers his chest, the intense golden glow from his arms bes much brighter, and all eyes fall to Buakaw as he unleashes something he hasn''t been forced to use in decades. "Virya Burst!" he releases a blood-chilling battle cry as he flexes his arms, now bulked up with seemingly intricate golden armor covering them. His arms are many times bigger, with golden energy pouring off of them, an intimidating yet inspiring sight. Thand''s Pride in full effect. "RARGH!" he screams out and flies forward, not leaping or running, flying, propelled by his own energy. Before Machia can react the golden meteor ms into him, causing a shockwave sorge that it knocks Hodori and the news helicopters that were high above away. 14 As Machi is thrown through the air Buakaw elerates, flying below Machia and punching upward with his left arms. BOOM! 13 Another golden explosion sends the giant flying 15m -50ft- into the air, only for Buakaw to continue. 12 BOOM! Another uppercut as Buakaw soars above the nearby buildings. 10 BOOM! With another uppercut, Machia feels his brain rattling around his skull, seconds in and out of consciousness. 8 And finally, as they''re 90m -300ft- above the ground, instead of an uppercut Buakaw holds onto Machi. 6 "Virya Toss!" "RARRGHHH!" Bothbatants roar as Buakaw spins Machia and tosses his down toward the city, copsing everything for hundreds of meters. His absolute faith in his wife and the other heroes allows him to fight recklessly. 4 "VIRYA CRASH!" Buakaw screams as he rockets down, like a golden beam of light, sent by the heavens to smite this viin. The ensuing shockwave causes damage which they''re be trying to calcte for months toe. And when the dust and light dissipate, Buakaw is standing on Machia''s chest, panting heavily, slouched over, arms bleeding and hanging at his sides. 0 His Quirk entirely shut off, all the golden power now gone. Because his Quirk can onlyst for 3 Minutes in stage 2 -the six armed state, The Art Of 16 Limbs-. After this, he needs time to reset, and the more energy he uses in that time, the longer the reset. But nobody has eversted more than 1 round, or even more than 1 minute against that state. Looking at Machia, they see his eyes rolled back in his head as he lies unconscious. Buakaw takes careful breaths, his body aching as he tries to move, to look strong, another clean knockout. But unfortunately, this is Gigantomachia, he''s the furthest thing from ''normal''. He was the blueprint for the Nomu, and even now they can''t properly replicate this sess in another subject. He''s just different, and it''srgely thanks to his own original Quirk. Hodori''s primal instincts feel this in effect, and he immediately rushes in. ENDURANCE! R????????????A????????????????????W????????????????W???????W?????????R???G????????????????G?????????H????????????!?????????????????!????????????????????????? Machia''s eyes snap back to focus and re directly at the powerless Buakaw. Machia immediately ms his hand onto his chest to stter Buakaw, but Hodori had already begun moving and thankfully gets him out of there. "What the hell, a second wind?" Buakaw asks as Hodori sets him down at the edge of the battlefield. Both heroes watch Machia get up as if he had another adrenaline surge, the lingering injuries remaining, thankfully he can''t heal. But his stamina just seemed endless...because, in some ways, it was. Quirk: Endurance, converts morale into energy. In simple terms, his superpower is to never give up, to be relentless, and to fulfill his master''s order no matter what. And with a one-track mind like Gigantomachia''s, he''s a perpetual motion machine while on task. "Tch, do we wait for someone with a more suitable Quirk?" Hodori asks, ncing at Buakaw who was trying to save his energy. "Horizon is still atleast an hour away, and Endeavor is even further, we need to end this," Buakaw says. Forcing himself to stand on his own. "Can you?" Buakaw looks at Hodori, then at Machia who was staring at them, clearly hurting but about to start charging anyway. "Time..." "You''ll have it," Hodori says as he takes a few steps forward, standing between both men. "Tch, I hope this doesn''t scare thedies too much," he grumbles. The sound of his bones cracking and breaking reaches Buakaw as Hodori''s body begins expanding and bulking up even further. The white fur covered his entire body as the ck tiger stripes spread out. In a matter of seconds, he takes his full regal white tiger form, and his stripes begin glowing slightly, flickering red like his ws as he stands on all fours. Before they be solid red, overflowing with primal power. Standing at 3m -9ft- at shoulder height. "Hodo---" Buakaw''s words are cut short as Hodori turns around and swipes at him, thankfully the man inside the beast control it just enough for the attack to miss. Buakaw stumbles back, keeping his eyes on Hodori, now realizing why the hero would rather die than use this form in most cases. Without someone powerful enough to warrant it''s full attention, everyone bes a target. And when you''re the most powerful person in your country, that''s not a risk you can take. "HEROES!" Machia screams out, thankfully causing Hodori''s attention to snap to him instead. Hodori leaps forward as Machia charges, but onlynds a few meters away from Buakaw before taking a low stance. Buakaw can feel the air being pulled into Hodori''s massive and powerful lungs, almost pulling him off his feet. "GRRRR RRAAARRR!" Hodori''s roar hits like the st wave from a nuke. Tearing apart the entire park to such an extent that it was dug out for a few meters. People for miles in every direction were forced to cover their ears. And even further beyond that, the frequency of his roar caused living things to be paralyzed with fear. Keeping the roar going he sees Machia trying to power through it. Even as his eyes rupture and explode out of their sockets. Even as his blood vessels begin to burst and pop. Even as his eardrums instantly shattered, thanks to his enhanced senses. But Gigantomachia could still smell them,boring against the st wave he digs in his ws, moving barely a few steps within a minute. And after five minutes, Hodori finally reaches his limit. Feeling his lungs burning and tasting his own blood in his mouth he''s forced to stop his constant roar. The tiger shakes its head and sways for a moment, feeling lightheaded before standing strong, only to see Machia speeding up his approach. And Hodori immediately prepares to do that all over again. Until a golden light shines behind him. "Virya: The Art Of 108 Limbs!" Looking behind him Hodori is truly humbled by the magnificence of Buakaw''s strongest attack. Standing in a prayer stance with his hands together, a manifestation of his prayer beads made of the same energy float around his neck. His solid white eyes are glowing a radiant gold as 100 solid-energy arms are spread out behind him, protruding from his back to make arge circr shape. Hodori, now reverted back to his hybrid form, immediately gets out of the way as Buakaw begins moving his hands. Slowly and deliberately shifts his right hand into a fist while the left is t with the palm facing forward, and all the arms behind him copy his right hand. And as Machi makes his final approach... "Virya: Enlightenment," Buakaw says in the softest and mostpassionate voice. Inviting his foe into a new life... RRIIINNNNGGGGG!!!!! The sharp ringing caused by all the energy released into the air travels for miles in every direction, and it''s immediately followed by a wave of light that outshines the moon in the sky. And all that''s left is Gigantomachiaying on his back in a 100m wide glowing golden crater, and as that glow too fades, the broken giant is finally defeated. Buakaw feels all his energy gone, he''d need atleast a week before he can use his Quirk again, but this victory was seemingly worth it. Hodori stands beside him at the edge of the crater, sporting a few new injuries which were very slowly healing, he stood a bit too close to the st zone. The world cheers for these heroes, and the greatest battle that never should have been, but they couldn''t even enjoy a moment of victory... ''Warp Gate'' A flood of purple mist swarms the crater, enveloping Gigantomachia and whisking him away before they could capture him. But as the Warp Gate shrinks, it projects Shigaraki''s voice far and wide for the city to hear. "Nngh," he gives an annoyed growl, then calms down. "You people really call us monsters, when you worship people like that, what a bad joke. But atleast now we have a baseline...Machia will be ready next time..." A lethal promise to the world. And just like that, All Might''s era of peace in japan is officially over, and the age of chaos begins once more... END CHAPTER--- Volume 5 is officially over! Chapter 137: (Japans 3 Powers) Chapter 137: (Japan''s 3 Powers) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- At an undisclosed location, Shigaraki was currently sittingfortably on a couch ying on his phone. Taking his role as the now true leader of the League Of Viins seriously, after being forced to grow up since All For One was locked away he''s slowly bing someone his master wouldn''t be ashamed of. Standing behind the couch to his left is Kurogiri, dutifully waiting for the signal for this meeting to begin. At as his other side is Spinner, his right-hand man who was currently also ying on his phone, in a racing game with his boss. In front of Shigaraki is a coffee table with an identical couch on the other side, and a momentter Kurogiri receives the signal that the intended guest is ready. "Master," Kurogiri says. "Dabi has sent the signal." "Tch, just when I was about to win," Shigaraki groans, but immediately puts his phone away. "We can have a rematchter," Spinner says with a light chuckle, always one to enjoy time with his friend. But as the Warp Gate opens across from them he immediately puts on his most intimidating face. As intimidating as anky lizard man with a ''greatsword'', -which is just a collection of smaller knives stuck together-, can be. The first out of the Warp Gate was Dabi, their resident half-burnt Elementalist. Blue mes that are stronger than his father''s, but even Endeavor doesn''t know his son is alive. Only Dabi knows this truth. His usual ck leather trench coat was missing, and his body had some shallow gashes, his entire torso exposed to show all the burnt skin usually hidden away. Ignoring his state he justzily walks to the side of the room as the next person walks out of the Warp Gate. Himiko Toga, their resident blonde school girl, her uniform sttered in blood and her hair loose to flow down her back instead of the usual two messy buns. Tentatively licking her lips that were still dripping blood. As their infiltrator she had the leastbat of everyone, and made it out nearly wlessly. "Some of those guys were real weirdos ''Shigi!" Toga whines as she skips off to the side to stand beside Dabi. The next person to walk out of the Warp Gate was their resident S-ss threat. One of three in Japan''s History. By definition, an S-ss individual is someone that can overthrow a small nation singlehandedly. Being powerful helps, but what''s most important is having some unquantifiable X-Factor. This is why, even with all their power, people like Endeavor, Buakaw, Hodori, and even Gigantomachia aren''t S-ss. They have the firepower but can''t feasibly suppress an entire country. All Might was S-ss simply because of his power, endurance, speed, and stamina. His powerset is simple but it''s so far beyond the scope of normal that he punched his way into this list. Star and Stripe as well as Horizon are S-ss by default, it simplyes with the territory of their Mystery ss status. And the absurd shows of power certainly clear any doubt. But with All Might gone, Japan now only has 3, still more than the rest of the worldbined. Horizon, All For One. And Japan''s 3rd is who walks out of the portal next--- "Heyooo!" Twice saunters out cheerfully,pletely unharmed. His Quirk: Twice, allows him to copy himself or another person that he''s touched and has the measurements of, these copies can make additional copies which be progressively less durable, but they can all use the Quirk of whoever they copy. There is no numerical limit to this Quirk, a potentially infinite one-man army. Wearing his ck skin suit with white stripes he''s followed by two copies of himself, holding a bloody and battered Kai Chisaki -Overhaul- by his forearms, stopping him from using his Quirk. As the copies drop Overhaul into the seat opposite Shigaraki, the viin looks at his new associate. Standing at 5ft10 -179cm- Overhaul was a thin man, currently wearing a battered white t-shirt and green jacket with ck cks. His brown hair was matted to his head by his own blood and the usual gue doctor mask knocked off his face, exposing his broken nose. Even with his seemingly almighty Quirk, he barelysted a few seconds against Shigaraki''s bodyguard, against Gigantomachia. ''Kai Chisaki, Overhaul, how far you''ve fallen...'' Shigaraki thinks, recalling how proud the man was during the meeting they had with all Yakuza heads. "WAKE UP!" one of the copies yells and smacks Overhaul on the head, startling him awake. "Huh!" Overhaul''s eyes immediately narrow as he sees Shigaraki across from him, but he notices Spinner and Kurogiri as well. He immediately drops down in his seat, leaning forward to m his palm onto the floor, broken fingers and all. One touch to the floor and he''d be able to break it apart, break the entire room apart and reassemble it however he wants, instantly killing everyone. But the moment his hand was about to touch the ground, he stopped, saving his own life. Directly below his palm had suddenly be a sickly grey and begun falling apart, Decay. "How about you just settle down so we can sort out the details..." Shigaraki suggests, his tone casual and rxed. Overhaul''s eyes follow the Decay spot, running along the trail crossing the floor between them and leading up the side of the couch, directly to where Shigaraki''s arm was on the armrest. ''Since when was his control this good?'' Overhaul wonders, noticing only this one part of the couch affected, control simr to his own. But Decay is a destruction that Overhaul cannot undo, touching that spot would have been fatal. Narrowing his eyes at Shigaraki, Overhaul widely sits back on the couch, looking around, not seeing Gigantomachia thankfully. "Alright, what do you want?" Overhaul asks. Shigaraki rxes back into his seat, "the same deal as before, but...a bit steeper this time since you made my friends have to do some work. You really should have agreed like all the other viin organizations. You''re the only Yakuza faction that was dumb enough to try and resist after all..." Overhaul is angered by hearing the Yakuza openly mocked, but bites his tongue. "Your demands?" Overhaul asks. "You''ll be transferring some of your earnings to us, and of course be acting as our eyes and ears for certain things. Compress will give you the details when he gets back. Normally that''s the extent of it, but your payments will berger than most simply because you made us go through the hassle of teaching you where you stand in my new world order, but..." Shigaraki opens his hands to Kurogiri, who drops a single red bullet into his palm, tipped with a needle. Carefully holding it between his fingers to avoid the needle, Shigaraki looks past the bullet and toward Overhaul. "These Deleter Rounds," Shigaraki says. "Somehow you figured out how to temporarily destroy Quirks, how close are you to making the effect permanent?" "...." Seeing Overhaul being difficult, Shigaraki leans forward and pokes the coffee table with one finger, and a slow Decay trail begins moving from his single fingertip, across the table, down the leg, to Overhaul''s foot. "A few more weeks," Overhaul cracks and answers, and Shigaraki leans back once more. "Hmm," Shigaraki hands the bullet back to Kurogiri. "I''ll send some Nomu to protect the room you keep these in, for protection, and to keep and eye on the supply. Don''t want you to get any stupid ideas. You can use the Radio Nomu we''ll be sending tomunicate with us if something happens, I''ll also be giving you a few more for muscle since these bullets are useful. But keep them in your underground hideout, if anyone knows you have a Nomu then---" "Horizones running to investigate," Overhaul says. "I get it." "Whatever, those are your instructions, wee to the new world order, you Yakuza thugs are much better put to use under me, you should be happy." Overhaul furrows his brow, unable to hold his tongue, "the Yakuza is a proud organization, we''re a staple in Japan''s underworld. With All Might gone we could have taken over Japan." "Then why didn''t you?" Shigaraki asks, almost jokingly. Twice and Toga can''t help but chuckle at bit, desperately trying not to interrupt the meeting. "Because---" "Because you don''t realize that things aren''t the same as when All Might was around, even with him gone the entire structure of the country has been shaken up." Overhaul sits back to listen, curious as the what Shigaraki was talking about. Shigaraki raises three fingers, "Japan currently has 3 Powers controlling it. Before it was just All Might at the top, but now there isn''t that one Symbol above everyone else. The first, is the Hero Public Safety Commission. They have all the heroes and the police, their heavy hitter is Endeavor, he''s too much for any viin but Machia and some of our more specialized Nomu to deal with, atleast in their current states. The second, is the League Of Viins. We control the Nomu as produce them. We also now control all of the Yakuza and any noteworthy gang or viin in the country. Our heavy hitter is Gigantomachia, he''s too much for any one hero to handle and everyone knows it. Plus we''ve got Twice to cause serious problems if needed. See how it works, All Might was so powerful he could bulldoze anyone, so Heroes ran rampant during his time. But now Endeavor acts as a counterbnce to keep the other side in check. But Endeavor isn''t really that big of a concern when we''ve got Machi, its the 3rd faction that I''ll be using your technology against. To weaken their supportwork so we can crush them." "3rd faction?" Overhaul questions. "Another viin group?" "No, Nezu, and his champion, his favorite student, Miracle Boy, Horizon..." Overhaul lookspletely confused by that, "he isn''t included with the other heroes?" "Oh no, our sources say he only answers to Nezu, and they seem to have their own agenda that our sources say raises tension with the Commission. I''m making you aware of this because if these bullets go public too soon then both those factions will converge on you, and I''ll lose my secret weapons." "I see," Overhaul takes a second look at Shigaraki, now realizing there was more to him than just destruction, there was a method to the madness after all. He''d never truly follow him, but for now he could atleast see use in the other viins, "but why not attack UA when Horizon is in Tokyo doing hero work, if Nezu is the true leader of that faction?" "Hmm, how do I put this?" Shigaraki scratches his head. "The way I have to give the Nomumands to act, Nezu has to hold onto Horizon''s reigns, apparently he''s a bit...excessive, and obsessive. Having him take orders from someone more gentle is in our best interest. And the time he spends at UA opens up a few days that we can get work done within Tokyo without him suddenly detecting us...somehow." "But if my bullets delete his Quirk, then Gigantomachia can deal with the other Heroes, and game over for them," Overhaul says. "Those bullets won''t work on him," Shigaraki says, catching Overhaul off guard. "It''s one of the many experiments we ran with the blood samples my master collected during their fight in the forest. But don''t you worry about Horizon, we''re working on something to deal with him, you just need to go make my bullets, and keep your head down..." ''So Shigaraki has a way to deal with Horizon, and since my bullets can''t work I should just let him handle that. Then I can just delete all their Quirk and make my clean world. I''ll just need to find another way to administer my cure to Gigantomachia, since my Quirk doesn''t work on him its the easiest way to deal with him.'' "Alright boss," Overhaul says, ying his part. "I''ll leave Horizon to you, and I''ll contact you when the first batch of permanent bullets is ready." Shigaraki looks annoyed at that but just nods, and a momentter Kurogiri warps Overhaul away. Spinner and Shigaraki immediately take a rxing breath, not enjoying having to ''y tough'' in these formal meetings at all. "Are all of you ok?" he asks Dabi, Twice, and Toga. "Doing great!" Twice cheers. "Never better!" Toga joins him. Dabi just rolls his eyes at them and walks out of the room. "Hey Shigi, since when do we have something to deal with Horizon?" Toga asks. "I thought you said to stay far away from him, I mean that''s why we''re all the way in the countryside instead of back in Tokyo, right?" "We don''t have anything yet, atleast nothing that I''m sure has a 100% win rate, but we will." "Really?" Twice asks. "Gigantomachia," Shigaraki says. "Now that the final notable viin organization is under our control, Ujiko can operate on him to add the new Quirks, with those even Horizon can''t stop him. Who knows, maybe he''ll even be strong enough to challenge Star and Stripe..." "One thing at a time master," Kurogiri warns him, because nobody was ready for that fight... BEEP BEEP BEEP! Shigaraki immediately answers his phone, "Compress, what''s going on?" "I''m sorry boss, but I couldn''t recover the item from I-Ind, there was a viin attack while I was sneaking in and the ce became a warzone." "Are you ok?" "Oh, yeah I''m fine, but this mission is a fail." "There''ll always be another mission, head back to the Warp Gate location, Kurogiri will meet you there..." END CHAPTER--- Buakaw and Hodori were pat.reon OCs (requested by Dante), ideally nobody could tell, feel free to contact me for more info. And the new volume begins, please leave a review if you haven''t yet :) Chapter 138: (Stretched Thin) Chapter 138: (Stretched Thin) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- After nearly 70 Hours of non-stop Hero work, Horizon is walking down the sidewalk of Tokyo, feeling mentally and physically exhausted. The lunchtime crowd was looking at him, as if unsure of if this was. Horizon rarely ever walks around on the street because of the crowds that always swarm him, and as peoplee to their senses, he seemingly randomly walks into the street. Even after days of constant Hero work, his Hero Costume was perfectly clean -aside from the gloves-, even if the man below desperately desired a shower and nap. Horizon raises a hand and casually signals for the cars on the street to stop. "Clear the street for a minute please, Hero stuff!" he yells out as he stands in the middle of the road. Everyone looks around, not seeing anything out of the usual. Only a few people begin moving, others are unsure of what he''s talking about, and a few idiots still take out their phones to ask him for a picture or record whatever they think is about to happen. BANG BANG! Two gunshots ring out, and Horizon just rolls his eyes, yawning below his visor as people finally begin to clear out. This has been the state of Tokyo and the more popted cities for the past 3 days. Ever since Gigantomachia showed the world what happens to any aid they send to Japan, internationalpanies immediately began to withdraw their physical businesses. Investments instantly dropped all across the country. And overnight, a new wave of unemployment struck Japan. And sadly with unemployment,es new would-be viins, because while 99% of people would simply struggle for a while and then get a new job, some bad apples decided to take these drastic measures immediately. All around Japan heroes have been working overtime to put out fires and keep everyone safe and maintain a presence, but the viins, and the new wave of starting viins, are truly relentless. This is the direct consequence of a nation appearing weak on the international stage. If you''re #1 Hero cannot suppress the viin threats within your borders other countries cannot trust you to protect their citizens, investments, or visiting Heroes. And through it all, Horizon is determined to stay on the streets as long as possible. This is the time everyone is looking to anyone to take the lead and hold the country together. All eyes are on two people to aplish this task, two men that have been working non-stop since that night. Endeavor, the acting #1 Hero. And Horizon, who everyone is betting on as their future #1 Hero. So of course he''s out in the public eye trying to soak in as much good publicity as possible. As the street mostly clears out, some people run into stores and record him on the street, as expected. ''Well at least they''re off the street, morons,'' Horizon thinks as he looks around, then looks down the street toward where he hears more gunshots, closer this time. And he senses the chase moving toward him, as predicted. ''Police are right behind them so I shouldn''t have to wait more than a few minutes to get out of here. Finally, I can get some food and sleep then get back to work. Actually, fuck these people, I don''t think I''ll be heading out untilter tonight, I need to rx for a bit. I''m just barely keeping my eyes open right now.'' BANG BANG! Two more gunshots ring out as a car rounds the corner. In the front seat is a woman, leaning out the passenger window and shooting back at the cop cars chasing them. In the driver''s seat is a man entirely focused on driving. And in the back seat is another man firing back at the police. Horizon sees the panicked look on the driver''s face, as he notices Horizon standing in the middle of the street. The man looks terrified as he yells to his aplices, who both look forward to see Horizon and begin yelling at each other. Even from this far away, out of earshot, he could tell they were not infinitely more scared of his appearance on the scene. The woman screams at the driver and points at Horizon as the man in the back seat just continues firing back at the police, missing every shot. She points at Horizon, clearly arguing with the driver, then the man relents and just speeds up. ''Did this bitch just tell him to ram me?'' Horizon wonders. ''Well, I hope she enjoys hospital time...'' As the car is only a dozen meters away from him, fully intending to ram into him at full speed, he raises a hand. TAKT! The entire car stopped, as if the air around it became solid in an instant. CRASH! The woman flies through the windscreen, past Horizon who doesn''t even bother to catch her or soften the fall, leaving her to ragdoll across the street. Grating apart enough skin to disfigure her. Breaking enough bones to put her in the hospital for months, and in a wheelchair for the rest of her life. Unless a certain someone performs a miracle for the shattered nerves in her legs and spine...he wouldn''t. The driver has his nose broken as his face ms into the steering wheel, and while he''sing back to his senses the man in the back seat gets out of the car, stumbling to his feet. As everyone is trying to wrap their minds around what just happened, the policee to a stop two dozen meters away, opening their doors for cover and drawing their guns, but not firing. Horizon was on the scene after all, adding bullets that could potentially hurt civilians into the mix was unnecessary. Eventually, both men stumble out of opposite sides of the car, one holding his head and the other holding his broken nose. The steering wheel itself was warped from the impact. ''Durability Quirk?'' Horizon wonders. Then both of them look past Horizon to the woman, slowly bleeding out,pletely cked out. "Damn it!" The driver yells. "That''s my wife!" Horizon shrugs, "get a smarter one next time..." And both men immediately rush Horizon. The driver raises his fists which seem to glow with orange energy, while the other man transforms his fingernails into meter-long des. Horizon holds the hilt of his sword, still sheathed at his side, then throws it out at the man with des. TAKT: Dancing Sword! Scalpel -Horizon''s sword- flies through the air and begins fighting the man with ded fingers seemingly on its own as Horizon casually walks toward the driver. "Lets wrap this up," Horizon taunts. "ARRRRGHHHHH!" "Exactly," he responds with a chuckle as the driver swings wildly at him, a strong right, sloppy and untrained. The strike of a desperate man with no other options. BOOSTER SHOT! Horizon meets the man with his own strike, and as their fists collide he feels the man''s fingers shatter. Then his wrist buckles. Then the man''s forearm shatters and his shoulder is dislocated. "AHHHH!" the man screams out, only to receive a left hook, knocking him outpletely and leaving him on the street. The sound of steel crossing steel echoes out as Horizon looks down at his fist, seeing some blood on his gloves from this opponent and some wear and tear from the past 70 hours. But he also sees the now familiar blue vapor-like energy radiating from his hand, feeling his mind now at its limit. As if he were standing on the edge of a skyscraper and the hurricane was closing in. Ready to push him off... ''Problems forter...'' he decides, looking toward his sword and its opponent. Even controlled by his TAKT the de was a thing of beauty fighting on its own. ''I guess Sero was right, it''s not very economical so I certainly never would have thought of it...but damn does it look cool, and the media will surely agree.'' Currently, the final opponent was trying to get past Scalpel -Horizon''s sword- to close in on the Hero, but he couldn''t even manage that. Horizon just shakes his head and looks toward the police while walking toward his sword, "I''m done here, you cane and arrest these losers!" "Hey I''m not done yet!" the man says as Horizon now takes his sword back into his hand, standing across from him. Even while he was trembling in fear, he refused to back down, because his friends were on the line. "Yes, you are, Incision." As the ten finger-des sh with Scalpel, unlike all the other shes, this time Horizon''s sword easily cleaves through the man''s Quirk, only stopping at his throat because of Horizon''s perfect control. Feeling the cold metal alloy against his throat the man raises his hands in surrender as the police approach him. On its own Scalpel is just an admittedly unwieldy, heavy, and terribly bnced weapon for most people. But in his hand, with Hand Of God amplifying its attacks, it can easily cleave through such simple things as des. ---12 Minutes Later... Standing behind a police car Horizon is treating one of the officers who was currently sitting on the trunk. And as he takes the bullet out of the man''s shoulder he casually ced a palm on his arm, and the surrounding officers watch in amazement as they can see the injury healing in real-time. "Did anyone else get hurt, is that everyone?" Horizon asks as he gives the man a final check. "That''s it," one of the other men says. "Thanks for this, the guys really appreciate it, having someone looking out for us." "We''re all on the same team," Horizon shrugs. "It''s the least I can do." "Well, we appreciate it all the same." "Likewise, now if you don''t mind I need to go get some food." "Oh, right, you''ve been fighting for days right, I can''t even imagine that..." One of the other men says, causing Horizon to turn and look at him. "How do you know that?" The man looks genuinely surprised at this, "it''s...on the news, and some people online have been trying to figure out when you sleep, sorry I thought you knew....wait, it''s true? That''s crazy." Horizon just shakes his head, hating this Celebrity Hero nonsense more every day, "how can I sleep when viins are hurting people? Anyway, I''m gonna get some fo---" Horizon''s phone immediately goes off, and an emergency alert gets projected into his visor. And everyone hears him respond with a loud groan. "Bank robbery in progress, guess my food will have to wait a while..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 139: (Current Events) Chapter 139: (Current Events) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- SCAN! The first thing Law does when he wakes up, before even opening his eyes. He was currentlyying in bed at his Minato Tokyo penthouse, feeling the details of everything flooding into his mind. 8 km in every direction all at once. All the people in their apartments getting ready for work, and some are already at work starting their day. He even senses some petty crimes happening, but they aren''t his problem yet. BA-DUM! "Ngh!" he groans, feeling the sharp pain in his head that shuts off his Quirk. "Really sick of that..." Looking to his left he sees the sun just about to rise beyond the ocean and just sighs. Another day putting out fires. Thankfully he only really needs an hour of sleep on a regr day, after 74 hours of non-stop hero work he was so tired that he needed four hours. "I can''t believe I''m about to say this, but I miss having All Might running around doing this crap," Law confesses as he gets up, moving toward another day of Hero Work. "Actually, I think I''ll stay in until noon, I''m sick of saving all those losers..." ---9 AM... Sitting in his living room Law is on the couch eating arge bowl of rice and grilled beef. After taking a long morning shower he''s finally enjoying a meal after 74 hours of non-stop work. "I love that Energy Saver Quirk...but nothing beats some good food after working your ass off," to Law the meal tastes like it was the greatest thing he ever ate. Turning on the tv he puts on the HNN -Hero News Network-, and keeps enjoying his food. SHAMBLES! He warps his phone into his hand while he''s eating, receiving a new list of potential patients from Central Hospital. Scrolling through the list of dying people he immediately removes all the adults, not even bothering to look at their files. That leaves only the children. ''Hmm, someone with a Transmutation Quirk? That''s useful, I''ll work on him. Girl with a shapeshifting Quirk, never worked on one of those before. Studying her stem cells could be useful. Kic Energy Absorption...now that''s a Quirk I''d like to study, I''ll add her to the list too.'' After sorting through a few more terminally ill people, Law finds a dozen that have Quirks that could be useful for his personal situation. Studying Quirks simr to this new version of Hand Of God is the best he can do to fill in the knowledge he''s missing. As he''s finishing up his list and sending it to the administration at Central Hospital, however, a certain news story reaches his ears. "A new report has been released regarding the attack on I-Ind two days ago," the reporter announces, and Law''s eyes snap up to look at the screen. Seeing the ind torn up as if someone ripped the buildings out of the ground by the very foundations. They show the tower in the middle of the ind broken in half, the underground railway system was copsed and nearly half of it was actually torn out of the floor and currently rests above ground. As if every piece of metal tried to get up and walk away. "The confirmed casualties number nearly one thousand, with the projected number roughly 1500 persons. I-Ind, even as the center of technology and innovation in the world will need atleast six months to rebuild and recover. Not to mention the 232 Billion Dor cost of repairing the infrastructure of the ind itself. The ind is currently evacuated of anyone that isn''t helping in search and rescue, thankfully another wave of Rescue Heroes has arrived on the ind just this morning, further supplementing the efforts spent over the past two days." "I wonder if Thirteen is there right now," Law mutters as he continues eating. "The viins must have been looking for something on the ind, but that''s an international province so they either have a big backer or a lot of balls to take a swing at that ce. If they stole something big then America might just send Star and Stripe to deal with it...no, no viin is that dumb or strong." As if hearing his spections the report continues, "currently none of the projects on the ind have been reported missing, including those at the main expo venue where the attack took ce. The viin in question, codenamed ''Wolfram'', is presumed to have a Quirk which allows him to control metal. The extent of his power is currently unknown but judging by the destruction shown behind me he is a formidable opponent." The woman pauses for a moment, touching the receiver in her ear, then a sad look washes across her face. "Unfortunately, I''ve just received some unfortunate news," she says. "While we know the viin tried to take David and Melissa Shield captive during the attack, he failed as the entire tower copsed and the nearby Pro Heroes and security forces got involved. Sadly, the epicenter of the explosion, I''ve just been informed is where David and Melissa Shield were. Only some shredded remains of the father and daughter duo were recovered as of moments ago. It seems the world has lost two of its brightest minds during this absolutely tragic and horrific event," the woman is barely keeping a straight face as she speaks. "So did Wolfram was them to build him something..." Law wonders as he tries to make sense of this. "This is the HNN, and we''ll keep you posted on any updates evolving in the world, including this I-Ind attack, stay safe everyone, in these turbulent times." "David Shield," Law sends his list to the hospital and puts down his phone. "He was one of Yagi''s best friends...what a fucked up summer for him. Huh, didn''t even know he had a kid, guess she was a tech genius too. Yeah, I''ll leave all the tech stuff to people like Nezu, not a fan of it." "In more local news," another reporter, this time a man appears on screen with a bar graph behind him. "Since the most recent Hiroshima incident where the League Of Viins, and more notably Gigantomachia plunged the country into an unemployment and financial crisis, breeding a new wave of petty crime and viins. Our Pro Heroes have been working non-stop to contain the chaos and bring back some semnce of order and normalcy." The man gestures to the chart behind him. Endeavor- 287 Horizon- 253 Mirko- 188 Hawks- 159 Best Jeanist- 128 "Here we see the incidents resolved by each Pro Hero and Horizon over the past 80 hours. Clearly, both the Pro Heroes and aspiring heroes have been doing their best to make an impact. But unfortunately, the crime rate is still soaring upward, heading to 19%, a number that hasn''t been seen since before All Might. Some individuals have also noticed that Horizon has been most active during this time, seemingly never sleeping. I just hope he''s alright, because we need him and the other top Pro Heroes now more than ever---" Law shuts off the TV as he finishes eating, seeing a message he''s been waiting on for a while. Giving his estate manager a call. "Mr. Matani," the man greets him, sounding cheerful, because who wouldn''t be cheerful with a billion-dor client calling them? "How may I help you?" "I just saw your update to my properties, you got all of them?" "Each and everyone one, the market in Japan has be quite friendly to those with cash in their ounts such as yourself. We were easily able to buy out the areas you wanted. Starting next week we''ll be shutting down the smaller businesses and downsizing." "Hmm," Law considers it for a moment. "No, don''t downsize, lower have the business managers cut production if needed to keep costs low but don''t fire anyone. I don''t want the rebranding efforts to be undermined by me firing a few thousand people." "But that would cost you---" "Money that I can make back, this isn''t about that. I want people in this country to need me, got it?" "Uh...yes sir, so, legacy?" "Sure, be sure to contact me if you need anything." "Understood sir, have a wonderful d---" Law hangs up. He can''t help but smile after that call, with a wave of unemployment and the economy in shambles, the Matani Estate would be buying any and everything it can. Keeping everyone employed within hispanies would cost him millions if not a hundred million, nothing he can''t make many times over for one full-priced surgery. "Who says you can''t buy loyalty and goodwill," Law chuckles as he swaps over to his Horizon number on the same phone. Requesting an update on a building he''s been eyeing in Minato Tokyo. The All Might Hero Agency, which he''d be buying and turning into a museum. Turning it into his own agency would be a p in the face of the Japanese people, so that''s the worst possible move. Again, buying goodwill. ''Be the most essential cog and the machine will obey.'' BEEP BEEP BEEP! Law sighs, an annoyed look on his face as he raises his phone to his ear. SHAMBLES! His visor is warped onto his head, and the call immediately connects to it. "Kyukyu?" Horizon asks. "It''s Ryukyu," the grumpy dragondy says. "I just got done with a raid here in my city, can I send you a sample of something to identify." "The HPSC has a crimeb for that remember." "They take time and we have missing people to find," Ryukyu says. "Sigh, fine, you can send someone with it." "I''ll have Nejire-chan deliver it." "Timeframe?" "I already have Nejire-chan heading to Tokyo with the sample. I sent her earlier this morning." Horizon sighs, "I guess you decided for me, I''ll meet her at Endeavor''s agency." "Knew I could count on you Miracle Boy." "Ugh," Horizon groans and hangs up at that nickname. Only a few of the Top 10 Pro Heroes has Horizon''s number, and honestly, Ryukyu was among the more professional of them. He''s already had topletely block Mirko on both the Hero Network and her personal number...being bombarded by her demanding a rematch got annoying within minutes. END CHAPTER--- Chapter 140: (Popularity Contest) Chapter 140: (Poprity Contest) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- Within the Endeavor Hero Agency, there are nearly thirty Sidekicks. Acting under Endeavor they operate under his name as support, either within the Agency for investigations or on the field asbat or rescue support. Horizon is currently acting as a Sidekick in ordance with the contract he signed when receiving his Provisional Hero License. It''s not illegal to sign a Provisional Hero to an official agency, its quite rare for such a case to happen. Before Horizon joined the Hero Agency, Burnin was the most famous Sidekick in Japan. But because of her disposition, not wanting the stress of running an entire agency, she''s gotten ratherfortable being in Endeavor''s shadow. But Burnin wasn''t the only person Horizon usurped in poprity. Many ''rookie'' Pro Heroes were forced into his shadow. While Mt. Lady or Kamui Woods may upy the full stage on their own, they''re quickly ignored when Horizon steps onto the same stage. Other students also felt this effect, even if the most affected trio couldn''t care any less. The Big Three, Japan''s top 3 Hero Course students that gain immense poprity during their training time. Currently the most popr of them was Nejire-Chan. Nejire Hado, a 3rd year Hero Course student from UA''s ss 3B. Already signed with Ryukyu''s Hero Agency. Second would be Suneater, Tamaki Amajiki, another 3rd year Hero Course student from UA''s ss 3B. Signed by the Fatgum Hero Agency since his first year. Currently, UA''s 2nd most outright powerful student, if not for the limitations thate with heroics. And finally, Lemillion, Mirio Togata, a 3rd year Hero Course student from UA''s ss 3A. Signed with the Nighteye Hero Agency in his first year. The protege of Sir Nighteye, All Might''s former Sidekick and the leading Hero Agency in terms of investigations. Principal Nezu and Sir Nighteye''s first and only choice to receive One For All from All Might. Modern Pro Heroes truly have their career made or broken based on poprity. With All Might existing there wasn''t enough crime for the 115k heroes to share. And since they mostly get paid by how many incidents are resolved. Merchandise and poprity are what made the heroes that couldn''t respond fast enough or simply couldn''tpete against the top Pro Heroes money so they could live. Bonuses are handed out based on public perception as well, for example, the Pro Hero that boosts the public''s confidence in Pros the most would receive a bonus. Of course All Might has received thergest bonus for the past 35 years, but now that would likely fall to Best Jeanist until Horizon goes pro. Simply put, being strong isn''t enough. If you aren''t marketable you won''t get anywhere. Super Moves certainly help with this and the more shy the better. Being able to actually get to the viins quickly is also important. These are two things Endeavor is better at than any other acting Pro. Charisma is another important factor, arguably the only thing that stopped Endeavor from ever taking the Rank #1 spot from All Might. Even having the world record for incidents resolved and a superhuman work ethic wasn''t enough to match All Might''s inspirational charisma. The benefits of excelling in these categories are immeasurable, and are currently what Horizon is enjoying. After the news reported that Horizon signed a 3-year contract with the Endeavor Hero Agency, many donations and contributions poured in, more than usual. And some of it went toward building the office he was currently sitting in. Behind his fancy desk, looking at the news on hisputer. There was one couch off to the side and two seats on the other side of his desk. As well as a door on either side of the room, not including the door leading out to the open floor where most Sidekicks have their desk setup. The switchboard desk where all iing requests are filtered is also on this floor, while Endeavor''s office is a few floors above on the top floor. Behind Horizon was arge ss wall with Saitama Tokyo behind him, the moon hidden away by the clouds. "Kamui Woods," Horizon mutters as he checks the charts. Seeing this ''rookie hero'' spike in poprity and working overtime to resolve incidents in these past few days. He was also at the League Of Viins raid and captured a dozen grey Nomu. ''He can''t hope to keep up with me, Endeavor, Hawks, or even best Jeanist...but at this rate, he could be in the top 10. Being a part of that raid certainly helps...'' As Horizon is checking up on what other heroes are up to he receives a call. Connecting it to his visor he hears Chitose''s voice, unknowingly talking to the publicity agent for the Meta Liberation Army. "How''s my favorite young hero doing?" Chitose asks. "Busy, waiting for a meeting. What''s got you calling me?" "Well with the entire country in chaos and no heroes having the time or willing to make statements, I was curious if you''d be willing to do a short interview. Maybe help ease public sentiment. You''re not one to be fearful of saying the wrong thing and having people rioting against you after all. So, how about it?" "Have you seen that creepy blog that tracks how many hours a day I''m out working?" "Hey, my blog isn''t creepy!" "Wait, that was you?" "It was done to show people how much the Pro Heroes care about them." "It makes all but the top Pro Heroes look likezy uncaring fucks...certainly doesn''t help that a lot of Heroes immediately migrated away from Japan after All Might retired." "Or they got poached," Chitose says. "But I only report the facts, it''s not my fault or intention if it makes most Pro Heroes look back," true, but that was her agenda. "Yeah, but then you know I''ve been working the most hours, if the people see me sitting in some studio on TV it could cause even more unrest, you''ll atleast have to wait until after this crisis to get an interview." "How about some questions on the record, just over the phone?" "Mmmm, you''ve got a few minutes, go." "All Might, did you know about his thinner form before that night?" She immediately brings out the big questions. But luckily Nezu, Yagi, and Horizon had sorted out exactly what he was allowed to discuss with the media about this. "I''ve been his doctor for a year before joining UA, his health has been in rapid decline for reasons I''m not allowed to discuss before that. All Might literally gave his entire being to protect others and never wanted anyone to know the pain behind his smile. Even as I urged him to retire earlier he simply couldn''t live knowing there were people that needed saving and he had the power to save them, yet didn''t do anything. Heroic to his own detriment." "I see, and about you buying your way into UA because you''re All Might''s doctor?" "No, I showed my capabilities as a potential Pro Hero before Principal Nezu knew I was a doctor, or Mystery ss." "Right, and is All For One rted to you?" "No, he just happens to dress well, as do I. The visor and his mask are a coincidence." "Yet both your visor and his are listed as ''lifestyle support items'', the simrities have people concerned." "We aren''t rted," Horizon growls out. "Right, understood, now..." As their interview continues Burnin stumbles into his office with some cuts across her face and her Hero Costume caked with rubble. The fire on her head was entirely gone -leaving her bald-, needing her to eat and rest before ites back. She''s about to speak, but is silenced as Horizon taps the side of his visor, indicating he''s on the phone. So instead she just walks over to the fridge in his office to get some snacks and a drink, andys down t on his couch. "Final questions now," Chitose says after a few minutes of talking. "Do you think the state of Japan proves what you were saying as correct? That your warning of us depending too much on a single pir has unfortunately been proven true?" "Entirely so, I tried to tell people about it but unfortunately I didn''t expect something like Kamino to happen so soon. I thought we would have had more time to spread the pressure of maintaining the status quo across all Heroes, but life rarely goes as we want." "So you were thinking years ahead of all of us?" "I always am." "Right, and you healed both Buakaw and Hodori after the Gigantomachia even, how was that?" "They''re perfectly fine, no hard feelings at all. They understand viins attack us at our lowest." "And about people and corporations as well as other nations withdrawing from Japan because of that event?" "Would you go somewhere that the government can''t keep you safe?" "Well...no." "Then why should they?" Horizon asks. "We can''t me them because we failed, we just have to do better, and we will." "And do you have any idea of a timeline for some semnce of peace to be restored?" "Hmm," he actually thinks about it for a moment. "This first wave will onlyst another few days at worst, then things should get a lot quieter for a while. After that, it''s just the league and Machia to bring down." Chitose giggles, "you make it sound so easy..." "All I need is time, and I''ll clean up this country." "Right, and finally, are there any Pro Heroes you''ve been impressed by during these hard times?" "No, they''ve just been doing their job, nothing particrlymendable about it, even for myself or Endeavor." "So harsh, alright I think I have enough, I''ll send you a message when the interview is published alright?" "Sure thing," Horizon hangs up. Then he looks over to the couch to see Burnin half asleep after finishing her snack. "Is your call done?" Burnin asks, her usual hyper mood reced by exhaustion. "Yeah, you know you''re the only other Sidekick with an office, right, you can go sleep there." "But you''ve got all the good snacks." "You would too, but you''re just cheap." "No you''re rich, there''s a difference. Besides it''s not like you mind..." "How are you so sure?" "If you didn''t want me here I''d beying in a street somewhere with one Shambles." Horizon just sighs, then gets up from his seat and walks over to her, "what the hell happened to you?" he asks while reaching down and cing a hand on her shoulder. BOOSTER SHOT! The cuts and bruises across her face begin healing at a visible pace. "Penguin viin." "Penguin viin? Really." She opens her eyes to give him an annoyed look, "he could shoot ice from his beak ok, and he had a lot of friends..." "Excuses excuses," Horizon mutters as he gets back to his seat. A momentter he senses someone step into the lobby on the ground floor, takes out a card and throws it forward. SHAMBLES! Nejire-Chan appears in his office, in full Hero Costume. A light green body glove with a turquoise swirl across it. Her blue hair inrge curls reaching past her knees with her bangs swirled into two horns. And as Horizon warps his card back into his hand the girl finally snaps to her senses, realizing what just happened. "That''s so weird? How does that work? Can you see through walls and stuff? Does that make you tired? Is the mask your face?" And a dozen more questions are shot at him before he can raise a hand to silence her. "Can you please just give me whatever you''re here to deliver?" "Oh, right, I''m Nejire Hado by the way, Ryukyu sent me to give you this, it''s super important so I had to secure it!" She reaches into her utility belt and takes out a small green vial. Horizon takes the vial from her and holds it closer to his visor, noticing it just looks like green water. "Oh, are you gonna drink it?!" "No, where''d she find this?" "Oh it was on a smuggler she caught, but he uh...he took some desperate measures to avoid being captured alive ya know," she says in a sad tone. "Makes sense," Horizon says, holding it carefully in his hands. "This kind of thing is gonna be worth a lot of money, the cost of talking would have been a lot more than his life, probably his entire bloodline, assuming he even knew." "OH, you know what it is?" Nejire asks. "Already scanned it," Horizon tosses it over to her, and the girl nearly has a heart attack as she catches it. "You should be more careful!" "It doesn''t work unless it''s injected into your bloodstream, if you drink it then you''ll just get a stomach ache and need to go to a hospital." "What is it?" "A new strand of Trigger, mixed with something a lot more organic, human in fact." "A Quirk?" "Yeah, the user is likely mid-twenties." "You can tell?" "Hormones and other markers make it easy to tell, but this variation is still unstable. If you took it then you''d probably be forced to use your Quirk until it killed you or drained you." Nejire holds the vial a lot more carefully after hearing that. "It was probably headed to a chemist or something, have Ryukyu check where she found this guy or where he was going to and find some leads." Nejire immediately takes out her phone to update Ryukyu, what would have taken atleast a week to solve for a crimeb, and they wouldn''t have been able to find as much info, took Horizon all of 3 minutes. Meanwhile, Horizon gets an alert directly into his visor. "Alright, thanks, I''ll get out of here now, it''s a long trip back to the agency," Nejire says. "Not yet," Horizon says as he gets up, walking around to her. Standing in front of the rather short girl. "You''reing with Endeavor and me to deal with something first, just outside of Tokyo." "Huh?" "Normally we''d have her but," he gestures to Burnin who was asleep on the couch, without her massive fiery hair. "She''s tired and her Quirk is spent, you''re subbing in since most of this agency can''t match your firepower." Nejire giggles at the horrible and unintentional pun, "alright, so what''s the situation?" "We''re hunting the League Of Viins..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 141: (Recruitment Camp Raid) Chapter 141: (Recruitment Camp Raid) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- ---7 PM, LOV Recruitment Vige #17... "Can you turn it down a bit, I''m trying to make a call here," Mr. Compress asks. Currently he, Dabi, Toga, and Spinner were all sitting in the living room of a penthouse, in a small development just outside of Tokyo. Spinner looks away from his video game on the tv, then justplies and turns down the volume. Around and within this building, there were would-be viins arriving over the past week. Waiting to be verified before Kurogiri would warp them to a more secure location. Anotherrge recruitment drive by the League Of Viins. And while the new recruits where waiting to be sorted out by their system, themanders were rxing. Spinner, the right hand of Shigaraki was ying his games on the tv, his greatsword -a cobbled mess of smaller des- was resting beside him. Dabi was sitting on the couch scrolling through his phone, waiting for his special assignment from Shigaraki. Toga was on the other side of the couch, painting her nails bright pink to match her scarf mask. Decked out with a dozen knives, her blood extraction equipment was still equipped. And off to the side, Mr. Compress was on the phone. His mask was currently off to reveal the ckyer below, only showing his eyes and mouth. "Shigaraki, you wanted to speak to me?" Mr. Compress asks as the call finally connects. "It''s about the I-Ind job I sent you on, we''ve hit a snag..." "What kind of a snag? I didn''t even get to the vault before that mercenary group struck, but the schematics say it should have survived the tower copsing." "It did, but the device All For One caught wind of was missing when the scientists took inventory, apparently it''s some kind of weird helmet. Parts of it were found, but the leader of the mercenaries, Wolfram, he got most of it intact." "Hmm, A helmet of all things, when I read the data, Ujiko made it sound like I was sent after a superweapon." "It is," Shigaraki says. "A mechanical Quirk amplification device, and since we only got info on the broken pieces that were found, Ujiko thinks he might be able to reverse engineer some of it." "Hmm," Mr. Compress falls deep into thought. "That kind of device, with the destructive nature of your Quirk, or certain others," he looks over to Dabi. "That could give us a major advantage in theing battles." "We won''t know until you steal the recovered parts and deliver them to the doctor." "Why not steal the schematics?" Mr. Compress asks. "Those died with David Shield, and the man cared oh so much about humanity that he never took notes on these kinds of projects." "I see, alright, when Kurogiri is done with assisting Twice, Dabi, and Magne, he and I can steal the parts." "No Kurogiri, not this time. We don''t know if the mouse developed any technology to sense Warp Gate." "The mouse?" Mr. Compress asks. "Wait...Nezu?" realization finally dawns on him. "Unfortunately th---" "They''re sending the parts to UA, and you''re sending me in since Horizon has never scanned me to know my face or body below the costume." "In this hemisphere, Tartarus and UA are the most secure ces to send that, and apparently David Shield only trusts All Might with this unfinished project," Shigaraki says. "So they went to him in the will." "Hmm, breaking into UA, what a spectacr way to upstage anyone trying to take my spotlight," Mr. Compress chuckles. "I''ll need some time to prepare, and a distraction in Tokyo to keep Mr. Invincible away for a while." "Machia''s surgeries won''t be done for a while longer, but I think some of the more specialized Nomu can cause enough noise." "Good, and if we''re lucky this will make Nezu so nervous that he''ll have to keep him in UA for a few more days in the week, I for one quite miss living within Tokyo." "You can live wherever you want...when we break this country into nothing and rule over the perfect one, rebuilt by our own hands." "Yes sir." "Good, Kurogiri, Dabi, Twice, and Magne should be back in a few---" GRRRRRR! The entire building shakes, causing Compress to stumble and hold onto the wall. Dabi who was just about to fall asleep snaps awake, looking around to see his ss of liquor shaking, catching it just before it falls off the table. "Earthquake!" Spinner yells out and dives atop Toga, intending to protect her from any falling debris. "Ugh you''re squishing me!" she cries out. The sound of concrete breaking thunders out as shelves and dishes fall over, sliding as the entire building tilts. But a few secondster, the shaking stops. "Is everyone alright?" Spinner asks. "Get off of me!" Toga shoves him to the side, finally able to breathe without him crushing her. "You should go on a diet, too heavy!" she whines. "Hey! I''m in decent shape!" Looking at the floor Compress sees his phone, dropped and shattered in all of the confusion. "Darn it, I''ll have to pick up a new one from Jaku..." "I need to go make sure all the recruits are alright, and that the Nomu maturation tanks didn''t crack," Spinner says as he gets up, looking around to make sure his friends were alright. But as he''s about to leave, Dabi stops him. "Hold on a second," He takes a sip of his drink and then puts it on the coffee table. Looking at the liquid inside that was almost tilted 20 degrees, then at his allies, mostly leaning against something because they couldn''t stand up straight. "What''s the big deal?" Spinner asks, still worried about their potential allies. "Something just doesn''t feel right," Dabi raises a hand to keep everyone Quiet. "No earthquake sirens, and... the mountains are gone," he looks out to the balcony to see the mountains that should be a few miles away gone." BOOM! The entire building shakes as a deafening explosion rings out. "Not an earthquake!" Dabi screams as he rushes out to the balcony, followed by his allies they all stop at the edge, looking down to see the very foundation of the building they were in. Torn out of the earth and floating a few stories above the road, tilted away from the mountains. Spinner immediately uses hismunicator to ry orders, "Heroes are attacking, Viins and Nomu, kill all heroes!" Madness immediately breaks out as Viins pour out of the nearby building, now getting the all-clear to act on the madness they''d witnessed. And like clockwork, the roads erupt and Heroes begin pouring out of the sewer system. The streets of the small town be a warzone in a matter of seconds. Themanders look out to see a flying Nomu, possessing a Raven Quirk, fly out of their building and into the mix, only for a swirling energy st to m into it. "Output 25%: Nejire Flood!" Nejire-Chan sts helical-shaped yellow energy from her feet to keep her airborne and massive sts of the same energy from her palms to crush the Nomu into their building, forcing themanders to hold on. As she''s battling that Nomu, another jumps out of the building, using some kind of a super-strength Quirk tounch its bulky frame at her. "shfire Fist!" A pir of orange mes incinerates the Nomu in mid-air before it gets to her, causing it to fall to the battlefield below. "Endeavor!" Spinner yells out, clearly worried but trying -and failing- to keep a strong fa?ade in the face of the #1 Hero. "We need backup," Mr. Compress says. "Look at how cute the blue girl is!" Toga screams out, pointing at Nejire, "I wanna drink her! I wanna be her!" Endeavor gives her a strange look as he flies up to their height, the top floor of the floating building. Nomu, Viins, and Heroes are fighting around and below him on the street. Then his eyes fall onto the othermanders, disgust and scorn in them. The look he gave infuriated Dabi for just a moment, until he returned to being apathetic to his father''s disapproval. ''Well it''s about time pops...'' Dabi thinks as both his palms ignite in blue mes. Raising both his hands Dabi prepares to release a massive st of blue mes at his father, the heat already making the balcony ufortable for his allies, his body releasing ck smoke as he burns himself up in the process. But he was used to this pain. "Enji Todoroki!" Dabi screams out, and in the same instant Endeavor looks at him with disinterest, and before he could fire, his father disregards him and flies away. And this pain, he thought he was used to. But it hurt just like all those years ago. "What?! Why are you ignoring me?!" Dabi screams, hands on the railing, turning it red, nearly making molten steel of it. "This gives us a chance," Spinner says, seeing Endeavor ignoring them. He touches his ear to activate themunicator, "Shigaraki, we need reinforcements, Heroes are attacking!" A momentter and a purple Warp Gate begins forming in the air in front of Spinner, intending to spread out and deploy a dozen more Medium-End Nomu. Sufficient reinforcements to kill most of these Heroes, and with themanders here, maybe they''d be able to hurt Endeavor. SHAMBLES! The Warp Gate suddenly copses in on itself, folding neatly into a sh at the center of it. "Uh...shit," Spinner mutters, realizing the same as his fellowmanders. Only one person can close a Warp Gate like that, and now they suddenly knew who was holding up the building they currently stood in. "I guess that means I did detect all your forces stationed here, right?" Horizon''s mechanical and rxed voice rings out from behind them, in the penthouse. Slowly turning around, they see him sitting on the couch where Dabi was moments ago, sword already out, leaning back, and rxing with his feet up on the coffee table. "So, this is the Vanguard Action Squad huh...honestly, not impressed..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 142: (Arsenal II) Chapter 142: (Arsenal II) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "So..." Horizon casually addresses the viins standing on the balcony. "This is the part where you surrender and tell me where Shigaraki is, right?" "Go to hell!" Dabi yells out, rushing in front of his allies with both hands producing blue mes. ''shfire Fist: Jet Burn!'' Two streams of searing mes are thrown forward, fusing and merging into one pir, mming into the couch that Horizon was on. "Arrrghhhh!" They hear a short, pained, anguish-filled cry. Toga draws her knives, Spinner holds his sword forward, and Dabi drops his hands to his side, small mes in his palm as they wait for the fire to clear. And as it does, a twitching body is left on the floor, coat ckened, face down on the floor, and realization slowly dawned on them. "Damn, that looks painful," Horizon mutters, and all their eyes flicker from Mr. Compress who wasying on the floor, to Horizon who was standing behind them where he was moments ago. "You jerk!" Toga doesn''t hesitate to throw two knives directly at his visor. TAKT! They both stop just inches away from his face. "Rude..." "Go away!" Spinner charges forward while Dabi recovers from hisst attack, shing down with his greatsword. SHAMBLES! Horizon swaps ces with Mr. Compress. "Shit!" Spinner barely angles his sword away from the body on the floor, smashing the railing of the balcony instead. "You should be more careful," Horizon says. And by the time they turn back toward the living room, he''s already warped Mr. Compress back under his boot, standing with a foot resting on the man''s back. "Don''t hurt my friends!" Toga yells out, giving in to her anger for just a moment. She draws two more knives and charges ahead, taking a low predatory posture. Before Spinner can lift his heavy sword and charge beside her she''s already at Horizon, where the now incinerated couch rests on the floor against the wall. "Tch, you''re more cute than smart..." Horizon easily parries both her strikes with his sword, even in such a close range his skills were far greater than she could ever hope to match. With his free hand he punches her in the side. CRACK! The sound of her ribs breaking echoes out. "Takt." Spinner is rushing forward when suddenly his de feels twice as heavy, pulled to the floor causing his advance to be halted. As Toga winces in pain Horizonnds a strong left to her jaw, sending some of her teeth ttering against the wall as she''s instantly knocked out. But before her body hits to the searing floor, he catches her by the hair, lifting her and holding her above the floor as a shield between him and her allies. A smaller st of blue mes hit her, and while Dabi doesn''t react, Spinner damn near cries as her entire back is now sporting first-degree burns. "Yeah, definitely more cute than smart...and honestly, not that cute," Horizon ms her against the wall and casually impales her with his katana, pinning her unconscious body to the wall through her corbone. With one foot still resting on Mr. Compress he looks over at Dabi and Spinner. Dabi had no mes active, seeming to be extra conservative with his firepower for a reason Horizon couldn''t discern. And Spinner was desperately trying to draw his de, which was doing its best Mjolnir impersonation at the moment. "That sword won''t work for you, I won''t allow you to wield it," Horizon says jokingly. Spinner''s eyes dart between Toga, bleeding out, pinned to the wall by his Katana -Scalpel-, to Mr. Compress, a nearly charred body resting below his boot, then to Horizon, casually standing there,pletely untouched. "Let me draw it and I''ll show you what happens to people that attack my friends!" Spinner demands. "Why bother, if you were worth of crossing des with me I''d consider it...but honestly, you''re the biggest disappointment here, and that includes this useless bitch," he gestures at Toga. "Toga is our friend! She isn''t useless!" Spinner yells, even as he''s still struggling to even move the greatsword. "As what, team fleshlight?" Spinner grits his teeth, losing all sense of reason as anger overtakes him, hearing his dear friend spoken of in such a degrading and disgusting manner. Abandoning his de he rushed forward with clenched fists. "You take that back!" he aims a sloppy and pathetic punch at Horizon''s visor, all emotional, no form, no true intent. SHAMBLES! Horizon warps away, and Spinner turns around as he hears stone grinding. Then he sees it, Horizon had swapped with some debris where Spinner''s weapon was. And in one swift motion raised it, shing off Dabi''s arms from just below the elbows. "Good thing I''m not the real one," Dabi says as he melts into a brown sludge. The clone waspletely destroyed in one hit. "Huh, that was a double...kinda gross," Horizon mutters, only to look at Spinner who was mortified by what he just saw. "You...you were going to cut off his arms?" "Huh, oh that...just his hands, that''s where he usually makes mes after all." "But, but you''re supposed to be a hero!" Spinner yells, disbelief wracking his mind. "Stain said you''re the one true hero, what''s wrong with you?" Hearing that Horizon takes a second look at the Stain fanboy in front of him, in full Stain cosy and all. "Right, maybe don''t take life advice from a child-murdering psycho, or do, because then you''lle across me. And at that point, it''s just natural selection with extra steps," Horizon chuckles as he points Spinner''s own weapon at him. "You''re a monster. This isn''t how heroes are supposed to fight, you''re supposed to use as little force as possible...not this," he nces fearfully at Toga who was still hanging from the wall. "I''m effective, now, where is Tomura Shigaraki?" "Tch, I don''t care what you do to me, I''ll never betray my friends!" Looking at Spinner, that determination in his eyes, Horizon could only form one conclusion. "I believe you," he says, catching Spinner off-guard. "Wh---AHHHHHH!" Spinner cries out as he feels his shinbone snap. In one instant Horizon had warped behind him, leaving behind the viin''s weapon, and kicked him in the shin. He drops to one knee, feeling arge hand palming the back of his head. CRACK! Horizon ms his face into the searing hot floor, pressing him down like meat on a grill. His green reptilian skin begins deforming into a sickly brown almost immediately as he screams out in pain. Horizon lifts his head up and ms it down one more time, shattering Spinner''s nose and some of his teeth, leaving one of his eyes swollen shut. And a few momentster its burnt shut from how hot Dabi made the floor. "You hero types are always so easy to break," Horizon says. "Not directly, but that selfless desire to protect other people instead of yourself, it''s always what gets you killed, or in this case, gets me what I want." Holding spinner by the head he throws him to the side so he''s sitting on the floor with his back against the couch. "Gecko: allows the user to stick to walls, you''re a disappointment on every level, but I''m sure you''ve been told that your entire life, right?" Horizon asks. Spinner''s barely away, looking at this monster through his one good eye. "You''re a monster." "And you''re a loser. See I read your file. Before the league you were literally nobody. Barely any public record, dropped out of high school because you were bullied. Definitely too much of a pussy to stand up for yourself since you never even got into a fight. Tried to do courses to make up for it but flunked out of those. Couldn''t make friends, and never had a girlfriend. Became a shut-in that felt like it was the entire world''s duty to cater to you. But then you apparently saw another loser named Stain on tv, and decided you should go punish all the people who didn''t save you from...well, being a pussy. And actually made friends with...what is this?" He gestures to Toga, "some cannibal bitch." He raises his foot and then steps down harder on Mr. Compress''s back. "Some failed street magician? And a bunch of other losers, worthless." "Don''t talk about my friends like that!" "Or what? Those words, all words, mean nothing if you can''t enforce them, and you''re weaker than most of my ssmates. But my words, my words carry true authority...watch." "What, what are you doing?" "I''m about to reform her," Horizon says as he gestures to Toga. "From viin, to cripple..." "What?!" As Horizon takes one step toward Toga, Mr. Compress musters all his strength to protect his friends, reaching out as Horizon walks away to grab the man''s leg, hoping topress him into a marble. Desperate to do anything to help. SHAMBLES! "Nnnnnggggghhhhhh!" Compress groans in pain as Horizon''s sword pierces down into his forearm, splitting the bone, then into the floor. "Sorry, the power of friendship doesn''t work in this story." He turns around and kicks Mr. Compress in the face, breaking his mask and knocking him out. But as the man is sent across the room the sword splits his forearm in two, right down the middle. "So, where were we?" Horizon asks as Toga''s body is warped between him and Spinner. "Get away from h---" ''TAKT: Dancing Sword!'' Horizon''s sword seemingly flies out of the floor and impales spinner to the couch, through his leg, all on its own. "Too bad you didn''t get any lizard healing huh," Horizon jokes as the man screams in pain. "Anyway, tell me where Shigaraki is...and I won''t cripple it," he steps on Toga''s head, pressing her face into the hot floor. "What! No, you can''t!" The man chuckles, "I''m Horizon, I can do whatever I want. And the public won''t care about this bitch after all the crap you guys caused. I could pull you limb from limb and get away with it," he shrugs. "But I''d rather keep the perfect image I currently have. After all, I am the next Symbol Of Peace." "Please..." Spinner mutters, pitifully. Horizon crouches down, seeing Toga''s exposed and burnt back, trailing a finger along the torched skin to the base of her spine. "Life in a wheelchair maybe?" "Wait, no!" Horizon runs his finger up her spine, all the way to her neck, "or maybe I just shut off everything below the neck, not like her main use will be affected." He sees a flicker of rage in Spinner''s eyes at that, but the man just grits his teeth, intending to call the ''Hero'' on his bluff. "Our file says you''re Shigaraki''s right-hand man, if anyone knows, it''s you, that''s why you''re the only one left in a state to talk. So, onest chance," Horizon ces his hand t on the back of her neck." "I, I just, no...I won''t betray my friends!" "Well, our time is up anyway, Endeavor is cornering thest few Nomu," Horizon shrugs. "But while you''re in prison, just remember, she''s spend the rest of her life as a cripple, all because of you." MES! Horizon raises his hand, and with ises a perfectly clean spinal section, leaving a gaping hole in her neck. The bone was coated in strange spatial gel, the same which the hole was seemingly filled with. Spinner squeezes his eyes shut, not wanting to see what happens next. Until he feels Horizon''s hand holding his chin, pulling his cheeks and forcing his eyes open. "I respect yourmitment to the role, to the duty of the right-hand man, but I need you to see, exactly what you made me do to your friend," Horizon raises the bone in Spinner''s view, and slowly, he squeezes. CRACK! "Please..." Spinner struggles to say as Horizon is holding his face. "Dear god." "Oh no, I''m the only god you need right now, I''m the only one who can save you." CRACK! The entire bone is cracked down the middle, a hairline fracture that would have been able to heal if it weren''t such a vital and nerve-filled bone. Spinner can''t look away from it, even as tears are flowing down his face. "Sigh, can''t believe you made me do that to your dear friend...oh well," Horizon shrugs as he steps back, cing the bone back in her neck as if it weren''t removed at all. "I, I''ll tell people," Spinner mutters, panicked. "Right, because people would believe you, over me, the person trying to keep the peace in this country. A lowly pathetic viins, versus their future Symbol Of Peace...good luck with that." "Yo---argh!" Horizon reaches forward and yanks his sword out of Spinner''s leg. "Well, you''re useless now, and Endeavor ising to check on me, we''re done here..." Before Spinner can even make sense of what happened, Horizon palmed his head into the wall, cracking the concrete and his skull. END CHAPTER--- Friendly remind that a review on this story would be greatly appreciated, and I do have a pa.treon. What do you think of the story thus far? Chapter 143: (Lead By Example) Chapter 143: (Lead By Example) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- Standing atop a 3 story building, Horizon was overseeing the viins being arrested, led into armored trucks for transport to the various prisons. Mostly D-List losers not even worth his time. But the sheer numbers, it begged the question of how many camps just like these were out there. A focal point for all the recruits to be cleared before being assigned a role within the League of Viins. ''Focus Law, get your shit together...'' he berates himself, shaking his head, trying to push the pain away. After the battle, he helped with finding the few viins that hid from Endeavor''s team. Then he finally got to drop the building he''d been holding afloat. The show of power was astonishing to everyone, and that includes the pictures and video he uploaded from the beginning of this raid. But the cost, he''d need to rest for a few hours for this headache to go away. ''If anyone that actually needs me to put my back into a fight was here, that could have gone bad for me. Splitting my focus like that, painful, and much more limiting than ever before. Luckily these people are all trash...'' But this is part of being a hero, putting on a fa?ade of strength and bravery, ''smile even when you''re scared, so the people you''re saving won''t be afraid when you arrive'', or whatever All Might would say in Hero ss. Looking directly below, he sees Mr. Compress -his slightly cooked self being loaded into the back of an extra secure armored truck,id vertically in a metal bed with all his limbs restrained. Already in the truck are Spinner and Toga, in the same type of contraption. FWOOM! Horizon doesn''t even look away from the viins as a wave of mild heat apanies the sound of mesnding beside him on the roof. "Are we done here?" Horizon asks. "Just about, Burnin is clearing out some rubble for the Safety Commission to send in their people," Endeavor looks around at the battlefield. A few copsed buildings and some torn-up streets. "Hero Insurance should cover it, since most of this is owned by viins anyway, the banks can just seize it," Horizon says. "Mhm," Endeavor grunts, then walks forward to stand beside Horizon, looking out at the viins being loaded up with his hands crossed over his chest. While Horizon was idly scrolling through his phone. After around a minute of deafening silence, Horizon speaks up, "just say what you have to say already." "What happened when you went inside the penthouse?" "I captured the viins." "Mhm, I know the n, I deal with the masses and you deal with themanders. But you''re powerful enough that you could have easily subdued them." "I did." "By causing permanent damage to some of them, all of them. The girl will be a vegetable for the rest of her life, Spinner will have permanent nerve damage in his legs. And Compress had his left arm split in two, right down the middle," Endeavor''s me rise for a moment before settling. "You know how those kinds of fights can get, ''cornered dogs are dangerous,'' or something like that. Viins are exactly the same." Endeavor nces at him through the corner of his eye before returning his gaze to the viins. "Its called minimum required force, that''s what Pro Heroes are supposed to use. Be as gentle as possible." "What if that''s what I did." "Tch, you''re Horizon, you can do much better than that. You could have solved this fight without anyone getting hurt like that. It would have been easy for you." "You think so?" "I know so," Endeavor says as he turns to face Horizon. "But even as someone who always thinks logically in the most intense situations, youckpassion. Or from what I''ve seen tonight, you relish the chance to partake in violence, that''s not what Heroes do." "Tell that to Mirko." "Tch, that''s beside the point. Nobody ever expects her to be the #1 Hero. But you''re Horizon, it''s expected of you to be the next Symbol of Peace. Be better..." "I still got the job done," Horizon says. "Maybe people feel sofortable being viins because Heroes aren''t hard enough on them. Maybe if All Might didn''t pull his punches the crime rate would have hit zero." "That''s Tyranny, and its not what we fight for. Our duty is primarily protecting people, not handing out our own form of justice. This isn''t a world of ''Might makes right'' anymore, society has rules." "Unless you''re mighty enough to ignore that," Horizon says. "Because this is a world of ''might makes right'', the government has the most people, the most guns, the most hired muscle," he gestures to himself and Endeavor. "That means they''re always right." Endeavor just sighs, taking a deep breath and looking back to the viins. "You''re still young, and already the most powerful person in Japan. In a world of ''Might makes right'', you''d always be right. That''s how many people be viins, and while I know you''re on the path to being a hero. Part of that is holding yourself to a higher standard that anyone else. But you and I, we need to be even more strict as the #1 Heroes, now and in the future. You need to be an example. Because people will follow our lead, and if we say that Heroes should exercise such violence on viins, eventually people will take that too far. Lead by example, because not everyone is Horizon. Not everyone can be trusted with that kind of power over others. If most people had a fraction of your power they''d use it for personal gain, the fact that you''re still trying to do the selfless thing and be a Hero shows your true character. But even the average Pro Hero would sumb quite easily, that''s the person we must set an example for, understand?" Horizon just sighs, "yeah I get it...but that also means I have the power to set a new standard for them, right?" "Uh, right," Endeavor wasn''t sure if he should be concerned or not with the way Horizon said that. "Anyway, I know the likely wasn''t amon urrence, just seeing the people who killed your friends at the summer camp must have gotten to you. Take the rest of today off to clear your head." "Right, thanks," Horizon says. But in truth, everything was intentional. To try to wring as much information as possible out of Spinner he had to operate like he would have when working with his mother. Terrify them and show how willing you are to hurt the people they love, but even then he didn''t get any information he could use to track Shigaraki, or atleast Kurogiri. FOOSH! The sound of Ryukyu''s massive wings pping interrupt them as herrge dragon form sets down on the roof. Then before their eyes she reverts into her slender human form, wearing her usual red qipao, fixing her hair as she walks up to them. Standing nearly a foot -30cm- shorter than them in this form she looks up at both of them, before walking between them to look down at thest few trucks being loaded up. "So, how did my Nejire-Chan work with you boy?" Ryukyu asks. "Too chatty," Horizon says. "Mhm," Endeavor agrees. And Ryukyu just rolls her eyes, "well what''s important is the raid went well. Sorry I couldn''t be here for the action." "Would have been cool to see you fighting as a dragon, in person for a change," Horizon admits. "I think this fight caused enough coteral damage, this is partly why my agency is at the coast. Gives me more room to spread my wings out there." "Why are you here?" Endeavor asks her. "Did you really fly all the way here just to check up on your sidekick?" "Oh no that''d be a waste, the Safety Commission asked me to escort these viins to Tartarus," Ryukyu says. "We can''t afford to have either of you away from Tokyo and all the way to the other side of Japan at the moment, the crime rate isn''t expected to start dropping for atleast two more days after all." "And without a Full Pro Hero License I actually can''t be on that mission," Horizon says. "Neither can Nejire, so Endeavor, can she spend tonight at your agency? I assume that skyscraper of yours has an extra room or two." Both Endeavor and Horizon groan. "It''s fine," Endeavor says. "But who is your support for this escort mission." "Hawks," Horizon answers for her. "How''d you know that?" "I can sense him, a few miles east of here." "Huh, how does that work?" Ryukyu asks. "Like, do you just sense living things?" "No, I sense everything." "Everything?" She gives him an uneasy look. "If I want to, yes, I can do that." "Well, luckily for all thedies you''re a Hero. A pervert with that Quirk would have been a nightmare." "I have better things to do than skirt-chasing, you don''t have to worry about me bing another Hodori." "Thank the heavens," Ryukyu gives a relieved look. "The world doesn''t need another one of those." After a few more minutes of chatting, Hawks finally arrives. And the friendly casual conversation immediately bes tense. "Hawks," Horizon growls out, losing his rxed fa?ade for just a moment. "Horizon, how''ve you been, it''s been a while," Hawks greets him in a friendly manner, as if they were an old friend. As Hawks hovers before the others, he gives Horizon a friendly wave. "Perfect as always." "Maannnn, if I knew you were such a monster I would have made a better first impression, no hard feelings right?" Hawks offers his hand for Horizon to shake, giving him a friendly smile. "Tch, I''ll keep things professional, but we aren''t friends." "Awe," Hawks slumps forward. "But we could be." "Or you could go fuck yourself." "Horizon!" Ryukyu taps his shoulder. "Show some respect." "When its earned, I''m going back to Tokyo..." Horizon disappears from the roof, swapped with a piece of brick. "So, bad blood?" Endeavor asks, and Hawks just shrugs. "Looks like the viins are all packed up, ready to get these guys to Tartarus?" Hawks asks Ryukyu. "dly, until next time Endeavor, thanks for looking out for my Nejire-Chan." "You trained her well." "See ya Enji!" Hawks says as he begins hovering away, and Endeavor just gives an annoyed grunt. END CHAPTER--- Chapter 144: (Another Imposter) Chapter 144: (Another Imposter) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- Under the moonlight on a quiet countryside road, a fully armored convoy was currently in chaos. The main prisoner transport truck was currently flipped onto its side, with thest remaining member of the security division sitting behind it, back against the cold steel as he cradles his rifle. "C''mon damn it, work," the man mutters, desperately tapping his radio, still not getting any signal. "Grarh!" he hears one of his friends take his final breath just a few meters behind him. CLANG! He hears someone drop onto the main truck he was hiding behind, and carefully he cranes his neck upward, locking eyes with the cold emotionless killer. "Wait please!" The man tries to jump to his feet, hoping to maybe get one shot off. But Hawk''s feathers are just too fast. Two pierce his heart and exit through his back before the man can even get off the ground. His body crumples over, bleeding out as he takes his final pained breaths. "Damn it, this had better be worth it," Hawk grumbles. He truly hates taking innocent lives, but orders were orders. And for the greater good, their sacrifices are necessary. Looking back he sees more bodies scattered about the road, some shot after the fact. Using their own guns to mix things up, rather than have everyone killed with ''des''. Hovering down from the truck using his feather wings, all the loose feathers return to his back while one long feather hovers into each of his hands. ying the part of a feather sword. He walks to the back of the truck, then nces over to Ryukyu, the woman was currently face down on the street in a pool of her own blood, with a dozen stab wounds in her back. Taken by surprise, his first victim of the night. Barely left alive, much too close to death for hisfort. Reaching into his jacket pocket Hawks takes out amunicator and hits one button. And momentster a Warp Gate opens a few meters away. "Not bad," Dabi says as he walks out, hands in his pocket, as casual as ever. Looking around at the carnage he gives a nod of approval. "I''ll save you!" Twice screams as he rushes out of the Warp Gate, followed by a hulking Nomu that then easily rips the doors off the truck. "I had the key," Hawks says, as Twice begins to multiply himself to haul his allies back through the Warp Gate. "He gets excited easily," Dabi shrugs, standing between Hawks and the Warp Gate, keeping the hero in his sights at all times while Twice takes their allies to safety. They have an intense staring contest for a while, until Twice and the othermanders are gone. Leaving Hawks, Dabi, the Nomu, and the unconscious Ryukyu as the only living people here. Dabi takes his hands out of his pockets, ready for action, "so, what''s your endgame here?" "A world where people that can fly, are free to do so. I''m sick of being a bird in a cage." "Of course, you''d talk in bird crap," Dabi says. "Well you helped us get these guys back, that''s a start. But obviously, we still don''t trust you, so I''ll be in touch." "Of course," Hawks says, relieved that atleast this part went smoothly. "Ngh," Ryukyu makes just enough noise for them to hear, and Hawks immediately curses his luck. "Ohh, missed one," Dabi gives a sinister smile as he aims his mes at Ryukyu, only for Hawks to step to the side, blocking his shot. "Dropping the crappy viin act already, huh?" "I''m a freedom fighter, not a viin," Hawks says. "And if I''m the only survivor it looks too suspicious, I need her." "You want me to pass up on a chance to kill a top 10 pro? Well, I could just make it two, how about it?" "And kill the only intel source you have that can tell you what the other top 10 Pro Heroes are nning, right?" Dabi clenches his jaw at that, and drops his hands. "She could be a problem for uster, kill her." Hawks just sighs and shakes his head at that horrible idea, "Horizon already doesn''t like me, I bet he''ll think this is suspicious. If I''m the only survivor he''ll be in my face in no time. And neither of us wants him knocking on our door, right?" Dabi just rolls his eyes and sts fire away from them, down the street and torching all the other vehicles and corpses, "there, alibi secure. But I see your point, we aren''t ready for that fight just yet. For the record, I still think you''re full of shit, and a bad actor, but the boss thinks you''re useful. Try to stay useful, Hawks..." Dabi turns around and casually walks into the Warp Gate followed by the Nomu, leaving Hawks and Ryukyu alone on the secluded street. Hawks immediately shuts off the signal jammer, but the backup was dispatched when their signal disappeared. It was mostly so nobody could ry exactly who was attacking them. ''Twice was here, could have killed him already. But that''s not the mission. Twice, Kurogiri, and whoever is producing all these damn Nomu for the league. When I get enough info on those 3, then we can take them all down, but for now...'' As he''s thinking Hawk''s arrives at one of the unburnt corpses, seeing a grenade on his belt. "This is gonna hurt, sometimes I hate this job..." he mutters while reaching for the grenade. The final piece, hurting himself enough to make it more believable... ---Minato Tokyo... While Hawks was making himself a believable victim, Horizon got caught up in another situation. Because of course with his luck, he''d be flying back to his building in Minato Tokyo, and soar directly above a convenience store hostage situation. Sitting on his hoverboard he descends to street level, just behind the police barricade where the officers had the store surrounded. "What happened?" "Some idiot tried to rob the store when one of my guys was just on the sidewalk over here," the officer says. "He freaked out and hold the owner hostage, we''ve been here ever since." Horizon takes an annoyed breath, "I''m too tired for this nonsense, what''s his Quirk?" "Uh, tough skin, like tough as leather." Looking at the store Horizon sees the windows all spray painted from the inside, but that doesn''t matter to him. SCAN! He ''sees'' the man pacing back and forth, a gun in one hand and a phone in the other, negotiating with the detective in charge. "I try not to use this much since it''s not very ''heroic''...but you''re keeping me from my bed, so you deserve it," he mutters in annoyance, causing the nearby police officer to give him a curios look. Horizon raises his sword and aims it directly at the man''s thigh, "Injection Shot." "ARGHHH!" The man''s pained scream rings out as he feels as if a bullet tore through the flesh and bone of his leg, yet didn''t break the skin. All the obstacles between the de and the target werepletely pulverized as well. "Injection Shot." Another pained scream rings out, but before the man can even fall over. "Shambles." Horizon swaps the man with his katana, grabbing him by the face and mming him into the pavement, leaving the gun in the store. The officers nearby take a cautious step back, realizing the Hero was exceptionally annoyed at the moment. It only took minutes to get the paperwork done for this on the scene, and make a public statement. And as Horizon finished talking to the officers and the press, ready to warp to his nearby building. "Horizon!" one of the officers yells out. "Fire on 28th street!" ''FUUUUUUCCCCKKKKKKK! I hate this hero bullshit!'' Horizon''s inner voice screams, but on the outside, he was as calm and eager to help as always. "I''ll take care of it, stay safe everyone," he tells the crowd before warping away. ---40 Minutes Later... Stepping out of the shower, Law dries off before warping some shorts on and warping himself into the kitchen. Getting some takeout that he''d ordered before getting back here out of the fridge he puts it in the microwave while checking his phone. He sees a ''thank you'' message from Nejire...for, snacks? Then a momentter he opens his message from Burnin, seeing that bothdies were in his office at Endeavor''s Agency and enjoying his snacks. "Great, now they''re multiplying," Law groans as his food is ready. Taking it out he warps onto the couch and turns on the TV, hoping to watch some of the form one races he missed today. But only two minutes in, and after nearly 80 hours of being awake and constantly fighting viins or saving people. His eyes were already closing. Finally drifting off into a very well-deserved rest. BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP! "Huh!" he jolts awake, the familiar emergency alert snapping him out of his restful state. He checks his phone to see an emergency call for the Endeavor Hero Agency, with he and Endeavor listed by name. He immediately calls Endeavor, intending to tell him he can''t make it. "What''s going on?" he asks. "The convoy was attacked, Ryukyu and Hawks are critical," and just like that, all hopes of skipping this task was washed away. "Fuck, alright I''ll prepare to work on Ryukyu, send her to my Operating Suite in your building." "What about Hawks?" Endeavor asks. "...What about him?" END CHAPTER--- Chapter 145: (Dragon and God) Chapter 145: (Dragon and God) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "Mmm," with a rxed andfortable moan, Ryukyu rolls over in bed as she stirs awake. Feeling well-rested andpletely refreshed, as if she just spent a week at a spa. But the moment she opens her eyes, her mind is flooded with confusion. Training kicking in as she''s ready to fight anyone in the room. Sitting up in the bed and looking around, she sees she''s in a hospital bed, to her right is a wall of cabs with a variety of different tools. But this wasn''t Central Hospital. One look to her left, at the view of Saitama Tokyo made that very clear. "Where am---" she stops talking, feeling her throat dry. Looking around she sees a bottle of water on the bedside table. Before doing anything else she throws off the covers to see her state. Wearing only a hospital gown. ''No cuffs or restraints, this has to be a friendly ce. The police and other Pros must have found us before the viins could finish.'' Deciding she''s mostly safe the woman drinks some of the water. Feeling much more rxed afterward. "That''s enough sleeping Ryukyu," she mutters to herself as she sits at the edge of the bed, feet hanging just an inch above the floor. "Cold," she mutters as her bare feet touch the tile floor. Dealing with the difort she walks over and turns on the lights, no longer solely depending on the moonlight and bedsidemp for light. She has to block her eyes as the blue and white of the room assault her vision. "Well, atleast now I know where I am..." she realizes immediately. The logo on some of the cabs made it rather obvious. Her shoulder slumps down as she takes her time to walk over to the mirror. Using the full-length mirror to look at herself properly. Not seeing any scars or bruises on her face. "I must have been out for a few days," she looks at the clock, seeing it''s only midnight. "Nejire must be so worried...some mentor I am, making my Sidekicks worry about me. You need to do better Ryukyu." Looking lower, down to her feet, she also sees perfectly clear and unblemished skin. She freezes for a moment, then hastily takes off the hospital gown, standing naked in front of the mirror. Her entire body was wless, in every sense. All the scars and proofs of her career as a Pro Hero were gone, leaving her appearing as a woman who has never known such violent work. After staring in amazement she finally spots the change of clothesid out for her beside the bed, and a pair of fuzzy slippers that she wishes she saw earlier. "Does he seriously need to make everything match?" she mutters curiously while moving to get dressed. After getting dressed, in a set of grey sweatpants with the simple blue fluffy slippers and a grey sweater. The pants and sweater each sporting Horizon''s blue logo. One on the thigh and the other on the back. Running a hand through her hair tozily set her bangs across the right side of her face she looks at both doors connected to this room. One on the opposite end of the room away from the ss wall. And another beside the ss wall toward the outer wall of the building. "Nejire is probably in the waiting room," Ryukyu says as she grabs her bottle of water and walks to the door closest to the bed, beside the ss wall. And the moment she opens it, ''oh...not a waiting room.'' She enters Horizon''s office, closing the door behind her as she looks around in genuine wonder. ''His office is bigger than mine, atleast twice as big,'' she thinks while walking around. She sees all the books on the shelves, most of which are Quirk Catalogues. Containing every publicly recorded Quirk and its uses. ''So old fashioned, all of this stuff is already online,'' her gaze drifts over to a medical degree on the wall. ''So is ''Horizon'' his actual name...it has to be if they put it on his degree, right?'' As she''s curiously looking around the office, however, her eyes finallynd on the most interesting thing, something she''s almost smacking herself in the face for missing. So distracted by the fact that he even has an office, to see him slumped forward on his deskpletely asleep. Ryukyu froze, for the first time Horizon actually seemed...human. Or atleast somewhat human. Even with his visor on and in full costume, his sword and hoverboard nowhere in sight. It was so surreal seeing him do something that everyone does, sleep. But somehow he still managed to inspire awe. By the strange blue energy vapor wafting off of his body as he peacefully sleeps. Just small wisps from his arms and hands, enough to give her an unsettling feeling. But her curiosity was even stronger, and before she knew it, the woman was taking careful, silent steps forward. Until she stood in front of his desk, with the two seats opposite him to either side of her. And in the next moment she reaches out, to swat some of the energy away. "ARGH!" Horizon''s hand instinctively shoots up and grabs her neck, slowly choking the life out of her as she desperately ws at his fingers. His grip was like a vice, and it took all her willpower not to instinctively transform. To break his hold, and the moment he finally looks up. Those inhuman blue eyes on his visor seemed to bore a hole into her very being. They shone brightly as he looked at her, then the next moment became dull as the vapor on his body disappeared and he released her. "Gaahhh!" she greedily sucks in air, leaning on the desk to support herself as Horizon sits back in his chair. "Oh don''t be so dramatic," Horizon''s somewhat mechanical voice sounds more disgusted than anything else. "What were you even doing?" Finally catching her breath Ryukyu stares at him with concern, "who reacts like that to someone being close to them, what''s wrong with you?" "Nothing, I''m perfect," he says. "Can you just sit down already?" Ryukyu frowns, still massaging her neck which was sporting a fresh new handprint, but she sits opposite him. "Good," Horizon sees her picking up her water bottle off the floor, "now, what were you doing?" "You were, leaking?" "Excuse me?" "Blue mist from your arm, I was just making sure you''re ok. Maybe cont, do robots have that?" Horizon pauses for a moment, realizing how serious she was being, "I''m not a robot." "Sorry sorry sorry! I meant cyborg! I didn''t mean to offend you I promise!" Horizon just gives an annoyed groan, "not a cyborg either, but thanks for the info." He truly had no idea his body was doing that while he slept. Yet another thing to divide his focus. "Oh, but Nejire said you told her that---" "This is my face, because it neveres off, Lifestyle Support Item," Horizon says. "But really I''m just a bag of meat, like everyone else." "Right, well, sorry," she gives an awkward smile. "It''s fine, now since you''re here, anything you want to know?" he asks while logging into hisputer and checking up on some cases. "What happened?" Ryukyu asks. "What do you remember?" "Everything up until I was in one of the trucks, then there was a cold pain in my back, then everything goes ck." "That makes sense, your vehicle was the first to get hit. Then they killed most of the security and hit Hawks with a grenade before leaving, from the looks of it Endeavor and Burnin got there fast enough that they couldn''t finish you two. But nobody else lived." "Hawks?" Ryukyu voice almost cracked with how worried she was, or maybe how disappointed in herself she was. "In Central Hospital, still in surgery, will be for a few more hours." "Wait, he isn''t here?" "Why would he be here?" "For you to operate on him." "Hawks isn''t my problem, he can deal with his own healthcare," Horizon looks at her, then turn back to hisputer. "Is the bad blood between you two truly that serious?" He stops typing, then speaks in a dangerously calm tone, "yes, now is there anything else you want to know?" "How long has it been?" "Well, the attack was only a few hours ago, your surgery was done two hours ago." "What?! You fixed me that quickly?" He nces back to her, then returns to his work, "what part of ''Miracle'' did you not understand?" "And my scars." "I assumed you didn''t want to keep them, you look better like this anyway," he shrugs. She raises a brow at that, "doctors aren''t supposed toment on their patients like that." "Then go find another miracle doctor." She opens her mouth to respond, but decides to just take thepliment. "Thank you for healing me." "Happy to help, now can you tell me how you feel?" "Like I spent two weeks on vacation and got a massage." "Tired?" "Not at all, I feel fully refreshed." ''That''s new,'' Horizon thinks. Usually, for such invasive operations, his patients need atleast a day of rest before they can function normally. ''Refined energy has its uses...'' "Is that another room for your patients?" Ryukyu gestures to the other door, opposite where she entered from. "That''s my bedroom. Office in the middle, bedroom to my left, patient room and medical equipment to my right." "Hmm, maybe my agency should get a live-in doctor..." After a few more minutes of talking Horizon''sputer and phone start beeping. The familiar sound of the Hero Network alert immediately has Ryukyu on alert. "What''s going on?" "I put out some bait on the ck market to find where that super concentrated Trigger supplier is, just got a hit." "The sample I sent you not even a day ago, seriously? How''d you even get a ck market contact, that''s near impossible for heroes." "Miracles are my specialty, it shouldn''t take us long to get there." She looks a bit confused by that, "us?" "Yes, us. Because after I spent 80 hours doing Hero Work and was finally about to get some sleep, I had to rush over here to work on you. And now the public also thinks you can''t do your job that well so you need the reputation boost of teaming up with me." "Good point, but...how are you even awake?" Horizon shrugs, "you expect me to sleep when I can be helping people? I can''t be who I''m aiming to be like that." She''s both surprised and inspired by that answer, but also can''t help but worry for his own health. "And who are you aiming to be?" "Well, at first it was the next Symbol of Peace...but I think being a Guardian Deity has a better ring to it." Ryukyu thinks it over for a second, then nods in agreement, then gives him a soft smile "honestly. If anyone else said it that''d be arrogance, but on you, it just makes sense." "Awe look who''s being inappropriate now, flirting with your doctor," he teases. She folds her arms and res at him, "I was not, besides you''re 10 years younger than me." "I won''t make it weird if you don''t..." Her re softens, genuinely confused as to if he was serious or not. "Anyway, let''s get going, it''s a private hangar at the edge of Tokyo, his ne leaves soon," Horizon warps from his seat to standing beside her, startling the woman. "I thought you needed to always swap with something?" "It''splicated," he turns to looks down at her, enjoying the way she was sitting down and staring up at him. "Now as much as I like the way I look on you, let''s make use of the things Nejire brought for you..." ''SHAMBLES!'' Her Horizon-themed clothes immediately swap for her spare Hero Costume that Nejire brought her, perfectly equipped. Ryukyu freezes, then her face quickly begins transitioning to bright red, she grabs her chest and squeezes her legs shut tight. "Don''t do that!" END CHAPTER--- Chapter 146: (Dragon and God Pt.2) Chapter 146: (Dragon and God Pt.2) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "Is this why you brought me along?" Ryukyu asks, currently in her dragon form soaring through the cold night sky. Above Tokyo prefecture, they were currently heading toward the countryside, where a few private runways and hangars were located. But as the woman was flying, she had Horizon sitting on her back. Sword and Hoverboard at his side as he uses the hologram projected by the watch Mei gave him, finding more information on their target. "What are you talking about?" Horizon asks, his voice only reaching her through their advancedmunication devices, otherwise, the wind would overpower them. "Do you know how many people ask me to give them a ride each week?" "Don''t see how that''s my problem, or why they''d care." "Everyone wants to ride a dragon," Ryukyu was clearly annoyed just thinking about it. "My Hoverboard is faster than you for the record, I''m just doing this so I can focus on getting more research. Also, you aren''t a dragon." "Excuse me, I''m literally a dragon right now!" "Nope, can''t breathe fire. Not a dragon, just a lizard with wings..." "I am a dragon, you''re being ridiculous." "When you can breathe fire, then you can call yourself a dragon." "Mmm," Ryukyu grumbles. "I''m not taking criticism on how urate the name of my Quirk is, from a guy that names his ''Hand of God'', atleast mine isn''t offensive." "Rather arrogant to assume it refers to your god, don''t you think?" "Rather arrogant to call yourself a god, don''t you think?" "Yeah but unlike you, mine is urate, plus I''m only 16. I''ve barely begun tapping into what my Quirk can do, but you''re 26 and can''t even breathe fire...dragon, sure." "Ugh, that''s not how dragons work! I literally look and fight like a dragon!" "Just a gecko with wings Kyukyu." "How are you so annoying?!" "Practice..." "Ugh!" Ryukyu groans. "Did you atleast find anything on there?" "Yeah, got an ID for our actual target, the distributor wasing in for a meeting with the head of an underground chemicalsb." "Drugb?" "Nope, think C4 + Nerve Agents..." "What? How has this guy gone unnoticed until now?" "Because he pays the right people and has discrete, professional clients," including Arsenal for the past decade. "But we''re on him now, he''s done." "If he''s so insted then how''d you find him?" "Because I know people who know people too," Horizon says. He''d made a few calls around the underworld and unsurprisingly, a lot of people weren''t a fan of this newly weaponized version of Trigger being used on their men without their permission. He simply chose the wrong test subjects. Pissed off the wrong people, and they offered him up to Horizon. "Well then, let''s hope your connections are as reliable as you are." "I got a name for his jet," Horizon says as they see the runway in the distance. "It''s...the one that just took off..." "Seriously, damn it," Ryukyu looks into the distance to see it already in the air about to pass over a bridge connecting where the runway is, to a small ind off the shore of Tokyo. "Chase it." "I can''t fly that fast, and neither can your board." "Yeah but he isn''t up to full speed yet, and is still in my range." "Yeah just warp him out of the ne," Ryukyu says as she begins flying after the ne, intent to keep Horizon in whatever range he had. "Where''s the fun in that?" Horizon chuckles as he reaches out, as if gripping the air with his hand. "Hand of GOD, remember?" TAKT! And the closer they got, the wider Ryukyu''s eyes opened. Seeing videos and pictures of Horizon ripping buildings or objects out of the ground was one thing, but witnessing firsthand him bringing a jet from mid-flight to being frozen in the air, from almost 10 miles away at that. It was awe-inspiring, beautiful, wonderous, beyond humbling, and truly terrifying. As if God reached down and held the jet with his own hand, power beyondprehension, especially considering all the things she''s heard and seen Horizon do. When they got closer he tilts the jet so the nose was pointing directly down at the ocean, as he brings it close to the bridge for he and Ryukyu tond. "You ok back there?" "I''m just perfect," Horizon growls our, trying to sound strong but the searing pain in his skull was too much. He was currently leaning forward pressing down on Ryukyu with both hands as he focused on the jet. Stopping fast-moving objects was always difficult, the heavier they were the more difficult. And keeping them in one piece, well that was usually a whole new problem. But with the difficulty of his new additions, also came benefits. Not ''stronger'' in the usual sense. The upper limits of his power arepletely unchanged. The road to get there has only been made shorter. While he would have entered his prime at above thirty years old, now he can reach it that much sooner, in only a few years. The slowly growing battery that is Horizon has now be an exponentially expanding nuclear reactor, brimming with power much sooner than even he expected. But that still didn''t help the growing pains. "You don''t sound alright," Ryukyu says. "Justnd on the bridge, let''s talk to the target." ''I guess he''s not as perfect as I thought, but as he said, he''s still only 16...so for now, even god bleeds. Also, ''target'', howe he isn''t saying ''Viin''. How strange for a Hero.'' Landing on the bridge Ryukyu stays in herrge dragon form while Horizon hops off. Thankfully the bridge was deserted thiste at night, and Horizon just raised his hand and casually rotated the jet so the pilots were now facing the bridge. Both men were holding onto their seatbelts for dear life,pletely horrified at the situation they were in. Naturally, they weren''t overjoyed to be floating above the ocean like this, staring down into the dark water two hundred feet below the bridge. But Horizon wasn''t interested in them, not in the least. Giving them a casual wave he makes a spinning gesture with his hand as the ne begins to rotate so they couldn''t see the bridge. After all eyes from the ce were averted, he takes out on of his cards and throws it onto the sidewalk of the bridge. SHAMBLES! "I surrender!" was the first thing the short and thin man screamed, hands raised high as he looks at Ryukyu. Then his eyes fall to Horizon and he looks about ready to cry. Clearly more afraid of the god than the dragon. Something that doesn''t go unnoticed by her, as it is quite rare for her not to be the main point of fear during interrogations. The only time that wasn''t the case is when she worked with Endeavor. "Who were you making the super concentrated Trigger for?" "..." The man wisely keeps his mouth shut. "Fine, the hard way is it," Horizon reaches out to grab the man only for Ryukyu to speak up. "Stop! Further interrogations should be left to the police. They''ll be here in a few minutes." "Oh please, you don''t survive the underworld as long as him without being able to take some lukewarm police questioning," Horizon immediately reaches out and grabs the man by the shirt. "Tell me about the trigger, or I''ll drop you." "Drop me?" The man asks. Horizon immediately lifts him up with one hand and holds him out above the ocean. "Horizon!" Ryukyu calls out, about to intervene. "That''s enough!" "Just stay back and watch!" Horizon''s tone actually makes her quiet down immediately. "This is how you get results." "No, you can''t do this!" The man screams while nearly trying to wrap his entire body around Horizon''s outstretched arm. "You''re a Hero, you aren''t allowed to do this!" "Idiot, you''re a viin. Nobody really cares about you, plus. I''m not just a Hero, I''m Horizon. That means I, can do whatever I want, now, talk." "I''ll lose my business if I talk!" The man screams out, still holding on for dear life. "Hmm, true. And I see that you''re a man of your word. I can respect that, but so am I." "WhAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" the man''s confusion bes terror as Horizon drops him over the side. Ryukyu raises her wings, ready to fly down and save him, only for Horizon to turn around before she can do anything. "You stay put!" hemands, pointing directly at her. And she wisely obeys. "He''s scared enough you can warp him back up now!" Ryukyu insists. "Don''t be silly," Horizon says, then a momentter he warps the initial card back into his hand. Then throws is onto the sidewalk. "Shambles." The broken viin warps onto the floor. Both legs were broken and one arm was twisted, covered in freezing cold seawater, some of which he was coughing up. Reaching down, to the viin and Ryukyu''s horror. Horizon grabs him by a broken leg and holds him over the railing. "Another dip?" "I''ll talk! I''ll talk!" the man immediately cracks. "It was some kind of contest." "Contest?" "Lots ofbs around the world were supposedly in on it! Strongest Trigger form gets the money, but I lost!" "What else do you know about it?" "Ab from Europe may have won but it was all anonymous! I swear that''s all I know! Please believe me!" "I believe you," Horizon tosses the man onto the sidewalk. And with this little experience, it all clicked in Ryukyu''s mind. She knew this was what the media would never see, what she''d never tell them for fear of angering Horizon or his followers. But this was the truth. ''Guardian Deity'', it sounds so majestic and benevolent. It was the fa?ade he ys for the cameras. But now she knows better, Horizon isn''t that kind of god. He''s all old testament. Fire, blood, rage. Results by any means necessary. And when a man has potentially enough power to fight the world...it''s very hard to sleep at night knowing he''s out there... knowing that should he ever switch sides, you''d be on the short list of people sent to bring him down. Sent to die against him... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 147: (Stonehearts) Chapter 147: (Stonehearts) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- ---6 PM, August 31st... SHAMBLES Horizon suddenly warps into principal Nezu''s office. Instead of his usual Hero Costume, he wore a pair of white sweatpants with his logo on the right leg, and a matching jacket. Leaving the muscle groove of his body glove exposed for all to see as the jacket was open. Walking toward Nezu''s chair he sits down, leaning back to getfortable before spinning around. Looking out at Musutafu. SCAN! Everything for 5 miles -8km- in every direction floods his mind. "Mmm," he shakes his head, feeling some difort but quickly casting it aside. "Looks like a boring night, and everyone is done training for the evening..." He looks to his right, at the wall, but was focusing on all his ssmates and the students of 1B in the 1Amon room. "Ok, time to see if you''ve been cking," he spins around to face Nezu''sputer. The most intelligent person in the world, aputer that waspletely unhackable. On its own instedwork with billions of dors of cyber security protecting it. Yet with a few taps, Horizon logs in. "Who the hell needs a fifty-digit password..." Horizon mutters as he begins looking for security camera data. The only thing Nezu couldn''t n for, was someone else simply knowing his password. And when your Quirk allows you to effectively get a 3D map of every object, person, and movement. Seeing the keys and the order they are hit in are easy enough. Even knowing where to touch on a phone screen to log in. And with Horizon''s perfect memory, there wasn''t a passcode in UA that Horizon hasn''t identally memorized simply because of how often his ROOM is active. "There we go...and he''s getting used to the upgrades," Horizon leans back in Nezu''s chair and observes Sero''s training over the past 2 weeks. After a few minutes Horizon takes out his phone to open the Hero Network. Seeing another barrage of team-up requests. "Jeanist, no. Mt. Lady, useless clout chaser. Mirko...another trap to get a rematch. Mr. Knight, why would I ever work with such a D-lister? Bamboo man, who the fuck? I''ve never even heard of this guy, ugh. This country has too many of you damn paper heroes." Declining every request he sets his phone down and focuses on Sero. Watching the improvement made with his guidance. The new efficiency, creativity, and power. In every movement, every action, every Super-Move. "Damn, I almost feel proud. But we won''t know if you''re still a pussy until people start shooting at you..." Twenty minutes of review Sero''s progresster, and Nezu finally walks in. "What are you doing?" Nezu asks, closing the door behind him. He sees Horizon leaning back in his chair looking at the screen. "Security footage, Sero''s training, just checking in on him." "And how did you log into myputer?" Nezu asks as he sits opposite Horizon, leaving him in the principal''s chair. "I guessed your password." "That''s impossible." "I''m just that good, is your meeting done?" "Finally yes. It actually has much to do with why you''re here. Someone who needs a miracle doctor will being to UA tomorrow, along with a new transfer student." "d to see you''re wasting no time filling those seats. Also, I''m not a free clinic, is this person useful." "It''s regarding a case you''ll be asked to lead, the kind of case that will jump-start a career." "I''ve had a lot of thosetely," Horizon sighs. "But fine, I''ll see what I can do, only as long as it''s useful." "You mean because it''s the right thing to do?" "Sure sure, tell the press that, those useless fucks love that hero garbage." "It''s not garbage, some people mean it, All Might does." "Did, and a lot of good that did for him. No thanks." "Well, either way, you''ve done good work these past few weeks. The crime rate is on a steady decline exactly as predicted. If not for you deterring crime in central Tokyo that much things would have been far worse for way longer." "Finished just in time for you to call me to fix another broken thing you found." "Well I did find you after all." Horizon''s head snaps over to look at Nezu, "I''ll let that go, just because you''re the only thing keeping my parents alive." "Mhm," Nezu nods awkwardly. Turning back to the screen Horizon reaches behind his neck and his mask folds away into the te at the back of his neck. Bingpact to the size of a cellphone. "So, are these losers ready for the License Exam tomorrow?" Law asks, but notices Nezu just staring at him. "What?" "Your eyes...why are they glowing?" this was his first time seeing the new blue glow. "New tricks," Law shrugs. Keeping his ROOM open so the glow persists. "Right. Well yes, I believe they''re ready. But I got word that because of a certain someone constantly running his mouth about how soft society is on the requirements for being a Pro Hero." Law gives a vicious smile at that, "oh, so what, how strict are we talking?" "We''ll find out tomorrow after the exam," the sound from Sero''s training stops and Horizon shuts off the recording. "Well, how was he?" "Better than expected, still a lot of work to do, but its a start." "And why only train him?" Nezu raises a hand to his chin, still unable to figure out the thought process behind this. "There are others in the ss that would give better results from your training, why not them?" "A few reasons," Law raises his fingers to start counting them. "Firstly, most of them are intolerable. Then there''s the issue of them not being open enough to give me credit. But mostly, they just don''t want it enough." "Midoriya and Bakugo want to be Pro Heroes more than most people that have ever attended UA." "Yes, but they aren''t selfish enough," Law sees Nezu looking a bit confused. "What I mean is, for Sero. It''s just him and his dad against the world. They''re dirt poor and him going Pro is their hail-mary attempt at getting a better life. He doesn''t have any backup n, he CAN''T quit. So he will die before he fails...something I can rte to." "And why is wanting to be a Pro Hero to save the civilians any less than that? I''d argue that Midoriya''s heroic spirit is among the strongest I''ve ever seen." "Yes, but if that so-called ''heroic spirit'' ever breaks, strangers die. He may feel bad for a while, but he''ll get over it. We''re human, its what we do. But when you''re fighting for people you really love, then you''ll never allow yourself to break. You''ll break the world before it breaks you." "Backs against the wall, I see..." Law shakes his head, "biggest brain on the, but all that logic and math in your head makes it difficult to really understand people. No wonder I always beat you at chess, getting in your opponent''s head isn''t enough. You also have to read his heart, and to do that, you have to understand your own." "Are you in any position to lecture me about emotions?" "Tch," Law scoffed. "I have a heart, and I know it well. It''s not made of stone, I feel things..." "I know. I see it all the time," Nezu gives a warm smile. "You can''t help but show it on your face, every time you talk about them. Because regardless of what they did or what they are, you atleast think they were good to you, and your love of them is what makes you who you are." "Because they''re perfect." "Maybe, but now imagine if you looked at every person with such care, and that strong desire to protect them." "That''s impossible, nobody has that much love to give." "All Might does..." Law thinks about it for a moment, and can''t argue against it. For better or for worse Yagi did care about everyone, willing to do things that Law would only do for his family, but for random strangers. "True," Law says. "But he''s 1 in ten billion, just like me..." "Maybe, but you''re more simr than you believe." "That''s impossible." "Mhm, yet you both punish yourself beyond any reasonable bounds when one of the people you love and want to protect gets hurt, for him, he''d work himself to death. Knowing that a million more saved lives could never make up for any one life he failed." "And me, how exactly am I punishing myself?" "The loneliness." "I''m not lonely," Law grits out. "I''ve got you to annoy me every day." "That''s not the same and you know it," Nezu hops onto the desk and walks up beside Law, looking out at the city behind them, and Law spins in the chair to join him. "You''ve always had them with you. Always lived in your family home. But now, walking around these big, empty houses. Refusing to even make friends because you feel like you don''t deserve them until you fix everything, it''s not what they''d want." "Don''t tell me what they''d want!" Law snaps at him, but Nezu doesn''t react. "They want you to live a full life. And from what I understand they wouldn''t care which side you fought for, just that you were happy and living the life you want, with people you care about." "If this is some cheap sales pitch for me to start making friends, you''re failing." Nezu sighs, "no, but I imagine if they knew that their son was here working himself to death, going four days at a time with no sleep. All while having no real friends, for three whole years. Just to save them... that would break their hearts." Law stops to think about it for a while, sensing all his ssmates finally gathered in themon area. "And how would you be so sure?" "Because all my students and staff are the closest I''ll ever have to family...and it would break my heart to think they led such lonely lives." "And now you expect me to make friends with everyone I meet?" "No, but maybe don''t be as bad, do something nice for them. Public image is a main concern of yours after all and they are the first people the press will call when you''re a full Pro Hero." "Mmm, I guess ying nice may be the right call here. Solve more problems that way, but what do teens even like, normal ones I mean?" Nezu shrugs, "pizza?" END CHAPTER--- Chapter 148: (Pizza Time) Chapter 148: (Pizza Time) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- Walking into the 1A dorms Horizon is immediately hit with a cacophony of noisy chatter. All the remaining students of 1A and 1B are now gathered, he sees some sitting at the tables. Others at the couch, and most of the girls are on beanbags in the middle of the room chatting. Looking over toward the kitchen, Shoji and Bakugo were cooking, with some help from Asui. "Horizon!" Mina yells out, causing everyone to turn toward him. "You here to wish us luck on the exam tomorrow?" "Don''t involve me in the oue of your exams Pinky, win or lose on your own..." he says before walking over to the kitchen. Mina gives an exaggerated frown, "you know it wouldn''t kill you to be nice!" "It might." Arriving at the kitchen, he sees Bakugo, Asui, and Shoji staring at a pot of some brown sludge. "What is that supposed to be?" "The sauce for the Tofu," Bakugo growls out. Shoji rubs the back of his neck, "I may have read the recipe wrong." "It''ll be ok, we can probably fix it," Asui gives him a pat on the arm. "Uh-huh, can''t follow simple steps, good thing its not like people will be counting on you to save them or anything," Horizon walks over to the counter and ces a card on the table. "You don''t have to rub it in, he made an honest mistake," Asui points out. "Whatever," Horizon raises a hand and snaps his fingers, swapping the metal card for a stack of two dozen pizzas, a tower of boxes ripped out of some of their dreams. "And Horizon saves the day yet again, enjoy..." It takes a moment for everyone to process what is happening, that he actually did something nice for them. Then they yell a chorus of thanks to Horizon, which he ignores. Walking toward Sero while everyone else moved toward the kitchen. And a momentter only he and Sero are in the couch area with the tv, and Sero is giving him a bored stare. "What?" Horizon asks as he sits on the left side of the couch, opposite Sero''s single seat. "You put me on a diet then buy everyone pizza...that''s diabolical." Horizon just leans back,ughing, "didn''t even think about that. How''s that been going by the way?" "Honesty, I don''t know if it''s good or bad that I don''t even want the pizza at this point. My life is all upside down." "It''s called progress, see, told you I''d make you into a good Hero. Disciplined, efficient, and effective, that''s all you need." "Yeah, thenes the money," Sero smiles. "And the women." "Ye---uhhh," Sero cuts himself off as Yui takes the single seat beside him, eating a slice of pizza. "Well, one is just enough, for me atleast." "Sure sure, but while I''m here I figured I''d check out your progress. I was in Nezu''s office watching footage of your training." "Oh," Sero stiffens up. "And, uh, how was it?" "Not bad, we''ll do more intricate training when you get your Provisional License tomorrow. It''ll be easier when you see what having to patrol and deal with real viins is like..." As they continue talking everyone breaks back into their groups, meaning Momo, Kendo, Tokoyami, and Juzo join them all at the couches. With Momo sitting beside Horizon and Kendo to her left. "So what have you been up to while we were all training?" Kendo asks. "Every time you show up on the news it''s after taking down some viin or gang, you''re actually pretty cool." "Awe, are you one of my fangirls now?" "Psh, unlike them I know you''re a jerk," Kendo rolls her eyes. "But everyone knows that viins and criminals have been acting really wildtely since...you know." "Since All Might got retired, you don''t have to be scared to say it." "Yeah, but it''s just...it feels wrong." Everyone nods in agreement with her, aside from Horizon. "Like the whole world stopped making sense," Juzo says. "Heroes die every day, same shit. But yeah crime and the viins went crazy. The record-high crime rate happened really fast, and since arge portion of the crime in Japan happens in Tokyo---" "You were in the ho''s nest," Momo says. "But don''t you think you were pushing yourself too much? You supposedly only left the scenes for 4 hours over an 80-hour period. That can''t be healthy." "Well I lived, so it can''t be that bad. Besides, there was work to do. I act as the main deterrent in Minato Tokyo, if I leave the scene then the more... eye-catching viinse out. People with Gigantification and such Quirks stay in hiding when I''m on duty." "Like a mini All Might," Tokoyami says. "With the way he suppressed crime nationally, I mean." "Basically, but the crime rate has been on a steep decline the past few days. The first wave was handled pretty well. Between just myself and the top 10 Pros, a lot of viins got arrested. Enough beatdowns and they keep to themselves." "Some of those fights, the aftermath looked like a warzone," Momo says. "Especially after the raid on the League Of Viins." "Mhm, too bad they got away, but next time I''ll just escort them to prison myself," Horizon says. "Even if technically it''s illegal for me to be on the mission. It''s not illegal for me to just fly within a few miles of the convoy." "Wait, why is that illegal?" Sero asks. "I mean they trusted you to help arrest them, right?" "Yeah, but the risk of someone on the convoy being a security risk is much worse considering where we''d be taking them to. Not even all Pro Heroes are cleared for those missions. You need special permission from Commission President Pantu for that. And she''ll never let me near one of those facilities." "Huh, why not?" "Because you can''t trust someone you can''t control, atleast not in her position. Especially not when that person can wave his hand and warp almost everyone out of the prisons." Tokoyami shudders at that thought. "Luckily you''re a hero. Trying to stop you would be---" "Impossible," Dark Shadow pops out and says. "Your Quirk is really weird and creepy!" "Says the shadow that lives in his belly," Horizon says. "Dark Shadow, enough," Tokoyami retracts him. "Sorry about him." After a bit more chatter about the situation in Tokyo, Kendo asks something that some students have been curious about for a while. "Hey, what''s the deal with you, Nejire-Chan, and Ryukyu?" This immediately earns a side eye from Momo. "What do you mean?" "Well, you''ve been working with them for the past few days, on a few big Trigger raids and stuff. You guys seemed really close in those pictures, and well. You know how the inte is, they---" "Think I''m dating every girl I appear in a picture with, as usual," Horizon groans. "Yeah, but you do look good with her." "I look good with any pretty girl," Horizon says. "But Nejire is far too damn annoying, girl never shuts up. All her stupid questions about my Quirk and my suit and the visor and...you get the point." Momo perks up at that, until Sero asks, "what about Ryukyu, see seems like your type." "She is, too bad she''s a Pro Hero, that seems like such a headache to deal with." Momo frowns at that but quickly schools her expression. And Sero bites his tongue instead of voicing his opinion, which more closely resembles Horizon''s stance on that matter as the days pass. The idea of Yui getting hurt doesn''t sit well with him at all. But he kept that to himself, especially with his Hero Course girlfriend beside him. "Well that''s good," Momo says. "I mean, the fact that crime is declining again. And you did well in contributing to that." "Naturally." "But that begs the question, why are you back at UA? It seems unlike you toe all the way back here to wish us luck when you could be working, not that we don''t appreciate it." "I honestly didn''t know the exam was tomorrow until I spoke to Nezu on the phone." "Oh, you didn''t see the ss chat group?" "I don''t check that, your opinions and personal lives aren''t that valuable to me." Kendo shakes her head, "well you don''t have to be an ass about it." "Get over it fister." "That''s not my hero name!" "Might as well be," Horizon sees Sero suppress augh. "Nezu called me back to work on a different issue. So while you''re all in the exams I''ll be dealing with that." "You and Principal Nezu are pretty close huh," Sero says. "How did that happen anyway?" Horizon shrugs, "well over a year ago he needed a doctor for All Might. Chance brought us together, then he realized I was strong and capable, and All Might was running on fumes. So he decided to get a recement Symbol Of Peace ready before All Might retired." "So All For One ruined the timeline he had plotted out?" Momo asks. "Exactly." "So he really did just bet on you," Kendo was in genuine awe at what she just heard. "That''s, insane. Should you really be telling us this?" "It''s not like the principal tries to hide it," Tokoyami says. "From day one he made it clear that he has a favorite student. On the second day he even told us directly that he doesn''t expect anyone to ever match Horizon, atleast 1-on-1, within UA." "Yeah, hearing that sucked, plus you were a total jerk from the first day of school, just the worst," Sero says, and his ssmates nod in agreement. "And that was right after we saw what Shoto could do. Meanwhile, I''ve just got tape..." "Nezu isn''t the most... emotionally wise person. But his logical mind more thanpensates," Horizon says. "No wonder you two get along so well," Kendo says. "But atleast when he''s a jerk it''s idental." Horizon looks down to his left, directly at Momo. "Well, if it ever stops working maybe I''ll consider changing it, but for now, I''ll enjoy the life it gives me..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 149: (The Shields) Chapter 149: (The Shields) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- SHAMBLES Law warps into Nezu''s office, wearing the body glove but no visor. Sitting on the couch he has his visorpacted down in his hand and looks over to Nezu. "Good morning," Nezu says. He was sitting behind his desk typing away on theputer. "You ready to tell me what''s going on now?" "Hmm, rude. I don''t understand the full scope of the situation, when they arrive we''ll get the full story." "Honestly you people act like sending a text is the most difficult thing in the world." "Well, he doesn''t have ess to mywork to ensure a secure line." "Right." "Do you have other ns for today? Your ssmates should be back at around 2 PM. "Hopefully I can get started on this case immediately. If not, I''ll probably go back to my house for a change and rx. Do some light trainingter. You know, since I had that mansion built and never get to use it..." "If you weren''t integral for the security of UA I would have allowed you to neglect the dorm requirements. Besides, when you''re here you spend what, 7 hours each night in your training grounds. Can''t do that at your fancy house." "Yeah I guess, but I can have women over, not need to wear the visor every minute, the little things you know." "Is it really that much of a problem? You spend all your time working anyway, so it''s not like the visor everes off." "I know, and I''m used to it already. But having the option is nice..." "Well, that I can understand. But---" Nezu stops as he sees Law perk up, looking up at the ceiling. "What''s wrong?" "Helicoptering toward UA, in the airspace at the back of the school." "That''s them, how many details can you get." "Man in a wheelchair, a girl beside him. Nice tits---" "Focus, and don''t be a pervert." "It''s not like I looked past her clothes, jeez," Law rolls his eyes. "Yagi is with them. Their phones are weird, must be custom. I can''t recognize the model. She has a backpack, filled with...some tools. Books, gran bars maybe." "Anything about them particrly?" "He has a cavity and is missing a tooth, I like his watch." "Anything about her, look a bit deeper." Law nces at Nezu, not sure what he was getting at, "what? You want to know what kind of underwear she has on?" "Absolutely not, I have no interest in such things, especially not regarding my students." "Student?" "Starting today, but I was more curious about the fact that she''s Quirkless." "I can''t detect that from range. My SCAN is like a full 3D map of everything and everyone. I can go deeper, look inside a sealed candy wrapper and things like that if I want. But I can''t really do that on a living thing without touching them." "Every time I learn something new about that Quirk of yours, the more impossible it seems." "Even you can''tprehend divinity, that''s all there is to it." "Hmm, warp them into here when you''re ready," Nezu says. "Time to get to work," Law raises thepacted te behind his neck, activating it for it to expand around his head into his visor. He warps three of his cards into his hand, tossing two on the couch opposite him and another in the open space of the office. "Shambles," Yagi, David Shield, and Melissa Shield are warped into the room. With Yagi and Melissa on the couch opposite him and David in his wheelchair. "Hng," Melissa -the stacked blonde 16-year-old girl in jeans and a pink top-, nearly falls off the couch in surprise. "What happened?!" Yagi was calm as ever, used to Horizon''s antics. "So that''s how your warping works," David -the brown-haired man in the wheelchair with a scar on his left cheek-, says. "Instant and undetectable by the human body, if only I could replicate it." "That wasn''t very nice," Melissa says, then catches herself. "Sorry, I''m Melissa Shield, it''s a pleasure to meet you!" She gets up and reaches out to shake his hand, not at all intimidated by his stature or presence. She''s spent quite a bit of time around her ''uncle'' after all, All Might. "Well you know who I am, so can we get down to business?" Horizon doesn''t even reach out to shake her hand, leaving her to awkwardly sit back down. "Well if you insist," David says. "I''ll skip introductions and get to the threat. What do you know about the I-Ind attack?" "You had the annual tech expo, viins attack, they brought down the tower. You and she were presumed dead...clearly one of those was a lie." "A necessary falsehood which I suggested," Nezu admits. "David has reason to believe they would continue hunting him down." "For what? He owes them money?" "That''s what we''d all like to know," Yagi says, looking at his friend. "Alright," David sighs. "The truth is, I detected that Yagi''s power was decreasing a lot these past few years." "You knew?" Yagi asks. "Not about All For One. But I figured maybe it was just Quirk Fatigue, lots of Strength Enhancer types experience that as they get older. But the idea of a world without All Might, that, that was too much to bare. So I tried building a device, I had to call a lot of people I''ve made a point to avoid. I needed the info they had on Quirks. Centuries of data poured into my idea. I had hundreds of anonymous people contribute in exchange for money or consultation on tech they were working on. Until, it wasplete." "A weapon?" Yagi asks. "No! I''d never make a weapon," David says. "This was a mechanical Quirk Amplification Device. Something you could wear that will boost your power, like you were in your prime." "In this world, that''s a weapon," Horizon says. "Father..." Melissa looked heartbroken that he''d even make something with such destructive potential. Essentially a perfected form of Trigger. "I thought I could just give it to All Might and the situation would be solved, all I wanted to do was help," David looked like he was about to cry, seeing the disappointed faces of his daughter and friend. "Save the tears for when I''m gone," Horizon cuts them off. "You can be a little bitchter. Right now stay focused. Why did viins attacks, and what happened to the device? "Right," David holds back the tears. "I assume there was a leak somewhere in my operation, and when the project waspleted the viins were sent to retrieve it." "Well the League Of Viins was there," Horizon says. "And it''s fairly obvious that between All For One and whoever is still making the Nomu for the league, they''re probably one of the investors who gave you the library of Quirk data." "They could have hacked you," Nezu says. "No, this particr design was kept strictly in my mind. I knew the risk of even writing it on paper." "One less thing to worry about," Horizon says. "And the device?" "They stole it," David says. "The viin, Wolfram. He has two Quirks. A Muscle Enhancer, and his Metal Maniption. He can control any metal he touches." "Two Quirks," Horizon and Yagi look at each other. "Guess All For One sent him for it. Use the device, amplify Super Regeneration, and health issues relieved atleast." "Another agent of that monster is loose in the world," Yagi grumbles out. "A lot more than him, but this still leaves one question," Horizon looks at David. "If they have it, then why would they need you?" "Because I broke it. I mmed it into the floor when I was cornered, the parts are far too intricate for anyone else to assemble or replicate. The only exception being in this room with us," he looks at Nezu. "They need me to fix it, and when they were about to capture me I brought down the tower to kill us both." "But you both lived, another failure to the list..." "Horizon!" Nezu tries his best to keep him in line. "He fucked up, and now we''re dealing with his mess. And my part in all of this is capturing the viin and recovering the device...while he''s likely going to try and get one of the Shields in his control." "In a nutshell, yes," David atleast looks apologetic. "And you''ll be doing what? ying teaching in the Support Department until this is resolved?" "Precisely," David says. "And Melissa will enroll in that department as well. While it isn''t the same as the technology institute she attended previously, atleast at UA''s Support Department she can still work on her own inventions." Horizon just sighs, "great. Just great, as if I didn''t have enough crap on my te already. Being a deterrent in Tokyo and for the country''s viins. Protecting UA from Kurogiri, trying to get my own career started, and now this shit..." "I really am so---" "Save it," he cuts him off. "I''ll cast a in case that guyes to Japan, hopefully, the entire league doesn''te knocking on our door because of this." "If there''s anything I can do to help, please let me know," David says. "Oh, believe me, when this is over you''re gonna endorse me as a Pro Hero. Because having one of All Might''s best friends and partners in my corner is very important, but until then, neither of you leave campus without me, got it?" "Of course," David nods. "Right," Melissa agrees. "Thank you for taking care of us." Horizon immediately gets up, clearly annoyed, walks over to David, and rests a hand on his shoulder, "alright, time to fix this cripple." "Wha---" David can''t even finish his word before they''re both warped into Horizon''s medical suite at UA. Now only Melissa, Yagi, and Nezu, were in the office. "Well, that went better than expected," Nezu says. "That was him being nice?" Melissa asks. "But, on TV he was always so...inspiring. I mean I know he was a bit mean with the way he speaks about Pro Heroes in general, but aren''t heroes supposed to have sympathy." "They do," Yagi says. "But Horizon has had to deal with great loss. The idea of people losing their loved ones because someone unworthy became a Pro Hero must infuriate him to no end. He treats everyone extremely critically based on how well they perform their tasks." "And how much they annoy him, and interrupt his life," Nezu says. "Thankfully all the favors I''ve asked of him also provide him much benefit. Helping his Hero Career and whatnot, but that doesn''t mean he''s happy about doing them." "Oh, well when you put it like that I can kind of understand...but he doesn''t have to be such a jerk about it!" END CHAPTER--- Chapter 150: (New Partnerships) Chapter 150: (New Partnerships) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- ---Undisclosed Location, 2 AM... Walking onto a private runway was a tall and bulky man, muscles well hidden beneath his ck shirt and white trench coat. In his right hand was a ck duffel bag, red, matching his wild hair. He worebat pants with matching boots, and had an uneasy look on his face. Looking up at the moon he checks his surroundings, only seeing desert ins around him for miles and miles, along with the jeep he just spent thest three days driving to this spot. And in front of him is apletely pitch-ck private jet with no markings on it, not even windows. Approaching the jet he raises a brow, "I''m here! And I hope you don''t think just because I can control metal that I can fly this thing." The door opens, dropping down to be a set of stairs as the engines start up. The now familiar hum of a modern all-electric jet reaches his ears. Walking into the jet he isn''t greeted by anyone, the door simply closes behind him as it begins aligning itself on the runway to takeoff. Wolfram immediately puts a hand on a metal part of the inner wall, and a single blue spark shows his Metal Maniption Quirk in full effect, "you better start talking before taking me anywhere." "This vehicle is unmanned, one of my more luxurious drones," a sickly voice says through the speakers. "I am Tech, your new employer. Please, have a seat." "Ok, I just spent days in the hot-ass desert driving to this ce, so make it worth my time," Wolfram says as he drops his bag on the seat, and immediately begins looking for something to drink. "Yes, help yourself to anything you want, it shall be a long flight to Japan." "Japan?" Wolfram asks as he walks back to the seats with a bottle of champagne. "Oh, right. You weren''t in range of any information services these past few days. Please, watch this..." As Wolfram is pouring himself a ss a hologram appears on the table in front of him. "What is this?" he asks as Principal Nezu appears to give a press conference. "Your destination." "Tch, UA? Well, we''re gonna have to renegotiate my price if this is the kind of risk you want me to take. Japan may be a bit messy at the moment, but their main guard dog spends half his time in that school." "Precisely, only half his time. Some simply studying, and cleverly engineered disasters, will allow you to know exactly where he''ll be." "Ok, but that doesn''t exin why---" Wolfram stops talking as the recording stars, and David Shield walks onto the stage. "---Oh." The recording skips ahead a bit to where Nezu, David, Yagi, and Horizon are standing on stage. And that''s where it pauses. "Two days ago David Shield was announced to have taken a teaching position at UA. The official story is that after you attacked I-Ind and nearly killed him and his daughter, his desire to directly help the next generation of Pro Heroes was re-ignited. That led to him taking this teaching position to help the ''next great hero'' while he can. It''s just a big shy stunt to say he''s at UA to help out Horizon and the other students after he almost died." "And the truth?" Wolfram asks, downing his ss and refilling it. "They know we''lle for Melissa Shield, and force her father to repair his device. So they put them in the best thing short of Tartarus with people they trust. So we may assume All Might, Nezu, and atleast Horizon know about the device." "To think my life would get soplicated because of this thing," Wolfram reaches into his bag and takes out the shattered bits of the Quirk Amplification Device. A broken metal helmet-like contraption. "Yes, first All For One hires you to steal it, then he gets arrested so now I''m stepping in as the new employer." "Didn''t think there were two shady guys like you that would hire me so quickly, but hey, the money is too good to pass up." "I know how to motivate people. You will leave thoseponents in the jet when yound, I''ll fly them back to my main base and try to figure it out myself." "Can you?" "Unlikely, atleast not in this form. The fact that he was able to fit multiple supeputers worth of processing power into a helmet is...miraculous. The man truly is the greatest engineer this world has ever seen." "You sound like a fan." "Only a distant admirer. Now, may I know your n and timeline to bring me Melissa Shield?" Wolfram looks at the hologram, all the men standing on stage. "I''ll have to wait a few weeks for them to getfortable at UA. When people are used to a routine they''re more likely to make mistakes, that''s when I can strike. As for my n, my old team died at I-Ind. I''ll have to make new allies here." "The League Of Viins?" "No. I want to keep a low profile, and if they could have, they would have already attacked that school. They''re more scared of Horizon than anyone else, because he''s actually gunning for them. I don''t want him actively looking for me alongside them." "Projected timeline for this mission?" "Hmm, capture the girl, force her dad to finish the project by using her as leverage, keep Horizon distracted while this is all happening...within 3 months you''ll have it on the doorstep of your mansion." "Sky Pce," Tech corrects him. "But that will do quite well. When this ispleted and your payment is received, I''ll have more contracts to bepleted over the following 6 months." Wolframughs, "with how well you pay, just consider me on retainer after this job. Hell, if I can pull one over on Horizon there isn''t anything I can''t do, so of course my price will be higher, but you can more than afford it." "Naturally, my goals are beyond money, spare no expense in the pursuit of your dreams after all." "My dream is money, because power can be bought, and I''ve already got power enough" Wolfram flexes his arm, his skin glows slightly red as his Muscle Augmentation Quirk activates before going back to normal. "Power is the path to silence..." "Well, I''m sure silence must mean a lot to you if that''s what this is for," Wolfram downs another ss of champagne and gets up. "What kind of food does this thing have anyway..." ---1A Dorms, 7 AM... SHAMBLES Horizon warps into themon area, in full Hero Costume, ready to get the day started. But before that, he immediately turns toward one of the tables, where Shoto, Kirishima, and Bakugo, were having breakfast before going off to do some Quirk training. "Hey idiot," they all look up, not sure who he was referring to. But Horizon just takes out his phone and hands it to Shoto. "Speak..." "Who---" "Your dad, probably wants to know why you are one of the few people here to fail the License Exam." "I don''t want to talk to him," Shoto tries to hand the phone back. "He''s been bothering me all morning, and unlike you, I actually work with him. Just talk to him before I warp you into his office." Shoto narrows his eyes at Horizon but just gets up and takes the call outside, for some privacy. "I swear the Todoroki''s are the fucking worst..." Horizon mutters. "You know, the exam really was a lot harder this year," Kirishima says. "You don''t have to be so hard on them. I mean it is tougher because of what you were saying on tv." "Good, this era needs better heroes, and as Silver Medal learned," he gestures to Bakugo. "Being strong isn''t everything. And all the other idiots who failed learned that they aren''t strong enough and need to work on that, but they''ve got the other things down properly. Only having 50 people pass per venue is good for the country." "Yeah, but you don''t have to be mean about it, not manly at all bro." "Yeah I''m not taking advice from a brick," Horizon says. "Brick?" Kirishima actually thinks about it for a moment, "ohhhh! Because of my Quirk, that''s pretty clever!" "No, because of your brain..." As Kirishima just sits down and tries to enjoy the rest of his breakfast, Shoto walks back in and hands his phone back. Then without a word he just sits down and continues eating. "I''m ready!" Sero calls out as he walks into the room, a suitcase in one hand and the metal case with his Hero Costume in the other, dressed casually. "Huh, where are you guys going?" Mina hops off the couch and rushes over. "Can Ie, we''ve been locked in the dorms for weeks no! They won''t even let me go shopping!" "Because you failed the exam Pinky," Horizon says. "Besides, this is a training trip. We''ve got a week before school starts up and Sero will be spending it in Tokyo with me." "Yeah," Sero says. "Now that I''ve got my license he convinced Principal Nezu to let me go work with him for a week. Taking my training to the streets, we''ll be a pair of crime-fighting heroes for a while" "A temporary partnership until you don''t need me anymore," Horizon says. "That''s so manly! Helping people for real!" Kirishima actually sheds a tear for the moment, causing a few people to give him strange looks. "Right. Sero, let''s go before he starts wanting to hug people..." Horizon rests a hand on Sero''s shoulder and they both warp away, to an armored car waiting outside of UA to drive them to Tokyo... To train one of the passing students of the Provisional License Examination. Because as they said, due to Horizon''s influence the exams were much harder. Moving from only 1500 people being epted to only 50. And because of this, the crowd thinned that much more around Horizon. ''Kaminari- Deceased Sato- Deceased Koda- Deceased Mina- Failed her exam Jiro- Failed her exam Bakugo- Failed his exam Shoto- Failed his exam Shoji- Failed his exam Ojiro- Failed his exam'' Step by step, Horizon is forcing Japan''s Pro Heroes to be better and better, but this earned the resentment of an untold number of people, on both sides... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 151: (Team Horizon) Chapter 151: (Team Horizon) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- ---6 AM, Horizon''s Penthouse, Minato Tokyo... Pacing around his bedroom, Sero was buzzing with excitement. A massive smile splits his face as he dries his hair, walking over to his dresser where the metal case for his Hero Costume was resting. "Finally, time for the big reveal..." he giggles madly while opening the case. "Wow," he takes a small step back,ying eyes on his brand-new costume for the first time. "So this is what he and Mei came up with, nice..." After getting dressed, his modified Hero Costume keeps the same design as the original. With his visor resembling a tape dispenser, something Horizon tried and failed to talk him out of. The yellow, ck, and white colors are exactly as before. But the most notable changes are the much more reinforced boots and a functional utility belt with smallpartments for first aid and other essories. But standing up, now fully dressed, he turns around to look at his back in the mirror. He sees thing carbon fiber rectangles running down his spine, across the back of his arms and legs. Connecting to the soles of his boots. "Ok, guess I need the manual," Sero takes the instructions out of the case and sits on the bed with them. Looking at the diagram and then raises his arm, he sees an opening where his Quirk dispenses tape on his elbow. "Ok so I feed tape into this thing from my elbows, then I just use these..." he looks at his gloves, seeing small buttons on them. "Wait...crap, I should have opened this thingst night and loaded it! That way I could have started with a full set of tape for the day and had the gear loaded up." He holds his head in frustration, seeing the gear itself can independently hold a few hundred feet of tape. "I should be fine, I doubt I''ll ever use that much, hopefully. Plus this thing lets me shoot the tape farther so it should be more efficient." Taking a look at thest few pages of the instructions he raises a brow at the diagram, "so they built in Super-Moves for me, that''s useful..." he says before getting up and stretching a few times, feelingfortable, as if the costume wasn''t even there. Looking down at his chest, he sees a side view of his visor in the middle of his chest, made to look like a yellow tape dispenser, "time to go help some people, for real this time, no more kid games." Packing away his things in this massive bedroom, as big as the apartment he and his dad live in, Sero appreciates how much his life has changed for the better since UA, and even more so since meeting Horizon. Until the scent of eggs and bacon reaches his nose, "mmm, but first, breakfast. Heroes have to eat too," he begins walking toward the door, but stops at the mirror to take onest look at himself. Taking out his phone and sending a picture to his dad. "Yeah, hero..." Entering the hallway Sero looks left to see Minato Tokyo just about to start waking up, taking in exactly how high up they are. At the top floor of this skyscraper. Walking toward the kitchen he takes off his visor, holding it under his arm. Sadly he didn''t have the same equipment as Horizon to get a visor that folds down, atleast not yet. "That smells great!" Sero says from around the corner, "but I thought you said we''d just buy brea---" and he immediately freezes,ing face to face with a curvy blonde standing at the stove, wearing only a robe and a pair of Horizon''s slippers. They both just lock eyes, and an awkward silence ensues. Sero immediately recognizes her, and stiffly turns around, returning to his room. Five minutester Sero walks into the kitchen, seeing Horizon in his full Hero Costume sitting at the table enjoying a te of scrambles eggs and toast. Beside him is the same woman, now wearing a t-shirt and some shorts, enjoying a cup of coffee with her breakfast. And Sero just awkwardly slides into the third seat with a te already set out for him. "Sooooooo," Sero looks between both of them. "What''s Pixie-Bob doing here?" "Ryuko," she says. "Just call me Ryuko, Pixie-Bob is retired." Horizon just sits back and keeps enjoying breakfast. "Wow! Since when? Are all the Wild Wild Pussycats retiring?" "No just me," she gives a forced smile. "I just decided to go a different way with my life." "Ohh, yeah. Well, you chose the right time atleast. Every Pro Hero is under a lot of stress right now. Even the students. All the 2nd and 3rd-year students at UA are out in the field right now." "Yeah, I''ve been following the news. If I could bnce everything I would but I just had to pick, and I guess being Pro-Hero wasn''t as important to me as I thought. Some things are just a bit more important, you know?" "He knows," Horizon says. "I chose Sero for my team because he knows. He won''t stupidly sacrifice himself so easily, because he has a selfish desire to take care of his family. To actually be alive to spend time with them." Sero just gives an awkward smile, still not a fan of how Horizon calls ''Heroic Spirit'' stupid. "Well if Horizon is working with you then I''m sure you''ll do great, what''s your Hero Name? I don''t think I worked with you at the training camp." "Oh, Cellophane!" "Like...the wrap?" "Exactly!" he looks at Horizon "See, it''s not stupid." "It is," Horizon says. "A little bit," Ryuko says. "But atleast people will hear it and immediately know what you''re capable of, that''s the goal after all. Like ''All Might''." "Says the woman who chose ''Pixie-Bob''. but has no cat powers," Horizon says. "It''s a theme, you''ll get it when you have a full team. Like Endeavor and his fire team." "Teams are just how weak peoplepensate, a dozen ants still can''t fight a dragon." Ryuko just growls and sticks her tongue out at him, then they go back to eating. "Wait," Sero just realizes something. "You never said why you''re here, you weren''t herest night when we got here, right?" "Uhhh, well. You see. Being a Pro-Hero doesn''t really leave you much in the way of mizable skills when you retire, and since we weren''t exactly super popr or anything..." "She needs to find a job," Horizon says. "She and her team lost all their sponsors and partnerships after the summer camp, Nezu dealt with the legal fees but it''s still a pretty shit situation." "Oh," Sero nods along. "But why is she here?" "Oh, I got a job interview in Tokyo!" Ryuko almost hops out of her seat in excitement. "But since I don''t live here I just called Horizon to crash here for the next few days." "Oh," Sero looks between them as he finishes his breakfast. Not sure if his theory was right. "So, are you two...like, uhhhh." "Oh, we''re just friends," Ryuko says. "But we do have sex sometimes," Horizon causes both Sero and Ryuko to choke on their food. She gives him an annoyed nce, "what? If I didn''t trust him to shut his mouth then you two never would have met here, besides. He''s my sidekick because he''s not a moron, he already figured it out..." "But still," Ryuko pouts. "I''m not your Sidekick," Sero says. "Atleast don''t say that in public, the whole point of this is so I never have to be a Sidekick remember?" "I know, I know, now finish your food and meet me on the roof." Horizon immediately warps away, leaving Ryuko and Sero at the table. As Sero is finishing Ryuko processes what Horizon just said, "wait, why are you meeting him on the roof, that''s weird." "It''s Horizon, he''s rarely normal," Sero shrugs and finishes his breakfast, "so, you''ll be staying with us all week?" "Or until I get the job, ites with a small apartment," Ryuko says, looking around at the penthouse she''d never be able to afford. "But if I''m being honest, I could get used to this..." ---3 Minutes Later... Stepping out of the elevator and walking onto the helipad, Sero sees Horizon sitting on his Hoverboard with his feet hanging off the side, floating above the ground. "Ready for your first day of Hero Work?" "I''ve been waiting all my life for this!" "Good," Horizon gestures to the edge of the roof, "just jump and we can get started." "Uh...jump?" "Mobility, its what separates people like Endeavor and All Might from people like Jeanist. That''s why I''ve got this," he taps the Hoverboard. "Without it, I''m less consistent, well, I was. I could get away without it now once I don''t have to leave Tokyo. But Tokyo is almost 100km wide, it was half that 300 years ago in 2014, and I''ll probably just keep expanding." "Ok, so more mobility lets you get to the scene before others and that makes you more effective, right?" "Exactly, and what''s your mobility?" "Swinging from stuff!" "Good, but this isn''t UA where the tallest thing you''ll have to get over is the Zero Pointers, this is the real world. And this is the tallest building in Minato Tokyo, if you can swing from this, you can swing from anything." "Right," Sero puts on his visor and walks to the edge, looking down, 160 floors separate him and the street below. 820m till st. "Do you need a push?" "No!" Sero looks at Horizon, thankfully seeing him unmoving. "I just, need a second..." "No, you need to stop being a pussy, Takt." Sero immediately feels himself being lifted off the floor, as if there was a hand on his back raising him toward the sky. "Wait! I thought you couldn''t move living things!" Sero yells as Horizon lifts him over the edge. "Did you not read the instructions?" "I skimmed them!" Sero yells, unable to move his arms or legs. "Then you know your new suit is fully reinforced to take more pressure. That means you''ve got some very durable parts that I can grab onto...its why armor doesn''t really work against me." "Wait!" "Good luck, Cellophane," Horizon says before he drops him off the side of the building. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!" Sero scream echoes through the cold morning air as his first day of Hero Work begins... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 152: (Warming Up) Chapter 152: (Warming Up) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "What are you doing?" Horizon asks as he floats down to the street, still sitting on his board. He sees Cellophane leaning against the wall trying to catch his breath. "What the hell man!?" "What, not like you died, I mean..." Horizon looks up, seeing the long strip of tape attached to his building. "Maybe next time use the feature that lets you retract most of the tape so you don''t make a mess...and don''t catch yourself so close to the ground." "Maybe don''t throw people off buildings!" Horizon sighs and looks around, seeing the early morning traffic about to start picking up. He floats over and holds Cellophane''s shoulder. SHAMBLES! They both appear back on the roof, at the very edge, swapped with nothing as he''s already spent weeks in Minato Tokyo getting attuned to it. "Woah," Cellophane jumps back, away from the edge, and takes off his visor. "Why''d you bring us back here?" Sero asks. "Because now you know you can do it, so I shouldn''t have to push you." "Well, I guess." "Not a guess, a fact," Horizon says. "Listen, if we were in UA you wouldn''t have had any issues doing this. But you''re hesitant because we aren''t in UA where you feel safe doing risky things to train." Sero thinks about it for a second, "well, yeah." "It''s a natural human adaptation. Take risks in ces with a safety, and avoid risks in new ces like this. But you''re going to be a Pro Hero. Your job is literally to run toward danger so others don''t have to." "Right," Sero nods, slowly walking toward the edge of the building. "So I should just get over my fears, right?" "No, actually, the fear of falling is the only one humans cannot adapt to ovee. It''s evolutionary in our very being, but we just learn to cope with it better over time." "Not the pep talk I wanted," Sero puts on his visor. "But...as a man, and as a Pro Hero. You cannot show that fear. Your duty is to be the rock for others to lean on, to be the one stable and dependable part of their life. ept your fears but get the job done anyway, without the safety." "And if I fall?" Cellophane asks. "You wouldn''t be paid so well if there wasn''t risk, besides, you want my life right?" "Huh, what do you mean?" "C''mon, I bought a skyscraper to live in and eventually set up my office, spent the night with basically a sexy runway model. I''ve got influence and power and anything people could want, if you want all of this...then train hard enough that you can leap without needing a." "Right," Cellophane nods. "Just one step forward," he says while looking at the street below. "Just gotta man up and do it, now stop being a pussy or I''ll push you off again..." Taking a deep breath, Cellophane closes his eyes, and just leans forward. He''s instantly falling head first, hundreds of meters to the streets below. But most importantly, all of his own volition. Feeling his body be weightless, as the fear crescendos within him, surpassing a point where he could even track it. Causing his mind and body to go numb to it. His eyes snap open, seeing the street only 200m below him. His right arm whips to the side and he fires out a strip of tape, still not used to aiming with his wrists rather than his elbows, but he hits his mark. With this line stuck to the side of Horizon''s building he swings in a wide arc, then with another flick of his wrist the end of the tape rips, a meter from where it''s attached to the building, and is reeled back into his suit. Cellophane''s ecstaticugh rings through the streets as he swings between buildings. Finally feeling his dreams bing a reality. He spends so much of his time training in UA, but nothing has ever felt as good as this. Using his Quirk and wearing his Hero Costume in public, with all the people on the streets below watching. This is the man he always wanted to be. The man he always wanted his dad to see him be... "---Are you done with the victoryp?" Horizon interrupts his thoughts, speaking through theirms into his visor. "Hng," Cellophane loses focus for just a second, pulling a bit too tight on his tape and nearly mming through the window of a building. Luckily he rolls in mid-air andnds on all fours against the ss, and identally triggers his new boots to run tape to his soles. Sticking his feet to the ss. Feeling himself about to fall back he shoots a line forward as if he were crawling on the wall, much to the shock of the man who was sweeping the floors of what seems to be a office. "Uh...I''m stuck to the wall, I think it''s my boots," Cellophane says while giving the man a polite wave. "Did you not read the manual?" "I thought they were regr boots man." "It''s Mei, nothing is normal after she works on it...just hang in there I''ll get the book..." "Not funny." "Just try to stick it out." Cellophane gives an annoyed groan, not exactly the start to his Hero Career than he was expecting... Minutester they''re up on another rooftop, Horizon still sitting on his Hoverboard while Cellophane is re-reading the manual. "You know you could have just warped me off the wall." "Yeah, but then you wouldn''t have learned anything." "Mmm, that''s fair I guess," Cellophane closes the manual and hands it over to Horizon. He holds it, warps away, then warps back without it, leaving it back in Sero''s room. "All good now?" "Yeah, I just missed one small section about the boots." "What about it?" "Apparently she did that so I could run up walls," Cellophane shrugs. "Well you did say you like that guy from those oldics." "Yeah but he''s got super strength, I don''t, so I can''t exactly stand parallel to the floor with just my feet stuck to a wall." "Yeah well Endeavor and Bakugo don''t have Super Strength but they can get hit through concrete and Endeavor can catch falling cars, so..." "What, you think I can get Super Strength?" Cellophane was confused by this idea, the though, like with most people, never urred to him. "Most humans have the gic potential for some level of enhanced physicality, its the basis of what makes us so malleable that Quirks didn''t instantly cause the first people that got it to explode. Without it the Quirk Singrity Theory would be real...we''re just really hard to kill." "Ohh, I never really thought about it like that before, how do you know this anyway?" Horizon just slowly turns to look at Cellophane, "did you forget that I''m a top Quirk Specialist and doctor?" "Honestly man, sometimes you''re such a dick that I forget you actually have so many jobs to help people," Cellophane shrugs. "Whatever, let''s just get you some practice..." ---4 PM, Minato Tokyo... "You should see them now," Horizon''s voice says to Cellophane as he swings through the city. And as he rounds the corner, he sees his target. A blue pickup truck with two men inside, wanted for double homicide, and currently being chased by police cars. "Guns?" "No," Horizon says. "And they''ve got useless Quirks, this should be easy, just stop the car." "Ok, Cellophane time!" "That''s an awful catchphrase." "I''m working on it!" he yells while swinging in, taking a hard angle down a narrow alleyway to cut off the cars'' route. With a loud ng, his bootsnd on the roof of the car and he sticks to it, "pull over!" One of the men leans out the window, looking back at Cellophane, "who the hell are you?" the man asks while taking out a knife to stab him, swinging and barely missing his leg. "I''ll take that as a no!" Cellophane shoots a line of tape and wraps it around the man''s torso before shooting the other end at a streetlight they pass under. The force rips him out of the car, leaving him hanging from the light. "All right man, you''re buddy is hanging out so how about you just pull over and end this," Cellophane says, and the man responds by speeding up even more, aiming for a street that''s quickly being deserting as this chaoses their way. "Fine then, be like that, Strap Down!" Cellophane fires 6 lines of tape, 3 from each arm, while doing a perfect backflip off the car. As he''s in mid-air the lines connect to the back of the truck, specifically the axis. With amand to his suit, sent via a simple gesture, the lines lock into ce allowing him to shoot one to a nearby building, pulling himself toward it. ''I hope I gave it enough ck...'' he thinks as he aligns himself parallel to the floor, feet on the wall of a nearby building. This way its as if he''s on the edge of a cliff trying to stop the truck from falling off the side. And as the truck pulls, the lines snap tight. And what would usually end in either the tape breaking, or his body buckling and then being squashed t by the force of the truck. Ends with the rear axis beingpletely torn off, allowing the police to catch up. After training with Horizon and his new diet, the strength of his tape is many magnitudes stronger than ever before. And with his new suit built to take a massive about of weight pressing down on it, all the joints and reinforced pieces locked together the moment the force was applied to pull him down, making it into one solid piece of metal effectively. The concrete beneath his feet cracked and shook instead of his body feeling anything, while the truck waspletely ruined. Finally, he felt like he had a good opportunity to make his grand debut as Cellophane. All day they''ve been working and only a few pictures of him have been taken, but now, this was his chance. But as he got off the wall and reeled in his lines, the moment he takes a step toward the police... SHAMBLES He appears on a rooftop beside Horizon... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 153: (A Bad Influence) Chapter 153: (A Bad Influence) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- SHAMBLES! "Huh," Cellophane is suddenly standing atop a building, blocks away from where he was moments ago. He looks around for a moment, seeing Horizon hovering above him, sitting on his Hoverboard. "Why''d you warp me away?" "Because you were about to talk to the cops and take credit for stopping those guys." "Uh, yeah," Cellophane isn''t sure what the problem is, everyone atleast gives a statement after stopping a crime. "What''s the big deal?" "The big deal is that you''re a nobody..." Horizon descends down to his level, still sitting on the board. "What do you mean? Obviously I''m a nobody, but isn''t that what we''re trying to fix?" "Ok, what happens when you resolve a incident?" "I get paid!" Cellophane says. "After what?" "Uh...after Viin Insurance is subtracted from the payment, to cover any coteral damage I personally caused to the surrounding areas or people, right?" "Right, but I meant directly after you resolve it." "The police show up and I talk to them, then the news shows up and I get to be on TV." Horizon sighs, "exactly the problem. You need to think big picture. Look, Mt. Lady and Kamui Woods have been doing this for over 6 years each. They''re already 24 and 28 respectively, so why are they still referred to as ''Rookie Heroes'' while people like Hawks are considered great heroes at only 23?" "Uh... because he''s done more?" "That''s partly true, but it''s mostly because of marketing. When you search for anything rted to Mt. Lady or Kamui woods, you''d get something about them breaking up a minor robbery or in Mt. Lady''s case stopping a police chase, like you just did." "Yeah that''s what I just did," Cellophane says. "Wait, are you saying I shouldn''t have stopped them?" "No, I''m saying you can''t take credit for it yet. You need to stack up all these minor incidents, and upload your video footage from your visor to prove that you actually did it, send it UA and they''ll take care of it. That will get you paid. Then you upload it to your Cellophane profile online -which you can''t mize until you get a full license-, but obviously, nobody will watch it because nobody knows who you are. But when you get one big headline-making story then you can go give the media your name when you talk to them after the incident." "Ohhh," it finally clicks in his brain. "So when people see that and look me up, they''ll find my smaller incidents online, but the first thing they''ll see is the big event," he snaps his fingers. "Exactly, you have to enter the scene with a bang, otherwise you''ll get overshadowed and spend ten years as a ''rookie pro hero'', like a loser..." "Wait, but how long will this take?" "That''s not really up to us, but crime is still higher than average right now so it shouldn''t take that long. I got lucky with USJ, that put my name out to the world so then I just had to keep up with the expectations. But you''ll have to start from zero." "Right, but this is better than my previous n. I was just hoping to be a good sidekick and get noticed that way," Cellophane chuckles sadly. "Guess I didn''t think ahead much." "Nope, just get your name out there then we''ll show the world that we''re working together, that''ll get a lot of my audience following you. And suddenly you''ve got a lot of eyes on you to be a contender for the Top 10 Pro Heroes eventually." "You sound so sure of that." "The world knows I don''t associate with losers, so it''s a guaranteed thing. All you have to do, is not fuck it up." Cellophane takes a deep breath, "right...no pressure at all." Horizon shrugs, "yeah, it''s only your entire future depending on this, no big deal." "That''s for reminding me. But what kind of big incident do I even need to look out for, I mean, Minato Tokyo is pretty small time, especially considering it''s the middle of the city." "You''re wee for that," Horizon says. "That''s mostly because I''m here, the crime rate spikes a bit when I''m at UA. But most of the louder criminals have already moved. You won''t get people with shy Quirks fighting on the streets as much in this area. You''ll likely have to venture into the nearby areas to find something." "Hmm, I guess I''ll have to do some research on that tonight. Hey, how can I get a Hero Network ount?" "You can''t," Horizon says. "You''ll have to keep sending your paperwork through UA since you''re Provisional License uses UA as the Hero Agency you applied through." "Damn." "On the bright side you''re the only person that actually uses UA, everyone else usually has a Agency that scouted them." "How is that a positive?" "Means it''ll get processed faster than at any big Hero Agency. But it will make getting Team-Up requests pretty difficult since they''ll have to go through UA instead of just calling you." "Yeah that''s what I''m worried about." "When they see us working together people will be itching to scout you, don''t need to worry about that." "Really?" "Yeah, to get to me, not because of your skills, atleast not most of them." "Oh," Cellophane feels a bit saddened at that, but quickly cheers up. "But the reason doesn''t matter as long as I get a foot in the door, right?" "Exactly, but I do rmend atleast being associated with a top Hero Agency, even if you don''t take direct mentorship it looks better on paper. But I''m sure a top pro can teach something that I can''t." "Wow, did the almighty Horizon actually admit he isn''t the best at everything?" Cellophane teases. "I never said I''m the best at everything, just many things. Honestly, I should go spend a few days with Endeavor, somehow that fucker keeps pulling ahead with the number of resolved incidents." "How? You barely sleep and you can warp..." "Exactly, but he''s been doing this for almost thirty years. His efficiency is otherworldly. There has to be something about his operating style that I can steal to improve mine." "Jeez, no wonder he''s the only person you were willing to work with." "Yeah, he''s the gold standard... too bad he doesn''t want a roll of tape." Cellophane fakeughs, "very original." "Yeah well I---" Horizon stops for a moment, confusing Cellophane. "You what?" "I found them," he takes out one of his cards while stepping down to the rooftop. Throwing his card forward he draws his sword. "Be ready, I''m bringing them here..." "Gotcha," Cellophane takes a fighting stance, ready to fire strips of tape. "Shambles," a regr blue car appears on the roof, parked. The driver was a burly Japanese man, currently biting into a burger. The man immediately drops his burger in hisp and reaches for his gun, "Shi---ahhhh!" As the man''s arm crossed his body to grab the gun, Horizon''s sword flies through the windscreen and stakes him to his seat, through the arm and shoulder. "Dude!" Cellophane is horrified by the instant violence, before the man could even be a threat. he looks at the man who was screaming in pain, then at Horizon. "You ok?" he sees Horizon shaking his head, trying to ward off the headache of warping an object from 13 miles away, as well as Scanning for it. Beneath his visor, the blood was already flowing from his eyes, nose, and ears. "I''m fine," he lied. "Get the gun..." "Right!" Cellophane immediately rushed beside the man and sees the gun on the other seat, he shoots a strip of tape at it, then flicks it out the passenger side window. All while the man is still reeling in pain. "Alright, time to answer some questions," Horizon says as he walks up to the man, reaching inside the car and grabbing the hilt of his sword, slowly beginning to turn it. "Where were you going? Where is the factory?" "I don''t know what you''re talking ab---ahhhhhhh!" he twists the sword a bit more, and the sound of bones cracking grates against Cellophane''s ears. "Hey ease up!" Cellophane grabs Horizon''s shoulder and pulls him away. "We can''t just do things like that, he''s defenseless." "This is how we get answers, what''s your problem?" "You can''t just brutalize people, what did this guy even do?" "Go look in the trunk," Horizon says calmly, stepping away from the car and the man who was bleeding out. "What?" "The trunk, go look..." Cellophane looks between Horizon and the man, not sure if he should leave them alone, but he slowly back away to the trunk. TAKT! The trunk pops open as Horizon maniptes the lock. And Cellophane sees a grey duffel bag zipped up. His heart rate immediately spikes, dreading the possibilities of what can be inside. Slowly reaching forward he unzips the bag...and immediately looks away, taking off his visor and losing his lunch all over the floor. In the bag was the body of a young girl, only 5 years old at most. Across her body were green scales, small scales. But there wererge patches of missing flesh whererger scales were torn from. Her body looked malnourished and brutalized. A sad and gut-wrenching sight. Cellophane takes a moment to catch his breath, closing the trunk without taking a second nce, and stumbles back to Horizon. The man is silent in the car, desperately trying to catch his breath and stop the bleeding as best he can, looking up at Horizon in absolute terror. "Some illegal drugs needponents that Quirks provide," Horizon says. "And this girl is thetest in their victims...and there could be a whole warehouse of kids just like that...so go ahead. For crimes like this, nobody cares if you''re a bit rough with the viins, they don''t get mercy from anyone. But please, take your time and ask your questions. Not like every second matters, right?" Horizon steps away from the car, turning his back to the whole situation. And suddenly Cellophane is left with a harsh look at the reality, hidden by the colorful suits and the capes. The crimes that never make it to the news because the public wouldn''t be able to handle them. Because watching All Might fight some brawler is easier to digest, than the true evils of this world. "Where are the others?" Cellophane asks, unsure if this was even the right question, now far too aware of all the seconds passing by. "I...I can''t," the man says fearfully. Cellophane just gives a low growl, then reaches forward and grabs the sword, deciding that he did not have any seconds to spare... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 154: (CPS) Chapter 154: (CPS) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- SHAMBLES! Horizon suddenly finds himself in arge cage with empty cuffs on various bars. Chains attached to the wall on the far side, and a mess of human blood and excrement on the floor. Just outside the cage is an operating table, and a variety of both legal and inhumane medical instruments. "Oh, I''m definitely going to enjoy this," he mutters while walking to the lock. Drawing his de he easily shes the lock, opens the door, and steps outside. "Horizon," Gang Orca''s voicees through his visor. "All the kids are ounted for, we''re about to start moving in, and you''re free to engage." "Copy," Horizon says, now sensing all the kids he just warped to freedom being treated by the forces he brought nearby. Walking over to the medical equipment, he nces at the setup, permanently searing this horrific sight into his brain. The downsides of having a perfect memory. Then he just walks over to theputer and connects theputer in the left arm of his Hero Costume to it. Nezu''s program immediately begins ripping every bit of information out of the viin''s system and into Horizon''s dedicated mainframe. As its downloading he can hear loud footstepsing down the hallway, sensing two men rushing his way. BANG! The door to the room fling open, luckily the solid steel door blocks Horizon from their view. They immediately turn their backs to him, facing the cage. "Quick destroy the ev---" both men stop, one holding a pink me in his hand, ready to incinerate the kids to silence them. "What the hell! Where are they?!" "Safe," Horizon says, both men turn around and freeze at the sight of him. "Which is more than I can say for either of you..." The man holding the pink mes immediately raises both hands,unching two thin streams of fire. SHAMBLES! Horizon swaps with the man beside him. The second man reacts quickly, before the mes can touch him he opens his mouth and spits a stream of boiling water into it. INCISION! Horizon swings down at the man with the pink mes, shing off his fingers which the mes instantly cauterize. As the man is screaming in absurd agony, Horizon grabs him by the face and lifts him to block the boiling water sent at them. "Sorry!" the second man yells as he stops the stream of water, seeing the back of his friend covered in boils and scalded red. SHAMBLES! Horizon swaps their ces, not having the water user in his grasp. BOOSTER SHOT! He ms the man into the floor, cracking the tiles and concrete beneath it. Tossing the man atop his groaning and burnt friend, Horizon keeps his sword out and walks to the reinforced steel door of the room. He senses a man rushing toward this very room. ''3...2...1,'' He kicks the door, hard enough to rip it off the hinges and m it into the opposite wall of the hallway. Stepping out of the room he looks down at the door, then casually tosses it off the man who was squashed behind it. Pressing his boot onto the man''s face, he scans him, making sure he''d survive before turning and walking down the hallway. Making a sharp turn, Horizon begins climbing up the stairs. His room was currently only 200 meters wide, allowing him tofortably keep track of the kids he rescued, his allies, and all the enemies around. Including the man at the top of the stairs, with theicallyrge steel hammer. So the moment Horizon steps out of the staircase, his hand immediately moves up, casually catching the weapon. BOOSTER SHOT! Small wisps of blue energy vapor are released from his hand as he looks up at the man, thoroughly unimpressed. "Sword beats hammer," Horizon says as he stabs his de through the man''s leg, severing the ligament attaching his calf to the bone. "Ahhhh!" the man screams, only to get kneed in the face as he''s falling to the floor. Entering the ground floor, Horizon is by a man firing what appear to be steel slugs from his abs. "Well that''s new," Horizon mutters as the man aims at him, but he also senses the other viin with a bone spear extending from his palm trying to sneak up behind him. The man fires one slug at him. TAKT! "Argh! You fucking shot me!" The bone spear viin screams. One slug hits him in the thigh. "Sorry!" the man yells and fires again. TAKT! "Ahg, what the fuck is wrong with you!" The other thigh is shot, causing him to drop to the floor. "It''s not me I swear." "I can move things with my mind, dumbass," Horizon says. The man stops shooting and pulls out a small knife, clearly more brave than smart as he rushes forward. "Amputate," Horizon divides the man directly down the middle. Then one more time and the waist, four quarters left on the floor. Both men begin screaming hysterically, "put me back put me back put me back put me back put me back put me back!" the man demands...but Horizon just steps over him. "This is nothingpared to what you did to all those kids you kidnapped, maybe I''ll even put you back together...maybe," Horizon says as he walks into the next room. Seeing the Orca Gang -Gang Orca''s sidekicks-, having everything here under control, he strolls up to the second floor. And there he''s greeted by a man with three arms brawling...or atleast trying to brawl with Gang Orca. "Just stay down, you can''t win!" The man yells as he rushes in, throwing another flurry of punches. Hends a few lucky hits, but they barely even moved Gang Orca. And the Pro Hero just connects one strong left to send the man stumbling back into the wall. Seeing the man about to rush back in Horizon leans against the wall and folds his arms, leaving Scalpel floating at his side, some drops of blood still on the de. "Is this gonna take long? I''ve got a date tonight, I''d rather not bete..." Both men nce over at him, and the viin that was so adamant about fighting Gang Orca, a Top 10 Pro Hero, suddenly puts his hands up in surrender. "Ok, I''lle quietly." Gang Orca just looks between them and sighs, taking out a pair of handcuffs, "oh...he has three hands." "I''ll just warp us to the cops outside." "Right," Gang Orca says, then looks back to the viin. "You could have just surrendered that easily when I got here, what a pain." "Why would I do that, you aren''t him," he gestures to Horizon who just startsughing. Momentster everyone is outside as the police load the viins into armored trucks for transport. As Horizon is treating one of the officers he''s also talking to Ryukyu through his visor. "So how did your raid go?" "Great, the simultaneous strikes went off smoothly. Crust said his team only got a warehouse of supplies but thankfully nobody got hurt." "That''s good, we got the kids at this location like I suspected," Horizon says. "Sigh, what monsters. If they were treated anything like the adults we rescued then I''m d I was so rough on them." "Trust me, they deserve it. Keep your eyes open for anything like this again. These were all the locations I could dig up these past few days, but there could be more. And if not, there could be other groups like this out there..." "Sadly I don''t doubt there are, but you''re good at hostage rescue, such a handy Quirk." "I get that a lot," Horizon says as he signals for the man to get up, receiving a nod of thanks as he walks over to Gang Orca. "Anyway, you can read the reportter, I''ve gotta talk to Gang Orca before I head back to Tokyo." "Alright, I''ll call you if anythinges up." "No problem lizarddy." "Dragondy," she corrects. "Not until you can breathe fire---" he hangs up before she can respond. "Gang, are we done here?" "Hmm, yes," Gang Orca looks over to Horizon. Then back to the building they were in, and the nearby docs. "To think they did this atrocity right under our noses." "Viins are sneaky, that''s how they survive. But if they mess up once, we lock them up." "How did you even find out about this anyway? None of the locations were in Tokyo." "I asked the right questions, in the right tone," Horizon says, and after seeing him operate today, Gang Orca doesn''t pry any further. "Plus I have people I can ask about movement in the underworld, they gave me a heads up about a courier moving a body between locations, passing through Tokyo, I just had to get my hands on him..." "Hmm,mendable work. I certainly never doubted that you''d be a great Pro Hero. But now I see why everyone has such grand expectations for you. "Huh, I expected some crap about how I need to be more gentle or something," Horizon shrugs. Gang Orca shakes his head, "in any other situation maybe, but these people were experimenting on children, I have no mercy for them." "That we agree on, now I''ve gotta go, you know how to contact me if you need anything." "Of course, always a pleasure working with you," and as they shake hands, one of the nearby press parasites snaps a picture that wouldunch his career, and keep Gang Orca in the top #10 Pro Heroes. END CHAPTER--- Chapter 155: (A Relaxing Night) Chapter 155: (A Rxing Night) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- Standing atop his building in Minato Tokyo -a white and blue skyscraper overlooking the city around it, with his logo brightly lit up on the side of it-, Law was currently on the phone. While the rain was pouring it seemed to collect a few feet above him, leaving the cold water forming a wide floating pool above him, almost glowing under the moonlight. "Mr. Matani are you sure you''d like to donate that much?" "Well I''m the host so yes," Law says. His voice was free as his visor was off. "And I don''t see why you had to call me about this non-issue." "Well, I simply assumed it must have been a mistake. Such arge donation from the Matani Estate will surely draw many eyes to you," the man says. "I assumed you wanted to remain, under the radar, as you say it." "Yeah well, I mostly will be, but still. It''s my money, I built the Matani Estate, and I hired you to do the paperwork so I don''t have to." "And to advise you, as is part of my duty as your family Estate Manager..." "Yeah, but this isn''t one of those moments. I promise if you make a good point I''ll concede my n to you, but for now, I''m spending a lot of money to buy my way into the hearts of the people. I need you to be on board with that." "Yes, but the cashflow from the acquisitions you made won''t be enough to---" "I have the money to cushion my losses," Law says, knowing one or two surgeries at full price would easily have his ounts overflowing. Not that all his money was ever in the Matani Estate, he didn''t want Japan to have full knowledge of his assets after all. "Can you just make the donations before tomorrow night, I want a lot of eyes on me at the event..." The man sighs, "as you wish sir." "Good, now have a good night," Law hangs up and puts his phone away. Looking down at Tokyo he shakes his head, "all the money in the world, and now if I give away too much away people have a problem with that, just great." Raising his hand to the back of his neck he warps thepressed visor into his palm, cing it for it to warp around his head. "Right, no more work tonight." SHAMBLES! Horizon warps away, and theyer of rainwater floating above the building falls onto the roof. Appearing in the kitchen he sees Ryuko slicing up some pork, with her back turned toward him. She was wearing a set of ''Pixie-bob'' themed pajamas, with her hair down, and some matching blue fluffy slippers. "Wha---" "Ah!" she immediately spins around, pointing the knife at him, luckily he wasn''t standing directly behind her. Leaving the ind counter between them. Seeing him she takes a deep breath and just frowns, "maybe you should wear a bell." "It wouldn''t move when I warp," he shrugs. "What are you making?" "Katsudon, that''s your favorite, right?" she turns back to the food, continuing the preparations. "Yeah...but I can''t eat that." "Huh, why not?" "It''s a family tradition, doesn''t feel proper without the right people." Her knife stops cutting, not sure how to respond to that, then she just continues cutting. "Then I''ll make us some Pork Bowls." "Sounds good, Sero won''t be back for a few more hours, so we''ve got this ce all to ourselves for now." "Ohh, so whatever shall we do?" she spins around to give him a sultry smile. "After you clean up, still got some blood on you," she points to his shoulder. "Not mine." "Obviously I know that, but I thought you always made it a point to stay clean." "There was a subway station copse, I had to operate on-site," he sees Ryuko grimace at that image, "right, not the best dinner conversation. I''ll go get cleaned up." ---25 Minutes Later... Standing in his living room, Horizon stares through the wall of ss separating him from the rain. A thin barrier dividing worlds. He''s only wearing his body glove and visor, leaving all the blue grooves bare, his muscr figure free for anyone to see. And while his visor was still on, he looks at his reflection in the ss, and only sees Law Matani staring back at him. Angry, but silent. The building, simmering rage just below the surface. The rage that could spill out and break this nation apart. The rage kept in line by a few drops of ink on a piece of paper. Then he feels a slender hand gripping his forearm, only to look down at Ryuko who stands beside him, resting her head against his arm. "You know, if I didn''t know any better, I''d think you were a robot." "Luckily you know exactly how flesh and blood I am..." The woman just shakes her head, moving her hand down to lock their fingers together. "Well, you don''t have to say it like that." "Mhm," they fall into a peaceful silence, watching the rain fall outside. "What were you thinking about, before I snuck up on you?" Ryuko asks. "Nothing too particr, just. I never thought I''d be here." "Spending the evening with a bombshell blonde like me?" "No that part was obvious," she pats him on the arm, pouting cutely. "But standing in a building I bought to act as an unofficial Hero Office, it''s a far cry from what I imagined for myself." "Hmm, I''ve actually been meaning to ask about that, why this building?" "You mean why''d I buy it?" "Mhm, it must have cost a fortune, but you wasted no time buying it and putting your logo on the side." "Because of the location." "What do you mean?" "Horizon Tower is in the exact center of Minato Tokyo, the central city of Tokyo. 50km to the North, West, or South, and you''d still be in Tokyo." "And the docks are to the East." "Mhm, and tell me, what are the traits of God." "God, what does that have to do with anything?" "Humor me..." Ryuko thinks about if for a moment. "Well, he''s all-knowing, he can exist everywhere at once, and he can do anything he wants, right?" "Mhm," Horizon raises a hand, and ces it on the ss. And for a dozen meters ahead of them, the rain stops in mid-air. And a few secondster it continues falling. "I''m powerful, and very smart, but I can''t be everywhere at once." "Warping---" "Has a limited range, as most people have figured out," he says. "But standing here. In the middle of the city. I can be equally close to everyone, at once. A faux omnipresence." "You aren''t satisfied with just being a great hero?" "No, I never was," he admits. "This was just a chore...but honestly. The power is growing on me. Four hundred million lives, depending on me, and listening to my every word. That''s intoxicating, don''t you think." "Yes, but God is kind, and forgiving. He''s a loving being..." Ryuko says, not liking the exact direction of this conversation. "Like you will be, right?" "Of course," Horizon chuckles, "I''m a hero after all, the greatest Pro Hero this world will ever know. But I do find it funny that when I say god everyone assumes I mean the biblical kind." He lets go of her and begins walking to the couches, where two Pork Bowls were waiting on them. Ryuko looks a bit confused, "so what kind of god do you mean then?" "Less bible, more Zeus..." And those words sent a chill down her spine. But they also excited something inside her, something she didn''t think she had. An attraction she never imagined she could feel. As a Hero, viins with God Complexes and delusions of grandeur aremonce. But the way Horizon spoke. The confidence, the conviction. The fact that he could very well be a being of such power, if he wasn''t already. It made part of her want to run away, as far away as possible. But the other side of her, the part that wasn''t a Pro Her, just wanted to sit beside him...and that''s the side she listened to. ---45 Minutes Later... The TV was on, ying the news far too quietly for anyone to hear. While Horizon wasying on the couch with Ryuko on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. They were both still fully dressed, just rxing. "Is me being here bothering you?" she asks. "Hmm, why would that bother me?" In response, she just reaches up and taps his visor, "because you can''t take off the fish bowl with me here." "It''s not a fish bowl." "You know what I mean, I''m probably the only person who knows it cane off without you dying, so I''d imagine you don''t like having it one when you''re at home." "I''m used to it...sadly." "Oh..." "And for the record, Nezu knows too, and what I look like." "Oh, right, your uncle." Horizon pauses for a moment, trying and failing to make sense of that, "what?" "The way you two talk, it''s kind of cute watching you not be a jerk to someone...someone that you aren''t sleeping with." "Well, he earned it." "By bringing you into UA?" Ryuko asks. "No, this had to be before that right, when he hired you to save All Might." "Before that," Horizon says. "My parents were in real danger, and he saved their lives from certain death. That''s how we met." "So he''s your Hero..." "Ugh," Horizon groans. "You just had to ruin it." "I didn''t ruin it!" she whines. "Whatever, atleast you didn''t ask me to take off the visor, atleast not with the light on." "Well, I am curious. But I know what we agreed to...just a summer fling, right?" "Right," he doesn''t even hesitate to agree, which definitely annoyed her. "Four more days then I''ll have to start over, no more of this," she feels Horizon wrap another arm around her waist, and she instinctively tries to press herself against him even more. "Then I guess we should make good use of this time together..." SHAMBLES! END CHAPTER--- Chapter 156: (Yaoyorozus u0026 Matanis) Chapter 156: (Yaoyorozus u0026 Matanis) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "Fix that scowl, it''s udylike," Mrs. Yaoyorozu says. The woman was a striking beauty, only 33 years old. A less curvy version of her daughter, with short brown hair, who was currently sitting opposite her in the limo. They both wore simr red gowns, the family color, and clearly one was more enthused to be here than the other. Momo schools her features and continues looking out the window, but doesn''t even spare her mother a nce. Soon they arrive at the hotel, and before she knows it, Momo is being escorted into a open ballroom on the upper floors. Filled with people in their best formal wear. Suits and pearls, the most expensive watches money could buy. ''A room of parasites and fake people,'' Momo thinks, looking at everyone in disgust as the walk down the stairs. "Hngh," she groans as her mother pinches her. "Fix your face dear..." "Yes mother," she growls out. Being pulled back and forth by her mother to meet all of their family friends was as boring as every other, but a certain someone caught her eye throughout the night. A young man appeared only slightly older than her, tall with wide shoulders. A ck suit with a strange yellow heart on each shoulder. ''He seems young, maybe he finds this as torturous as I do...'' she was hopeful atleast. And eventually, the crowd around this man thins, and her mother drags us over there, and his bright blue eyes seem to bore right through her. "Momo, this is our host, mister Law Matani," her mother says, giving the man a polite smile. "Mrs. Yaoyorozu, even more beautiful than all the rumors I''ve heard," he kisses her mother''s hand before turning to her. "I suppose that goes for both of you..." And the look he gave almost had Momo rolling her eyes, because he was clearly undressing her with his. "It''s a pleasure to meet you," She nods politely. "I hadn''t expected our host to be so young." "These charity events are usually hosted by old bored people, true," he agrees. "But with the state of Japan as it is, I figured we should do what we can to help the less fortunate, don''t you agree?" "Oh, my daughter certainly agrees," her mother cuts in. "But sadly she prefers to help people one at a time than by the thousands like us." Law looks a bit confused by that, "what do you mean?" "What mother means...is that I''m currently a Provisional Hero, at UA," he gives him a proud look. "Wow, that''s incredible, so your Quirk must be amazing to get into UA," Law says, clearly excited. Momo cracks a genuine smile at that, "yes, sadly its not the most impressive in our ss, not by a mile. But I''m sure it can help many people." "Momo can create any non-living thing she knows the molecr structure of," her mother says. "She''s as brilliant as she is beautiful." "What a useful Quirk," Law says. "I don''t follow heroes much sadly. Not enough time in the day. But I do know your family started the very first Hero Agency in Japan, quite an incredible legacy...but mine has never really had heroic Quirks." "Oh, how so?" Momo asks. "Well, my Quirk helps me looks a bit younger, not very good against viins, right?" Momo nods, "I see..." "But I''d certainly dly swap with you," her mother giggles. "As would most of the world." "Well the women atleast," Law shrugs. "But that''s why I''m helping people in the ways I can." "Oh, and how might that be exactly?" Momo seemed genuinely intrigued by this. "He''s helping to solve the employment crisis," her mother says. "The Matani Estate has been quietly buying any business that would be shutting down and keeping them open, at his own personal expense." "It''s better than having tens of thousands of people in the streets or bing viins." "And more effective the running around in a scandalous outfit hitting people with a stick..." Law looks a bit confused at her statement, then Momo looks at the woman. "I changed the costume, monther, and being a Pro Hero is helping people." "You could help many more by doing what this young man is," she gestures to Law, who just awkwardly looks between both women. "By profiting from the crisis?" Momo looks disgusted by her mother''s statement. "Hey I''m helping people," Law says. Momo snaps her gaze toward him, "and when the real heroes stabilize Japan, all those businesses you bought for pennies will start making you a fortune every month, right? You''re just another selfish person consumed by greed," she hisses out. Momo''s entire body jolts up as her mother pinches her side, almost hard enough to make her bleed, and pulls her close, "you will not insult our host youngdy," she hisses out. Momo res at the woman, "I know what you''re trying to do, but I''m not an object to be traded, especially to someone like that..." "Excuse me?" Law was now genuinely confused for the first time tonight. "What''s that supposed to me." Momo shrugs off her mother''s grip and looks at him, "it means if you want to leave your bloodied past behind, wear gloves..." she says before storming off to the balcony. Law looks down at his hands, seeing his knuckle and hand tattoos. Intentionally simr to gang tattoos. ''Huh, these were supposed to put distance between Horizon and Law...worked perfectly. And I got to avoid that family bullshit...'' "I''m terribly sorry about my daughter, please forgive her," her mother gives a slight bow. "It''s fine...but keep her away from me. I have no interest in women like that," Law takes his drink and just walks away. ''No more Yaoyorozu drama, whew,'' Law thinks as he walks over to Gild on the other side of the room. The man was about to leave with his date...and someone who was not his date, and had a wedding ring on her finger. Law shakes his head, just imagining the stories that wille of tonight. ---Meanwhile... "What the hell is wrong with you?!" Momo''s mother yells as she closes the balcony door, separating them from the party. "Me? You''re the one trying to show me off like a piece of meat, do you have any idea of how objectifying that felt!" "I''m doing this because you forced my hand. I just want what''s best for you!" "No, you only care about the family name and expanding it, no matter what you have to make me do to achieve that, right?" Momo res at her, crossing her arms and turning her back to the railing. "That''s not true..." "It is! And you can''t imagine a person like me, who wants more. I want to actually help people, not just sign cheques and act like it''ll solve anyone''s problems. I want to go out there and actually contribute to the world with my own hands. I don''t want to be some wealthy man''s miserable baby breeder like you!" Momo immediately ps a hand over her mouth, seeing the hurt look on her mother''s face. "Mom, I---" "It''s fine," her cold voice rang out, hollow of all emotion. "Then just go. And as we agreed, you get nothing from us so long as you continue this nonsense...but I hope youe to your senses before it''s toote. Because all I wanted was my daughter, but you''re determined to give me another dead Yaoyorozu in the history books..." Before those words could even settle in, before broken hearts could properly form. BANG! A single gunshot rings out from inside, and through the ss doors, they can see people looking toward the middle of the room, terrified. Momo immediately rushes forward, toward the danger, but the moment she tries to get past her mother the woman tackles her to the floor. "No! Don''t go in there, they could kill you!" the woman screams, hysterically. "No! I need to make sure everyone is alright!" "Just wait for the Pros!" "I''m...sorry!" Momo pushes her mom to the side and rushes through the doors, and as the woman gets up to follow her. "Hn!" she feels a sharp pain on her wrist, then looks down to see a handcuff on her, attached to arge metal ball on the floor. Looking down she easily unclips the cuffs from the ball, realizing it was only a distraction to keep her out of danger. But she wastes no time taking out her phone to call the police. Rushing inside Momo forces her way through the crowd, seeing and hearing a helicopter now arriving on the rooftop. And in the middle of the room, four men with rifles and masks, in full tactical gear. "Mister Matani!" One of the men yells. "That''s all we want, the big shot behind this whole show! Where is he!" The man fires a few shots into the ceiling, causing another chorus of screaming. Momo''s brain is immediately working overtime. ''They''re too spread out for me to subdue them all quickly and safely. I don''t know what Quirks they have so I can''t prepare properly. If I use gas it will hurt the civilians. What should I do, maybe...tasers. No, I still don''t know their Quirks.'' "I''m right here!" Law says, stepping out of the crowd not far away from Momo. "Well, that makes this easy," the man chuckles as Law walks toward him. "Wait!" Momo''s body seems to move on its own, stepping out of the crowd and taking a fighting stance. "You can''t take him!" "Ok," the man says, and before Momo could form a n--- BANG! He shoots Law in the shoulder. He closes his eyes to hide the glow, and his hand immediately goes up to the wound to block the blue energy vapor from showing, as Hand Of God automatically heals the wound. And he''s unable to stop it. "Ahhhh!" Law screams in agony as he drops to his knees. And the man just looks back at Momo, "so you wanna get back in the crowd, or should I just kill him...since you don''t want us to just take him after all." Seeing no other option Momo just raises her hands and steps back, returning to the crowd. And she has no choice but to watch them kidnap Law Matani from his own charity event. Taken to the roof, the first person that she, as a Provisional Pro Hero, couldn''t save... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 157: (Cellophane!) Chapter 157: (Cellophane!) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "C''mon, faster!" Cellophane berates himself as he swings through downtown Tokyo. Hundreds of meters above the street, swinging between the brightly lit skyscrapers of Japan''s night-time skyline. "Call Horizon!" Cellophanemands, and his visor obeys. His visor is connected to his phone just as Horizon''s is connected to his own, but the call doesn''t connect. "Damn it, the guy with the hoverboard doesn''t pick up, just great," Cellophane grumbles. He was half sure Horizon was upied with his blonde ''friend'' back at Horizon Tower. Rushing between the buildings his eyes areser-focused on the holographic map disyed in his visor, showing the current moving location of a helicopter moving through the city. A hostage situation that all the nearby heroes were immediately alerted of. ''Great, just as I was on the way back to get some sleep, and then some right jerk get kidnapped from his own party. I just hope I get there before he gets hurt or disappears,'' Cellophane swings around a building and sticks to the side of it. He uses his feet and one hand to hold on while he looks around, then looks up at where the helicopter is, still dozens of meters above his current altitude. Looking down at the streets below he shakes his head, "ok, maybe ask Mei for a parachute, just in case..." he mutters before swinging toward the Matani National Hotel. As he notices the helicopter hovering within the city to prevent police choppers from being sent to follow it, as flying between buildings is highly illegal, Cellophane grits his teeth. "Time to see what these upgrades can really do," he takes a deep breath and presses down fully on the button on his right palm. The line of tape that was shot from his right hand suddenly retracts, hard enough to almost give him whish as it yanks him forward. Even with all his training for this exact feeling, the real thing was somehow a bit different. As the line retracts fully back into his costume he steps on the building and sticks to it will all four limbs. Looking up at the helicopter currently taking off. Rushing up the building in a full-standing sprint, he uses lines of tape to constantly pull himself forward so he doesn''t fall back. And to the people below, they see this madman running up the side of the building as if his life depended on it. With every other step he shoots a line forward and pulls himself toward where it connects, effectively rappelling up the side of a building. "Oh c''mon," Cellophane groans as the chopper begins pulling away from the building and heading downtown again. With no hesitation he pushes off the building, leaving a small crack in the reinforced ss pane he pressed against, andunches toward the adjacent building. And as the crowd below gasps in horror, he fires a line of tape and continues swinging through the city, chasing after the helicopter. As he''s swinging he analyzes the chopper. ''Modern, but open doors on both sides. A buff dude sitting on one side with his foot hanging off the edge. They left the doors open to shoot at any police choppers or Pro Heroes that would chase. Good, I can use that to get in and grab the hostage, then just jump out the other side. But how do I approach, ahh. Approach from below, avoid the des obviously, but I should be careful that something doesn''t go wrong...'' As he was making a n and analyzing the situation, Cellophane was trying his best and slowly catching up. Getting closer every time the chopper would have to corner around a building, with his superior maneuverability he''d get closer as he''s unable to match its speed on a straight line. Until finally, he manages to attach a line to the underside of the chopper. ''Quiet now, not that they could hear anything...'' he thinks as he retracts the line, pulling himself up toward the chopper. He carefully ces his palm on the underside as well as his boots, sticking to it, trying not to think about the street far below him. "Ok, be quick about it," he mutters, then looks to his right, seeing the man''s foot hanging out the side of the cabin. Then he waits...until they finally get close enough to a nearby building. ''Binding Shot!'' he fires some tape at the man''s leg and wraps around it, then fires the other end to the building they were passing by. "AHHHHH!!" the man screams in horror as he''s ripped out of the chopper and left hanging off the side of the building. ''Weighted shot!'' Cellophane fires a shorter line of tape with weights at either end, attached by his suit, that hit the building and runs across the man. A little more insurance to make sure he doesn''t fall to his death. The moment he does that, he crawls into the opposite door of the chopper. And as expected, he sees two men looking out the door their friend just got torn out of, confused by what happened. He sees a pilot checking the radar in case there was anyone flying around. And he sees the hostage, Law Matani, a seemingly young man tied down with a chain to the seat in the cabin. Law''s eyes flicker over to Cellophane but thankfully the man remains quiet, just watching with an oddly calm expression. He appeared more annoyed than afraid. Cellophane nods at Law, realizing he can''t just grab him and run because of the chains. Then he quickly prepares piece of tape and steps forward in the cabin. Delivering a spartan kick to one man, pushing his back, andunching him out of the moving helicopter. While he''s flying forward Cellophane shoots a line of tape that wraps around the man, then sticks the other end to the floor of the cabin. He then moves to do the same with the second standing man, but before the kick could connect the man spins around and catches it, pulling him in for a headbutt and tossing him out of the cabin. Cellophane''s world goes ck for a moment before he snaps awake. "Shit!" he cries as he fires a line and catches himself, immediately swinging after the chopper. He still sees the man dangling off the line at the underside of it. "Oh I''m gonna get payback for that," Cellophane grumbles as he quickly catches up. But as he''s closing in to enter the chopper again. BANG! The man in the chopper opens fire at him with his rifle. "Ngh!" he screams and loses his momentum as a bullet hit his side, barely grazing him but still drawing blood. "Ok, new n," he realizes the same approach won''t work as the man was looking at him from the door of the cabin. Another volley of shots is fired. "AGHHHH!" Cellophane gets shot in the shoulder and releases his tape for just a moment, falling a dozen meters before he shoots another. And the helicopter just pulls that much further away from him. "No time for first aid," he reminds himself. Recalling the image of the person he had to save, the hostage that was trying to keep a brave face even in this situation. Seeing the helicopter cornering around an office building he spots his opportunity. Instead of giving chase, he checks his map, seeing the chopper was going around the building to the other side, so he decides to take the direct approach. Swinging the the building he fires two line of tape, tightens his grip, then retracts them at full power. Rocketing toward the ss side of the building at full speed. He tumbles during this, aiming his feet at the ss and straightening his body. The new upgrades to his suit are meant to take this kind of force when aligned in such a way, allowing him to reel himself in to deliver finishing blows to powerful viins. Or traverse situations like these. CRASH! He ms through the ss and winds up in a maze of empty cubicles, and luckily he can see the chopper as all around him the building was ss on the far walls. Allowing him to track his target through the tinted windows. Breaking into a full spring while holding his shoulder, Cellophane ms through the cheap and depressing cubicles. Breaking apart splintered wood and cardboard, never taking his eyes off the prize. As he makes it to the other side he''s just barely ahead of the helicopter, so when he runs up to the window he fires one line at the floor and another at the ceiling. Reeling himself toward the ss at full power he straightens his body and rockets through it, this time flying past the nose of the helicopter and winding up on the opposite side of it. He tumbles in mid-air andunches two lines at the helicopter, and before thest man can make sense of what madness he was seeing. Cellophane kicks him in the chest, hard enough that he''s sent out of the helicopter and into the building he just jumped out of. Seeing the manunched into the building he ces a hand over his bullet wound and walks up to the pilot, squeezing the man''s shoulder to get his attention. The man turns around, scowling at the hero, ring bitterly at him. "LAND THIS THING! NOW!" Cellophane yells so the man can head him over the engine. The man pauses for a moment, seemingly considering his options. The opens his mouth... A vomits a small stream of moltenva directly at Cellophane. The hero barely dodges as the man is desperately trying to spit the excess drops onto the floor so he doesn''t burn himself. Cellophane is stunned but this, then looks to where theva hit. Seeing a hole in the roof, exactly where the des were previously connected... He, the hostage, and the kidnapper look at each other. And the man atleast has the decency to realize how badly he just messed up. Cellophane quickly spins and delivers a strong right to the man''s jaw, cracking it and knocking him out as they begin to fall. "Shit!" he screams out, ncing at the hostage for a moment. The man just had his eyes closed, seemingly praying for someone to save him. ''No time to search for a key, and one of the others could have had it, and if I let this thing fall it could hurt someone on the street below...the other Pros should be down there clearing people out, but I can''t take any chances, I need to stop this thing...'' He sticks his feet to the floor of the cabin, and as they''re fallingunches two lines at the building only 20 meters away from them, attaching it to the floor of the cabin. The lines immediately snap under the strain, but he does it again, and again, and again. Dozens of times as they fall two hundred meters. And eventually, the constant lines of tape forces the helicopter to swing into the nearby building, mming into it just barely and slowing the fall. The impact knocks Cellophane off his feet but he grabs on with his adhesive glove to the roof and steadies himself. "Rapid Fire Shots," he screams, pushing his equipment and his quirk to the limit as he makes multiple lines by the second, attaching them to the building they were grating against and to the roof of the falling helicopter cabin they were currently in. But eventually, the constant friction and grating slows their descent. And as Cellophane''s body bes weaker. As his lips crack and his skin dries out. The side effect of him overusing his Quirk. As the lines already rolled into his equipment run out. Theye to a crawl, and both men hold their breaths. They were in a helicopter cabin, two stories away from the street. A trail of destruction down the side of a building. And only thirty lines of tape were holding up what was left of the cabin. They dare not move, or breathe. "You ok?" Cellophane asks Law, still not moving more than his head to look at the man, who just stiffly nods in response. "Good," Cellophane says. "But maybe we don''t move until some backup gets here, yeah?" Law once again just nods, ready for this to all be over. ---10 Minutes Later... As Law Matani is rushed away by his people, Cellophane is left in front of a news team. With the helicopter currently being removed from the building behind him by the fire department and a few Pro Heroes. But after all the questions, only one would really be remembered. Only one would be written down in the history books of this nation. The reporter leans the mic toward his and asks, finally, "so, what''s the name of the man who saved the day here?" He puffs up his chest a bit, finally getting his moment, and proudly says. "Provisional Hero, Cellophane, the taping hero!" And the nearby crowd gives him the first of hundreds of choruses of apuse and praise he''d receive. And with this, Cellophane, Japan''s future #4 Pro Hero, makes his debut to the world... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 158: (Its Just Money) Chapter 158: (It''s Just Money) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- ---7:33 AM... Walking around the living room in his penthouse, Horizon is constantly looking at the hologram being projected up from his coffee table. It was a 3D map of this very building, the top two floors where the penthouse was had been colored green. The remainder was the standard blue with small patches of red in certain areas. He had returned from the party at almost 4 am, got an hour of sleep then got right back to work. After doing some research and putting out some of his contacts underground to look into the would-be kidnappers, he set that matter aside and came out here to focus. Leaving Ryuko in his bed, and luckily Sero was already asleep in his own room by the time he got back. After giving the ns another look he takes out his phone and calls the contractor, not connecting it to his visor, wanting the man to hear his slightly mechanical voice. "Good morning sir!" the man answers excitedly. "Is everything alright?" "Perfectly fine," Horizon says. "I just got done looking at the revised ns you sent. This is exactly what I wanted, start immediately." "That''s perfect, I already have the machinery and men on standby. I''ll send people over to get the job site readyter today." "Right, and about the two-month projectpletion time?" "Well, we''ll be gutting most of the floors, breaking down walls and building new ones. Its much faster than making a whole new building but it''ll still take time. Not to mention the time also includes setting up the equipment you requested and furnishing. You won''t get this done faster with anyone else, we''ve got more licensed Quirk users working for us than any other construction firm in Tokyo..." "I remember," Horizon says. "And you''re already faster than the second-best option. But I''m raising thepletion time bonus. As I''m sure you can imagine, the faster I have a building with everything I need in it the faster I can improve my efficiency. And improved efficiency means ---" "More lives saved, yes sir," the man says. "Well depending on the bonus I can leverage some men or equipment from some of our smaller jobs." "I''m tripling the bonus, and I''ll have food trucks at the site for lunch every day, on me." "Well, that, I mean," the man stutters for a moment. "I trust you to get this done as quickly and efficiently as possible, while doing quality work. I can do that, right?" "Of course! We won''t let you down." "Good, now I need to get to work, have a good day." "You too sir." Horizon hangs up, taking onest look at the building ns. And a few minutester he was sitting on the couch, in the middle with his arms spread across the backrest on either side of him. He was honestly amazed by the scope of what he was doing, he was already sitting in ''Horizon Tower'', a monument reaching the sky with his logo on the front of it. The slightly creepy smiling face looked down at the city below. And now here he was, improving it to further suit his needs. A not-so-small fortune was thrown at variouspanies to make the most efficient all-in-one Hero Agency in the world. "Do you ever stop working?" Ryuko walks in, seeing him sitting on the couch now. "Says the sexy blonde that''s with me because of how hard I work..." he says jokingly as she drops onto the couch beside him, leaning into him and resting her head against his side. Looking down at her he finally gets a proper view of what she slept in. One of his t-shirts hung off her, white with his logo on the front. A pair of blue pajama pants, and some fuzzy slippers. Her hair was currently a mess, but he''s seen her in much more disheveled states. She points at the hologram, "is this where we are?" "Mhm, Horizon Tower." "Well, you never imed to be humble." "For the record, I didn''t pick the name, the news reporters that learned about me buying it started calling it that, then the name stuck." "But I know you, and you would have named it that either way, right?" "Mmm, maybe. It is thergest Hero Agency in the world, atleast when it''spleted." "Mhm," Ryuko nods. "Ours was just a small house in the mountains. Even Jeanist and Hawks only have 5-story buildings. I guess you, All Might, and Endeavor are the only people with big buildings huh? But this is like twice the size of Endeavors, and All Might''s was half that size..." "Size matters...but you also have to know how to use it." "Ugh, no dick jokes please, you''re better than that." "Whatever, but technically this isn''t a Hero Agency until I have my full Pro Hero license. I can''t even sell merch while I have a Provisional License." Ryuko thinks about it for a moment, then looks down at her shirt. "But you do sell merch..." "Yeah, but Horizon isn''t a hero identity, it''s just who I am." "Ohh, so you aren''t selling it as a hero, it''s just some guying selling merch of himself and people are buying it." "Mhm, plus all the profits go to charities," he shrugs. "Buying my way into heaven." Ryuko shakes her head, not even bothering to correct his heathenistic statements anymore, "so what''s this agency got? And why is the top of the building green?" Horizon begins gesturing to certain parts of the hologram. "Renovations start tomorrow, but don''t worry you don''t have to move out or anything. Just use the same back exit you already use so nobody knows that you live with me." "Yeah, can''t have them kidnapping me like some damsel in distress, but I''m sure my knight woulde rushing in to save me, right?" "What, no." She leans away from him, frowning at that response, "and why not?" "Because you''re a former Pro Hero, if you get kidnapped then they can keep you, because you deserve it." "Jerk," she pouts cutely, and he just pulls her back to his side. "Anyway, the top is green because that''s the penthouse, that won''t be affected by the work because I had it altered when I first bought this ce." "Yeah but most of it is red, I mean do you really need to change...what like 120 floors?" "135, the other 15 are fine as they are. But this building was a mess of cubicles and a feww firms before. I need to break down a lot of walls to make bigger rooms." "For?" "Hero stuff. Training rooms, equipment storage, indoor Quirk training." "A pool?" she gives him a hopeful look. Horizon sighs, "yes, a pool. And a wind tunnel to train the fliers." "Smart, and what about these," she gestures to ten purple floors in the middle of the building. "That''s the design and testingb, purple requires extra extra reinforcement. Those ces tend to have explosions from what I know." "An in-house design studio and manufacturing floor...whew, spare no expense..." "Mhm, the only agency in the country that can afford it, and I''ve got the perfect person in mind to run it." "The girl who made your new gear?" "Mhm, Mei is a genius, a good person to keep close." "Mhm," she gives him a look out of the corner of her eye. "What?" "Just, are you and her...like---" "Friends, in the same way you and I are..." "Oh," Ryuko didn''t like that she wasn''t as ok with that as she agreed to be. As she should be since summer is just about to end. "Well that''s good, that you have other people somewhat close to you." "Oh we aren''t really close, just two workaholics that need a simple way to rx," Horizon shrugs. "She''s convenient, but you''re special..." And suddenly all was well in Ryuko mind once more... "That reminds me, I need to get her opinion on some upgrade ideas for my costume, but I don''t think my control is good enough to support it yet. Maybe when up my game a bit more." "Oh, anything fun?" "Very fun, but I''ll save that surprise forter." After a few more minutes of talking about his future Hero Agency, Ryuko finally arrives at an unavoidable question. "Can I ask you something?" "Ask me anything, but I don''t have to answer..." "Right," she bites her lips. "How much is this whole building gonna cost?" "Mmm, I try not to think about prices." "A luxury most don''t have," she says. "Well, I''m lucky enough to have it. So the building is around 2.8 billion, I had to buy out every lease and the property rights etc from the deed holder. Then I had to buy thend itself. Then I had to pay for the legal fees and renovations of this ce," he gestures around the penthouse they were in. "Wow, I''m definitely never going to live in a ce like this again after this..." "Then the real Hero Agency renovations and upgrades, plus the cost of expediting the legal fees and permits for some of the equipment... so all in all, around 3 billion dors. I did get some discounts in certain areas becausepanies want to be able to say they contributed to Horizon Tower, but it''s still a lot of money." Ryuko just sits back, barely able to process all the big numbers he so casually mentioned. "Do you think it''s worth it?" she mindlessly asks. "I mean...is anything really worth 3 billion." Horizon thinks about it for a moment, until he thinks about his parents. Then the answer was obvious. All of this, and after graduation he''s only expecting to use it for 2 years at most before the Commission hands them over to him and he goes to America, to live a quiet life. Leaving all this Pro Hero business behind him. "Yeah," he says in a gentle, almost sad voice. "It''s just money, and all the money in the world can''t buy a person back once they''re gone. So I''d dly give up everything I have to protect them..." And with those few words he sends Ryuko''s thoughts spiraling and her heart fluttering. Taking in her surroundings, and the man beside her who spent so much on more efficiently protecting others. Realizing he really was one in ten billion, exactly how lucky she was, and that she only had one more day before he returned to UA to start the semester. The realization that she never wanted this summer fling to end finally settles in... "So what do you want for breakfast? My eggs are great, I''m sure you''d like them," she asks, trying not to think about the heavy conversation they just had. "Hmm, and pancakes..." Ryuko hops off the couch and gives him a dazzling smile, "anything you want, I''m on it..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 159: (First Impressions) Chapter 159: (First Impressions) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "I''m famous!" Sero screams as he''s running down the hallways. Heading to the living room from his bedroom in Horizon''s penthouse. So excited that he''s running barefoot in only the pair of shorts and t-shirt he slept in, phone in hand. "Guys I''m famous now!" he yells as he rounds the corner, only to be greeted by the sight of Horizon sitting on the couch with his feet up on the coffee table, scrolling the Hero Network on his phone. Most likely checking his ever-growing list of team-up requests. And beside him is Ryuko writing something in the notebook she brought with her. "I''m famous," Sero says, calming down a bit as he walks over to them. Pacing back and forth on the other side of the coffee table, buzzing with excitement. "You became a hero to get famous?" Ryuko puts down her phone to ask, giving him a skeptical look. "Huh, no," Sero says. "I became a hero for the money!" an equally worse response. Ryuko just nces over at Horizon, seeing the man put his phone down, "why exactly are you training him again?" Horizon chuckles and pats her head, messing up her hair a bit more. "Sero isn''t good at talking to pretty girls---" "Hey!" "You''re not," Horizon says. "Because if you were, you would have just said being famous helps you get more team-ups, with more people, which will result in you saving more lives. Didn''t think you''d need me to spoon-feed you interview lines as well..." "Oh, right," Sero nervously rubs the back of his neck, looking at Ryuko. "Yeah but she''s your---" "Friend," Horizon fills in, earning another side eye from her but ignoring it. "Yeah, I figured she already knew why," Sero shrugs. "She has nothing to do with our deal, so why would I ever tell her?" "Oh, good point," Sero says. "But uh, yeah I''m basically just a hero for the money," he shrugs. Ryuko looks at Horizon, "I thought you criticize people who be heroes just for money and fame?" "No, I criticize people who aren''t useful or effective, yet manage to somehow get a license and reap the rewards of being a Pro Hero, parasites and paper heroes." "So the difference with him is?" She gestures to Sero. "He is useful and effective. People who put their lives on the line should be rewarded, as Sero will be." Ryuko looks at Sero, "so, just the money?" Horizon cuts in, "and the women..." "I have a girlfriend," Sero says. "One more thing I''ll have to teach you about," Horizon chuckles, earning an eye roll from Ryuko. "And yeah, just the money," Sero shrugs. "It''s just been my dad and I since...well, it''s just us. And since we''re pretty much poor and I don''t have any skills and aren''t that smart, why not throw myself at viins to get paid?" "Well I see why this one took a liking to you," she gestures to Horizon. "Now, what''s this about you being famous?" "Oh, right, check this out!" Sero connects his phone to the TV and shows Cellophane''s ''Yay!'' page. "Nearly a million views already!" "When did you upload this?" Horizon asks. "Just a few minutes after I saved the guy, so around midnight!" "Not bad," Horizon says. "But what exactly happened?" "Ok, so. ording to the report I just saw when I woke up. Some guys decided to kidnap this new rich guy at this big party. They shot him then got him in the helicopter, the cops called every nearby Pro and I happened to be nearby, so I rushed over." "To chase a helicopter?" Ryuko asks. "I know right!" Sero says. "It was so crazy, I had to cut through a building just to keep up!" "The video is from your visor, right?" Horizon asks, cutting him off before he gets too excited. "Yeah!" "Edited?" "I just cut the action and uploaded out of the entire day of footage, just like you said." "Good, too much editing and people get suspicious, show us the video then you can exin what happened after..." After watching the video Ryuko is shocked by how well Sero performed, not at all expecting such rapid improvement from him after seeing him at the summer camp. Training with Horizon had certainly been paying off. But Horizon didn''t say anything, causing her to notice the nervous look Sero was giving him, waiting for approval. She not-so-gently elbows Horizon in the side, "you did great, but what happened after?" "Oh, I got interviewed and finally gave them my name, and people found my profile and all the other things on it within minutes, it was insane." "Yeah the public goes crazy for new Pros, and what about the guy you saved, Mr. Law Matani right?" Sero shrugs, "dunno. He didn''t even use an ambnce, his people just showed up and took him away, jerk didn''t even say thanks," he grumbles. "Expecting rich people not to treat civil servants like shit huh," Horizon says. "They''re all assholes, get used to it..." "Momo is nice," Sero argues. "She also isn''t that kind of rich," Horizon holds up his phone. "Did a little search on him in the Hero Network just now, just another young rich asshole that got so used to All Might that he takes Pro Heroes for granted," he shrugs. "Well atleast you saved him," Ryuko says. "And you looked super cooling doing it!" "Just don''t expect to get paid much," Horizon says. "You used a helicopter like a grater down the side of a skyscraper, plus whatever the debris fell on. Hero Insurance will only cover so much, you''ll probably have something deducted from this month''s pay for this stunt. You need to improve efficiency in your swings and how quickly you subdue people. Plus the way you hesitate to engage against guns, then the issue of your tape needing to be stronger with heavy weight attached to it." "Right," Sero nods. "I''ll work on it..." "What about the rest of your profile, anything good?" Ryuko quickly tries to move the conversation along. "Oh yeah!" Sero taps his phone a few times and arrives at his profile picture. An image of him sitting atop Horizon tower with his feet off the edge, and in the background is Horizon sitting on his hoverboard. "The likes andments on this are insane. People put it together pretty fast that we''re working together since we''ve got a few pictures together on my profile and from on the street." "Good," Horizon says. "That means atleast a few high-ranking Pro Heroes will try to sign you, thinking wee as some kind of package deal. They''re mostly wrong but if it gets you into their agency then take it." Sero nods, giving Horizon a cheerful smile, "this is the first real feeling of progress man, can''t believe I''m gonna be working with a big agency soon!" "Mhm, great work hero!" Ryuko cheers him on. "But you''ll need to stay strong, so why don''t you get some breakfast, it''s already in the kitchen!" "A fast breakfast," Horizon says. "We need to be on the streets in an hour, we''ve only got today to do hero work in Tokyo. Summer ends tomorrow and school starts the next day, you need to make thisst day of Hero Work count." "Are we going back by car?" Sero asks. "I don''t do public transport Sero, but you''ll be going back ahead of me so you can if you want. I have some business to take care of tomorrow so I''ll be getting back to UA fairlyte." "Guess I''ll take the train, alright I''m gonna get breakfast now," Sero says before walking toward the kitchen. "Enjoy!" Ryuko says, waiting for him to getpletely out of earshot. Then she elbows Horizon hard in the side. "What the hell?" he asks with a groan. "I should be asking you that," she res at him. "Your friend just made his big debut and you can''t even muster up a ''good job'' for him, he was clearly waiting for it." "But it wasn''t a good job..." Ryuko groans and throws her hands up. "Not everyone is perfect like you, Sero did incredibly well for this being his first big incident, you could atleast tell him that." "What? But that''s what was expected of him," Horizon seemed genuinely confused by what she said, which somewhat scared her. "Uhh, what do you mean?" "Why would I congratte someone for what is expected of them, if I''m training you then saving someone from a helicopter is expected, nothing worth being praised over," he says as if its obvious. "How is that possible sane?" "Because that''s what training does Ryuko," Horizon says. "Look, when I was 7 I performed my first sessful spinal reconstruction solo. I didn''t get a stupid medal, a special treat, or a pat on the back. I just walked into the next room and fixed the next patient... Because it''s what was expected of me, as a doctor and their son. If you train for something why would you be specially rewarded for doing what''s expected, and in this case, he made a mess of the side of a building, nothing exemr about it." Instead of immediately responding, Ryuko just gives him a sad and sympathetic look. Now worried about the clearly broken man sitting beside her, and what her dream life could be if he were involved as much as she''d like. Eventually, she just sighs and leans against his arm, "people aren''t robots like you. We need to be told when we do something well, even if it''s what''s expected of us. It helps us feel good." "Rewarding the bare minimum is encouraging the bare minimum, that''s disgusting." "And do you n to be like this with your own kids?" "Of course, my parents were like this, and I turned out perfect..." Ryuko just slumps her shoulders and exhales deeply, ''what the hell have I gotten involved with...'' END CHAPTER--- Chapter 160: (Of Hearts and Mind) Chapter 160: (Of Hearts and Mind) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- Sitting in the back of an armored SUV was Koku Hanabata. The leader of Japan''s Hearts and Mind political party and the leader of Re-Destro''s Metal Liberation Army''s political influence division. He was a in-looking Japanese man with a thin mustache, modern sses and slicked back hear reaching down to his neck. He wore an exquisite ck suit with a long matching scarf draped around his shoulders, atop his long ck coat. His viin name, Trumpet, was chosen based on his Quirk -or as his people call it, Meta Ability-, Incite. This ability allows him to enhance the physical and mental abilities of anyone hemands so long as they are devoted to him. The louder his voice the more powerful the specific effect. As his driver was taking him around Tokyo, the seats opposite him were empty aside from a small briefcase resting across it. Looking out the window he sees mid-day Tokyo passing by, somewhat disgusted by all the people walking on the street. So content with being sheep in a crowd. Ignoring and limiting what makes them truly unique just because the government tells them that''s what they should do. Shaking his head he takes out his phone to check it, seeing dozens of notifications. The average day for a man of his station. As the leader of one of Japan''s 12 political parties, people always tried to get his attention. But currently, they were among the less popr groups, something which he hoped to solve with this meeting. As he''s checking his schedule for today his assistant gives him a call, which he dly answers. "Yes?" "Sir, I managed to get you onto the ''Aftermath Special'' tonight, to discuss the future ramifications of the Kamino Ward incident." "Good, make some time for me in the schedule tonight and I''ll be there. That will be a great time to open the eyes of the public as to why Quirk Regtions shouldn''t be so strict..." "Yes sir, and should I move ahead with the expanded marketing budgets for the district elections next month?" "Not just yet," he tells her. "I''m currently heading to the meeting I mentioned, he epted at thest minute so I had to rush over." "Oh, with---" "Yeah. If he joins our cause, or atleast supports our political party, then we''ll be able to afford the new marketing easily. But even more important than that, we''ll more easily be able to win over the public..." "Yes sir, but, if he doesn''t?" she asks. "He will," Koku says. "But even if he doesn''t, Re-Destro will simply use Detnerat to fund us as he always has." "But aren''t we doing this to avoid looking owned by one majorpany?" she asks. "Yes, but nobody will be surprised if apany that makes Quirk Support Equipment for Pro Heroes and civilians supports the political party that encourages regr people to use their Quirks. That''s just good business on their part, after all, a mutually beneficial arrangement on both sides." "Right, good point sir." "Oh, one more thing," Koku says. "UA will be starting the second semester tomorrow, which means Horizon won''t be in Tokyo. Contact Geten, I want to stage a viin attack and have some of our people ying the part of civilians sessfully chase off the viins, that should raise interest in our cause." "Right, but why wait until UA opens tomorrow?" Koku shakes his head, "because, for the first day of school Horizon will obviously be present. And that means he won''t be in Tokyo to arrest our people posing as viins." "Oh, good point, I''ll get in contact with him right away sir." "Good," Koku sees them arrive at the front of Feel Good Inc.''s building in Minato Tokyo. "I need to go, I''ll call you when the meeting is over." And as they part in front of the building currently housing one of Japan''s top pharmaceuticalpanies, the door opens and Tomoyasu Chikazoku, one of its board members enters the vehicle. He takes the seat opposite Koku and shuts the door behind him. Tomoyasu Chikazoku was anky man of average height, wearing an all-ck suit with hair to match. His hair was long, reaching his waist, with long bangs covering his eyes. "This had better be good Trumpet," Tomoyasu says. "Trust me Skeptic, this is worth leaving that board meeting early," Koku says. Skeptic is Tomoyasu''s codename within the Meta Liberation Army. The leader of their intelligence division and also the manager of their technological infrastructure. While his Quirk: Anthropomorph, allows him to transform human-sized objects into realistic doll copies of himself or other people and remotely control them, he rarely ever uses it. His true worthes from his ability to hack into almost any system he''s encountered. He''s also a genius at logistical management, making him the perfect ountant and resource manager for the entire army. "So what are we doing?" Skeptic asks. "I got the meeting, it wasst minute but he said he has a free lunch opening today and only today," Koku says. "Ahh," Skeptic looks at the briefcase on the seat beside him and opens it, taking out the newptop and phone inside and getting to work. "I''ll have this phone ready to make a clone of his in a few minutes, but we''ll have to be at the same table for atleast thirty minutes for it to clone his phone." "That won''t be a problem," Skeptic says. "We''ll be eating at that new restaurant, Golden Hearts..." "Golden Hearts?" Skeptic asks. "I''ve heard about there, they ask you to leave all phones outside of the dining area, this won''t work." "It will," Koku says. "You let me worry about that, but now the things I asked you about, how did it go?" "Mmm," Skeptic grumbles while typing away. "Just a bunch of rumors and nonsense. Can''t tell what''s real and what''s fake." "Even you can''t tell?" "Mhm, but this phone should solve that," he gestures to the phone. "But all the research I''ve done tells me this dude is pretty well connected. All the rumors say he''s Yakuza royalty." "But Yakuza don''t have money like this," Koku says. "And besides they''re barely a street gang anymore." "Yeah well, aside from a few parties here and there, he keeps to himself, just buys up anything he can. It''s like he''s ying monopoly, but instead of making money he''s slowly losing money." "Losing money?" "Mhm, his profitablepanies make a good amount but he''s still losing maybe two million each month in payroll alone." "And the chances of him supporting us?" "Hmm, can''t tell," Skeptic says. "He hasn''t been in the public eye enough to say anything for or against our cause. But that''s the point right? You''re offering him some political power in Japan." "Exactly," Koku says. "But we need him more than he needs us, as far as I can tell he doesn''t care about politics. But having his name attached to us would mean quite a lot." "So if he says no, we use this," Skeptic waves the phone in the air. "I''ve been unable to track his money or break into hispanies systems remotely, being this close to him should make that much easier. Then I''m sure we''ll find some dirt we can use, but how do you n to keep this phone close enough to his?" As Skeptic asks that, as if one queue the vehiclees to a stop, and a tall muscr man enters, sitting beside Kuko. "Oh," Skeptic says. "That makes things a lot easier," he goes back to work. The man who entered was Tatsuyuki Tokoname, aka the Pro Hero known as Slide N Go. At the moment however he was wearing a simple suit instead of his skin-tight Hero Costume. His Quirk: Slip and Slide allows him to remove the friction between his body and anything he touches, increasing his mobility and allowing him to chase down viins at high speeds. "Most unusual," Slide N Go says. "Howe we''re all meeting like this in public, this is against MLA regtion formanders and captains to meet in public like this." "We have a good cover," Koku says, "Honesty. You''re one of the spokespersons for the Hearts and Mind party and we''re on our way to meet a new potential sponsor. And Skeptic is a backer of the party, it''s all legit." "Right, and the MLA business?" "You''ll just have to hold onto this," Skeptic hands him the phone. "The restaurant we''re going to doesn''t allow guests to keep their phones on them, but since you''re a Pro Hero they have to allow you to keep yours." "I see," Slide N Go nods and puts it in his jacket pocket. "Using the unfairness of this wed society to bring it down." "Alright," Skeptic shuts theptop. "The phone is ready, when it''s within a few feet of his phone it''ll recognize his number and begin closing everything from his phone, including his ount info, into itself." "Good, because we''re here," Koku says as they pull up to the front of the hotel. The Golden Hearts Hotel. A 60-story hotel with the now extremely popr restaurant on the roof. New and already incredibly popr, as well as recognizable with its dark colors and golden ents. As well as the intricate golden heart logo, also known now as the Matani Estate Logo on the front of the building. The same design that Law Matani has on his shoulders, not that the world is aware of that. The men step out of the building and look up at it, knowing their host was on the roof already. "Well, time to make a new friend," Koku says as he enters the building, marching toward Law Matani. But not at all ready for the monster he was about to experience... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 161: (Of Hearts and Mind Pt-2) Chapter 161: (Of Hearts and Mind Pt-2) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- Sitting at his favorite table in his main restaurant. On the roof of his hotel, looking out at downtown Tokyo, Law Matani was enjoying a drink. He wore a ck suit with a gold undershirt, the top two buttons were undone to show off the tattoo on his chest. And the shoulders had the familiar intricate heart sigils on them, just like his shoulder had them tattooed beneath his clothes. He sat at a table beside the railing, separating him from the 60-story drop to the pavement below, his back was to the railing, giving his guests a better view while he made it difficult for anyone to get behind him. And the roof was currently filled with men and women enjoying lunch, some working, some seemingly getting together with friends. But all enjoying their meals. "Really?" Law asks, he was currently on the phone with Sero. "Yeah, apparently Edgeshot called UA to offer me a work studies position, pretty cool right!" "Yeah, but I was hoping for someone that would operate more in the spotlight. But I guess the camera in your visor can make up for that." "Oh yeah, didn''t even think of that. But yeah I never thought I''d be working with a top pro. This is all thanks to you, thanks man!" "Don''t mention it, just do your best and don''t embarrass me." "Uh, right," Sero says nervously. Law sees the three men he was waiting for enter the outdoor dining area a momentter, "I gotta go, I''ll talk to youter," he hangs up as the men notice him. "Gentlemen, it''s a pleasure to meet you all," Law says as he gets up and gives each of them a handshake. And for the first time in a while, he mentally curses All For One. Usually, when meeting someone he would simply Scan them, but now activating a Room causes his eyes to continuously glow, so he couldn''t even do subtle things like that. "The pleasure is ours I assure you," Koku says as they all take their seats. "Its nearly impossible to get a table at this restaurant, even for me." "Well, quality attracts quantity," Law says. "Now, I know you said you''d be bringing two important people Mr. Hanabata---" "Please, call me Koku." "Right, Koku, but I don''t recognize these men," Law says, a necessary lie. He of course recognized Slide N Go from his research on the Hearts and Mind party. "Well allow me to rectify that, this is Tomoyasu Chikazoku, he sits on the board of directors for the Feel Good Inc Pharmaceuticalpany." "It''s a pleasure to meet you," Skeptic says. "Likewise," Law nods politely. "And this," Koku gestures to Slide N Go, "is Tatuyuki Tokonami, but the public knows him as the Pro Hero, Slide N Go." "A Pro Hero, sitting at my table, well I''m ttered." Slide N Go chuckles and rubs the back of his head shyly, "honestly I feel a bit out of ce at a meeting like this..." "Oh you don''t have to worry, I''m not that uptight," Law says as he signals a server toe to them. "In fact, me not being so uptight is why I haven''t been able to get a foot in the door of any political party in Japan. Let''s just say the old money families that run things don''t want someone that''s only half Japanese involved in shaping the country." "And you''ve made it clear you cannot be controlled," Koku says. "But that''s exactly why I reached out to you, I believe we can do great work together..." As the serveres over. Law orders just a simple steak meal with some mashed potatoes, Koku orders a sashimi tter, Slide N Go orders the same steak meal as Law, and Skeptic orders a bowl of Miso Soup. As the server leaves them, Law puts his phone face down on the table. "Alright, so let''s get down to business, I''ve got somewhere to be this afternoon, as much as I''d love to spend all evening partying with you men." "I believe I should go first," Tomoyasu -Skeptic-, says. "Feel Good Inc is currently in search of some space leading up to theunch of a new medication we just to the patent for." "Alright," Law nods along. "Well, I noticed that you''ve been doing all you can. Such as the 200 Million you donated to the police pension and relief fund. Or the 200 Million you donated to the fire fighters pension and relief fund. And I can''t help but wonder, are these because you perhaps want people to forget certain things?" Skeptic nces down at Law''s hands, at his tattoos. Law raises his hands to show off the hand and knuckle tattoos, "honestly no, I did that because I don''t like speeding tickets. And I own a lot of properties so I don''t want the people I depend on to respond to emergencies to not like me after all." "Oh, I''m---" "You''re fine, and for the record, our fortune didn''te from anything illegal. We made good investments in the healthcare industry that paid off very well," he says. "And I''m fully aware of how most of the world, and especially Japan views tattoos like mine. But I''m not Yakuza. This is more of a family tradition," Law says. "From the other side of my family..." "Ahh, you mentioned being half Japanese, so what''s the other half?" Slide N Go asks. "Italian..." The table got immediately tense, as all three mene to the conclusion that they may be sitting across from a mafia billionaire. Until Law burst that bubble. "I''m not mafia, but I do get that a lot," he chuckles. "But hey, thedies love it, so I won''tin." "Right, but back to what I was saying," Skeptic refocuses the conversation. "You''ve been more sessful than most political parties in buying good will in Japan. Despite the rumors circting around you, the public supports you. Even after your unfortunate kidnapping, people doubted the rumors that it was over some sort of criminal involvement. And when it turned out to just be thugs looking to hold a wealthy man for a ransom, they only loved you more." "Legacy building," Law says. "That''s the goal." "Precisely why I''m here to offer you a subsidization contract with the new drug. The news headline would get certain leaked documents about you subsidizing the cost of the drug so the consumer and government won''t have to pay as much in this time of great need, and you look like a champion of the people. The Matani family shines even brighter." "Hmm, I''ll have to look over the details of the drug," Law says. "What''s my estimated cost?" "125 Million, you''d be eating most of the cost of this contract between yourself, Detnerat, and a few otherpanies." "Right, but you''d also be getting my goodwill built up with the public," Law says. "And I assume this information would be leaked in a tasteful way..." "Of course," Skeptic says. "Boasting about how much you help people doesn''t look good after all." "Alright, send mywyers the detailster, I''ll give you an answer by tomorrow night." "And of course, I''ll keep you informed on any future moves in the pharmaceutical industry here." "Perfect," Koku -Trumpet-, says. "Now with that out of the way, shall we get to what I contacted you about?" "Right, you''re the only one of the 12 parties willing to let me into politics in Japan, why is that?" "Well aside from the fact that we''re currently ranked 6th and could greatly use the publicity boost from having you support us, as well as funding for the uing regional elections across Japan, I believe our beliefs align enough to work together," Koku says. "And what policies might that be?" Law asks as their food arrives. "Well for one, you''re being oppressed for something you cannot control. For being half Japanese instead of fully Japanese you''re being excluded from part of our society, that isn''t right at all. That''s one thing we''re already solving by simply being here." "True, go on..." "The next I believe would be your policy of expression." "Expression?" Law asks. "Self-expression," Koku says. "You''re a man who isn''t afraid to show the world what he stands for and all that he is, correct?" "Mhm," Law nods. "And in regards to Quirks. Most of the poption aside from the Pro Heroes aren''t even allowed to express that part of themselves, a part which they are born with. I''m sure you can rte, yes?" "No," Law says. "My Quirk just makes me look younger, not much expression in that. But I''m sure if I could fly it would be a different story, so I see your point." "Thank you," Koko says. "Most people truly can''t even be bothered to try to understand if it doesn''t affect them directly. I''m d you''re smarter than those people. But the Hearts And Mind party focuses on the aching hearts of all the oppressed people, under one collection thought process. ''We want freedom,'' that is the thought. That''s why ''Hearts'' is plural but ''Mind'' is singr. You already have the love of the working ss, the most oppressed of them all. If you join us, we could change the future of Japan for the better." Law mulls it over for a second, then looks at Slide N Go, "Pro Heroes are frowned upon if they promote any politics, especially something like this which promotes a direct conflict with the existing system. Is this really what you believe in." "With all my heart, I want my fellows to be free to live as they wish," Slide N Go says. "Right, and what''s your Quirk?" "I can remove the friction between myself and any surface I touch, allowing me to slide freely." "Right, I should have guessed that," Law leans back into his chair, looking between the three men. "I need a minute to think this over..." Looking around while the three men are silently eating, waiting for a response, Law sees Horizon tower in the distance. ''This policy is chaos, I barely trust regr people with cars, now we''re gonna let them use quirks as they please. This is the same shit I exined to---'' and suddenly it all snaps together. ''Rikiya runs Detnerat, he funds this political party and was spouting nonsense about Quirks needing to be free to use. Then these idiots in the political party are spouting the same bullshit. Plus Chitose mentioned this in her interview with me, and she''s Rikiya''s girlfriend in secret...is this some bigger conspiracy.'' And just like that he put all the pieces together, that these leaders of the Meta Liberation Army were in fact working together, but he didn''t have the pieces that filled in the ''army'' part of their movement just yet. "This is chaos," Law says, pulling their attention toward him. "Chaos is good for Pro Heroes since they get to make lots of money," he looks at Slide N Go. "It''s good for people who sell medicine since lots of people get hurt," he looks at Skeptic. "It''s good for people who sell Quirk Support Items because they have a lot of customers. And it''s good for the leader because he has people desperate for instruction," he looks at Koku for that final statement. "But it''s not good for the people doing the fighting, and it''s definitely not good for me. I''ve invested in businesses that do well during peaceful times, not this kind of business. I don''t even trust people with the freedom they have now and I''m supposed to trust them with a Quirk that could kill me...no way." "Are you saying you won''t support us?" "Sorry, but I won''t," Law says. "You''re all in positions to profit from this movement, but it''ll only hurt me---" Law''s phone beeps a few times, and he lifts it up to nce at it. He looks to his left, to the table of people sitting behind Slide N Go, then puts his phone down. "Sorry about that, but yes as I was saying. Chaos doesn''t really benefit me, but I''m hoping you three can point me toward some good investments to prepare for this chaotic future we''ll have..." And just like that, all three men give him hopeful smiles. Completely oblivious that their fate just took a turn for the worse... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 162: (Of Hearts and Mind Pt-3) Chapter 162: (Of Hearts and Mind Pt-3) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "Well I think that''s just about everything I wanted to know," Law says as their lunches to an end. "Well this was certainly a pleasant meeting if that''s the case," Koku -Trumpet-, says. "Well I just have one more question, the most important of them all," Law says, causing all three men to look at each other somewhat nervously. "And what might that be?" Slide N Go asks. "Well, it can wait, but before that. Have you ever wondered what you should order to eat for a meeting like this?" The men give each other strange looks, then Koku takes the lead, "what do you mean?" Law looks at his phone, seeing a confirmation message, then leans back and begins exining. "Well, for a business meeting your order has a subconscious effect on the people at the table. Like myself and Slide N Go, we''re big so steak makes sense, especially with muscles like that," he gestures to the Pro Hero. "Then we''ve got your Sashimi tter," Law nods toward Koku, "not bad but it could leave the wrong impression withdies. And then wee to you," he shakes his head at Tomoyasu -Skeptic-. "What''s wrong with my order?" Skeptic gestures to the half-eaten bowl of Miso Soup. "Well it''s the number one thing you should never order from a restaurant," Law says. "There are mainly three reasons. The first, is that it''s where the head chef will put all the ingredients that are about to go bad and aren''t presentable anymore, especially if it''s a fish soup of any kind." "Ugh," Skeptic groans, looking at the bowl with distrust. "The second, is that you don''t want anything that can ssh about or be loud for a business meeting like this. Plus, it''s just not a good look." "Uh...ok," they all give him weird looks before Skeptic asks, "and what''s the third reason." "Well, I''ll exin after my next question, if it''s needed." "And what question might that be?" Trumpet asks. BANG! All three men have their faces sttered with bits of Slide N Go''s brains as a bullet hollows out his skull from the back to the front. Law doesn''t react but both men jump back in their seats, almost falling over. But the people at the table behind them immediately get up and keep them in their chairs. As the dead Pro Hero slumps onto the table, they see the women on the table behind him all holding guns and looking at them. "Take anything you want!" Trumpet says with his hands raised, just like Skeptic, expecting to be robbed. But the woman only chuckles slightly, keeping her pistol aimed at them as one of her friends walks over to the dead Pro Hero, and gets his phone out of his pocket. "You aren''t being robbed, dumbass," Law says, pulling their attention over to him. To see himpletely rxed in his seat with blood on the side of his face. "These aren''t customers, they''re my friends." They see everyone on the rooftop immediately take out their weapons or in some cases just turn to look at them, presumably having Quirks that make guns obsolete. "Friend?!" Trumpet yells, "your friend just killed someone!" "Obviously," Law says. "Why wouldn''t she? I mean, I take care of her, and her family, send her kids to whatever school she wants. Keep the college funds topped off...so of course my friends would look out for me in even the most drastic cases." "They''re your security!" Skeptic says. "No no no, friends," Law corrects him. Noting how neither man looks awfully bothered by the corpse slumped forward on the table. "Security would make me responsible for this mess, but I can''t be held ountable for the independent actions of my friends, now can I?" "What do you want?" Trumpet asks. "Well, usually I''d wonder why a politician and a tech nerd aren''t bothered by the corpse of a person right here, but I think we''re already past that," Law says. "So, why were you wannabe anarchists trying to clone my phone?" "What are you talking about?" Skeptic asks, a surprisingly convincing lie judging by his confused expression. Law had the woman hand him the clone phone, "it couldn''t even get past my login screen, guess my I.T. guy is better than yours." He sees Skeptic''s eyes narrow slightly at that, just for an instant. "Ohh, I''m guessing you did personally make this program, good, now tell me what you were aiming for." "I don''t know what you''re talking about," Skeptic insists. Law sighs and rolls his eyes, and as if in queue them men behind them hold their arms down t onto the table, making sure his guests couldn''t move. "Do you know what the third reason you don''t order soup it?" Law asks. "Well, if you''re at a table with me, then...a cold dark river, the open ocean, ake maybe, bathtub...or a bowl of fucking soup. You can drown in them all the same..." "Wh---" Before Skeptic can evenprehend what he meant, his face was being held down in two inches of soup, drowning him in his lunch. As Skeptic is drowning Trumpet begins speaking, "you can''t do this! You killed and Pro Hero, the police will arrest you!" Law has to visibly stop himself fromughing in his face, "do you have any idea of who I am. I''m Law Matani. There isn''t a judge in the country willing to sign an arrest warrant for me, there isn''t a cop willing to pull me over. And obviously, I don''t give a shit about these idiots," he gestures to Slide N Go''s corpse. "But---" "But nothing. Because even if All Might himself came to arrest me, even if the judges wanted it and they pulled it off, nothing would happen," Law says. "In the past few months I''ve both sooooo sooooooooo manypanies in Japan, mostly Tokyo. And you can''t imagine how many people would lose jobs the moment I''m locked up." "What?" "Oh, you didn''t consider that, did you," Law says. "The first thing that happens when you have over a few million employees is they give you a call to make sure you won''t suddenly dump a million unemployed people into the system, because the government hates having to take care of unemployed poor people even more than you think." As he''s exining he notices Skeptic no long twitching in the bowl of soup, and gestures for the men to wake him up. They pull him out of the bowl and give him a hard punch to the gut, causing him to cough and vomit up everything he ate today back into the bowl. "As I was saying, they won''t do a damn thing, because the economy can''t afford it in this current state. I''m a very important piece of the wall holding back an unemployment crisis in Japan...well, a bigger one." "That''s why you''ve been operating like this," it finally clicks in Trumpet''s head. "You weren''t just going for legacy, you bought a way to stay out of jail, because Japan needs you right now." Law gives a devious and victorious smile. "Crisis is opportunity." A momentter Skeptic is done trying to cough his lungs out and snaps back to his senses, tears and snot running down his face. "Enjoying the soup?" Law asks. "Ngnnnn," Skeptic groans, swaying from side to side like he was drunk. "Well, he''s useless. Let''s hook these guys up and ask some questions. While Trumpet was confused a woman walked between them, with the men still behind them holding them down. Her fingernails extend half an inch like scales then she stabs them each in the shoulder, leaving her hands in them. "Ahhh!" Both men cry out. "Ready," The woman says. "I''ll give them a shock if I sense any lies," she nods at Law. "I''m so d I hired all of you after that whole hostage nightmare, could have saved me a lot of trouble that night," Law says. "But anyway, Koku, my least favorite politician, why were you trying to break into my phone?" "We didn''t ARGH!" he screams as a small current flows through his body from the woman. "Oh, you lied, that''ll cost a finger..." "What!?" Trumpet panics as a man from a nearby table get up and walk over, reaching for one of his hands being held to the table and grabbing his little finger. "Wait don''t break it please?" Hearing this Law chuckles, "break it, don''t be ridiculous..." "ARGRRGHHHHH!" Trumpet screams at the top of his lungs as the man rips off the fingerpletely, leaving it on the table. And a momentter he releases another scream as the man makes a small candle me in his palm and burns the wound shut. Three questions and three fingerster, each, neither man has spoken. So Law leans away, leaving the interrogation to his ''friends'' while another man walks up beside him. "Sir," the man says. "What''s wrong?" "We questioned their driver, he didn''t know anything but we dealt with him anyway, just in case." Law looks over to the man, one of his Power Types, and sees both his sleeves bloodied, "right, good job..." Turning back to his guests Law sees both men covered in sweat and slumped forward. Only four fingers each and they were already beginning to pass out, he couldn''t help but be disgusted by their weakness. "Alright, this is getting tedious, will either of you ever tell me what I want?" "Never!" Trumpet says. "Never!" Skeptic says, but he immediately gets shocked, caught in a lie. "Ohh, well that makes things easier," he then turns to Trumpet. "Well, you politicians never say anything useful either way, and you always lie to the public sooo...why don''t you just stop talking all together, yeah?" Trumpet and Skeptic look confused at that, then their expression turn to horror and panic as one of the nearby men grab a knife from Slide N Go''s te, and reaches into the politician''s mouth for his tongue. Skeptic is forced to watch his friend has his tongue cut out and the wound burnt shut, then he passes out on the table. The man releases Skeptic''s mouth, but the covert viin doesn''t say anything. He justments the choices that lead to this, his fate for bringing him here. And his hate for the man sitting across from him just grew and grew. "You''re a monster!" Skeptic says, giving Law a hateful re. "Monster?" Law asks yfully. "The monsters are locked in Tartarus, but I''m infinitely worse...because I''m right here. And I really don''t like that look you''re giving me, with that left eye..." "Wha---WAIT, PLEASE!" Skeptic screams as he feels arge hand covers the side of his face from behind him, and a finger digging into his eye socket. "I promise I''ll release what''s left of you when I get what I want," Law says, words barely heard through Skeptic''s screaming. "But let''s see how many pieces I have to take until we get there..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 163: (Would-Be Challengers) Chapter 163: (Would-Be Challengers) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- ---7 PM, UA Campus, Principal Nezu''s Office... Sitting on Nezu''s couch Horizon had his feet up on the coffee table while he was talking on the phone. He was currently wearing some of his own merch, a pair of sweatpants, and a jacket with his logo on the back of it. "Are you sure?" Gang Orca asks through the phone. "Yeah, they should be movingb equipment through your part of Japan by freight trains tomorrow," Horizon says. "And I can''t go running to the far side of Japan every time I get a lead so I''m passing it onto you, that''s your area after all." "Right," Gang Orca says. "I''ll send some of my sidekicks to the trainyard, they''ll alert me if they see any suspicious activity. And this equipment is what they use to make Trigger?" "Mhm, the rest of the world is still trying to catch up to the quality of Quirk Enhancing Drugs in America, but we should crush these people before they get any closer to a pure form." "Yes that would be problematic," Gang Orca says. "I''ll be sure to review the file you sent me tonight, and I won''t forget to mention you when we make the arrests tomorrow." "Thanks, I appreciate it, anyway that''s all, so---" "Wait," Orca interrupts before Horizon rudely hangs up as he usually does. "Have you reconsidered my offer?" "Don''t need to," Horizon says. "You can''t pay as much as Enji, you aren''t as popr. Plus, even if I wanted to, the government won''t allow me to just pack up and work in a city like yours. They need all the big guns in Tokyo to keep the crime rate down, your area is more about catching illegal contraband." "I see, that makes sense. You have much more effect in a densely popted area like central Tokyo, very well then. If you change your mind, the option is always avable..." "I won''t," Horizon rudely hangs up on the Hero. Setting down his phone Horizon leans back and rxes on the couch. "That''s thest of my cases to delegate to other Pro Heroes...such a pain in the ass when viins try to move their businesses out of Tokyo, but I guess that''s the natural response when you''ve got me in your city..." A few minutester Horizon hears the door open, and in walks Nezu, "enjoying your quiet time?" Nezu asks. "Just keeping the other Pros informed of my leads, in case they find anything." "Mhm," Nezu casually walks up to him and sits on the couch beside him. "Have you noticed you''re already talking like a fully licensed Pro Hero?" "They''re already treating me like one, and I''m already working like one, what''s talking like onepared to that?" he shrugs. "The burden of iprehensible power, people simply expect you to do the heavy lifting." "Mhm, it''s all part of the deal." "Yes, but onto the more pressing matter. Someone tried to hack into your phone today?" "Yeah, but I dealt with it," Horizon says. "Well exin that to me while we walk to the dorms, I need to go speak to All Might, and taking a stroll through campus is always fun. Atleast when my adorable little legs aren''t doing the walking..." "Mmmm," Horizon grumbles as he gets up, then puts Nezu onto his right shoulder. "As I said, I dealt with the hacker..." he says as they exit the office and begin walking through the empty halls. "Well you couldn''t have dealt with it as Horizon, so, do I want to know what you did?" "For usible deniability, you don''t want all the details..." "I see. And why did they try to interfere with you?" "For leverage," Horizon says as they enter the elevator. "They wanted to know about my finances and businesses, but even if they go in there isn''t anything illegal in my books." "Aside from the overprice healthcare you offer." "Miracles aren''t cheap," Horizon says. "What''s the cost of a life anyway. It''s not like I judge, it''s open bidding...they just want it more than other people, and have more money for it." "I suppose that''s true," Nezu says. "But why did they want leverage?" "Apparently to borrow my goodwill with the citizens to promote their politics, they aren''t anything dangerous. Just a group of politicians wanting to rally their supporters, boring garbage." "So a conspiracy, and what are the names?" Nezu asks. "None of your business," Horizon says. "I''ll deal with it myself. I already have a n in motion." "And what might that be?" "I did somesting damage, the kind that only a certain miracle doctor can fix. And one of the people who I suspect is in that group, happens to be an associate of mine. If he contacts me toe to help them out then I''ll know he''s part of it." "Right, still relying on excessive cruelty, when will you drop this habit?" "Horizon didn''t do it, not this time," he says. "I suppose, but you get what I mean," Nezu says. "And your n after figuring out who is in their group?" "Nothing," Horizon says as they approach the front exit of UA. "I just want to know exactly who I may have pissed off, what markets they control, and how they can make my life difficult, but I doubt they''d have the balls to do that. Not after the little chat I had with them..." "I hope Horizon treats viins better than ''he'' does," Nezu says. "Horizon is a hero, there are limits to what he can do... unfortunately. I can''t even use Injection Shot as much as I want because the damage is ''excessive and inhumane'', a bunch of pussies. " "What else would you call pulverizing bone and tissue to dust with invisible bullets that bypass defenses?" "Effective." "Those shots are almost beyond recovery without a healing Quirk and surgery being used before the bone begins to try growing back. We were lucky that we have Recovery Girl, otherwise, after the first day of practical training with you, Todoroki would have been spending the rest of his life in a wheelchair..." "Yeah but they''re viins." "Just because someone is on the other side, doesn''t mean you have to cripple them for life... as I recall you did with Himiko Toga before she broke out." "Would you believe that was an ident?" Horizon asks. "No, but your contempt for the people in your way is astounding, as is yourck of sympathy for those beside you." "Thanks." "Not apliment." "That''s your opinion..." Horizon stops as they exit the main building and approach the dorms, seeing Yagi, Deku, and Bakugo on the frontwn. Both the boys were sparring with the former hero watching them. "And what''s this?" Nezu exins as he continues walking, "they got into a fight after the License Exams...and apparently Midoriya exin One For All to him, but he and All Might trust him." "More than David Shield apparently," Horizon mutters. "But who won the fight?" "Bakugo." "As expected," Horizon says as they arrive beside Yagi, watching the duo spar on the grass. "How are you feeling?" "Huh!" Yagi is startled to see them beside him. "Oh, you surprised me, and I''m feeling fine." "That''s good to hear," Nezu says. "And how is their traininging along? They''ve been sparring all week." "Young Bakugo has been improving steadily, and young Midoriya is bing familiar with his new fighting style more and more. I''d say they canpete with some of thebat-inclined Pro Heroes by now." "So the D-Listers, and C-Listers," Horizon says. "Hey, that''s rude, you can''t call them that," Yagi says. "They are what they are, and what newbat style?" "My Shoot Style!" Deku says as they finish a round of sparring, both he and Bakugo were covered in sweat. "Shoot? So you can weaponize air pressure already?" "Uh, no," Deku bashfully rubs the back of his neck. "It''s more like Full Cowling, but with my legs too, so I can kick!" "....." Horizon nces to his right shoulder where Nezu was seated, then back at Deku. "I told you he''s retarded." "He''s not retarded," Nezu says. "But it did turn out exactly as you said. You could have gotten him to this level before summer even began if you were willing to help h---" "He''s gotten enough handouts," Horizon nces at Yagi. "Excuse me," Deku looks at Principal Nezu. "Sir, what did he predict exactly?" "Oh, you must have forgotten," Nezu says. "When he first taught you Full Cowling, during the Quirk exnation ss he gave." "Yeah, I remember that." "Well, he said that you idolizing All Might would hold you back, what he meant by that is you constantly try to fight like a boxer and a brawler, when you''re not 7ft tall like All Might, but should be more focused on speed." "Oh," Deku facepalms. "I guess I really was trying to be like All Might so much that it became a hindrance..." "And if you''re that much of a fanboy, you''ve gotta be a retard on some level," Horizon says. "Well that''s not very nice," Yagi says. "But knowing you, there must be a lot more you''ve already figured out right? In terms of improving his use of One For All and elerating his training, especially considering how much Sero''s Quirk usage and power improved in just a few weeks of training with you." "Naturally I''ve considered the optimal way for all my ssmates to train and use their Quirks," Horizon says. "Understanding the opponent is fundamental to crushing them thoroughly after all. How much power can you use right now anyway?" "5% with my arms, but 8% with my legs!" Deku says, and Bakugo grumbles under his breath. "Still a lot weaker than me, but you''re thinking about it all wrong again," Horizon says. ''Ideally, he''d think of it like gears in increments of 5% each. If he can handle continuous use of his arms in first gear, then shift into second before impact then shift back down into first afterward. One split second of 10% won''t hurt him that badly and will elerate how fast his body improves so he can raise his base power, but Yagi will probably exin that to him eventually. I doubt All Might was walking around at 100% all the time, the coteral damage from that wouldn''t have been heroic after all...'' This is the same system Horizon uses with ROOM. Having set increments of ROOM size so he doesn''t have to think as much. Some for more range, some for a more in-depth awareness of the battlefield. The smaller the room the more precise he can be. "What do you mean?" Deku asks. "You''ll probably have Yagi teach you that eventually," Horizon says, then sighs. "I don''t even have the damn Quirk but I''m better at it than you, no wonder I was the first choice for it..." Bakugo freezes at that, he hadn''t known that little fact. And Deku just feels smaller and smaller each time he''s reminded. The official reason and to Yagi''s knowledge is that Horizon simply doesn''t need it, which is true. But Nezu was also terrified at the idea of such a tool falling into the hands of a person he hardly knew at the time. And now that he does know him, he''s sure he made the correct choice. "Anyway, have fun sparring..." Horizon hands Nezu to Yagi as they had some things to discuss about tomorrow. "Wait!" Bakugo yells out as Horizon is about to leave "What''s your problem Silver Medal?" Horizon asks. "Don''t think I''m this idiot''s rival!" Bakugo screams out, pointing at Deku. "He''s just a stepping stone, and when I crush him, then you''re next!" "That''s some dream you have there, but very ill-advised, because if Useless canpete with you," he nods toward Deku. "Imagine what Perfect will do to you..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 164: (Career Planning) Chapter 164: (Career nning) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "What do you mean he paid for it?" Horizon asks. Currently, he, Sero, and Tokoyami were sitting at the couches in his massive dorm room. Tokoyami was on the floor leaning on the coffee table, filling out some Viin Insurance paperwork. Sero had some of his paperwork in hand, as both boys came to Horizon for advice on handling the logistics of Hero Work and some career nning. "Check it," Sero hands Horizon a page which he quickly reads. "Ok," Horizon shrugs and hands it back. "So the seemingly ungrateful billionaire asshole...wasn''t that ungrateful." "Doesn''t matter to me," Sero says with a chuckle. "All I need to know is he paid my Viin Insurance for that helicopter rescue, makes sense since I saved him in that." "And now you can get paid, correct?" Tokoyami asks. "Because otherwise the cost of the coteral damage would have been deducted from your payment?" "Pretty much," Sero says. "But that begs the question, when can we hold the Pro Hero responsible for the damage, and when do we me the viin?" Sero looks at Tokoyami, but can''te up with an answer, so he looks to Horizon who was sitting opposite him scrolling through his phone. "Uh, care to give us your idea of how that system works?" "They rate it based on your history alongside some considerations based on the recordings or witness ounts, as well as the Quirks involved," Horizon says. "Uh...wanna dumb that down for me?" Sero asks. "Ok, think about it like this," Horizon says as he puts down his phone. "Mt. Lady has to stop a viin with a Tape Quirk, when the cops show up the entire street is torn up with massive craters, what do you think caused them?" "Her stomping," Tokoyami says. "That''s one of her Super-Moves..." "Mhm, but the government has to pay to repair that, which is where Viin Insurancees in. But since, in this case, it wasn''t necessary, it gets detracted from her pay. If the viin was someone like Kirishima and she had to stomp him to crack his shell, then it would have been fine." "And if the viin did the damage, it would have been fine, right?" Tokoyami asks. "Plus if it keeps happening they''ll just stop investigating it and just continue charging her." "Exactly, this is another reason Sero and I have cameras on our Hero Costumes. Most heroes don''t bother with body cameras outside of America, that''s one of their ancient regtions with Law Enforcement forces that just transferred over to the Pros after all." "Plus most of them would just break it," Sero says. "Fragile things and fighting viins don''t go together..." "Exactly, plus more content means more popr in the Pro Hero world." "Yeah, but I don''t get why they had to cut my pay to zero after that helicopter rescue, I think I did pretty good with that," Sero says. "You literally paid nothingpared to the full cost of fixing the damage you caused to that building, you''re lucky they didn''t put you in debt," Horizon says. Sero chuckles nervously at that, "yeah, when you put it like that I did get off easy. Stills sucks thought." "Mhm," Tokoyami stops writing and looks up to Horizon. "So for the section about my maximum damage output---" "The higher the output the more eager they will be to charge you for Viin Insurance since the chances of the coteral being caused by you in higher." "I see, so I should put my lower power output in order to preserve my payment, yes?" "No," Horizon says. "I mean yeah that''s an option, but you won''t get many team-up requests or assignments from the Hero Public Safety Commission if they think you''re weak. Just put the truth then do your best, get stronger, get popr, then you''ll get more chances to help people." "Or in my case," Sero says. "More sponsors and poprity!" "I see," Tokoyami leans back against the foot of the couch and looks down at the papers. "I didn''t realize such deceptively trivial paperwork had such dark meanings behind them----" Sero gives Horizon a confused nce to which he just shrugs in return. "---But I suppose paperwork shall be part of my life now. I have much of this to endure during my work studies with Hawks this semester." "Well, that''s a dramatic way of putting it," Horizon can''t help but rolls his eyes beneath the visor at Tokoyami''s usual persona. "Just don''t break things and you''ll be fine, and be sure to look good for the cameras." "Mhm," Tokoyami just nods as he continues chewing through the paperwork. "And save people," Sero adds. "Right, that too," Horizon shakes his head, then the conversation continues. A few momentster, another career-focused reveal surprises Tokoyami. "You really don''t n to sign on with Edgeshot as a Sidekick?" He asks Sero. "But he''s the number 4 Pro Hero." "Yeah but he mostly does stealth stuff and detective work," Sero says. "Honestly Jeanist is a better fit for my Quirk but his style is way to reactive for my liking." "Well you''ll be working with Kamui Woods again," Horizon says. "Just like your internship since you spent it with him." "Mhm, since he, Edgeshot, and Mt. Lady formed a team they''ve been spending a lot of time together, so I basically get 3 Pro Heroes to teach me stuff at once," Sero chuckles deviously. "No way I could pass up on this offer. But they really should havee up with something better than ''Lurkers'' for a team name..." "I see, but that begs the question, who do you intend to work for?" Tokoyami asks. "Atleast after we be Fully Licensed Pro Heroes." "Well, I''m nning to go solo once that happens, skip the Sidekick stage all together." "That''s risky, but you''re already quite popr with Horizon''s help, if you follow his lead it shouldn''t be impossible. I don''t envy the amount of work that will take." "Yeah its a real pain in the butt," Sero admits. "But it gets me ahead of thepetition." "So you intend to be like Mirko? Running about Japan without an established agency anywhere?" "Kinda," Sero says. Then he nces at Horizon who wasn''t paying them much attention, still on his phone, then back down to Tokoyami. "But its more likely I''ll be working with someone, but not like a Sidekick." "Ahh, a Hero Team," Tokoyami pauses for a moment as he considers it. "A wise choice, operating alone has be more dangeroustely." Both Sero and Tokoyami discuss the positive and negative aspects of being solo vs being in a Hero Agency or Team. But Sero leaves Tokoyami mostly oblivious to the fact that he''d just sign on to work out of Horizon Tower when they receive full licenses, skipping the cost of setting up his own agency and forcing himself to operate in an environment where he cannot ck off. But Tokoyami isn''t an idiot by any means, and everyone knows they''ve both been operating out of Horizon Tower this past week. It was a simple issue to reason that they would continue operating as they are. As a moment offortable silence passes Sero beginsughing quietly, "I can''t believe this is a real conversation I''m having, back when I was little I''d dream about even meeting a Pro Hero. Now I''m so close to bing one, and I talk to them every day..." "I understand what you mean," Tokoyami says. "I''ve never been a ''fanboy'' like some of our ssmates. But I''ve always admired the control and precision Pro Heroes have, and here I am, actively learning from them and being mentored directly. Sometimes I still find it hard to believe." "Mhm, never thought I''d be here either," Horizon says, surprising them. Atleast before he rifies, "not because I believed my skills aren''t enough, obviously. I just never saw myself ying hero, but here we are..." A few minutester and while they were enjoying the silence Horizon warps one of his metal calling cards into his hand, then tosses it forward. It hovers in the air between both couches for a moment. "Shambles," Kyoka Jiro suddenly appears in his room, standing frozen with a hand reaching up. Warped inside just before she could knock on his door. It takes her a moment to realize what just happened, then she just puts her hand down and huffs, giving Horizon an annoyed look. "I thought Principal Nezu told you to stop doing that!" "He did, but you literally can''t stop it," he shrugs. "Now, why were you about to knock on my door?" Jiro just rolls her eyes, "why didn''t any of you respond to the messages we sent in the ss chat?" "Uh, my phone is in my room, the battery died," Sero says. "Same here," Tokoyami says. Then Jiro looks to Horizon who still had his phone in his hand, "why would I ever have the ss chat notification settings turned on, I don''t care what you people usually have to say..." "Whatever, just...they''re nning to watch a movie downstairs," she looks at Sero. "Your girlfriend and Juzo are here for it and helping set up. If you guys want to vote for a movie then get down there before they start it, I''ve already cast my vote." "Uh, who''s winning?" Sero asks, with clear concern. "Mina and Toru started an alliance." "Oh crap!" he hops off the couch, and Tokoyami immediately stands up with him. Before they rush off he looks back at Horizon who still hasn''t moved. "Uh, youing?" "Jiro and I will be down in a second, I''ll watch whatever you all vote for," Horizon says, surprising them that he''ll actually be attending. "Uh, right," Sero nces between them but doesn''t ask any questions, quickly leaving the room with Tokoyami. Leaving the awkward Jiro standing before Horizon, who was looking her up and down in her shorts and an oversized t-shirt. "Do you wanna sit down to say whatever it is you''ve prepared?" Horizon asks. "Uh...what?" Jiro tried to y dumb, failing miserably. "Stupid doesn''t look good on you," Horizon says. "And I saw you practicing some speech in front of my door for five minutes, well, spit it out already, we''ve got a movie to watch." And just like that Jiro felt her heart hammering in her chest, as if it would soon try to break her ribcage... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 165: (Movie Night) Chapter 165: (Movie Night) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- Sitting across from Jiro, Horizon could see her twitching anxiously. Tapping her foot, ying with her earphone jacks, biting her lips. Beneath his visor, he rolls his eyes, then picks up his phone once more. Scrolling through it he casually asks her, "you ever n to talk?" As Jiro is holding her breath, trying to calm her racing heart. She looks up at Horizon to see him sittingfortably on the couch, scrolling through his phone and paying her little mind. And the longer she stares the more overwhelming he seemed, and his presence just continues to fill the room, suffocating her. So her eyes dropped back down to stare at herp. Meanwhile, Horizon was checking his messages and the Hero Network, not so patiently waiting for his leads toe in. Hoping to finally clear out some of the cases he''s working on simultaneously. ''Great, now all I can do is sit on my hands and wait,'' Horizon sighs and puts down his phone. "I just wanted you to know," Jiro finally speaks up, causing him to look across toward her. "To know what?" "That I don''t have a crush on you anymore," Jiro says, a quiver of uneasiness in her voice. "I just want you to know that. So we don''t have any attraction between us now..." "Uh-huh...right," Horizon raises a brow beneath his visor, not sure what the fuck was going on anymore. "Is that what you came here to tell me?" "Y-yes!" Jiro nods a few times. "That''s what." "Well, um, alright," Horizon awkwardly nods. "Well if you''re done convincing yourself, movie time?" "Excuse me?" Jiro couldn''t tell if she was more embarrassed, insulted, or annoyed. "What do you mean?" "Well it''s pretty obvious, right?" Horizon asks. "If you really didn''t care you''d just move on, like a normal person. But you''re here, going out of your way to say it to me, to hopefully burn whatever bridge you think you have, to remove the option. Because you know, for some idiotic reason that I can''t understand, you still have an interest in me." "N-No!" Jiro''s voice cracks, but she continues as if nothing happened. "I just figured I should make things clear so there isn''t anything weird between us. Especially after Momo told me what you said to her, the night before the summer camp got attacked." "Mhm, and that''s all still true. I''ve got too much bullshit on my te to deal with rtionship stuff on top of that." "Good," Jiro agrees. "Me too, between training for the Provisional License Exams next year, studying, and anything else UA will throw at us, I can''t---" and she rambles out a long list of nonsense Horizon couldn''t care any less about. But while that was going on that he was looking her up and down, '' she''s cute, very cute. And talking to her isn''t boring...could be fun. Oh, what the hell, fuck it, what''s the worse that can happen...'' Seeing her caught up in her own ramblings Horizon interrupts, "this is a good look for you, you do know that, right?" Jiro freezes, staring wide-eyed before blinking a few times. "What?" "You zoned out, started rambling. Talking as if nobody was watching you, I think that fits you, that''s when you''re at your best... too bad most people will never see it, but I''m d I did." Jiro feels her face heating up, heart racing once again, but before her lips can part to give a response her mind couldn''t properly consider--- "And for the record, never said I wasn''t attracted to you, in some way atleast," Horizon shrugs. Her eyes open wide as a strong pink blush breaks out on her cheeks, her breath hitches and her face contorts with a mix of emotions. "Anyway," he once again stops her response. "Enough of this, let''s get downstairs, they''re almost done setting up." Jiro''s mouth was moving but no words could be formed, and before she knew it Horizon got up and gestured toward the door. And now she''s walking down the hallway beside the boy she couldn''t make any sense of. By every metric she thought governed her life he was... repulsive, to say the very least. But then seeing him in actionpletely flips that on its head, the way he operates in the field was admirable to her eyes. Atleast to what she''s seen thus far. When she and Momo had this discussion after the summer camp they both agreed that these were the reasons they were interested in him. But she''ll admit her best friend is much more enraptured by him than Jiro herself is. For better or worse, her friend is a Horizon fangirl. "So what kind of movies do you watch?" Jiro asks, and mentally berates herself for only being able to say that. "I don''t really watch movies," Horizon says. "My life is so exciting that they''re rather boring now. What about you?" "I prefer music." "The rocker girl with earphone jacks for ears and musician parents is all about music...very on-brand of you." "Yeah, what about it?" Jiro grits out, getting defensive as they approach the elevator. Horizon hits the button, "no need for the attitude, I never said it was bad." "Sorry, I''ve just heard a lot of jokes about it in middle school. Part of being a Pro Hero is to not just be part of the ''family business'' or whatever." "So a rebellious phase," Horizon chuckles as they step into the elevator. "But sometimes being like your parents isn''t bad, like me, I''m a perfectbination of mine after all." "Doctor and soldier, right?" Jiro asks as they begin descending to the ground floor. "Yes my father was a doctor, but my mother was a polymath, and fighting was just one thing she studied." "Polymath?" "Means you know a lot, about a lot of different things," he says as they exit the elevator, stepping onto the ground floor. As they step into the mainmon area the entire room goes silent as they stare at Horizon. He looks around, seeing the furniture pushed aside. nkets and cushions on the floor with students spread out on them. Most of students of sses 1A and 1B were gathered here, with a projector disying the movie onto arge wall. And some speakers set up for the audio, courtesy of Momo. ''I guess more than just Yui and Juzo came over...'' Horizon thinks as he sees the crowd staring at him. "What?" They all immediately go back to their chatter and gathering their snacks. "I need to go check on Mina," Jiro says. "She was supposed to make some snacks for me too." "Have fun," Horizon says as she rushes off. Watching her walk away Horizon takes in the view, "so this is what I do when I''m bored...maybe I need another hobby." "A hobby?" Momo asks from beside him, causing him to turn toward her. "I was just thinking aloud, nothing to worry about." "Oh, alright, I saved you a spot with us if you want," Momo gestures to a nket where her, Jiro, Tokoyami, and Juzo would be sitting. "Sure," Horizon follows her over to his seat, but does a quick Scan. Finding Sero and Yui up in Sero''s room. Just talking, for now, hopefully. As they''re waiting for thest group of people to finish making their snacks, Horizon looks to his side at Momo. She was to his right with Juzo to his left. Since they were much shorter Jiro was sitting in front of him, with Tokoyami beside her. "So was this your idea?" Horizon asks Momo. "No actually," She says, then gestures to Mina and Toru, who they''d gotten used to seeing visible by now. "They actually thought of this, I had nned to spend the night studying." "How''d theye up with this?" "It''s thest day of summer," Juzo says. "Well more like thest day of our vacation, the next semester starts tomorrow after all. Toote for us to go out and do normal teenager things, so they wanted to bring some normal into UA." "Mhm," Momo collects a massive bowl of popcorn from Uraraka. "This is a good way to help everyone rx, atleast for one night. After all the experiences of this past summer, all the training and studying. I admit my brain needed this relief." "Everyone did," Jiro says from her stop in front of Horizon. "I''m more surprised this workaholic took a night off," Juzo says, gesturing to Horizon. Everyone knew Horizon spent most if not all of his time working, so he earned some nods of agreement. "It''s not that rare for me to have fun and rx." "Yes, it is," Jiro says. "Dude you talk about how uptight other people are, but you almost never stop working." "Mmm, well, honestly I''m only here because I''m waiting for some info from my sources." "Exactly our point," Momo says. "That can''t be healthy. As much as I admire your desire to help as many people as possible, you also have to take care of yourself." "I''m fine Momo. Besides, if life gets too stressful I''ll figure out a way to rx, it''s not like I don''t know how to have fun. But these next 4 years are all about me being the best I can be, I''ve already considered them dead years in terms of my life." Jiro spins around in her seat to face him, "so you just n to only work for the next 3 years, nothing else?" "I might have space for one or two things, but I have a schedule to keep, any suggestions?" he sees her blush slightly, and senses Momo looking at him from the corner of her eyes, a gentle smile on her lips. "I barely have the next month nned," Tokoyami says bitterly. "Quitemendable that you have your life nned that far ahead." "A goal without a n is a dream, and dreams are for losers. You have to n ahead and do the work to get the life you want." Momo nods in agreement, but Jiro rolls her eyes, "and there it is, we almost went through one conversation without you calling someone a loser...almost." "Most people are losers Jiro, there is a reason most people can''t be a top Pro Hero, right?" "Just because it''s true doesn''t mean you can''t be nice about it," Jiro says. "You''re already perfect at most things, if you learned to be a bit sweeter with people it would make itplete." "The movie is starting," Momo interrupts them, prompting Jiro to turn back around as Toru dims the lights slightly. And Momo scoots just a bit closer than necessary to Horizon... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 166: (Self Diagnosis) Chapter 166: (Self Diagnosis) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- ---5:40 AM, 1A Dorms... The basement of each UA dorm building hosts a gym for its residents. And as expected of a gym for super-humans, the devices and equipment are much more extreme than most of the nation would have ess to. Most people have no interest in training Quirks because they aren''t legally allowed to use them, so why bother training a muscle you can never use? But at the moment Horizon wasying on a bench, aiming to check his personal bench-press record. The machine was a padded solid metal rectangle rising out of the floor, on either side wererge square metal columns. Perfectly attached to a te that connects the columns and hangs above the bench, like a massive hydraulic press. But instead of crushing whatever was on the bench, its role is to resist the pushing force acting upward upon it. Wearing his body glove and visor, Horizon almost appeared to be in some sort of armor. The image of a muscr and tall person, covered head to toe in a skin-tight white outfit, with blue ents and grooves between the very thin reactive gel pads atop his muscles. Allowing anyone who sees this to easily imagine the physique beneath it. Aside from that, his new ''watch'', that Mei designed for him, which usually sits under his Rolex, is on his wrist. Nowying on the bench he takes a deep breath before cing his hands t on the metal te above him. "C''mon," he mutters as he starts pushing upward. He feels the device move freely at first, then a few inches more it bes difficult to move. "Mmmm!" he growls as he pushes harder and harder, feeling his arms burning as his muscles are at their limits. "NnnAH!" he finally relents, bringing his arms down and away from the device. Both his arms hang at his sides as he takes a deep breath, feeling like fire was coursing through them. The device stays in ce above him for a moment before it slowly descends to the starting position he had set. While it does that he gets up and paces back and forth, focusing on his breathing as he activates his Quirk. Now making a Room only a few meters wide, just enough to cover the device. Booster Shot! The healing energy begins flowing through his body, focused on his arms which immediately begin to feel much better. Walking over to the machine''s control console, he sees his new record, 1.5 Tons -3000lbs/1360KG. "Ok, so I can lift a car and my top sprinting speed is almost 50 mph -80kmph-," he cracks his neck. "Now to test the Quirk...again." Resetting the machine he gets back into position, both hands raised to press against the device. Now fully healed and recovered he takes a deep breath, leaving his Room active as he begins pushing. BOOSTER SHOT! He immediately breaks past 1 Ton. BOOSTER SHOT! He hits 2 Tons with surprising ease. BOOSTER SHOT! Now he sees blue energy vapor being released from his arms, thin like a light morning fog. ''Just keep pushing!'' BOOSTER SHOT! He hits 3 Tons, doubling his standard record. BOOSTER SHOT! As he hits 3.2 Tons, -6400lbs/ 2450kgs-. BA-DUM! His vision goes ck for a moment as excruciating pain wracks his mind. He feels as if someone was trying to split his skull in two and rip out his brain with their bare hands. Then his Quirk shuts off without his consent. His hands leave the device as he clutches his head, moments like these are why most of UA''s machines reced free weights. So nobody would identally drop the weight of an SUV on themselves while training. "Fuck!" Horizon yells out, and the pain subsides momentster as he gets up, leaning on the metal column for support as he feels blood flowing out of his nose, ears, and eyes. Taking a minute topose himself he stands normally and raises his left arm to look at his forearm. With a flick of his arm, the watch Mei created for him projected a hologram onto his inner forearm, disying his biometrics for the past few hours. He immediately begins looking for the moment his Quirk went wild. But doesn''t see anything too unusual in his scans from that moment. "Heart good, organs fine, blood sugar is fine, then wha---" he fiddles with it a bit to look at the particr brain scans. "Abnormal brain activity?" he sits back on the bench while reading the data. "Left and right hemispheres had different levels of brainwaves?" Horizon tilts his head slightly, having genuinely never seen anything like that before in himself. This was different from his previous tests. As he gains more power by constantly improving his Quirk, the effect bes more and more apparent. "That doesn''t make any sense, the integration was done perfectly, they should all just be Hand Of God already." He delves even deeper into the scans, then disys a holographic 3D map of his brain from the device. The disy had pieces of the left half in red and sections of the right half in blue. And it knocked the wind out of Horizon. "What the fuck..." he mutters quietly, drawing a nk as he tries toe up with any sane solution. While it took Dr. Ujiko -Garaki-, a century to solve this problem. It now hovered before Horizon who''s only had it for not even 5 weeks. And while he would naturally flip through his incredible amount of potential solutions. Combining his Quirk, medical expertise, and experience. There wasn''t anything that seemed viable. The solution Dr. Garaki came up with was to remove the consciousness from the subject, and upon waking them up fully, all the Quirks would harmonize for a mutually beneficial objective. But he was a mad scientist of the highest order, even sacrificing his own grandchildren to create Nomu for his master. And since Horizon''s subject is himself, he naturally would never think of that solution, and even if he did, he would nevermit to it. Atleast that''s what Dr. Ujiko thinks. He expects the young man to be blinded by his own genius and pushed to insanity by this issue. But Horizon was far too cold and logical for that. "So I can''t do a partial lobotomy," he says. "If I do that then it could really fuck up my Quirk, and technically there isn''t anything wrong with my brain so I can''t just use Hand of God to manipte my body and fix it. This isn''t a physical medical problem, it''s something more than that," he ponders for a few minutes before his shoulders slump down. "Fuck..." He sits back in disbelief as he can''t think of a solution. For the first time in his life, there is no clear path to progress forward. He just sits there looking at the diagram, hoping for some random idea to pop into his mind. But he gets nothing, Horizon doesn''t have the answer. There are many people, including Dr. Ujiko, who''d be willing to pay a lot of money or do bad things just to get a glimpse of this moment. Especially after constantly hearing everyone, even his dear friend and master All For One put this one man on a pedestal. But aside from All For One, he''s the only person who knows exactly why that''s being done. With a loud annoyed groan, Horizon mutters "I hate this hero-viin bullshit," to himself as he gets up. Walking back to the control console he''s looking down at the device on this arm, taps a few options, and opens the connection to his phone. "None of my sources have anything yet, well isn''t that just freaking great," he says in an annoyed tone. Truthfully that''s exactly why he''s down here. He hardly ever does a proper workout anymore, and even so he''d save it until after school when he''s training. But this morning instead of following up on information his sources gathered, putting together cases and organizing his work between the Hero work and the Miracle Ward. This particr morning he just couldn''t focus because of how annoyed he was. Having nothing to do but sit on his hands and wait, something he''s always hated. Feeling powerless to guide his own life. He hated it, so he came down here to blow off some steam. Only to get even more annoyed. Shutting down the hologram he taps the console, resetting the device before he walks over to the special heavy bags to practice his striking. Because while his form is perfect, it was therapeutic, and the only form of therapy he needed. ording to himself, that is. But before that, he sees an option to add his score to the leaderboard for this machine, which means it must have made it into the top 3. Tapping the console he sees the current rankings. Deku- 7 Tons -14,000lbs/ 6350kgs-. Shoji- 0.85 Tons -1700lbs/ 771kgs-. Red Riot!- 0.7 Tons -1400lbs/ 635kgs. Horizon isn''t surprised by these records, or the names use to record them, not in the least. If Sato had lived to see the dorms, he''s sure that Sato would be a close 3rd ce behind himself and Deku. "Well, it''s no surprise you''re too strong and fast, physically fast atleast, for me to ever hope to match. You''ll be stronger than All Might eventually so it''s expected." He considers entering his own record, if only to show Deku and the others that while he doesn''t focus on his physical capabilities often. Even in that regard, he''s well above average. To show that there isn''t anything that he can''tpete at, atleast at the moment, even against those whose entire power is their physicality. But he moves his finger across to the ''rest'' button and clears his record. "I don''t need Kirishima asking me to join them in the gym, and I think I''ll leave my physical power as a pleasant surprise for now," Horizon says as he walks off to the punching bag area of the gym... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 167: (To-Do List) Chapter 167: (To-Do List) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- BAM! Horizon''s fist smashes into the super-heavy bag in the dorm gym. Another in a legion of blows as he tries and fails to clear his head. Now that he has no choice but to return to UA as he waits for his sources to report back, he''s forced to sit on his hands and do nothing. A torturous task for any man with real ambition. BAM! The knuckles of his body glove connect once more, the blue padded areas protecting his hands like any fighting glove would, atleast from the impact. BAM! He thinks about all the viins he''s captured these past few weeks. All the des and adoration he''s earned. He was making good progress. No, excellent progress. It seemed as if everything was conspiring to work in his favor. First, the USJ attack ced him in the spotlight, allowing his name to be widely known. Acting as his first appearance of sorts in the spotlight, a perfect start to a promising career. Then he dominates the Sports Festival, using it to draw even more interest and attention by revealing his Quirk as Mystery ss. A realization that the public would have soon discovered, but getting ahead of such things is always useful. And the more they know about his Quirk, the scarier it gets. BAM! One extra hard hit causes the punching bag to swing a bit too far. Horizon reaches out and holds it, keeping it steady in ce to reset his practice. BAM! He continues running through where he currently stands in the world. Refocused after losing his cool for a second, for the moment he thought about meeting All For One. His identity is still well protected, but having a viin know about his situation isn''t good, especially with someone like All For One. But All For One needs him, so they both have reason to maintain their agreement. And as for the other two who know. Nezu, the man who saved his parents, not for free by any stretch of the imagination. BAM! ''He''s still intent on making me into some golden-hearted hero, never gonna happen. But atleast he understands his limits...not like that woman.'' BAM! Horizon delivers an extra hard hit as he thinks about Pantu. ''That damn woman is determined to convince me to stay in Japan as a Hero. Trying to learn about my interests and what I like at that party, I wonder what the next bribe will be. Maybe she''ll offer me a political position...but being a top-ranking Pro already gives me that.'' BAM! ''Once she doesn''t break the contract... because if she uses them as leverage, I''ll stop being so fucking nice!'' BAM! The thick reinforced chain holding the bag buckles as it swings and nearly hits the ceiling. Horizon reaches out and catches it on the downswing, grunting slightly as the 2000lbs ms into his hands. He pauses for a moment, taking a breath to calm himself down, then continues practicing. ''Just keep walking forward, right dad?'' He easily slips back into practicing. ''Just keep working, don''t think about all the bullshit...'' BAM! ''I just need to pick some people to heal in the Miracle Ward this weekend, the news always likes hearing about that charity crap...'' BAM! ''Hopefully tomorrow I''ll have a lead on Wolfram. Because of course all his files get deleted globally a few days after I-Ind...just my luck the Shields are being hunted by a man who doesn''t exist...'' BAM! ''And the main issue, Shigaraki, and his losers. I don''t have any damn leads because they didn''t tell the people we captured anything. Just a bunch of sheep that were blindly following, pathetic...'' BAM! ''They''ve been too quiettely, sources say he''s preupied with gaining control of the underworld instead of waging war on society, that gives me a breather, until I have to fight whatever new army he''s recruiting...'' BAM! ''Twice, that''s my main target. I crush him and they lose their S-Rank threat. But to do that I also need to take down Kurogiri, preferably before anyone else gets a chance, even if I doubt they could...'' BAM! ''Kurogiri doesn''t allow people to escape if I''m there to cancel his Warp Gate, but he''s a nightmare for anyone else, and if Shigaraki is really collecting allies...'' BAM! ''They could make a deal with Wolfram, and if I''m not at UA Kurogiri can just warp Machia'' into this ce to hand over the Shields...'' BAM! ''Then Shigaraki gets a Quirk amplification device, and with his freaking Decay of all things, a nightmare scenario if I''m not there...'' BAM! Horizon recounts everything once more, making his list of objectives, then reassuring himself of the end goal. ''Roughly 3 years. In just under 3 years my Provisional License bes a full Pro Hero License. Then a few months after that in November, I get announced as the #1 Hero on the billboard ranking at the annual event...'' BAM! ''Then with that much done, the contract more thanplete. And Pantu makes me some desperate offer to keep me around even after my parents are back, but since they''ll probably be banished from Japan to cover her ass, I won''t be staying either...'' BAM! ''To think the easiest part of this whole n, is to train a team. Showing the world that I''m a trusted and respected leader of Heroes. Getting me a few steps ahead of even some high-ranking Pro Heroes...'' BAM! ''Fuck knows nobody trusts people like Mt. Lady or Sir Knight to lead a team, fucking morons. But training Sero is a pleasant hobby and distraction, he''s better than I thought. Should be passable within a year at this rate...'' BAM! ''Do I want to add another person to the team? Hmm, but Sero is easy to mold, he''s determined to make this Pro Hero shit work out. And he''s not too opposed to violence when he thinks it''s deserved, that''s useful...'' BAM! ''Most of my ssmates are too soft, bunch of pussies. Even Bakugo, for all his bravado and hot air, he''s a little bitch deep down. It''s like a Deku wrapped in barbed wire, and he''s far too loud, I don''t need that constant walking migraine around me...'' BAM! ''Whatever, I can always see how people develop and decide if training another person is necessary next year. I''ve got enough to do right now. Hmm, and speaking of things to do, I need to be careful with Ryuko...'' BAM! ''I think she''s getting too attached, should have known she couldn''t be trusted to treat it as a summer fling. But she''s fun, no harm in keeping her around for just a bit longer, atleast for now...'' BAM! ''And on top of all that, I need to solve whatever the hell is wrong with my Quirk, discretely. All For One hasn''t spilled that secret. And he won''t if he wants me to y along, he''s smart enough to know that. Word gets out of something like that and suddenly everything falls apart for me, and I''ll have to kill him for that...'' BAM! Horizon''s fist ms into the bag, hitting it hard enough that it ms into the ceiling, cracking the concrete as the chain snaps. The bag falls to the floor, cracking it and rolling a few times till it stops against the wall. Thankfully unlike his bags at home, these weren''t sand but a tough special foam, made to be heavy and durable. Perfect for Power Types to use while training at UA. Looking at the bag in its new resting spot, Horizon nces up at the broken chain and shakes his head. "Still need to get used to, this," he flexes his hand, feeling his fingers not even the slightest bit numb. His new unconscious healing was still a bit strange. Mostly because he doesn''t get hurt. In fact, only All For One has ever managed to really hurt him, when he''s putting his back into a fight that is, and now he''s even stronger than before. Therefore he doesn''t have any real-world testing for it. Taking a few deep breaths he calms down, cracking his neck and rolling his shoulders, ''too bad every time I try to draw on any significant amount of power, my head feels like someone is pounding nails into it.'' Thinking about that he growls aloud, recalling the pain. ''Its probably an limation problem, brain isn''t used to processing that much energy and information, it''ll sort itself out eventually,'' he reminds himself, hence why he hasn''t been spending all his time in his operation room trying to solve this. He''s already tried everything, run every simtion, now hisst option was to simply wait. "Well, guess that''s it for this morning," he says quietly. "No more things to add to my to-do list." "Is everything ok?" He turns around to see Momo approaching him, with a thin sheen of sweat on her body. Wearing a baggy t-shirt and pair of running shorts. ''Well, alright, maybe on more thing...'' END CHAPTER--- Chapter 168: (Insufficient Clearance) Chapter 168: (Insufficient Clearance) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "I''m fine," Horizon says, looking Momo up and down, seeing her nce between him and the heavybag across the floor. "Are you sure, you don''t have to be perfect all the time you know," Momo says. "I''m fine, just got a bit distracted," Horizon says, walking over to the bag. He takes a look at the chain at the top of it and sighs. "Did you break it?" "Not permanently, Power Loader will just attach a new chain, it''ll be fine before this evening," he shrugs. "You''ve been hitting it since I got here, I''ve never seen you down here before," Momo says as he walks back over to her. Her eyes trailed over his body for a bit longer than intended, which he noticed but did not react to. "I must have been more distracted than I thought, didn''t even notice anyone else was here." "Is something that important on your mind?" Momo had genuine concern in her voice, but was also a bit worried for everyone. It''s an open secret in Japan and especially 1A, that Horizon is privy to the top viin information in the country. He''s on call as support if a top viin shows up. So if he has reason to be worried, it''s possible everyone should be very, very worried. "I don''t like waiting," Horizon says. "You don''t have to be worried, I just have some people collecting information for me, and I''m here, waiting." "Oh I see, you''d rather be out there helping people. But instead, you''re stuck here just waiting for other people." "Pretty much, and this," he gestures to the heavy bag, and some of the others hanging from the ceiling in this area. "Helps me clear my head, usually I''d workout at home or in Tokyo, then train my Quirk at UA...but something about striking practice clears the mind." Momo gives him a curious look, and he could almost hear the gears turning in her head, "how does it work since you''re always wearing th---" she cuts herself off. "Oh my gosh, I''m sorry that''s quite rude of me!" "It''s fine," he says. "I don''t sweat, get tired, or get worn down. It takes a lot atleast. Working out for a few hours like this won''t really do much." "Oh, I see. Wait, a few hours?" she looks at the clock on the wall. "But it''s only 6 AM, and the movie finished at almost midnight---" "Don''t worry about it," Horizon says. "But what about you, do you always work out in the mornings?" "Oh, no, but this morning I just felt like I needed it." "Oh, adding in a bit more to the workout. Smart move." "Actually, I came down here this morning because I''ve been feeling anxious about---" ''FFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK! Really not in the mood for any of this emotional crap...'' "---the second semester starting today," Momo says,pletely oblivious to how little Horizon cared. "I doubt you''d understand, but over the summer...I failed to save someone." "Was it someone important to you?" "Uh, no, not particrly." "Then no, can''t rte at all." "Well, it was at a party, and they tried to take him as a hostage. I tried to help but then he got shot, and they had guns, and I just...there were too many people there, and I just had to let them take him..." Momo already had small tears streaming down her face, and beneath his visor Horizon had a look of genuine disgust and disinterest on his face. ''These people are the fucking worst,'' Horizon thinks as he rolls his eyes. "Well, all you can do is train harder, so next time, you''ll be ready," Horizon says. "I held back once when I shouldn''t have, and it cost me, that''s the mistake I''ll never repeat. So I guess this is yours." Momo sniffles for a moment, then makes a tissue to wipe her tears, "I suppose you''re right, I just have to get stronger, then I can protect everyone." "Mhm," Horizon nods along. "Look,paring yourself to people isn''t healthy, just focus on yourself. And definitely neverpare yourself to me, I''ve trained all my life for this kind of work, and you''ve just started out." "Right," Momo nods and gives him soft smile. "So, care to help me see how far the distance between us is?" she gestures to the ring in this underground gym. "Oh, right, you lean toward closebat, right?" "Mhm, I''ve been training a lot with Uraraka and Ojiro." "Right, but you can make guns...I mean swords, since you''ve got thosews about what you can and can''t make." "Yes but those are a bit too--- I mean, swords are cool. I mean yours is cool! You''re cool! I mean, ugh! But it''s just...blood." "They''re viins, but fine if you rather the gentle approach. Just don''t get toofortable with close-range fighting, you can make anything you want, use that. y your game, don''t y theirs. Because if you''re fighting someone like me." He ces his hand atop her head, ignoring the light blush, then raises it 7 inches to the top of his. "You''re still about half my weight, you''ll probably need more than a staff if some psycho who doesn''t care about his own health rushes you. So use something ranged or just stab him." "I still don''t feelfortable with those kinds of weapons, but I suppose that''s what training is for, I''ll mention it to Mr. Aizawa when we get to ss." "Or you can get permission for guns," Horizon shrugs. "I''m sure he can figure something out." "Well perhaps, maybe I can use rubber b---" "MOMO!" Mina screams out as she enters the gym, wearing some yoga shorts and a sports bra matching her pink skin. She does a small jog up to them as Toru separates from her to start warming up. "Oh, good morning Mina," Momo says. "Howe you''re here this morning?" Mina asks as she approaches them, then her eyesnd on Horizon, and a mischievous grin forms on her lips. Momo''s breath hitches, already having endured some teasing alongside Jiro for simply sitting beside Horizonst night, but now Horizon was here to hear it himself. "Sorry for interrupting the workout date cuties," Mina says. "I was actually just leaving," Horizon says, catching both girls off guard as he doesn''t bother correcting them. "I sense Bakugo, Kirishima, Tetsutetsu, and Deku on the way down...can''t imagine I''d get a quiet gym with them here." "I''m sure you''ll have lot of mornings with your darlin---" SHAMBLES! Horizon warps away before Mina can even finish, and a moment before Momo roughly ps a hand over her mouth. "CRAP!" Eraser yells as his car swivels on the mostly empty road, leaving UA. But heading out of Musutafu, toward the south. A momentter he steadies the vehicle and pulls over. "What are you doing?" he turns around, facing Horizon who was now sitting in the back seat. Horizon was still only wearing the body glove and visor. "How did you warp here?" Yagi asks from the front seat, "there wasn''t anything in the back seat." "I''m familiar with most of Musutafu, don''t need to swap with anything," Horizon says. "And why are you here?" "Good question, but my question is, if I''ve been charged with guarding this cripple," he gestures to Yagi. "Then why the fuck is he leaving UA without telling me?" "That matter is confidential," Eraser says. "And we''ll be back this afternoon, hopefully before sses are out." Horizon turns to look at Yagi. "All For One finally agreed to speak with me," Yagi says. "We''re on the way to Tartarus, you haven''t been cleared toe with us by the Commission." "Ugh," Eraser facepalms and faces forward, leaning back in the driver''s seat. "What part of this being ssified didn''t you understand?" "What? It''s not like Nezu wasn''t gonna tell him. He''d know by the end of the day I''m sure," Yagi says. "True, if something happens with potato face and he breaks out, I''m the guy they''ll send to put him in the ground." "Honestly I don''t know why he hasn''t been executed yet," Eraser says. "I''ll add it to the list of things to ask him," Yagi says. "It''s ssified," Horizon says. "But they''ve been studying him, trying to figure out any weaknesses all the Nomu share, or maybe to solve a method of reversing them." "But aren''t the Nomu just corpses?" Eraser asks. "Mostly, but during thest raid Endeavor encountered one that was talking, well, trying to. All it had was a ''Turtle'' Quirk, and it wasn''t anything special, but its an early test run for something, most likely." "It had a semnce of consciousness," Yagi says. "Yeah, so the person wasn''t entirely dead in there. Central Hospital is tasked with the Nomu reversal project, alongside Dr.Shodai Garaki of Jaku General and their research board." "And you?" "I don''t have clearance...but I''ve seen some of the documents, that''s how I know this much," Horizon says. "It''s not impossible to reverse the Nomu, if it has a consciousness. But at best it''ll have a half-life, if so much, depending on its intelligence of course. And that''s not a life worth living, or saving." "I don''t believe their families would disagree," Yagi says. "Not my problem, I''ve got enough crap to deal with, picking up the ck for all the Paper Heroes in this country, call me if anything goes wrong, and don''t let this one die," he gestures to Yagi. And with that Horizon warps into his dorm room, to get prepared for the day. Eraser just shakes his head as he gets ready to drive off, "I know I''m not supposed to say this, especially about students. But for the future Symbol of Peace, he''s---" "A jerk," Yagi says. "But he''s got all the time he needs at UA to soften up. Nezu did say he''s here to learn to y with others, not for the actual education or training." "That''s a lot more polite than what I was going to say, and is he usually this mean to you?" "In the wake of my failures, the pieces have been left for him to clean up," Yagi says. "With how much pressure I''ve added to his life I''m surprised he doesn''t outright hate me," he chuckles sadly. "And less stress on Midoriya, right?" "I don''t know what you''re talking about," Yagi says. "You''re a bad liar, and more people than you realized think you''re trying to make that kid into the next you in some way. And you''ve got Bakugo right there next to him." "Oh, well I hope you don''t have a problem with that, since they are your students." Eraser continues driving forward, "honestly, think you can take Ashido and Toru too? That''ll be all the usual troublemakers off my hands. I''d ask you to take Horizon too, but, Nezu has that under control, hopefully..." "Uh, sorry, I won''t really be that good at training those Quirks, maybe give them to Midnight..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 169: (New Team Applications) Chapter 169: (New Team Applications) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "Wait so they''re dating now?" Horizon asks. He was currently in UA uniform -his customized uniform with his logo at the back-, sitting at his desk in the 1A ssroom with his feet up on the table. To his right, Sero is sitting on Tokoyami''s desk as his friend ys with Counter Shock, passing energy from one palm to the next as they speak. They were thankfully alone at the moment. "Yeah," Sero says. "Apparently it''s been since Kamino or something, I didn''t really get many details from him." "Ok, but why''d he even tell you?" "Uh... Well, when I was talking to him on the phone I recognized her voice in the background asking him toe to bed," Sero chuckles nervously. Horizon can''t help butugh, "so thats how you cracked the case of Mt. Lady and Kamui Woods, congrats. But did you get the details of their team for the work-study?" "Yeah, Edgeshot was on a casest night so he called me instead, helps that I did my internship with him." "What team details?" Horizon asks. "And I assume Kamui doesn''t want anyone to know he''s dating Mt. Airhead." "Pretty much, he says it''s better if Heroes appear single, easier for young heroes to build a fanbase like that." "True, that''s what I''m doing." "Yeah, and as for the team stuff. He was mostly giving me instructions for where I''ll be meeting them this weekend. Apparently they''re working a case up north." "So you won''t be in Tokyo at the Edgeshot Agency?" "Not yet," Sero says. "He''s tracking some weapon smugglers right now and it took him out of Tokyo. Mt. Lady and Kamui Woods will join us when it''s time to kick some butt." ying with the electricity jumping from one palm to the next, Horizon closes his hands and the current cuts off. "What''s wrong?" Sero asks. "Just got a notification from the Hero Network," he taps his visor. "Some morons are in a high-speed chasing, the cops are pushing them toward Musutafu." "Toward you." "Guessing that''s why they gave me a heads up. They probably put together that I''m back at UA since it is the first day of school after summer." "And it''s the first time that you would have not been on the news for an entire day," Sero says. "You''re a very well-known workaholic, and then you wonder why people think you''re a cyborg." "Ugh, so sick of those rumors..." "Hey if I didn''t know better, I''d think something simr. Maybe if your visor didn''t cause your voice toe off a bit mechanical." "It''s part of the charm," Horizon says as he puts his hands back together. He pulls them apart, forming a tether of blue electricity between them which he ys with, as one would y with a rubber band. "Yeah yeah, clean and efficient," Sero mutters. "Anyway, are you gonna head back to Endeavor''s Agency and actually spend some time learning from him this semester?" "I might, but I don''t see any reason to. I don''t think I can really learn to be as efficient from watching him, I just need experience in knowing what to expect in my area," Horizon says. "Or you need an entire office of people feeding you information." "Not a Hero Agency, can''t do that," Horizon says. "Also the Commission probably won''t appreciate me suddenly leaving Minato Tokyo, Endeavor already has Saitama Tokyo under control so me going there won''t do much inparison." "Oh right, you''re the main hero for Minato...guess they can''t just have you ovep with other big heroes for the sake of efficiency." "National stability and all that bullshit, I really hate all this red tape and nonsense." "Well it''s unavoidable when your existence causes people to stay in line," Sero shrugs. "Besides, Heroes are just fancy cops, that''s what you always say, right?" "Something like that." "Well, this is part of it, taking orders, which I know you just love." Horizon groans, "just until I''m the #1 Pro Hero, then I can do whatever I want..." "You know, maybe you shouldn''t say that. I mean, it''s one of those things that only work when people who can''t literally do whatever they want with nobody able to stop them say it," Sero says. "If someone didn''t know you they could get a bit worried by you saying that." "Most people don''t need to be worried..." Sero chuckles nervously, and before he could say another word the door at the front of the room opens. "Yo Shinso, what''s up?" Sero waves to their ssmate. Shinso no longer had the bags under his eyes, and clearly had a bit of muscle on his previously frail frame. "You weren''t at the movie nightst night, Mina was asking about you?" "You weren''t there either from what the gossip says," Shinso says as he approaches them. "Uh, yeah well, I was a bit tired so---" "Everyone knows you were with Yui," Shinso says. "Well, I mean, yo---" Sero''s eyes go dull as his body rxes, falling under Shino''s Brainwashing. "Take your seat and wait for ss to begin," Shinsomands a he walks up to Horizon''s desk, and Sero mindlessly obeys. "How long does itst now?" "Almost ten minutes," Shino says as he leans against Tokoyami''s desk, facing Horizon. "And I assume you want to talk about something," Shinso nods. "I''m done training you, you''re Eraser''s problem now." "That''s the problem." "Huh," Horizon looks toward Shinso. "I figured Eraser Head is a great teacher for you..." "He is, for the practical aspects, but I realize that saving people isn''t enough for me." "What?" Shinso sighs. "I thought that bing a Pro Hero, proving all those people who said I have a viinous Quirk wrong, I thought that''d be enough." "But it''s not?" Shinso nods, "it''s not." "Oh my fucking god," Horizon groans. "Are you gonna give me a whole life story?" "I want to be a top Pro Hero," Shinso keeps it short, not in the mood to be warped to the other side of the campus and have to walk 14km to ss. "I need the entire world to know that there are no such things as viinous Quirks, and to do that, I need a lot of eyes on me." "More eyes than being an underground hero would allow?" "Mhm." Horizon sighs, takes his feet off the desk, and turns to Shinso, "so you''re going for gold instead of a participation trophy?" "I never thought I''d really be here," Shino gestures to the ssroom. "But since I''m here, why not prove to more than myself there are no viinous Quirks, but prove it to the world." "And you want me to help by?" "Doing what you did for this one," Shinso gestures to Sero. "He went from a nobody to ''Cellophane'' after some training and a week in Tokyo with you. Now he''s got hundreds of agencies sending him offers and news outlets begging him for interviews. He has eyes on him, and I need that if I''m to get my message out." "Ok, so now I know what you want, and what''s in it for me?" Horizon asks. "A perfect example of why you''re right," Shinso says. "That''s what matters to you, right? Proving that you''re right?" "Mmm, about?" "You made a grand speech during your interview, about how there are no viinous Quirks, about how society making thosebels only breeds more viins. Having me by your side proves that you truly believe that, and would get a lot more people supporting you." "Hmm," Horizon leans back for a moment. "Well, you aren''t annoying like most of our ssmates, useful Quirk, I''ve already spent some time training with you at the Summer Camp. But we''ll have to do some realbat training now. You got your Provisional License right?" "Yeah," Shinso says. "What''s the name?" "Mindjack." Horizon groans in response, "we''ll have to change that. Try ''Simon'', that''ll work." "Simon?" "Simon says..." he sees Shinso''s eyes widen in realization. "And if you''re going to be a public hero, we need to spread misinformation about your Quirk. We can start a rumor about it being a telepathy Quirk that just needs you to make eye contact to work, that''ll make viins cocky." "That...actually makes a lot of sense." "You also won''t bepeting in the next Sports Festival," Horizon says. "Because of the loudmouth announcers?" "Mhm, problem?" "Nope, working anywhere near you will get me enough attention, so I won''t need it." "Alright, and do you have any requests for a work-study agency, or do you need to wait and apply this week with the others?" "No I don''t have any direct requests, and I probably won''t get a good agency since I''m not well known, thanks to you..." "Just bad luck you got matched against me," Horizon shrugs. "Have you talked this over with Eraser?" "He rmended I speak to you about it," Shinso says. "He''s still training me in his ownbat techniques, but you''re the person to talk to about poprity and branding." "Well, I can''t attach my reputation to a loser, so lets see how you do in a practical setting." "What do you mean?" Shinso asks. In response Horizon just snaps his fingers. SHAMBLES! Shiso is suddenly wearing his Hero Costume. A most ck costume with purple ents, sticking to Eraser Heads'' ninja theme but clearly armored along the chest, back, and the back of his hands. And on his face was a mask covering the bottom of his head, jet ck and made of dozens of moving parts with two dials at the sides to adjust them. Artificial Vocal Cords, Hero Support Equipment which allows him to use the dials for adjusting the pitch and depth of his voice to mimic almost any voice perfectly. Madepletely analog since his Quirk doesn''t work through electronic speakers. "Did you just change my clothes?" Shinso asks, mostly amazed and creeped out. "Can you please never do that again?" "You''ll get over it, besides, we don''t have time to waste." Horizon raises his hand once more, and reaches out, barely touching Shinso. "Wai---" "Shambles..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 170: (Team Tryouts) Chapter 170: (Team Tryouts) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- SHAMBLES! On a suspiciously empty highway leading into Musutafu, Horizon appears, still sitting on his chair. Mindjack stands beside him, looking around clearly confused. "What are we doing here?" he asks Horizon, seeing his ssmate leaning back in his chair. SHAMBLES! Horizon warps a few feet to the side, cing himself in his seat toward the side of the road, leaving Mindjack standing in the middlene of this threene highway. "You n to exin anything?" "High-speed chase iing," Horizon says as he points up the road. "They''ll be here in less than a minute, try not to fuck it up." "What is this, a tryout?" "Pretty much, can''t keep any dead weight around." "Great," Mindjack sighs. "Put a guy with a vocal Brainwashing Quirk, to stop a high-speed chase." Horizon takes out his phone, getting a message from Sero who just woke up. "Your Quirk wore off, after almost 9 minutes, not bad," Horizon says. "Told you, I''ve improved a lot." "Uh-huh, now show me some more in-field practical applications," they hear and see the cars approaching, one car being chased by two police cars. "How close are the cop cars to the viins?" Mindjack asks. "100 Meters -330ft-." "Then they should stop before this bothers them," Mindjack reaches for the pouch behind his back, resting over the sheathe for the Tanto behind his waist. Exactly like Eraser Head''s. He takes out a handful of razor-sharp Caltrops and prepares to throw them. "Caltrops? ssic...very ssic, but effective." "Why fix what''s worked for thousands of years," Mindjack shrugs. Secondster the cares racing down the highway, directly at Mindjack. He raises a palm toward the car while holding Caltrops in the other. "Stop the car and get out!" he yells, hoping one of them responds. Instead of responding the one person in the car only speeds up, intending to run over the hero. The man was so distracted that only at thest moment did he look to the side, seeing Horizon sitting on his ssroom chair, casually watching this unfold. The man''s head turns to watch Horizon do nothing as he sped into where Mindjack stood. But by the time he got there, Mindjack already dove out of the way, dropping Caltrops where he stood moments earlier. POP! The front tires are blown out causing the man''s face to snap back to the front of the car. "AHHHHH!" he screams as the car begins to swerve, mming on the brakes and pulling the emergency brake. The car skids for a while thenes to a stop, and the cops stop their cars just ahead of Horizon, stepping out and opening the doors, using them for cover as they draw their guns. The viin hops out of his car with nothing but a pistol and his idiotic hopes of escaping this, using his vehicle for cover. "Leave me alone!" the man screams, staying hidden on the other side of his car. "Uh, sir?" One of the cops sees Horizon doing nothing and approaches him. "Are you here to help?" "I''m supervising for now," Horizon gestures to Mindjack who was sprinting up to the scene. He runs past the cops, "hold fire," he says over and over. "Nobody is going to get hurt, just let me deal with this." The police officers nce at each other, having never seen this hero before, but since Horizon was with him they didn''t bother to ask questions. SHAMBLES! Horizon warps in front of the police, appearing in his chair beside Mindjack who was also standing in front of the barricade of cars. "Ok, this is your specialty, try not to get anyone killed..." "That''s the n," Mindjack says. Taking a deep breath he steadies his mind, then speaks loudly for the viin to hear him, nearly 100ft -30m- away. "If you surrender peacefully nobody has to get hurt!" Mindjack says. They don''t hear anything for a few seconds, then the sound of metal being crushed. "Oh great..." Horizon says in a bored tone. "He''s trying to fight." "NghhAHHHH!" the viin''s car suddenly flips through the air as he sends it tumbling toward the police barricade. "Takt!" Without moving Horizon catches it in mid-air, seemingly exerting no effort. The police officers that dove for cover peeked out, feeling slightly idiotic for reacting like that, when they knew Horizon was sitting in front of them. "Just give up!" Mindjack yells as he stands his ground, the viin who was not 10ft -3.04m- rushes toward them. "You give up!" the viin responds, and his body immediately freezes up. "Brainwashingplete," Mindjack says. "Took you long enough," Horizon says as he drops the car to the side of the road. "Wrap this up, ss is about to start..." "Deactivate your Quirk," Mindjackmands, and the man obeys, shrinking to his usual short self. "Lay on the floor, hands behind your back." The man does exactly that. "Officers, he''s all yours, he won''t be able to control his body so long and nobody hurts him, you''ve got a few minutes," Mindjack says. One of the men looks toward Horizon, and receiving an approving nod he turns back to the other, "get the Iron Maiden, let''s lock this guy up." Within a minute the viin has a reinforced special metal alloy brace wrapped around his torso. Like a metal straight-jacket preventing him from expanding or using his arms as they wait for the armored transport unit toe to deal with him. "Sorry but we can''t stay here and wait for the armored unit," Horizon says as they''re all standing around. "They should be here in a few minutes anyway..." He walks up to the viin and ces a hand on his shoulder. "Counter Shock." "NGH!" The viin''s body convulses as he copses to the floor,pletely cked out. "There, he won''t be going anywhere, now, Simon, let''s go..." "It''s Mindjack." "Well, Mindjack is a stupid name, and it isn''t catchy. You need something catchy and thematic, but also a bit tough and marketable." "I''ll think about it," Mindjack says as he sees Horizon sit back in his chair. He walks up to Horizon who casually puts a hand on his arm. "Have a good day gentlemen, and stay safe," he says to the cops. "Shambles." Arriving back in the now full ssroom, all eyes fall on Horizon and Mindjack. SHAMBLES! Shinso''s Hero Costume is swapped with his uniform once again, and he gives Horizon an annoyed nce. "Well, how''d I do?" "It''s a start," Horizon says. "We''ve got some work to do but yeah, I can make it work." Shinso actually gives a small smile at that, nods, then walks to his seat on the other side of the room. "What was that about?" Tokoyami looks to his left at Horizon. "There was a car chase, and he went to stop it, that''s all." "But you went with him..." Momo speaks up from behind him. "Was it that bad?" "I was just checking in on his progress, I did help him train during the Summer Camp after all." "Well I guess that makes sense," Jiro, who was standing behind him at Momo''s desk says. "Anyway, we were discussing what Mr. Aizawa probably has in store for us today, since its the first day and all." "I''d think it''s something extreme," Momo says. "Consider our first day at UA included the Quirk Apprehension Test, maybe another such test to mark our progress." There was an excited spark in the ssroom at that suggestion, most of the ss wants to see how far they''de since those 5 long months have passed. As they all begin muttering Sero spins around in his seat, "what was that about earlier?" "I''ll exin during lunch, but we might have a new guest in the tower," Horizon says quietly. Sero''s eyes widen for a moment, then return to normal, "happened a lot sooner than I expected." "Yeah, me too..." After a few more seconds, Horizon sees Kirishima about to get up and start yelling in excitement and decides to cut this short. "Shut up!" he silences the room. "Eraser and All Might aren''t even here right now so we probably won''t have anything like that until they''re back, sit down and get ready for homeroom." "Awe," Mina puts her head down in disappointment. "I was hoping to start this semester with fun, not boring sswork!" "You need the book time more than anyone else Pinky." "Well, I''m still hyped up!" Kirishima stands up and yells. "Today we learn more about the Work Studies and the Pros we''ll be working for, it''s gonna be awesome!" The entire room begins moring, making theories, and sharing the heroes they hope they can work with. A few minutester the door slides open, and Midnight walks in with her hands behind her head, showing off her body for the students to see. "Good morning my lovely darling students!" she gives them a dazzling smile, "and Horizon..." "Tch, morning saggy..." And the entire room falls silent, as if they could see the petty and vicious lightning sparking between Midnight and Horizon. END CHAPTER--- Chapter 171: (Semester Planning) Chapter 171: (Semester nning) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "Look I think it makes sense," Sero says. "But honestly, how do you even make a logo for that name?" As the lunch rush began in UA''s cafeteria, Sero was sitting beside Horizon, warped here before most students even got out of ss. He was eating hisrge lunch, happily now. His muscles were more apparent now since he began training with Horizon, which he certainly appreciates, and certain others do as well. Horizon wasn''t eating anything this time, just scrolling through his phone and listening to the conversation. And across from Sero, "I know it''s a good name, but I''m already used to Mindjack," Shinso says. "Yeah but you don''t have a public image yet so it''ll be easy to change it now," Sero exins. "Plus, ''Simon says'', is a pretty cool line." "More like a gimmick," Horizon says. "But those sell very well." "Yeah, plus you don''t really cause property damage so the people who pay us will like that." "And I''m not working with anyone named Mindjack," Horizon says. "It sounds stupid." Shinso just sighs and takes another bite of his lunch. "Simon it is then." "Awesome, wee to the team," Sero puts his hand out for a fist bump, but Shinso just looks at it, and ignores him. "Awe, gonna leave me hanging like that?" "..." Shinso just continues eating. Sero just drops his fist and continues eating, "great, now I''ve got two of them," he says as their usual lunch table is filled up. Momo, Tokoyami, Jiro, and Shoji join them at their table, leaving one empty seat where Sato used to sit. After a few more minutes of chatter, Sero notices Momo reading their new textbook at the table and winces. "It''s not aplicated book, right?" he asks. "I''ve already got enough trouble keeping up as it is right now!" he whines. Most of the table looks over at her, and Momo suddenly feels a bit shy with all this attention. She looks up to see Horizon still ying with his phone and breathes a sigh of relief. Then she perks up a bit, hoping to dazzle him with her initiative. "Well," she shuts the book. "When Ms. Midnight announced this textbook would be moved from our second year to our first year I knew it would be a bit advanced. But this is even more advanced than expected. So I do rmend everyone starts reading ahead now before our first ss on the subject next week. That way you won''t be overwhelmed by any surprises during the ss." "Another demon to torment my soul before my dark nightly slumber," Tokoyami says, closing his eyes dramatically before biting into his apple. "Yeah," Sero groans. "I already have to read crime reports, and the usual book, and my Quirk research...and now this too." "What book is that?" Horizon asks. "Oh, right," Momo frowns. "You spent this morning in Principal Nezu''s office after that little issue with Ms. Midnight." Everyone winces at that. "Look, she''s a horrendous bitch that doesn''t know her ce, and I''m always right, that''s all, now get on with it." Momo shakes her head in disapproval, "you know she warned me about getting close to you..." "And yet you can''t seem to keep away, strange how that works," he lifts his head to look at her, then turns slightly to see Jiro also staring at him, "I seem to have that effect on people." "Let''s focus on the book please," Momo says as he returns his attention to his phone. "The book is ''The lines and ethics of Quirks and Humanity,'' it was meant to be studied during our second year but they decided to move it forward since some of us are already in the field." "What''s it about anyway?" Jiro asks. "The lines between what is and what is not a person have been blurred since Quirks manifested, this book delves deeper into that issue." "It''s a good book," Shoji says. "I''ve read it a few times cover to cover..." "Really?!" Momo lets a bit of her excitement show, "how co---" she cuts herself off as her eyesnd on him. "Oh, right..." "Yeah," Shoji raises his 6 arms. "I''m one of the people that blur the line between person and ''monster'', so I had personal reasons to look into it." "I see, has anyone else read it?" "Yeah," Horizon says. "It''s pretty much required reading globally for anyone in the medical field, but also I read all the textbooks we''d need for all the years at UA." "Seriously," Jiro cringes at the thought of that. "What, did you have an entire summer to waste?" "I was on a flight from Dubai to Italy actually, just read them all," Horizon shrugs. "Why else do you think I never take notes...or the fact that I don''t even have a backpack. Only just the one book in my desk for sswork and exams." Most of the table just share a look between each other, which Horizon notices. "What?" "Well," Jiro ys with her earlobes, "we all kind of assumed you had like...well, you know, in your head..." "What, a brain?" Horizon asks. "I know not everyone in our ss has one, but yes I do have a brain." "A hard drive, dick," Jiro grits out, clearly annoyed by thatst statement. Sero immediately bursts outughing, and the few people who weren''t constantly ncing at their table to get a glimpse of Horizon join the others in looking at them. "I hate that fucking rumor," Horizon mutters. "Well that makes one of us, besides it not like it wouldn''t make sense," Sero says as hisughter slowly stops. "I underestimated how stupid people can be," Horizon says. "Anyway, Yaomomo," Tokoyami speaks up. "Will you be hosting weekly study sessions this semester as well?" "Well," Momo thinks about it for a moment. "I don''t know what my schedule will be like, hopefully I get a Pro that hires me for the Work Studies program. If that''s the case then I''ll likely be spending two weekdays at their agency as well as weekends." "But we''ll be doing the same thing," Tokoyami says. "So we can all study together to keep up with the others." "Oh man, this is gonna suck," Sero groans. "Have you not been reading ahead already?" Shinso asks. "I''ve been too busy swinging around Tokyo, then when I''m back at the tower it''s just to sleep..." "Oh yeah?" Jiro gives Horizon a sly look, "almost as if, say...you were trying to keep up with a robot?" "I fucking hate it here," Horizon mutters as everyone has augh at his expense. "The study group sounds like a great idea, if you can peel his tape off of Yui..." "I think I''ll manage." "OH!" Momo ps her hands together. "I should speak to Kendo about having her and some of her own ssmates study with us!" "Study group with Kirishima and Tetsutetsu... good luck with that," Horizon puts down his phone. "I''ll figure something out, but if you''d be so kind as to---" "I''m not that kind of teacher," Horizon says. "Ask Juzo, he''s good at teaching people that kind of thing. He''s probably the most tolerable of the 1B people." "Mud Man the teacher, strangely, it makes sense," Shoji says. "He''ll be working with Shinso for the Work Studies actually." Shinso looks across at Horizon, clearly confused. "What are you talking about?" Horizon raises his phone and shakes it a bit, "just got confirmation from Gang Orca, he''ll send UA a request for you." "Gang Orca?" Shinso''s eyes widen. "You were just casually texting the #10 Pro Hero?" "We''ve worked a few times since our first meeting." "Since you beat him and Mirko up is what you mean," Jiro says. "He was actually who I''d hope to work with...but I didn''t get my Provisional License so that''ll have to wait." "Makes sense, he''s the top pro with sonic attacks," Tokoyami says. "That''s a difficult Quirk to find a master for. But I suppose Present Mic is an alternative if needed." "Ugh," Jiro rolls her eyes. "Don''t put the cursed idea in my mind, he''s soooome!" "Sound quirk, likes music...birds of a feather the two of you," Tokoyami says. "I''ll pretend you didn''t just assault my ears with that disgusting thought..." As everyone is finishing up their lunch, Shinso zones out and just retreats into his own mind. Thinking about what he just heard, that he''d be working with Gang Orca, the #10 Pro Hero. ''I''vee a long way from my days in general studies, but I''ve still got a lifetime of work ahead of me,'' he looks across at Horizon who was talking with Jiro about a concert nearby. ''Team Horizon...certainly has its uses.'' Shinso gives a soft smile. And as if sensing some happiness in Shinso, Horizon swoops in to rece it with some pain. "Simon," Horizon snaps him out of his daydream. "Let''s go over your goals, and how much I need to increase your training, we start this evening..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 172: (Last Request) Chapter 172: (Last Request) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "Do you know what you''re going to say to him?" Eraser asks Yagi. Currently, they were sitting in his car in front of Tartarus''s bridge. At the moment there was no ''bridge'', only pairs of pirs spaced out evenly. Made entirely of metal with massive turrets attached to them. Spanning the 10km between the maind and therge metal ind in the open water. The guards standing beside this area were heavily armed, always ready for a sudden escape attempt from the viins. And even knowing these respected Pro Heroes were cleared for entry, the turrets never once aimed away from their heads. "I just have some questions, about my master, and about her grandson," Yagi says. And as he does, the bridge segments begin rising out of the water, sliding upwards as they''re connected to the columns. "The viin, Tomura Shigaraki, is what you mean, right?" Eraser gives him a side-eye. Yagi sighs as they begin driving across the bridge, "I know, I know, but part of me feels like I should atleast try to speak to him beforepletely giving up on him." "Good, just don''t get tunnel-visioned on redeeming him, he''s way past that." "That, I agree with," Yagi says. "Besides, he''s hunting him down already, it''s only a matter of time before Shigaraki is locked in here too. But for now, let''s just focus on today Aizawa, and thanks foring with me." "Right," Aizawa says as they drive the 10km to the main gate of Tartarus. For the first time, Aizawa gets this close to the prison, seeing the 2km square structure, a small metal city in the open water. All around the perimeter, the ocean was far too rough for most boats to survive them. Artificially made difficult to navigate by devices built into the side of the prison. All 500 meters below sea level there were devices installed. At the very top, they focus on making it almost impossible to approach the prison via boat. And below that, they use sonics to give a painful sensation to any ocean life or Quirk users trying to approach underwater. Or crack open any submerged vehicles. "I never appreciated how ridiculous this thing is," Aizawa says as they arrive at the main gate, and the metal wall extends almost 100 meters above them. And below them is a 100-meter drop into the raging sea. "It may not be as tough as New Alcatraz, but in this day and age it''s a necessity," Yagi says as the guards approach to scan them and the vehicle. "Rumor says it''s strong enough to contain you, that true?" The guard nods as heavily armored vehicles with turrets and gunners fall into ce around them, boxing them in as they take them inside the prison. "That''s the thing about Quirks like mine," Yagi says. "No matter how physically powerful you are, eventually technology will catch up, or atleast be able to lock you down." "Or you''ll meet a bad matchup." "Mhm, if someone like yourself were a viin there isn''t anything I could have done," Yagi admits. "So they did test it against you?" "They''ve taken my measurements and power limits many times over my career, as they do with all the top Pro Heroes or those with especially dangerous Quirks." "And here I thought that was just a rumor." "Pro Heroes are the only people allowed to push the limits of their Quirks, it makes sense to build your prisons and infrastructure against them, that way you''re always built to withstand the best." "Mhm," Aizawa thinks it over for a moment as they get escorted deeper within. "So, you''re saying you couldn''t break out?" Theye to a stop and both get out, and the guards fall into ce to lead them to a pair of massive hydraulic doors. "Well, there is a reason the cells are all underground, even I need to breathe," Yagi says. "And let''s just say the venttion system here can pump more than just air." Some of the guards ce over at Yagi as he says that, but they pay it no real thought, expecting All Might of all people to have some knowledge about Tartarus. "A perfect death trap for any person." "There aren''t any people here," the leader of the escorts says. He looks back at Aizawa as the doors open. "Prison is where you put people, Tartarus is for the monsters..." As the man begins leading them within, they step into arge room with rows upon rows of turrets tracking their every move. Eventually, they get to a massive elevator, 10m square with a massive ''1'' painted on the doors. "This is the first one," the leading guard says. "Each elevator goes down 100 meters, then you need to get out and go to the other side of the floor to enter the next. You''re in for a good walk to get to All For One." "So one prisoner can''t just get in and reach the surface," Yagi says. "Mhm," the man uses his biometrics to activate the elevator when everyone is inside. "I''m the warden here, and obviously neither of you will speak about what you see in here." "Of course not," Yagi says. "Good, we''ve never had civilianse in just to visit a prisoner before, but President Pantu has made a special allowance," he looks directly at Yagi. "Nobody else would have gotten in here, but luckily, you''re you." "Special allowance?" Aizawa asks. The warden grunts, "normally we ignorest requests before execution, but any info we can get out of All For One can prove valuable..." "Execution?" Yagi was genuinely surprised by that. "I wasn''t aware of that." "Nobody outside of this facility and themission was, until right now," the warden says. "We don''t need the League of Viins having any more reason to send Gigantomachia our way. The longer this is kept quiet the better." Yagi takes a deep breath, finally feeling as if this chapter of his life was about to be closed, "well, I was wondering why they kept him around for so long. So of course this was unavoidable." The doors open and they see massive metal doors on both sides of the hallway. Blindingly bright andpletely white walls aside from the chrome doors and ck turrets. And they couldn''t even see the end of the hallway. As they are walking the warden looks back at Aizawa, studying him for a moment. "Can I help you?" Aizawa asks. "Why are you here?" "What do you mean, I''m backup," he gestures to Yagi. "No, why did All For One ask for you?" Aizawa looks worried and confused by that, not sure why All For One would want to speak to him. He was also annoyed and angry at Nezu, because he was the one who assigned Aizawa to protect Yagi, so he must have known. As they get down to the 5th floor, Yagi is already feeling a bit winded. But thankfully the air quality was exactly as on the surface, even here, 500 meters below sea level. They eventually reach the final door of this level, one which seemed even more well-made than the others. Much thicker and more secure. But before they could enter, their eyes fell onto two more elevator doors that were just as reinforced. "Level 6?" Yagi asks, reading the number painted atop it. The warden grunts, "new floor, a work in progress, anything more is ssified..." he says as he opens the door for them. Before they enter he turns to them, "no touching the ss, no using Quirks, no telling him about what''s happening outside. We keep these things separated from the outside world for a reason." "Understood," Aizawa says. "And remember," the warden looks directly at Yagi. "I don''t care if you were the Symbol of Peace, break the rules, and these turrets will hollow out your skulls before you can realize how badly you fucked up..." "I''d have it no other way," Yagi nods. And with that, the man steps aside for them to enter the room. They see two metal chairs bolted to the floor, positioned in front of a thick metal wall. The walls are entirely white with cameras and two turrets at the back of the room. The moment they step in he locks the door behind them, and they approach the seats. They see arge control panel with all manner of reading constantly being updated. Studying every bit of All For One''s body and mind as he''s locked up. "Take your seats, and keep your hands in view," a guard''s voice over the speaker system says, and they do exactly that. "Opening the visibility barrier," the voice says as the metal barriers begin to raise up into the ceiling. And sandwiched between them is a meter of bulletproof ss with no holes in it. On the other side, they see All For Onepletely locked up in a sarcophagus-like structure with only his head exposed, a mask on his mouth with tubes running into the side of his head. The metal sarcophagus itself has dozens of tubes running from it into the floor and the control panel, designed to keep him nourished and take his readings. "Finally, some good conversation can be had in this cell," All For One''s grating voice reaches them, causing both men to scowl. "That damn doctor they bring in to poke and prod me isn''t allowed to speak, it''s quite a miserable experience on my part." "You reap what you sew All For One," Yagi says. "Ohh, is the ever benevolent Symbol of Peace saying that being put down like a rabid dog is justice?" "I uphold thews of society," Yagi says. "My duty is to protect people, not to hand out judgments." "Spoken like the proud sheep you are, atleast the next so-called Symbol of Peace is more of an independent thinker..." Aizawa just leans back and observes the conversation, but stays ready to use his Quirk. "You called us here, now just tell us what you want. I don''t have anything to say to you." "Come now, my final conversation and you want to cut it short, really? And you''re lying to me at a time like this, really, because we both know you have hundreds of questions for me..." Yagi grits his teeth, "Tomura Shigaraki, my master''s grandson, where is he?" "Ohh, you''re still hung up on that old news, aren''t you over that already? Did you really think just because he has Nana Shimura''s blood that he''d be incorruptible? We both know that neither of you were born special, you were made, built to be great heroes...so why can''t someone be groomed and built to be a great viin, hmm All Might? The world doesn''t have a UA for viins, so I had to take the homeschool approach for Tomura." "And you chose him to spite me, to spite us, right?" "Oh definitely," All For One chuckles. "But is it so wrong for a viin to have a Sidekick?" "So he''s your sidekick?" "Oh no, he was always meant to be my sessor," All For one says. "We are both men on borrowed time, mine will run out in a few days when I''m executed, so tell me, how much longer will you live?" Aizawa turns his head toward Yagi, not sure what he''s talking about. "Horizon must have given you a deadline, right? And I imagine with him it''s quite urate..." Yagi sighs and leans back in his chair, "from today, less than 3 years..." Aizawa''s eyes go wide, blindsided again today. "Ahh, so we''re in the same boat either way, how befitting, rivals descending into hell together." "Hell?" Aizawa asks, causing All For One to look at him. "Oh, why don''t you ask him then," he looks toward Yagi. "Where do you deserve to go All Might, after how badly you failed your predecessors?" "I''m not dead yet," Yagi says. "I''ve still got time." "Ohh, but you wish you were, yes? That would have been better than standing on the sidelines while others clean up your failures, right? I can''t even fathom how much you hate it. The rise in crime and all the people who got hurt because you so arrogantly concealed your fading strength. I bet people are still doubting Endeavor, right? All because you failed to tell him what wasing, you didn''t give him time to prepare, to hold up the weight of society like you once did...not that I think he could ever do it." "I---" "So arrogantly looked down on even other Pro Heroes," All For One cuts him off. "You and the other inheritors always do that, always think you''re the only one who can act because nobody can keep up with you. But I imagine that delusion was destroyed recently for you." "Inheritors?" Aizawa asks, but is mostly ignored. "When I attacked the summer camp, I did it to meet Horizon, did he tell you that?" All For One asks. "You thought it was him, he told us," Yagi says. "Ohh I did, he was the only logical choice, but I''ve had time to reconsider it after my fight with him. He''s not the type of person to ept help in that way, and he doesn''t need any more than he already has. He''s perfect, if I had gotten to him before Nezu, this world would already be in the palm of my hand. Oh, I can''t imagine how upsetting it must be, especially for Izuku Midoriya---" Aizawa and Yagi both stared wide-eyed at All For One. "That''s your sessor isn''t it, the boy chosen by you to be the next All Might of this world, yes?" "What?" Aizawa asks Yagi. "How must it feel, All Might," All For One once again ignored Aizawa. "You put the weight of living up to your feats and aplishments on the shoulder of a young man, enough to break the mind, body, and spirits of anyone in itself. And then you force him to sit in a ssroom, and behind him is a person who seemingly fell from heaven to be the greatest hero this world shall ever know. I can''t imagine what that will do to his mental health." Yagi grits his teeth, "future Pros are none of your concerns, you won''t be around to torment them." "Ohh, but I''ll be around to see it myself. To see the greatest war between the society you protect, and the monsters that seek to tear it down. Heroes and Viins ying in an all-out war game, until something snaps, and a young man finally decides to flip the table." "Tomura Shigaraki will be locked up before it ever gets to that point," Aizawa says. "And you won''t be around to see it..." "Tomura Shigaraki? Oh, of course, because surely that''s who I meant...but tell me, why exactly wouldn''t I be around, when the key to postponing my execution is sitting right in front of me." "And why would I ask them to do that?" Yagi asks. "Not you All Might, you''re barely a man, certainly no longer a hero or symbol, and definitely of no use to me, sit quietly on the sidelines and watch everyone else be useful, that''s all you can do now." He then turns toward Aizawa. "But you, you will ask Nezu to petition themission to postpone my execution, that way they can further study me, and eventually find a way to reverse the Nomu process." "And why the hell would I ever do that?" Aizawa asks. "Oh, because you wouldn''t give up on your friend a second time, right, Eraser Head." Both visitors look confused at that. "Oh, how I wanted that Quirk, Erasure, such a perfect Quirk topliment my forces. And with it even All Might would have been no threat. But sadly there was one person more of a hero than you. He got you to safety at the cost of his own life, and our trap fell on him instead." "No..." Aizawa mutters. "You didn''t even love your friend enough to keep searching for a body, you gave up on him so easily, and he fell into my hands, bing our first sessful High-End Nomu. My knight, still capable of higher thought process..." "Wait," Yagi looks between them, seeing Aizawa gripping the sides of his chair so hard his fingers were bleeding. "You can''t mean---" "Oboro Shirakumo," with these words Aizawa''s face almost goes red in anger, it took every bit of self-control for him to not activate his Quirk. "You''re lying!" Aizawa yells. "Oh you wish I was, and sadly you need me alive to check. My body will detonate into nothing when I die, and so will any hopes of digging up your friend, from deep within his new Nomu self." "You can''t prove anything," Yagi says. "Ohh, I can''t?" All For One gives a devious smile. "So tell me then Eraser Head, didn''t something look rather familiar when you saw that Quirk again? When you saw his clouds flowing again, I''m sure you can remember it right, you know who it is..." "Kurogiri," Aizawa mutters, much to Yagi''s horror. He immediately gets up, opening his eyes wide at All For One, "what did you do to him?" he growls out. "Don''t approach the ss," the guard says through the speakers. "Oh it took a lot of work, merging Quirks to make Warp Gate, but as you''ve noticed, he was easily worth the trouble..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 173: (New Methods) Chapter 173: (New Methods) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "I don''t think that''s ok, not at all," Shinso says. He and all of 1A were on a bus heading to the USJ, now fully repaired. They were all in their gym uniforms, and he was currently speaking to Horizon about some advice he received. "Trust me, it''s imperative for you to get better," Horizon says. Before Shinso can respond Snipe stops the bus and everyone steps out, quickly finding themselves standing in front of Snipe. "Today your training will be simple students," Snipe gets their attention. "We''ve scattered a number of rescue dummies in the USJ, you need to find and recover them. The safe zone is the entrance. This is training for the rising coteral damage as viins be bolder across the nation. During your Work Studies, you''ll be working alongside Pros but they''ll likely relegate you to controlling crowds of civilians and such, this is a warm-up for that. Horizon, you''ll stay at the entrance with me, your Quirk has some sort of radar feature so we don''t need you making this too easy for them." "Sidelined for being too good," Horizon shrugs, "story of my life." "Alright settle down partner, everyone else, let''s get this started," Snipe turns and begins leading them toward USJ. Horizon, Shinso, and Sero fall to the back of the group as the other students begin to get excited for the uing exercise. "Look," Horizon says. "All I''m saying is you need to be more liberal with your Quirk. You''re sitting in a ssroom with a bunch of idiots who say nonsense all the time, just make them shut up whenever they get too annoying, it''s good practice." "Seems a bit rude," Sero says. "I mean, it''s kind of like how you always warp about without warning. But that''s not the same since his Quirk is literally mind-controlling people." "Well not mind controlling, that''s a bit beyond him," Horizon says. "Either way I don''t think I should do that," Shinso argues. "A few days of that and nobody would talk to me, because nobody wants to say ''Hi'' to a guy that''ll brainwash you for no reason." "Well allow me to speak from experience," Sero says. "Not a fan of that experience." "Yeah well, the problem with your Quirk is that you need a test subject to train it. You can do vocal exercises all you want but at the end of the day, the only way to improve your ability to get past mental defenses is with practice. It''s better, I can feel that tingle bing a little stronger, but it''s still easily ignorable. And by the nature of my Quirk it will never control me." "Well you''re one in ten billion, right?" Shinso asks. "Literally anyone else would be under my control." "Yes but you have to prepare for the worst-case scenario. And I''d imagine people like Mandy have higher than average mental resistance because of her Quirk, and we all know how you''d fare against All For One." "That''s a good point," Sero says. "A viin with telepathy might be able to resist it, then you''d be basically Quirkless." "I''d still rather not just Brainwash everyone I talk to..." "Then just keep practicing on me," Horizon says. "Every second of every conversation, then once you''re at the point where someone can be Brainwashed but they can still talk, you can just do it to everyone. But don''t give them amand until necessary." "So I just need to work extra hard to get to that point, then training it will be easier since nobody would be able to notice it." "That''s a start," Horizon says as Snipe signals for everyone to begin. As everyone scatters across USJ, Horizon is left standing atop the massive staircase with Snipe and Momo. Before speaking to Momo Snipe turns to him, "since you aren''t allowed to help them, your job is to move around the dummies and make it hard for your friends to rescue them. But we made them fragile, so you''ll also have to be careful. Oh, and you can''t leave this area." "So using Takt for a game of ''keep away'', sounds fun atleast," Horizon says as he takes a seat on the staircase and focuses on the dozens of dummies around USJ. ROOM! He creates a room spanning 300m around him, allowing him to epass all of the USJ. SCAN! He feels a searing migraine as a flood of informationes crashing into his mind. He has to stop himself from instinctively reaching up to hold his head while doubling over. Instead, he remainspletely unreactive and stoic, ignoring everything thing else as he focuses on the dozens of rescue dummies. Focusing on the dozens of rescue dummies he takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. TAKT! They are all captured by his mental grip, rising off the floor for a few seconds before--- BA-DUM! Pain like a red hot nail being hammered into his skull. His Room copses as he feels blood leaking out of his nose, eyes, and ears. Rolling his shoulders he takes a deep breath before starting the entire process again, determined to push past his boundaries and master his improved power. Because while he is more powerful in terms of how much energy he can use. Before meeting All For One thergest room he could create was 14km wide, now it was almost 25km after a mere 5 weeks. His abilities are each stronger by arge margin, but moments of fine control cause the mental strain he just isn''t ready for. And reaching out to grasp too closely to his new upper limits causes his Quirk to copse. He is certainly stronger than he was weeks ago, but to approach his new limits is to invite ruin, until he solves the issues between mind, body, and instincts. As Horizon settles into his spot atop the stairs, Momo stood off to the side with Snipe, consulting the resident firearms expert on hertest rmendation. "So rubber bullets?" Snipe asks. "Precisely," Momo nods excitedly. "I know Hero Support Equipment is only allowed if itpliments a Quirk in some manner, but since my Quirk allows me to create my own equipment---" "You want special permission to make ballistic weapons, even without a Quirk that would consider ballistics as a necessity like mine." "With thepromise of rubber bullets of course," Momo says sheepishly. "Honestly, I rather not use real bullets...I don''t even like the thought of using swords against living people, much less guns." Snipe sighs, "well, I can''t say a lot of the teachers haven''t considered this. It came up during our review of the showing at the Sports Festival, knowing you can make a lot of things but always fallback to staff and shield is a bit...underwhelming." Snipe looks up to see Momo''s lip quivering as her eye looks sad. "Wait! I mean no offense of course it''s just that, well, you''ve got so much potential that we have ideas of how you can use it. That''s our job as teachers after all!" Momo focuses on the task at hand, "so is it possible, to get me permission for ballistic weapons?" Snipe rubs the back of his head, "I''ll have to run it by Power Loader, and Principal Nezu, they''ll have to review whatever designs youe up with before sending it to themission. But once its entirely impossible for a regr person to pick up the weapon and use it in the event that you drop it...then it won''t be impossible." "That''s wonderful!" Momo gives a dazzling smile. "But you''ll also have to spend a few months at the least in firearms training with me." "I expected as much," Momo bows. "It will be an honor to learn from you, Japan''s resident top marksman." "Uh...right, thank you," Snipe still isn''t sure how to handle praise. "Now, why don''t you go join the others and I''ll talk to the other teachers after." "Right, thank you again sir," Momo bows again before rushing off. As she leaves Snipe recalls what she said, even now he isn''t used to being referred to as the Top Marksman in Japan. When counting only the free citizens he certainly is, by arge margin at that. But as someone who tries to stay knowledgeable of hispetition, it didn''t sit right with him. Because to his knowledge, there are two women locked away that far outss him in a gunfight at any range. Putting that thought aside he looks to his left, at Horizon who was sitting atop the stairs,pletely still. Unknowingly looking at the son of Japan''s second-best marksman. From the outside, it was impossible to know the pain and agony his Quirk was causing him in this moment. ''Huh, three dozen target dummies and he isn''t even breaking a sweat,'' Snipe thinks as he looks down at his phone, seeing a map of USJ with all the trackers in the dummies moving about erratically. ''Nezu really struck gold with this one...'' ---5 Minutes Later... "THERE!" Hound Dog yells out as he bursts through the door of USJ. Behind him, there are two dozen of Ectosm''s clones. "What''s going on?" Snipe asks, turning around to see the resident guidance counselor, Hound Dog, running on all fours at them. "That''s an intruder!" Hound Dog yells as he rushes toward Horizon. "What?!" Snipe immediately draws his massive revolver and aims it at Horizon, who was still sitting but now looking back at the neers. "What the fuck is he on about?" Horizon asks as they all begin a standoff atop the stairs. "Hound Dog, you sure?" Snipe asks, finger already on the trigger, not a fan of getting infiltrated again. "His scent, it''s different," Hound Dog growls out. "The true scent of a person doesn''t change..." ''Fuck,'' Horizon realizes what''s wrong. DNA determines the base scent of a person, and with a Quirk that can sniff out people from miles away, Hound Dog can effectively smell the change in his DNA. "I''m the same person, it''s just my Quirk," Horizon slowly rises to his feet to face them, and at this point, themotion is drawing the attention of the entire ss. "How, that doesn''t make any sense!" Hound Dog''s words be deep growls, he was clearly stopping himself from barking and rushing in. "My body, my business, and either way I think it''s above your paygrade." "Rrrgrarhhhh!" Hound Dog barks, fingers sinking into the concrete floor as he gets ready to lunge forward. "Tch, I''m the real and only me, and I promise if you snap your leash and try to touch me...a trip to the sea floor will remind you of that..." Snipe and Ectosm nce toward each other, slowly lowering his gun and Ectosm rxes, not wanting to start an avoidable fight. But Hound Dog was already flooded with adrenaline, emotions, and anger building up from a new scent at UA that he couldn''t recognize. His sense of duty to protect his students pushes him forward to act. And as he leaps forward to tackle the potential viin. "Shambles..." Horizon''s bored voice says, and the burning sensation of seawater flooding his lungs is thest thing Hound Dog feels, before his world goes ck... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 174: (Playing Favourites) Chapter 174: (ying Favourites) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "So you really can''t make it more precise?" Horizon asks. He and Snipe were sitting in Nezu''s office on opposite couches. His feet were resting on the coffee table as he hovers his katana above hisp. Snipe was twirling his revolver, leaning backfortably as they speak. "That''s the downside sadly," Snipe says. "My Quirk makes it so any projectile Iunch hits the target...assuming nothing actively gets in the way. And once a route is set it can''t really be altered much further so dodging behind cover works too." "So it''s just aim-assist, like a video game?" "Pretty much." "That''s...a bit disappointing honestly." "Oh, what''d you expect?" Snipe asks, still twirling his gun. "Bullets curving and tracking people like homing missiles?" "Honestly, that''d be pretty neat," Horizon admits. "But your Quirk just puts you at the highest level a human can be at when speaking of uracy." "Well with guns yes, but I can use other things too you know." "What, like a slingshot?" "Well..." Snipe takes out a coin, which catches Horizon''s attention. Flicking it between his fingers he bounces it off two walls, the ceiling, and the table, before it soars directly toward Horizon''s visor. TAKT! The coin freezes in the air, hovering between them. "So the slower the projectile the more fancy you can make the shot?" "And the more direct my contact it," Snipe says. "When I fire a bullet my Quirk actually uses the recoil to try throwing the gun out of my hand and at my target, the gloves are maic to help me keep it in my hand." Horizon casually leans forward, raising his hand for the coin to descend, now hovering an inch above his hand as Scalpel floats off to the side. "I can sense it," Horizon says. "Tactile Telekinesis." "Guess the jig is up, but please do tell, how does one ''sense'' Telekinesis?" "Well, it''s still moving toward me, or atleast trying," Horizon says. "I didn''t stop it, just slowed it down a lot, it''s still moving toward me, 1/10th of a millimeter per minute at a time." "And?" "And..." Horizon sighs. "My Quirk allows me to make a 3D map of anything within my range, and I can feel the pressure trying to warp this thing, twisting the metal on a scale too small for the human eye to notice." With that Horizon flicks his wrist and sends the coin back to Snipe, who catches it without even looking. "Well, I see why they say your Quirk is basically magic," Snipe admits. "And considering how far you sent Hound Dog today...your range is easily many magnitudes beyond mine," he twirls his gun onest time and rests it on the couch beside him. "Oh, and what''s your range?" "1200 meters," Snipe taps his own visor. "Built-in scope to help with that, can''t shoot what I can''t see after all." "Huh, shortpared to Lady Nagant." "Yeah," Snipe sighs. "Always wanted to meet her, but she had her whole metal breakdown and went psycho before that could happen." "Yeah," Horizon ys along, knowing the truth after reading the files All For One left for him. "What about you?" Snipe asks. "Why the sword? I mean, I imagine you''d be good with just about anything since your Quirk can do anything you want." "Swords are just bigger scalpels," Horizon shrugs and gestures to how floating weapon. "And this one is actually named Scalpel." "Seems a bit on the nose, but fits the whole medical theme." "That''s the idea, clean and precise, hence the white. And blue, like medical scrubs..." Snipe looks at the door, sits up a bit more properly, then turns to Horizon. "So, the official story is Nezu found you as a doctor to save All Might, but atleast the teachers aren''t dumb enough to just believe that, even if it''s true. You must have been in a ton of scraps before that, considering how well you carry yourself against even the most monstrous viin." "You have a point or just talking in circles?" "Ever had to use that sword?" Snipe asks. "Or did you just learn to keep in shape?" "It''s been used once or twice, self-defense of course," Horizon chuckles. "Right right, ever lost any?" "Well I wouldn''t be here if I did, you ever lost a shootout?" "Mmm," Snipe takes a deep breath, then sighs. "Once, was working security about...almost 12 years ago. Ever heard of Arsenal?" "Arguably the world''s best contract killer, and famous for doing the more...messy jobs, got arrested a little over a year ago," Horizon says. "Yeah well, her putting five bullets through my chest is how we realized she was a native of Japan, all the evidence just lined up." "So you fought her, how was it." "Not much of a fight, I had a rifle, she turned her hand into a pistol and picked up some ammo from one of the security guards she killed. Her quickdraw was faster than me, shot me in the chest twice, closed the distance, tried to cut off my arms with a darn...I mean, with a sword she transformed her arm into. Edgeshot showed up and she just decided to call it quits, then turned her gun into some kind of a triple-barreled pistol, and shot the Pro she was after through my chest..." "So...you lost." "At the moment I did," Snipe says. "But now I''m sitting here with you and she''s rotting in Tartarus. I call that a win, don''t you?" "I certainly would," Horizon admits and a momentter the door opens. They both turn to see Principal Nezu enter the room, Snipe puts his gun in the holster quickly and sits up properly. "Principal Nezu, I brought him here like I said," Snipe says. "Thank you, Snipe," Nezu walks past the couch and sits behind his desk. As he does this Snipe notices how casual Horizon still is even as the principal walks in, and that Nezu doesn''t seem to care. ''I guess Nemuri was right, he is the golden boy... well let''s see how the principal deals with him nearly killing a teacher.'' "So," Nezu getsfortable and looks at them. "Snipe, tell me what happened, why is Hound Dog currently unconscious in the infirmary, soaking wet and still spitting out seawater..." "Well, sir," Snipe turns a bit toward Nezu. "We were doing the civilian rescue exercise Eraser Head nned for his ss, over at the USJ. Hound Dog and Ectosm interrupted, it seemed that Hound Dog found that Horizon''s scent has changed." "Right, and protocol in that situation is to apprehend the intruder," Nezu says. "Exactly sir, we came to a bit of a standoff, Ectosm, Hound Dog, myself, versus Horizon. But the kid says it''s his Quirk. I nned to call you to get another opinion since you know him best but, after thest few attacks on our students, Hound Dog got a bit...impatient." Nezu turns to Horizon, "you mentioned Hand Of God allows you to perfectly control your body at every level, is this because of that?" "Something like that, but yeah," Horizon says. "You can do that?" Snipe was a bit surprised at that. "Wild..." "Right," Nezu ps his hands to get them both focused on him. "So, what happened next?" "Well, before Hound Dog tried to apprehend him, Horizon said he tried to touch him then...he''d warp him to the bottom of the sea." "Which apparently he did," Nezu sighs. "Hey, I warned him," Horizon shrugs. "To be fair," Snipe says. "When someone says something so ridiculous...especially considering the ocean is atleast 10km from UA...we''re inclined not to believe him." "Unless it''s me," Horizon says. "And now we''ve all learned that valuable lesson." Nezu pinches his brow and sighs, resting his elbows on the table. "Great, well you still injured a teacher, he won''t be out of bed for atleast a few days, even after Recovery Girl is done. So I''ll formte a punishment for you." "Well I''m already on house arrest," Horizon says. "Basically have me chained to UA so Kurogiri doesn''t show up, what else can you really do?" Nezu frowns, then sighs, " just heal Hound Dog, and please don''t hurt anyone else at UA." "Is it that bad?" Snipe asks. Nezu winces, "120 meters of water pressure is too much for his body, a few more seconds and he could have been dead..." Snipe slowly turns, from Nezu, back to Horizon, then back to Nezu, "right, and his punishment is...'' don''t do it again'', of course." He gets up and straightens his clothes. "Well, I need to get back to the ss before it ends." "Certainly, and thank you for covering for Aizawa," Nezu gives him a polite smile. "Right..." Snipe just wordlessly walks out of the room. ''Yup, golden boy, can do no wrong...'' The moment the door closes Nezu groans loudly, "this is the second teacher you''ve had some altercation with, can''t you just y nice?" "Hey I warned the fucker, but he decided to rush in, so I gave him a little bath." "At the bottom of the Musutafu docks?" "It''s the closest part of the ocean to us," Horizon throws up his arms in annoyance. "Honestly no pleasing you people." "You could just try to get along with the staff..." "I get along very well with them, considering almost all of them are Pro Heroes, and I''m, well, me..." "You do remember that you spent your morning recess in this very room, because you got into a verbal fight with Nemuri this morning." "Well, saggy should learn to keep her mouth shut." "That''s exactly what I''m talking about, and why---" At that very moment the door opens, and in walks Nemuri Kayama, Ms. Midnight. "Princip---" Midnight freezes as she sees Horizon sitting in the room, she gets a bad feeling about this. "What is this?" "I''m guessing an intervention," Horizon says, clearly annoyed. "He''s gonna ask you to stop being such a petty bi---" "Horizon!" Nezu interrupts him. Midnight gives him the stink eye as she closes the door behind her. Nezu gestures for her to sit on the couch opposite Horizon, which she silently does. Folding her arms under her chest and giving him a nk stare. "Well, is there anything you two would like to say to each other?" Nezu asks. An excruciating long few minutes pass as they seem to be locked in a staring contest, not a word between them. "Nemuri..." Nezu says, causing her to sigh. "Fine, I guess I''ll apologize first." "Well you are the teacher," Horizon says, then mutters. "Even if you dress like a cheap whore..." "See what I mean!" Nemuri jumps up from her seat and points at Horizon, all while looking at Nezu. "Horizon..." "Ugh, fine, I''ll just let her talk." "Thank you." Nemuri scowls at him for a moment before sitting back down, then schools her expression. "I, apologize for overstepping your boundaries and speaking of matters I clearly know nothing about. I''m sorry, and I was wrong." "I know," Horizon says. Then another long, awkward, echoing silence fills the room. "Horizon," Nezu prompts him. "What?" Horizon looks between them. He was genuinely confused. "This is the part where you apologize," Nezu says. "Huh, for what?" "For being a---!" "Nemuri!" Nezu cuts her off. Beneath his visor Horizon rolls his eyes, "look, I never said anything wrong or false, you build this street whore persona, you deal with the consequences, get over it." Nemuri rolls her eyes, more annoyed than hurt, then gets up. "Whatever, I''m done with this, but just so you know. Compassion is vital to be a true hero, and you aren''t anywhere near strong enough to show that side of yourself." Horizon shakes his head, "haven''t you heard, themission only ranks us based on results, because you can''t really measure ''heart''..." Midnight shakes her head, disappointed, but not at Horizon, at Nezu. "Of all the people that have passed through this academy, you decided to bet on this, to be ''The greatest hero this world shall ever know.'' I hope he isn''t the only one who can perform miracles, because, for a transformation like that, a miracle is what it''ll take." Nobody says a word as Midnight casually walks out of the roompletely doubting the choices of her mentor. END CHAPTER--- Chapter 175: (Another Straw) Chapter 175: (Another Straw) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "I, I don''t know about this," Momo''s quiet, doubtful, unsure voice whispers out. Looking across from her she sees Horizon, his blue, slightly glowing eye markings of his visor seem to pierce into her very core. She bites her lip nervously, but her eyes couldn''t seem to leave him. "Momo, c''mon," Horizon''s inviting voice reaches her eyes. "You want this, I want this, and it''ll be fun for both of us. Tell me you haven''t thought about it..." "Well, I have, but maybe this is just how it was meant to be. We should just y the cards life gives us, right?" "Or, we can help each other get ahead. Together, don''t you think we''d make a great team?" "I...I do." "Then let''s do it, together, right now..." Momo mindlessly ys into his hand, giving up the treasure he coveted so badly, that she''d been trying to keep to herself all night. But she couldn''t resist him. "Yaomomo what the hell!" Jiro shoves her, snapping her out of her daydream. "What?" Momo blinks a few times,ing back into the moment. Back into the 1A dormsmon room. Looking down she sees the monopoly board in front of them. Jiro was sitting beside her, with Horizon and Sero opposite them. Yui was beside Sero happily watching the game, acting as the banker. "You just traded the cards he needed to control an entire corner!" Jiro groans, ignoring the heat on her face and her own rosy cheeks, as Momo finally takes in the state of the board. Momo holds her head in frustration, "what have I done?!" "You made the mostmon mistake," Horizon says in a cool voice as he reorganizes his cards, Sero wasughing happily beside him. "You yed the game, instead of the yer..." "The girls'' team is losing now?" Shinso asks as he approaches the table, a sandwich in one hand and a can of iced coffee in the other. Most of their other ssmates were scattered about, either doing homework or just hanging out together. "Well they''re against me, so of course they''d lose," Horizon chuckles as Momo and Jiro try to form a new n. "Yeah," Jiro rolls her eyes. "Or Momo just can''t think with her head when you''re around." "Jiro!" Momo gives her an embarrassed look, then notices nobody even reacts. "Everyone knows," Shinso says, then takes a sip of his drink. "You''re a terrible liar, and you light up like a Christmas tree every time he talks to you, atleast Jiro tries to hide it..." Jiro slouches down in her chair, trying to make herself smaller. Momo facepalms, "this is such a mortifying conversation..." "Don''t be so dramatic," Horizon says. "I''m irresistible, of course you''d notice." "Irresistible?" Sero gives him a confused look. "Doesn''t Mt. Lady sort of dislike you, and Mirko wants to kick you in the face, and then there''s that other Pro, whatever her name was...Uwabami? Thatdy Momo interned with." "She has a problem with me?" "Yeah dude, she went on a whole rant about how everything you said felt like a personal attack on her." "Well, then she should change her lifestyle," Horizon says. "Anyway, bank," he looks at Yui. "I''ll need two hotels for my new property, now that I''ve got the full set." "Mmm," she nods and reaches into the game box to get his tokens. "We''re about to go bankrupt," Jiro groans as she sees the transaction happening. "I''m sorry," Momo mutters softly. "Sigh, it''s fine, I can''t stay mad at you..." As they continue ying for a few minutes, Shinso joins the table to watch the game unfold, until Aizawa walks into the dorm. All eyes turn to him, first noticing the bandage wrapped around his head. Covering an injury from the guards knocking him out when he got agitated. Knocking him out before he could activate his Quirk in Tartarus, sparing his life. His eyes were red, slightly swollen, and entirely bloodshot. The cost of his painful tears, shed for the memories of his dear friend. And his face had some purple bruises from the impact of them pinning him to the metal floor of the prison. "Wow, you look like shit," Horizon says, breaking the silence. Aizawa doesn''t even acknowledge it, just says, "important meeting, warp us to Nezu''s office, now." Horizon gives an annoyed sigh as he gets up, dropping his cards, "Shinso, tag in," and Shinso wordlessly takes his seat. He walks over to Aizawa and reaches for his bandaged head, "hold still..." BOOSTER SHOT! The healing energy flows from his hand and moves like a soothing wave across Aizawa. His bruises fade away and his eyes return to normal. He takes a deep breath and rxes as the throbbing pain below the bandages dissipates. SHAMBLES! They both appear in Nezu''s office, seeing Yagi already sitting on one couch with Nezu. "Now that everyone is here, we can start," Nezu says as Aizawa and Horizon sit opposite them. He takes out his phone and puts it on speaker. "Alright, I''m in a secure location, now, what''s this about?" Pantu''s voice reaches through the phone. ''Oh great,'' Horizon rolls his eyes beneath the visor. ''So this is going to be one of those fucking things...'' "I''d like to know that as well," Nezu says. "It''s about our visit to Tartarus," Yagi takes the lead. "Since you don''t know, I assume you haven''t had the time to listen to the recordings..." "I''ve been busy," Pantu says. "Well, we waited to say this in person, it''s...a bit deal." "Alright, what did he tell you?" "The Nomu can be saved," Aizawa cuts in. "All For One said that we can study him to find a way of reversing the Nomu creation process, atleast for the intelligent ones. We can bring them back." "He could have been lying," Yagi says. "The machines in Tartarus said he wasn''t," Aizawa says. "Those can be tricked," Horizon says. "The man has a dozen Quirks atleast, I''m sure he can give false readings." "And it could be a y to stall his execution," Nezu says. "Well, it definitely is, but if this is true then from a certain perspective, we bluffed and it worked." "Bluffed?" Horizon asks, as everyone looks at Nezu confused. "We can''t execute him," Pantu admits. "He did something to his body after Kamino, whenever his vitals drop the readings climb." "Climb to what?" "Best estimates," Nezu thinks for a moment. "Small nuclear reactor, assuming it''s a conventional Quirk, which it likely isn''t, considering who we''re talking about." "When did you find out about this?" Yagi asks. "Two weeks ago," Pantu says. "But he called for the final request of a conversation with you afterward, we figured if we let him know we found his final trap, he wouldn''t talk to you---" "And we wouldn''t get any information," Yagi mutters. "Good call." "Ok so he can''t be executed yet, what about the guy you have studying him?" Horizon asks. "He found the anomaly," Pantu says. "A second opinion confirmed it, and as always with his research, I used my Quirk to ensure the truth was spoken." "Ok," Horizon sits up. "So what? You want me to find a method of executing him?" "You still aren''t cleared for Tartarus, and never will be, since you only listen to Nezu..." Pantu says, which causes Aizawa to shoot Horizon a curious nce. "Ok, so why am I here?" "I''m hoping you can save my friend," Aizawa says. "Oboro Shirakumo, he''s Kurogiri..." "What?!" Nezu nearly falls off the couch in surprise. "They wanted me, but they got Shirakumo instead, and he became Kurogiri. All For One said they ran experiments, made him into the first sessful ''High-End'' Nomu. Did things to create the Warp Gate Quirk, is that possible?" Everyone looks to Horizon. "Well, yeah, Quirk integration is a natural process, that''s how people like Bakugo and Todoroki exist. It won''t be easy but I imagine with enough time and a solidck of Human Rights and other crap like that...it could be artificially done." They give him a concerned nce, worried by how casually he said thatst part. "And can it be undone?" Aizawa''s voice almost gave away the desperation of his words. "Splitting one being into its former selves will be a lot harder than fusing them, but...as difficult as it would be, not impossible, atleast not for me." "So you can save him!" Aizawa gave a hopeful smile. "In theory, but, that''s not a good idea..." "Agreed," Pantu says, finding herself agreeing with Horizon of all people. "All For One will naturally die within the next 5 years even if we can''t figure out a way to put him down, but in that time we will be researching ways to expedite that process." "But---" Horizon cuts off Aizawa, "every day All For One is alive, is a day Shigaraki and the league of losers are spending to get stronger, and they''ll eventually try to break into Tartarus to get him. Best to put him down quickly." "And we''d be raising the chance of him breaking out, going solely on his words, and the very impossibly small chance that your friend is really buried deep down in Kurogiri," Pantu says. "We can''t just give up on him!" Aizawa pleads. "Think of all the Nomu they have, and the people they kidnapped and used to make those things. Men, women, children, Pros, all turned into those things. And this is probably the only person that can undo it," he points at Horizon. "Just give him a chance..." "Absolutely not," Pantu says. "If Horizon wants to research this on his own then that''s his business, but this information will remain confidential. Thest thing I need is the families of those victims causing problems to stall the execution. All our efforts will remain focused on putting him down." "You can''t do that!" Aizawa jumps up to his feet, ring at the phone. "Aizawa, please," Nezu pleads. "I too would like to have Oboro and all the other victims returned to their previous states, especially since some of them were my dear former students. But the risk of All For One escaping cannot me ignored." "Isn''t that why you have him?" he points at Horizon. "He''s supposed to be your answer for the next All For One, right, and he''s already gotten stronger since the Summer Camp, just have him on guard." "Absolutely not!" Pantu says. "Horizon won''t be given that level of security clearance until he can be trusted." "Trusted?" Aizawa was genuinely confused by that. "He''s the most powerful person on this side of the and isn''t hurting anyone with that power, what more do you want before he can be ''trusted'' by you?!" "Eraser Head!" Pantu growls out. "I suggest you remember exactly who you''re speaking to, especially concerning matters you know nothing about." Aizawa swallows dryly and grinds his teeth, "my apologies Lady Pantu." Nezu sees Aizawa sit down and he breathes a sigh of relief, "Alright, now that we''re all---" "But Japan is a democracy," Aizawa interrupts him, with a dangerous tinge to his words. "And I don''t think all the people of this country would agree with your choice, abandoning your citizens to be monsters, sending Pros to put them down. When we all know that with a bit of time, you could atleast save some of them, after all, Horizon can do anything." The room is silent for a tense moment, before Pantu speaks. "Are you threatening me Eraser Head?" "No," Nezu says, "please forgive him he''s just a bit emotional at the moment." "Exactly," Yagi says. "Aizawa is a good man, he''d never threaten you." "I didn''t threaten you. I just suggest that I''d tell all the people whose loved ones became Nomu about this situation, I can''t imagine they''d be happy." "Careful now Eraser Head," Pantu says, casually as if nothing was wrong. "You spread the word about this and suddenly everything I''ve done in my career goes into the hands of someone else. Along with the general chaos and unrest your little gossip campaign will cause, I won''t be there to honor some contracts I made." Nezu sees Horizon''s hand twitch, and he''s instantly nervous. "And people won''t like that. Because they''ve sworn to protect the safety and stability of this great nation, and you''re bing a threat to that, so think very carefully if this is what you want, Hero." All the while she is speaking, Nezu is just staring at Horizon, now seeing his hand open, as he does just before warping Scalpel into his grasp. In the next moment, his office could be painted red with Eraser''s blood, and there wasn''t anything he or anyone can do to stop it. And with each second that passes Horizon hates it more and more, having to be Pantu''spdog. And part of him, for the first time, wanted this contract to fail. Because now being forced to protect her like this, to do her bidding even loosely, it made the thought of killing her so much sweeter. Aizawa scrunches his face, growls painfully, then sighs and drops back into his seat. "You said it''s ok if Horizon does his own research to fix them, right?" "I did," Pantu says. "But that''s between you and him, keep it quiet, whatever you decide to do, because my people are much closer than you''d ever imagine..." Pantu hangs up, and Horizon is grinding his teeth beneath the visor, fingers curled into a fist so tightly it hurts. They all take a few minutes in silence to calm down andpose themselves, then Aizawa turns to Horizon. "Save it," Horizon doesn''t even let him speak. "I''ll add it to the fucking list of miracles you damn heroes want from me, but I''m not taking it easy on any Nomu I meet until then, and I''m not making any promises." The fame and des from undoing the Nomu process would be a great boon for him, but he still wasn''t happy about it. "Tha---" SHAMBLES! Horizon warps away before Aizawa can even express his gratitude, in the worst mood he''s experienced for quite a while... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 176: (Teamfight Training) Chapter 176: (Teamfight Training) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "Are you sure this is alright?" Shinso asks, "I just got into the Hero Course, I don''t want to get in any trouble, especially with how Eraser Head is..." He, Sero, and Horizon were walking away from the main campus to a massive new building. Where the other 1A students trained their Super-Moves for the Provisional License Exam. Lunch still hasn''t ended, and the evening ss as always is Hero Training, but these three were in their UA Gym Uniforms, with Horizon leaving his jacket open to show the chest of his slightly armored body glove. And his jacket still sports his logo across the back of it. "Eraser said they''re just doing more theory stuff today," Horizon says as they enter the gym. "He gave me the go-ahead for us to have some training here.." They enter to a viewing room, with a thick ss ne separating the viewing area from the massive concrete gym below. "Wow, when did they add this?" Sero asks as he walks up and taps the ss. "Since Bakugo and Deku started training together," Shinso says. "All Might did mention something about teaching them indoorbat and how to minimize coteral damage. Tokoyami also does some training here at night, his control of Dark Shadow is a little better already." "That exins the ss," Sero says as they walk to the side door, to enter thebat area. "Those three hit hard." "Well we''re using it because it has a good camera system, to review your work," Horizon points to the corners of the room. "And since Eraser is just having The Big Three talk to everyone about what they''ll be expected to do and how to conduct themselves during the internship, this is our for today." "Hado huh," Sero gets a thoughtful look. "She''s pretty cute, think you can introduce me?" "I thought you and Kodai were---" "---Focus on training for now, always time for pussyter," Horizon interrupts them. "We''re here so I can teach you two how to fight, well, mostly Shinso since I''ve been training with Sero for a few weeks." "So closebat training huh, we''ll Eraser Head and I have been training for three months, so don''t think you need to hold back against me." Sero chuckles at that and Horizon just shakes his head, "I never hold back, and since I''ll be healing everything I do to you, I can really do whatever I want. But for now, I just want to get an idea of what type of training you need." "Well, atleast my teeth aren''t getting kicked in from the start..." Sero mutters as he takes a few steps to the side, leaving Horizon and Shinso in the middle of the massive concrete gym. "So, rules?" Shinso asks, standing opposite Horizon, once against facing off against his imposing physique. Because while Shinso has packed on some muscles since the Sports Festival, so had Horizon. And with him standing 20cm -8in- above Shinso, it certainly leaves an intimidating sight to behold. As Mina and some others have said, ''it''s like a mini All Might.'' "Wee to the real world Simon," Horizon puts his hands up, casually holding one out with an open palm, and keeping the other behind his back. "There are no rules in a street fight, which is what every fight with a viin is. But to keep things simple, for now, I won''t use my Quirk." Shinso takes a lower fighting stance, ready to charge in, "so none of that ''sensing'' every movement the opponent makes, think you can fight without it?" "Come find out..." Shinso carefully studies his opponent, as always, just as Eraser Head thought him. But looking at Horizon, only 10ft -3m- away, studying his form, none of it made sense. ''His stance is, too rxed, to the point of being sloppy. But he''s supposed to be trained by some kind of abat monster ording to Eraser. Probably abat-oriented Pro Hero or soldier. Even without his Quirk active he''s leaving too many openings. But sensei said human conventions don''t apply to Horizon, so I should just assume he''s got the advantage in every situation, because even if I don''t know what it is, he does have it.'' "Don''t overthink it!" Sero yells from the sidelines. "Just punch him in the face!" "Mmm," Shinso grumbles, then rushes forward. He immediately rockets forward,unching three lightning-fast jabs. ''Good form, smooth motions, and no hesitation,'' Horizon thinks as he bats them away with one hand. ''Nearly dying at the Summer Camp must have helped with that...'' Next Shinso spins to deliver a solid kick to Horizon''s side, but as he does that Horizon steps forward. He gets too close for the kick to connect, and Shinso''s thigh harmlessly bumps into his side. Shiso doesn''t even hesitate, twisting his torso to deliver a straight jab to Horizon''s face, all while his one leg is still off the floor. Before his fist can connect Horizon drops his arm, making a fist but leaving one knuckle poking out as he hits Shinso in the thigh. "Hng!" Shinso flinches from the pain, causing his punch to stall for just a moment. Horizon raises the same hand, opening it and backhanding Shinso in the stomach. The force knocks the wind out of him and knocks him to the floor. ''Low pain tolerance,'' Horizon notes. ''I''ll need to put him through the wringer, he flinches to easily. And with a Quirk like his that requires constant concentration, that''s an oversight we can''t afford.'' Seeing Shinso struggling to get up, desperately trying to catch his breath, Horizon walks up and nts the sole of his shoe into his face. "Argh!" Shinso feels his nose break as he rolls across the floor, blood flowing down his face and across his lips. "What the hell?!" "You took too long to get up," Horizon says, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "So I suggest you get to your feet before I walk over there..." Shinso gets to his hand and knees, seeing blood falling to the concrete below him, looking up through blurry vision to see Horizon slowly walking over to him. "If I were a viin you''d already be dead, so clearly we''ve got a lot of work to do," Horizon walks up to Shinso and sweeps his arms out from under him, causing him to go face first into the concrete. Searing pain flows through Shinso''s face again, then his torso as Horizon connects a kick that sends him rolling across the floor. "You can''t have suck low pain tolerance with a Quirk like yours," Horizon says as he begins walking toward Shinso again. "UrgghhhhH!" Shinso releases a pained cry as he pushes himself off the floor, desperate to get to his feet before Horizon gets to him. "Better," Horizon says, and actually stops so Shinso can take a breath. "Your pain tolerance is essential to Quirks like yours. It''s based on Telepathy like Eraser''s, so his pain tolerance being insanely high is the goal for you. But you''ll also need to learn parallel processing simr to me, but nowhere near my level." "Parallel Processing?" Shinso wipes some of the blood with his sleeve. "Having multiple coherent thoughts in your head at the same time. Eventually holding your Quirk on targets will be second nature." "So that''s how you can focus on hundreds of things within your range at once, sounds exhausting." "You''ll get used to it, now, let''s get back to your assessment." ---30 Minutes Later... "Is he always like this?" Shinso asks, he was covered in cuts and bruises, his UA Gym Uniform battered and bloodied, leaning on Sero who was in the same state. "Wee to my world," Sero says as they both stand properly and raise their hands. Across from them, Horizon was still mostly spotless, aside from his knuckles sporting just a bit of their blood. "Don''t be so dramatic, I haven''t even activated my Quirk once to fight, just to heal you between rounds." They both burst into a full sprint toward Horizon, working together as they have been for the past 20 minutes. Sero goes low, trying to sweep his legs, but Horizon just moves his foot forward to lower the force received from Sero''s kick. Preparing for the hit his leg doesn''t even move. ''Sweep the leg...what does he think this is, a cartoon?'' He quickly uses the same leg to kick Sero in the side, all while Shinso leaps up to punch down toward his face. ''I already told him once about not letting both his feet leave the ground, but if he insists, then so be it...'' "AHH!" Shinso screams as the air leaves his lungs, Horizon''s fist had just enough force to cancel his momentum and keep him in the air. At the same time, Sero gets up to punch Horizon in the gut, only for him to raise his leg to take the hit. He hits Shinso once more, juggling him in the air before turning to Sero and connecting a straight jab to Sero''s left arm,pletely numbing it. Before Shinso can continue to fall again Horizon hits him once more, a severe uppercut that leaves him doubled over on Horizon''s fist, and he holds him in the air with no issue. Horizon pulls his arm away for Shinso to crumple to the floor, then reaches out and grabs Sero''s neck, slowly choking him, watching him desperately try to recall his training and break his hold. "You''ve gotpany," Eraser''s voice sounds through the speakers from the observation room. Horizon drops Sero, and he falls on his ass to the floor. "I thought you said today''s ss was all theory, so we could just train here this afternoon," Horizon turns to the ss separating them from the observation room above, and sees the entire ss plus the big three in their UA PE Uniforms. "Mirio decided that a practical demonstration is better," Eraser says. "Care to join them?" END CHAPTER--- Chapter 177: (The Big Three) Chapter 177: (The Big Three) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "So, what''s all of this about?" Horizon asks as he walks into the observation area with the now-healed Sero and Shinso. All of 1A was now gathered, along with Mirio Togata, Nejire Hado, and Tamaki Amajiki. Tamaki was standing off to the side trying to make himself as invisible as possible, Mirio and Kirishima were having a small chat, and--- "HORIZON!" Nejire rushes up to him and gives him a hug as he approaches them. "It''s been so long. You didn''t respond to my texts. And my calls didn''t connect. Is your phone broken? Ryukyu says she talks to you so maybe it''s mine. Have you gotten any stronger since the raid? Ooh, are you gonna fight Mirio too?! You''re both pretty strong so you might actually have to try! Oh, I bet you''ll get along great with him! Wha---" "Hado!" Eraser interrupts her volley of questions. "Right, sorry sir," Nejire bows and stands beside Mirio. ncing at the students, Mirio immediately stands out. Taller than most, bright smile even as Kirishima talks his ear off, seems genuinely interested in the conversation. And bright blonde hair. Off in the corner, he sees Amajiki, with dark hair and what he assumed is a gloomy expression, since he couldn''t see his face. Amajiki was currently facing a nk wall. ''Potentially the second most powerful Quirk in UA...and he''s got fucking stage fright,'' Horizon just shakes his head and walks up to Eraser. "You said we''d have this ce all afternoon, what''s this all about?" "Mirio decided the best way to give them a glimpse of what a Work Studies students is like...is to fight." "Ok, but why here, you know we''re training here." "Training," Eraser nces over to Sero and Shinso, now healed but still covered in bits of blood. They were off talking to some of the other students right now. "Right, well I figured since you''re always interested in seeing new Quirks, getting hands-on experience with the Big Three would be appealing to you." This gets everyone''s attention, and Mirio joins the little discussion. "I think that''s a great idea!" he says. "I''d love to see what UA prize student can do. Everyone in your ss is super talented but you''re something else...oh, I''m Mirio Togata by the way, it''s a pleasure to meet you." "I know," Horizon turns back to Eraser. "I don''t have any interest in fighting people weaker than me, it''s a waste of time, but watching should be amusing atleast." "Don''t mind him guys!" Nejire jumps in while Mirio and Amajiki were trying to interpret the cold greeting. "He''s always all grumpy when you first meet him, but he''s really nice when you get to know him, I promise!" "Uh, right," Mirio nods awkwardly, "well, it was a pleasure to meet you either way. Alright everyone, let''s head into the sparring area!" As everyone gets into position, only a few people remain by the observation window. Horizon, Eraser Head, Tamakai, Nejire, Sero, Shinso and those who failed to get a provisional license. Looking down the line he sees Bakugo fuming, but eyes wide to take in everything he can from this demonstration. Beside him, Shoto was observing with a nk expression. Shoji and Ojiro were doing the same, while Nejire and Jiro were chatting quietly about something with Mina. "So how do you think this''ll go?" Horizon asks Eraser, and everyone gets quiet to listen in. "Honestly they don''t stand much of a chance, before you, Mirio was easily the strongest in the school," Eraser sighs. "This is a big waste of time, but hopefully it''ll put things into perspective for them." "So being in a ssroom with me wasn''t enough?" "On the contrary, it was too much." "Too much?" "Well, you''re a monstrously talented and intelligent person that just happens to have the most powerful Quirk in the world, using you as a yardstick to measure themselves against won''t work, because they know they can''t ever catch up." "So you''re trying to rece that goal with Mirio, since he''s more realistic than I am, very clever." "Well, I am your teacher after all." "Honestly I was more interested in Amajiki," Horizon says, causing everyone to nce at the boy who was trying to avoid their eyes. "Aside from myself, he''s got potentially the most powerful Quirk in UA. Atleast if he takes it as far as I imagine he could." "Oh yeah, our little Sun Eater is super strong!" Nejire cheers on her friend. "His Quirk is most simr to mine than anyone else here, aside from Momo," Horizon says. "It gives him a potentially limitless supply of tools for any asion, those people are always fun to see in action." "Wow," Jiro looks over at the unassuming Amajiki. "What''s his Quirk?" "Manifest!" Nejire yells out. "It lets him eat anything and then manifest the properties of it while it''s in his stomach, so if he eats lobster his arms can be lobster ws and he can make shell armor, he''s really strong!" "Works on diamonds too," Horizon says. "And he can do multiple things at once. I''ve done my research on you three. Of each of you, Manifest is easily the most powerful Quirk in the group, or atleast when he stops holding back it will be." "Wow, never would have guessed it," Jiro mutters. "Wait a minute, so if you know so much, why''d you call us weak earlier?" Hado asks, pouting cutely at him. "Becausepared to me, you''re weak, not in the sense that you can''t perform against viins. But like with most people, I''m just a bad matchup." "They''re starting," Eraser says, and everyone focuses on the fight. They immediately see Mirio''s clothes falling through him, before he falls into the floor. "Ah!" Jiro covers her eyespletely. "What the hell kind of Quirk is that?!" "Oh, it''s called Permeation!" Hado says. "It lets him pass through stuff, even the air and light itself, pretty neat right." "Weak Quirk," Horizon says. "But his precision is extraordinary, and his practiced instincts make it monstrous in his hands." They see Mirio absolutely demolish their ssmates as Horizon is speaking. "Picking and choosing when and where be tangible, making his eyes solid so he can see, his mouth and lungs so he can breathe, his ears to hear. All in short bursts while remaining mostly solid to give the impression that he''s invincible. And he likely memorizes the battlefield at a nce each time so he can travel through the floor, then he can use the force of matter ovepping and rejecting each other to rocket out of the floors and walls for more damage in his hits. A weak Quirk made powerful through masters, I''d say he''s level 80, at the very least." "That almost sounded like apliment," Eraser says as Mirio rockets out of the floor and kicks Tokoyami in the face, knocking him out. "I can recognize hard work when I see it, and that''s all Mirio is." "Told you he''s nice," Nejire mutters to Amajiki. "And you''re still confident you can easily deal with them?" Eraser asks, seeing thest of his students easily being knocked out. "Wouldn''t even need my sword, my hands are more than enough." "Ooooh, that''s pretty cool," Nejire says before she starts giggling. "Then why don''t we go down there, since it looks like Mirio is done already." "It only took him three minutes to take them all down," Horizon says as he sees Mirio picking his ssmates back up. "Not bad, alright, I''m in, let''s go y..." ---5 Minutester. "Do I really have to be here?" Amajiki asks, hands in his pockets and shoes off as he stands in thebat area. To his right is Mirio, and beside Mirio is Nejire. "C''mon Amajiki, it''ll be fun," Mirio says. Besides, haven''t you been curious about the hotshot first year too?" "No." "Oh don''t be such a baby," Nejire says as she begins flying, releasing small spirals of energy from her feet so she hovers just a meter above the ground. "Think of this as us teaching the other students what fighting at the top of UA looks like." "I just don''t like having an audience," Tamaki nces at the observation deck where everyone was watching intently, then across the room where Horizon was standing alone. "And he seems kinda mean..." "I''m telling you he''s a softie inside." "You''re just saying that because he healed Ryuky---" "---Mind humoring me for a moment Mirio?" Horizon asks from across the room. "Huh, sure, what do you need?" Mirio asks. SHAMBLES! Horizon warps his sword into his hand. "I''m pretty sure Amputate should work when you''re permeable, but since I''m not using my sword in the fight, can you let me check before we start." "Oh, sure, I always wondered what that feels like," Mirio raises an arm to his side and makes it permeable, and his sleeve immediately falls through it. With one vertical sh from across the room, the outstretched arm is cut off, painlessly without damage, and begins falling to the floor. "Wow!" Mirio reaches out and catches it. "It''s a good thing I can still control how my Quirk works in this part, otherwise it could have just kept falling forever," heughs while wiggling the fingers on the severed limb. "This is super freaky." "Can you please put that back already," Tamaki looks like he''s about to lose his lunch from just looking at it. "Awe, don''t want me to give you a hand?" "..." "Awe c''mon that one was funny!" Mirio whines before easily reattaching the limb. "No, it wasn''t," Eraser says through the speaker. "Now can you please get this over with so I can get back to teaching my ss..." "Yeah, call it Eraser," Horizon tosses his sword back over his shoulder, and it just hovers above the ground. He puts one foot forward and prepares tounch a low punch. "I''ll try not to break any of you." "Alright, begin!" END CHAPTER--- Chapter 178: (Vs The Big Three) Chapter 178: (Vs The Big Three) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "Here hees, everyone get ready, he''s super duper strong," Nejire says as she points both her palms at Horizon, preparing to st him with energy. Beside her Mirio still has his bright smile on, staring across at Horizon who was clearly preparing to strike, "don''t worry guys, just try not to overdo it, we don''t want to hurt him or damage the facilities after all, we''re still the seniors here so let''s set an example." "I don''t think he sees it that way," Amajiki looks at the observation area, seeing everyone staring at them, winces, then just takes his hands out of his pockets. "Let''s get this over with so I can go home..." "Here Ie!" Horizon yells from across the room, and they all prepare to counterattack. With their years of training, they''d never dealt with someone who can warp, but with Mirio''s fighting style, it was the next best thing. They prepare to strike on either side of them, with Amajiki turning the toes on his left foot into octopus tentacles, ready to stretch out and grapple behind them. SHAMBLES! To everyone''s surprise, Horizon appears directly in front of them. ''He didn''t swap with anything!'' the big three immediately notice, unaware of the intricacies of his Quirk. Hado and Amajiki react immediately sending a wave of spiral energy and a handful of octopus tentacles, previously Amajiki''s fingers, at Horizon. But Mirio keeps his hands at his side, a wide smile on his face as his clothes begins falling through him, but he stays standing in ce. His fist rockets directly toward Mirio''s gut. "Ugh!" Mirio winces before the fist even connects, his expression twisting into pain and agony for just a split second. BOOSTER SHOT! "Argh!" Horizon''s fist digs into his gut, taking him off his feet and sending him rocketing into the far wall. They hear the echoes of a painful sound as the concrete cracks behind him. SHAMBLES! Horizon warps back to his original spot, barely avoiding Amajiki and Nejire''s attacks, because even with how surprised they were, their years of training meant the attacks followed through. "Mirio!" Amajiki yells out as he looks back, seeing his friend crumpled to the floorpletely unconscious. "This isn''t funny Mirio, get up!" "I don''t think this is a joke Amajiki," Nejire''s voice was suddenly much more serious as she looks away from her unconscious friend, back to Horizon. "So uh...do you have a n?" "Go home, but I''m stuck here with all these people watching me," Amajiki mutters as both his arms transform into tentacles from the shoulders outward, 8 tentacles on each side. "Wow, that''s so cool!" Deku yells out, furiously taking notes on the entire fight, quickly sketching Amajiki''s tentacles. Then all their eyes open in wonder as thick and clearly reinforced lobster shell begins forming on the tentacles like armor. His head grows two cow horns as his legs be bovine, and most of his head and face is covered in a helmet of lobster shell he grows before their eyes. "Chimera Kraken!" Amajiki yells out, and most of the room stares in wonder. "That''s pretty cool," Horizon says, genuinely impressed. "Just missing some wings." "The only bird I ate today was chicken, and flying with those wings is always awkward, sorry, can you please not look at me..." "Don''t worry Suneater, you''ll get over the stage fright one day!" Nejire tries to cheer him up. Amajiki nces over at her, and she sees his eyes widen in shock. "Nejire!" his tentacles shoot forward, intending to move around her to attack Horizon who suddenly appeared behind her. "You got toofortable---" SHAMBLES! Horizon and Nejire appear back across the room, "---this is still a fight." He pokes her in the stomach, angling his finger upward and pushing the air out of her lungs. "Gah!" as she desperately tries to take a breath, his fingers wrap around her neck, strangling her as he holds her a foot above the ground. "Hard to muster up energy when you''re suffocating huh," he says as she begins to panic, iling in his grasp. Nejire desperately kicks out, hitting him in the chest a few time but he doesn''t even react, fingers digging at his grip but feeling as if she had to w against steel. "Let her go!" Amajiki bounds across the entire gym, his bovine legs transformed into rabbit legs before he takes one massive jump. The tentacles on his left arme together at the end and merge into a solid ball of flesh which then bes heavily armored like an organic wrecking ball. Horizon doesn''t even more his feet, just shifts his arm to put Nejire between him and the attack. "Damn it!" Amajiki barely redirects the attack, smashing the concrete floor beside Horizon. SHAMBLES! Horizon appears beside him as hends, and before Amajiki can react. BOOSTER SHOT! The sound of armor breaking off and ttering across the floor is heard as his fist knocks Amajiki out. Looking at the other unconscious opponent he nces at Nejire who was now turning purple and going limp in his grasp, and just drops her. "GAH!" she takes a greedy breath, trying to sit up but is forced to lie down and recover. "Quit being so dramatic." She opens her eyes to see Horizon standing above her, thoroughly unimpressed. "Ok, good fight, I''m just going toy here for a minute or two...too strong." Horizon just walks over to Tamaki and taps him with his foot, healing him and waking him up, then does the same to Mirio. "Let''s get back to the others, then you can all leave so I can get back to training," he says before Mirio can even speak. The moment they''re all back in the observation area, the questions begin flying, but Sero was the only one willing to ask Horizon what they all wanted to know. "Dude how''d you hit Togata, does your Quirk let you punch ghosts?" Sero asks Horizon. "Hand of God works in mysterious ways, Mystery ss after all," Horizon shrugs. "Honestly I''d like to know too," Mirio says. "Everything just felt tingly for a second, then the next thing I know I''m waking up on the floor, super weird." "Oooh oooh!" Nejire was excitedly waving her hands to get his attention. "Maybe Horizon did that thing with his sword but with his fist instead. Since his shes could cut you then his punches could hit you." "But Amputate doesn''t hurt or move what it affects," Momo says. "This would have to be something new, maybe he was distorting space where he hit you." "Would that even work?" Deku asks, then immediately takes a step back, but luckily Horizon doesn''t even look his way. "It would," Horizon says. "But that''s not what I did, that''s a lot of effort for these three..." Nejire gives a forced smile and pats Mirio''s arm, "I promise he was actually being nice during your fight atleast." "That''s enough with the theories," Eraser says. "Horizon is just being mysterious for no reason, he tased Mirio." "Ugh," Horizon grumbles a bit. "You know half the fun of my Quirk is nobody knows how it works, thanks for ruining that..." "Anytime," Eraser says, now seeing everyone looking at him to exin. "When he warped to Mirio, it was hard even for me to notice such small changes, but his foot was a lot closer to Mirio''s. He had a single current jump from his foot to Mirio''s." "I took advantage of the fact that he was standing on the floor, which meant atleast the skin at the bottom of his feet was solid. Guaranteed path for the current to zap him, and since it would be a chain reaction and mix with his own bioelectricity---" "---My Quirk would think its natural and paralyze me," Mirio facepalms. "That''s why my body got all tense before you hit me, wow, that''s pretty smart!" "I know," Horizon says. "But, that''s just a measure I had to take since I couldn''t use my sword. Most of my offensive measures are done through Scalpel." "Scalpel?" Nejire asks. "His sword," Momo says. "So since he didn''t have it avable during this fight he improvised that Quickly, most impressive." "Alright alright, enough," Eraser rolls his eyes. "His ego is already big enough, now aside from Horizon''s team everyone needs to go get changed and head back to ss." "Finally, thank you," Horizon didn''t bother hiding how happy he was to have everyone finally out of his hair. As Eraser is leading the others out of the facility, Sero and Shinso begin walking back down to thebat area, enjoying the short break they had, but one other stayed back just a moment to speak to Horizon. "Need something?" he asks Momo, seeing her somewhat anxious to speak to him. "Yes actually, I start training with mister Snipeter this afternoon, would you mind helping me sometimes when I get the hang of...ranged weapons." "Guns, you can just say guns." "It just doesn''t feel very right since I''m trying to be a hero after all. But you would have the most experience fighting against...guns, so I---" "Yes, I''lle to take a look sometime, it''ll be useful training for me too." "What kind of training could that possibly be for you?" "Precision. Before UA I wouldn''t have many direct confrontations, now I find myself dealing with gunfire a lot, and practice stopping bullets is always useful. I''ve gotten mostly lucky so far that no high-caliber rounds have been shot at me. They''d be a bit more annoying to stop." "I...see," Momo gives a concerned look. "Well, I''m d this can work out for both of us." "Good, now I need to get back to training these idiots, have fun taking notes in ss..." "R---" he warps away before she can respond. "Alright, now I need to work hard not to embarrass myself in front of him. Oh Momo, why didn''t you wait a few weeks before telling him about this." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 179: (Gentle Facade) Chapter 179: (Gentle Facade) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "What a shithole," Horizon mutters from his perch. He was currently in one of the more dpidated parts of Tokyo, standing atop a five-story building. Across the street, he observed a smaller and far more run-down building, and with his Quirk, he could sense four figures inside. They were all sitting in what must be their living room, all of the younger ones on the couch, the other on the floor, eating what seems to be a very modest afternoon meal. ''House is almostpletely empty, school uniforms are the only thing they focus on maintaining... looks like they''ve sold most of their furniture, probably in the process of selling the couch too...'' Looking down the street Horizon sees it quickly bing deserted as the sun sets, as expected from this crime-riddled area. "Alright, you fucking mongrels, just be useful..." Horizon says as he warps one of his metal cards into his hand. SHAMBLES! It swaps for a crumpled-up bottle from the apartment, which he catches. SHAMBLES! He swaps ces with the card, then recalls it back into his hand. Now standing in an almost entirely empty kitchen, clear markings where appliances were torn out and sold, empty cupboards and shelves. The floor was cracked, but surprisingly clean. He silently walks over to the sink, and opens the tap, seeing there was atleast running water. ''Ok, more desperate than I thought, but not as much as I would like...'' He takes onest nce at the state of this apartment. ''But I can easily make this work for me.'' Listening carefully he hears some chatter andughs, people blissfully unaware of his presence. Taking a few silent steps toward the doorway he peaks into the room, four people. The oldest was no more than 17, followed by a 14-year-old, then a pair of 9-year-old twins, all boys. From their beaten-up clothes to the depressing sandwiches they were eating, it was a sorry sight, so Horizon just knocks on the doorframe and stepped into the room. "Don''t get up," Horizon''s words cause them all to freeze, including the oldest boy who was about to rise to his feet. They look at each other, nervous and fearful, but obey. Horizon walks around for a moment, then stops across the room from them, where ideally a TV would be, and just looms down on them. "So, why do you think I''m here?" Horizon asks. They all look at the oldest boy, terror in their eyes, small tears already flowing down the cheeks of the twins. "To arrest me?" "Arrest you? For what?" Horizon asks. "Being a part-time pickpocket?" He looks around the apartment. "Not a very profitable one at that, or for your other part-time job moving crates for sketchy people..." The oldest boy''s eyes go wide at that, "I swear I just move boxes I don''t even look in---" "---I''m not here to arrest you," Horizon says. "I''m guessing you''re avoiding any legal work because they''ll look into this situation you have, then throw all of you into the childcare system, and you''ll be separated, right?" All the boys meekly nod. "Look, I don''t care, about you stealing a few wallets or moving boxes. You do whatever it takes to protect the people you care about, and that, I can respect, so I''m here to offer you a way out." "A way out?" the boy mutters, as if it were too good to be true, after almost two years of living like this. "Clearly that''s what you want, especially since this one ns to try out for UA next year," he gestures to the 14-year-old boy. "Fun Quirk, force fields, might actually get in." All the boys look a bit more hopeful at that, UA''s golden boy giving them a glimmer of hope to get out of this situation. "How did you know that?" the oldest asks. "I''ve been watching you for a few days, and checked all your files, it''s no big deal," Horizon shrugs. "I''m not here to arrest you, I have a job for you." "A job?!" The boy''s eyes lite up. "Decent pay,es with a ce to live, you won''t have to file any paperwork until you''re 18 next year, that way you get to keep this family together, and---" "Deal!" he doesn''t even need to hear Horizon''s full offer. "Huh, easier than I thought," Horizon extends his hand to the boy, who gets up and shakes it. "We''ll be back in a moment." SHAMBLES! Still shaking hands, they both warp onto a nearby roof, swapped with a piece of stone. "Wow!" The boy looks around, amazed. "Focus please." "Oh, right, sorry." Horizon takes a step away from him as they begin to talk. "I need you to put trackers onto some of the crates you move, and preferably the vehicles, they''re small, like little invisible stickers." "Trackers? But you can warp---" The boy stops himself before he talks himself out of a job. "---I mean, of course, consider it done." Horizon sighs, "why do you think they only move product during the first three days of the working week?" "Uh, I never really thought about it." "Because that''s when I''m in UA, but if I give this to another Pro they''ll want to get in there and stop the operation immediately. I need it to work for a while so my trackers get to every safehouse, and a while before I strike, you''ll quit." "Quit?" "That way you''re protected, because they''ll only really suspect the current employees. People who know the routes." "Ok, to protect me, that makes sense." "You won''t be able to move out until then atleast, to avoid suspicion, but you''ll get the money, just don''t draw attention to yourself." "Alright, when do I start---" ---Tokyo, 10 PM... "So how was your first week back at UA?" Rikiya - Re Destro- asks. Horizon was walking beside him as they strolled through the halls of FGI -Feel Good Inc- Private Hospital in Tokyo. This entire area of the hospital was almost empty, people cleared out so nobody would see the state of Horizon''s two new patients. And it helps to keep the quiet acquaintance between Horizon and Detnerat in the shadows. "As expected," Horizon says. "Stuck in boring sses, girls fawning over me, people always annoying me for pictures ever time I step into the hallway. But I''m training Cellophane and one new ally, so that''s fun atleast." "What was it you said on ourst call, ''power, money, women, and---'' something else." "And all the time in the world," Horizon says. "That''s what I have right now, and it''s quite an enjoyable life." "Still no ambition to fight for something greater?" "There is no cause greater than myself...and the protection of the people ofcourse." "Nice save," Rikiya chuckles. "But if you ever get tired of society having so many chains on you simply because you were born powerful, I have an opportunity for you." "They don''t have chains on me because of that, I put these chains on myself. I knew the risks of the life I choose to live, and this is the oue." "The downsides of choosing the be a Pro Hero, and how has your actual business beentely?" "Honestly, I do one or two operations per week," Horizon shrugs. "And no you don''t get any more free work after this, this is a one-time thing." "Well even for myself your price is rather...intense." "Miracles are expensive, but people all across the world can afford them." "Luckily, I got you in a good mood," Rikiya says as they arrive at arge private room. Opening the door they enter to see Trumpet and Skeptic,ying in medically inducedas so they don''t go into further shock from the immense pain they were in. "Holy fuck," Horizon exins, the well-yed facade of shock and surprise not raising any brows from Rikiya. "Did a bomb hit them?" Even as they approach he could see the mangled limbs, Skeptic''s gouged-out and burnt-shut eyes, and arge scar from the operation they performed to reassemble his entire jaw. The metal brace around his neck and contraptions holding his limbs up. His arms and legs were raised, and wrapped so he could notice the missing fingers, and his left foot was missing up to the knee while the right foot was missing up to the ankle. He also had metal rods protruding from his skin, set into the bones to keep the fragments in ce so the nerves don''t further damage themself while healing. And on Skeptic''s exposed torso, aside from all the tubes connected to him to keep him alive, he sees a thick and firm fabric padding around his ribcage, keeping them in ce so his lungs don''t copse. Opposite Skeptic, Trumpet was facedown in something simr to a massage bed, with a hole for his face to rest. He was also asleep at the moment, but his back had a metal device running down his spine, scarring all across his back where they worked to reconstruct his bones so he could one day walk again. But they failed, and the nerves were already dead on arrival, leaving him as a vegetable forever. Horizon walks around them, touching each of them once to Scan them, then looks to Rikiya, "I can fix them, but what happened?" "Well, I told you who they are, and by now I''m sure you''ve figured that we''re all in a small circle of like-minded individuals." "The Hearts and Mind party?" "Yes," Rikiya smiles. "Unfortunately some people don''t agree with our policies, and decided to get violent about it." "So they sent a viin to do this, want me to go after him too?" "Oh no, that won''t work," Rikiya says. "Heroes fight viins, but the man who did this, he''s the devil itself." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 180: (Lurkers) Chapter 180: (Lurkers) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- ---September 23rd, 3 Weeks into Semester 2... Descending from the sky above Horizon soars through the cool night air on his hoverboard. Below he sees the coast, just north of Tokyo, a small port with rows of warehouses and only a few boats docked. Norge ships resting here at the moment. ROOM! He senses everything for 500m around him, finding the people he came to meet tonight, and to confront. SHAMBLES! He swaps with a piece of paper. Suddenly he''s standing in one of the far warehouses, still on his hoverboard, in a room filled with police officers wearing assault gear. The sounds of guns being readied and aimed at him ck out from all sides. "Friendly," he says casually, and sees the faces of some of the men rx and brighten, now far more confident they''d be going home to their families tonight. With a miracle on their side. "It''s been a while!" the captain in charge calls out from across the room. The man was standing around a table with a map of the docks on it, his lieutenants beside him as they plot their assault. Horizon hops off his board, which some of them men stare at as it remains hovering in ce, and walks over to the table. "Good to see you again," Horizon says. "Well, its atleast good that we''re taking down more criminals together." The man chuckles a bit, "yeah well,st time was that warehouse of Trigger in Tokyo, this time its guns, guns, and guess what, more guns." "You always get assigned to the warehouse raids?" "If its on the docks, it hits my desk, atleast in this region, and since this time I''m here before you go busting in there, we''ve got a warrant." "Heyst time I had probable cause to investigate," Horizon says jokingly. "Right, whatever kid, just don''t toe the line, we really can''t afford you getting kicked out of the Hero Course for some crap like that," the man says. "I''ll keep that in mind," Horizon looks at the map as he expands his room, seeing a few points marked as having sentries posted with higher caliber rifles. And without asking he takes one of the nearby pencils and adds to the notes on the map. "Safe in this room, you missed a guard posted here, these crates are your priority. They''ve got more ammo than guns in that ce but they''re all together, get to these crates when things get hot so they don''t just have unlimited ammo to shoot at your men." "Damn," one of the lieutenants mutter. "Trigger?" the captain asks. "Mmm, not that I''m sensing," Horizon says, then stops for a moment and turns to face the warehouse. "There is something, but, a different kind of container, atleast not meant for injecting. Only one case of it." "Can you mark it?" "Secret room below this area of the floor," he points at the map. "I''d warp it out now but it feels like they have it on a pressure te and watched by a motion sensor of some kind." "I see, is that all?" "Yeah, but I don''t see why you couldn''t deal with this without me, you''ve got more than enough muscle." "Are they in position?" the captain asks as he takes a picture of the updated map and sends it to them. "Yeah, I can sense Team Lurkers," Horizon says. "Edgeshot is up on one of the cranes by the water, Kamui is camped out at the road, I assume you put him there to stop vehicles with Mt. Lady, since she''s sitting beside him falling asleep." Horizon looks in her direction, then raises his hand and flicks a finger upward, "Takt." "What was that?" one of the lieutenants ask. "Just keeping her awake, anyway, why am I here, you''ve got enough muscle for this." "Here," the captain hands him a earpiece which he connect to his visor via his phone. "I''ll have Edgeshot exin." "Lurkers, Horizon checking in," he says. "Kamui Woods checking in." "Ngh, Mt. Lady checking in, did you do that just now Horizon?" "No idea what you''re talking about." "Edgeshot checking in, a pleasure to be working with you Horizon." "Likewise, and why don''t I sense Cellophane here?" "He''s in Tokyo on a solo stakeout mission," Edgeshot says. "Less fire and bullets, he''s good but I want to teach him the things only I can teach first, you''ve gotbat covered." "Can we please focus," the captain says. "Edgeshot, please inform Horizon of the discovery you made yesterday." "Right," Edgeshot''s voice bes even more serious. "From my current position, I''m maintaining line of sight on both suspects. Yesterday when I was doing final recon, after everyone got into position, I got a glimpse of one of the men deeper inside. His skin was kind of different greys and blue, and looked stitched together. His face didn''t seem all that abnormal in this world of Quirks, but the Frankenstein''s monster look was a bit too suspicious." "You think its a Nomu, and you said you have eyes on two suspects, so a second one?" "Precisely, they also aren''t carrying guns, and haven''t moved in the past fifteen hours." "Are they to the southeast corner of the building?" "Yeah, how''d you know?" "Because that''s where the secret storage area is, there''s a case in there we need to get, check the map the captain just sent you." "On it." "Good call waiting for me, who knows what kind of Quirks they could have. But the grey Nomu are supposed to be low-end, purple-ck is mid-rank, and we know they''ve got some special High-End Nomus, atleast one." "What? A high-end?" Kamui asks. "I didn''t know that." "The top Pro''s will get the report tomorrow, along with the top police officers," Horizon looks to the captain. "Everyone on this line will know which is why I''m saying it now. My spection is those things are meant to be hero killing specialists, or serve unique roles." "But these Nomu should be on the weaker side from what you said, so we could have gone in yesterday," Mt. Lady whines. "We spent a extra night at this smelly port for nothing." "Commission''s orders," Edgeshot says. "All Nomu sightings get reported to Horizon, and if he''s avable we wait for him before engaging, you know without him there isn''t anything stopping Kurogiri from warping these people away." "Yeah, I know..." "I don''t think Kurogiri would get involved here," Horizon says. "Shigaraki has been breaking any gang or crime organization he can get his hands on and adding them to his forces. This is likely one of those, that''s why they''ve only got two Nomu, and they''re hiding supplies here instead of wherever the league hides theirs, probably off-shore or in another country." "Because if you have warp gate you don''t need supplies to be close," Kamui Woods says. "That''s a good point, so these are just street thugs ying with Shigaraki''s toys?" "Most likely, but better to be safe than sorry." "Seems a bit odd to me," the captain says. "They went through the trouble of buying this warehouse in a nice secluded spot, bought all these guns and security, and even built a secret room for whatever is in those cases, but only have two of the weaker Nomu...doesn''t add up." "It rarely ever does." "You sure you don''t sense anything else?" "I''m sure," Horizon says. "But I''ll be going in first anyway, keep your men on the perimeter, and Edgeshot---" "Yeah?" "When I make noise, you get into the secret room and steal whatever is in there, preferably without triggering the pressure te or motion sensor. We want them to not know we found it, and the pressure te and sensor will do exactly that." "No wonder you didn''t just warp it out, but I can handle it no problem." "What about us?" Kamui Woods asks. "You and Mt. Lady catch any stragglers while I deal with the Nomu, we''re doing this loud. Normally I''m more tactical with my approach, but we need to send a message to Japan that any gang that works with the league is gonna get their teeth kicked in." "A bit crude, but I see the logic in it, we''ll follow your lead on this," Edgeshot says. "Good, I know I can count on all of you, so just stick to the n, I''ll go get into position." "Position, what position?" Mt. Lady asks. "I''m Horizon, I don''t need to sneak around my enemies, I''ll just walk up and knock." "I''ll start the signal interrupter," the captain says and one of the lieutenants rushes off to the technical unit. "Great, so I''ll go say hello..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 181: (Tactically Inefficent) Chapter 181: (Tactically Inefficent) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "What the hell is he doing?" Edgeshot asks from his perch. At that moment he was looking through his binocrs, to see Horizon walking in the middle of the road up to the warehouse. Not at all an efficient tactic, but certainly a shy one. Stacks of empty metal shipping containers on either side of him, spread around the entire area so it doesn''t look suspicious and empty. "This is the n," the captain says. "He''s about to make a scene, everyone is ready to back him up." Approaching the massive warehouse, the two guards at the metal gate blocking it from the rest of the area immediately notice Horizon. "Oh crap!" one of the men reaches for the radio on his waist. "Takt!" both the men watch as their radios are pulled off of them and tter to the floor. "Shit!" they both draw their submachine guns and take aim. But as they try to squeeze the triggers, they refuse to budge. As they try to figure out what was wrong, what caused their guns to seemingly jam. Not realizing the hold Horizon had on theponents of their weapons. "TAKT!" The metal gate is ripped from the wall and ms into them before hovering in the air, then Horizon rears back his arm in a throwing motion. And with one move he catapults the gate into the now alerted warehouse doors. It dents the other metal door before ttering to the floor. And everyone is ready for battle as he steps over the unconscious bodies of the two guards. "Don''t suppose you''re going to surrender and exin this operation?!" Horizon yells out as he sees a dozen men aiming rifles at him, standing between himself and the warehouse doors. "Fire!" "Guess that''s a no---" A volley of bullets and a cacophony of gunshots echo across the area. "Dam---" Edgeshot was about to leap off the crane and get involved, but pauses as he notices all the bullets stopped in mid-air. "Oh, never mind I guess..." Standing before the men Horizon just shakes his head, all their stunned faces looking at him in horror, "well, atleast I tried being nice." Edgeshot''s eyes go wide as he sees Horizon raise his sword and perform one horizontal sh at the warehouse roof. GRRR! The sound of stone grinding reaches out for barely a moment, and then he sees it, a perfectly clean cut diagonally from Horizon''s spot in the road, to the back of the warehouse roof. And in the next moment, he nearly drops his binocrs as Horizon raises his hand, and the entire roof rises with it, hovering high above the warehouse. ''Wow,'' Edgeshot takes a moment to really absorb this sight. ''Enji said he''s the most powerful Telekic in the world, I saw that video of him holding up a skyscraper...but this, in person, seems so unreal.'' The men inside the warehouse immediately begin to rush outside, and the two Nomu all the way at the back break into a sprint as well, so Edgeshot waits for them to clear out before he breaks into the secretpartment. Edgeshot looks back to Horizon just in time to see one of the men drop his gun. He ms his fists together and his clothes rips apart as his body is covered in a smallyer of brittle stone, sprouting out of his skin. ''Poor guy is gonna get cut up,'' Edgeshot thinks as the man rushes Horizon, only for the student to snap his finger and point at the man. And all the bullets held in the air are hurled at the man, not hard enough to draw blood thanks to his Stone Skin. But as the Quirk is broken and the man lies unconscious on the floor, he was covered in ck and blue bruises all over his body. ''No wonder Pantu told me to be careful about this kid, but he''s been pretty respectful atleast. But if I was her I''d be nervous too, I guess she''s smart to warn us Top Pro Heroes that he''s got an ego and doesn''t like ying with others. But I haven''t seen any of that tonight...'' Edgeshot leaps from his vantage point and into the warehouse as Horizon is rushed by the other men, as the real fight begins. The crowd rushes Horizon and he sees one man with a Tanto, but the man then touches the de with his finger and it begins glowing red hot. ''Heat Metal?'' Horizon wonders as the man rushes in. Beside him are two brawlers, likely with a Strength Enhancer Quirk. These three men rush in as the others reload. One sh with the red hot de nearly hits Horizon, and as its about to make contact. SHAMBLES! One of the brawlers takes his ce, and the sound of flesh being burnt reaches their ears before the scent hits the air. "AHHHHHHH!" the man screams out, but only for a moment as Horizon touches the should of the man with the Tanto still in his ally. "Counter Shock!" A quick discharge of electricity knocks them both out as the other brawler leaps up to kick Horizon in the back of his head. Without even looking Horizon just raises his hand, feeling the enhanced strength of the man he uses a bit of energy to enhance his own strength to seemingly stop the attack with no issue. "Hng!" the man''s eyes go wide as the blocked palm grips his leg and spin with him, throwing him back toward his reloading allies, with enough force that he could easily clear twice the distance. As the man is about to m into the others Horizon swaps ces with him and knocks out two men, before swapping again, and the man finally crashes into one of his allies. With a few bloody shes and broken jaws the others are quickly dealt with, then Horizon warps back into the open as the two main threats arrive. They both appeared normal in his Scan, because Scan is only on the surface level, and doesn''t show color. The true form of a shapeshifter can''t be sensed by it, much like the clearly cobbled-together men before him appeared normal because he couldn''t see the colors of them. "You really are some ugly fuckers," he mutters as they both stare at him,pletely unresponsive. "I guess they made you to try and blend in, well, let''s get this over with..." Horizon raises his sword and points it at them, and one of the Nomu immediately respond. It releases a low growl, then belches out a bolt of lightning at Horizon. He senses the bolt, but physically can''t react fast enough. Warping away is an option of course, but that doesn''t send the right message. Counter Shock: Lightning Rod! The bolt hits him and joins the electricity already flowing across his body before he stabs Scalpel into the floor and disperses it. The Nomu and spectators look a bit confused and amazed. And Kamui Woods hears Mt. Lady mutter out, "sometimes I really hate how cool he looks." "Worry about your spotlightter..." Kamui Woods whispers back. "Lightning Bolt," Horizon says. "I''ll add that to the list of Quirks the enemy has, and what''s yours?" As if understanding him the other Nomu begins growing, bing almost as tall as Mt. Lady herself, and the woman nearly leaps into action. Instinctively understanding that in most cases, she''s the one to deal with giant-sized opponents. But Kamui Woods stop her, sticking to the n. "Gigantification," Horizon says in a bored voice. "Ok, I''ve learned everything I can from these two, let''s wrap this up." As his words reach his allies through their radios he points his de at the lightning-wielding Nomu. INJECTION SHOT! Seemingly nothing happens, then the Nomu flinches a few times and crumples to the floor. ''So that''s Injection Shot,'' the spectators realize. Until now they''ve only heard about this almost mythical ability to damage people or structures without any resistance or signs of attack. Because throughout Japan and the world, everyone knows one of the restrictions Horizon faces is that he cannot use this excessively. And now they better understand why. It is inherently an effective attack, but the damage it does is rumored to be excessive and cruel, leaving many to wonder how such a young hero came up with it. The corpse crumples to the floor as the Gigantification Nomu bounds forward to stomp down on Horizon. "Curtain!" Horizon raises a hand and his translucent blue energy barrier appears in front of him, as arge square structure. The ground under the other foot cracks as the giant tries to apply more and more pressure on the shield, and Horizon feels his ability pulling more and more power to defend against the weight. "Ok, you''re annoying," he drops his sword which hovers in the air, then uses his now free hand to point at the giant''s head. "Takt: Celestial Body!" Dozens of empty shipping containers suddenly rocket toward the giant''s head, battering it from all sides as if they were gravitationally pulled toward it. It stumbles back and almost falls over, but even as the sound of bones shattering and eyeballs being squished is heard, and the Nomu once again bes a lifeless corpse. The body remains upright, hanging from where this almost crumpled ball of shipping containers mmed into it and are pinning it in the air. A ball of crumpled metal crushing the head, with the giant body hanging out of it. "Ugh," the spectator''s wince and turn away in disgust. And as the corpse slowly shrinks back, he drops the containers and it bes a st on the floor. ''Horizon takes a breath and smiles beneath the visor, happy with these new skills he''s been able to develop at a much sooner pace, thanks to All For One...'' END CHAPTER--- Chapter 182: (Capsule Of Time) Chapter 182: (Capsule Of Time) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- ---7 PM... As the multiple armored cars trucks and police cars drive away in a long convoy, a few squads of officers remain at the warehouse observing the destruction. Mt. Lady and Kamui Woods are walking back from the main gate, toward Edgeshot and Horizon. She looks around at the crumpled shipping containers and the roof of the warehouse, now rubble in the water, some bits still poking out through the surface. "Kinda sucks that we didn''t have to do anything huh," she kicks a few rocks out of the way as they continue walking. "You wanted to deal with that much gunfire?" Kamui Woods asks. "Not really, but this means we don''t get much of a spotlight, and I''ve got some Hero Insurance paymentsing up." "Well, you were here so you''ll get paid." "Yeah, but not as much as if I helped, but Horizon dealt with all the viins himself while Edge got the case or whatever it is." "Look around," Kamui Woods gestures to all the destruction around them. "Kid tore up the ce just to ''make a point'', whatever that means. If you got involved you''d be sharing the bill with him." "It''s a wonder he can afford to fight like that." "Well, he''s usually more efficient, plus, ording to the rumors he''s made atleast a few hundred million from his medical practice, the kid isn''t here for the money." "Just here to help people," she groans and rolls her eyes. "Sometimes he''s such a jerk, then he has cool stuff like that...really annoying." "You''re just jealous he''s stealing our spotlight, we were the new shiny rookies before him after all." "What, like you aren''t?" Kamui Woods shrugs, "doesn''t bother me. Fewer people shooting at you is perfect in my book, plus it''s not like we operate anywhere nearby so he doesn''t really cut into our ie. Aldera is pretty much unchanged, it''s the Pro Heroes in Musutafu and Minato Tokyo that have to be worried, that''s where the crime rates have dropped the most since he''s usually at UA or Horizon tower." "Awe," she leans over and quickly tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek of his mask. "Look at you being all sweet and worrying about me." "You be a bigger target, not bulletproof, I always worry about you." Mt. Lady sighs, "yeah, but I like helping people...and sometimes that gets dangerous." "Hmm, couldn''t have said it better myself." "Yeah, I can be pretty smart sometimes," Mt. Lady giggles to herself. "It doesn''t count if you''re the one saying it," Horizon interrupts them. During their chat, they arrived at the temporarymand tent where the investigation and cleanup were being orchestrated from. Edgeshot, Horizon, the police Captain, and a few other officers were in the tent. Mt. Lady just rolls her eyes and stands beside Kamui Woods opposite Edgeshot and the captain. The man looks over to the other officers and nods, and they both leave the tent to go help load the evidence into the trucks. "Can we leave yet?" Mt. Lady asks. "Nope," Edgeshot puts a metal briefcase on the table. "This is what was in that secretpartment. Since Horizon had all eyes on him nobody noticed me getting it. Took a minute to jam the sensors, it was on a separate rm, so as far as the viins know, this is still in the same position." "Good," Horizon looks over at the captain. "Don''t tell anyone outside of this tent about thepartment, and don''t mention it on any official reports. Viins have eyes and ears everywhere, atleast people that can set up an operation this big." "Got it," the man nods. "Why is everyone taking orders from a kid?" Mt. Lady mutters. "Because he''s Horizon," the captain says. "Now please stop interrupting." "Sorry." "As I was saying, we want the viins to think this case is still here. This was some kind of a resource outpost. Thest couple of these we''ve raided across Japan didn''t have anyone who knew the actual bosses or organization of it." "So they''re all blissfully ignorant, and atleast have that bit of usable deniability, not that it''s worth much after attacking a Pro," Edgeshot says. "I''m not a Pro yet." "Right, and how''d you get all these locations? The Hero Network has been on fire with all the info you''ve been flooding it with." "That''s my second Quirk." "Second Quirk?!" They all look at him in surprise. "Yeah, I''m rich..." "Oh, of course," Edgeshot actually chuckles, for a split second his stone-cold shinobi face cracks before it fully reforms. "I suppose we''ll have to send search teams to find any hiddenpartments in them as well." "Nope, just watch them," Horizon says. "Captain, can you station undercover officers here 24/7, we''ll clear out everyone else, and when the viin sends people to recover what''s in this case, we''ll get some answers." "How are you so sure they''ll have answers?" Kamui Woods asks. The Captain chips in, "you don''t hire security to guard a ce like this, then hide something even deeper within it, without sending people you absolutely trust to collect it." "That makes sense," Kamui Woods says. "Please, continue." "Right, I''ll station men here after we clear out, but it could be weeks before anyonees to collect." "I''m patient," Horizon says. "I''m coordinating a takedown on contraband supply lines all across Japan, I don''t expect to crumble it and all the crime organizations in it overnight." "Well you''ve made good progress for only three weeks," the captain says. "Yeah well, when you get your head out of your ass and stop thinking like a superhero, and start thinking like an Emperor, it makes things like this easier..." "And Japan is your empire?" Edgeshot asks. "Well, these are the people I''m protecting, so yes, it is." "Doesn''t matter what he thinks," the captain says. "It''s working, and if I need to call you Emperor Horizon to keep getting these results, I don''t think my men and I will be too opposed." "Just ''Horizon'' is fine, now, can we open that case already?" Edgeshot looks at the case and inspects the small device he ced on the biometric lock, a highly illegal digital lockpick that only a few Pro Heroes have ess to. Namely Edgeshot, Eraser Head, and Mister Knight. But Horizon makes a note that he''d have to get one. A quiet click signals the case opening, without triggering any rms within. Edgeshot opens it, and inside they see the deactivated sensors in the case, and trapped in thick foam is a single finger-sized stic capsule of a blue liquid. "Trigger?" the captain reaches for it, and Horizon immediately ps his hand away. "Ouch," the man rubs the bruise on his hand. "Guess it''s not Trigger..." "If you could see what I see, you''d never want to be anywhere near it." "And what do you see?" Edgeshot asks. To Horizon, as he focuses more and more on his Scan, standing like a statue and staring down at the item. And for the first time they see blue energy vapor seeping through his clothes, his gloves and sleeves as he pours more and more energy into his Scan. More than he''d ever been able to before, and finally, he sees them. The Chronons, time particles, moving quickly in all directions through the liquid. "Time, someone trying to fuck with time, using this," his words leave them all worried at that notion. "You can see time?" Edgeshot sounded confused. "Sure, let''s go with that. But within my range, I can perceive the truth in all things and manipte that truth, and nothing escapes me. Which does include the passage of time when I really focus." "So you can control time, that''s not fair," Mt. Lady whines. "Well Hand Of God as it is really isn''t fair, but no I can''t mess with time, atleast not yet." "Well that''s somewhat of a relief atleast," Edgeshot says. "Not that I don''t trust you, but that''s too much power for any one man to have." "He says to sixteen-year-old billionaire that''s already the second most powerful being on the," Horizon chuckles. "Right, well I should turn this in for evidence?" The captain asks. "No, I''ll be taking this to analyze it, plus no offense but if someone can distill time into a liquid, I don''t think it''d be too hard to break into a police station and kill everyone protecting the evidence lockup." "Oh, good point. I''ll keep this off the record then." "Right," Horizon closes up the case. "Then I need to get out of here and start working on this, among other things..." ---Hours Later, Horizon Tower... "You know the point of you getting that job was to use the apartment thates with it," Horizon says, sitting on the couch in his dimly lit living room. The TV was on, ying the news, showing his exploits today. But Ryuko was a bit busy, in her underwear straddling hisp, facing him. Her hands inspected all the grooves of his body glove as her head rests against his visor, feeling one of his hands on her waist, slowly inching its way behind her. But his other is up and to the side, ying with the small blue capsule he discovered today. "When you aren''t in Tokyo I always stay there, but honestly babe, my ce doesn''t have a pool, or a hot tub, or such a nice view." "Or me..." She giggles, "or you," she feels his fingers tighten and grasp her ass, and her breath nearly leaves her. "This ce is much more fun with you here too." "Is that all I am, fun?" she leans back a bit so he gets a proper look at her. "That''s what we agreed to..." Ryuko sighs and detes, frowning slightly. "Can you atleast give me your full attention when I''m trying to talk to you?" she gestures to him still twirling the potentially dangerous evidence in his fingers. "I''m trying to have a serious conversation here." "Really, while you''re dressed to looking all sexy and sitting in myp? Doesn''t seem like you want me thinking much..." Ryuko gives him an unimpressed look and pats his chest, "what if I want more?" "You spend half the week here and have my undivided attention most of the time we''re together, what more is there to want?" "Well, I''ve been thinking, and I know it''ll probably be weird since you''re just a bit younger---" "---12 years younger." She hits him in the chest, but he doesn''t even react, "sorry, just. I was wondering if---" BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! The alert sound from his phone goes off, meaning the call is an emergency. "God damn it!" Ryuko yells as she gets up to walk into the bedroom, knowing he had to answer the phone. But she stops at the corner to wait for him. "Yagi, what is it?" Horizon asks as he answers. "....." "What, seriously?" "....." "For what?!" "....." "I fail to see how this is my problem, fix this yourself, he''s your fuckup!" "....." "He did what?! He put my fucking name in this?! You better pray he gets a prison sentence because I''ll kill him myself!" "....." "Ugh, fine! I''ll unfuck this shit for you, but I''ve got something I''d need from you." "....." "Does it matter what I want? The alternative is you''re stuck with this crap on your te." "....." "Thought so!" Horizon angrily hangs up the call. He turns around to see Ryuko looking at him, worried, "is everything alright? Who was that?" "That was All Might." "That''s how you speak to all might?" "When he asks me to bail his garbage protoge out of jail, yeah, that''s how I speak to him..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 183: (Overhaul) Chapter 183: (Overhaul) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- Throughout Japan, while cities and regions all have proper names, some areas are moremonly -atleast among Pro Heroes and viins-, referred to as territories of the most prominent Hero Agency in the area. Saitama Tokyo ismonly referred to as Endeavor''s region, and Minato Tokyo is quickly bing known as Horizon''s Domain. This smaller district on the other side of Japan didn''t have manyrge viin attacks but was a main transit hub for smuggling and other illegal acts. Not as many fights, but the perfect ce for Sir Nighteye''s agency. This is how an agency with only four members has dominated this district and has made it known as Sir Nighteye''s territory. Japan''s leading investigation Hero Agency, currently only being challenged by Horizon. And currently under the mid-day sun, Sir Nighteye''s golden boy, Mirio Togata in full Hero Costume as Japan''s 4th most popr Hero Course student, Lemillion, was on patrol. His smile seemed infectious as he walked through the street, politely greeting everyone he walked past and turning down offers of small treats from the nearby shops. Offers made by the same people he''s been protecting for the past two years at Sir Nighteye''s Hero Agency. "Lemillion, you shoulde byter before heading back to the agency, I just made fresh Mochi!" one of the men yelled out from across the street. "You can take some back for everyone!" Lemillion turns and gives a polite wave and smile, "if I finish patrol nearby I''ll be sure to swing by!" Beside him, Deku, in full Hero Costume, Sir Nighteye''s 4th member, but only as a work studies student looked up to Lemillion. "Are people around here always giving you free stuff? I didn''t expect everyone to be so...friendly." "We''re Heroes after all, we protect them. And in a small ce like this it''s good to know the people you''re saving, don''t you think?" "Oh, I guess I never really thought about these slower days we''d have as Pros." "Oh yeah, most days are like this around here, if you want more action you''d have to go work in Tokyo...well maybe not Minato or Saitama Tokyo, Endeavor and Horizon don''t really let anyone else get a chance to work." "Yeah, Gran Torino mentioned that more popted areas have more crime," Deku looks a bit sad at the memory of his dead mentor. "But Sir Nighteye is all about investigation right, so I should focus on learning some of that while I''m here." "Exactly, just focus on one thing at a time, the Work Studies is partly about learning how to run your own agency after all. Lots of heroes can teach you how to punch viins, but...and I don''t mean to sound mean, but most of them can''t run an investigation up to even my level, much less to the level of Sir, if any." "Yeah, All Might said I''m simr to him in a way, maybe that''s how." "Hmm, All Might told you that?" Lemillion gives him a strange look. "Do you guys talk a lot?" "Uh, well, he''s our Hero ss teacher after all. He''s familiar with all the first-year Hero Course Students. It''s not like I''m special or anything. It''s just my quirk is simple like his you know, so he''s helping a bit extra." "Huh, you mutter a lot, you should drop that habit," Lemillionughs it off. "Oh, and don''t worry about all the free stuff people offer, I never really ept any of it, even when Mrs. Aki''s grandkids corner me and give me whatever she sent I still feel super guilt about it." Deku breathes a sigh of relief, "yeah that would feel too weird for me too. So is there a---" "Hngh!" a young girl, no older that seven, bumps into Deku as she was in a full sprint leaving a dark alley. Both students immediately stop, seeing her in an oversized white t-shirt, bandages wrapping her arms and legs, long white hair, and a single small horn on the right side of her forehead. "Sorry," Deku says, and kneels down to make sure the girl was alright as she''s sitting on the sidewalk. "Did that hurt, are you alright?" He reaches out to help her up, and she flinches at the sight of his hand, he sees the trembling in her eyes as her breathing quickens. As fear wracks her body and causes her to freeze up. He retracts his hand, noticing her reaction, "are you alright? What''s your name?" "Are you bothering these people?" a bored voice asks from in the alley, and the students look up to see the target their agency was investigating, Kai Chisaki -Overhaul-, leader of the Shie Hassaikai Yakuza branch, and potentially the main hub of smuggling in this area. Lemillion looks between the girl and Overhaul as the man approaches, realizing how terrified she was of him as she holds onto Deku at the sound of his voice. "I''m sorry about my daughter," Overhaul gestures to the girl. "She''s always running around and falling down, especially when I try to change her bandages, which only makes the problem even worse...she''s a bit ident-prone." ''He''s trying to exin the bandages with that weak excuse,'' Lemillion and Deku realize immediately. "We''re sorry for bumping into her," Lemillion says. "Oh, no I''m sorry for failing to discipline her, I don''t want to take up any of the time you spend protecting us after all," Overhaul''s eyes then drop from Lemillion to Deku. "Oh, a new Hero? I don''t think I''ve seen you before..." As Deku is about to introduce himself Lemillion cuts in, "he''s just a student on a trial run, nobody worth remembering at the moment." "I see, well I hope he sticks around. Now, Eri, let''s go so these fine heroes can get back to work." Eri only trembles more and holds onto Deku tighter, "please," she whispers, just soft enough for Deku to hear. "No..." Deku gets a look of determination on his face, and Lemillion gets ready to speak up. He understands that any altercation here will put Sir Nighteye''s investigation in jeopardy, and he hates himself for deciding to leave Eri in this situation. But he also doesn''t know if there are dozens of more people like here that he won''t be able to save if Overhaul gets spooked. An impossible choice, but he trusts Sir Nighteye''s guidance. Hard choices now to save a million livester. But Overhaul only needs to pinch the bottom of his glove for Eri to get the hint, and she immediately gets away from Deku as if nothing happened and stands beside Overhaul. "Good, now apologize to the heroes for causing trouble." "I''m sorry," Eri gives a polite bow. "So am I," Overhaul says as he gets ready to leave. "Have a wonderful day heroes." As they both turn to walk into the alley, before they even get off the sidewalk. Deku''s mind races back to this exact situation. To the train he was on with Gran Torino. To his instincts screaming at him that Iida needed his help. To Gran Torino pinning him down and preventing him from leaving...to his friend dying because he chose to do nothing. ''Never again! I''ll save EVERYONE!'' ONE FOR ALL: FULL COWLING- 10%! Deku leaps forward before Lemillion could react, sweeps Overhaul''s legs out from under him and snatches Eri up, then leaps a few meters away. The girl is instantly holding onto Deku for dear life as she mutters a soft, "thank you," under her breath, tears streaming down her cheeks. Lemillion''s eyes go wide as Overhaul tries to pick himself up off the ground. People around the street all stop to look at themotion. Overhaul notices this and stays on the floor, raising a hand to point at Deku. Lemillion makes most of his body permeable, ready to engage and back up his friend now that they''re in this situation. But Overhaul doesn''t engage, he''s a charming leader of an underground gang. He can''t go around unting his Quirk and fighting heroes in the street. He can''t risk revealing his operation or worse, his ties with Shigaraki. He can''t risk the government sending its big guns after him, living in this mostly quiet district with only one weak agency was perfect for his operation. So as a master of understanding thew and public perception, he turns on the charm. "HELP, HE''S TAKING MY DAUGHTER!" And just like that, all the fight got knocked out of Deku and Lemillion, and momentster two other nearby Pro Heroes were on the scene to investigate the misconduct of these provisional license holders... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 184: (Character Witness) Chapter 184: (Character Witness) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- ---10 PM, Judge Hoka''s Chamber... "I can''t believe I''m doing this, you had better not back out of our agreement," Horizon says. He was sitting in a luxurious but small office, with shelves of older books on either side. Yagi sat beside him as they wait for the man they''de to meet. "What you''re doing now is no different from what I''ll be doing during that interview, but I think the push you''ll get from me speaking so highly of you to the people is well worth it." "Every bit helps, just keep him in line, or I''ll do it myself, and I promise you don''t want that." "Right," Yagi rubs his one palm on his leg nervously. "I''m just d Lemillion didn''t get into any trouble, but from the sounds of it, and since Nighteye didn''t even try to help, looks like Midoriya will have to find another agency to work at." "Assuming he doesn''t get banned from Hero Work," Horizon says. "Let''s deal with one thing at a time. How about you focus on getting your fuckup out of this mess before throwing him into the next one..." A momentter the side door to this chamber opens and a slim senior Japanese man walks in, before Horizon and Yagi get up to greet him he gestures for them to remain seated. "No need to get up," Judge Hoka says as he hangs up his robes and sits down in his chair. "It really is an honor to be meeting both of you, I just wish it was under more delightful circumstances...or that I had more time." "The honor is ours," Yagi says, and Horizon only nods. "But as I said on the phone we''re here to discuss Izuku Midoriya." "Midoriya?" Hoka thinks for a moment as he leans back in his chair. He flips through some files on his desk and then finds what he''s looking for. "Oh, the green-haired boy who got arrested this morning. Tried to kidnap a little girl, assaulted a civilian, didn''t resist arrest, is locked up for the next few hours before we ship him off to a reinforced cell...what about him?" "Right, young Midoriya," Yagi says. "We''re here to discuss perhaps...not having such a permanent sentence for this, misunderstanding." "Misunderstanding?" Hoka leans forward a bit, "he tried to kidnap a little girl and assaulted her dad, the entire thing was recorded by the security cameras from the store across the street, it''s quite simple." "Well, um," Yagi rubs the back of his head nervously. "Midoriya is one of my students, and I''ve spoken to him on the phone since he''s been locked up, he exined it quite differently to me." Hoka looks a bit concerned, "right, the story about the girl needing saving and being abused by her dad. But we pulled her medical records and we''ve got dozens of people testifying that she''s just clumsy. She was just a child acting out, as children tend to do. Your student had no reason to act in such a way." "Well I''m sure the situation was much different in person," Yagi says. "Young Midoriya has excellent instincts, he''s yet to be wrong, and I trust his judgment on this situation." "Too bad instincts can''t be measured on paper, like witness ounts, video evidence, and medical records." "Enough," Horizon interrupts them. "Look, your honor, we''ve all had long days here, you especially. But we''re here because you''re the head judge in charge of Pro Hero Vs Civilian cases, All Might really believes in Deku and doesn''t want his hero career to end like this, what are the chances of that happening?" "Right, well the Commission handles most Pro Hero business, but when citizens take issue with them then that''s my jurisdiction, and as the head of this department I don''t see a good way out of this for your boy." "None?" Yagi asks. "Well, before this he didn''t have much of a record, aside from one minor case of involving himself in a Slime Viin incident, luckily he didn''t use his Quirk so that wasn''t illegal." "Just very stupid," Horizon says. "Deku has a bad habit of leaping the moment he sees someone in trouble, as you can tell, it gets him in trouble." "Right," Judge Hoka sighs. "Well, rules are rules, and the result of any sort of vition of thew during the Provisional License period is grounds for immediate annulment of the license and permanent disbarment from taking the exams again. But that would be a p on the wrist for him, being caught assaulting innocent civilians and kidnapping children is arguably worse than just killing someone." "And he''ll be tried as an adult since he has a Provisional License," Horizon says. "Naturally," Judge Hoka says. "Look, just between us, I don''t think the kid has it in him to hurt a fly, seems like a softie. But...he''s kind of an idiot for going about it like this, and thew is thew. My hands are tied." "Right, well Nezu figured as much," Yagi says. "So he came up with an alternative." Yagi takes out a stack of papers and gently puts them on the table. Judge Hoka looks at it skeptically, then leans forward and begins reading, "had anyone less than the past and future Symbols of Peace been sitting across from me, I''d already be telling both of you to get out..." he says as he continues reading. "Which is why...I am here," Horizon says in a tired voice, already sick of this entire process. Almost half an hourter the judge is finally done reading the documents, then sits back and takes a deep breath. "Well, Nezu found a loophole that I''ll have to seal up, after this case..." "Meaning?" Yagi sounded a bit hopeful. "It''ll work," Judge Hoka says. "But he''ll be on house arrest for the next year. Will you be putting that location as UA?" "Of course, he won''t be able to go home but he can continue his studies," Yagi says. "Anything else." "Well, his Provisional License is annulled, and he''ll have to redo the exam next year...no, the following year since he can''t leave UA until that round of exams. Plus he''ll be very closely watched in terms of any time he reports an incident he resolved, and any vition will result in him being arrested and spending his initial sentence of 25 years...in prison, with no chance of early release or bail." Yagi feels his heart drop at that, finally realizing exactly what kind of bullet they narrowly dodged. "Now, this only works because I trust both of you, as does all of Japan, and because this event has been kept quiet by the Commission since it makes Pro Heroes look bad. But since teachers and UA staff aren''t allowed to be legal character witnesses in cases like this, the only person I trust is you." He spins the papers around and points to a dotted line, "you''ll have to sign as a witness of his good character Horizon." Horizon just stiffly takes the pen and leans forward to sign, "which I can do since legally I''m treated as an adult, even before my Provisional License..." his hands stop a moment before he signs, then looks at Yagi, and shakes his head. "Can''t believe I''m doing this..." he reluctantly signs the agreement. "Right," Judge Hoda takes the papers and files them away. "I''ll call and have him released in the morning, but this matter will stay on the record, and reflect poorly on Horizon if this student does turn out to be some child-stealing psychopath." "I promise, if I see him straying I''ll deal with him before you ever find out," Horizon says. "Can''t have my reputation being sullied after all." Judge Hoda gives him a strange look, then nces over at Yagi to see him genuinely worried. "Right, now that we''re all settled," the Judge takes out his phone. "My grandkids are big Horizon fans, can we take a few pictures, maybe you can sign some stuff?" "Well I''m always happy to spread some joy," Horizon chuckles as he gets up and takes out some of his metal cards, which he usually doesn''t give out, but on this asion, he decides to hand the man a pair. Because new political friends are always useful. ---2 Hours Later... Yagi and Horizon have been sitting in silence since leaving the office, still in the back of an armored SUV on the way back to Musutafu where UA is. "So..." Yagi tries making conversation. "That went very well." "...." "The interview you asked me to do with your friend Chitose, and the things you want me to say, you asked me to stake my reputation on you, so I feel like it was fair to ask you to do the same." "But I''m not Deku," Horizon growls out. "I''m perfect, and he''s a fuckup." "Wel---" "Plus your career is over, mine is only just starting, much bigger risk on my end of the deal...luckily I don''t n to do this hero bullshit forever like you." "Right, you''ll be focusing on medicine more after the first few years," Yagi sighs. "And you''re right, I''m sorry my student is causing you this much trouble." "Just fix it." "I''m sure he had goo---" "Don''t care, reasons don''t matter, just results. And his are atrocious." Yagi awkwardly nods, and smartly decides to change the topic, "well, are you staying in UA or heading back to Tokyo?" "I promise you don''t want me there when Deku shows his face...I''ll be in Tokyo for the next week to cool off, then I''lle back." "Uh, but you''ve only got permission to spend Thursday and Friday in Tokyo, it''s Sunday." Horizon just silently turns to Yagi. And the man can feel the angry and annoyed energy radiating from him. "Right, I''ll just exin it to Nezu," Yagi says nervously. And they go back to traveling in silence back to UA... END CHAPTER--- Upload schedule changing from every weekday to Monday-Wednesday-Friday so I don''t work myself to death, hopefully it changes back eventually, that''s all :p Chapter 185: (Just A Glimpse) Chapter 185: (Just A Glimpse) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- ---11 PM... Sitting in the back of an armored SUV, Horizon is on his way back to UA, already in Musutafu with the school in sight atop its hill. Within his visor, he was on a phone call with a potential lead for this new drug he discovered. "So Suneater got hit?" "Yeah," Fatgum says. "My Amajiki got shot with some weird bullet yesterday, but he slept it off. His Quirk wasn''t working for a while afterward." "Was it blue?" Horizon asks. "Blue? Nope, it was red, I figured since you''re in UA and Ryuko told me about how you helped her, asking you to take a look would be the fastest option." "Normally I don''t appreciate being treated like a personal crimeb, but this ties into something I''m working on so I''ll allow it." "Thanks man, knew I could count on you. The faster we get this done the fewer people get hurt." "You already sent it with him?" "Yeah, Amajiki said he''ll find you at lunch tomorrow and deliver it." "Right, now tell me the story, how''d things go exactly?" "Well," Fatgum pauses for a moment. "He and Red Riot were on patrol when some thugs caught their eyes. I showed up and we took them all down, but one of their friends was in the crowd with a gun and shot Suneater in the arm, the bullet thing didn''t even hurt him, just stung then fell to the floor, but it has a needle tip, injected him with something." "And suddenly he had no Quirk." "Yeah, he tried to use his Quirk but couldn''t, but a few hourster and he''s fine." "Was it only the one bullet?" "Yeah, weird right." Horizon warps the one blue capsule into his hand, and makes it hover just about his palm. "An entire warehouse for just the one capsule, then a group of thugs to act as a trial run, but also gave them the one. Manufacturing these things must be beyond difficult and expensive, and it sounds imperfect." "Warehouse?" Fatgum asks. "What are you talking about?" "Nothing for you to worry about, I''ll analyze the sample you sent me, are you familiar with Edgeshot?" "Yeah, Edge and I go way back!" "Good, send him the same report you sent to me, we need to connect the dots because these events happened on opposite sides of Japan." "The distributor you''re hunting down is involved then, guess this means they move more than just guns, but drugs too." "A powerful and dangerous drug, one shot and a top pro suddenly bes Quirkless for a few hours," Horizon ys with the capsule in his fingers. "Blind a soldier for a second and he dies, take away a Pro Heroes Quirk mid-fight, for even a moment---" "---They could kill anyone, even someone like All Might would be vulnerable...would have been vulnerable." "Luckily it''s in the form of a bullet," Horizon says. "Means people like Kirishima and Enji are mostly fine since they can either just shrug off the shots or incinerate them before they touch. Would have been really dangerous as an aerosol agent." "And you can dodge it too, since you can warp." "These won''t work on me even if they hit, but sure." "Huh, lucky guy, but best not to test that theory, we really can''t afford to lose you." "I know, is there anything else interesting in your district I should be made aware of?" "Nah, just the usual stuff. If I find any more samples of this stuff I''ll be sure to give you a call!" "I appreciate that..." "Huh, you know, you''re a lot nicer than people give you credit for." Horizon chuckles at that, "oh no, I''m a heinous asshole, you''re just lucky you aren''t one of those useless paper Pros." "W---" Horizon hangs up. He rxes back into his seat as they make it halfway through Musutafu, about to reach his exit point. Looking at the blue capsule in his hand he realizes the magnitude of this situation. ''Blue seemingly elerates time in certain aspects of DNA, but this sample didn''t do anything to Ryuko''s hair sample when I tested it out. Red somehow reverses a Quirk factor into uselessness for a few hours. But if the blue does nothing on its own, and the red can remove Quirks... The blue is an antidote to the red, they want to sell Quirk-destroying bullets to viins so that they can actually fight people like Enji. Then turn around and pose as some pharmaceuticalpany and sell the antidote to the governments. That''s the only way since removing Quirks like that vites a lot of human rights, even if it would be appropriate for some viins. I need to find a viin group with links for pharmaceuticalpanies, Feel Good Inc should be a good starting point. Having some of those red ones on hand for the next All For One isn''t a bad idea... I guess I''ll collect one or two before this is all over.'' Feeling his ride about toe to an end, Horizon wordlessly takes out a few hundred dors and leaves in on the seat, then warps away, something the drivers of thispany are very much ustomed to, opening the privacy window to see him gone and a tip waiting for them. SHAMBLES Horizon is suddenly standing in a dark bedroom, unbothered by theck of light he senses the light switch nearby and flicks it on. Blinding light reveals the most pathetic thing he''s seen at UA yet. As if the entire room was a shrine to All Might. Posters, banners, figures and toys, even the bedsheets were All Might themed. On some shelves to the side, he could see some stuffed toys of All might in all his different costumes, and beside the bed was an All Might-themed rm clock. ''So this is where pussy goes to dry up...'' And most pathetic of them all, Deku is in bed wearing a thin ankle monitor, one that can easily be hidden by a pair of socks, keeping him in UA. Horizon''s had a week to cool off sincest seeing Yagi to have Deku released, and now most of that anger has subsided. Now he''s just very, very, very annoyed. "Mmm," Deku stirs awake, rolling over and throwing the covers aside as he rubs his eyes. All the while Horizon just walks around the room observing this overgrown shrine. A few secondster and Horizon just can''t take it anymore, "my fucking god, get your shit together so I can talk to you." Deku suddenly snaps awake, looking over to see Horizon holding his most prized possession, a limited edition series one All Might trading card, still in the stic package, worth thousands of dors. He nearly forgets himself and rushes over to have him put it down, then quickly remembers exactly who was in his room, and how bad this situation can be. "Uh, can you please, um---" he winces as Horizon holds it up, but rxes a bit when he carefully puts it back into its stand. "Thanks..." "Rx, I''m a hero, I''m always respectful of other people''s items..." he says after breaking into Deku''s room and touching his stuff. "Right, uh, how can I help you?" "You can''t help me, because you''re Deku, so just listen," Horizon quickly walks up to him and leans in closer, making Deku''s back suddenly drenched in sweat. "Uh---" "Can you just go a few months without fucking up, is that too hard to ask for?" "Wel---" "No, seriously, because I put my neck on the line to get you out of a fucking assault charge, and child kidnapping charge, I signed as a character witness for you, understand." Deku just nods stiffly. "Good, because I trust Yagi to be a good little hero and do what he''s told, but you, I don''t trust you not to trip over your own leg and break it, so before you do anything stupid, just think of what I''ll do to you if you make me look back." "I---" Horizon''s hand moves absurdly fast and grabs Deku face, his right hand on Deku''s lower jaw keeping his mouth shut, then lifting him off the floor. Then he begins squeezing. Then the searing pain starts. Deku''s pupils dte as he feels his jaw straining, his gums being squeezed and teeth pushed together, slowly crushed in Horizon''s vice grip. One For All: Full Cowling-10%! Lightning begins jumping around Deku''s body, harmless exaggerated static but always a shy sight. Then Deku raises both his hands to pry Horizon''s fingers off his face. BOOSTER SHOT! Where he expected some resistance but for One For All to win out in the end, he''s wing against steel and making no progress, feeling the fingers still slowly tightening. Deku can almost hears his jaw creaking and teeth cracking, feeling and tasting the warm blood filling his mouth as his gums burst and tooth fragments dance across his tongue. "Mmmm!" Deku''s muffled cries are apanied by tears as his jaw finally shatters and his mouth is deformed. One For All: Full Cowling-18%! His muscles burn and sting as he pushes past hisfortable power usage, desperate to make the pain stop. The growing pain in his arms is nothingpared to what Horizon is causing him, and as he just barely starts to pry Horizon''s fingers away. BOOSTER SHOT! A strange blue energy vapor begins pouring off Horizon''s arm and the grip tightens,pletely crushing Dekus'' lower jaw and shattering the few remaining teeth. And the pain is just enough to make Deku''s eyes roll back and his world goes ck. "Augh!" Deku coughs as he wakes up, a few hourster,ying on the floor of his room in a small blood stain with fragments of teeth scattered about it. "Ngh," he holds his head, feeling a massive headache. "That hur---" he stops talking, realizing that he''s speaking fine, and rushes to his mirror. "Right... because heroes don''t hurt people," he mutters, now having a much better understanding of why All Might is so cautious about dealing with Horizon. Finally having a glimpse behind the curtain, as he looks at his perfectly healed face in the mirror. His eyes then look over at the clock, seeing it''s already 10 AM. "Oh no, I''mte for ss!" END CHAPTER--- Chapter 186: (Morality/Mortality) Chapter 186: (Morality/Mortality) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- ---29th September, 2315, Horizon Tower... Sitting on his couch Horizon had his feet up on the coffee table, a tablet in hand as he finishes up some work, finallypleting one of his outstanding tasks. He wore only his body glove and a pair of shorts over it along with his visor, because on one of the other couches beside him is Ryuko in a set of Horizon-themes pajamas, herptop setup and a stack of papers beside her as she upies the entire thing to finish up some of her own work. They were both enjoying a quiet night inside with the TV on the wall ying an interview currently being hosted in UA, between All Might and Chitose, AKA Meta Liberation Army Commander: Curious, head of the recruiting and propaganda division. Ryuko nces up at the screen, then returns to her work. "You know, if I didn''t know better I''d say All Might is clearly betting on you to be the next him." "Oh, and why would you say that?" Horizon asks. "Well, his first interview since the Kamino situation and he says he felt ashamed because of Tomura Shigaraki and med himself, which is probably true since that''s the kind of person he is." "Mhm." "But since then he''s just been going sort of on and on about how great you are and how much he trusts you to take care of the future, the scripting is subtle but not hard to miss if you know to look for it." "Luckily most people don''t know to look for it." "How''d you setup this interview so quickly anyway?" "Chitose is a friend that''s always looking for a story." Ryuko looks up from her work, seeing the beautiful blue Chitose on the screen, then nces over at Horizon, "just a friend?" "Settle down catdy, she''s got a secret boyfriend and everything...plus she''s too annoying for anything more. Probably would be interviewing me during sex, no thanks." Ryuko giggles at that, "way to kill the mood huh? But it still feels weird knowing All Might is doing this because of you." "Well he wanted me to save his fuckup, either this or Deku would be fighting in court still." "Doesn''t it feel like you held Deku hostage, just a little bit?" Horizon shrugs, "not really, like any contract he had the option to just say no and leave, but when you sign the dotted line you don''t get toin about whates after, so long as all parties keep their word." "I guess you''re right, still seems kinda extreme if you ask me, lots of kids mess up when they''re out on patrol for the first time, the Commission had an extreme reaction." "Partly my fault...entirely my fault." "Huh?" "Well, I''ve been pushing so much for the public and Commission to be harder on Pro Heroes, including Pro Heroes themselves, the standards to get a Provisional License have gone up significantly and the Commission is also looking for any excuse to flunk people out of Hero Programs." "So they maxed out the charges to make an example? Punish someone who I''m sure they know must be innocent but a bit misguided...as an example of intolerance for Pro Heroes messing up." "Pretty much," Horizon shrugs. "Luckily aside from you, the teacher, myself, and a few cops and a judge, nobody else really knows. And the Commission ofcourse." "That, that doesn''t sound heroic at all," Ryuko sits up and thinks about it for a moment. "Wait a minute, is that why even when All For One was revealed they never lessened the punishment against my team for the Summer Camp incident?" "Yup, and why they never tried to defend you from the public, luckily Nezu covered the legal fees and fines for you guys, otherwise you''d be spending the next 5 years in debt." Ryuko breathes a sigh of relief, "good this I retired when I did, this new status quo you''re working on for Pro Heroes seems really unforgiving." "That''s the idea, because if you fail people die, as you know." "Mhm." "So best to get the losers out of the system as early as possible." "Yeah but that causes another issue, doesn''t it?" "What issue is that." "Well, people like me," Ryuko sees Horizon look over at her. "I mean I''ve got part ownership of the mountain resort so I wasn''tpletely desperate, even if it doesn''t make much money. But a lot of Pros who suddenly lose their license will probably have to find work, the more famous ones will be fine since they can survive off brand deals and probably made enough to retire, but the D and C listers." "The losers." She narrows her eyes at him, "the people who only make enough to live a decent life---" "While putting themselves and their family at risk, so losers and idiots, they should just quit at that point." She furrows her brows at him, "can you not be an ass for one second and hear me out." "Yeah yeah..." "Well if suddenly a lot of people who have only ever trained to fight and use their Quirk get fired...and since that''s the only skill set they have, do you see where I''m going with this?" "Yeah, a new breed of viin, I know. But it''s only the trash that''s getting filtered out, the remaining Pros can deal with them, but the Commission will probably deal with them first." "What''s that supposed to mean?" "Nothing to worry about, besides, doesn''t matter if an army of bottom feeders team up, you''ve got me." Ryuko sets her work aside and getsfortable on the couch, "yeah, but not everyone has a miracle in their bed." "Well you''re in my bed, but technicalities and all that." "You know what I mean, and I''m done here, are you finished yet?" "Just in time for the meeting tomorrow, I''ve got a lot of good info for Sir Nighteye and his band of losers, and Fatgum, and Ryukyu." "Your dragon girlfriend," Ryuko tries to hide her giggling. "Ugh, I get enough of that stupid rumor from the inte, don''t need you humoring it either." "Hey I just think it''s fun, but my personal favorite is people thinking you''re dating Nejire-Chan," Ryuko doubles overughing. "I wish I could see how annoyed you are under the visor every time she calls you!" "Girl talks too much," Horizon mutters. "You say that about everyone." "Maybe everyone just needs to shut up, but that''s unavoidable." "So can I see what you found for Nighteye?" Ryuko gets up and drops herself onto the couch beside him, leaning against his side. "I''m not sure I should show you this, considering you''ve kind of got a weak tolerance for the darker side of viins." "Well, that is partly why we became a rescue team instead of abat team, but I''m sure I can manage." "Alright, if you say so," Horizon takes his feet off the coffee table and swipes on the tablet, and the hologram projector built into the table disys two strands of helical DNA. Two twisting spires with bridges connecting them like a warpeddder represents each strand. One red, and one blue. "DNA?" "Human DNA, they came from the same person, to make the bullets." "Someone is using their Quirk to make Quirk-suppressing bullets?" "Not exactly..." Ryuko looks at the projection, then back at Horizon, then back to the projection, as all the piecese together. "They''re forcing someone else to do it?" "Well considering the gic markers match what would usually be found on the brain stem...yeah, I''d imagine so." Ryuko rubs the back of her head and grimaces, "damn monsters." "Oh it gets a lot worse considering what some of the gic markers and telomeres tell me, but I don''t want to deal with you crying tonight..." "I can handle it." Horizon looks at her and considers it for a moment, then turns back to the disy, "no, you can''t." She frowns and just leans against him. "So what''s their n?" "Red bullets stop Quirks, blue bullets undo the red bullet. Sell red to viins and blue to Heroes." "How would they do that?" "I''m checking out a few pharmaceuticalpanies and recently requested patents, eventually I''ll get a hit. It''ll be through a series of shellpanies but since I''m using Nezu''s system it should sort it out fairly quickly." "A medicine that removes Quirks, in the right hands it could be a lifesaver." "Yeah, lots of people would kill to have their Quirk gone, but because of ''Human Rights'' and all that they have to be willing." "You always sound so disgusted when you talk about human rights...kind of concerning Mr. Doctor." "Too bad they use her Quirk to manufacture it, and the regtions to make and sell anything originating from a Quirk would never allow someone to sell pieces of their own brain stem." Ryuko winces. "Now imagine if I told you all the bad parts." "You said ''her''..." "Drop it." "Alright alright...I''m already gonna have trouble sleeping tonight." "We''ll figure something out," Horizon chuckles. "Any more questions?" "Yeah, aren''t you worried about them hitting you with one of those bullets?" "I''d never get hit, plus, it wouldn''t work. The bullet itself has a stored package of Chronons, that''s how it works." "Time particles? So it ages the Quirk factor away for a while, and the blue one targets the red and ages it forward into...existing?" "Into being useful and matured again." "Ok, but what if they make a new one that just ages you into dust or something?" "Awe, you''re worried about me..." Ryuko pushes his shoulder, hard enough to actually make him move, "just because you''re invincible doesn''t mean I don''t worry. Or maybe I just like this lifestyle and don''t think I could score another young, powerful, billionaire doctor," she giggles and leans against him. "Oh there''s only one of me, and he''s here with you. But really the Chronos are mapped to the person''s dna, like an infection, which means it will only affect me if I allow it, and I won''t, plus...even if it ages me a hundred years nothing would really change." "What do you mean?" "Well, I can control my aging, so when I''m around 28 I''ll just keep my body like that forever, that''s the n anyway." It takes almost a minute for Ryuko''s mind to wrap around what he just said, "are you telling me you''re immortal?" "Well, it''s not like I try to hide it," Horizon shrugs. "During the Sports Festival, I literally said, ''mortal diseases and ailments don''t affect me'', weren''t you listening?" "Nobody takes that stuff seriously, c''mon! We just all assumed it was just the heat of the moment or something." "Well now you know better..." Ryuko sinks back into the couch and folds her arms, pouting, "so when I''m a saggy old grandma you''ll still be young and hot...fuck you." Horizon bursts outughing, "well that''s one way to look at it, but the other side is that I''ll outlive everyone I love forever and ever, over and over again, can''t image what that will do to me." "You''ll be fine, your ego is enough to keep youpany, its like you always say---" "I am enough..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 187: (Raid Briefing) Chapter 187: (Raid Briefing) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "Now that everyone is here, let''s get this meeting started," Sir Nighteye says. He was sitting at the head of arge meeting room inside his agency. Behind him was a projector showing a picture of Kai Chisaki, aka Overhaul. And in front of him was an assembly of mostly small-time Pro Heroes. The most notable names were Ryukyu, the current #10 Pro Hero, apanied by three of her work studies students. Nejire-Chan, Froppy, and Uravity. Fatgum was also in attendance with his work studies students, Suneater and Red Riot. And Sir Nighteye''s own work-study student, the final member of the big three, Lemillion was also in attendance. The big three along with two dozen Pro Heroes together for one raid operation. "Yes," Ryukyu says. "Please tell us what could warrant such a gathering." "And why kids are involved in this," Rocklock says. He was a brown-skinned man with dreadlocks and a green and yellow hero costume, lock-themed. "Yeah they''re from UA but from the feel of things this could get really dangerous." "My students are plenty capable," Ryukyu says, gesturing to Froppy and Uravity, as Nejire-Chan has already proven herself over the years. "Mine too!" Fatgum gestures to his students. "Plus these guys have valuable information to add to this case, just a few days ago we got first-hand experience with just how dangerous this can be!" "Focus please," Nighteye draws all eyes onto himself. Looking around the room he''s happy with the people he managed to gather, aside from the fact that he couldn''t get Eraser Head. Nighteye requested his aid since his Quirk is perfect for this type of operation, especially against Overhaul, but Nezu said both he and Horizon can''t be away from UA at the same time. The threat of Gigantomachia is far too great to risk such a thing. "Right, sorry," Rocklock says. "Now, I brought you all here to assist in the investigation, raid, and apprehension of a branch of the Yakuza named the Shie Hassaikai." "Yakuza?" Ryukyu asks. "They haven''t been a crime organization for decades, are they regressing now that All Might is gone?" "No, only this one faction, led by Kai Chisaki, Overhaul," Nighteye gestures to the picture behind him. "His Quirk is rumored to disassemble things and restructure them, hence the name." "A powerful Quirk," Fatgum says. "Yes, but before we think about taking him down, we first need to gather evidence. Will you please tell everyone what happened to your students a few days ago." "Sure thing!" Fatgum stands up. "Well Suneater and Red Riot were out on patrol when they got shot by some thugs, one of them fired a weird red bullet-like thing into Suneater''s arm, it had a durable red case and a needlepoint." "Needle?" Ryukyu asks. "It only stung," Suneater says, voice almost too quiet to hear. "But the next thing I know I couldn''t use my Quirk, couldn''t even feel it, it was gone..." Most of their eyes open wide at that, horrified by the notion of losing their Quirk, far more so than regr people since Pro Heroes live and die by their Quirk. "But I''m guessing it came back since you''re here now," Rocklock says. "You''re ok, right kid?" "I''m fine," Suneater grows a cow horn from his head, then it merges back into his body. "It wore off after a few hours." "I got shot too," Red Riot says. "But I hardened before the bullet hit so it shattered against me, some weird red liquid sshed on my arm from it but nothing happened, guess it has to be in your blood to take effect since I was fine." "One of the thugs they arrested gave up the name of the person who delivered the bullets to him," Nighteye says. "He''s confirmed to be a member of the Shie Hassaikai, but we''re unsure if he''s working solo or under Overhaul''s orders." "This is a lot of manpower for a hunch," Rocklock points out. "True, we do have more suspicions," Nighteye admits. "I''ve been investigating Overhaul and his group for almost two months, in that time I''ve uncovered dozens of rumors about them being a major transit hub for drugs and other contraband from Japan into Korea. We just haven''t been able to get anyone to testify or deliver solid proof...atleast they never lived long enough to do so." "Quirk suppressing bullets being smuggled into Japan," Ryukyu mutters. "These people are dangerous, I''m d you called me in for this." "Yes, but I must confess that the reason all of you have been selected is because of this," the screen behind him changes to a map of Japan, showing a dozen bases scattered about. "That exins why lesser-known Pros like us are here," Rocklock says. "Those locations are in our respective areas, you want us to scope them out for you." "Precisely," Nighteye says. "We need more than rumors to get a search and arrest warrant signed, we need probable cause. The Yakuza is still a big organization, and if it looks like we''re trying to bully one of its branches they could cause problems, but if the Shie Hassaikai are caught doing illegal business, they''ll cut all ties with them to protect therger factions." "Is there anything specific we should look out for?" Ryukyu asks. "Kai Chisaki himself. Overhaul went into hiding after a recent chance encounter, he''s being even more cautious than before unfortunately." "If he thinks that we''re looking for him, why would he stay at one of their bases?" Ryukyu asks. "Because he doesn''t know we''re aware of all his bases, plus as easy as it would be to just go somewhere else, he''s a control freak. He supposedly values precision so much that other than his right-hand man, nobody knows his full n. He can''t lead his people from far away, so he''ll be close enough to keep an eye on them." "And when we do find him?" Ryukyu asks. "Go in swinging and hope for the best?" "Ideally I''ll request more manpower from Pro Heroes and the police force, but from what I discovered most of the Shie Hassaikai are standard thugs, only the top men are worth taking special precautions for. All the files were sent to you this morning before this meeting." "I''ve got friends on the police force in some of those ces, I''ll call them and see what they know," Fatgum says. "We used to take down drug dealers like this all the time." "I appreciate that," Nighteye says. Ryukyu nods along, "alright, so what areas do you want us to keep an eye on?" ---30 Minutester... Just when Nighteye was halfway through exining the specifics of their roles in this operation, Fatgum checks his phone to read his new message. "Hey Nighteye," Fatgum raises his hand to get everyone''s attention. "Horizon just sent me a text, he''s done analyzing the bullet we sent him, the one that shot Suneater." "You sent it to him instead of the crimeb?" "Ryukyu said he works faster and better anyway, I mean its only been a few days and he''s done already." "He''s reliable," Ryukyu says. "If Horizon is ready you should call him while we''re all here, he likely have found something new for us." "Agreed," Nighteye nods to Fatgum who immediately calls Horizon. While its ringing Ryukyu speaks up, "I rmend only speaking if necessary during this," she looks around the room. "Horizon is exceptional at what he does, but he''s very...prickly." They all give her strange looks, aside from the students in the room that is. "That''s the nice way of putting it," Froppy says. "Fatgum?" Horizon''s voice reaches everyone, already on speaker already. "Yeah I''m here, we''re in the meeting right now discussing the raid, figured you could update us all right now if that''s not too much to ask." "Huh, its already ten o''clock, I assumed that meeting was over already. I just got off the phone with President Pantu and was about to write up a report to send Nighteye." "The president of the Hero Public Safety Commission is hands on with this matter?" Sir Nighteye asks. "Its big enough to warrant her direct attention, and my own investigation has proved very promising." "Investigation?" Rocklock asks. "Does this kid seriously think he can handle something thisplex on his own? Overhaul is already onto us, we can''t afford tipping him off even more." Ryukyu shoots him a concerned look, trying to stop things from escting, "Horizon is very capable, I was skeptical too at first but after working with him a few times, he''s the rare case of someone meeting the ims the media makes about them, and even going beyond them." "And he''s super strong!" Nejire-Chan adds. "Which is more than I can say about whoever said that just now, because I don''t recognize the voice, so who are you anyway?" The entire room goes silent, feeling the tension in the air, but Nighteye decides not to intervene, wanting to learn more about Horizon, about the man Nezu seems to think can surpass his idol, All Might. "The name is Rocklock, and---" "Never heard of you," Horizon interrupts him. "And since I''ve got a lot of the top Pro Heroes memorized, must mean you''re one of the loser D-Listers." "Hey I---!" "Have a boring record," Horizon says. "I''m looking it up right now. A Pro for over a decade but you''ve only dealt with small time thugs and incidents, no real viin takedowns worth mentioning. Because your Quirk Deadbolt just lets you lock things and people in ce... spatially atleast, just a bit better than a tube of superglue." Nighteye sees where this is going and tries, but fails to stop it, "can we please get ba---" "A glorified beat cop ying Pro...another paper hero inting the number of Pro Heroes in this country...I wonder how long it''ll take before themission sweeps you off the board and drops you in the trash pile where you belong." "Who the hell do you think you are talking to me like that?!" Rocklock gets up and ms his hand on the table. "And those records are confidential!" "I''m the child they call in when people like you can''t be trusted to handle important matters, that''s who I am, and that''s why I have ess to your records, to sort through the garbage and clean this country...one piece of garbage at a time." "You little sh---" "Enough!" Nighteye has to raise his voice, stopping this argument in its tracks. "Bicker on your own time, we have a job to do..." Rocklock mutters something under his breath and sits down, and Ryukyu just shakes her head at the man whopletely ignored her warning. "Horizon, can you please tell us what you learned." "Sure thing Nighteye..." While Horizon begins exining, Nighteye is more grateful than ever that such a person didn''t obtain One For All, because even through the phone he could feel a vile nature below the surface... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 188: (Raid Briefing Pt.2) Chapter 188: (Raid Briefing Pt.2) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "Horizon, can you please tell us what you learned." "Sure thing Nighteye..." Everyone gets ready to listen in, andter they''d be thankful that this is all being recorded, because the information was so stomach churning they could hardly take notes. "How long have you been building this case?" "Six weeks," Nighteye says. "I got a lead when one of their members was caught hanging around some drug dealers, we kept an eye on him and learned he was the supplier, and now we''re here." "Right, well you''ve barely scratched the surface," Horizon says. "For the past three days I''ve been analyzing the sample Fatgum sent me and doing some research of my own." "We''re listening." "What you''re dealing with isn''t some nonsense like Trigger, this is a new type of arms race, the kind that can go global very quickly. The red bullet Fatgum sent has a blue counterpart I found two weeks ago, but that one doesn''t make any sense on its own since it doesn''t do anything. The red suppresses Quirks, but I think it''s more like a Quirk Deletion Bullet." "But my Quirk came back," Suneater says. "Yeah, after a few hours, but I contacted the Commission for their records, any reports of Pro Heroes losing ess to their Quirk, got hits from all across Japan. Dozens of reports, some for a few minutes, others for a few days, the evidence is inconsistent. That means this is still in its trial run, and the end goal is likely a permanent result. One lucky shot and your career is over, in a battle, you''d just die more often than not." Everyone looks sickened at the thought. "The blue one does the opposite. On its own, you could apply it to yourself and nothing would happen, but if you''ve been shot by a Deleter Round, it counters the effect and matures your Quirk factor back to its usable state." "A gue and a cure," Nighteye says. "Exactly, they n to sell the Deleter Rounds to viins and the cure to the government, can''t imagine what a government wouldn''t pay for their Top Pro Heroes to have their Quirks restored." "How would they make that deal happen?" "Already found that out," Horizon says, once again surprising everyone. "I found a small pharmaceuticalpany that applied for approval on the patent to the cure, it''s hidden fairly well as something else but the chemical markers are nearly identical. I tracked it though nearly a dozen shellpanies back to the Shie Hassaikai, or atleast one of their ghost ounts." "No wonder the Commission is so closely involved," Ryukyu says. "But from the sounds of it, the Shie Hassaikai are manufacturing these drugs, not importing it." "That they are, and I know how to stop them from making more. I read the briefing Nighteye sent, thankfully Fatgum sent me a copy so I''d be up to speed." Nighteye gives him a slightly annoyed look since it''s confidential information, but Fatgum just shrugs and smiles awkwardly. "Arresting Overhaul is a priority, but his supposed daughter is of equal importance." "Eri?" Lemillion asks, a sinking feeling forming in his gut. "When we bumped into him we saw her, what''s she got to do with this?" "She''s the product..." The entire room is silent, mortified, hoping he didn''t mean what they think he meant. "Seriously?" Ryukyu didn''t try to hide her disgust. "He''s using his own daughter to make drugs?" "Worse, his Quirk is Overhaul, it lets him disassemble matter and reassemble it however he wants. And the gic markers I found in the samples are from the brain stem and spinal fluid of a girl, young, around 7 or 8 years old, blonde." "That''s Eri," Lemillion mutters, a pissed-off expression on his face. Angry at this whole situation, at the fact that he was so close but didn''t save her, he handed her right back to that monster. ''Midoriya was right,'' Nighteye thinks. ''If this ys out as Horizon suspects, I''ll have to apologize for not believing in him...with instinct like that, it''s no wonder All Might has such faith in the boy.'' "What''s her Quirk?" Sir Nighteye asks. "Well I managed to dig up a report by her mom, Overhaul''s adoptive father, the previous boss who mysteriously fell ill is actually her grandfather. His daughter is Eri''s mom...was, she abandoned her. Her father was awyer." "Was? Did Overhaul kill him?" "No, Eri did," they all look aghast at that. "Her Quirk is the ability to Rewind time itself, storing Chronons in her body somehow and giving them out to other living beings, then manipting their Chronons to rewind." "So she sent him into the past?" Fatgum asks. "No, time travel isn''t possible," Horizon says. "We don''t move through time, it flows through us, that''s how Quirks like Sir Nighteye''s foresight work, he reads the Chronos while Eri acts like some kind of viral infection to them." "So she touched him, and he vanished," Ryukyu says. "Just like that?" "Precisely, and her mom left the next day, its a freak mutation kind of like mine, but much weaker," Horizon says. "The bullets rewind your Quirk factor to remove the Quirk, but from the looks of it Overhaul hasn''t perfected grafting her gic material onto the catalyst he uses to make it permanent." "So it''s like a battery," Nighteye says. "You said she uses her own Chronos, so each bullet has some, and the more he can fit into one the closer he gets to making it permanent, but anything less only needs a certain amount of time to mature into being usable again." "Yeah, so the longer between uses of her Quirk the stronger the next use can be, the further she can rewind you." "But she erased a grown man, right?" Fatgum asks. "It''s not umon for Quirks to have a sort of ''limit break'' when they first manifest, when the body suddenly unleashes unsustainable power. She''ll likely never be able to do that again, but I''d still be careful when touching her." "So we gotta rescue the kid, arrest Chisaki, and shut down this operation, right?" Rocklock asks. "Hmm, you''re actually keeping up, I''m surprised." Before Rocklock can respond Nighteye cuts him off, "anything else Horizon?" "Yeah. Because of the danger this situation poses to the stability of the world. The threat of Quirk Deleter Rounds, the Commission wants this deal with Quietly. President Pantu will send each of you a set of guidelines soon but she''s already hashed it out with me this morning." "What do we need to know?" Nighteye asks. "Just keep this quiet, don''t let any of the rounds get away from you, and your priorities are Eri and the remaining rounds. Without her they can''t make more, we can always send in more muscle to deal with Overhaul another time, neutralizing the threat of this drug is the priority." "If this is such a big deal, does that mean you''reing to help us?" Rocklock asks. "Good question," Nighteye says, before Horizon can form another pettyment. "Hostage rescue and investigations like these are easy, but I can''t just leave Tokyo and head to the other side of Japan without the crime rate here spiking. My existence is keeping Minato Tokyo and Musutafu suppressed, even leaving for a few days will cause problems for the people here, ideally, you deal with this without me. And unfortunately, it''s much of the same with other top Pro Heroes like Endeavor, luckily you''ve got one of the Top 10 on your side already, that should be enough. Any of us suddenly heading toward their territories will cause Overhaul to take Eri and flee." "That makes sense," Nighteye says. "But we''ve got enough to deal with this situation." "If things escte or the League Of Viins shows up then give me a call, but unless absolutely necessary I need to stay put." "Understood, and since this is a sensitive matter, what timeframe, I assume we have one, right?" "Yeah, ten days, if this isn''t dealt with in ten days I''ming down there. People here will get hurt and probably die...but Japan is unstable as is, the sudden emergence of these bullets will do a lot more harm than the result of me leaving my domain for a while. Luckily it should only take me a day or two to wrap up Overhaul and his Yakuza losers." "Understood," Nighteye says. "I''ll keep you in the loop as much as possible. Tha---" Horizon hangs up. Ryukyu facepalms, feeling second-hand embarrassment, "I swear he''s nice when you get to know him." "Oh, I don''t know about that," Froppy says. "I think you''re just being nice, he''s always kind of a jerk..." "Yeah," Rocklock agrees. "Normally I don''t speak like this about kids but...that guy is as--- a jerk." Almost everyone nods in agreement. "That''s irrelevant," Nighteye says. "In three days he uncovered more than I knew existed in the past 6 weeks, the information he provided is beyond critical for this investigation. I''ll have to alter our action n but your roles as discussed today are unchanged. We''re only now entering the observation stage of things." "Then we should all head back to our territories after exchanging contacts," Ryukyu says. "We''ll save Eri and stop these monster, I can feel it, but don''t let your desire to save her quickly cause you to take unnecessary risks. Believe me, I want to save her as much as any of you, the thought of a child enduring torture like that sickens me, but the risk of us over reaching and scaring off Overhaul is far too great." "Agreed," Nighteye says. "Heed her words everyone, be careful in your approach, now let''s get to work..." After everyone leaves, only Nighteye and his sidekicks are in his office, grim expressions as they sit around his coffee table. "We have to tell him, right?" Bubble girl asks. "The case is confidential, and he''s not a part of it anymore," Centipeder says. "Deku deserves to know," Lemillion says, a grim expression on his face, fist balled so tight it hurts. "He was right, he was right and I stopped him from saving her. I handed her back over to that monster...I don''t know how I can look him in the eyes after that, or her." "By doing what heroes do, by saving her," Sir Nighteye says to the young hero. "Don''t beat yourself up for the choice you made, with the information you had I would have done the exact same thing. You couldn''t have known, and clearly Chisaki manipted the records so nobody suspected his abuse of Eri... just do what you can, and save her, that''s how you apologize to them." "Right," Lemillion wipes the one tear flowing down his cheek, "thank you sir!" "Good, now I need all of you to give me a moment, I need to call Midoriya, and I''ve been given a lot to think about..." "You''re going to tell him?" Centipeder asks. "Of course," Nighteye says. "He may not have his Provisional License right now, but the moment he gets it back, I hope he''ll return and be my sidekick, I have much to teach him..." As they all exit the office, Nighteye takes out his phone, his finger hovering above Deku''s contact. ''It should be lunchtime at UA right now...but what do I say to him.'' He thinks back on all he learned that day, and quietlyughs to himself, ''I didn''t know what I didn''t know, and stumbled into something far more nefarious than I could have ever imagined, but today I got a lot of insight. Midoriya''s instincts are atleast on part with All Might''s, that heroic spirit they share, something I alwayscked. It must be nurtured and allowed to bloom fully. I certainly see why you chose him as your sessor instead of Mirio, I suppose my time with Mirio has made him a bit too much like me. He always thinks before he leaps, and sometimes being a Hero means having faith. But I also see why Principal Nezu likes Horizon so much, that boy...that man, as crude and prideful as he may be. His des far outshine any of the bad in his character, he''ll be a fine hero, but to be the Symbol of Peace you need to inspire people, and he fundamentallycks that. His attitude constantly makes it clear that he thinks of himself as being above everyone else. Even through the phone I could feel him looking down on everyone, theplete opposite of All Might who would always lift others up to new heights.'' Nighteye touches Deku''s contact and the call begins connecting. ''Horizon is certainly an all-star in every category the Hero Public Safety Commission ranks in, the undisputed future #1 Pro Hero...but you''ll be the Symbol of Peace to the people, their champion.'' ---Meanwhile At Horizon Tower... Horizon was finishing up some work on hisputer while Ryuko was bawling her eyes out on the couch. "See this is why you don''t eavesdrop, I told you that you couldn''t handle it." "But how can they do that to a child!" Horizon just rolls his eyes, "you women and your feelings..." he mutters before warping away, leaving the crying woman behind, now ready for a day of hero work in Tokyo... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 189: (Team Horizon Pt.2) Chapter 189: (Team Horizon Pt.2) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "This ce feels super excessive," Shinso says. He, Sero, and Horizon, were currently in a private room at one of Japan''s most prestigious restaurants in Minato Tokyo. They were all in full Hero Costume, with Shinso''s new costume being a more obviously armored ck and purple version of Eraser Head''s. Instead of a full head visor like Horizon and Sero he wears a mask which covers the lower half of his face until just under his eyes. It was ck and seemingly made up of dozens of intricate metal parts, with two dials on either side of his jaw to adjust them. Since his Quirk doesn''t work if yed or amplified electronically, this invention allows him to tune his voice by using the dials. They then cause the intricate pieces to move and his voice changes as it flows through the newly altered gaps, no electronics required. Around his neck like arge scarf is his own capture weapon, identical to Eraser Head''s, aside from the purple colour with ck edges. He also has a tanto behind his waist like his teacher along with a few pouches for other gear. "Just enjoy the night," Sero says, "especially when Horizon''s paying..." "I''m always the one paying." "And I always appreciate that," Sero chuckles a bit. "But seriously I doubt he called us both to Tokyo the day before we head back to UA for no reason, probably some big case he wants us to help him with, right?" Horizon looks between them, then shakes his head, "nope, just figured we could have dinner here." Shinso sighs, "you had me sit on a train from far edge of Japan all the way to Tokyo...for this." "This restaurant is important," Horizon says. "This ce is always monitored by the press, they already know I''m working with Cellophane, so when some pictures of us three walking in here go viral." "I be a known member of Team Horizon," Shinso says. "I guess it was worth the trip." "I never approved that name by the way." "Good luck changing it," Sero says. "I''ve already used it online and the inte likes it, looks like its staying." "Whatever, lets just order..." They all getfortable and enter their orders into the screens beside their seats, one of the other reasons Horizon came here. No staff listening in on conversations or seeing Sero and Shinso with no masks. And after a bit more chatter there is a gentle knock on the door, and ines a few men with their food and drinks. "This looks like the most delicious thing I''ll ever eat," Sero says as the staff leaves. "Don''t let Kodai hear that..." Sero rolls his eyes, then he and Shinso take off their masks. "Still don''t think any food is worth this price...kinda insane. Maybe I should have be a chef instead of a hero, and I wouldn''t have to risk my life all the time." "You still could," Shinso says as they begins eating. "Well, I''m kind of used to the perks thate with the job." "You mean pussy falling into yourp," Horizon says as the lower part of his visor just over his mouth retracts and fold away, showing separations that were otherwise invisible. "Being a hero has its perks, like the fact that they''ll probably give us this meal for free just so we''ll keeping back." "Free food is always a win," Shinso says. "Yeah, but I always tip atleast the same amount, reputation matters after all." "Meanwhile Mt. Lady tries to look all cute to get free food," Sero says as they all begin eating. "Works every time too." "How is working with a team by the way?" Shinso asks. "Horizon doesn''t really have a hero he works under, well not beyond his loose connection to Endeavor, and I''ve got Gang Orca, but he''s got a lot of people working under him so I hardly see the man, but you''re always working closely with three Pro Heroes." "Honestly Edgeshot is pretty awesome, dude knows his stuff, you should totallye work with us sometime. Your Quirk would be really handy for the kind of stuff he does, plus he''s a ninja cosyer too." "I''m not a ninja cosyer," Shinso says. "Yes, you are," Horizon says. "Is there a strategy they use to be more effective as a team?" "What like a Super Move...not really. They mostly just do their own things until one of them gets a lead, then they bring it to Edgeshot and he makes a n from there. And I''ve gotta say, going from interning with Kamui Woods who pretty much let the wind just take him to the next crime. Then to Edgeshot who has a n for every encounter, its a big step up. And Kamui Woods is learning a lot from him too, but Mt. Lady is a bit more content just being a background character." "Makes sense atleast," Horizon says. "But Mt. Lady and Kamui moved from Aldera into Edgeshots area, that certainly helped them a lot to get some attention." "Speaking of attention, we haven''t seen you in the news much this past week," Shinso says. "Don''t you work like 24/7 on patrol." "Only 23 hours actually, I still only need an hour of sleep." "Lucky," they both mutter. "But honestly my senses expand to most of Minato Tokyo, and since Horizon tower is in the middle I rarely have to patrol anymore. I''ll go out if someone contacts me for help or something pops up on the police radio. But aside from that my presence is enough to deter crime in my area, even when I''m not in Tokyo, so long as I don''t post anything online showing I''m in UA, the crime rate stays at almost zero." "Almost," Shinso says. "So some people are still that bold." "Yeah, but all the people worth hunting are gone already, now its just pickpockets and purse snatchers, but none of them use their Quirks. They learned real quick that if they don''t use their Quirk then the cops wille for them, but if they do use it, then I''ll just find them, since using your Quirk is what ssifies you as a ''Viin'', pretty smart." "Does that happen a lot?" "Not really, maybe once a week, honestly I''m better at suppressing crime in Minato Tokyo than All Might was, but unlike him my influence doesn''t span all of Japan and most of the world. But it works for me, not like I want to go chasing every fucking purse thief or pickpocket, what a waste of my time, we''ve got D-Listers for that stuff." "That''s a bit...mean," Shinso says. "But I''m not surprised you so easily suppressed crime in your area, nor am I surprised you haven''t reached the level of All Might." "Not yet atleast," Sero says. Shinso takes a sip of his drink then nods, "All Might suppressed crime by inspiring Pro Heroes and citizens, and even the viins had a huge respect for him, but you operate through power and fear. I can''t imagine its fun being a criminal, and knowing without warning someone can appear behind you ready to lock you away. But aren''t you a bit concerned that you''re treating Minato Tokyo like a police state?" "God Emperor Horizon," Sero says. "That''s why blonde calls you, right?" "Well, it''s not like I''m always watching all the time, so no. But I rather people think I''m always watching, keeps them in line." "A de at everyone''s throat," Shinso sighs. "Well that''s one way of doing things I suppose. But I''m sure some people are worried about you potentially abusing your power." Horizon shrugs, "power not worth abusing isn''t worth having, and besides, who would they send after me?" "I''ll add this to the list of things I''m d the public didn''t hear you say," Shinso says "Oh we shouldpare those sometime," Sero chuckles. "Horizon says some insane things that I don''t think anyone wants to hear a hero say, but hey he''s good at his job, and that''s all that matters." "That''s the only way to win at life," Horizon says. "Make yourself so irreceable that they wouldn''t know what to do without you, then you can do whatever the fuck you want." "I''m working on that," Sero says. "Is that the goal, to make yourself irreceable like All Might was?" Shinso asks. "Or are you going even further." "Much further, I''ll be a boon to all of mankind," Horizon raises a hand and uses his Quirk, showing off some of the blue energy vapor wafting off his hand. "In theory I''m a miracle elixir... fuck being a Pro Hero, that''s how you be irreceable..." ---2 Hours Later... "This entire tower seems excessive," Shinso says as he enters to the pool area of Horizon Tower. Seeing a 25m heated pool in the middle of the room. With Horizon''s logo on the floor of it. Sero was already floating in the pool on an intable tube, drinking a canned beer. "He built it to match his ego!" hisugh echoes through the room. Shinso looks over to Horizon, sitting on one of the lounge chairs scrolling through his phone. "Well I guess that makes sense, and why are you drinking?" "Oh this," Sero gestures to the beer, then points off to the kitchen area here. "He''s got a full bar over there if you want, and can you bring me a new one, this is empty." SHAMBLES! The empty can is swapped for a full one. "Huh, thanks man!" Horizon doesn''t respond. "Best Quirk ever." "I meant why are you drinking, you''re 16." "So?" Horizon asks. "We''re all 16 but expected to fight and potentially die against viins so losers can keep living, they want you to fight for them, they can let you enjoy a drink...just don''t throw up in my pool." "Yeah don''t be such a wimp, just try one!" "And why do you have a full bar in your agency?" Shinso asks. "Because if this Pro Hero thing doesn''t work out, imagine how many women I can fit in this pool." "Can we do that anyway?" Sero asks. "No, I have a image to uphold," Horizon says. "Now Shinso go grab a beer and rx, I''ll take the residual alcohol out of your system tomorrow, no hangover and nobody will ever know." "Well, maybe one..." ---3 Beerster... "Look, I''m just saying its creepy how she never talks," Shinso says, now floating in the pool on his own tube alongside Sero. "Well Yui is just shy, she talks when we''re alone, more than just talk actually..." "Wait, have you two...already?" "Huh, yeah, I mean we can die at any time right. She''s doing her Hero Work Studies with Thirteen but it can still be dangerous, and I fight a lot in mine, why hold back on an experience." "Well, that''s one way to look at it," Shinso says. "They''re also 16 and horny," Horizon says. "Plus everyone is living in dorms on the same campus...people are fucking, its inevitable. That''s why the first day back every ss had that sex education talk...and why I got to sste." "That makes sense," Shinso says. "Wait, do you like, see people having sex?" "No, I can blur out things in my senses until I want to focus on them, otherwise it''s just too much information to be useful." "That''s a relief," Sero says. "But one thing I never really understood, you were the one that told me not to hold back on experiences...but you still don''t really do anything with Momo or Jiro." "True, everyone knows they''re all but humping your leg," Shinso says. "Its kind of like how Uraraka follows Deku around, but atleast with her its more...cute. I think they might just be delusional and horny." "Can''t really me them, I''m amazing, but honestly I''ve just been so busy with everything that dealing with them isn''t even on the list, well, not at the top." "Plus you''ve got Mei and Ryuko to help you rx," Sero says. "Ryuko?" Shinso asks. "Ryukyu? Are those rumors true?" "No, not the dragon, the other Ryuko," Horizon says. "What other Ryuko?" "Pixie-Bob, she lives nearby so she''s usually spending the night at the tower when I''m here...but she''s visiting her team at the resort this week." "What? How long has this been going on?" "Since the summer camp, we get along really well honestly..." Shinso sighs, "well, now I see why Sero is bing so...well, like you. You''re a bad influence." "Nah, I''m the best role model he could have," Horizon says, watching Shinso sip his beer. "I''ve got power, money, women, fame, everything a young man wants, I''m perfect..." "If you say so," Shinso says. "Enough about where Horizon puts his dick, what about you Shinso?" "Me," he looks over to Sero. "I''m still trying to catch up to both of you, romance would just get in the way of that. When I''m in the top 10 I''ll think about it..." "I''ll ask again in a few months..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 190: (Girls u0026 Guns) Chapter 190: (Girls u0026 Guns) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- ---2 PM, Sunday... "I always wondered what was in here," Genesis says, walking through Horizon''s training ground in her new Hero Costume. Her leotard now reced with a pair of shorts and a crop top, with a zipper down the middle of the top. A mask covering most of her face and her signature ponytail still apparent. Her book was also now held at her side on her belt with the other side having smallpartments with high fat snacks she could easily eat. "Impressed?" Horizon ask as they walk through the empty streets. He was wearing his PC Uniform instead of Hero Costume. "Cementoss built it pretty quickly, like a little city of pure concrete, no pesky cameras so I can practice my new moves in private." "That exins why it doesn''t have the details other training areas have, the windows here don''t even have ss, no nts, the roads aren''t paved." "All designed to be destroyed and quickly rebuilt, and I''ve destroyed it all a few time already," Horizon shrugs as the gets to what appears to be a town square. "You''ve destroyed a small town of concrete multiple times over," Momo looks around at the blocks of five story buildings. "You say that as if its normal." "Well for me it is, now, lets get to why you''re here," they finally get to a shaded spot and he points to the far wall, only 20m away from them. TAKT! Three thin pirs rise up out of the floor, as tall as light posts. "My targets?" Momo asks. "First things first, show my the guns?" there was a noticeable tinge of excitement in Horizon''s voice, which she didn''t miss. "Uh, I''m not allowed to hand them to anyone who...right, nevermind," Genesis reaches down to her exposed stomach as it begins shimmering a pinkish purple light. And then she produces what appears to be a modified pistol, what would be in and boring if not for the oddlyrge chamber and bulkier design. And the red and white colour scheme to match her outfit. Holding it in his hand Horizon does a quick Scan. "This thing has a lot of parts...some weird ones too." "That''s a requirement," Genesis says. "Since my Quirk doesn''t actually need firearms to function, I had to make them in a way that cannot be used for anyone else. They''re also disposable in the sense that they get worn down quite easily. The materialposition is also very expensive to replicate industrially. Its likely that I''ll only be able to use all of my shots in a gun, reload once, then by the end of those new rounds I''ll have to make another gun." "So many hoops just to use a gun, on viins no less. What about those weird bullets, they''re wider than normal ones, and blunt." "Oh, Mr. Shield helped me with the design, they''re made of a metalposite that transfers most of the kic energy as blunt force instead of piercing." "So metal beanbags...ouch." "Mostly non-lethal, but they will hurt a lot." "Any other guns or just this design?" "Only this for now, I''m working on some others, and when I feel confident with all of them I''ll apply for a work studies next semester, hopefully with Snipe or another ranged Pro Hero." "Good n, now lets see how good these are," Horizon casually aims at the middle pir, looking down the iron sights. Seeing his improper form Genesis is about to correct him, but he starts firing immediately. She stands mouth agape and eyes wide as each shot is released with almost no dy between them. And they all hit the same spot, causing a small crack to spread through the concrete and the metal missiles to fall to the ground below the impact point. Her face was flushed below the mask, heart racing, breathing heavy. "You can shoot?" she asks in amazement. "Why can you shoot, and how are you that good?" "Its not that hard," Horizon shrugs, leaving her oblivious to his years of practice. "I see it in movies all the time." "But, but 20 shots in the exact same spot, that''s, incredible." "Neen shots actually." "Neen? But that magazine holds---" BANG! He shoots her in the left shoulder. "AHHHH!" she falls back onto the floor clutching her shoulder, looking up at him with teary eyes as the ckish purple bruise forms. "Huh, guess it really hits like a beanbag." "You shot me!" he wasn''t sure if she sounded more hurt from the pain or the perceived betrayal. "Yeah, obviously. If you''re gonna be shooting people you should atleast get shot once, see how it feels for yourself. So you know exactly the kind of pain you''re about to so casually inflict onto others, only seems fair, right?" She holds her breath for a moment, trying to calm herself, then gives him an annoyed look as she gets up, "you could have warned me first." "That''s no fun," he says while handing her back the gun. "I think it fractured a bone," Genesis winces as she tries to roll her shoulder. "Well you''re pretty slim so not much padding, hold still," he rests a hand on her shoulder and a soothing sensation flows through the injury, and the painpletely goes away. She just barely looks in time to see the blue healing energy retracting as he removes his hand, "thank you," she gives a dazzling smile. "Quit blushing and start shooting, let me see how urate you are..." ---2 Hours Later... "Well now we know your limit," Horizon says as he looks around, seeing the three destroyed concrete pirs, then looking around his feet to see scattered sets of brittle guns. And beside him, on the floor, Genesis, sitting on the floor panting, drenched in sweat, trying to recover. "I''m, out of, snacks," she says, gesturing to her empty belt pouches. "Well, you did good against immobile targets, today was just limit testing, you still need to practice uracy while moving, on moving targets, and clearing buildings. Also, always keep a knife on you atleast, or a retractable staff." "Snipe said the same thing, and thank you." "Onest thing, have you shot anyone yet?" Her eyes widen, "uh, no, I haven''t gone on patrol yet or used this in realbat." "Well, you''ve got enough for one shot I''m sure, and who better than me." "You, you want me to shoot you?!" "Yeah, better to get all this anxiety out now before youe face to face with some psycho and freeze, because then you''d die, or worse." "Worse?" "With tits like that, use your imagination..." She looks disgusted at that idea, but doesn''t argue with the depths some people can sink into. "C''mon, just get it out of the way now." "I don''t know, you''re my friend, and you know I li---" "If you do it I''ll give you a ki---" BANG! Horizon stops the bullet just before it ms into his visor, holding it in mid-air with his Quirk. He keeps it in ce and leans to the side, looking at her embarrassed face. "Maybe not in the face, but good job I guess..." "I''m sorry I''m sorry I''m sorry! I just got so excited and then my hand just moved and I was already looking at your face and I---" "Don''t worry about it, and good quick draw time. Now go get cleaned up thene to my room to cash in, in about two hours, I''ve got something to do first, and I''d do it now but you''re all sweaty and gross..." SHAMBLES! Momo rips off her mask and takes a deep breath, mind still reeling from what just happened. Then she sees the bullet still floating in the air and grabs it, a memento of a day well spent. Then she assess her current state, drenched in sweat, and holds her head in her hands, "how embarrassing, but he didn''t seem to hate it atleast... I just have to go make the most of tonight." ---Meanwhile, Horizon''s Room... "I was trying to be flirty and she tried to shoot me in the face, what the fuck Momo," he immediately checks his phone, seeing his client almost ready. SHAMBLES! His casual PE Uniform is swapped out for his Hero Costume, ready to do onest bit of work before he has some fun for the evening. ''My informant should be in Musutafu soon, just help him out, get the info I need, then I can get back here and rx...probably talk to Shield first. Finally making some progress on all these things I have to do...'' END CHAPTER--- Chapter 191: (Cold Leads) Chapter 191: (Cold Leads) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "So how do you feel?" Horizon asks. He was currently sitting in a high end hotel room in Musutafu, looking at UA in the distance atop its hill while listening to some news reports on his phone. "I still can''t believe this is happening," a woman says as she takes the seat opposite him. An older woman approaching her sixties, hair already grey and face wrinkled, but dressed in a suit. "That didn''t answer the question." "I''m feeling better than I have in years," she takes a deep breath. "I can finally breath freely again, and my back pains are gone...I can probably keep up with my grandkids now." "Well, I''m good at what I do, I promised a full checkup and to fix whatever I found, and I delivered." "Yes, but honestly when the big bad Horizon came knocking, I expected to be dragged off in cuffs, not negotiating a deal." "Well, I can always do thatter, but that doesn''t get me what I want." "Not like I could stop you, not like anyone could. The information you requested is in my car downstairs." Horizon puts his phone down and looks toward the car, through the floor, "the papers?" "Yeah." SHAMBLES! He warps away for a moment the reappears with a thick stack of papers. ''No wonder viins have their head in the sand, kids a monster,'' she thinks but wisely doesn''t say aloud. "Handwritten, why?" he asks, already skimming them. "You asked me for the manifests of all my clients hidden airfields across Japan, that''s not something I''m willing to just download to give you a backdoor into my system. I have a business to run." "Fair enough." "How''d you find me by the way?" She asks. "I made sure the Pro Heroes and Police didn''t even know I existed, but you just called my phone like it was nothing." "Maybe you aren''t as invisible as you thought..." "Bullshit," she scoffs. "Someone talked, so who''s the rat?" "Everyone talks when I put hands on them, but all that matters is you''re useful to me, so I''ll keep you around." "Was useful, I''m leaving Japan. I''m not foolish enough to stick around when UA''s golden boy knows my address, that''s not how Isted this long." "What you do is none of my business, just be gone by the end of the week, now back to my question about these being handwritten, not even printed, that''s unusual, so..." The woman sighs, "Tech." "Tech?" "That''s a name that came up once or twice," she says. "My business was brining people in under the radar, big names and big yers that had to get themselves across borders or move a lot of...higher tier items." "I know, you dealt with guns and glory, no drugs and silly things like that, I''ve done my research obviously." "Well you asked me to look into anyone by the codename Wolfram, got one hit from anding strip up in the mountains to the west. Big guy, a foreigner, could control metal from the way he folded up the fence at the airstrip." "That''s the one." "Yeah well his trail ran cold, and I figured if I helped you find him maybe you''d be honest and stick to your deal...at the time I still thought this was a setup, can''t me me for being paranoid." "Understandable." "Well everywhere this guy goes the cameras start glitching, telltale sign of someone else, a group called Tech, must be thousands of hackers working together. One of their men passed through Japan before about five years ago before heading back to America." "For what?" "To set up supply lines, linking Japan, America, Europe, Russia, Brazil, and China, plus some others, factories with vehicle andputer parts." "Using their quirks to manufacturemercial goods, highly illegal without the proper licenses, which they probably don''t have," Horizon says. "But they pay, and since they''re connected to seemingly everything, I didn''t want to take the risk of exporting these files on Wolfram, hence me having to stay up and write it all out." "I see," Horizon ponders this information for a moment. "Well you kept up your side of the agreement, we''ll never mention this to anyone and you can get out of Japan as soon as possible." "Thank you, and for the record, I much prefer when Pro Heroes ask for what they want instead ofing in swinging, even if your bedside manner needs a lot of work." "I get that a lot, but does it really matter, you''re a viin..." "Criminal," she corrects him. "Viin means I used my Quirk tomit a crime, and since I''m not somehowmitting crimes with my Acid Spit, I''m just a regr criminal." "Technicalities, I''ve got work to do, have a good life." SHAMBLES! Now back in his room Horizon sits on his couch and puts his feet up, flipping through the stack of papers he just got. Shrinking his Room to only epass the dorms, he looks around for a moment. He senses Sero ying video games with Kirishima and Ojiro in themon area. Shinso and Tokoyami finishing up some studying for tomorrow. Deku and Bakugo are outside sparring, with Shoto and Uraraka watching them. Then his focus jumps over to Momo''s room where he senses her, Jiro, and a few other girls excitedly talking on her bed. ''I really hope that''s not about me...'' he thinks before cutting off his Quirk. ''It''s probably about me.'' "Nezu''s system is the most secure in the world, it''ll be fine if I just scan these files," he mutters while taking out his phone. ---10 Minutester... Standing in front of a hologram being projected in his room, he sees a map of Japan with dozens of small dots across it. "Too many ces, Wolfram can use any of these as a cover if he cares about a ce with a lot of metal that nobody would care about if it went missing." He swipes his hand and the map refreshes, nowpletely nk. "Ok, if I were him, then I''d assume that Horizon is protecting the Shields so I could just team up with the league, but the league hasn''t shown up in weeks so that doesn''t give me any new leads either." He thinks for a moment, then opens the Hero Network on another hologram and gives amand, "map the most recent Nomu sightings." Three dots appear on the opposite side of Japan, to the southwest shore, "been weeks since thest one...dead leads. Well, atleast I know Wolfram is in Japan. No face or description, like hunting a ghost, but the only thing I can confirm is that my bait works. But he won''t strike unless they leave UA or I''m not around. So best to just stay put and hope he gets impatient, then I''ll kick his teeth in when he shows his face." With an annoyed grumble he sits back and looks at the map. "So much bullshit to deal with, all to y the perfect hero role...but I''ll have this world groveling at my feet in no time. Save the Shields- get David and Melissa Shield in my pocket, and instantly have All Might''s most famous and outspoken supporter in my corner. Almost guaranteed hall of fame potential in that alone from the credit he''ll bring me. Maybe find a way to reverse the Nomu operation...unlikely, but atleast make an effort. Having Eraser Head on my side makes UA a lot more tolerable already, and hell a Nobel Prize could be fun to have. Same with this," he raises his hand and activates his Quirk, allowing the energy mist to waft off his hand. "Figure out a way to cure things without being there and suddenly I''m at the top of the world...and I''m nevering down. And they won''t have a choice but to give me everything I want, and then some." He then looks back up to the map, "if only I could make progress on this idiot first." ''Maybe if I just dip into Arsenal or Law Matani''s resources,'' he genuinely contemtes this. ''No, keep all three separate. Law is a businessman, Horizon is a perfect Hero, and Arsenal''s connections are for criminals only...the only way I win is to have the world in my hand, then leave. Give it all up and disappear to live a peaceful life somewhere. I almost can''t wait for that day... But I will somewhat miss people tripping over themselves to reach me, this Pro Hero gig has its uses.'' With a wave of his hand, the map goes away as he neatly stacks up all his papers. Then he taps his phone a few times, and another map of Japan shows up. This time with red lines covering some of the roads to blinking red nodes in major cities and some smaller towns. Even some ces just off the shore were blinking. "Orca and Edgeshot must have updated my map today, some of these routes are new," he can''t help but chuckle at the absurdity of it. "First-year UA student, leading his own independent takedown of major contraband distribution lines across the country, so sessful that even Pro Heroes jump onboard to get a piece of the action, Rank 1 here Ie..." And just as he''s about to review their updates, a knock on his door pulls his focus away. He expands his Room enough to sense Momo anxiously waiting outside his door. A folder in her hands, wearing a sweater dress, and nothing below it. ''Huh, guess Mina got into her head, I''ll need to thank Pinkyter...now to check one item off the to-do list...'' END CHAPTER--- Chapter 192: (One Task Complete) Chapter 192: (One Task Complete) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- Hearing Momo knock on his door, Horizon pauses his hologram and decides to walk over instead of his usual Warping. Not wanting to make her any more nervous than she already is. But when he opens the door, just for a tiny moment, he freezes. Because while his Quirk allows him to sense anything within his Room, it doesn''t give him any sense of color. So looking at Momo, wearing only a sweater dress, white with blue lining, and his logo proudly disyed at the bottom above her left thigh. And the faint pink lip-gloss on her lips, he''spletely caught off guard. Hepletely ignored the folder in her hands and just watches her for a moment, taking it all in as she nervously fidgets before him. "Huh, I always knew I''d look good on you..." He nods to her outfit. "Well, I, I was told you''d like it." "Oh, believe me, I do," he steps aside for her to enter, and she scans the hallways quickly as if expecting someone to stop her or yell at her for what she''s doing. "But I don''t think that''s licensed merchandise from my website..." "Oh, I, made it myself, I''m sorry, I hope you don''t mind." "The view is well worth it, make whatever you like with my signature on it," Momo''s cheeks blush slightly as she sheepishly nods. "It still feels strange being in a boy''s room," Momo says, following his lead as he gestures to the couch. "You''ll get used to being in here," he turns his back to her and begins making some adjustments to the hologram, which finally catches her eye. "You have one of those in your room?" "Nezu let me design my own room, and this helps me manage my current cases," he gestures to the map as he makes a few adjustments. "Look familiar?" Momo thinks about it for a moment while trying, and failing -because of how nervous she is-, to getfortable on the couch. "A map of Japan''s highways?" "Close," he saves his work and takes a seat to her left, resting his arm on the back of the couch. "I put this case together myself, very confidential, and what you''re looking at is the known transport route for all manner of contraband, a lot of people work together so Heroes never learn about this, but I''m not just any hero." "So how did you find out about this?" Momo''s eyes widen in amazement as she speaks, carefully analyzing the map. "I have my ways." "Always one step ahead," she mutters, still trying toprehend the magnitude of the map he''s disying. "And I see you brought something too," he gestures to the folder beside her. "Oh, well, you seemed interested in the rifle designs I came up with so I figured...you could see what the Shields and I have been working on together, they''re almost ready." "Maybe some other time, but right now it''s already nine o''clock, so I''d rather just focus on you," he gently reaches out and lifts her chin so she''s staring at him, and he can almost see the excitement in her eyes. Then something many of the girls have been wondering pops into her head. "Will you take off the visor?" Horizon pauses for a moment, then retracts his hand, and she leans forward slightly, not wanting him to let go, before catching herself. "I''ll have to, but I''d rather you cover your eyes, for your own safety. I''m so handsome it could give you a heart attack." Momo gives him a skeptical look, "I won''t look if you don''t want me to, I respect your privacy." He considers it for a moment, ready to use his UA tie like a blindfold as he''d done with Ryuko at the summer camp. But before that, takes a different approach. "Thank you, but honestly, how about I show you..." Momo''s breath hitches. "But its a bit...intense, because of my Quirk, and you can''t look for long, it can be dangerous for you." "Well, if you''refortable with it." "I trust you," Horizon says. And he slowly reaches behind his neck and deactivates his visor. Sensing it unbind from his body glove around his neck and begins folding away. And Momo''s eyes widen in genuine surprise at what she sees. His face was still covered in the white matching ski mask as he always is, but through the eye holes were steady thick streams of the blue energy vapor. His eyeballs themselves were bright blue, glowing like bulbs. And Momo finds herself squinting when looking at them for more than a moment. A clever use of Booster Shot to create this effect, gives a bit more justification for his body glove and visor being Lifestyle Support Items, in the unlikely case that Momo gossips atleast. And hopefully makes this entire situation easier for her to stomach. "So, not what you expected?" he asks yfully, seeing her brain trying and failing to process this. Without a word she slowly reaches up, and touches the energy vapor pouring out of his face. She feels the cool and soothing sensation flowing through her finger, familiar, the same as his healing energy from earlier that day. ''It''s a containment suit for his power...it must have taken him a lot to trust me like this,'' she forms her own conclusions. ''I can''t imagine what terrible things he''s had to deal with to live like this...'' And in her eyes he''s elevated that much higher, oveing adversity she can''t even fathom. Giving him a joyful smile, so d that he trusted her with such a secret, Momo lets some of her inhibitions go and leans forward, sitting up properly to clumsily crash her lips into his. She feels a tingling sensation in her body before the soothing and rxing feeling ovees her, helping her to melt into his gasp much easier as his hands hold onto her. Nearly two minutes pass before they finally separate, and Momo leans backpletely out of breath with her arms around his shoulders, feeling one of his hands at the small of her back and another holding onto her rear. "I''m so sorry, I should have asked you first," she says between quick breaths. At this Horizon just chuckles, and she feels the vibration of it in her entire body, "Momo, I''m Horizon, if I don''t want someone touching me, they can''t touch me, and as you can feel, I''m very happy with how this is going..." And that''s all she needed to hear before greedily diving back in. Twenty minutester and Momo is straddling hisp, now wearing afortable blindfold she made in his colors, on his bed. And it''s only when he gently begins lifting the edge of her sweater dress, which only has her naked body under it, that she realizes exactly how badly she''d really wanted this. Years of being prim and proper and never getting to have friends or talk to boys. Never even having so much as a crush. And now she''s here, in the bed of her first crush, dear she says her idol. Her gold standard for what she needs to be, and she''s about to give him everything, to share the most intimate experience with him. She wants more than anything to give in and finally cast aside her inhibitions, but that nagging feeling haunts her and she reaches for his hands, stopping him from undressing her as she holds onto them. "Are you alright?" Horizon asks, and his voice hits her in a way that sets her blood on fire, her heart pounding in her ears. "I just," she takes a few short breaths. "I don''t know if, am I...am I being a good person." "Momo, you''re one of the best people I know, golden-hearted to a fault honestly, but you always doubt yourself." "But, what am I doing?" Horizon rolls his eyes, "babe---" She feels her heart skip a beat, that word having such a strong effect on her, like honey to her ears. "---you aren''t doing anything, this isn''t on you, it''s on me, because you''re just following my lead, right?" And with those few words all the responsibility falls away from her, and her inhibitions with them. Momo leans forward, grabbing his face and kissing him as he removes her sweater dress. Showing off her naked body below... The start of a very good night for both of them. And certainly one that they''d never forget. Minutester, as the lights are finally off so he can stop excessively burning energy, Horizonys her down on his bed, the now disheveled mess that was Momo Yaoyorozu, to begin the rest of their night. He does onest scan of the dorms, and notices something interesting, someone eavesdropping on them, and enjoying herself while doing so. He has to stop himself fromughing and just decided to ignore it for now, because he had more than enough to focus on in his bed at the moment. ''One task at a time, I''ll get to herter...'' END CHAPTER--- Chapter 193: (The Morning After) Chapter 193: (The Morning After) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- Momo wakes up in arge andfortable bed, and she feels a satisfying soreness wracking her body. Before her eyes open she remains under the nket, memories of hours earlier flooding her mind, causing a cheerful grin to spread across her face. He can''t help but release a small giggle and roll onto her side, and as the sense of bliss fades away, she realizes she''s not in her room. Feeling around all she finds is more of the empty bed, and all the things she''s heard about women waking up to find themselves abandoned and only used for sex flood her mind. She frantically throws off the nket, uncaring about her naked form, and looks around. Then breathes a sigh of relief as her eyesnd on Horizon. He was standing toward the other side of the room, the only light source being the hologram he''d been working onst night before she arrived. He was now in his body glove and visor again, but she could see what looks like a young white haired girl with a single horn on one of the screens, and a map of Japan on the other. "You ok?" Horizon asks, not even turning around to look at her. "I''m," Momo thinks about it for a moment. "I''m happy, actually. I was just worried you wouldn''t be here." Horizon continues making adjustments and notes on the map, "you''re here, so where else could I possible be? Besides... it''s my room." "Oh, right." "How do you feel?" Momo takes and nket and sloppily wraps it around herself as she gets out of bed, not wanting to imagine the state of her hair at the moment, "exhausted, is that normal?" She walks over to him and takes a seat on the couch behind him, then he looks over to her, "you spent the night with what''sparable to a living nuclear power nt...so yeah, it''s pretty normal." He then turns back to his work. "Don''t worry, you''ll get used to it, and I''ll try to keep your limitations in mind more going forward." Momo blushes at that, the thought of doing this again already making her heart race, "what time is it?" "5 AM, a bit earlier than you usually wake up." "And around the time Mr. Aizawa does his checks to make sure we didn''t break curfew, I should get back to my room before---" "You really don''t need to worry about that," Horizon says as he opens a third screen, and she sees himposing an email addressed to Fatgum. "Eraser Head doesn''t check certain rooms." "What do you mean?" "Mine, Sero''s, Shinso''s, yours, Jiro''s," he shrugs. "He has very good reasons to stay on my good side, and our understanding makes my life at UA so much easier." Momo looks genuinely confused, "I understand that Team Horizon would have some privileges, but, why wouldn''t he check mine or Kyoka''s rooms?" "Asks the girl who just spent the night in my bed, pretty sure the entire school knows about the not-so-secret crush you two have." "Can we please not talk about that?" Momo asks. "I still need time to process what happenedst night." "Sure, also, when you''re ready to go back to your room, I can warp." "I''d like to stay here just a bit longer, I''m not ready to be alone with my thoughts just yet, if that''s ok." Horizon chuckles as he sends the email, "I''m a gentleman, I won''t just kick you out after sex." "That''s not wh---" "I''m kidding Momo." "Oh, right." Horizon works in silence for a few minutes, sending a few more documents out to top Pro Heroes, many of which Momo never would have expected him to be working with. ''I suppose it makes sense,'' she inspects the map even closer. ''His domain is Minato Tokyo and Musutafu where UA is. This map has points all across Japan and some off the coast, he needs dozens of Pro Heroes working together to bring it all down at once.'' "Why do you ept help from other Pro Heroes?" Momo asks. "Isn''t your catchphrase ''I am enough''?" "That''s not official," Horizon says. "But as to why I ept help, well, part of being respected is being seen as apetent leader. Even while All Might was the top Pro, for many situations the Commission would call upon Endeavor to lead operations because All Might is more of a solo act." "So you don''t just want to be another #1 Pro Hero, you want to be the respected leader of all Pro Heroes." "Exactly. But I also can''t be everywhere at once, I can hardly leave Minato Tokyo these days, so having pieces on the board is a way of extending my reach." "You''re even more ambitious and incredible than we thought," Momo mindlessly whispers. "Thank you." "Oh, I didn''t mean to say that out loud..." "Well I appreciate it anyway, but honestly, the perks of being a Top Pro are barely in effect since I only have a Provisional License...and I''m already starting to like it." "What kind of perks?" "Honestly, just being able to do whatever I want, and nobody questions it, people hold Pro Heroes up on such a pedestal that the license and a good reputation is all you need to have the world in your hand." "That''s a dangerous way of viewing it." "Power not worth abusing isn''t worth having," Horizon says. "But don''t worry, I still intend to be the perfect Hero, because I''ve got people I need to save." "Well, that''s a relief, because I''m not quite sure how we''d arrest you," sheughs nervously. "Well, you can certainly try, but we both know how that''d end." Preferring not to think about such a seemingly unlikely and impossible scenario, Momo eye''s drift over to the files regarding the little girl. Taking a closer look at her red eyes and white hair, noticing her arms and legs were covered in bandages, and most of the information on her page was left nk. Only the name ''Eri'' at the top along with some basic information, as well as her Quirk being listed as ''Rewind?''. "Who is the little girl?" Momo asks. "She''s so cute, is she someone you rescued?" "No," he continues typing. "She''s currently being torn apart and put together by someone that''s being investigated. I''m consulting on the case, they''re using her to make Quirk destroying bullets, Deleter Rounds. This is all confidential ofcourse, but I trust you not to gossip." Momo appreciates his confidence, but also looks disgusted at the very thought of what Eri is going through, "what kind of monster would do such a thing?" "Some wannabe Yakuza boss, he''s trying to make his faction of the Yakuza into a feared gang again, he''ll be in cuffs by the end of this month." "Well I feel better knowing that you''re going after him, viins like that, people who take advantage of those that can''t defend themselves...those are the worst types of people." "Well, I''m only consulting, he operates outside of Tokyo so he''s not my problem until Nighteye runs out of time." "Sir Nighteye? Does this have anything to do with why Midoriya isn''t doing his Work Studies there anymore?" "This case is a bit too dangerous so they sent Deku back to UA," he lies, not in the mood to go into Deku''s failures. "Oh, well that makes sense, these people sound dangerous." "Which is why Sir Nighteye has 8 more days to solve it before I have to step out of Tokyo and put boots on the ground myself." "But I still don''t quite understand," Momo pauses for a moment, trying and failing to make sense of this. "How do you know this girl is in danger, but leave here there instead of simply going to rescue her? It couldn''t possibly take you that long, right?" "Meh, a day or two at most, just fly by the hideouts on my hoverboard, find the girl, and do some light violence," Horizon shrugs. Momo furrows her brows, "then why don''t you just go save her?!" her eyes open a bit in surprise. "Sorry, I didn''t mean to raise my voice, it''s just, it''s difficult to understand. If you have to power to go save her, why wouldn''t you do it." Horizon stops for a moment, realizing exactly what''s about to happen, and snaps his fingers. The hologram shuts off and the lightinges on, causing Momo to squint and pull the nket up higher, even as Horizon sits beside her. "You''ve heard me say things like, ''I''m not just a Pro Hero, I''m Horizon'', right?" "Yes I''ve witnessed your bravado," she says jokingly. "But what does that have to do with it?" "Well, it''s not bravado, it''s painfully literal and true. I''m not like other Pro Heroes, my role in the world is entirely different. I don''t get to run around putting out fires all day. I have to stay put in Minato Tokyo because my existence makes crime almost non-existent. I leave and viinse out in force to make up for lost time, and the Paper Pros can''t handle that. I don''t have the freedom to just go where I please, as much as I say I can do whatever I want, which I can. Being able to do something doesn''t mean you should. Like me stepping out of Tokyo to save Eri, I could, but a lot of people would get hurt and a lot of drugs would get shipped since Horizon Tower is so close to the docks." "But---" Momo tried and tried, but couldn''t make sense of it. "How can you just, exist, knowing someone out there needs you, and you''re here with me being...happy?" "Because I see the big picture. I''m holding Japan''s feeble Hero Society together by just being here. I''m the big red button the government can push when shit hits the fan. Like the nuclear option when things go very badly. Other nations know this and are always trying to buy my service, wanting me toe live in their countries. They''ve offered me everything. Money, political office, a knighthood,nds, titles, women...the ability to make and alter a fewws. Orplete immunity tows in theirnds. Everyone wants Horizon, and the most effective thing I can do for the whole, is not running around trying to save every single person that needs help." Momo looks back at Eri''s picture and falls into deep thought, "I can''t imagine the magnitude of the weight on your shoulders. But I trust you to always make the right choice to help the most people." "Yeah well, that''s why I''m here, I deal with the big problems so they don''t run over anyone else. All the little people get to live in ignorance of all the looming threats and sleeping giants, hell nobody even knew about the shadow war between All Might and All For One until Kamino, so imagine how many of those happened before that day." Momo moves a bit closer and leans against his side, and he wraps an arm around her, "shadow wars and political disputes over you, intense." "Yeah, meanwhile I''m just here spending the night with you, so in a weird way, you''re closer than they are..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 194: (Eavesdropper) Chapter 194: (Eavesdropper) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- ---1A Dorms, 6:35 AM... After getting out of the showers and getting dressed, wearing a pair of shorts and arge shirt, Jiro gathers her things and begins the trip back up to her room from the showers andundry area downstairs. "Morning Kyoka!" Uraraka greets her, falling into step beside her as she too is heading back to her room to change. ''It''s way too early to have that much energy,'' Jiro thinks, but instead just looks over at her friend. "Morning Ochaco, ate start for you?" "Oh, just a bit. I kind of got carried away sparring with Minast night, so I overslept." "Oh that, yeah she mentioned you''ve been teaching her some of the Gun Head martial arts from your internship," Jiro says as they enter the hallway, moving toward the elevator. "Yup, she''s a natural, atleast more than me, Mina''s got some serious moves already." "Well she likes to dance so I bet that helps her out," Jiro shrugs. "What about you?" Uraraka asks, taking a closer look at Jiro, seeing small dark bags under her eyes. "Trouble sleeping?" "Uh, I, was upte studying for midterms," she lied. "They should be starting soon so I don''t want to wait too long." "Oh shoot!" Uraraka facepalms as they enter the elevator. "I totally forgot about those! Awe man I need to start studying more, I''ve just been so caught up with working at Ryukyu''s Agency that my school work hasn''t been as big of a priority." "Yeah well I imagine that''s difficult to manage." "Yeah, you know how it is, every time you''re out on patrol youe back exhausted, studying after that just seems like torture." "Well, I actually wouldn''t know," Jiro says, and she see''s Uraraka looks like she''s about to apologize. "Its fine, really. But don''t think just because we failed the Provisional License exam that we can''t catch up to you. Because while you''re all out of UA we''ve been training harder than ever, you''ll see." "Yeah! Then we can go on patrol together and help people," Uraraka gets excited at the idea. "Oooh! Maybe all the girls can form a hero team together, with a super shy Super Move where we all work together to take down a big viin and save everyone!" "Let''s focus on one thing at a time Chaco''," Jiro says. "I still have to actually pass the next exam first, then we''ll talk aboutbo moves afterward." "Oh you''ll be fine," Uraraka says as the elevator begins taking them up. "The only reason you didn''t get it this year was because there were just so many third-year students from other Hero Courses there, next year you''ll be a second year during it, and a lot stronger." "But I''ll have fewer allies, so I think it bnces out." "Mmm, maybe, but I guess you''ve just got to be even stronger and win anyway!" Uraraka gives her a dazzling smile, and Jiro just gives an awkward one in exchange. "You make it sound so easy, but yeah, that''s exactly what I''ll do!" They chat a bit more while walking through the hallway, then Uraraka goes into her own room to get ready for school. And after a few more steps, two doors down, Jiro arrives at her own. "Honestly I''ll never understand how anyone has that much energy this early in the morning," she mutters while casually stepping into her room. "Morning people are annoying," Horizon agrees. "Eehh!" she squeals out, dropping her items and holding her chest, breathing heavily as she leans against the door. "Well good morning to you too," Horizon says. He was currently in his full UA uniform, with the back of his jacket, his logo stitched into it staring at her. As he peruses the myriad of musical instruments lining her walls. The entire room looks like a music shop, with instruments, posters, even some old records and a record yer, beside a stereo system. "What the hell are you doing here?!" Jiro growls out, looking more cute than scary as she picks up her stuff, but Horizon doesn''t pay her much attention, still inspecting her instruments. "This is my room." "Obviously," he stops and turns to her. "But I didn''t think you cared much for the notion of privacy, afterst night," he gestures to the ceiling, where hidden behind a poster there is a small indentation where her Earphone Jack was but hours ago. Jiro''s blood runs cold, almost breaking out into a sweat as she freezes, unable to think of any excuse that could make this better. "Can you really y all of these?" Horizon asks, and she leaps at the chance to change the subject. "Atleast a little bit, you know who my parents are, it''s in my blood." "Impressive." "You mentioned that you don''t y anything, right, want to learn?" she desperately tries to distract him. "I''d rather not, understanding it ruins the magic, and with how my brain works, if I can understand something it''s difficult to enjoy." "Right, we---" "Why were you listening in on Momo and Ist night?" Horizon asks, and a sh of embarrassment and fear appears on her face. "Well, I, um---" "I did a quick Scan of the dorms to make sure we weren''t being spied on before I...well, you know, you heard, and imagine my surprise to find you,ying in bed with an Earphone Jack in the ceiling and a hand do---" "I''m sorry!" Jiro blurts out. "I was just, worried you''d take advantage of my friend." He considers it for a moment, then nods, "a good excuse for the first part maybe, but that doesn''t exin why you listened in all night." As Jiro freezes, Horizon walks over and gently puts a finger under her chin, raising her head so she has to look up at him. As he looms over her, a full 16in -40cm- taller than the petite girl. "I..." Jiro stutters for a moment, then her eyes get teary as she finally lets it all out. "Because I like you, and I know I tried not to but I really do. And I like Momo, and I don''t know what to do, so when both of you got all, close, like that, I just kept listening in ok. What else was I supposed to do? Both the people I''m attracted to were...and I just...I...I don''t know. I''m sorry. Please don''t tell anyone, don''t tell Momo that I''m---" "As if I care about some teenaged sexuality crisis, and again, you aren''t very subtle, but rx Momo is too sweet to treat you any differently either way." "What about---" "I already knew why you were listening in," Horizon shrugs. "I just like watching you squirm, atleast that makes us even." "What?" "But I do have one question," he ensures he''s making proper contact with her, and reads her body as he speaks. "When you were listening in, how much can you see. I imagine you have something like echo mapping, right?" "I''m not that good yet, I could only hear," Jiro says. "Sorry to disappoint...even more." Luckily for her, he detects no lies. He was fairly sure she wouldn''t have gotten much detail like his face and certainly not his tattoos, but better safe than sorry. And removing Jiro from the board is always preferable topromising Law Matani. With her dodging that bullet he steps away and continues looking around her room, as she desperately tries to make sense of what''s happening. Taking deep breaths she wipes her tears and just observes him, before finally speaking. "Are you going to report me to Principal Nezu?" "Don''t be stupid," Horizon says. "What Momo and I were doing is so much worse than your preerected antics, the teachers acknowledge that they can''t fully stop students from fucking, but they have to atleast try to prevent it. But atleast try not to be such a creepy pervert in the future, or just ask to be there, doubt either of us would mind..." Jiro''s mind is sent reeling with that thought, and she blinks a few times to try and make sense of it, but before responding with some outrage, she takes stock of the situation. And realizes she''s really holding no moral position to be judging him "what?" Horizon stops looks around and walks up to her, then leans in closer to her face, "I sensed it early on, so if I wanted to. If you were anyone else spying on us, this would have gone very differently, but since its you we''re having a pleasant and hopefully fruitful conversation about this." Jiro nods stiffly, feeling the hairs behind her neck stand up, a new sense of danger filling the room. "But you''re you, and how this ends is quite obvious, so I saw no reason not to let you have a glimpse of your future. Atleast now you know what you''re signing up for..." Jiro freezes for a moment, and from the look in her eyes, he can tell her brain is struggling to process all of this. And the redness on her face says she''s finally making some progress in understanding him. Shaking his head he sighs, and pats her head, "don''t bete for ss, and try not to be any weirder around us..." And with that, he warps away, happy with how he''s using the perks thate from being Horizon. END CHAPTER--- Chapter 195: (Homeroom) Chapter 195: (Homeroom) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- ---7:05 AM... "Look, I just don''t see what the big deal is, I didn''t even say anything wrong," Sero says. He was sitting on Tokoyami''s desk, because strangely he and Horizon are in the 1A homeroom before anyone else arrives. Even the obsessively polite Momo Yaoyorozu. Horizon was in his custom uniform, leaning back with his feet up, scrolling through a few of his fan pages on his phone. Forever entertained by the insane rumors and assumptions the inte has about him. And this week thetest gossip is him joining the Edgeshot Hero Agency, since Cellophane is working with them. "Just tell her she''s pretty or something, or get her cake, girls love cake," Horizon says. "It''s flowers, the saying is ''girls like flowers''. Besides, Yui like tomatoes more." "Ew, and I said cake because they can''t eat flowers, but seriously, Yui is head over heels for you...for some reason---" "Hey!" "If you actually like her then probably don''t reward bad behavior with cake, that''ll be bad long term, and hey, why apologize if you''re right," Horizon shrugs. "Exactly, but I don''t get why she''s mad." "She''s a girl, doesn''t matter if you were right, just how it made her feel, I try not to take them seriously." "Well I''m sorry I actually have a heart," Sero shakes his head. "And it really likes Yui." "Sounds like a personal problem. Just tell her to get over it, you''ve got hero stuff to do, so what if you don''t want to go see some stupid poetry show nonsense, who gives a fuck." "Her apparently," Sero groans. "It''s just gonna suck so much, those things are superme." "Hey you wanted a girlfriend, this is what you get. I did tell you to just ---" "I remember what you told me, but I happen to like Yui as a person, and not as ''ythings'' or whatever you said." "Then bite the bullet and go to the poetry show, I''ll be over in Tokyo enjoying the perks of being a hero. Honestly man, who gets fame and fortune to settle for one girl..." Horizon scoffs. "Well let''s not get ahead of ourselves," Sero says. "I said I like her, not that I''d nev---" The door at the back of the room slides open, and Momo Yaourorozu stares at both her ssmates before her eyes settle on Horizon. "Hey, Yaomomo!" Sero doesn''t miss a beat or notice the strange look she gave Horizon. "You''re usually the first one here, everything ok?" Momo walks over to her seat as she responds, "Good morning Sero, and things have never been better, just a bit of ate start this morning." She takes her seat and begins setting up her books. "Hey, can I get your opinion on some girl stuff Yaomomo?" "Um, certainly, but I''m not sure if I''m experienced enough to be of any help." "More than most of our ss," Horizon blurts out. And Momo can see the thoughts connect through Sero''s expression as he looks between them, then he looks surprised, eyes widening a bit, then quickly moves past it. "It''s about Yui," Sero says, and Momo''s oh-so thankful he didn''t say anything. "She wants to go to some poetry night next week, it''s in Musutafu, but it really isn''t my kind of thing, plus I just feel like I''d get more done by doing my usual training, you know?" Momo nods along. "Right, so I told her this, and now she''s mad, what do you think I should do?" "Well, training is important, and we are here mainly for training. But also you entered into a rtionship knowing there''d have to be some moments where you put each other first, as that is part of having a romantic rtionship..." Momo furrows her brow, trying to think of a solution to this. "One more reason heroes shouldn''t have serious rtionships," Horizon says as he continues scrolling on his phone. "I''ll add it to the list." Momo frowns, "Everyone needs someone to be there for them in the quiet moments." "Yeah, the quiet moments, not to drop what you''re doing just because of them. Anyway, what do you think he should do?" "Hmm, I think he should go, if it makes her happy that alone should be enough reason." "I think he should go," Horizon says, surprising both of them. "If only to understand why women shouldn''t be allowed to distract you from your goals, suffer through some garbage amateur poetry, and learn a valuable lesson." "Are you saying you''d never go to one of these for a girl?" Sero asks. "Fuck no!" Horizon actually put down his phone, then gestures back to Momo. "I''ve got the girl that''ll be happy with me taking the time to buy her a new interesting book, not dragging me to some horrific and pretentious poetry event." "Mhm," Momo nods along, ted by the way he''s so open about whatever they are. "Because I think ahead, while you just think with your dick." "I think with my heart," Sero says. "Well you think with both of those," Horizon says. "I think with all three. If you wanted to avoid this you should have asked out Momo," he shrugs. "I did, on the first day of school, but she already had that crush on you." "She has good taste," Horizon says. "Can both of you please stop speaking about me as if I''m not here," Horizon nces back to see her face beet red. "And for the record, I also happen to enjoy live shows, and poetry." "Really?" Horizon spins his chair around to face her. "Want to go to this poetry thing?" Momo''s eyes open wide, ''he''s asking me out, on a real date, maybe a double date with his friend. Oh my god! Did he change his mind, does he want me to be his girlfriend, only me? Yes! It must be!'' "Yes!" Momo says, with a bit too much energy, then quickly covers her mouth. "I mean, of course, I think I''d quite enjoy some amateur poetry." "Perfect," Horizon says. "Then just get all the girls to go, Sero buys the tickets, then everyone is happy, a ''girls night''," he shrugs. Momo''s smile falls and Sero begins grinning, "what?" "It''s the obvious solution," Horizon says. "Obviously I can''t go because then the public would know who Cellophane is...and I don''t want to go. But I''m sure Yui would appreciate her boyfriend doing this, plus the girls will like it. Especially Jiro and Mina, since they failed their exams they can only leave campus if a teacher is with them, or me. But I''m sure Eraser won''t mind if so many Provisional License holders are out together, you girls can defend yourselves." "Dude! You''re a genius!" Sero praises him. "I know, and I get that a lot." "Well, I''m sure Kyoka will appreciate not being stuck on campus for a change," Momo says. "Alright, I''ll speak to the others about it!" "Thanks Yaomomo, you''re the best," Sero says, and she just sheepishly nods along. And internally Momo berates herself, ''Stupid stupid stupid, of course he can''t go out in public with you, that would make you a target and he can''t allow that...but I suppose that also means he cares in his own strange way. Ugh, why is having a love life soplicated!'' After they chat a bit to sort out the details, Sero turns to Horizon. "So what would you do for a night out with your girlfriend? Yui doesn''t work anywhere near me, but Edgeshot has a case that puts me close to her area next month, figured we could spend some time together on patrol for a change." Horizon shrugs, "I have Horizon Tower, it''s pretty much got everything, why would we ever need to go anywhere." "C''mon, tell me something helpful," Sero whines. "Is there really nothing you like?" Momo asks. "Or somece you enjoy going?" "Well, I like the beach," Horizon says. "Its always been a nice ce to rx, since I was a kid, even built my house there." "House?" Sero asks. "I own a lot of ces, but before I went public and built Horizon Tower, I enjoyed my time at the beach. Now it''s just hopping between UA, Horizon Tower, and Central Hospital." "I guess a beach trip could be fun," Sero says. "But that''s probably something we should do as a ss, right?" "Absolutely!" Momo is excited at the idea. "I can have mother ready the beach h---" she freezes, and looks, for the first time since they''ve met her, sad. "You ok?" Horizon asks. "I um, I just remembered we sold that house," she lied, and not very well. "It was always my favorite..." "Well how about we try to get through the semester before nning any victory celebrations," Horizon says. "One thing at a time..." After a few more minutes, someone else finally gets to their homeroom. "ss face!" Bakugo yells out as he enters through the front door. "It''s too early for this shit," Horizon grumbles as everyone looks at Bakugo. The blonde had his bag over his shoulder, and both hands in his pockets, staring intently at Horizon. "What do you want?" "To fight you," Bakugo says. "Rematch, just you and me." "That''s a waste of my time, how about you just take your seat and be quiet till ss starts." "Rematch," Bakugo demands. Horizon sighs, "and how would this be any different than the Sports Festival, I''m stronger than I was then, and I promise I improve faster than you." "Tch, because I''m stronger too, and faster, and have better control. And I''ve been studying you, and thinking about exactly how I''ll kick your ass!" "Well, I hope you think about your girlfriend that much." "Don''t have one." "Probably because you think about me so much," Horizon hears Serough, and Momo stifles a chuckle behind him. "Don''t need useless distractions! I just need to be the best, and that means beating you." "I''m Horizon, unless you''ve got Star and Stripe in your pocket, I''m invincible, and you''ll always be, at best, the runner-up. Just ept your ce, silver medal..." "Argh!" Bakguo ms his hand down on Horizon''s desk, but he doesn''t get any reaction out of the boy. "Fight me! If you''re so invincible then why are you so scared, huh?! Think you''ll lose?!" "No, I simply know you aren''t worth my time," Horizon says. "But fine, this afternoon, just to shut you up, but first, you should really hurry, atleast if you want to get to homeroom in time..." Bakugo and the others look confused at that, since they were already in homeroom. Until Horizon raises a hand and snaps his fingers. SHAMBLES! In Bakugo''s ce is a single leaf from the other side of UA, over 14 km away. And hovering in the air, Bakugo''s phone, was selectively left behind when Horizon sent him away. So he can''t call for help, so they get just a bit longer without his yelling. "Where did you send him?" Momo asks, concern in her voice. "Hell." "Horizon..." "Ugh, he''s just at the other side of UA, he''ll walk back in...a bit." "He''ll bete for homeroom, Mr. Aizawa could be upset," Momo says. "You could get in trouble." "Momo, babe, rx, Eraser Head and I have an understanding, I''ll be fine..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 196: (Homeroom Pt.2) Chapter 196: (Homeroom Pt.2) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "Did you mean what you said earlier?" Sero asks as the ssroom begins to fill up. "Which part?" "About Star and Strip being able to beat you, I mean, you''re pretty much invincible so did you mean it?" Horizon shrugs, "Honestly, no idea. But it''s the safe assumption, right?" "How do you mean?" Tokoyami asks. "Isn''t your Quirk the strongest?" "Eh, it depends. See nobody even knows the name of her Quirk, much less what it does. But from what the public knows she seems to be able to manipte the world around her somehow, but the limits and requirements are obviously unknown." "So she could be stronger than you?" Sero asks. "Honestly it''s hard to imagine anyone stronger than you, atleast since All For One is gone." "Well, if the current me fought him from back then, I''d win, but it makes sense that Star would be stronger. She''s the only other Mystery ss on the, and has the entire US military training her. An infinite budget and she''s like 35, more experience. Compared to that I''ve only had my Quirk for 11 years and mostly just trained at home, in a head-to-head fight she should win, atleast on paper. But my Quirk lets me do more miraculous stuff that doesn''t involve punching viins, so I think it evens out." "The operations and such," Tokoyami says. "I suppose in many ways you''re much more of a boon for mankind than she is. It''s been proven many times that punching out viins is useful, but people who can save lives in other ways are much more scarce." "Exactly," Horizon says. "Especially when human anatomy and biology are constantly being bent and stretched because Quirks exist. Bing a doctor is one war, then keeping up is a whole other." "Meanwhile I struggle with algebra," Sero mutters. "Guess I''ll stick to punching viins." "Eraser ising," Horizon abruptly says, and everyone gets to their seats, quieting down and facing forward. Horizon just takes his feet off the desk but leans back in his chair. And Bakugo is still missing, with his phone on his desk. "Good morning students," Eraser groggily says as he enters, getting a chorus of responses from most of his ss. He nces at them while taking his ce at the front, eyes lingering on Bakugo''s desk for a moment before he just gives an annoyed sigh and continues. "Alright, listen up, I''ve got some announcements before Snipe gets here for the first ss." Most of them stiffen up at that. "Firstly, Mid Terms will be starting Wednesday and ending Friday. You should have already been studying so this shouldn''t be an issue for any of you," he sees many students look worried at that announcement. "Because of this, Work Studies students won''t be allowed to leave campus until Friday afternoon, we need you to show you haven''t been cking on your academics." Horizon casually raises his hand. "No, you cannot be exempt from the exams because we know you''re a genius, some of them are practical not written." Horizon lowers his hand, then as Eraser is about to speak he raises it again. "No, you cannot take all of the exams in one day to get back to your usual schedule." Horizon lowers his hand and just looks out the window, clearly annoyed. "Right, now with that out of the way. To help you prepare, from today there won''t be any after-lunch sses. Hero sses are postponed until next week, this gives you most of the day for your own study time. I suggest you use it wisely to make up for any cking off you would have done, I''m sure some of you failed to manage your practical hero work with your academics." He looks around and notices many people trying to avoid eye contact. "Please keep in mind that anything below an 80% overall grade means your Work Studies is postponed until your overall grade gets back up to that point. No exceptions will be made." Most of them nod along. "Right, now other issues, Yaoyorozu, Horizon," his eyes dart over to them. He immediately notices the worried look on Momo''s face, as if she''d been caught, a rosy tinge across her cheeks, her eyes constantly ncing over to Horizon. Eraser immediately puts it together and just rolls his eyes, which Horizon notices and shrugs in response, leaving most of the sspletely oblivious. "You''ll both be expected in the Student Representatives meeting room at 1 PM today, I guess it''s time for the mid-semester meeting. These are held twice a semester, at the middle and the end, butst semester got a bit hectic so they didn''t happen. As the ss representative and vice representative, you''ll be representing 1A and its interests, this is where your ssmates find out if their votes went to the right person or not." Momo feels the weight of that responsibility on her, while Horizon just casually raises a hand. "No, you cannot send Yaoyorozu to the meeting so you can skip it," Eraser Head says. "Your attendance, more than most, is mandatory." Horizon lowers his hand, then raises it again. "Yes, it is toote to pass your responsibility onto someone else, you being the ss Rep for 1A is a selling point for the safety of your ssmates, especially since some of them don''t have Provisional Licenses yet." "I fucking hate it here," Horizon mutters to himself as Eraser Head continues talking. And up at the front he senses Jiro giggle quietly. Raising a brow he gets a bit curious, and focuses for a moment to sense one of her Earphone Jacks touching the metal of her desk. "So are you always eavesdropping Jiro?" he whispers, too quietly for the people beside him to hear. He senses her stiffen up. "You can respond, just slowly mouth what you want to say." He focuses on her lips with Scan, and senses her roughly saying, ''New, bad, habit. Sorry.'' "I can''t say I wouldn''t do the same, but I try not to be a total perv like you..." ''Shut, up.'' "You''re lucky I think you''re cute, but watch your mouth perv." ''Cute?'' "Come to my roomter, I''ll dly exin..." Horizon notices Jiro stiffen up at that, then turn around as Eraser Head is talking to steal a nce at him, then she looks past him at Momo. ''Your, girlfriend,'' she mouths before turning back to the front of the room. "Don''t be stupid, and I''m sure Momo will dly bombard you with details the first chance she gets." ''Later,'' is all Jiro gives him before retracting her Earphone Jack. ''Did she just hang up on me...is that how this feels?'' he can''t help but wonder, all while everyone else ispletely oblivious to the conversation they just had. Toward the end of Homeroom, Horizon extends his senses, feeling Bakugo sprinting through the halls as he enters the main building. ''Huh, he got back here faster than I thought, not bad for what he''s working with. Well, I guess I''ll have to p him around a bit this afternoon, should be a bit of fun atleast. Then I''ll have to actually figure out this whole...whatever the hell it is with these girls. Hopefully, the meeting after lunch doesn''t take much time, then I can get some work done after dealing with Bakugo. Training won''t be on schedule since Sero and Shinso will be joining Momo''s study group for midterms, but I should have some more info from Fatgum, Ryukyu, Nighteye, and Crust today to keep me upied.'' Horizon leans back and rxes in his chair. ''Never thought UA would be the rxing part of my life, just sit back and take a nap during sses or scroll through my social media, spend some time with my girls, and beat down some cocky losers...it could certainly be a lot worse.'' He looks over at Jiro, ''oh but it''ll get better...best to have some fun while I''m stuck in this ce.'' CRASH! The door ms open, and the entire ss looks over to see a disheveled Bakugo with a sheen sweat over him. "Monday morning and you''re already a mess," Horizon taunts him, "get your shit together Silver Medal..." "You ba---" "Save it," Eraser Head cuts him off. "Just go get yourself cleaned up, sses are about to start." Bakugo grumbles a bit, obviously fuming. Eraser turns to leave as does Bakugo, and through the windows into the hallway Horizon sees the boy staring at him. So he just leans back, puts his feet up, and gives Bakugo the middle finger. And a thought suddenly dawns on Momo. ''Wait, am I dating the ss bully?'' END CHAPTER--- Chapter 197: (Student Body Meeting) Chapter 197: (Student Body Meeting) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- SHAMBLES! Suddenly Horizon and Momo are standing in the back of a small lecture room. Long rows of desks curved on varied heights, looking down at the board toward the front. "Looks like we''re the first ones here," Momo says. "Where would you like to sit for the meeting?" "This is fine," he gestures to the back right corner of the room, then begins walking to his seat in the corner. "I don''t n to really get involved, unless something that would inconvenience mees up atleast." Momo takes her seat beside him, and notices him putting his feet up and already taking out his phone, behaviors she was sure would continue during the meeting. "Do you have anything to say to them?" Horizon asks. "Not really, UA is rather open about suggestions from students to improve the quality of life around campus. Such as us not having a Student Council and instead hosting these meetings between all the ss representatives twice a semester." "Well, its also because with the Hero centric culture of Japan and especially UA only the Hero Course students would get elected." "Oh, so you would have been student council president?" Horizon scoffs, "Do you know how much power and freedom I''d have to give up to do that boring job." "Right," Momo nces at his feet on the desk. "You prefer to give off the fa?ade of being a disinterested delinquent, but you''re reliable and have a heart of gold." Horizon shrugs, "the girls like it, clearly," he looks over at her. "Besides, with great power,es---" "---great responsibility," Momo gives him a beaming smile, "I always did love that saying." "Uh...no, with great power,es no ountability," Horizon shakes his head at her. "Power not worth abusing isn''t worth having Momo, because the only thing you ever have to ask yourself, is ''who''s going to stop me?'', makes life much easier." Momo freezes, and her smile drops, "you''re kidding, right?" Horizon continues scrolling through his phone, receiving some new information from Sir. NIghteye. "You''re kidding, right? Please tell me you are?" Her breathing begins speeding up, noticeable even through the corner of his eye. "You''re talking like a viin." "Rx babe, it''s not like I want to do anything bad, I just want a nice peaceful, and quiet life with the people who matter," Horizon shrugs. "Besides, nobody could stop me if I wanted anything else." She briefly thinks about it, then gives him a warm smile, "I suppose it says more about you since you do have the power to do anything you want. But you choose to be here, bing a Pro Hero to selflessly help others...you really are amazing." "I know," he puts his phone down and gives her his full attention. "It says more about a person who has unlimited power and chooses to do good, rather than being just another pathetic loser with no power to do anything and calling themselves good. I can''t imagine many people in this world could be given power like All Might''s and still be the hero-worshipping losers they always were. That power is corrupting, because suddenly you''d be able to do whatever you want and nobody could stop you, so choosing to still be selfless and do good bes the most difficult choice." "A choice you make every day," Momo says. "Because you''re more powerful than All Might, or atleast you will be...are you?" "He punches harder, but I''ve got real power, the power to manipte the world around me, much better." "Right, so every day you wake up and resist the temptation to simple be the next great superviin, you choose to fight them instead, and I think that''s very admirable." "Well, it''s not selfless, like I said at the Sports Festival---" "I remember what you said, very well in fact," Momo says. "But does the reason matter if you''re still a Pro Hero helping people?" Horizon pauses for a moment, then chuckles quietly, "I see." He reaches out and gently lifts her chin so she''s looking at him, "I''m rubbing off on you, a few months ago you never would have said that." "I tried to argue, but the harder we fight, and the more people we lose... I still want to help people, but I must admit there is merit in how you view the role of Pro Heroes." "Because sometimes, the choices we make have to be weighted," she leans in a bit closer. "As if we''re the only people in the world." "Hey guys!" Kendo interrupts from the front of the room. Momo jolts back into her seat and faces forward, trying to act all prim and proper even with her red face as Kendo walks up the aisle to them. "Sorry for interrupting," Kendo says, then gestures to Shoda beside her, the vice-representative of 1B. "Weird how we''re here first huh, well, us, not mister ''I can warp''," she nods at Horizon. "Well our homerooms are closer than the others," Shoda says as they take their seats. Kendo sits beside Momo with Shoda to her right at the aisle. "So, you guys ready for midterms?" Kendo asks. "Well, I''m probably asking the two most ready people at UA huh, the super genius and the bookworm," she sighs. "Meanwhile I''ve been training so hard I fell behind a bit." Overjoyed that their peers decided to ignore what she was doing moments ago, Momo jumps at the opportunity to change the topic. "Well, we could host anotherrge study group leading up to exams, just as we did for the license exam, both sses together!" "I was hoping you''d say that," Kendo admits, sheepishly. "Honestly some of us have been struggling and we just know with your style we''d learn a lot faster." "I''m always happy to help!" Momo says. "Most of our ss will be studying together in the afternoons, only a few people won''t be there actually...I suppose we''ll need a bigger ce." "Just use one of the meeting rooms like this, UA always has a bunch of empty ones." "Will they really let us use one of these?" Kendo asks. "Nezu won''t mind," Horizon shrugs. "Either way, not my problem. But try to have Sero and Yui sitting far apart, otherwise, he won''t be able to focus..." "We''ll keep that in mind," Kendo says, giggling a bit. "Why don''t you join us, maybe you''ll be enjoying teaching. Doctor Professor Superhero God Emperor Horizon... it''s a mouthful but it could work." "Just Horizon is fine," he says. "And I don''t have the patience for it. I''ve never had to read things more than once to understand them, so when people don''t get things the first time it annoys me." "Sheesh, maybe teaching isn''t for you," Shoda says. "Well I guess not even you can be perfect at everything." "Oh no, I''m a perfect teacher," Horizon says. "That''s why Cellophane and Simon are gonna be exceptional, that''s why they already are exceptional, I just don''t think the collection of wimps in our sses can handle the intensity of my lessons." "So what you''re saying is," Kendo gives him a deadpan look, "you just don''t know how to use positive reinforcement and be nice to people." "I don''t see why people need a reward, not failing should be all the motivation you need to do your best." "Honestly, how did you ever get such a sweet girl to fall for you," Kendo pulls Momo into a side hug, and rest her head against her friend''s. "I''ll pray for you sweetie..." "I swear he''s much nicer when it''s just us," Momo weakly defends. "Probably because when it''s just us, there''s fewer clothes," Horizon says. Momo covers her face, mortified, "That''s not what I meant and you know it!" Kendo can''t help butugh at her friend, then leans forward to look at Horizon, "do you always tease her this much?" He shrugs, "I like watching her squirm, it''s fun." Kendo sighs and pats Momo''s head, "You really know how to pick em..." ---5 Minutes Later... The room was half filled by now, with a few more minutes until the meeting began, and now both girls rolled their chairs back a bit to Shoda and Horizon could get closer, for what would look like a game of patty cake. "So it works like this," Shoda says, raising a hand to give Horizon a high five. "Once I make contact, I can snap my fingers and the impact happens again, but its a lot stronger than the first time. So if I just lightly grazed your cheek with my finger, when I activate my Quirk it feels like I punched you in the face. And there isn''t a range limit, just a time limit." "Is it only in your hands?" Horizon asks. "Nope, I can do it with an object I''m touching, but for those it''s difficult to reign in my power and I always do the maximum...so to avoid breaking people in half I just use my hands and small rubber balls, stuff like that." "Right, well I''m sure you''d be great at baseball, now lets''s do this," Horizon holds his hand out. Shoda casually gives him the most gently high five they''d ever seen. Horizon pulls back his hand and looks at his palm, flexing his fingers and inspecting the fabric. "Huh, interesting." "What do you mean?" Shoda asks. "Well, when you touched me, I used Scan on your body, to see exactly what was going on." "Shouldn''t you ask before doing that?" Shoda asks, looking a bit creeped out. Horizon looks up from his hand at Shoda, pauses for a moment, then goes back to inspecting his palm. "Your body has a lot of built-up kic energy, when you activate your Quirk it effectively transnts some of it like a directional bomb into whatever you touch. But you can only build the energy from your own muscr movements, would have been better if you could absorb it too." "So I''m like a battery for...motion?" Shoda asks. "Something like that, that''s why you say a light tap bes a hard punch, you think you''re amplifying the tap but you''re just bad at limiting how much of your reserves you use. I rmend running your reserves down to noting, then starting over, learn what you''re like at 0 before going back to 100." Shoda just stares at Horizon, amazed, "I didn''t even know my Quirk could work like that." "What, did you think you could just magically multiply kic energy? That''s not how physics works, unless you''re me you can''t just make more energy." "You can make energy?" Kendo asks. "Mystery ss." "Oh, right, beyondprehension." "Well, thanks for the advice," Shoda says. "I guess I''ve been thinking about my Quirk all wrong, no wonder I haven''t been able to improve my control that much since joining UA. But uh, why''d you offer to help me?" Horizon shrugs, "I like studying Quirks, and people are usually more receptive to invasive Scans when I offer something in return." "But you didn''t ask him first," Kendo says. "Honestly, no pleasing you people," Horizon mutters, then looks at Shoda and gestures to his own palm. "The energy diminishes over time if the subject is moving, so how about you trigger this to show me what you''ve got." "Sure," Shoda raises a hand to snap his fingers, "Twin Impact." BAM! Horizon''s hand ms back into his chest and he rolls back a bit in his chair before stopping himself. The entire room looks back at him, seeing him apparently fine but staring at his hand. "Sorry I might have overdone it, are you ok, I mean, I figured you could take it so---" "I''m fine," Horizon says. "Just didn''t expect it to push me back so easily, but not even a scratch," he raises his hand and flexes it to show them, but the body glove was covering all the purple and blue bruises quickly healing across his hand. ''That''s a dangerous Quirk, if we ever fight I need to just kill him with Injection Shot, a kamikaze attack from that could be problematic if I let him get close... especially since detecting potential energy in others and objects will be impossible, that''s why I had him use my hand.'' "But don''t use that much force on a regr person," Horizon says. "I''ll keep that in mind," Shoda says as he rolls back for the girls to get back between them. "This meeting is taking forever to start, it''s not like her to bete," Kendo says. "Who are you talking about?" Horizon asks. "Oh, I figured you''d know, since she''s your friend and all..." Kendo says. "Friend? The chairperson for these meetings is always a third year, and the only third-year girl I''m even remotely friends with is," The realization dawns on him, and he opens a Room, sensing her about to enter the doors. "Fuck---" "Heya everyone!" Nejire, ss Representative for 3A proudly enters, followed by her vice representative and best friend Yuyu Haya. Most of the room lights up, always excited to see UA''s most cheerful student. But her eyes immediately lock onto Horizon. "Hey Horizon!" she waves, as if he somehow wouldn''t see her. "You haven''t been answering my calls or text, stay back a bit afterward alright, we''ve got some stuff to talk about!" Most of the guys in the room immediately give him a death re, and he just sits back and puts his feet up. But beneath the visor he gives a low groan and rolls his eyes, ''great, now I have to deal with this ball of energy and people will think those rumors are real, just what I needed..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 198: (Quiet Lessons) Chapter 198: (Quiet Lessons) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "So, you n to get in on this?" Sero asks Todoroki. Both of them were sitting on the steps in front of the dorms, watching just a few students walking about while everyone else is inside studying. And beside them was Deku, scribbling in one of his ''Hero Journal'' books. "I have a brain, so no, I don''t want to fight Horizon," Todoroki says. "Besides, he''d probably just remove my heart again, and I''d rather not deal with that all over again." "Oh, right," Sero leans forward and looks over at Deku. "What about you Deku?" "Huh?" Deku snaps out of his own little world and looks at Sero. "Sorry, what did you say?" "You gonna help Bakugo out or just watch? You and Todoroki are the strongest in our ss after Horizon...well you''re probably tied with Tokoyami most of the time." "Hmm, I don''t think Khan will like me getting involved, this seems a bit personal for him." "Everything is personal with Bakugo," Shoto says. "But even if we did join, I don''t think our chances would increase by much." "Hmm, I''m not so sure about that," Deku says, opening his book and skimming his notes. "But I do have a theory." "Really, to beat the unbeatable?" Shoto asks. "Please, enlighten us." "Ok," Deku flips through some more notes then looks at Sero. "You''ve spent the most time with him, so tell me if this makes sense, alright?" "Sure thing man." "Ok, so. My idea is a team attack, not a single person." "Abo move?" Shoto asks. "Exactly, because from all the information I have Horizon can''t lose 1 on 1, not unless you canpletely surprise him---" "Like being the only person in the world with an arsenal of Quirks that he can''t predict or react to," Shoto says. "Yeah, I''ve even been asking All Might and he agrees." "So what''s the n?" Sero asks, clearly skeptical that this would ever work. "Well alright, we need a few people. Khan, Yaomomo, Uraraka, and Mina." "That''s an unusualbination," Shoto says. "That''s the idea!" Deku says excitedly. "Khan is the only one with the power, speed, skills, and most importantly, thebat sense to adapt to anything Horizon throws at him, or atleast adapt faster than anyone else. Plus he can fight at any angle thanks to his mobility." "So he''s the vanguard," Shoto says. "A distraction and stalling tactic while the girls get the real attack ready?" "Yeah! Yaomomo can make anything, and she''s sure to know the optimal items to distract him, and since her potential attacks are so varied he can''t prepare in advance for it." "A distraction and something to surprise him," Shoto thinks about it for a moment. "But I can''t imagine Uraraka and Ashido being able to do much damage to him." "Well, they can''t, not really," Deku says. "But if Uraraka manages to make something weightless, he shouldn''t be able to sense that so it can surprise him, like ripping the ground out from under his feet." "And Mina?" Sero asks. "Well all she has to do is hit him once," Deku says. "See I noticed something. Horizon never lets any attacks hit him, even when taking a hit to counter attack would be smarter and more efficient. He always avoids every hit. Why do you think that is?" "Because his ego won''t allow it," Sero says, hitting the nail on the head. "No way, he''s too logical for that," Deku says. "It must be his suit, his visor and body glovebo. Nobody knows what''s under it, and he''s mentioned a few times that he''s like a living ball of energy, right? So..." "You think it''s a containment suit?" Shoto asks. "And if you get some Acid on it---" "She ruptures the suit and he loses a lot of energy faster than he can generate it." "So you n to pop him like a balloon and let him...leak out?" Sero asks. "Well, that''s one way to put it, yeah, so what do you think?" Deku asks Sero. "I think you haven''t seen him fight, I mean a serious fight." "But, at the Sports Festival---" He interrupts Shoto, "Horizon was ying around, trust me, if he''s serious, nobody can touch him, and he''ll see through any ns made against him. Hand of God is one thing, but he''s a different level of aware and paranoid, he thinks of every possibility. If you want to surprise him you''d have to pull a second Quirk out of your pocket, but you''d have to do that before he makes physical contact and Scans you. But I think since All For One used that trick, it won''t work twice," Sero shrugs. "Nothing we didn''t already know," Shoto says. "But I''m more curious about why Midoriya has put this much thought into it..." "Uh, well," Deku stutters nervously. "I just feel like eventually we''ll get matched up, and he''ll be a bit rougher on me than anyone else." "Oh definitely," Sero says, causing both of them to wince. "That''s probably why Eraser doesn''t let you two spar during ss." "That''s a bit concerning," Shoto mutters. "Maybe we shouldn''t let Bakugo fight him." "You talking about my icy-hot!" Bakugo yells as he walks out of the dorms, in full Hero Costume with Kirishima beside him, who was in casual clothes. ''Nevermind, this should be fun to watch,'' Shoto thinks. "We''re just here to watch the fight man," Sero says as Kirishima joins them, sitting on the steps of the dorms. "Good luck out there." "I don''t need any damn luck, I''ll show you losers exactly how much stronger I am! Then I''ll be the #1 Hero!" "That''s a lot of talk from a silver medalist," Horizon says as he steps out of the dorms. He was casually scrolling through his phone, after warping Momo to her room from the meeting and leaving her to catch up with Jiro, he changed into some white and blue sweatpants and a hoodie, all his merchandise of course. Leaving the hoodie open to show off the body glove below and its muscr design. "Where are we doing this?" Bakugo asks, adjusting his gauntlets which he''s already filled. "Right here is fine," Horizon doesn''t take his eyes off his phone as he walks onto thewn, waiting for his opponent. "But remember, after I beat you here, no more rematches." "You''ll be begging me for a rematch after I win," Bakugo grumbles. "But we can''t fight here. My explosions will get me in trouble this close to the dorms and main campus," he gestures to the buildings around them. "You really don''t need to worry about that, trust me," Horizon puts his phone in his pocket. "Tch," Bakugo takes a spot opposite him on thewn, and drops into his fighting stance, ready to rush in. "You should give that to tape face before I break it, my explosions are stronger than thest time you saw them." "My phone will be fine, after all, it''s only you..." Bakugo growls loudly, and they could see the vein on his forehead bulging already. "One of you needs to call it," Horizon says to the spectators. "I''m on it," Kirishima hops up, and rushes inside, away from the fight. Momentster all of 1A in their casual clotheses out to watch the fight. "Alright!" Kirishima yells and raises his hand. "Begin!" ROOM! Horizon opens a Room justrge enough for the main campus area. Bakugo lunges forward, already having considered most variables. ''Not much here to swap ces with, every explosion has to be a double, one at him, and one behind me in case he swaps out ces like before. I need to grab him and throw him in the air, that way even if he swaps out ces I''ll still have an advantage since I''ll fly up after him, and he can''t fly...atleast I don''t think so. And I''ve got to make sure when I grab him it''s only to align myself to st him away, if he feels me holding on he''ll use Counter Shock and end the fight...just like he did with Mirio. The final hurdle is that damn shield of his, Curtain, he rarely uses it. But at the Sports Festival, I forced him to use it since he couldn''t warp out of the ring, and my explosion covered the whole thing. But I can''t just bomb this ce, I''d probably still get in trouble, even if he says I won''t get in trouble for this fight. This is just like fighting a viin in a civilian-heavy area, perfect training. Because no viin is gonna give as good of a fight as Horizon!'' All these thoughts rush through Bakugo''s mind in the time it takes him to move two steps, at a full sprint. Now Horizon was only 10m -33ft- away, and he still hadn''t moved yet. ''He''s waiting for me to strike, then he''ll swap us so I blow myself up, he always does this crap, but I''m ready this time!'' An excellent n, but unfortunately, in this world especially. What you don''t know, can hurt you. And in the case of Horizon, it hurts a lot. SHAMBLES! Horizon disappears, swapped with nothing, because very few people know he can freely warp about in a space he''s familiar with. Bakugo''s and most of his ssmate''s eyes go wide as many of them see this for the very first time. CRACK! The sound of metal shattering reaches Bakugo''s ears, before the searing pain in his right arm has him screaming out. In an instant Horizon had warped beside him, and struck the gauntlet on his right arm with a heavy punch, amplified by Booster Shot. The gauntlet shattered along with the bones in Horizon''s hand. But he quickly and subtly beings healing them. The metal of Bakugo''s equipment is sent scattering about thewn. But Horizon''s strike continued to Bakugo''s forearm beneath, hitting hard enough to crack the bone in multiple ces. "ARRGH!" Bakugo cries out, feeling a pain that he recognizes, but much worse than ever before. Like the pain of his bones and muscles straining under the recoil of his explosions amplified a dozen times over, pain making it obvious using explosions with that hand will do permanent damage. Damage he can''t afford to take if he wants to keep fighting in the future. Before their ssmates can react to give a wince--- SHAMBLES! He warps to the other side and does the exact same thing, causing Bakugo to stumble and begin falling over. SHAMBLES! He warps directly in front of Bakugo and kicks him in the stomach area, just barely lifting him off the floor with the sheer force of it. And as Bakugo is an inch off the floor, with his foot still making contact. SHAMBLES! They both appear 10m -33ft- above thewn. Horizonnds a strong right as Bakugo is disoriented, causing his vision to go ck for a moment. SHAMBLES! He warped them another 10m -33ft- directly up the instant he made contact, then brings down a elbow to Bakugo''s right shoulder, easily dislocating it. "Argh!" Bakguo''s pained scream was bone-chilling, and most of his ssmates winces at the sound. Before Horizon warped to the other side and did the exact same attack, all while they were now beginning to fall. Now satisfied with how useless Bakugo''s arms are, Horizon uses Shambles to adjust their positions. Putting his foot on Bakugo''s back as if the boy was lying on the floor, then--- SHAMBLES! They warp back down onto thewn, and Bakugo luckily only feels the momentum of falling less than 1.5m -5ft-, but unfortunately with Horizon''s 275lbs -125kgs- dropping onto him, standing with one foot on his back, shoving his face into the dirt. "See, told you the explosions wouldn''t get you in trouble," Horizon chuckles as he gets off of him and steps to the side. The spectators stand in amazement and horror, the entire fight took barely 5 seconds, and Bakugo didn''t even get a chance to strike. "Bakugo, are you ok?!" Kirishima yells out. "Take him to Recover Girl, I don''t heal annoying things," Horizon says as he begins walking toward the dorms, ready to perform a procedure he''s been nning since summer, then have some funter tonight. "Argh!" Bakguo uses his forehead to push off the grass, barely raising his torso to look at Horizon''s back. "I''m not done!" But in his excitement a jolt of pain wracks his arms, causing him to lose bnce and go face-first back into the dirt. "Yeah, you''re done, and if anyone needs me, don''t..." Horizon says as he enters the dorms, as does almost everyone else. Sero, Shoto, and Deku are left watching Kirishima take Bakugo to Recover Girl. "Told you that n wouldn''t work," Sero shrugs. "It takes a bit of getting used to, but I think it''s pretty obvious now. You relied on Horizon fighting like a ssic Pro Hero, like All Might, but he prefers ruthless efficiency." Deku looks at Bakugo being escorted away, then down at his book, "I guess I know even less than I imagined..." he mutters. But deep down, he could feel it, and he knew it to be true. If he wants to be the best, Horizon is the mountain in his way. This is the person he must rise to ovee, or atleast to challenge. And what better challenge to force his growth... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 199: (Quirky Things) Chapter 199: (Quirky Things) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- ---10 PM... Skulking through the 1A Dorms a few minutes after curfew, Jiro looks around anxiously through the hallways before exiting her room. She was wearing her usual ''Deep Dope'' oversized top and a pair of matching shorts, phone gripped tightly in hand. Taking a deep breath she tries to y it cool, as if she just got up to go get some water from downstairs, atleast that''s the n if anyone bumps into her. But that''s unlikely. This being the Hero Course means everyone trains from sunrise to sundown, and hardly any people are walking about at night. Too exhausted from the constant training and studying, and had she not taken a nap after theirrge study session she would have been sound asleep as well. Walking down the hallway she passes by Momo''s room, and considers a possibility. ''If I go to chat with Horizon and Momo is there things could get awkward. I mean we already decided how to deal with...ugh but I really don''t want to deal with any weird situations tonight. But I mean I''m just going to talk, nothing is gonna happen, I think. I hope. I hope? Do I? Well, a little bit happening won''t hurt, right?'' She smacks herself on the forehead, then winces a bit and rubs it. ''I''m overthinking things, but just to be sure I''m not interrupting them...'' She raises one of her Earphone Jacks and touches the wall in front of Momo''s room. Then rxes as she hears her best friend sound asleep. ''I really need to stop doing that,'' she reminds herself while retracting it. ''But I kind of like it when he teases me...atleast it makes him talk to me more. Nope, I need to cut out that habit.'' Walking to the end of the hallway she sees the boys'' side across from her, then makes a sharp turn toward the elevator. ''It''s only one floor up, and with my luck, someone is out getting a snack downstairs,'' she thinks, walking to the side of the elevator to the stairwell that wraps around it. Feeling more and more anxious with every step, she arrives on the fifth floor, the top floor of the 1A Dorms. And walks toward its only resident. Arriving at his door she can''t help but roll her eyes at it. White and blue with his logo boldly carved into it. ''He really can''t help himself huh,'' she looks down the hallway, where usually she''d see three more doors for the other rooms. But instead, it''s just a in wall. ''They really did make his room the entire Boys'' Side top floor...what does he even need all that space for. Well, I guess I''m about to find out,'' she takes a deep breath and raises her hand to gently knock. Only for the door to open, and a pair of yellow and ck eyes stare back at her. They both freeze for a moment, then Mina is the first to break the awkward tension. "Heya Kyoka, what brings you here?" She puts on her best smile to try and snap Jiro out of her frozen state. "Uh, I, um---" Mina leans forward, getting a bit closer to Jiro, "Here for a little one-on-one time with your not-so-secret crush huh, you being a bad rocker girl?" "What! No!" Jiro yells, no longer trying to be stealthy, face fully red at the thought. "I was just, um, just here to talk about...things." Mina gives her a mischievous smile, and Jiro just knows she''s never going to let her forget this. "Really, talking, well if you say so." "I''m serious." "uh-huh, just be sure to tell me everything tomorrow," Mina steps out of the room, leaving Horizon''s door open behind her. "Looks like Horizon gets his hands on all thedies tonight," she says scandalously, just to see Jiro blush and try to cover her face. Mina''sughter echoes through the hallway, "Honestly you''re way too fun to tease, I wasn''t here for that, I like sweet wholesome guys. Plus you two already have...whatever you have with him." Jiro slowly drops her hands, "really? But then why were you here?" Mina shrugs, "well I guess that''s something you can talk to him about, all the science kind of went over my head anyway," she leans forward and pinches Jiro''s cheek. "If you keep blushing like this you''ll get to do more than talking tonight, you''re just too adorable sometimes." "That''s not, uh." "Good luck," Mina says as she begins walking away. "And keep it safe." "It''s not like that I swear!" Jiro yells, but Mina just waves and rounds the corner, heading back to her own room. As she hears the elevator open, Jiro turns around, now looking into Horizon''s room. "Well, atleast she won''t tell anyone...if only so she can tease me about this more, just my luck." Assuming he must have heard and likely sensed her by now, however that works, she enters and closes the door behind her. And she can''t help but observe how neat everything was in his room. As she expects from their resident doctor atleast. To the far end of the room was hisrge bed, where justst night she listened in on him and her best friend as they--- ''Focus Jiro,'' she snaps herself out of her daze. Only a few feet away, standing in front of a hologram with a few tabs of notes and what looks like chemical structures floating about, Horizon is adding more and more information to it. ''Mina did say the science of it went over her head...'' Jiro recalls. "Had fun sneaking about the hallways?" Horizon asks. "Took you long enough to get here..." "You knew I wasing?" "I could sense you, and by the way, Momo just sends me a text and I warp her into my room, for future notice when we do this again." "You could have done that at any point, why didn''t you?" Jiro was clearly annoyed by his antics. "More fun this way, could have sworn you were having a panic attack deciding whether to take the elevator." "It wasn''t that bad," she grumbles and walks up to him, looking at the work he''s doing. "It was," he looks to the side, down at the petite girl, "but hey, you made it, and I''m happy to have you." "Well, atleast you find it funny." "Adorable really. And I noticed you couldn''t help but be a little perv onest time." "It''s really not like that," Jiro says. "It''s just...kind of a habit now. Ever since joining UA, you and the teachers say we should use our Quirks any chance we get, well mine lets me do things like that. So its good practice...and I guess I got a bit carried away with it." "I understand the feeling, better than most actually." "Really, you do? And mind if I take a seat?" She gestures to the couch at his back. "Go ahead, and yeah, I do understand it," he continues his work. "My Quirk allows me to sense things within my range, I can pick and choose what I sense depending on how much focus and energy I want to use. I could decide to ignore, let''s say, your clothes, and get a map of what you look like naked. I can peer through walls entirely without limit and know what everyone is doing. I can see behind the masks of the Top Pro Heroes, and there isn''t anything in the world they could do about it. So yes, I understand the temptation to use your Quirk to vite the privacy of others, but honestly, its never bothered me." "Right, because of course mister perfect never gets tempted to do bad things," Jiro rolls her eyes. "Do you really expect me to believe that?" "Why would I care about others in such a way, they aren''t worth my attention. Besides, it ruins the fun part." "What fun part?" "Well, half the fun of women is making them want you, if you skip to the end it''s rather boring." "You expect me to believe you enjoy that?" Horizon looks over his shoulder at her, then goes back to finishing his notes, "asks the girl who has a massive and obvious crush on me, snuck though the halls after curfew to visit me in my dorms, and is now sitting patiently for me to finish these notes and give her my undivided romantic attention...really?" "Tch, that doesn''t prove anything," Jiro says. "Besides, seems like you''ve had a lot of visitorstely." "Mina?" "Mhm." "She''s cute, and has a nice ass, but do you really think I''d put my dick in a potential acid puddle...no thanks." "Well, she said she wasn''t here for that kind of thing...so why was she here?" "I''ll show you," he saves his work and then taps a few buttons on the watch device Mei made for him. Jiro moves over so he can sit beside her, and the hologram begins to change. Disying what appear to be scans and results from hundreds of people, hundreds of sick people that need help. Then each file ends with the same word, ''Terminally ill''. "Your patients?" Jiro asks. "No, these are people from around the world that I just can''t get to, but I can fix. Too bad they''ll all long die before I could ever get the chance to go there." "Oh no...Mina?" "Is fine," he reassures her. "A while ago I won a bet, and I asked that she let me run some tests on her. She thought I was going to do some perverted nonsense apparently." "We all thought that, she told the girls." "And you''re still here, how odd. But no I wanted to examine her Quirk. Contrary to what you may see in the news and on TV, Quirks like hers and Bakugo''s are rare. Full body quirks that entirely change a body system while adding nothing but gic benefits to the user. But I''ve already studied some simr to Bakugo''s so I don''t need him...but Shoji is a bit hesitant to be ''treated like ab rat'', as he puts it. Something about his past...I wasn''t really listening to the sob story." "Jeez, even when you try to be sweet you''re still a jerk." "That''s my charm babe, but really now, medicine has be a lot more difficult since the advent of Quirks. Operating on people is much harder as the human form can vary so much now, it''s like having to be a doctor, a vet, and a dozen other things all in one. That''s also why creating universal medication is all but impossible too, and that''s something I n to solve." "You want to make medicine?" "Just think about it, if I study enough people firsthand, I could make a cure for dozens of things. One shot or one pill or whatever, and bye-bye terminal illness, forever." "Wow..." Jiro''s eyes widen in amazement, never expecting to know this side of him. "As I said, this Pro Hero thing is a stepping stone, and now that the entire world knows me, they trust me, I can get information that would have never been given freely before. I can fix this world, one cure at a time. For each of the people I save by fighting some idiot viin, I''ll save tens of millions more bypleting these cures. No cape, no tights, just results, as it should be. And it''ll all bepletely free." "Completely free?" Jiro was even more surprised. "Since when were you altruistic?" "Well, maybe being around all you heroes is rubbing off on me, but recently I''ve had a change of heart," he lied, so tantly and boldly she couldn''t help but believe it. Leaving her none the wise to how far he''d go to have this entire world eating out of his palm. "So it really was just for research," Jiro says as she scoots a bit closer to him, and he casually drapes his arm around her. "Well, Mina is cute." "You like pink?" "She makes it work, but I usually mostly just like Quirky people. People that would be indistinguishable from regr boring obsolete humans...but then they just have that one odd thing about them. Like you, just an incredibly cute girl...with Earphone Jacks for earlobes." Jiro blushes up a storm as the holograms close up, and the room dims slightly. "You really like them?" "I think they look good on you." "And I think I might look good on you," Jiro says his line, which catches him off guard. "---oh, you heard me say that yesterday, of course." She giggles a bit, "sorry I couldn''t help it." "Well, atleast you''re not wrong..." Feeling he heart pounding in her chest, and her face heating up, Jiro quickly blurts out, "can we take it slow! I mean...I''m just not ready for, you know." There is a moment before Horizon speaks where she''s worried he won''t like what she said, until, heughs, and she feels her heart sink, fearing the worse. But as always, he never misses a chance to tease her. "Wooow, I just wanted to talk and you''re already thinking about such horny things, honestly Jiro you''re such a pervert." "Wh---HEY!" END CHAPTER--- Chapter 200: (Caught in 4K) Chapter 200: (Caught in 4K) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "Honestly I expected a bit more from you," Mei says. She was currently standing at her workstation, looking over the sketch Horizon brought her. "What''s that supposed to mean?" Horizon asks. "Well, this is like...just less than I expected from you of all people." "I''m already a miracle doctor, you want me to be a perfect engineer too? Honestly, there is no pleasing you people." "You please me plenty, but I''m just surprised you aren''t as good with technology," Mei says as she makes some adjustments to his sketch. "I work with meat, not metal. Besides, that''s what I have you and Nezu for." "Mhm, well, I can make this work, but having to make it out of individual parts that can also interconnect with some thin membrane is going to be tough. What''s this for?" "I saw the gear you made for Sero, to bolster his skeletal structure and increase how much pressure his Hero Costume can take. Figured if I could get one of those under my suit it coulde in useful." Mei considers it for a moment. "I made his so he could use his tape to catch heavy objects without his arms being torn off of his body or getting crushed by the force, you need it for the same thing?" "No, just enough weight for...about 136kg -300lbs-. Think you can manage?" Mei gets an idea of what he''s nning and raises a brow, "This will take a lot of time. Finding materials for what I assume you''re nning will be tough. It would have been easier if your Quirk gave you regr Telekinesis, but Hand Of God is more...weird." "This isn''t abat-based upgrade, just...something a bit shy that I want. An idea I actually got from All For One. You can send it to the back of the line for now." "Great, because I''ve got a lot to work going on with all the Work Studies students requesting upgrades, I''ll be making babies non-stop!" "Any interesting requests?" "Not really, some Gloves, a new cloak for Tokoyami, a stretchy one, oh and I have to help Bakugo to modify his gauntlets. I''m not allowed to build those so when thepany sends them to UA he wants them to be reinforced. Because apparently, you breaking them was thest straw." "Not like you mind, I''m sure you''ve been waiting for a chance to get your hands on those." "Oh yeah," Mei finishes up her sketch, andpared it to his. It''s like he was a toddler drawing while she is an architect. "Uh, guess that''ll do," Horizon says. "Great, when I''m done with the others I''ll work on this." "How''s Shield been doing by the way? Have you spoken to her?" "Just a little bit, her dad only teaches the third-year students but I go talk to him during his office hours, he''s my Hero after all. But I''ll be more famous than even the great David Shield someday." "Well, he''s a genius like you, but he got lucky by being the main support for All Might, you''re doing the same thing with me, and I''ll be a lot bigger than All Might." "I''m counting on it, his daughter spoke to me once since she''s in the second-year sses. Plus she even asked if you wanted any upgrades and offered to help me out. But I don''t want to put anyone else''s name on your gear... and I figured since you don''t really rely on equipment it would be fine to turn her down." "That''s fine, I''ve got enough as it is, and I haven''t even used my medical stuff much. Aside from the scope you made me atleast, but that''s still pretty rare." "I figured as much, plus that exins this new request. Warping makes it obsolete but I''m guessing you n to use it to make a statement, or a cool entrance, right?" "Am I getting to be that predictable?" "Always have been..." "Ouch." A few minutester after discussing her uing projects, the door to the design studio opens and in walks Juzo Honenuki -Mudman-, and Setsuna Tokage -Lizardy- of ss 1B. Horizon was rather familiar with Juzo, but hasn''t spoken to Setsuna much. "Hey Hatsume, Horizon," Juzo greets them as he and Setsuna enter. "Hey guys," Setsuna says, then activates her Quirk. Her head immediately detaches and begins floating about the room, a mop of long green hair flowing about as she inspects all the cool devices Mei has hanging around. None of them pay it any mind, her Quirk: Lizard Tail Splitter, allows her to split apart her body and freely control the parts by a certain manner of Telekinesis, essentially allowing flight. The parts also regenerate when away from her main body for too long. A Quirk that would have been much more creepy, had Horizon not set the bar a bit too high by ripping out Shoto''s heart on national TV. "Did youe for you gear?" Mei asks Juzo. "Or did you have more babies for me to work on?" "Uh just the gear for now, and Tokage wants to look around for something that can help her deliver big hits," he gestures to the floating girl. "My Quirk is good for recon but not much else, and even if my Work Studies should be focused on mobility and recon, better safe than sorry, right?" "Good point," Horizon says as Mei begins rummaging through her lockers of gadgets. "Hey Horizon, did you hear the good news?" Setsuna asks him, floating her head about the room and looking around, but detaching the bottom half of her skull and sending it toward him to chat. "I got a work studies, finally!" "Why should I care?" Juzo chimes in, "Your girlfriend got the same offer, from Majestic." "Majestic? The street magician guy, well I guess it makes sense since he''s all about support and versatility, your Quirks are good for that. But what girlfriend?" "Momo," Setsuna says. "Figured she would have told you already." "I''ve been training all day since sses finished, actually since lunch. I got to skip the final part of our exams." "Guess it makes no sense giving you the first aid exam huh," Juzo says. "Well, I''ll actually be working with Sero this week. Crust got called over by Edgeshot to provide support in some case, so we''ll be taking the train together tonight." "Really?" Horizon asks. "I guess that means Mid-Term results are already out, and Sero got about 80% if he''s allowed to continue the work studies." "Wow, you''re really out of the loop huh," Setsuna says, now bringing her pieces together, back to the 5ft2 tall -158cm- girl. "Results came out about an hour ago, you''re at the top as usual, perfect score." "Well I''m Horizon, it''s expected of me." "Are you heading over to Tokyo tonight?" "I''ve already lost enough days with these stupid exams, and Friday night is time I can''t afford to not be out on patrol." "Wow, you really never stop working, maybe you can join us in training sometime. Our ss practicesbo moves all the time, and my Quirk counters your shes so it could be interesting." "I have more than one trick," he raises his hand, and some electricity dances between his fingers. Juzo speaks up," Yeah but, well, that doesn''t mean learning how to fight as a team won''t be useful training." "I''m more efficient on my own." "Found it!" Mei yells out as shees rushing over with a small box and hands it to Juzo. "These are for when you use your Quirk to soften the ground, drop one of the trackers into it. Each of them also project a sonar so you''ll be able to effectively ''see'' what''s floating about under the surface." "So you n to use your Quirk to soften the floor, then fight people in it?" Horizon asks. "Not really, its mostly so I know where to find things. I''ve had to softenrge areas before so the viins don''t escape with valuables, but finding them afterwards is a pain. My Quirk: Softening, can turn any inorganic matter into a softer form, I can even make concrete into just a bit more viscous than water now after lots of training, but finding things in it get tough since it''s still concrete." "So this lets you sense where things are, clever," Horizon says. "Yeah, got the idea from your Quirk actually." "Juzo''s actually really smart," Setsuna says. "He''s like our ss tactician, alongside Kendo." "I assumed as much..." ''A highly utility-based Quirk, and I''ve seen his training, he''s got a lot of potential as a battlefieldmander, more than Sero and Shinso for sure. They''re more like specialists, Mudman could be useful,'' Horizon thinks. A momentter as Mei is exining the intricacies of the new gear, he gets a message inside his visor. "I need to go, I''ll see you all Monday---" SHAMBLES! He warps away before they can even respond. Arriving in Nezu''s office he sees the principal sitting on the couch drinking a cup of tea, seemingly rxing on this Friday afternoon. "So what''s up?" Horizon asks as he sits opposite Nezu, putting his feet up on the coffee table. "A public imagine issue, involving you." "My image is perfect," Horizon says. "I''m the ''true hero'' the world needs, or whatever other nonsense they say." "Well, take a look at this," Nezu taps his phone, and the coffee table project a hologram. It was recorded from a shaky camera, a shootout happening. And from this point of view, the cameraman was also holding a gun. "A police body camera...oh, I remember this," Horizon says. "How much did they record." "Just keep watching." The viins were outgunning the few police officers president, pistols against assault rifles. The man recording fires a few shots that just barely miss. And in the chaos, he ducks behind his police car as a hail of bullets ms into it. "Argh!" he groans, then his hand reaches across the camera up to his shoulder, and when it moves away, it''s covered in his own blood. But a few secondster, all the shooting stops. The camera continues frantically shaking as the man slowly gets up to peek over his cover, then stands so the camera can see what he sees. Horizon was in the middle of the shootout, and the three men were no longer holding their rifles. All the police officers stop, and what seems to be the leader takes a step back. "Rush him!" the man orders both his subordinates. One of them ms his fists together, a brawny man, and both his arms from fingertips to shoulder be diamonds. Horizon raises his sword, and as the man punches forward he cleaves the man''s entire arm right down the middle with Amputate, and it harmlessly falls to the floor. He ducks down and swipes at the man''s legs, using Amputate to remove them before doing a full spin and slicing at the man''s waist. Then finally cleaving upward, slicing his torso and head right down the middle. The man begins to panic and wail but waspletely uninjured, until Horizon stomped on his head, knocking him out. All of this happens so fast the second man only has time to rush up and throw his hands forward, spraying a jet of green acid from his palms. CURTAIN! Horizon''s light blue, transparent, square shield appears in front of him. The acid sshes on it and goes everywhere, including back toward the attacker. The man raises his hands instinctively, only for his arms to be nearlypletely dissolved. His blood-curdling screams are like nails on a chalkboard as the video shows his flesh dissolve, and in some areas so badly it reveals the bones beneath. Horizon drops his shield and walks past the man, noticing the acid only seems to affect organic matter as he steps through it. A very deadly Quirk for anyone else to deal with. He sees the puddle of acid slowly inching toward its creator who was unconscious face first on the road, and gives him a hard kick to the gut, sending him a few meters away to safety. All while thest man is shaking in his boots, his Quirk already active, giving him a third eye in the middle of his forehead, a nonbat Quirk. Which exins why he pulled out his pistol and was now aiming it at Horizon. Horizon looks down at Scalpel, his sword, then up at the man, and shakes his head. "What do you n to do with that, I''m sure you''ll run out of gun before I run out of sword." BANG! The man fires a shot, and Horizon seems to flicker as he instantly deflects it. The man looks confused at what just happened. As if Horizon glitched in real life. "Told you, now, surrender, and tell me who you''re working for," Horizon says, rather casually considering the situation. "You''re moving guns through Tokyo, and I want your boss." "H-he''ll kill me," the man stutters, still pointing his gun at Horizon. "He''ll kill them!" "Not if I get to him first." "No!" the man screams. "I''ll never talk!" he points the gun at his own head. Horizon just tilts his head, and looks around at the cops to make sure everyone was seeing this. "Really, you''re more scared of him than me, oh now I just have to know who he is, and you will tell me..." he takes one step forward. "No!" the man pulls back the hammer, "I''ll do it, I swear!" "So?" Horizon asks as he begins closing the distance, slowly, casually, to the horror and amazement of everyone watching. "Everyone says that, and even if you do, why would I care, you''re a viin, a cop killer, so go ahead... I can stop you at any time, but I''m more interested to know if you''ve got the balls to follow through." "Stop!" one of the police officers yells out, but Horizon ignores him and just continues. "He''ll hurt himself!" "I''ll do it!" the man yells, tears and snot streaming down his face as he sees Horizon get closer by the second. "I''ll kill myself!" "Go ahead," Horizon says as he keeps walking forward. "Save the taxpayers some money so we don''t have to keep you alive in prison, finally doing something good with your life, by ending it..." "Ahhhh!" the man releases one final anguished scream and squeezes his eyes shut. "Don''t!" some of the cops yell. BANG! The gun goes off, and the man drops it stumbling to the side, feeling the ringing in his ears from the gunshot. The only damage he suffered as he begins hyperventting, unable to snap back to his senses, questioning why he was not dead. Then he fearfully looks back, to see the bullet floating in mid-air,pletely stopped before it even left the barrel. The tears keep streaming even as Horizon approaches, and the man''s will to fight and live arepletely gone. Exactly how Horizon wants him for an easy interrogation. "Tch, couldn''t even do that right, what a joke," Horizon says as he now stands directly in front of the weeping man. Taking his sword he stabs it horizontally through the man''s shoulder, then lifts him off the ground, all while the man is screaming at the top of his lungs. TAKT! He lets go, and the sword keeps the man hanging in ce. "Now you and I are gonna have a hopefully short conversation about your boss..." The videoes to an end at that point, and Horizon nods along, proudly. "Do you atleast see the problem with this?" "No." Nezu sighs, "Honestly, what am I going to do with you..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 201: (Morning Bonfire) Chapter 201: (Morning Bonfire) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- ---9AM, October 23rd, 2315... Under the morning sun, in the strong winds atop Horizon tower. A man was currently chained to a chair, hands tied up and entirely restrained. Drenched in gasoline. He had tears streaking down his face as he whimpered, begging for this to stop. And in front of him was what would be Japan''s greatest Pro Hero, the rising moralpass of Hero Society. Horizon, standing with his sword hovering at his side, and a re in his hand as he looks down at his prisoner. "Please I swear I don''t know anything, they never told me a name!" The man screamed, but nobody could hear him. Not through the winds this high up, as if the sheer altitude from the streets wasn''t enough insurance. "I know you''re lying, so just tell me the name of the ce," Horizon says, waving the sealed re around. "Don''t you know what this is, and what I poured all over you...how do you think this ends?" "No!" The man yells in denial. "You''re bluffing, you''re a hero! You can''t do this to me!" he rattles his chain, trying to cool his skin and the chains, ideally he''d make them brittle with his Cold Touch Quirk and shatter them. But nothing happens. "Your Quirk won''t word dumbass," Horizon reaches behind his back and disys the man''s own heart, still beating rapidly and sealed in a gel-like cube of spatial energy. "Now tell me what I want..." "Please, just let me go! I won''t tell you anything!" "That time you said ''won''t'', see, you do know what I need," Horizon grips the heart, and the man feels a small heart attack in his chest. He almost sees his life flicker before his eyes. "ARGH!" "Where is Wolfram? I know you''re his eyes in Tokyo, he was using you to keep an eye on me, and look where it got you, just talk and this will all be over." "He''ll kill me," the man mutters out between pained gasps. "And you think I won''t?" Horizon gives the heart a good squeeze, and the man''s eyes roll back as the pain knocks him out. "Argh! Get up!" Horizon kicks him in the face, hard enough to snap him awake and almost send the chair tumbling over. Luckily it was securely tied down. "Ahhh!" The man screams. Then he gets quiet, desperately trying to catch his breath. "If you aren''t gonna talk, then I don''t have any reason to leave that useless mouth intact," Horizon says. The man''s eyes go wide as he sees the ''Hero'', reach behind his back, under his jacket. And take out a small pouch that''s always attached behind him at the back of his belt. It hovers in the air and opens with a flick of Horizon''s hand, and outes a pair of medical pliers. Sliver, blue, and white, and inching closer as Horizon grabs his jaw and forces his mouth open. The man gets a proper look at his reflection in the visor, the scent of gasoline masking his excrement as fear overtakes him. He tries to pull away but Horizon''s grip is like a vice, keeping him in ce. "We''ll start from the back..." Horizon says, almost yfully as he reaches in with the pliers and grabs a mr from the back of the man''s mouth. "Nnngh! Ahgnhh!" The man tries to talk but the tool is preventing it, as he feels force being applied to the tooth. "You''ll have a chance to talk after, now is time for punishment, because I hate having to ask twice." The sound of flesh and gums ripping precedes the taste of blood and warm liquid flooding his mouth. Horizon steps back as the man screams in pain, which only makes it hurt that much more. "Get your shit together before I ask again, you''ve got about eighty more tries...teeth, fingernails, toenails...then I''ll go for the fingers and toes...I rather save the eyes forst. The faster you talk, the more piece I leave intact, just saying." The man opens his mouth and a flood of blood pours into hisp, "---monster," he says through the pain and gargling. "Monster?" Horizon chuckles. The man looks up to see him casually turn around to gesture toward Tokyo all around them. "I''m Horizon, UA''s golden boy, Japan''s next Symbol Of Peace, these people love me, they''ll worship me, I''m the Hero here...I''m the only Hero these people need. I''m so perfect that even if some filthy viin like you says the worst things about me. All it will be, is a poor man''s attempt at ndering Japan''s favorite son, because I''m the only Hero here, and I''m always the only Hero that matters..." The man''s eyes widen as he realizes exactly how serious Horizon was being, and a new wave of fear rang through his body. All the thoughts of this being a child''s over-the-top attempt at ying ''bad cop'' were now gone. He was in the hands of a monster, and he''d never been more scared of a ''Hero'' in his life. "Now, where is Wolfram?" Horizon asks, taking careful and slow steps up to the man, dropping the heart to the floor. Seeing this the man considers his options. He knows the people he works with will kill him for sure if he talks, more than just violence like Horizon is doing. ''But he''s still a Hero, he still wants to be a Hero. He can''t kill me, right?'' he wonders as Horizon now stands above him. ''He won''t kill me, and I''ll just report him for this...'' "I don''t know," he lies through the pain of even moving his mouth. Horizon freezes, then sighs. He drops the pliers and they float in the air, alongside the medical pouch, his sword, and the sealed re. "Alright, fine, you win---" Horizon relents. The man forces a smile, even with his quickly swelling mouth. ''I knew it, the brat was just bluffing, can''t believe I ever fell for this...the news is gonna tear him apart when I tell them about this!'' But his victorious smile bes a look of absolute dread at Horizon''s next words. "---I guess I''ll skip to the eyes..." "Wh---AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!" The sound of popping and squelching is easily overshadowed by the cries of anguish as Horizon suddenly holds his head and digs his massive fingers into the man''s left eye socket, destroying the eyeball before tearing it out. Leaving the exposed nerves in the eye socket somewhat hanging out in the winds atop the tower, causing all the more pain for his guest. "Look what you made me do," Horizon says as he steps back, dropping the crushed eyeball to the floor. "Well, I guess ''look'' probably isn''t the right word huh," he chuckles to himself as the man is still screaming and convulsing in the chair. After two minutes of screaming and heavy breathing, the man looks up, now drenched in sweat. Blood flows from his left eye and his mouth, but there is no sympathy in Horizon for him. "So, I''m gonna ask again, and this time I hope you don''t try to test me like that, wh---" Horizon stop suddenly, confusing the man. "One moment," he raises a hand and turns away from his prisoner. "Hello?" The man instantly realizes he''s on the phone and tries to scream, but the moment he does. SHAMBLES! Horizon warps away. He sees the objects still floating about, and considers trying to break free. But a quick tug on the chain showed how useless that was. Looking at the floor he could see the puddle of gasoline, excrement, and blood running out from him. His rapidly beating heart was so casually dropped to the floor a few feet away. And craning his neck as best he can, the rooftop was entirely isted and towered over the nearby buildings. There was nobody to see this or for him to signal to. It was a hopeless situation through and through. Meanwhile, inside the tower... Law was walking around, visor off, with his phone floating around him. Currently on a video call with Nezu. "Any particr reason for the check-up?" Law asks while walking through he kitchen, getting a bag of chips. "Last night you requested additional server space and processing power from my superputer, why is that?" Nezu asks. "Did you not read the data I uploaded into the simtions?" "I''m a busy man Law, give me the short versions." Law shrugs and begins eating his chips, as if he wasn''t just torturing a man. "I need the power for medical simtions, I just about have enough data to start working on some cures." "Cures for what?" "Starting with Dementia and Alzheimer''s, things that degenerate cognitive functions, then onto other things like Cancers..." "Why start with mental ailments?" "I''ve got a lot of experience on ittely, it''ll be easier for me." "Alright, I''ll allocate the space for you, and what do you n to do when you create these cures? Will they be sold by Horizon''s medical researchpany, or some other way?" "I''ll own the patent but it''ll be free to otherpanies." " If you can do this, you should, this helps much more people. But there are easier ways to be a beloved figure than curing things such as this, you do realize that, right?" "Yeah, but why would I do things other people can already do? Horizon is better than that," Law says. "Well, you aren''t doing it for profit, which is rather strange for you...I don''t suppose I''m rubbing off on you?" "You wish, this is just a good way to establish Horizon''s reputation as a boon to all mankind, plus between the grants I''ll get from the United Nations and other countries and people after this, I''ll be paid well enough." "You just had to ruin it," Nezu sighs. "I''ll make a hero out of you someday...somehow." "Good luck with that," Law finishes eating his chips. "Can I get back to work now? Was kind of in the middle of something." "Right, good luck," Nezu says before hanging up. He warps his visor back onto his head and tosses his pack into the trash, before warping back onto the roof. His prisoner was a bit calmer now, after that short reprieve. "So, one more time, where is Wolfram," he puts his hand on the mans head, using Scan to detect any lies. And the man sings like an honest little bird, only wishing for the sweet relief of a jail cell. "See, was that so hard?" Horizon asks after a few minutes of simple questioning. "Now we''re done here." "Mhm," the man stiffly nods. "Will you give me to the cops n---" Horizon raises a hand to silence the man, then steps away and turns his back to him. "Hello?" "------" "Are you sure? Two of them?" the man hears Horizon asks, clearly not liking whatever news he got. "------" "Alright, I''m on the way, wait for me to get ther---" "------" "Damn it! Fine, I''ll hurry..." Horizon hangs up and gives an annoyed sigh. "Stupid useless fucks can''t do anything themselves." "Will you give me to the cops now?" the man asks, hopeful even now. Horizon just looks at him, then tilts his head slightly, "I knew you viins are dumb, but this is a new low." And with a few casual motions, he grabs the re from mid-air where it was floating, cracks it open so its lit, and tosses it onto the gasoline-soaked man. "As if I''d ever let my perfect reputation be so much as questioned because of a mongrel like you," he mutters as the mes consume the screaming man. Soon he''d be unrecognizable, and Horizon will warp him to the bottom of the nearby ocean, as if this never happened. And with no trace of him being involved. Japan''s perfect pristine rising star remains fully intact, as it should always be... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 202: (Yakuza Raid) Chapter 202: (Yakuza Raid) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- ---11 Am, Western Japan... "What the hell is this, can''t they do anything right?" Horizon asks himself while flying toward the Yakuza base. He was only a few miles away, but could sense multiple fights happening. ''Took me two hours to get here, I was hoping this would have been over by now,'' he thinks while slowing down his hoverboard. ROOM! He opens a room spanning 8km -5 miles-. SCAN! "Mmm," he grumbles as the influx of information bombards him, then he decides where he''s needed most. ''Lemillion is dealing with Overhaul and some of thoseckeys underground, the girl and Nighteye are there so he should be fine for now, they''re winning. Suneater is handling three viins, they won''tst long. Red Riot and Fatgum are having a brawl, seems like a stalemate right now. But Ryukyu, what the hell...'' He shrinks the Room to focus in on Ryukyu and her sidekicks. He senses a giant of a man, standing at 15m -45ft- and covered in hulking muscles. A simr gue doctor mask to the other Yakuza, and in his grasp is Uravity, seemingly unconscious. Standing at the edge of the fight are some D-listers and police officers. ''They don''t want to get close, and Froppy looks exhausted, Ryukyu too. Only Nejire is fighting properly but she''s getting tired. He must be Rikiya Katsukame, the guy that absorbs stamina after making contact once. Constantly ripping energy out of them, and since Nejire is all about stamina she''s the only one that canst long against him. I''d better start there and deal with him first, that way the only fight happening outside the base doesn''t get the nearby civilians hurt...'' SHAMBLES! Horizon swaps with some rubble, arriving just beside Ryukyu and standing on his hoverboard. "What!" Rikyia yells out, still holding Uravity. All the girls and heroes are relived at the sight of Horizon. "What the hell are you doing here?!" "Being the hero," Horizon snaps his fingers, and Uravity and Froppy both warp away from the viin behind the police barricade, swapped with some rubble. "We aren''t scared of any hero, not even you!" Rikiyia ms his fists into the road, the gust pushes Nejire back to hover beside Horizon and Ryukyu. "Don''t you know who we are?!" "No," Horizon lied. "But I''m Horizon, so it really doesn''t matter..." "Raah!" the man is about to lunge forward, but he suddenly disappears, swapping for therge dragon standing beside Horizon. Before he can realize what happened there is a sharp pain in his shoulder. He turns to swing, barely getting a glimpse of Horizon who was currently stabbing him with Scalpel. COUNTER SHOCK! His backhand strike stops mere inches from Horizon''s face as his body convulses and tenses. Unintelligible screaming left his mouth and small wisps of smoke appeared across his body, apanying the electrical scorch marks slowly forming on his skin. Horizon withdraws his de, and before the unconscious viin can hit the floor he''s extending his senses to the underground brawl. SHAMBLES! He once again tries to warp Eri away from the fight, but she doesn''t move. She''s stuck in ce, in the damn wall, bits of stone molecrly bonded to her skin so they can''t rescue her. All with Nighteye and Lemillion in front of her, desperately trying to form a wall between her and Overhaul. ''How annoying...but they''ve got that covered for now, I need to find Joi Irinaka, Mimic, that''s the guy controlling the structure of the base so freely, fighting in there is a bad idea while he''s in control...'' SCAN! Horizon focuses on the base itself, he feels the hallways and walls constantly moving. SHAMBLES! He warps a hallway of police officers to his side moments before they got squashed into a paste. He focuses once more, delving deeper. There are very few ways to hide from his Scan. Permeation does not work to achieve this, even when Lemillion is intangible or moving through objects, he detects him as a glitch of ovepping masses. Illusions based on light and smoke will not work as Scan detects the truth around him. Only true shapeshifting can hide a person. Shapeshifting of the nature he encountered when hest worked with Arsenal. Shapeshifting that causes you to externally be exactly like your target, shapeshifting with absolutely no gaps for him to sense what you really are. The kind that Himiko Toga has, or that a Twice Clone would technically be. Mimic, however, was not fortunate enough to have this... SHAMBLES! Horizon drops his sword, and in the same instant, it''s swapped for a tiny doll-like creature currently being controlled by Mimic, the shapeshifter that possesses it from within. Horizon grabs him by the face, and a slew of rage-fueled swears assaults him as the viins tries to fight out of his grasp. COUNTER SHOCK! "ARGHHH!" The small doll creature gets fried before going limp, and Horizon looks back over his shoulder at Ryukyu. "Kyukyu, hold this, don''t let it touch anything inorganic. It invades and possesses them, and he''s currently near overdosed on trigger..." He tosses the viin back over his shoulder and therge dragon catches him in her hands. "I know what he does," she says. "It was in the briefing, and my name is RYU-Kyu." "Whatever Kyukyu," Horizon warps away, swapped with a few unconscious police officers and D-list heroes. After a few more warps to deal with generic thugs, he appears in a room with a lone doctor frantically sorting through research papers while typing up some things on aputer. The doorway to this room was folded away and sealed by Mimic, so the man had no way out on his own. A failsafe so the heroes wouldn''t find him during the raid, and afterward either Mimic or Overhaul could simplye get him, they never expected him to be found after all. Which is why he doesn''t expect Horizon to warp into the room. And silently sneak up on him, watching over his shoulder as the man frantically looks through all the ''Research'' they did on Eri. After a few seconds of observation, Horizon has seen enough. "I need that," he says. "Wh--ahh!" The man feels Scalpel pierce his shoulder through his back, and down through his thigh, staking him to the chair before he can even turn around. Horizon shoves the chair to the side, sending the man rolling, before he uses Takt to levitate theputer and all the files. SHAMBLES! He warps with everything and the man to the police barricade, and the heroes are appalled by the way he crudely kept the man seated. "Kyukyu!" Ryukyu looks over at him, and grimaces at the sight of the doctor. "Don''t feel bad for the guy experimenting on kids...keep him and all his research in sight, I have questions for him." Thest thing he sees before warping away is Ryukyu snarling at the man as she shrinks down to gather up the documents. "Can someone please help me?" the man asks sheepishly, wincing in pain and gesturing to the sword piercing his back,ing out through his shoulder, then going through his thigh and into the chair. "That''s nothingpared to what you did to Eri," Ryukyu says with no emotion, not even looking at him while she gathers the papers. "You''ll be fine..." Horizon appears beside Suneater, who was currently sitting against a wall with bruises all over him. Laying on the floor of the room were three unconscious members of Overhaul''s personal guard. ''Not surprising from the strongest person here...before I arrived atleast, the one person I can trust to do their job. Nice work Suneater.'' Horizon does another quick Scan to ensure he doesn''t miss anything, then sends Suneater, the Yakuza, and the raid members from this area to the police outside. SHAMBLES! Horizon appears in a small medical room, seeing Red Riot on one of the beds wrapped in bandages, with a Yakuza in the bed opposite him. Standing in the room is Fatgum who was currently thin, ''so that''s what the stored energy does...a big counterattack that leaves him skinny,'' Horizon immediately realizes. But across from Fatgum is a Yakuza, who just like him was bandaged up. "What the fuck is this?" Horizon asks. "Having tea with the enemy during a raid, something you want to tell me Fatgum?" "Wait it''s not like that," Fatgum raises his hands in protest. "We just got done fighting and this guy showed us to this room," he gestures to the Yakuza behind him. "He''s actually pretty cool and just likes fighting..." "HE, is an IT," Horizon says. "As in it''s another task on our list, nothing more." "Hey!" Fatgum furrows his brow. "You can''t just treat them like that, viins are people too! Beside its not like I wasn''t gonna arrest them..." "Save it for the debriefing---" SHAMBLES! They''re all warped to the police on the surface, and everyone is confused by Red Riot and a Yakuza on bed rest. The police raise their guns and nearby heroes get ready for a fight, only for Rappa to raise his hands in surrender. "Wish you showed up when I was ready for a fight, would have been fun brawling with you!" he says to Horizon. "I''m not a brawler, I''m a surgeon, and you''d just be more meat on my operating table..." Horizon turns away and gestured for Nejire and Froppy to walk with him, leaving the others to deal with Fatgum''s mess. Ryukyu sees this and keeps an eye on them while having some officers pack the evidence away. "I''m going after Eri and Overhaul now," Horizon says. "Finally!" Nejire cheers. "Let''s go, but why didn''t you do that from the start?" He raises his hand, and his bloodied sword appears from the doctor''s body into his grasp. "The situation down there is a stalemate, and Overhauls Quirk is dangerous, plus the longer he doesn''t know I''m here the better. If I warped her out he could have just brought down the building and neighborhood, and there isn''t anywhere in this city I can warp him to that''s safe..." "So you left him forst, smart," Nejire says. "Yeah, now get ready to catch Eri," he says. "What?" Froppy asks. "You''ll see," he shes diagonally at the floor, leaving a seemingly small sh in the road. But it reached all the way down into the basement of the Yakuza building. Finally freeing the hostage. SHAMBLES! Horizon is swapped for a small white-haired girl, currently encased in a stone spike that was rising from the wall. Nejire and Froppy snap out of their surprise and grab onto her before she hits the floor, then all three girls look at each other confused. In the same instant Horizon arrives at the lowest room of the hideout, standing behind Nighteye, Lemillion, Bubble Girl, and Rock Lock. And across from them is Overhaul, a few of his Yakuza, and what he now notices as the two Nomu he was called to deal with. "So...you''re the boss?" Horizon casually asks Overhaul, seeing the man clearly pissed off at losing Eri... "Yeah," Overhaul grits out. "I''m the boss..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 203: (Yakuza Raid Pt.2) Chapter 203: (Yakuza Raid Pt.2) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "Yeah," Overhaul grits out. "I''m the boss..." The massive underground stone cavern system of the Yakuza base was tense. This room had no exit, sealed away by Overhaul when Lemillion and the others entered, taking advantage of the fact that Permeation doesn''t extend beyond his body and specially designed Hero Costume. Overhaul''s eyes don''t dare stray away from Horizon, even as the young Hero casually takes a few steps forward to stand in front of the others. At his back are Sir Nighteye, Lemillion, Bubble Girl, and Rock Lock, the only Heroes to make it this far. Opposite them Overhaul stands beside a Yakuza man who wasn''t on the intel they had. Wearing a white version of their uniform with a yellow gue doctor mask blocking his entire face. Horizon''s eyes and senses focus on the gun in the man''s hand, a revolver with 6 Quirk Deleter Rounds loaded and ready to fire. But the next instant his eyes are fixed on the two Nomu behind Overhaul, the reason why Nighteye called him over this morning. He does a quick breakdown of them, one thin andnky, grey-skinned with bone spikes protruding from its joints and spine, arcs of yellow electricity bounding from the tips of each bone. ''The Lurkers encountered one of these at a warehouse they raided,'' Horizon recalls data from Edgeshot''s updates. ''Its are a mid-ss Nomu, which means no Super Regeneration atleast... but it looks exactly the same, guess this confirms they''re cloning Nomu.'' His eyes then dart over to the next Nomu, a hulking brute, nearly 5m -15ft- tall and covered in muscles. Pieces of its purple skin were torn to reveal red slightly glowing muscle fibers beneath, brimming with energy. He also notices both the Nomu having their eyes locked onto him. ''Shigaraki probably gave them some kind of higher-order to focus me if I show up...but if he left them here then Overhaul is in control, and he''s more invested in the manufacturing of these bullets than we thought. But from what I know Overhaul''s n is to destroy all Quirks or something, and Shigaraki is more of a global destruction and chaos type...doesn''t make sense. He must have bullied the Yakuza into helping them. This should mean after this I can probably get Overhaul to give me all the data I need to find the League of Losers. So I need to capture Overhaul...difficult to contain him with that Quirk. I can''t use Injection Shot to disable him from a distance since his Quirk counters is. That mean''s I''ll zap him first, then just rip his heart out to disable his Quirk, a few moments of contact will be dangerous but manageable, and his Quirk shouldn''t work on my body. Just need to be wary of him using it on my costume. Having to clear this ce out and then im Overhaul killed the other heroes would be annoying, and make me look like I failed to protect them, can''t have that...'' In the small moment where Horizon was considering the ups and downs of this fight, Overhaul had to do no such thing, he nned for this unfortunate eventuality. He nned for the absolute worst-case scenario of standing against Horizon from the moment the Sports Festival debuted him. Because of the nature of his Quirk, All Might was never much of a concern, but Horizon is dangerous. ''An absolute sense of his environment, range, mobility, and he''s a genius,'' Overhaul thinks. ''Everyone else is probably locked up already, so its just Chronostasis and I against these freaks...but all I need is Chronostasis, exactly as we nned.'' He sees Horizon draw his de and point it across at them, "surrender peacefully and you won''t have to get hurt. I already warped Eri away from here, she''s safe with the other heroes, and all the other forces you had have already been defeated. I even found your safe room with the doctor." Overhaul''s eye twitches at that, "well now, this is rare, a person who lives up to their reputation, you''re a bigger freak than I thought." "You can''t win," Horizon says. "Just give up." "Chronostasis," Overhaul whispers, low enough that only his right-hand man could hear it. "Trust me to heal you, to rescue you...stick to the n, and our perfect world shall be realized." "Yes sir," Chronostasis mutters back. "Just die Heroes!" Overhaul yells dramatically as he ms his hands toward the ground. SHAMBLES! Before his hands can touch the floor to activate his Quirk, Horizon warps behind him and grabs him by his purple hair, tossing him into the air. Overhaul groans in pain from the pulling against his scalp, but is left helpless and without anything to use his Quirk on in mid-air. Chronostasis doesn''t bother helping his boss as the two Nomu are already attacking Horizon, so he simply begins running toward the other heroes. As he does this he fires two of his Quirk Deleter Bullets, both of which the heroes predict and avoid. But it gives him enough time to put his free hand beneath his mask while running, initiating their n. Meanwhile, Horizon warps away from his new spot, narrowly avoiding a super-powered punch from the brutish Nomu. The entire chamber shakes from the force of it, ''stronger than the USJ Nomu, they''re better at stacking Quirks now...'' Horizon realizes as he warps behind the creature and touches it, doing a full scan. ''Muscle Enhancer, Super Power, Shock Nullification, Kic Enhancement, Bulk Up...all meathead Quirks, and Shock Nullification means he''s immune to blunt force outside of the absolute extremes like Star and Stripe.'' He senses the other Pro''s taking down the lone Yakuza and warps away to avoid a bolt of lightning that was about to be shot at him. And a momentter the spot he was on is demolished by the electric Nomu. TAKT! He grabs Overhual''s clothes and roughly holds him in the air, continuously lifting him up higher and higher so he can''t touch anything. Sensing another strike iing from the musclebound Nomu, he swaps ces with the electric Nomu. The strike connects and the sound of bones breaking and electricity crackling can be heard as the floor beneath thenky Nomu caves in. SHAMBLES! Horizon swaps with some of the rubble tossed into the air. INCISION! He enhances the shing and piercing ability of his sword, and stabs it directly into the bulky Nomu''s right eye, just barely reaching the brain stem through its mostly open skull. The monster doesn''t even react, only reaching up to grab Horizon, thankfully it wasn''t very fast. With his foot, he reaches down and touches the electric Nomu, and as expected it discharges everything it has directly at him. COUNTER SHOCK: Grounding Line! The electricity runs along the current he produces and binds with it, being directed up his sword and into the skull of the other Nomu. Frying its brain just enough that even with Hyper Regeneration the damage allowed his sword to hit the main nerves and cauterize them. Retracting his de he immediately shes downward, using Incision to split the electric Nomu diagonally into two parts. He senses Lemillion taking down the other Yakuza member before looking up at Overhaul. ''Huh, he didn''t even Overhaul his clothes to break out of my grasp...that was only to buy me a few seconds but he just let me hold him there...'' Horizon looks around the battlefield, noticing how easy it was to capture such a powerful viin, feeling something was clearly off. But doesn''t think much of it, after all, he''s Horizon, why would it ever be difficult? He sees some destruction from the previous battles, then the two unmoving Nomu. The bulky Nomu still twitching because of all the electricity overloading it. ''Firepower like Endeavor would have just fried the whole thing, but it took me using a whole other Nomu to beat it...better than using my new move atleast.'' His attention then goes to a single bloody finger between himself and the other heroes, and the thin trail of blood leading to the Yakuza pinned under Lemillion. ''Something isn''t adding up...why is he missing a finger?'' Deciding to handle Overhaul first he warps directly under the man and drops him, reaching up to grab him with an electric palm. And exactly as he wants, is how it happened. Overhaul aims to grab his visor and use his Quirk, but before he can do that Horizon grabs the viin''s forearm and shocks him into unconsciousness, ending this encounter. Holding the viin off the floor Horizon looks him over, "well, I expected more from the big bad Yakuza...no wonder you guys barely exist anymore, now about that hea---" "Horizon!" Lemillion''s scream cuts him off. Horizon''s head snaps over to the other heroes, seeing Lemillion over the other Yakuza who was on the floor with no mask on,ying on his back coughing up blood. "You wait here," he drops Overhaul and rushes over to the others. "What happened?" "I don''t know, I didn''t even hit him that hard," Lemillion says, clearly distressed by the dying man. "Stand back," Horizon kneels beside the man and ces a hand on his chest. "His heart is about to explode, and his brain...what the hell, it''s like he''s having a full biological meltdown, I need to---" The man coughs and a fountain of blood erupts from his mouth. Horizon sees some bits of green in the blood and beneath the visor his eyes widen. SHA--- Before his brain could process themand, before the same globs of blood could fall back onto Chronostasis, everything stops. Time itself for 6m -20ft- around the body was brought to an absolute crawl. Only a few minutester and Overhaul wakes up, sitting up and holding his head. Feeling the searing pain of having his scalp almost torn out and the stinging, sizzling of his left forearm from being tased. "Mmm," he looks around, seeing the two defeated Nomu, then over at where the others are. "So it worked, good job Chronostasis, this is why we kept your Quirk an absolute secret..." he says while looking at the scene. Chronostasis was vomiting up blood and traces of green liquid. The heroes were around him looking on in concern while Horizon was trying to diagnose the problem, exactly as they''d expect from the only present doctor. "Of course, he can''t ignore a person in need, stupid Heroes always running to help, and he''s a doctor on top of that..." he says while getting up, keeping his eyes on Horizon. Taking a deep breath he cracks his neck, enjoying the short reprieve as he walks to the severed finger. ''In tests, that Suicide Trigger Form we got from the Europeanb is next-level stuff. Forcing a quirk to evolve and go wild at the cost of the user''s life, taking a simple single target time slowing Quirk to an area of effect attack...the ultimate suicide attack. One that even the mighty Horizon can''t detect and warp away from in time. Tests show I should have anywhere between twenty and forty minutes before the Chronostasis bubble pops, that gives me enough time to get out of here. Get out of their signal jammer range and call Shigaraki, we can always make a run at getting Eri and Chronostasis backter,'' he thinks while picking up Chronostasis''s severed finger. Focusing on it he''s thankful for how many times he''s used his Quirk on his right-hand man, in preparation for the Horizon eventuality. ''Every self-respecting viin should have a n for that freak...but none are as good as mine,'' he mentally gloats as the finger pops into red mist. Then it rushes through the air toward Chronostasis, sending themand to restructure his body and expel the trigger. The small cloud of mist thatprises the finger suddenly stops in mid-air as it hits the time bubble, frozen like everything else. Overhaul narrows his eyes at that, annoyed that the same thing keeping them trapped also protects them from getting hurt. "Time to get out of he---" His eyes widen in surprise and confusion as he sees Horizon''s head slowly, as if moving through wet cement, turn toward him. "What kind of a freak are you?" he growls out as Horizon begins turning to get up and walk toward him. All in slow motion. "No no no, this isn''t supposed to happen!" Overhaul yells as he rushes toward his only chance of victory, toward the two Nomu... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 204: (Yakuza Raid Pt.3) Chapter 204: (Yakuza Raid Pt.3) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- ''What is this?'' Horizon wonders, feeling the disjointed information flooding his mind. Two sets of data from one Room. His Room wasrge enough to epass the entire Yakuza base, but the time bubble he was currently trapped in was only a few meters wide. Within the bubble, everything felt slower, but outside it was as if the world was in super speed. His eyes saw nothing but darkness, light not moving fast enough through the bubble to give him any information within, his brain slowed to an absolute crawl. But luckily for him, that''s still faster than the average genius. ''Why is everything fast?'' he questions to himself, sensing the heroes and Yakuza around him frozen, but now he''s sensing Overhaul already waking up. ''He should have been out for at least a few minutes, long enough for me to check on this guy and still go get his heart...my body won''t move...'' He tries to turn his head ormand his Quirk, but nothing happens. He can''t even warp away. ''Deactivating my Quirk willpletely blind me, and for some reason, I can''t warp...my body is frozen. I can''t move.'' SCAN! He checks out his own body, down to the gic level, then even deeper. ''My body, it''s just like Eri''s Quirk...but it''s slowing time rather than reversing. This Yakuza was a suicide bomb. How do I get out? What do I do...c''mon Horizon, think!'' He delves deeper and deeper into his own body, into how the Chronons were interacting with him, into the bubble itself, and how it affected the world around him. Hebs over every cell of his body, every moving part that he''s lost control of. BA-DUM! He feels his Quirk acting up, Hand of God still not having perfectly integrated the others. The telltale sign of his Quirk about to shut off. About to leave him blind and deaf in this time bubble so Overhaul can escape. But time is still disjointed, he expects the headache but doesn''t feel anything. The physical pain hasn''t moved across his nerves yet, his brain hasn''t been strained by the blood flow yet. Time is slowing everything to a crawl aside from his thoughts. ''Chronons...I need to control my own, within my own body, just reverse the effect. I only need a few seconds of it, I need. TO MOVE!'' Combing over every particle and manipting them precisely, he ignores everything else and focuses only on his body. ''Hand of God has no limits, with enough practice I can do anything, I can bend the world!'' He reminds himself, on what feels like the third day of wracking his mind against this problem. Then finally, his body begins moving. His head slowly turns, as Overhaul is about to get up. He senses the viin moving, and after what to Horizon was a week trapped in his own body, in not even enough time for Lemillion or Night Eye to begin the process of forming a single thought. He''s figured out how to diminish the effects on himself. He slowly gets up, moving as if his entire body was submerged in wet concrete. BA-DUM! The pain bes real, he can feel the small brain aneurysm starting,pounding onto each other. His body tries to send a Booster Shot to automatically heal it, but he halts themand. As he gets up and begins walking toward Overhaul, he feels the viin look in his direction. And in a blur, he begins running toward the two Nomu corpses. Horizon doesn''t give him any more attention, focusing only on himself. ''Once I get out of this stupid bubble, I''ll break his fucking legs!'' As he''s one step away from freedom, he feels Overhaul using his Quirk on both the dead Nomu. All three bodies be a massive floating collection of red mist as they fuse together at a cellr level. And what felt like hourster, Horizon takes the final step out of the bubble, and as he''s entirely out he drops to one knee, cradling his head. "Argh! Fuck!" all thepounding pain of pushing his Quirk to the limit crashed into him at once. His Room finally copses as he takes deep breaths, feeling exhausted. What to Overhaul was only a few minutes, for Horizon was closer to two weeks stuck in his own body. His stomach growls loudly as the ground begins shaking, then he looks over at Overhaul. Now fused with the two Nomu into a 10m -32ft- long, red and ck hulking quadrupedal creature. Bone spikes crackle with electricity all protruding from theyers of these shock-nullifying muscles. And where the massive head should be is Overhaul, from the waist up and resting in a canopy, shaped like his gue doctor mask. Even the viin himself has red and ck skin, torn up and showing red glowing muscles beneath. Horizon barely catches his breath before Overhaul lowers his main body so his palm can touch the ground. And a destructive wave is sent toward him, dismantling the floor on its way toward the heroes. SHAMBLES! Horizon warps to the other side of the room, then looks back at the bubble, at the people he couldn''t warp out. The attack hits the bubble and the floor around it, but everything inside ispletely unaffected. ''Ok, they''re safe, one less thing to worry about,'' he thinks before warping away. He appears back on the surface standing at the back of an ambnce, where the paramedics were currently cutting Eri out of the stone coffin she''d been fused with. Beside her were Ryukyu, Nejire-Chan, and Froppy. "Is this ce fully evacuated?" Horizon asks before raising the mouthpiece of his visor, showing the blood flowing down his chin from his eyes, nose, and mouth. "What happened?!" Ryukyu immediately rushes over to him. "Are you ok?!" "I''ll be fine," he takes out two meal bars and begins forcing them into his mouth. "The evacuation is almostplete," Ryukyu says. "But the west side still has some people that are being stubborn." Horizon forces down both the meal bars and takes a relieved breath. "Good, this might get messy, get her and everyone else out of here, now..." "But the perimeter---" He cuts off Ryukyu, "---can''t be held against what I''m about to fight, just get out of the way so I don''t have to worry about more things. If he decides to touch the floor and Overhaul the neighborhood you''re all dead..." he immediately warps away. They all look at each other, then to Ryukyu, "alright, you heard him, everyone clear out, something big is happening!" Horizon arrives back in the underground cavern, then looks to his side to see Overhaul using his Quirk to make a tunnel away from the hideout. With the viin''s back to him, he raises his sword, using his Quirk to aim directly at Overhaul''s brain stem. ''If this doesn''t kill you it should at least exhaust you a bit... but since you absorbed the eclectic Nomu its impossible to beat you in a war of attrition, damn it.'' INJECTION SHOT! Six invisible, indefensible bullets m through the viin. Horizon sees the entire body flinch for just a moment, then in the next Overhaul spins around and charges in his direction. ''Fuck...'' Horizon thinks as he sees the viin''s neck and head currently a bloody mist as it quickly reforms. ''That''s such an annoying Quirk...'' The ground cracks under Overhaul''s monstrous arms as he crawls toward Horizon. ''Let''s try this!'' Horizon draws his de and holds the sheathe in his left hand, then throws it at the charging viin. "Catch!" he yells out, and Overhaul doesn''t even acknowledge it as the item just barely misses his head. SHAMBLES! Horizon swaps with the sheathe, nting his feet on Overhaul''s monstrous shoulder and swinging down with his de. BOOSTER SHOT+INCISION! He boosts the cutting power of his de and his own striking strength, and cleaves right through Overhaul''s neck. Even with all the resistance of the Nomu biology, because it was so sparingly used in his own head for risk of interrupting his higher brain functions, Overhaul can''t stop the de. His head is bloodily cut off, the most tactical alternative since Amputate would simply let him reform. Horizon sees the shed flesh already be red mist with chunks of meat in it, intending to reform. SHAMBLES! He swaps the severed head with his sheathe before jumping away, expecting the monster to simply copse. But as hends, he learns something new. Once the Overhaulmand has been set, not even death can stop it. And the majority will always attract the minority, so Overhaul''s severed head still bes the red mist with chunks of meat in it, and rockets back to his main body where it reattaches. ''Oh you''ve got the be fucking kidding me,'' Horizon thinks as the monster rushes toward him. ''If I warp his head too far it could just grow a new one with the Nomu cells...or the head would grow a new body, too risky, fuck.'' "I guess I''ll kill you first!" Overhaul screams out while constantly trying to smash Horizon. Each hit from his new body craters the solid stone floor and shakes the entire base. With Horizon warping away, he touches the floor with his hand and Overhauls it toward him. ''restructuring matter that quickly outside of his own body...'' Horizon thinks as he sees the ground around him dismantled before almost instantly reforming into massive spikes in every direction. AMPUTATE! One horizontal sh cuts off the top of most spikes. TAKT! He keeps the spikes floating so he can freely warp about, which he does while constantly shing at Overhaul. AMPUTATE! He shes Overhaul right down the middle, and along the attack the body bes the disassembled mist and begins reforming. SHAMBLES! He warps to Overhaul''s side. AMPUTATE! He shes down yet again, leaving a thin sh through the cavern floor and walls, vivisecting Overhaul yet again. "Just stay put!" Overhaul yells as he wildly swings at Horizon, unable to evernd a single hit. Horizon continues the process, so many times that the floor beneath Overhaul looks as if it was made of gravel, all thepounding shes constantly divided. ''This guy is such a pain in the ass,'' Horizon thinks as he continues shing and warping. Even as Overhaul bes a massive cloud of blood and meat constantly trying to reform. ''The only way I stop this guy is with---'' he considers it for a moment. ''Yeah, but I''ll need---'' "Horizon!" he hears Lemillion call out to him. "What is that?" he points at the cloud of flesh and blood. With Lemillion, Rock Lock, and Sir Nighteye, they could only see Horizon flickering about the room while shing down, pulverizing the floor and a floating cloud of blood and bits of flesh that was constantly trying to pull itself together. ''Perfect,'' Horizon warps beside the other heroes, and they can see him breathing heavily trying to catch his breath. "That''s Overhaul, he fused with the Nomu, distract him while I prepare a finishing blow..." "That''s Chisaki?" Rock Lock asks, disgusted by the cloud before it quickly begins reforming into the viin. "Oh god!" "We''ll get you the time you need," Sir Nighteye says. "Rock Lock, anchor him, Lemillion and I will run interference!" Without a word, Horizon hands Sir Nighteye his sword and warps away. At the other side of the room, while watching Overhaul pull himself back together, slowly and slowly losing more of his mind as his Quirk diminishes it. The body of both Nomu straining his brain. Causing him to be more violent and erratic, a disaster waiting to happen. Sir Nighteye looks over his shoulder, seeing Horizon take a deep breath and raise his right hand, holding it in from of his chest he leaves his hand open, and grabs his wrist with his free hand. Sadly he could only open a Room barelyrge enough to cover the surrounding neighborhood during his move, and he would be entirely defenseless as well. Because while people are amazed by how fluid and quickly he uses his Quirk, they''ll never see the years of struggling to get his abilities to that point. And right now, he can''t use this ability in conjunction with the others. ''Must be something big...'' Sir Nighteye thinks. "Don''t let him past us," Sir Nighteye says as he rushes forward, using his Foresight Quirk on himself to see his own future. Lemillion sinks into the floor beside him as Rocklock rushes Overhaul beside him. ''This thing is heavier than I thought,'' Nighteye thinks while raising Scalpel. Overhaul touches the floor and makes a legion of spikes toward them, only for them to stop a few meters ahead of them. "Deadbolt." Rocklock dropped down and touched the floor, locking it in ce. Exactly why Sir Nighteye wanted him to be in this room, because his Quirk directly counters Overhaul. ''That should hold for a few moments at least,'' Sir Nighteye thinks as he rushes forward, entering Overhaul''s range when more spikes erupt. But he sees into his own future and easily dodges the spikes,pletely surprising Overhaul. Closing in on the viin he sees Overhaul raise one of the monstrous hands to swat at him, but he doesn''t even try to avoid it. Because as Overhaul is locked in on him, Lemillion rockets out of the floor below him,nding an uppercut that cracks Overhaul''s jaw and shatters some teeth, and they see his head already disassembling itself to reform. The hit staggers Overhaul enough that his attack misses Sir Nigheye, exactly as he foresaw, allowing him to leap up and bury the entire de up to the hilt into Overhaul''s still reforming skull, down into his neck and spine. Lemillion''s eyes go wide at such a lethal attack, until a momentter Overhaul''s entire human body disassembles as Sir Nighteye kicks off his shoulder,nding on his feet. Rocklock rushes up at this moment and ms both his hands onto Overhaul''s monstrous body. He focuses all his energy while activating his Quirk. "GRAND DEADBOLT!" The monstrous bodypletely freezes, and the cloud of reforming matter can''t seem to reconnect to it. Rocklockpletely stopped all movement from the viin, stalling the reformation process. "Good work," Sir Nighteye says. He looks back at Horizon to see strange green particles hovering above his palm, he feels the air bing colder by the moment. Looking into his own future he sees what''s about to happen and ispletely perplexed, not even understanding what exactly he''s seeing. "I can''t hold it much longer!" Rocklock yells out after a few moments, and both other heroes get ready to act. Lemillion sinks into the floor as Sir Nighteye leaps back. "Get off me!" Overhaul yells out, slurring his words slightly as his mental ability begins more obviously degrading. He knocks Rocklock aside and tries to crush Sir Nighteye once more, but this time the hero just casually sidesteps the attack. Just barely out of the way thanks to his Quirk he leaps onto Overhaul''s monstrous arm and begins running toward his main body. Seeing another hand swiping at him before it even happens, Sir Nighteye leaps up and over it, then continues running, only for Overhaul to use his Quirk on the floor. Sir Nigheye sees spikes rising before it happens, and leaps up, stabbing out with Scalpel to his side for a stone spike to perfectly intersect with the de. The spike carries him up a few meters before he holds onto it and leaps away from the battle, while throwing the sword directly above Overhaul. The viin focuses on Sir Nighteye and ignores the de, which quickly disappears above him, out of sight. "Just di---" Overhaul''s words are cut off as the de is kicked into the back of his skull, piercing his face and once again causing him to split apart before attempting to reform. The moment Sir Nighteye threw the de, Lemillion shot out of the ceiling down onto the viin, and as expected he saw the de and dropkicked it directly down into the viin. No longer inhibited by the idea of ''lethal force'' as he knows Overhaul can handle it. "GRAND DEADBOLT!" Once again Rocklock rushes up and puts his hands on the viin, just as the sword falls through Overhaul''s skull, freezing the viin. Sir Nighteye picks up the sword and Lemillionnds beside him. "Much too violent for my tastes," Sir Nighteye says about the de, "but supremely efficient in this conflict." "I think it''s pretty cool," Lemillion says, "too bad gadgets don''t work with my Quirk. "Shut. Up," Rocklock grits out, beads of sweat running down his face as he grits his teeth. "Concentrating." "Get away, now!" Horizon yells out, causing them all to look at him. "I''m ready..." They see Horizon still gathering strange green particles, but now they begin flicking to life all around the room, flowing toward his open palm. Then they move faster, and faster, as if the wind became visible in soft green streaks. A cold chill ran across the room as they begin to see their own breath, only feeling some warmth as the small glowing wisps float past them. "Move!" Horizon screams as he begins running toward Overhaul, and Lemillion and Sir Nighteye immediately rush away. But Rocklock stays, "If I leave he moves, and we can''t afford to miss---" "Yeah!" Horizon dashes between therge spikes and sees Sir Nighteye and Lemillion rushing away. "But if you stay you''ll---" "---Be fine!" Rocklock says. "I''ve got the world''s best doctor on my team!" Within a few moments, Horizon reaches up to Overhaul, and ms his open palm into the monstrous body of the viin. Rocklock leaps away at thest moment, but is sadly caught in the area of effect. For the first time a hint at the existence of Horizon''s Room is shown, luckily the battlefield was too hectic to notice. Green particles are ripped from the environment and surrounding neighborhood, almost showing the exact range of his Room. Then fuses and bes visible as it closes in on Horizon, rushing through the viin to gather into his palm. GAMMA---! Horizon shrinks his Room, down to barelyrge enough to contain himself, the viin, and Rocklock who was currently leaping out of it. And with it, he drags as much of the gamma radiation as possible toward his palm, as if the air in the room was visible there was a transparent green mist rushing toward Overhual to gather at Horizon''s palm which was on his chest. Rocklock dives out of the attack but his foot just barely gets caught at the end, he feels searing heat and crackling skin as he suffers immense radiation burn. An agonizing scream echoes out of him as hends with a thud,pletely unconscious from the pain. But the stone floor below his is covered in a thinyer of frost, as is the area on the surface above them, where the heat and radiation were stripped away. Seeing Overhaul''s body being burnt and invaded by the radiation, the viin convulses as it passes through his heart, into Horizon''s palm. Horizon pulls back his hand, revealing a glowing green orb of radiation and heat hovering at his palm. ---STRIKE! He ms the orb back into Overhaul, and a pulse of green energy travels across the viin as the radiation and heart permeate every cell of his. The skin is fried away and deformed as the radiation cause horrific mutations and burns all across the body. Overhaul''s main body suffers the same fate as he silently convulses before going limp,pletely lifeless. The blinding light causes the other heroes to cover their eyes, and when they open them Overhaul''s monstrous corpse is crumpled to the floor, and Horizon is stumbling back. The entire right hand that held the radiation was covered in severe burns, missing the Hero Costume, Body Glove, tattoos, and skin on it. Showing charred ck flesh below. "Ok...still needs practice," Horizon mutters and he falls back and sits on the floor, taking deep breaths. Finally using something he''s been preparing since the Summer Camp. His ultimate counter to any Super Regeneration type Quirk, simply absolute cellr destruction. And today, he finally got a glimpse of the power he''ll easily be able to toss around after sorting out his Quirk problem... He hears Sir Nighteye and Lemillion rushing over, looking at Rocklocks''s foot and his hand, in the same state. "We''ll be fine," Horizon says between exhausted breaths. "I''ll warp us out, then fix us up...just give me a minute to catch my breath..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 205: (Raid Complete) Chapter 205: (Raid Complete) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "Will she be alright?" Ryukyu asks. The dragon hero was standing at the back of an ambnce as most of the Yakuza members were already being taken away in armored trucks. Nejire-Chan, Uravity, and Froppy were off assisting with some cleanup and leading civilians back to their homes now that the operation has been concluded. And in the back of the ambnce is Eri, coated from neck to toes in ayer of stone, being carefully inspected by two paramedics. The girl was stiff and silent, just observing everything around her without saying a word, clearly traumatized. But for now, they could only focus on her health, healing everything else would take time they didn''t have at this moment. "I, I can''t know for sure," the medic says. "We can''t just break her out if what Horizon says is true." "If he says it''s fused to her, then it is," Ryukyu says. "We have to operate under the assumption that he''s correct." "Right," the woman frowns. "Well, we''d have to chip away at it then cut off...well, you know. Until it''s all gone." "Can''t this be done without hurting her." "Sorry ma''am, but I''m not Horizon, and I rmend we wait for him." Ryukyu sighs and just folds her arm, not-so-patiently waiting for Sir Nighteye''s group to return. SHAMBLES! A few momentster Horizon swaps them with bits of rubble on the floor to arrive behind her. "Hey Kyukyu'', is everything done here?" he asks. She resists the urge to scoff while turning around, "for thest time its Ry---" her eyes go wide as she sees then. Lemillion was being oddly stoic, as if lost in his own head. Sir Nighteye lookedpletely find, but Horizon''s right arm from fingertips to his forearm was severely burnt and cracked. Skin and muscle mostly gone to show the brittle bones below, charred ck with an absolutely disgusting scent. She reels back and covers her nose, "what happened to you, and him?" she looks at Rocklock who was on Horizon''s shoulder, his right foot being in the same state. "I''ll exinter," Horizon says as he walks past her and roughly drops Rocklock onto a stretcher. He then looks to the ambnce driver, "Rocklock and Eri need to be taken to the Miracle Ward, I''ll fix both of them there. Also, don''t make any contact with Eri, her Quirk is quite dangerous." The man stiffly nods and begins preparing to transport them as Horizon turns back to Ryukyu. "I''ll stay with Eri," Lemillion says, "in case viins try something, and I''ve still got a lot to make up for..." Sir Nighteye nods and Lemillion gets into the ambnce. "Well I suppose we can all go there," Rykyu says. "Now what about Overhaul, where is he?" A tense silence befalls them which causes Ryukyu to worry, but she looks over at Horizon, ''as if anyone can escape him...'' she thinks. Then she nces down at his burnt hand, "Oh god, did you---" "---What''s important is," Sir Nighteye cuts her off. "He won''t being after Eri, or bothering her again, lets''s not talk about this here, now we should save the rest of this debrief until everyone is better and awake, at Central Hospital." "Mmm," she narrows her eyes at Horizon who doesn''t even have the decency to act bothered, only giving an uncaring shrug. And as she opens her mouth to question if what he did was really necessary, her favorite sidekick interrupts them. "Ryukyu!" Nejire-Chan yells out as she flies down, carrying Froppy and Uravity who were currently weightless. "Thest of the Yakuza are gone now, and we''re just about done helping in the cleanup!" "Good work girls," Ryukyu says as theynd. "Gross, what''s that smell?" Froppy covers her nose. "My arm," Horizon calls all their attention to his injury. "EW!" Uravity yells out, then looks embarrassed, "I mean...what happened? Did Overhaul do that?" "As if he could ever hurt me, this is just recoil from a new attack I used, nothing more, I''ll have it fixed in a few hours." "You did that to yourself?" Ryukyu asks. "Must be some attack." "A real stinky one," Nejire-Chan says. "But at least you''ll be alright." "Maybe Eri can help you," Uravity suggests. "She can just rewind it, right?" "I''d rather not trust a traumatized child with no Quirk control to use her highly lethal and dangerous Quirk on my body," Horizon says. "Plus I still have to study her and figure out how that Quirk exactly works, so she shouldn''t be using it at all." "Not just that," Ryukyu says. "Eri has been used as a tool and object her entire life. Abused and mistreated because of it, thest thing we want is for her to think she''s just been handed over to more people who will treat her the same horrible way. Right?" "Right," Uravity hangs her head in shame. "Guess I didn''t really think about that, sorry." "What about Overhaul?" Froppy asks, looking around. "Shouldn''t he be in one of those armored trucks? Or did he get away?" "No need to worry about him," Ryukyu assures her. "The raid was aplete sess, now in need you three to head back to the agency and rest up a bit. We''ll resume patrols tonight after I get back from Central Hospital." "Central Hospital?" Nejire asks. "I''m just going to check on Eri and make sure she''s alright, you girls will handle our area until I get back, but focus on resting up for now, alright?" "You can count on us!" "Can we get moving already?" Horizon asks. "The media will be here soon, and I have a public image to maintain," he gestures to his injury. "Can''t let them see that gods bleed huh," Ryukyu teases him. "I''ll be flying over so you cane with me." "Thanks, now let''s just get out of here already..." ---3 Hours Later, The Miracle Ward, Central Hospital... Standing at his own operating table Horizon has his arm on it, severed from just below the elbow via Amputate so he can carefully study it. The charred, dried out, and mostly brittle limb was horrific, an abomination almost ripped out of a nuclear st wave. Luckily after the initial st of pain, the cells were killed so rapidly and thoroughly that the entire thing was numb to him. He couldn''t feel anything in it, even now as he pokes at the exposed bone and a few strips of muscle where nerves should be. SCAN! ''My Gamma attacks work as intended, I''ll have Overhaul''s body by the end of the week to do some more studying. But killing cells so thoroughly prevents regeneration, and leaves nothing that Shigaraki can salvage to get DNA from. The intensity of heat and radiation destroys DNA chains, so we at least don''t have to worry about a Overhaul Nomu suddenly appearing. But my control is still awful. If I could condense the attack it would take less energy, force all the radiation into a Nomu''s brain. A fraction of the energy and time, but I also have to work on my control for my own safety. I''ve never used that much energy before while training, the bacsh was beyond me, at least for now. Fried and irradiated my own hand and forearm, and Rocklock''s foot. But I suppose if he didn''t do that things could have gone much worse, I still don''t know how to safely cancel that attack so it would have been like a radiation bomb in that room, then we would have been in real trouble. And the fact that I can''t use any other ability while I''m preparing and executing that attack...a lot of problems to solve. Nothing a lot more practice can''t fix, and I''ll have a quick and efficient way to deal with those Super Regeneration Nomu at the end of it. After I practice enough to contain and condense the radiation so it doesn''t leak out and destroy my hand again.'' Horizon takes out his scalpel, holding it awkwardly in his left hand he cuts into his severed limb, looking at the bone marrow inside the brittle bone. ''Everything here is dead, which means---'' BOOSTER SHOT! He transfers healing energy from his healthy hand into the severed one, and it dissipates with no effect. ''Fuck, this will take a lot more energy than just normal healing...and I''ll have to do this for Rocklock too. Guess I''ll take tomorrow off and get some rest, what a day...'' Without a word, he summons his sword into his free hand, then ces the de just beyond where he had used Amputate on his main body. Taking a deep breath he grits his teeth, then cuts down. "Hngh..." he feels a jolt of pain as he now does a more traditional amputation, just below his right elbow. Blood begins flowing out onto the table before he uses his Quirk and controls his body to dull the pain. Something he usually avoids doing because of how dangerous it can be, interfering with such essential survival senses. But this special asion called for it. BOOSTER SHOT! The blue healing energy begins flowing out of the wound, stopping the bleeding within moments. Then it bes dense, gathering from a thin blue mist into a liquid like form. Translucent but flowing like water, gathering and staying attached to his wound. With furrowed brows, he pours more and more energy into this, and the liquid bes much more dense, and he can see the shadow of a new hand growing from the wound. Perfect replication and regeneration of what was lost. While still covered in a thin sheen of the healing energy, he sees the bone regrowing. Then the strands of tendons and muscles, the veins and nerves, all the blood and flesh he lost. Then finally the skin and fingernails, were perfectly remade. Well, almost perfect. "Fuck," he says through exhausted breaths. "Lost my tattoos..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 206: (Raid Debrief) Chapter 206: (Raid Debrief) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- ---7 PM, 6 Hours After Yakuza Raid... "---Alright so that''s just about everything, you''re all caught up," Horizon says. Currently, he was in one of the hospital rooms of the Miracle Ward in Central Hospital. Wearing his backup Hero Costume kept here so his new arm was seemingly the exact same as before. And speaking to Rocklock, who is sitting up in the hospital bed, wearing a medical gown and staring nkly at Horizon. After a few more silent moments, Rock Lock blinks and just continues to stare. "Are you gonna stare like a useless fucking retard or will you be useful?" "Uh, sorry I just... it''s a lot to wrap my head around," Rock Lock admits. "No, it''s really not, and I fixed you better than you were before. For some reason you had some damage in your foot from before." "Yeah I broke it a few ye---" "Nobody cares." "But you''re my do---" "Look do you understand what I said or not?" Horizon cuts him off. "It''s not thatplicated, your foot got hurt, I cut it off and grew you a new one, easy?" "And by got hurt you mean...you nuked it." "Irradiated it, just radiation burning and saturating it until the DNA chains were destroyed and the cells died, you didn''t even feel it. Your body doesn''t even know that''s not the same foot." "And Chisaki?" "Same thing that happened to your foot, but, to his whole body," Horizon shrugs. "You killed him?" Rock Lock looks genuinely concerned, mostly by how casual Horizon is being about this. "Oh yeah he''s super dead, even I can''t heal what I did to him, but hey, no need to dwell on it, things break all the time," he mindlessly says, much too tired to put up the proper ''True Hero'' persona after such a long day. "Right," Rock Lock nods slowly. "Well, thank you for everything, and good work out there. Now I should get changed and get out of he---" "Actually your wife is here waiting for you, but you can get changed after the meeting." "What meeting?" "They''re about to walk in?" "What?! Wait I''m mostly naked here, who?" Rock Lock looks even more worried and double-checks that the hospital sheets are covering him. And a few secondster four people walk into the room. Sir Nighteye, Ryukyu the #9 Pro Hero, a lone security agent. And the person whose presence mortifies Rock Lock the most due to his state of undress, Hero Public Safety Commission President Pantu herself. "He''s fine to talk now," Horizon says as they all enter and the agent stands in the room blocking the door, presumably using some Quirk so they aren''t being spied on. "Its a pleasure to meet youdy Pantu," Rock Lock says, as she is rarely seen outside of the Commission buildings. She nces at him for a moment, "likewise I''m sure, now, can you recall the situation which led to Horizon''s more lethal approach during the battle against Kai Chisaki, aka the viin Overhaul." "Well uh," Rock Lock looks around nervously at everyone, then his eyes fall onto Horizon who was silently standing there. "Just pretend he isn''t here," Pantu says. "Right, well. I remember the fight was tough, we were in a stalemate for a while before Horizon showed up. He warped Eri away, then he beat the viins but, then something happened. It was like I blinked and everything changed." "Time bomb," Sir Nighteye says. "One of the viins had a minor time Quirk, he overdosed on a unique and lethal strain of Trigger and became a bomb that slows time to a near stop around his body." "Seriously?" "I overcame the effects after a while and prevented Overhaul from leaving," Horizon says. "You obviously slept through the recap we had after your procedure." "Focus please," Pantu says. "After you were freed." "Right," Rock Lock thinks hard about what happened before answering. "Well we tried everything but nothing could stop the guy, until Horizon did that radiation attack. I didn''t know it was a lethal attack I swear, I just knew if he thought it could bring that monster down it was our best shot." Pantu detects no lies with her Quirk, then turns to Sir Nighteye. "Did you know the attack would have been lethal?" "Obviously not," he says, and she detects no lies. "I''m very strict with my Quirk, and since I used it on myself I could only see into my own future, and only a few feet around myself at best through a fuzzy image." "Very well then," she turns to Horizon. "Your justification?" He just shrugs, "it was the most efficient option, since the alternative was a long fight that we weren''t ready for. One of those Nomu gave him enough energy to win a war of attrition, and there wasn''t anywhere in my range that I could warp him to and safely fight away from all civilians. It''s also the only attack I have that can properly deal with his Quirk. Overhaul is much better than just regeneration, he was restructuring any damage in real-time, and only needed tomand matter instead of constantly focusing on it. The best course of action was to fry the cells entirely." "And why did you have this attack?" Pantu asks. "For people like All For One, or whenever I got attacked by some Nomu." Pantu doesn''t detect any lies so she asks the others, "Does anyone think his assessment is wrong?" "A bit extreme perhaps," Sir Nighteye says. "But, I understand how he coulde to his conclusion." "I just hate the fact that I helped kill someone," Rock Lock says. "Willing or not I''ve got blood on my hands now..." Beneath the visor Horizon rolls his eyes, and throughout this entire thing Pantu''s cold demeanor never slips. Hearing enough from the others Pantu turns back to Horizon, "do you feel any guilt or remorse for what you did?" "..." "Remember who you''re speaking to, lying doesn''t work..." "I remember, and I also know sometimes extreme circumstances demand extreme actions, and I don''t regret or feel bad for saving everyone there." She once again detects no lies, but is slightly impressed by his clever phrasing to conceal the mercenary beneath the visor. "Well then I''ve heard enough," she snaps her fingers and the security agent takes out a few documents from his jacket, handing them over to her. She passes them out, giving Sir Nighteye two. "I''ve mostly kept this contained, some of the police and people on the scene will suspect things due to only you few being present at the time of death, but nobody will believe them." "You''ve got to be kidding me," Ryukyu says, looking down at the forms. "This is a cover-up? You want us to sign this? No way! He killed someone and you expect me to promise to never ever speak of it to anyone, to never report it to anyone, look I know our job can get messy but this is extreme. If I sign this then what next, then how many times are we teaching him and other Heroes that ''sometimes killing viins is ok'', that''s a slippery slope that I will not be a part of. He should at least publicly acknowledge it and apologize, that''s the right thing to do," she looks around the room, seeing Rock Lock a bit inspired, Pantu and Horizon unimpressed, and Nighteye in the back signaling for her to shut up. Clearly, he knows more about her when regarding the HPSC. But she noticed him a bit toote. "Really?" President Pantu asks, taking a step closer to Ryukyu. "And what would that achieve?" "It would maintain his honesty and integrity, as any real Pro Hero should," Ryukyu says. "Perhaps, but clearly you and everyone else tend to forget that Horizon is not yet a Pro Hero, he''s a Hero Course Student often treated as one because more often than not, he''s better than ANY Pro Hero we have." Ryukyu takes a step back and has the decency to look ashamed, just for a moment, before resuming eye contact with Pantu. "This isn''t right," she says defiantly. "It''s what''s best. But please, refuse if you must, if your values and integrity demand it. But I want you to know, before you make that foolish decision. It will result in you being locked in the deepest depths of Tartarus for the rest of your life." "Wh---" "For conspiring to destabilize Japan and incite fear and panic into the civilian poption. Because Horizon provides safety, and stability, his being here allows people to stay calm, especially with All Might now retired. See, when a student messes up they are usually suspended from using a Provisional Hero License, but in this case, we would be forced to expel Horizon, and remove Japan''s next Symbol Of Peace because of how you feel in your heart. With him here we could have an even more peaceful era than that of All Might''s, and you intend to threaten that, clearly, so either you sign that document right now, or I can have him warp you into your cell." Ryukyu narrows her eyes at Pantu, "You''d go that far for a student? Throwing an innocent Top Pro Hero into prison with monsters to rot?" "Top 10 Pro Heroes are easily reced, the existence of the annual ranking ceremony proves that, but there is only one Horizon, it''s an easy choice to make," Pantu says. And without a word she reaches into her pocket and hands Ryukyu a pen. As Ryukyu angrily signs the papers Pantu looks around to see the others doing the same, ''at least I know the rumors about him and Ryukyu aren''t true, we can stop investigating that now...'' she thinks before turning to Sir. Nighteye. "The second form I gave you is for Lemillion, I understand he''s here trying to cheer up the girl, how is she?" "Resting after Horizon healed her," Sir Nighteye says. "Good, then this raid really was a sess. And good job following protocol, calling Horizon the moment you discovered the Yakuza had Nomu saved a lot of lives today." "Yes, but what made you instruct us to continue forward?" Sir Nighteye asks. "Was it not safe to assume Kurogiri would simply warp them out." "It was a gamble we were willing to take," Pantu lies, because the information from Hawks told her Kurogiri was off on a trip with Dabi and Shigaraki this morning. "Hopefully whatever information we recover from their systems will give Horizon some leads to track down the League Of Viins." "Well, I''m d it all worked out," Sir Nighteye says. "Now I need to brief Mirio on what''s going on, is there anything elsedy Pantu?" "Just a small warning to Horizon," she looks at the hero in question. "Try not to use your ''Gamma'' attacks please, unless absolutely necessary. Most countries don''t appreciate any radiation-based attacks such as that...especially ours, considering our history. Unless you have to resort to it, keep it hidden. And it should go without saying, not against living people, only Nomu if necessary. I''m burying this incident so deep nobody will find it, but we can''t make this a habit, because even for you I can only make so many exceptions, understand." "Don''t act out and make people think I''m a nuclear reactor beneath this," he taps his visor, "I think I''ll manage." "Always a pleasure talking to you, now I need to get back to work, aside from theplications, well done on the raid today everyone," Pantu says before abruptly leaving with her bodyguard, quickly followed by a pissed-off Ryukyu. "Well, I should go speak to Mirio, thank you, once again, for everything Rock Lock," Sir Nighteye says. "Hey it''s the job right," Rock Lock replies before it''s just him and Horizon in the room. As Sir Nighteye leaves Horizon turns to Rock Lock, "If you''re gonna cry about how you helped kill someone, don''t, your wife is about to walk in, with the baby." "Oh, thanks for the heads up." "Just be out of here quickly, I have one more patient to work and it''ll need the room after, oh, and good job today. You aren''tpletely useless after all." "Than---" Horizon warps away as the door opens, causing Rock Lock to mutter. " Man, even giving apliment he''s such an ass..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 207: (Work and Play) Chapter 207: (Work and y) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "I hope this is about some more good news," Nezu says as he answers his phone, putting Eraser Head on speaker. The principal was currently in his office doing some paperwork this Sunday evening. "Nothing but good new, I suppose," Eraser Head says. "I''m about to leave Central Hospital, got done with Eri." "And what did we learn?" "Well, to the surprise of no one, Horizon was right. Her Qurik: Rewind, it''s an umtion type. She stores time and distributes it like a virus to infect other people''s time." "That''s a new one..." "She has almost no control but since it''s an umtion type I just had her drain her storage on some of the emergency room patients, car idents and such." "What about diseases?" "It really doesn''t work like that, if your body has something then she can rewind you to a less critical stage but the illness will still manifest eventually. All she does is buy you more time. But if you were hurt by someone breaking your leg, she can rewind you, and then you just have to avoid that person so they don''t do it again." "So not exactly a healing Quirk. And can''t be used in the same way as Recovery Girl''s since that would also undo all the benefits of training." "It also doesn''t eliminate mental fatigue." "I see, and how long before you bring her back to UA?" "We''ll be leaving soon, after making a few stops to get her some things she''ll need to live at UA, but Nemuri should be able to handle that." "Well when Horizon gets back to UA he can do further research on her Quirk, yesterday he mentioned that he''s gained a new perspective on Chronos so I''d like to speak to him about that." "What, is he nning to start time traveling?" Eraser Head scoffs. "People cannot travel through time, it flows through us, and I doubt even he can manipte time. He just thinks her Quirk is interesting, and is always excited to study things beyond his control." "Right, you mad scientist types are exhausting to keep up with. But Eri''s been asking about him a lot, Mirio is here with us, still hasn''t left the hospital since she''s here. But apparently Horizon didn''t even introduce himself when he was healing her up, he just disappeared after handing her off." "Well his bedside manner is famously terrible..." "Everyone knows that by now, the kid wants to meet him...and Deku." "I assumed as much, and Midoriya is having a chat with Nighteye and All Might at the moment, they should be here by the time you get back with her." "Nighteye and All Might are talking again...whatever, I''ve gotta go. Lots of shopping to do." "Have fun," Nezu giggles. Eraser Head grumbles and hangs up. Nezu taps a few keys on hisputer, changing his screen to show Sir Nighteye, Midoriya, and All Might having a discussion in one of the training areas. "Well at least now Midoriya knows the good news, Eri is safe...I just hope Horizon doesn''t give him a hard time because of it. But I''m sure Nighteye is even warier of Horizon after what happened to Overhaul, but Horizon is still learning. They''ll all see the hero he can be someday." Nezu taps a few keys and pulls up a list of his student logs, since every time a student leaves UA they have to apply for permission and give a reasoning. "Now I wonder how my other pupils are doing..." he begins scouring the Hero Network and UA cameras to check in on them. ---Training Ground Beta... BOOM! A massive explosion of fire and ice rocks the area, demolishing the small buildings and tearing up the road as it knocks Shoto and Bakugo away from each other. The smoke and dust block their views for a while before it all settles. Shoto gets up and pries himself out of some rubble, feeling pain wracking his entire body. His right side frosted over and began to damage his skin, his left side feeling like its being melted. His regtion of his Quirk still leaves much to be desired, nowhere near Endeavor''s control. He walked out into the open just in time to see Bakugo stumbling out of a copsed building. Bleeding from his head, his forearms bruised and slightly swollen. His PE Uniform is torn up even worse than Shoto''s as he hobbles forward, fighting to keep his eyes open. Shoto joined his training only an hour ago, but Bakugo has been here since sunrise. Fueled by his most recent and ring defeat against Horizon. Even more relentless in his training. Shoto could even see some of Bakugo''s fingers turning purple, his self-destructive desire for perfection forcing him to throw himself against a perfect being. And since he and Midoriya don''t have Provisional Licenses either, they get to see the entire painful process. A tragedy happening in slow motion. "I think that''s enough for today," Shoto says. "We should go rest up, sses resume tomorrow." Bakugo scoffs and turns away, "If you''re done then just go, I''ve still got training to do." Shoto reaches out and grabs his shoulder, and Bakugo winces in pain, the constant explosions had dislocated it multiple times today, "You''re in worse shape than me, that''s enough for today." "I''m not done," Bakugo shrugs his hand off and continues walking away. "I still have to get better..." "By destroying yourself? What''s the point of that?" Bakugo turns around and res at him, "What''s the point of existing if I''m not the best?!" "This isn''t the way to get there." "This is the only way!" Bakugo stomps back over to Shoto. "He''s out there with his license, training, every single day! The only way we catch up! The only way I get ahead of him! Is if I train even harder than him! So that''s what I''ll do!" Bakugo takes a few deep breaths as Shoto steps back. "Bakugo..." "Save it," Bakugo''s shoulders slump as a sad look overtakes his face. "This is the only way I know how to do things, it always works. Just train harder, do better, and do more. It''s the only way I know, and it will work. Even against him...even against him," he tries to reassure himself. Shoto gives him a sad look as memories resurface, memories of witnessing what self-destructive drive and ambition can do to a person. Can do to everyone around them. "Alright, well I''m done for the day, you have fun," Shoto says. "Tch," Bakugo turns and begins sadly walking away, trying to ignore the outburst he just had. "I don''t have time to waste, I''m winning the next Sports Festival, and the only way to do tha---" Bakugo feels a slight pain at the back of his head as his world goes dark. Shoto catches Bakugo after he knocked him out, and with some effort throws him onto his shoulder. "I don''t know if there is a way to beat Horizon, but if there is, killing yourself by overtraining won''t help you," he mutters as he walks off, taking Bakugo to Recovery Girl. "Besides, Horizon is probably training right now, and I doubt his methods operate like this..." ---Elsewhere In Japan... In a mostly empty skyscraper, there were a few people tied up, knelt down in the middle of the top floor. They were all heavily armed with rifles and one had his left arm transformed into water which he was using to manipte the locks of a massive vault on the top floor. Three men in total, and seven hostages. While two of the men were patrolling, constantly keeping an eye on the surrounding buildings through the one-way ss windows, above them floating at the ceiling was an eye. The entire socket and eyeball detached, looking around the room carefully. Beside it was a floating right ear, and a right hand covered in purple fabric, holding aser pointing device. Setsuna Tokage of UA ss 1B, Hero Name: Lizardy. Using her Quirk she can detach parts of her and control them independently, and when detached these parts can fly. After a certain amount of time, the piece with the most mass will begin to regenerate the others. After a few more moments, she points theser at one of the men, and taps a button at the side of it. Meanwhile floating above the city, above that very building, was Majestic: The Magician Hero. His Quirk: Magic, allows him to create energy rings that can transport people and objects or be used to attack his opponents. These rings can carry up to one person each and he can maintain up to twelve. His street-magician-inspired Hero Costume appeared scrappy and haphazardly put together, ented by arge red wizard hat and a blindfold, a mishmash of disjointed colors across it all. He was currently floating above the building on one of his colorful energy rings, alongside the remainder of Lizardy''s body which was on another. Currently rying information by speaking through her main body even while in the building. They were floating high above so the viins that were looking down at the streets and other buildings couldn''t see them. So their third member could attack. Genesis, in her updated Hero Costume, wasying on a third energy ring beside Lizardy''s, taking in all her friend''s instructions as she aimed down the scope of her custom sniper rifle. Her digital scope can''t see through the one-way reinforced ss, but her bullets could punch through it, and Lizardy''sser was currently making her targets for her scope to show where she needed to shoot. "3...2...1..." Lizardy''s detached hand clicks down on the button, and the data is sent to the Genesis Rifle. "Fire!" BANG! The ss is shattered and the kic stoppage round ms into the man''s gut, knocking him off his feet and out cold. Lizardy instantly paint another target with the rifle, exactly as they trained, and Genesis lines up her shot with the second man. "Hold..." Lizardy calls out as the men look at their unconscious friend and begin yelling at the hostages. "Fire!" BANG! As the second man took one stop too close to the ss he gets a bullet to the shoulder, cracking his shoulder and cor bone, knocking him against the wall hard enough to take him down. "Final target?" Genesis asks. "He''s held up behind cover, this guy isn''t moving Majestic." "How much cover?" Genesis asks. "Too much for you to safely make an armor-piercing round and fire through." "I can make more than just bullets," Genesis says as she makes a special and muchrger shell and then begins loading it. "Give me a spot close to him..." "A new trick huh, fun, " Majestic says. "I knew you girls would be perfect for my style of recon and scouting work, but seems Genesis has some firepower too..." She silently loads the special shell as Lizardy paints a new target. BANG! The man has his back against a wall, and suddenly just beside him it ruptures and arge deformed metal casing imbeds itself into the floor beside him. "Huh?" Before he could get away it pops and a cloud of tear gas invades the area. He begins coughing and stumbling out of the gas, and as he does another shot is fired the moment he stepped in front of the ss wall. BANG! Later he would wake up in police custody with many cracked ribs, and these new Provisional Heroes would have their first interview, and make their true debuts to the world... After getting back to the Majestic Hero Agency, Setsunays on the couch while Genesis takes off her mask, then immediately begins making some new weapons to work on. "You should really take a break," Majestic says. "You two did good work today, and my wife ising over with her famous rice bowls for us, you''ll love em." "Well I''m sure I can get in some training before then, the sun hasn''t even set yet..." Genesis says as she sits down and begins assembling a new pistol. "If you work yourself to death you''ll never live to be a top pro like I know you can be, part of the job is knowing when to conserve your energy so you''ll have it when needed," Majestic makes a glowing energy ring and sits on it, floating opposite them. "Well, I suppose you''re right. It would be bad if an emergency happened and I was already exhausted, right?" Momo asks. "Exactly." "But if there isn''t an emergency, then I would have just been wasting time, hmmm, I''m not sure what I should do..." As Momo begins to overthink Majestic just floats over to Setsuna who now had her mask off, "Is she always like this?" "Mhm, but you''ll have to forgive her," Setsuna says. "She''s trying to keep with her workaholic boyfriend, but just between us, I don''t even think the guy is human..." "I heard that," Momo says. "And I assure you he''s human, I just don''t want to be left behind is all. In fact, he forces our entire ss to improve much faster than we could have on our own." Setsunays back down and detaches her arm, sending it to the fridge to get a drink. "I just thinkpeting against him would lead to nothing but depression, just be the best Genesis you can be, that''s all you can be after all. Plus, he already likes Momo, so that''ll be more than enough." "Just try not to overwork yourself," Majestic says. "People have to work at their own pace, and just because I''m sure he''s off training right now doesn''t mean you have to be, we did a lot of good and saved a lot of people today..." Momo sighs, "yes, I suppose you''re both right, and I should replenish my Quirk anyway." "Mhm, also, one small detail," Majestic gets a bit closer to them as Setsuna cracks open her soda. "Maybe don''t mention that your boyfriend ''inspires your entire ss to improve much faster'', that''s sort of a dead giveaway that you''re dating Horizon---" He sees both girl''s eyes open widely. "---Your secret is safe with me, but as someone who is married to a fellow Pro Hero, it''s not a fun thing for the public to know. Puts a lot of strain on your rtionship. I mean when I got into the top 10 once my wife started getting a lot of hate mail and people were always saying I shouldn''t be with a D-List pro...so even for a prodigy like you, I doubt they''d approve of anyone being with Horizon. It''s just a headache you don''t want, and a strain on the rtionship that you''d be best without." "Right," Momo nods bashfully. "Thank you, and also for not mentioning this to anyone." "Yup, but that''s about as much advice as I feelfortable giving you girls about that, ask my wife if you''ve got any more questions, now, let''s talk about a case we''ll be working on tomorrow..." "Tomorrow?" Setsuna asks. "Tomorrow is Monday, don''t we go back to UA tonight?" "Nope, this is pretty big, and we''ll be working with some other agencies on it, so I''ve got you for one more day." Both girls look at each other, then smile and turn to their mentor, ready for an extra day of hero work. Anything to help them improve, as they''re sure everyone else is constantly training. After all, at UA, ''To stop improving is to fall behind,'' a quote that seeps into every level of the academy. ---The Matani Estate... While everyone else is training, bleeding and sweating trying to w their way to the top. What does the man at the very top, so far ahead that he''s not threatened at all by them do. Train? Further his lead? Sometimes, yes, but sometimes you get to rx, to enjoy all the hard work you''ve done to get to where you are. So while they were working, Law Matani is sitting at his pool with his shirt off, only wearing some shorts. The ocean breeze from his private beach was a bit more chilly as the winter season approached, but the heated outdoor area made it bearable, as did hispany. His tattoos on his left hand and arm were exposed, as well as his chest. His right hand which was carefully ying with her curly white hair already had the tattoos redone early this morning onto the new limb. The same beautiful woman with the Sheep Quirk he met all those months ago in Tokyo, once again sitting on hisp in a bikini, topless. Leaning forward and pressing herself against his chest, her lips hungrily trying to devour his as she tries to get even closer to him. After a week of none stop work, Law Matani finally gets to go back to his new family home and enjoy a rxing day by the pool... END CHAPTER--- Sheep Quirk girl from chapter 73... Chapter 208: (Small Talk) Chapter 208: (Small Talk) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- ---Monday, 9AM... "You know, the rest of your ss is taking today to rx after a weekend of training, maybe you should join them..." Nezu suggests. He was currently sitting on the couch in Horizon''s room eating an entire wheel of cheese with a knife and fork. While Law is standing off to the side working on the hologram interface for Nezu''s personal supeputer. His mask and visor were off but his usual more casual Horizon outfit was otherwise in ce. "I appreciate that you gave everyone a day off, for some stupid reason." "It''s a public holiday." "Whatever," Law says. "That doesn''t mean I''ll stop working, plus the sooner I get these simtions set the easier it will be to study Eri. You innovated these virtual models so people wouldn''t be stuck inbs like you, might as well use them, right?" "Right," Nezu frowns and just continues eating his cheese. "Where did you get this, I''ve never tasted anything like it?" "I have a guy..." "A guy...for cheese?" Nezu raises a brow at him. "I''m half Italian, of course I have a cheese guy. Plus I figured if anyone would have a cheese guy it''s you," Law shrugs. "I didn''t know that was a thing." "It''s not, I''m just messing with you, but I did do a surgery from some big wine family yesterday morning, they''re from Italy and since they make wine a cheese, I asked for some samples. They''ve been making the stuff since Rome was a new ce." "I thought you were busy getting your tattoos redone onto the new arm yesterday?" "Did that after, had a guye to my house and I rxed there all day, figured I earned it after that whole Overhaul nonsense." "You mean after you killed a man?" "Things break all the time Nezu, especially when you''re as strong as me, don''t dwell on every ant you step on, otherwise you''ll have to stop walking forward." Law says this without even looking at him as he continues his work. "Plus it''s not like I had many options." "Is that the truth, or is it that old habits die hard?" Law stops typing for a moment, the room gets tense, then he gets back to work. "Are you insinuating that the training my mom gave me overpowered my ability to operate as a Pro Hero due to the stressful circumstances?" "Or your biases after what he did to Eri, you do have a soft spot for kids after all." "She''s seven, at that point she should have her shit together." "Did you at seven?" "That''s when I started doing solo surgeries and going on jobs with mom, so yeah." "That''s very concerning, and have you spoken to the girl?" Nezu asks. "Why would I do that, I just needed this," Law gestures to the horn on his coffee table. Small and detached from Eri so he could operate on it. "I have no use for the babbling of some useless little thing..." "And yet you want ''little things'' of your own, honestly your bedside manner needs serious work." "I get the job done, and if it''s mine then I expect the children to bepetent and useful." "They''re children." "My children, held to the same standards as myself, and look how I turned out, perfect." "And does Ryuko agree with these views on family and life?" Nezu asks, and sees Law freeze up. "Well?" Law just rolls his eyes and continues working, "and I assume you knew from the start, spying on Horizon tower as usual?" "Well I did upgrade your security system for free, you knew why." "Mhm, and what do you think?" "I think the world, most notably the women, would be safer if you didn''t find it such fun to charm so many of them." "Well I tried video games, but you know, after having real-life fights to the death...they just don''t feel as fun as they used to." Nezu sighs and continues eating, "Can you please just stay away from the Top Pros." "Oh, you don''t have to worry about that, Mirko is too annoying, Uwabami hates me, Mt. Lady ismitted to her secret boyfriend." "Most of the other pros know about her and Kamui Woods," Nezu says. "They aren''t good at being subtle." "Midnight really really hates me---" "That''s a bit of an understatement," Nezu says. "And she filed an interesting report with me, suspicions of you leaving campus without permission." "I do that all the time, which one?" "About two weeks ago, Tuesday. Your pizza night." "Ahh, yeah I think that day I ate on the roof, guess she saw me. But in my defense, if you only need one hour of sleep, you see all of UA pretty quickly, and even I can only train so much." "Oh I know you''ve been stepping out often, but I assume you never get UA out of your ''range'' so it''s fine. But she wasn''t pleased when I told her that." "She''ll get over it, and that''s true. UA is always in my range. Now what was I saying, oh right, Ryukyu blocked me on the Hero Network," Law shrugs. "I guess me killing someone then Pantu threatening the throw her in Tartarus if she talks was a bit much...that''s too bad because---" "---Stop it." Law chuckles, "Hey I''m just saying, she''s got big tits for a dragondy." "Half the world already thinks you two were a thing, she''s had to deny those rumors so much already she now avoids interviews," Nezu says. "Well what can I say, she looks good on me." "Have you ever considered going celibate, just for a little while?" Nezu asks. "It might be good for you, and less stressful for me." "You don''t have to worry about me getting your students pregnant, I have full control of my body and its functions." Nezu releases a rxing sigh, "that''s a relief." "Yup, you don''t have to give me the sex talk." "Well I know that, and assume Ryuko beat me to the baby talk," Nezu says. "Her recent online shopping history is very...well." "Baby-feverish, yeah, we had a talk about what she wanted a few weeks ago." "And---" "---That bit of info is only for us to know," Law cuts him off. "But you don''t have to worry about me fucking my way through the top pro heroes, most of them are annoying or hate me." "That''s a relief." "Well," Law thinks about it for a moment. "I''m cool with 13, is she---" "---You''re not seducing a teacher...again. I can''t believe I have to say that. I can''t believe this is a real conversation." Law chuckles and shuts off the hologram, "Trust me I''m not interested in someone that might literally rip my dick off with her ck Hole Quirk, only thing between her being a hero and her being a mass murdered are those gloves." "Says the man in a full-body glove," Nezu says as Horizon sits across from him. "Most people think if it breaks you explode like a bomb." "Yet the viins still keep trying to hit me, morons," Law leans back and rxes on the couch. SHAMBLES! Law warps away for a moment, then warps back with a bottle of whiskey and a ss, pouring himself a drink. "I feel like as your principal I should say something," Nezu says. "Wh---" SHAMBLES! Law warps away again, and this time returns with a can of apple juice, giving it to Nezu. "Thank you, but I would have preferred tea," Nezu says. "Well, I have apple juice, unless you can suddenly drink alcohol." Nezu opens his drink and takes a sip, "so, how are things with you, the more personal side?" "Do you mean aside from my sex life?" "If you don''t get any students pregnant I really don''t care what you do, I just had to make sure of that," Nezu says. "What about the Shields?" Law shrugs, "I have a lead, sent someone to check it out, was a dead end. Wolfram is in southern Japan, on the main ind, but he keeps moving. He''s notably avoiding Minato Tokyo and Musutafu." "Both ces where you''re most active." "He knows the shields are bait, and that I''m hunting him." "Yet he still continues his task, foolish andmendable," Nezu says. "Reconstruction on I-Ind is still far fromplete, securing new funding from the united nations has been a bit, slower. They''re worried about rebuilding it before Wolfram is captured." "Well sorry but I can''t move any faster, all I can do is wait for a mistake. Nobody wants to go one-on-one with Horizon so everyone is just hiding." "It seems your reputation is making this more difficult than I expected." "Well you''re not very good at understanding people," Law down his drink and pours another ss. "This was obviously going to be a problem from the start, I''m the next #1 Pro Hero after all." "Is that working for you, or---" "I''m allowing it to work," Law says. "But I''m taking it easy tonight. Sero and Momo are still doing hero work, and won''t being back until tomorrow morning, Jiro is at a sleepover in the 1B dorm with the other girls, and I need to catch up on some Matani business." "Matani business?" Nezu asks. "That wouldn''t happen to have anything to do with a certain shippingpany suddenly selling 49% of theirpany shares to a currently anonymous buyer now would it?" Law takes a sip of his drink, "Well with how much trigger has been moving through their ships, shareholders are worried, and if someone expected them to frantically try and sell shares to gain capital and stabilize the business, that person would be in a position to make a good deal." "But 49%, seems like a suspicious amount," Nezu says. Law shrugs, "apparently Horizon found out that the head of the family is in on the whole Trigger operation, the arrest happens tomorrow, but the Matani dynasty got wind of it early and offered to buy up some business before the raid." "You gave a criminal a head start because it benefits you?" Nezu was not pleased by this. "Trust me, he''ll wish he didn''t run from the cops, because this way Horizon has to track him down...with the tracker I already put on him. And when I get my hands on him, I will get the answers I want before I hand him over for some pathetic excuse of an interrogation that they''ll give him." "So this is a y to, get the Matani Dynasty another business, take down a part of the Trigger operation, and get more information than the police would have about the operation itself." "Oh yeah, chances are high some crooked cop is already being paid to kill him during the raid, better dead than arrested is what the other viins are probably thinking. So I''m also saving his life." "And making yourself look like an even bigger hero in the process," Nezu narrows his eyes at him. "Nope," Law says. "The police get all the credit for this. I won''t gain enough on this to make it worth having the police look ipetent, and since I always express my support of our brave officers...and I''m friends with the Tokyo police chief since we met at All Might''s tribute, I''m sure he''ll appreciate me being quiet about them losing the target." "Wow," Nezu takes a sip of his drink. "Well, we''re lucky you aren''t a viin." "Never nned to be---" "---Most people never do, unless it''s All For One." "What I meant was, having the entire world hunting you just seems exhausting. Being a Pro hero and having all the fortune and fame and women and money and women is so much better. I''m actually starting to like it." "Really?" Nezu''s eyes lite up. "Just a little bit, it has its benefits. Having the entire world groveling at my feet and praising me, it just feels like this is how my life was always meant to be." "That''s concerning," Nezu swallows nervously. "Well, I''m d you''re enjoying it." "Only sometimes, I still hate having to save so many useless fucks. Every day its ''oh no a viin is here and I''m a useless piece of shit that can''t fight back or run away, please save me...'' dumb fucks. Honestly, humanity would be better off without them. But I''m the moron with the job of protecting people who don''t deserve to live...how fun." Nezu sighs, "Just when I thought I was making progress..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 209: (The Darker Side) Chapter 209: (The Darker Side) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- ---October 19th, 2315, HPSC HQ... Sitting in President Pantu''s office, Ryukyu anxiously taps the arm of her chair while staring at the deserted desk in front of her. Behind the desk was a small row of windows with a view of Tokyo that was cluttered with skyscrapers. It''s only been days since the Raid Debrief at Central Hospital. They''ve all sent in their report and done other hero work since then. But President Pantu suddenly requesting her presence at the headquarters can''t simply be a coincidence. ''Maybe she''s not pleased with how I spoke to her. If I''m lucky this is just a simple apology then everything will be fine...yeah, that''s it, just an apology.'' "Thank you foring," Pantu says. Ryukyu''s eyes shoot open as she jumps out of her seat, so in her own mind that she didn''t hear the door open. "President Pantu, how are you doing today?" "That depends on how this meeting goes," Pantu says as she takes her seat. "Please take your set." "Right," Ryukyu stiffly sits down. "If this is about how I spoke to yo---" "As if I''d take time out of both our busy schedules to quarrel about a trivial thing like that. This is regarding a promotion of sorts for you." "Promotion?" Ryukyu asks. "I know you intend to step down soon..." Ryukyu''s eye open wide, "how---" "All the Top 10 Pro Heroes have their devices monitored, national security demands it." Ryukyu narrows her eyes for a moment, then rxes, understanding Pantu''s responsibilities. " I don''t like it, but I can understand why someone in your position would do that." "The farewell letter you''ve been drafting could use some work, but it seems quite heartfelt. Too bad I can''t allow you to quit and most likely head oversees to work." "What do you mean ''can''t''? How can you expect me to be a Hero while covering up what happened during the raid, and who knows how many other things you''ve swept under the rug to protect him." "Japan is still in a very delicate state at the moment. Without Horizon it would be much more chaotic. And I trust I don''t have to warn you against exposing his recent mistakes to the world, yes?" "We have a deal and I intend to honor it, even if I quit." "Good, because in a month we''ll have the annual Pro Hero rankings, and you moved up two spots." "I''m number 8?" Ryukyu was more confused than excited, still not feeling like she deserves to be in the top 10 at all. "Yes well, the public has been more aware of youtely since you''ve worked with Horizon more than anyone else, with the obvious exception of Endeavor. But your poprity also got a nice boost since half the inte thinks you''re having a scandalous romance with him." Ryukyu scoffs, "there are a million reasons why I''d never get involved with him...and his age isn''t even the start of it." "d to hear it," Pantu said, detecting no lies. "But I had to be sure, you wouldn''t be the first Pro Hero he''s seduced." "What?" "I keep eyes on who enters Horizon tower, and you''ve never been there," Pantu says. "Now, care to learn about that promotion I mentioned?" "How do you promote a Top 10 Pro Hero? And if you''re going to offer me a spot higher in the rankings, I won''t ept it. I already feel like enough of a fraud as is." "Even to be #5?" "No deal," Ryukyu says sternly. "Now can you please tell me what this is all about?" "Horizon," Pantu gets up and makes to exit the room. "Walk with me." Ryukyu follows along into the hallway as they begin making their way through the building. "What keeps Pro Heroes honest?" Pantu asks as they walk to the elevators. "Excuse me?" "What keeps you honest? Think about it, you are one of the most powerful people in Japan, what keeps you honest?" "Doing the right thing," Ryukyu says. "Thews." "Yes, and if that is not enough someday?" "Well, I suppose the other Pro Heroes," Ryukyu says as they enter the elevator, heading to the basement. "Yes, and what is the job of the Hero Public Safety Commission?" "To protect the peace and stability of Japan by governing any demographic of people who legally or illegally use their Quirks. Everyone knows this." "And everyone believes it, but that''s not the only reason." Ryukyu looks confused, "what do you mean?" "Our job isn''t just to makews, becausews are broken all the time. In fact they''re broken so often that the existence of Pro Heroes is a necessity. After the first few generations of heroes we were founded to police the Pro Heroes. Because some of the people trusted to protect us weren''t honest enough to be trusted, and it caused the public to get hurt. Now 300 yearster, and our job is to treat battles between Quirks like a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors. Constantly mixing and matching Quirks to find the bestbination to handle any potentially rogue Pro Heroes." "Government contingency ns?" "Well ofcourse, powerful people like All Might and Endeavor exist. ns had to be made incase either they went rogue, or in the future individuals as powerful as them posed a threat to us. That is our responsibility to the citizens." "That makes sense, but how do Ie into this?" "Because our role is to run simtions and find the best team of Pro Heroes to deal with the rogue assets, hypothetically of course." "And who did youe up with for me?" "Honestly, it wasn''t that hard, your dragon form is surprisingly easy to detain once we avoid trying to brawl, and even if we didn''t, you aren''t that tough." "But you have some job for me, which is why I''m here, right?" "Right," Pantu says as the elevator stops and opens, to an underground observation room. Stepping into the room, white walls and floors, everything clearly sterile, Ryukyu looks to her right to see arge ss wall overlooking ab of some sort below. And in the middle of theb is a deformed hulking mass, burnt and mutated beyond recognition. Beside it is a man in a white radiation suit, short and portly but poking and prodding the subject. As he turns to look at his guests Ryukyu gets a look at his face and instantly recognizes him. "Dr. Shodai Garaki," she says. "I''ve read about him..." "Well I didn''t think you''d ever recognize him, this is unexpected." "His research into Transformation Type Quirks like mine sort of forced me to learn about him, I was worried it would affect my personality, luckily it doesn''t." "True, I don''t think dragons from fairy tales are as heroic as you." "No, they''re not. So what''s Japan''s second-best Quirk Specialist doing here?" "Because we''re here to study the actual best Quirk Specialist..." "Horizon?" Ryukyu looks at Pantu. "How?" "Do you recognize that irradiated lump of meat on the floor of hisb?" "Irradiated?" Ryukyu looks disgusted as she nces back at the subject. "That''s Kai Chisaki?" "After fusing with two Nomu and standing against Horizon, that''s what''s left. His corpse is still radioactive, not enough to cause concern but Dr. Garaki has to wear that suit because of how many hours a day he''s been spending in there." "Where are you going with this?" "Look at what he did to a viin, hit him with so much radiation that it forever deformed him and stripped away his flesh. Destroyed him on a level so intimate that not even DNA can be recovered. And when we asked him about it, do you recall what he said?" "Yeah, ''sometimes when you''re as powerful as I am, things break, no need to dwell on it...'' right?" "Close enough, and judging from how you reacted, those words have been bothering you almost as much as they bother me." "He killed a man and didn''t ever register that a life is gone because of him, so yes, it did. But you said that issue is buried..." "It is, but as President of the Hero Public Safety Commission, I have to prepare precautions. Just as I did for All Might and Endeavor, but even they didn''t require half the effort as this." "How so?" "Water diminishes Endeavor and he has issues in prolonged fights, which is why he isn''t in the S ss ranking. All Might is...was, extraordinarily powerful, but at the end of the day he was only a brawler. But Horizon is much more, and he understands what my role is, which is why he''s so secretive about the limitations of his Quirk." "And you want me to get more information from him... because we both know that head-to-head, I''m helpless against him." "Exactly, because look at this," Pantu gestures at Overhaul. "Every time he has a big fight, the power disyed is almost exponentially greater than the previous showings. All Might made me nervous, but never anywhere near this level. Becuase you''ve seen it, right?" "Seen what?" "What he''s really like, the side of him the public will never witness. He''s the most powerfulbatant in Japan, bar none, but so was All Might. The only difference is where All Might had that truly heroic spirit we love and celebrate. Horizon has a petty, vindictive and cruel side to him. A violent and arrogant other half that is only matched by the immense power and capabilities he possesses. And it does scare me, the things I know he''s capable of, and the things I know he will do if he doesn''t get his way." "I, may have had a glimpse or two," Ryukyu sighs. "I saw him throw a man off a bridge, then I saw him throw that same but now crippled man into the cold ocean, all so ''he''ll drown for a little bit then we won''t have to ask a third time'', and I don''t want to imagine the things I haven''t seen." "Kai Chisaki is far from the first person he''s killed Ryukyu," Pantu says, but Ryukyu doesn''t react. Deep down she already knew, anyone with such a disregard for human life must be used to it. "Even if my some miracle you could find a way to beat him, do you really think he''ll even go rogue?" Ryukyu asks. "No, we have a deal in ce, and I expect he''ll want to leave Japan entirely afterward so we''ll be fine until then. But when he gets what he wants, that''s when we''ll know. First, he was reluctant to be a Pro Hero, but now, he''s enjoying the perks of it more and more. He''s only 16 after all, it''s a luxurious life that lets him enjoy everything he wants and freely improve himself. His desire to break past his own limits was confined by having to hide his Quirk use, now his improvements are celebrated by the world. My concern is whates after..." They stand in silence for a while as Ryukyu thinks it over, before she gives a defeated sigh, "What do you want me to do?" "The same thing that you''ve been doing. Horizon trusts you to carry your own weight which is why he works with you, anything you can do to get more information on Hand Of God would be a boon, anything, you can do..." "I''m not seducing a minor," Ryukyu growls. "And I would never force you to. Just keep me informed of anything new you learn, and obviously don''t let him learn of this, for everyone''s sake." "Right, now I just have to unblock him on the Hero Network." "He won''t think anything of it, his ego is too big to imagine you were anything more than a woman being emotional but still unable to resist him." "I can''t believe I actually agreed to this...well, not like I had much of a choice." "This will benefit you as well, I''ll make sure of it," Pantu says. "Now, shall we head back to my office and discuss everything you know about Hand Of God, and Horizon..." As Ryukyu is following Pantu back to the elevator she can''t help but ask. "You said you made a deal with Horizon, what was it?" "I can''t say, but he wanted something quite trivial and inconsequential in exchange for healing All Might, Nezu just happened to take a liking to the boy and has gotten quite close to him." "My Work Studies students Froppy and Uravity are his ssmates, they say Nezu isn''t very good at hiding how much he favors Horizon." "Nezu has a good eye for character, and I do trust him in his goal to make Horizon into the next All Might, but my responsibilities demand I prepare for every possibility." "I see...well, I hope you never have to implement whatever youe up with, because helping to n is the extent of what I''ll be doing. I''ve seen firsthand how Horizon fights, and the day he switches sides is the day I retire..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 210: (Early Mornings) Chapter 210: (Early Mornings) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- Opening his eyes Law is greeted by the absolute darkness of his dorm room. So dark that his unmasked features cannot be seen, only felt by his bedmate who had a vice grip on him. Momo''s arms were holding onto him as her legs wrapped around him, their naked forms intertwined as they''d been all night. Law rxes and activates his Quirk, enjoying the feeling of Momo''s body against him. But he expands his senses across all of UA, sensing a few teachers already awake and preparing for their sses today. Even fewer students are awake, as Law usually takes his hour of sleep and then wakes up before sunrise. ''Life at UA just keeps getting better...'' he feels Momo press herself against him just a bit more before he gently moves her arm, signaling for her to roll over and release him. ''Time for work.'' SHAMBLES! He warps away, and after a few minutes is stepping out of the shower to brush his teeth. While brushing his teeth he unlocks his phone to check his messages, seeing a few from Ryukyu. ''Horizon, I''m sorry about my outburst during the Raid Debrief, it was just a lot to process in the moment. But you''re right, Kai Chisaki was too dangerous and I wouldn''t have been able to protect anyone from him if you didn''t take such extreme measures. Also, working with you is always a pleasure, I hope we can team up again and more often.'' He finishes brushing his teeth and smiles, "Huh, maybe Nezu did have to worry about me fucking a dragondy," he chuckles. SHAMBLES! He warps his UA uniform onto his person, along with his visor and body glove of course. Standing in front of the mirror he takes another look at himself, making sure everything is in ce before he continues scrolling through his phone. Looking at all his updates from the Hero Network. ''Good progress, I guess we can start some more serious raids within three or four weeks. But I''ll have to coordinate them simultaneously, Endeavor and Edgeshot will be instrumental in that. I can work solo...no, it''ll be better if I keep Team Horizon together for this. Our first big takedown as a full team. That''ll definitely give the public even more reason to bet on us as the next ''big three''. But I want to be held apart from them, so I need to have them operating clearly under me instead of just as a team. Ugh, but people are so brainwashed to expect conventional things that they won''t let go of this ''big three'' nonsense since they''re so used to it. Maybe if I add one more person to the team that''ll get the message through that I''m above the team just leading and building them. Because Horizon has no peers, he''s above everyone. But I need a third, someone that fits the efficient and all business culture and look of my team.'' He opens his files on the students of 1A and 1B, all the observations he''s made regarding them as students, opponents, and allies. ''The best bet would be to get a girl into the team to show some inclusivity for the sheep, but the best of them is Momo, and she''s not a good fit for our team culture. Sero and Shinso would feel limited in what they can do or how they can act with a girl there. Not to mention I don''t think she''s as clear with her goals as them. Sero wants money, Shinso wants fame, but her nebulous goal of just helping people isn''t selfish enough, I can''t trust that not to fall apart when shit gets difficult. The second best would be, Kendo or Tokage. But Kendo''s Quirk sucks, just isn''t multifunctional enough to warrant me giving her any training. And Tokage is useful but her goals are even more lofty than Momo''s, if she has any.'' He scrolls through the short list of girls even more, "hmmm, Asui? But Asui doesn''t like me, and won''t mesh well with us," he releases a long sigh. "Plus any girl I pick will lead to them probably being jealous, fuck it, I''ll just talk to Juzo about this. He fills the role that will be vacant if I''m not present." Horizon sends him a quick message, inviting him to lunch with him. "Yeah, Mudman is good at leading a team in his own way, his performance in the Mid Terms definitely shows that, Sero isn''t the leader type he''s more support. And Shinso is still more of a solo act, which works since he''s a mini Eraser Head, so Mudman it is." SHAMBLES! Horizon warps back into his bedroom, and even in the absolute darkness he easily navigates it with his Quirk. Opening his mini fridge he takes out a can of orange juice and one meal bar, then pauses, looking at the meal bar. SHAMBLES! He warps into the dorm kitchen, cing the meal bar on the counter and looking through the fridge. "There has to be something in here, just something..." he says while looking through the fridge. "Really not in the mood for a meal bar." "Looking for something?" Jiro asks, but gets no reaction after carefully sneaking up on him. "Nothing specific, and my Quirk doesn''t let you sneak up on me, which you should know." "I had to try," Jiro shrugs before hopping up to sit on the counter. "I was just about to make breakfast, want me to make you some." Horizon shuts the fridge and turns around to face her, seeing her already in full uniform. "Why are you up so early?" "I have some reading to catch up on before ss starts, you?" "I''m always up this early, what are you making?" "Oatmeal." Horizon just sighs, "You got my hopes up, for oatmeal...really?" "Hey I like it, besides don''t you usually eat one of those candy bars for the entire day?" "I''m in the mood for some actual food, and just because I can eat one of those and be fine doesn''t mean I don''t enjoy good food." "Hey, I''m just surprised robots can eat," Jiro chuckles. "Ugh, is that joke ever going away?" "Not if the inte has anything to say about it, oh, sorry, not a robot, cyborg, right?" "Sometimes I really hate the inte," he walks to where Jiro is sitting on the counter. "Makes me even happier that I''ve got this," he taps the side of his visor. "But aren''t you Horizon 24/7?" "Sadly," Horizon says as he stands in front of her, making her look up at him. "So, ready to go get breakfast?" "What do you mean ''go get breakfast''?" He puts his hands on her waist and steps forward between her legs, and her face goes bright red. "We''ve done more than just this and you''re still blushing, I''ll never get sick of that..." Jiro looks away but raises her hands up to his shoulders, "well, it''s still just, a lot you know." "No, I don''t know, now hold on," he quickly cups her ass and raises her up, and she instinctively wraps her legs and arms around him. SHAMBLES! They both appear on the far side of Musutafu, closer to the docks, in a small shop that''s still closed. The security doors aren''t even open for the public to see inside yet. "Where are we?" Jiro asks as he gently puts her down, "did we break into this ce?" "Technically yes," Horizon says. "But they never mind..." "Who---" "Oh, it''s you," an older man steps out of the back room where the kitchen is and sighs in relief. "I heard talking and thought someone broke in." "Nope, just me." "The usual?" the man asks, not even bothered by the two new people. "Two, I brought a plus one," Horizon gestures to Jiro. "Right, I''ll make it extra special for yourdy," the man says before he disappears into the kitchen. "Uh, what was that?" Jiro asks, still stunned. "And I''m not supposed to leave UA without permission, my student ID is on me so they already know I broke the rules." "And that I''m with you, and that you suddenly traveled 15km in an instant, it''s fine." "Oh, right, the Horizon privileges," she says. "Well, when you''re the best people treat you better, it''s that simple." "Like these people," Jiro gestures to the door to the kitchen. "What''s the deal with them?" "This ce has the best Tamagoyaki in the city." "You like omelet rolls?" "Perfect breakfast food. And the owner usually starts preparing super early so he said I can just stop in whenever I want. Honestly, I have to force the guy to take my money..." "Huh, so, did you save him or something?" "Nope," Horizon shrugs. "They just know the low crime rate here is due to me, and they appreciate it." Jiro has to stop herself from looking at him with stars in her eyes. But he still caught a glimpse of her admiration. "I know you said your reasons for being a hero are selfish, but, doesn''t it make you feel good when you know you helped people? Or at least when they''re nice to you like this." "It''s just a job," Horizon says. "I knew people would be thankful like this but it''s just a bonus that I rarely use. I do what''s expected of me, that''s all." "Yeah but you don''t do it for the money since you were rich before UA," Jiro twirls her Earlobes. "Did I ever tell you why I decided to be a hero?" "I never asked, does it matter?" Jiro rolls her eyes, "I''m trying for us to have a moment here, and the reason I decided to be a hero was, well, I just think that people who help others are really cool, people like you..." A tense moment passes before Jiro looks up at him, then he just looks away from her and back toward the kitchen, "that''s the most retarded reason I''ve ever heard." "Uh, ah, ugh," Jiro sputters. "Why do I even like you!" "Because I''m impossible to not fall in love with...or you just have bad taste in men," Horizon shrugs. "Probably both." "You''re just the worst," Jiro mutters. "Yeah, but you like it," Horizon pulls her in close and opens his visor, to give her a gentle but passionate kiss. And Jiro can''t help but stand on her toes to get a bit closer to him. "Uh, your breakfast is ready," they''re suddenly interrupted by the business owner... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 211: (Festival Excitement) Chapter 211: (Festival Excitement) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "Can you please get down from there, its making me anxious," Jiro says. She and Horizon were standing atop UA overlooking Musutafu in the distance, the morning sun shining down on the ocean just beyond the city. But while she was safely leaning against the wall beside the door to enter the building, he was standing on the ledge scrolling through his phone. Taking some pictures. "Awe, since when do you worry about me?" Jiro rolls her eyes, "its natural to be concerned when people stand on ledges...especially when they still can''t fly, mister perfect." "Tch, not everyone can fly." "Endeavor can." "W---" "---Hawks too," Jiro thinks about it for a moment. "Come to think of it, so can Ryukyu and Edgeshot...well he uses his Quirk tounch through the air. And even All Might used to punch the air to get around." "You''ve made your point," Horizon grumbles. "But I don''t need to fly, because while they''re flying, I''m already there." Jiro turns the page of her book, "yeah but warping isn''t as iconic." "I''m Horizon, I''ll set my own standard, its as simple as that." "Just don''t fall Mr. I Can''t Fly, but I guess you could just warp back up here anyway." "Something like that, Shambles doesn''t cancel momentum, so if I warp fast enough then yeah, but if I jump from a ne I''d have to brace for the impact all the same." "Good thing you''re also super strong, because some people get all the cool stuff." "I rather not rely on my physical strength in such ways, I''m not trying to be another wannabe All Might after all." Jiro sighs and shuts the book, unable to focus anymore, "but it must still feel pretty good right?" she walks up to the the ledge he''s standing on and enjoys the view. "What must feel good?" "Being able to just know that you can do some insane things and your Quirk can get you out of it, meanwhile I''m just ''The hearing hero''." "Well if it makes you feel any better, I don''t have Super Hearing," Horizon puts his phone away and turns to her, reaching down to bring her up on the ledge. Jiro immediately backs away, "uh, I''m no good with heights." "Then it''s a good thing you''ve got Japan''s future #1 Pro Hero to hold onto, right?" She hesitates for a moment, but eventually gives in and takes his hand, after which he easily pulls her up to stand beside him, wrapping an arm around her waist. "So, you n to open your eyes?" "Nope, this is fine," she holds onto him tightly and keeps her eyes shut. "You''re gonna be running toward viins but can''t handle a little altitude, really?" "Mmm, fine, just for a little bit..." she grips him tighter while opening her eyes, and it takes all of her willpower not to look down. "Yeah, this is still scary, good view but still scary." "Don''t worry, I just started tolerating you, so I won''t drop you." "Thanks a lot, jerk." After some time enjoying the silence, feeling the cold morning breeze against them, Jiro opens her eyes to enjoy the view. Much more rxed in Horizon''s arms. "Is this how you spend all your early mornings?" she asks. "What do you mean?" "Warping around Musutafu for breakfast, rxing on the roof before sses start, that sort of thing." "No, usually I just get an hour of sleep then get back to work, but this morning I decided to take things easy. I got a lot of work done these past few days and I''m sort of between cases at the moment." "Our resident workaholic." "Yeah well, when talent works hard, nothing can beat it," Horizon shrugs. "You aren''t the only person in our ss that could apply to, you do know that, right?" "I acknowledge that in the scope of the entire world our ss has some individuals like Bakugo, Todoroki, Tokoyami, and even...fucking Deku, who more than likely will be top 20 if not top 10 Pro heroes. Simply based on their abilities and work ethic." "They why do you still give them such a hard time?" Jiro asks. "I feel like you''d rather die than say anything nice to them." "Because they misunderstand their ce in the world. See I have no issue with them thinking they''ll be top Pros, but they''re trying topete with me. The audacity in them thinking they could ever be in the same arena with someone like me is appalling. They need to be taught that life just isn''t fair. That sometimes even if you have all the gifts handed to you, even if you work till you''re covered in sweat and blood, till your bones break. You can and will still lose, because I exist, and I''m just better. The fact that they even bother trying to catch up to me is so misguided and arrogant that it disgusts me." Jiro nods along for a bit as she processes everything, "yup, you definitely need serious therapy." "As if my mind is weak enough to have some person talking about feelings influence it, besides, I''m perfect." "Then I guess I need therapy, because you just said all of that and I''m still here with you." "Yeah well, I always knew you were crazy..." Horizon says. ---Later That Morning... Horizon as usual had his feet up, scrolling through his phone while waiting for Homeroom to start, trying his best to ignore his chatty ssmates. "Eraser''sing," he says, and as usual everyone quiets down and gets to their seats, but he just remains as he is. Even as Eraser Head enters the room with his sleeping bag over his shoulder and extra dark bags under his eyes. "Good morning ss," he gets a chorus of responses from his students. "Alright, this morning we''ve got something big to discuss..." Then entire room gets tense as he looks around, his eyesnd on Horizon, seeing the boy with his feet up and scrolling through his phone. But he ignores it and continues. "The UA Culture Festival is in three weeks," he says dryly. Most of the ss immediately erupts in cheers. "Quiet down!" after a second he regains control of the room. "Now, by this time tomorrow I expect all of you to have decided on what you''ll be doing for the culture festival. This is a big deal so I need all of you to do your best." Deku''s hand shoots up, "I have a question!" "What is it Midoriya?" "Um, sir, won''t this be a prime target for viin attacks?" "I raised that concern with Principal Nezu, as did many others, but he assured us that security will be well taken care of." "But---" "---The decision has already been made Midoriya, now its just up to us to do our best," Eraser Head says. "But, everyone with a Provisional Hero License must remain vignt. This year it''ll be bigger than ever, that means a lot of civilians inside UA''s walls, its up to us to keep them safe." He sees them nod in agreement. "Good, now I''m going to take a nap, wake me when the bell rings, I''m sure you''re all eager to start voting on ideas..." The moment Aizawa is in his sleeping bag, the entire room is about to erupt in excitement. Until Horizon gets up from his seat, then he turns around to look at Momo, "Ms. Vice President, tally up the votes and get rid of the stupid ideas some of these idiots wille up with, I need to go speak to Nezu." He doesn''t even wait for a response before warping away. ---Principal Nezu''s Office... "Are you insane?" Horizon asks as he abruptly warps in with no warning, approaching Nezu''s desk. The principal doesn''t even look up from his paperwork as he answers, "I''m the only sane person in this room..." "Very funny," Horizon takes a seat opposite Nezu. "The Culture Festival, what the fuck?" "Not everyone can spend all their time working like you and I, believe it or not regr people need things that boost their morale." "At the risk of viins walking into the school. And don''t give me that crap about ''Security measures,'' when we both know you just mean me." "You''re Horizon, what viin would dare to attack when you''re here. Even Shigaraki and his big bad League of Viins avoid you, especially after All For One confessed to the world about how dangerous you are. Plus we''ll have many of the Top Pros here, I even got confirmation that Endeavor will be here." "That''s not because of you, he''s just trying to spend more time with his loser son, but Eraser mentioned it''ll be even bigger this year, so again, what the fuck?" "Its a show of solidarity and power, if we can pull off a massive festival with thousands of people and no incidents, then Japan can rest that much easier knowing the heroes have things handled." "And if viins attack people die and I look bad." Nezu stops writing and looks up at him, "are you more concerned with people dying or you looking bad?" "Do you really want me to answer that question?" Nezu sighs and leans back in his chair, "everything will be fine. I just need you to be on duty and use your Quirk to keep an eye on things." "So I just don''t get to enjoy the exciting UA Culture Festival," his words were dripping with sarcasm. "I assumed you''d rather not be among the ''hero worshipping sheep'' as you call them, I''m sure many people areing just to get pictures or autographs of you." "Which is exactly why I don''t patrol by walking the streets, I always get swarmed." "I just need you to trust me on this, President Pantu has some sources that are tracking the league, they don''t have anything nned for a while. Between them being busy and all the extra security we''ll have, no idiot would dare to attack the Culture Festival." "If she has info on the league she should just send it to me, the faster I arrest those losers the easier our lives get." "Its a delicate situation, even I''m not fully aware of what she has in the works. But when she needs muscle, I''m sure you''re the first person she''ll call." "Well that exins how they knew Kurogiri was busy..." "What?" Nezu asks. "When Nighteye saw the two Nomu in the hideout, they called it in to the Commission and got the all clear to engage, Pantu told him Kurogiri isn''t in a position to warp anyone there or out of the hideout." "Hmm, well she''s worked with Sir. Nighteye and All Might many times in the past, it makes sense that he''d be trusted with that kind of information. That must mean she can only keep tabs on a few members at once, and she doesn''t trust you to not hunt them down immediately." "Because then they''ll know I''ve got a trail to follow and hide even better," Horizon says. "I guess keeping me out of the loop was the smart move on her end, no viin sticks around if they know I''m hunting them, aside from Wolfram." "Mhm, speaking of you moving around, you took Kyoka with you for breakfast this morning. Unless she can somehow also warp." "Problem?" "No, not at all," Nezu says. "I''m just curious as to how this will all y out, between Yaoyorozu, Kyoka, and Ryuko... who will be at the Culture Festival by the way since the other Wild Wild Pussycats areing to help." "Well then, it''s a good thing I''ll be too busy working security huh..." After a few more minutes of chatting Horizon gets all the info he needed. SHAMBLES! He warps back into his seat in the 1A Homeroom, "Alright, what did you guys decide on?" he asks. "It''s between a skit, a bakery, and a concert," Momo says. "But your vote could sway the results." "I''m not voting, I just had a chat with Nezu and I''ll be too busy working security to be a part of the Culture Festival, you''ll have to manage without me." "Well then," Momo thinks for a moment. "I suppose this afternoon we can vote again until we have a decision, since Mr. Aizawa said we have until Homeroom tomorrow to form an answer." "Dance party!" Mina yells out, hopping out of her seat. "C''mon guys, this time lets vote for a dance party!" "Oh my fucking god..." Horizon mutters as the ss is about to devolve into another loud discussion. "Settle down everyone," Cementoss walks in, saving Horizon from this early morning chatter. "It''s time for math, today we''ll be working on chapter seven of---" Horizon tunes him out and just leans back, putting his feet up and ying music inside his visor. ''I need to find a nice ce to go for lunch...'' he thinks while pulling up a list of ces nearby. END CHAPTER--- Chapter 212: (Growing) Chapter 212: (Growing) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "Is this where you always go for lunch?" Juzo asks. "We never see you in the cafeteria anymore..." He takes a seat opposite Horizon, in a high-rise restaurant in Musutafu. The city was below them with UA perched on its hill in the distance. "No I usually just eat on the roof, helps me avoid people always asking for pictures. But I always have this private room reserved incase I feel like having real food instead of a meal bar," Horizon says as he takes his seat, gesturing to the door separating them from the main dining area. "Sounds expensive." "I''m Horizon, I can afford it," he rxes into his seat. "Not to mention that sometimes I let them take a picture or two, knowing I eat here makes people rush to see what the hype is about. You know, celebrity worshipping morons." "That''s not a very nice thing to call your fans," Juzo says. "Its urate," Horizon says as someone knocks on the door a few times, thenes in to take their orders. After the server leaves Juzo decides to get to the point, they only had just over an hour for lunch after all. "You know I was surprised when I saw your message this morning, so why''d you want to have lunch with me?" "I just wanted to talk to you about Team Horizon." "Team Horizon?" Juzo raises a brow. "What, you want me to join?" "Yeah," Horizon shrugs. "Why else would we be here right now." Juzo looks genuinely confused, "I thought that was only for 1A students." "I never said that." "Well, you and I are cool but we aren''t that close, are we?" "Doesn''t matter. I looked at the footage from how you led your ssmates during the mid-term exams. You''re practical and flexible on the battlefield, that''s useful and gives you good chemistry with the others. Not to mention you and Sero are already close." "Uh-huh, but there''s something else you aren''t telling me, right?" "Obviously, can you figure it out?" Horizon asks. They sit in silence for a few minutes as Juzo ponders the possibilities, and in this time there is another knock on the door before the server brings their food. After the food is served the man leaves, and much to Juzo''s surprise Horizon reaches behind his visor and activates it, and the entire thing folds down to the size of his palm focused behind his neck. Juzo''s eyes go wide as he sees the blue energy vapor pouring out of Horizon''s eyes and mouth while the rest of his head is covered by the ski-mask like portion of the body glove. "Wow, not what I expected," Juzo mutters, acknowledging the show of trust. "I can only take it off for a few minutes at a time," Horizon lies. "But its nice to get fresh air sometimes..." he says as he begins eating. After some more pondering, Juzo finallyes to his conclusion. "You want me to join because I''m in 2A, right? It shows some inclusivity, ideally you would have picked a girl but that probably won''t go well for you since most of the girls don''t like you that much. Plus they could distract Sero and Shinso. I''m also one of the four rmended students from our sses. Tokage is the other from my ss, but her Quirk would be redundant with you, even if she is a fan of yours. Shoto doesn''t have his Provisional License so he can''t join, plus I don''t think you two get along. Momo is the other, but from what I hear she''d be too distracted by you to function properly. I''m capable enough to keep up with Sero and Shinso, and my Quirk brings a certain level of versatility and flexibility they don''t have at the moment. But you did say I''m also good at leading my ssmates, so I''m guessing you want me to fill the role of a leader...but that doesn''t make sense with you there..." "Mhm," Horizon nods along as he continues eating. Juzo snaps his fingers, "you want to have us act as your Sidekick team instead of as your actual teammates, just like Endeavor has his ming Sidekicks that operate directly under him." "Mhm, and?" Juzo thinks for a moment, "expanding the team further would be more efficient, but you can only oversee a few people at once, plus you also have to think of team culture. I doubt many of our ssmates will be as unbothered as myself when you and Sero discuss certain topics." "They''re pussies, yeah." "Your words, not mine," Juzo says. "But I''m sure you can fit one or two others into the team, Tokage wouldn''t mind and neither would Yanagi...so why not?" "Because three is the limit," Horizon says as Juzo also begins eating. "The general Hero-Worshipping public is too stupid to adapt to new ideas so quickly. My existence is hard enough to wrap their minds around, but going from ''The Big Three'' to ''The Big Four'' will be a bit much, plus it doesn''t sound as cool." "The Big Three huh. So you n for us to rece them while you''re still held apart above us?" "Ofcouse, because Horizon has no equals." "Hmm, well obviously I''m in. Operating under you pretty much hands me a top spot guaranteed once I show the public how useful I can be, but you''ve probably got a lot of questions for me, right?" "Not particrly, we may not be great friends but you and I have spent enough time around each other, I only need to know one thing." "And what''s that?" "Why did you choose to be a Pro Hero?" Horizon reaches forward and holds Juzo''s shoulder. Juzo is surprised by the interaction, then it clicks, "ohh, you can''t actually detect lies like you''ve said, but when you touch people you can read the changes in their body when they do lie..." Horizon chuckles, "you''re one of the few people to figure that out, although admittedly I wasn''t being very subtle this time. Everyone on the team knows by now so its fine." "Right, well, I want to be a Pro-Hero to push myself to the limits and see how far my Quirk and skills can go. Helping people is also really nice but ever since I was a kid I''ve wanted to prove that just because I can''t punch the clouds away like All Might doesn''t mean I''m useless. It just takes a bit more work to be creative and effective with a Quirk like mine," Juzo admits. "So you want to be stronger than anyone ever thought you could be," Horizon nods as he rxes back into his seat. "Alright, I like it, now lets talk about the specifics. You''re doing the Work Studies with Crust so---" ---1 Hour Later... SHAMBLES! Horizon arrives in training ground beta, already in his Hero Costume but standing at the back of his ssmates. "What did I miss?" he whispers to Sero who was also at the back with Shinso, both with the masks off and patiently waiting. "Why are youte?" "Juzo''s in," Horizon whispers back. "His Quirk will certainly be useful," Shinso says before nodding forward at the building Eraser Head was looking at. Horizon could sense Asui and Ojiro inside looking around, but wasn''t sure what the exercise was. "Its a break in," Shinso says. "The scenario is the someone broke into this jewelry store and robbed it, including the vault at the back." "And we need to figure out who it is," Sero says. "Mr. Aizawa said one of the teachers did it and we need to solve who it was, but he won''t give us any clues or even a list to pick from so the list is super long, it could be anyone." "Depends on how they opened the vault," Shinso says. "Only a few teachers have the muscle to do it so that will narrow it down a lot." "Hmm, sounds easy, did anyone make any bets?" Horizon asks. "Nah," Sero says before he puts on his visor. "We kind of all figured you or Momo would win," he shrugs. "Cellophane is more of a car chase style hero." "And I''m still new to this part of Hero work," Shinso says. A momentter someone pushes through the crowd until they arrive at the back, and Horizon finds himself looking down at Aux. Kyoka Jiro, in her new Hero Costume and headset which covers her entire face and runs wires all across her suit, preventing her from having to extend and expose her Earphone Jacks while fighting. The mask also doubles as a speaker, which has the neat effect of lighting up every time she speaks. Still running with the ck and purple theme she''s had and sporting some smaller speakers and amps across her body. "I''ll take your bet," Aux says. "You, seriously?" Horizon asks. "You''ve never even done one of these before." "But I''ve been studying non-stop to keep up with you guys while I''m stuck in UA, I can do this," Aux says. "Hmm, alright, and what would you wager?" Horizon asks, and by now a few others are paying attention to them. "I''ll---" she cuts herself off. "I''ll tell youter." "Doesn''t seem fair," Horizon says. "Sounds like you''re scared you''ll lose, think your the only one that can solve this?" "Tch, fine, if you win I owe you a favor, but if you can''t solve it, you own me one..." Aux steps back nervously, "y---you''re on!" "Horizon!" Eraser Head calls out, drawing all eyes back toward the exercise. "Since you''re finally here and already distracting my ss, you''re up," he gestures to the building. "And you''re next Jiro..." Without a word he walks past his ssmates and into the broken ss window of the store, seeing shattered and emptied disy cases all around the room. ROOM! He creates a small Room so he can focus on the little details. Onlyrge enough for the store itself, allowing him to properlyb it over. He stands still, looking around as he shifts his Scan from one aspect to the next. ''The ss was shattered by someone hitting it, but there isn''t any DNA on it...the suspects either used a weapon or was covered up. No bullet holes or concrete deformation, wasn''t Snipe or Cementoss. Midnight doesn''t have the raw power to break into the back vault. No dog hair, that rules out Hound Dog...'' He runs down the list of UA staff until he exhausted most of them, then he arrives in the back room at the vault. He sees a standard security door, reinforced steel but a regr doorway, nothing like a bank vault. Touching the metal he still doesn''t feel any biomatter on it, strangely clean. Then he looks at where the door itself it, torn out of the wall and tossed against the wall opposite the vault. ''Strong enough o do this, that rules out a few more...but how they did it is odd...'' he uses Scan on the door. Pressure was applied evenly all around the door to rip it out of the wall. None of the staff has telekinesis, and the only person who could do that is...'' "I''ve got my answer," Horizon says. And Eraser walks over to the crumpled door with his datapad. "Tell me who and I''ll add it to the list, then after ss we see who was right." "d king, he used his Blood Control to rip the door out of the wall by wrapping it in his blood, and that exins why there isn''t'' any loose DNA lying around, he can perfectly control his blood." Eraser doesn''t react, but was thoroughly impressed with Horizon''s investigative skills, but not at all surprised. ---1 Hour Later... Everyone was back in the 1A homeroom now after changing into their regr uniforms. "Only three of you actually solved today''s exercise," Eraser Head announces as the list appears with everyone''s tops suspect. "It was d King, but somehow only Horizon, Bakugo, and Jiro were able to figure that out..." Horizon looks over at Jiro who turns around just to stick her tongue out at him, "told you I''ve been training hard..." END CHAPTER--- Fun fact, this chapter puts us at 420K+ words :p Chapter 213: (Plots and Schemes) Chapter 213: (Plots and Schemes) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- Sitting at his desk in his 1A Dorm Room, Horizon sees a collection of Pro Heroes on his dual monitors. All of the Top 10 Pro Heroes and a few other top ranking pros together for a meeting he was hosting. Behind his monitors all the way at the other side of his room Sero, Shinso, and Juzo were ying cards at his coffee table while waiting for the meeting to be over. "---that covers where all of you need to be on Sunday," Horizon says. "I''ve already assigned a division leader for each of your parts, but since you''ve worked with each other before feel free to adjust that as you see fit. This is all about us being in sync, these people have been moving a lot of drugs, guns, and...other things." "People," Ryukyu says. "This is part of the human abduction ring we suspect the League of Viins is using to feed their Nomu Labs, right?" "It is," Horizon says, and all the heroes react in absolute disgust. "Since they have Kurogiri we can''t afford to just take bites out of their organization, that''s why I''ve been collecting data for the past few weeks so we can hit them hard. Hard enough that he can''t simply use Warp Gate to solve the problem. But that requires us to hit 11 different cities at once, which is why I actually need help. Because contrary to what the public likes to believe, and what I want the viins to believe, I can''t actually be everywhere at once." "Not yet," President Pantu pops up in the call, surprising many Pro Heroes who didn''t know she was here. Seeing their reactions she borates, "I''ve been here from the start, only to observe how Horizon conducts himself in these situations, thus far, most impressive." "Naturally," Horizon says. "But you must have broken your silence for a reason, right?" "I just got done with the briefing and the maps you sent us, how did you get this information?" Pantu asks. "And more importantly, why wasn''t the Police or the Commission brought in on this, we''ve been trying for years to get a mole this deep in the ck market. The most we get is a few middle men, but this...this is distribution and manufacturing..." "It honestly wasn''t that hard, I just questioned one person, followed the trail. And eventually I found someone desperate enough to put some trackers on the shipments they move, then used them and some more follow up investigations to map their organization." "And you didn''t bring me in on this because?" "Because while I do trust you not to be a spy," he says. "I''m sure you have leaks in your organization, can''t risk them either breaking into your system or overhearing a conversation." "Or you used methods that aren''t ''heroic'' in our sense," Pantu''s face remains cold and free of emotions. "Well...everyone talks when I get my hands on them," Ryukyu flinches at his words, which Endeavor doesn''t miss. "But this time all it took was money, did you forget that I''m rich?" "Regardless of how he got it," Edgeshot cuts in. "We have the information now, and my team as well as a few other Pro Heroes have already made contributions by following his instructions. Small investigations and staking out certain locations, not to mention I''ve worked with Horizon before, I trust his judgement on these matters." "Yes," Endeavor finally speaks up, and everyone can see a wisp of green me over his shoulder, Burnin was listening in. "Horizon is oddly skilled in these types of cases, lets follow his lead instead of inserting doubt and trying to change his ns. He''s clearly spent a lot of time on this, I''m sure he''s thought of almost everything." "A brilliant new star shining before us, I trust this young hero!" Crust says, and half the Pros have to resist the urge to roll their eyes at him. "My concern is the logistics on the police side," Best Jeanist says. "You want to keep the police in the dark but we can''t do this without their support, at least to round up the captured criminals." "I''ll deal with that," Pantu says. "There are police stations nearby, I simply have to make sure they''re equipped with assault gear beforehand, then when the attacks start they''ll be alerted and deployed. This way any would be spies don''t have time to warn the criminals." "Its more likely that the stations are simply bugged," Horizon says. "What about the teams?" Mirko asks, from her camera they could see buildings changing behind her. She was clearly leaping between the rooftops under a cloudy night sky. "Can I work solo?" "No you''re with Jeanist," Horizon says. "You''re good 1-on-1 incase they have any heavy hitters, and he''s good against groups of opponents. Teaming up is a necessity for this mission, no exceptions." "No exceptions?" Endeavor asks with a raised brow. "Yes that includes myself, Simon, Cellophane, and Mudman will be with me..." "Team Horizon," Gang Orca says. "Wait, who''s Mudman?" "My work studies student," Crust proudly says. "Versatile and level headed," Edgeshot says, "he''ll be good for this kind of mission." "He''s also the final member of my team, we''ll deal with one of the big storage and distribution houses near Minato Tokyo, it''s off the shore on small uninhabited ind, should be easy enough." "You''re suppose to have a pro with you. Did you forget you''re still just a student?" Mirko reminds him. "Let mee supervise!" "So you can annoy me for a rematch, just be d I unblocked you from the Hero Network, and if you aren''t annoying after this mission it might stay that way." "Mmmm," Mirko pouts and stops on a rooftop, but doesn''t say anything. "Horizon is plenty capable by himself," Ryukyu says. "Besides he won''t be alone..." "Of course you''d defend your bo---" "We aren''t dating," both Horizon and Ryukyu say at one. Mt. Lady stifles a chuckle as Pantu speaks up, "their love life aside, Horizon is capable and I trust him to act in the full capacity of a Pro Hero. If I didn''t I never would have allowed him to nearly monopolize Minato Tokyo." "Your report doesn''t have any information on the ringleaders," Endeavor says. Like many of the present Pros he''s already begun reading it. "You don''tst this long as a criminal by announcing who you are. That''s why I stacked the teams to have a mix of fighters and capture based Pro Heroes." "You''ve thought of everything," Hawks says. "You''re pretty impressive, guess the hype about you wasn''t overblown after all." "Oh you haven''t seen anything yet," Horizon says. "But just be careful, and feel free to recruit anyone from directly around where you''ll all be operating that you trust. If we disce too many Pro Heroes at once our targets will realize something is off, we can''t risk that, especially since all the Top 10 Pros will be in on this." "Gotcha boss," Hawks says jokingly. "Well that should be everything we have to discuss tonight," Horizon says. "If you have any questions either ask now or call me sometime...only for things regarding Hero Work for you Mirko..." They see the woman mutter something under her breath, but can''t hear it. After a moment nobody speak up, until Best Jeanist does. "It looks like this briefing was informative and concise, we''ll be sure to review the documents you''ve sent us," the other Pros nod along. "And I must say, I too am impressed, if I didn''t know better I never would have guess a child was organizing this." "Well, when the adults rather run around in colorful pajamas and capes and fight other likeminded morons, I guess the children have to deal with the real criminals..." He gets a mix of reaction from the pro, but shrugs it off. "Now I''m sure you''ve all got streets to patrol or viins to fight, so I''ll let you get back to it," Horizon kicks everyone from the call aside from Pantu. "You can''t even take apliment without insulting people," Pantu says. "Your bedside manner is truly the worst. But I am impressed with the work you''ve done, and here I thought you were just nning to do the bare minimum to get by." Horizon chuckles, "oh no, I''m the best at anything I agree to do, and that includes this Pro Hero game." "Well, perhaps Nezu''s hope has some merit, maybe you will be greater than any other Pro Hero the world will ever see...including All Might." "Pro Hero...you''re still thinking too small," Horizon says. The words send a chill down her spine, but her expression would never show it. "But one deal at a time Pantu..." "When this one isplete we''ll discuss a more long term contract," Pantu says before hanging up. Horizon leans back in his chair and sends Ryukyu a short message, then gets up to check on his teammates. "Hey morons, everything is set, so you''re all going to Horizon Tower with me from tomorrow night." "Tomorrow?" Juzo asks. "But that''s Wednesday." "We''ve got some preparing to do, plus I''ve got a date so we need to be there by Thursday night." "Since when do you go on dates?" Sero asks, skeptical at the idea. "I thought the great and powerful Horizon just seduces fangirls, and Ryuko." "Ryuko?" Juzo looks a bit concerned. "Are you and Ryukyu a thing? I thought you said that''s a stupid rumor?" "It is a stupid rumor, he was talking about Pixie-Bob." "They have the same name?" Juzo asks. "Its always confusing," Shinso mutters, still focusing on his cards. "Yeah but I decided to put those rumors to work for me, so I''m going on a ''date'' with Ryukyu, and I''ll need you there as backup," he gestures to Shinso. "Not in costume this time." "What about us?" Sero asks. "You and Juzo can go patrol the nearby areas or something, this is a delicate mission, won''t need to fight anyone." "Good luck exining this to Ryuko," Shinso says. "Oh yeah," Juzo looks back at Horizon, half amazed and entirely confused. "When the hell did that happen, and aren''t you dating Momo and Jiro or something?" "Its a long story," Horizon says as he takes a seat at the table. And Shinso happily takes all the cards and shuffles them, getting rid of his losing hand... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 214: (Guardians) Chapter 214: (Guardians) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- ---7:30 PM, 1A Dorms... "So what did you two suggest for this Culture Festival thing?" Horizon asks. He was walking through the halls with Shinso and Sero, Juzo had already gone back to the 1B dorms an hour ago. "A games stall," Sero says as the approach the elevator. "Like those games where you throw a ball and knock over some cans, then you get a prize if you score really well. I came to the UA culture festivalst year and there were a few of em, super fun!" "You camest year?" Horizon asks. "You didn''t?" Shinso raises a brow at this. "I had better things to do, why? Is it so weird?" "Well usually at least Hero Course studentse one year before entering UA, get an idea of what the school is really all about," Shinso says. "Yeah I came with some of my friends from middle school," Sero says. "I actually haven''t seen those guys in a while so maybe they''ll show up this year." "Well its supposed to be bigger than ever this year, so maybe they will," Horizon says as the elevator begins taking them to the ground level. "Will you have anyoneing to it?" Shinso asks. "I know you said you were homeschooled and all but, anyone?" "Nope," Horizon says. "The closest thing I''ve got to a living rtive is Nezu, but even that''s more of a business rtionship. And I don''t have any friends outside of you two idiots..." "Oh, right," Shinso''s expression remains t, but he regretted brining up that topic. "Awe, you called us friends," Sero teases him. "Look at you getting all soft on us..." "Drop it." The elevator doors open and they enter themon area, to see all of 1A assembled at the couches. They were all standing around moring about something Horizon couldn''t be bothered with so he just walked over to a single seat and sat down, taking out his phone to try and ignore them. ''Can''t believe I have to be here for this...because of course I go to the one school that actually cares about this ss Representative title crap.'' Shinso and Sero walk over to Asui and Deku and begin chatting, and a few minutester Kirishima and Ojira are done getting cleaned up after the gym and join everyone. "Alright everyone, now its time to begin the voting once more," Momo says as she gets their attention, realizing by now Horizon is only here because he has to be. Momo calls everyone over to the couches where Horizon is and makes a small dry-erase board to tally the votes. Horizon nces up from his phone just in time to see Jiro walk over and sit on the arm of the couch he''s on, then looks back down at his phone. "Just remember I''ll be working security at the Culture Festival, so I won''t be participating, which means I won''t be voting." "Right, now lets begin," Momo says. "We''ll go in order of seating, first everyone gets to make a suggestion which I''ll write on the board. I trust since this morning you''ve all had time to properly consider your suggestions. When everyone has made a suggestion we''ll call for a vote, its fine if you don''t have a suggestion, but everyone has to vote since we''ll all be helping for this to function properly." They all nod along as Momo begins writing the suggestions. ---30 Minutes Later... After a lot of back and forth discussing and debating ideas, they finallye to a decision. "I don''t really know about this guys," Jiro says. "I mean, I''ve never performed on stage before, and a whole concert in three weeks. Plus I''ll have to teachpletely inexperienced people to y the song, and write a song." "No different than putting on a silly costume and running around fighting viins in the street," Horizon says while ying a game on his phone. "You''ll be fine." "Plus this is what the Culture Festival is all about!" Mina says. "Yeah!" Kirishima joins her. "Its not just about the delicious food and fun games, we''ve got the show everyone that at UA making sure everyone is happy matters most! It''ll be super manly to cheer everyone up after the rough year we''ve had because of the League Of Viins!" "It''ll be Plus Ultra!" Mina and Kirishima devolve into a contest of who can hype everyone up the most. But Horizon just looks up at the nervous Jiro, seeing her ying with her Earphone Jacks. "You''ll be fine, just don''t overthink it." Jiro looks down at him and gives a nervous smile, then nods. "Alright, lets do a concert," Jiro says. "I''ll n the dance routine!" Mina says. "I''ll y the drums so good those losers will die from how awesome it is!" Bakugo screams out, and a momentter the entire room was louder than ever before from all the excited chatter. During this however, Horizon tunes everyone out and focuses on a duo that just entered his Room. A Room only big enough for the 1A dorms. He abruptly gets out of his seat and begins walking to the door, causing some of his ssmates to look over at him. "Is something wrong with her?" is the first thing Eraser Head hears as he enters the door with Eri at his side. The entire ss gets quiet, knowing about the case some of their ssmates were on and finally seeing the girl that just moves into the teachers dorm. "She''s fine," Eraser Head looks down to see Eri trying to hide behind him, clearly nervous with all the new faces staring at her. "Its ok Eri, everyone here is a hero, and you''ve met Horizon before, right?" he gestures to Horizon. "The doctor..." she says quietly while stepping out from behind Eraser Head. "I guess even when I was healing you I never really spoke huh," Horizon says. "My name is Horizon, I''m sure you remember me, I''m the guy who beat Overhaul and saved you." "Thank you," Eri says, and gives a small nod. "It was my pleasure," Horizon looks directly at Eraser Head. "You brought her over to say hi?" "Midoriya wanted to meet her and apologize for not saving her," Eraser Head says as he guides her over to the collection of students. "Everyone here is training to be a hero Eri, you can trust them to protect you. And you''ve already met Horizon, he''s the strongest person in Japan. When he''s here nothing can hurt you." Eri looks at everyone in amazement, never having seen these many heroes before. Deku looks like he''s already about to cry, and his ssmates give him some room to approach Eri, already knowing how guilty he''s been feeling about not saving her. As Eri spots Deku, Eraser Head exins, "I''ll be back in a few hours, Horizon will keep an eye on you until then. If you need anything just ask him, and he''ll take care of it, alright?" Eri just looks back at and nods, "ok, I''ll stay here. Are youing back? Promise you''lle back?" "I''ll be back soon," Eraser Head says. "Behave yourself alright." Eri nods, then turns back to Horizon, who was just staring at Eraser Head. "Um, Eri..." Deku kneels down to her level, already teary eyed as he gets ready to apologize. Eraser Head begins moving toward the door and Horizon quickly follows behind him. "What the fuck are you doing?" Horizon asks as the leave the building, standing on thewn. "A contact has some information for me, I need to head out for a few hours, you can watch her for one night." "No, I can''t, I''ve got training to do." "Its one night, and you only need one hour of sleep anyway, you''ll be fine." "I''m not a babysitter Aizawa. Just leave her with Midnight or Mic." "She doesn''t know them," Aizawa says. "Aside from the people she saw fighting Overhaul, she doesn''t trust anyone. It took her days to start trusting me before we left Central Hospital. And since Mirio isn''t on campus, that leaves you as the only option." "Bu---" "And you''re the only one that can resist her Quirk. Her horn is small right now so she can''t use it, but incase anything goes wrong, you''re here." "Ugh...fine." "Good, I''d take you with me if I could but one of us has to stay on campus at all times until Kurogiri is captured, but I''m hoping my contact has some info about where he is." "You have info on the league?" "Something like that," Aizawa says. "Apparently they''ve got some ''testing grounds'' for Nomu, I figured that Kurogiri has to be how they move to and from those sites." "So we mark the sites and setup some cameras to track the schedule, then ambush him." "Exactly, then you can get to work on saving my friend." "Mmm, you do realize th---" "I know, but I''m trying to stay hopeful. I already lost Shirakumo once, I''d rather not lose him a second time." "Guess I''m a babysitter now," Horizon mutters. "Try not to be yourself, your bedside manner is the worst. But Eri is a good kid, polite and doesn''t cause trouble. She''s still scared of asking for even basic things because she''s scared we''ll turn on her. I exined that the same way I''m her guardian, you''re like that for all of Japan, so it should be easier. Just try not to overwhelm her with...well, your personality." "You say that like I''ll be a bad influence. If anything I''ll teach her how to really navigate this world." Aizawa narrows his eyes at Horizon, "maybe leaving her with you is a bad idea..." "Well you don''t have much of a choice huh, good luck on your mission." Walking back into themon area Horizon sees Eri on his single seat with a te of apple slices in herp. The other students were keeping an eye on her but Momo was at the board going over some designs for the stage and what parts everyone should y. But Horizon ignored them and focused on the most important thing, "why is she eating apples?" he interrupts their meeting to ask. "Well she wanted a snack, and---" He cuts off Deku, "and of the entire pantry of snacks we have...you gave her fucking apples?" "Watch yournguage!" Momo yells out at Horizon, surprising everyone. "You can''t speak like that around a child." "She''s already seven, and she''s dealt with worse than some bad words," Horizon says. "But seriously, apples?" "What''s wrong with apples, they''re my favorite," Tokoyami says. "Horizon doesn''t like apples," Sero says, already barely containing hisughter. "You know...because he''s a doctor." A few people beginughing but Horizon just sighs, "kids deserve to enjoy the better things in life without having to worry, especially after all the shit she''s dealt with." SHAMBLES! He warps away before Momo can try to scold him again. SHAMBLES! A warps back with a pack of 30 chocte chip cookies from the kitchen. 1A learned very quickly that Horizon enjoys snacks, so he always keeps his room and the kitchen stocked...and from what Burnin''s social media ounts show. The fridge in his office at Endeavor''s Agency is also a goldmine that she frequently raids. Not to mention the stories they''ve heard from Sero about the food at Horizon Tower. "Here Eri, try these," He hands her the pack after opening it, and she nervously takes one. "Don''t worry, I''m the worlds best doctor and Japan''s strongest Hero, nobody is gonna yell at you for this, and I can fix anything that happens either way." Eri is hesitant at first, still unsure about this ''Horizon'' person. But with Eraser Head trusting him, and knowing he''s one of the people who saved her and the doctor who got her out of the stone after the raid. She trust him, even if his face -visor- is scary and he seems mean. Taking one of the cookies she bites into it, and for the first time in 3 years feel that euphoric rush of sugar that most kids love. She scarfs down the rest of the cookie and reaches for another one immediately. "Cookies always beat apples," Horizon says as Dark Shadow floats across the room to get the te of apple slices. Horizon then just picks up Eri which startles her for a moment, before he reims his seat and sets her down in hisp, hopping back on his phone as if nothing happened. "Awe, I knew you were a softie," Mina says what most of them were thinking as she takes a picture and sends it to the ss group chat. "If that gets online I''ll break your legs," was all Horizon said. Asui rolls her eyes, "you aren''t really scary with such a cute little girl in yourp." "Tch, whatever froggy..." A few momentster and everyone is ready to get back to nning, only to realize Momo is just standing there staring at Horizon and Eri, lost in her own mind. Ochaco walks over to her and shakes her out of her fantasy, "Yaomomo, we were nning the performance, remember?" "Oh, right, the performance...now where were we?" Not to the same extent as Momo, but throught the night everyone was amazed by how caring Horizon was when it came to Eri, even if he was still crass, and didn''t always teach the most heroic of lessons to her. But they got along oddly well, it showed a softer side of him. Which was mostly real, but he did have one ulterior motive. ''I''m gonna give this kid so much sugar before handing her back to Eraser...'' END CHAPTER--- Chapter 215: (Dragon and God Pt.3) Chapter 215: (Dragon and God Pt.3) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- ---6 PM, Thursday, Tokyo... "So, now can you tell me the specifics?" Ryukyu asks. She was wearing a white dress with a slit on the left side, a drastic change from her Hero Costume as her usual essories of the metal dragon w on her head and dragon-wings headpiece were missing. Instead she had a small red purse matching the red ribbon around her waist with a length of fabric flowing down her right side. Sitting across from her Horizon was wearing a more formal version of his Hero Costume, swapping out the standard business suit for a tuxedo that had a few more blue ents along the lining. The jacket was also slightly longer, and notable not as durable as his actual Hero Costume. His white and blue seemed oddlyplimentary to her white and red, even as they sat here in a high-rise lounge discussing their ns for the evening. Ignoring the murmurs and curious looks the serving staff kept throwing their way. When she first epted, Ryukyu had resigned herself to the fact that before the night was over all of Japan would believe she was dating their rising star. "Yeah we should go over it atleast once, did you read what I sent you?" Horizon asks. "Mhm, Dr. Kyudai Garaki is having his annual fund raiser and you need me to help you work a case there. A person of interest will be attending and you want me to act as support, but you said I''m not here to fight, so...?" "Can you even fight in that dress, or will you just be, you know..." Ryukyu sighs, "no this material doesn''t expand with me. It was short notice and I didn''t have a dress for this kind of event made to grow with me." "Well at least reptiles have hidden---" Ryukyu gives him a hard re, challenging him to stay another word. "Alright whatever, but for the record, always thought it was weird you kept those big tits in dragon form." "Ugh, sometimes I forget you''re sixteen." "Honestly you should be happy, those things got you into the top 10." Ryukyu looks a bit sad at hearing that, already aware enough that she doesn''t actually do enough to be in the top 10. She''s just gotten lucky with a shy Quirk everyone liked, and pretty privilege helped carry her some of the way as well. "Can you just tell me what we''re doing," she furrows her brow at him. "And if this is just some trick to get me on a date with you, I''ll just leave right now." "As if I have time to waste on such trivial things," Horizon scoffs and takes out a small circr device from his jacket, handing it to her. "Put that in your purse." "Alright," she does as he says. "A tracker?" "No, its more like a hacking device. It''ll scan every phone within ten feet until it finds the one we''re looking for, then give us remote ess to it through Nezu''s program." "Alright, and what phone are we looking for?" "No idea," Horizon says. "I''ve been following some leads on the League of Viins. I figured they have to be getting funding from somewhere and one of thebs Endeavor raided gave us a lead. Apparently one of the ounts buying equipment for them is also a big donator to the Kyudai Garaki Medical Quirk Research Foundation." "Wait," Ryukyu tries to wrap her head around it. "So you''re telling me, that the same person bankrolling the league, is donating to help build orphanages and hospitals all around Japan? Why would they even do that?" "Unlikely," Horizon says. "The donation was recent, scarily recent. And the only people invited to this are fellow researches like myself, or people who donated, so..." "They donated to get a invitation," Ryukyu says. "And since even Pro Heroes don''t get invitations, they think it''ll be a good time to kidnap the doctor." "Exactly," Horizon says. "But we''ll be there, which means they won''t try to kidnap him, and once we''re close the device will start scanning phones until we get a match." "I see," Ryukyu considers everything she just heard, and can''t help but ask. "Did you tell Lady Pantu about this?" "No, I need live bait, she''d just shove Garaki in a bunker until it was over." ''If Garaki dies Pantu loses her best chance at finding a weakness in Horizon,'' Ryukyu thinks. ''Wait, what happens if Horizon meets Garaki...if he touches him can he read him somehow and figure out what''s going on? This could be bad, I need to prevent them from talking too long. If Horizon gets a sense something is wrong he won''t hesitate to question Garaki and that could be a disaster. And then he''d know that I knew because Garaki saw me at theb so obvious Garaki knows that I know and---'' Horizon snaps his his fingers to get her out of her own thoughts, startling the woman. "Huh!" "You spaced out for a bit there, you ok?" Ryukyu shakes her head, "yeah, I''m fine. I''m just not used to this kind of situation, Dragon''s aren''t exactly known for being stealthy after all." "Well I am, so you''re in good hands." "Right, then I''m in your care, but I have to ask, why me?" "Why not you?" he asks with no hesitation. "Well, I''m sure you could get many other Pro Heroes with helpful Quirks to assist you, maybe Ms. Midnight, right?" "Ugh," Horizon rxes in his seat. "First of all, Midnight is a bitch, and she hates me." "Really? That seems like an exaggeration..." "Oh yeah she hates me. Secondly, the public already thinks you''ve gotten your ws wrapped around me, so its less exining on our parts." "I guessed that part," she says. "Those rumors are annoying but in situations like these they are useful. But even if I can''t stand the allegations and hate mail I get from your fans about me seducing a minor---" "I''m sixteen so it''s fi---" "Don''t even," she cuts him off. "But as I was saying, I will admit its quite nice not to be constantly asked on dates every time I team up with male Pro Heroes." "Is it that bad?" "I''m sure you have fangirls throwing themselves at you, well its much the same for me, only its the people who I''m supposed to be working beside. Before those rumors I''m sure someone would have asked me to go on a date during the Yakuza Raid. There is a reason my agency only has women, its a safe haven from that nonsense. But hearing about the oh-so great and powerful Horizon iming me has most of them scared to even talk to me. Its actually quite refreshing to have people treating me like a actual dragon for a change, worried about upsetting me instead of constantly trying to seduce me...too bad its because they''re more scared of angering you that they''re scared of me." "Well I''m d you get some use out of it, because it annoys me. Anytime I talk to a girl its always ''aren''t you dating Ryukyu...'' which makes me sound like I''m up to no good." Ryukyu does her best shocked expression, "how devious, you, my beloved Horizon, cheating on me," she dramatically clutches her heart. "How will I ever recover from such devastating heartbreak. This heartbreak knows no bounds..." Horizon chuckles, "alright Shakespeare settle down." Ryukyu chuckles along with him, "I actually did quite like going to see ys, another thing being a celebrity has ruined." "At least you can still show up online, I can''t even do that," Horizon says. "Pantu won''t let me go a certain distance from Tokyo and Musutafu without permission, and I can''t even post where I am outside of either of those because it makes the crime rates spike." "All the power in the world, and you''re locked in a cage. At least its a big cage." "No such thing as a big cage when you can warp," Horizon says. "Mhm. But you know, you never exined why exactly you wanted me here, aside from using what the media believes to our advantage." "Well, I narrowed down the list of suspects, and...you''re their type." Ryukyu looks disgusted by his words, "so at the end of it all, I am just a piece of meat to you." "To them," Horizon rifies. "But when we''ve got them tied up you can get some hits in to make up for it." "That won''t be necessary, seeing them arrested will be plenty." "That won''t be for a while unless they actually make us act tonight," Horizon says. "For now just getting into their phone is enough. The sooner I get my hands on Kurogiri the better." "The thought of leaving criminals like that free makes my blood crawl, this is one of the reasons I prefer to just simply brawl with viins. Running investigations means you have to sit by while knowing heinous things are happening, but you have to leave them be until the boss shows himself. I just can''t do that." "That''s the problem with Pro Heroes, too many of them only care about dressing like idiots and solving the obvious issues rather than look into the darker side of this world." "I suppose I''m guilty of that as well." "Yeah, but at least you admit it and know why, most are just oblivious to how much they care about the glory thates with fighting viins in the streets. Plus you''re actually effective at the path you chose." "Well, its good to know you tolerate me for what I can do instead of my ''cool Quirk'' or some nonsense like that." "Well," Horizon shrugs. "You being sexy and having cool Quirk certainly doesn''t hurt, even if you aren''t a real dragon." Ryukyu grits her teeth and grumbles out, "I am a real dragon." "Whatever Kyukyu." Ryukyu sighs, "you''re the worst. And shouldn''t we be leaving about now, the event has already begun." "Mhm, time for the red carpet, I can have us there in one warp," Horizon says as he gets up, extending a hand to help her up. She gracefully takes his hand and gets up, but he doesn''t let do, so she simply keeps holding on as well. "One warp? But the event is at least 30km away, and I thought your limit was 10km," she absentmindedly says, then tries to exin why she''d know that. "I heard you could warp around most of UA easily in the news and that''s about its size right?" Not enough of a lie for him to notice, if he was actually paying such close attention to her. "Awe, you''ve been paying such close attention to me, maybe you''re more into me than I thought," and Ryukyu is thankful that his arrogance blinded him to the possibility of what she and Pantu discussed. "But my limit was 10km, when I was 12---" SHAMBLES! They suddenly appear on a rooftop overlooking the entrance to the g, which was nked on either side of the walkway by the media excitedly taking pictures of every attending politician and socialite. 36km away. Ryukyu''s eyes go wide, knowing Horizon''s shes were seemingly only limited by the same range as his warping. Suddenly gaining a new sense of fear for standing against him. He feels her grip onto his hand and holds her gently in return, "sorry, guess I should have warned you." "Right, sorry," she lets go of his hand. But she was oblivious to the inner workings of his Quirk, of his Room. He raises his hand and summons the metal throwing card they warped with back into his hand, ced earlier this evening at this very spot. Prepared in advance. As was the Room he made, carefully ced so the lounge and this spot were at the edges of it, making the 36km diameter appear normal for him to warp across, when in most cases he only warps the diameter of his Room. All for the sake of convenience for him and his date, but unbeknownst to him, this information would get back to Pantu within a day. And they would simply assume his casual range is at least 36km. But that level of power was a few months away for him. "That still amazes me," Ryukyu says as the look down to the crowds. "You can simply choose to be somewhere else, if you have something to swap ces with, right?" "Something like that, but needing to swap with something is...well, training wheels on a bike. Eventually I can simply be anywhere I want. And for certain ces, I already can be." "I''ve seen it, sometimes you warp about near your tower and people get it on video, you don''t swap with anything. Its like you be the wind." Horizon chuckles at the description she gives. "To me, space is just another road, spend enough time on it and eventually you''ll be able to walk certain stretches blindfolded." "I guess that sort of makes sense, well not really. But that''s the point, right? Mystery ss: Quirks beyond humanprehension." "Yeah, and eventually, I''ll be able to do anything." "Eventually, but right now, you''re the god that can''t even fly," she suppresses a chuckle while looking up at him. Horizon just gives an annoyed sigh, "you people will never let me live that down huh, even the ''Dragon'' that can''t breath fire..." "He---" he cuts off her response by reaching down and scooping her up in his arms in a bridal carry. Her arms immediate wrap around his neck, almost feeling the muscles below his tuxedo and body glove trying to break free. "What are you doing?" she asks with a light red hue on her cheeks. "Making an entrance, lets give the media something to talk about tomorrow." SHAMBLES! END CHAPTER--- Chapter 216: (Dragon and God Pt.4) Chapter 216: (Dragon and God Pt.4) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- Caught up in the excitement, the media vultures almost missed a single metal throwing card hovering down from the sky above. The constantly clicking and shes from cameras were dazzling to everyone, especially the few socialites, who were mostly namely investors, managers, or owners of major local and international medical facilities and funds. Established men and women whoe here every year to pay their respects to Dr. Kyudai Garaki, a man whounched medical research almost a century ahead through his research on Quirks. Others were also major investors hoping to make their millions more noticeable by showing face, lest it gets drowned in the ocean of donations the doctor constantly receives. And some were a chosen few high level medical professionals hoping to get a position at one of his many research facilities or hospitals around the world, brought out tonight as arm candy for their wealthy benefactors. One of the few ways to get in here and speak to Dr. Garaki. The atmosphere was so exciting between the high ranking wealth people, a few Pro Heroes who were brought as dates simply to show status over the other guests. The opulence shown in clothes, cars, jewelry, and any other way they could assert their status above each other. Exactly why Uwabami, the Snake Hero, was here. Acting as a date to a older gentleman who owns a extremely profitable pharmaceuticalpany. The hero wore her best purple and ck gown to match his all ck suit, looking perfect as she has her hands wrapper around his arm. Both the ''snakes'' in her hair, her Quirk, delicately perched and as always are on alert, even passively. The beauty queen of the Pro Heroes here in Japan enjoys the cameras, until one of the reporters looks up. His attention caught by camera shes reflecting off the slowly descending metal card. It hovers down, confusing more people and drawing eyes onto it. "What is that?" Someone from the crowd asks. Uwabami releases her date and takes a step forward, "everyone stay back," shemands, and they dly obey the pro her. SHAMBLES! The card suddenly disappears, and in its ce appears Horizon in his new formal suit. Holding a very well dressed and contrasting Ryukyu in a bridal carry, her arms wrapped around his neck as she stares up at his visor. Hundreds of pictures are taken before she evenes to her senses. Uwabami''s brow twitches as all eyes are pulled away from her, and the brat who insulted her very style of being a celebrity hero steals the attention. Along with a Top 10 Pro Hero in his arms. "Lets just get inside before the auction starts," she says to her date and almost drags him away. "I hope you all don''t mind us warping in, driving isn''t really my thing," Horizon says as he still casually holds Ryukyu while addressing the media. "Does this mean the rumors are true?!" One woman yells out, furiously taking notes. "Are you dating Dragon Hero Ryukyu?" "What? Why would you ever think that?" he asks as if he wasn''t holding the now blushing woman in his arms. "We''re just really good friends..." Ryukyu turns to the cameras and just nods along, mortified by the position she''s in, "can you put me down now." "Of course my dear," he says loud enough for them to hear as he gently sets her down on her own feet. The crowds eyes go wide at that and they continue taking pictures, only for Horizon to casually ce his hand around her waist, and surprisingly she leans against his side. "You''re enjoying this too much," Ryukyu mutters only loud enough for him to hear. "Gotta give them something to think about, besides, if the world thinks I''m dating a beautiful dragon babe, that''s seems pretty cool to me." "What about your issues with dating as a hero?" "You''re a top 10 Pro, you''ll be fine, if anything this will make viins want to avoid hurting you." "Tch, I don''t need anyone protecting me..." Seeing the change in her attitude Horizon raises a finger to her chin to make her look up at him, "just enjoy tonight, alright. One night at a time." Ryukyu sighs and just ys along, "alright...dear." Horizon chuckles as they both look back to the horde of hungry reporters. "Horizon!" One man raises his hand. "I have a question for you!" "I hope its one I can answer," Horizon says as he points toward the man. The crowd quiets down as they listen in. "Are you here as a phnthropist, or will you be joining one of Dr. Garaki''s medical research endeavors?" "Mainly for phnthropy, donating is a easy way to extend my reach since the Miracle Ward can only do so much. No expense should be spared when people need help after all." The crowd is impressed by his response. "Are you against working with Dr. Garaki, or is there some other reason you two haven''t gotten together?" a woman in the crowd asks. "You are arguably the worlds number 1 Quirk specialist after all, and since he was considered the greatest before you, a coboration could change the fate of humanity as we know it." "We''ve already worked together at a distance," Horizon says. "Mostly one sided since the Miracle Ward is so newpared to his research facilities and trusts. But Dr. Garaki has given me nearly unrestricted ess to the Quirk research database he has built over the years to aid in my own work. I only hope that when he calls for my aid I will be able to repay the gesture properly." "Is there any rivalry between the two of you?" Another reporter asks. "Not at all, we strive for the same goal, a healthy and healed world, starting with the people," Horizon says. "But my unique skills allows me to heal otherwise fatal issues, which is why I''ve mostly focused on that. I trust him to solve anything that traditional medicine can solve, and I''ll deal with the rest." The crowd falls silent for barely a second before another question is hurled at the duo. "How long have you two been dating?!" is yelled from the back. Horizon doesn''t say anything and simply gives her a gently pat on the small of her back, "you''re up." Ryukyu scrunches her face before she answers, "we aren''t romantically involved, but we''ve been friends for a few months since meeting after a raid on the League of Viins." From the looks they gave her, it was obvious nobody believed her. "I''m serious," she insists. "Alright Kyukyu, lets just go inside," Horizon says as he guides her away. But as they leave she can''t help but hear people muttering. ''Awe he has a pet name for her.'' ''They look so good together.'' ''Man I can''t believe he''s dating her, she was supposed to fall for me!'' one manments his luck. "This isn''t going how I expected," Ryukyu says as they walk past walls of cameras and enter the lobby, making their way to the main room. Yet she still had her hands wrapped around his arm as they walkedfortably side by side. "Which part?" "Its just, well, its almost like they want us to be together, isn''t that weird?" she asks. "How is that weird?" "Because you''re still in UA, and I''m ten years older than you." "Oh yeah," he acts as if he honestly forgot. "But I''m 16 and I''m Horizon, so its fine." "What do you mean ''I''m Horizon,'' what does that have to do with anything?" "Well, if we wanted to be together, how would they stop us?" "That''s a good question, how would they stop you?" she asks absentmindedly, something she and many other have spent days pondering and still don''t have an answer to. "Well, I''ve only got one weakness, promise to keep it between us?" he stops her at the back of the massive room. They see a stage at the other side, arge dance floor. A live ssical band, and assigned seats at tables spread about. Ryukyu takes a sharp breath as many eyes falls onto them, and she immediately notices the envy and jealousy in the eyes of men and women alike. "Alright, what is it?" Ryukyu asks. "My one weakness is," he gestures for her to lean in as he gets closer to her. "Those beautiful golden eyes of yours." "Ugh," she swats his chest and begins walking off to their seats, just barely a few steps ahead. Enough to hear himughing behind her. Arriving at their table, at the seats Horizon specifically requested at the back of the room away from most of the attention, Ryukyu takes her seat to his right. She notices some small tablet devices on the table and raises a brow at them. "They''re for the auction, to ce bids. The room is big so better than yelling," Horizon exins. "Plus its better this way, bids show up on a scoreboard so everyone getspetitive, and the charities win." "Charities?" "Mhm, Dr. Garaki has people here from dozens of charities aside from his. The usual stuff, feed the poor, school supplies, better education, homeless shelters, you know, that stuff." Ryukyu nces about to see people already entering their names to start cing bids. Then notices the other two seats at this round table were empty and had no nametes. "Do we have an entire table to ourselves?" "Not exactly," he turns his head to the doorway and she follow his lead. "Some associates of mine are joining us." Chitose -Curious, a general of the Meta Liberation Army-, and Rikiya - Re-Destro, formerly the leader, now a general of the Metal Liberation Army-, walk over and join them at the table. "Its a pleasure to meet youdy Ryukyu," Rikiya says as he pulls on Chitose''s chair. "Horizon mentioned he was brining a date, but this is certainly not what we expected. Horizon shrugs, "well you brought your secret girlfriend, figured I''d bring mine." "Its been a while Ryukyu," Chitose says. "We should have another interview sometime, I''m sure people will want to know all about this," she gestures to them as a couple. "Oh I''d certainly rather avoid that," Ryukyu jokes, now feeling morefortable with Chitose here. Failing to realize she was the only hero at the table, and was sitting across from two major viins. "I feel so out of ce here," Ryukyu says. "This certainly isn''t pay grade, how do these things usually go?" "Boring small talk," Rikiya says. "I''m sure Horizon and I will be swarmed the moment the auction is over and people start mingling. Everyone wants him in their pocket and all these people run something to do with medicine---" "And you own Detnerat," Ryukyu says. "The leadingpany for Lifestyle Support Equipment in Japan, of course." "The auction is the fun part," Chitose says. "All these men with the supermodel dates trying to outdo each other, sometimes it can get intense, always makes for a good story," she shamelessly takes a small notepad out of her purse. "Will either of you be bidding?" Rikiya asks. "I''d have to sell all my organs to enter this kind of a bidding war," Ryukyu jokes. "I''ll enter," Horizon says. "Money is to be spent after all, plus it doesn''t do anything for me, might as well help someone." "Selfless as always," Chitose says as she takes some notes. "Oh no, entirely selfish, just like most of the people in here," Horizon says. "We make the billions so we can do whatever we want, then hope donating enough and throwing enough of our wealth at poor people buys our way into heaven, or something like that." "That sums up most of these people," Rikiya says. "But for all your talk of being selfish, you''ve done more good that most of this room. Or at least, you will." "The only person in here who I''m sure has a good heart is this one," he gestures to Ryukyu. "Speaking of which, how did this happen?" Chitose asks. "Not to make things...awkward, but, a student and a Pro Hero is a bit, you know." "Well, the truth is," Horizon says, and Ryukyu can already feel the headacheing. "She fell hopelessly in love with me at first sight and has made it her mission to seduce me ever since." Thankfully nobody at the table believes him, only giving a deadpan stare. "We aren''t dating," Ryukyu says. "He just brought me along for---" she stops and looks up at him. "My visor will alert me when you find the phone, its not them," Horizon says. "Right, we''re here looking for someone, Hero business," Ryukyu says. "But clearly he likes messing with the media, at my expense." "Hero business?" Chitose asks. "And I assume you don''t want it in the news." "Obviously," Horizon says, and she immediately scratches off some of her notes. "Well at least you get date night out of it," Chitose seemingly joins in on the fun of teasing Ryukyu. "But if its hero business, shouldn''t you be costume, and doesn''t he need his sword?" "We won''t be fighting, so you''re safe, just observing," Ryukyu assures the woman. "And I don''t always have a sword on me, but its nearby if I do need it." "How may of those do you have, they must be expensive," Rikiya says. "You know, if you signed with mypany we could make some serious improvements to them." "The two I have right now is fine. One is usually nearby and the other is either at UA or Horizon Tower, that''s more than enough." As they continue to chat for a bit the lights begin to dim as Dr. Garaki, the mad genius secretly behind the Nomu creation and benefactor of Shigaraki, All For One''s most dear friend, takes the stage. He begins giving his gratitude and hyping up the auction, causing Ryukyu to lean closer to Horizon. "So, what do they auction off, if it starts at ten million it must be something good right?" Chitose and Rikiya hear this and have to stop themselves fromughing, causing her to look up at Horizon confused. "You''ll see, but trust me, they''re worth every cent." A few momentste the doctor leaves the stage for the professional auction host to take over, and they roll out the first item. "What is that?" Ryukyu mutter as she sees a sloppily painted image of a field with a blob in the corner as the sun. "Did a toddler paint that?" "Probably," Horizon says. "They auction off art pieces from the kids the charities help." "That''s not what I expected at all," Ryukyu admits. A hologram appears on the stage and Chitose takes out her notepad to write the winning bids as it disys a nk leaderboard of the bids for this art piece. Suddenly a name and face appears, bidding 10 million dors on this piece, and Ryukyu''s eyes nearly fall out of her head. "People really have that kind of money, this is crazy." "Crazy?" Rikiya gives her a strange look. "Says the dragon dating a god, really?" "Well, when you put it like that---" 25 Million suddenly appears on the leaderboard. Seeing this Rikiya takes out a coif of all things, on on side is a man wearing a cape and on the other is a man with a knife. "Hero or viin?" he asks Horizon. "I always pick Hero," Horizon says. "Ofcourse," Rikiya mutters as he flips the coin, catching it and cing it on the table, to see the viin side up. "I lose..." He takes one of the tablets and taps on it a few times, and his name appears at the top of the leaderboard. Rikiya Yotsubashi: 40 Million. "You bet that on a coinflip?" Ryukyu didn''t even know how to react. "Its for charity, c''mon," Horizon wraps an arm around her. "Think of all the kids it''ll save." "I can appreciate that, but the numbers are still just hard to wrap my mind around." After some more casually chatter and a few more art pieces go by, they get to the finally piece. A finger-painting of All Might, horribly done. "Hey Chitose," Horizon gets her attention. "How much do I have to donate to make the front page tomorrow?" "Well the highest bid is," she flips through her notes. "Mr. Yaoyorozu at 200 Million, if you beat that I can get you on the front page. You were going there anyway because of this juicy scoop right here," she gestures to Ryukyu. "Well, do you know what the best thing about my medical services being auctioned to the highest bidder is?" "The money?" Rikiya asks. "Oh definitely, but now its more about the bribes and services they offer to get ahead of others, you won''t believe how much money the most wealthy people on the will pay for a little time." "Your worth has been a mystery for quite a while, finally giving a hint?" Chitose gets ready to take notes. "Horizon Tower was estimated to cost at least 200 Million, so the world is curious." "Well, here is a hint," Horizon takes the data pad and begins entering his bid. And Chitose can see Ryukyu appear as if she was about to lose her lunch at the sight of the number. From someone who grew up lower ss, now witnessing a person give this much money away out of sheer phnthrophy...it was mind blowing. By no means is she a selfish person, but the sight is still just amazing. Horizon: 1 Billion Dors. There is a audible gasp in the room before it falls silent for nearly a minute. Everyone looks back at him, and shrugs as if this was normal, "money is nothingpared to suffering of people in need..." was all he says. And Chitose quickly writes that quote for tomorrows headline. All while Ryukyu looked at him with a confusing mixture of emotions. Unsure if it was his desire to have everyone know how much better than them he is. The constant selflessness he disys despite insisting he''s an entirely selfish individual. Or him truly not valuing above people, above his people at least, exactly like he''s said time and time again. ''It''s just money...'' he always says. But she knew one thing, she likes this side of him. Chatting with his friends, ying little games and making bets with Rikiya, joking with Chitose and her. Even when he was being flirty with her, serious or not, he made it fun. A startling change from the ''all business'' emotionless jerk he usually portrays himself as. She came here tonight fully expecting the horror stories Ochaco and Tsu told her about him to be true. She came expecting to see the side of him she''s been helping Pantu to prepare for. But this, was almost more startling that any of that. Seeing him act as...a human, not the monster they think he is. But she won''t let one nightpletely cloud her judgement, because she''s seen a glimpse of the other side of him. And his words from earlier echo in her head. ''I''m Horizon, who could stop me?'' ---2 Hours Later, Horizon Tower... Horizon suddenly appears in one of the many guest rooms in his building, gently holding Ryukyu at his side. "Thank you," she says while looking around. "I have some business to deal with here in Tokyo tomorrow, will it be alright if I stayed here tomorrow as well." "Its no problem, use anything you want and stay as long as you''d like, oh, my team is here in Tokyo and will be getting in something around 3 AM, at least that''s the usual. Just don''t be too surprised if you bump into them." "Right, are you going to bed as well?" "No, I''ve got to look into this," he raises the device he gave her earlier. "We locked onto a phone but that ce was crowded so I need to pinpoint exactly who it is." "The work never stops huh." "Not for me, but at least I got to spend some time with you, and tonight was actually pretty fun." "Yeah," Ryukyu finds herself staring at him a bit too long for her liking before she snaps herself out it. "Now get out of here, I need to get some sleep, and no peeking on me in the shower with that creepy Quirk of yours." Horizonughs, "why would I need to do that, I''m your doctor, I''ve already seen you naked..." He warps away before Ryukyu''s mortified expression can properly settle in. And as she''s now alone she breathes a sigh of relief. ''Tonight he was like...a regr person, but I''ve seen how he acts around viins and people he doesn''t like. She said Nezu wants to make him into a real hero, maybe I can help with that too, somehow...'' She mulls it over for a moment then takes out her phone, sending a message to Pantu that she''ll being in for a debriefing tomorrow. Because she still had a job to do, personal developing feelings aside... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 217: (Lazy Days) Chapter 217: (Lazy Days) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- ''Just a bit further, I can make it!'' A gorgeous older woman thinks as she''s crawling across the floor. Her house was dark and mostly deserted, only two people currently on the property. She drags her broken leg across the cold tiles as she slowly inches into the kitchen, a trickle of blood running down the middle of her forehead. ''Just need the rm!'' she thinks as she nces back, hearing footsteps encroaching. ''If I can get the police here, there must be a hero nearby to save me!'' Dragging herself into the kitchen, gritting her teeth and failing to ignore the pain, she looks up at the wall beside the counter, and sees the rm console mounted into it. One button and the police would be on their way. She nces back at her right leg, shattered at the knee, the shin, and her foot smashes. Bone protruding from her skin. But she just takes a deep breath and pushes herself up, "argghhhhhh!" her pained scream echoes through her home as she forces herself to stand. Leaning heavily against the wall she slips and unfortunately supports herself for a moment with her broken leg. "Argh!" tears continue streaking down her face as she puts her weight on the wall and onto her good leg, seeing victory atst. But as she presses the button, nothing happens. The rms system doesn''t activate, because the button itself doesn''t even move. "Nonononono," her voice bes even more desperate as tears flow quicker than before. She smashes her finger into the button until the nail splits and the skin breaks. Her blood begins running down her hands as she tries punching the console to break it, but it won''t even move. "I don''t wanna die!" she begs before mming her forehead into the console, and she hears it cracks and splinter. But the buttons still don''t move, and the shattered pieces hover in ce, still immovable for her baseline human strength. "I don''t wanna die," she mutters, defeatedly before copsing onto the floor, back against the wall as she gives up. The ind counter blocks her vision as the footsteps get closer, and a momentter the lights in the kitchene on. She sits there, sobbing,menting her fate. Closing her eyes to hide from her future. "Please, I have kids, I have a family." "I know," Horizon says as he leans back on the kitchen ind. The woman nces up to see him holding her phone, and his left forearms appears to have a cable connecting it to him. "Please just let me go," she begs. "I won''t tell anyone you were here. I won''t warn the viins, I can even help you get more information on them." "Not worth the risk," he says absentmindedly while sorting the data on her phone. "You''re supposed to be a hero!" The woman screams in frustration. "Heroes don''t kill and torture people! They don''t break into houses and assault people! They don''t act like this!" "True," he says. "And you''re supposed to be some Mother Teresa wannabe...well, I guess stealing from charities is ying the part properly. But secretly helping viins, that''s not very saintly either, right?" "You wouldn''t get it," she says, scowling at him. "I didn''t have a choice. One of All For One''s people contacted me, told me its time to pay up, I had to do this." "Uh huh," he just keeps looking through her phone. "Don''t you care? Don''t you want to know why?" "Not really, you''re just another name on the list," Horizon says. "But, I''m guessing since you were born Quirkless, and so was your husband, your kids got their Quirks from All For One, right?" She doesn''t respond. "And since they''re, 13, 9, and 7, you haven''t been in touch with him for long." "Children and this world are cruel," she says. "We know what its like to be Quirkless, how viscous the world can be toward you, we didn''t want them to suffer through that..." "Mhm," Horizon leaves the phone connected to him but puts it in his jacket pocket, then walks over and turn on the sink. "I didn''t have a choice, anything I did, was for them," she says. "Does anyone else know that you''re working with them?" he asks while walking over to her, and crouching down beside her, gently touching her shoulder. "No," she grits out, trembling from head to toe. "Only me," he doesn''t detect any lies. "Why didn''t you get a Quirk?" She looks genuinely disgusted by his question, "because this was never about me, this was for my children. I swear I''m not a selfish person." "It seems you genuinely believe that at least," Horizon says. "Now, everything I need I''ll get from your phone, because that''ll let me get into your private systems. But, did you ever meet up with any viins?" The sink begins overflowing onto the floor, which startles her, but she quickly focuses back onto Horizon. "Only when they had to receive Quirks," she says. "We would call and they had Kurogiri open a portal. I only ever saw Kurogiri since we''d all be knocked out before getting to the other side, I swear that''s all." "So you were just for social influence and money, I figured as much," Horizon says as she water was now pooling and flowing past them, mixing with her blood. "I swear that''s all I know," she says. "Everything else is in my phone, its all in there. I recorded everything incase I had to use it against them someday, but my family doesn''t know, not even my husband or children." "And I''ll keep it that way," Horizon says, which surprises her. "Really?" "Of course, children should always think highly of their parents," Horizon says. "Besides, if the viins know I''m onto you then they''ll hide even better and everything I learn from you bes useless. So I''ll make this look like a generic break-in that went very wrong." "Wh, what?" her eyes go wide and he palms the back of her skull, lifting her up with his vice grip as he stands up. "Wait! Stop! You''re a hero!" "So those are yourst words, really, a lie?" he jokes while taking her over to the sink, and thest thing she sees before he shoves her head under the water is a framed picture of her family. Her husband, her daughters, her son. The people she wanted nothing more than to protect and would truly do anything for. She ces both hands at the edge of the sink and does her best to push against him, to get her head out of the water. But it''s Horizon, and she''s Quirkless. Her legs, broken or not begin iling about, desperately trying to kick him and throw him off bnce, but only the bones in her feet suffer any damage. She struggles to the bitter end as the burning in her throat and lungs causes her to convulse, and while she''s dying, Horizon gets a text. Keeping her pinned under the water he takes out his phone with the other hand, seeing a message from Ryuko - Pixie-Bob-. ''I haven''t seen you in 3 weeks so I''ll be calling in sick today, are you at Horizon Tower?'' He thinks about it for a moment, looks out the window to see the sun starting to rise, then responds. ''I''m on a case right now, but I''ll be back at around 7.'' ''Alright, I''lle over and have breakfast ready! See you in two hours!'' He locks his phone and puts it away, now sure the limp corpse in his grasp wasn''t going to cause any problems for him as he drops it. And the body just crumples onto the kitchen floor. He shuts off the pipe and casually steps over her, walking toward the bedrooms. ''Her family should be back in a few hours so they''ll find her, but I need to steal some shit to make this look like a amature job, and double check the security system to make sure I''m not in it. So much for being done with this kind of work, huh Nezu, but this is just the most effective method of information gathering. No waiting around for court orders and warrants, no big dramatic fight. Just results, and a trail of bodies when necessary,'' he thinks while finishing up his work here. ---Later That Morning... Standing on his hoverboard Horizon flies into Minato Tokyo, enjoying the view of the sun shining above his Tower, as always. ROOM! He activates his Quirk and prepares to warp into his tower from 12km -7.45mi- away, but pauses for a moment as he does a Scan of his tower. "Ok, I expected her to be gone by now...but maybe this won''t blow up in my face." SHAMBLES! He warps into his room at the top of Horizon Tower and leaves his Hoverboard there along with the phone he acquired. Takes a look at himself in the mirror just to be sure that everything was perfect, then warps away. He appears in the kitchen to see two beautiful women happily chatting and giggling at the counter. Each enjoy and light breakfast of eggs, toast, and some fruits. "Morningdies," Horizon says. "Oh you''re back," Ryuko says. "And why didn''t you tell me you had a new guest," she gestures to Ryukyu. "I decided to stay in for a while and enjoy this headquarters of yours," Ryukyu says. "Looks like it was for the best since I got to learn so much about you from your ''friend'' here." "Mhm, like what?" Horizon asks as Ryuko gets up and begins dishing out his breakfast. "Good things I hope." "Depends on how you look at it," Ryukyu says. "I learned you have a type at least." "Never would have guessed that," Horizon chuckles. "What gave you that idea?" "I''m not sure, maybe bumping into another gorgeous---" "Blonde---" Ryuko cuts off Ryukyu. "Strong---" "Brave---" "Busty---" "Smart---" "Fit and youthful---" "Pro Hero," Ryukyu finishes off. "Who shares the first name ''Ryuko'' with me...really?" "Well if it makes you feel any better, you''d be ''Ryuko 1'' since I met you first," he tells Ryukyu. Pixie-Bob gives him a hard pat on the arm as she hands him his food then goes back to her seat. "Aright, Ryuko and Ryukyu...well, Kyukyu." Ryukyu rolls her eyes, then looks at Ryuko, "what do you see in him?" "Shouldn''t I be asking you that?" Ryuko asks. "ording to every news outlet, you guys are the new hot Pro Hero couple," she can''t help butugh. "Good look dealing with all of that attention!" Ryukyu sighs, "maybe I''ll retire too and juste live here, I mean this ce has everything." "Well I like having one Ryuko around, why not two?" Horizon says as he opens the mouthpiece of his visor and begins eating. "If you can put up with him, sure," Ryuko says. "Hey, I''m the best," Horizon argues. "In many things, believe me, you are," she gives him a knowing smirk which makes Ryukyu blush. "But you also think putting condiments on food is an insult." "It is." "And you''re a workaholic." "...¡­" "And you don''t get that sometimes people need a softer touch." "I touch you softly all the time." "Not what I meant." "Oh I have one," Ryukyu says as she join in the fun. "And he insists on making people realize he''s better than them." "Oh definitely," Ryuko says. "Plus his warping about can be really off-putting sometimes." "I''ve noticed, and he almost never asks for permission before warping us around. That''s super weird right?" "Ugh, that was so annoying the first few times I was here. Like you''d turn around and he''d just be there, super creepy sometimes." "It doesn''t help that most of the time he just stands there like a robot too." "Ok," Horizon interrupts them. "This, is actually worse than if you two didn''t get along...actually, I might have preferred that." Both women look at him, then at each other, and as if rehearsed they beginughing. "Is this what you two are gonna do all day?" Horizon asks. "Torment me?" "Hmm," Ryukyu thinks about it. "Well in a few hours I have to go meet some models at my stores here in Tokyo, my new Dragnoir winter line is dropping soon." "Fancy," Ryuko says. "You shoulde with me, maybe you''d like to model for some photos," Ryukyu suggests. Ryuko''s eyes go wide, "really?!" "You''re gorgeous and it''ll be fun, I haven''t had a day off in forever to check in with mypany." "That sounds great, oh, but you''ve got to try out the pool here first---" Horizon simply warps away with his breakfast, realizing that interaction and introduction went far too well for his own sake. He warps his costume off for some more casual clothes and sits in bed with his food, still sensing Sero, Juzo and Shinso soundly asleep in their own room. They got back to the tower only a few hours ago from patrol after all. But even as everyone else is rxing or resting, he gets to work, taking out his phone and now sorting all the new data he just collected... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 218: (Lazy Days Pt.2) Chapter 218: (Lazy Days Pt.2) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- ---Horizon Tower, 1 PM... "I really need to get one of these," Ryukyu says as she lowers herself into the hot tub, her fruit drink carefully resting at the edge of the tub. She wore a simple red one-piece swimsuit, hastily bough nearby by Ryuko when they decided to rx in the hot tub. Beside her Ryuko was already in the hot tub with a ss of wine in her hand, the bottle carefully ced nearby. She was wearing a much more revealing bikini, in a familiar white and blue. "Every big name hero should have one of these," Ryuko says. "Can''t tell you how many nights I''ve spent in the hot springs after a day of searching through the mud to find people." "That''s at the hot springs resort your team owns?" Ryukyu asks. "Mhm," Ryuko takes a sip of her wine. "When we got popr we wanted to start a second ie stream like everyone else by using our brand, but being a mountain rescue based team stuck out and away from major cities made that tough. So we settled on buying somend and setting up our hot springs." "Good call," Ryukyu says. "Personally I''ve been designing my own clothes since I was a child. Needing clothes made from my own cell samples for it to grow incase I activated my Quirk means there was never anything pre made and ready---" "So you figured it should be exactly how you want it, lucky..." Ryukyu chuckles, "well, the alternative was bing a giant naked dragon, then shifting back into a naked girl afterwards, so am I really lucky?" "Well when you put it like that, not really. But at least you got tounch your Dragnoir fashion brand, that''s pretty cool." "Sometimes it is, but most of the time it really does feel like just a hobby. Certainly would pay like one if I wasn''t so popr," Ryukyu says. "Say, what''s it like working in a team for your entire career?" "Hmm, where do I even begin..." Ryuko thinks about it for a moment. "Well, we all met at UA orientation, and were in the same ss. We hit it off right away and have been together ever since. None of us really havebat Quirks aside from me, and we rather not hurt anyone, so rescue was the obvious choice." "But being in a hero team is a bigmitment, not to mention a big risk." "Yeah, but when it feels right everything just seems to work. Plus I''ve got good instincts with people, you know?" "Mhm," Ryukyu takes a sip of her drink. "And how are they now since you''ve retired?" "Mmm, they''ve been better," Ryuko says, sounding guilty and ashamed. "I mean the team was somewhat built with my Quirk in mind. Earthflow lets me manipte the terrain after all, clearing outndslides and stuff like that was most of our job. We rarely ever had to find actual people." "Ouch," Ryukyu winces, just imagining how much of their ie and capabilities that team lost. "But I''m sure they understand, the hero thing just wasn''t for you after All For One, right?" "It wasn''t really All For One," Ryuko says. "Seriously? Even I thought about retiring after what he did to us at Kamino, and that was after Horizon weakened him a lot...scary." "Well I''m not a top 10 Pro Hero," Ryuko says. "I was never under the impression that my Quirk was anything particrly strong. So I went to work every day knowing I''m one encounter with a powerful viin away from dying..." "Oh, I guess I don''t really think about it that much." "Yeah well we can''t all be a dragon when its time to fight," Ryuko chuckles sadly. "Eventually the fear of dying without ever having a family of my own got to me. I was already on the fence about retiring after this year, but that settled it. Not to mention the public bacsh." "Yeah that was rough, for us especially," Ryukyu says. "Failing as a Top Pro makes the public show their vicious side." "At least kids didn''t die because of you," Ryuko says. "We aren''t... weren''t, even abat team but people still spoke like we should have beaten All For One." Ryukyu sinks up to her neck into the water and sighs, "well I am a topbat hero and lost, we lost after he barely waved his hand. If All For One wasn''t so chatty during the fight the public would have never forgiven us." "Plus All Might took a lot of the spotlight off you guys," Ryuko says. "Mhm..." They sit in silence just recalling those events for a moment, before Ryuko speaks up, "hey, what''s it like being a woman in the top 10?" "Honestly, not worth it." Ryuko''s eyes went wide at that response, "really?" "It destroyed any semnce of a social life I had. I can''t go on the inte because I''m constantly bombarded with very graphic and creepy things about me---" "Ugh that''s so annoying," Ryuko remember the creepy things she''s seen about herself over the years. "Plus a lot of other Pro Heroes I just can''t work with because they always try to make it flirty or just try to team up and treat it like a date, which honestly just wastes both our time because its not like they even needed me." "Sounds familiar, recent too," Ryuko says. Ryukyu shakes her head, "if I didn''t go to the charity event the n never would have worked, he got swarmed the moment the auction was over and couldn''t move freely." "Hey I didn''t say anything about that," Ryuko raises her hands innocently. "It''s fine, I know you were wondering, nothing to worry about here," Ryukyu takes a sip of her drink. "The Pro Hero thing also ruined beating down viins sometimes." "How so?" "Well you know how they''d always try to get more handsy with us?" "Ugh, don''t remind me." "Yeah well imagine that but with viins strong enough to willingly fight me," Ryukyu says. "And since you''re a female Pro Hero you know the horror stories about what could happen if we get captured...so that was always at the back of my mind too." "Well when you say it like that, I''m going to enjoy retirement even more." Ryukyuughs, "I''m happy for you, but I think President Pantu would pop a vein if any of us Top 10 Pro Heroes retired right now. Japan is still too reliant on Horizon for stability after all." "That''s true. So I guess I''ll try to enjoy my wine and hot tub time for both of us, sounds good?" Ryukyu rolls her eyes, thenughs, "thanks, I appreciate it..." ---Horizon''s Office... Sitting at his desk with this feet up, Law has his visor and mask off as he watches both his screens. The massive and opulent office was separated from the outside world by a pane of one way ss protecting his identity, allowing him to rx. Which is exactly what he''s doing. Eating a bowl of ice cream while watching the cameras of his indoor basketball court on one screen. Seeing Sero slowly losing a game of 2-on-1 against Shinso and Juzo. And on the other screen he was waiting for Nezu to pick up and join the call. "Hello?" Nezu''s voice rings out as he finally answers. "Is your camera working?" "Don''t have a camera," Law says as Nezu''s face appears on the screen. He sees the mouse put down the phone and go back to typing on theputer. "You told me to call you at this time, what took you so long to answer?" "I got a bit caught up with David and Power Loader with designing a new training area, and the stadium for the next Sports Festival, among other things." "Other things?" Law asks. "The finishing touches for our new security measures, can''t take any chances with the UA Culture Festival after all." "The UA Culture Festival being open to the public is already the biggest risk, which is why I still think you should cancel it." Nezu sighs and shakes his head, "yes, that would be the logical thing. But the students already feel as if UA has be a prison. It''s not enough to survive, they need to also live a little. Plus lots of them want their parents, family, or friends toe visit during the Culture Festival." "Just more security risks." "Luckily you''re there to watch over everyone then, right?" "Whatever." "And how is the concerting along? I assume you''ll be on...let me guess, keyboards?" "Momo is ying those," Law says. "And I won''t on stage since I''m working security." "I''m sure you could manage both," Nezu says. "I can, but I don''t want to give any more time than I already do to nonsense like that, using the fact that you have me working security as an excuse is just convenient." "That''s not very Plus Ultra of you," Nezu shakes his head. "The entire world adores you yet you insist on not being a part of it." "Life is easier when I''m held apart. I''ll have to make hard choices, it''ll keep my head clear," Law says as he eats his ice cream. "Isn''t that why you''re always in your office instead of having sses of your own. So its easier to deal with the loss of the people you train?" Nezu stops typing and thinks about it for a moment, then continues, "yes, I suppose that does help. I tried to have a ss of my own once, but sometimes heroes die, and all I could think is what I could have done better to prepare her..." "And yet you want me to do that?" "The good overshadows the bad, seeing them graduate and go on to be top Pro Heroes is quite the feeling." "I''ll take your word for it, now can we get to business?" "Business regarding that charity event fromst night, right?" Nezu asks. "How was your date?" "Wasn''t a date, you know that. And the investigation went well, I''ve already followed up on a lead." "Would you like me to ask how that went?" "I''d rather you didn''t," Law says. "But did you hear about the donation I made." "Ahh yes, the billion dor donation, record breaking for a single instant donation in recent years...but I still hold the record you know." "I don''t have that much money," Law says. "Well either way, for a man who doesn''t trust those ''charity scams'' you were certainly generous. Did Ryukyu have such an effect on you?" "As if I''d let any woman control my money," Law scoffs. "I donated so you can easily track it, I already sent you the ount info I used to donate it." "You do realize Hero Insurance doesn''t cover this, right, the money is gone," Nezu says. "Its just money." "And tracking such things without a warrant is illegal," Nezu informs him. "I''m sure you could speed the process along and have one within six months if you ask Pantu." "This stays between us Nezu," Law says. "I just need you to track where my donation went to, then from there you can mark the ounts receiving the money and give me names for the other sources. If one person there was working with viin groups then there were likely others too. I got a list of contacts from my lead, I''ll cross reference it with the names you give me and start questioning them from there." "This is still immoral, if not illegal," Nezu says. "Tracking my own donation is within my legal rights since I donated over 50% ofst nights money," Law says. "Think of this as just being extra sure that nothing bad is happening with my money." "And wallet watching one of the most respected doctors and phnthropists in the world, how do you hope to exin this if Dr. Garaki realizes you''ve been keeping an eye on his organization and sponsors." "I''ll simply exin what I''ve already found and give him the proof, its not like we haven''t spoken before...even if it was over the phone." "You asking for help filling out a Quirk DNA database from his logs and you trying to exin this aren''t the same, not to mention the public image crisis and---" "Nezu," Law cuts him off. "Can you do it?" Nezu sighs, "I''ll be tracking too many names, I won''t have time to keep up with them myself...but I can make a program to do it andpare it to the list of names you''ll send meter. Then it will alert you whenever we get a match." "Thank you, see, quite simple." "Or you could learn to code so I won''t have to act as tech support," Nezu suggests. "I can teach you..." "I prefer working with people than machines. Why learn something when I can outsource it to people I trust," Law shrugs. "Fair enough, but did you really donate a billion dors just for this?" "Well, the publicity it gives me isn''t bad." "You''re Horizon, when are you ever not in the media?" "And I like giving to the less fortunate, well, children who never had a chance to be children, adults can figure their own problems out." "That sounds more like it. You know it wouldn''t kill you to show the public the softer side of you." "It actually might, so I shouldn''t chance it," Law chuckles. "Oh, but watching Kyukyu''s reaction was certainly worth it, I mean it''s just money after all. And now that Japan is more stable and sanctions are being lifted my businesses are actually being profitable, I''ll make that money back in a few months." "And that''s not counting the Miracle''s you sell, if you still do those." "I do, but only one a week," Law says. "My schedule is getting a bit hectic." "Like nning the single biggest anti smuggling operation in the history of Japan?" Nezu asks. "I mean the fact that you''ll be simultaneously attacking just over a dozen bases in one night, that''s quite something." "Yeah well, the perks of being a former ''viin'' or whatever, is that you actually know who you have to go take down to copse the ck market, makes life a lot easier." "Its a miracle they''ve existed this long without any Hero or undercover agent finding out about them, or someone betraying them," Nezu says. "Its honestly not that hard," Law shrugs. "They have people in the Commission and Police force, high and low ranking people, plus some Pro Heroes. When mom and I would go on hits across the world we''d usually have an informant within the police force or government giving us intel." "Too bad there aren''t enough people who can detect lies, and unlike Tsukauchi and Pantu, we can''t simply trust them all." "Plus the easiest solution would be to have the lie detector be the inside man," Law says. "Can''t get any better than that right, they can just throw someone else under the bus to save themselves." "I suppose you''re right, and how are things at Horizon Tower with your new guest?" "Ryukyu?" Law asks. "She''s great, enjoying the pool area right now with Ryuko. I swear I''ve got the best or worst luck ever with this, my girls always get along." "I thought you said you and Ryukyu aren''t---" "We''re not, but I''m a dreamer. My team is ying some basketball right now, they got in pretty early this morning and slept all day, and we aren''t doing any patrolster. Saving all our strength for the raid tomorrow." "And are they ready for that?" "Alone, no. But I''ll be there, along with some coast guard boats eventually. So worst case scenario I rip it out of the ocean and throw it into the sun, its a small ind after all." "..." "I''m kidding," Law rolls his eyes. "I can''t throw it into the sun..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 219: (Black Market Raid) Chapter 219: (ck Market Raid) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- ---300 Km -186mi- off the main coast, 7 PM... On a small fleet of coast guard boats, multiple squads of heavily armed members of the Japanese coast guard and police force, ready for this mysterious raid that they''ve been brought to partake in. None of them were told what''s going on, and they don''t know where they''re going. They were simply ordered to be prepared and show up, ready to follow Horizon''s lead. Understandably this makes the men and women nervous, but such measures had to be taken to ensure the targets wouldn''t be alerted by any spies or bugs they have within the system. As the leading boat moves through the dark water Horizon is on his hoverboard, sitting as it floats in the air leading the way. "They''ve already made contact?" Horizon asks, speaking to Hero Public Safety Commission Headquarters through his visor. "Yes sir," the person responds. "Teams Endeavor, Crust, Edgeshot, and Yoroi Musha have already engaged the targets. All other teams much like yours are preparing to ambush the targets or quietly evacuating civilians." "Any surprises?" Horizon asks. "Sir?" "Nomu, named viins, special weapons, anything?" "None have been reported as of yet." Horizon thinks for a moment, then looks into the distance, sensing a smallndmass at the edge of his Room. "Well that''s to be expected, anything special would be held here at their main entry point, which is why I''m here." "Yes sir, I''ll keep you updated on the status of the other teams." "Thanks, radio silence unless necessary," Horizon hovers down to the main deck where a squad of officers are sitting with his team. "We''re almost there, just a few more minutes," he says before taking out his phone and pathing into the live feed from the other raids. Very few heroes actually had body cameras or any kind of recording equipment on them, but for this Horizon especially requested them. And since this was his operation most people didn''t have much choice but toply. He sees through Nejire''s camera that Ryukyu has begun the charge into their target, arge factory at their docks. Hopping over to Mirko''s camera he can barely notice anything as she''s constantly moving about, too fast to ever give a clear picture. He sees Setsuna''s camera feed floating about a apartment building, ''so she''s using her Quirk to more urately send info back to her team before they raid the building, good move.'' And through Majestic''s camera he sees Momo setting up her rifle across from the building as other Pro Heroes rush into the lobby. That entire building was one massive storage facility in the heart of their city. As he''s checking on the other teams, the police officers, coast guard, and his team are anxiously awaiting his next order. "So, is he always like this?" One of the police officers asks, looking over at Cellophane, Simon, and Mudman. "What do you mean?" Cellophane asks. "Super serious. I mean I appreciate it but, you guys are a lot more serious than most Pro Heroes, and definitely more than most students." "Its hard not to be after our summer camp," Simon says. "Not to mention keeping up with that workaholic doesn''t leave much time for anything else." "Why doesn''t he just sit down here on the boat?" One of the coast guard asks. "Kind of weird how he''s always on the hoverboard." "Maybe he gets seasick," a police officer suggests. "Horizon just doesn''t like being on the ocean," Cellophane says. "Really? What, he can''t swim?" a few members of the coast guard can''t help butugh at the idea. "No he can swim," Mudman says. "Its just the saltwater corrodes his gears you know." "Ahhh," the entire group immediately understands what he''s saying. "Didn''t even think about that," one woman says. "Guess being a cyborges with a lot of downsides huh." Cellophane does his best and barely contains hisughter, along with Mudman, while Simon just rolls his eyes. "We''re here," Horizon says through their earpieces as he descends. "Where is ''here'', exactly?" the captain asks. "That," he points to a shadowy ind only a few miles away. "It''s one of thest remaining man-made inds from thest war. We used them to supply the navy blockade that held back the American fleets, this is one of the few that survived the war." "And what are we doing with it?" the captain asks. "The ck market is a intricate system of suppliers and buyers, but they mostly run their contraband through a few families. This is a major hub for it. This ind was a naval resupply point, and a underwater submarine refueling station." "So a massive warehouse," the captain says. "Its where they keep most of their product in Japan, and prep it for shipping with ships or submarines, but the subs head to America from here, the boats go into Europe." "This sounds like a serious fight, should we call for more backup?" "No, that''s why we''re here," Horizon says, and everyone listening in through themswork felt a bit more at ease. "You won''t be fighting, you''re just here to make the arrests official. These guys have a lot of manpower, and since this is a massive smuggling depot they have even more firepower and ammunition, effectively a endless supply. Plus who knows what else they have down there. But when we take this ce out and arrest them, the supply chain falls apart, a lot of buyer and suppliers lose their money. And simr organizations around the world will start hunting any bosses in Japan that we miss to get back their investments, they''ll finish the job for us." Everyone gets tense as they approach the shore, but Horizon stays rxed, moving to hover ahead of the boats as he still sits on the board. "We''re beginning out strike," he alerts the switchboard at Commission HQ. "Copy, proceed at will," they say in return. "Slow the boats down, I need to give them a proper greeting..." Horizon says as he stands on the board, and the boat operators slow their pace to a crawl giving him some distance. The ind was now visible, small, only 3km -2mi- wide, surrounded by deep waters befitting its purpose for the war. There was one mound of earth on it and a small patch of trees, but overall nothing suspicious, which is exactly what the criminals intended. At the side of the mound of earth were the massive st doors. Specially made to withstands nuclear attacks, as was this entire base. But the doors appears to be rusted shut, only in appearance. This entire facility was heavily damaged and unstable, costing too much to repair and not providing much use after the war, thus abandoned. But its new residents were willing to repair it, while keeping the dpidated fa?ade. "Alright, lets wake them up..." ---Hero Public Safety Commission Headquarters... Sitting at the back of the massivemunications room. Pantu is alone at a desk, nked by two agents standing behind her. Ahead of her is a long desk with 15 special agents, each monitoring a different team in this massive operation. And ahead of them are rows upon rows of agents monitoring the actions of individual Pro Heroes on this raid and reporting in what they find. "Horizon is about to start, bring me the feed from his raid on the main screens," Pantu says. Her voice wasn''t raised, even in his room of seeming endless chatter and cross talking, and yet they heard her and did as told. At the far side of the room the entire wall reveals itself to be threerge screens. One showing the feed from Cellophane, the middle showing the feed from Horizon himself. And the final one from the leading Coast Guard officer who has overallmand of the police and military forces on the raid. "Alright, lets wake them up," Horizon''s slightly mechanical voice quietly reaches their ears, causing most people to nce up from their monitors to see what''s going on. They see a calm ocean, and a seemingly innocent ind. And between the boats and the ind Horizon is casually standing on his hoverboard. Then he raises both his hands in a casual gesture, and says a single word while pointing one finger upward. "Takt..." Nothing happens for the first few seconds. The the calm waters begin to ripple just ahead of him. Then more ripples, another to his left, a third to his right. Two more on either side. And a silence befalls the previously chatter filled room as 5 massive submarines, nearly 200m -656ft- long and 17,000 tons each are ripped out of the water. Pantu''s face shows no reaction, but her finger is nervously tapping the desk. She recognizes the models, outdated relics from thest war, at least 150 years old. Thankfully not nuclear, but still sights to behold as they''re torn out of the water like paperweight ythings. And with a wave of his hand Horizon casually tosses them into the air and toward the ind. A few people in the room flinch as the loud crash and sounds of metal copsing under its own weight ring out as the submarines go rolling and smashing into each other. As everyone is still stunned silent Pantu nces at the agents responsible for Hawks and Ryukyu''s teams, the only Pro Heroes she controlled who knew how dangerous Horizon could be, and peeks at their monitors. Seeing Hawks was dealing with a dozen gunmen holding fortified positions at his location, and Ryukyu was facing a simr problem. All while she nces back up to see Horizon casually overlooking the ind and the damage he caused, with seemingly just a wave of his hand. "Focus on your tasks," Pantu''s voice snaps everyone back to their senses and the room bes filled with chatter once more. ---Back with Horizon... He turns around on his hoverboard to see everyone staring at what he just did with wide eyes, then just speaks through thems, "we''ll go knock, be sure to take your time to ount for everything you see. These guys rather die than get caught so leave the fighting to us, alright?" "Yes sir," the police officers and coast guard repeat as one. "Alright, Team Horizon, lets go..." SHAMBLES! END CHAPTER--- Chapter 220: (Black Market Raid Pt.2) Chapter 220: (ck Market Raid Pt.2) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "What the hell is going on out there?!" A man in simplebat garbs screams as he rushes into the room, already holding a ball of pink mes in his right hand. He enters the massive warehouse entrance to see dozens of men standing guard, either with their Quirks or rifles ready and aimed toward the massive st doors leading outside the hideout. "We don''t know sir," one man says. "The rms just went off and we rushed up here, but the door isn''t opening." Looking around the warehouse he sees only a few crates scattered about with men already behind them for cover. All around him and on the stairs and railings hanging above are more men ready to kill any heroes or cops that dare enter this hideout. This is their main shipping post toward the western hemisphere after all, they can''t afford to lose the product here. "Stall them for as long as we can, no prisoners, only trophies! Anyone that lives gets a nice bonus when this is over!" he sees them men get excited at the sound of that as he lowers his weapon, raising a hand to his ear. "Sir?" "Start loading everything onto the subs, fit as much as we can, we''ve beenpromised." "Sir, the subs are...gone." "Gone?! What do you mean gone?!" "They were pulled out of the water somehow, they''re atop the ind now. The underground docks were flooded when they got pulled away, we''re trapped unless we can get the other boats outside." "Then call for backup, we''ll stall until they get here." "They''re currently under attack by Crust sir, along with most of our other bases." "Fuck!" the man yells out, startling his men. "New n men," he points to the door. "Kill everyone between us and their boats, we''re taking their boats and anything we can fit on them then heading south until we''re out of Japan''s territory!" He raises a hand to his earpiece, "did you get that?" "Yes sir, we''re loading up all the carriables now." "Tch," the man recreates the pink fireball in his left hand, and holds a piston in his right. "Nearly 50 Million a year to keep our operations hidden and we still get raided by some fucking heroes...the boss isn''t gonna like this." The sound of metal creaking and stone breaking echoes out as the entire massive chamber begins rumbling. "Did anyone get a look at who they sent?!" the man asks, and gets no response. "Doesn''t matter, just kill them all and take the boats!" "Yes boss!" they all yell at once. A momentter and the massive st doors are torn out of the structure, taking a piece of the roof with them as they get tossed out of vision off to the side. Over 50m -165ft- long, 20m -65ft- tall, and 2m -6ft- thick of solid reinforced steel, torn away as if it were nothing. The sound of metal tter and the vibrations of it are felt through the room as dust from the broken structure obscures their view. "Fire!" the bossmands, and into the dust and darkness thousands of bullets go flying. The cacophony of gunfire echoes in on itself and is almost deafening, continuing for nearly twenty seconds before the man raises his hand, and the room goes silent once more. The sound of empty magazines hitting the floor is all that they hear as everyone reloads, before a deep chuckle reaches them, something they never thought they''d hear again. As if ripped from their nightmares. Then itughs. "Hahaha," All Might''s booming voice has them trembling in their boots. "Your weapons are meaningless in the face of justice you fiends. Why? Because I am here!" Some of the men stumble back, nearly tripping as they mutter to themselves. Others are already reliving the memories of theirst encounter with the Symbol Of Peace. And even more are dazed and confused, sweating profusely at the sound of his voice. "But, he''s retired, right?" Dozens of simr questions are mutters, exactly as nned. BRAINWASHING COMPLETE! Two dozen men go catatonic, seemingly paralyzed by fear. "Good work Simon," Horizon''s says as he steps through the dust, out of the darkness and into the light. Behind him, to his left, everyone recognized Cellophane, and on the other side are Simon and Mudman. "Huh? But All Might..." the boss looks around confused. Simon shrugs, "he''s with us in spirit," he says in All Might''s voice, and the pieces finally connect. The man''s eyebrows furrow, feeling like a fool he throws a pink fireball forward, "kill them!" hemands. But only half his men fire. Beams of energy, fire, electricity, and of course bullets all converge on the heroes. "Curtain," Horizon says in a bored tone, raising his hand to erect a thin blue rectangr shield to defend them, and none of the heroes even flinch. Seeing this the boss looks around, noticing half his men standing around being useless. "Why aren''t you firing?!" he screams, stopping his attack to cool down before using his Quirk again, the skin on his hand already drying out. "Rrrargh! Fine, I''ll kill them myself!" the man yells as he puts both his hands together to make a massive fireball, one that will envelop the entire shield and certainly hit them. He raising both hands above his head and is about tobine the energy and swing down, when suddenly he loses bnce. "What the hell!" he yells out as he stumbles and falls backward, cancelling the attack. "Agh!" He sshed backward into softened concrete, barely thicker than water and quickly begins sinking. The sound of gunfire almost entirely stops as everyone on the ground floor experience this at once. He cranes his neck to look at the heroes, only to see Mudman crouched down beside Horizon with both palms on the floor, softening a thin line of the floor before it travels under the shield and expands. "That brat, I''ll ki---" his efforts to push himself out of the ground are suddenly halted as it immediately hardens. Only his shoulders and head are out of the floor, leaving the rest of him entire in the ground,pletely helpless. He looks around, pissed off, suddenly noticing most of his men are trapped just like him. Craning his neck he sees the men on the metal structure above them were safe, over half of them were stunned in ce while the others were still shooting. "Don''t stop shooting!" the boss yells out, doubling down even in this desperate situation. Horizon rolls his eyes beneath the visor, "Simon..." "Sigh, alright," Simon, still speaking in All Might''s voice points at one of the five remaining shooter on the upper level. "In the foot, shoot him!" Most of the men simply ignore him, until the man he pointed at screams out, shot by the brainwashed ally nearby. "What the hell?!" Another man yells out, halting his fire to check on his friend. "Friendly fire! Friendly fire!" this only adds to the confusion of the situation. Simon points to the man who just started yelling next, "shoot him in the foot!" "Argh!" the next man screams out, but the others quickly turn their guns on their brainwashed allies, catching onto the trick. But they don''t execute them, instead they simply move in to detain their allies, by knocking them out or shooting them in the limb. "That''s as many as I''ll get," Simon says. "You''re up Cellophane..." "Gotcha," Cellophane shoots two lines of tape at the shield and being backing away, careful not to leave cover but enough to give himself a running start. As he gets far enough, Horizon gives him a nod, and he begins retracting his tape. The force of his gear retracting it rips him off the ground and catapults him toward the shield. "Takt," Horizon says, and the few remaining guns stops firing, their trigger stuck in ce no matter how hard them men squeezed them. And as Cellophane is barely an inch from mming face first into the shield, Horizon drops it. He rockets into the warehouse and swings from the ceiling, into the upper levels. With practiced ease he takes out the final three men on that floor then tosses them all over the railing. By the time theynd the bottom floor is once again softened, trapping them and anyone else Mudman missed earlier. Without looking back Cellophane shoots a line of tape and swings down into the circr hallway, deeper into the ind bunker, exactly as nned. Horizon casually walks up, waving back at the darkness to signal the police toe ashore and collect these criminals. "Damn it!" the boss still yells. "Get em out of here and I''ll---" Horizon kicks him in the head, breaking his jaw and knocking him out. "Finally some quiet," Horizon says, then turns to Mudman and Simon, "good work, first big case and you handled yourselves well, you''ll look great on this," he taps the side of his visor, signally to the camera within. "Shouldn''t we go after Cellophane?" Mudman asks. "He''s fine," Horizon shrugs as he begins walking toward the deeper entrance. "I''m keeping an eye on him from here." "Do we free these men now?" Simon asks, still in All Might''s voice, then begins fiddling with his mask to adjust it. "No, leave them here until everyone is captured, then you and Mudman can help the cops wrap them up in the other boats we haveing." "Got it," Simon says, now in a normal voice. As they enter the hallway they see a line of unconscious bodies, some with broken noses, others taped to surfaces, including the ceiling. "No wonder you weren''t worried," Mudman says as he touches the wall while the walk, sending a thin line of this Quirk''s Softening which expands below the bodies to swallow them. Then hardens it to trap them, with only their heads exposed. "He''s been training with me the longest, I''m finally making some progress," Horizon says as he steps over some bodies. As they walk through the building they hear the odd gunshot ever so often, but Horizon doesn''t react. And Scalpel still hovers at his side while they walk at a casual pace. Eventually theye to adder around a circr entrance leading straight down. On the ceiling above it is a line of tape, extending all the way down the hole. "This is the fastest route to themand room, lets go," Horizon casually steps off the ledge. He falls for 40m -130ft- before hitting the ground. Using Booster Shot he braces his legs and body to take the impact of the fall, bending his knees and crouching to alleviate the force. Taking a few steps forward he looks back, seeing Mudman sliding down the wall by Softening the metal structure just enough to slow his descent. As he hops off he steps aside as Simon is seconds behind him. Mudman puts his hand against the softened metal and quickly hardens it again, then looks down at the bent metal grates of this hallway where Horizonnded. "Didn''t know you could jump like that," Mudman says as they catch back up. "He can''t," Simon says. "He can brace his body or enhance some linear movements, but sudden explosive power isn''t his thing, did I get it right?" "Pretty much," Horizon stops at a massive security door, but they hear gunfire further away as Horizon secures a special package Horizon sent him for. Without a word Horizon gestures to the door and makes a pulling motion. Familiar with how he operates both Mudman and Simon step back as the security door is torn out of the wall by his Takt. "Guess you don''t need the explosive physical power like All Might when you can do that, huh," Mudman says. "Yeah, but jumping around and flying with air pressure would have been cool," Horizon admits. They walk into the room, a security room setup by the ck market operators for the upper floors, but enough to give the ess Horizon needed. Looking at the far wall Horizon points at it, "soften that wall and go two rooms across, there is ady hiding there, she''s armed, that''s the logistics manager for this ce. Then soften the floor till you get into the main underground docks, Mudman is about to hit the armory, but you''ll get to him before that." "Why, can''t you warp?" Mudman asks. "Don''t want you relying on me too much," Horizon says as he raising his left hand, taking the wire connecting to his left arms bracer of his costume. Mudman begins softening the wall as Simon nces over at Horizon, "thought you didn''t like dealing with too much tech." "I don''t, so Nezu built me a program to do it for me..." Minutester after dealing with the logistics manager of this stronghold, Mudman and Simon are sprinting at full speed after hearing an explosion on the lower floors. They rush down thest set of stairs to see Cellophane leaning against a wall trying to catch his breath, as bullets rocket out of the hallway beside him. They both slow down and quietly get beside him. "These are thest three guys, but they''re in the armory," Cellophane says. "That exins why you stopped," Mudman says. "You''re really damn good at this, at least from all the people we saw knocked out on the way here." "Yeah well I''ve been training with Horizon longer, but this guy has a narrow hallway, and a rocketuncher, and he thinks I''m gone. But at least they heard my voice..." Simon immediately begins fiddling with his mask. Mudman nods to him and crouches down, putting his hands on the floor and closing his eyes, listening carefully. Cellophane takes a few steps away and shoots a line of tape, ready to swing into the hallway and rocket toward the armory. They each nod to each other as the n begins. "Can we talk this out?" Simon asks, in Cellophane''s voice. "Just die already," one of the men yells out as he fires a few bullets. Simon immediately brainwashes him, and in the same instant Cellophane shoots past them andunches himself down the narrow hallway. The sound of a RPG going off reaches Mudman''s ears and he immediately softens the wall at the end of the hallway, the most likely target for anyone with half a brain, especially since he know Cellophane is in the middle of the hallway. Cellophane narrowly dodges the rocket, not looking back as he springs forward and dropkicks the main in the face, all while his brainwashed ally stands motionless. The rocket hit the far wall, and sinks in as if it were water, going 10m -30ft- deep before the concrete immediately hardens behind it. And a small tremor is felt as a tiny crack forms in the wall. Mudman sighs in relief, "Horizon was right, our team is perfect for this kind of thing..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 221: (Government Deals) Chapter 221: (Government Deals) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "Final sweepplete sir, we''re heading back up now," a police officer says. The man appeared to be in his mid forties, just like his partner who was standing beside him. His partner was looking around this underground submarine bay of the ck Market Hideouts with a bored expression. Both men were armed and armored in specialized assault gear for this raid, yet the police didn''t have to fire a single bullet. All around them were cracks and deformed sections of ground and walls, with the asional odd strip of tape draped about. All signs of Team Horizon clearing out the gunmen that were bunkered down in this area. Bloodstains included... "I don''t see why we even have to sweep," the other man says as they begin walking back to the surface. "Horizon double checked the base, its not like we''ll find anything he missed anyway." "That''s not the point," the first man says. "Its protocol, he isn''t a Fully Licensed Pro Hero yet, so we have to double check his work instead of just taking his word for it." "He''s already better than the pro heroes, might as well just give him a license already." "A break out own regtions just to make an exception for one person?" his partner questions the idea. "And how many more concessions will we make just because people are ''special'' in the future? Its better for our society if nobody gets special treatment." "You''re just saying that because you''re jealous," the other man teases as they continue walking up the corridors to the surface. "If you had a Quirk like his you''d want special treatment too, I''m sure he does." "If I had his Quirk I probably wouldn''t be a Hero," the man quietly admits, surprising his partner. "I can barely deal with taking stupid orders now, and my Quirk sucks. Imagine if I had the power to do whatever I wanted and literally nobody could stop me, recipe for disaster." "Star and Stripe could stop you," he argues. "Yeah but she''s in America, this is Japan." "Fair enough." "But my point is, it takes a lot of will and a very strong sense of good and justice to sit around taking orders from people you''re a million times stronger than. His parents must have been damn good heroes to raise him like that." The other man chuckles, "yeah, my daughter is just a year older than him and I have trouble keeping her away from beer and boys, imagine having to discipline a kid that can level a city by swinging a sword or warp you away whenever he wants." "We got lucky. He had good parents and was born with a good heart." "Yeah, real lucky," the other man mutters as they arrive back at the surface, seeing the destroyed entryway where the fight began. Walking out they''re once again united with all the police officers packing up the captured criminals into special boats. And ncing off to the side they see Team Horizon speaking to their captain, away from all the rubble and destruction. With Horizon holding a small metal case in his hand. "Looks like an argument," the man mutters to his partner as they begin approaching. "I hope not," the other man says. "His team were joking around on the way here, but they''re kind of scary when they fight." "Yeah, we didn''t even need to fire a single bullet, kids these days are getting ridiculous..." "Lieutenants," the captain turns to them. "Did you see anything else on the way up?" "All clear sir, nothing but rubble from the fighting, everything else is right here and the control room is still secured," the man gestures to the dozens of crates being loaded into the shipping containers. "All aside from that," the captain looks down at the case Horizon was carrying, then nces over to Team Horizon who were nearby chatting amongst themselves. "This onees with me, if you''ve got a problem, take it up with President Pantu," Horizon says. The captain immediately backs off, "alright, just making sure. We''re about ready to head out. We did manage to intercept and stop all their attempts atmunication, but just incase I''d rather you hover around nearby rather than leaving us and flying off to Tokyo." "Believe me, I''m not leaving until I see all of this stuff locked up and secured, when we get back to shore I''ll warp into into the facility we have ready nearby, can''t have any eyes on the location after all." "I see," the captain says, realizing Horizon and/or Pantu believe their are spies in the police force. Which also exins why they weren''t given any details about this raid. The man just rubs the back of his head and shrugs, "well, dealing with problems like that is above my paygrade anyway, I''ll just give the Commission a call to make sure everything get where it needs to goter." "I appreciate you not making this more annoying than it has to be," Horizon extends his hand which the man shakes, "it was a pleasure working with you and your men, sir." The man chuckles, "well we got to sit back and just put the cuffs on after the fact, so the pleasure was really all ours." ---3 Hours Later... Horizon is on the couch in Pantu''s office with his feet up on the coffee table, leaning back while ying a game on his phone. The metal case he brought with him was resting on the table as well. A few more moments pass before he takes his feet off the table and look toward the door, putting his phone away. "Sorry to keep you waiting," President Pantu says as she enters the room. And Horizon stands as President Pantu and her guest, the ambassador of Germany, enters behinds her. A woman in her mid thirties with dark ck hair and pale white skin, almost looking as if she were a ck and white painting, with gorgeous features and all. ''Must be some Quirk,'' Horizon thinks. "Its a pleasure to meet you, Horizon," the woman says as she shakes his hand, and looking up at him she can''t help but say, "you''re much taller than I expected." She stood at 5fft2 -157cm- while he was now 6ft4-195cm-, leaving a noticeable gap between them. "I get that a lot," Horizon says. "And its a pleasure to meet you as well, now, can we get to why we''re all here." "Yes, lets take a seat and discuss what happened tonight," Pantu says, gesturing to the seats around the coffee table. "Is this really it?" the ambassador asks, gesturing to the case. "Only you can confirm that, since I don''t have the code," Horizon says. "Right," the woman takes the case and enters the 20 digit code, and it immediately pops open. It releases its air tight seal with a hiss as a cold draft is let out. She then fully opens it for them to see theputer chip carefully held inside. She ces the entire thing on the table and carefully looks at it before closing the case, sealing it once again in a cold vacuum. "Now I have one less worry in the world," she says. "Thank you, truly, for returning this to us." "No problem," Horizon says. "But now can you please exin what that thing is? Must be very important if you''re here in person for it. Not to mention President Pantu wouldn''t let me warp it to the secret storage facility with everything else we seized tonight." "Its aputer chip," Pantu says. "Germany is working on more essible Quantum Supeputer, like the one Nezu has." "It won''t be as powerful as his," the ambassador says. "But this will allow all the medical research facilities in Europe to put more of their funds into research and development rather than buying time slots on expensive corporate ownedputers for simtions." "And let you steal all the data," Horizon says. "We''d do no such thing," she says, and Pantu detects no lies. "Really?" "This is a purely humanitarian project, overseen by the United Nations Medical Council directly. And while I understand your skepticism, you of all people can surely understand giving to others and expecting no reward. That is what your Miracle Ward is all about is it not?" "Fair enough," Horizon says. "But why was it in Japan, in a ck Market facility about to be shipped out." "There were a string of break-ins at government facilities all across Europe this past year," she says, surprising both Horizon and Pantu. "The public hasn''t been made aware, but someone has been collecting technology all across the world for a while now, and they''re getting more and more bold." "I-Ind," Pantu says. The woman nods, "we believe they were behind that as well, but luckily this was already sent to Germany before that tragedy took ce." "Then we''ll put all our facilities on alert, just incase," Pantu says. "Thank you for visiting, and do keep me informed if any such incidents happen in the future." "Thank you for so generously helping us, and of course for keeping this off the record," the woman nods as she stands up, ready to leave. "It was a pleasure meeting you," Horizon says, causing her to turn to him. "Likewise, now before I go," she reaches into her jacket and takes out a small envelope and hands it to Pantu. "A list of criminal organizations that we suspect are sending operatives from Europe into Japan to recruit known viins. Now that Horizon is scaring people away they''re swarming like vultures." Pantu takes it, "and you want us to work together and trap them, alright, I''ll look into it." "And for you," she turns to Horizon. "As a special thanks, from my people to you," she gives him a simr envelope. "Always happy to help..." As the woman leaves Pantu walks over to her office trashcan and tosses the envelope inside, then casually walks back to her seat, all while maintaining the icy fa?ade. "So I''m guessing you don''t n to help her..." "Obviously not. If our viins want to go to other countries, and their viins want to recruit them, that''s a positive for us." "Until it gives Japan the reputation of breeding viins and infecting the world with them." "No, we have Horizon," Pantu says. "We can''t be med for our Pro Heroes being so great that viins simply run away. The public will turn on their own governments, ming them for not being able to stop viins, after all, why would viins go to ces that make their lives harder..." "Ahh," Horizon quickly understands. "That''ll lead to more militarization and governments being tougher on Pro heroes, so the same thing I did for Japan...I''m slowly doing to the rest of the world. I guess I''m more influential than I thought." "All while Japan is peaceful and happy," Pantu says as she raises a finger to her earpiece. Horizon opens his envelope and reads the letter within, then looks back up as Pantu is done with the call. "All the raid teams are ounted for, and the seized items are all being sent to local armories and military facilities." "All but mine, because of course the special items I seized can''t be put on the books," Horizon says. "That''s why you had to be the one to go to that base, you''re one of the few people I know can handle themselves if they turned those weapons on you. But you assigned yourself that because it would give you the most credit as its the most dangerous, correct?" "Mostly for my team," Horizon says. "You could have just let me blow it all up with the ind, they had enough C4 there to sink the whole thing." "The controlled destruction of everything we seized tonight will be done after everything is ounted for, don''t you want to have a big shiny number attached to your first major operation as leader?" "Well, when you put it like that, yeah that makes sense," Horizon chuckles. "Tomorrow night this should be all over the news, but as for this night that''s already over, I still have work to do." As he gets up and puts the letter and envelope away Pantu looks up at him, "what was her offer?" "All the money in the world," Horizon says. "Or as much of it as they could manage, but no amount is enough to break our deal, so you don''t have to worry about that." She detecting no lies. "Horizon," she says before he warps away, making him stop for a moment. Standing up and looking at his visor, she decides to be direct with him. "I don''t doubt that you will be our greatest hero, and that you will easily graduate UA. But we both know that when I release them to you, when your family is whole again. I will make you another offer, to stay in Japan as our #1 Pro Hero." "Anyone in your position would, but why are you telling me this obvious y now?" "Because we both appreciate people being direct, so I''m simply going to ask you," Pantu says. "What will it take?" Horizon looks at her and sighs, "you know. I don''t have any hard feeling for what happened to me, to us, to get here...well, maybe a little bit for Hawks. But I ept what happened as a risk of the life we chose to live, it is what it is. But I have no idea what it would take to get me to stay here, instead of going somewhere else and starting over..." With that Horizon warps away, and once more Pantu detects no lies in his words... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 222: (Team Horizon Debrief) Chapter 222: (Team Horizon Debrief) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- ---Horizon Tower, 2 AM... SHAMBLES! Horizon warps back into his tower, into the kitchen where he moves to get a ss of liquor. "Oh! Oh! Check out this part!" he hears Sero yelling from the living room. "I kicked this guy so hard his tooth stabbed his friend in the face!" A few momentster and Horizon walks into the living room, seeing Sero, Juzo, and Shinso, sitting on the couches eating ate dinner and having some drinks, mostly beer, with Juzo drinking a soda. The room was somewhat dim with his massive TV showing footage from Sero''s body camera, from the raid hours prior. As per usual, after each day with a incident resolved they have to review their footage and edit it before uploading, hence theptop beside Juzo who was already editing his video. "Did anything happen on the way back here?" Horizon asks, and none of them react to him suddenly entering the conversating or taking a seat beside Shinso. "Minato Tokyo is quiet tonight," Shinso says. "We just got done deciding what should get cut and what should stay from Shinso and my footage," Juzo says. "Ours was pretty boringpared to Sero." Sero chuckles at that, "well, when you guys have enough hours of indoorbat training with Horizon you can join me in those cramped hallway fights." "That''s Sero''s role," Horizon says. "To be flexible and mobile, plus capable enough to back up any position. It just so happened that this time he was our vanguard for the siege." "A role I''m surprised you didn''t take," Shinso says. "The public already knows what I can do, this was about showing them how formidable Team Horizon is without me," he shrugs. "I need any of you to be able to lead teams with Fully Licensed Pro Heroes in my stead whilemanding respect. You are the next Big Three after all." They all think about it for a moment while Horizon takes a sip of his drink, sensing Ryuko already asleep in his bed. "Anyway, what was your favorite part of the raid?" he asks. "Oh!" Juzo looks up from theptop. "Definitely Shinso doing that thing with All Might''s voice." "I''ve been working on that for a while, but I can only control small groups at once, and the more people I control the shorter the time, barely a few minutes," Shinso says. He then continues, "personally I like the thing you did with the rocket, your reaction time really is incredible, and your ability to predict where people will focus on an ever changing battlefield. I see why Horizon chose you to lead in his absence." "Well it definitely couldn''t be me," Seroughs. "Trying to keep track of so many things is one thing, but making andmunicating a n on the fly is beyond me at the moment. That''s why I mostly just rush off on a solo task, so I don''t need to talk I can just keep building momentum and moving. Oh, but aside from thebo the three of us did in the hallway, I think either the submarine stuff or ripping the doors off the base was my favorite part." "A grandiose disy of power," Shinso says. "But was that harder than the skyscraper you held in the air before you came to the summer camp?" "Honestly," Horizon thinks about it for a moment. "Pulling the subs out of the water was harder than holding them in the air, plus I had to rip them away from the docks they were in, that''s why the lower levels flooded." "Ahh, that''s why those guys were rushing up from there soaked," Sero says. "Yeah, but the four subs weren''t as heavy as the skyscraper, it was like 80 stories after all. But even if it was, I''m so much stronger now that I could hold up a few of those buildings easily, so I honestly wouldn''t notice." "No wonder viins don''t want to fight you, sheesh," Juzo goes back to editing. "But back to the question, my favorite moment was definitely the first confrontation of the raid, obviously," Horizon says. "Its a perfect showcase of why I chose each of you for this team. We smashed into that base and had dozens of heavily armed and trained men locked up within a minute. Either sealed into the floor, held at gunpoint by their allies. Tied to the ceiling or knocked out by Sero, or simply brainwashed and catatonic. Quick and efficient work, exactly what this team is all about." "Too bad now they''re all going to know my Quirk," Shinso says. "Not necessarily," Horizon takes another sip of his drink. "Its suspiciously hard to find any footage of your matches from the sports festival, strange how that happened. Plus your Quirks are never exined by us. Unless you go around announcing it, the general public is so stupid they''ll never put the obvious pieces together, especially since we''re blocking some of the only evidence they have." "And since we won''t bepeting in the sports festival next year, that''s all the hints they''ll ever get," Shinso says. "I''m still kind of bummed we can''tpete next year," Sero says. "But being in this team is already way better than the attention that would have given us, heck Best Jeanist already sent me a request to go work with him." "Moving up to the #3 Pro Hero, you n to ept?" Juzo asks. "Heck no, that guy is too reactive," Sero says. "I prefer to go looking for viins like Edgeshot instead of reacting to crimes that are already happening. Plus learning to investigate and solve cases is way more fun than sitting in a agency waiting for a call all day." "And since I''m also working under Edgeshot it helps us build synergy," Shinso says. "What about you Juzo?" Horizon asks. "You''ll get a lot of requests after this raid goes public in a few days, any ns to leave Crust?" "No I''ve still got a lot to learn from Crust, his approach is pretty good since all his Quirk gives him is a shield. Its just like how I don''t really have any offensive power, so shadowing him gives me a lot of ideas. Maybe next year I''ll move over to another agency, ideally Endeavor." "He''ll be #1 by then, officially at least," Horizon says. "Plus Endeavor doesn''t take work studies students, he only made an exception for me because I''m Horizon, and obviously he''ll take his son." "Speaking of the raid going public," Sero cuts in. "How''d the meeting at the Commission go, are the other teams ok?" "Minor injuries, nothing they can''t walk off, mostly. But no reasons for me to leave Tokyo and go heal anyone. All the loot should be locked into nearby stations, military armories, or guarded facilities by now." "So aplete sess huh, the biggest raid of an underground criminalwork in Japan for well over a century, organized and led by a student," Juzo says. "If anyone didn''t think you were the real deal before, now they don''t have a choice but to ept you." "And we''ll get even more famous from it," Sero grins like a idiot just thinking about it. "All the agencies will start making me even bigger offers, plus the money we''ll get from taking part in this raid will be massive." "And our predicted Hero Rankings will go up," Shinso says. "And we''ll get international fame," Juzo adds. "Mudman will finally have his name out there for the entire world to see." "And the money," Sero says. "You already said that," Horizon says. "Its worth saying twice, I just found a real nice ce closer to where my dad works to buy, if I keep working like this I''ll have it in no time." "I figured you''d be more excited for the women," Shinso says. "It seems like that''s been on your mind more and moretely." "Horizon is rubbing off on me," Sero admits. "But nah, we''re still wing our way out of debt from thest few back surgeries dad had, hell he shouldn''t even be working so the longer I take the more likely he ends back up in the hospital, so money first." "Too bad you didn''t know me back then, and you should bring him to see me immediately," Horizon says as he nces down the hallway, sensing Ryuko waking up. They all notice this but are used to it by now, then he turns back to them, "but I will admit I''ve been enjoying the freedom and perks of being a top hero more and moretely." "Still a workaholic though," Juzo says. "Anything else from themission we need to know about?" "Just the report for this raid going public tomorrow night, and this," he takes the envelope out of his jacket and puts it on the table. "The ambassador of Germany was there." "The mangady!" Sero says. "What?" Shinso asks. "She looks like a manga page, all ck and white, must be some kid of ink Quirk I''d bet," Sero says. "I didn''t ask," Horizon says. "But she made me that offer." Without hesitation or shame Sero picks up the letter and begins reading it. And both Juzo and Shinso can see the mortified and confused expression on his face. His brain trying and failing to fathom the insane offer that was made. "Is it that bad?" Juzo asks. Sero just shakes his head and stiffly hands the letter to Juzo, all while looking at Horizon with genuine surprise. Juzo scans the letter and looks aghast, "wow...I didn''t think anything or anyone was worth this much money." "How much?" Shinso asks. "Just a little over 12 Billion dors." "For what?" Shinso couldn''t wrap his mind around it either. "To live there," Horizon says. "Just setup shop in the most heavily popted city, the capital. Let them move all important critical assets around the Horizon Tower I''d build there. And asionally when a national or global emergency pops up, I solve it," he shrugs. "So they give you that much money, just to live there?" "It also gives them a lot of sway in the United Nations, especially the Hero Legition board within it. Currently America has the most sway because they have Star and Stripe. Japan had almost as much back when All Might was in his prime, but now they aren''t even runner up, not until I graduate and get my full license at least." "So they want to pay you billions, for the political power thates with your name," Juzo says. "Not to mention viins will flee Germany when you appear." "12 Billion a year, not the best offer I''ve gotten, and they''ll only get bigger from here." "Would you really leave Japan?" Sero asks. "What, can''t you run this ce without me here to babysit?" Horizon asks jokingly. "Oh please, we''ll be fine. But seriously, will you." Horizon sighs, "I n to focus more on medicine in the future and less on punching viins all day, so if someone makes me a better offer, why wouldn''t I take it. I don''t have anything tying me here after all." "I guess so," Sero says , and the room gets a bit sad before Sero tries to cheer them up. "Plus America pays more, and lets you be way more hands on with viins." Juzo joins in, "yeah but the food will stop your heart before the viins get a chance." Shinso chuckles, "but its soo good. I mean there is a reason we''re always ordering from that American burger ce nearby. Its worth the health risks." "Well if the American way is great burgers, the freedom to do whatever I want, lots of money, and permission to get hands on with viins, maybe its worth fighting for...Even if I''ll be fighting heart disease more than viins..." They all share augh at that as the debrief continues. Celebrating Team Horizon''s first major operation in the limelight... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 223: (Grand Schemes) Chapter 223: (Grand Schemes) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- Pantu sat in her office behind her desk as a hologram was project upward from it. Showing Chitose breaking down yesterdays raid operation, the most recent, and which turned out to the among the most sessful in history. Almost as if Horizon somehow knew exactly when higher value items would be in Japan before getting shipped to America. Only a few people put this together, but the woman sitting across from Pantu isn''t one of them. Ryukyu simply sits back and watches the broadcast. "Horizon was busy as always when I reached out for an exclusivement," Chitose said. "But after the reports of the suspected value of the seized assets were announced by the Hero Public Safety Commission, I just had to as. Why not trust a more experience Pro Hero with such a important operation? After all, Horizon, regardless of how we view him, is technically still signed on as a Work Studies student under Endeavor, who hemanded during the raid. For this to be not only thergest but most marily sessful operation of its nature in history, in the hands of, well, a teenage, the risk seemed far too high. To this, his only response was, and I quote, ''I intend to lead the next generation of Pro Heroes, so that we may guide Japan into a better future than ever before. Why not start to practice now with the current generation?'' But with that being said, of course since he did most of the investigation and nning process to make all of this possible, handing it over likely wasn''t something he was willing to, or should have done. After all, when the future of Japan is at risk, who better to trust than Horizon? Now w---" Pantu shuts off the screen, snapping Ryukyu''s attention onto her. Even now she maintains her icy facade, perfectly concealing how annoyed she is. "Horizon''s value just shot even further through the roof," Pantu says. "Have you spoken to him since the raid yesterday?" "Only on the phone for a few minutes," Ryukyu says, and Pantu detects no lies. "I stayed at his tower a while longer than I needed tost week, met his... pet cat?" "Oh, her," Pantu says. "Her personality is far too caring and honest, approaching her for information is announcing to him that we''re keeping closer tabs on him than he knows. But we have her on a short list of people to avoid interactions with, its not worth the risk." "He knows you''re watching him at all?" Ryukyu was surprised by this. "Of course, he knows that everything we can monitor, we do, but his daily movements are impossible to track when he''s in the tower or simply wants to disappear." "Well Ryuko is head over heels for him," Ryukyu says. "And she knows he doesn''t particrly care about the heroic part of being a Pro Hero, from what we spoke about he doesn''t have anything he cares about. At least not enough to stay in Japan." "Well hopefully that changes within the next few years," Pantu says. "But other countries will be making evenrger bids for him. I need information on what he really likes, because at a certain point money stops mattering and the other perks will outweigh it." "Have you tried asking?" "I did, and he doesn''t have any such interests at the moment, but if it happens to appear, you''re there to find out." "And to spot any vulnerabilities he has," Ryukyu mutters. "Naturally, but you don''t have to worry about fighting him. It will nevere to that, worst case scenario, I give him what he wants and he abandons Japan." Ryukyu winces, "the loss of life from him suddenly leaving, the influx of viins and chaos that would cause... unimaginable." "And at this rate, unavoidable, because it seems he''s determined to insert himself as the pir of our society, recing All Might. But there are much worse things than him simply leaving us alone." Ryukyu thinks about it for a moment, "well, hopefully we at least clear out the League Of Viins before he leaves." "You don''t have to worry about them," Pantu says. "I have a man working on that as we speak..." ---Elsewhere... "Where the heck is this?" Hawks asks as he steps out of the warp gate, only seeing the ocean ahead of him and a dark forest behind him. Looking around the warp gate closes, before another opens and Dabi walks out. "Why do you look so confused birdie?" "I prefer to know where I am, what, we couldn''t meet up in a mall, maybe get some food?" "Do I look like I want to watch you eat birdseed?" Dabi rolls his eyes as the warp gate closes, keeping his hands at his side as he approaches Hawks. "You said you had something good, this better not be a waste of my time, Hero." "For the record, I prefer eating chicken," Hawks says as he turns away from Dabi and looks at the ocean. "So, did Shigaraki have his supply lines disrupted by those raids we did?" Dabi rolls his eyes, "we have Warp Gate moron, we don''t pay transport fees, from the manufacturer directly to us, instant and cheap." "Did you at least keep up with the news about it, we got a lot of stuff?" "Estimated 3 Billion dors of things the news won''t tell us the specifics about," Dabi says curiously. "Is that number real?" "A low estimate," Hawks says, which surprises Dabi. "But the most valuable thing is already back with its owner, so it wasn''t counted in all of that." "And you called to meet me the day after these raids because---" Hawks pulls out a piece of paper from his coat. "---There we go, payday," Dabi says. "A few billion dors to expand our operations will help out a lot, maybe even earn you some facetime with the boss. We''re nning a big...uh, nevermind, you aren''t that trusted yet. Just know this will help." Hawks hands over the page and Dabi quickly skims it, "this is only one location, the report said over a dozen locations were raided. They couldn''t have moved them all to one location within a day." "Nope, they''re all sitting at individual armories and strongholds across Japan, but most of it, roughly 2 Billion dors of fine art, artifacts, gems, and some more fun items are sitting in the most heavily defended spot in Tokyo." "This isn''t Tokyo," Dabi says, gesturing to the page. "Nope, that''s Yaiba city, Yoroi Musha, a top 10 Pro Hero will respond fast when you guys attack, but only him and some other weak Pros. You can handle that, right?" "The ''Senior Citizen Pro Hero'', yeah, I can handle that myself. But why this location, and only this one, huh, Hero?" "I figured all the arms and ammunitions at that spot would have been more valuable than trying to sell off art, at least to Shigaraki." "We''ve got more than enough of that, the money would be better," Dabi res at Hawks, then just looks annoyed. "We''re looking to increase our war chest since one of our big benefactors got killed recently, not long after you joined us." "Wasn''t me," Hawks raises his hands in surrender, jokingly. "I know, cops said its a break-in gone wrong. Just the same shit luck we''ve had all our lives, but if you can get us one of the more lucrative storehouses from this raid, the boss will appreciate it." Hawks thinks about it for a moment. "Mmm, one is close to my agency, but after you guys supposedly broke out under mine and Ryukyu''s watch I can''t afford to fail at defending that. If I drop down from #2 then the intel I can get bes a lot more limited. I chose that one because Yoroi Mush should be a easy kill for your league, plus he''s far from any other power Pro Heroes, not to mention the equipment there is most immediately useful." "What about the others, you''ll probably have to respond to anything in Tokyo, but Ryukyu was on that raid, and she''s far from Tokyo." "Yeah, but she''s friends with Horizon, well, at least they worked together a few time. And the n is to avoid giving him reasons to start looking into us, remember. Plus Yoroi Musha''s raid went the most public, so you guys actually have a believable reason to know where that is," Hawks gestures to the map he gave them. "And it covers the fact that we have a spy," Dabi adds, and Hawks nods along. "Well, we can always use the firepower, and killing a Top 10 Pro before the big hero ranking ceremony next month should remind the public that we''re out there." "Exactly what I was thinking, anything else you need me to look into?" "Just keep doing what you''re doing, knowing where Horizon won''t be is still very important for us," Dabi says as he begins turning, a Warp Gate already behind him. "Oh, and just incase we suddenly have something super powerful on our side, where''s the stronghold with all the big shiny things in it." "Wanna go after the big money items huh, well its pretty obvious. That raid was in Tokyo, and what''s the most secure ce that no smart viin would attack?" Hawks gives him a cheeky grin. Dabi sighs, "nevermind then, there isn''t enough money in the world worth picking a fight with him, not until---" he cuts himself off, not wanting to reveal Gigantomachia''s new modifications. "You sure? A billion is a lot," Hawks says jokingly. "Yeah, and breaking into Horizon tower is also a lot, just keep doing what you''re doing." "Gotcha!" "Kurogiri, I''m done here." A purple mist manifests behind Dabi and envelops him, warping him away before it closes and disappears. And suddenly Hawks is alone on the beach, in the middle of nowhere. "Uh, Kurogiri?" he asks, looking around for his warp gate, but after a few minutes nothing happens. "Sigh, great, I though we were over this crap," he begins flying toward the sky, trying to get cell reception. "Why can''t anyone who likes me ever get a warping Quirk," Hawks mutters as he still sees nothing denoting civilization round him. ---Horizon Tower... "Wow, if I didn''t know better I''d say you wrote the script for them," Ryuko says as she sits on couch. Horizon is beside her working on hisptop, on the TV Chitose''s report just finished, 45 minutes of stroking Horizon''s ego. "Can''t help it that I''m amazing," Horizon shrugs. "Definitely can''t wait to see what my new offers are to move abroad." "Hmm," Ryuko thinks about it for a moment, "I''m hoping Germany wins the bidding...even if that''s unlikely, I mean living there seems super rxing." "What makes you think I''d take you with me?" Ryuko rolls her eyes "what makes you think you can get rid of me?" END CHAPTER--- Chapter 224: (Empty Seat) Chapter 224: (Empty Seat) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- In a quiet spot at the Tokyo docks, under the noon sun Cellophane is fighting a woman, slender and tall but sporting thick grey scales on her skin. Naturally armored thanks to her Quirk. There were police nearby already aiming their guns at her, surrounding the fight but ultimately knowing none of them had to power to pierce her scales. The bullets they fired earlier only ricocheted off and flew back at them, so once again they depend on a hero to deal with the viin. "A little help here, how about it?" Cellophane mutters, not loud enough to be heard outside of his visor. He narrowly doges a punch and her scaled forearm grazes his suit, scraping some of the fabric off his chest. "I don''t fight D-List trash, just knock her out quickly and hand her to the cops, bet they''re impatient too plus your food is getting cold," Horizon responds, nowhere to be seen but speaking through Cellophane''s visor. "They''re not very helpful," Cellophane dodges a kick and springboards off the woman''s leg, intending to flip over her, only for her to suddenly grow a thin tail and whip him out of the air. "I''ve still got tricks up my sleeve," the viin says. Cellophane hits the floor and pivots into a roll before getting back on his feet, now sporting a cut across his back from her tail. "Yeah well," Cellophane takes a deep breath as he looks at her. "I knew you weren''t dumb, leading me to a ce where my Quirk isn''t that helpful," he nces at theck of vertical structures in this area. "But the hero always wins..." "HA!" she flexes her hands and they morph from fingers to ws as her boots are blown apart, the same transformation happening to her feet. "Your Quirk is no good against mine dumbass!" She charges forward as her teeth be razor sharp and her muscles bulk up. Leaping into the air she ms down, cracking the concrete as he shoots a line of tape to the side and pulls himself to safety. "Heroes die all the time!" she yells while charging at him again. He tries the same trick only for her to jump toward where the tape is and grab it, spinning to m him around. As she does, instead of letting himself be pulled in, he simply releases more tape and wraps her once before she notices. "Not this hero," Cellophane says. "And learning to counter that trick is the first thing I did!" As she''s breaking out he first two lines of tape past her, leaving her in the middle and retracts himself as quickly as possible. He slingshots himself forward. She looks up just in time to see both his feeting toward her, as he dropkicks her hard enough to send her tumbling across the floor with some teeth ttering about. As Cellophane realizes how much this hurt her, he beginsing up with a n for a finishing move. "Argh!" She ms her hand into the ground and pushes herself up, still seeing a bit blurry after that hit. "When I''m done with you I''ll kill everyone here, then nobody else will get in my way!" "That must be the best thing your lizard brain cane up with huh," Cellophane jokes as he takes a running stance, "kill me to give Horizon a real reason toe after you." He sees a look of realization dawn on her, causing a moment of hesitation, exactly as nned. And in the same moment he bolts forward, shooting two lines out to slingshot himself at her. She snaps to her senses and focuses once more, "just die!" she screams out while running forward, this time with her ws in the path he''d use to kick her. ''Same trick won''t work twice, kill you then the witnesses, then leave before that freak show up...'' she think, proud of herself for quickly adapting. But she''s not the only one. Cellophane repeats the exact same movements, but this time as his feet are about to get pierced by her ws he flips, using her forearms as a tform to leap higher into the air. She swings his tail at him again, and this too he predicts and uses as a stepping stone to get more height, now 15m -45ft- above her. He fires two lines of tape past her at her sides, another slingshot, and retracts them as fast as possible, quickly pivoting to line himself up with her head as she''s only now turning around. Even among Pro Heroes, his reaction time in situations like these was impressive. Which is why by the time she''s about to turn around, his boots m into the side of her face, pushing her all the way into the concrete and breaking her jaw. The remainder of her teeth go scattering across the floor as she''s instantly knocked out. "Damn, forgot to name that," Cellophane sighs as he steps away from her. "Maybe, ''Cellophane Slingshot,'' sounds ok..." "Is she down?" one of the cops asks. "Oh, yeah!" he waves to them. "You can take her away now." "Thanks, never doubted you, mostly." "Mostly?" Cellophane asks as the other officers drag the woman away, noticing her jaw hanging very limply. "Well, we figured her Quirk makes her tough, and...I didn''t know you had Enhanced Strength," the officer gestures to the cracked floor that was beneath her head. "Oh, its not really that big of a deal," Cellophane shrugs. He simply didn''t want to go into the details of it. Of how the endoskeleton of his suit allows him to withstand more force than his body naturally can. So if he uses himself like a bullet or a wedge he can hit harder or take more pressure, but his punches are unaffected. As they''re talking Horizon swaps with one of the bits of concrete that broke loose, warping in front of them. He appeared sitting on his hoverboard with a bag of takeout beside him, and a drink. "Took you long enough," was the first thing he said, ignoring the wide eyes all the officers are giving him. "Yeah well, I had to get creative. No tall walls or building around here to springboard off of," Cellophane says. "Excuses excuses," Horizon jokes, then looks at the police officer. "If any of your guys need healing please let me know." "Um, we''re all fine sir, just, this---" "Not what you expected?" Horizon gestures to himself, sitting casually on the hoverboard with food beside him, and Scalpel hovering nearby. "Its just tha---" Horizon raises his hand, cutting off the man. He touches the side of his visor to indicate he''s on a call. As he hovers a bit higher, Cellophane gets the hint that they need to wrap this up quickly and helps the officers secure the viin. The moment the viin is secure and Cellophane is about to give his thanks to the officers. SHAMBLES! He suddenly finds himself standing on the back of the hoverboard, high above the city. "Woooww, a little warning next time." "Tape your self down, you can eat when we get there," Horizon says,pletely serious. He immediately uses the equipment built into his suit to sit down and secure himself to the board, via the tape sent through his boots and hands for him to stick to surfaces. "Wooooo!" Cellophane yells out as they rapidly elerate to 400mph -643kmph-, not quite at the speed of the hoverboard. "I''ve never seen you fly this fast, how they hell are you even standing?!" "Its the boots," Horizon says as the wind rushes past them, but thankfully they could speak with their visors. "We need to get to the other side of Japan quickly." "What happened, some big emergency, Tsunami?" "You know Yoroi Musha?" Horizon asks. "I''ve met him once, samuari dude, he''s like a fossil. Not someone I''m excited to work with but he''s #9, so lets do this," Cellophane cheers. "He''s dead," Horizon says. "He was old and obsolete so it should be a positive that his spot is open for someone else, but the way he died and timing of it will fuck us..." "So he didn''t just have a heart attack like most ancient people?" "He was decayed..." "Shigaraki," Cellophane says. "But, why? I mean if you''re nning to kill a top pro to make a statement, why go for the weakest one." "This wasn''t about making a statement, at least not in that way. They raided the military armory close to his city, and he got there before they left." "Was there anything good inside?" "Guns, guns, and lots of guns..." "Hmm, I thought those locations were well hidden, think there''s a leak?" "There is, its the most logical thing," Horizon says. "But its in themission or police force most likely, so sooner orter they''ll get caught. But since they haven''t found anyone yet, I''d bet the viins bugged the ce or keep ripping the secrets out of someone''s mind with a Quirk." "So the mole doesn''t even know they''re a mole," Cellophane says. "Easiest way I can think of to get around Pantu''s Quirk," Horizon says. They fly for an hour, by now Horizon is briefed on the situation and begins rying the information to Cellophane. "They want this quiet and contained until they can double security on the other sites," Horizon says. "I''ll be spending the next two days escorting the other items to disposal sites to be destroyed." "A top pro died, how long do they expect to keep this quiet for?" "Long enough that nobody notices I''m not in Minato Tokyo. When we''re done investigating I''ll have to get back there first, so Team Horizon can keep an eye on things while I''m gone." "Why are you even carrying me with you, shouldn''t I get there now?" Cellophane asks. "Because I need someone who''spetent and I''m sure I can trust with me, if you see anything or anyone suspicious, let me know, got it?" "Got it, but uh, one question?" "Yeah?" "Since the #9 spot is open now, who do you think is gonna rece him?" END CHAPTER--- Chapter 225: (Blood and Dust) Chapter 225: (Blood and Dust) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "I''ve never actually been this far out this way before, so this is the city he was protecting huh," Cellophane says as he sits on the hoverboard, legs hanging over the side as he enjoys his food. They were hovering just above the skyline of a small city, built in the valley of two small mountains. On either side was nothing but forest, but the city has highways along the coast and a bustling port. Almost entirely due to the silver mines that were in these mountains and helped to establish the trade routes, long run dry, and unupied. The same mines Horizon was currently checking. Standing silently he has a Room open, 38km -23mi- wide -diameter-, he can sense everything in the city and the mountains at once. Focusing just enough for the human sized being, so he doesn''t get flooded by ever leaf and pebble, he carefully uses Scan to search for any viins. His Room is muchrger than when he joined UA, even now it''s grown noticeably since the new semester began. At this size he feels the drain on his energy, but nowhere near as bad as before. And no sudden headache attacking him. ''I''m getting used to it,'' he thinks. ''But something is still holding me back, that final push. Or maybe I just need to keep training and I''ll break past that limit naturally...'' Exactly as Dr. Garaki said, a logical mind like Horizon''s will nevere to the realization of such an illogical solution on his own. To align his mind and heart. To unite his entire being in the singr primal purpose. To--- "They aren''t here," Horizon says. "No viins, and the mines in these mountains are all copsed so they can''t be in their either." "They must have warped all the stuff back to wherever their hideout is, but it had trackers on it, right?" "They got fried during the attack, but they had a Nomu with a Radio Quirk that acted like a jammer and EMP during the summer camp, probably just used something like that to fry it." "Makes sense, but that''s what you assumed already, so why even check out this ce?" Cellophane shrugs. "Would be pretty dumb toe here instead of just warping away, right?" "Yes, but its fine to assume viins will make such sloppy mistakes. They''ve recruited a lot of people, and most people are morons. If we got lucky and even one viin was out here, that''d be all I need to rip info out of him, then I''d get my hands on Kurogiri---" "---Then their entire operation falls apart without him." "Yeah, but its possible Twice can just make a double of him so they''d still have a warp gate, so in a sense Twice is an even higher priority target." "No wonder he''s S Rank," Cellophane says as he finishes his food. "Hey, weren''t we in a rush to get to the base?" "No, the corpse isn''t going anywhere, I was in a rush to get here and catch any stragglers from their group. There won''t be any viins at the base, best we can hope for is a ID from the cameras there." ROOM! Horizon shuts off his Quirk and they being flying ind, away from the city and over the mountains where the small base was. "Soo, you going to the ceremony they''ll have?" Cellophane asks. "Why would I do that?" "Because someone died, duh." "Its in the job description, heroes die all the time, what makes this any different." "Yeah but that doesn''t make it any less tragic man." "He was almost 90, if the moron would have just swallowed his pride and retired he''d be sitting on a beach with his grandkids right now." "That''s not a nice way to speak of the dead." "Good thing he''s dead and can''t do shit about it," Horizon says. "Besides, maybe it would be a tragedy if he was young, but he was super old, at that point it doesn''t really count. Killing a 90 year old is like giving nature a little nudge." "What about for the soldiers at the base?'' "Its part of the job, I''m sure they did their best." Beneath the visor Cellophane rolls his eyes, "just make sure to use your nice words when the press asks how you feel about this." "I always do." "But you have to go the to memorial, you do know that, right?" Horizon sighs, "yes, as the next #1 Pro Hero and leader of our generation, I unfortunately have to attend the memorial for every stupid fuck that dies in costume...what a pain in my ass." "Honestly, the most impressive thing about you is how well you act on camera, consider---" Cellophane is stunned silent as the soar about the mountain, slowly rising up to view the next valley where only the military base was. Where it should have been. Instead they see a massive crater, filled with dust. Consuming much of the valley and parts of the small surrounding mountains. A 3km -1.8mi- crater filled with white dust. The telltale sign of Shigaraki''s Decay. "---Shit," was all Cellophane could mutter as they hover in ce and look out at the destruction. "This exins why they so badly want to keep this a secret, and didn''t want to send me any pictures. If the public knew Shigaraki could do this, even if it took everything out of him, there''d be chaos..." Cellophane nods along, "well if we didn''t have you I''d be considering retirement right now, so yeah." "Wow, even after all the money you''ll get from your work in that raid." "I''m willing to risk my life for money, not get turned into dust and actually die for it." They look at the crater for a few more minutes as Horizon uses Scan on the surrounding area, picking up nothing that interesting. Looking around Cellophane sees the road leading up to the crater, where dozens of vehicles and tents were setup to investigate. "Let''s go, they only left one thing, but we need to check on the people first..." Horizon says as they begin flying toward the medical tents. As they approach he sees a few scientists in full protective suits using any apparatus they can, including Geiger counters to investigate the dust without touching or even approaching it. They hops off at the tents, seeing the cots empty and most of the people just standing around anxiously. "What''s going on, where are the injured?" Horizon asks, walking into the tent to approach themander. "There aren''t any, nobody made it out," the man says. "I''m captain Hiko, JSDF. I hoped to meet you under better circumstances Horizon." "That''s unfortunately the usual case, not that this is usual at all," they begin walking out of the tent as the man leads them to the crater. "How many people were in the base?" Cellophane asks. "Not many, mostly due to JSDF funding being reallocated to Pro Heroes for the past few generations, but the bases guarding the raid loot were well manned. This one is the smallest but that didn''t mean they didn''t put up one hell of a fight." "I''m sure they did," Horizon says. "Going down fighting is an honor in itself. Its a real tragedy what happened here, but I''ll be sure to give Shigaraki more than enough payback for what he did to these good men captain." Then man nods, "I''m sure we''ll all appreciate that, and thank you. Now, until my superiors can figure out how to handle this with the public, I''m taking the lead on the ground here, seeing as there isn''t much to do but sit around and wait," he gestures to the boring temporary checkpoint they''ve setup. "Did anything survive this?" Horizon asks. "Not that I''m aware of." "Camera footage, anything. If even a few seconds got uploaded into the military servers then that could be the lead we want." "My superiors are already looking into it, I''m sure you''ll be the first person they call, after all, who else could put down this monster," the man turns to look to the crater. Horizon begins walking toward it and they both follow. "Don''t you mean arrest, captain?" Cellophane asks. The man nces back and gives him an annoyed look, "son, you''re a hero, I''m a soldier. You take viins down, I take terrorists out..." Cellophane wisely decides to keep his mouth shut. And a momentter they walk past the scientists, and even the captain ignores their suggestions to stay away from the site, deciding that if Horizon doesn''t say he should stop, he''ll keep tagging along. Horizon squats down at the edge of the crater, seeing the low winds blowing the white dust about ever so gently. Thankfully it wasn''t light enough to simply get blow into the sky by a gently breeze. "This is the first time I''ve been able to study Decay, so I can''s waste the chance," he carefully lowers his hand toward it. "Wait, that could be dangerous!" one of the scientist yells out, but neither Cellophane or the captain back away. His fingers enter the dust, and he immediately uses Scan, focused on the particles, determined to understand them. "We were wrong about his Quirk," Horizon says as he removes his hand. "About Decay?" Cellophane asks. "It''s obviously not limited to organics, and considering he''s improved this much he probably doesn''t have to use all his fingers to trigger it any more. Cutting off his hands is still the best n, if you can''t just kill him." "Bullet through the skull hasn''t failed me yet," the captain says. "How does Decay work?" one of the scientists asks. "Its Tactile Telekinesis," Horizon says, seeing some of them look confused. "Think about when All Might would lift a bridge, part of it would crumble trying to support its own weight. But if Captain Celebrity does it the bridge doesn''t crumble under its own weight. Touch based telekinesis, but this is different. Its more like Shigaraki justmands things to fall apart. And judging from he size of this crater, if he''s still activelymanding it, the decay...no, the disintegration of matter won''t stop until he''s stopped or satisfied. At least that''s my thoughts since I don''t sense any energy in this dust, no invasive elements. It simply self destructed under hismand. But the good new is at least we know he still has to touch things to activate it, and that it won''t work on my body, since my Quirk blocks any other Quirks from telling me what to do, even if themands is ''Fall apart'' or something like that." "At least we learned something about him," the captain says. "Too bad this didn''t give us any leads on finding him..." "Not necessarily," Horizon warps Scalpel into his hand from where he left is with his board. "I''m hoping Yoroi Musha left us one lead on his de---" SHAMBLES! Scalpel swaps for a broken katana, almost as massive and covered in bits of flesh and blood. Along with some white dust. "How the hell did that survive?" Cellophane can''t help but blurt out. "It was toward the edge, but if I had to guess...he probably threw it as high as possible before Shigaraki finished the attack." "So he skipped the wave," the scientist says. "So flying counters the wave of Decay on the floor, that''s good to know." "Yeah," Horizon raises the sword and looks at the blood, "Takt." The blood and only the blood is pulled off the sword and hovers in front of him, separated into little drops. "I''m hoping he cut someone in our national database and not just some brainless Nomu..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 226: (Not So Hidden Moves) Chapter 226: (Not So Hidden Moves) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- Sitting at his desk Horizon is slumped over, asleep. After spending 37 hours reviewing data he decided to take his one hour nap to feel fully refreshed. Which is how he''s currently spending this Saturday night. Behind him the tinted windows of his office in Horizon tower show the Tokyo skyline, colorful and lively against the dark night sky, full moon and all. Millions of people in Minato Tokyo alone, all peacefully enjoying their lives amongst nearly no viins. Simply because Horizon tower stood here, staring down at them like a obelisk of justice and peace. BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! Horizon, or more urately, Law, jolts awake. His visor was on the desk staring at him, only the body glove was on with the face mask portionying on the desk. Here within his office, even with the guests in his tower, he felt more thanfortable taking off his visor to get some fresh air. Even if day by day he''s noticing that the visor feels morefortable than having his face exposed. "Mmm, now what''s this about," he rubs his eyes and cracks his neck before touching the keyboard. The two monitors on his desk light up to reveal the processes he''d sent in motion were nowpletely. ''DNA Match, 50%!'' one screen said. "Ok, lets see what we''ve got," he begins looking at the lower percentile DNA matches. "So the samples from Yoroi Musha''s sword are...a Nomu, another Nomu, and the main one is..." He reads the results a few times before sitting back in his chair and staring at the screen, trying to make sense of it. He nces to his right, where his sword -Scalpel-, and Yoroi Musha''s recovered katana were leaning against the desk. "The DNA must have been more contaminated than I thought...right?" he asks aloud. ''There has to be some logical exnation for this.'' "Computer," hemands aloud, "what were the parameters for DNA Sequence search?" Theputer announces his own instructions back to him, "use entered DNA Sequence data andpare to all catalogued samples within Pro Hero Database, alongside Viin and Prisoner Records provided by the Hero Public Safety Commission and Law Enforcement." "How many times were theseparisons run?" "43 Million tests were run, including repetitions, prioritizing matches above 15%." "Ok so my parameters weren''t broken," Law mutters. "Maybe I made a mistake. But still, the chances of this being the oue are so small, not to mentioned I''ve been doing tests like these for so long to find targets that its unlikely." "Computer, confirm DNA Sequence Match." "DNA Sequence Match of 50% found between Sample 7 and Enji Todoroki, AKA Pro Hero Endeavor -The me hero-." "Fuck," Law mutters. "Ok, so the most likely case is that they made a failed clone of Endeavor. It has to be a failed clone if even Yoroi Musha was able to cut it without his sword melting. And the worst case scenario, also the least likely, is Endeavor switched sides." "Computer, Hero Network Confidential Files, Endeavor, Logs, 48 Hours ago." The screen immediately shows a video and report from within Endeavor''s personal ount and the news of him actively fighting a viin during the time of the attack against Yoroi Musha. "Ok so probably a clone," Law says. "But if it was a clone why would it be 50% match? It would be 100%. Maybe Shigaraki''s Nomu guy spliced it with another Quirk for better performance. Maybe wind to increase the damage or ice to reduce the drawbacks..." As Law is looking at the screen, showing Endeavor''s personal information including a list of his family members, he raises a brow at Natsuo''s name. "Fuyumi seems harmless, the mom is in the hospital, and the others are heroes or dead, but I''ve got no idea about Natsuo..." As always Law decides to be through. "Run Sample 7, against Civilian DNA Database file, Rei Todoroki." A progress bar appears on the screen for a few seconds before disappearing. "Sequenceparisonplete, 50% Match." "As expected, children are only able to get 50% against parents after all." "Run Sample 7, against Civilian DNA Database file, Fuyumi Todoroki." "Sequenceparisonplete, 50% Match." "So at least my favorite Todoroki isn''t moonlighting as a viiness, fuck it. Run Sample 7, against Todoroki Family, branch, Enji Todoroki." "95% Match Found." Law raises a brow at this, "95%? Repeatmand!" "95% Match Found." "That doesn''t really make much sense, it should be a perfect match for Natsuo, unless...maybe they gave him some kind of enhancement?" "Computer, disy side by side DNA Sequence Comparisons for the highest probability match." On Law''s left monitor, Sample 7 appears. But on his right monitor, something surprising happens. Where Natsuo Todoroki''s name was expected to be, instead he saw Toya Todoroki. "The dead kid," Law nces at Toya''s file, seeing him pronounced dead as a child. "But the hormones in the sample were from an adult, a lot of things aren''t adding up here. I''ll need to talk to Enji to confirm." He looks between both the screens to see the more recent sample having familiar alterations in its DNA sequence. Had it not been for his perfect memory and absurd mental processing screen, he would have missed it in the sea of colors flowing by on the screen. But in his mind each sample of helical DNA was impossible to confuse for another, especially his. "Computer, Monitor 2, DNA Sample, Private Database, HRZN-L-3." "Confirmation key required?" "Miracle Elixir," Law says clearly and calmly. BEEP! On the right monitor the requested sample appears. DNA Sequence, HRZN-L-3, a partial sample of his own DNA scanned and stored on his own server within Nezu''s server. With keyponents missing so even if someone did manage to get it and make a clone of him, by some miracle, they''d only get a lump of dead meat. Because not only is it iplete, its also scrambled. But his mind allows him to easily fill in the gaps and solve this 100 million piece puzzle at a nce. Not that anyone else even has a chance, because as with many other aspects of Horizon, his DNA is unique. Where regr Helical DNA is simply two spiraling columns rising up in perfect unity, connected by what could be described as rungs on adder. His was four such columns, with one straight pir down the middle where all the rungs intersect. A recent development after Hand Of God perfectly integrated his new Quirks. So a mere few days after he received them, they all simply ceased to exist, effective fed to Hand Of God which made itself so much stronger. But it would still be months before he could fully ess the gargantuan boost in power this provides, without the bacsh. Before he has a grudge match that puts a new fear of god into the world, Heroes, viins, and civilians alike. "I knew something was off," Law says as he looks at Sample 7, Toya''s DNA. "This looks like they gave his fire Quirk to someone without fire resistance, morons. I''ll have to ask Enji what happened to the body, they''ve clearly been collecting corpses for a lot longer than we realize..." KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! "Hey open up!" Ryuko yells from the other side of his office door. "Something big just happened!" SHAMBLES! His mask and visor are warped back on as he waves a hand. Across from his desk there isn''t any visible door, but the hidden door would open if he touched it, since his biometrics is epted. The alternative is what he just did, which is use Takt to carefully move the internal locks, a feature he has in this door and his other security doors and vaults for when he doesn''t want to get up. But usually he simply warps. Ryuko walks his holding his sword, sheathed, wearing a baggy t-shirt and a pair of shorts. Glistening with sweat as her workout was interrupted. "What''s the big deal, and why do you have my extra sword?" Horizon asks. "I always practice with the one you leave in the tower," Ryuko says as she drops it on the couch and walks over to him. "Didn''t you see the news just now?" "I was sleeping, what news?" "Just look up ''Yoroi Musha death video''," she says while walking behind his desk as he''s typing it in, and hiding his previous work. "So the public knows?" Horizon asks. "Barely gave us 2 days to figure things out." "You knew?" she asks as he clicks on the first video. Horizon simply gestures to the side of his desk, where the original Scalpel -which he either always has on him or at UA-, and Yoroi Musha''s katana are resting. "Oh, why didn''t you tell me?" "My job is keeping secrets,es with being a Top Pro Hero." "I was a top pro too ya''know." "You shared 42nd ce with your entire team, I''m treated like the #1, we aren''t the same." "No need to rub it in," she points to the screen as the video appears, already having a hundred million views in only a few minutes. "See, the league leaked it!" The video appears showing Yoroi Musha down on one knee, half of his armor and one of his katanas melted. Dabi is standing a few feet away holding his arm which is bleeding, which sets off some rms bells in Horizon''s head. Then the camera pans over to Shigaraki who has a injured Pro pinned down. "It''s been a while since I got to stretch my legs, I nearly forgot how much fun taking down you ''Heroes'' was," Shigaraki says as he palms the man''s head, causing him to wither away into grey powder. "Looking cool boss!" Twice yells from behind the camera, and it shakes a bit as he cheers. "I found this one trying to hide from the fight," Spinner says as the camera pans over to him. There was a young girl on his shoulder, wearing a yellow skin tight suit with small knives attached to it. Tears were flowing down her beautiful face as he drops her on her side, and through her bawling she sits up to try and crawl away from Shigaraki. Shigaraki continues walking toward Yoroi Musha, and passes in front of her to do so. And her first year as a sidekick, at 19 years old, ends as he casually taps the top of her head with one finger. "Heroes are supposed to challenge viins, not hide like cowards," he says as the Decay spreads down her body and she falls apart as grey dust. Ryuko grabs onto Horizon, he feels her hands trembling and rests a hand on her, helping her to calm down. "So he doesn''t need all 5 fingers to make contact anymore," Horizon mutters as the video continues. Shigaraki arrives at Yoro Musha, and as the man is about to give his heroicst words he grabs his face and instantly decays him. "You old people need to shut up and get out of the way, this is our era," he says before looking past the camera. "Twice, pack up everything useful, then I''ll crater this ce, we''re done here..." The video instantly cuts to a shot from above the base, the sound of pping giving away that a winged Nomu was carrying Twice as he records. And below they could only see the massive crater that was left behind... "Quite a statement," Horizon says as he swivels his chair to the side and pulls the trembly Ryuko into hisp. "He chose the ck-market Loot Cache farthest from me for a reason, you''ll be safe here." "Its not me that I''m worried about," she says in a shaky voice. "Do you really have to fight that thing?" Horizon wraps his arms around her and pulls her against his chest, "being in the top 50 means you have to fight serious viins, but being Horizon means you have to fights all the real monsters." "What if---" "Nothing will happen to me, if anything he knows he''s outmatched and that''s why he avoids me. Plus his Quirk doesn''t work on me..." "That doesn''t mean you should risk it." "And if I don''t stop him, who will?" Horizon asks. "And how many people will die until they do?" Ryuko falls silent at that. Horizon gently pats her head and leans further back into his chair, "we, are selfish people, so you really don''t have to worry. I don''t n to die ying hero." "Good," Ryuko says. "I like our n, so lets stick to it..." She feels his chest expand beneath her as he takes a deep breath and waits until she rxes a bit. "So, what''s this about you wanting to be a sexy samurai?" he asks. "Ohh, you like the idea of a sexy samurai girlfriend?" "Wooow, since when were you my girlfriend?" Ryuko scoffs, mind slowly drifting away from the video they just watched, "you''re the worst." "Yeah, and you love me for it..." END CHAPTER--- I''m pulling my hair out trying toe up with unique chapter names :( Chapter 227: (Nightmare House Pt.2) Chapter 227: (Nightmare House Pt.2) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- ---1 PM, Tokyo... Sitting on one of the couches in Pantu''s office, Horizon is scrolling through his phone, waiting for the woman to arrive. And of course, the first moment of peace he''s had all day is interrupted by his phone ringing. "C''mon man, its Sunday, don''t you ever take a day off," he says before answering the call, and it immediately connects to his visor. "Hello?" Aizawa''s voice greets him. "Whatever this is definitely could have waited till tonight when I''m back at UA," Horizon says. "What is it?" "Its about the UA Culture Festival Tuesday," Aizawa says. "What does that have to do with me? I just have to stay on campus and scare off viins." "Yeah, but is Ryukoing?" "Uh...." "The cat, not the dragon," Aizawa rifies. "Can''t believe that''s something I need to say to you." "Yeah she''sing, Ryukyu isn''t. UA is all the way on the other side of Japan from her turf." "Good, can she watch Eri during the festival? Since everyone will be on alert I can''t leave her with Mirio and the other members of the Big Three, and thest thing I want is for her to be targeted because people see her around you, so---" "Handing her off to a Pro Hero that isn''t in costume is the best approach, yeah," Horizon agrees. "Mandy will be giving her Kota to babysit at the festival too while they''re working security, I''ll just give her a heads up." "Thanks, I appreciate it, this whole new dad thing is still a bit weird." "You''re doing pretty good so far," Horizon gives a genuinepliment for a change. "Huh, don''t know if hearing that from you is a good or a bad thing." "Hey! I''m great, and my parents clearly knew what they were doing." "Yeah, but I''m not trying to make her into a optimized super hero like your parents were doing, I just want her to be a regr kid." "And you''re doing fine, I think, I wouldn''t know. I wasn''t raised to be a loser." "I never said loser..." "That''s what regr people are, its why they worship Pro Heroes so much, even the useless ones." Aizawa sighs, "well I''ll cut this conversation short before you make me second guess everything I''ve been doing, don''t forget to tell Ryuko about this." "Yeah its n---" Aizawa hangs up on him. "Ok, I see, so its like that huh." Horizon goes back to scrolling through his social media for a few minutes until Pantu walks in, carrying a stack of papers in her arms. Seeing him she pauses for a moment, then without letting any emotion show she closes the door and silently walks over to her desk, immediately getting to work. "Its quite rude to warp into my office without permission," Pantu says. Horizon shrugs, "figured since you''re using your fancy character recognition system all across Japan to track me I didn''t have to say where I was," he sees Pantu nce at him for a moment, then she returns to her work. "Oh right, this is one of the few ces without any cameras or mics huh, guess I found a blind spot." "And should I bother asking how you know about that system?" "Its one of the reasons living here was easier than most countries," Horizon says. "Your security tends to be a bitx for super high value targets because you lean on that system so much. So if we feed the system some wrong info, suddenly we aren''t in Japan anymore." Pantu holds down a button on her keyboard and speaks clearly, "have the character recognition system fully audited by the end of this week," she then releases the button. "Thank you for the insight." "Mhm, so I heard you cancelled the tribute event for Yoroi Musha," Horizon says. "Thanks for that, really wasn''t in the mood for that waste of a day." "I didn''t do it for you, we simply can''t afford to not have our top Pro Heroes on patrol," Pantu begins folding some of the papers. "Not to mention having everyone gathered together after seeing Shigaraki''s new power was clearly a bad idea, but the public doesn''t need to know how concerned we truly are." "Mhm, and is Hawks any closer to finding where the base is?" A pregnable silence fills the room as Pantu slowly looks up at Horizon. "Well?" "How did you know about that n?" "I took a educated guess, and you just confirmed it," Horizon says, and she was sure he had a wide grin beneath the visor. "Figured if you''re so hell bent on keeping me away from the league, its because you''ve got someone stealthily getting close. Looks like I was right." "Yes well, when he has locations for both Kurogiri and Twice, you''ll be called in for the strike." "Figured as much." "Any other national secrets that you''d like to inform me that you''re aware of?" "Hmm," he think about it for a moment. "Well...actually, nevermind, that''s all." Pantu looks at Horizon for a moment, sensing that he just tantly lied, but she lets it go. Carefully observing the way he''s casually sitting there with Scalpel leaning against the couch. Considering all she knows about him, and how much she doesn''t know. "Why are you looking at me like that?" Horizon asks. "Sorry you''re a bit too old for me." Pantu doesn''t give in to him jabs, simply ignoring it, "I was thinking that, in another life, you would have made a remarkable agent. To protect Japan and her interests." "You would have had me working with birdie?" she can hear the disgust in his voice. "For a man who ims not to hold any grudges because he epts the consequences of the life he chose, you seem to hold a grudge against him. Even though he was only following Nezu''s orders." "Maybe I just don''t like him," Horizon goes back to looking at his phone. ''I see,'' Pantu nods and goes back to her work. ''For all his talk about keeping things strictly business, I suppose looking past the fact that Hawk''s nearly killed his mother before his eyes is too much, even for a monster like him, he has a soft spot. He really would have been a perfect agent...'' A few momentster and there is a knock at the door. "Enter," pantu says, and Endeavor steps inside. All the mes on his costume were currently off. "Lady Pantu," Endeavor says with a slight bow, before he looks over at the couch, "why are you here?" "Just incase," Horizon says yfully, and nods toward Scalpel leaning nearby. "I have the date for next months Hero Billboard Chart Ceremony, of course you''ll be #1," Pantu says as Endeavor walks in, leaving the door closed behind him. "You didn''t get the highest score in some categories, but right now having a practical and capable #1 is more important than a charming person. We need people who take action, not people who coddle the masses. Not to mention the only Pro Heroes capable of fighting the viins worth worrying about are in this room." "I see, thank you Lady Pantu," Endeavor says. "Don''t get toofy in that spot Enji," Horizon says. "I''m more capable and charming than you, so a few months after I graduate, that spot is mine." "I''m counting on it," Endeavor says, which surprised Pantu and Horizon. "But I doubt you called me here to speak about things that could have been a email." "No, we didn''t," Pantu says as he reaches into her desk and hands him a folder with a few papers. "Take a seat and read these results, tell us what you think." "But before that, " Horizon says as Endeavor is moving toward the couch opposite him. "Did Toya have blue mes?" Endeavor freezes, standing across from Horizon, "what does that have to do with anything?" "Its a simple question Endeavor," Horizon says. Endeavor looks at Pantu, and she gives him a nod. With a sigh he admits, "yes, he did. But I fail to see how that could be relevant." "You should sit down a read those..." Minutester Endeavor is sitting across from Horizon, tears flowing down his face and falling onto the paper in his hands. ''Oh god, I never know what to say when this crap happens,'' Horizon thinks. "Are you sure its from Dabi?" Endeavor asks in a terrified voice. "Maybe its from something else, like, anything else." "We aren''t sure, but I''m willing to bet its Dabi," Horizon says. "But, but this doesn''t make sense. That was from over 15 years ago, how?" "Did you ever find a body?" Pantu asks. "No, everything was incinerated, we assumed that," Endeavor chokes on his words. "I should have kept looking, I never should have given up!" "If you did that, then he would have died for sure," Horizon says. "I have reason to believe that they did, something, to keep him alive. His DNA has strands of Nomu genome perfectly melded into it." "All For One, he''s behind this," Endeavor says, angry even as the tears keep flowing. "Best case scenario, I''m wrong," Horizon says. "Is that possible, you''re Horizon, worlds best doctor, is it possible?" Endeavor asks. "..." "I see, can it be amnesia, or mind control?" Endeavor asks, wiping his tears. "Well, that''s possible." Endeavor looks up at Horizon, "I''m not asking if its possible, I''m asking if its likely. You''ve studied these viins more than most, just be honest with me, please." Horizon sighs, "its, unlikely that they''d resort to that. Those methods are unreliable for this long a period of time, it would have been more efficient to harvest his stem cells and clone that powerful Quirk." "I see, so if this is true, then he''s a real viin. And its my fault," Endeavor says. "He''s an adult, his life, his choices. Lots of people have childhood trauma, but only a rare few are...well, you know." "My main concern is if he knows who he is, assuming this data is correct," Pantu says. "And we will be operating as if he is Toya Todoroki until we have evidence disproving it that the public will also believe." "When I be #1, he could make this public and further shake people''s faith in the Pro Heroes," Endeavor says. "I shouldn''t be #1. I doubted myself before, but now I know it." "Not an option," Horizon says. "You''re the only one who can do it until I''m a fully licensed pro. Anyone else they''ll just kill to make an example of. Either way they''ll try to destroy the next #1 Pro Hero, but this way we at least have a chance. A murderous viin pointing fingers at the #1 Pro Hero, we can control the media and have him ignored." "Or when you do be #1, he''ll hate it so much that he won''t be able to resist showing his face," Pantu says. "No matter how you feel, no matter how we look at it, you''re the only choice we really have Endeavor." Endeavor gives a defeated sigh, "alright, then I shall do my best to be the #1 Hero people can look up to, who my family can be proud of. At least for the next three years," he looks over at Horizon, "until you''re ready..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 228: (UA Culture Festival) Chapter 228: (UA Culture Festival) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- ---November 5th, 2315... UA, a highly secure school that the public could never dream of entering. Most of the time. The one main exception to that? The UA Culture festival. Normally a collection of stalls and a few stages just beyond the front gates of the school. Kept small as each ss host their own shows, games, or food stalls to show off school spirit. This is the one event where the Hero Course actually takes a back seat while the business and support courses wow the public with all they''ve learned at UA. But this year was different. This year the entire festival was taken to apletely different level. Instead of a few tents and stalls, there was a walkway leading directly from the school gates into a massive arena just beyond the campus. An entire structure dedicated to hosting the thousands of people that are currently flooding the school. It was like the UA Sports Festival all over again. Companies from near and far fought each other to rent spots within the festival, selling all manner of food, drinks, and Hero Merchandise to the visiting public. Upon entry at the gate all the visitors were funneled through a fewyers of security scanners and given a wristband to track where they are on campus, and Quirk use. But most importantly, they were immediately intimidated by all the Pro Heroes littering the school grounds. Standing at the front entrance was Crust, a Top 10 Pro Hero, supported by some of his sidekicks and Mt. Lady, ready for any assaults from the road. There were extra cameras atop the massive ck steel walls running along the perimeter of the school. And it felt like nobody could go ten steps without bumping into a Pro Hero. It was every hero-worshipping kids paradise, and the paparazzi were enjoying it just as much. This of course was expected so many less popr Pro Heroes offered their services every year, hoping to get some spotlight and go viral from the sheer volume of pictures that would be taken. But this year most of them were feeling the cold shoulder of neglect. Everywhere they look there were people wearing Horizon''s merch, from t-shirts to backpacks and shoes. Most legitimate, many not. But Horizon doesn''t really care, it was the least of his concerns really. But what annoyed the pro heroes more was the paparazzi and fans constantly approaching them, and just when they think they''re about to get some attention the person simply asks where Horizon is. Yet all they can do is smile and y nice, burying the annoyance they feel each time its asked. Walking through the crowd andrgely being either avoided or ignored, Endeavor would stop ever so often to sign something for a fan or give ament and pose for a picture. But today he was on a mission. He wasn''t here technically working security so he had no post to report to, but of course he did have a pass to go anywhere he wants within reason. His presence was enough of a security assurance for 99% of viins, so he could roam about freely. And right now he was making his way toward the performance stages where 1A was preparing, to bond with ,or more urately, annoy, Shoto. Atleast from Shoto''s point of view. Ignoring the scent of candy in the air, all the congested and crowded walkways -which meant his mes were off-, and the noise of all the students vying for the publics attention. Endeavor focuses only on getting to his goal, perhaps one of the few Pro Heroes here who are thankful to Horizon for stealing away so much attention. And while nobody has yet to see Horizon, suddenly hundreds of phones go off at once, a new notification reaching them all. The people along the crowded walkway to get to the arena, walking in front of the main campus building, suddenly look up at the building. As they saw themselves in Horizon''s newest post, a picture of him sitting at the edge of the building, feet dangling over the edge, with the crowd shown down below him. UA being tagged, a clear warning for the viins to stay away from UA and Musutafu today, which the criminals based in Tokyo will surely appreciate. Dozens of people take out their cameras and zoom in, trying their best to get a picture of him sitting there. And much to their delight, he gives them a simple wave and goes back to listening to his music, ignoring the crowds. He does this for hours. His Room open, taking all of his focus to keep an eye on everything and everyone, but eventually something catches his eye. At noon, three hours after the start of the festival, he senses and sees something interesting enter UA. SHAMBLES! With a thought he warps into the middle of the crowd, startling many people before they all begin moring and trying to get his attention, but he tunes them out and shuts his much off. He simply stood there, staring down at a little boy in a rather urate Horizon cosy. He couldn''t be more than ten years old, and he was clearly star struck. Staring up at his hero in silence. His parents were on either side of him, and they didn''t know what to say either, but before they could utter a word Horizon got down to the boys level, taking a knee. Taking a closer look at him. "Nice Hero Costume Horizon," he says to the boy, noticing the child was trembling with excitement. "So, are you a fan?" The boy just nods, and through the holes in the boys cardboard visor he could see two wide eyes, pupils like saucers staring at him. "You''re my favorite," the boy says, and the crowd getspletely silent, some people recording while others are just taking in the scene. "And why is that?" "You''re strong," the boy then raises a small foam katana at his side, "and have a sword." Horizon chuckles, "everyone likes the sword." "Mhm!" the boy excitedly nods along. "But you know, my Hero Costume has more than just a sword," Horizon says. "Really?" "Mhm," he rolls back his sleeve slightly to show the body glove, which the boy thankfully wasn''t wearing. Just a simple white suit, foam katana, and cardboard visor. "See this keeps me healthy, and helps me stay cool in the sun, so be sure to drink lots of water while you''re having fun today, alright." "Alright." "But there is one more thing," Horizon raises his hand, and a simr card to his metal throwing cards appears. But this one was stic and dull, with his symbol on both sides, with one side signed. A special set of these were made weeks ago in preparation for moments like these, and he''s given a few stalls here cards to give away as prizes. "Woooow," the boys leans forward and slowly moves to grab it out of the air, then hesitates. "Every Horizon needs some of these," Horizon says. "This one is yours, take care of it alright." The boy vigorously nods along, then gets a nudge from his dad, "thank you!" "Always happy to help a fellow hero," Horizon says as he hovers the card over to the boy who holds it close to his chest. "Enjoy the festival, and stay safe..." The boy just continues nodding excitedly, not knowing what to say, and before the other people in the crowd can speak Horizon disappears. Appearing back on the roof, but this time not sitting at the edge. "You could have stayed there a bit long," Nezu says, he''d been waiting on the roof for barely a moment before Horizon reappeared. "A lot of people are here to see you." Horizon sighs and reaches down to lift Nezu, putting him up on the ledge where they look out over the crowd and the city together. They asionally see someone taking a picture of them chatting, butrgely ignore the crowd. "And why would I want to get swarmed by those hero-worshipping morons?" Horizon asks while waving to the crowd. "You don''t have any problem saying hello to children." "Well they''re kids, and some of them, like thatst one, have great taste in Pro Heroes." "Do you ever n to actually enjoy the festival?" "I am enjoying it, also I told Jiro I''de down to watch the concert, so I''ve only got one hour of peace up here before that starts." "I see, that''s good," Nezu says as they enjoy a peaceful lull in the conversation, looking down at all the families pouring into UA. Looking up at Horizon, he sees the visor looking down at the crowd, and behind it he just knew Horizon was lost in his own thoughts, as he often is at scenes like this. "Do you ever wish you could be them?" Nezu asks. "Be what?" "Normal..." "Why would I ever want that, I''m Horizon, I''m better." "Well that makes one of us," Nezu admits. "I used to wish for it all the time, and asionally I still do. In moments like theses. What if I wasn''t born a rat that developed a Quirk and got experimented on for years? What if I was just a normal human with a normal family doing normal things? What if I knew what a normal life was like? But I''ve long made peace with it. That''s why UA is my everything...it is all that will be left of my life. But for all the good I''ve done, and that UA will continue to do, sometimes I find myself jealous of them..." Neither of them speak for a few minutes, until Horizon breaks the silence. "Sometimes, you know, after a long shift of non-stop Hero Work. I go back to the tower and just rx with Ryuko. And I think about how much better things would be if they were there too. And I think about all the people out there that get to have their full families because I don''t have mine back yet. And, I don''t know...its like I''m happy for them, at least for the kids that don''t have to grow up without parents. But then I get angry, because I remember why I''m doing this." "But then you keep doing it anyway," Nezu says. "How often do you think about them?" "I try not to," Horizon admits. "The more I think about them, the less focused I get, and the more I think about how..." "About how what?" Horizon sighs, "about how much they would prefer if I just walked away right now. Just packed everything up and left, and let them get executed, like they asked me to do. The deal is either I y hero, or I walk away, those are the only options I have..." "Can you really do that?" "I, rather not, obviously," Horizon says. "But, if ites to it. I will, because I know its what they''d want me to do. But I also have to honor my agreement, plus, and I hate to say it but, being a Pro Hero has its uses." Nezu looks at him with a victorious smirk. "Don''t even start," beneath the visor Horizon rolls his eyes. "I didn''t say anything, but I''m d you''re learning to enjoy this life you''ve chosen. And so long as you''re happy, I''m sure they''ll be happy." "How about you just take things one day at a time, don''t get your hopes up , alright?" "Alright," Nezu says. And less than a minuteter he can''t help but ask, "so do you like sav---" Horizon raises a hand, signaling for him to be quiet then taps his visor, meaning he''s on a call. "I need to go," Horizon says after the call ends. "What, but you can''t leave, the security---" "The Kelto Nuclear Reactor is having a potential crisis Nezu." "Oh god," Nezu''s eyes go wide. "If that happens then it could contaminate the water system there and kill millions." "Yeah, and thirteen just gave me the call to assist her since she knows I can handle a lot of dangerous scenarios." Nezu nods along, "alright, I''ll keep things running as if you''re still here. But stay away from the cameras, we don''t need viins knowing you''re on the other side of Tokyo." "I''ll travel as Law, this feels too perfect to be a coincidence...but---." "I know," Nezu says. "We just can''t take the risk, I''ll do what I can here to boost security as quietly as possible, you just stay safe, and be quick." "I''ll do my best..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 229: (Meltdown) Chapter 229: (Meltdown) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- Standing atop a small 6-story building. Normally a bustling hotel and restaurant but now entirely deserted, Law Matani looks out at the city of Kelto. At the top of Japan''s northern ind, it was hours away from UA by conventional means. Thankfully Law has ess to things other than trains and boats. Looking down at the city below, there were only a final few stragglers making their way out. Thest remaining people before this city became a temporary ghost town. Emergency service personnel were busy opening the manholes all across the city and entering, wearing full body protective suits, sealing them away from the leaked gas so they don''t get killed by the fumes. A few news drones could be spotted observing them, the heroic few entering the undergound systems to find the massive gas leak and contain it before the entire city explodes. ROOM! Law''s eyes glow bright blue and begin releasing blue energy vapor as he opens a Room spanning 20km total, 10km in any direction from him. SCAN! He casually takes stock of anyone left behind by the evacuation services, noting that they did a thorough job, then focuses toward the edge of the city. Where he could see the massive Kelto reactor resting on the coast. Taking out his phone he gives Pro Hero 13 a call. "Horizon, are you here yet?" Thirteen asks, he can hear the worry in her voice. "I''m just double checking the city incase people got left behind in the evacuation, how are things at the reactor?" "Not good, we have about an hour before this thing goes critical." "Can we go in yet?" "No," Thirteen says. "The engineers are still trying to flood the system remotely, if we open the doors the radiation will leak past the control room so there won''t be any going back from that, this is theirst chance before evacuating." "Got it, so you can exin to me what the hell is happening then," Law says. "Modern reactors are made so well that its nearly impossible for this to happen. The fail safes should have shut it down by flooding it with water or by releasing the dampeners, how is this possible?" "We aren''t sure yet, but they can do a autopsy of this after we solve it." SHAMBLES! Horizon''s Hero Costume appears on his body, and Scalpel is floating at his side. Focusing on the reactor he senses some scattered paper beside 13 and swaps with it. SHAMBLES! He appears beside her, cutting off the phone call and startling her. "Good, you''re here, is the city clear?" she asks. "All clear, now we just have to deal with this," he gestures to the massive st doors in front of them. Looking back he senses the engineers in the control room, all wearing full hazmat suits as they stressfully work at theputers. "You need a hazmat suit!" Thirteen says. "If we have to open these doors the radiation will be beyond lethal!" "Huh, I thought you called me because I can handle radiation?" "You can? When President Pantu and I discussed this she only said you''d be a good person to have around for this, she didn''t get into the specifics." "My Quirk is very good in situations like these, she made the right call bringing me in on this. Now, tell me everything you couldn''t say over the phone." "The reactor seals cracked, along with some of the gates containing the heat. That lead to a chain reaction of sorts that apparently warped the metal and stopped the failsafe protocols from happening." "I thought that was impossible," Horizon says. "On paper it should be, but I suppose someone did the math wrong." "And the people?" "A false gas leak has been reported, and president Pantu ordered Bubble Girl and a few others with Quirks that can produce certain odors to trick the people. The evacuation was necessary incase we fail." "And the people in the city actually looking for gas leaks." "They''re wearing those suits for a reason, it''ll give them enough protection to get out of the city should we fail. They''ll be fine no matter what. But we needed them to also believe there is a gas leak, we need the media on our side for this. If things go as we want, this situation will be resolved without anyone ever knowing we almost had a nuclear ident here. Japan is already under internal and external scrutiny on a global scale, we can''t afford to be the first country in centuries to mishandle our reactors." "I''m more concerned about what happens if the media knows I''m here." "Why is that?" "If they see I''m here, it would be logical for Shigaraki to attack UA, and if I''m here they can''t stop Machia''. It''ll be a ughter,pound that with this reactor having a full meltdown...Japan will fall apart within a few minutes." "And many Top Pros are at UA, so we wouldn''t be able to handle the chaotic aftermath," Thirteen says. "That''s why only the people here, Nezu, and President Pantu and her trusted agents are aware of this." "I see," Horizon crosses his arms and doesn''t speak for a moment. "What is it?" "Doesn''t this seem too perfect to you? The most important day for me to be at UA, and this happens all the way at the other end of Japan, now I''m here and they''re vulnerable." "Not everything is about you," Thirteen says. "The viins couldn''t know about your radiation abilities right? Its a fair assumption that you''d be here to evacuate people or in worst case heal people and rescue survivors, but that doesn''t mean someone would do this just to get you away from UA." "I hope you''re right, so what''s the n for in there?" he gestures to the doors. "I get to the nuclear material and use my Quirk, ck Hole, to destroy it. Disposing of that much energy rich matter will put me out ofmission for a few weeks, at best, but its the safest way to protect everyone." "Then I''ll deal with the remaining radiation by shoving it into the carbon rods, alright, sounds good." "Mhm," Thirteen nods. "For the record, always knew your Quirk wasn''t limitless," Horizon says. "Oh yeah, what gave it away?" "Well I have a brain, not to mention, if you could generate a real ck hole, you''d be Mystery ss. Because we still don''t know how those work." "I always wondered about that, Mystery ss, is that true or is it a publicity stunt? Stanr and Stripe seems to be able to do a lot of things, like she has a hundred different Quirks. And you''re simr, but ''Beyond Comprehension'' seems like a stretch." "Honestly, even as a Mystery ss and Quirk specialist, its difficult to understand but impossible to exin. Just consider it magic, that''s all." "Ms. Thirteen," the engineers announce over the internal PA system of the facility. "I''m sorry, but we weren''t able to stop it, you''ll have to go in. When we open the doors all radio wavemunication will stop working, we''ll watch from the cameras remotely but, you''ll be on your own." Horizon stays quiet, still not wanting the engineers to know he''s her, incase one of them was a saboteur. And only momentster the massive st doors begin moving, and a wave of heat ms into both the heroes. Horizon flinches as it crashes into him, feeling the radiation instantly attacking his body. BOOSTER SHOT! Blue energy vapor begins pouring off his body, healing him as quickly as the radiation was hurting him. "Are you alright?" Thirteen asks, she sees him take a deep breath then shrug off the pain of his cells being irradiated. "I''ll be fine, but lets make this quick, the longer we take the further the radiation gets." All of this happened while they could both hear Thirteen''s Geiger counter in her suit constantly making noise. "Follow me, and no warping," Thirteen says as she begins running forward into the hallway. "We can''t afford to skip any of the chambers, so lets do this the old fashioned way." Horizon is easily keeping up with the shorter woman, "how many Rads?" "Right now, 7000, and climbing by the second as the containment material is melted away. If we fail it''ll rocket past 30 thousand in an instant." "That might be more than I can handle right now," Horizon admits. "I''m surprised you can handle this many already, most people never fully recover from being sted by 100 just once, but you''re here walking as if its nothing." "I''m more impressed by that suit of yours," Horizon says. "If it cracks you instantly die in this radiation, but you''repletely unbothered." "It was made to contain my Quirk back when I was training. If I lost control as powerful as I am now it wouldn''t hold up, but its enough to handle this. Anything more than 12 thousand and I''ll be in trouble." After nearly a minute of running they arrive at the first chamber. "Well?" "One moment," Thirteen begins inspecting the seals. "This chamber is still perfectly fine, there are two more small ones like this to check, they''re on the route to the big reactor core." They begin running off again, and find the following two chambers are sealed. Which only leaves one chamber left. "Wow, can you handle that?" Horizon asks as theyy eyes on the main reactor core. It was a glowing red sphereying on the metal floor of what was a massive pool of water. Slowly melting into it, even this metal alloy that took almost two centuries of material science and clever Quirk use to create, and it was melting it. "Too hot," Thirteen says as he begins pushing into the heat. Her suit was built for moments like these, thanks to her Quirk and position as one of the worlds best Rescue Heroes, she''s prepared for even nightmares like this. Beneath her suit she was already drenched in sweat, her suit quickly losing structural integrity by the seconds. Her boots warping the nearly molten metal floor with each step. Behind her Horizon was in the doorway, his coat was already on the floor, burnt to ash. Along with his vest, undershirt, tie, and even his pants. All burnt away so quickly, leaving only his Body Glove in tact, but he could feel that falling apart as well. BOOSTER SHOT! For the first time he actively tries to draw out the energy vapor, calling it out to coat his body. He gets small patches of it across him, protecting him from the heat and radiation. "Ach!" he winces as the material of his visor begins melting and fusing with his skin. BOOSTER SHOT! His entire head is coated in the blue vapor, but instead of being blown away it clings to him like a strange jelly, taking the damage from the heat on his behalf. Feeling surprisingly cool even here in the reactor core. BOOSTER SHOT! He coats his entire body with the energy liquid, trying to match the radiation as Thirteen uses her Quirk. Standing directly in from of the basketball sized reactor core she raises her right hand, the removes the arm portion of her costume. Revealing her slender right hand to be covered in ck spots below the Hero Costume. The skin immediately begins burning away and bing ck, dying. "BLACK HOLE!" She activates her Quirk at full power for the first time in over a decade, and all the ck spots on her hand grow and fuse together. It pulls in the air and the radiation from the room. Horizon drops to his knees to avoid being easily pulled in, resting his hands on the floor to give himself more friction. Thirteen pushes forward and makes direct contact with the reactor core, and slowly it begins to break apart and be absorbed by her Quirk. The limit of matter and energy she can breakdown and absorb grows with mastery and experience. But this object had trillions of calories, so breaking it down wasn''t so simple. The moment to outer shell cracks the Rads in the room jump to 18 thousand. And Horizon feels his energy reserves take a massive hit, his Quirk instantly released more energy to match the radiation, and he felt hungry all of a sudden. Looking up he only sees blinding red light, then 30 secondster the entire room goes silent and begins cooling down. He stops making the energyyer around himself and gets up, taking deep breaths, already exhausted. And looks up to see Thirteenying on the floor, her helmet and the front of her suit was torn up, leaving her body exposed and unclothed, at least in the front. Both her arms were once again revealed, this time without the spots on this, showing her Quirk was unusable at the moment. Short ck hair and a cute face, reminiscent of Toru. But as Horizon kneels beside her to Scan her body, the most noticeable feature are the eyes, pupils like event horizons, glowing golden and ck, quite appropriate considering her Quirk. "You''re pretty cute," Horizon says as he Scans her. Thirteen winces from slight pain as he touches her, then begins feeling a draft blow across her naked body, but is too exhausted to care. "The radiation...rods," Thirteen says, her voice sounding frail. "I''ll take care of it, you just rest..." SHAMBLES! A pillow appears in her ce, as he warped her into one of the room of the hotel he visited earlier. END CHAPTER--- Happy 1 year anniversary to this story, we''re about done with 45% of the plot, no idea how many chapters that means this will be but I hope you''re enjoying the ride :) Chapter 230: (Almost Nuclear Aftermath) Chapter 230: (Almost Nuclear Aftermath) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "Thirteen won''t be able to use her Quirk for months after that," Horizon says as he stands up. Looking down at his body glove he sees bits and pieces melted, burnt, and warped. Parts of the internal gel armor werepletely destroyed due to his inability to regte his external energy. Not that he cared that much, it''s a move he just came up with after all. "Ok, time to get to work," he looks around, taking stock above and around him. He was standing in what was the massive pool below the reactor core, and all around him were sealed cylindrical ports in the wall. Each containing a dozen ultra dense carbon rods. "So the failsafe was that the core would be lowered into this pool, but that didn''t happen, until it melted its restraints," he looks up at the melted metal that once held the core in ce. He looks down at the metal floor that was still somewhat molten. "And this ce ran out of water, because that gate didn''t open for the ocean to pour in," he looks at arge gate on the ceiling, that was still closed. "And the radiation got out of this room, because these things didn''t eject the Carbon Dampener Rods to absorb it," he looks around at all the ports containing the rods. "Threeyers of fail safes that stopped working, but the engineers said that all the stuff on the digital side of it kept working...someone was messing around in here." He takes a deep breath and creates a new Room, only asrge as the facility itself. "Takt!" All the ports with the rods are torn open, and he noticed something strange about the lock. "First things first, contain the radiation before it reaches the city," with a wave of his hand he stacks all the rods at his feet in a neat pile, then raises his right hand and holds the wrist with his left. Taking a deep breath he closes his eyes, and focuses on the most minute thing in his Room. On the energy and radiation in the air. He senses that the radiation is even at the limits of his Room, and expands it for another kilometer until he was sure he''d gotten it all. Ever since Overhaul, he''d been practicing more and more with this move. Since that fight his mind has been able to snap to focus on the energy in the air much easier. He rarely get headaches anymore while training. He can feel his power growing, and he''s getting better and better at drawing out more of it. He''s nowhere near able to tap into all of his new power, nowhere near aligning his mind and heart. Nowhere near that breakthrough that would propel him to the absolute and undisputed top of this world. Nowhere near being the ascended being that would only know absolute and crushing victory from that moment onward. But luckily, that was only four months away for Horizon. And right now, he was still enough. GAMMA: STRIKE! All the radiation glows green and red this time since its not only gamma radiation from the air. The engineers at the edge of the perimeter watch in amazement as the air itself glows and is pulled toward the reactor core room. Pulled through the building itself and into the earth below. Then it gathers in the palm of Horizon''s hand before he reaches out and touches the pile of carbon rods. The metal greedily absorbs the energy and heats up, softening slightly as the environment is once again safe. Horizon slouches slightly and takes some tired breaths, "ok, time to figure out, what the fuck happened here." He looks around at the seals for the port containing the rods, and with a though brings one to float in front of him. Reaching out he inspects the seal, and everything appears normal. The motor that should have opened it was perfectly fine, at least before Horizon tore it out of the wall. SCAN! Then he finds it, within the locking mechanism the metal was fused together. SHAMBLES! Scalpel appears in his hand. AMPUTATE! He cuts the lock in two, now able to see a cross section. And sees the entire thing was perfectly fused together. Looking up he sees the mechanism that was supposed to lower the core into the water melted into liquid, beyond inspection. "The water gate," Horizon warps his hoverboard to him and stands on it, lifting himself up to the gate on the ceiling, meant to keep the ocean at bay until it was time to flood the core. cing his hand on it he focuses and Scans it, sensing the metal also fused together, making it impossible to open. Without alerting the engineers that anything changed, since the motors and electricals were unaffected. "Nezu!" Horizon reaches up and touches the side of his visor, only to feel the shape of his ear with the material melted onto it. "Fuck!" he looks at his left forearm and sees the hologram interface Mei made for his was also melted. SMAHBLES! Horizon warps outside to where the engineers were anxiously waiting in a small tent. They''re all startled as he appears, surprising them men who were all wearing their hazmat suits and ready to evacuate. "I need a phone, now!" "Uh, wh---" "Thirteen and I stopped the reactor, I need a phone, now!" "Here," one of the men hastily hands him his phone and Horizon begins dialing,pletely oblivious to how he looks. He walks away from the men so that he can''t be overheard. Like a man who was bathed in molten stic then rapidly cooled. Even when one of cameras got a full view of him, he didn''t notice, too busy calling Nezu. "Who is---" "I dealt with it," Horizon cuts Nezu off. "It was Wolfram, secure the Shields, I''ming back to UA now, I can''t talk on this phone." "Got it," Nezu hangs up. Looking at the time Horizon sees its already 4 PM, the UA Culture Festival was already over. "Shit," he snaps the phone in half and tosses it into the ocean nearby. "Awe, that was my phone," one of them men mutter, they were peeking out of the tent. Horizon sighs and walks back over the the tent, and all the men can sense how uneasy he was. And if Horizon is uneasy, they''re were downright terrified of what could cause that. "You men did nothing wrong," Horizon says to the engineers, the men who would have been held ountable for this disaster, for the death of millions. "What?" "This was the work of a viin," Horizon says. "Principal Nezu will inform President Pantu, you need to stay here with me until she gets more forces her to protect you and debrief you." "A viin did this?" the lead engineer asks. "What kind of monster would do that?" "You don''t have to worry about that, I''ll deal with it," Horizon reassures them. "But what about you, are you alright?" the man gestures to Horizon''s melted costume. "And where''s Thirteen?" "She had another emergency to deal with so I warped her there." "Ahh," the engineers breath a sigh of relief. Within 20 minutes Horizon was relieved by a Hero Public Safety Commission agent carrying a secure phone. He was quickly informed that both David and Melissa Shield werepletely fine and at UA. The UA Culture Festival went exactly as nned, no viin sightings and only one fight almost happened, but luckily Shinso was able to put a stop to it. Which leads Horizon to where he was now, in President Pantu''s office giving a full debrief. "Look, you made the news, again," Pantu says as she brings up a hologram of a social media post. Showing Horizon speaking to some engineers on the Kelto Reactor facilitypound. This is after the incident was concluded, and in the picture he appeared somewhat disheveled and unkempt. "News drone?" "Yes, and the posted it before I could shut them down," Pantu says. "It turns out your friend saw through the gas leak story." "Well Chitose is a pro at manipting the media, so it makes sense that she''d see when someone else tries to do it." "Has she asked you for an official statement?" "My new phone is at UA, so I haven''t checked yet," Horizon says. "What should I say." "Hmm," Pantu considers the options. "The picture and the location make it quite obvious, if we lie the people won''t respect us and they''ll think we failed to protect them and are hiding it." "And the truth?" "Is the best option," Pantu says. "Being a viin is despised by the public, but being willing to cause a nuclear meltdown, kill a city and contaminate the water supply for millions of people and that much farmnd." "There won''t be a civilian in Japan willing to be swayed by the league, since that''s who everyone will assume was behind it, only the real psycho''s will join them. Their recruitment numbers will drop and they''ll take another hit in credibility because we stopped them." "That''s the best I can think of to spin this in our favor," Pantu says. "But I still don''t understand the purpose of killing so many people, the motive of just death, destruction, and chaos...that fits Shigaraki''s profile." "But this was likely Wolfram," Horizon says. "He''s supposed to be an aplished and smart mercenary, mass murder is just a tool for him. It should have been a distraction but Melissa and David are still at UA, I don''t get it." "You think there''s another attack imminent?" Pantu asks. "Most likely, this had to have been a distraction for something." "Will you be in Tokyo tonight? If he wants mass murder and cmity as a distraction, Tokyo would be the ce to do it." "I need to go check on UA, incase this was a distraction to nt a bomb or something." "I see," Pantu shuts off the hologram. "And, did you perhaps let them take that picture so I''d have to release the truth to make you look good?" "No," Horizon says, and she senses no lie. "I have enough good credit as is, I''d never want the public to see me like that, as if I''m melted and falling apart. Not to mention I was more of a sidekick to Thirteen during that." Pantu doesn''t detect any lies, and only nods. "Thirteen will be fine by the way, she won''t be able to use her Quirk for a few weeks, or months." "That''s certainly a relief, now I have to figure out the details of our story, I''m sure you''ll appreciate the credit you''ll get from this." "Well it won''t hurt, now I need to go, see ya..." With that Horizon warps away. And beneath her icy fa?ade Pantu was even more annoyed, by how much more Japan would adore him for this. How much more desirable he was to other countries. And how much they needed him... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 231: (1 Month Anniversary) Chapter 231: (1 Month Anniversary) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- ---7 PM... "Dude you''re crazy if you really thought you''d win this, with that weird y of all things, ha, as if," Sero gloats to Monoma. Both boys were sitting opposite each other in the 1Amon room after the UA Culture Festival, surrounded by their ssmates with Sero having one arm around Yui who was mostly asleep beside him. Monoma waves the sheet of paper they were discussing around, "the only thing this proves is that the student body doesn''t know true entertainment." "Doesn''t matter, we won the votes," Sero says tly. "Because they couldn''tprehend the transcendent art in our y, while your ss made a catch song and some silly dan---ACH!" Monoma bites his tongue as Kendo smack him on the head. "They worked their butts off for that concert," she says, noticing all the 1A students ring at him. "It was great, and better than our y...kind of cheating since they''ve got Jiro thought." "Oh yeah," Sero says. "She''s totally our musical secret weapon." A few more people pass Jiropliments, causing her to blush where she was sitting at one of the tables beside Momo. But then both girls gets up, Jiro goes to make some snacks and Momo makes a deck of cards, walking over to Deku''s group. "I never said it was bad," Monoma rifies. "Just that our art was harder to understand...for this uncultured student body." "Maybe you lost them at the name," Mina says. "I mean honestly, ''Romeo, Juliet, the lion, the witch, and the prisoner of Azkaban, battle of the two towers''...that''s a lot." "As I said, uncultured." "Well at least you did one thing right, Yui was the princess," Sero gives her a small kiss on the cheek causing her to lean into him. "Ugh," Monoma groans. "I think its cute," Mina says. "Who would have guessed that Horizon''s best friend would be such a good boyfriend." "Yeah," Sero says as they continue chatting about the UA Culture Festival. But during that he nces around the room, noticing everyone doing their usual chatter. But he shares a look with Shinso, then with Juzo, then they all look toward Melissa. She was sitting opposite Deku who was on the floor opposite her. They were talking in their usual group, Deku, Melissa, Tsu, Uraraka, and Shoto, but Melissa looked awfully busy on her phone tonight. Earlier she''d said she was exhausted from today, showing off all her Support Equipment to the public. Even if she apparently wouldn''t be at UA much longer, she still got into the UA spirit for the festival. But Team Horizon is keeping an eye on her because they''ve been tasked with that. Horizon wanted them to make sure she was at this little social gathering, to see if they spot anything weird with her. But aside from her not talking much, there wasn''t anything abnormal. Although the amount of effort it took for them to get her here was suspicious, they even had to get Midoriya convinced that she should be there tonight. All without knowing anything specific. Just a simple message of ''Make sure Melissa is at our dorm tonight, to make friends'' was enough, at least since that''s what Horizon sent them. Because its from Horizon, and thest thing he cares about was his ssmates having a healthy social life. Especially when concerning a girl he doesn''t exactly get along with. A few minutester Sero is in a game of Jenga with Kendo, Monoma, and Yanagi...who was probably cheating with her Telekinesis Quirk. Even if they couldn''t prove it, but she was just ''so good she had to be cheating'', ording to Sero. Team Horizon notices Momo join in Deku''s small group on the carpet as they begin shuffling cards, and Melissa just backs away so she''s out of the circle, still close enough to listen to the conversation. ''Nothing too suspicious so far, she just seems a bit tired from today, but everyone is, so that''s normal...'' they all think after sharing a few nces. A few minutester and Horizon finally arrives back at the dorms, still wearing his Hero Costume. Sword nowhere to be seen but a small and simple bouquet of flowers in his hand. Sero immediately leaps at the chance, "ooohhh, flowers huh, did you flip a coin to see who gets them or will they share that too?" A few small fits ofughter burst forth around the room, then he sees both Momo and Jiro ring daggers at him. "Uh, sorry." "Is that really something you should be concerned about?" Horizon walks up to the couches and folds his arms, looking down at Sero. "Nezu told me you almost got into a fight, and Shinso stopped you." The entire room falls silent, most of them didn''t even know about this incident. "Its nothing to worry about, didn''t even get to throw a punch." "Mhm, he told me his version, and that you''ve got cleaning duty as punishment, and can''t leave UA for Hero Work until next week," Horizon says. "So...what''s so important that you had to get into a fight and fuck up our team schedule, Cellophane?" "Uhh," Sero looks genuinely scared for a moment. "It was just some nobody Pro Hero, a D-Lister if I''ve ever seen one." Most of the room looks horrified that their ssmate would try to fight a Pro Hero, but Horizon just stands there with his arms crossed. "Look the guy was asking for it, alright," Sero says. "I mean all he was doing is constantly talking crap about UA, about how it was failing us and putting us in danger." "And you got mad because of that?" Horizon asks. "For school spirit, are you that stupid?" "Obviously not," Sero says. "He just...I lost my cool when he started talking crap about us. Saying stuff like the government is lying about you, that you didn''t really do all the things the news says. That our whole team is just a bunch of fake news the government and UA are pushing onto people. I just couldn''t take listening to him anymore." Sero sighs and sinks into the couch, and Horizon just shakes his head. "Sorry," Sero says. "Its fine, that''s eptable, once it wasn''t just you fighting for some school spirit nonsense at least. What we do is a bit hard for losers to believe, and you didn''t use your Quirk so he can''t ask for you to lose your license, and he won''t know you''re Cellophane." "I wouldn''t have used my Quirk for him," Sero says. "Wouldn''t need it." Horizon actuallyughs at that, "that''s what I like to hear. And Shinso, good work stopping this moron from getting into any more trouble. Honestly you beating up a Pro Hero wouldn''t be the end of the world since you''re on my team, and I''ve got Japan in the palm of my hand right now, and if they fuck with me I''d have it bent over biting the pillow, but lets not push it, ok?" "Understood," Sero nods bashfully. "And gross example." "Whatever, enjoy cleaning duty," Horizon says as he lifts the bouquet, "now if you don''t mind, I need to give these to my girlfriend..." The entire room remains silent, but some eyes go wide, others were clearly horrified at the idea of any girl being with Horizon. Then he begins walking over to where the game of cards was happening on the floor. Momo''s eyes instantly be glossy, almost tearing up, hand covering her mouth. Tsu looks at her and shakes her head, feeling sorry for her friend. Mina is almost jumping in excitement. Jiro across the room in the kitchen is frozen in shock, not even able to process this. So many colliding thoughts in all their heads, and they all then go out the window once more as he walks right past Momo. And stands in front of Melissa Shield, who was ignoring all of this and watching a video on her phone. She looks up at him, concerned and bewildered. Horizon sighs, "of course you''d forget, you''re always so caught up in making stuff...c''mon babe this is our 1 month anniversary." Melissa instantly snaps to her senses and blinks a couple times, "oh right, sorry. I''ve just been busy with the festival, and now I''m already a bit tired so...you know." "It''s fine, I know the kind of person my girlfriend is..." Tsu gives Momo aforting pat on the shoulder, and in the kitchen Jiro is still frozen in shock. Horizon simple hands Melissa the bouquet and steps off to the side so they were beside each other, with the girl still sitting on the carpet. "Uh, um, so," Deku stumbles over his words for a bit. "When did, I mean, how long have you two been together?" "Yeah," Uraraka says shyly. "When did this happen?" "Well, about a month ago," Melissa says, "it was a bit of a surprise but before I knew it we got together." She gives them a bashful smile. "Actually, no, we didn''t..." In one swift motion Horizon raises his hands and warps Scalpel into it, unsheathed, then brings it down directly onto Melissa. Many of the young heroes including Deku spring into action ready to tackle him away from her, aside from Team Horizon who simply sit and watch. But Deku and everyone else stop at the sound of metal piercing metal, the few sparks emanating from her shoulder. And the wisps of smoke being released from her body as she goes limp, eyes bing ck as they power down. She was sitting with her legs crossed, so Scalpel had pierced through her left shoulder, into her left forearm, into her left thigh and through that into her right ankle since her legs were folded. And at each entry point some sparks were seen. They all look on in horror as Horizon just sighs and lets go of the sword. "Damn, I was hoping for a shapeshifter, can''t really question a robot..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 232: (Trails) Chapter 232: (Trails) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "What happened to Melissa?" Deku yells out as everyone else is frozen in shock. Sero just shakes Yui awake as he sits back awaiting an exnation, while Juzo and Shinso make their way over to themotion. "She''s a robot, obviously," Horizon says as he casually pulls Scalpel to the side, tearing off the robots arm with it. They all look at the robot in surprise, then to him for an exnation. But instead he just takes a knee beside the robot and inspects it. ''They used some kind of strange almost living organic membrane,'' he thinks while touching the skin, using Scan on the robot. ''They couldn''t have know that I can''t Scan within people from range...they got lucky with this part of the disguise.'' "Should we be looking out for other imposters?" Juzo asks. "My Quirk would be a easy way to tell," Shinso says. "If it doesn''t work then the person is a robot." "Maybe this was just her testing out some new project!" Kirishima suggests, hopeful that this wasn''t a sign of something bad. "This is the only one," Horizon says as he gets back up. "Making any more would raise the chances of being found out, this one tried to act exhausted from the festival to avoid human interaction, luckily I expected that when sending Sero to drag her over here." Hearing this Sero gets up, leaving the confused Yui on the couch and walks over, "makes sense, but uh, what the hell?" "Keep this quiet," Horizon looks around at everyone, seeing them nod and wait for his exnation. "Don''t need the public finding out UA got breached..." "Is Melissa alright?" Deku asks, voicing what everyone was thinking. "She''s fine, if they hurt her then its less likely David will y along with their demands. She got kidnapped during the festival, toward the end of it." Some of them look horrified at the thought of that, and the fact that somehow nobody noticed. "Hound Dog is already tracking the scent, I sent him to do that before I even came over here to deal with the imposter...honestly was hoping it was a shapeshifter so I could interrogate her...but this sucks." "You intended to do that to a person?" Momo asks, giving the dismembered robot a worried look. "Well, the stab yeah, would have left the arm on though," Horizon sighs. "Anyway, stay on alert until I get her back." "But why the weird anniversary lie?" Sero asks. "Such a ballsy move means the shapeshifter probably studied her somehow, or was able to take some of her memories, surface thoughts or otherwise. Throwing a curveball like that would confuse her, but since it didn''t and she just went along with the lie---" "She overyed her part," Jiro says. "Which is why you were confident that the real Melissa wasn''t here." "Essentially yes, now I just need to wait for Hound Dog to track them down. In the meantime, stay on alert and don''t leave the dorms. All the teachers are on alert but we doubt there will be anything else at UA. The entire point of this was doing it quietly because they weren''t confident in winning a direct fight, we''ll be fine." "I see, and is there anything you''d like us to do?" Horizon looks around at all their worried faces, then at the robot at his feet. "Just stay safe, and don''t let anyone know about this. But Shinso, use your Quirk on people just to double check." "Got it," Shinso says. SHAMBLES! Horizon appears in Nezu''s office, and the robot he was gently touching with his feet is warped with him. Nezu and Eraser Head were already there, and Eraser Head immediately jumps to his feet ready to fight, his mind sent into overdrive since Horizon''s call earlier. "What''s that?" Eraser Head asks as Horizon puts the robot on the coffee table. "Robot copy, we weren''t lucky enough to get a shapeshifter to interrogate." "On the contrary, this could be even better," Nezu says. "Did you check if it had a bomb?" "I''m a doctor, not a mechanic, that''s why I brought it here." Nezu immediately hops out of his seat and fishes around in his desk for a tablet device. Rushing over as fast as his little legs can take him he begins scanning the robot, not at all phased by how lifelike it appears. Eraser Head and Horizon just take a seat and patiently wait. "So, how''s David?" Horizon asks. "Asleep," Eraser says. "Seriously?" "He''s not exactly the mentally toughest person so we left him sleeping," Eraser says. "The instant they make a call requesting whatever ransom they want, he''ll fold." "Yeah but since its his daughter that''s his choice to make," Horizon says. "We just have to solve this before that call happens." "They won''t do that until they''re out of Japan," Nezu says as he''s still scanning the robot. "They know remaining in Japan is a terrible idea with her in their clutches." "Especially since you can track any call they make," Horizon says. "Speaking of call," Nezu says. "Melissa''s phone is in her room, and her student ID is still on this robot, but there is no bomb." "Hound Dog would have noticed the scent of any explosives," Eraser says. "Putting a bomb in it would be risky." "Leaving it in my possession is also risky," Nezu says as he connects a cable between the tablet and the robot. "The sooner you can find them the sooner I can---" Horizon cuts himself off, remembering Eraser is present. "Have them arrested so the police can get some answers out of them." Eraser rolls his eyes, "no need to lie for my sake, I know you can be a bit heavy handed when ites to viins. After all, I''ve seen how you interact with your ssmates, I''d hate to be a viin fighting you." "Is that why you never let me fight Deku during Hero Training?" Horizon asks yfully. "It could be fun, and if he wants to be the #1 Pro Hero, what better practice is there?" "Well considering the rtionship you two have...that''s never going to happen." "W---" "No, you being able to heal him doesn''t put my mind at ease, " Eraser cuts him off. "In fact, it makes me even more concerned that you''ll go overboard because of that." "Tch, whatever." "If you two are done," Nezu says. "I''ve learned some things from this robot." "Mhm, well don''t keep us waiting." "Well, actually I couldn''t learn much," Nezu admits. "Seriously?" "This is sophisticated machine, but it didn''t have any wirelessmunication signals being sent or received from it. They expected us to eventually find it of course so this was meant to be disposable and leave no trail." "How was it able to copy her so well?" Eraser Head asks. "Somehow it hacked into UA and used camera footage and audio recordings, not to mention when it got ahold of her phone. It was then able to put it all together with the many videos of her receiving awards or being interviewed over the years." "Plus it acted all tired to excuse any odd behavior," Horizon says. "But her phone and UA are run on your system, how he hell did they get into it?" Nezu disconnects the tablet from the robot and goes back to his desk, connecting it to theputer there, "I''m not sure yet but I believe the viin has some kind of organic virtual interface Quirk." "A technopath," Aizawa says. "Those are rare, super rare, and they all work for various governments." "This wasn''t a attack by another government," Horizon says. "Between my own value and reputation, plus my connection to America''s president, nobody would be dumb enough to do that. Making your nation an enemy of me is putting a target on your back for other nations to pressure in order to win my favor." "So its an independent body, that''s better at least," Eraser says. "And with this I can counter him," Nezu says. "Luckily he only cared for the things regarding Melissa, but the code in this robot and the relevant signals they used earlier have a brain wave pattern. I can make a program to detect and actively counter it, so event his technopath won''t be able to break into my systems again." "How is that even possible?" Horizon asks. "Because human imagination to solve virtual coding problems such as this is limited by the methods avable, but I am beyond human intelligence," Nezu does an adorable superviinugh which just has Horizon shaking his head. As they''re waiting Horizon gets a message from Hound Dog. "The scent got much stronger heading to the southeast, he''s almost at Kyushu," he says. "Which only leaves one of Japan''s inds as the potential escape route." "Well we already have airports on high alert," Eraser says. "Even if it was meant to be a quiet alert, apparently this guy controls technology to some extent right? That means they know, so they can''t use the airports." "True, which means they''ll need a boat, and if their main goal is just to get out of Japan, its a safe bet they''ll head to South Korea since that ce is super close." "Yes but they can''t use legal means since we''ve got those on alert too." "Yeah well, from the direction Hound Dog gave me, I''ve got a pretty solid idea of the ports they''ll use." "Really, how?" Eraser asks. "When I was researching for that ck market operation I did, Ipiled a list of ports with the most ck market naval smuggling to South Korea," he lied. "I see, well you should get your hoverboard and fly ahead of Hound Dog, good luck." "Yeah, and if they call here, just buy me some time. Even if they enter South Korea, I doubt the politicians over there will mind me paying a visit to get them back." With that Horizon warps away, on the hunt for his targets... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 233: (Metal Storm) Chapter 233: (Metal Storm) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- ---Fukukoa Japan, 9PM... Soaring through the sky on his hoverboard, Horizon is now entering Fukukoa, Japan''s major city on the main inds that is closest to South Korea. He''d never actually been here before, but it is a hub for associates of his other life. May it be taking a boat to South Korea, or importing equipment and people via cargo ships. Since thest war, Japan''s northern naval port mostly sends cargo toward the USA or South America, but in Fukukoa its one quick ride to South Korea. And from there, anywhere in Europe or Asia. Which is exactly why its such a transit hub for the underworld. Flying above the city Horizon weaves through some skyscrapers to see the modern port, a man-made ind just miles beyond the bay. There were dozens of monolithic ships docked, currently being loaded and manned. Metal shipping containers stacked high atop each other, set out in blocks containing hundreds. The ind itself was over a mile -1.6km long and half as wide, and the lights on it could be seen from anywhere in the province. High above the massive stacks of shipping containers and the ships themselves were the cranes, gargantuan feats of engineering that load hundreds of containers each day. Billions of dors of investment andmerce simply sitting in the ocean, and Horizon was flying toward it. "Hello?" he answers a call directly into his visor. "The other ports are clear," d King says. "You were right, he has to be at that one." "Yeah, good thing I fed them some intel that the coast guard was patrolling extra heavily tonight, they''ll be stuck there until tomorrow at least." "How did you even manage that?" d King asks. "That''s none of your business, keep the other ports locked down until I get the girl back---" Horizon hangs up. As he makes his final approach to the port ind, only a few miles away, Horizon sees the lights on the ind flicker. On the cranes, the roads, even the ships. They went out for a moment beforeing back on, then there was a massive ng sound. "This is gonna be annoying, isn''t it..." Horizon mutters while turning on the camera in his visor. The sound of metal grinding against metal echoes across the water, all the way to the city behind him. His Room was already open, using Scan to focus on the port ind, but there were so many people he couldn''t easily locate Wolfram. "Gotcha," he says as he finds Melissa. With a flick of his wrist he warps one of his metal cards into his hand, "Shambles." Hemands it to swap ces with her, but nothing happens. "Ok, that''s a problem," Horizon says, then he looks into the distance, and sees a gargantuan cargo ship rocketing through the air directly toward him. "So much for a easy job, guess its one of those nights..." SCAN! He checks the contents of the ship, locating all the men on board in an instant. As if time froze he could see them all stuck to walls from the sudden eleration, and above were the ship the shipping containers scattered about but also rocketing toward him. ''If I warp them out they''ll keep their momentum and just shatter against the water. Time to get creative.'' AMPUTATE! He slices apart some of the containers from range, while casually standing on the hoverboard. SHAMBLES! He swaps all of the men with some of the parts, and then begins flying off to the side to avoid the ship itself. TAKT! The ship and most of the containers crash into the ocean after rushing past him, causing a massive ssh and sending ripples all the way to the nearby shores. The water sshes so high that it nearly reaches him, but he simply looks at the impact to make sure nothing else unexpected happened. But all he hears and sees is the ship crumpling in on itself and breaking apart, mming into the ocean floor like a spear, obviously unable to maintain its form. Looking off to the side he sees 5 shipping containers floating over to him, with a few men on each one. He''s caught the men with them and slowed the eleration bit by bit to safely rescue them. Most of them wereying t, either holding on for dear life or heavily injured by the ship suddenly beingunched. With a thought he calls the containers over and connects them side by side, allowing the men to feel a bit morefortable as he hops onto it. "Horizon? What happened just now?" one of the men asked, he was barely able to sit up with the blood pouring down the side of his head. Horizon begins moving one by one to heal all of them, "just another psycho viin, I''ll take care of it don''t worry. Right now I just need all of you to stay seated as I get you to the shore, alright?" "Uh, yes sir," the man nods. "Good, now I should get everyone else out of the way too, before fighting that." "That?" the man asks. "Yeah, that," Horizon gets up and faces the port ind, seeing a swirling maelstrom of metal and concrete. Like a tornado has started to grab everything on the ind as it continues expanding outward. Horizon looks around at the closest shore, then expands his room even farther, 16km -10mi- in every direction from him. Enough to epass the edge of the city and the port ind. Focusing his mind he raises his hand, as if reaching out to grab the ind itself. "Shambles!" He thrusts his hand to the side, and in one smooth motion the men sitting around him on the containers disappear. Swapped with de of grass or leaves, as do all the people still trapped on the ind. All but two. SHAMBLES! Horizon suddenly appears inside the maelstrom as it envelops the entire ind, feeling winds pulling him in every direction as metal shes around him. But he was in the eye of the storm, where no debris was flying. He could sense every small piece of debris in the vortex, but seeing it from the inside was an entirely different matter. As if if were a wall of shrapnel ready to shred anyone who touched it. Scalpel is immediately in his hand as he looks around, then a momentter he focuses on his target. In the middle of it all, there was arge opening with metal structures and cables, clearly pulled out of the ground, shipping containers, and cranes. It flowed through the ground of the entire ind like roots of a tree, and now thousands of these ''roots'' were reaching upward and connecting directly into a tall, muscr, red haired man. He had pieces of metal all over his body with a device which appeared simr to the Mechanical Quick Amplification helmet David Shield made. It was thin, with narrow arms extending outward from the main core at the back of his head, but it seems to sink into his skin and fuse with his skull. Just as all the ''roots'' have done to his limbs, back, and parts of his chest. The roots were holding him in the air, just as they did for Melissa. She was wearing a pair of jeans and a pink frilly top, her forehead was bandaged and she had a bruise on her cheek. But she was also fused with these metal roots, making herself, Wolfram, and the entire ind into one big body. ''No wonder I couldn''t warp her out, shit...'' Horizon suddenly throws Scalpel to the side before swapping with it, then warping it back into his grasp. At his previous position the anchor of one of the massive ships ms down into the floor, then is easily picked up by the storm and begins swirling around them once more. "Amazing what a little thing like this can do, huh?!" Wolfram yells down at Horizon. The roots begins taking him and Melissa higher, until they were 20m -60ft- above Horizon. "Took my Quirk from just manipting metal I touch, to all of this!" "You know I can''t let you leave with it!" Horizon yells back. "Doesn''t matter either way, Tech made this one, he''s already figured it out. I''m just collecting this girl because its what I got paid to do, can''t leave a contract iplete after all, not that a Hero like you could understand that. But in my business, our word is all we are. So why don''t you just leave, let me turn her in, then maybe the boss will let her go since she''s useless to us now, huh, Hero?!" "Well, I promised I''d protect her, so I can''t got back empty handed," Horizon points Scalpel directly at Wolfram''s head. "Bad idea," Wolfram says. "You kill me, and who knows how far all of this will getunched," he gestures at the maelstrom around them. "Can the mighty Horizon really hold all of this metal in ce? Can you protect the entire city from it?" Horizon considers it for a moment, destroying Wolfram''s brain from here would be easy, not that he''d simply kill a viin and ruin his image. Plus, the fallout could make him look bad, it would set his reputation back for at least the next few months. ''The destruction of this port is already gonna get me into some trouble with the public, and Pantu, having the city get caught in our crossfire will only lead to more problems. And if I kill him then people could find out and I''d be in even deeper trouble...fine, guess I''ll y along.'' Horizon lowers his sword. "That''s more like it! Make this fun, let me test out my new power!" Wolfram yells as he gets a manic look in his eyes. "I''m sure you''re used to it, being so powerful there isn''t anyone in the world that can beat you, but this is new for me, so I''m gonna enjoy it!" "I''ve actually never felt invincible before, because everyone can be defeated, even me...but not by you." "ARGH!" Wolfram angrily swing his hand, and a buckshot of metalunches out of the maelstrom and at Horizon. A dozen shipping containers and a massive rudder. CURTAIN! All the metal ms against Horizon''s translucent blue shield, and continues to press against it. "This is my kingdom, and you''re gonna die in it!" Wolfram yells out, and a stream of metal from the opposite side is hurled at Horizon. TAKT! The ground all around them breaks apart even more as rocks shoot upward and begin floating in ce. SHAMBLES! Horizon swaps with one of the rocks and arrive on the opposite side of Wolfram. "No wonder your head is worth so much, ha!" Wolfram has the entire root system turn for he and Melissa to face Horizon. "And my prices are going way up after this!" ''Well, that makes my life a lot easier,'' Horizon realizes. ''Keeping him focused on me until he pulls all the metal inward, then I can just get close and end this. Especially since if I just use Amputate he''d pull himself back together, this guy must have spent quite some timeing up with this n. Making himself and Melissa into one massive body that he controls with a thought. I break the device and who knows how the maelstrom will react. I cut them up and he''ll use the metal in them like puppet strings and bring them back together. I kill him and the metal could go haywire, same as the device being broken. And he''s making sure there isn''t anything near him I can warp to. Fuck, this guy actually has a brain. Makes sense since he''s a mercenary and not just a moronic Viin...'' "Alright!" Horizon points his de at Wolfram. "Lets see how strong you really are!" END CHAPTER--- Chapter 234: (Metal Storm Pt.2) Chapter 234: (Metal Storm Pt.2) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "Now die!" Wolfram says as hemands pieces of metal from the maelstrom to rocket toward where they are in the eye of this storm. All directed at Horizon. He doesn''t expect to actually hit him on the first try, but he certainly wasn''t ready for what happened next. As shrapnel closed in on all sides, Horizon disappears, swapped with some floating rock. And as if it was automatic, more and more shrapnel was fired at railgun speeds, causing sparks in the air and the scent of iron and ozone to spread out. SHAMBLES: Flicker! Among the metal storm Horizon begins warping faster than anyone else could keep up with. Faster than the metal could hit, faster than the rogue sparks made from the maic storm could hit. So fast that he appears in dozens on ces simultaneously to Wolfram. "Won''t work, this is my world," Wolfram says as he narrows his eyes. Instead of trying to lock onto one location or predict Horizon''s absurd warping speed, he decides to rain hell onto this battlefield. The entire 50m circle they were fighting in that had been scraped apart and cleared out, that had hundreds of small floating rocks spread out among it. Became a dartboard for Wolfram. And the darts? Thousands of pieces of metal, ranging from the size of screws, nails, bolts, or other fragments. To entire crumpled up vehicles or pieces of the destroyed ships. The sparks in the air kept growing and growing, until eventuallyrge arcs of electricity appeared like lighting, constantly bouncing around the battlefield. The entire battlefield was hit at once, and he could see a change in Horizon''s after images. There were about a dozen less of them, which still meant at least 20 were up simultaneously. He suddenly felt the metal fused to his spine disconnect at the waist, then at the knees. For a moment his eyes widen in fear, terrified that his contingency for Horizon wouldn''t work. That the months of coborative effort between himself, Tech, other mercenaries and viins, was for nothing. "NO!" He increases the fire rate of the metal storm, and is relieved when more shes don''te for a few seconds. Precious seconds he used to maically control the metal in his body and the metal roots connecting him to the ground to reconnect himself. He still saw Horizon''s after images shing around, and his mind continued racing trying to figure out what was going on. But Wolfram is a world ss mercenary, he wasn''t as effective as Arsenal, nor did he enjoy cruelty and bloodshed as much as that monster. But he was still at the upper levels for a reason, so he immediately figured out what was going. All while constantly speeding up all the projectiles being sent at Horizon, and picking up more from around the ind to keep his ammo supply healthy. ''He knows he can''t sh me apart properly,'' Wolfram thinks. ''He does that and my bluff about all the metal being shot into the city if I lose control could happen, at least in his mind. That risk is too big for any Pro Hero to take. He has no choice but to wait for me to exhaust myself, and since he''s a Quirk Specialist he knows this device is exhausting to use. But all this warping must take some kind of energy toll on him, so its a battle of attrition, and if he retreats away from me I''ll just rain metal onto the nearby city and bring it down. Can''t imagine why anyone would want to be a Hero, its so easy trapping them in shitty situations like this, now he''s forced to keep warping until he makes a mistake or gets exhausted, then my metal storm will shred him down to nothing.'' "Agh!" Wolfram flinches for a moment, causing the metal rain to slow for an instant, then he grits his teeth and ignored the sudden pain in his chest, speeding up the metal even faster than before. The sound of what are effectively thousands of bullets hitting the ground every second wakes Melissa before long. "What kind of Hero, does that?" Wolfram asks as he''s somewhat struggling to breathe now. There was a bit of blood on his lip as he kept exhaling more. Melissa sees this, then meets his gaze for a moment. With a thought he has a piece of metal fly by and not-so-gently tap the back of her head, knocking her out. ''Thest thing I need is some annoying kid screaming in my head, can''t even hear myself think here,'' he struggles to take a few deep breaths. By the second he tastes more and more blood on his lips. ''He used that ''Injection Shot'' Quirk to fire a hole through me, piercing my lung. Probably not enough to kill me, or maybe just enough to kill me since---'' "AGH!" Wolfram winces as he feels the same sensation in his other lung. ''This kid, he doesn''t fight like other Pro Heroes, he''s trying to get me to near death, because he knows he can just heal me right after the fight...he''s definitely no ''True Hero'', I might be in real danger here.'' Wolfram flinches again, this time feeling the main artery in his right leg get torn apart, along with the bone and muscle in line with it. The pain pisses him off, so much that he grinds his teeth hard enough to almost crack them against each other. With a wave of his hand he calls for the stream of metal to continue raining from above while a horizontal sweep of shrapnel covers the battlefield. CLINK CLINK CLINK! The sound of metal bouncing against something different catches his attention, and hemands the metal tree holding up him and Melissa to turn. Then he sees Horizon in a dome of pale blue energy, just like his shield earlier. ANTIBACTERIAL CURTAIN: Barrier! He narrows his eyes at this and focuses more and more on it, calling massive pieces of the ships and cranes to rain down onto this dome. ''Got you!'' he thinks as the metal is about to make impact, only for Horizon to disappear. But so do the massive pieces of metal he hurled at him. He didn''t think anything of it in the moment, but during the entire fight, the more threatening andrger pieces of metal have been disappearing from the battlefield. But Wolfram''s Quirk doesn''t province a Scan like Hand of God, it simply lets him control metal, and with the new device, control maism like streams. He has absolutely no idea exactly how many pieces of metal are in the maelstrom, or how big they are, or even exactly where they are. He simply makes maic fields in the air and maniptes them that way. But Horizon knew, in fact, from the very beginning Horizon has simply been stalling him. Stalling him until either his injuries cause him to pass out, or till Horizon could warp enough of therger pieces of metal down below the seabed. Using Scan to find loose rocks that he could swap them with to send them all the way to the bottom. Because, ''if he''s so focused on me then he won''t be reaching far for metal,'' Horizon thought at the start of the fight. ''He''ll be more focused on exerting control on the pieces he has than on collecting more or tracking where they are...'' In addition to using Scan for constantly tracking every piece of metal and searching the nearby seabed, he''s also using it to predict where the lowest concentration of metal will be at any moment, before using Shambles to put himself there. All while also using Takt to barely slow down or alter the trajectory of the shrapnel at his desired location so he won''t get shredded the moment he arrives. Which exins the question Wolfram couldn''t find an answer to, ''how the hell isn''t he dead yet? I made the concentration of attacks too close for anyone to survive, even a rat couldn''t dance between them this well.'' After nearly a minute of this dance, Wolfram noticed something different about the after images. BA-DUM! As if they began glowing blue. ''Are they releasing blue mist, what the hell? Does he have a water Quirk too, this could be bad with the ocean right there...'' But in truth thebination of mental strain and adrenaline was quickly getting to Horizon, it took much more than before, now power that has been bubbling below the surface was punching the barrier. And his higher functioning mind wasn''t quite ready to process it just yet. BA-DUM! Luckily, it was time for him to act, all therger pieces of metal, namely the pieces torn from ships and cranes, as well as many of the whole shipping containers, were at the bottom of the ocean nearby. So Horizon went on the offensive. There wasn''t anything near to Wolfram, and he needed to knock him out, as to his knowledge killing him could cause problems for the nearby city since the smaller pieces of metal were still swirling. TAKT! With much mental effort Horizonunches one of the smaller rocks from the side of Wolfram, out of the floor, carefully weaving through a path of shrapnel, directly toward the viin. Wolfram doesn''t even notice it, so focused on his Quirk even as his nose was already bleeding, until the pebble is directly in front of his face. He''d made such an effort to prevent anything from getting this close to him that he couldn''t miss it, his fear of Horizon being able to warp to him was now realized. SHAMBLES! Horizon swaps with it, sword held, de out but to the side. Thest thing he wants is to touch Wolfram with the de and lose his sword because of it, so in his other hand he already had a fistful of blue lightning. But as he''s about swing his fist into Wolfram, the man''s skin begins glowing bright red and releasing steam. His fist makes contact with the man''s chest, and his bones shatter as if he punched a wall of iron. BA-DUM! "Weak!" Wolfram says as small sparks erupt over his body, then an invisible force ms into Horizon. He''s sent hurtling backward into the rain of metal, before warping away. He appears nearby, and his dome barrier is already active, constantly being battered with metal. "Before Tech, my previous employer paid with a pretty handy Quirk, Muscle Enhancer!" Wolfram says. "Even if you get to me, you can''t win. And now that my electromaic barrier is up, you''ll never get anything close enough to warp to me again, just die already!" Horizon hears this as his barrier is being beaten more and more, the strain on his mind feels like it''ll break his brain in two. BA-DUM! His barrier itself begins shrinking, causing Wolframs eyes to widen, preparing for the euphoria that he''s sure wille from this kill. BA-DUM! Being the man who killed a Mystery ss will put him at the top of the world. Except it would nevere, in fact, the person who enters a state of euphoria is Horizon himself. BA-DUM! The power bubbling below the surface manages to spill out for a moment, brining a wave of euphoria and adrenaline with it as his entire body begins releasing the blue energy vapor. Wolfram sees it and every instinct screams at him to run away, but he''s in too deep. So he sees the Hero down on one knee, hands up as if he were trying to physically hold up the dome barrier that was constantly shrinking and cracking around him. BA-DUM! Pouring more and more energy into it, losing himself more by the second to a power he wasn''t quite ready for, yet. Wolfram lets this fear fuel him as he focuses, and within the barrier Scalpel shatters into hundreds of pieces and begins swirling around. BA-DUM! When Horizon was hit with his electromaic barrier earlier, he''d taken control of the sword, and this was the time to use it. Horizon doesn''t react as the bits of his own sword swirl around for a moment, but as they begins rocketing toward him. His head snaps up, as if he was staring into Wolfram''s very soul. BA-DUM! BA-DUM! BA-DUM! BA-DUM! BA-DUM! BA-DUM! BA-DUM! BA-DUM! BA-DUM! Wolfram doesn''t even have time to react as Horizon''s face is suddenly inches away from his. The viin doesn''t even have time to realize it, but Horizon warped into his barrier. Into a area where he made sure there was absolutely nothing to swap to. He swapped with nothing. Breaking a fundamental rule of Hand of God, at least when not in space he was familiar with. But just as human conventions never applied to Horizon. A fully realized Horizon willpletely shatter the limits and rules created by his previous self. And now, looking at this Horizon, with thick blue energy vapor poring off of him, then clumping together like ayer of liquid and clinging to his hand, the hand that was moving to grab Wolfram''s face. This viin was the first to experience the reality of a fully realized Horizon. The first of his many, many victims... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 235: (The Calm After) Chapter 235: (The Calm After) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "Fuck..." Horizon mutters as he sits on the floor, inside a small crater. The port ind was aplete mess, torn up not just from the metal storm and Wolfram''s Quirk, but from his reaction to it all. He now sat in this crater, with his jacket shredded apart and pants torn up, exposing the body glove beneath. His visor was cracked, but still intact as not to reveal any of the features beneath, even as a small steam of blue energy vapor was seeping out of it. Both his hands, up to the elbows, were drenched in blood and bits of flesh, but he himself waspletely fine, even now as he tried to catch his breath and focus his mind. Feeling himself crashing after the high he just experienced. In the small crater, at the middle of it, was Wolfram, or at least what was left of him. His face was smashed in, no, it was missing. His head and upper torso were beaten until it looked like ground meat, his right arm was mangled with chunks of flesh being torn off. And his left arm waspletely torn off from the shoulder, the separate limb resting only a few meters away within the crater. His entire torso suffered the same fate, being beaten into a pile of unidentifiable meat, with bits and pieces of his guts scattered about. Taking a few deep breaths Horizon gets up, swaying side to side, feeling as if he''s experiencing the worst hangover imaginable. He looks down at his bloody hands, and decides not to think about that right now, instead reaching up to his visor and tapping the side of it. "Call Pantu," hemands, while walking out of the crater over to Melissa. Swaying with each steps he feels his legs burning as he steps out and sees the girl,ying on the floor with some cuts and bruises across her body. "Horizon," Pantu''s voice is projected into his visor. "I assume this is good news..." "Not particrly," he says while walking over to her. "Did you retrieve Melissa Shield?" Pantu asks. "Yes, she''s right here," he steps on Melissa, not using his Quirk right now but nudging her, hard enough to make her groan, which she does. "She''ll be fine." "Well then, the only reason you''d call me is if something went wrong, and if she''s alive...what went wrong?" "I was a bit too heavy handed with Wolfram, I need your cleanup crew." "How heavy handed?" "Bring a mop," Horizon sighs. "I got a bit...I honestly don''t even know." "Were you conscious when you fought him?" "Mostly, I can''t exin this over the phone," Horizon says. "Can you send your team." "Yes, and I''ll keep the press and police away from the scene until they''re done, thest thing we need is the news getting wind of this." "Thanks." "I''m not doing this for you," Pantu says. "Japan simply can''t afford to be put in a position where we could lose you, drop the girl off at UA ande see me, and don''t tell anyone but Nezu exactly what happened." "Got it," Horizon hangs up and takes a deep breath, looking around at the destruction. ---1 Hour Later... Standing atop a skyscraper in Fukuoka, Horizon is leaning on the railing while watching the port ind be swarmed by police boats and helicopters. The news drone and helicopters were barely seconds behind the emergency services and first responders, and he breathes a sigh of relief as the most stressful part of this is now over, at least for tonight. After he called Pantu she sent in people she trusted, so they had to wait on the port ind for almost an hour. But her people made short work of cleaning up the crime scene. Officially nobody was allowed to venture there, so he had to warp her people onto the ind for them to do their jobs, then send them back to the city. Now the regr emergency services and media were allowed to venture to the ind to investigate and spin the story in a positive light. Minutester he takes out his phone, held by his cleaned gloves. His jacket and pants were shredded beyond any usable state so he cast those aside, given to Pantu''s team for destruction. Now he was simply wearing the body glove. Luckily they were high above the roof so nobody would see, especially since nobody was focused on the city itself. He sees the first news feed to go live is from Chitose''s media outlet, as usual. "We''re here live on the port ind, just miles away from Fukuoka!" the woman says, gesturing to the city behind her. She then begins walking as the camera follows her, showing thepletely destroyed man-made ind being scoured by other news crews and emergency services. "The destruction of this ind will set Japan back countless billions of dors in trade, not to mention the repair and reconstruction cost of any infrastructure that was here just over an hour ago. The Hero Public Safety Commission has released an official statement of what happened here, assuring the public that the matter has beenpletely deal with." The woman begins walking over to the crater, not able to get too close but just enough for the camera to zoom in on it, nearly 10m wide and half as deep. From the drones above the public could see inside, and there was not a drop of blood or any semnce of DNA within the crater to be found. "As it turns out, a international mercenary and Viin, codenamed ''Wolfram'', used his Metal Maniption Quirk to battle Horizon here. This viin entered Japan weeks ago and Horizon had been diligently tracking him on his own, this led to a confrontation at this port where Wolfram was making arrangements to import extremely destructive and potentially nuclear weapons. This same Wolfram was also responsible for the now confirmed sabotage at the Keito Nuclear Reactor. This confirms our suspicions that the gas leak scare within that city was simply a cover up, but the Hero Public Safety Commission assures us that the situation there was resolved via thebined efforts of everyone''s favorite disaster rescue Hero, 13. As well as Horizon who greatly assisted in containing the radiation. We believe that Wolfram used that as a trial run to see exactly how capable our Pro Heroes are at dealing with nuclear threats, and when his attempt was thwarted, he resorted to trying to buyrge scale nuclear weapons. Thankfully Horizon was able to intercept his order, and not only was it stopped on our end, but the sellers of such heinous devices oversees were simultaneously apprehended." The woman continues talking while Horizon nods along, genuinely impressed, ''Pantu came up with all of that so quickly, no wonder she''s the head of the Commission...'' He sees the woman pause for a moment and hold her earpiece, then she smiles brightly. "We now have confirmation that not only was no one hurt, thanks to Horizon warping all the civilians and workers away from the port and into the city. But Horizon himself is entirely unharmed, as we''vee to expect from our strongest guardian. In addition to that wonderful news, Wolfram has been secured in a facility and is awaiting private trial to pay for his crimes!" Horizon nods along, thoroughly impressed, already seeing some notifications from his social media ounts flooding in. He hops over to his ''Yay!'' app, and the first thing he sees makes him chuckle. ''Ryukyu''s boyfriend is so strong!'' as the caption, followed by a picture of the destroyed ind. He immediately takes a screenshot and sends it to her, knowing when she wakes up to it that''ll annoy her. He then quickly scrolls past thousands of posts singing his praises before hopping back over to the news. Most of the world would believe this, they''d think he solved this serious matter, saved millions of lives and arrested Wolfram without suffering so much of a scratch. But then he got one message from someone who could see through it all, a simple, ''Are you alright?'' from Ryuko. ''I''m perfect, handling paperwork,'' was his only response. Just in time to hear groaning beside him. Because this entire time Melissa Shield wasying on the floor,pletely knocked out. "How are you feeling?" was all he asked, not even looking at her as she gets up, all the cuts and bruises healed, yet she stumbles slightly before holding onto the railing. "Where are we?" she asks. "What happened?" "Wolfram kidnapped you, I saved you, now we''re in Fukuoka, how are you feeling?" "Sleepy," Melissa says as she now focuses her mind, and sees the ind in the distance being swarmed by boats and helicopters. "Is that where we were?" "Mhm," Horizon casually reaches out and rests a hand on her forearm, using Scan to check on her, but mostly to know if she''s lying. "I''m just running another checkup, I already healed you earlier." "Oh, ok..." "How much do you remember, what do you remember from the fight?" "I remember you blinking about everywhere, then I got knocked out, then I woke up here," she says, and luckily for her, he doesn''t detect any lies. Then the concussion wasn''t that bad, "he lets go of her and continues scrolling." "Is my dad alright?" "He should still be asleep," Horizon says. Melissa breathes a sighs of relief, then just leans on the railing and begins quietly crying. Horizon stops his scrolling, nces over at her, then just goes back to scrolling. "Sorry for all of this, for causing you so much trouble," Melissa says. "Yeah well, its the job," Horizon shrugs. "You really don''t have to feel bad about it. You just got caught in the crossfire of your dad and Tech." Melissa sighs at the thought of that, "yeah, I guess you''re right." "I usually am." Melissa chuckles at that, and actually manages to crack a smile, "you know, you aren''t as bad as I initially thought you were...and certainly not as mean as your ssmates make you out to be." "I''ve literally never been mean to them, ever," Horizon says. "Well I wouldn''t say that, but at least you''ve mostly been nice to me. And now that everything is over and the danger is gone, its kind of nice having a strong hero protecting me." "Sorry but thest thing I need is to have a third girl at UA trying to get my attention." Melissa scoffs at that idea, "oh god no! You''re a great Pro Hero, but as a person...you''re kind of, the worst." "Ouch." "Wait, that sounded super mean! I mean I''m thankful for all you''ve done especially with saving me, but just, you''re not my type you know!" "I got what you mean, and believe me its a relief on my end too, even if you''re one of the few girls at UA I actually respect, it wouldn''t work out." Melissa looks confused at that, "you actually respect me? Why? Aren''t you like a all powerful god who always speaks down to everyone?" "I''m not all powerful, and I don''t speak down to anyone," Horizon says. "I speak to them in a manner appropriate for their worth, they just happen to mostly be trash." "Jerk," Melissa mutters. "But as for respecting you, well, you''re Quirkless, which means anything you can do, someone with a Quirk can do better. In fact, a certain bear-mouse thing with a High Spec Quick is more of a genius inventor than you and your dadbined, but, you still try." "Because I try, you respect me?" "Because you seed," Horizon says. "Most Quickless people are worse than trash, because not only can they never match up to people with Quirks in apetitive sense, they''re also gically weaker. I mean you guys don''t even have the ability to regrow teeth, or the inherent superhuman adaptability, its like you''re humans from hundreds of years ago. But most Quirkless people make themselves even worse by dwelling on these aspects their entire lives and allowing it to destroy them, they don''t even bothering to try. And if they do try, they don''t do enough work to bepetitive, much less seed. But you did it, and so did your dad. And as for him, well, if he didn''t cause such a big headache for me I''d like him a lot more..." Melissa looks at him in a new light, taking his words to heart and almost crying again, being recognized by the man most of the world looks up to as the pinnacle of superhuman potential. "You know, if this was the side of you I met first, maybe I would have fallen for you," she says. "Good thing I saw the jerk side of you first, saved me a lot of heartache." "Tch, you wish you could get a guy like me," Horizon says. "Besides you''re leaving UA at the end of this semester and moving across the world, so its for the best really." "Yeah, but if you evere to America, we should catch up." "Ha! Pantu doesn''t even like me leaving Tokyo and Musutafu, like hell she''d ever let me leave Japan, now lets get out of here, or ride just called me..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 236: (HPSC Favors) Chapter 236: (HPSC Favors) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- Sitting in Pantu''s office, Horizon has his feet up on the coffee table, arms spread out on the back of the couch, headid back as he tries to rx. His entire body was still sore from...whatever happened earlier tonight. Now it was past midnight, and most of Japan was resting easier knowing Wolfram was arrested and locked away, because Horizon swooped in and saved the day. Perfect and wless as always... Beneath the visor Horizon had his eyes closed, doing his best to stay awake, but he could feel his mind and body begging to just get to bed. But that would have to wait, first he''d have to get through this meeting, after he''d already debriefed everyone who needed to be informed at UA. Of course certain details were withheld from most people, but that''s besides the point. Now he had to finish up this meeting, then go take some samples of himself at Horizon tower, maybe then he''d get some rest. ''With my luck the moment Iy in bed a bank gets robbed near the tower,'' he recalls when he was in a simr exhausted state after the first raid against the League Of Viins recruiting site, and that''s exactly what happened after. ''I wonder how Endeavor is dealing with that Dabi nonsense, haven''t heard from him in a while. Shoto hasn''t been extra moodytely so I guess he doesn''t know, smart move. Waiting till he has confirmation is better, at least let me get my hands on Dabi to test it myself.'' As he''s trying to rx he gets a message from Ryuko, because only she would be texting him at this hour. Opening one eye he reads the message disyed inside his visor. ''Are you going to Tokyo like usual?'' she asked. Usually he''d head to Tokyo Wednesday night -which is in 18 hours-, do hero work from Thursday to Sunday, then head back to UA. At least this is his new schedule for the past few weeks, Yoroi Musha being killed certainly changed how much Pantu and Nezu wanted him out in public. "Response," hezilymands his visor to start writing a reply. "Finishing up a meeting, will be there in a few hours. Send" With that he goes back to rxing on the couch, for all of two seconds. Because the door immediately swings open for Pantu to stroll into her office. Her usual guards remain outside, but Horizon doesn''t even react to her entrance. His Quirk was off, giving his brain time to recover, but he just didn''t have the energy for a casual greeting. Pantu had a few sets of documents in her arms, hundreds of pages of work she had toplete before getting some rest. "Are you asleep?" Pantu asks as she takes her seat, starting up herputer via optical scan -a new addition since Horizon is a frequent guest here-. "Yes," Horizon says. "Would you care to know how much your fight will be costing Japan?" Pantu asks as she begins reading the documents. "You did destroy our main port for trade to South Korea and most of Asia and Europe after all." "Does this mean I won''t get paid this month?" Horizon asks. "Your payment will be the favor I did by sweeping Wolfram under the rug..." "Can''t I at least get paid for stopping the nuke from getting into Japan?" Horizon says jokingly. Pantu stops, gives him a deadpan stare for a moment, seeing him still rxing on the couch, then goes back to work. "How bad was it?" "Extremely bad economically," Pantu says. "Luckily Wolfram was wanted by most major nations so they sent their thanks, in the form of money. And the United States sent a sum since he''s one of their monsters that went rogue, and thest thing they want is us telling the public that little detail." "Really?" "He was a special forces operative that didn''t like the pay they gave," Pantu says. "A lot of nations wanted him dead or in a cage...preferably a wooden or ss cage." "I didn''t know he was that bad, hadn''t even heard of him till this." "Probably because he wasn''t in the same circles as you. He wasn''t a assassin, he''s the kind of person you hire to train a private army or a terrorist cell, but he did have a knack for coteral damage." "I noticed..." "You''re in no position to talk," Pantu says. "Arsenal is infamous for the trail of bodies she enjoyed leaving in her wake, what she did in Los Angeles is still hundreds of times more horrific than anything All For One or Wolfram have done in terms of sheer scale and loss of life." "That...was unavoidable, considering the specifics of the job, which I won''t go into." "And I won''t pry, but clearly you don''t appreciate the effort that goes into covering up what you did, considering how casually you''re treating this." "Well, you make it look so easy, what can I say?" "You can start with what happened, and I don''t want you killing viins to be a habit. Overhaul was...unavoidable, but from what you said this one was because of mistakes on your end, so, exin, now." Horizon sits up properly, taking his feet off the table, and looks over at her, seeing the woman sitting back in her chair awaiting his exnation. In all the time he''s known her, and all the times he''s tried to get under her skin, even now, after covering up a death, she remains without expression. He can''t help but wonder what kind of things she''s done and seen from that chair. "Consequences?" Horizon asks. "You mean the contract?" Horizon nods. "Our contract states that if you are found guilty of breaking anyws, you forfeit your position as that will get you expelled and barred from the Hero Course programs across Japan," Pantu says. "Which means this counts." "Yes," Pantu says. "And normally in a matter like this, you could be taken to criminal court." "Quirk Court," he corrects her. "This was a Quirk issue, not a issue of intent." "That''s...possibly even more concerning," Pantu says. "But, Japan isn''t stable, in fact we''re quite far from it. So for now I''ll sweep this away, and bury it beside the files on Overhaul. We can''t afford to have you expelled from every Hero Course and leaving Japan, but if it came to that..." "I won''t hold it against you," Horizon says. "Honestly if you wanted to use this as a grounds to make the contract null and void, I''d understand, and we''d simply part ways right here." "Because you''re the one who broke the terms of it?" "Of course, I signed it, so I can''t get mad when you simply follow the rules we agreed to, I''m just lucky that you''re unlucky enough to need me here to stabilize Japan." Pantu detects no lies, which is quite a relief. While what she said about needing him is true, part of her was terrified that using this to dissolve the contract would cause him tosh out at her, or worse, at Japan itself. But for better or worse, he''s a man of his word. "I suppose that''s one way to look at it, so from this moment we have a clean sheet, as if the incident tonight never happened, assuming you can do one thing for me." "And what''s that?" "Tell me exactly what happened, and why Wolfram is dead," Pantu says. "You mentioned Quirk Court earlier, that means this is a matter of you not controlling your Quirk rather than you trying to hurt him. But from the pictures I''ve seen, you were quite clearly trying to hurt him." "Its my Quirk," Horizon says. "During the summer camp when I fought All For One. I got pushed to limits and levels I didn''t know I had, that I guess I didn''t even know existed since he was always a myth to me. After that I encountered some difficulties with my Quirk. I hit ss ceiling of power that I can feel cracking, but every time it cracks and I feel my ess to my full potential growing closer, its like my body or mind aren''t ready. Tonight it came out, like a rush of adrenaline and...euphoria. And I guess my training just took over, and obviously not the Hero Course kind. My mind got cloudy, and one minute I''m defending from his attacks, the next minute I''m waking up as my body is tearing him apart piece by piece." Throughout his entire exnation, Pantu doesn''t react, she simply focuses on his words. But she detects no lies. Obviously she knew he wouldn''t tell her the whole truth, that simply wouldn''t be smart of him, but this raised even more rms in her mind. "So you were pushed to your limits mentally and, your Quirk simply took over?" "I''m not really sure, but we can go with that for now," he says, and she detects no lies. "And have you made any progress in controlling these, outbursts?" "Yes, and it won''t be much longer until I get it under control. And when that happens, I''ll be so much stronger than even I could have imagined..." ''Fuck,'' was the only word that popped into Pantu''s head, even while her ice cold fa?ade was maintained. ''So he bes some kind of a rage monster that''s even stronger than the regr version of him if he feels threatened? Seriously?'' "I see, well then, thank you for informing me, and keep me posted on your progress," Pantu says. "But do remember, I won''t be covering up any more bodies for you, one more incident like this and you''ll have to fight it in Quirk Court, without my help, understand?" "I understand," Horizon says. "Good, now why exactly did Wolfram kidnap Melissa Shield?" "He wanted to force David Shield to make something, or at least give him the ns for it. Someone named Tech hired him and apparently already made the device, but Wolfram got paid and wanted to finish the job anyway." "Devoted to his contract, sounds familiar." "Yeah, but I think maybe he just wanted to fight me, to really make a name for himself." "A foolish decision, and what was this device." "Sorry, but I can''t say. Doctor-Patient confidentiality and all that," Horizon says jokingly, but she doesn''t detect any lies. "But now it should be safe for the Shields to leave, which is one less thing for me to worry about." "Good, that gives you more time to focus on your Quirk, I can''t imagine solving Quirk problems are easy for you, since you''re one of two Mystery ss Quirks in the world, you have no studies or research to help you." "I''ll manage, now, is that all?" "Yes, if anything elsees up I''ll notify you," Pantu says. "Aside from that, have your full report done and send it to me within 24 hours, I''ll falsify a report matching the story we fed the media and upload it onto your Hero Network ount." "Thanks, now I''ll get out of here, because I really need some rest," with that Horizon instantly warps away. As he leaves Pantu sighs and rxes back in her chair, looking at the stack of paperwork she had to deal with. ''So he definitely isn''t perfect, but that imperfection makes him even more dangerous. If anything happens to him before he solves his Quirk problem, heshes out and falls back on the instincts Arsenal instilled into him...which makes him one of, no, THE most lethal person on the. And when he does solve this Quirk problem, he ascends from what is seemingly a god to...whateveres next. Hmm, I should figure out how Wolfram was able to push him that hard at least, it should give me some insight...'' With that Pantu makes a quick call, and surprisingly the man picks up on the first ring. "Lady Pantu, this is quite unexpected," Dr. Garaki''s voice greets her. "Goodnight doctor, I have a body I''d like you to examine regarding a certain associate of ours..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 237: (Rest Day) Chapter 237: (Rest Day) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- ---Horizon Tower... 7 AM, four hours after he went to bed, Law was still asleep. Something that hasn''t happened since he integrated Energy Saver into Hand of God. But after yesterday and the new breakthrough made, albeit he can''t really recall any of it or repeat it, his body and mind still feel the exhaustion. In fact, he still felt sore even after his body''s automatic healing took effect. Something he was reminded of as he rolled onto his side, and bumped into a smaller, softer, warm body. His eyes immediately shot open, seeing nothing in the absolute darkness of his room, but he didn''t even activate his Quirk, as there was only one person it could possible be. So he simply wrapped his arms around Ryuko, and pulled her against him. He was only wearing a pair of boxers, and she wore just a t-shirt and her underwear, which usually led to more than just sleeping. But right now he was too tired and sore for even his horny 16 year old brain to think of anything else. ---1 Hour Later... Once again Law wakes up, opening his eyes to see only darkness. There was absolutely no light in his room, allowing him to sleep perfectlyfortable beside Ryuko whenever he wants. And most of the time he never even uses the lights in here even when she isn''t here, simply because he''s so used to just using Scan to move around. He opens a Room, sensing her on the couch in the living room,ying down but scrolling through her phone. Something she couldn''t do here since his visor wasn''t on, and even if he was sleeping too heavily to know, she wouldn''t risk seeing his face. SHAMBLES! In an instant not only was she warped into the bed beside him, but his body glove was warped onto himself, with the visor. "Good morning to you too," Ryuko says as she getsfortable in bed, leaning back against the headboard as he remainsid out beside her. "Mhm..." "Still tired? I''m surprised you slept more than one hour." "Mhm, it was a long night." "I figured as much," Ryuko says, still scrolling through her phone. "Why are you here?" Horizon asks. And fortunately she''s been with him long enough to know he really just means ''why didn''t you tell me you wereing over?''. "Because you had a rough day yesterday, either you got hurt, or something didn''t go as nned." "Didn''t you hear the news? Everything went perfectly to n, and I didn''t even get scratched, as usual, a wless victory for Horizon." "Yes, I saw the news, but I also know you, better than most," Ryuko says. "So I know if you aren''t in front of a camera acting humble while subtly bragging, then something went wrong and you aren''t proud of the results enough to speak about it, so, are you alright?" "Tired," was all he said, tilting his head slightly to see her looking down toward him with concern in her eyes. "Physically, emotionally, or mentally?" "Yes," Horizon says. "Mhm..." "Yesterday, well, this morning, was the first time I ever came close to...I don''t know." "You always know," Ryuko puts the phone down and gets down into the bed,ying beside him. "It was the first time I came face to face with, just, not being a Hero anymore. Just giving it up and leaving." "And how did it feel, to be faced with that possibility." "Scary...because I liked it." "Mhm." "My parents always said, do whatever I want, and they''d support me, no matter what. That''s thest thing they said to me, and all this time I''ve just been doing this for them. But this morning, I was threatened with freedom, and, it was tempting." "And what''s stopping you from taking it?" Horizon thinks about it for a moment, and could onlye up with a few reasons, "love, loyalty, devotion... not much else." "And are you still thinking about quitting?" "I think about it every time I put on the costume. Every time I draw my sword, every time I put myself at risk to save some moron that can''t save himself, every time I''m sitting in a ss I don''t need to learn something I already know just because I have to follow the rules, every day." Ryuko rolls onto her side and drapes an arm across his chest, "you know whatever you do I''ll support you. I like Horizon the superhero, but I''ve always been here because of the admittedly selfish man beneath the visor...even if I can''t see that man." "That man has serious trust issues," Horizon chuckles, and she just shakes her head. "Its fine, I asked you for a lot more than that so, seems fair." "Its not fair at all," Horizon says. "By the way, how are you here, don''t you have work or something?" "I can take a lot of days off. Wait, do you even know what I do?" "No." "Do you even want to know?" "No, it really doesn''t matter to me," Horizon says. "As far as I know, you''re trying to seduce me so you''ll never have to work again, a true superviin scheme." "Oh no, the great hero Horizon has seen through my ns..." They both startughing, and she feels him rx a bit. "Ready for breakfast?" Ryuko asks. "Mmm, that sounds good." "Want to have some fun before I make breakfast?" Ryuko yfully begins tracing circle on his chest. "Normally I''d be all for that, but, I feel my muscles would hate me if I made them move that much." Hearing that she sits up, and immediately straddles his hips, "then you justy there, and let me take care of you..." ---1 Hour Later... Walking into the kitchen after a rxing shower, Horizon is still only wearing his body glove and visor. But he enters the kitchen to see Ryuko cooking, in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, all Horizon brand. Her usually attire when in the tower, mostly because itsfortable, but definitely because she knows how he reacts to it. "What are you making?" Horizon asks as he takes a seat at the counter. "Omelet rolls and some rice, want anything special? I hope you have time to eat before something happens and you have to rush off." "Well, that sounds perfect," Horizon begins scrolling through his phone to see everything he missed while sleeping. "And as for leaving, today I''ll be staying in the tower. Still sore and really not in the mood to be running about Tokyo yet, so how about we just rx here today?" While cooking Ryuko looks back, seeing him at the counter and smiles mischievously, "its been a while since we''ve had to building to ourselves, not that I don''t like your teammates." "I know exactly what you mean, and how about after breakfast we go check out some of the ck Market Raid loot downstairs?" Horizon asks. "Its well over a billion in art and all kinds of stuff, could be something cool down there." "Awe, are you asking me on a museum date?" "Don''t make me retract the offer..." "Don''t be so dramatic, and yeah checking out that stuff sounds fun. Especially since its even more fun because I''m not supposed to know about it." "Lots of things are more fun because you aren''t supposed to do them," Horizon says as he responds to a few messages on the Hero Network. "Did you enjoy the Culture Festival?" She asks. "Before you had to leave that is." "Did I enjoy keeping track of that many people all at once for hours? Not particrly. But I saw you, Kota, and Eri having fun and the stalls, especially the cotton candy stall." "Yeah, Kota loves that stuff, and those two got along great which is a big relief." "Was managing them with all the crowds easy?" "Surprisingly yeah, they''re both pretty obedient, well at least Kota is now. He''s trying to be more like his hero, Deku." "Oh right, he saw Deku fighting during the summer camp huh, and how was Eri with the crowds." "Very nervous at first, but I showed her that you were up on the roof and she calmed down, that kid trusts you a lot. And I''ll admit I was a lot more rxed since you were up there." "Well I did save her from Overhaul, and as far as she knows he''s locked up in prison and will never bother her again." "Well at least the part about him never bothering her again is true," Ryuko says as she starts dishing out the food. "I saw a interesting picture of you from the Culture Festival." "Oh, and what''s that?" Horizon asks as they take their food to the living room, to have breakfast on the couch. "A certain picture of you, and a mini Horizon," Ryuko says in an excited tone, and as they sat on the couch he could already tell where this is going. "Did you do that on purpose? It was so cute how you gave him the card, and what you said too, made my heart feel like it would explode." "Why would I want to ramp up your baby fever on purpose? Its already nuclear," he says as they start eating. Ryuko narrows her eyes at him, "its not that bad." "Babe, if I didn''t have perfect control of what my body does, I''d never have sex with you. You''re the type of psycho who''d poke holes in condoms, swap her pills for candy, or just wrap her legs around me, no thanks." Ryuko scoffs and begins angrily eating her breakfast, "its not like I''d do that for anyone else. If anything its your fault for being...well, you." "You''re saying I''m special?" "I''m saying, that I expected to get married and start a family with some white knight who treats me like a queen while acting like a proper gentleman...but instead I''m here hopelessly in love with a man who has caught the eye of at least half the women in the world, and he''s seemingly hell bent on sleeping with all of them." It takes Ryuko a moment to process exactly what she said during that rant, and after she does she just begins eating, looking down at her te trying to act like that didn''t just happen. "So, hopelessly in love with me huh," without looking up or even being able to see his face, she could just tell he was grinning victoriously beneath that mask. Ryuko once again wishes she had the power to reverse time, even if its only by a few seconds. Because there are few things worse than having to deal with Horizon after giving him apliment, especially one of this caliber... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 238: (Growing Familiarity) Chapter 238: (Growing Familiarity) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- ---Sunday, November 10th, 2315... "I hope you realize this entire situation makes me extremely nervous," Nezu says. He was sipping tea in his office, sitting on the couch opposite Law, who had his visor and mask off. After returning to UA from Tokyo, Law was rxing in some more casual clothes over his body glove. "Well it can''t be helped since Pantu already agreed," Law says. "Just think about how it makes me feel, I''m the one that has his balls in a vice, you know, handing over evidence that I went berserk and killed a viin for no reason." "This situation is stressful for all of us," Nezu says, ncing to the side to see his desk, focusing on the ss wall behind it where the moon hung above Musutafu, a city of civilians so close to them. "I''m concerned that you could lose your cool and there won''t be a viin around to grasp your attention." "What? Scared I''ll decide to remodel Tokyo?" Law asks. "Terrified," Nezu says. "And I''m sure Pantu feels the same way. You''re lucky she still needs you." "I know, and I''m sure she''s got all her people working overtime, pulling her hair out trying to figure out what she''ll do if I suddenly snap," Law chuckles. "How much money do you think she''s spending running simtions about it?" Nezu rolls his eyes, "if the thought of the best minds under hermand trying to solve your Quirk is so amusing, I assume you aren''t worried about it." Law shrugs, "Mystery ss, remember?" "And you''re so sure nobody will ever figure it out? Humanity is moving forward faster every day you know." "I know, but honestly, I bet even Star and Stripe doesn''t understand how Mystery ss Quirks work, but just in case," Law smiles mischievously. "Even you don''t know the foundation of my power, actually, even my parents don''t know." "Really? I thought you told each other everything..." "We do, but in a world where minds can be read, they didn''t want anyone but me knowing how to take me down," Law shrugs. "Pretty smart, and since I understand the fundamentals, Star and Stripe is still a bit scary, but not invincible." "Your Quirks aren''t simr," Nezu says. "But you clearly know something I don''t." "I know lots of stuff you don''t, and that goes both ways." "Can you beat her?" "Not a chance," Lawughs at the idea. "She can probably just make herself immune to anatomical maniption then punch my head off. So really it''de down to who has more stamina, and in my current state I''d lose. After I get this Quirk situation sorted... I''ll win." They sit in silence for a while as Nezu finishes his tea. "You know, I don''t think I say this enough, but you''re scary," Nezu admits. "You''ve only just realized?" "Oh I always knew, its why you''re here, but I suppose maybe its arrogance on my part." "Arrogance in what way, that I''ll never hurt you?" "That I''d never give you a reason to, and that I''m slowly making you a better, gentler person, maybe even a Hero," Nezu says, and he sees Law scoff and look away. "Would it really be such a bad thing, even you mentioned that you''re enjoying it more and moretely." "No, I said it has good perks," Law starts counting on his fingers. "Authority, power, freedom to use my Quirk as I please, freedom to constantly improve myself. Having the world grovel at my feet and worship me is nice too, but that just feels like it was always meant to be." "And women," Nezu gives an annoyed look. "You''ve made it clear that''s your preferred recreationtely." "Well...can''t exactly walk into a casino as Horizon," Law says. "And my time as my regr self is getting more limitedtely. Its easier to just have Ryukoe over than to go deal with the public, guess I''m bing a recluse." "And fathers all across the world rejoice at that announcement." They both share augh before Law speaks, "I wasn''t that bad you know. I mean I even limited myself to two at UA." "Wow, only two, such incredible restraint," Nezu pours himself some more tea. Any more and Law was sure he''d be able to see the sarcasm pouring off of Nezu. "Well considering how many I could have had, I think I did pretty well," Law nods proudly. "Ahh, I see, another aspect of your Quirk revealed." "What''s that? Being impossibly charming?" "Patting yourself on the back for having human decency...actually, not that decent since you have them here and Ryuko in Tokyo." "Hey now," Law feigns offense. "At least I''m honest." "Says the man living two lives, but I guess that''s unavoidable," Nezu sips his tea. "Speaking of women, Mirko---" "---Ugh! No!" "At least let me finish." "No, if I go anywhere near her she''ll probably try to fight me, the only reason I haven''t blocked her again is because she only messages me once a week to pick a fight," Law says. "Hey, you look kind of like a rabbit, can you talk to her?" "First of all, I''m much more adorable than any rabbit," Nezu says. "Secondly, she may have uncovered a lead for you, but I don''t think she noticed." "What do you mean?" "I track all current events in Japan, and one of the men arrested in a recent incident of hers was also at the League of Viins recruitment vige, and he was at the USJ." "How the hell was he free after those first two?" "His family has money," Nezu says. "But since I connected the dots I figured you could make something of it, chances are he''ll run right back to Shigaraki." "Hmm, running a operation against them is a bit risky since it could mess up Hawk''s infiltration mission." "Hawk''s is infiltrating them?" "Yeah, and from the sounds of it he''s getting close to tagging Kurogiri and Twice, when they get a solid location on Kurogiri I''ll be called in." "Well its still worth a try, just don''t get in the way of whatever Pantu is doing," Nezu says. "Alright, send me the info, and what about the Shields? How are they holding up?" "So you finally asked, how thoughtful. They''re holding up fine, Melissa can''t rejoin her old school until the next semester starts so she''ll be in UA until the end of this year." "I was asking more about if she had any suspicious of what happened. If maybe her dad has been wanting to get a face to face with Wolfram, anything that can be a problem for me." "My apologies, for a moment I thought you were concerned," Nezu takes another sip. "They''re unproblematic. David is just happy the situation is resolved, Tech is beyond our reach since aside from the robot he sent there isn''t any proof he even exists." Law rxes on the couch, "that''s a relief." "If they decided to pester the problem, would you have---" "---Don''t ask questions you and Yagi don''t want the answer to." Nezu shakes his head, "honestly, how you have two Pro Heroes wrapped around your finger I''ll never understand it." "The Ryukyu thing is just a rumor." "Yet I''m sure you n to make it a reality." "Well..." "What am I supposed to do with you." "ept the things you cannot change, makes life easier." "And what''s that for you, since you have the power to quite literally manipte the world." "Words and the agreements we make, unbreakable even by the Hand Of God." "Unbreakable," Nezu looks at him for a moment. "Well ording to Pantu you were willing to walk away, to ept the consequences of what happened with Wolfram." "I made a deal, got to honor it, besides," Lawys his head back and closes his eyes. "Freedom is all they want me to have, bet I''ll get an earful when they get out and learn about the shit I''ve been through for them. Oh, and I''ll have to keep mom away from UA and Tokyo, that could get messy." "Well with her track record, very messy. And considering how much she loves you, what she did in Los Angeles would look like childs y." "Don''t tempt me," Law chuckles. "Watching all the paper Pros run about trying to save people in that mess almost sounds fun. Oh, speaking of Tokyo, I''m taking Jiro there this weekend." Nezu raises a brow at that, "what do you mean you''re taking a student with no Provisional License to Tokyo for a weekend?" "I lost a bet and she wants me to y bodyguard so she can leave UA, its for some concert she wants to go to." "You don''t sound excited for it." "Its a concert, basically a bunch of losers paying money to stand around with other sweaty people and worship some people on a stage, why would I be excited for that?" "Yet you''re going." "I''m a man of my word," Law says. "But yeah, this weekend." "Fine, I can approve it, but I''ll have to contact her parents tomorrow for permission." "That''ll be fine, she says they love me." "They''ve never met you, clearly." "Well, Horizon''s public image is perfect, and old people always believe the news." "And how will Ryuko react to you having a female guest in Horizon Tower..." Law pauses for a moment, then releases a loud groan as he looks at Nezu, "she''ll give me some attitude for it when I say she can''te to the tower this weekend, but we''ll be fine." "That bad?" "She calls them my ''UA bedwarmers'', so what do you think?" Minutester at almost midnight, Horizon warps back into his room. He appears on one of the small couches, seeing Momo sitting on the floor doing some school work on the coffee table, and beside him Jiro is listening to music while scrolling on her phone. "How''d it go?!" Jiro''s Earphone Jack unplugs and she sits up beside him, almost shaking in anticipation of his answer. "Once your parents agree then we''re on for this weekend," Horizon says. "YES!" Jiro springs forward and wraps her arms around his neck, nuzzling her face into his shoulder. "Thank you so much! I''m sure they''ll say yes!" "Of course they will, I''m Horizon, everyone in Japan loves me," he says jokingly while pulling her into hisp. "Just remember not to leave the tower without him," Momo reminds her. "You could get in serious trouble for that, so be careful." "I''ll be extra careful, promise. Besides, I''ve got this guy with me," she gestures to Horizon while gettingfortable in hisp. "He''s invincible!" "I''ll be leaving Wednesday night," Horizon says as he wraps his arms around her. "But I''ll be back Friday after lunch to pick you up, after the Pro Hero Billboard Ranking event." "Oh right, they''re holding that in person this year," Momo says. "Its supposed to be bigger than ever." "Yeah, its to send a message of Hope to the nation, plus I need to be there to show solidarity. Apparently some people still somewhat doubt that that I''m a team yer with Pro Heroes." "Really?" Jiro asks. "They doubt the guy who always talks trash about Pro Heroes can work with those very people...shocker." "Yeah, shocker---" "---Ah!" Jiro jolts in hisp as a small current runs through her. "Hey!" They get into a small yful fight, which eventually leads to himying on the couch with her on top of him. Only to be stopped by the sound of Momo giggling. They both pause and turn to look at her. "Sorry sorry, its just, this is pretty fun," Momo says. "I never thought I''d end up in a scenario like this, but its quite enjoyable, but only because its with the two of you." Horizon pulls Jiro onto his chest and releases a deepugh, "if you''re happy imagine how I feel, I''m the one with two pretty girls in my room..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 239: (Top Pro Hero Ladies) Chapter 239: (Top Pro Hero Ladies) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- ---10 AM, Friday, November 15th, 2315... Standing on the roof of a Hero Public Safety Commission building in Tokyo, Horizon leans on the short wall at the edge of the roof as he scrolls through his phone. While he did this, he entirely ignored the masses swarming below. The entire front of this building was entirely filled with civilians, and some Pro Heroes, called in to beef up security. Today at noon the Annual Hero Billboard Ranking ceremony begins after all, the top 50 Pro Heroes in Japan will be presented for the nation to see. Ranked by number of incidents resolved, public image, poprity, and a few other categories. Naturally Horizon couldn''t be ranked until he became a fully licensed Pro Hero, so right now he simply kept track of his projected ranking. This way he knows the predicted ranking he''ll get during the first ceremony after he graduates, and since right now the projected ranking is #1 and he knows Endeavor is waiting to retire. Exactly 3 years from today, he''ll have all the cards needed to demand his parents be freed. All of Japan will be depending heavily on him for safety and stability, and he''ll be the #1 Hero in the official rankings as well. He would have fulfilled his contract to the most extreme lengths, leaving no room for them toin or refuse to honor the agreement. Looking out over the city, he sees many of the buildings around them which are taller, and they already have camera crews setup on the rooves or upper floors. The official lists of who would be added, removed, promoted, or demoted on the rankings were hidden, and all across Japan people were cing bets. Media outlets catching a glimpse of Pro Heroes flying in or trying to quietly enter the building toter make their big reveals would get a lot of attention from the hungry masses. And knowing this most Pro Heroes got here before the sun was even up or snuck in quietly at a side entrance, all for the sake of hiding their new costume designs or making the reveal of them being ranked this highly that much more special for their fans. Horizon didn''t have to bother with any of this so he came to the roof to rx, and show off that he''s here so no viins try to attack. ''Although I doubt I even had to be here since Endeavor and the next 9 top pros are here,'' he thinks to himself. ''Well I guess the public will just think I''m here to support Endeavor, and this''ll make me look even better to the morons that think I don''t get along with other Pro Heroes...'' Enjoying this time to himself Horizon hears the now familiar sound ofrge wings beating against the air behind him, but even as the roof shakes slightly he continues his scrolling, not bothering to turn around. "You''re supposed to sneak in to make a big entrance on stage," Horizon says. "You know I don''t care about this ranking nonsense," Ryukyu says as she walks up beside him, already in her human form, and leans on the edge to look down at the crowd. "And I certainly don''t think I should be ranked this highly..." Horizon chuckles, putting his phone away to face her, "see, knew you weren''t a dragon, they aren''t humble creatures." "Ugh, I can''t believe I missed you," she rolls her eyes. "Awe, you missed me?" "Why did I even say that, after all the warnings she gave me about giving youpliments," Ryukyu facepalms. "Rx, its normal to miss your boyfriend..." They both look at each other, sharing a silent moment, then they both erupt inughter. Over the past few weeks they''d sent each other a few interesting things they''ve seen on the inte. By now it felt like every day their fans thought of something new in their rtionship that even they never would have considered. Most of it was stupid and hrious, but some of it was creepily urate, especially the art on Ryukyu''s side of things. "But seriously Kyukyu, you should be proud, you''re #7 now," Horizon says. "Not because I deserve it," she frowns and hangs her head in shame. "I just got lucky that your poprity rubbed off on me." ''And Pantu insisted on the improvement in my rank,'' Ryukyu thinks. "Yeah, but I don''t keep trash around me, and I certainly don''t allow rumors about me dating it," Horizon says. "If you''re good enough to be my pretend girlfriend you''re good enough to be the #7 Pro Hero." Ryukyu just shakes her head, but smiles softly, "I can''t tell if you''replimenting yourself or me, or maybe both." "Men are judged by what kind of woman they get, right? So both." Ryukyu chuckles and breathes a sighs of relief, feeling much better, "you know, since those rumors about us started, a lot of the Pro Heroes that would try to bring me in on cases just to flirt with me have stopped trying, its such a relief." "Well if it makes you feel any better, cameras all around us are catching ever minute of this, and I''m sure we''ll be in some gossip articlester today." Ryukyu takes a step closer to him, leaning against his side, making it look good for the cameras, "you think they''re getting my good side?" "You have a bad side?" "Did that line work on Ryuko?" she asks. "We didn''t do that much talking at first." "Forget I ever asked, I don''t need those detail," she yfully pushes him away. "And for the record, its wonderful working with only the men and women who want my assistance in helping people, gives me one less thing to think about." "Did you have any super persistent ones?" "Hmm," she thinks about it for a moment. "Yeah, like three borderline stalkers...honestly made me question the whole Hero License process since those three creeps got it." "Want me to go talk to them?" Horizon asks. "Would you?" "For you, sure, besides I don''t like people touching what''s mine." Ryukyu rolls her eyes, "maybe you''re the dragon, since you don''t like people touching your hoard." "Well one of us has to be a real dragon, and sadly it can''t be you." "Hey! And no I don''t want you to go talk to them, I already settled it, I am a Pro Hero after all. I''m not some helpless girl who always needs a man to fight for her." "That isn''t always a bad thing." "I know, but I wouldn''t be setting a very good example now would I," Ryukyu says. "I mean most of the women in the top 50 are either rescue heroes like 13 and Uwabami, or one date away from being a housewife, like Ryuko''s trying to be...no offense to her." "I get what you mean," Horizon says. "Young girls need someone they can look up to and see they can be anything they want to be, and honestly, you''re kind of the only good one." Ryukyu''s eyes widen at that, "really? You mean that?" "Of course, 13 only does recue work because she doesn''t like fighting and her Quirk is too dangerous, but that''s the clich¨¦ ''Girl in the group is a healer'' deal. Mt. Lady isn''t that bad but she''s kind of azy airhead and causes a lot of coteral damage because of how clumsy she is, not to mention she''d never get this far if she wasn''t so hot. Uwabami just wants to be a celebrity and used the Pro Hero route to do it, the others aside from probably Midnight aren''t famous enough, and she''s basically a walking billboard for acting like a slut to get attention. And then we have Mirko...ugh." "Is it really that bad between you two?" "She''s just persistent and annoying, but she only messages me once a week now." "I see, and what about me?" Ryukyu asks. "As a Pro Hero I mean, what do you see the Dragon Hero Ryukyu as?" "Apetent and humble woman that just happens to be rather beautiful and have a cool Quirk...even if she can''t breathe fire. But there is one fundamental w in you." "Oh, and what''s that?" "Youck the same hunger lots of other Pro Heroes have, you''re content with just helping people as they need help, you aren''t proactive enough. Best Jeanist is the same way which is why I didn''t go intern with him. If you want to feel like you deserve your spot, do more work. And if you want to show all the little girls out there they can be a top 10 Pro Hero just like you, then show them how much work you really do to get where you are. For the few things I don''t like about Mirko, that''s one thing I do love about her. She works harder than everyone aside from Endeavor and Edgeshot in the top 10, if she were more organized and efficient she''d easily be the #3 or #4 instead of where she is now. And if you put in that much work, who knows, maybe we''d have our #2 Pro hero be a girl for the first time." Ryukyu just stared at him for nearly a minute, mesmerized, brain fried as she tried to process how nice he was being. Then she blinks, snapping back to reality, "I hope you really meant that and you''re not just saying that to sleep with me." "Why can''t it be both?" Ryukyu''s cheek redden slightly as she looks away, down at the crowd who were taking pictures of them, "you aren''t supposed to be so forward with ady, don''t you know anything?" "I know that as Heroes we could die any day, so we don''t have time to waste." Ryukyu sighs, "yeah, you''re right, but one sexy blonde Ryuko in your bed is quite enough, and just because she and I are friends doesn''t mean she''ll be ok with me joining..." she gestures to him, "whatever weird rtionship thing you have with her." Horizon yfully raises his hands in surrender, "hey you''re the one that keeps bringing it up, clearly I''m on your mind a lot these days..." As Ryukyu is about to respond they hear the sound of someonending on the roof, ented by metal shing against concrete. Horizon sighs, and just turns so his back is to the new arrival. But Ryukyu looks back to see Mirko standing on the roof with a toothy grim on her face, staring directly at Horizon. "All those lies about you two not dating and this is the first thing I see at this event huh," Mirko says. Ryukyu freezes up, trying to think of a logical response. But before she can Horizon simply turns around, wraps an arm around her and grabs her by the ass, pulling her against his side. Ryukyu''s face goes bright red as her eyes widen, she freezes up. Mirko stares with wide eyes as well, not sure where this is going. Horizon grins beneath the visor, hoping this would get the rabbit to leave him along. "This is the fate of all the women who challenge me and lose, can you ept these terms for our rematch?" Horizon asks. Mirko''s lips twitch as her eyes narrow, the vein on her forehead bulging as she scrunches up her face. Then a momentter she detes and her ears droop down to the sides of her head. She frowns and slouches while walking toward the roof entrance of the building. "No way am I doing that crap," she says while leaving them on the roof. After he''s sure she can''t hear them Horizon can''t help butugh, "bye bye annoying fight manic, she won''t be bothering me anymore." "Looks like we both got rid of our unwanted admirers, although I don''t know if she was an ''admirer'' exactly." "Either way, not my problem anymore." "I''m happy to hear that, now, can you please let go of my butt?" Horizon looks at Ryukyu to see her face bright red, eyes closed as she''s breathing heavily. "But it feels nice and toned, and surprisingly round," he gives it a gentle squeeze. "How does she even put up with you..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 240: (Icarus) Chapter 240: (Icarus) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "This is really the list, my god these people suck," Horizon says while looking through some papers. "That moron Deku can beat half these Pros..." He and Pantu were sitting in a small meeting room on the upper floors of this building, discussing some important matters before the ceremony begins just over an hour. She was at the head of the conference table with him to the right. "Power isn''t everything, lots of these Pro Heroes lead teams and agencies which efficiently protect their ownmunities. They make people feel safe which is why they also get recognition from us." "You say that, but I see Rocklock on this list," Horizon looks over at her, "we both know he sucks." "It was unavoidable," Pantu says, not reacting to his childish antics. "Need I remind you that he knows exactly what happened with Overhaul, the poprity from working with you on the case as well as his diligence in keeping that secret earned him a small boost." "Small, going from mid two hundreds to number 47 is small?" "In the grand scheme of things, and inparison to maintaining your image for the citizens, its most inconsequential..." "Well, when you put it like that, yeah," Horizon leans back in his chair and continues looking at the listings. "Hey, did you raise Ryukyu''s ranking because of poprity because of me, or was there more to it?" "Concerned about your girlfriend?" Pantu asks. "Not my girlfriend," Horizon says, and she doesn''t detect any lies. "Its been bothering her so I''m just curious." "She''s done good work, and the public trusts her, she earned the promotion." "Mhm, what kind of bonus does being #1 get you?" "Is the man who always donates his monthly pay to charity actually concerned with money now?" "No, I''m just curious." "There isn''t a bonus for rankings, butpanies are naturally more likely to reach out to you for sponsorships and products, it simply makes your name more valuable. But more importantly it shows the public there are people willing to risk their lives to protect them." "So its useless, got it." "From where I''m sitting you''re enjoying the celebrity aspect of being a respected hero," Pantu says. "Or at least you enjoy other people knowing you''re better than them." "Because I am better than them, no reason to hide it." "You are many things, but humble clearly isn''t one of them." Horizon continues reading the listings for a moment until the doors open, and Hawks walks in, holding a can of ck coffee in his hand. "Sorry I''mte, had to get a drink," he gives them both a casual wave and moves to sit opposite Horizon. "Hey, did you make this guy rank 2 because it makes his job as your little weapon easier? I mean he just suddenly appeared on the scene years ago and started his own agency, and got into the top ten that same year, would make sense." "Oh please," Hawks rolls his eyes. "As if I''d need any help getting so close to the top..." "I artificially boosted his ranking and poprity," Pantu says. Hawks frowns and detes into his seat, folding his arms. As he was sitting all his feathers separated from his wings and hovered behind his chair individually so he could getfortable. "Hawks is part of a program where we take especially powerful children and train them to be Pro Heroes that also keep an eye on the more corrupted members of our society." "And you''re telling the kid all of this because?" Hawks asks. "Because if he really wanted to know, he would find out. Not to mention he knows your true name, so he likely knows a lot more than he wants me to think he does, this saves us all some time and puts us on the same page," Pantu says. "Because Dabi was part of the ss with Hawks." "We never did learn about how you got my name," Hawks says, then pauses for a moment as he processes what she just said. "Wait! Dabi was in my ss, so Dabi is Toya?" "95% chance that''s the case," Horizon says. "So I guess you can add him to your list of people to investigate while you''re spying on them." Hawks rubs his chin for a moment, "Dabi was the member I had to least info on, and he''s the least trusting. After I handed Yoroi Musha over to them I got to meet Toga and Spinner a few times but Dabi still keeps his distance." "Your priority is still to get locations for Kurogiri and Twice," Pantu says. "If we can secure Dabi that''s good, but we''d have to find any data caches he has, if something gets released connecting him to Endeavor it''ll cause problems we don''t have good answers to. The words of a viin that heinous won''t carry much weight, but anything is possible. Your main target is Kurogiri however, that remains unchanged. Once we get him out of the way, Horizon can operate freely in whatever manner he deems necessary to deal with the others." "Well thest time he operated in ''whatever manner he deems necessary,'' it scared them so much they went into hiding while building power," Hawks says. "They''re preparing some kind of weapon to deal with Horizon, and won''t be out until its ready, for good reason." "Good reason?" Horizon asks. "Well, I met Toga, and she''s still in a wheelchair." "Really?" Horizon was genuinely surprised. "I broke her spine in ways she shouldn''t be able to move anything below her neck...whoever is making the Nomu is naturally able to solve something like that, but if she isn''t fully healed yet then they aren''t quite as good as me." "That''s still a long list," Hawks says. "And after we checked everyone that matched it in Japan, we still came up empty handed. Either this person isn''t an official doctor or is in another country, which makes sense since they''ve got Kurogiri to make travel easier." "I''m sure you''ll find us a lead when they trust you some more," Pantu says. "Right now I simply need both of youmunicating and on the same page. The League of Viins has tasked Hawks with keeping track of where you are, so you''ll have to give him daily updates as to where you''ll be." "I still think you should just let me take care of them," Horizon says. "I''ll have it done within a month." "And the person making the Nomu for them won''t be found," Hawks says. "I''d find them, everyone talks when I put hands on them." "Violence isn''t always the answer, and unlike you I don''t like killing innocent people." "I don''t enjoy killing innocent people," Horizon says, and Pantu detects no lies. "And violence has never failed me, when applied correctly." "Well I''m not surprised you think that considering who raised you," Hawks snaps at him. "And what the hell is that supposed to mean?" "You know exactly what it means," Hawks narrows his eyes at him. "What Arsenal did in Los Angeles is the most horrific act of terror in the past century at least, she killed nearly 80,000 people in an afternoon, if that person raised you its no wonder you''re so messed up." "Hey!" Horizon raises his voice, yet Hawks nor Pantu react. "My parents are perfect alright, coteral damage is just part of the job, it just happened to be part that mom liked using to distract heroes and cops. Plus she toned it down after I was born...mostly." "That doesn''t change what she is," Hawks says. "Plus your dad is a traitor to the oath he swore as a doctor, I mean who literally steals a patients heart? You were raised by monsters who think might makes right, and that''s why they''re both locked up in a deep dark hole for at least a few more years..." Horizon doesn''t respond. No yelling, no screaming, not even moving. Instead the tension in the room continues to grow and grow, until suddenly Hawks was bombarded by a strange sensation. Nothing, for the first time in 18 years, he couldn''t hear anything beyond his ears. As if he''d beenpletely stripped of his extra sense provided by the feathers. "What did you do?" Hawks asks. "Oh, so when they''re 10km away you can''t connect to them," Horizon says. Hawk''s features twist into a horrified expression as he spins around in his chair, seeing where his feathers were, there were simply floating leaves. His eyes widen as he jumps to his feet, and look over to Pantu, who was gone, warped away somewhere in the building, so nobody can stop what''s about to happen. He turns back to Horizon, only to see him gone as well, then arge hand grasps his shoulder. Before he can turn around to properly see Horizon, the man palms his face and lifts him up, mming him down onto the conference table, breaking the table and taking him to the floor beneath. "MMMMM!" Hawks tries to w Horizon''s hand off his face, barely seeing Horizon looming over him through his own yellow tinted visor. With practiced ease he reaches onto his belt and talks out abat knife, and swings it at Horizon''s arm, only for the weapon to stop, as if it were stuck in space. He pushes as hard as he can but it wouldn''t dare to move, Horizon lifts him up and ms him back down, cracking the back of his head against the floor. Hawk''s vision gets blurry, the yellow tint of his visor only makes it worse as he sees Horizon look at the knife he tried to stab him with. "Thanks for the knife, but to operate on you, at least to start, my hands are enough..." Horizon immediately grabs Hawks''s face with both hands, crushing his skull like a apple. Hawks feels his brain being squeezed as his visor gets blocked by Horizon''s thumbs, then before his eyes the reinforced stic begins to crack, as both thumbs press down. "No no no no!" SQUELCH! "Ahhhh!" Hawks scream bounces off the wall of this heavily soundproofed room as Horizon hollows out his eye sockets with his thumbs. Hawks immediately ck out, only to jolt awake as a current passes through his body. Stillpletely blinded he screams and begs for it to stop. But the same pattern happens over and over for almost ten minutes. The feeling of Horizon holding him, then tightening his grip until bones started to creak and snap, until bone fragments were piercing skin. Until pain was the only thing to exist in his world. Then the cool sensation would wash over parts of him, and he''d feel better for a moment, before Horizon broke them all over again. "Arhhhh---" Hawk''s voice breaks, overstrained vocal cords no longer able to speak. He silently screams into a hopeless dark void as pain continues wracking his body. And just when he thinks its all over, finally some relief wasing. He felt his very same knife tracing the skin on his belly... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 241: (Bits and Pieces) Chapter 241: (Bits and Pieces) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "Mmm, that feels so much better..." Horizon takes a deep breath as he steps out of the meeting room, looking around the hallway and only seeing two security agents standing nervously, staring at him. One of them men touches his earpiece, not taking his eyes off Horizon as he speaks, "yes ma''am, he just stepped out of the room." Horizon looks over at the man, tilting his head. Doing a quick Scan he can sense Pantu walking through the building trying to get back here, constantly having to deal with people stopping her to talk while she''s talking to this agent through her earpiece. "Understood ma''am," the agent says as he raises a hand gesturing for Horizon to stop. "Sir, I must insist that you wait here for Lady Pantu." Horizon looks at the man who was clearly nervous and not getting paid enough for this, and sighs, "I''ll pretend you didn''t just say that to me..." he says before walking past both men. Neither of which tries to stop him. Walking down the hallway Horizon finds the person he''s looking for and takes a sharp turn into the stairway, avoiding anyone trying to speak to him. For the first time in a very long time, he felt truly rxed. After over a year, he''s finally done something he always wanted to do, but epted he''d never get the chance to do. Get some payback on Hawks. Yes, it does go against what he was taught and even what he believes in, pursuing revenge is not useful and should not have been done in this case. ''But damn did that feel good...'' While casually walking down the stairs he takes out his phone and sends Jiro a quick text. ''The ceremony will be starting in an hour, I''ll be at UA around 5 PM so be ready...'' Secondster Jiro responds by sending him a selfie of her and Momo in one of thebs at UA, during ss. Both were happy and smiling, although Jiro was sticking her tongue out at him. Horizon smiles beneath his visor and puts away his phone, making it down to the third floor of the building and opening the door. ''I should try to spend more time with them honestly, Momo''s sexy and Jiro''s cute, keeping them around is worth a bit of time. Especially since as time goes on I''ll be called to do Hero Work less and less. That''s the main benefit of being in the media propaganda as some invincible superhero, no viins actually want to make me get to work, so I get more time with my women, and speaking of my women...'' Horizon focuses his thoughts as he sees Ryukyu speaking to Best Jeanist and Edgeshot. "Oh, Horizon," Jeanist politely waves at him, causing both the other Pros to turn around to see him approaching. "Here to support Endeavor?" "Sure, if that''s what people want to assume," Horizon says as he joins them. "Really I''m just here so Shigaraki doesn''t show up and disintegrate a crater into this portion of the city..." "That certainly has everyone on high alert," Edgeshot says. "I''ve never felt so helpless as a Pro hero, well, not since All For One, but Shigaraki isn''t as bad as that thing was." "But now Horizon can probably handle All For One from Kamino," Ryukyu says. "Right?" "Ofcourse, but," Horizon puts an arm around her waist and pulls her to his side, "weren''t we just talking on the roof about how you don''t need to depend on a man to protect you?" Ryukyu rolls her eyes, but doesn''t look bothered by him holding onto her, which the other men notice, "I''m a Dragon, I can only do so much. It takes monsters to fight monsters after all." "Sure, Dragon, if you say so Kyukyu." "Kyukyu?" Jeanist asks. "So you even have pet names for each other, so the rumors are true after all." "No he''s just being annoying," Ryukyu says. "He thinks I''m not a Dragon because I can''t breathe fire, it''s stupid." "Well, he does have a point," Edgeshot says. "Dragons do historically breath fire in all their stories," Jeanist mentions. "But at least you do look like one." Ryukyu just looks at them as the traitors they were, "and here I thought you two were my friends, damn traitors," she shakes her head, mostly yfully. "Anyway, enough with the small talk, you three need to be on stage in just over an hour, so until that, I''m gonna be stealing away this woman," Horizon quickly scoops Ryukyu up into his arm. Both men look at this with wide eyes as she tries to squirm out of his grasp, but it''s like trying to w at a steel vice. "Hey, put me down!" Ryukyu yells. She then looks at Jeanist and Edgeshot, "get me out of here, he''s kidnapping me!" Horizon turns around and begins walking away with her in his arms. "Hey, I need to prepare to go on stage!" Ryukyu says as she still fails to get out of his grasp. Jeanist chuckles, "honestly, young people show affection in such strange ways these days." "Much too shamelessly for me," Edgeshot says. "Yeah, even when we were in UA, you were always a serious prude," Jeanist says. While those two friends were catching up, Horizon kicked open the door to a secluded conference room, still holding Ryukyu in his arms. Now she had her arms folded and was sulking, entirely helpless to escape his grasp since her Quirk is either human form or Dragon form, she has no ability to manifest only particr traits. Meaning if she actually did want to escape she''d damage the building by transforming into arge dragon. But as much as she''d deny it, she was happy in his arms. As they enter the conference room they see a massive table lined with leather chairs. All the windows were closed and the blinds were shut, giving them some privacy, and after a quick Scan Horizon made sure there wasn''t any technology spying on them. "Now can you tell me what the hell you''re doing? I have to be on stage so this had better not take long," Ryukyu says as he pushes some chairs aside and sits her down atop the table. "Well, today I crossed something off my list that''s been there for a while, figured why stop at one of those today," Horizon shrugs. "Oh, and what might the other one be?" Ryukyu gives him an expectant look... ---15 Minutes Earlier... Warped down into the press area between a few Pro Heroes and security agents, Pantu was immediately ambushed by reporters. Keeping her icy fa?ade she answers dozens of questions, all while her mind is reeling trying to imagine what Horizon is doing to Hawks upstairs. "President Pantu!" One of the reporters in the back gets her attention. "There is a growing faction of the public who believe the international Pro Hero License regtions should be lifted in the case of Horizon, do you have anyment on this matter?" "Thosews were made after a century of tragic and avoidable deaths caused by young and unprepared individuals being given Pro Hero licenses because their Quirks were deemed as powerful. To make an exception for anyone is absolutely never going to happen, not in Japan, and not in any nation that is recognized by the United Nations Quirk Security Board. Making an exception would set a bad example and cause a chain reaction that would im the lives of countless children across the world. Regardless of how powerful and capable Horizon is, do remember he is currently only 16 years old. Even Star and Stripe, the only other Mystery ss Quirk user wasn''t giving a Pro Hero License until she was fully trained and already an adult..." "But what abou---" "I''m sorry but I don''t have time for any more questions," Pantu cuts off another reporter as she holds her earpiece and begins briskly walking away. Entering a connected hallway she signals three agents to follow her on the way back to the top floor. "Did anyone else leave the room with him?" She asks through the earpiece. The agents around her don''t react even as they all enter the elevator. "Then don''t let him leave, and don''t let anyone enter that room," Pantu says,pletely void of any emotions in her voice. Arriving on the top floor Pantu quickly makes her way to the meeting room they were in, and gets another message through her earpiece. "Horizon and Ryukyu were seen entering a conference room on the third-floor ma''am." "Just tell me if anyone leaves," Pantu says as she gets to the door. As her hand is on the doorknob the faint scent of blood reaches her nose. Pantu sighs and looks around at the agents, "Don''t look inside, and don''t let anyone near this room." She then opens the door and the strong scent of blood rushes into the hallway before she shuts the door behind her. As she enters the room, for the first time in a long time she was genuinely mortified by what she saw. Her entire career she''s dealt with the aftermath of monsters having their way, but she''s always had Pro Heroes at her disposal to deal with them, so there was never any real risk of them going entirely rampant across Japan. But now there is no All Might, and even if he was here she wasn''t sure it would matter. Now she looks around and sees Hawks, feathers scattered about the ground, and his shirt and jacket were torn apart, his body appeared entirely untouched, simplyying on his back in a massive pool of blood in the middle of a broken table. He looked perfectly fine, but she could tell he wasn''t. She knew Horizon could heal people better than any other, she knew he had a vengeful, violent, and sadistic side to him. That''s to be expected when his mother is Arsenal, arguably the biggest monster of recent history. But now as she approaches Hawks she finds herself stepping over pieces of him. Guts, livers, what appear to be pieces of his heart, no... hearts. She could casually count 9 eyeballs scattered about the room entirely whole. Looking closely she sees fingers scattered on the other side of the room, and the floor was covered in more teeth than he could possibly have in his mouth. Arriving at Hawks she gently taps him with her foot, and he doesn''t respond, but she can see his chest slowly rising and falling. He was breathing, even as she could see what appeared to be a whole lungying on the floor. Now Pantu finally came face to face with the depths Horizon can go to, and has to seriously consider a terrifying question. What do you do, when your strongest protector, is the biggest monster of them all... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 242: (New Rankings) Chapter 242: (New Rankings) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! Pantu doesn''t even wait for a second after knocking to push open the door, leaving her security agents on the other side of it to confront her current problem. She enters the conference room to immediately lock eyes with Ryukyu, who was clearly disheveled and had flushed cheeks. Pantu stepped inside and looked around the room, seeing Horizon sitting on one of the chairs with his feet up on the conference table, already fully dressed. Meanwhile, Ryukyu was hastily adjusting her Hero Costume, nervously ncing at Pantu the entire time. "Uh, Lady Pan---" She cuts off Ryukyu, "out, now, I need to talk to your boyfriend." Ryukyu''s words and excuses die in her throat before she rushes out of the room. Pantu waits a moment to hear the door close behind her, and still maintains her icy fa?ade the entire time. "Shouldn''t you be downstairs getting ready to announce the Top 10 Pro Heroes?" Horizon asks, now scrolling through his phone as if nothing was wrong. Pantu simply walks over to him, giving him an unamused stare. "You and Ryukyu, you said it was just a rumor," she says. "It is, just a rumor, we aren''t seriously dating or anything," Horizon shrugs. Pantu doesn''t detect any lies in his words, "and does she know that?" "Eh, she''s a big girl, if she doesn''t already know then she''ll figure it out." Pantu doesn''t say anything and simply takes a seat close to him, keeping her hands in herp. Normally she''d sit across from him, but now she was within arms reach, it made her nervous, but she didn''t show a bit of that. "What did you do to Hawks?" Pantu asks. "Nothing, well, at least that''s what any doctor would say. Medically he''s perfectly healthy, healthier than he woke up this morning actually." Pantu doesn''t detect any lies, which raises serious concerns. "He''s unresponsive." "Oh, yeah well, the human brain can only handle that much trauma," Horizon takes his feet off the desk and put his phone away, looking directly at her. "I mean can you imagine it, being held down and watching me rip your guts out and tear apart your organs, all while keeping you alive and awake for the whole thing...can''t be fun." "Do you realize what you just did to a Hero?" "Oh, ''Hero'', well I''m one of those too, so the word doesn''t really mean much, does it?" "How long will it take him to recover?" "Depends on how well his birdbrain can handle it, but if he takes too long just give me the info you have on the league, and I''ll handle them for you." "And what ever happened to not seeking revenge." "Well, even I have limits, not to mention I''m 16 so, sometimes I just can''t control my emotions," Horizon''s tone was yful, betraying how serious this matter was. "I just had to remind him that the worst of the monsters is still free, and that''ll never change." "I see, and do I need to be concerned about more of these outbursts? I''ve already covered up Overhaul, and Wolfram, but I will draw the line at Pro Heroes dying." "I''m not stupid," Horizon says. "I knew you''d understand Hawks was out of line, so it''d be fine, but you really don''t have to worry. I mean the only reason I''d ever kill any of them, at least intentionally is, well, you know..." With that Horizon gets up, and Pantu moves to do the same, only for him to raise his hand and rest it on her shoulder. Her entire body bes tense, looking directly ahead at his chest, not even daring to look up at the visor. "Is there a problem?" Pantu asks, focusing her Quirk internally, as her life does depend on it. Horizon gently moves his hand across her shoulder toward her neck, then just barely holds onto her neck. Hisrge hand is easily able to wrap around her neck, and with his thumb of the same hand, he raises her chin, forcing her to look at him. "Look me in the eyes woman," his voice was cold, in a way she''s never heard him before. This was anything but the cocky young man she''s had to deal with until now. This was the thing Arsenal and The Heart Thief raised. As she looks up she has to actively keep herself from reacting, internally or otherwise. Horizon''s visor was warped away for a moment, revealing the ski mask portion of his body glove. But both his eyes were glowing bright blue, energy vapor pouring out of them and into the air heavily. ''He has so much power its literally leaking out of him...'' Pantu realized. As if he was a demon staring through her. "Wha---" With a simple movement of his thumb he pushes against her jaw and forced her mouth shut. "Shhh," Horizon tilts his head slightly, getting a proper look at her features, but he didn''t see any changes in them. "You know, day by day the idea of walking away like my parents wanted gets less painful to me." He applies just a bit more pressure with his thumb, and Pantu knows exactly how badly this can go for her. "But I''m determined to see this through till the end, so let''s both just do our jobs," he applies more pressure and Pantu feels her jaw bone almost creaking. "But honestly, I don''t know what I''d do if you betrayed me. Well, I know what I''d do to you, there are sooo many things I''d do to you. But Japan, the thing you care more about than anything else, oh that''s how I''d really hurt you. And make you live with your failure, just as I''d have to live with mine. But I can''t quite think of something painful enough to match what losing my parents would feel like." Horizon presses a bit harder, and Pantu feels her gums and teeth begin to shift and twist, her mouth already getting blood. "So, tell me, should I just do that now? Or are we still alright?" Horizon releases some of the pressure, allowing Pantu to speak, "your parents are alive and well, but out of your reach..." Neither of them moves for over a minute as Horizon performs Scan multiple times, then he lets go of her. "Good to know, but don''t get any ideas," Horizon leans down slightly to whisper in her ear. "Because I know about more than just little Keigo -Hawks-, but it''s kind of fun watching you desperately il around. Forming all these useless ns that don''t have a chance of working. Plus I will admit, some of what you do really is just entertaining..." Horizon shoves her backward, releasing her so she falls back into her chair. "Anyway, you''ve got a presentation to do, and I need to go get a good seat." As Horizon walks past her his visor warps back onto his head, and Pantu doesn''t even breathe until the door is shut behind him. Pantu feels a headache already setting in as she struggles to catch her breath, the strain of having to use her Quirk like that is affecting her more at this age. Especially since she hasn''t had to use it in such a manner for decades. ''Damn monster, but at least my Quirk works against him, so he isn''t some omnipotent god. If that went badly, with all the top Pros here Japan would have been plunged into ruin. Him killing everyone here would pave the way for Shigaraki and his League of Viins to take over in days.'' Pantu takes a few deep breaths, then looks at the table she was leaning against, where she presumed Ryukyu gave into her carnal desires. ''He isn''t dumb, so no way he showed her his face. But I should at least ask, and warn her about exactly what she''s just gotten into. And I''ve already tried finding his civilian identity via blood from his battle with All For One, but Nezu hid it far too well. I''ll just have to wait and see how things y out...'' Eventually, Ryukyu was able topose herself, after yelling at Horizon a bit for the impromptu experience in such an inappropriate venue. And Pantu got ready and presented the Top 10 Pro Heroes. The new ranking was not quite what the people expected, but they certainly weren''t unhappy with the results. Wash, a rescue and capture-focused Pro hero who was dressed like a washing machine with arms and legs was now the #10 Pro hero. His Quirk allows him to make bubbles that clean anything they touch and are durable enough to capture viins or float civilians and even pieces of buildings to safety. Kamui Woods was able to climb all the way to the #9 spot after his recent fame via Edgeshot and team Lurkers, and his involvement in a few incidents beside Horizon. His girlfriend Mt. Lady was #16 and a bit sad she didn''t make it into the top ten, but also happy for him. Gang Orca now secured the #8 spot, a one-seat move upward due to recent events. He''s mostly had a normal year aside from a very select few events, but he''s always been a favorite of the people. Ryukyu now sat at #7, her self-proimed undeserved promotion from the #10 spot. Although the public could understand why she was promoted due to all the work she did this year, she knew it was due to Pantu and Horizon. The unchanged #6 spot is still held by Crust, the Shield Hero. Juzo''s mentor and a surprisingly capable Pro Hero, considering his Quirk only allows him to make scales on his body and expand them into shields. He wore a simple green, white, and ck diator-style outfit, with a cape. Mirko was now promoted to her new spot at #5, and she seemed somewhat annoyed during the entire event, although she did cheer up when the reporter mentioned this is the highest rank a woman has ever been in Japan''s Hero Billboard Chart Rankings. Edgeshot also enjoyed a promotion due to All Might retiring, bumping him up to the #4 spot. Best Jeanist, another favorite of the people also moved up, now holding the #3 spot with ease. The only Pro Hero who wasn''t present to give a speech was Hawks, the new #2 Pro Hero. It was mentioned that there was an emergency in his city so he had to run off and deal with that, so nobody bothered to question it. And then that left the new #1 Pro Hero. Endeavor, the me Hero. As he walked onto the stage everyone notice the new Hero Costume, with metalponents on the shoulder and arms, as well as a new belt and overall design to the pattern of his costume. He now looked much more functional and intimidating, and unlike most people, Horizon knew the mental support equipment on his Hero Costume was there to help focus the heat and pressure from his mes. He was serious about doing anything he can to fill All Might''s shoes, at least until Horizon can take over. And when a reporter asked him about that very subject, if he could possibly do enough to report the people''s faith in their Pro Heroes. If he could win their trust in him as the #1 Pro Hero. His only response was three simple words, "Just watch me..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 243: (Horizons Girls) Chapter 243: (Horizon''s Girls) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- ---5pm, UA... In the 1A Dorms, Horizon sat on one of the couches of themon room, the dorms were almost entirely empty at the moment. Everyone was either already gone, or getting ready to go to the Hero Work Studies. Only a few people didn''t have Provisional Hero Licenses and were stuck at UA all weekend. The TV was on, quietly showing a rey of the highlights from the Hero Billboard Ranking even earlier today. But Horizon wasn''t focused on that, he was a bit preupied by Momo who was sitting in hisp with her arms around his neck. She wore a more casual outfit, somefortable high-waisted jeans, a red and white ''Genesis'' t-shirt, and her Horizon theme hoodie. Her hair was in the ssic ponytail and her lips were locked onto Horizon''s. His visor was partially opened so they could properly share this moment. He was in his Hero Costume, only here in Musustafu to have a small meeting with Nezu, which is already done. He simply had to give Nezu an update on what happened between himself and Hawks, or more urately, what he did to Hawks. Thest remaining thing was to get Jiro and head back to Tokyo. But since Momo was still here, he figured why not enjoy some time with one of his girls before he goes back to work for the weekend. Her weekend backpack was beside them on the couch, and her Hero Costume was resting beside it, simply waiting on Setsuna to get done with some schoolwork before they both went to spend the weekend with Majestic. But right now she was entirely focused on Horizon. Separating from him to barely catch her breath she mutters, "I''m jealous, I''ve never been to Horizon Tower but Jiro gets a weekend there." "Well I''m a man of my word, nothing more." Momo gives him another passionate kiss before pulling away again, "so when can Ie to the tower?" "Never," Horizon''s hand moves down from her waist and gives her ass a firm squeeze, "you''re too distracting, I wouldn''t get any work done." Momo''s breath hitches as she begins unconsciously grinding against him, "Is that why you only...spend time with us...at UA," her breathing bes less stable as she feels like she''s melting in hisp. "Mhm, I''m at UA as a formality, not to learn, if you two weren''t here I wouldn''t have any reason to ever be on campus..." "So we''re worth being stuck in UA?" Momo gives him a few more kisses before needing to catch her breath again. "Every second..." After a few more minutes Jiro enters themon area, wearing a pair of simply ck jeans and a purple top, backpack over her shoulder with her things for the weekend. Looking around themon area she only sees Momo and Horizon, both of which were rather upied at the moment. Her cheeks redden slightly, and she unconsciously lips her lips while staring at the scene, both the people she''s most attracted to were getting hot and heavy right in front of her. Taking a deep breath she squeezes her eyes shut and gathers her courage, then walks over before she cane to her senses. Recalling all thete nights she and Momo spent discussing this, she hardens her mind and keeps walking forward. Momo feels a gentle tap on her shoulder, making her pull away from Horizon for just a moment to see what''s going on, finding herself looking up at Jiro. "Oh, you''re done packing," Momo says. There was a gentle smile on her lips, and she recognizes the uncertain hunger in Jiro''s eyes. Before anyone could realize what was going on, Jiro leaned forward and gently cupped Momo''s face, locking their lips together and pulling her into an intense kiss. Momo froze for a moment, stiff as a board. They''d spoken about this at length, but she never expected it to happen so suddenly, and not while she was still sitting in hisp. Horizon just leaned back and enjoyed the show, especially as Momo got morefortable and began kissing Jiro in return. As they continue Momo reaches out and pulls Jiro around the couch and into Horizon''sp. She drops her backpack to the side as Momo slides out of hisp to sit beside him, making space for Jiro. All without ever separating for more than a moment. And when they finally do break apart and have to wipe their lips, both struggling to catch their breaths, Horizon just wraps and arm around Momo, pulling her to his side, and bring Jiro closer to his chest. "Wow...I love it here." Both girls break into a fit of giggles before Jiro speaks, "see, told you he''d love it." "It wasn''t as strange as I thought it would be," Momo admits, leaning into Horizon. "I actually kind of liked it..." "Forgetting someone?" Horizon asks. "How could I ever forget you?" Jiro smiles and leans forward, giving him a long and passionate kiss as well before they separate. "So, about earlier, does this mean...?" "Yup," Jiro tells Horizon. "Honestly I feel so stupid for waiting this long to tell Momo, I mean she''s the nicest girl ever and my best friend, of course she''d understand." "Although I will admit I was surprised," Momo says. "I suppose I''m not that good at reading people''s romantic interests toward me." "Its part of your charm," Horizon says. "Mhm, well I''m not exactly interested in girls, at least normally I''m not," Momo says. "But after a long discussion with Kyoka we came to an understanding." "I''m just happy my girls are getting along, this wouldn''t really work otherwise." After he says that Jiro extends her Earphone Jacks around his neck and pulls him forward, meeting him halfway to give him another kiss. CLICK! The familiar sound of a camera going off causes them to break the kiss, and look over at Mina who was grinning like an idiot in the corner. She was wearing a pair of shorts and her sports bra, now heading out for a run. During the weekends she''s actually the only girl in the 1A Dorms with Jiro, but this weekend she''ll be alone. "If you upload that I''ll kill you pinky," Horizon says. "Sure sure," Mina says while sending it to the ss group chat. Jiro and Momo feel their phones vibrate and check them, only to both start blushing. Both the 1A and 1A+1B group chats got the picture, explicit and high quality. Jiro sat on hisp kissing him while Momo nuzzled at his side patiently waiting her turn. But everyone knew better than to put those on the inte, so Horizon didn''t particrly care. "So how can I get in on this?" Mina asks while walking over to the couch, sitting on the arm beside Horizon. Both Jiro and Momo look at her, confused, concerned, and uncertain. "What exactly do you mean Mina?" Momo asks. "Not the three ways and the make-out session you closet pervert, the field trip to Tokyo. C''mon! Please! Take me with you!" Mina throws her arms around Horizon and begins fake crying into his chest. "No, get off me," Horizon says. "I promise I''ll be good, I can be packed in a few minutes I swear!" "Not happening, I''m not supposed to take any girls to Horizon Tower in the first ce, so just give up already." "Heroes never give up!" Mina lets go of him and does her best puppy-dog eyes. "What will it take huh?" "Not happening." "C''monnnnnnnn!" Mina looks like she was on the verge of actual tears. "Do you have any idea how much it sucks being stuck on campus 24/7?! I wanna go shopping, or to a cute caf¨¦, or just for a walk outside of UA! Just because I failed the Provisional License Exam it''s like I''m under house arrest, please let mee with you!" Horizon sighs, "even if I wanted to, you''d need your parent''s permission and I doubt you''d be able to get that within a few minutes." "Oh," Mina frowns, suddenly looking like a kicked puppy. "Plus..." In one smooth motion, Horizon slides Jiro onto Momo''sp, and pulls Mina onto his, wrapping a hand around her waist to hold her stable and putting the other on her thighs. "Horizon Tower doesn''t have that many beds, so you''d have to sleep with Jiro and I this weekend, would you be alright with that?" Jiro and Momo tried not tough, seeing Mina''s face turn purple as she blushes through her pink skin. They''d both gotten used to Horizon teasing them, even if they still can''t help but react. But now being on the observing side, they can see why he enjoyed doing this. Momo hugged Jiro from behind as they both noticed the slow motion Horizon''s fingers are making on Mina''s exposed thighs, and they both shudder at the thought of all the emotions and ideas that feeling always triggers. And judging by the look on Mina''s face, she was experiencing the same thing. Mina hops out of hisp, and they all notice her legs being squeezed tightly shut, even as she walks away stiffly. "On second thought seven months for the next exam is fine ok bye!" Mina yells while all but running toward the elevator. Horizon quietlyughs while pulling Jiro back into hisp, where she feels mostfortable. "So, think she''ll be dreaming about me tonight?" "Is that what you want?" Jiro asks. "Do you intend to im every girl in our ss?" "Would that be a problem?" "I don''t think Asui would want to be a part of...us," Momo says, speaking rather seriously. "And Toru is dating Ojiro," Jiro says. "Oh yeah, figures the most forgettable people would end up fucking," Horizon says. Momo swats his shoulder, "They''re happily together, don''t be so crass. But I actually don''t think any of the girls in our ss would be willing to join us, which I can''t say I''m not happy about. Dividing your attention any more would leave none for us as it is." "That''s a shame, Mina has a nice ass, and zero gravity could be a lot of fun..." Momo gives an exasperated sigh and Jiro just rolls her eyes, leaning back against his chest. "Are you sure you don''t just want Uraraka because Deku likes her?" Jiro asks. "Nah, but now that you mentioned it...he still thinks he''ll one day be better than me, so fucking his crush would destroy him. But luckily I''m not that kind of person, as if I''d need to put in any special effort to show trash how worthless they are." Both Momo and Jiro frown, getting slightly annoyed but keeping it to themselves. This was the part of Horizon they didn''t like, the part that insists on letting the world know how much better he is, the part that sometimes tears others down either intentionally or not. The part that took personal offense to anyone it deemed unworthy trying topete with it, especially Deku. As they were talking Setsuna finally enters the dorm, wearing some casual clothes and carrying a backpack, as well as her Hero Costume case. Behind her were Shoto, Bakugo, and Deku, they''d just got done at the support department and were going to start training together. Since neither of them has Provisional Hero Licenses, they''ve been training together much more and constantly getting stronger, at least ording to what Shinso reported to Horizon. Because Horizon really didn''t know, he doesn''t pay enough attention to his ssmates, or as he put it to Shinso, ''ants, slightly bigger ants, to me they all look the same''. As Momo gets up to leave with Setsuna, then neers all freeze up. Momo, Jiro, and Horizon follow their eyelines, to the TV. On TV the Endeavor Hero Agency was currently under attack by a High-End Nomu. The fight was already well underway by the time the broadcast started, and Endeavor already looked quite hurt. Burnin and the other ming Sidekicks tried to jump in and support him but the High-End Nomu released a dozen regr Nomu from its body to upy them. "H-he-ro!" the High-End Nomu''s deep and broken-up voice echoed across the battlefield as it flew around fighting Endeavor. "A High-End Nomu," Horizon says. "A what?" Bakugo asks. "Stronger and more intelligent Nomu, they retain parts of the personality of the corpse used to make them," Horizon sighs and gets up, letting Jiro stand on her own. "This is annoying, looks like I''ll have to patch him up after this fight, let''s go Jiro..." "Hey, your ssmate is worried, can''t you at least pretend to care?" Jiro asks as she sees him casually taking out his phone, making sure Pantu knew he was on the way to Central Hospital. "I do care," Horizon says, looking over at Shoto who was about to have a panic attack. "But I''m not worried, its Endeavor, he doesn''t know how to lose..." Those words alone help Shoto calm down, just enough so he doesn''t freak out. And a momentter Horizon and Jiro warp away... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 244: (High-End Results) Chapter 244: (High-End Results) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- Sitting in the hallway of Central Hospital was a surreal experience for Kyoka Jiro. She has one Earphone Jack plugged into her phone, quietly listening to music as she sat on her chair. There were nurses and doctors constantly moving around, even thiste at night. The hospital was constantly getting a flood of new patients into the emergency room. Holding her backpack beside her she nces at the door to the side of where she''s seated. Behind her, on the other side of the simple wall, Endeavor wasying in bed after getting healed by Horizon. But the instant Endeavor was stable and they could only wait for him to wake up, a nurse rushed over and led Horizon to the other side of the hospital. Dozens of people were severely hurt by the League Of Viins attack earlier today. Now it was nearly midnight and Horizon hasn''t stopped working to heal people. For all his talk about not caring about others, Jiro saw him takingmand of the situation immediately and constantly moving around saving lives. Seeing respected doctors and nurses differ to him, it was surreal. As if suddenly he was even further ahead of her, he already seemed beyondprehension, but no she knew she could never describe it. She did notice one thing, however, a few times each hour, there''d be a few nurses rushing children in the direction of the Miracle Ward. Horizon''s office was currently chaotic which is why she''s here sitting in the hallway. But she could hear the happy and relieved cheers of patients and their families every time he shows himself. ''No we''re still in Central Hospital,'' Jiro responds to a text from her mom. ''A lot of people got hurt so Horizon is helping to heal them, he said he should be done soon.'' ''Alright, just remember not to be too far away from him.'' Jiro rolls her eyes at her mom''s message, ''I''m not a baby you know, I''m training to be a Pro Hero too.'' ''And we''re very proud of you, but please don''t go too far from him.'' Jiro sighs, ''yes mom, I''ll call you from Horizon Tower.'' As Jiro is finishing up her conversation she sees a nurse rush by, with a small Horizon logo on the shoulder of her uniform. She looked worried, clutching the clipboard to her chest as she all but sprints down the hallway. Minutester she''s pushing a young boy in a wheelchair toward the Miracle Ward. ''She must be one of the people Horizon has to help him organize everyone here,'' Jiro realizes. ''I don''t think I''ve seen any adults go toward the Miracle Ward, aside from the people he helped that came in with Endeavor.'' Jiro sits back and thinks about it for a moment. ''He really doesn''t care about people...well, adults. But he''s got a soft spot for kids. No wonder he always spoils Eri so much, even if he says it''s just to annoy Eraser.'' Jiro shakes her head, realizing her being here makes him easier to see through. ''All that acting like a jerk, and it turns out he''s just a big softie deep down.'' "What''s with that stupid look on your face?" Horizon snaps her out of her daydream, causing her to jump to her feet in surprise and look at him. "Uh, I, um..." Horizon sighs and shakes his head, "Endeavor is awake so let me just go talk to him then we can leave." "Alright, I''ll be here!" Jiro says excitedly, just wanting to get to Horizon Tower and take a nap, then get ready for the concert tomorrow. Entering the room Horizon sees Endeavorying in bed staring up at the ceiling, he had a scar on the left side of his face, from the top of his forehead, down over his eye, almost down to his jawline. "If you change your mind I can always remove the scar," Horizon says. "It''s deserved," Endeavor says. "Right, well if you ever feel like not punishing yourself just let me know," Horizon saunters over to the chair beside Endeavor''s bed and takes a seat, finally getting a moment to rx since leaving UA. They enjoy the silence for a moment, gentle moonlight trying to break through the curtains, keeping the room slightly dimmed. "How is everyone?" Endeavor asks. "A few Pro Heroes got badly hurt, two died, not from your agency but they were nearby," Horizon says. "All the smaller Nomu got dealt with, and Japan saw your fight. Cheering for the new #1 Pro Hero, congrattions." "I see, and the civilians?" "All evacuated and got out safe, since the attack was concentrated onto your Hero Agency, and the Pro Heroes." "That''s good," Endeavor says. He tries to get up, but immediatelyys back down, feeling his entire body sore. "How badly hurt was I?" "Well, without me, you''d be in here for at least another week, but no permanent damage either way. But since I got to you, tomorrow you can get out of here. But your Hero Agency is a mess..." "It can always be rebuilt. Did any more attacks happen?" "Nope, they just wanted to kill you, kick Japan the same day we officially got the new #1 Pro Hero, smart move," Horizon says. "But, the viins, like most people, don''t realize that you''re kind of freakishly powerful. It''s just when you stand beside people like All Might and I, anyone looks like less than they are." "It worked to our advantage this time," Endeavor says. "That Nomu that attacked me, it was one of the High-End Nomu you got information on. It was able to speak and think clearly, it wanted to kill me more than anyone else." "Mhm, that means the consciousness was still somewhat intact, damn, doing some research on it would have been helpful. But you cremated it, not even DNA survived the attack you did." "The Quirks," Endeavor closes his eyes and tries to remember. "Super Regeneration, Super Power, Muscle Enhancer, some kind of storage Quirk it used to release the other Nomu. A body maniption Quirk that let it harden and sharpen its muscles, and an air pressure Quirk." "6 Quirks that we know of, good thing it went after you, almost anyone else would have died immediately," Horizon thinks about it for a moment. "But now they know relying on the basic blunt force type of Quirks won''t work against you. They''ll start to specialize Nomu for specific Pro Heroes." "Mhm, what about you, could you have handled it?" Endeavor opens his eyes to nce at Horizon. Horizon takes a deep breath and raises one hand, opening his palm to collect a small flow of green radiation in his palm. Endeavor looks more intrigued than worried. As Horizon''s official Pro Hero mentor and boss, he knows more than most people about Horizon''s abilities, and the ''Gamma'' series is no exception. But this is the first time he''s ever seen it in person. ''Cellr destruction, a scary ability,'' Endeavor thinks. "I think I''d be fine against that Nomu, so long as it''s just one," Horizon crushes the radiation in his hand, harmlessly dispersing it as he shrugs. "You said Gamma attacks were difficult to do..." "They are, but I''ve been practicing a lot," Horizon says. They share another moment in silence. "I saw on the news that he was there," Horizon says, and Endeavor immediately frowns at the memory. Dabi, he appeared from a Warp Gate to collect the Nomu after the fight. "He tried to get the Nomu, and promised to ''destroy'' me," Endeavor says. "But he didn''t make any direct mentions of ''that'', or anything else." "He tried to attack?" "Of course, but too many Pro Heroes were there, and Burnin was able to get me out of there." "So he was sent to get back the Nomu but couldn''t recover it. Makes sense, the League of Viins was just testing a new weapon on you. Some of the Nomu I''ve encountered were clones, imperfect, but it means they can make more of at least the Quirk Factors." "So we can expect more of these, and more frequently, that''s concerning. We need to take more proactive measures to deal with the League Of Viins," Endeavor says. "I''m sure Pantu will want to talk to you for a debrief, but yeah, I''ve been itching to start hunting them down myself." "Well you can start when you get out of here, when you get a lead I''ll follow up, she doesn''t want me leaving Tokyo too much." "I assume you''ll be in Tokyo this weekend." "I''m taking Jiro to a concert," Horizon says rather casually. "Jiro?" "ssmate, it''s...a long story." "Hmm, I thought you were dating Ryukyu." "Lots of people think that," Horizon chooses his words very carefully, since Jiro is just outside the room and can likely hear them. "But yeah that''s my weekend ns, anyway, I''ll give you another checkup the next time I see you." With that Horizon gets up and begins walking to the door. "Thank you, for everything," Endeavor says. Horizon stops, hand on the door handle, then looks at Endeavor, "It''s part of the job, oh, and Shoto looked worried about you when I left UA, so give him a call..." Endeavor actually manages to smile hearing that, "I will, th---" Horizon exits the room before he can thank him again. "Honestly these fucking Todorokis," Horizon mutters as Jiro stands beside him. "Alright, let''s get out of here." ROOM! He ces a hand on her shoulder. SHAMBLES! END CHAPTER--- Chapter 245: (Above the sheep) Chapter 245: (Above the sheep) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- ---Minato Tokyo, 5AM... Sitting in the interrogation room of a police station, a gorgeous Japanese woman sits in the interrogation room. Both her hands were cuffed to a bar in the middle of the table, a bored expression on her face as she looks down at the table. Her outfit was a simple pair of ck jeans and a loose white top, with some tears and shes in it. CLICK! The door to the room opens and in walks a detective, well dressed holding a folder in his hands. "Lady Bonsai," he says. "Not so scary without trees around for you to manipte huh," he takes a seat opposite her. The woman remains silent, she doesn''t even look up at him. "Now let''s see," he opens her file and skims it, as if he didn''t have the entire thing memorized already. "Killed 2 people that we know of, injured 3 Pro Heroes and 17 police officers yesterday when being arrested. Caught moving a small convoy of illegal firearms from the countryside into Tokyo." "..." "You know your organization is pretty smart, doing this while Horizon isn''t in Tokyo, very smart," the detective says. "But you were so quick to move in the time he wasn''t here, that you got sloppy, and we caught you. So, where did the gunse from?" "I want mywyer," the woman says, her only words since being arrested, repeated any time her mouth opens. "Normally that''s fine, but, since you''ve been filed and officially transferred to Tartarus, not happening," the man says. "You know how this works, when someone is deemed a big enough threat for Tartarus we skip all the tedious legality and paperwork." The woman flinches at that, she knew exactly what Tartarus was. Everyone knew, and not everyone liked it. The government tries to keep Tartarus out of the news for this reason, because a lot of people don''t approve of them skipping the legal and criminal process and simply throwing major threats into Tartarus. No trial, no wasted time, just a criminal locked in a box forever as quickly as possible. Stacked atop the numerous concerns of human rights vitions Tartarus allegedly does to contain certain individuals, it was a powder keg of civil unrest waiting to explode. Truly this woman didn''t quite deserve to be locked in Tartarus. She was a simple viin, not even that powerful outside of a forest, and even then her Quirk isn''t anything any top 20 Pro Hero couldn''t casually deal with. "Tartarus is for monsters, not people like me," she says, finally engaging with the detective. "You can''t just lock me in there to threaten me." The detective rxes in his chair, letting a tense silence form between them. "That''s not for you to decide, the Hero Public Safety Commission gets the final say on that," he says. "And they know I''m not as bad as people like All For One, or worse, Arsenal." "Well, you can exin that when you''re locked up next to her," he says. "Or, you could give up your boss, and we''ll send you to a basic prison, without nts around." The woman stiffens, clearly caught in an impasse. "All I need is a name or location, we get what we want and you don''t get locked up with the monsters." "I..." she looks away from him, down at the floor. "I can''t, just send me to Tartarus." "Tch..." As the detective is about to speak the door opens behind him, and he sees the woman''s eyes open wide, as if they were trying to fall out of her skull. Her breath hitches and the cuff buckle as she tries and fails to get away from the table, but can''t move. "Detective, you can leave now, I''ll handle this," Horizon''s voice causes the man to rx. The man carefully gets up and leaves the room, and Horizon casually takes his seat. His sword hovered beside him, and her eyes never once left it, which he noticed. "Oh, you don''t have to worry about that, actually," Horizon leans forward and touched her cuffs, then with his other hand he grabs Scalpel. SHAMBLES! He disappears, startling her, and as he does, the sword and the cuffs leave the room with him. And in the next moment only he returns as if nothing happened, "better?" The woman was still shocked that he was here, but nods as she rubs the bruises on her wrists. "So, you know the deal right? You got caught, but we want your boss, not you, h h h," Horizon casually leans back and waves his hand about,pletely bored with this process. "So what''ll it take for you to give him up?" "I can''t." "I see..." Horizon thinks about it for a moment. "Oh well, I tried," he shrugs and gets up. She looks even more confused, not expecting the famed Horizon to give up that easily. "How about we go get breakfast, I know this great ce but I need to get there before the sun is up," Horizon says as he walks over to her. "What?" "Get up, lets go." Hearing those words spoken so casually, she wasn''t sure if this was some kind of trick, but she was too scared to disobey. The moment she stands he puts a hand on her shoulder. SHAMBLES! They both appear at a small food stall in Minato Tokyo, close to the docks. The sun wasn''t up yet, and usually, within an hour of sunrise this vendor is sold out for the day, so Horizon alwayses extra early to beat the crowds. The woman looks around, still trying to wrap her head around what''s going on. Seeing that she wasn''t locked up anymore, but is now mindlessly following Horizon as he approaches the food stall. "Take a seat," he gestures to the tables and chairs set up in front of the stall while walking to the vendor. She does exactly as he says, still looking around waiting for this to go bad, seeing that only they and the vendor were here, the entire ce was deserted. In a perfect world, if Horizon wasn''t here, she could try to make a run for it. ''Or take him hostage,'' she thinks while looking at the vendor, who Horizon was casually chatting with. ''But Horizon is here, so I guess I''m stuck here too...'' Now even without the reinforced walls of a police station, or the cuffs, or the armed men around her, she felt more trapped than ever before. All because he was here, not even paying her any mind at the moment as he gets their food. Walking back to their table he puts arge egg sandwich in front of her, along with a bottle of water. Then he sat down and began eating his, "You probably haven''t eaten since you got arrested right, and you won''t be getting food like this for a while, maybe ever again. In Tartarus, they just feed you a nd paste." The woman waits for the trap to get sprung, but instead, Horizon retracts the mouthpiece of his visor and begins eating, enjoying his breakfast. Suddenly aware of how hungry she was, and seeing him eating, she couldn''t help it and began eating her food. "Thank you," she says, not wanting to piss him off. "It''s no problem, so, was a sandwich enough for you to give me your boss?" She stops chewing for a moment, then just looks down at the table, "No." "You sure? Because I mean, I''ve tried a lot of breakfast ces here in Tokyo, I think this is the best one, I''m a regr here, pretty sure it''s worth it." She ignores him and takes a sip of her water, then continues eating. "I mean honestly, in about 20 minutes the first set of customers will be showing up, every morning, like clockwork. You can''t believe the crowd and the line that will be here, but its definitely worth it." She continues to ignore him. "Mhm, oh," he snaps his finger. "Maybe you should bring your daughter." She chokes on her food, but washes it down with some water. "I mean she''s only five, but I''m sure she can appreciate good food right?" "How do you know about her?" "Because I''m Horizon, knowing things is half my job," he takes another bite. "Too bad you''ll probably never see her again, right? I mean, she''ll be dead by the end of the day," he continues eating, casually. "What?!" the woman drops her food even as Horizon is casually eating. "Well yeah, I mean I had to get here early just beat the crowd, but also like... they don''t tell you this but, being a celebrity is super annoying. People alwaysing up and taking pictures, or sometimes just taking creepy pictures without letting you know. Then they post if before you give permission, so I don''t even patrol by walking the streets like everyone else, I just stay in my tower until something goes wrong," he gestures to Horizon Tower in the distance, not too far away. "What about my daughter? Is she in danger?" "Not yet, but I mean... your boss is probably using her as leverage against you, so when the crowd gets here and sees us sharing a nice meal together, takes some pictures, post them immediately...you look like a snitch," Horizon shrugs. "I wonder what he''ll do to her..." The woman begins breathing more erratically, ovee with too many emotions to think clearly. Then a minuteter she sulks in her seat, ring at him, "You''re a monster." "Wow, and all I did was take you for a nice breakfast, such an ungratefuldy." "Take me back to the police station, I''ll take the deal..." ---6 PM... SHAMBLES! Horizon and Jiro appear in the rafters of a stadium in Tokyo, and below them is the massive concert venue, currently closed. The ce was dimply lit, and would be darker when people are let in and the music starts, but right now they could see all thest-minute checks begin done on stage. "Wooo," Jiro''s eyes go wide as she looks around, having a full view of the entire show from here. "I was worried I wouldn''t be able to see anything, but this is something else." "You wanted to be in the crowd?" Horizon asks as he stands with his back against the railing, not watching the stage. "That''s where you get the full experience, so yeah." "You''re tiny, you''d get trampled." "I''m not that small! And you could put me on your shoulders." "To block everyone behind us? Also, I''m not going into a mosh pit of losers." "What makes you so sure everyone that''ll be here is a loser, you''re here after all." "I''m here because this is what you wanted, oh, that reminds me. They also agreed to take some pictures with us after the concert." "Seriously!" Jiro excitedly hugs him, pressing herself against him. "You got me a chance to meet Deep Dope?!" "Yeah jeez, they wanted pictures with me so we traded, but told em not to post anything till tomorrow so people don''t know I''m here." "You''re the best!" "Obviously." Jiro reaches into her backpack and gets out her camera, ready to take some amazing pictures. "And in floods the losers," Horizon says as the masses begin to enter the stadium. "And what makes them losers exactly?" Jiro doesn''t even bother to look at him, just continuing to take pictures. "Paying money to stand in a crowd of sweaty and possibly drunk people like sardines in a can, while basically worshipping some people on stage who they don''t even know, and who probably don''t care about them," Horizon shrugs. "What part of that doesn''t scream ''loser'' to you?" Jiro looks at him and scowls, "That''s not what concerts are about you know, it''s not just about the party and music." "Could have fooled me." "It''s about the shared experience," Jiro says. "A lot of these people probably had dark times in their life and used the same songs and music to get through it, being here and seeing all these people means you aren''t alone in what you went through, it helps us not feel like nobody knows what we''re dealing with." "Hmm, maybe you''re reading too deep into it," Horizon nces back to see the ce quickly filling up. "Wouldn''t you like to know that someone out there is dealing with the same thing as you?" Jiro asks. "No, I don''t ever want anyone else to have my problems," Horizon says. "Not having your family with you, and not being able to rebuild a normal life because of this," he gestures to the distance between him and the crowd. It''s already isting enough, but now as a top pro, I need to hold myself apart even more and much more literally, most people can''t handle that. They''d snap, so I hope I''m alone in this endeavor, at least at my age." Jiro gives him a sad look, "Well when you put it like that, I hope you''re right too I guess, now, how about we enjoy the concert together." "Well, their music isn''t bad, so I can try," Horizon admits. "I knew you loved their music too!" "That''s not what I said." "That''s basically exactly what you said..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 246: (Semester 2 Wrap-up) Chapter 246: (Semester 2 Wrap-up) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- ---December 16th, 2315, 2PM... Over 1 month after the new #1 Pro Hero Endeavor was attacked by the High-End Nomu, now named Hood. The Pro Hero recovered within a day of the incident and has been working more than ever to maintain stability in Japan. In this time the state of affairs across the nation has been stagnant, with no incidents of note interrupting the monotony of everyday life. But the entire country was holding its breath, feeling an underlying sense of tension, waiting for the next big disaster to appear. But all the good citizens and Pro Heroes had one desire, knowing this event was an eventuality, they wished for it to happen in Minato Tokyo. The heart of Tokyo where the most people would be in danger. But this desire was not a selfish want to put others in danger instead of themselves, no, it was sheer and absolute confidence in Horizon, to immediately snuff out any dangers happening in Minato Tokyo. ording to all statistics, Minato Tokyo no longer has any viin activity, not even petty crime. Even when Horizon is confirmed to be at UA, viins and criminals simply stayed away. Rumors had quickly spread about him hunting the mercenary Wolfram across Japan, and nobody knew why he did such a thing. It could have been for a serious incident, or simply because the man took a stroll through Minato Tokyo and Horizon caught his scents, but the oue was clear. Horizon stands victorious, and Wolfram is locked away forever. And now, while all the viins are hiding, terrified of Horizon knocking on their door and warping them into a cell. He sits on the couch in themon area of the 1A dorms, dressed casually in his own merch with a few bullets in his hand. As he inspects andpares them, working on a new case that he got earlier today before returning to UA, Eri is sitting nearby with a few coloring books. Tomorrow is thest day before UA closes for the winter break, ending the semester with the 1A Christmas party before most of the students go home to their parents. "I did it!" Eri deres as she gets up and rushes over, showing Horizon the page she colored. Looking at the page Horizon keeps fiddling with the bullet in his fingers. "All Might huh," he says while inspecting the page, seeing a picture of a healthy All Might nearly perfectly colored in. "You colored out of the lines a bit, but you''re getting better." "Yours is next," she says excitedly and turns the page, showing Horizon''s logo on it. "I''ll do it good, promise." "Alright, I''ll be waiting to see it," Horizon says as she goes back to sitting on the carpet and coloring. Horizon arrived at UA a bitter than usual and decided not to go to afternoon sses today, which surprisingly Eraser didn''t mind. But that might have been because he wanted Horizon to babysit Eri since she doesn''t have school right now. ---Elsewhere... In an undisclosed location, the consequences of Horizon''s darker side are still being healed. Standing in the observation area Pantu looks through the ss coldly, seeing Hawks standing in the middle of an open room, arms raised as he circtes his feathers around him. She sees his limbs trembling, feathers that would normally be swirling around him, perfectly controlled, were now bumping into each other. They would bump into each other and fall to the floor, only to then bemanded to rise into the air yet again and continue the training. After a few more minutes Hawks was drenched in sweat, breathing heavily as he falls to his knees. All the feathers crash into the floor andy there motionless. Pantu''s fa?ade doesn''t falter, she simply speaks clearly so the man beside her can hear. "Take him to another week of mental care, he can''t go out into public like this." "Yes ma''am..." The man leaves her alone in the room, and she takes this moment to consider her thoughts, and her assets. ''Ryukyu is in much more danger than I realized, but telling her about any of this will make it more like she''ll be discovered, what aplicated situation...'' ---Elsewhere... Stepping out of a Warp Gate into an open clearing amidst arge forest, Shigaraki takes a deep breath. He feels the clean air enter his lungs and takes a moment to soak it all in. "Ahh, I haven''t been here in a while, and one day it''ll all be mine," Shigaraki says. As Kurogiri steps out of the Warp Gate beside him, Shigaraki checks his phone. "Alright, this location will do," he says while checking the map. "Close to some cities, but isted enough that nobody will notice him." "Yes," Kurogiri says. "ording to our benefactor, Gigantomachia needs time to relearn his limits, and practice the routines programmed into him to counter Horizon." "Tch, Horizon," Shigaraki scratches his neck. "And he''s sure this version of Machia'' can deal with that freak?" "Titans are among the few beings in myth that can kill gods," Kurogiri says. "He was built with Quirks selected by All For One and your mysterious benefactor, using all the data they collected during the battle with Horizon." "His new attack is concerning, that Gamma thing Hawks told us about, it counters Super Regeneration." "Yes, but Machia is toorge for him to effectively use it," Kurogiri says as they begin walking around the clearing. "Add to that the variation of many Quirks he was given to deal with being warped about, or at least being somewhat able to stay on the battlefield if he''s warped away." "Horizon has too many cheats, we can never be too careful. If we let our guard down he''ll cut Machia'' up and just scatter him about...but if the doctor thinks he''s rebuilt Machia'' with enough counters and power to deal with him, I''ve got no real choice but to trust him." "Yes, but Hawks gave us important data, not only about Horizon''s power, but about his mind." "I remember," Shigaraki says. "Horizon cares more about being seen as a Pro Hero than about actually being a Pro Hero. The amount of cities around this area is perfect, especially since most Pro Heroes are all the way on the other side of Japan, the only one nearby is Ryukyu, but she''s weak, so its a perfect ce for Machia'' to execute him." "A brilliant n." "So was the USJ n, so was the Summer Camp n, and we know how those ended," Shigaraki says. "We need to get more countermeasures in ce, just in case Horizon has some tricks we didn''t ount for." "More forces, more distractions to keep the others away from him, and something to destroy Hero Networkmunication systems." "Yes, make him use the public systems, the media won''t be able to resist listening in and broadcasting it live, he will be forced to take our bait immediately." "Anything else sir?" Shigaraki thinks about it for a moment, then nods, "Yeah. I think Hawks has done enough to at least get a meeting with me. He gave us weapons and a top Pro Hero, and constantly feeds us information on Horizon and his location...tell Dabi to organize a meeting, I want to talk to him." "Hawks is unavable at the moment," Kurogiri says, which surprises Shigaraki. "What?" "He didn''t respond so we sent someone to extract data from some Hero Public Safety Commission agent''s minds, it seems he had a...altercation of sorts, with Horizon." "Really? And why am I only hearing about this?" "Because we only learned of it earlier today, Hawks has been in mental and physical rehabilitation for the past month." "Well, that exins why he''s so eager to give us data on Horizon, he''s probably more scared of him than we are," Shigaraki says. "We''ll keep that information quiet, can''t have Hawks losing face, that would limit how useful he can be for us." While he was now someone much more worthy of being an organization leader, Shigaraki was still by far the youngest and least experienced leader of each major faction fighting in Japan. Nezu is a master of logistics and organizing people. Endeavor is arguably the best Pro Hero in the world atmanding a battlefield of people he''s never met or worked with before. A boon for any constantly shifting battlefield. But Pantu, she''s a master maniptor on every level, even from a position of weakness, everyone around her is simply ying in her hands. This is why Shigaraki is so blissfully unaware of exactly how manyyers of this n were crafted by Pantu, just for this specific response. ---3 PM, 1A Dorms... "What do you need?" Horizon speaks in his visor as the call connects. "I need you toe to the training ground," Eraser says. "You said I didn''t have to do this part of the exam, also, I have Eri, so I---" "I need a tiebreaker," Aizawa says. "And maybe you''ll get lucky and get to fight Midoriya, just get here so we can finish this quickly." Horizon hangs up and sighs, "Alright Eri, looks like you get to see me in action today..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 247: (Final Exam) Chapter 247: (Final Exam) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "You''ve all got 15 minutes to n before he gets here," Aizawa says. "Build a team and form a strategy in that time, this is a luxury you wouldn''t get on a real battlefield." With that, he walks off in the direction of the dorms. Most of 1A and 1B were standing around in an open industrial area. A training ground in UA was built to represent arge factory with metal buildings and pipes clustered together. Some of the students had winter versions of their Hero Costumes, tobat the chill in the air. Pinky had a small fur-lined jacket atop her usual colorful outfit. Bakugo was also much more covered up with a ck long-sleeved top that had a high cor, allowing him to stay warm and produce more sweat. Genesis had the most obvious change, now wearing a cape that wasrge enough to close at the front and conceal her entire body. "Alright, let''s put our heads together and figure out how to achieve this objective!" Genesis deres, getting a mix of cheers and groans from everyone. Battle Fist -Kendo- immediately approaches her, representing ss 1B as their representative. "So what''s the n, you should know a lot about him right, how do we win?" "Um, well," Genesis scratches her cheek awkwardly, "I actually have never sparred with him. He mostly just helped me with ideas, not much direct training." "Lucky you," Simon -Shinso- grumbles out. Most of the students eventually scatter about into their own little groups, deciding to skip the nning process since they didn''t have anything to contribute. Trying to get some rest to be ready if the thinkers of this group decide they need to be on the team. Momentster, only a few students were sitting in a small circle. Aside from Simon -Shinso-, the other members of Team Horizon had no choice but to join the strategy meeting. ording to him he''s ''not good at things like this, and my Quirk doesn''t work so I can''t really help...'' Mudman -Juzo-, is 1B''s best strategist, which is what got him a spot on Team Horizon. And Cellophane has been training with Horizon longer than anyone, so he knows him the best. With them is Genesis -Momo-, Battle Fist -Kendo-, Deku -Midoriya-, Shoto, Bakugo, Froppy -Asui-, and Phantom Thief -Monoma-. Phantom Thief''s Hero Costume was a full tuxedo with stopwatches on his belt. "Alright, so what''s his weakness?" Kendo asks. "..." They all look at Mudman and Cellophane, but neither of them answers. "Uh, he doesn''t really have one," Cellophane shrugs. "Horizon is basically invincible, unless you really surprise him. But the only person who could do that was All For One, and he had like a hundred Quirks Horizon couldn''t predict." "Normally yes, but this isn''t a fair match for either side," Genesis says, getting a thoughtful look on her face. "Mr. Aizawa said Horizon won''t be allowed to use Scalpel or Shambles, because this is supposed to be a test for him as well." "So he''s fighting with one arm and a leg tied behind his back, but he''s still Horizon," Battle Fist says. "He can still zap anyone who touches him." "Or hit you hard enough to break bones," Deku adds. "But all we have to do is get the sash from him, just like at the UA Sports Festival, so if we can just grab it then we''ll win." "Yeah but if we get it too early that''s also a problem," Froppy adds. "Remember he can always take it back before time runs out, then we can still lose. It would be more fair for the sash to be somewhere that we have to find, but I guess we have enough advantages as it is so him starting with it makes sense." "Ok, so lets think about what abilities he has," Bakugo says, without yelling surprisingly. He was taking this more seriously than anyone else. "If he can''t warp then I can just blow him up, but he has that barrier..." "Antibacterial Curtain," Shoto says. "Too strong to break," Deku says, noticing Bakugo ring at him. "Uh, not that your explosions aren''t strong, but if Horizon is growing as fast as he wants us to think, then its probably like in an imprable shield by now." "Pretty much yeah," Cellophane takes off his visor. "The version your broke and the UA Sports Festival was a prototype, the current one is a lot more refined and efficient, it was even too strong for Wolfram to break, and he threw everything but the port ind itself at Horizon." "But he can''t use it while moving," Mudman says. "If you get him on the defensive you''d have to keep hammering the barrier until the time ran out, and this is all assuming you can get the sash in the first ce." "Why not just grab it?" Froppy asks, causing everyone to look at her. "What? Horizon mentioned it a while ago after the USJ, but he said that the Nomu from back then was too fast for his body to react to, so he used Shambles to out-speed it. If he can''t use Shambles then I bet Deku can move faster than his body can react to." "Uhhh..." Deku''s tries his best toe up with any excuse to avoid fighting Horizon. "That won''t work," Bakugo says. "Horizon has his freaky Scan ability, doesn''t that give him a 3D model of everything around him 24/7, he can use that to avoid Deku just like he did to me during our fights. And he''ll just predict his moves and beat him up, or just discharge a bunch of electricity and fry him for getting close." "We also have to ount for his psychology," Sero says, causing everyone to look at him. "Horizon won''t just stall until the 15 minutes is over, he''ll hunt down everyone and take you down before that. Because anything less than absolute victory won''t be good enough for him." "Too strong," Genesis says. "Counter Shock, Booster Shot, Scan, Antibacterial Curtain, his physical power andbat skills. Any one of them is a problem, but all together victory is all but impossible." "No one Quirk can match Hand Of God," Deku says. He clenches his fist and feels the bitter taste of eptance. "I used to think if I got strong enough, with enough power and speed it wouldn''t matter, but he keeps making new abilities. Every time I hit a new level he basically manifests a new Quirk." Mudman snaps his fingers, startling the group, "That''s it!" "What''s it?" Sero asks. "That''s our advantage!" Juzo says excitedly. "Without Scalpel Horizon can''t use Amputate or Incision, and he definitely can''t use Injection Shot, so that''s his big and indefensible attacks out of the way. His physical power is probably weaker than Deku''s, and his speed is definitely slower, we have that advantage. But the problem is that even if he doesn''t have Shambles or his ranged attacks, he can still use Takt to throw thing." "And he probably knows our Quirks better than us," Froppy says. "He definitely does," Mudman says. "But just because you know about the Quirk, doesn''t mean you can expect it. Plus we''ll have numbers, because it''ll be him against 4 of us. 1 Quirk, against at least 6..." They all look a bit confused for a moment, then realization dawns on them as they turn to Monoma. His Quirk, Copy, allows him to copy multiple Quirks for a limited amount of time. But to do this he has to make direct physical contact with his target, and not all Quirks are usable. For example, trying to process all the information needed to activate Hand Of God will overload his brain. Copying Eri''s rewind worked, but the Quirk was useless as he can''t hold it long enough to stockpile Chronons to use it. The same goes for One For All and Fatgum''s Quirk. "Alright, so what Quirks should I use, and how do I surprise him with them?" Monoma asks. "It''s not like he doesn''t know what I can do, he''ll expect me to have multiple Quirks." "Yes, but Horizon doesn''t have as much information as us," Mudman exins. "He doesn''t even know the current capabilities of his own ssmates because of how little time he spends at UA or in Hero sses. So to him, we 1B students who aren''t on Team Horizon will fight like brand new people, that''s how much we''ve grown these past months." "Hey!" Bakugo yells. "Even if we have to depend on you 1B losers, don''t think you''re getting me out of the fight, if anyone gets to blow him up, it''s gonna be me!" "Well then let''s figure out the specifics," Juzo says. "But if this is gonna work, Momo, I need to create some things for us..." As he begins breaking down his scheme, everyone but Sero is left very impressed. They knew he was good atmanding a battlefield and making strategies, but under the guidance of Horizon, Gang Orca, and Crust, his skills were quickly taken to new heights. This is the kind of talent it takes to be a member of Team Horizon after all... After they''ve finished nning and preparing, Horizon makes it over to the training grounds. Walking beside Aizawa. He wore casual clothes, still his merch. Nezu was on Aizawa''s shoulder, wrapped in his Capture Scarf, and Eri was on Horizon''s, wearing arge sweater with his symbol on it. Seeing him everyone gets ready for the battle to start, and Kirishima can''t help but say. "Dud you should put on your Hero Costume, this is gonna be intense!" "Its being repaired right now, and refit, but I''ll be fine. After all, it only you people..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 248: (1 vs 4) Chapter 248: (1 vs 4) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "So, what are the chances?" Mina asks as she watches the fight with most of the other students. They were now joined by Midnight, d King, Ectosm, Snipe, and Eri. Nezu, Aizawa, and All Might were at the control console, monitoring the camera feeds that are disyed on the big screen. Standing beside Mina is Mudman -Juzo-, who everyone looks to as the resident expert on fighting Horizon. "Well honestly," Mudman says. "They''re gonna get beat up, real bad, doubt they have any chance of winning. The best team would have had me there to lock him down more effectively, but---" "You rather lose than get beat up by Horizon when he''s serious?" Cellophane asks, chuckling lowly. "Hey you''ve seen him fight," Mudman says. "Me being in a full body cast isn''t worth a 2% raise in the chance of sess." "That''s true," Simon says. "And part of making a strategy is avoiding impossible fights." Above them on a massive screen is Horizon, standing in the industrial training zone, hands at his side. Still dressed casually, waiting for his opponents. He had a blue sash from his right shoulder to his left hip, the prize for either side to get. ROOM! Horizon expands his range to epass the entire training area, sensing most of his opponents immediately. ''Bakugo, Tokoyami, Ibara...one person is missing. They''re supposed to send 4,'' he turns his head in the direction of the observation area and expands his Room even more. ''Monoma isn''t in the observation area, he''s the 4th.'' He sensed Bakugo rush ahead, splitting from Tokoyami and Ibara as he soars above the buildings, looking for Horizon. ''Stillcking teamwork, that''ll bite him in the ass...'' But once again Horizon searches, and doesn''t find Monoma. ''Maybe I just need to---'' "---DIE!" Bakugo''s scream interrupts him. Horizon turns his head to see Bakugo already preparing a Howitzer Grand Impact. ANTIBACTERIAL CURTAIN: Barrier! He raises a hand and from his palm blue energy crystalizes into a dome around him. The explosion shakes the entire training grounds and blocks the view from the cameras. Smoke and dust take almost a minute to properly settle, and when it does, Bakugo is hovering in the air via his explosion. Above arge crater with Horizon in the center, unmoved, the ground around him and his body protected by the unbothered shield. "You''ve gotten stronger, but I told you before, I grow faster than any of you." Hearing that, Bakugo charges forward, propelled by explosions, and Horizon drops the barrier. "You know how this ends, why rush in alone?" Horizon asks as they begin trading blows. He narrowly parries one of Bakugo''s strikes, diverting his palm and the ensuing explosion to the side. But Bakugo changes his strategy, instead of trying tondrge and direct explosions, he uses smaller explosions between them, before Horizon can parry. Instead of trying to hit Horizon with a rocket that he would parry, he sets off grenades between them, damaging both of them in exchange fornding hits. "You can''t warp this time!" Bakugo screams as he begins speeding up, but even as the explosion appears to be making contact, he doesn''t see any damage on Horizon. "Don''t need it." BOOSTER SHOT! Horizon''s speed instantly multiplies, now appearing like a blur for short bursts, leaving a small train of blue energy vapor in his wake. Bakugo leaps back, using explosions to take to the air before putting his hands together. "AP Machine Gun!" he releases a rapid-fire stream of dense explosions at Horizon. Seeing the explosions covering a wide area Horizon raises his hands once again and manifests his dome shield. But as they begin beating against this shield Bakugo does something new. "He''s in position, now!" Bakugo screams. Everyone is surprised that this entire time he''s been seemingly following a n, perfectly at that. Suddenly a small forest of green thorny vines burst out of the ground. Concrete and dust fill the air as they all rush straight toward Horizon. Even within his dome barrier, the vines attack him, immediately wrapping him up and holding his limbs apart. The barrier immediately falls and Bakugonds. "Tch, without warping you aren''t that big a deal." Horizon doesn''t speak, still feeling the vines tightening and pulling his limbs apart, keeping him bound. Bakugo seizes the moment and rushes forward, intent onnding at least one solid hit and ending the fight. The main objective was the grab the sash, but nobody wanted to go that close to Horizon, and Ibara''s vines aren''t that precise from such a long-range without line of sight. So he had to score some kind of hit while he had the chance. As he was ten meters away Bakugo jumped forward, crossing his hands and simultaneously pulling the pin on both his grenadier gauntlets. "DI---" TAKT! Two pieces of concrete rip themselves out of the ground and rocket upward, surprising Bakugo as they m into the underside of his gauntlets. Both the explosions are sent into the air and the unexpected change leaves him unprepared for the recoil. The force ms him into the ground hard enough to crack the concrete, and Horizon doesn''t even move during this entire time. "I''m a lot more than just a guy who can warp," Horizon says. "Imand the world, don''t ever forget that..." GAMMA! The air around Horizon flickers green for just a moment, and all the vines holding him directly stiffen, eventually freezing and snapping as they be brittle. After ripping all the heat and radiation from the vines to make them cold and brittle, he harmlessly dissipates it within his body. "Ice?" Shoto asks, he was watching and hearing everything from the observation area. "That''s new," Juzo says. Bakugo sees this as he forces himself to get up, both his arms aching, begging him to stop. Horizon points a finger at him, "This is new and unrefined, so thanks for letting me test it. Counter Shock: Direct Current." An arc of blue lightning jumps from Horizon''s finger directly to Bakugo, tasing him and knocking him out. "Not sure about the name," Horizon shakes his hand and the lightning dissipates. "Another new move," Simon says. "I remember he said he couldn''t control lightning after it leaves his body, guess he figured it out." While it looks like Horizon is simply shooting a lightning bolt, and that''s exactly what he wants the enemies to think. Earlier when they fought he didn''t try to hit Bakugo, he simply ran a small current through the boy each time he parried a strike. Continuously changing the charge of his body to a negative state. And when he released arge amount of positively charged lightning, Bakugo became a lighting rod. Taking a deep breath he looks around at the destruction they caused, and all the vines that were quickly being retracted. He could sense them underground during the entire fight, but didn''t deem them a big enough concern to act against. He also wanted to see exactly what n his fellow students could conceive of. Sensing where the vines were going, and Ibara''s distressed state, Horizon takes of running directly toward her. BOOSTER SHOT! Everyone is surprised at how fast he can run, at 6ft4 -196cm- and 270lbs -122kg-, he was running at over 120kmph. It''s not that they aren''t surprised someone sorge could move quickly, after all, both Star and Stripe and All Might are asrge as him orrger in the case of All Might, and they''re both much faster. But for Horizon, he''s always warped about, so this was entirely new. And their concern only grew when he ran straight through a reinforced concrete wall without slowing down, as if the buildings were made of cardboard. Aizawa nced over to Eri, seeing her cheering with stars in her eyes, and he couldn''t help but sigh. Soon Horizon got to where Ibara had set up, only for Tokoyami to pounce on him, or more urately, Dark Shadow attacked him. Ibara was at the back of the clearing trying to repair the ends of her hair with Tokoyami in front of her, Dark Shadow extending from his midsection to fight Horizon. The shadow creature wasrger than usual, showing Tokoyami''s growth, but Horizon was unfazed. Tokoyami already had a bead of sweat running down his face, clearly nervous about this encounter. "You know I could end this instantly, right..." A few arcs of blue lightning run across Horizon''s body. Tokoyami takes a nervous step back. "Yes, you could, but will you always rely on cheap tricks?" "Oooh, reverse psychology," Horizon ys along. "But you should know, when the result is that you lose either way, take the less painful option next time, cuz now I''m gonna break you..." Tokoyami and Dark Shadow instinctively take a step back, truly terrified of standing against Horizon. END CHAPTER--- Chapter 249: (1 vs 4 Pt.II) Chapter 249: (1 vs 4 Pt.II) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- Tokoyami takes a step back, ncing over his shoulder to see Ibara behind him. She was still trying to recover from having the ends of her hair frozen, the vines needed time and were among the few things they have that could potentially restrain Horizon, even for a moment. Tokoyami throws both hands forward, directing Dark Shadow to grow and grow until it was the size of a school bus. "Dark Shadow: Abyss of Hearts, descending judgment!" "Stupid name," was all Horizon said as the massive shadow creature descended like a bullet, intending to tten him into the ground. He raised his hands to catch the creature as it molded itself into arge beak, catching the tip of its face between his palms. BOOSTER SHOT! His entire body instantly begins releasing blue energy vapor as the concrete beneath him cracks. "Hmm, a stalemate," Tokoyami says. "Not really," Horizon had obvious signs of straining in his voice, surprising everyone. For the first time he sounded as if he was actually trying. "You have Dark Shadow, but the world is my weapon..." "Wh--- AHHH!" A piece of the concrete floor rips itself out of the ground and rockets into Tokoyami''s gut, knocking the wind out of him and sending him tumbling back. "Fumi!" Dark Shadow yells, ncing back at Tokoyami. Taking this opportunity Horizon shifts his stance and pushes Dark Shadow to the side, causing it to m into the concrete and knock up a small dust cloud. By the time Tokoyami stops tumbling over himself he looks up to see Horizon rushing out of the cloud much faster than he ever expected, the ground cracking beneath his feet with each step. "Dark Shadow!" The tether connecting Tokoyami and Dark Shadow immediately begins shifting and molding itself, as if a dozen tendrils formed from it to grab out at Horizon who ran beside it. Sensing this change, Horizon stops his rush down and pivots in ce,nding three precise and targeted punches onto Dark Shadow''s body. He then leaps away before the creature can grab him while it retracts to Tokoyami. "Those kinds of attacks aren''t very effective against my Quirk, you should know this," Tokoyami says. "Wasn''t aiming at your Quirk, those punches hit their mark," Horizon says. At those words Tokoyami''s and Ibara''s eyes widen, their n had been found out. "It was a good n, but all it took was me looking a bit closer," Horizon says as he rushes forward again. As he''s quickly closing the distance Tokoyami closes his eyes and focuses on Dark Shadow, shrinking him back down to his regr size to float beside him. As Horizon got closer heunched forward in a strong right, intending to knock Tokoyami out in one blow. In a few moments, Dark Shadow surrounded Tokyami and coated him like a suit, only focused on his upper body. Tokoyami wore his Quirk like a living Hero Costume, with their eyes resting beside each others to both could see. He matched Horizon''s strike with this new level of power. "ck Abyss!" Both Tokoyami and Dark Shadow yell, their voices now in perfect unison each time they speak. Feeling themselves about to lose against Horizon''s power, Dark Shadow expands behind Tokyami and anchors them, giving them a bit more leverage. They couldn''t out muscle Horizon, but because of their superior footing, he was pushed back a few meters. "No way," Kendo mutters in the observation area. "Since when did those two get that strong?" "Tokoyami''s been studying with us sometimes," Sero says, now enjoying some potato chips. "Sometimes he asks Horizon about how to improve his Quirk, this is one of the answers he got." "Howe he helps him but not us?" Kirishima asks. "Because he thinks you''re annoying," Mudman says. "Plus he prefers people with...less straightforward Quirks. He already has a lot of firepower, Team Horizon is supposed to be adaptable to any situation, not just act as a sword or shield, but a scalpel." They all shift their attention back to the screens as Horizon is observing Tokoyami''s growth. "ck Abyss, not a bad name from you," Horizon says. "Thank you, I hope this is close to what you envisioned," Tokoyami''s and Dark Shadow''s voices were perfectly in sync. "When we stop acting as Tokoyami and Dark Shadow, but as one being, when I ept that Dark Shadow is simply me, then I''d understand my Quirk and its full potential. That''s when Tokoyami and Dark Shadow can be the Hero, Tsukuyomi." "Yeah, that''s what I said, and this is pretty much what I pictured, at least to start. Now show me what you''ve got, Tsukuyomi." Horizon raises his hands, and both Tsukuyomi''s mouths twist into ted smiles. As they meet each other and the brawl begins, Tsukuyomi''s high of his growth being recognized by Horizon quickly fades away. Reced with the fact that, well, he''s fighting Horizon. He was outssed in all aspects the moment they shed again. Horizon had seemingly instantly adapted to Tsukuyomi''s new fighting style, his increased speed, strength, defenses, and perception. Even whenever Tsukuyomi would try changing the shape of his shadow appendages tosh out from unexpected angles, Horizon would either use his barrier to easily block it or his sensory ability to avoid it without looking at it. ''He makes it look so easy,'' Tsukuyomi thinks as he''s quickly losing ground and energy, feeling his power diminishing by the second. ''I''m fighting for my life and he''s just ying with me, he could end this fight at any time with Counter Shock but he said he wouldn''t use it. And he''s about to win without it.'' Back in the observation area most of the students and teachers were looking at the screen with genuine shock, all while Eri was happily cheering for Horizon. Nezu had a look of pride on his face as he observed the match. "So he''s even freaky good at closebat huh," d King says. "Where did you find this kid again Nezu?" "Fate brought us all together," Nezu says. "But honestly Horizon using Scalpel is much better for his opponents than him without it. He has a bad habit of overdoing it when ites to, well, holding back against people. With Scalpel he''s much quicker and more efficient, not to mention painless." "Clearly," Aizawa narrows his eyes at the screen, seeing Tokoyami now stumbling about as he gets battered and beaten up by Horizon. "But this is supposed to be a challenge for everyone involved, giving him all his tools would make it too easy. This way he has to break up his usualbat pattern and try out things he''s probably not used in a while." Meanwhile, back in thebat area, Tsukuyomi was stumbling back, the shadow energy retracting from his arms and face. Both his arms were bleeding profusely onto the floor and his Hero Costume was torn up, but Horizon seemedpletely fine. They had 10m -32ft- between them, and Ibara was still behind him. He feels a signal, and Tsukuyomi sighs in relief. ''He''s finally ready, good, I''m about to ck out here. Even if Horizon knows where he is, he hasn''t shown any concern about our n, he likely wants to see what our n is. He doesn''t think it''ll work, and that arrogance of his will give us the one chance we need,'' Tsukuyomi thinks. "Ibara," he says. "I''m ready." "Now!" Tsukuyomi yells out. "Repent heathen!" Ibara''s vines shoot forward faster than ever before. Horizon sees and senses it, and with practiced ease, he moves out of the way. "Inspired Growth!" Ibara yells out, and from her vines, new parallel vines begin rapidly sprouting. The sudden expansion surprised Horizon for just a moment before it quickly wraps around his limbs. The vines hoist him into the air, nearly 10m -32ft- above the floor. And by the time they''ve secured themselves, he''s already begun using Gamma to draw all the heat and radiation out of them to freeze them brittle. At the same moment, Tsukuyomi surged with all the energy he could muster and used his Quirk to leap up toward Horizon. Seeing Tsukuyomi iing Horizon doesn''t say a word, but uses Takt to rip a block of concrete out of the ground and send it right at his ssmate. It lines up perfectly to intercept them, but one of Tsukuyomi''s four eyes spots the iing projectile, and at thest moment, to Horizon''s surprise. Adjusts in mid-air. ''He can fly!'' Horizon thought, and everyone watching the fight thought the same thing. TAKT! Horizon rips more chunks out of the ground but via flight and form shifting Tsukuyomi either avoided them or materialized limbs to get them away from him. Eventually flying all the way over to Horizon. When he was only 2m -6ft- away from Horizon, Tsukuyomi reached out for the sash, only for Horizon''s right hand to swing out, aiming to deliver a fist to his face. Using Antibacterial Curtain now could cause real damage to Tokoyami, not to mention the fact that he was curious about this grand scheme they thought could actually work on him. So the ruthless mercenary went away just for a bit, and the yful and cocky 16-year-old inside came forward. Something they were hoping for, and did well to capitalize on. As Tsukuyomi grabbed the sash, his grip tight on it, Horizon fist rattled his brain. Dark Shadow shrank, barely able to sustain itself anymore, but Tokoyami''s grip didn''t cken. And as that happened, Neito Monoma sprung up on Tokoyami''s shoulder. He popped out of Dark Shadow, his usual fair skin now void ck, bits of blonde stains on his formal ck Hero Costume. And both his hands together directly in Horizon''s face, sparks crackling just an inch away from the visor. All the explosive sweat he needed to make this attack truly count, even against a monster like Horizon. BOOM! The cameras were blinded by the bright light as the entire training area was rocked. All the way over at the observation area everyone covered their ears, and the Hero Course students'' n, the first phase, was nowplete... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 250: (1 vs 4 Pt.III) Chapter 250: (1 vs 4 Pt.III) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- BOOM! In the observation area all the students and teachers cover their ears as a shockwave pushes wind and light past the borders of the training zone. They feel a small st of heat wash over them as they take cover, Deku and Kirishima immediately stand in front of Eri to protect her as the sensation rolls over them. Secondster everyone shakes the ringing out of their ears and watches the screens, waiting for the dust to settle. "That''s insane!" Midnight yells. "Was he trying to kill Horizon?" "Horizon isn''t who I''m worried about," Deku says, drawing all their attention onto his words, even as they keep staring at the screens. "After an explosion like that?" Uraraka asks. "Monoma''s n was to stay inside Dark Shadow and use Khan''s explosion to get one good shot in, but he isn''t Khan." "So the explosion wasn''t big enough?" Jiro asks. "The explosion was fine, but he can only do it once, that was the n, right?" Deku asks Juzo. Juzo nods, "Monoma doesn''t have the years of using Explosion like Bakugo, so his resistance to the recoil isn''t anywhere near Bakugo''s level. But this isn''t the final step of the n..." Everyone looks surprised at that. "You nned even further ahead?" Aizawa asks, genuinely surprised. "Yeah, and everything has gone ording to n right now, Horizon is even scarier than I expected, but that''s what I''m counting on," Juzo admits. "But I can''t say much because Horizon could be reading our lips right now, even if I doubt he''d do that just to win this fight." "No wonder he has such faith in Team Horizon," Midnight says. "You''re all quite talented..." Seroughs and drapes an arm around Juzo, "That''s our Mudman, Horizon brought him in as a secondary strategist after all, he''s basically vice-captain!" "Hold crap!" All Might yells as the dust finally clears and they see what remains. Monoma takes a few deep, desperate breaths as he''s still down on his knees. Deep in a crater surrounded by rubble and dust, the Hero Costume on both his arms waspletely blown apart, along with most of the skin on both arms. Exposed muscle and flesh were visible to the camera, but the damage wasn''t anywhere near what they expected. With every breath, Monoma feels pain wracking his body as he forces himself to stand up. Behind him, dozens of meters away Tokoyami waspletely knocked out, clutching the sash even as he sleeps. Beside him, Ibara is trying to recover her hair again after shielding them from that explosion, everyone waiting for the real results of that st. "Three timers," Horizon''s voice reaches them as he walks out of the dust. Monoma just frowns, not even surprised that Horizon was still conscious. But what did surprise everyone is the fact that he was entirely spotless. "How?" Monoma asks. "You didn''t put the shield up, I made sure you were too close..." BOOSTER SHOT! "Yeah, well, I''ve been working on something different," Horizon releases blue energy vapor that begins wafting off him. But it bes more dense and clings to him, moving more like a liquid than a solid. "Not efficient since it''s pure energy, but it works in an emergency." "Tch, you Mystery ss people really aren''t normal." "Says the man using Copy to wield three Quirks," Horizon says. Monoma looks a bit surprised, "how can you tell?" Horizon stops releasing the energy vapor and rxes, while Monoma takes a fighting stance. He lifts his skinless arms up into fists, ready to give it his all once more. "Well, you used Kuroiro''s Quirk to fade into darkness, and gave yourself the void ck look," he gestures to Monoma''s skin which absorbed all light. "Bakugo''s Explosion to try and surprise me with a big hit, that didn''t work. And Kirishima''s Hardening, to help you with the recoil, that''s why your arms didn''t get blown off entirely, right?" Monoma res at Horizon. "It wasn''t that hard to figure out, plus the Hero Costume gave it away," he points at Monoma''s belt which had stopwatches on it. "Only three of those are active, I could sense them moving and knew how many Quirks to expect. It''s a good n, and I''m d I didn''t bother to stop it, but I''m just too much for you to handle..." Monoma grits his teeth and looks around at all the damage and destruction his attack caused. Looking down at the state of his arms, then over his shoulder at Tokoyami who was passed out, and Ibara who had to recover for at least a few more seconds before they could try the next phase of the n. Taking a deep breath he clenches his jaw and straightens his arms, activating Kirishima''s Hardening Quirk to lock them in ce. He could still feel the wind raking against the exposed muscle and nerves, but for now the bleeding would stop, and that was enough. Before he could consider an approach, Horizon rushes forward. BOOSTER SHOT! The concrete beneath him cracks as he rockets toward Monoma, swinging faster and hitting harder than before. After all of this, they''d yet to do any damage to him, unable to ovee his senses, defense, or cope with his relentless assaults. ''He can''t be human...'' Monoma thinks as he rushes forward. He swings his stiff arms like clubs at Horizon, matching his fists and feeling the Hardening cracking already. After the first volley of blows Horizon visibly changed his stance, now used to the strength of Monoma''s defense. CRACK! "Ahhh!" Monoma jumps back as the next hit shatters the Hardening and breaks his right forearm. Just like Bakugo''s Explosion Quick, Kirishima''s Hardening needs time and training to develop. He was nowhere near Kirishima''s current level of Hardening, and it was showing. With his right arm hanging limply he continues to back up, keeping it away from Horizon while fighting with one hardened arm. ''Why is he still fighting, do they have something else nned?'' Horizon wonders as he''s quickly beating down Monoma. "I''m ready!" Ibara yells out, and Monoma immediately perks up. He leaps back a few meters, "Now! Ibara!" Monomamands. Feeling something is off Horizon doesn''t bother to indulge them any further. "Your vines are annoying," he points at Ibara, then flicks his finger upward. "Takt: Celestial Body!" Ibara barely reacts in time as all the rubble, pieces of buildings, and concrete ground are hurled toward her. As if she suddenly became a point of gravity pulling them toward her. The girl wraps herself in the thickest sphere of vines possible as they batter her, but instead of shattering and falling apart, they keep pushing against the sphere. Eventually, the ground below her is torn from the earth and rises high into the air with her, holding her dozens of meters above the battlefield as the rubble is attracted to her. A small moon-like object nearly 30m -100ft- wide quickly forms and hovers above the training area, casting a shadow over everyone who sees it. It all happened so quickly that Monoma lost his momentum and stared up in wonder and fear. "This is the part where you surrender," Horizon says, drawing all their attention back to him. All aside from Eri who was still staring at the little moon with stars in her eyes. "You control gravity?" Monoma asks. "No, it just looks like that," Horizon shrugs. "Tch, well sorry but I''m sticking to our n, and surrendering isn''t part of it." Horizon looks at Monoma and shakes his head, "I know all your tricks, and your arms can''t do any more explosions unless you want to lose them, just give up..." Monoma immediately rushes forward. "Exactly!" he yells while closing in on Horizon. "You''re so sure of yourself that you''d never consider," he swings his left arm forward, "that you don''t know everything!" Monoma''s entire left side explodes into a massive raging fire. Searing heat washes over the battlefield and Horizon is genuinely surprised as Monoma st a wide cone of fire at him, point-nk. As the heat continues to escte, Monoma''s flesh begins burning up more and more. The heat burns away the still somewhat wet dye in his hair to reveal a head of half-white and half-red hair. Horizon''s figure disappears in the roaring inferno and everyone waits for Monoma''s attack to end. Juzo''s n was much moreyered than anything they would havee up with otherwise. He had Momo make hair dye so Horizon couldn''t tell that Monoma had Shoto''s Quirk. Then he had Monoma only set 3 timers, further misinforming Horizon and ying on his absolute confidence in his Scan ability to collect information. Send Bakugo out alone so he could go wild, and Horizon wouldn''t expect them to use two of the same Quirk on the battlefield, that worked well enough that Monoma managed to build up enough sweat and get a point-nk hit on him. They didn''t expect him to be able to seemingly freeze Ibara''s vines, or imprison her that easy, but Tsukuyomi was able to stall and entertain Horizon just enough for Monoma to be ready. And finally, when Horizon thought all their cards were used, they''d hit him with the strongest fire st Monoma could muster. A genius n that most people cannot survive, much less ovee. Enough strategy and firepower to take down some of the current Top 10 Pro Heroes if they were in Horizon''s situation. But unfortunately, their opponent isn''t a mere top Pro Hero. It''s the third most powerfulbatant in the world. Standing behind only Star and Stripe, and more recently Shigaraki''s new secret weapon, Gigantomachia. Of course the public only knew of the former. So they weren''t even surprised to see Horizon''s outline walking through the mes, casually strolling toward Monoma. Monoma flinches, then redoubles his efforts. His flesh begins turning ck as it burns away, but he ignores the pain and keeps pushing further. He''s only now using the Quirk, so he can''t bnce the elements or even simultaneously use them, this was his absolute best. Yet Horizon simply walked through it until he was standing in front of Monoma, and with a massive wave of fire crashing into him he reaches out. Hand covered in the blue energy liquid of Booster Shot, and grabs Monoma''s neck, lifting him off the ground. The mes immediately cut off as Monoma is being strangled with onerge hand. "Annoying," Horizon''s calm voice says. His entire body was cloaked in the same energy which now quickly faded away. "Standing beside Endeavor when he gets serious in a fight, is like sharing a battlefield with the sun,pared to that, Shoto is nothing, and you''re not even close to Shoto...but it was a good n." Secondster Monoma loses consciousness and Horizon simply drops him on the floor. Looking around Horizon sees Tokoyami''s unconscious body still gripping the sash, even now he refuses to give up. "And then there was one," he looks at the small moon hovering in the air with Ibara at the core, then points at it. "Takt: Skyfa---" "STOP!" d King''s voice echoes through the speakers as the buzzer goes off. "Horizon wins, now can you please get Ibara out of there and heal Monoma, you don''t need to hurt my students anymore!" Horizon lowers his hand and sighs, "That move was gonna be so fun, but fine, I''ll fix them..." They then got everyone healed, cleaned up, and back to the dorms. The entire time Eri never lost that look of admiration for Horizon she''d gained during the fight. Finally realizing that the man who Aizawa would often hand her off to was on apletely different level. Realizing that when she''s with him, nobody could ever hurt her... END CHAPTER--- 500K words in and semester 2 is finally closing, bye bye canon from this point onward... Chapter 251: (Christmas Party) Chapter 251: (Christmas Party) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- ---December 17th, 2315... "Are you sure you''ll be fine without me? I just know how much you can''t live without me..." Sitting behind his desk, in his room, Horizon is typing away toplete some reports and update ongoing cases while speaking to Ryuko. Her face was on one of the screens, showing a video of her on a train to the far side of Japan. "Can''t live without you, really? What makes you think you''re my favorite ''Ryuko''?" Her yful expression changes to a soft re, "that''s not funny." "And that''s your opinion. When are you getting back anyway?" "Early January, you''ll have to find some other way to upy your bed for a month." "I''m sure I''ll think of something," Horizon says. "My ns are pretty much the same, just do the usual Pro Hero nonsense, make some appearances at orphanages, hand out gift, that kind of stuff." "Oh, since when do you have a heart?" "Hey! I''m nice to kids." "I know, and it''s cute. Isn''t your ss Christmas party today?" "Yeah I can sense everyone getting ready downstairs, they''re treating it as if it actually matters. It''s just another day," he says. "Well to some people it''s important, like Eri, aren''t you guys doing something special for her? I think you mentioned that before, right?" "The Secret Santa thing, basically everyone pulled a name from a bag and has to get that person a gift, plus a gift for Eri." "Oh, and who''d you get?" "Asui." "Frog girl, so what''d you get her?" "Salt..." Ryuko gives him an annoyed look, "that had better be a joke." "It is, I got her a sword, a green one." Ryuko looks confused, "why would you get her a sword?" "What else was I supposed to get her?" "Anything a teenage girl would like, did you ever consider that?" "Yeah, and a sword is just better." "Should I ask what you got Eri?" "A gun." "Babe!" "I''m kidding," heughs at her distress. "I wouldn''t get her a gun yet, she''s too young. And Aizawa wouldn''t like it." "And it''s illegal! Did you forget that?" "I''m Horizon, I can do whatever I want. If I got her a gun nobody would be willing to do anything to me about it." Ryuko sighs, "so aside from thinking about handing guns to 7-year-olds, what did you actually get her." "A knife, obviously." Ryuko just shakes her head in disbelief, "Please tell me this is a joke..." "She''s too young for a taser, so I figured this would be better." "How are you so smart and so terrible at this all at once." "Hey it''s a good idea, her Quirk isn''t exactly good at self-defense and she''s had a rough past, so getting her a knife is a good start." Ryuko sighs, "I really hate how much sense that makes, but please don''t give a child a knife." "I''ll teach her how to use it." Ryuko holds her head feeling a headache starting, "You''re...unbearable." "Nah, you love me for it," Horizon looks at his door for a moment and stops typing. "I have to go, call me whenever you get away from your team." "Yeah, thest thing I want is Mandy realizing I didn''t keep that promise, see ya..." The moment they hang up there is a knock on Horizon''s door, and with a thought hemands it to swing open. And in walks Momo, wearing a green Santa us outfit with a matching fluffy hat. However, her hat had a little book at the top of it. But Horizon was more concerned with the blue and white Santa us outfit folded in her arms. "No," is all he says while she walks over to him. "Everyone else is wearing theirs." "They aren''t me, I have an image to maintain," he says as she casually seats herself in hisp. "You can still pretend to be a jerk while wearing this outfit. Plus I made this one different, it''s the only blue and white one. All the others are like mine or the ssic red and white." "Hmm, tempting, but still never gonna happen," he wraps his arms around her as she leans back against him. "How about just this" Momo takes out the hat from his outfit. Blue with a fuzzy white lining, and at the very top was a tiny scalpel. "You should at least wear just the hat, get in the Christmas spirit." "Mmm..." ---30 Minutes Later... Now sitting in themon area with the other members of 1A, Eri, and Aizawa, Horizon is wearing the hat just as Momo suggested while they start the Secret Santa reveals. Deciding to go in seating order, Mina was up first. Which is why she''s currently dancing in ce, celebrating while holding up the new boots Momo bought her. After she got her gift, Eri''s present from Momo was revealed, to be a thick stack of children''s encyclopedias... Apparently, Momo thought this was normal as she always asked for them while growing up, and even now reading encyclopedias is her main hobby. "Well, who got Asui''s name?" Momo asks, feeling embarrassed about her gift to Eri. "That would be me," Horizon says, and everyone got a bit nervous. They really didn''t have any idea of what he''d gift people. In fact, they were expecting him to simply refuse to participate...butter that day Nezu convinced him to y along. "Merry Christmas froggy," Horizon waves his hand and a piece of confetti floats into the air, and is suddenly swapper with a katana. A light green scabbard and matching hilt with ck ents. Everyone''s eyes open wide, not expecting that. ''I wish he got my name...'' Tokoyami and many others think. "A sword?" Asui reaches out and holds it, realizing it was short, the perfect size for her, and nowhere near as heavy as Scalpel. "A normal one," Horizon says. She draws the de, seeing it really was standard, then looks a bit closer at it, "This isn''t blunted..." "Why would I get you a useless de?" "I thought it was a decoration." "No this is for cutting people, although I don''t think it fits the child-friendly Froppy style." "I think I''ll just hang it on the wall, but thank you, this is a nice gift," Asui says. "But what did you get Eri?" "This," Horizon raises a hand and warps a white and yellow pocket knife into his palm. Eri''s eyes go wide as she recognizes what it is, and wanting to be like Horizon she excitedly reaches out. Only for Aizawa to reach out and grab it first, "no knives, she''s only 7." "She''s already 7, and when I was her age I could already use a sword, she''ll have to learn sometime," Horizon shrugs. "I''m trying to give her a normal childhood, not whatever you had," Aizawa says as he puts it in his pocket. "Tch, normal doesn''t keep the monsters away..." ---2 Hours Later... While most of the students, and Eri, were asleep, some were upte watching the snow fall. And others like Kirishima were outside ying in the snow, or as he calls it, ''testing himself against the elements''...he just wanted to y in the snow. Now Horizon, Shinso, and Momo were sitting in themon area. "So I''ll have the tower all to myself until after Christmas?" Horizon asks. "Yup," Sero says. "I haven''t seen dad in a while so we''ve got a lot of stuff to do and talk about this winter break. Honestly, he wanted me to stay at home until the new year starts, but I don''t think I can sit still for that long." "Hmm, looks like I''ve been teaching you well," Horizon says. "Most of these people aren''t gonna be doing any Hero Work during the winter break, it''s a good time to get ahead of thepetition." "Well, you won''t be doing my actual Hero Work either right?" Sero asks. "Minato Tokyo is pretty much a safe zone these days." "Yeah but I''ve got things to do all across Japan, I need to take the time I have and get it all done, before the next semester starts and I''m stuck in UA again." "What about you Yaomomo?" Sero asks. Momo snaps out of her daze at the sound of her nickname, "I''m sorry what was that?" "Winter break ns?" "Oh, I''ll just be here at UA, training." "Seriously? Figured you''d be more happy than anyone to run back home, considering you live in that awesome mansion and all." "Oh, about that," Momo''s brain begins scrambling to think of a lie, not wanting her falling out with her mother to be public. "My parents are already abroad on a business trip so they wouldn''t be there. So I just figured I could use the extra time to train and catch up to everyone else." "That''s pretty smart," Sero says. "But you really don''t have to talk like that, you''re almost at the top of the ss. Honestly, the only person ahead of you is Horizon, and he''s a cyborg." Horizon sighs, "Can you please stop spreading that rumor? Honestly, the number of viins that have tried to hit me with saltwater because of it...so annoying." Sero just beginsughing hysterically. "And Momo, if you want you can visit Horizon Tower, since we''re the only students basically spending the Christmas season alone, having somepany could be nice." Momo blushes, knowing how picky Horizon is about who he invites into his headquarters, "right, I''ll be sure to visit!" END CHAPTER--- Chapter 252: (Midnight On New Years Eve) Chapter 252: (Midnight On New Years Eve) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "So did youe here with a date, or are you avable tonight?" An older man asks. He had a head of salt and pepper hair with a matching mustache, a well-tailored suit, like every man in this massive ballroom, and was surely respected in whatever field he worked in. But even as he hovers above the beautiful woman in front of him, he was anything but appealing or refined, the way he clearly drank in her appearance with his eyes. Viewing her as a piece of meat. Worse, an easy to get piece of meat. But Ms. Midnight was used to these looks, even as tonight she''s Nemuri Kayama. She gives him a polite smile and takes a sip of her champagne, and he takes a moment to keep staring at her. Her dark purple gown, deep neckline barely showing any cleavage, long gloves, a matching and fur-lined scarf. Her outfit was much more conservative than what she usually wears out as Ms. Midnight, but all the men and women here knew exactly what hid beneath it. Her Hero Costume made sure the world knows exactly what her body offers. "Sorry but I''m only here on business, maybe some other time," she says politely before sauntering off, her habit of swaying her hips making his eyes track her across the room. ''So shameless,'' she thinks, recalling the wedding ring on his finger, and his wife who was chatting across the room. Contrary to what the media and people may believe, she actually hasn''t had more than a handful of partners. Her reputation keeps any men worth involving herself with at bay, quite the double-edged sword she''s ced at her own throat. Without her Hero Costume she wasn''t easy to recognize, especially behind her regr sses, but her would-be admirers would always spot her. As yet another person takes the stage to give a speech she grabs a fresh drink and makes her way to the empty balcony. Pushing open to door and feeling a cold winter breeze cash against her face, light snow falls onto Tokyo as she shuts the door behind her. But the thankfully heated balcony wasn''t unbearable, and happened to be entirely empty. Looking up she sees the entire top half of therge skyscraper this ballroom is in looming above, and looking around there are some shorter buildings around them. But the other skyscrapers block the true beauty of the Tokyo Skyline at this time of year. All the Christmas decorations and lights were hidden away by monuments of ss and concrete. Taking out a phone she sees a text from her manager, asking how the night is going, but she doesn''t bother to respond. Simply sipping her champagne and waiting for the night to be over. After a few minutes, she hears a chorus of people trying to speak over each other. Quickly turning around she sees a younger man step onto the balcony and close the door behind him before the crowd could enter. Arger man steps between the crowd and the door, preventing them from following him outside, and he sighs in relief. He turns around and gives an unapologetic smile, "Sorry about that, they''re just...annoying." "That''s one way to put it," she nods and goes back to looking at the street below. ncing back she sees the man taking a phone call and realizes that''s why he had to get away from the crowd. Minutester, as she''s nearly finishing her drink she suddenly feels a gentle tap on her shoulder, and looks back to see him offering his jacket. "Avoiding annoying people probably isn''t worth freezing out here, at least not for the entire event." As he''s standing closer she gets a proper look at him, short dark hair, bright blue eyes, knuckle tattoos, and his suit was ck and gold of all things. Quite a strange person. "Thank you," she says while allowing him to drape the jacket over her. "I didn''t realize there were actual gentlemen at this event." "There aren''t," they both chuckle as he''s joining her at the railing. "I hope you don''t mind me interrupting your escape." "You''re the bestpany I''ve had all night, it''s a weed change." "Are the other guests that bad?" "Well, I''m Ms. Midnight, so they think I''m just that easy." Looking at the man she sees him staring at her, squinting as he observes her, "huh, never would have recognized you," he lies. "And I didn''t think there would be any Pro Heroes here." "Well, apparently whoever is running this event invested in thepany that owns my fashion line and brand, so they thought it would be good if I said hello in person." "You don''t sound excited to meet him." "Excited to meet some rich man who will expect me to act like a wh---" she cuts herself off. "To act udylike, just because he has money...why would I ever be that." "Well that''s a relief," he says. "Finally a beautiful woman here that isn''t trying to seduce me for money," heughs. "Seduce you?" Midnight turns to look at him, only getting a mischievous grin. Then it slowly dawns on her, "Oh, you''re Law Matani..." "The one and only, and what should I call you?" "So you aren''t mad about---" "---There isn''t anything to be mad about, and honestly it''s a nice change from people always trying to tter me." She visibly rxes at that, "well, I''m Nemuri Kayama, Pro Hero Ms. Midnight, so you can call me Ms. Midnight." "Mmm, no," he shakes his head. "I don''t really care for Ms. Midnight, so I''ll call you ''Nemuri'', and you can call me ''Law'', sounds fair?" Nemuri isn''t quite sure how to react to that, so she just nods, "Yes, I suppose that sounds fair." They share afortable moment of silence just observing the streets below. Then she speaks, "So were people hounding you for money, is that why you ran away?" "Pretty much, that''s always the case, how about you, Nemuri?" Nemui takes a sip of her drink, almost finishing it. "My reputation as Ms. Midnight isn''t exactly, ttering. So men onlye around for one thing, and they expect it to be easy." "Well, I can somewhat rte," he raises his hand to show her the tattoos. "People always think I''m some kind of Yakuza or Mafia boss. The reputations we chose define how the world sees us, and it seems like we''ve both chosen a bit...prematurely." "I''ll drink to that," Nemuri down the rest of her drink. "And now every day I can''t stop thinking about it, what a life, right?" "Indeed," Law says. "I assumed it started as a publicity stunt maybe, something to separate you from other young aspiring female Pro Heroes, was it?" "Not exactly," Nemuri gathers her thoughts for a moment. "Pro Heroes, we aren''t just about punching viins in the face..." Law raises a brow at that. "At least for me, part of it is inspiring the other people, and younger generations. So naturally I chose to most extreme aspect I could, just to show people that no matter what you are, you shouldn''t let society shame you and keep you caged. You owe it to yourself to be yourself...but the message got a bit lost along the way. Now I''m just ''Ms. Midnight the dominatrix Pro Hero'', which was never the intention." "People find it hard to hear and focus on a message when a body like yours is almost naked in front of them," he says jokingly. "But I see what you mean, you tried to make yourself a martyr, it just got the wrong message across." Nemuri rxes, and gives him a softer smile, finally getting that invisible weight off her chest, finally feeling like someone understands. After a few more minutes of surprisingly deep conversation, Law checks his watch, then they both look over at the gathered crows waiting for him to enter the main room again. "Your money-hungry public awaits," Nemuri jokes. "Yes, but, it''s New Year''s Eve, so how about we actually get a nice view." Nemuri raises a brow at that, "what are you saying?" He offers her his hand, "How about a simple deal, you save me from the masses as any Pro Hero would, and we''ll go up to my penthouse where you can actually enjoy the skyline, and the fireworks that are about to start..." Nemuri looks around at all the buildings still looming over them, then at the man she''s be fast friends with. And with no further hesitation, she takes his hand. Onto an adventure of breaking in the new year with her new friend... END CHAPTER--- Next up, Volume 8-Horizon: Ascension Chapter 253: (Weight of Leadership) Chapter 253: (Weight of Leadership) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- ---Friday, January 5th, 2316, 10 AM... "I have some more people here!" Kamui Woods yells out as he reaches out, slowly extending his wooden limbs like twisting roots to invade the rubble. Overnight an entire city on the northeast coast of Japan was hit by a typhoon. The winds raged to such an extent that the nearby beach was overtaken by the sea. Waves reaching dozens of meters high flooded the city after obliterating the sea wall, ripping homes apart and tearing down massive buildings. Now they stand in the rubble and carnage, looking for trapped people and recovering corpses. Kilometers of destruction and death that most had no chance of surviving, much less stopping.As Kamui Woods parts the rubble he sees an older man, holding what appears to be his granddaughter. Narrowing his eyes he focuses, slowing the progress of his branches to avoid destabilizing the house they were trapped under. With each movement, he sees the fear in their eyes, up to their knees in filthy brackish water that tried to drown them hours ago. "It''s ok, the Pro Heroes are here, a lot of us," Kamui Woods says as he slowly wraps the branches around them. "We''ll get you to safety, and Wash will get you cleaned up and give you something to eat, sounds good right?" The older man nods but the girl just keeps shivering, lips already blue and skin rather pale. "I''ll get you and your grandpa out of here," Kamui Woods says as he slowly removes them from beneath the rubble. But as he gets them out safely he doesn''t let it copse, terrified of the idea that someone else could be under there. He holds them up with his branches and begins walking through the devastation, ankle-deep in thick mud and water. Both the man and little girl look around in horror at the surroundings. The city they''ve lived in their whole lives, is entirely gone. Pieces of houses and broken buildings were scattered about. Teams of Pro Heroes and rescue workers as far and wide as their eyes could see, constantly working to rescue anyone they could. Even skyscrapers were reduced to loose rubble by the freak typhoonst night. Seeing the look in their eyes Kamui Woods ignores the scent of salt, blood, concrete, and mud. Ignores his aching feet and waterlogged boots, and tries to distract them. "Once I get you and your granddaughter to safety you''ll get to dry off and eat something," he gestures to the edge of the city where an army of white tents was. "She''s not my granddaughter," the man says. "I just saw her floating away and grabbed her..." "Oh..." Kamui Woods feels his heart break, yet again, for what felt like the millionth time today. "Well, please stay close to her until we find her family." "I will," the man says. While walking through the disaster site Kamui Woods picks up some more survivors by extending his branches, allowing the other search and rescue teams to continue working instead of having to walk back. "Kamui!" a deep and rough voice calls out from behind him. He turns around to see Ectosm and Hound Dog approaching him. "Didn''t expect to see you two here, UA''s security team, but we need all the help we can get." "School doesn''t start till Monday, and our Quirks are good for this," Ectosm says while Hound Dog is already sniffing the air and listening for survivors. "Did you bring anyone else?" Kamui Woods asks. "He should be here soon," Ectosm says, understanding the importance of not mentioning Horizon by name. "That''s a relief." "But until then, you''re in charge of the search and rescue, so where do you want us?" Ectosm asks. "Since you can work as a duo and go wherever Hound Dog''s nose carries you, search wherever you want, focus on survivors of course, and take them to Wash when you get them." "Got it," Ectosm immediately begins releasing white goo from his mouth, which bes a small mob of clones. As the clones spread out the help wherever they can, Hound Dog leads the main body to the nearest survivors. Kamui Woods sighs and continues up to the hill beside the city where all the tents and survivors are gathered. After passing the survivors off to Wash he''s immediately approached by Ragdoll, who was holding a clipboard. "Kamui," she gets his attention, nodding for him to follow her a few dozen meters away from where people are being treated. Standing on a hill overlooking the destroyed city she stops with him to take in the destruction once more. "We have a serious problem," Ragdoll says. While speaking her eyes were locked onto the city, tracking all the present Pro Heroes, including her friends Tiger and Mandy. "Another one?" "One of the roads to this city copsed, there was andslide." "What about the boats bringing help?" "They won''t be here until this afternoon, that typhoon tore up the entire coast, and the seas are still rough." Kamui takes an annoyed breath, "So supplies will be dyed even more, damn it." "They got close, if we could send some Pros out there maybe we could get some of the lighter supplies, these people really need it." "The team we sent to clear up the rivers should be back soon, that''s our most conventional muscle," Kamui Woods says, then sees Ectosm''s clones moving about, and remember something. "Actually, tell the people bringing supplies to stay where they are, I''ll send someone to get them." Ragdoll looks confused for a moment, then realization dawns on her. "I see, alright, I''ll tell them. Aside from that the first five zones are clear of survivors." "Good, that just leaves 20 more..." After discussing where the new supplies and tents should be ced, Ragdoll leaves Kamui Woods alone on the hill. And he takes this precious moment to steady his own thoughts, looking out at all the people who expected him to take charge and have all these answers. ''So this is what being a Top Pro Hero is really like huh...'' he questions if he would have tried to get so hard to be here, if he knew from the start how heavy this pressure would feel. "Hey boss man, how ya doing?" Kamui Woods doesn''t react as Mt. Lady saunters up beside him and leans against his shoulder. "I''ve been better," he says. "Did your team manage to clear all the rivers, bridges and roads?" He looks down at her, seeing she''s almost entirely covered in mud. "Yeah, and we even found some...unfortunate people in the mud." "Oh, I see," both Pro Heroes tune out the world for a moment and simply enjoy each otherspany. And even as the familiar sounds of rescue and news helicopters flying above reaches them, they don''t part. Too tired to care if people learn about their not-so-secret rtionship. "What do you need me to do?" Mt. Lady asks a few momentster. Kamui Woods takes out his phone and begins sending a text, "go check in with Ragdoll and clear a spot for the new trucks and busses to setup the supplies we have iing." "Alright," Mt. Lady stretches a bit. "Heroes never rest huh, time to get back to work." After she walks off a few Pro Heroes and first responders rush over to Kamui Woods, and more than anything he wishes there was a higher ranking Pro Hero here. But until then, he''s the one everyone expects to take control of this situation. Even now there were already pictures and articles reported by the present news crews scattered about the scene in cirction. All pushing him forward as a great Pro Hero and leader, but he had bigger things to worry about than poprity right now. As the minutes go by, adding more and more hours to the clock. The pile of corpses grows, thankfully dwarfed by the number of survivors. But he could see the toll it took on their morale. Pro Heroes and civilians alike were walking around with tired and saddened looks on their faces, trying their best to put on fake smiles to keep everyone''s spirits up. ''So this is what its really like not having All Might, to not have that ridiculous smile around all the time...'' most of the people realize. Before noon however, while helping Mt. Lady and a few others clear a spot to receive more aid and personnel, a sudden wave to cheers and excitement resounded across the medical area. The Pro Heroes looked up at the hill, trying to spot themotion, only the see dozens of objects descending from the sky. As if descending from the heavens, a fleet of trucks and busses slowly lowers onto the disaster site. Many of the Pro Heroes are on guard until Kamui Woods raises a hand, and they rx as they see Horizon standing atop one of the busses. Setting them all down in the clearing, much to the relief of the drivers and medical professionals on board, he hops off the roof and is caught by his Hoverboard which he stands on. A wave of relief washes over the camp as they take in Horizon''s appearance, now feeling as if this disaster was already handled. The news crews immediately aim their cameras and microphones at the duo as they begin talking. "Sorry I''mte," Horizon says. "I''m just d you''re here, and a bit surprised you could get permission to leave Tokyo so easily," Kamui Woods says. "Now, can you please take over already, everyone is tired and our morale was getting low before you got here." "Nothing could stop me froming here to help, so you don''t need to worry anymore, I am here," Horizon waves at the survivors being treated under tents as he floats outward, over the destroyed city. "Good call with me passing by to bring the convoy of supplies, now get everyone ready to provide first aid, I''ll warp everyone to safety..." "We''re already ready!" Kamui Woods yells out as Horizon flies forward. "Good," Horizon says as he raises both hands, palms facing downward. ROOM! He opens a new Room, 28km wide, enough to envelop this small city. SCAN! His mind is instantly flooded with information, every person and object down to the size of a single finger is imprinted perfectly into his mind. Information constantly being updated in real time as it all moves. He expects mental feedback, expects a headache, expects a nosebleed. But nothing happens. ''Hmm, I''m closer than I thought...'' he thinks as locations of survivors and corpses appear in his mind. SHAMBLES! Suddenly he begins warping the survivors, swapping them with pieces of rubble close to the medical area, where people were waiting anxiously to attend to them. Over the next few minutes, thousands of people would be saved with seemingly absolute ease. A job that would take hundreds of people days to do, and it was handled with effectively the wave of a hand. Before long Horizon began moving to the medical tents to assist with aid, and Kamui Woods looked around to see smiles everywhere. Even in the face of such a disastrous and tragic event, his presence was enough to inspire a feeling of safety and hope. This was what he, Kamui Woods, and no other current Pro Hero could do. This is something he hasn''t seen since All Might. ''You make it look so easy kid...'' After only 9 months in the public eye, Horizon is already revered as a Top Pro Hero, ced on a pedestal above most if not all the Fully Licensed Pro Heroes in Japan. All while he only had ess to the most basic understanding on his Quirk, of himself. All while his Ascension to be fully realized, was 65 days away... END CHAPTER--- This is the first chapter of VOLUME 8-HORIZON: Ascension. Chapter 254: (Arsenals Legacy) Chapter 254: (Arsenal''s Legacy) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- When Horizon arrived at the destroyed city, the wave of relief was immediately followed by a sense of urgency. He instantly tookmand of everyone, Pro Heroes and civilians alike and organized the site as needed. With a wave of his hand he cleared out massive sections ofnd and had people setting up tents. Constantly using his Scan to ry orders via Mandy''s Telepathy Quirk while she stands beside him, because since arriving he hasn''t once left the main medical tent. Keeping track of everyone and everything within the ruined city and organizing them while simultaneously performing life saving operations one after the next. Even as the other medical professionals and heroes rush about outside they could see pieces of rubble and debris moving as if possesses. Carefully and perfectly floating through the air, avoiding collisions with each other and the nearby people as Horizon is constantly making more space for the ocean of smaller medical tents being assembled around his. Hours after arriving on the scene, Horizon had already performed hundreds of operations, and yet that was not the most miraculous thing he''d done thus far. This was all within expectations, after all, he is Horizon. Rearranging the destroyed city, performing surgeries, healing those who need it, andmanding all the people present while tracking them with his Quirk. ording to him, that''s all simply what''s expected of him. But everyone present and the people watching around the world via the dozens of news crews here were entirely amazed. Watching someone contend with the aftermath of a force of nature so easily, it was breathtaking. Inspiring. Calming. Everyone was able to rx, knowing the worst had already passed. Even if another typhoon appeared now, nobody would be worried, because Horizon is here. Now Horizon is standing in therge tent, curtained off from the other patients as he operates on a man with severe internal bleeding. Beside the curtain is Mandy, sitting on a chair with her eyes closed, constantly using her Quirk to ry hismands across the area. But within the entire tent was a faint blue fog, cool to the touch. Simply standing within it was soothing, causing everyone to rx as their muscles and joints didn''t feel tense anymore. Suddenly feeling as if their body was actively resting even while moving. This energy vapor that was pouring out of Horizon and filling the tent is a miracle in itself. The first and only urrence of a mass area of effect healing ability. The strange fog itself is enough to heal minor injuries such as scrapes, cuts, and bruises. It takes a few minutes to heal such wounds, thus the Pro Heroes and civilians would constantly rotate groups of people into the tent after their wounds are cleaned to be healed. Simply being in the presence of Horizon was enough to heal them, one step closer to the entity he shall soon be. And now even more people understood. They took one step closer to believing that Horizon isn''t a person, but a blessing, a miracle born of mankind''s need for him. While the tent filled with two dozen people, all of which were having their minor injuries healed at a visible rate, was quiet. Mandy broke the silence yet again, "Ectosm says the next convoy of busses should be here with the hour, the roads leading through the mountain is almost repaired." "Any news on the boats?" Horizon asks while still working. "The seas are still too rough, they have to move even slower the closer they get to us." "The busses will have to do," Horizon says as he finishes the operation and steps out from behind the curtains. "Mandy, tell Kamui and Ectosm to meet me at the camp entrance." Seeing him already walking toward the tent entrance Mandy gets up and begins walking beside him, quickly catching up. "What''s going on, more people are being brought in for healing," she nces back at the tent, seeing the healing vapor already fading away. The sea of people injured and otherwise part as Horizon walks between them, making his way to the edge of the camp, overlooking the destroyed city. "I sensed something, it ran away before I could act, but it''ll be back soon," Horizon says much more quietly as they leave the crowded areas. "Have all the avable Pro Heroes standby on defense, leave anybat to me and Kamui Woods, Ectosm needs to spread his clones out to catch anything I miss in the chaos." Mandy''s expression immediately gets much more serious as she concentrates, rying his orders via Telepathy. Horizon raises his hand and grabs the air, only for Scalpel to warp into his grasp. Seeing this the onlookers immediately realized something was wrong and became curious. The other Pro Heroes immediately take action, now getting their orders from Mandy and making sure everyone was quickly ushered into the camp, behind a line of Pro Heroes. Looking around Horizon sees all the news cameras and helicopters focusing on him, clearly sensing a story about to manifest itself. "What''s going on?" Kamui Woods asks as he rushes up beside them. "Nomu, and Shigaraki," Horizon points out in the distance. "Looks like the same thing Endeavor fought, guess they have clones of that one..." "Seriously?" Kamui Woods was disgusted. "They would attack when we''re just here helping these people, just when I thought they couldn''t get any worse." "How far away?" Mandy asks. "17km," Horizon says. "16, 15...they''re rushing right for me." "What do you want us to do?" Kamui Woods asks. "You and Mandy stay with the people, no need to evacuate, I''ll just keep the fight contained." "Are you sure?" Kamui Woods asks. "I saw what Endeavor had to do to beat that thing, this could get messy." "Especially with Shigaraki here," Mandy adds. "Yes, it could, but it won''t, because I am here," he looks back at them. "Now go make sure everyone stays calm, these people are in no condition to be rushing anywhere so its better that I just keep this contained. Besides, if I can''t stop them, nobody here stands a chance..." "Right," Kamui Woods immediately retreats back to the other Pro Heroes setting up defenses with Mandy rushing after him, heading back to the main tent. It only takes a few seconds for everyone to notice a small dot in the distance, quickly growing and growing as it approaches them. The civilians weren''t aware of exactly who was approaching, but they were quickly informed and almost began to panic. But looking out at Horizon''s back as he stared at the approaching viins, a sense of calm and peace washed over them. Something they haven''t truly experienced since All Might. And it was already here, within reach. The image of a man raised with unconditional love and devotion to and from his parents, who now fights for their memories. A man who shall build his name as a Pro Hero upon the great lessons ofpassion and integrity they taught him. The calming sensation of standing behind a truly unbeatable Superhero. Secondster the Nomu arrives, skin torn up and loose around its head and neck, forming a hood which hides its face. Two glowing yellow eyes shining brightly on the otherwise dark purple skin, exposed muscle glowing slightly red, which is new. All while it hovers in the air, constantly releasing air from different angles of its body to stay airborne. And on its back, the would be king of viins, Tomura Shigaraki. Wearing a simple outfit, long ck pants and a matching t-shirt, grey boots, and no longer sporting the dismembered hands which were held to his body. His eyes immediately narrowed onto Horizon, and a standoff began. Shigaraki nces at the crowd for a moment, his hands begin twitching as he can feel his skin itching. The desire to disintegrate everyone here bubbles to the surface. But he takes a deep breathe and calms his mind, knowing of all the people in this world, Horizon is among the two he can take the least amount of chances with. "He, he-ro?!" The Nomu asks, deep and grating his voice echoes across the mostly quiet area. "Hori-zon?" "That''s him," Shigaraki says. "That''s the strongest Hero in the country, or maybe even the strongest in the world." "Second in the world," Horizon says. "Star and Stripe is still a monster..." Shigaraki takes a mental note of that, "so guess that means you aren''t invincible after all, and you''re clearly not as sharp as I thought. Letting me get this close was a bad idea." Shigaraki raises his hands and cracks his fingers. "Doesn''t matter, its only you," Horizon shrugs. "You dam---!" Shigaraki begins getting riled up, butposes himself once more. "I''m not the same person you met at USJ." "I didn''t even meet you at USJ, you weren''t even good enough to get to me, remember?" "Hood!" Shigarakimands, "lets kill him, then everyone else here!" "Fina---" the Nomu instantly disappears, swapped with a single leaf. Shigaraki suddenly finds himself 30m above the ground, falling, unable to do anything about it. ''Alright, lets call your bluff,'' Shigaraki twists his body into a direct nosedive toward the ground below. ''Now you have to save me, otherwise your sheep will watch you let me die, and you care so much about what they think, isn''t that right, hero...'' As Shigaraki suspected, the public was truly shocked at this move, and when he was less that 3m from the ground Horizon immediately warped him away. BOOSTER SHOT! He felt and everyone heard most of the ribs on the right side of his body shatter as Horizon stops his vertical momentum with a strong right, sending him rolling through the mud and dirt. Shigaraki eventually rolls to a stop, now covered in filth as he forces himself to stand, holding his right side. He was already struggling to breathe, blood running down his lip as he forces his eyes to stay open. ''It shouldn''t take Hood long to get back here, if I can stall him until then, maybe we can split his focus with some of Hood''s new ranged energy attacks...that could let me get a hit in.'' Shigaraki immediately rushes forward, all the while Horizon stands still, not even drawing his de. ''Something isn''t right, there has to be some kind of trick. This has to be a trap. Why isn''t he doing anything? Is Hood doing something to split his focus this much?'' His thoughts are still racing, doubting this situation as he closes the distance and jumps forward, and to his disbelief, to the horror of everyone watching. Horizon doesn''t react. Not even as both Shigaraki''s hands are wrapped round his neck. Shigaraki''s eyes go wide as a feeling of ecstasy overtakes him. "Ha! You got too cocky Hero!" Shigaraki screams as the body glove only around Horizon''s neck immediately disintegrates and he sees his real skin, he feels Horizon''s skin below his fingers. All the onlookers and people watching at home feel their hearts break as this happens, but after a few seconds, nothing else happens. The battlefield is entirely silent, and even Shigaraki is confused. Because the familiar feeling of matter bing dust beneath his touch, isn''t there, he could still feel Horizon''s skin. "Wha---" Shigaraki''s confused expression be one of horror as Horizon grips both his forearms. He spreads his arms, holding the smaller man in the air as if he weighs nothing. Horizon stretches his neck, allowing Shigaraki to see his unbothered skin, then exins to the now relieved audience what juts happened. "So, your Quirk really does work by tactile telekinesis, but instead of telling matter to stay together, you tell it to fall apart," Shigaraki''s eyes wide, realizing this was all just a game. "That''s too bad, nobody can tell Hand of God what to do..." "You were just tes---ARGH!" Shigaraki feels and hears the bones in his forearms get crushed and snapped, fragments immediately break the skin. The onlookers are slightly horrified, but after all they''ve been through at the hands of these viins, and all Horizon has done and risked to protect them. They couldn''t bring themselves to care as much as they would have months ago. Horizon''s ideals of being less restrained against violent viins was bing more popr through the public at every level, something the government was vehemently against. But he is Horizon, so they cannot stop him. Even when hepletely snaps Shigaraki''s forearms and rips them off, dropping him into the mud as if he were nothing. "AHHHH!" Shigaraki''s screams echo across the battlefield, the media crews gets every moment. As the severed limbs are tossed aside and blood mixes with water, as the so called king of vins wails and cries in the mud in unbelievable pain. As Horizon stands unbothered, looking down at his victim, as if daring anyone to speak out against this. Yet nobody bothered to protest, and the very few who wanted to, were terrified of standing against Horizon. Not because they thought he would hurt them, but because of how everyone else would treat them for standing against him. Because Horizon is a remarkable gentle person when dealing with anyone who isn''t a violent criminal, but his fans...are much less kind. Thus small voices begins to cheer, screaming in joy that he was there to deliver ''justice''. Then more begin to cheer with them, that their hero destroyed the monster poised to strike at them. And the few horrified faces quickly became torn. They could either show their approval, or be amongst the few who wouldn''t stand for such brutality. But just before they had to decide... "Annnnrh!" Shigaraki''s screams suddenly stop, his pain disappears and he sits up, as if he werepletely fine. Then a wave of confusion hits him as his severed limbs dissolve into a brown sludge. "Wait, wait, wait!" Shigaraki screams as his main body begins to dissolve the same way. "I can''t be a double! I''m real! I''m a real person, I''m not a doub---!" his head bes brown sludge before the realization can even set it. ''Huh, Twice has been practicing a lot,'' Horizon thinks, he too was perfectly fooled. ''My basic Scan didn''t detect anything because that sludge bes living cells, I''ll have to do deeper Scans more often,'' he thinks while collecting a sample to study. But to the public, the infallible Horizon obviously knew it was a double, and they all breaths sighs of relief, now certain he would never treat a viin in such a cruel way. After collecting his sample, Horizon gets up and ces it in his medical pouch at his back, turning for the crowd to see him. All eyes are immediately draws to the damaged part of his body glove, seeing blue energypletely shrouding his skin as it pours off of him. Further reinforcing the public belief that he need the body glove to sustain his life and contain himself, but the public recently learned that the energy within isn''t destructive, but heals those it touches. His few detractors who thought he was some type of walking talking bomb were relieved to hear that. "Alright, lets get back to work!" Horizon announces as he begins walking to the crowd. As he does this he raises a hand and grabs the air beside him, dropping Scalpel so it hovers beside him. They immediately see bright green motes of energy gathering, being pulled toward him, ripped from a dozen kilometers in very direction to gather at his hand. They all gather into a pulsing sphere which hepresses and crushes into his palm, and the sounds of ss constantly cracking is heard. The scent of burnt air fills their nostrils. Horizon casually strikes out to his side with it. "Shambles!" Hood, the Nomu which nearly killed Endeavor in their duel months ago suddenly appears beside Horizon, swapped with some rubble. And before this powerful and feared Nomu can realize what''s happening Horizon attacks its brain. "Gamma---" The green energy expands into a sharp stake and prates its skull, and a smallyer of frost forms on the mud around their feet as all the energy is pushed into its head. "---Knife!" As the bright light disappears Horizon is already walking away, and behind him the Nomu falls to the ground, its entire skull incinerated beyond any healing. So thoroughly destroyed that not even DNA can be recovered from that part of the body. A monster the entire nation, and most of the world feared, brought down in one swift act. "Kamui," Horizonmands as he walks past the crowd. "Secure that Nomu, I have to run some tests on it, and have some people guard it since High End Nomu samples are rare," he casually waves his hand at Kamui Woods behind him. And with that Horizon returns to his duties as a medic. As if what he did was nothing special at all, because to him, it wasn''t. This is simply his job, its what''s expected of him. Nothing worth celebrating. But to everyone else, this was the moment Horizon showed that when he is around, they truly have nothing to worry about. This is the moment they realized, all the hard work his parents did to raise him into the great Superhero he is, has now been focused on protecting them. And when the video of this event spreads, the legacy of the people who built such a great hero will only grow... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 255: (Arsenals Legacy Pt.II) Chapter 255: (Arsenal''s Legacy Pt.II) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- ---USA, Los Angeles, January 11th... Angel''s Park is a massive area in the middle of Los Angeles, a city that has expanded in the centuries since the advent of Quirks. Its size is slightlyrger than New York''s more famous central park, but its origin is drowned in blood and tragedy. Now, nearing noon, tens of thousands of people swarm to the festival being held in the park, enjoying the food stalls that area already setup and waiting for even more to arrive. Children are ying games, families are having pics at the many ponds. All while stages are setup all across the park and the scheduled performances take ce. In the middle of the park is abyrinth of massive stone obelisks that could be seen from the surrounding cities. Standing out in the greenery as almost unsightly, but demanding reverence. Many people were walking by, taking moments to gaze in awe at all the names carved into it, and some stopped at the memorial stone for the tens of thousands of people who could not even be identified of found to be etched into the stones. And a few families were cing flowers at the stone memorials, for the people who were lost during that night. But the faces of all the people looked strangely happy, considering what they were doing. As if they were finally at peace. As if they knew their lost loved ones could finally rest. As if they could finally believe in justice again. ---Elsewhere... While all of this is going on, surrounding the park there are streets of impressive skyscrapers, even by 2315 standards, and on top of one of the tallest is a woman, standing on the helipad. At 150 stories in the air she looked down, barely able to hear herself think over the howling winds. She wore a pair of grey sweatpants and a matching hoodie, with the hood currently on. She stands at only 5ft2 -157cm-. Her loose, short, brown hair swayed slightly in the wind but was mostly tucked away. A pair of thick ck rimmed sses helped her dull brown eyes to see even on the clearest day. And on her feet were a pair of blue boots that looked a few sized too big. She looks down at the park, and sees all the people like ants swarming about, celebrating justice and vengeance in one festival. But her heart is still gripped by fear, the kind of fear that many of those people recently overcame and a few could let go of. But to her, who had more power than anyone else in the world. Power she flexed and used to threaten entire nations to exact that justice and vengeance on her behalf, fear still grips her heart. As if deep down she knew, that the monster was stilling after her. She looks down at her phone, and sees the timer. ''Only 11 seconds, and I feel like my heart is already about to explode,'' she wipes her forehead, and the sleeve of her hoodie is covered in sweat. Even in the cold wind at this height, the fear was affecting her this severely. ''Still scared of a ghost, as if that monster can ever hurt you now, as if she could hurt me from in the grave...'' she berates herself. But even thinking about the object of her fear that much had her stumbling back away from the edge, breathing heavily and slowly sumbing to a panic attack. Luckily absolute focus is needed to activate her Quirk, or else an even worse tragedy would have befallen this city... ---Angel''s Park... Down below as all the people are enjoying the festivities, closer to the memorial stones a few camera crews were setup in front of a small stage and podium. On it was a older white man in a fine suit, ready to answer their questions. "Mr. Major," one reporter raises her hand. "As the mayor of Los Angeles do you really thinks its appropriate to throw a festival on such a... tragic anniversary." The man takes a moment to think, as if he didn''t have this answer rehearsed beforeing here. "This isn''t a festival to celebrate tragedy," he says. "As the announcement and ads exined, this is about celebrating justice. A horrific monster was put down for what she did to us and a uncountable number of other people. That, is cause for celebration. Because I know that the families of all these wonderful people," he gestures to the carved stone behind him. "Were beginning to wonder how many decades it would take before justice caught up to that monster, and now they can rest easy knowing the worst of humanity has been put down, for good." The crowd seems pleased with his response and take a few notes, before another set of hands is raised. "Yes, you," he points to ady in the back rows who quickly stands up. "And what do you have to say on the questions regarding the motive behind this attack. Some people still find it hard to believe that all of this," she gestures at the park. "Which used to be busy city streets, would be cleared out for the sake of killing one person alone." The mayor nods, "yes, I understand that understanding such true and vile evil is impossible for our good intentioned American citizens, but believe me, it exists. And she''s among the worst viins." The murmurs stop as thedy sits back down, noting the serious expression on the man''s face. "I, much like some of the people here, was living just a few blocks from this very park when that attack happened. Granted it wasn''t a park at the time. It was just me, my brothers, and my mom. Us against the world, when suddenly there was a loud noise, our ears were ringing, all the windows were blown out. All the ss from windows shatters and blew into the apartment, hell, if not for my brother jumping on top of me I would be a lot uglier than I am today," a few reportersugh. "But as the hours went on, it just got worse. Suddenly we heard noises all around, mom was getting my younger brothers under the bed when I looked through the window and it looked like a meteor was falling from the sky. But it was just the biggest ne I''d ever see, crashed only a few blocks away into the spot we stand on now. We thought that was it, ''this is the end of the world'', couldn''t get any worse, right? Well, when the gas mains started exploding, when buildings started falling all around us, things just kept getting worse. And every minute of the 39 hours we were buried in rubble waiting for someone to rescue us, we couldn''t even breathe properly because we were terrified of it getting worse at any minute. Now my brothers, my mom, and myself, we all lived and only had minor injuries, we got lucky. But the almost 100,000 people who didn''t get out, well they didn''t get lucky. And their families probably felt like the unlucky ones for being left with a pile of rubble and graves to dig. Now keep in mind one person caused that kind of destruction and death. One person was that vile and evil, to do all of that, for money. To kill one person, now I personally think that person being put down like the filthy animal she is certainly deserved a celebration, and I wanted it on the anniversary of that day so that they could celebrate with us," he gestures back to the memorial stones. The reporters nod along. "Now I''m not iming to be a saint, but I like to think some people have a god given purpose, and I''m still looking for mine. But some people find theirs early in life, for some its their Quirk. For others its their heart. Some realize their purpose is upholding and representing freedom and liberty while protecting the people of America, and they be Star and Stripe. Others look into their own hearts and find peace and justice for all, and they be All Might. Heck some people are lucky enough to be born and raised to heal the impossible as if it were easy, and that''s how miracles like Horizon exist...who I did send an invitation to this event by the way." He gets augh from the crowd, because they all know Horizon can''t leave Japan so easily. "But others, they''re just born evil, and unlike most people, they don''t try to change. They embrace the evil, and sadly for us good people of the world, some of them are too damn good at it. Good enough to be arguable the most brutal, excessive, and bloodthirsty viin in the history of Quirks, and that''s how Arsenal was born. Now we''re here to celebrate her being put down like the filthy animal she is, after every member of the United Nations hunted her for decades, she was caught in Japan just over a year ago. So how about we make the next few questions quick and join the others in celebrating the good work of our friends in Japan for helping us rest easy at night..." ---Elsewhere... Back on the roof, the young woman was on the floor gripping her chest, breathing heavily and sweating as if she ran a marathon. No matter how deeply or quickly she breathed, it was never enough. It still felt as if the entire world was resting on her chest. Her eyes were already watering as she tried to focus her thought, trying to use her Quirk to make the fear go away. BEEP BEEP BEEP! The emergency alert on her phone suddenly snaps her out of her panicked state and draws her attention. That familiar beeping triggers her Pro Hero instincts and focuses her mind. "Hello?" she immediately answers in a very high pitched voice, then ps a hand over her mouth. "Huh, why do sound like that?" the nab on the other side of the call ask. "Uh...what did you need?" she deepens her voice slightly and tries to dodge the question. "Why are you in LA? When you said you were stepping out of you agency for lunch, I thought you meant down the street not to the other side of the country." "I just felt like going for a fly." "2500 miles?" the man sighs. "First time since that night you''ve been back to LA, and this is the day you choose, when what stupid festival is going on, really Cathy?" She frowns, "I thought I could handle it alright." "But?" She rolls her eyes, "but...I still need time. Every time I think about her, I feel as if there is part of her out there that''ll still being after me. And I saw what she did to my family, I can''t just ignore that." The man is silent for a moment before speaking, "Arsenal isn''t sending some kind of ghost to haunt you Cathy, you just need to trust that she''s really gone for good. I mean you pretty much threatened to attack Japan yourself to get to her if they didn''t do it, no country is dumb enough to risk that." "Yeah, especially since now we know All Might was already sick back then," she says. "But still, doesn''t feel right unless I did it with my own bare hands." "That doesn''t sound very heroic of you." "I don''t care," she says. "She''s dead Cathy, she can''te back for you from in the grave, and even if she did, you''re the most powerful being in the world, you''d crush her." She smiles at that, "yeah, you''re right. Ok, I''ming back now, I''ll be there in an hour or two..." The man hangs up and she sees the timer on her phone, paused at 20 seconds. ''I couldn''t evenst 20 seconds without falling apart, how pathetic,'' she thinks while holding the phone very gently. She begins walking to the middle of the helipad and focuses on herself. ''NEW ORDER: I will be just like All Might!'' Her mental image of a prime All Might is fed into her Quirk yet again, and she begins growing. As she grows her casual clothes is torn apart to reveal the Hero Costume beneath. The red white and blue, striped costume like the American g takes full effect as the cape expands out from the back of it. All her hair shifts from brown to blonde and her eyes be shining bright blue. And as he eyes shift her vision bes better than perfect, allowing her to put her sses away and put on the thin domino mask simr to Ms. Midnights, but red. Her boots now fit as she grows to 6ft4 -193cm-, just an inch shorter than Horizon and Endeavor, but not close to All Might''s 7ft2 -218cm- in his muscr form. Because even her Mystery ss Quirk has , and pushing her own physical body to the point of matching One For All is certainly a limit of it. But she is roughly 90% there, most impressive considering this effect has no exact time limit. In fact, all the time she''s spent out of this form across her life since receiving her Quirk, can be added up to less than ten minutes. This, was her firstmand of New Order, to make her into the man she saw as invincible. And among her new fewmands was... ''NEW ORDER: I can move freely through the atmosphere!'' Star and Stripe immediately begins hovering off the floor, suddenly gaining flight. Over her career Star and Stripe has used her Quirk to create hundreds of effects, most of which are listed online by the media and fans. But this is her mostmonbination, and its almost always more than she needs. Without any more hesitation she rockets into the air, clearing the city skyline and soaring into the clouds. And with onest look below at the gathering crowd, her eyes zoom in to see the faces of the happy crowd, then lock onto the horizon toward New York. BOOM! A small sonic boom is left in her wake as she goes from floating in ce to hypersonic instantly, heading back to her Hero Agency in Manhattan. Still feeling as if Arsenal would stille after her one day, in some unknown form. Luckily, she is still the most powerful being in the world, but that would change in theing months... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 256: (Bird Of Prey) Chapter 256: (Bird Of Prey) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- ---January 23rd... "Look, its Hawks!" A woman screams on the sidewalk while pointing toward the sky. Soaring through the city streets, weaving between the skyscrapers they see the #2 Pro Hero Hawks, moving casually and waving down at them. Everyone on the street stops and some take out their phones. "Hey everyone!" Hawks yells back, giving a friendly smile and gentle wave. "You all doing ok?!" "We love you Hawks!" the same woman screams, excited to see her favorite Pro Hero in person. "Who is that ahead of him?" a man asks while looking further up the street where Hawks is going toward. They see someone swinging between buildings by constantly stretching his arms and retracting them, and they look to be in a hurry. "That''s Reacher!" a child says, excited by all of this. "The guy Horizon saved from Stain?" A man asks, slightly confused. "I guess Hawks is working with small time Pro Heroes now huh..." "He''s so cool," the woman keep staring at Hawks as he catches up to Reacher. If those people could see Reacher up close, or hear how his heart was pounding against his ribs, they''d see a very different situation. Reacher nces back, seeing Hawks closing in, and speeds up. He grabs the side of a building and swings right, putting him on a straight route to his target. Sweat is pouring down his face, drenching his Hero Costume. "Reacher!" Hawks yells, "c''mon buddy slow down!" He instinctively pats his pocket to make sure his cargo is there when he hears Hawks closing in. "Stay away from me!" Reacher yells. He nces down, considering going to the street level and getting the crowd involved, but thest thing he wants it to put the civilians in danger. He couldn''t even trust other Pro Heroes to help him, he was alone against the entire world. Because that''s what happens when you try to stand against Horizon. Hawks keeps smiling, but narrows his eyes as some of his feathers disperse, taking alternative paths around the buildings. Reacher looks ahead, seeing arge police station at the very end of this long street, and suddenly safety was that much closer. Reacher nces back a momentter, and doesn''t see Hawks. ''Oh n---'' He feels the wind get knocked out of him. "GAHHH!" His eyes close for a moment as he''s suddenly moving faster than he every could on his own, and he barely opens his eyes fast enough to see the city street disappearing below him. Eventually the entire city bes distant below them, and he realizes what happened. Hawks tackled him, knocking the wind out of him and wrapping his arms around Reacher, taking him into the clouds and away from the city. Now they were miles above the buildings. "Let go of me!" Reacher rears back and punches Hawks in the back of his head, but the smaller hero doesn''t let go of him. "Just listen!" "They have to know!" Reacher extends both his arms upward 33ft -10m- and brings them back in much faster, transitioning into two palm strikes at Hawk''s shoulders. "Argh!" Hawks lets go and drops Reacher, who instantly nosedives through the clouds, ready to grab a building and make his vertical momentum into a horizontal swing. But he was over a mile above the nearest building, so before he could even get close Hawks wrapped his arms around his torso again. "Don''t make me hurt you, please!" Hawks says while dragging him out of the city again. "You can''t protect him! He''s a murderer!" "I know that, and I''m not trying to!" Hawks yells while continuously being punched in the head, but even as blood flows through his hair and down his face, he doesn''t let go. "AHHHH!" Reacher feels two feathers pierce his back, into the joints at his shoulders. His arms fall limply at his side for a while as Hawks takes them to a small forest outside the city. "There, now can you please let me exin?!" he asks while dropping Reacher on the ground in a clearing. "Exin what? That you''re covering up a murder?!" Reacher asks as he gets to his feet, flexing his fingers and trying to move his arms. All of Hawks feathers leave his back and begins hovering around Reacher, like hundreds of swords at his sides. "I don''t want to hurt you Haru," Hawks says. "These feathers tell a different story," he looks around nervously at Hawks feathers. "I''m just trying to do the right thing, to be a actual Pro Hero, or did you forget what that was like? How dirty are those talons, huh?" "This isn''t like that, its just a matter of timing, I promise. Just let me exin, please." "There is no timing, I saw a murder and I will act on my instincts and report it, everything that happens after will be justice!" "Its not that simple!" Hawks yells, and his calm expression gives way to anger. "If it was that simple I wouldn''t be in this problem, but it''s Horizon!" "That''s why we must act now! He''s dangerous!" "I know that!" Hawks screams. "Believe me, I know that more than anyone. If you got past the first few files on that sh drive you stole, you would have seen what he did to me. How he tore me apart piece by piece and kept putting me back together. Why do you think I was missing for a month." Reacher looks shocked as Hawks begins to tear up, clutching his head as if physically suppressing the memories. "I couldn''t function after the things he did to me, after he made me stay awake the entire time...I don''t want him to do that to you, to everyone. So please, just give me the sh drive, and we can go talk to Pantu together." "Pantu?" Reacher finally puts the pieces together. "So that''s why my phone hasn''t been working, she blocked me out...so she''s in on it too. The police..." "That report was never going to happen Haku," Hawks says calmly. "I don''t like hurting innocent people, but if you got to that police station a lot of people would have had to die after hearing that report. But that''s a lot less than what we''ll lose if Horizon goes crazy. So please, just give me the drive, I don''t want to hurt you, or worse..." "If you keep covering up his crimes, they''ll only get worse, you''ll make a real monster!" "I trust Pantu to deal with him before it getspletely out of hand. Right now he''s just being a bit excessive with viins." "Just ''A bit excessive''?! That''s what you call what he did to Wolfram?!" Reacher looks disgusted. "The man was begging for his life and Horizon just kept tearing into him, he looked like bloody burger meat when he was done!" "A freak incident, not a pattern." "The amount of files on this drive say otherwise, and what about you, don''t you want justice for what he did to you?" "Yes, I do. Believe me, there isn''t a day I don''t dream about locking him up, or worse. But he''s Horizon, its impossible, plus that was part of my job, I knew what I was doing." Reacher grits his teeth, "yeah well, being a Hero is my job, and if I''m the only one in Japan with any sense of justice then so be it. I''ll just upload it and let the world decide!" "Wait!" Reacher begins extending his arm forward to grab Hawks, but before his attack can even begin dozen of feathers pierce his back. He flinches for a moment, and unconsciously blinks. And by the time he opened his eyes Hawks was in front of him swinging a feather sword at his neck... "Damn it," Hawks says as Reacher''s head falls to the floor, rolling away from his body. All of his feathers return to his back after shaking off the blood while he searches the body. Taking a few steps away he examines the drive while calling Pantu. "Did you get it?" Was the first words out of her mouth. "Yeah, but he''s dead." "Good, that''s better than him being alive and us having to worry about him eventually talking." "He had a family you know, and now they''ll never see him again." "That''s the upational hazard of being a Pro Hero, he just ran into a viin on patrol and didn''t make it back home, send them a card if you care so much." Hawks sighs, "how the hell did he even get this info anyway?" "This morning someone hacked into our most secure servers looking for info on Horizon, they left a small back door and that information got out." "So they hacked us for data on Horizon?" "No, they wanted something in his file but none of the personal data, and honestly aside from this there wasn''t anything else there. He really doesn''t exist in our files, they only got this because we used it for his counterpart in the simtion." "Right, so they got what they wanted and left a back door, then that group Reacher just busted up got these files using that same back door?" "Yes, and I''ve already sent a team to deal with them, him arresting them made things much easier." "Gotcha, and what did the actual hackers even want?" "Our people are still working on that, I should know by the end of the day." "Good, just tell me as soon as you---" Hawks stops talking as a purple Warp Gate manifests in front of him. "I''ll call you back, my bestie needs me." As he hangs up Dabi walks out of the Warp Gate, "since when are we friends?" "Awe, and here I thought we were best friends..." Both men re at each other for a moment, then Dabi nces down at Reacher''s corpse. "Nice work, trying to impress me?" "He got a bit too nosey, had to cut it off," Hawks shrugs. "You missed the nose then," Dabi walks forward and observes where they are. "So did you need something?" "Yeah, the boss is calling a meeting, now, lets go." "The boss, Shigaraki will be there?" "Everyone will be there," Dabi says. "Congrattions, you''re more useful than untrustworthy, now lets go. And obviously don''t try anything stupid," Dabi begins walking to the Warp Gate, but stops in front of it. "What?" "Mind if I take credit for this?" he gestures to the corpse. "Sure, make the league look good and cover my tracks, that''s perfect." Dabi rolls his eyes, "when you say I''m helping you it almost makes me not want to do it...but I just love watching heroes burn." With a wave of his hand he sets a raging fire in this part of the woods, starting at the corpse. "A bit much, don''t you think?" "I like the scent of burning trees," Dabi walks though the Warp Gate. Before Hawks steps in the looks back and tosses the sh drive into a blue me, making sure it melts before he fully enters the warp gate. ''Time to meet the boss...'' END CHAPTER--- Chapter 257: (All Against One) Chapter 257: (All Against One) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- "No pat down?" Hawks asks as he steps out of the Warp Gate, entering a well lit hallway that gave the impression of a mansion. "Don''t need it," Dabi says. "Keep those feathers to yourself and follow me." Walking behind Dabi he looks around curiously, wiping the blood from his face with his sleeve, and he does contemte sending a few feathers to get a proper look of this building. But ultimately, he ys along. "Awe, and here I thought you didn''t trust me." "Tch, we don''t need to take your phone, the Radio Wave Nomu controls all broadcasts in this area, including blocking any trackers, microphones, GPS in your phone." "Sounds useful, can I have one?" Dabi stops walking and looks back at him, annoyed at the smiling Pro Hero, then continues walking. Eventually they make it to the end of a hallway and Dabi pushes open the double doors. "Wooow!" Hawks gawks about as he hovers through the room. A massive formal dining room overlooking the ocean. He entirely ignores all the viins sitting around having lunch. Around the massive table was Shigaraki, at the head. Spinner to his right and Twice to his left. But beside Twice was Toga, in a wheelchair, which Hawks made special note of. Across from her was Magni, and a seat prepared for Hawks. On the table was a monitor that remained nk, but right now everyone was ring at Hawks who hovered above them. "Take your seat so we can get started," Shigaraki says in a annoyed tone. "Sure thing boss," Hawks says as he sits beside Magni, who continues to re at him. "Kurogiri, lets begin," Shigaraki says. Immediately a Warp Gate appears behind him, and another appears above his right shoulder. Kurogiri stands behind him as therger Warp Gate closes but above his right shoulder a small Nomu, reminiscent of a frog drops onto his shoulder. It has dozens ofrge eyes all across its body and back, each of which are tracking the people in the room. "Cute," Toga says. "Gross!" Magni covers her mouth in disgust. "This is Shinji," Shigaraki says as he pats the Nomu, who nuzzles up to him. "In light of recent revtions, he''ll always be with me from now on." Dabi rolls his eyes, "I hope this isn''t just to show off your new creepy pet." "No, this meeting is about this," Shigaraki snaps his fingers and the monitor turns on, showing a picture of Horizon midway through ripping the arms off his Double. Toga sees this image for the first time,ying eyes on Horizon for the first time in months. And immediately begins hyperventting. Hawks looks at everyone as they are immediately concerned about her. "You don''t have to worry about him baby he isn''t here," Twice says as he pushed her out of the room shutting the door behind them. "Horizon really left some scars on you guys huh," Hawks teases. Shigaraki gives him a bored look as he rubs his arms, "well after seeing what he''s willing to do to me, you can understand why we''ve been extra cautious since." "Not like you''re one to talk," Dabi says to Hawks. "You''re sweating more than us..." Hawks passes a hand on his forehead, feeling it drenched in cold sweat, and holding his hand out they could all see him shaking, even before he realized it. "Yeah well, you got the hypothetical, I got the real thing," he adopts a somber expression. "He did things to me that I''ll never get over." "We heard as much," Shigaraki says. "That''s why you''re here now, we finally realize that you don''t really care about our cause, right?" "I do." Shinji ribbits on Shigaraki''s shoulder. "That means you lied," they all get ready to attack him. "Stand down." "But---" "I said stand down," he silences Magni. "Hawks was never on our side, but he was always against Horizon. Because let me guess, the government thought they could control him, but he''s a bigger monster than any viin, right? And he turned against them..." "Not exactly," Hawks says. "Pantu has a deal with Horizon, and she''s willing to let him literally get away with murder if it means he''ll stay in Japan as our #1 Pro Hero. Because his presence is more than worth a few bodies in the ground ever so often, especially since they''ve all been viins." "But you disagree?" Dabi asks. "Horizon isn''t that simple. First he didn''t want to be a Pro Hero, but now he''s enjoying it, but now the public is being swayed to ept his more...honest self." "You mean them cheering when he tore the arms off my Double?" Shigaraki asks. "Yeah, and that kind of stuff has been happening a lot," Hawks says. "You guys have done so much to hurt the public that they want you gone, by any means necessary, and now they''re just taking bets on how he''ll do it." "Are there any other Pro Heroes that want to help us out?" Shigaraki asks. "I know a few," Hawks admits. "But, they wouldn''t associate with Viins, especially not your group. And even if I got all of them together, its Horizon, we can''t win." Shigaraki sighs, "I want to be an invincible demon king, but it seems I''ll have to get rid of one first, there is always a bigger monster, for now." "Yeah, even Horizon isn''t the absolute strongest right," Magni says. "That Star and Stripe chick is a monster, and I remember he said she was stronger than him, but that was a few weeks ago." "Well, we might have something that can kill him," Shigaraki surprises them all with that. Only he and Kurogiri knew about Machia''s new upgrades after all. "If I leave a trail of breadcrumbs can you feed it to Horizon and put him where I want." Hawks considers it, "it''ll have to seem like I spied on you to get it, since Pantu sent me to spy on you and he figured that out. And it''ll only be possible once, because if this goes wrong and you miss, he''ll probably kill me." "Kurogiri?" Shigaraki asks. "It can be arranged, within a matter of weeks," Kurogiri says. "And what bait might entice Horizon?" "Pantu has us collecting info on two people," Hawks points at Kurogiri. "You, and twice. Everyone else she just knows we can get whenever you pop up." "Well that''s insulting," Dabi says. "It makes sense," Shigaraki says. "They''re the backbone of our operation." "This ces us in great danger," Kurogiri says. "Judging by Horizon''s track record he likely won''t fall for the same Double trick again, the bait will have to be...live." "Then you will be our bait, we''ll collect some samples and have Twice use his Quirk to replicate yours." "Aren''t you getting a bit cocky there brat," A mechanical voicees from Shinji. "It can talk?" Hawks asks. "Its not the Nomu you moron," the Nomu opens its mouth so they can all hear. "I''m speaking through it, something I didn''t think was necessary until this brat decided to put one of my most prized Nomu in danger." "Kurogiri will be fine, if your weapon actually works." "You''re doubting my work! How dare you! Don''t forget that I''m not one of your loserckeys, I''m a dear friend of your master, the true demon lord. You only get to use OUR Nomu soldiers because for some reason he thinks you''re worth more than gum under my shoe! And I can take them back whenever I want." "Are you saying you''re so scared that your newest masterpiece can''t handle Horizon you aren''t willing to use Kurogiri as bait." "Mmm, I''ll consider it," Shinji''s mouth closes as Shigaraki ys on his mysterious benefactor''s ego. "That guy is also on Pantu''s list by the way," Hawks says. "I''m suppose to be collecting data on whoever is making the Nomu for you." "Well you''ll need to get in line, or question All For One," Shigaraki says. "Even I don''t know who he is, he says I haven''t earned that honor yet." "Seems like we''re all working with some annoying people," Hawks rxes a bit. "So, what info do you want me to feed Pantu about you guys, after we sort that out we can deal with what to do about Horizon." "Hmm, well you can tell her we''ll be expanding out reach and being more aggressive in controlling contraband movement in Japan. I already have all the major criminal groups under me, its time we put them to work and stress out the public." "You want me telling her all of that?" "We''ll be operating too loudly to hide it, the new year has begun, now get to stress out the public and show them they can''t rely on Pro Heroes to solve everything, that they have to fight for themselves. And slowly we''ll erode the Quirk Regtions of this nation." "Alright, I''ll tell her I uncovered that, oh," Hawks snaps his finger. "Someone hacked into the Hero Public Safety Commission to get into Horizon''s files, was that you guys?" "No, thest thing we want is a trail leading back to us, plus that what you''re here for." "Did they get anything good?" Spinner asks. "They weren''t looking for personal files, Pantu is still looking into it." "Hmm, getting that person on our side could be useful, keep your ears open for anything about that." "Got it," Hawks says. "Right now we''re keeping that incident away from Horizon, because then he''ll go on a warpath to silence loose ends." "I''d imagine so, now, lets discuss the breadcrumb trail we need to setup to trap him..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 258: (Incremental Improvement) Chapter 258: (Incremental Improvement) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- ---Wednesday, 25th January 2315, 6 weeks until Ascension... After lunch at UA ss 1A are all dressed in their PE uniforms, sitting outside at the training area on some bleachers for closebat training. Horizon was at the top row of the bleachers sitting beside Jiro, she had one of her Earphone Jacks plugged into his phone as he showed her a new song. As she leans against him and nods along to the music, just as he was doing, they carefully watched Ojiro and Bakugo fight in the field. Trading blows in the small circle painted on the dirt field, both aspiring heroes give their all in this exercise. But Ojiro was quickly gaining the upper hand. "Tail boy got better during the winter break," Horizon says. "That almost sounded like apliment," Jiro says. "Careful, or else people might think you have a heart." "Can''t have that, my public image would be in pieces." Jiro giggles and leans into him a bit more, and he drapes an arm around her, "I bet Bakugo wishes he had more room to use his Quirk in that circle." "Mhm," they see Bakugo continuously try to line up his explosions only for Ojiro to react faster and swat his hands away. "He should just use his explosions away from Ojiro, spin himself with them to gain momentum for powerful kicks. He''s so used to swinging his palms he only fights like a boxer in times like this..." "That''s pretty smart, any insight on how I could have done better in my fight?" Jiro asks. "Yeah, don''t fight Kirishima close up." Jiro sighs and Horizon pats her head, "some matchups just aren''t good no matter how you try to go about it." "Yeah well I''ve got the bruises to show for it," Jiro says. While they were talking, on the other side of the bleachers was Momo, chatting with Uraraka and Toru, who as usual was entirely visible. "She really offered you that, already?" Toru asks Uraraka. "You''ve only been working with her for like 3 months." "Yeah, its kind of a strange situation since this really wasn''t in my n." "But you have to at least consider it," Momo says. "We know your heart is set on being a rescue hero, but a contract with Ryukyu for after you graduate isn''t something you can simply turn down." "Yeah!" Toru cheers. "You''ve gotta think about her ranking too, she''s super high ranked, almost in the top 5. If you work with her even for a year or two then every rescue hero will send you offers and you can just pick any one you want." "And you''ll be able to negotiate for better pay," Momo adds. "That is why you''re bing a Pro Hero after all, if you do this then you can better provide for your family." Uraraka blushes a little but awkwardly smiles a them, "well yeah, and I guess its better to know how to fight strong viins before I go into being a rescue hero. Thest thing I want is to get caught off guard and be defenseless, and since rescue heroes don''t fight much I won''t have many chances to sharpen my skills when I find a rescue agency to work with." "Exactly," Momo says. "Better to be a warrior in a garden than the other way around, just be sure to think carefully before youmit to any contracts. Consider how popr and capable you''ll be at the time of graduation and judge the offer against that version of Uravity." "Yeah, I''ll be sure to think a lot before giving her a answer, but what about you Toru?" "Huh, me?" "Yeah, didn''t Mt. Lady sent you an offer to work with her, that''ll make you a member of team Lurkers...sort of." "Oh yeah I already epted," Toru says. "Working with a team that does stealth and infiltration stuff is perfect for my Quirk, plus two of the top 10 Pro Heroes are on that team so everyone will be watching me." "That also means you''ll be seeing Sero a lot," Momo says. "He''s still working with Edgeshot after all, and his previous Pro Hero mentor Kamui Woods is also on that team." "Ooo, maybe I''ll even get a part in whatever next big operation Horizon is nning!" Toru gets so excited she fades in and out of visibility for a few seconds. "That''ll make me super popr for sure!" As they continue talking, not even a minuteter a loud whistle is blown. All eyes go to Aizawa as he raises a hand, "Bakugo is out of the circle, Ojiro wins," he announces. Ojiro respectfully bows as Bakugo just gets up and stomps back to his seat, not returning the gesture. "Alright the next match," Aizawa reaches into a box and takes out a ball with the number 18 on it. "Midoriya, you''re up." Deku jumps out of his seat and rushes over to the circle, confident in his closebat skills. "And his opponent," Aizawa takes out another ball, and winces when he reads it. "Seat 19, Horizon..." The entire ss goes silent as they look back to Horizon, even Jiro stiffens as she''s leaning against him. "Me and Deku, well, its about damn time..." SHAMBLES! He warps into the small circle, standing opposite Deku. The entire circle was only 5m -15ft- wide, and suddenly it felt entirely too small for Deku''s liking. Aizawa looks over at them, seeing Midoriya already getting nervous. "Horizon, when I blow the whistle you stop, understand?" "..." "Understand?!" "Yeah, I got it," Horizon says. "This is a training exercise, so don''t use Counter Shock, I want to actually see Midoriya''s progress, not just watch him get fried in the first second." "y it out and have some fun, got it," Horizon raises his hands in a boxing stance. "C''mon Deku." Taking a deep breath Deku enters a low stance, ready to pounce forward at any time. ''ONE FOR ALL: 30%'' Small arcs of current begin bouncing across Deku''s body as he focuses on Horizon. BOOSTER SHOT! "Begin!" Dekuunches forward and upward, spinning his entire body and kicking toward Horizon''s face. Horizon raises both his arms and takes the hit onto his forearms. "Hngh!" Horizon''s bones quake as the hit was much much harder than expected, but he immediately uses Booster Shot to amplify his physical strength once more and pushes Deku back. ''I''ve barely seen my ssmates train these past few months, that caught me by surprise,'' Horizon thinks. Deku recovers instantly before even approaching the edge of the circle and rushes back in. ''A lot faster too,'' Horizon thinks as he notices Deku''s features bing harder to track. ''One serious hit from him and I''ll get pushed out of the circle, need to be careful.'' In the same millisecond it took him to realize this, he also analyzed the result of the Scan he did when they made contact. ''Deku''s teeth are different now. Quirkless people can''t regrow teeth, they''re less evolved like pre quirk era humans, but this Deku can regrow teeth and metabolize enamel. One For All must be fully integrated into his body, that''s why he can use this much power without breaking himself apart. He''s no longer a Quirkless little shit that got handed a Quirk, now its more like he was simply born with One For All. He''s indistinguishably melded with it, just like All Might the first time I scanned him and couldn''t tell he was born Quirkless. Looks like he''s one step closer to surpassing All Might, maybe if we ever get a real fight it''ll actually be fun, well, at least until I get bored. He''s still only human after all...'' In the millisecond it took for this analysis to happen Deku also realized something, for the first time against Horizon, he had an advantage. His mind doesn''t move as fast as Horizon''s, but when they shed he could feel Horizon buckle and have to summon more power before pushing him away. And that was all the confidence boost he needed. ''One for All: 32%- Shoot Style!'' Deku crouches down and leaps forward, intent on spinning to deliver another kick without ever making contact. Horizon knows what he''s about to do and rushes forward, getting into Deku''s personal space before he could finish the kicking motion and grabbing his leg. Realizing his kick wasn''t possible anymore Deku takes advantage of Horizon''s grip keeping him in the air, leaving Horizon to hold his ankle he twists his body and kicks at Horizon with his other foot. BOOSTER SHOT! Horizon grips his ankle so hard it felt as if he would snap it, then pulled downward, mming Deku''s back into the dirt. "Ngh!" Deku spins on the floor, trying to kick Horizon''s leg and sweep him off his feet. But his foot makes contact with nothing as Horizon leapt up. He barely rolls out of the way before Horizonnds on the dirt, right where his chest was. Deku does a flip and gets back onto his feet, raising his hands once more to continue the fight. ''I need to keep things simply and contest him with just pure strength, and I can''t take my eyes off him even for a second,'' Deku thinks as he rushes in once more. This time he performs a non-stop barrage of punches, all at 30% power. Horizon and the spectators alike can feel the air being pushed past them with each attack. Horizon constantly uses Booster Shot to heal the damage being done to his forearms as he blocks all the attacks, beneath the body glove the muscle and bone were constantly being damaged and healed. "So that''s how strong you''ve gotten," Horizon says as he begins emanating blue energy vapor from his arms. He pushes Deku back and immediately prepares a strong right andunches it at Deku. "Let''s just wrap this up, show me if you''re even worth having a real fight with!" Hearing this Deku smiles, looking back he wouldn''t even understand. But it just felt right, and he couldn''t help but smile. He rushes forward and the ground gets cratered beneath him when heunches into another Shoot Style attack. Horizon''s entire right hand is shrouded in the blue energy mist as they make contact, but even as Deku pushes away all the air around them the mist clings to Horizon. Deku''s foot makes direct contact with Horizon''s gloved fist, and a shockwave rips through the air. BOOM! A cloud of dust covers the area as everyone covers their eyes and gets caked in dirt. A few people begin coughing and momentster the dust begins to settle. "Argh, I can''t feel my leg," Deku winces as he sits at the edge of the circle, holding his right let. "Did you break it again?" Aizawa asks as he swats the dust away from his face. "No, its just numb," Deku says. ''Why did I do that? I''ve never used 45% before, but in that moment it just came out...'' "Looks like you won, congrattions," Horizon says as all the dust is finally cleared. "My new variation of Booster Shot still needs some work..." And everyone is shocked to see both his feet carved out a trench in the dirt, ending a few inches outside the circle. Deku is most surprised to see this, but he frowns at the result, "you only moved back a few inches further than me...I''ve still got a lot of training to do." Horizon chuckles as he casually walks up to Deku, who was still on the floor, "and here I thought you''d be happy to finally beat me at something." Deku forces himself to stand on his numb leg, "a fight where you could only use you weakest attribute...which happens to be my strongest, how can I be the #1 Hero if that''s the only victory I can get?" "That''s the thing, you don''t be the #1 Hero, I do..." "I''m still growing too you know," Deku says, surprising everyone as he actually stands against Horizon. "Don''t count me out yet." Aizawa looks at the scene carefully, ready to intervene, and everyone stares on in silence. But Horizon just looks down at Deku, clearly more amused than anything else. "Alright, ''Small Might'', then prove it in a real fight---" Deku''s face immediately pales. "---I''ll be in the finals at the sports festival, as usual, just meet me there and you can show me what you''ve got, that should be easy, right? Mr. #1 Pro Hero..." As Horizon walks back to his seat Deku is finally able to breathe again. ''What the hell is wrong with me, that could have gone so badly, but, he''s right. If I want to prove it, then the sports festival is the best ce to do that, and I''ve only got a few months to master my new moves...'' END CHAPTER--- Chapter 259: (Global Test) Chapter 259: (Global Test) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead) CHAPTER START--- ---Friday, 27th January 2315, Berlin, Germany... Just as the sun was about to set, rms began ringing all across the city. The cold winter air was disrupted as explosions began ringing out through the city. Lumbering through the streets, smashing buildings with each clumsy movement, a massive quadrupedal robot stomps about. 75m -246ft- and 50m -150ft- wide tall and firing off an assortment of artillery and guns. Dozens of Pro Heroes are already assaulting this enemy, but the tough armor is harder than even modern military tanks, causing their attacks to barely do anything.Hours nearly an hour into the battle the civilians in this section of the massive city have all been cleared out, now news choppers buzz around trying to record as much of the battle as possible. "It seems that the Pro Heroes have made little to no progress in stopping this weapon, either manned or unmanned we aren''t sure, and we''ll only know when they break it apart and look inside!" a news reporter says from inside a helicopter. "Hold on!" the pilot screams, and the man looks back at the battlefield to see a rocket heading directly toward them, too fast to be avoided. The man doesn''t even have time to scream before a bolt of electricity descends from above and detonates the rocket at a safe distance. The purple electricity immediately causes a wave of hope to spread across the battlefield as the Pro Heroes and civilians realize what happened. The camera looks up to see a group of Pro Heroes descending, one of them is creating a floating tform of green energy beneath his feet while two others ride on it beside him. To his left is a woman who has her eyes closed as her ck hair constantly pulses blue. As they descend past the helicopter the camera zooms in on the man standing to the right. He wore a skin tight purple suit with pieces of armor sparsely spread across it. There was a purple and ck lightning bolt across his chest and his mas only covered his eyes, leaving the top of his head free to show off his short blonde hair. As they quickly descend there was already purple lightning crackling around him, and his gaze was fixed on the enemy. "Do you sense a pilot inside?" he asks the woman beside him. "No, its a drone, or a pre-programmed robot, either way you can hit it hard," she says. "We need to make this quick, these things are attacking in other countries as well, this could just be the first wave," the man maintaining the tform says. "I told everyone to give you some space, you can go in now," the woman says. "Alright, I''m going in, stay above and coordinate the other heroes, and send me any electric types if this thing manages to get back up," he says before jumping off the tform. He immediately goes into a nosedive, dropping over a thousand meters toward his target. "Blitz just dove into the battle!" the reporter yells as they watch him descend, approaching the top of the skyscrapers. "With our #1 Hero here the situation is about to be resolved in a sh!" Locking his sights onto the massive robot Blitz activates his Quirk and embraces the eleration toward the ground. As he falls in the dim sky, he shines brighter with every meter. Starting off as a barely noticeable purple flicker. Into a consistent purple dot. And now into a massive bright ball of purple light, with electricity crackling all over it. As he descends between the skyscrapers and directly above his target, arcs of electricity leap from him and onto the nearby buildings, melting and shattering the ss windows as well as some of the concrete holding it up. The people present and watching at home are once again forced to sit back and take in the grandeur of their #1 Pro Hero as he uses his maximum output super move. "Ultimate Blitz Bolt!" his voice ripples across the are, carried on the small currents that spread out from him as he suddenly absorbs all the arcing electricity and purple light into himself. And for a moment the battlefield dims... KRAKOOM!!!! A pir of purple electricity is shot downward, almost 10m -33ft- wide and descending from 100m above the road. The robot is hit in the middle of its head and immediately topples forward. Itsrge back is easily sliced and melted by the beam as it falls forward, cutting the entire thing in two as if it were pushed into a table saw. As the attack ends and people can finally uncover their eyes, they see the robot cut in half with molten metal leaking out of it, and the road directly in the middle of it has a hole that they couldn''t see the bottom of. But the sides of it were entirely molten. This is Blitz''s peak. His Quirk: Kic-Electric Conversion, allows him to convert his kic energy into electric energy. No, it allows him to convert it into a vastly disproportionate amount of electrical energy. But he cannot store this energy and must discharge it before he stops moving, this is why from the moment he left toe to this battle, the entire hour he has been storing energy on the ride here. And when he began falling he only added more and more energy into his attack. But the downside is, the more energy he uses the longer he must wait for his Quirk to cooldown, meaning right now he is vulnerable. These are all facts the public is blissfully unaware of, as they think he has a basic electricity Quirk, but his teammates are already at his side ready to protect him on the road. "How long?" they ask, looking at the damage. "At least a day after something like that, but I definitely beat my old record," Blitz says jokingly. "Might have overdone it," the woman says. "What if they have another one?" "We''ll be alright, we aren''t alone remember," Blitz says as the other Pro Heroes begin returning to the robots location. "Besides, I''ve got the most powerful electric attacks in the world, wouldn''t look good if I couldn''t fry a robot..." Both true statements. Blitz does in fact have the global record for the most powerful documented electric attack of all time, and on this day he even beat his previous record. But he would not hold that record for much longer. In fact, in 3 months it would be beaten, during the final round of this years UA Sports Festival... ---Mexico City, at the same time... Just before people began going on their lunch breaks, a set of quakes rocked the massive metropolis. Those closest to the epicenter got the horrific pleasure of witnessing the roads and some buildings break apart and pieces of a identical quadrupedal robot to the ones attacking all across the globe assembles itself. Unfortunately for this robot however, Mexico''s top Rescue Hero happened to be in the capital today. In fact, she woke up in her hotel room because of all this excitement, grumpy after a long night of saving people. And she could see the robot from her bedroom window. "Cha," she sighs and closes the curtain. "On my day off too!" Momentster she leaps out of the window, 5 stories above the road she freefalls down. Wearing a blue and green hero costume, her slender figure is well hidden beneath an assortment of pouches and equipment to make her more effective on the job. One of these items is her bulky helmet whiches with a built in snorkel and air canister, giving the appearance of armored scuba diver even in the middle of the city. Her helmet unfolds to secure itself around her head as piece of her backpackunches itself into the air, expanding into a drop looking down at the area. All of this happens before she belly flops into the stone sidewalk. SPLASH! The stone she impacts sshes and is transmuted into crystal clear water. Her bulky boots acts as jets and propel her forward as she dives a bit lower, transmuting a tunnel of water beneath the road and hiding her approach. In her helmet she gets a ultrasound reading of the streets to know exactly where she can go, as the drone gives her a view from above. As the civilians are running about in a panic and Pro Heroes from all around the city are rushing to this location, only a handful of the closest responders arrive in time to see the robot. Because as they arrive they witness the entire gargantuan robot be gtinous over the course of a minute, then fall apart as clear water, almost flooding the street. As people arrive and take out the phones to record, they see Transmuter pull herself out of the road as if it were a swimming pool. Her Quirk is Water Transmutation, it allows her to transmute inorganic material into water, or water other inorganic materials. She can and has reached into a barrel of water before and pulled out perfectly crafted tools needed to rescue people, and her creations as so well made its as if they were always the tool they are. And there is no time limit on anything she transmutes. Mexico''s #1 Rescue Hero, but #3 Pro Hero overall... ---Brussels, Belgium, at the same time... Stepping onto the roof of a skyscraper hotel, a 13 year old boy clutches a crystal puppy in his arms. Not a toy puppy at all, but a animated puppy made of green crystal was was translucent. It nuzzles the boy as he steps out of the stairwell into the snow, and reaches up to bite the edge of his hat and pull it down properly, protecting him from the snow. He steps into the snow protected by his winter gear and holding his puppy and walks to the edge, and beside him is a tall, thin man, wearing simr and casual winter clothes as he walks to the edge. "Woooow," the boy stares out as he reaches the edge of the roof, the stone wall ledge almost blocking his vision. "A nice view right?" the man asks. "Yeah, look we can see it from here!" the boy puts the puppy on the ledge and points out at the giant robot causing havoc in the distance. The man pats his head and begins fiddling in his own pocket, "yeah, those Pro Heroes are really giving it their all, I wonder how the new kids are doing down there. Everyone says that new kids Quirk is a lot cooler than mine you know..." "Mmm, I still think you''re cooler." The man chuckles and takes his cigarettes out of his pocket, "yeah well, I''m your dad, of course you think that. But just between us, I still think I''m cooler too." The man lights his cigarette and takes a long drag of it. He closes his eyes and focuses his energy, and a circle of blue energy begins spreading out from his feet. It encircles everything for 3m around him as he leans against the ledge, and his so doesn''t even react. "Alright, lets start the show," he exhales the smoke as blue crystal lions begins rising from the circle. One of them rises directly below his son and holds the boy up so he can see better, and the others hop onto the ledge and begin running down the side of the building at full speed. Momentster nearly 50 blue crystal lions be blurs as they rush toward the enemy. "Wooow," his son is amazed at the sight of it, especially as in the distance the lions begins tearing into the robot. But ever so often there would be a explosion of blue energy, causing the robot to stumble after it takes damage, but the man also winces. "Are you ok?" his son asks. The man takes another drag of his cigarette, "I''ll be fine, just shouldn''t be using this much energy with my condition...but can''t just sit by and watch people die right?" "Yeah but, you''re sick." "Yeah but I''m not dead," the man says. "Which is more than I would have been able to say for them. Besides I''ll be around to bother you and your mom for a few more years, don''t worry about me." As the duo watch the robot fall, they enjoy this moment together. The soon to be retired #1 Pro Hero of Belgium, Leeuw Golf -Lion Surge-. His Quirk, Pack Tactics, is passed through his family to all the men. Allowing them to manifest crystal versions of certain animals from a area they determine as their starting point. Their body begins releasing energy into this area to make the constructs out of it, and must remain within this zone to maintain them, but Lion Surge was able to ovee this by extending his senses through his constructs, and far surpassing his predecessors in the amount he can make. Capable of stopping entire swarms of viins on his own, even if hecks a super destructive super move, his efficiency ismendable. And his quantity is a quality in itself. END CHAPTER--- Hi, author here. I hit a pretty rough burnout so taking a small break from writing, won''t be more than a month long ideally. The next volume is...amazing, everything we''ve been waiting for as you can guess from the title being ''Ascension''. So I need to be at my best when writing this, thanks for understanding... Chapter 260: Update Chapter 260: Update ''I see people are concerned I dropped this story, chapters resume mid November. I''ve already written most of the next arc and I''m in the process of editing and writing even farther ahead into the story. It''s just taking time to get the delicate details right, for all the dominos to fall into ce...'' Chapter 261: (Global Test Pt.II) Chapter 261: (Global Test Pt.II) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- ---Friday, 27th January 2315, Undisclosed Location... In a room of smooth and cold metal, eerily silent even as a dozen holograms y. Each of them disy one of the massive drones currently attacking cities across the, there sits one man. Tech. A decrepit older gentleman who appears to be one step from death, atleast judging by his body. He was frail, so much so that his bones were almost ripping through his own skin, sitting in only a pair of long pants on arge metal throne he has dozens of thick cables jacked directly into his body.And one particr cable plugged into the back of his skull. His eyes are zed over, but asionally, they flicker blue as he shifts the focus of his Quirk. His pale skin nearly matching the few strands of grey hair on his head, and the sneer that forms on his lips is the only true sign of life he''s shown in the past few days. "Too...many...heroes..." his throat struggles to speak after all this time in silence. His eyes shine with blue light as he focuses on one of his screens, seeing one of his massive spider-like robots attacking The Pentagon. Closing his eyes he directly taps into the cameras around the battle, getting an up close view via his technopathy. Even 7000km -3449mi- away, the connection was instant, his dominance over technology was absolute...almost absolute. ---The Pentagon... Only minutes after his massive spider-like robot began lumbering toward the pentagon, Star and Stripe had already taken off from New York to fly over. Compared to her it was gargantuan, 75m -246ft- tall and 50m -150ft- wide, its 8 legs keeping it stables and guns and rockets are fired at anything that moves. But the pro heroes and military responded immediately,unching their counterattack. In the precious minutes it took for Star and Stripe to fly into the battle, many lives were lost and hundreds of millions of dors in destruction had been done. Looking down from above she narrowed her eyes, thinking of how to best approach this situation. The most overlooked downside of her Quirk: New Order, by the very few people who know about it that is, is that it can theoretically do anything. Which means making the wrong decision is extremely easy. This forces her to considers the oue of all actions before taking them. She could create a giant version of herself from the atmosphere and crush the robot, but that could set off any explosives in it. If she tries to move it the same thing could happen, showering the city in dangerous projectiles. Breaking it apart could also cause problems, because to her knowledge this thing could be nuclear powered, and that''s not a risk she can take. So in the second it takes her to assess the situation, she''s already flown down andnded roughly on the robot. Kra-koom! The sonic boom she entered the battlefield with has all heads turning, and immediately smiling as the red, white, and blue blur enters their sights. The massive robot buckles from the impact, even with its 8 legs distributing the pressure, the ground below it cracks. The camera of every news drone and helicopter focuses on her atop the robot, seeing her get down on one knee to rest her palm against its reinforced metal armor. Deciding on the most logical course of action, star focuses her mind. She deactivates her second rule, removing her ability of flight. Then speaks softly, "NEW ORDER: This robot, down to its smallest parts, will be frozen in ce." Mid step the robot immediately stops moving, suddenly, as ifno longer even attempting to move. Star stands up and raises a hand to hermunicator "get someone to take a look at this thing, I need to know if I should make it fall apart or not." "From the looks of it blowing them up is safe, that''s what Blitz did," the rough voice on the other side answers. "Blitz? The lightning guy in Germany?" She asks. "Well that''s what his name means in German, so yeah." "This isn''t just some crazy deciding to build a death machine?" "Sadly no, looks like a lot of other countries are dealing with the same thing, keep this one frozen for as long as you can, maybe we can pull some answers from it." "Copy, but I can''t do this all day, be quick admiral." "Sure thing Cathy'', and keep an eye out for any other enemies while you''re out there..." Tech''s eyes flicker as his focus returns to his body, a frown on his lips. Looking at the screens with a bored expression he sees his robots falling one after the other. "Too many heroes, too many different Quirks to ount for," he says. "This little test proves it, I can''t build an army to contend with them. No army organic or metal can contend with them. I doubt I can build anything that could put down that one," he looks at Star and Stripe. "And she''s not even the only one like her anymore," he looks at the holographic screen showing Japan''s fight against his robot. The docks of Yokohama Japan, just south of Tokyo, were aplete mess. The robot was freely wrecking everything it could, and killing anyone it could find. But as the battle went on and on, Horizon didn''t show up. For minutes Tech watched the feed, until he eventually grew tired of it and simply searched for Horizon himself. Activating his Quirk and focusing in on the thought of Horizon, he scans every camera feed in Japan, listens in on every microphone. Anyone who even says ''Horizon'' in range of a microphone or any posters and murals of him across the nation on camera are filtered until he can find him. But once again, Horizon eludes him. He growls in annoyance, "Nezu," he mutters. Ever since Wolfram''s blunder Nezu he''s been able to just barely keep even his technopath empowered technology out of his privatework. But while that means Horizon would sometimes be in a blind spot, only a few such blind spots exist in the world. "He''s nearby in Horizon Tower but isn''t rushing over to help, he must be busy with something else," Tech realizes as he cuts off all the camera feeds. "But the results are clear even without his involvement. Building an army capable of defeating all the heroes and forcing humanity to submit is impossible, so I''ll use the olden ways." As Tech says that his eyes glow bright blue, and they don''t stop. As if his body was frozen in ce with his glowing eyes wide open, all the screen in front of his switch to different sets of numbers and letters constantly being changed and scrambled millions of times each second. Containing many differentnguages, with many different alphabets. Because in the age of Quirks and heroes, humanity has certainly not forgotten what made the first superpowers of the world some 4 centuries ago. And ever since then, countries have only improved the efficiency of their nuclear arsenals. ''With this, even those mystery ss freaks won''t be as powerful as me, because unlike them, I can be everywhere at once'' Tech thinks as the information bombards his mind. ''I''ll finally be at the top, as I was born to be. A god, because what else could a technopath be in this modern world? With this, I''ll be stronger than anyone, and everyone.'' As he begins the process of deciphering theunch codes for the worlds'' arsenal of nuclear weapons, Tech resigns himself for this long and taxing process. ''I''ve waited this long to have the world in my hands, what''s a few more months,'' he think while shutting off his focus from the rest of the world, focusing only on the task at hand. ---Horizon Tower... In the absolute darkness of Horizon''s bedroom, two people are sleeping peacefully. Ryuko has her arm and a leg draped across Horizon''s naked body, softly purring in her sleep. BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! Both their eyes shoot open, trained to always respond to the sound of the Hero Network Emergency Alert. They both immediately sat up, then Ryuko took a moment to remember that she''s not a hero anymore andys back down, diving back under the nket. "Mmm," she groans as Horizon checks his phone. A momentter she hears Horizon speaking, "Juzo, Yokohama, giant robot, take the team." Then she feels himy beside her once more. "You aren''t going to deal with it yourself?" "I had a long and annoying night tracking some Nomu, they can handle this without me." Ryuko giggles softly, "you can just admit you want to spend more time with me, I won''t judge...much." Horizon groans, "believe what you want woman," he says while pulling her close and wrapping his arms around her once more... END CHAPTER--- ''I''m back, small chapter to get the ball rolling. These next 2 volumes have me pulling my hair out so I hope its worth it. Still monday-wednesday-friday schedule. pa.treon won''t be back in full swing until the start of next month because that''s when the billing cycle starts, don''t want people getting scammed and paying for a month with only 10 days left, but any support is appreciated...'' Chapter 262: (A Casual Friday) Chapter 262: (A Casual Friday) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- Within Horizon Tower there is no shortage of luxury. From the massive entertainment room to the entire floor dedicated to its indoor pool, it has everything a person needs to unwind after a week of fighting crime. But arguably its greatest asset, is the gym. The gym in which Horizon currently sits. Within this massive room filled with both traditional equipment for the more normal users, and more high tech weights and machines for individuals like Horizon and Dark Shadow who can easily move about weight by the tons. He sits on the sparring mats with his legs crossed, wearing only his body glove and visor, showing off the intricacies of his newly upgraded body glove to the missing audience. Now sporting even more defined tingyered atop his muscles, designed to entuate his physique, while also having a blend of his own hair.This was added recently just incase the new bursts of power gained from his Quirk reacts poorly to things outside his body, and it makes him releasing massive amounts of energy more apparent and shy. Even now, with both hands out, palms upward, Scalpel rests across his hands, de outying tly on his palms. His Room was small, only coveringa meter around him, and his focus was entire on the sword. His body glove showed flowing blue rivers of energy moving between the tes, but there was no obvious origin for the energy. It was as if every cell in his body produced it at once, but the flow was clearly moving up his body, along his hands and toward Scalpel. When the blue energy flowed through him and reached his palms it bes the energy vapor, a direct evolution of Booster Shot. This vapor is cool to the touch and heals anyone thates into contact with it, granting them temporary minor cellr regeneration. With the deying t across his gloved palms, the energy rose up and clung to it under hismand, shrouding it in blue energy that appears almost liquid, if not for small bits of it floating away and dissipating in the air. Focusing his mind he coats the de inyer uponyer of this energy, until beneath his visor he began to sweat. Not from the amount of energy being use, that would be absurd for the organic nuclear reactor he was slowly bing. No, the focus was stressing his mind, controlling every movement of his energy down to the molecr level. It demanded all his focus. But this is the norm for any ability he is developing. When he created Curtain, that was his first attempt at controlling energy that would be exposed to the atmosphere, but even that was different. That was simply forcing the energy to be attracted to itself and bind together. For him, it was as if he had to get bricks to attach to each other, but each brick was maically attracting the next. It came as easy as breathing. But this, to weaponize this same energy within the atmosphere, it is akin to getting a sea of mas to stick together, but they all carry the same charge, pushing against each other. He is forced to individuallyyer the mas or change their prity until his masterpiece is made, until he has the ability to Divide in the most brutal of ways. And from this, he wouldy the foundation of the next stage of his progress, for the abilities that would take him beyond the realm of Heroes. For those that woulde after his Ascension, a slew of abilities he''ll create and shackles he''ll break free of to be a truly liberated superhuman. But first, he must solve the matrix of energy for this variation, no, this evolution of his Incision ability, he must first solve, Divide... A few minutester, the energy coating the de bes thick, like a thin coat of water gripping onto the exposed de. He noticed the energy shaking in an unstable manner as he opens his eyes, seeing the ripples within the energy. ROOM! He shuts off his Quirk and the liquid energy immediately sshes onto the sparring mat, forming a light blue puddle. As Horizon catches his breath he looks at it, and after a minute it begins to quickly dissipate into the air. "Well that''s interesting," Horizon says as he takes a small break. "Maybe I can make something out of that, put it to use." As he ponders that thought Ryuko walks into the training room, wearing a pair of blue shorts and a matching sports bra, long blond hair in a ponytail and Scalpel in her hand. Not the Scalpel he has currently, but the exact copy he leaves in Horizon tower, just incase he has to go from Law Matani to Horizon and can''t afford a quick trip to UA. And ever since she found the secondary sword in his office months ago she''s been training with it. "Ready for your lesson?" Horizon asks as she walks over. "Have you seen the news?" Ryuko asks, walking over to therge monitor built into the wall. "No I''ve been busy doing more important things." She turns on the monitor, and they both see an interview from almost an hour ago starring Mudman. There was a massive copsed robot behind him, some parts of it and the ground obviously softened and hardened again judging by the deformations, and how some of its legs were in the earth. Pro Heroes were in the background being treated by medics or helping to clean up the rubble, torn down buildings and cratered roads filled the background. But that was hardly noticed when they both saw the state of Juzo''s suit, the visor was cracked as were many of the armor tes, and the way he held his arm was telltale sign of a hairline fracture. "Mudman," the reported asks, a older man with three eyes. "Before Team Horizon arrived the Pro Heroes on the scenes were uncoordinated and scrambling about, but you were able to take charge and focus everyone on the enemy, is there anything you can tell us about how you did that?" "Well...I just figured if we stop the robot then it''ll destroy less of the city and less people will get hurt. Horizon did pick me for his team since I''m good at coordinating people during chaotic situations and constantly adapting my ns. That''s why I''m suppose to lead our team on any case if he has to step away for a bit, but we still have to take the specifics into ount for this. For example, of the Pro Heroes that were already here, none of them really have Quirks made for this kind of situation, so the best choice for them was definitely to evacuate and rescue people. I just happen to have a Quirk that works great on giant robots," he says politely. "I see, and is there any particr reason why Horizon himself didn''t show up?" the reporter asks. "I imagine this situation could be handled within seconds by him." "Oh it definitely could be, but Horizon was busy," Juzo immediately raises his hand to stop the reporter from speaking. "I can''t say what he was doing so please don''t ask, its delicate Hero work." "I see," the man says. "Well if---" Ryuko shuts off the monitor, "it goes for another twenty minutes of them praising your team, mostly Juzo obviously." "Good for them, worked out perfectly," Horizon says as he stand up. "700 people died and even more were injured. It took them half an hour to bring that thing down." "So?" Ryuko gives him a tired look, "so...you could have dealt with it in seconds and saved a lot of lives, but, you didn''t." "Ofcourse not, pain is a good teacher, and Japan needs to learn not to always depend on me to run around solving its problems," Horizon shrugs. "That''s the same attitude that led to the situation we''re in right now with All Might retiring and crippling our Pro Hero system with it." Ryuko raises a brow at that, "I thought you wanted the entire country to be dependent on you so you could be president or something, did that n change?" Horizon chuckles, "the n was never to be president, just to be untouchable, and that''s still in effect. But asionally people need to get hurt, so they can better appreciate how good I am at stopping them from getting hurt." Ryuko narrows her eyes at him for a moment, "are you sure you''re a Hero? Because that didn''t sound very heroic to me..." Horizon chuckles and walks up to her slowly cing a finger below her chin and raises her head up, "have you really not figured it out yet? I''m just a superviin that wants a Quirk License." Her hands instinctively reach up to his shoulders, ready for him to warp that visor off so she can kiss him, "oh yeah, and what would that make me?" "Mine, that''s all you ever need to be," Ryuko begins leaning forward as Horizon immediately pulls away. Ryuko pouts and follows him onto the mat after taking off her shoes, "just so you know, you really aren''t subtle with the way you just let bad things happen that you could stop." "And yet you''re still here, madly in love with me..." Ryuko rolls her eyes, "I just figured, with a Quirk like yours, if you weren''t some selfish cold hearted jerk---" "Hey!" She sticks her tongue out at him, "you''d never rest, because with a Quirk like yours, if anything bad happens you''d me yourself, so either you be...well, you, or you''d go insane with guilt." "That''s a lot of mental gymnastics to justify me sleeping in instead of going to fight the robot." "Its something I''ve noticed for a while," she takes a fighting stance with her Scalpel. "I was a bit worried when I did." "Thought I was a viin?" "Thought I was crazy for not caring that you could be..." She rushes forward, starting another of their practice sessions, metal shes and sparks fly, until an hourter Ryuko isying on the mat drenched in sweat. "One day," she pants, still catching her breath, "I''llnd a hit on you." "You''re still hesitant," Horizon says, standing above her. As he takes a seat beside her on the mat she exins herself. "Its a sword, its sharp, and I...you know." "Am madly in love with me, I know," he teases. "You''re the worst." "And you love me anyway, but hey you''re the one who wants to learn this." "I know I know," she sits up beside him as the both look out therge windows at the Tokyo skyline. "But swinging a sword at people still goes against my Pro Hero instincts. One wrong move and I cut cut their head off." "True, but that''s what training is for. And that''s why you have to use a real sword, to get over that mental hurdle." "I don''t know, still seems weird, and unsafe." "Its how I learned, and I turned out great," Horizon shrugs. "Uh-huh, sure. But aside from that?" "You''re much better thanst week, I like those new moves." "Thanks, I''ve been researching a lot to surprise you, didn''t work thought," she frowns. "Ohh, you meant with the swordsmanship, I was talking aboutst ni---" Ryuko shoves him hard and he immediately beingsughing. "You''re the worst!" she gets uppletely red faced and stomps away. As she''s a few steps away Horizon''s phone beeps, stopping both of them. They both look over to it beside the sparring mat before he raises a hand to the side of his visor, answering the call. Ryuko frowns, knowing this means his day off just got cut short, but she patiently waits for his call to end. "So much for taking it easy," Horizon says as he gets up. "Anything big?" "Got some intel on a Nomu Lab, I''ll be going over there tonight with some Pros to clear it out, and this one should have a mainframe with good intel for us." "I feel like you aren''t suppose to tell me that," Ryuko points out as they begins walking out of the training room. "Eh, I''m not worried. I''ve got one spy trying to get intel on me, and you aren''t her, plus at this point I mostly trust you," he shrugs. Ryuko stops walking and turns around, raising her had to gently tap his visor, "mostly..." she continues walking. "Well, some things can''t be helped." "I know," she says sadly. "But we''ve still got some time, how about we take a shower then I make us some lunch?" "That sounds perfect..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 263: (Building Confidence) Chapter 263: (Building Confidence) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- Within the mountains of Gero Japan hides a Nomu manufacturingb, hidden underground in the forest. Within thisb stands a slim man, tall with a head of curly brown hair. Wearing ab coat over standard office attire, the only feature that made his Quirk apparent were the walrus-like tusks in his mouth. All around him arerge tubes containing gestating Nomu, more forces for Shigaraki to deploy when they''re ready. And his job, maintaining the gic integrity of these Nomu, overseeing the transformation process, recording it all for Shigaraki. The man is sitting at his desk typing away on theputer, on the screen is a constantly updating report of each and every Nomu in this building, alongside precious data that his mysterious boss has allowed him to record. "After this maybe the boss will finally let me help make a Nomu instead of just babysitting corpses," he grumbles. "I''m an aplished gicist, yet they only have me here watching corpses. But atleast I can learn from watching them evolve."He continues typing away for a few moments. "They are superior!" He screams angrily, leering to his right, to the empty room. "Tch, the damn hospital board called me crazy for wanting to reverse engineer Nomu, but I''ll show them." He sits back and reads the reports for a few moments, before getting up angrily, throwing his chair at the wall. "I''m not crazy!" he points at where the chairnded. "And you people won''t beughing when I evolve myself and---" CLANG! The metal door to the room ms open and in walks a young boy, seemingly in and Japanese, no older than 15. He was wearing a traditional Japanese high school uniform of all things with a revolver in his hand. "Doctor, the Heroes areing!" "Agh!" he ms his palms on the desk, and growls at where he threw the chair, "this will work!" The young boy gives the man a strange look before remembering why he came here, "what do we do sir?!" The man sighs and takes a few deep breaths, "we stick to the n." "But---" "It''ll work," the man says. "You''re here because your Quirk can get us both out of this situation, so just y your role and Shigaraki will reward us, you get to meet that silly girl you like and I get my reward." "She''s not just some girl, she''s Himiko Toga!" "Tch," the man turns back to theputer as the boy walks up to him. "They''re all some silly girl, and no matter how hard you love them, when the world startsughing at you, she''ll join them too, isn''t that right..." he looks at the same spot he threw the chair in disgust. The boy shakes his head and is just thankful this mission is over, he no longer had to be stuck here with this crazy man. BANG! The sound of steel twisting and concrete breaking echoes through the base as the entire structure shakes. The man and boy share a ce, both equally afraid of what happens next, but already resolved themselves to see it through to the end. "Toote to go back now," the man says. "Those eyes of yours can work on a crowd right?" "Too many uses can mess up my eyes and brain, but yeah, hopefully they didn''t bring too many." "Just remember not to use it on the big guy, that Quirk of his would probably feel it." The boy swallows harshly, "right." The sound of yelling and boots stomping down the hallway soon follows as the officers clear the base floor by floor, quickly approaching this room. As the sound of footsteps gets closer, it immediately goes silent. The boy raises the gun, aiming at the door, his entire body shaking. CRANG! The entire metal door suddenly implodes, crumpling itself into a metal ball and floating in the air. The man begins sweating alongside the boy, staring in horror as Horizon casually steps into the room and hovers the ball of metal in ce above his head, slowly walking toward them. Scalpel hovers at his other side, not even drawn, even as the boy points a revolver at his visor. "No threat!" Horizon yells back at the hallway. "Secure to other rooms, and have some men escort this kid out of here!" "Copy!" he hears from the hallway as the armored officers continue searching the building. Horizon then drops the metal ball onto the floor and approaches theputer, looking at both enemies. He looks the doctor up and down, then turns to the boy who had the revolver barely a meter from his visor, still pointing directly at him. But the boy was trembling more than ever. "Put that thing down before you hurt yourself," Horizon says. The boy immediately drops the gun and raises his hands, "I''m sorry I''m sorry!" The gun hovers in ce where he dropped it and Horizon sighs, "don''t drop loaded weapons," he says as some officers enter the room. "We aren''t fighters," the man says, his hands also raised in surrender, "please don''t hurt us." Without another word the officers pin the boy to the ground and ce special cuffs on him that lock up both his forearms behind his back. As they get him up to take him away more of them move to apprehend the doctor only for Horizon to raise his arm, "I need a few minutes with this one." "Yes sir," one of the officers responds as they escort the boy out of the room. "Wait, no," the boy says, but still not struggling as the two men carry him away. He looks up at one of them and says, "I just wanted to meet Toga!" The man looks down at him with disgust, and the moment their eyes bet the boy''s eyes shimmered like a kaleidoscope. The man blinks a few times, as if he''d just imagined it all. "Haven''t you ever been in love?" he asks the other man, and as the man nces down at him the exact same thing urs. Each and every time they pass by an officer on the way to the surface, if the boy makes eye contact the exact same thing urs. Even when they got to the surface and he was greeted by a dozen officers and three armored trucks to transport prisoners, he saw everyone ring at him, and took his chance. ''Too many people,'' he thinks, but steels his will and activates his Quirk anyway. Pushing his limits his eyes shine much more visibly for a moment, pain wracks his mind and body. His vision now bes permanently blurred as the result of forcing his Quick beyond his limits, and his brain struggles with maintaining control of themands. He stumbles and falls over, only held up by the men escorting him. As they get him back on his feet they look at him, seeing blood flowing from his eyes, nose, ears and mouth. His eyes are bloodshot and slightly gray now, all the veins on his head raised and bulging. "What the hell, what''s wrong with him?!" One of the men yells as they continue dragging him to the transport. "Should we go get Horizon to take a look at him?" his partner asks. "Who gives a fuck?" one of the men standing beside the truck asks, ring at the boy. "He''s a viin, just throw him in the back, scum like that isn''t worth the hospital trip," he says while opening the door to the back of the truck. "This one is still a kid you know," one of the men says even whileying him on the floor in the back of the truck. "So where a lot of the people the league of psychos killed, and he joined them...he ain''t a kid anymore," the man shuts the back of the truck and locks it. "Anyone else down there?" "Just one other man, we''ll load him in the back when Horizon''s done and take them to an outpost, everything else is just those Nomu things..." ----In theb... Horizon was holding the doctor in the air by his head, hands wrapped tightly around the man''s skull as he slowly crushes it. "I read about you," Horizon says as the man struggles in his grasp. "Wife kicked you off of the board of directors for the hospital you founded together because you went crazy right? Obsessed with researching Nomu." The man continues struggling, eyes going red and his jaw and teeth begin breaking, blood flowing down his face and onto the floor. But Horizon''s hands were glowing blue, constantly healing him, keeping him awake to experience the pain. "You were a top suspect for people we thought would join Shigaraki, guess we were right, but you disappeared before the cops could get to you huh," Horizon loosened his grip slightly. "How did you contact Shigaraki?" "He...found...me..." the man struggles to say, some loose teeth falling from his mouth. Horizon drops him to the floor before reaching down and grabbing his shoulder, lifting him up with one arm, keeping contact to find any lies. "What are you here to do?" The man struggles to catch his breath, clearly taking too long as he suddenly feels the bones in his shoulder cracking ,"argh! Observing these Nomu! I swear that''s all, he said I could do real work on them after proving myself! They''re the cure to humanity, and I want to study them, to perfect them!" "Are any of these Nomu operational?" Horizon slightly releases the hold he had on the man. "No, they''re not developed enough, their nerves don''t fire properly right now, and their brains can''t function to do more than breathe." Horizon nces past the man at theputer, "is everything you recorded on thatputer?" "Yes, it''s all there I swear!" "And the people who became these Nomu, do you know the names?" "What?" Horizon continues crushing his shoulder even harder, shattering some bones but still holding him up. "ARGH!" The man writhes in pain but Horizon is like an iron vice. BOOSTER SHOT! The man suddenly feels a soothing sensation flow across his body as he calms down. "Now, the names?" "That''s not recorded here, I doubt Shigaraki even cares, these people are just meat to him." Horizon drops him to the floor, and as the man is on his hands and knees he kicks him in the face, breaking his jaw and shattering his teeth. But this time he doesn''t heal him, he simply steps over the man, "just like you, useless meat..." he says as the two officers who were standing in the room haul the man away. Horizon quickly gets to theputer and connects it to the device on his forearm, with a fewmands Nezu''s program is instantly ripping all the data out of thisputer and all theworks it''s connected to. Horizon skims some of the folder names and nods, "finally something useful." As it downloads he finds themand to cut all power to the Nomu pods, and does exactly that. The vitals of every Nomu immediately drops to zero, returning them to being lifeless corpses. He looks back at some more officers entering the room, and before they can speak he taps the side of his visor. The man nods, understanding Horizon was speaking to someone, and does a hand signal asking if they were done and should move everything out. Horizon responds with a thumbs up and everyone gets back to work. As the men are working, Horizon''s call connects. ---Hawks Hero Agency... Laying t on the couch with his feet up Hawks enjoys his pack of potato chips. Standing nearby leaning against his desk is Dabi, ring at the nonchnt Pro Hero, clearly annoyed. It waste at night so the Agency was mostly empty, all the Sidekicks are out on patrol while only a few remain in the building to act asmunications and logistics. This allowed the viin to warp into Hawks''s office for a private meeting. BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! Hawks sits up and answers the phone on loudspeaker, "Horizon, how''d it go?" has asks. "Your intel was good," Horizon says, and Dabi nces at Hawks wearily. "How good?" "Well, you were right about this ce being a Nomu researchb, looks like it was to observe the Nomu so there wasn''t any fighting like you said there''d be, but that''s good. Also you were right about who would be here, two nonbatants sent here just to keep an eye on the ce." "What about the intel, anything good?" Hawks asks. "Better than thest two raids, this time they had a local mainframe with over a dozen terabytes of data, it''ll take me a while to sort it, but there is a lot of good intel about the Nomu here." "Good, but this is gonna make Shigaraki suspicious of me so I''ll have to keep my head down for a while," Hawks says. "Not many people knew about that particr facility." "Yeah it was very well hidden, I''ll need time to sort the data anyway so it''s fine, viins are captured and gone, now I need to get back to work, tell Pantu what I told you, I don''t like repeating myself." "Sure thi---" Horizon hangs up on him. "He really really doesn''t like you huh," Dabi chuckles. "What gave it away?" Hawks rxes on the couch. "I''ve met you, can''t imagine anyone wanting to be around you," Dabi shrugs. "You and your bad jokes, everyone loves me," Hawks says. "But seriously, looks like it worked. Shigaraki offering up that data and facility should make Horizon question my intel a lot less, especially since this is the 3rd time in a row we''ve done this." "Yeah, but this time we get something back from it," Dabi says. "The public is getting a bit too rxed, gotta remind them that we''re still on the loose. After tonight Pantu won''t be able to keep us out of the news since she''ll have to exin why a bunch of cops are dead..." "Yeah, and next time we do this, Machia'' deals with Horizon for us," Hawks says. "Hmm," Dabi narrows his eyes at Hawks. "What, admiring my handsome face?" Hawks grins. Dabi rolls his eyes, "I was thinking maybe you would have been a good viin after all, but you just had to ruin the moment." "Awe, you''re softening up to me." "Tch, go fuck yourself bird boy," Dabi takes a step away from the desk. "Kurogiri..." A shroud of purple mist immediately forms around him and warps him away. Hawks sighs and picks up his phone, making a call that instantly connects, "hey President Pantu, everything worked perfectly, raidplete..." ---Elsewhere... In the back of the armored prisoner transport vehicle, the doctor sits with his arms cuffed behind his back, opposite the young boy who was still bleeding and had all his veins nearly bursting out of his skin. The boy was also sweating, struggling to remain conscious. The doctor looks around the otherwise empty prisoner area of the truck, then at the small holes that allowed the driver to hear what was going on back here. Moving his food forward he nudged the boy''s foot, getting his attention. The boy looks up at him, clearly struggling to stay awake. "Hey, think about Toga," the doctor says. "You love her, you want to meet her, right?" The boy nods tiredly. "Then you need to do this, do it for her, we should be far enough away now..." Hearing that the boy musters all his strength and activates the second stage of his Quirk. His eyes glow bright white for a moment as he feels it work, and with his job done, he then immediately begins having a seizure on the floor... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 264: (Team Players) Chapter 264: (Team yers) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- His eyes glow bright white for a moment as he feels it work, and with his job done, he then immediately begins having a seizure on the floor. Seeing this, the man doesn''t react, he simply leans back against the cold steel of the armored truck and waits. SCREEE! The trucks'' tyres grind against the road as its driver ms on the brakes. "Hng!" The man is thrown out of his seat and onto the floor, but smiles. "The kid really pulled it off." Getting off the floor he moves toward the door, hearing some chatter outside.He presses his ear to the door and listens carefully. "Hey what''s going on, why''d you stop?" One man asks, likely the driver of the vehicle behind them. He doesn''t hear anyone respond. The man then hears the locks on the door moving as someone opens it. He quickly steps back as the doors open to see four men looking at him, all armed and armored officers. One of which looked confused at what was going on. They were stopped on a deste mountain path,te and night, perfectly isted. "What the, why''d you---" BANG! One of his friends quickdraws their pistol and shoots him in the head, and nobody even reacts. The doctor looks around, seeing all the men unresponsive, so he takes a moment to look around, skeptical that things would work this easily. Walking to the side of the truck on this deste mountain path, he sees the officers in the vehicle ahead of them also standing idle and unresponsive. "Hmm," the man says to himself while fumbling through one of the officers pockets, "thought he was supposed tomand them to do a dramatic finish..." BANG! He drops the phone as a gunshot goes off just beside him, falling to the floor he holds his chest, not expecting that. Only calming down when he looks to the side, seeing one of the men had killed himself. All around him the remaining officers did the same, until he was standing among a crowd of corpses. Taking out the phone he dials a number, and after it rings once he hangs up. "Ok that''ll do it," he pockets the phone and gets back into the back of the truck, kneeling beside the dying boy. He feels for a pulse, getting a faint response, then lowers his head to hear the boy still breathing. "Are you done in there?" Shigaraki''s tired voice asks the doctor, causing the man''s head to snap to the left, seeing Shigaraki, Dabi, and Mr. Compress all looking at him. "The boy, he''s barely alive, but he can be saved," the man says as he eagerly approaches the viins, hopping out of the truck. "Would be a waste to let him die like this, that Quick sure was useful," Dabi looks around at all the bodies. "His body wasn''t functional with his Quirk," Mr. Compress says. "The more he used it the more it destroyed him, at best he could be a Nomu now." "Engineering that would take too much of our resources, assuming it''s even possible," Shigaraki says. "Our mysterious benefactor says its not worth the hassle, so we''ll be leaving him to die here, the news like to report on dead kids after all..." Hearing this the man nervously nces between the viins, "and what about me?" "You did well, so we''ll be sending you to a remoteb where bodies are prepared to be Nomu," Shigaraki says with a sigh. "Honestly we''re a bit understaffed when ites topetent minds in that department, and out mysterious benefactor doesn''t want to reveal himself so Twice can just make doubles of him to work more efficiently." "Apetent gicist like yourself with a desire to study and create Nomu is invaluable," Mr. Compress says. As they''re speaking Dabi checks his phone, "the cops notice this convoy''s GPS stopped, they''re on the way here." "Oh well," Shigaraki sighs. "We''ll finish this talk back at base, let''s get out of here." As he says that arge Warp Gate manifests behind them, allowing the viins to enter, escaping with no issue. But before the doctor enters Shigaraki stops him, "the phone you used to signal us..." "Oh, right," the man takes the phone out of his pocket and hands it to Shigaraki, who immediately disintegrates it. "Now we can---" Shigaraki stops, looking past the man at Dabi, who was inspecting one of the bodies. "What are you doing?" Dabi takes the badge and gun before getting up and walking over to them, "what? You never wanted one?" Shigaraki just shakes his head, "whatever, let''s get out of here before miracle boy shows up..." And with that they all enter the Warp Gate, disappearing once again. ---1 Hour Later... As the other police officers set up a perimeter to keep the press away while recording and cleaning the crime scene, nearby stands Tsukauchi and Horizon at the back of the detective''s car. His policeptop was open on the trunk for both of them to look at the footage recovered from the scene. As the videos download from the camera''s Horizon looks over the car out at the press, seeing many cameras aimed at him, then looks back down at Tsukauchi. "So much for this being a quiet hunt for the League of Viins huh." "Yeah, now that the word is out all their spies will be on even higher alert, making our job a lot harder," Tsukauchi says. "Why were you even nearby? Didn''t expect you to be here so soon..." "I was waiting at the holding facility to question our newest mad scientist, but he had other ns," he nods toward the crime scene. "Why didn''t you escort them yourself? The press will definitely want to know that..." "I couldn''t leave the base, there was too much data that the league couldn''t afford to give me there. A lot more than we expected, honestly, if I leave they could destroy it all, I couldn''t evene here till I copied everything." "And the other Pro Heroes that were with you?" "Only three, and there were so many Nomu that they had to go with that convoy, some of those things were the High End Nomu, the kind that Endeavor foughtst year." "Damn," Tsukauchi sighs. "Yeah good call then,pared to those things these prisoners were worthless, and still Shigaraki only sent people to attack this convoy, and didn''t even bother to save the kid." "Likely to make a statement to the public, reminding people that he''s out there lurking like the creep he is," Horizon shrugs. "But honestly all this shows is that he''s scared of me, didn''t even risking to demolish the data at the base while I was there." "True, but people still died, including a kid." "A viin." "True, but something tells me the news will focus on him being a kid more, what was wrong with him anyway?" "His Quirk acted like a degenerate disease, the more he used it the more it destroyed his body and mind. He was blind and his brain was torn apart, which wasn''t like that when I saw him at theb." "Must be one hell of a Quirk if it caused all of this." "Yeah, but a Quirk that degenerates the user at a DNA level, not useful to them since---" "They can''t clone it into a Nomu without a lot of resources." "Assuming they can clone it at all." "What did it do anyway?" "Something telepathic, and with his eyes, but he also had Trigger in his system, a very powerful variant, so this wasn''t natural." "That exins how he was able to kill himself with it," as Tsukauchi says that the videos begin to appear on screen. "Now let''s find out exactly what it does..." A few minutester they piece together enough footage from all the videos to figure out exactly what happened. "So he made them into some kind of sleeper agents via eye contact," Tsukauchi says. "That''s messed up on so many levels." "And it exins all the mental strain," Horizon says while typing away on a projected keyboard via the wristband Mei made him. "Anything from your search?" "Just one, looks like one of theponents of that new Trigger formes from Otheon, a flower that only grows there." "Otheon? That far away?" Tsukauchi rubs his chin. "Guess I''ll send this up the chain ofmand, get them informed of what''s going on, but it''s likely just someone exporting it or growing it somewhere else anyway." "I wouldn''t be so sure. Ryukyu and I questioned a chemistst year about Trigger, he said there was some kind of contest held by someone, they paid a lot, and the goal was to create the strongest variation of Trigger possible. Ab in Europe won." "Ab in Otheon maybe...then I definitely need to get this up the chain ofmand, I''ll make a few calls tonight." "Good, now I need to get back to the tower, I''d rather not be seen outside of Minato Tokyo for too long." "Working on sorting all the Nomu data tonight?" "Yeah, what better way to spend Friday night, right?" "The work never ends," Tsukauchi sighs. "Well I''ll be done as soon as I close off this crime scene, good luck." "Yeah, you too..." Horizon says as he warps away, swapped with a leaf. ---Horizon Tower, 11 PM... Sitting on the couches, Horizon, Sero, Juzo, and Shinso are watching thete night news. To the surprise of no one the story of Shigaraki''stest movements have already made headlines. "So his Quirk just made them kill themselves?" Shinso asks. "That''s messed up." "Says the guy with Brainwashing," Sero says. "Yeah but I can''t make people do anything that they know would get them hurt, can''t even make them walk off a roof much less shoot themselves in the head." "Not yet," Horizon says. "But with enough training you''ll get there eventually, hopefully. But his Quick was more like he''d give a hypnoticmand that can be activatedter, making people into sleeper agents. The Trigger just amped it a lot, but that Quirk also killed him so you know...more power, more drawbacks." "Unless you''re you," Juzo says. "All the power, no drawbacks, right?" "That''s one way to look at it, but with me the power is the drawback." "I thought the fishbowl on your head was the drawback?" Sero asks, and both the other boys startughing as Horizon just sighs. "I need a snack," Horizon gets up and walks over to the kitchen, still in view of everyone on the couches. "Can you get me some chips! Thanks!" Juzo says. As the news finishes Sero checks his phone, and a wide grin appears on his face. "Good news, Yui is in Tokyo tomorrow...well, in Chiba." "Why the hell is she in Chiba?" Shinso asks. "Something about a viin they''re looking for being part of a group in Chiba, honestly I wasn''t really listening." "What a great boyfriend you are," Juzo says. "What does she even sound like?" Horizon asks as he returns with a back of peanuts, and hands Juzo a bag of potato chips. "Like a gentle maiden, what else would she sound like?" "Huh, figured her voice would be annoying and squeaky," Horizon says. "I assumed the same thing," Juzo adds. "I thought she was a mute," Shinso confesses. "She can talk, she''s just really shy, that''s all." "It''s a bit weird," Horizon says, earning nods from the other two boys. "Whatever," Sero grumbles. "So what, you gonna see her in Chiba tomorrow?" Shinso asks. "Actually, this group they''re going after sounds pretty tough, so I figured we could go over and lend them some muscle." Shinso, Juzo, and Horizon look at each other for a moment, then speak in unison. "Pass." "C''mon guys, if it''s just me the Pros running it will probably turn me down, but if Team Horizon shows up to help..." "I have a lot of work to do," Horizon says. "I''m resting after dealing with that giant robot," Juzo says. "I um... I''ll be busy thinking of an excuse," Shinso says. "C''mon!" Sero pleas, "it won''t even take long with all of us there, then we''ll have a day in Tokyo with the girls." This gets their attention, "what girls?" Juzo asks. "Well you''ll be happy to know that Majestic is part of this little team up, which means Setsuna will be there," Sero looks at Horizon. "And Momo, perfect timing too since Ryuko is visiting her team this weekend..." "I have enough time with her at UA," Horizon says. "Yeah and I just think Setsuna''s hot, it''s not that serious to have a day in Tokyo with her." "All the Hero Course girls are attractive," Shinso shrugs. "It''s not that special." "And it doesn''t mean we need to get dragged into a team up with some annoying Pro Heroes just because you want to show off for your girlfriend," Horizon says. "C''mon guys, their mentors already promised that when the raid is over they''d get some time in Tokyo, this is a golden opportunity, please help me out here!" They all look at each other for a moment, then Horizon speaks. "Sigh, fine, but I''m gonnain the entire time, and I''m obviously not running around Tokyo shopping with you people." "YES!" Sero cheers. "Thanks, you guys are the best." "Hey quick question," Shiso says. "Since I''m the only one here without a desire to be around these girls...can I just sleep in tomorrow while you guys---" "No, it''s a team exercise," Horizon says. "And if I have to suffer through this, so do you.." END CHAPTER--- 259 chapters deep, really struggling with these titles... Chapter 265: (Gold Chain Gang Raid) Chapter 265: (Gold Chain Gang Raid) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "You know you don''t have to be so nervous," Lizardy -Setsuna Tokage- says. She was in full Hero Costume in a police building waiting room, sitting around a desk opposite Rule -Yui Kodai-. Rule''s red and blue Hero Costume was now sporting some small extra satchels on her utility belt and arms, along with a matching mask. "Mmm," Yui hums before taking another sip from her can of orange juice. "Trust me it''ll be fun," Lizardy says. "Yourst work studies mentor was superme...uh, no offense to Death Arms. Working with Majestic is way better, that''s why I rmended you." "Mmm, mm."Lizardy sighs, "Yeah being part of a big joint operation in your first week does seem a bit stressful, but we''re the long range team so our job is a lot easier to coordinate." "Is something wrong?" Creati -Momo Yaoyorozu- asks, wearing her new and improved Hero Costume with a few pouches on her utility belt. She hands Lizardy a can of coffee before sitting beside her. "Thanks," Lizardy opens her drink and nods to Rule, "she''s nervous about her first big team up." "Oh, that makes sense," Creati says. "On our first one with Majestic we honestly didn''t do much, Pro Heroes usually don''t want new and untested students directly confronting viins, which makes sense. But now Majestic trusts us more to handle ourselves so he''s much more confident in us, and that includes you." "And it helps that we''re not exactly melee fighters," Lizardy says. "Mmm?" Rule hums. Creati looks at her, then at Lizardy for an exnation. "I think she said she''ll follow our lead, right?" "Mhm," Rule nods. Thedies talk amongst themselves for a few more minutes before their mentor, Majestic, joins them. "Alrightdies I''ve got some good news and some bad news," he takes the seat beside Rule. "How about the bad news first," Lizardy says. "Right, well... Since we had to call this raid on super short notice and with limited intel before these guys move to a different city, again," he sighs. "Most of the local Pro Heroes were alreadymitted or just didn''t have the manpower to both patrol and help us out, so the team is gonna be very small, and that includes the police officers we''ll have apanying us." "But this is a dangerous gang," Creati says. "Shouldn''t stopping them be their top priority?" "That''s not really how it works all the time," Majestic says. "Because the Gold Chains gang hops from city to city so often, the local Pro Heroes don''t really care since they aren''t around long enough to raise the actual crime stats for an area. Plus the gang is pretty big, we''re honestly lucky we were able to find out what area they''d be in and put together this many people." "Especially since we only gave them 36 hours notice, if so much," Creati says. "But it still doesn''t sit right with me how much of this statistics and politics nonsense affects some people''s Pro Hero work." "It''s unavoidable," Majestic says. "With how the system is set up Pro Heroes have topete with each other just as much as with viins, dropping down one spot in the poprity or other rankings could mean a big pay cut, and a lot of our families solely depend on our Hero Work to eat." "Sadly I can see the logic in that," Lizardy says. "But with the horrific things this gang does, it''s not very Heroic to not intervene." "Agreed," Creati adds. "Is there any good news?" "Well, we have a better idea of the area we need to search, the cops found some of the people we took pictures ofst week and tailed them all to one district, we think it has to be where a big safehouse is." "That saves us time, hopefully this time we can strike before they move again," Lizardy says. "What about other Pro Heroes, do we have any help? Because I don''t feel confident with just the four of us and a squad of police taking on such a heinous gang." Majestic chuckles, "well, lets just say we''ll have more than enough firepower, but that''s a surprise for you girls." "Is it Wash?!" Lizardy asks. "He said firepower and the first thing you thought was a washing machine?" Creati asks. "Well, when you say it like that..." Lizardy frowns. "Mmm," Rule nods a few times. "Uhh, what does that mean?" Majestic asks Lizardy. "She''s just nervous about meeting more people." "That''s understandable, especially since you''re representing me of all people, the magnificent and magical, Majestic," Majesticughs softly, "but I wouldn''t bring you here if I didn''t think you could handle it." "Mhm," Yui gives him a thumbs up. After a few more minutes of talking a team of three police officers, already armed and armored, approaches the table. "Majestic," one of the men says, "we''ll be controlling the badges on the ground, everyone is ready for you to brief us on what we''re getting into." "Alright, let''s go," Majestic says as they all begin walking with the men. "The other team is already in the meeting room, and just so you know, putting this together on such short notice wasn''t easy, I hope you appreciate it." "I always do," Majestic says. "This is why when I''ve got something to do in Chiba you''re the one I call." "Lucky me," the man sighs. "But this gang is a bit...vtile, you know what kinds of things they do, sure you want to send these girls in there? They look nervous enough as it is and we''re not even in a fight yet," the man nces back to see the three girls clearly on edge, confident but still showing how new they are to big raids. "Who wouldn''t be nervous about this?" Majestic asks as they approach the meeting room. "It''s impossible not to be when the stakes are this high, but being a Pro Hero means you need to get the job done anyway, same goes for you guys." "When any call can be yourst, you learn to work despite it," the man says as he opens the door. "Ahahahahha!"ughter echoes through the hallways the instant he opens the door. They all enter the room at the head of a massive ''U'' shaped table with a projector on the far wall showing some information about the Gold Chain gang. At the far end of the table is Horizon, who was leaning back in his chair busy doing something on his phone, not even acknowledging them. Beside him is Simon, who was busy fiddling with his mask. And after Simon was Mudman and Cellophane who were the source of all theughter. "Well I guess not everyone is nervous," Majestic says as they all enter the room. He notices all the girls freeze in ce looking over at Team Horizon who are now trying to be more professional, aside from Horizon of course, as everyone greets each other. "Surprise!" Majestic says. "Horizon said since Minato Tokyo is just across the bay his team would lend us some muscle, and I figured you girls would like to team up with your ssmates." Rule smiles at Mudman who already has his full visor on as they all take their seats, with Creati moving stiff as a board. "Alright, is everyone ready?" Majestic asks, standing at the head of the table with officers sitting to either side of him. His students already moved to the far end mirroring their ssmates. "You can start," Horizon says, still on his phone. "This is important, I''ll be done soon, but I''m listening." All the officers and Majestic resist the urge to groan as he seemingly ignores the meeting. Majestic takes a deep breath and begins, "right, well let''s get started, it''s currently 6 AM, by this time tomorrow the Gold Chain gang will be gone from Chiba, and since my source is now most likely dead, I won''t be able to know where. They move around a lot after pulling off certain jobs or getting too much attention, the crimes are hard to piece together because they never get caught and take advantage of how ourw enforcement and Pro Hero system is. Finding a pattern is hard when you have to put together the individual crimes of almost 50 people all across an entire country. And just when we get their scent they move and the process starts all over again. The leader is a viin that goes by ''Gold Chain'', he''s a real monster," Majestic takes the control for the projector and goes to the next slide, showing a man with a mouth of gold ted teeth and surprisingly no gold chains on his person. "No gold chains, shouldn''t he be ''Gold Grill'' or something?" Cellophane asks. "We believe it has something to do with his Quirk, and considering the fact that some of his victims look like they were beaten to death by chains, it''s likely the case. But we weren''t able to find any kind of material in the wounds so his Quirk is still a mystery to us." "What does this gang do exactly, any pattern in their crimes?" Mudman asks. "That''s the point, no pattern so it''s harder to track," Majestic says. "Think of it like just a group of viins that help each other avoid us, they all do their own thing then put a cut of their money into a pile for the group. This isn''t really umon since All Might started his war on viins." "But one this sophisticated is concerning," Cellophane adds. "How long did it take you to get this info?" "Weeks," Majestic grimaces. "They''ve got people that do everything from pickpocketing and car theft, to robbery, burry, breakings, murder, rape, organ harvesting, ckmail, kidnapping, extortion, if it makes money or gets them a thrill, they can do it, so long as they contribute to the pile." "So no need to be gentle with them," Cellophane says. "That makes things easier for us." "Yes, but the problem is we have less than 24 hours to find and raid their base," Majestic goes to the next slide which shows a map of the nearby districts. "My source confirmed its within this area, but I lost contact with him before I got an exact location. With the help of the police officers and some other leads I have, we can find this base within a few hours. The next step would be having some scouting done before entering since we don''t know what we''ll be facing. After that, simple takedowns and arrests, we move quickly and crush them, but unfortunately we''re going in blind regarding Quirks. Now remember, these guys spook easily so if you see one of the marked members don''t engage, report back and await further instructions, is everyone clear?" "Yes sir," the girls -aside from Rule- both say, while Team Horizon just nced over at their leader, who was still on his phone. "Uh, Horizon?" Majestic asks. "Yeah one second I''m just connecting to the projector," Horizon says, confusing everyone. A few secondster a simple map appears on the screen. "This is a map of the hideout, at least from what I can tell, they''ve got 37 people in there including Gold Chain himself. The building has a basement that looks like they dug it out using Quirks since it''s not reinforced in the same way as the rest of the building." "How did you get this, and where is this?" Majestic asks. "Oh, when we got here I looked at the slides and started looking around for Gold Chain, that stupid jewelry in his mouth made it super easy to find him, then I just mapped out the building and made a sketch on my phone." "You can do that? From here?" One of the officers asks. "Oh yeah, it''s only like 13km away. They don''t seem to have any hostages in there, just their own members, so we can stick to the original n." "Wait," One of the officers got up. "Can''t you just warp them into cells from here?" "I could, but I don''t want people, especially my team, being entirely dependent on me. I especially want my team to get tested against Power Types if that gang has any, obviously I won''t let anyone die or get seriously hurt, but for this I''ll just be acting as over watch in the control van. Oh, but you don''t have to send any police officers inside, just form a perimeter in case things go badly. That might actually also be why we didn''t get much assistance from other Pro Heroes on this, whenever I join a team up like this on the Hero Network is doesnt'' let it show up as much. Something about everyone flooding the system to team up with me and it ripping manpower away from other ces that need it, and simply because it''s overkill to add a dozen more Pro Heroes when I''m here. At Least that''s how she exined it." "She?" Creati asks. "Our boss." "Thank you," One of the officers said. "My men will be happy to hear that they don''t have to get involved in the action much" Majestic was entirely blown away, "huh, and here I almost thought you were just being a cocky, disrespectful kid." "Only to the viins," Horizon jokes. "Right, well I guess that leaves the nning to do," Majestic says. "Normally I''d want to send as much firepower as possible in there, especially since my students will be involved, but you''re sure you''ll be able to warp anyone out before they get seriously hurt." "I promise you, if anyone is about to get hurt I''ll either warp them out, or join the fight myself." "Well, I guess since I''ll be going in too it should be fine, now we just need to n our attack," Majestic sits to take a look at the map. "Mudman?" Horizon asks. "Right, guess I''m up," Mudman gets out of his seat and walks closer to the screen, getting a better look at the map. "Well, this building is huge, and has multiple floors. That looks like an armory in the basement levels, right?" "Yeah," Horizon says. "And a vault lower down, and these tunnels...that means either the building above ground or wherever these tunnels lead to are the entrances. Two pronged attack, our team rushes from the front through the doors, drawing as much attention and making as much noise as possible. Team Majestic uses the tunnels to get behind them, meeting us at the vault where they should have their strongest forces, and likely Gold Chain himself." "Best possible route?" Simon asks, speaking for the first time since the meeting began, and everyone else just sat back and listened to the two students. "I think we enter on the roof and go down from there, force them to fight in the building if they want to get to us rather than taking the fight to the streets where innocent people or public property can get damaged." "37 people, that''s a lot for a cramped space, want to just pour some wet cement on a group of them to start it off?" Cellophane asks. "That''s risky without knowing their Quirks first." "I can deal with the stupid ones while Cellophane tries to bait out their Quirks," Simon says. "And you stay a floor above and get your Quirk ready." "Think bigger," Horizon chimes in, silencing his team as they try to figure out what he saw that they didn''t. "You''ve got new assets at your disposal, use them," he gestures to the girls and Majestic. "Hmm, is there anything on the upper floors we need?" Mudman asks Horizon. "It''s mostly empty space aside from some furniture, everything is underground in the massive vault." "What does the armory have?" "Some small arms, but each of these guys only has a Tanto, it''s weird," Horizon says. "It''s their signature, they chop up their victims," Majestic adds. "Well the guns are mostly in the armory, above ground there isn''t anything useful." "I see," Mudman ponders this for a moment, then looks over at Creati, "how many thin steel sheets can you make, like floodgates?" Creati tilts her head slightly, "how many square meters do you need?" END CHAPTER--- Chapter 266: (Gold Chain Gang Raid Pt II) Chapter 266: (Gold Chain Gang Raid Pt II) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene Author Note: Last chapter Ipletely forgot Creati is now Genesis, that was an error. CHAPTER START--- SHAMBLES! Horizon warps back into the back of a disguised police van, filled with monitors and other devices to coordinate efforts on this raid. Both officers from the meeting earlier were sitting with their headsets on, watching the screens, patiently waiting as everyone gets into their positions. Majestic and the students were closing in on the building while the officers already formed a perimeter on nearby rooftops. Bothmanders look over at Horizon as he sits beside them, only to see him with arge cardboard box, gently cing it down on an empty table."Got everyone breakfast for after this is done," he says. "It''s from this ce with great egg sandwiches, hope nobody is allergic." "You went to get breakfast?" one of the men asks. "I thought you were preparing for the raid too." "Prepare? I''m already here, not much else to do," Horizon shrugs as he leans back in his chair. "Sorry if that came off as an insult," the other man says. "It''s just, we''ve even worked with All Might before, and you''re very...carefree,pared to what we''re used to." "I took no offense from it, it''s understandable to those who don''t have the full picture," Horizon says. "But if you had Hand of God, you''d understand. See my Quirk can be shy, but the most useful aspects of it are all subtle. Like the fact that all my cards are outside so if anyone gets hurt I can instantly warp them away. Or the fact that I can feel everything that happens in and around the raid, down to the individual hairs on each person swaying in the wind. From here, if every gun in that building was fired at once, I could hold every bullet in ce with a thought, but if I really wanted to help I''d just stop the triggers and firing pins from moving like I usually do. So trust me, I''m only this ''seemingly'' carefree, because my mind is constantlybing over the entire situation each second, keeping everyone safe." "Wow." "It''s starting," the other officer says as Team Horizon enters the building and Team Majestic breaks into the tunnel. After the first tense minute of everything going perfectly, the first officer nces over at Horizon, seeing him still rxed, "so, can I ask a question?" "Sure." "Can you Quirk really do anything?" "In theory, but it''s not in the way most people think. Normally people imagine it like I can just wish for something to happen and it happens, but that''s usually not the case." "Usually?" the second man asks. "Sometimes you just get lucky," Horizon shrugs. "But it''s more like it maniptes the world to my will, but the different things I manipte are each a skill that must be perfected." "So even you can''t create something from nothing?" "Not even ''Genesis'' can do that," Horizon gestures to the screen. "So is there a limit?" the man asks. "I mean, you did lose to All For One before." "It was more like a tie if anything since I''m sure he was asleep for days just like me after that fight, plus if he didn''t have months to prepare then ambush me before I knew he existed...I would have won. But still, that was 7 months ago, I''m on an entirely different level now." "Hmm, what about the doctor thing," the second man asks, ncing away from the monitors for a moment, "can you really heal anything? Because I''ve had this back pain for a while now and---" BANG! The sound of a gun going off causes both men to get startled and scan through the monitors. "Crap, the kid got shot!" One of them yells. "Nothing to be rmed about," Horizon says. "If I sensed the bullet would be lethal, I would have stopped it..." ---Minutes Earlier... "I wonder what''s taking him so long, he''s almostte," Cellophane says. He was leaning against the back wall of the gang hideout, out of sight alongside Simon, who had three rolls strapped to his back. They had a simr appearance to ck yoga mats but slightly wider. "Maybe the tunnel had some more guards than we expected," Simon says. "Nah, he would have alerted us." "You don''t have to be that worried you know, we won''t make you look bad in front of your girlfriend." "Oh I''m not worried about that, she loves me." "Careful now, with that ego you''re starting to sound like Horizon, but if I were you I would be very worried." Cellophane gives him a curious look, "why do you say that?" "Well if she''s dating you her standards can''t be that high in the first ce..." "Hey!" Simon chuckles just as Mudman arrives from around the wall. "You two ready?" he asks. "How''d it go with Team Majestic?" "All good, they''re waiting on us to make some noise." "Then let''s get started," Cellophane grabs Mudman and shoots a length of tape to the roof, quickly taking them both to the top of the building. Quickly ascending to the rooftop, they vault over the wall built on the roof to provide the criminals more privacy, andnd across from a group of three men ying cards. "Well uh..." the air gets tense for a moment as Cellophane speaks. "Deal us in?" All the men immediately draw their short swords and rush the heroes. Cellophane rushes forward as Mudman drops to one knee and ces his palms on the floor. As reaches within striking distance one of the men prepares to do a wide swing with his de, only for the concrete floor beneath his foot to be entirely liquid, throwing him off bnce. "Woah!" the man yells, and as he falls the softened material hardens yet again around his foot, sticking him in the floor. Cellophane takes this chance to backflip into the air while kicking him in the face, and mid air attaches lines of tape to the other men and pulls himself toward them at dizzying speeds. He nts a kick in each of the remaining men''s faces, knocking them outpletely. "So, think they know we''re here?" Cellophane asks as he picks up one of the men, taking him to the far wall and taping him to it. "Well considering their friend''s leg was hanging through the ceiling, yeah, they probably know," Mudman says as he helps him stick the other men to the wall. "Hurry up!" They hear yells from behind the door blocking the stairwell ess to the roof. "Something''s going on!" A chorus of yelling greets their ears. "Oh yeah, they definitely know," Mudman says. "And this is where the fun begins." "Horizon is definitely rubbing off on you, just remember, only tape them to the outer walls, don''t want anyone drowning," Mudman says before activating hismunicator, "Simon, rms are ringing and they''re heading to the roof, you''re up..." As the rooftop brawl began, Simon was still outside the building, simply waiting. But the moment he got that message he began walking over to the back door, and quickly picked the locks, a useful skill Eraser Head taught him. Opening the door he hears people rushing upstairs and patiently waits until they all go past him. "Seal the basement and deal with the heroes!" One of the men yells as Simon listens in. "It''s just two of them, we need to hurry before more show up!" As the man leads another group toward the roof, Simon adjusts his mask to perfectly copy the man''s voice. A few momentster and the first floor is eerily quiet, allowing Simon to walk out unbothered. Moving slowly he sees the empty warehouse mostly unguarded in panic, only two men at the front door and one at the bottom of the main stairway to the upper floors. Taking a deep breath he speaks clearly, "is anyone else down here?!" in the copied voice. It bounces all around the mostly empty warehouse and reaches the three men. "Is something wrong?!" "Sir?!" "What''s going on?!" BRAINWASHING COMPLETE! Focusing on the three men he mentallymands them to join him at the bottom of the stairs, a new improvement made with his Quirk, one that he keeps away from the cameras. After the men join him at the stairs he looks at them properly, not seeing any unusual or discerning features, "follow me," hemands. Walking up the stairs with his new followers, he turns around and unrolls one of the mats. ''I hope Momo was right about these things holding up,'' he thinks while unrolling it over the doorway, sealing it shut. "You, stand here and don''t let anyone touch the barricade," hemands one of the men. As the man takes his ce he rushes off toward the other end of the building, "how''s the fight going up there?" he asks his allies. "We''re focusing the guys with...super strength...stuff that can...break out," Mudman says between grunts. "Good, I''m heading to the second doorway right---" BANG! A gunshot rings out through the building. "Hng!" Simon grunts and immediately takes cover behind a wall, "get down," hemands his followers, and they bothy on the floor. Taking a few deep breaths he focuses on his Quirk, focuses on not losing his control, now more thankful that even for all the grueling ''training'' Horizon put him through to make his pain threshold that much higher. BANG! Another shot goes off, directly into the concrete wall at his back. "Simon?!" Mudman yells. "I''m fine, focus on your fight," Simon says. He nces out from cover for only a moment, then moves back just in time for a bullet to go flying past his head. "Seriously?! Not just using a gun, but shooting me in the back! How can you be such a coward?!" "Well---!" BRAINWASHING COMPLETE! Simon breathes a sigh of relief. "If there was anyone else on the floor with you, before me and these three came up the stairs, fire your gun into the air." He waits for a moment, and after hearing nothing he peeks out to see the man standing there like a statue, revolver in hand. "Honestly surprised it took this long before I got shot," Simon says with a groan as he walks up to the man, hand on the bullet hole in his shoulder. "But I''m guessing Horizon is gonna make me do a lot more training because of you...thanks a lot for that, jerk," he takes the gun from the man. "Follow me," hemanded the men who wereying on the floor before running to the second stairwell. As he gets to it he looks at one of the men and hands him the barricade, "seal this doorway behind us," he says, before taking thest man down the stairs with him. After double checking to make sure the barricade was properly sealed, he speaks to his allies. "Mudman, second floor is sealed up, I''m taking one of these guys to show me to the boss''s office, I''ll go collect all the data I can while you two have some fun." "Copy, and for the record, I feel like I''m the only one on this team who doesn''t see fighting viins as ''having fun''..." "Don''t be such a stick in the mud," Simon says as he rushes into the basement with hisst follower. While he was moving to the next step, on the roof Mudman and Cellophane were fighting almost two dozen men, each wielding swords. But now both Mudman and Cellophane had taken a sword each, and were holding off the men when they got Simon''s message. "Yeah, ''stick in the mud'', very funny," Mudman groans as he and Cellophane inch their way to the far wall. All along the far wall were men either taped to it or sunken into it, there were no unconscious bodies on the floor at all, by design. "Now!" Mudman yells out as Cellophane jumps onto the edge of the wall. He takes this moment to crouch down and use his Softening Quirk on the entire floor. By now all the men were aware of his Quick, especially since it wasn''t much of a mystery judging from his name. But what they didn''t expect was for the floor beneath them to not have the consistency of mud, but of water. The entire thing fell away instantly, and by running his Quirk through the small tform he left for himself to stand on, down the outer wall and through the building. When they harshlynded on the fourth floor in the building, it immediately developed the consistency of wet mud. "Ahh!" The men scream as they fall down to the third floor of the building, all the columns, furniture, anything but the outer walls of the building were immediately liquified. And as the men impacted the third floor, that too fell away beneath their feet, dropping them directly down to the second floor, with up to their shoulders in gray muddy water. The window of the buildings break as liquified matter begins flowing out, but the sealed doors ensure it stayed at atleast waist level. "Net Shots!" Cellophane yells out as heunches some premades of take from his suit, nketing the either group in it and making it more difficult for them to get up. "Looks like pretty much everyone is standing up now, no risk of them suffocating," Mudman says as he deactivated his Quirk, instantly returning all the liquified matter to its solid state, locking the men in ce. As the men areining about being entirely stuck in concrete, as if it were poured over them and hardened instantly, Mudman and Cellophane look at each other and nod. "Pretty good n huh?" Mudman asks. "Making a four story building into a concrete swimming pool, didn''t know you could do that." "You two aren''t the only ones making progress you know, I was a rmended student after all." "Oh yeah, you''re so normal that sometimes I forget," Cellophane shrugs. "Now let''s get to the boss fight before team Majestic..." he leaps off the building and swings down to the main entrance in a hurry. Mudman rolls his eyes as he softens the wall behind him, then softens a handhold before sliding down by constantly softening the wall below his hand while hardening the wall above him. "And then he wonders why Horizon was so hesitant to let him team up with her..." END CHAPTER--- Lost my sanity and found it back rewriting this fight, hence the chapter being a bitter, sorry about that... Chapter 267: (Golden Chain Gang Raid Pt III) Chapter 267: (Golden Chain Gang Raid Pt III) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "Alright, Team Horizon just went in," Majestic says to his team. Beside him Lizardy, Creati, and Rule were standing ready, looking down into a hole Mudman made for them in this alleyway. He''d liquified the material between the surface and the tunnel below to give them a quiet entry. "Lizardy, you''re up," Majestic says. Hearing this she closes her left eye, and her right eye socket with the eyeball still in it detaches from her body, floating in the air. "Looks like the tunnel is dark," Lizardy says as her eye floats down the hole. One of her ears then detaches and follows it. "Can''t hear anything either...oh, I see light in the distance, toward the main base.""Well it should be clear enough for us to enter without being noticed, we just have to get to their armory and seal it up," Majestic says. "Everyone on." With a wave of his hand he creates four prismatic rings of energy asrge as manhole covers for them to hop onto. Quickly taking everyone into the tunnel the rings provide light to see the roughly cut stone surrounding them. "Definitely some kind of Quirk to make this," Majestic says as he carries them toward the base. As he does Creati makes a small steel square, the size of her palm, and hands it to Rule. She activates her Quirk on the item and drops it behind them, suddenly expanding it until itpletely seals the tunnel. "Alright, get ready for a fight," Majestic says quietly as they reach the main base. They stop and quietly peek out, seeing only 8 men there preparing to move upstairs, arming themselves with swords and knives. Majestic looks at his team, and they all share a nod before bursting into the room. "Magic!" Majestic yells as he forms some prismatic energy rings, breaking away from his students and drawing all the enemy attention onto himself. One of the men instantly reacts and punches in his direction, and out from his fist fires a stream of high pressure water. Majestic continues moving, right past a pir that the stream cleanly slices through before impacting the energy ring. Majestic wastes no time in creating another ring beneath this man andunching him upward, crushing him against the ceiling until he was knocked out. Two more men instantly recognize the Pro Hero and rush over to him, one of them growing slightly as his muscles bulge and expand, the other firessers from his mouth at Majestic. "Lizardy, full sweep!" Majesticmands. Hearing this Lizardy immediately rushed to the door while breaking into 70 pieces, all of which entered the hallway and spread throughout the base, leaving her head and an arm hovering in the corner of this room. She hides her head and arm from the fight while closing her one remaining eye, focusing on her pieces and the information they collect. Focusing on how the air hits them and how her cells react, creating a vague radar map of as much of the base as possible in real time to know where people are moving. Helped immensely by already knowing where the hallways and rooms are thanks to Horizon. ''He makes processing information look easy,'' Lizardy thinks as the map forms in her mind. ''Nobody knows this fight is going on yet, they''re all still focusing on Team Horizon. If we''ve got 8, then they could be fighting almost 30 guys...I hope Juzo will be ok.'' As she''s doing that, Rule is fighting two of the remaining men. One of them seems ordinary, rushing her while iling about with his de. Seeing this she grabs a nearby metal chair and throws it at him, activating her Quirk the moment she makes contact. So as he tried to swat it away, the chair became 15 timesrger and heavier, mming into him like a metal wall and knocking him out. Just before it was about to entirely crush him she deactivated her Quirk, leaving it to gentlyy atop the unconscious man who was now bleeding from his head. As this happened the other man who was focusing on her shot a bolt of fire out his palm, Rule barely dodges it, almost losing some of her hair in the process. Two more shots fly toward her before she hides behind a pir. Seeing her hide behind the pir the man smiles and raises both hands, forming arge fire bolt between his palms, taking all of his effort to make an attack that would certainly cause grave injuries to any of the heroes present. "Juste out and I''ll make it quick, you''re outnumbered anyway, heck, maybe I''ll just let you go after we''ve all had some fu---" Rule suddenly pops one hand out from behind cover and throws a small object at the man. He wastes no time in releasing his attack, but as the fire continues moving forward, the item expands into a massive metal, not melted, but now quite hot. "Argh!" he screams as the red hot steel ms into his body and face, burning his skin even through his minor fire resistance. As he falls to the ground Rule then activates her Quirk again, shrinking the and capturing the screaming man. While that fight was happening, Creati had three enemies of her own to deal with. The first man lunges at her with his sword, intending to skewer her, but with some deft footwork and redirection, she not only trips him but stabs him in the shoulder with his own sword on the way down. "Ahh!" he screams before she kicks him in the face, knocking him out. She quickly leaps to the side, avoiding a set of sharp steel fingernails, almost a a foot -30cm- long. This man had long sharp steel fingernails on each hand, and was ready to rush her down and shred her to pieces. Seeing this she quickly reaches into one of the pouches on her costumes and withdraws a Creati themes handgun. The barrel was oddly thing with most of the material being in the handle, and on each side of the handle there is a small hole. The man hesitates as he sees the weapon, but a tennis ball sized chunk of ice snaps him out of it when it''sunched toward Creati. She barely dodges it before ncing at her other opponent who was making them in his right hand. "Stupid toys won''t save you!" the man with sharp nails yells while rushing toward her. "These aren''t toys," she says calmly before firing twice. But instead of the usual ''Bang'' they expected, each shot was apanied by a ''Pshhh!'' sound. This creation was designed by David Shield himself to utilize a unique mini airpression system in the weapon. The intake hole on the handle facing away from her palm takes in air, and the intake hold against her palm takes in the ammo she makes for it. The trigger determines how much air is used per shot depending on how far she squeezes it down, but the weapon can only hold one shot at a time which means she has to create ammo between shots. But when she needs versatility instead of power, this is perfect. Since the two shots she made this time immediately mmed into the man''s hands and began expanding into a grey foam, hardening as it was exposed to the air. "What the---!" The man gets kicked in the face as he realizes his hands have be useless with the instion. Creati immediately spins around and aims her gun at the man whounched ice at her, just as he''s aiming an ice spike directly at her. And they both freeze for a moment, holding their breaths as they''re in a standoff. The man looks into Creati''s eyeless mask, but on her body he finds not a drop of hesitation or fear. And in his eyes, she sees the soul of a man that easily takes lives. But this, this was never a duel. "MAGIC!" Majestic''s yell is followed by therge brawny man he was fighting crashing into the ice user, knowing him out and sending them both into the far wall. Creati lowers her gun, noticing all the fighting was now over, "well, that was almost fun," she says. "Yeah, almost, but it''s not quite over yet," Majestic says as he walks up to her, gesturing at the brawny man. "What''s his Quirk?" Creati asks. "Some kind of generic muscle Quirk, but it makes him such an annoying sandbag, do you mind?" "It''s no problem at all sir," Creati says as she takes aim at the man. As he gets onto his feet and begins rushing at them, then fires a shot directly at his mouth. Just before impact it capsule activates, and as it enters his mouth the foam expands blocking all his airways. The man drops to the floor as he suffocates, writhing in pain. Seeing this Majestic frowns, "I meant immobilize him, not...this." "But this is more efficient, it only takes one shot this way," Creati points out. "See this is what happens when you spend too much time with a certain someone," Lizardy teases as he head floats out of hiding. "Heroes have to also consider how we take down our enemies," Majestic says, even as the man is still writhing on the floors. "It''s an inherent disadvantage we face, but that''s the cost of being a Pro Hero. But I think it might be evened out by the fact that we have entire schools that teach uspared to viins that just have to figure it out themselves." "I know that, but it''s just, well, no, nevermind," Creati says as Rule approaches the now unconscious man and taps the instion, shrinking it into her hand so he can breathe properly. "Lets just restrain these men and get to the boss." After taking a few minutes to properly restrain all these men, Team Majestic leaves the room and begins following the fully reformed Lizardy down the hallways. "We need to get to the lower levels, that''s where thest fight is happening," she says. "Last fight, what about upstairs?" Majestic asks. "That finished a while ago, they took down everyone else and are about to head for the main guy, Shi--- Simon is copying all this gang''s data before he joins them." "Wow, no wonder you girls were nervous about looking bad in front of them, these kids are better than a lot of Pro Heroes," Majestic says. "Now I get why Horizon is willing to sideline himself instead of just joining the fight." "Yeah they''re pretty cool," Lizardy says. "How long before Simon joins the fight?" Creati asks. "With his Quirk he could end it instantly." "Not sure, but they reported that he got shot," Lizardy says. "What?!" both Creati and Majestic yell while Rule''s eyes wide. "In the shoulder," Lizardy says. "But he lost a lot of blood, that will affect his concentration, and his Quirk." "Either way we have a job to do," Majestic says as they quickly approach the fight, the sound of stone breaking already reaching their ears. "They prevented his escape, no we simply need to apprehend him," Creati says as she readies her guns. "Get ready!" Majestic yells as they approach the door. "Magic!" He forms a ring of prismatic energy then shifts it into a bolt of energy, sting open the heavy steel door. They all rush into the room and are immediately greeted by arge golden chain, seemingly constructed of energy, whipping directly toward them... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 268: (Golden Chain Gang Raid Pt IV) Chapter 268: (Golden Chain Gang Raid Pt IV) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "MAGIC!" Majestic yells out, throwing his arms forward and forming a ring of prismatic energy which therge golden chain bounces off of. Before their eyes it seemingly moves as if alive and whips back to the other side of the room at incredible speed, directly at Cellophane. As he quickly fires a line of tape to the side and pulls himself toward it, avoiding the attack, Team Majestic gets a proper look at the fight. Gold Chain was hovering in the middle of the room. There were golden glowing chains of different sizes forming on his clothes which were glowing in the same color, some of them were attached to the walls, floor, and ceiling to keep him aloft. But most of them were thrashing about to strike Cellophane and Mudman. The man himself was thin as they saw, and in looking for a Japanese man, his grill of golden teeth showing every time he growled at the heroes."Ladies, circle him, he can''t have eyes everywhere," Majestic says as his team enters the fight. Genesis and Rule break off to one side, opposite Team Horizon, while Lizardy takes a few of Rule''s shrunken objects and begins floating them about the battlefield on tiny pieces of herself. "What took you so long?" Madman says as he avoids a few strikes and is promptly joined by Majestic. "Didn''t think that---" Majestic forms two prismatic rings below them, quicklyunching them both into the air to avoid chains sweeping the floor. "---your team would get here so fast." "We get that a lot," Cellophane says as he''s hanging from the ceiling, but fires two lines of tape to grab them both, pulling them away from a trio of chains fired at them like spears. As they get out of the way, Gold Chain feels something hit the back of his head and winces, only for foam to immediately begin forming around his head. "What the---" his head is shrouded in golden energy beforea few tiny chains manifest on it, scattering to foam to the floor below. Looking around he sees the female heroes on the battlefield, and locks his sights on Genesis. "You---" another capsule flies directly at his face, only for a chain to manifest on his body and bat it away. "Annoying bitch, trying to choke me!" He flings his arms forward, and a collection of sharp pointed chains manifest on his back and arc above him, raining down on her like arrows. "Technically I was trying to suffocate you," Genesis says as she fires directly into his attack, but this capsule shatters and forms a smoke screen that seems to linger in the air around the man. She leaps to the side as all the chains begin spreading out, and forms a tungsten tower shield to crouch behind, holding her ground as vibrations ring through her arms. The golden chains shatter against the shield and dissipate before they fall to the floor. "He can''t see through the smoke, his targeting was off," Mudman says. "So we know he can''t sense us with these chains." "We need a minute to regroup," Majestic says. "Rule, Lizardy, hit him with something to take his focus or immobilize him." "Rule, Lizardy," Mudman says. "Just like we practiced in school, maneuver 9!" "We''ll take his focus!" Cellophane says as he rushes off. Within this massive open room he was at a disadvantage, but he made up for it by attaching his tape to the chains flying about, bounding off them like tree branches in a forest. Beside him Majestic made a prismatic ring below himself and flew over to Gold Chain as well. "Annoying heroes!" Gold Chain yells as he sees them. "You ruined everything!" Some of the smaller chains moving about the room dissipate as he forms one massive chain from his chest, reminiscent of chains used to attach anchors to the most gargantuan of ships, each link being the size of a small car. Majestic sees this attack iing and makes a fist, punching forward against the air, "Magic!" Ten prismatic rings form in front of him and quickly copses into a single energy bolt, darting forward as a beam and colliding with the gold chain. One of the massive links shatter, then another, then another, then the prismatic beam dissipates. "Crap!" Majestic says as he sees the link within a few meters of him, knowing the attack he just did could punch through multiple buildings. In the same moment he nces to his left, seeing Cellophane already having attached a line to the ceiling and vaulting over the massive chain, and decides to keep Gold Chain''s attention on him. "MAGIC SHIELD!" he screams at the top of his lungs, making ten concentric prismatic rings in front of himself to take the hit. The massive chain links shatter against it and continue to shatter, even as Cellophane vaulted over it and began running along them. Gold Chain obviously sees them and prepares to attack Cellophane simultaneously, but a smoke bomb capsule ms into the side of his face, shattering to block his view with a cloud. Taking the chance Cellophane attaches two lines to the far wall, firing them through the smoke and past either side of Gold Chain''s head, reeling himself in and kicking the viin directly in the face at full power. As he nts both his feet into the viin''s face, "ARGH!" he screams out as two gold chains tear through his feet, through the soles of his boots and out the top. Gold Chain had manifested them at the moment of impact, along with a shroud of energy around his head so he could actually stay conscious after that hit. "Cellophane!" Genesis yells, ready to fire another shot. She aims at the golden glow above his feet and fires. This time a hardened slug shatters each chain before a third ms into the energy protecting the viin''s face, harmlessly bouncing off. Her eyes open wide, realizing what she just did, what she instinctively did after seeing him hurt one of her dear friends, and being thankful that the viin could actually defend that attack instead of having a hole punched through his head. Wasting no time Cellophane attaches his lines to the ceiling and pulls himself away, leaving a trail of blood from his feet as he rockets through the air. As he sticks himself to the ceiling he notices Lizardy''s right arm and head floating by themselves directly above Gold Chain, right beside Cellophane. "You ok?" She asks, looking at his bleeding feet. "I''ll be fine," he tries and fails to hide his obvious pain. "You''re a bad liar," Lizardy says as her arm spins, throwing the small cube in her hand at Gold Chain, directly down at him. ''EXPAND!'' Rule touches her fingers together and activates her Quirk, having touched this item once before she can activate her Quirk on it remotely a limited amount of times. Suddenly the metal cube expands until it was 5m -15ft- wide, crashing into Gold Chain. As the shadow is cast above him he looks up, just in time to stop his attack against Majestic''s shield andcreate one of his own. But the force the cube was thrown at and the material itprises shatters his web of chains and ms into his, ready to crush him against the stone floor. Luckily Mudman already softened the ground below him into water, so as he''s mmed into it... ''SHRINK!'' Rule deactivates her Quirk on the cube, allowing the softened ground to swallow the man as he''s a few meters deep. "Hardening it now," Mudman says as he deactivates his Quirk, sealing the man below. "We need to take care of those wounds," Genesis says as Cellophanends and sits on the floor. "No time, that won''t hold him for long," Cellophane says. "He''s right," Mudman says. "That guy is using trigger, he''ll be out any second, we need a n." "Trigger, that exins why he''s so much more powerful than we expected," Genesis says as she begins wrapping bandages around Cellophane''s feet. "He juiced up the moment he recognized us, guess he thought--- ahh!" Cellophane winces. "Sorry." "I guess he thought Horizon was gonna show up, lucky us," he sighs. CRACK! The stone floor begins to break apart, directly above Gold Chain. "His Quirk, what is it?" Majestic asks "Hard light constructs," Mudman says, "but he only makes those chains, different sizes and some things can be altered, but always chains." "Do we have a n?" Lizardy asks. "Yeah---" the ground shakes as another crack forms. "Simon is on the way down, he finished downloading this gang''s intel cache and treating his own wound, now he should have enough energy to shut this guy down." CRACK! A massive fissure forms in the stone floor as multiple gargantuan golden chains erupt from the ground. "I thought trigger gets weaker over time," Majestic says while simultaneously forming energy rings below the students and moving them to safety. "It should, but he''s getting strong, this variation was purple," Cellophane says. "Another unique form," Lizardy grumbles. They all continue to back away, with Cellophane being supported by Genesis, the adrenaline now dulling and taking his ability to stand with it. "You know, I don''t mind fighting viins," Lizardy says. "But stuff like this is why I''m a long range recon specialist..." As the dust clears they see more and more massive chains forming, attached to thinner chains that expand the farther away they are from the viin''s body. "Dangerous things like this is why my wife also asked me to step back from being a frontlinebatant," Majestic says as he takes a few steps forward. "RAARGHHH!" Gold Chained pained cries echo through the room as the dust clears enough for them to see him, bleeding from his eyes that were glowing golden. Majestic takes a deep breath and steels his will, ncing back at the students and giving them a thumbs up, "but don''t worry, I was the #9 Pro Hero at one point, now I''ll show you kids why..." END CHAPTER--- I wrinkled my smooth brain this time and actually got her name right, sorry she just shows up so rarely I forget about that. Also, I re-read the manga recently so that didn''t help...thest two arcs were...oof. Chapter 269: (Golden Chain Gang Raid Pt V) Chapter 269: (Golden Chain Gang Raid Pt V) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "MAGIC RUSH!" Majestic yells out, drawing Gold Chain''s eyes to him and away from the students as he rushes forward. Breaking into a full sprint a prismatic ring appears below his left foot andunches him into the air. More appear with each step in the air as he pivots and twists, effectively running on air at all different angles, eventually running along the ceiling and swinging his arm down. "MAGIC CRASH!" Tenrge prismatic rings appear at his side while two keep him standing upside down above Gold Chain. "Just die!" Gold Chain screams out as his eyes glow even brighter for just a moment. He punches forward at Majestic and one regr sized chain manifests from his fist."Hydra!" he screams out, and as it extends barely a meter it suddenly splits like a hydra''s head constantly multiplying and snaking around, approaching Majestic at all angles as spearheads manifest at their tips. From the sidelines all the students back away as the entire room begins shaking, energy from both sides colliding at Gold Chain''s attack constantly manifests more chains and Majestic rapid fires prismatic rings into them. The air begins to heat up and the light is almost blinding, all the students shield their eyes as they begin to back away. Lizardy helps Cellophane back away as Mudman ms his palms down, softening the stone at Gold Chain''s feet. As Gold Chain feels his footing bing weaker, chains manifest from his legs and extend around, holding him aloft and away from the floor. "This is intense," Mudman says as he backs away, after hardening the ground once more. "I didn''t know sensei could fight like this," Genesis says as she backs away beside him. As they get to the others she makes some dark sun sses and hands them to Lizardy and Rule so they could also see what was going on. "Yeah it''s insane," Cellophane says as he winces, pain shooting through his feet as he tries to stand up, still supported by Lizardy. "He''s keeping up with that guy even after he took Trigger." "Yeah that''s nice and all but, where the hell is Simon?" Lizardy asks. "I''m running down the hallways now," Simon says through theirmunicators, "is everyone alright?" "Uh---" Lizardy nces at Cellophane''s injured feet, "n---" "We''re all fine," Cellophane says. "Just hurry up man, Majestic is fighting this guy and I don''t think our Quirks will be of much use anymore." "It must be this new variation of Trigger," Mudman says. "He''s able to mostly keep his control and focus, allowing him to think clearly and fight with some actual strategy." "So, at what point does miracle boy actually get involved?" Lizardy asks. "I mean Ser--- Cellophane has holes in his feet, feel like this is where he should step in." "Its not that big of a deal, none of us are that hurt," Cellophane says. Rule, Lizardy, and Genesis look at his feet and grimace, very d their mentor doesn''t treat them like this. But Mudman never takes his eyes off the fight. Genesis records every moment through her mask as does Team Horizon, intent on learning anything she can. The purpose of working with Majestic after all, was to predict and adapt to the ever changing battlefield. And now more than ever she could see it, not nearly as clearly as Mudman or Cellophane can see the actions. While Majestic was 12 steps ahead, Mudman was 10, Cellophane was 6, and Genesis was 3. Even as hundreds of chains were flowing through the air, piercing and whipping at Majestic. They see chains begin to curve inrge arcs away from the fight, moving to stab Majestic in the back, and Genesis immediately raises her gun to fire at them, but Mudman blocks her with his hand. "Don''t fire, you''ll throw off their rhythm," Mudman says. "If you fire and those chains break, then when they repair they''ll act like a Hydra''s head and keep multiplying, let Majestic deal with this for now, trust your sensei..." As he says this Majestic casually waves a hand behind him and arge prismatic ring of energy forms, immediately copses in on itself and fires out like aser. It shatters the chains and follows their links, curving around the room all the way to the viin who pulls himself away from the attack at thest moment. Gold Chain is hit in the chest with another st as he dodges the first, but an aura of golden energy envelops him and takes the hit. As the explosion clears and the light fades slightly, they see the aura having arge crack in the chest area of it, which immediately repairs itself. "A full body shield huh," Majestic says with a wide grin. "But you look tired!" he immediatelyunches another volley of attack at the viin. As he batters Gold Chain with attacks that shake the room, causing cracks to appear in the walls and ceilings, shockwaves push the students toward the edge of the chamber. "I''m here!" Simon says as he rushes into the room, "what''s going on?" "That''s thest guy we---" As Mudman is pointing at the viin he is suddenly speechless as Gold Chain wraps himself in hundreds of chains, creating a thick sphere to defend himself. The chains begin glowing brighter and brighter as Majestic yells out, "get down!" and sps both his hands together. Both his arms start glowing, energy flowing from his palms up his shoulder and to his chest, forming a small prismatic ring in the middle of his chest that hovers just above his body. Majestic fires his energy st directly at Gold Chain, causing an explosion that shakes the entire base and the road above. "Rule!" Genesis creates something in her palms and throws it to her friend just as the explosion and light washes over them. BOOM! Clouds of dust and bits of stone were across the room for a few moments, but when they cleared all the students found themselves swimming in the floor. "Ugh, this is so gross," Lizardy says as they begin getting out of the small pool. "Says the girl that breaks her own body apart," Mudman says. "Hey, swimming in mud is still gross." "Swimming in stone and concrete actually." As they all get out Genesis looks around, seeing the small st shield she made for Rule to erge at the far wall behind them. ''We didn''t react fast enough, but luckily Juzo was here...'' she scowls at that realization, mentally berating herself. As they all get out and the ground is returned to normal, the entire room finally clears enough for them to see Gold Chain at the other side of the room slumped against the wall, blood flowing from his shoulder and mouth. And across from him, Majestic''s Hero Costume is torn and tattered, sleeves and bits of the chest and back missing, bruised arms bare for everyone to see. "Wow," Simon says. "Yeah, wait till you see the rey," Cellophane adds. "Sensei, are you ok?!" Lizardy yells out. Majestic gives them a forced smile and a thumbs up, "yeah, but let''s not tell my wife how dangerous this got!" "Thank god this is over," Cellophane says. "Because honestly guys, my feet hurt..." Mudman and Simon chuckle at that as Majestic begins walking over to them, only for Gold Chain to move. "Sensei!" Genesis raises her gun at the viin as he brings an injector, housing a vial of green liquid in it to his neck. PSH! Her gun fires, but a moment toote as the new shot of Trigger is injected into the viin. From his spot on the floor Cellophane fires a line of tape at the exhausted Pro Hero and pulls him over to the students as Genesis and Mudman step forward, ready to fight. "Gold Chain, that much Trigger could kill you!" Simon yells out as the viin gets up, glowing brighter than ever with golden energy. "No! I can---" Gold Chain''s words are cut short as his shoulders slump. BRAINWASHING COMPLETE! Mudman rxes and looks back at his friend, "honestly man, your Quirk is so ridiculous, d you''re on my team." "And it''s always impro---" Simon stops speaking as his eyes widen, looking at the viin. "He broke out!" "What?!" Mudman turns around to see the viin moving freely once more and immediately drops to ce his palms on the floor, intended to trap the viin once more. But before he could touch the ground, the walls, ceiling, and floor of the room glow green and are seemingly coated in a thinyer of energy. From all the surfaces of the room, including the floor beneath them, spear tipped chains beginunching at the heroes as they frantically evade. "Simon?!" Cellophane asks as he feels excruciating pain with each forced step until Majestic begins carrying them all on his prismatic rings. But even his rings were dulling now. "The Trigger and injuries must be causing him pain," Simon says. "And pain breaks your control, damn it," Mudman says. "Genesis, any ideas?" As they continue avoiding the chains that were thankfully less urate now that the viin was hurt and tired, they also notice the shield on his body returning. She looks at her allies, seeing them tired or injured, ideas spawn in her mind, but the risk of people being hurt was too much for her. So with no hesitation Genesis raises a hand to hermunicator, "Horizon, we need backup!" Hearing this, Mudman immediately takes out the metallic card Horizon gave him and throws it toward the floor, and the moment it''s almost at the floor. SHAMBLES! Appearing in the room Horizon''s eyes and brain are confused for a moment, his Quirk not matching the visuals of what he''s seeing. "Hard-light...annoying," he says. Since he''s so reliant on Scan, light based abilities are effectively invisible to him. If an attack is made purely of light he simply cannot detect it, because to do so he''d have to detect all light within his Room, which would make the room almost entirely solid within his mind since light is almost everywhere. And even he cannot separate individual light particles in real time. SHAMBLES! Horizon warps Scalpel into his hand as he sees a legion of chains descending down onto him, with a sh at the space between him and the chains, they all shatter as Amputate strikes out. Gold Chain''s eyes lock onto Horizon, now ignoring the other, immediately causing chains from the walls and floor to manifest and rush toward Horizon. Horizon feels one of the chains manifesting beneath his boot, creating a pointy spearhead to stab him through the foot as it did to Cellophane. He instantly detects it as the material of his boot is deformed, even before his body can feel the pressure his Room detects it all, still unable to ''see'' the hard-light attack causing this effect. He immediately thinks to swap ces with Gold Chain, but notices the man is attached to all the energy flowing through the room like one solid object, he cannot be warped without moving it all. ''Not impossible, but I don''t know what''ll happen if I just warp him and his Quirk reacts poorly, best not take the risk...'' BOOSTER SHOT! Horizon''s entire body begins releasing blue energy vapor, the grooves of his body glove that are visible on his gloves are glowing bright blue as well. And all the hard-light attacks shatter against him as the energies collide. More and more attacks rain down on him but no matter how hard they try they simply break against his new defense, leaving him unbothered as he stabs Scalpel into the floor. BOOSTER SHOT! He surges an immense amount of power through his de and down into the floor, sending a pulse of energy through every surface of the room. Where the glowing golden energy exists, it''s shattered and overtaken by a wave of rolling blue that leads all the way back to Gold Chain. Seeing the energy waveing and easily overpowering him, the man uses everything he has to push against it but he feels as if he''s throwing pebbles at a tsunami. It reaches him as he''s depleted all his energy and copses onto his knees. And the exhausted viin slumps forward, looking up at Horizon who''s casually walking over to him, sword in hand. The others descend as Horizon reaches the viin, almost as amazed at what just happened, but looking up at Horizon, Gold Chain understood something they never could. Having his energy collide with and be so easily overpowered by Horizon, he had a level of understanding that very few people have. An understanding of exactly what was looking down at him right now. At the living nuclear reactor''s worth of energy, pretending to be human beneath that visor. So looking up at Horizon, through his exhausted eyes, he musters up the energy for onest question. "That much power..." he gasps between breaths, veins bulging purple as the Trigger is slowly killing him. "You...can''t be human, are you?" Horizon chuckles, "I''m better, now bow..." Gold Chain raises a brow at that, until he''s surprised as there''s an intense pulling force on his golden ted teeth, yanking his head down to the floor. CRACK! He cracks his skull and the stone floor on impact as his teeth are ripped out of his mouth by the invisible force. Horizon kneels down and ces a hand on the viin''s back, then as he''s working looks at his allies, "so, this guy was a lot tougher than we thought huh?" "That''s one way of putting it," Cellophane says. "He used Trigger like it was candy," Majestic adds. "That''s hard to ount for." "Unpredictable things happen all the time, I''m just d nobody got hurt." "Uhhh," Lizardy gestures at Cellophane''s feet. "It''ll take me seconds to heal that, that doesn''t count." "Still hurts," Cellophane says. "You''ll get over it..." Horizon says as he finally raises a hand from the viin''s back ,and with ites a marble sized sphere of green liquid. "Is that the Trigger?" Majestic asks. "And here I thought you were healing him." "I don''t heal viins, but this," the Trigger hovers above his palm for everyone to see. "This I must study, now, let''s get out of here..." END CHAPTER¡ª So, I was in a car ident thursday hence chapters being dyed. I''m all good now and back to business. Sorry about the dys¡­ Chapter 270: (Miracle u0026 Magic) Chapter 270: (Miracle u0026 Magic) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "You know, this isn''t exactly what I expected to find here," Majestic says as he looks around Horizon''s medicalb. The Pro Hero was now wearing some casual clothes, a backpack on, holding his Hero Costume within. Standing beside him is Horizon, wearing some more casual Horizon brand clothes over his body glove while inspecting a vial of Trigger, collected from Gold Chain. "Theb or the tower?" Horizon says as he takes some notes on a digital screen built into the table. "Both I suppose," Majestic says as he looks around. "You do realize the public thinks this tower is a doorway to heaven, right?" "Can''t imagine why they''d think that, it''s just a building where I live," Horizon shrugs."Well a god lives in it," Majestic says as he notices some containers with frozen pieces of fleshbeled ''Nomu Sample 289'' at the lowest. "Don''t tell me you believe my propaganda too," Horizon chuckles as he ces the vial in a secure ss case. "If I didn''t meet you maybe, or if I didn''t have a certain student that''s dating you," Majestic stops himself for a moment. "Well, from the way she talks, guess I should think you''re a god." "I tend to have that effect on women, and fans," Horizon says. "I finished studying the Trigger, so let''s get out of theb while theputer double checks my work and cross references it with some other samples." "Oh, well that was ---" SHAMBLES! Majestic suddenly finds himself standing in the penthouse living room beside the couch, looking at Horizon who''s already sitting on the couch with a bottle of water. "---fast," Majestic shakes his head and sits down. "I still haven''t gotten used to that." "Well we only met yesterday," Horizon snaps his fingers and a can of coffee appears on the table. "So there really isn''t any way to say ''No'' to your warping?" Majestic asks while taking a sip of his coffee. "Eh, it''s no secret that I can''t simply warp anything too freely, but unless you weld yourself to the floor I can move you." "So things that are bonded in such a way act as one body." "Pretty much," Horizon shrugs. "That''s---" Majestic thinks it over. "That''s actually very concerning, good thing you''re a Pro Hero." "Well I''m still just a student." Majestic chuckles, "good one, but you might be the only person in the world who still thinks that." "Maybe, but what about you, your ''Magic'' Quirk." "Prismatic Energy Rings, that''s what the doctor suggested we call it, but as a kid I preferred, Magic, not bad right." "A lot better than I expected," Horizon says. "You were a rescue hero before you became more all rounded, didn''t expect those moves." "Yeah well, I only figured out how to shape the rings into energy sts about 5 years ago, started taking more aggressive viins on---" "And then you suddenly dropped out of the top 10 instead of moving up." "Yeah well, a year in the top 10 was enough," Majestic takes arge swig of his drink. "Plus a few months into it, I found out I was gonna be a dad, suddenly the extra money from the specific people the HPSC wanted me to track down wasn''t worth the danger." "I didn''t know you had a kid." "Because I don''t," Majestic raises a finger to his lips. "Smart move," Horizon nods understandingly. "Do you want any updates on what I find about the Trigger or maybe the Gold Chain gang files we stole?" "Uh, just between us, this got a lot more dangerous than I told my wife it would be, so I think I''ll go back to my regr work." "Never would have guessed her of all people would go from running through buildings like a wrecking ball to such a worried mom," Horizon chuckles. "Yeah, she used to really like being a Pro Hero too, but its like a switch flipped in her." Looking at the rain pouring outside, Majestic finishes his drink, "you know its not toote to go meet up with your friends, they''re probably still in a mall about now." "If only life was that simple, but with power,es sacrifice," Horizon taps his visor. "Well, I should really be getting to the train station, would you mind giving me a lift?" Horizon pauses for a moment, looking out at the floor, but Majestic knew he was focusing on the nearby train station. "Shambles..." ---Later that evening... Sitting on his couch Horizon has Momo in hisp, still wearing the sweater dress she wore to the restaurant earlier today. Sitting on the floor at the coffee table ying cards are Yui and Sero, and on the other couch are Tokage and Juzo. Horizon can sense Shinso already in the gym training immediately after they all got back, not wanting to be a 7th wheel to the group. "Wait so you guys got into that new restaurant, how?" Horizon asks. "It was actually pretty easy," Sero says. "Remember that rich jerk I saved from the helicopter?" "Law Matani, right?" Horizon asks. "Yeah that jerk, well, not as much of a jerk as I thought," Sero says. "Sero gave him a call and asked for a reservation tonight," Juzo adds as he and Tokage awkwardly sit beside each other. "Apparently that dude owns the restaurant and the building, and he owns Golden Hearts too." "Huh, that really is a good person to know." "Well, I don''t exactly know him," Sero says. "I called and some guy answered, must have been his assistant or something, but I think that''s about as many favors as I can get from that dude." "Well that''s still better than most people you save that are just useless afterward," Horizon says, causing Momo to pat his chest a bit harshly. "Being a Pro Hero is about saving people, remember?" Momo asks. An eerie silence fills the room as Juzo, Sero and Horizon share a few nces at each other, then immediately burst intoughter. "And that''s one more reason you aren''t in Team Horizon," he says while giving Momo a gentle p on the butt, causing her to blush. "So what''s the reason you guys actually save people then?" Tokage asks. "Money," Sero says. "To train my Quirk," Juzo adds. "I made a deal with Nezu," Horizon shrugs. "Oh, and Shinso just wants to show people that ''Viin Quirks'' isn''t a real thing." "Well atleast Shinso has a good reason," Tokage adds, giving Juzo an annoyed look. "So the requirement is to be a selfish jerk?" "Selfish, yes, I just happen to also be like this," Horizon says. Tokage groans and holds her head dramatically, "how did the two kindest, most gentle andpassionate girls in our sses, fall for you people, ugh." "Hey!" Sero yells out. "I''m a great person!" "And I''m Horizon, who else would she be in love with, Deku?" heughs. "Horizon likes to act like a jerk," Momo says. "But nobody who truly believed most people were worthless would dedicate themselves so full to helping people." "Are you sure about that?" Tokage asks. Momo gestures around them, "we''re sitting in a monument built out of his desire to help people, so I feel fairly confident about that." "Maybe I''m just a horrible person that takes jobs they ept seriously," Horizon says, earning a concerned look from Momo. After giving him a scrutinizing look she frowns and shakes her head, "no, that doesn''t make any sense," she says before leaning back into his chest. "Anyway, how was the shopping today?" Horizon asks, and as the girls begin talking he focuses on Juzo and Setsuna, who were still sitting awkwardly, constantly stealing nces at each other. Eventually he decides to be bold on behalf of Juzo, and uses Takt on his friend''s watch, controlling his hand with a sudden jerk to rest atop Tokage''s. He sees panic shoot across both their faces for a moment, before Tokage smiles and leans her shoulder against his. ---Hours Later... In the absolute darkness of his bedroom in Horizon Tower, Law sits with his back against the cushioned headboard with a naked Momo on hisp, after a long and invigorating night of celebration. Momo gently passes her fingers along his face, the closest she can evere to knowing what he looks like, trying her best to memorize all his sharp features. After a few more seconds she can''t help herself anymore and assaults him with a legion of intense, passionate kisses. "That little trick you did... With Juzo''s hand...on Setsuna''s," she speaks between kisses. "You noticed?" "Mhm." "I thought you didn''t care...about other people." "Most people...but he''s a teammate." Momo pulls away as she begins adjusting herself on hisp, feeling his excitement between her legs again. "So you care?" "It''s a start, but in this world there are only two types of people, those who are important to me, and everyone else. ying Hero puts the people I care about in danger." Momo groans and she lowers herself down to hisp, "have you thought about...ying viin?" Law pushes her back down onto the bed, and she immediately wraps her arms and legs around him pulling him on top of her. "Just not ying at all, but I think I''d be a good viin." "Let''s find out...show me what you''d do to his weak and helpless Pro Hero you''ve captured..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 271: (Hero Course Class Clash) Chapter 271: (Hero Course ss sh) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- ---March 3rd, 2315, 2:17 PM... "What''s up everyone!" Present Mic yells out as he enters a dimly lit viewing room, holding popcorn in one hand and a can of soda in the other. He''s immediately greeted by the annoyed looks of Eraser Head and d King, and a polite wave from Nezu. Ms. Midnight, Ectosm, and Snipe all stay focused on the wall of monitors before them, taking notes on their clipboards. "What? Nobody else brought snacks?" Present Mic asks as he sits beside Snipe. "This isn''t a show Mic, it''s a training exercise," Eraser Head says."Every time these sses sh they put on a main event...you did keep Horizon out of this one too, right?" "No," d King says. "We need him involved in this one, but he isn''t on Team 1A or Team 1B, we want to see how they deal with an insurmountable third party." "Trantion, how good the kiddies can y nice when a bigger threat is on the field huh, because sometimes they''ll have to work with Pro Heroes they don''t like, right?" Mic asks. "Precisely," Nezu says. "I rmended that we call over the Ketsubutsu students to really test that, but Eraser didn''t want Ms. Joke here..." "If you met her you''d know why," Eraser grumbles. "I think you two are cute together," Midnight teases. "Are you sure nothing ever happened there?" "Well---" Eraser cuts off Present Mic, "focus on the students please," Eraser growls out. As fights begin breaking out all across the simtion metropolis Training Ground Beta, the teachers notice one particr student not moving. Not even attempting to gain a single point. ---At the same time... Sitting atop a 7 story building, Horizon has his feet hanging over the side as he snacks on some pieces of chocte. Noticing massive explosions erupting in the distance, constantly shaking the entire training ground, Horizon is unbothered as he senses Bakugo trying and failing tond a hit on Juzo. He nces to his left, where Scalpel hovers in ce, and looks toward the other end of the training area where Todoroki and Manga are having an intense fight. Even from here he can feel the air bing more humid, he can smell the ozone on the wind as they throw fire, ice, and lightning at each other. "I expected you to jump into the fight and collect all their points," Eraser''s voice speaks through Horizon''s earpiece. "Busy..." "Eating chocte?" "Jiro made me this for valentines day, it would be disrespectful not to eat it," Horizon says. "So did Yaoyorozu, and about half the girls in UA who left gifts for you at the dorm, do you n to sit on that roof and eat all the candy you got?" "No, I n to give Eri most of it when you aren''t looking," Horizon chuckles. "Don''t...but seriously, you won''t get any points at this rate." "And we''d like to see how they work together against you," Nezu adds. "I figured, but I don''t descend to challenge people weaker than me, that''s bullying, and well...they''re beneath me," Horizon shrugs. "But I''m sure some of them wille to me, actually..." Horizon leans forward slightly and looks down the side of this building, on which is Red Riot -Kirishima-, with his fingers hardened and wing into the side of the building allowing him to scale the smooth wall leading up to Horizon. "Uhh---" Kirishima is still a dozen meters below Horizon, awkwardly looking up at him. "I figured that copsing the stairs would be a big enough hint not to bother me," Horizon eats another piece of chocte, staring at Red Riot who was now frozen in ce, not sure what to do. "Well I fig---" "Takt," Horizon says loudly enough for him to hear. "Wait!" The b of wall Red Riot is on begins to crack. "WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT!!!!!" he screams as it breaks away from the building and he falls 6 stories down to the street below. As Red Riot is crushed by the piece of wall he was climbing moments ago against the street, Horizon resumes his snack. "He''s not bad, but, not quite what I''m looking for, Tokoyami really is the only option." Horizon looks out into the distance, focusing on another fight, Monoma and a few of his ssmates chasing after Deku and slowly gaining ground against him. "Deku, he''d probably be a good choice, at least physically making up for what theyck, but his mentality isn''t any good for us," Horizon sighs. "If he wasn''t so obsessed with being a mini All Might he could fill in the gaps pretty well..." As Horizon is enjoying his snack, he suddenly stops chewing and turns around, looking at the barbed tipped arrow that was frozen in the air behind him. He sighs and gets up, standing on the ledge, "do you realize how much this would have hurt?" "Sorry," Genesis says, holding an already reloaded crossbow in her hands on the other side of the room. Beside her were Uravity, Lizardy, Froppy, Pinky, Battle Fist -Kendo-, and Emily -Yanagi- "No it was smart, use pain to distract me and fire something more silent than a gun," Horizon says as he hops down from the ledge. "What is this supposed to be, girl squad?" "Yeah!" Pinky yells out. "That was a coincidence, but thesedies are gonna kick your butt!" Kendo yells as she rushes forward. As she covers the dozen meters between them Horizon pops a piece of chocte in his mouth and frees his right hand, ready for her assault. As she swings her fist forward she erges her fist midway through the attack, earlier than she''s been training to do, costing her some power on the potential impact. But the massive fridge sized fist served a secondary purpose. As she swings he doesn''t seemingly react, until... SHAMBLES! He swaps ces with her, causing her to punch the air. As he swapped he was met with a hundred telekically controlled shuriken, courtesy of Emily''s telekinesis Quirk and Genesis''s creations. TAKT! Having already sensed the des they attempted to hide behind Battle Fist, fully expecting him to simply swap ces they had already thrown them at their friends location, but his ability to sense and stop each de surprised them. But they reacted instantly. Battle Fist pivots, using the force of her first punch and swinging around to swat him away. Doing a full spin she''s suddenly surprised when she feel a hundred des pierce her erged hand. "Ahhh!" she cries out as blood stters across the rooftop. At thest moment Horizon had swapped ces with her once again, causing her to p the des full force. As the pain wracks her hand and arm she flinches for a moment, Froppy fires her tongue at Battle Fist to get her away from Horizon, but it was toote. In one smooth action he grabs the girl by her ponytail and throws her off the rooftop. Her pained cry echoes for hundreds of meters as tears build in her eyes, feeling like her scalp was about to be torn off, but also being rushed by a soothing sensation in the same moment. As she goes hurling off the roof Horizon looks at Uravity, "fetch," hemands. Uravity grits her teeth and res at Horizon, even as she makes herself weightless and dives off the rooftop to save Battle First. As both of them are out of the way Froppy redirects her tongue to whip at Horizon, knowing he can''t telekically control her body, taking advantage of her organic abilities to assault him. "Counter Shock," Horizon says as lightning begins arcing across his body, ready to taze Froppy the moment she makes contact. He expects her to back away from him after simply speaking those words, but to his surprise the girl makes full contact with his forearm. He feels like a sledgehammer mmed against him as the muscles in her tongue are pushed to their limits. Without even using Booster Shot he swings his arm and bats it aside, but her tongue twists in the air and tries to wrap around him. "Counter Shock," once again lightning crackles across his body, and she doesn''t hesitate to wrap her tongue around him anyway. SHAMBLES! He swaps ces with Genesis, directly beside Emily who he grabs by the throat. He sees the fear in her grey eyes, pupils focusing as he heart rate immediately skyrockets. "Counter Shock," he says quietly, sending a surge of lightning through her, more than enough to put her in the hospital, but nothing happens to her. And then he notices, a device beneath their clothes running through their boots, grounding them and keeping their body safe as the current flows across it through to the ground. "Genesis," he mutters while yanking Emily forward, mming her head into his visor while reinforcing it with Booster Shot, knocking her out, and holding her off the floor. As he does so Uravity swings over the side of the building with abination of her Quirk and grapnel gadget, Battle Fist in her arms. She does a spin and throws Battle Fist at him, and the girl rears back with her one good hand as the bandaged hand hangs at her side. Seeing her iing Horizon casually throws Emily over the side of the building and raises a palm to Battle Fist. "You jerk!" Uravity yells as she once again dives over the edge to save a friend. This time Battle Fist perfectly executes her punch while rocketing down at Horizon, erging her fist at the apex of her swing to maximize the damage. She expected to be dodged and punch the roof, but to their surprise, Horizon meets her fist with his palm. BOOSTER SHOT! A wave of blue energy vapor wafts off him as the force of her strike moves through him, not hurting his body but cracking the concrete at his feet. After the sh he casually steps to the side and pushes her fist away, only to lean his head backward as another arrow zips past his face. He nces at Genesis through the corner of his eye as she loads another bolt, and he keeps focus on her even while his fist shes with Battle Fists and constantly pushes her back. With every hit he feels himself get morefortable with this variation of Booster Shot, just as she feels more and more of the super strong bones in her hand and fingers break with each sh. Eventually Genesis loads a bolt into the crossbow, this one slightly thicker than the others, something she''s spent months thinking about for a moment just like this. She nods at Froppy, signaling for the girl to also join the melee with Battle Fist, and as she does Genesis begins the other half of thisbo. As both girls rush in, Genesis lines up her perfect shot, their only chance at gleaming victory against this force of nature. Between all the attacks Horizon doesn''t notice Froppy adjusting a bead hidden beneath her tongue. All the attacks he dodges, as expected, makes him cocky. The girls expected this, and they truly were doing their best, because he would notice otherwise. But they knew they could beat him head-to-head. Yet instead of a true victory, they only wanted progress. If they couldnd one hit, it would be enough for them. Uravity returns to the rooftop with Emily now awake in her arms andnd beside Genesis. The girls share a few nces and immediately get to work. As the fight goes on and Horizon toys with their friends, Uravity uses her Quirk on Genesis''s unique bolt, and Emily activates her Quirk on it. Her face immediately drenched in sweat as she pushes her Quirk to the absolute limit. And at the perfect moment where Horizon sidesteps an erged fist from Battle Fist, Genesis fires her weightless bolt. It moves faster than any bullet or artillery, much faster than Horizon expected, but still slow enough that he can react to it. Because even this projectile couldn''t outdo the speed of his thoughts. But he didn''t react to it, by choice, because as he sidesteps Battle Fist''s arm, the projectile ms into her forearm, shattering itpletely and barely missing his head. But what he didn''t expect was for it to copse in on itself on impact, releasing an orange gas that instantly clings to his Hero Costume and visor. Abination of Emily''s Quirk and Genesis''s special creation built with the extremely rare material of his costume in mind. His vision is immediately blocked as the gas coats his visor in an orange substance. SHAMBLES! He warps away, only focused on his Hero Costume and body, but the substance stays with him even as he swaps ces with Battle Fist. "Its bonded to my suit, what the---" As he''s confused Froppy opens her mouth after cracking the bead, and taking advantage of the fact that sensing suck thin gasses is something he has to specifically put effort into, blows out a purple mist from her mouth. It''s instantly attracted to the orange and clings to it, as they both begin burning his Hero Costume. A special nanite fusion to cling to him and ignite like thermite on his body. Not something that they could even use on viins, but for this scenario, principal Nezu gave Genesis his permission, because Horizon was beyond any viin... ---HPSC President Pantu''s Office... "Lady Pantu!" A man bursts into the room, causing Pantu to look up from her paperwork with a stone cold fa?ade. "What is it?" "We figured out what the hacker from a few weeks ago stole!" he says while frantically rushing over to her and cing some files on her desk. She immediately takes the files and begins looking over them, and for one of the rare moments she loses her focus and shows an emotion. Dropping Fa?ade as confusion shows on her face, "this doesn''t make any sense, they could have stolen anything, but they only took this, are you sure?" "Yes ma''am, we made sure, what should we do, should we alert him?" Pantu ponders it for a moment, but decides to let this y out and see what happens, "no, even if they stole a copy of the buildingyout, there isn''t anyone in the world stupid enough to break into Horizon Tower..." ---Minato Tokyo... Standing atop a skyscraper opposite Horizon Tower, a dapper gentleman with gray hair, wearing an exaggerated street magician styled tuxedo sips from a cup of tea. Beside him a short woman, less that 4ft -120cm- tall with bright red pigtails in a matching costume also sips from a cup of tea, looking at Horizon Tower. "Today is the day La Brava," the man says. "Today we write our names in the grandest halls of viiny, today, we break into Horizon Tower, and steal ourselves a trophy..." END CHAPTER--- Someone actually guessed that Gentle and La Brava were the ones to hack themission, congrattions... Chapter 272: (Unplanned Events) Chapter 272: (Unnned Events) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "I think he''s mad," Present Mic says as they watch the termite-likepound burning away Horizon''s Hero Costume. "I''d imagine so, but what gave it away?" Erasers asks. "Uh, this," Mic drew their attention to his popcorn, some of which was now floating in the air. Across all of UA and some nearby parts of Musutafu, small objects began floating on their own as Horizon''s annoyance bubbles over into affecting his Quirk. A surge of energy flows out from him as his entire body is coated in the energy of his Booster Shot, coating him in a thin blue liquid that rapidly dissipates into that atmosphere, but subdues the burning chemicals on him. The stinging sensation on his body fades as Horizon takes a few deep breaths, "that...was annoying," he turns to look at the girls, "any more tricks?""Uhh," Pinky looks between Horizon and her stunned friends for a moment, realizing nobody expected him to deal with that so quickly, "Acid Man!" he yells while rushing forward, creating a translucent armor of acid around her body that moves with her. Dashing toward him, each step she takes melts a hole into the concrete rooftop, all her focus on raising the acidity of her armor as she dives directly onto him. "Curtain," Horizon says as he raises a palm to her, forming arge square barrier to block her attack. "Ugh!" Pinky yelps as she ms face first into the shield, made even more painful by the fact that he swung it into her like a bat, knocking her off the rooftop,pletely unconscious. As he knocks her off the roof he raises his right hand, and with a thought Scalpel appears in his hand, de exposed and shining under the sun. Froppy immediately rushes forward as Uravity leaps off the rooftop to catch Pinky, Genesis immediately creates one of her unique guns and prepares to fire at Horizon''s shoulder to dy his swing. But with a thought he activates Booster Shot, and his right arm and shoulder release a bit of the blue energy vapor as a burst of strength surges through his arm. Before Froppy could get to him the de shes downward into the roof, and as the top of the de makes contact. BOOSTER SHOT+ INCISION! The entire 7 story building is split right down the middle, immediately shaking and beginning to copse as his attack sends a quake through the entire training area. The girls lose their solid footing as the fight continues and Froppy''s attack with her tongue is about to make contact. SHAMBLES! Horizon swaps ces with Genesis at the other side of the rooftop and shes horizontally. AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE! A flurry of wide arcing shes sunders everything and everyone in front of Horizon. The girls are diced harmlessly into cubes, along with everything and everyone for an entire mile behind them. Multiple city blocks reduced to rubble and stones with barely any effort, unable to defend or perceive the attacks that sunder it. Arge swath of the training area is reduced to rubble that harmlessly falls to the ground at a slowed rate, preventing the few students who were also mined from being crushed by the rubble. SHAMBLES! Horizon warps all of their pieces onto the rooftop beside him as the other half of this building copses to the street below, leaving them all in one pile with a few eyes looking at him. Many of them weren''t even involved in this fight, simply caught in the aftermath of Horizon''s annoyance. They''d never seen him actually take a hit before, and seeing his Hero Costume in this state was dizzying. "Good trick," Horizon says as he walks to the edge, getting a good look at the field of rubble he created, "But I don''t think you people realize how much I''ve been holding back..." His words send a shiver down the spines of almost everyone in the viewing room as they watch the monitors. "So, he can just do that to...Tokyo, if he wanted to?" Midnight asks, looking at the mile wide field of destruction he caused so casually. "Yes, incredible isn''t it," Nezu says excitedly, a wide smile on his face. "My calctions show his range of maniption is at least twenty miles -32km-, so he could get most of Tokyo with that attack. Eraser sighs, "so, who wants to tell Cementoss that he needs to rebuild most of the training zone Gamma?" "He''s used to Horizon''s antics," Nezu says. "Bet he''s d this kid doesn''t have a Super Move yet," Present Mic says. "Wait a minute," Midnight says, "you''re telling me that thing wasn''t a Super Move?" Uravitynds on the roof beside Horizon, holding Pinky in her arms, and just stares out at the destruction before her, not even paying attention to Horizon. "This...this was a city," Uravity mutters as she gently ces Pinky on the rooftop, eyes unable to look away from the scene ahead of her. "I got a bit carried away," Horizon admits. "But I can only do this kind of thing at UA, so I guess it''s good to practice this too." As she walks to the edge of the rooftop Uravity finally begins to truly wrap her mind around how powerful her ssmate truly is. For his Quirk is difficult to measure. Compared to most top Pro Heroes, his strength cannot be measured traditionally like All Might''s punches or Endeavor''s firepower. And it truly is rare to see him lean into the more destructive aspects of his Quirk, and they all realize how fortunate it is that he rarely takes the ''meathead'' approach tobat. And now they''re absolutely sure they''d rather never see this side of him again. "Finally!" Red Riot yells out as he climbs back onto the rooftop once more,pletely ignoring the destruction around him or the other students that were diced on the rooftop. Horizon turns to face him leaving Uravity at his back, who immediately begins shaking her head and signaling for Red Riot not to pick a fight right now. But he tunnels only on his target, knowing and trusting the teachers and other students not to actually harm anyone, allowing him not to be concerned with his nearby ssmates. Because even now he trusts Horizon not to truly harm anyone. "RED RIOT!" Red Riot screams out as his entire body hardens. "UNBREAKABLE!" Everything from his hair to his toes harden, even his eyes have the distinct angr appearance caused by his Quirk. This Super Move pushes his Hardening Quirk to its limit, even affecting his internal structure. This limits the time he has in it as his hardened lungs can''t take in any air, but makes him a reinforced wall for his allies. With a sudden burst of energy he rushes forward, feet cracking the rooftop as he pulls back his hardened, sharpened fist to strike Horizon. Seeing this Horizon grips his sword tightly to attack, and as he raises the de Uravity rushes past him, tackling Red Riot. She instantly uses her Quirk on him to make him weightless and pivots, using his momentum tounch both of them off the rooftop and away from Horizon. "Uraraka!" Red Riot yells as he deactivated his Quirk, if only to avoid his body shing her. "What the hell?!" "Horizon is in a bad mood ok!" she yells as theynd a few streets away. "Let''s not try to fight him right now, ok..." As she says that, another personnds on the destroyed rooftop beside Horizon. "Ugh," Horizon groans as he turns to face Deku, already crackling with bits of electricity, Full Cowling pushed to 35%. "I was just about to go find Tokoyami and give him a little test, but if you insist..." "Yeah, I insist," Deku says as he takes a fighting stance. "I can''t be the best if I never challenge the best." "Yeah well, this fight is long overdue any¡ª" Hearing that Dekuunches forward, but as he''s mid airunching a kick at Horizon, he notices Horizon''s head turn slightly. Suddenly Deku is down on the street just beside this building, not surprised at all, but slightly annoyed. With one leap he makes it back to the rooftop to see Horizon angrily looking at his phone. "Who the...damn it!" Horizon yells before he warps away, leaving a confused Deku behind. Beside Deku the diced students immediately reform into full bodies, some looking more traumatized than others, with Bakugo and Shoji more annoyed than bothered. In the observation room Nezu got the same notification as Horizon, and immediately understood what was about to happen. Without a word he leaps out of his chair and rushes to his office. ''2:35PM Security Breach At Horizon Tower...'' ---Minutes Earlier... "Is everything ready my dear?" Gentle Criminal asks La Brava. "Almost Gentle," La Brava says as she types away on herptop, they were both still sitting atop a skyscraper opposite Horizon tower. "When I''m done we''ll have 15 minutes before the silent rm triggers...sorry I couldn''t do more. Months of nning and hacking yet all I could do was dy the rm." "Nobody could have done better my dear La Brava, this is Nezu we''re talking about after all." "I guess that''s true," La Brava says, a bit happier now. "Now we must simply break into the tower, record a few scenes for our soon to be adoring public within the tower, steal something valuable and leave our mark, then the world will never forget us again!" he breaks into a fit of exaggeratedughter. "Ready!" La Brava says. "We''ve got 15 minutes before Horizon and Nezu get the alert, but he and his team are confirmed at UA so we''re fine!" "Then away we go!" Gentle says as he holds La Brava under his arm as she clutches herptop tightly. With no hesitation he leaps off the rooftop, unbothered by the 150 story drop to the street below as he activates his Quirk. Below his feet the air itself bes stic like mini trampolines that barely catch the light, allowing him to chain them together and leap all the way over to Horizon''s penthouse. With practiced ease they make their way to the penthouse, La Brava holds the camera in her hand already filming as Gently dives toward a reinforced ss pane at the top floor and ces a hand on it. The ss bes stic and flexes, bending inward and warping, and at the apex of it he deactivated his Quirk, causing it to harden at an odd shape and shatter immediately. With a roll and tumble they bothnd inside Horizon tower, bright smiles on their faces. Only to look up and lock eyes with a busy blonde woman, standing in the kitchen at a chopping board, knife in hand. Her wide blue eyes freeze for a moment as they''re stuck in a stand off of sorts, and with no further hesitation she ces a hand on the counter, causing the stone countertop to rocket toward the viins. END CHAPTER--- Chapter 273: (FORMER Pro Hero Ryuko Tsuchikawa) Chapter 273: (FORMER Pro Hero Ryuko Tsuchikawa) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- CRASH! The sound of ss shattering has Ryuko looking up from the chopping board. She wears her usual pair of shorts and a t-shirt, preparing a special meal for when Horizon arrives in Tokyo tonight, only to look up and see Gentle Criminal rolling into the hallway, La Brava tucked under her arms. Her eyes immediately focus on theptop in La Brava''s arms and more importantly, the camera she had facing Ryuko. A surge of adrenaline, bolstered by a healthy dose of fear, not for the fact that she''s staring down some viins, but fear of the oue of her presence here being revealed, floods Ryuko''s mind and body. With no hesitation she ces her hands on the granite countertop and activates Earth Flow, whichunches the countertop directly at the viins.As this happens she turns to lunges to grab her phone from the counter. In the same moment Gentle had thrown La Brava to the side before raising an arm to the projectile. Blocking it with his forearm, he creates a fewyers of stic air between them to cushion the blow andunch it back toward the kitchen. Never one to cause unnecessary harm to those who attempt to stop him, in the moment Gentle couldn''t afford the few precious seconds to hold back. Seeing Ryuko''s left hand reaching for her phone, the thought of an angry Horizon arriving momentster spurred him to action. "NO!" he yells whileunching the granite countertop at her phone, bounced off hisyers of stic air. CRASH! It ms into her phone and the wall, along with her left hand. The bones in her left hand shatter and shrapnel riddles her forearm and causes many cuts across her body. "Ahh!" Ryuko cries out as she falls back, a small stream of blood flowing down her forehead and covering her left eye as she looks at the viins. "Sorry miss," Gentle says, looking genuinely surprised at what he just did. "But a maid wasn''t in the n, so if you could just stand down we''ll---" "I''m not a maid!" Ryuko yells as she uses her hand that''s on the floor to activate her Quirk. Suddenly the floor rises up to swallow La Brava and Gentle Criminal, breaking theptop and camera first as it begins crushing them. "Gen...tle," La Brava says between desperate gasps, each syble releases air that the stone won''t allow her to reim as it constricts her lungs. "I...need...a boost...my love," Gentle forces out as he sees Ryuko forcing herself to stand. "NNGH!" La Brava groans as both her and Gently Criminal begin glowing bright pink, clearly showing a transfer of energy from her to him. He activates his Quirk on himself, making his body stic to ease the pain and absorb some of the force before suddenly reversing it, sending the stone constricting him flying across the room. He immediately turns to La Brava and rips apart the stone imprisoning her as she crumples to the floor, struggling to breathe. "All our training in case we ran into Horizon, yet his maid is the problem," Gentle says. "14 Minutes," was all La Brava said, snapping him back to his senses. His eyes widen as he turns around, noticing Ryuko gone. The moment she recognized his sudden power boost she bolted out of the room, down the hallway and to a security console built into the wall. "What, but the rm went off," Ryuko reads the screen, not understanding why the security protocols we''re happening yet. "Theptop...she must be a hacker or something," she says while looking back down the hallway toward the kitchen. Gentle rushes around the corner at that moment, spotting her, bleeding and with her left arm hanging limply at her side, and the moment their eyes met she touched the wall. EARTH FLOW! Arge section of floor, wall, and ceiling moves toward him like a livingndslide, but the man bounces off multiple surfaces and the air itself to move around it, finding himself rocketing back down the hallways after Ryuko. He gets just a glimpse of blonde hair entering a room at the end of the hallway before it disappears. "No!" he yells, knowing she likely went for a phone, and that La Brava''s program only dys signals being sent by the tower itself. As he''s in mid-air rocketing down the hallway, all sides of it immediately copses onto him, trying to crush him into paste. With a twist he createsyers of stic air like a tunnel guiding him all the way to the end of the hallway where he flips andnds on his feet. Rushing through the door, still glowing pink thanks to La Brava''s Quirk, he barely leans back in time to avoid a de being swung at his neck. He loses an inch off the front of his hair before tumbling to the side and standing to look at Ryuko with surprise in his eyes. "You could have killed me..." he says, looking at the woman who held Scalpel in her one good hand. He was confused by this, because the public didn''t know there were two such swords. But what concerned him more was the vicious and hateful look in Ryuko''s eyes, tempered by fear and sadness, "you were trying to kill me," he mutters the realization as she lunges forward. Now in Horizon''s bedroom Gentle barely dodges sh after sh, some leaving shallow cuts across his outfit and body, but that''s to his agility being boosted by his and La Brava''s Quirks, they were merely superficial wounds. Gentle makes the entire floor stic as he pushes down against it,unching them both into the ceiling. "Agh!" Ryuko yells as she ms into the ceiling while he makes the spot he hit stic to soften his impact. She then falls back to the hardened floor with a thud and a crack, feeling the familiar ache of broken bones through her body, and the new sensation of loose teeth rattling about her mouth. Gentlends just in front of her, looking at the battered womanying on the floor, sword still in hand, and tries to understand what she could possibly be doing here to ruin the ns. Already knowing Horizon would retaliate far more than they could have predicted due to this unforeseenplication, but they''vee too far to quit now. "A trophy," Gentle says as he reaches down to grab this Scalpel, but pauses for a moment, confused as the sword isn''t there. "Wh---AHHHH!" he screams as it pierces his back, barely missing the heart. Ryuko tilts her head to look up at him, having used all her focus to quietly have the floor swallow the sword and maneuver it to backstab him with it. All in barely a moment. Shocked by the intense pain Gentle freezes for a moment, then feels the sword being twisted, breaking bones and tearing his body apart with each motion. He can''t even catch his breath during the immense pain to activate his Quirk, and surely would be unconscious if not for La Brava boosting his body and Quirk to inhuman levels. EARTH FLOW! Ryuko ces a palm on the floor and orders it tounch him into the ceiling, crushing him against it hard enough for him to break through to the roof. The upper floors of Horizon Tower rumbles with the impact as this Scalpel tters to the floor beside Horizon''s bed. On the rooftop, under the afternoon sun, Gently Criminal feels pain like he''s never felt before. His costume was torn up, his face battered, broken and bruised. There was a 1.5 inch wound through his back and out his chest, only kept from being fatal by La Brava''s Quirk and his internals became more stic. Forcing himself to get up, he crumples back to the floor, realizing his entirely right leg and foot were crushed in thatst attack. But even through all that pain, he grits his cracked teeth and forces himself to sit up, taking breaths that burn his throat and lunges each second, keeping one thought in his mind. The only thing that truly mattered, now that he''s had such a close call with death to put things into perspective. "La Brava," he says, forcing himself to get back up and begins walking to the edge of the rooftop. One floor below him, Ryuko also forces herself to stand, using Scalpel as a walking stick. Keeping her mind focused on all that she will lose if either of these people get away. If the public learns about her being here. If anyone learns about her and Horizon. If any witnesses that can''t be trusted should get away... With that she stumbles out of their bedroom and down the hallway, using her Quirk to clear a path through the wrecked penthouse, easily finding her target. "Ngh!" Ryuko tries and fails to speak through her shattered jaw and swollen mouth, causing herself to wince as she aims the de at La Brava. The much shorter viin was busy looking through any cab and drawer she could find for a trophy of sorts, waiting with much trepidation for the fight to be concluded so they could leave. So its no wonder her eyes got teary when she turned around to see Ryuko pointing the de at her. "Gentle..." La Brava mutters, looking scared and confused at how Gentle could have possibly lost. "Gentle!" she screams desperately, getting no response. Ryuko narrows her eyes at the viin and begins moving forward. And in a desperate and heartbroken showing, La Brava haplessly rushes the woman, "what did you do to Gentle!" she screams while tears fall from her eyes, running at Ryuko and iling about. Ryuko doesn''t hesitate to swing the de, and La Brava feels a numb sensation in her right hand and right eye, followed by an indescribable heat as she screams out, falling back onto her butt. "AHHHH!" She screams while raising her right wrist, the hand on the floor as she''s bleeding out, she could also feel the warm blood and other fluids flowing down the right side of her face, and knew what her suddenck of vision meant. Ryuko doesn''t hesitate and lunges forward, thrusting down at the woman''s chest with the sword, but in that very moment. CRASH! Another pane of ss shatters as Gentle breaks back into the penthouse,unching himself at full force and drop kicking Ryuko in the side as she brings the de down. The tip of the de was just inches away before he made contact,unching her into the nearby wall and copsing the entire concrete wall on impact. As Ryuko''sunched into the other room, he drops to one knee, now finding it bing harder and harder to breathe as La Brava''s Quirk is weakening. "La Brava my love, I believe that we must leave," he forces out as blood begins trickling down the edge of his mouth. "Our lives will be trophy enough..." he says while reaching down to pick her up. "But Gentle---" "No my dear, there will always be another show," he says while holding her at his side and quickly making their way to the window. As they''re leaving, La Brava''s body begins losing sensation as a way to cope with the pain, allowing her to raise her left hand, her one remaining hand, and look at her watch. "But we have 3 more min--- ACH!" her words be thick gargling suddenly. Two steps from the window Gentle looks down at the love of his life cradled in his arms, and sees a massive katana de protruding from her chest, through her back. His mind goes nk for a moment before he looks back, only to see Ryuko sitting up in the pile of rubble, one eyeball shattered and most of her skin bruised or battered, face entirely swollen and chin split in two, looking at him. At thest moment before she mmed into the wall, she used her Quirk to soften the impact, just barely keeping her in the fight, and in his panic over La Brava, he lost focus of his opponent. "You---" Gentle''s rage-filled outburst is cut short when Ryuko reforms the wall between them, forcing him to make a hard choice. Either pursue revenge which would take time, or try to save his ally. Understanding this he immediately took La Brava, sword and all, and leapt out of the window. END CHAPTER--- Chapter 274: (Breaking u0026 Entering: Aftermath) Chapter 274: (Breaking u0026 Entering: Aftermath) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- SHAMBLES! SHAMBLES! SHAMBLED! Constantly opening massive Rooms, Horizon warps over and over, more than a dozen times to travel the 400 km -248 miles- between UA and Horizon Tower. And only a few minutes after receiving the security alert he was already present. "What the hell," he mutters while looking around at the wrecked penthouse, the familiar sight of Ryuko''s Earth Flow Quirk being used all over the rooms.SHAMBLES! He warps into his bedroom to find the womanying on the floor, beaten, battered, and broken, bleeding out on the cold tiles. With no hesitation he lifts her up and ces her in the bed, but the moment he touches her an entire shroud of blue energy vapor erupts on his body and rushes to cover her. Her broken limbs begin adjusting on their own before the flesh and bone heals itself, perfectly and without leaving a trace on her wless skin. Her jaw aligns itself as the healing energy pushes away the blood on her face, revealing her shattered gums being healed before her teeth regrow at a visual pace. "You''ll be alright," Horizon says, not a trace of emotion in his voice. He gently moves some strands of her hair away from her face just as she stirs awake. "Ah!" Ryuko''s eyes shoot open as she immediately tries to sit up, only to feel searing pain in her ribs and hips, and Horizon''s hand pushing her back down onto his bed. "Don''t move, I''m still healing you," Horizon says. "The viins!" Ryuko yells before she gasps in pain, feeling a sharp pain in her chest before a soothing sensation takes over. "Are gone," Horizon says as he looks around, "And I can''t sense anyone unusual in the surrounding area." Hearing that Ryuko finally calms down a bit, now taking a proper look at Horizon, seeing his melted and burnt Hero Costume smattered with some orange substance. Her eyes immediately begin to tear up, and a momentter the tears begin flowing. "Did they---" "---no, this was a training exercise, I was at UA a few seconds ago," Horizon says as he sits beside her on the bed, gently caressing her head. "I''m so sorry," Ryuko chokes out as she raises a hand to cover her eyes, wanting to hide in any way she could right now. "Anyone who attacked this tower must have considered I''d be here, if they''re willing to take that fight, I''m just d you survived whatever they prepared, you did nothing wrong." "I''m sorry I''m sorry I''m sorry," she mutters over and over as the tears continue flowing. Horizon lets her get it all out, quietlyforting her as he uses Scan on the entire tower and surrounding area. ''It took me seconds to get here, but the viins are already gone, and the only other missing thing is...my backup Scalpel, hopefully they kept it.'' Ryuko''s tears stop for a moment as she notices him frozen, sensing the cold void of emotion he''s be in this moment. It makes her uneasy, she expected anger, disappointment, anything, but now he was here, and there was none of that, only concern for her. BEEP BEEP BEEP! His phone goes off for a moment before projecting a message inside his visor. "So the cameras caught what happened?" he asks Nezu. "I''m sending you everything now." Horizon looks toward Ryuko, performing another Scan on her, making sure she''spletely healed before getting up. "Focus on resting for now, I''ll be back in a moment," he says coldly before stepping out of the room, into the destroyed hallway. Reaching up to his visor he grips it, and with one swift motion crushes it in his hand, ripping it off his head. "Ahh, much better," he''s finally free from the strange attack his ssmates did earlier as he walks to one of the monitors built into the wall. "Tell me what you found," he says while loading the camera footage onto the monitor. "They dyed the rm by 15 minutes," Nezu says. "So they had 15 minutes to attack her before we knew, how?" Horizon''s voice bes a slight growl before he takes a deep breath. "It looks like they got in through the Hero intr somehow, they must have hacked into another Hero Office or HPSC system to get into here." "That''s supposed to be impossible, didn''t you code this yourself?" "Yes, I did," Nezu says. "And from the looks of it they started making this program not long after you bought Horizon Tower, months ago, they''ve been nning this for a while." "Mmm, and who the fuck are these people?" Horizon asks while looking at Gentle Criminal and La Brava on the monitor. "Danjuro Tobita, aka Gentle Criminal, a small-time viin that likes to be shy and post his crimes. He had a surge in poprity that got snuffed out by Shigaraki, I''m assuming this was his attempt at stealing the spotlight." "Mhm," Horizon fast forwards the video a bit to get into the second half of the fight. "And the little thing he brought with him?" "Manami Aiba," Nezu says. "She disappeared from public life years ago, made some money developing software on her own...she was actually offered multiple schrships for her programming skills, and some official positions in the government. A real prodigy." "Too bad she''s dead," Horizon says as he pauses the video just as Ryuko throws Scalpel and pierces La Brava''s back. "Were the police alerted?" "No, I programmed the tower to only alert us, can''t have your public image tarnished after all. And luckily it wasn''t loud or destructive enough to get noticed." "And their camera was destroyed, public cameras, anything?" "No, after they left the tower no cameras caught them, either they found a cked out route through Tokyo...somehow, or they had a way to hide from cameras already set up." Horizon raises his phone to look at it, seeing the stolen sword not appearing, "the tracker in the de must be either disabled or jammed too." "It''s built into the de itself, so they must be jamming it, that thing is impossible to find," Nezu says. "Well, if it shows up, I''ll be there Quickly," Horizon says. "I''ll do some longer warps and chain them together just like I did to get here." "Honestly I don''t understand why you don''t do that more often, is it exhausting?" "A little bit, but mostly it''s because most things aren''t worth the effort." "And how would you like to proceed from here?" Nezu asks. "Keep this one quiet, let me deal with this, Gentle Criminal, but until then, I guess I''m remodeling the penthouse a bit," Horizon looks around at the destroyed pieces of floor, roof, and walls. "I see, I''ll keep looking incase they appear," Nezu says before hanging up. Horizon sighs and restarts the video, still wearing his burnt and discolored Hero Costume, but now with the Visor off, showing the full mask below. After a few minutes he hears Ryuko''s voice behind him. "Are you mad at me?" she asks with much trepidation, carefully stepping past all the rubble at their feet. "No babe, you did...honestly much more than I would have expected," he pauses the video when she swung the de at La Brava, destroying an eye and chopping off a hand. "What happened to that Hero Training?" "I''ve been spending too much time with a bad man," Ryuko says as she stands beside him, feeling his arm wrap around her waist, pulling her to his side. "He might have corrupted me, convinced me some things are worth killing for..." Horizon doesn''t speak for a moment, only restarting the video again, then breaks his silence. "Protecting this tower is worth killing for?" He asks. Ryuko frowns and almost starts crying again, leaning her head against him, "they saw my face, and I know how important it is for you that nobody knows about your personal life, so I was...scared." "That I''d get rid of you after they saw you?" She nods silently wrapping her arm around him as the tears begin flowing again. "You don''t have to worry about that, I''ll deal with this, but you can''te to Horizon Tower anymore..." "Ok," she says meekly, sniffling a few times. "I expected you to be so mad." "I am, not at you so don''t worry about that, but, I am livid," he pauses for a moment, considering his words carefully. "But I guess I''m more confused than anything, because I''ve only felt this once before." "Felt what?" "Well, usually I don''t have to think about this, but now I find myself unable to decide...I''m not quite sure exactly how I''ll kill these viins, so many options..." Hearing that Ryuko isn''t even bothered, just happy that Horizon isn''t mad at her, or worse, breaking up with her. "I think I got one of them," She points at La Brava on the screen. Horizon actually manages to smile at that, giving her a gentle squeeze, "nice throw..." ---Minutes Earlier, Minato Tokyo... Landing roughly on a rooftop, close to Horizon Tower, Gentle falls onto his back, holding his beloved La Brava to his chest, sword still skewering her. He feels her Quirk entirely fade now, the pain and exhaustion crashes into him like a wave as his body weakens. He''s barely able to fish around in his pocket and take out his phone, doing something he promised both himself and La Brava that he''d never do. "Please...Jin...please, answer," Gentle pleads to the heavens as the phone rings. "Yo!" a voicees through the phone followed by a loud belch, "thought you said you were a duet and would never join us, huh?! What changed, huh Gentle?" "We''re hurt, please," He begs. "La Brava is dying, we need help! I''ll do whatever it takes, I''ll join your heist for free, just save my La Brava!" There is some muttering through the phone before he picks up a conversation in the background, "ha, told ya he''de around Dabi, let Compress know his team ising together!" As he hears more arguing back and forth, friendly as far as he can tell, Gentle sees a purple mist manifest around him, and as his vision is blocked his consciousness fades. END CHAPTER--- Chapter 275: (Nuclear Hot Potato) Chapter 275: (Nuclear Hot Potato) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- Sitting in arge conference room, Shigaraki slumps down in his chair as he anxiously taps the table, still carrying Shinji on his shoulder. Even now in this luxurious base he still wore his simple clothes, the only new addition being arge coat with some fur lining. "So manyplications," Shigaraki grumbles as he looks at Scalpel, Horizon''s de lying on the table in front of him, as if taunting him. "Damn it," he leans forward and reaches out for the de, but as he''s about to grab it he stops, not even daring toy a single finger on it. She leans back in his chair and rubs his face, "if I touch that thing I''d better be sure to disintegrate it instantly, but what the hell do I do with this..." As he''s considering his options, the door to the room opens and in walks Dabi and Hawks, closely followed but Twice who''s shoulders were slumped."Oh no," was Hawks immediate reaction to seeing the de, "so this really is where it went." "Seems like a bit of good luck to me," Dabi says as they take their seats. "Horizon must have a way to find this thing right, perfect way to get him face to face with Machia'', right?" "Depends," Shigaraki looks over at Twice, "Jin, Gentle just woke up, so tell us everything he told you about how this happened." "Wait, who is this ''Gentle'' anyway?" Hawks asks. "He''s a small-time viin," Twice says. "A wannabe, glorified street magician," Dabi grumbles. "He got on our radar when we were forming a special team to operate under Compress, a team that could break into UA and acquire some things for us," Shigaraki says. "But that n is dead now." "So this wannabe, just woke up and decided to break into Horizon Tower?" Hawks asks. "Jin?" Shigaraki asks. "Uh, well, you see, Gentle was actually someone I scouted, but he didn''t want to team up with us and share any spotlight. See its a funny story but him and his girl---" "Get to the important shit," Dabi says. "---sorry, uh, he broke into Horizon tower and stole a trophy of sorts to get the public''s attention, but there were some, mmm,plications, someone was apparently at the tower." Dabi and Shigaraki look between each other, confused. "Team Horizon and the psycho himself were confirmed at UA," Shigaraki says. "We always keep eyes on Musutafu to know when we can operate. Hawks sighs and rests his head on the table, "fuck," he mutters. Shigaraki and Dabi look over to him, "something you care to share with us Hawks?" Dabi asks. "Was the person who hurt them, a woman?" Hawks asks. "Uh-huh, how''d you---" "Blonde?" "That''s what Gentle said." "Ugh!" Hawks groans loudly and leans back in the chair, taking off his eye protector to rub his face. "You''ve got to be kidding me." "So you knew about this person?" Shigaraki asks. "Pantu keeps an eye on her because of shit like this," Hawks says. "Well you gonna leave us guessing or what?" Dabi asks. "She''s Horizon''s girlfriend, I think, not exactly in a position to ask," Hawks says. "Nobody is supposed to know about her, and Pantu usually has people keeping an eye on her incase some idiot viin attacks her." Everyone at the table feels a cold chin run down their spines, faces suddenly drained of color. "So...he attacked Horizon Tower, fought his girlfriend, then stole his sword," Shigaraki mutters in disbelief. "And then he called us afterward and made this our problem!" "I''m sorry boss, I didn''t---" Shigaraki raises a hand to stop Twice''s apology, "its not your fault Jin, nobody could have expected anyone to be this stupid, or suicidal, now we just have to focus on a n to move forward and get ourselves as far away from this as possible." "How''s the girlfriend?" Dabi asks. "That La Brava woman is dead, Horizon''s girlfriend must be some kind of savage animal." "Uh," Twice looks down at the table. "She''s, probably dead." Everyone in the room groans at that, feeling yet another headache starting. "Really d we aren''t in Japan right now," Shigaraki says. "So, I''m open to suggestions to how we deal with this, I say we dump Gentle and his girlfriend''s corpse in Japan and let Horizon deal with it." "We should get as much info as possible on the girlfriend and Horizon Tower before we do, it would be a waste to not gain something from this," Dabi says. "And La Brava''s Quirk!" Twice added. "It''s a power-up for her allies, but I''m sure our mystery doctor can mass produce it for us." "Both good ideas," Shigaraki says. "Until Horizon gets his hands on Gentle and rips that information out of him, then suddenly it looks like we sent him to attack Horizon Tower and kill the girlfriend, do either of you want that problem? We also can''t not send him back, otherwise Horizon will keep searching until he finds us." Dabi and Twice frown at that thought. "We can''t even harvest her Quirk, because eventually he''ll notice it in a Nomu and the same thing will happen, we just have to dump them somewhere." "Or you could get the best of all worlds," Hawks says. "Let me call Pantu, I''ll organize a spot for you to drop them off and have one of our people there to find them quickly. They get captured and interrogated, I leak the info we get about Horizon to you guys, and maybe La Brava''s corpse vanishes from the morgue before it gets to the incinerator." "That''s a lot, can you really make it happen?" Dabi asks. "Pantu wants everything she can get on Horizon, and you guys, and this gets you away from the issue when her...interrogation, reveals that you refused to help Gentle." "Horizon will still want a piece of him, can Pantu deal with that?" Shigaraki asks. "Nobody can, that''s why she''s so worried about him," Hawks says. "But better her problem than yours, right?" "Whatever gets this bomb out of my hands," Shigaraki says. "Go make your call." As Shigaraki says that a purple mist shrouds Hawks and warps him away. Hawks suddenly finds himself back in his Hero Agency, sitting on the same chair he was in a moment ago, warped along with him. Before he can even take out his phone it begins ringing, and looking at it he sighs, "yo Lady President, what''s up?" "You''ve been at the Shigaraki''s base for a day, things have happened that I need your focus on since then." "I already know, and I''ve got some good news for you," Hawks says. "The duo that broke into Horizon Tower is currently in Shigaraki''s base, along with the sword they stole." "Was Shigaraki behind this?" "No, even he isn''t dumb enough to make a fight with Horizon personal, how''s Ryuko?" "She hasn''t been seen leaving the tower, but Tokyo isn''t falling from the sky, so she must be alive." "Which is more than I can say about La Brava, Horizon''s sword through the heart put an end to her." "I see," Pantu says. "So if Shigaraki wasn''t the man behind this, who was?" "Gentle and La Brava wanted to break into Horizon Tower for the attention, apparently they''re the only people who didn''t get the memo to avoid Horizon. They called Twice when they got beat up, turns out they had a number for him since Gentle was on a short list of wanted recruits for a heist they wanted to do, at UA." "UA?" "That''s literally all the info I have on it," Hawks says. "But Shigaraki doesn''t want to be the guy with this hot potato when the music stops and Horizones knocking." "Where will we dump them?" "That''s all I need from you, a location, they''ll do it within a city, that''s as specific as he''ll ever go since he''s scared of people running through the Warp Gate into their base." "Send them to Ryukyu''s city, the dragon can collect them and fly them over to a mountain facility for interrogation," Pantu orders. "And do you have any leads on where his base is?" "Sorry, still no signals, and I never even get to go outside, but it''s on a mountain of some kind, that''s all I can tell." "Alright, good work Hawks, contact me if anything elsees up." "Gotcha," Hawks says before hanging up. "Kurogiri, I''m ready," he says quietly as the Warp Gate manifests around him once more. In but a moment he''s back in the meeting room with the viins, all looking at him expectantly. "Yeah Pantu was already calling me to talk about this exact thing, just like I said, and I''m sure you heard from the bugs in my office, she wants to rip intel out of Gentle and La Brava." "Good, we''ll drop them off in five minutes, close to Ryukyu''s agency, on a rooftop," Shigaraki says. "Good work Hawks, and stop sulking like that Jin, mistakes happen, and nobody could have expected this situation to ever arise." "Well I should get out of here and go call her, and I need to show my face while doing some Hero Work, the weekend is starting after all." "Right, you''re mentoring that UA trash still," Shigaraki says. Hawks narrows his eyes at Shigaraki, "Tsukuyomi is a good kid, not ''UA Trash''." "Whatever," Shigaraki waves his hand and Hawks is warped away once again. "So, we keeping the sword?" Dabi asks. "No, it has a tracker built into the metal of the de, the moment we send this back to Japan Horizon will show up looking for blood and answers." "But the Radio Wave Nomus we have here don''t allow the signal to leave, so shouldn''t we keep it?" Twice asked. "I mean don''t we want Gentle to be taken alive by the government." "I''m not taking any chances, so go pack, we''re moving to a base on the opposite side of Korea just to be safe," Shigaraki says. "Plus, Horizon wants Gentle dead, so if he shows up when the government has him, that puts them against each other, and that just sounds fun..." ---Minutes Later... "What?!" Gentle yells as he''s harshly dropped onto a concrete rooftop, only wearing a pair of shorts. Bandages wrapped around his chest and arms, as well as his head. The impact of him hitting the rooftop sends shockwaves of excruciating pain through his body, but those are easily ignored as he looks to his side. Hearing a thud and metal ttering, seeing La Brava''s bloody corpse and Horizon''s sword dropped beside him. "La Brava!" He crawls over to her and holds her in hisp, looking at her precious face once more, wishing he had just another moment with his love. "They couldn''t save you," he mutters as tears begin falling from his eyes to her body. His quiet weeping goes on for a few minutes, until the sound of loud pping and the feeling of strong gusts of air pushing against him are felt, but not enough to move him. He looks over his shoulder and through tears eyes see''s Dragon Hero Ryukyunding on the roof behind him, then he looks at La Brava once more, ignoring the Pro Hero. "Gentle Criminal," Ryukyu''s voice was intense, but had a certain softness to it as she took in the scene. "I need you toe with me, it''s for your own safety, please don''t resist." "Why would I resist?" Gentle asks, still not looking away from La Brava. "Life is already over for me," he gently caresses La Brava''s cheek. Seeing his injuries Ryukyu realizes the man is in no shape to fight, and shrinks down to her human form. "I know this is hard for you," she says while walking up, gently cing a hand on his shoulder. "But if you stay here, you''ll die, and so will the memories and love you have for her, then there won''t be anyone left to remember her." Gentle sniffles a bit then wipes his eyes, "you''re right..." he takes a moment to recount what she said when she first got her. "Wait, you said I''m in danger? What did you mean?" "We need to get you out of here before Hor---" SHAMBLES! The three people and sword disappear from the rooftop, swapped for simple leaves. END CHAPTER--- Chapter 276: (Monster and Dragon) Chapter 276: (Monster and Dragon) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "Ngh," Ryukyu stirs awake, facedown against the grassy mountain floor. She opens her eyes slowly, feeling a headache pounding against the back of her skull as she looks around her. She lifts a hand to shield her eyes from the afternoon sun while looking around, immediately seeing her city at the base of this mountain, with the ocean just beyond it. To the far left she could see the highways wrapping around this mountain to connect her city to many others, and for a moment all seemed still in her world. She sits up and rubs the back of her head, trying to remember what happened, and why she''s on the ground now, but the memories don''t return until she notices Horizon standing a dozen meters away looking out at the city. Her heart begins racing as she raises a hand to her ear, trying to activate her earpiece, only to find it missing. She begins sweating while reaching for her phone, not finding that device either.She looks around, hoping to find one of them on the grass around her, but she sees nothing, aside from bits of dried blood scattered about. She naturally looks down at her body, not finding any blood on her at all, then looks back to the sttering of blood. Looking between the trail and Horizon she notices he''s not moving, and forces herself to stand up, terrified, but more worried about whoever is clearly injured. She notices the trail leading away and around a bush, away from Horizon. But she nearly loses her lunch when she looks back at him, noticing both his hands were blood stained, all the way past his wrists. From here she could only see his back, his hands hanging at his side while Scalpel hovers in front of him, slowly rotating and allowing her to just barely get a glimpse of it. Ryukyu swallows harshly before returning to the blood trail, scared of what she''s most likely to find at the end of it. But things quickly be more than she expected within only a few steps. She followed the trail, and along it found bits of torn up flesh. Teeth, entire eyeballs either intact or crushed, more than a dozen thus far. ''He hurts people and heals them so he can hurt them more...what a monster,'' she thinks while following the trail. She begins finding bits of white hair still connected to pieces of scalp, clearly torn away from the skull. She eventually finds entire fingers, toes, feet,hands, then whole limbs. "Ugh!" She blocks her mouth to keep her lunch down when she notices what are clearly internal organsying in the grass. Pieces of liver, intestines, 4 whole kidneys, rib bones, and many, many other things, all of which made her regret the choices that led to this moment. A few stepster she finds Gentle Criminal, appearing perfectly healed aside from the sword pinning him to the floor through his midsection. While trying to desperately drag herself and the victims away, Ryukyu feels a sharp pain in her chest as she drops them and crumples to her knees. She ces a hand over her chest and looks over to Horizon, now noticing him holding a still beating heart in his bloody hand while walking over to her and Gentle Criminal. As she feels the square shaped hole in her chest, she notices her phone and earpiece in his other hand. "Well I hope you had a good nap," Horizon says as he stands above her. "Because reality is here now." Ryukyu narrows her eyes at him, still trying and failing to get up, "are you going to kill us?" she questions through grit teeth. Horizon shakes his head at her, disappointed, "oh Kyukyu, tsk tsk tsk, I''m a hero, we don''t kill," he lies. "Especially other Pro Heroes, I mean Japan really can''t handle losing one top Pro right now, definitely not two. That would just make me look bad by rtion, and we both know I can''t allow that, right?" She looks genuinely confused, not sure where he''s going with this. "But...I can''t just have you go unpunished," he raises her phone and earpiece. "Especially since my very heavy suspicions about you being a spy for Pantu have now been confirmed. But maybe that''s my fault. After all, viins have many examples of why they should be afraid of me, but I never really gave Pantu a proper reason, until now..." She feels her blood run cold and stomach turn at that. "I---" "Don''t care," he cuts her off. "You people need to be punished for trying to meddle with me, and Gentle needs to die so...two birds one stone," he gestures to the floor at his feet, and there she sees another still beating heart appear, kept neatly in an invisible jelly-like substance. Ryukyu''s eyes go wide as she stares at it, even now in somewhat disbelief. She nces over to Gentle Criminal''s unconscious body beside her, then up at Horizon, "no, I won''t be a murderer, I''ll die before I be a monster like you!" "Bold words," Horizon says as he gently squeezes her heart in his hand. "Argh!" Ryukyu''s pained screams flow through the forest as she feels a dozen small heart attacks, as if her chest was about to explode. Seeing her heart being slowly crushed only made the experience all the more traumatizing. But no matter how much it hurt, she never once tried to reach for Gentle Criminal''s heart. And eventually Horizon stopped. "Wow, impressive," Horizon says. "But I half expected that since you''re the ''True Hero'' type, but you people have a very clear weakness..." As Ryukyu''s half listening to him, struggling to catch her breath, she suddenly finds herself at the edge of the forest at a cliff overlooking the city. "Wha---" "You super hero types can''t stand being helplessly on the sideline while people die, because of you, right?" She looks from the bustling city, then back to him, "no! You can''t!" "I can do whatever I want Kyukyu," Horizon growls out. "Now crush it," He gestures to the heart in front of her. Ryukyu can''t even hide how terrified she is anymore, looking at the heart in front of her. "I can''t," she pleads. "You''ve got till I get to ''three'', then people start dying," Horizon says coldly. "Those people haven''t done anything to you," Ryukyu says angrily. "They''re innocent!" "Yes, they are, but unlike you, I embrace what I am," Horizon says. "And I''m a monster, remember? So if people need to die for me to get people to stop bothering me, then so be it." "But---" "One!" Hearing that her lunch nearly rushes back up her throat. She looks at the city below, and genuinely considers this, considers actively and intentionally taking a human life, even if it is to save others. She weighs the options, one life, versus oh so many below. She considers calling Horizon''s bluff, but instantly discards that idea. He seemed serious, and even if she thought he was bluffing, could she take that chance with so many lives on the line. "Two." She squeezes her eyes shut, cing her hand atop the heart, ready to crush it. But the beating of it against her palm causes her to hesitate. It fills her mind with memories of her precious students. Of Nejire, Uravity, and Froppy. Of all the little girls she''s met over the years who cheer her on and say they want to be just like her. Strong, dependable, kind, a true hero for everyone to look up to. "Three." "AHHHH!" Ryukyu screams at the top of her lungs, squeezing her eyes shut as a few tears are forced out, and mming her hand down on the heart. With a quick squelch it stters under her palm, sshing her with a bit of blood and causing her to instantly throw up on the floor. Ryukyu unconsciously rubs her hand against the grass and dirt around her, even as the skin peels away she can''t stop, desperate to get the sensation off her flesh. Seeing the woman slowly losing her mind and failing toe to terms with what she just did, Horizon simply drops her own heart in front of her before looking out to the city. "That''s the difference I suppose, you can only be a dragon, but I''m...so much more," he takes a step in front of her and raises a hand to the city. "Too bad you moved a bit too slowly..." And with that he shoves his hand forward, sending a simplemand to many of the tall buildings and subway tunnel support columns supporting a few blocks of the city. "Takt!" In the next few minutes, entire buildings crack and fall apart as what wouldter be described as an unprovoked viin attack urred. Bringing down buildings and copsing the crowded subway tunnels below the city, suddenly and without any warning. Leaving thousands dead and countless more injured. All while this city''s main Pro Hero, was forced to sit on the sidelines and watch. The first of two great tragedies that would befall this city within a mere two weeks... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 277: (Home Visit) Chapter 277: (Home Visit) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- ---Tuesday, March 12th, 01:30 PM,... "We''re here ma''am," A stern voice says from the driver''s seat, causing Pantu to look up from her phone. The two agents with her in this car were on the highest alert, the woman rarely ever leaves Tokyo, or the HPSC Buildings, so this was as vulnerable as she''s ever been. Hearing the man Pantu sighs and reaches into her purse, taking out a small remote control as they pull up to a massive ck gate built into 10ft stone walls. With a click, she opens the gate and they drive in, seeing arge property, perfectly cut grass for a hundred meters in every direction wrapped neatly by the same high wall. A few small dogs run about in the grass, and at the end of the long driveway, she sees a mansion waiting for her."When did we get dogs?" Pantu asks. "A few months ago if I recall correctly," one of the agents says. "Your grandson couldn''t decide which one he wanted, so you had us send him the litter." "Oh, right, of course," Pantu mutters. "I suppose it''s been a while since I''ve taken any personal time..." The car stops in front of the house and Pantu steps out, still wearing her usual work attire, but cradling a small gift-wrapped box under her arm. "I won''t be staying long, wait here," she orders the men before getting out and walking to the door. Taking a deep breath Pantu opens the door and steps into the massive entranceway, hearing the sound of faint music andughter from down the hallways. Putting a smile on her face Pantu briskly walks down the hallway toward the backyard, only to be met by a younger Japanese woman with long ck hair, wearing a simple sundress, carrying a birthday cake. "Mom," the woman says. "You, actually came." "Well try not to sound that surprised," Pantu says. "I want to meet my granddaughter." The woman nods for Pantu to follow her as they make their way to the backyard, "Well she''s already a few months old and you''ve finally made time to see her, or visit us, this is your house, remember? Or did you really forget that?" "Can we please not do this, I have to get back to work after the party," Pantu says. The woman stops and gives her a harsh re, "right, because after not seeing you for months we can''t even get you to spend a night at home," she rolls her eyes. "My work is important, you know this," Pantu says. "Especially with Japan as fragile as it is." "Always concerned with your work, whatever, just spend some time with your grandkids for a change," the woman says as she pushes open the back door, leading to the pool area. "At least you sent a gift that the kids actually enjoyed," her daughter says as they enter the party area. "And that put my mind at ease." They see kids in the pool, some adults lounging about watching them or preparing food, and strangely some of the pool toys floating in the air. Pantu gives it a curious look before continuing to follow her daughter. "Yes well, he wanted a dog, and children need pets." "Oh, no I was talking about---" "President Pantu," A chill runs up the woman''s spine as she turns to see Horizon, standing there, her newborn granddaughter in his arms sleeping peacefully. Her expression bes one of horror and shock for a split second before Facade takes over and it bes cold and unreadable. "Awe she fell asleep," Pantu''s daughter says as she sets the cake down on a table with all the food and moves to take the baby from his arms. "How was it?" "Perfectly healthy," Horizon says. "But you have my number so if anything happens be sure to call." "Thank you," the woman says. "And I was just telling my mother about how nice it was to have youe give her a check-up, although I''m sure your schedule is so busy this must have been a real bother." "Oh no," Horizon says, looking at Pantu. "It only took me seconds to get here from Horizon Tower, honestly, I can be anywhere in Japan that quickly if I really wanted to." "Really?" "Yes," he turns back to the woman. "But let''s keep that between us." "Right, of course," she smiles and nods along. "Now I need to get this one to bed then I''ll be back," she gestures to the baby before walking away." Pantu looks back at the pool, seeing the kids ying on the pool toys hovering in mid-air, then turns to Horizon. "Why are you here?" "Who, me?" Horizon asks. "Well, you asked me toe give your granddaughter and daughter a check-up, after those little medicalplications they had, what a caringdy you are..." "Follow me," Pantu turns on her heel and begins walking inside, followed closely by Horizon. As they enter he rxes, while she remains her usual self, leading him upstairs. "This ce is nice, lots of space, big yard, heated pool, away from any big city," Horizon goes on as he looks around the house while following her. "And the security system, it''s pretty good, especially the fact that nobody knows the people living here are rted to you." "And yet you found them," Pantu says as they arrive before a pair of heavy double doors. "Well, finding people who don''t want to be found, who are worth a lot of money, was part of my training," Horizon says as he follows her into her home office. As the doors close behind them Horizon begins looking around the office, at all the family pictures. Pantu''s daughter, herte husband, grandson, and son-inw, no pictures with the new baby yet. Pantu walks to her desk and turns around to face him, arms folded, wearing a frown. "Why are you here?" Horizon shrugs, "Just figured I''de notify you that repairs on Horizon Tower areplete, took a few days longer than expected but it''s all back to normal now." "You tracked down my family home for that?" Pantu asks. "Was this threat really necessary?" "What threat?" Horizon asks. "I can''t visit my family, so I might as well get some family time with yours, nothing wrong with that." "You made enough of a point with Ryukyu," Pantu says. "Oh that, well, yeah I was ying along with the spy game for a bit, and honestly I would have kept ying...mostly because she''s, well, you''ve seen her. But I was just not in the mood for games that day." "I noticed, as did the thousands of people affected by a city block copsing spontaneously." Horizon shrugs, "These viins, they really are unpredictable, but we must always strive to help who we can, right?" "Right," Pantu nods. "Anyway, you really should try to spend more time with your family, they really miss you." "Managing all the Hero-rted dealings in Japan doesn''t leave me much personal time." As if on queue her phone rings, and she doesn''t hesitate to answer. "Yes." "I''ve got another good lead, this time its big," Hawks says. "How big?" "Kurogiri." "I''m putting you on speaker, Horizon is here," Pantu says. "What''s going on?" Horizon asks. "I have a time and ce for where Kurogiri is going to be this evening," Hawks says. "Send the details, I''ll go there personally," Horizon says. "Alright, if I get any more info I''ll be sure to forward it," Hawks says before hanging up. "The work never ends," Pantu says. "Now, I''d like you to le---" There are three loud knocks on the door before it is pushed open, revealing Pantu''s daughter. "You aren''t even here for 5 minutes and already went back to working?" she asks. "My fault actually," Horizon says. "I got an emergency alert and wanted her opinion on it before I left." "Oh, you''re leaving," she frowns at that. "Can you at least stay for a minute so we can cut the cake?" "Uh, sure, if that''s what your son wants..." ---Elsewhere... Sitting in a lounge area Shigaraki and Hawks are talking, with Kurogiri standing beside them, and a nk screen on the other side of the room only showing ''No Video'' on it. "Well, that''s my part done," Hawks says. "Now we just need to wait for Horizon to stumble upon our bait, and Machia'' will handle the rest," Shigaraki says. "Assuming Gigantomachi can actually handle Horizon," Hawks says. "I mean, it is Horizon after all." "The special modifications will be enough," a robotic voice speaks through the speakers. "It took the focus of most of our resources, but with thetest modifications to Gigantomachia and the few specialized Quirks I had to crossbreed and create for this fight, he will be more than a match for Horizon." "I hope you''re right about this thing being able to kill him..." Hawks says, and the small Nomu on Shigaraki''s shoulder doesn''t detect any lies. Time until Ascension, 4 Hours 23 minutes... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 278: (Taking the bait) Chapter 278: (Taking the bait) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- ---Tuesday, March 12th, 05:43 PM... Standing atop Horizon Tower, looking out over Minato Tokyo, Horizon takes a few deep breaths, enjoying the fresh air. "Are you sure you don''t want us there?" Mudman''s voice asks through his visor. "Nah, I''ve got this," Horizon says. "And my source says viins are keeping tabs on my entire team, right now I''m showing my face in Tokyo so they rx a bit." "Alright man, good luck with whatever big case you''re working on," Mudman says before hanging up. Horizon nces over his shoulder, seeing Scalpel, now recovered, hovering in the air behind him, alongside his hoverboard.''Any second now,'' he checks the time on his watch, then looks up as the sound of a helicopter reaches his ears. He sees a news helicopter passing by the tower, the camera pointed directly at him, dly broadcasting his location to put the city at ease. Secondster another call connects through his visor, "It''s time, ready?" Pantu asks. ---HPSC Tokyo Headquarters... Sitting at the back of a massive monitor room, Pantu looks out over dozens of agents coordinating teams of Pro Heroes. There are four senior agents at one long desk just ahead of hers, before the ocean of other agents managing situations and Pro Heroes involved in this. On Pantu''s desk, there are only two monitors, showing a direct feed from Horizon''s camera in his visor, and Endeavor''s camera built into the chestte of his new suit. "Is everyone ready at Endeavor''s Agency?" Pantu asks, ncing at the monitor to see the entire Endeavor Hero Agency assembled and waiting. "Ready," Endeavor says. "Horizon, sending coordinates now, you''ll be 18 miles -30km- outside of Dagga city," Pantu says as she finally gets the specifics from Hawks. The massive monitor at the far end of the room projects a map of Japan, showing Horizon Tower in Minator Tokyo, and Dagga City, 700 miles -1125 km- between them. ''Hawks was right,'' Pantu thinks. ''They wanted this weapons test as far away from Horizon as possible, but that doesn''t matter, we only need Kurogiri...'' "Got it," Horizon says as he receives the information. "Warping us there now." "Track his jumps," Pantu orders her agents as she focuses on the screens. In one instant he''s standing atop Horizon Tower, looking at the incredible Tokyo skyline. And in the next, he''s standing in Endeavor''s Hero Agency. "53 kilometers -32mi-!" One of the agents yells out as he immediately marks Horizon''s new location on the map. As Horizon and Endeavor at talking, Pantu does her best to understand what she saw, or more urately, what she didn''t see. ''No materialization of another substance that helps him make space malleable, is this really Warping? Seems like, something else...'' She recalls his words during the UA Sports Festival, ''I simply tell the world what to do, and it does what I want, because it knows better''. ''Mystery ss monsters,'' Pantu thinks. ''Probably close enough topete with Start and Stripe right now, and only 16 years old, concerning.'' The view on her screen changes again, instantly appearing in a forest away from Tokyo, along with Endeavor and the ming Sidekicks. "40 kilometers -24mi- !" the man announces once again, making the Warp destination and the number of people moved during it. After a few more of these jumps Pantu leans back in her chair and considers all that she just saw, ''his warping it...inconsistent, but clearly it''s not exactly him affecting space, something is off here.'' Before she can finish her thoughts the Heroes arrive in a forest overlooking the ocean, 28 miles -45km- up the coast from Dagga City. ---With Horizon... "We''re here, how is the connection?" he asks Pantu. "Clear for now, if anything happens I have people in ce to figure something out, do you sense anything?" "I still don''t get why I''m here," Burnin says. "If whatever they have is meant to be used against this freak, what am I supposed to do exactly?" "Act as support and distractions if necessary," Endeavor says while Horizon is focused on checking out the area. "Combat isn''t just about who hits harder, matchup matters." "Yeah yeah," Burning rolls her eyes, not liking how useless she''s expecting to be in this conflict. "President Pantu, did you contact Ryukyu?" Endeavor asks. "Her city is nearby, if we need more backup she''d be a good person to have ready." "It''s already taken care of, but try not to let it get to that," Pantu says. "Honestly, regarding backup, if you and Horizon can''t win a fight, adding Ryukyu won''t change the oue." "As if that guy knows how to lose," Burnin chuckles confidently. "Got him," Horizon says, drawing their attention to him. "Kurogiri is a few miles West, ind, he''s standing by munication device maybe, doubt that''s the weapon." "Are you ready to engage?" Pantu asks. "Ready?" Horizon asks Endeavor. Endeavor nods in response. SHAMBLES! Standing in a wide grassy field among the otherwise thick forest, Kurogiri is staring at an antenna device intently, ying along to Shigaraki''s machinations under the orders of his true master. Being the perfect bait. "Hm!" Kurogiri''s eyes widen as the device is suddenly cut in half. Before he can activate his Quirk to fein a resistance Horizon swaps ces with the top half of the device and thrusts Scalpel through his chest. "Ugh!" COUNTER SHOCK! Large arcs of electricity dance around both of them and flow through Kurogiri''s convulsing body as he drives the Nomu to the ground and pins him against the forest floor with Scalpel. The current flowing in the ground causes some of the grass to cken and burn away around them before Kurogiri goes unconscious. As Horizon gets up and removes the sword, he swaps part of the device with Endeavor, who immediately nces down at Kurogiri. Before the purple mist can hide it he sees the hole Horizon left in his chest before ncing at all the burnt grass and dirt. "Is he still alive?" "It, is a Nomu, so who cares?" Horizon asks. "Aizawa," Endeavor says. "Whatever," Horizon steps back and warps the device back to them for inspection. "Looks like they were trying to set up amunications array," Endeavor says. "Doesn''t matter now," Horizon says. "We just rui---" "Machia, wake up," Shigaraki''s broken voice echoes through the forest as the ground begins to rumble. "Horizon?" Endeavor''s mes be hotter in response to the potential threat, remembering the fight Buakaw and Hodori had with Gigantomachia. "I don''t sense any speakers or other devices, and, huh," Horizon turns to face the middle of the clearing, as a massive rock rises from the ground. "Some kind of Stone Body Quirk to stay hidden¡­" As the rock rises out of the forest floor, it begins to crack open and release brown slime that coats it, without spilling a single drop onto the ground. It simply clings to the stone. Then the stone shifts, changing colors to a deep purple as it unfolds itself, beginning to reveal a giant Nomu. SHAMBLES! Before the process can bepleted Horizon warps it away, and in its ce is a simple stone. "They made Gigantomachia into a Nomu," Endeavor says in disgust. "Where''d you send him?" "Bottom of to oce---" As Horizon is speaking a ball of the same brown slime manifests in the space where Gigantomacina was, starting the size of a basketball and growing rapidly. As it grows Horizon recognizes it, "All For One''s ''Warp'' Quirk," he says while shing at it with Scalpel. AMPUTATE! Horizon shes downward, causing a thin division through the middle of the clearing and extending into the forest, perfectly slicing through trees and earth alike. But to their surprise the brown slime simply took the impact, bing deformed for a moment that was nearly impossible to notice because of how fast it was expanding. And when it became the size of a bus, the slime fell away to reveal Gigantomachi, standing upright. He was two stories tall, shorter than when theyst saw him, and much smaller as well, but he was magnitudes stronger, that much was obvious. His muscles were more entuated, covered by dark purple skin but only for a mere moment as the brown slime immediately manifests across his body and coats him entirely in a centimeter of it. "shfire Fist!" Endeavor yells out and fires a st of superheated mes at Gigantomachia, but the monster doesn''t respond. Not moving, not even turning to look at the Heroes standing in front of him, only remaining there like a statue. "Fire resistance," Endeavor grumbles, noticing the Nomu was entirely unaffected by his attack. But then he sees the area where his mes hit glowing red for a moment before returning to normal, causing the muscles there to flex and tighten slightly. "Metabolosing fire maybe," Horizon says. SHAMBLES! Horizon once again warms him away, and less than a secondter the same brown slime appears to warp him back to the clearing. AMPUTATE! The slime deforms slightly but continues expanding. "Maybe if I''m faster," Horizon says as he begins warping about the clearing and attacking from all sides. AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE! He flickers all about the area, but the slime simply takes all the hits, some parts of it seem to dissipate, but eventually, it grows and Gigantomachia is warped back into the clearing. "Any more ideas?" Endeavor asks as he gets ready for a fight. "I''ll think of something, but I''m guessing this is the weapon," Horizon says. "So that Quirk works," Shigaraki''s voice echoes through the forest once more, causing all the heroes to look around. Endeavor looks to Horizon who just shrugs, "he must be sending his voice through Machia'' somehow." "Stay on guard," Endeavor says. Horizon looks back to Machia and addresses Shigaraki directly, "This is the part where you reveal your evil n right? Can you make it fast, still have to drop this one off to jail," he gestures to Kurogiri. "n?" Shigaraki asks, seeming genuinely confused. "What n? There can be no n while you''re here, propping up Japan, being a pain in our side." "Thanks," Horizon says. "Don''t suppose you can keep this between just us, how about it?" Shigaraki''s brokenugh echoes through the forest, "no, that won''t work for me. See, we had a n, but then you decided to exist and ruin everything, everything!" Endeavor and Horizon share a knowing nce, and he leaves Horizon to speak to the viin alone. "So what is it that you want then?" Horizon asks as Endeavor quickly backs away. "You, dead," Shigaraki says inly. "With the resources we dumped into Machia'' we could have taken over Japan already, but while you''re here that goal is impossible, so you have to die first." "And you think this big meathead is enough?" Shigaraki''s boisterousugh echoes through the forest, "This new Machia grows in response to threat and danger, and he hasn''t grown an inch since you so-called heroes got there! We sacrificed his mind and pushed his insane constitution to the limit and beyond to fit these unique quirks, all engineered for his body, just so he could kill you. So you can''t simply wave your hand and get away from your death. You''ve met your match, Horizon." "Wow, you put a lot of thought into this." "Killing you is all I''ve thought about." "Huh, I rarely think about you," Horizon shrugs. "Tch, make your jokes, you can''t run from what''s about to happen to you." "You did all that just so I wouldn''t warp him into the earth and be done with it, are you that scared of me? C''mon, I''ve never even touched you," Horizon says yfully. The sound of Shigaraki''s teeth grinding reaches their ears. "You''re an abomination, everything wrong with this hero-centric society, even if you pretend to be a True Hero! You''re the biggest liar! You''re the most cruel of all the government-hired muscle, eager to perform so-called wful violence'' against those who wish to be truly free!" "What about the people who choose to live in a peaceful society, who don''t want to have to fight for survival against their neighbors at every turn, what about their freedom?" Horizon asks. "SHEEP! Brainwashed by your lies and propaganda! They don''t know true freedom so of course they can''t choose it, they''re blinded to the choices in this superhuman society!" "Just like All For One brainwashed you to be his pet monster, right?" Shigaraki''s low growl is all they hear for a moment before he speaks, "my master''s n failed, now it''s my turn to take control." "Yet you still call him ''my master'', seems you''re just a puppet that can''t see the strings." Shigaraki''s frustrated grumbling is all they hear for a while, then he goes silent. "Gigantomachia---" Machia''s head raises up, eye glowing, ready to ept themand. "---Get to the middle of the nearest city, then start killing everyone, prioritizing Horizon, go!" "RAARRRGHHHH!!" Gigantomachi''s roar sends a shockwave through the clearing, nearly knocking Horizon and some other heroes off their feet before he breaks into a full sprint. The draft from his two-story, bulky body moving that fast rips Horzion off the floor, forcing him to warp to the other side of the clearing to avoid being rag-dolled by the sheer force of the wind in Gigantomachia''s wake. SHAMBLES! Machia'' disappears once again, but only for a few seconds before he returns and continues running southwest through the forest, easily uprooting and snapping entire trees without even noticing. "Endeavor?!" Horizon yells out before warping onto his hoverboard and giving chase. Endeavor rockets into the air and flies beside Horizon, "good job stalling, Pantu contacted Ryukyu, evacuation is already going well!" Endeavor says as the wind is rushing past them. "How''d you know he would take the fight to the city?" They can barely hear each other over the sound of trees being destroyed, the earth being excavated, and Machia''s footsteps causing quakes with every movement. "Shigaraki is a drama queen, he needs to world to see him win and acknowledge it, I''m just d you got my hint, if Shigaraki wants Machia in the middle of the city fighting me, he thinks that''s the only way to make me stay in the fight." "Isn''t it?" "If the city is empty it won''t matter, Machia can''t actually hit me, we''ll have time to figure out how to put him down." As they''re speaking and following Gigantomachia, Horizon constantly tries warping the Nomu away, only for him to immediately warp back to his previous location and continue his task. TAKT! Horizon rips a chunk of earth upward, directly in the middle of Machia''s path, only for the Nomu to run directly through it, as if it wasn''t even there. "Tch, it''s like All Might!" Endeavor growls out. "I need to know what Quirks it has," Horizon says before warping forward, swapping with a piece of rubble as Machia is running, reaching forward to ce a hand on his back and Scan him. But the moment he''s about to make contact, two dozen holes open on Machia''s back, causing him to warp back to Endeavor just in case. "Iing!" Horizon raises a hand, ready to activate Curtain as the cannon-sized holes are aimed back at them. But instead, each holeunches a cannonball sized sphere into the air, above the heroes. Endeavor and Horizon look up at them, expecting an attack. But instead, each sphere unfolds and expands into a high-end Nomu, each unique aside from the fact that every one of them can fly. And with exceptional speed, they rocket back toward the clearing, past the heroes, past Burnin who was doing her best to keep up with her mentor and friend. Looking back they all immediately realize exactly what''s happening, and the situation bes many magnitudes more difficult. "They''re going for Kurogiri!" Horizon says as he turns around. "Keep following Machia," he orders before warping away, back to the clearing. Time until ascension, 10 minutes... END CHAPTER--- No more waiting, the next chapter, is THE chapter. Happy new year! Chapter 279: NEW YEARS 2024 UPDATE! Chapter 279: NEW YEARS 2024 UPDATE! ''Hi everyone, Keanu here. So thest 2-3 months have been...quite rough, but I mostly kept the webnovel and scribblehub uploads consistent. Pa.treon has suffered a lot but January looks like I''ll have a lot more free time to just focus on writing like the good ole days so I''ll be focusing on that mostly this month. We''re in the Ascension sequence of the book, his Ascension is not his Awakening, you all aren''t ready for that yet, but it will happen eventually. This being the first sequence of 2024 is just a perfect way to start the year. Aside from that, I''ve also started nning my original book, I know a lot of people have been asking about that and I''ve decided now that I''m confident enough in my writing, at some point this year it''ll be time to start uploading that. My original story will likely be simultaneous with either this story or whatever current fanfic I''m writing, but again that''s assuming life doesn''t decide to rail me like it''s been doing these past few months. The drafts for this book be pa.treon exclusive until I''m ready to upload in theter half of this year. Horizon is currently at chapter 273, there are quite a few MAJOR arcs remaining so from my best estimates, this story may go as far as chapters 400-450, but I''m intentionally elerating the pacing to trim that down a bit. The entire arc with Majestic''s team was honestly improvised while I was just writing and suddenly it was just there on the page, so I''ll try to cut back on that bad habit. But aside from that, happy new year. I wish you and your loved ones all the best, I hope you''re enjoying the story thus far, and if you have any questions feel free to ask here or in my discord. And as always any support here or on pa.treon is greatly cherished and appreciated.Thank you all!'' Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene Chapter 280: (ASCENSION!) Chapter 280: (ASCENSION!) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- SHAMBLES! Horizon suddenly appears beside Kido and Onima, two of Endeavor''s Sidekicks that are guarding Kurogiri. "What''s going on?" Kido asks, seeing Horizon still standing on the hoverboard. "I thought you guys were going after that big thing?" "Didn''t you hear, two dozen High-End Nomu areing this way for Kurogiri?" "Communications went down when Machia'' ran off," Onima says. "Damn it," Horizon looks in the direction of the iing Nomu, seeing them all flying toward him. "I need confirmation from Pantu before I just warp Kurogiri to a holding location, otherwise these things might be able to track him somehow.""What do we do?" Kido asks. "Just focus on staying beside Kurogiri, let me deal with the Nomu, I need to finish this then go help in Dagga city," Horizon draws his de and begins hovering slightly higher above the field. "Shouldn''t you be more focused on the people in the city!?" "Kurogiri is worth more than one city of people," Horizon says. "He''s vital to Shigaraki, and since he said Machia''s variety of Warp was entirely unique, they probably don''t have any more warping Quirks." "Horizon?" Pantu''s voice reaches his ears. "Are you there?" "I''m here, did you beat their signal jammers?" "No, we were forced to reconnect via public satellite frequency, so be careful of what you say and do, it won''t be long before the public begins recording everything our cameras and mics pick up." Horizon grumbles lowly, "24 High-End Nomu on me, what''s the status with Machia''?" "You''ve got a few minutes before he gets to the city, evacuation won''t be done before he gets there but we mapped his path and will at least have the middle of the city empty, hopefully we can keep the fight there while the peopleplete the evacuation." "Good," Horizon raises Scalpel to point at the approaching Nomu. "When I''m done here I''ll drop Kurogiri off at a safe ce then go to Dagga." "Copy," Pantu says as Horizon warps forward. He suddenly swapped ces with the second tost Nomu in the pack, sword perfectly aligned with the Nomu at the back. The Nomu at the back continues flying forward with its massive bat wings causing Scalpel to easily pierce its skull up to the hilt. At the same time, the Nomu he swapped ces with looked down at Kurogiri and rocketed toward him, only for Kurogiri and the remaining heroes to be warped away. The moment Horizon pierced the Nomu''s skull, the others turned to swing at him. SHAMBLES! He swaps back with the Nomu in the clearing while swinging his free hand out to the side, toward the Nomu''s head. As it raked through the air, motes of green energy gathered around his hand before collecting in his palm, and with the sound of a hard smack, he palms the Nomu''s skull. GAMMA: STRIKE! The radiation surges through the Nomu, irradiating its skull and brain,pletely killing it in an instant. "One down, 23 to go..." A dozen Nomu and a few minutester, Horizon finds himself on his hoverboard in the air, caught in a dogfight like he''s never experienced before. Limbs are being stretched and erged to strike at him, multiple Nomu breathing fire, causing him to either use Curtain to block it, or more frequently use Booster Shot to coat himself in protective energy, matching the mes. A dance of swords and Quirks urs, almost seeming graceful from the viewing eyes of Kido and Onima, as well as all the viewers that have tuned in. It took barely a minute to word to spread about this operation after being forced to use public channels. Pro Heroes from all around the country were rushing to Dagga city to help in either the fight or evacuation. And most of the country, alongside much of the world were watching through Horizon''s camera, and listening to every sound of exertion he makes that his mic captures. "REEEEEEEEE!" One of the Nomu''s body vibrates as it releases a high-pitched sonic attack in all directions, while flying only inches away from Horizon. BA-DUM! Horizon''s eyes go bloodshot as his nose and ears begin bleeding. SHAMBLES! He warps behind the Nomu and ms a palm into the back of its skull. As the radiation attacks its body the vibrations now have direct contact and shred the muscles and bones in his left arm, causing immense pain, but still, he maintains contact for the seconds it takes to kill the Nomu. "Argh!" he warps away, arm hanging limply at his side until a wave of healing energy emerges from it and coats it, all while he continues fighting. ''Well at least they aren''t going after Kurogiri,'' he thinks as the fight rages on. After killing two more Nomu, he shes on of the smaller ones across its chest, and barely notices a shining light emerging from beneath the skin. SHAMBLES! He warps away just in time to avoid the massive explosion of electricity as the creature self-destructs only inches away from him. BA-DUM! His headache is growing, his heart is pounding against his chest. He can feel the inside of his body glove bing more ufortable as ever so often he collects injuries. Momentster a Nomu swipes at him with its massive ws, and he manages to block with his sword, reaching toward in the same moment to grab its head and kill it with radiation. Only for it to surprise him. The downward sh it did with both hands activated a Quirk it had never used before in the fight, causing ten des of invisible wind to sh down against Horizon as he was reaching out. SHAMBLES! He warps away, avoiding most of the attack, but the top of his visor and his skull were pierced, causing blood to begin getting absorbed by the mask below. With the new cracks atop his visor he warps behind the same Nomu and grabs its head, instantly killing it. BA-DUM! He stumbles for a moment, and another Nomu takes that chance to strike forward with a punch. Thoughts blurry Horizon reacts on instinct and raises a palm to the fist. ANTIBACTERIAL CURTAIN! A blue dome is erected around him, protecting him from all sides as he hovers in the air. The impact of the fist sends a shockwave through the forest below, but doesn''t even crack the shield. He begins taking that moment to catch his breath, pushing aside the pain in his mind, forcing Hand of God to stay active in this fight. But a wave of invisible force ms into him, knocking him off the Hoverboard and disrupting his focus enough to drop the shield. He feels his own Body Glove and Hero Costume crushing and wringing his body, almost hard enough to crack his bones. Seeing the same Nomu who attacked with its fist in the same position he realized what was going on. ''A secret telekic Quirk it didn''t use till now huh,'' he thinks, but this attack onlysted for a split second before he used Takt to regain control of his items. But a split second is all it takes to change a fight. So the instant Horizon reached out and grabbed the same Nomu, who was still frozen in ce since it was using its telekic Quirk, he felt a warm sensation in his torso. "Hng!" he flinches for a moment, ignoring the five des piercing through his back and out of his belly, made entirely of solid white light, and formed out of the chest of a Nomu behind him. The Nomu behind him morphs its neck and head, stretching forward and growing, attempting to bite Horizon''s head off, a mouth filled with sharp and jagged teeth excitedly extending toward him. Horizon ignores that for now and quickly pumps raidation into the Nomu who used the telekic Quirk against him, then spins around with the sword still in his torso. They sh and tear his flesh, muscles, and bone as he twists, swinging his arm wielding the radiation at the NOmu who was trying to bite him, and in one motion pierces its skull with Gamma: Knife. As that corpse falls to the floor, now just like most of the others unable to use its Quirks because of the radiation damage to the brain, Horizon turns around on his hoverboard to see the final Nomu reentering the fight after being knocked away earlier. He still holding his heavily bleeding torso as it rockets toward him via mes firing out of its back and abs. "Ok, what''s your gimmick," his voice, for the first time, allowed the public to realize that even Horizon can get tired. But he couldn''t think about his public image right now, he was more focused on the fight. As the Nomu gets closer its eyes flicker bright blue for a moment. CRACK! Horizon hears the sound of shattering metal from his Hoverboard as it suddenly loses power, Scalpel tries to fly out of his hand as he''s falling, but his grip is so strong that instead, it pulls him upward. ''Maism,'' he thinks before swapping the Nomu and Scalpel, allowing him to easily make contact with its skull and fry its brain. SHAMBLES! He warps into the treeline beside Kido and Onima, who are staying hidden with Kurogiri. "OH god, are you---!" Horizon raises a hand to cut Kido off as he leans back against a tree. He was still holding his bleeding torso, but a thinyer of blue energy quickly gathered around it which caused the bleeding to stop. "Pantu, status?" Horizon asks as he checks the condition of his Hero Costume. His shirt, jacket, and vest werepletely shredded due to all the different types of attacks. Discarding them he reveals his Body Glove, in which most of the white fabric was now red, blood-soaked. His visor had a crack at the top of it, but he easily took out his spare and swapped them. "How are you still alive?" Kido asks, eyes wide and amazed, as is everyone who saw that fight through Horizon''s camera. "Gigantomachia is a few minutes away from Dagga, and I''ve double-checked security at location 3 for Kurogiri," Pantu says. "Right, I''ll be there in a minute," Horizon says as he takes a moment to catch his breath. He feels the pounding headache fade away, and is thankful Hand of God didn''t shut off on him during that fight. "I can''t believe you won that," ONima says. "That fight was insane, two dozen High Ends...my god." "My thoughts exactly," Shigaraki''s voice is projected through the area. "How did you do that?" Horizon stands up, holding Scalpel at the ready, "What, months of research, putting together a team of two dozen Nomu and Machia all perfectly designed to kill me, and you thought that would be enough?" "They almost did," Shigaraki says. "Wee to the real world, where ''almost'' doesn''t count," Horizon says. Shigaraki grumbles a bit, then scoffs, "With the resources we put into these 25 creatures, we could have overthrown countries, but you just had a be a pain in my neck...enjoy your near-death victory, because these Nomu were nothingpared to what Machia'' will do to you, and you won''t survive that one." "Big talk from a guy who won''t fight me himself," Horizon says. "Why would I bother fighting someone that''s hacking the game..." They wait for a moment, but Shigaraki doesn''t say anything else, allowing Kido and Onima to finally breathe. "I hate that guy," Kido says. "Don''t worry, I''ll put my hands on him eventually," Horizon says as leans back against the tree. "Are you sure you''ll be ok man?" Onima asks. "Doesn''t matter," Horizon says. "Machia will get to the middle of Dagga, then his secondarymand will activate, he''ll start killing anyone he finds then move to the next city. Unless I''m there, since if I''m there he should ignore everyone else until I''m dead, so regardless of how I''m feeling, I have to go." "What about your friend, can''t he give that thing a newmand?" Kido asks. Horizon begins walking over to Kurogiri, "Before he became a full Nomu, probably, but Nomu getmands via some kind of frequency or radio Quirk Shigaraki uses, copying a voice won''t work." "Damn it," Kido frowns. "Ok, can you warp us to Dagga while you take Kurogiri away, they''ll need all the help they can get until you''re there." "Yeah..." ---Daaga City, Minutester... News helicopters and drones were swarming the city, getting the position to record every moment of the uing fight. Some of these drones were even following Gigantomachia as the monster carved a path through the nation in a straight line toward the city. Endeavor was still giving chase, having left Burnin behind miles ago as she simply couldn''t keep up with their speed, but still, nothing he did had any effect on the monster. Looking ahead as he''s flying, he sees a highway filled with people, most of whom are marching out of the city since the roads are too crowded with cars. Daaga city rests behind it, he rockets ahead, past Gigantomachi and higher up to observe the situation. He sees the city being evacuated, but toward the outer regions, there are still massive amounts of people and traffic. In the distance, he sees a legion of boats sailing away from the city, already filled with as many civilians as they could possibly carry, and likely even a bit extra. Noticing Gigantomachia is about to trample the highway he realizes something was wrong here. ''They were supposed to lead the civilians away from the angle Gigantomachia would be entering from just to avoid this, did these people not listen to the Pro Heroes here?'' Trying to think of a solution, he''s greeted by a voice he hasn''t heard in months. "Endeavor!" Nejire-Chan yells out as the flys up beside him, looking at the viin trampling its way toward them on the horizon. "Nejire-Chan," Endeavor says. "Where''s Ryukyu?" Nejire-Chan points toward the far side of the city, "she''s flying out the bedridden patients from the hospital, the roads are filled with too many cars." "Then I guess you and I will have to be enough, we need tounch Machia into the air," Endeavor says. "Ok...what?" Nejire-Chan looks at him confused. "There are too many people here, they won''t all make it out of the way in time, and look down there," he gestures to the edge of the city Gigantomachia will be entering from. "There are crowds at the perimeter of the city there, but maybe you and I have enough power to push him over them, hismand should make him continue to ignore them and run to the middle of the city." "That''s...a terrible idea," Nejire-Chan says. "I know, but our Quirks won''t do anything to him, if you can raise a tform below him I can help push it with my mes, he won''t have any leverage in the air to fight against it." "I really don''t like this," Nejire-Chan says onest time as Machia'' is only a few hundred meters away. "This is the most we can do," Endeavor says, "Our Quirks can''t help in this kind of fight, but that''s not our job. Because being a Pro Hero, is about keeping people safe, not beating viins, this, is our job." Looking around at all the scared and desperate people trying to get away from the city, Nejire does her best mean face, which still turns out rather cute, and flys toward Machia'', ready to sacrifice it all to save the people behind her. Like a true hero would. Endeavor is beside her as they fly forward, and now she can see Machia'' as the two-story monster of muscle and flesh he is. "SPIRAL WAVE---!" Nejire-Chan charges up all her power, devoting every drop of her vitality to this. "GR---!" SHAMBLES! Gigantomachia suddenly disappears, and the sound of a loud crash is heard from within the city. Nejire-Chan and Endeavor immediately spin around and rocket into the city. "That was too close, did you secure Kurogiri?" Endeavor asks into hismunicator as they''re flying toward the battle, already seeing a skyscraper falling in the distance. "He''s captured and hidden, nowe give me some help here," Horizon says. "Help? Since when do you need help?" Endeavor asks jokingly. "Since Shigaraki designed 25 Nomu, including this titan, specifically to kill me, now c''mon!" As they arrive at the city center, they see Gigantomachia exactly as he emerged from the ground, charging at Horizon and throwing pieces of buildings or entire vehicles at the hero, only for him to constantly warp about and dodge everything. "Do you have a n?" Endeavor asks as they hover above the battle,nding on a building to observe. "Keep dodging until a lot more people get here," Horizon says. "I need more resources, more people, more Quirks to n around, more options." "Can''t you just cut him in half or throw him into space?" Nejire-Chan asks. "They gave him a variation of Warp, it''s much weaker and just lets him return to wherever he was warped away from. That''s why I had to warp him here, since getting here was his goal he wouldn''t leave. It''s designed to keep him on the battlefield." "I see, they knew that would be your first instinct, which it was," Endeavor says. "You did instantly warp him to the ocean floor when he showed up." As the battle is going on Nejire-Chan notices Horizon moving slower, his body sluggish, and all the blood and damage on his Hero Costume. ''He actually can get hurt, fighting two dozen High-End Nomu must have been hard, especially when they''re built just to kill you specifically...'' Nejire-Chan snaps her fingers, having a great idea, "What about the move you used to deal with the other Nomu today, if they were designed to kill you then it would probably work on this guy too, right?" "Even if I was fresh out of bed I don''t have nearly enough energy to use it effectively on this guy, he''s too big." As the fight continues, more and more Pro Heroes arrive, including Ryukyu. AMPUTATE! Horizon shes vertically, and splits the road for miles along with Machia'', but the Nomu puts itself together yet again. Eyes go wide all around the world as the sh reaches from the middle of the city, 13km away to the ocean, a thin line only an inch wide. Machia'' doesn''t even flinch, but Horizon notices its body acts slightly differently. SHAMBLES! He suddenly swaps ces with Endeavor, throwing the man into the fight without warning. Endeavorunches a wall of fire to shroud himself before flying upward, then looks back at his previous location to see Horizon gone. "I need a minute, stall him," Horizon says through their earpieces. "If I can pull him apart long enough then I can Scan him, and we can attack his weakness directly," he says before going silent. "Alright, everyone with ranged attacks, don''t stop firing!" Endeavor yells out as he leads the dozens of Pro Heroes into the battle. As soon as Horizon leaves the battlefield, Shigaraki''s grating voice begins booming through the city. "Running away huh, can''t me you, Machia'' is a titan of a different ss, and he hasn''t even registered a single threat here," he gloats. "The new foundation of his body, his Titan Quirk, it causes him to physically grow in response to any danger he senses, and he hasn''t even grown an inch today, which means he can''t even use his more fun Quirks yet." "Tch, then we''ll destroy him before he can," Endeavor says whileunching wide sts of mes at Machia''s eyes. "If you want me to call him off, just give me, Japan," Shigaraki says. "Otherwise I''ll just break it down to rubble and rebuild it how I want..." ---1 minute until Ascension... "Endeavor, I''m ready, get everyone away from him, then I''ll swap with you," Horizon says through the earpieces. "Everyone scatter!" Endeavor yells while flying toward Machia''. The entire main street of the city was rubble, city blocks sted apart or demolished by the Nomu. There was a 300m -900ft- circle where not a single building was left intact. All around this zone the news helicopters and drones drank in the sight of this battle, dly transmitting it to the masses so everyone could see the heroes struggle. Eventually, as most of the Pro Heroes got away from the fight, Endeavor was thest, as instructed. He sends st after st of mes at Machia'', not focusing on the heat and pressure of them, but the width of the columns. His only goal was to blind the monster for as long as possible, giving everyone a chance to keep their distance, and their lives. A handful of Pro Heroes are already dead, mostly from the sheer destruction in the wake of Machia''s charges. "Get close to him," Horizon says, and Endeavor instantly rockets toward the monster, at the edge of the destroyed zone. As he''s closing in Machia raises a giant hand to swing at Endeavor... SHAMBLES! Horizon appears in his ce, Scalpel in hand, and shes down at Machia''. The moment he swapped ces with Endeavor he shrank his Room, only big enough for the move he was about to do. AMPUTATE! Just as he noticed earlier, Machia''s body was slower at knitting itself back together, something had changed. ''I didn''t imagine it, his Quirks must be causing his body to degrade...'' Horizon thinks as he warps away, swapped with some rubble on the opposite side, and shes down again. AMPUTATE! SHAMBLES! Over and over again he does this, appearing as a flicker in hundreds of ces at once, as if he suddenly learned to clone himself. "Wow," Nerjire-Chan''s eyes go wide. "But he said he doesn''t have a Super Move." "He doesn''t," Endeavor says. "This regards this more like an attackbo." Secondster Horizon stops, and Machia'' is diced into thousands of pieces, mixed in with the rubble on the floor. His head, neck, and right shoulder are intact, too healthy for Horizon to separate from the rest of him. SHAMBLES! Horizon doesn''t hesitate to warp up to him and ce a hand on the back of Machia''s head. SCAN! A surge of information floods his brain, then suddenly the information seems to multiply many times over, increasing by magnitudes in an instant. BA-DUM! BA-DUM! BA-DUM! "ARGH!" Horizon yells out as the headache sets in, his brain hemorrhages, eyes, nose, and ears bleeding. He stumbles back as Hand of God shuts off to protect his brain from destroying itself. In the same instant, the seemingly unconscious Machia''s eyes shot open as a spike of flesh formed on his head, and pierced Horizon through the right thigh. Before anyone could process what was happening Machia''s pieces warped back to his main body, and he shook his head, causing Horizon to fly through the air. As he''s falling, Nejire-Chan and Endeavor rocket toward him and Ryukyu just stands back and watching, conflicted on what she should be doing. But before they could catch him, Machia had reformed, and with all his might he formed a fist that wasrger than Horizon''s entire body with his right hand. FWOOSH! The air pressure from the punch hended on the falling Horizon caused Nejire-Chan and Endeavor to go rolling through the air before catching themselves. They steady themselves just in time to see Horizon skip across the battlefield, mming into the rubble and debris before embedding himself in the second-story wall of a far building. His right leg which had been pierced was entirely gone now, from mid-thigh it had been torn off by the force of that attack. His visor was cracked, and the right eye and forehead area missing to show a bloody mess below. Gigantomachia stopped for a moment, unable to hear Horizon''s heartbeat, then released a victorious roar. "RAARRRRRRRRRHHHHHH!" The entire battlefield shakes as people all around the world are left speechless. And as the monster instantly turns its attention back to Endeavor, Shigarakiughs. "AAHAHAHAHA!" His wild manic cackling echoes through the city, instilling a new sense of fear in the civilians and even some Pro Heroes. "Dead, just like that!" Shigaraki gloats. "That moron, he really thought we wouldn''t learn anything from his fight with my master! We knew that Scan ability of his was his strongest ability and his weakness, and he really fell for that trick. Giving Machia the ability to shut off his bodily functions and healing Quirks to lure him in worked better than I expected! Now, Machia, kill them all and bring me Horizon''s body!" "FLASHFIRE FIST!" Endeavor screams out with a new sense of hate and anger as heunches a concentrated column of fire at Gigantomachia. Some of the other Pro Heroes join him in the fight, willing to fight to the death against the viin. But a handful of them crumble to their knees, feeling their hopes crushed and wills broken. All across the nation tears are shed, as the news cameras all focus on Horizon''s body, stuck in the wall, still clutching Scalpel tightly in his grasp. "Ryukyu, get Horizon''s body away from here!" Endeavormands as he has Machia focused on him, but Ryukyu is still frozen in shock staring at the corpse. For a few seconds, Endeavor shows why of all these people, only he could be the #1 Hero, because only he stands against Gigantomachia. And the rising star Nejire-Chan rushes off in the direction of Horizon''s body, not paying any attention to her frozen mentor. Machia ignores the girl and moves to swat at Endeavor, just as the man prepares to unleash his strongest attack, gathering his mes above his chest. BA-DUM! The monster flinches, and a chill is felt across the battlefield. All the hairs at the back of Endeavor''s neck stand up, as if there was an immense danger behind him, yet Machia was standing in front of him. But the monster was frozen in ce, its gaze lifted, looking past Endeavor. ROOM! A sense of dread washes over the entire city, and miles surrounding it. The entire world begins to shake and rumble, buildings for dozens of kilometers crack and fall apart, and rubble around the battlefield floats in the air. The air itself bes more stiff, making it hard to breathe. Endeavor feels his heart rate speed up as a new surge of adrenaline flows through him. A new sense of fear blooms in all living things for dozens of miles around, in the world itself. Endeavor''s mes flicker out without hismand, causing him to fall a few feet to the ground. The news cameras pan around, and while entire buildings are floating, skyscrapers begin torn from the ground and sundered in the air, the ocean at the coast, was almost a mile away. As if the waves were running away from the city itself. Endeavor musters his courage and turns around, leaving Machia'' at his back, to see the source of this phenomenon, and his eyes immediately fall onto Horizon. He was still stuck in the wall, but the crack in his visor was releasing a fountain of thick energy vapor, the blood-soaked areas of his body glove were saturated in it, causing the blood to be mist and blow away, revealing the glowing blue lines between the tes. Endeavor swallowed nervously, and before he realized it he was backing away, steps only quickening as the entire building Horizon is lodged into crumbles apart for him to fall to the floor. In the time it takes him to fall two stories, his entire right leg regenerates before their very eyes, allowing him tond roughly and crack the ground. The glowing blue leg was exposed, yet it appeared as if it were made entirely of blue energy, he was simply releasing so much that they couldn''t see the flesh below. Everyone watching this didn''t realize it, but they hadn''t taken a single breath since his presence was felt, and deep down, they knew why. Because this thing, this was not Horizon. Not yet. This was a being of pure instinct and power, and every fiber of their beings screamed for them to run away and never look back. Endeavor was the first to snap out of this state, not because he had the will to ovee, nobody does, but because of what he saw. He had unconsciously backed up, stepping past Gigantomachia who he''d turned his back to without realizing it. Realization dawned on him, that he was this much more scared of Horizon than the titan. But then he noticed something, Gigantomachia was scared too, the titan was now 25m -82ft- tall, five times the size it had been all day. ''It grew in response to the new danger,'' Endeavor realizes as he now consciously takes cautious steps away, raising a hand to his earpiece. "Clear the area, we don''t want to be here when they start," he says quietly, but nobody moves, they were too terrified to even hear him. Horizon raises his head, gripping his sword, and for the first time in months, Hand of God didn''t fight him. Now after death, all the Quirks had be perfectly in sync. He''d found what Dr. Ujiko took centuries to discover, that the only thing powerful enough to force proper Quirk assimtion, is the innate desire to survive. That alone will force them to work together, that is why the Nomu must be corpses. And that alone, is the baseline primal instantly, in absolute control of Horizon''s body. "RAARRRRRGHHH!" Machia'' rushes forward, his skin bing tough scale armor and his muscles bulking up as he closes the distance. Finally sensing a threat, Horizon''s instincts kick in and pilot his body. A surge of power like never before flows through him, bringing a feeling of adrenaline and bliss as it manifests as thick blue vapor, some of which falls to the ground as a liquid before evaporating. "ARRGHH!" Horizon''s roar echoes for dozens of miles, far beyond the city and surrounding mountains, shaking the world around him as he swings Scalpel upward. The de is instantly coated in a bright blue energy, and as he swings it through the air an arc of that same energy fires toward Machia, growing to the same size as the monster before colliding directly with him. What wouldtere to be named, ''Divide'', the first of his many, many new abilities to be created with his newly realized power... END CHAPTER--- Ok, so a few things. 1, I realize people are excited about this and I do read thements, so I decided to minimize the inevitable cliffhangers by making this mega chapter to get us into the real fight before the end of the week. 2, this chapter was a few hourste because I had to write and edit it, sorry about that. 3, I''d really appreciate some power stones or reviews or any support really :) Chapter 281: (The Gigantomachy) Chapter 281: (The Gigantomachy) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- Horizon''s energy sh collides with Gigantomachia before it explodes in a blinding blue light, knocking the giant off his feet and through the air. The Pro Heroes and news teams widen their eyes in horror and amazement yet again as the titan clears the entire length of the battlefield, crashing into a 70-story skyscraper at the edge of the destroyed zone and barreling through it as if it were paper. They watch Machia''nd like a cannonball through the building before disappearing behind the other buildings, hundreds of meters away from Horizon. "Horizon?" Endeavor asks, voice concerned as he looks back to the young hero. Rubble all around the battlefield was constantly floating in the air and being held in ce by an invisible force, causing Endeavor to have to push some of them aside to get a view of Horizon. And when he saw him, he immediately knew they weren''t safe.Horizon was twitching, his limbs constantly moving, as if he were on a sugar high like no other. The blue energy was pouring off of him as mist or a glowing liquid that was pooling at his feet. His de was entirely glowing blue, coated in the same energy but much denser, to such an extent that the metal of the de was entirely hidden. The crack in his visor and his exposed leg were also glowing with a blinding blue light as they released the most energy,pletely hiding any flesh beneath. Seeing Horizon''s constantly twitching and shaking, Endeavor raises a hand to his earpiece and speaks very clearly and calmly, "Expand the evacuation zone, and get everyone, including Pro Heroes, out of it, now..." As the most experiencedbatant on the battlefield, he noticed the signs. Horizon''s bodynguage and surging energy made it obvious, atleast to him. That he wasn''t thinking clearly, making him potentially more dangerous than Gigantomachia. But yet Horizon simply remains in ce, not reacting to anything as the Pro Heroes quickly begin retreating. His mind and body were being flooded with so much power that his higher brain functions were being overwhelmed. His mind was adapting, but he needed time, and in that time his most basic instincts were in absolute control. FWOOM! Endeavor activates his Quirk, ready to fly above the battlefield to keep an eye on things while everyone else gets away, but the sudden appearance of fire triggers a primal response from Horizon. Horizon shes out, almost too quickly for anyone to react to, and a blue arc of energy rockets toward Endeavor. The man propels himself to the side with his mes while also turning, making himself as tiny of a target as possible. But he wasn''t fast enough. HELL''S CURTAIN! Endeavor releases all his firepower at once to defend against the energy of the sh, the surrounding rubble instantly melts into g. But the arc of energy easily cleaves through the attack, and the #1 Pro Hero within it. Endeavor barely manages to tilt his head away, preventing the top of the arc from cutting his head off as it takes his left shoulder and arm off. "ENDEAVOR!" Nejire-Chan and Ryukyu both begin flying over to him, toward Horizon. Endeavor, while lying on the floor, face down, bleeding out, in immense pain, raises his one good hand to stop them. "Stay back!" Hemands, creating a me at his severed shoulder to burn the flesh, stopping the bleeding. "He''s just reacting to stimulus, keep away from him!" They look at Horizon, seeing him still unmoving now that the threat was seemingly dealt with, then back at Endeavor. "We need to get you out of here, you''ll die if we don''t," Ryukyu says. Endeavor looks up at her, his vision already fading, "focus on the evacuation...don''t get close to him," he says between ragged breaths. As thest of Endeavor''s strength is fading, and everyone around the world is forced to watch Japan lose another #1 Pro Hero, a high-pitched humming is heard through the battlefield. A pencil-thin line of red and ck electricity fires through the buildings and rubble, between the point where Machia'' was flung and Horizon. The energy being released from Horizon pulses as he sprints forward, and the lightning barely misses him. He runs alongside it toward Machia'', only for the attack to suddenly begin expanding to the width of a road,ing directly at the hero. Everyone expects him to do what he always does, warping away, but instead, the energy around him surges yet again as it bes more dense, and the lightning now 10m -30ft- wide column of red and ck lightning ms directly into him. Ryukyu wastes no time in descending to scoop up Endeavor, and as she does so, she sees the silhouette of Horizon, glowing blue, running through the column of lightning toward the titan. She and Nejire don''t bother staying on the battlefield, immediately taking off with the injured Endeavor, who begins muttering a few words. "Can''t think, too much," Endeavor says weakly. "Don''t try to think, just stay awake until we get to a healer," Ryukyu says. "No, Horizon, can''t think, so can''t warp," Endeavor says. "Too much, energy, need time, adjust..." Endeavor says before he stops talking. As everyone is running away from the fight, Horizon makes it over to Machia''. He''s unable to perform the explosive feats of athletics like All Might or even Deku can, but with the energy flowing through him his running speed is beyond regr superhumans. His bounds clear meters with each step, and running through the lightning attack gave him a direct path to the monster, hundreds of meters away into the city. "RARRGH!" Horizon screams as he makes it to Machia'' who is now 35m -114ft- tall, topensate for the added power he''d have to draw from his Quirks tobat this threat. Machia'' responds and stops his lightning attack, instead hardening his fist as the tiny form of Horizon rushes directly toward him. He punches forward with all his might, and his fist that''s the size of a bus, exudes heat while glowing red. Horizon makes direct contact, swinging Scalpel with both hands as he pours more energy into his body and the de. KRAKOOM! The sound of thunder echoes out as a shockwave ravages the city, breaking every window and setting off every rm that miraculously hadn''t already gone off. Machia''s stumbles back as the armor on his arm immediately repairs itself. But Horizon is sent skidding back a dozen city blocks. His body couldn''t hope to take that kind of force, nor the recoil from his own attack. All the bones in his legs, arms, and spine shattered upon impact, but were also instantly healed. His muscles tensed and flexed to hold everything together, his entire body stiffened as he was knocked away. His feet remain grounded, sending him skating backward through the street, his one boot and his barefoot carving out a trench in the street as it crumbles against him. The cars that were stuck on this road and abandoned during the evacuation either crumple against him or get knocked away as the energy flowing through and around him makes him seem indestructible to the outside viewers. Machia'' roars once more as he breaks into a full sprint, the backdraft from his sudden eleration picks up entire vehicles and pieces of rubble as each step causes a quake throughout the city. Horizon matches him, and somehow each of his steps causes even more shaking, for dozens of miles in every direction people could feel his footsteps. As they get closer they sh one more, but this time at thest moment Horizon avoids the attack and sends an arc of energy at Machia''s face. The giant isn''t even phased by the attack as he swats at Horizon, but the hero leaps up, onto the hand as he passes underneath him, andunches off it toward Machia''s face. As he''s at Machia''s face, ready to sh at him, the giant simply exhales, and with no leverage in the air, Horizon is blown away. But before he can leave Machia''s reach the titan swats upward with his hand, palming Horizon''s entire body. As he does this his palm glows bright red before erupting in a blue me, and he releases a column of blue fire and red lightning from his palm, sending Horizon rocketing through a 90-story building beside them. Horizon ms through the wall of the building, into the middle floors, and through every ceiling between him and the roof before he rockets out the top of the building. A nearby news helicopter captures the entire thing and is amazed when he erupts from the top of the building, destroying the roof, and keeps hurting toward the sky. The reporter and his cameraman stay with jaws dropped, eyes wide as they keep focus on him in the sky as he''s still moving away. "Can he survive that?" the reporter asks absentmindedly. "Wooooo---!" the pilot yells as the helicopter suddenly jerks to the side. The reports and his cameraman fall forward, but are kept aboard thanks to them being strapped into the cabin. And only a hundred feet away from them 7 missiles of blue fire mixed with red lightning rocket into the sky. The attack splits apart, and all seem to home in on Horizon as he''s made it to the peak of his travel, beginning his descent. They zoom in, trying to get an idea of what''s about to happen, and thest thing the camera sees is Horizon''s energy expanding for a moment before condensing onto his de. Arcs of his blue shes begin raining from the sky, minding the fire and lightning missiles with ease as they rocket toward the city below. The camera below the helicopter sees entire city blocks suddenly get minced into rubble with Machia''s standing in the middle, seemingly annoyed by the attacks. Then suddenly both the camera feeds are cut off, as the area of effect for Horizon''s attack develops the helicopter and multiple districts of the city. As the ants are crushed on the battlefield while a titan and god collide, neither Horizon nor Gigantomachia seem to care. Machia'' instead ms his palms onto the floor, activating a Quirk that Horizon perhaps would have found familiar if he was thinking clearly, but to a level that could never naturally be achieved. A blunt 50m -150ft- wide column of dense earth rises upward, extending for 100m -300ft- before it breaks away and simply rockets toward Horizon like an oversized pir. The remaining news helicopters and drones immediately began climbing higher to avoid what they were sure would be a devastating dust cloud when it fell, but they were sure to not miss a single moment of what happened next. Horizon sees the columnunched toward him and casually swings Scalpel at it. AMPUTATE! The column is instantly split, along with everything behind it. Machia'' suddenly has a chasm form for miles with him directly in the middle as Horizon''s sh had split the earth, causing him to almost fall in. Machia'' catches himself by extending his arms to the side, forming massive ws that allow him to dig in, but everyone notices the so-called chasm itself is still expanding, widening. "RAARGH!" Machia'' roars as he grows once more, now 45m -150ft- tall, muscles bing bulkier as pieces of metal begin forming tes atop his scale armor. As he looks up, ready to use another long-range attack on Horizon, a massive arc of blue energy ms directly into his face. This arc was half Machia''s height and thicker than usual, for on the fall downward Horizon had gathered his energy beforeunching it. The giant column Machia'' hadunched was split, either side of it going to the left and right of Horizon as he falls through the middle of it, and when he emerged from it, he''d already gathered the energy for this attack. The arc explodes as it hits Machia'', breaking away the earth he had his ws in as the chasm widens further, causing him to fall into it. As he falls into the 500m deep chasm, Horizon raises a hand before bringing it down toward him. And both sides of the massive column of earth Machia'' hadunched don''t simply stop moving, but instantly reverse course and elerate. They move so fast that they rocket past either side of Horizon and m into Machia'' before Horizon can even reach the ground, still falling through the air. The impact sets off earthquake and tsunami rms even in the neighboring regions of Japan, crumbling roads and weaker houses as a dust cloud envelops Dagga city. Horizon''s body disappears in the dust cloud as all the cameras lose sight of him, and not even a minuteter, more quakes are felt. The air itself seems to shake. KRAKOOM! Thunder rolls through the sky as lightning begins striking down, but all the bolts collide in the air before moving toward the same target. From outside the dustcloud, people begin specting, most expecting Machia'' to be using yet another of his unique Quirks. But as the dust clears, mostly due to the constant shockwaves, they see Horizon constantly shing with the now 60m -180ft- Machia. But with each sh, before his sword strikes Machia''s fist, sending the titan stumbling back as Horizon is sent skidding hundreds of meters away. Lighting arcs through the sky and strikes Horizon, seemingly without harming him as it clings to his body, dancing around him before moving to the de in his grasp. As Horizon is sent skidding away onest time, Machia'', instead of charging at the hero, opens his mouth, releasing a column of red and ck lightning. Responding to this Horizon aims Scalpel forward in a piercing stance, and releases a matching column of the collected lightning directly at the giant. The result is a blinding light, a deafening explosion, and a wave of electromaic interference that causes all the electronics in the are to temporarily stop transmitting. Leaving everyone to wonder how this new era Gigantomachy will end... END CHAPTER--- The gigantomachy is the battle between the Olympian gods and the Titans, just incase anyone was confused. Chapter 282: (The Gigantomachy II) Chapter 282: (The Gigantomachy II) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "Well, that didn''t go as nned," Nezu mutters as his monitor goes ck, having lost the connection from the fight. Principal Nezu was sitting in his office watching the fight before it cut off, and the moment it did he leaned forward and began essing the most appropriate national satellite to perhaps get a view of the battlefield from the sky. While he''s typing away on his keyboard, the phone on his desk rings. "Yes Pantu," he says without even looking at the caller number. "What the hell is going on?" Pantu asks in an annoyed voice, a rare bit of emotion showing through her Quirk. "Why is Horizon doing more damage than Gigantomachia?" "Endeavor exined well enough," Nezu says while still getting into a satellite. "He''s acting on instinct, I''m sure after the fight he''ll be better than ever.""He''s already personally killed hundreds with his attacks, not to mention Endeavor is in critical condition." "Gigantomachia pushed him to new heights, it seems to have taken him by surprise which caused this reaction," Nezu says. "When the fight is over I''m sure Horizon will exin." "Nezu, he killed hundreds," Pantu says. "If he was anyone else I''d already file for his Provisional Hero License to be taken and to cklist him from all national Hero Courses." "Yes, but he isn''t anyone else, he''s Horizon," Nezu says. "But you could do that which would nullify the contract, and I doubt he''d me you at all, he''s actually quite reasonable when he''s at fault." "That''s actually not something I can individually decide. Since he''s been listed as a National Asset such as yourself, the Supreme Court will have to decide what happens to him. Besides, if he learns to control that power, the next time the viins make a monster like that, it won''t stand a chance." "I see, then it''s out of our control," Nezu says. "What aboutmunications from the battlefield." "Still being blocked, but Shigaraki was projecting his voice somehow, most likely through a Quirk." Nezu''s monitor shows an aerial view of the battlefield, shing and shining with blue lightning arcing about battling red and ck lightning. As he and Pantu continue speaking, the door to his office is pushed open with Aizawa and Simon barging into the room. "Principal Nezu, we''re going to Dagga," Aizawa says. "You won''t make it in time, the battle will be over by the time you get there," Nezu says. "Who is that?" Pantu asks, only hearing Aizawa''s voice. "Eraser Head, he and Simon just entered my office," Nezu says as he gestures to the phone. "President Pantu and I were discussing how to move forward after this event." Simon''s eyes widen but Aizawa''s narrows at the phone, "then you can organize some kind of transport to get us there faster, right?" "I can, but you should stay in UA," Pantu says. "Both of you." "But people are dying," Simon says. "And many of them are already dead, no Hero can save everyone," Pantu says. "But the risk of losing Erasure to the viins is too great, so I don''t want Eraser Head anywhere near that battlefield, and your Brainwashing Quirk doesn''t work on Nomu since their brains only take orders from the specific frequency the viinsmunicate to them with." "But---" She cuts off Simon, "---legions of Pro Heroes are rushing to Dagga city to help in any way they can, but we can''t endanger more valuable assets by sending in the two of you. Have faith in your team leader to ovee this monster, it''s Horizon, he doesn''t lose, remember?" Simon sighs, "Yes ma''am." "What about Endeavor, Shoto is worried about his father," Aizawa says. "He was handed over to a group of support heroes for healing close to the battlefield, thest update I got stated that he''s conscious and still giving orders." "Aizawa breathes a sigh of relief," Shoto will be d to hear that. "Simon," Pantu says. "As a member of team Horizon you should have some good insights into how he fights and the abilities the public isn''t aware of, call out anything in the fight that we should be concerned about, some of the broadcasts are about to reconnect." "Yes ma''am," Simon says as Nezu projects his screen onto the monitor built into the far wall. The video broadcast resumes, showing Horizon constantly rushing about around Gigantomachia, constantly firing off arcs of energy shes at the monster while it''s trying to squash him. "Anything you say that''s useful I can ry to the ground forces via the public channels," Pantu says. "What''s with the energy shes?" Aizawa asks as he and Simon sit on the couches. "It looks like his healing energy, Booster Shot doesn''t hurt people, right?" "He''s been working on that since the summer camp," Simon says. "He realized that if someone like All For One appeared he didn''t have a way to do actual damage from range, so he forms des out of his energy andunches them, like a mix of Antibacterial Curtain and Incision." "How long has he had that?" Nezu asks. "Honestly, this is the first time I''ve seen it work," Simon says. "Usually he can''t even get the energy to make a tangible shape like that." "And the lightning from the sky?" Pantu asks. "Do we have to be concerned about storms, can he control the weather?" "No idea, but he mentioned controlling gasses is very difficult, if his mind isn''t focused enough for him to Warp I doubt he can cause storms." "But he is an order of magnitudes stronger than he was before this fight, and is only growing by the second, right?" Aizawa asks. "Undoubtably so, " Nezu says. "Then how wide is the evacuation zone?" Aizawa asks. "If Machia knocks him into one of the nearby cities this grudge match will tten it." "The evacuation zone has already been expanded to include the entire region, but the constant quakes from the fight have destabilized or copsed many of the main roads, so people are forced to walk as fast as they can." "Wow," As they''re talking some of the news drones reconnect to show the fight while the manned helicopters fly away and give a view of the evacuation. Tens of thousands of people marched across the broken highways and roads leaving the nearby cities with anything they could carry. The flood of people looks like ants marching, so crowded together that you couldn''t even tell there was a road there as some have taken to walking in the grass and bushes beside the highways. "My god," Aizawa mutters as he watches the screen. "How far away are they." "Only a few miles out of the city, hopefully the fight doesn''t spread much outside of it," Pantu says. The video feed then goes back to showing Horizon and Gigantomachia''s fight, or at least what it could. The news drones had to keep their distance, but even from city blocks away, they could clearly see the lightning constantly arcing through the buildings, sting them apart while simultaneously melting the concrete and steel within. Lightning bolts rain from the sky onto the city, all focused on Horizon, with each sh they strike his de and seemingly sh against the energy he was releasing. "Machia got bigger again," Aizawa says, noticing the titan was now 70m -210ft- tall, making Horizon difficult to see on the screen if he wasn''t glowing bright blue and being struck by lightning. Horizon charges forward, and beneath him pirs of earth and rubble are raised from the ground, elevating him toward the titan. People watching all around the world hold their breath as he gathers his energy into Scalpel, while clearly aiming at Machia''s head. The titan stomps the ground, causing the pirs Horizon was leaping between while climbing up to him to break, but the tops of them stay in ce, and when Horizon is up to Machia''s chest he swings Scalpel. Before he couldplete the motion Machia'' released a shockwave of invisible force,unching him back and into the road below, which copsed as Horizon disappeared beneath the street. While everyone was waiting for him to show himself, Machia'' was already on alert, sensing a rising threat he flexed his muscles, tensing them as the armor on his body developed spikes. Beneath the surface, on the 4th level of the underground train system below Dagga City, Horizonys t on the tracks for a moment. He can feel his shes bing more and more useless as the fight drags on, and in a moment of anger,ced with something he''s rarely ever experienced. A healthy amount of fear moves his hand forward, making a pushing motion toward where he could sense Machia'' standing before he closes his hand, crushing the air in his grasp. From the drones above, everyone watching sees rubble all around the battlefield floating, as if gravity had suddenly been turned off. Simon leans forward, swallowing nervously, one of the few people who knew what could being next. "Oh no," Simon mutters as all the rubble suddenly rockets toward Machia''. The titan doesn''t react, not even feeling tons of concrete and steel hurtling into him. "Tell everyone to run, now, and avoid the rubble, don''t get pulled in!" Simon yells out, so terrified of what''s about to happen that he issues a direct order to President Pantu. And hearing the fear in his voice, she simply obeys. Machia'' growsrge mole ws on his limbs and begins digging through the earth to get to Horizon, only for massive chunks of it to be torn away from the ground and carry him into the air above the city. All while the other pieces of rubble are gravitating toward him. He breaks through one segment of rock and dirt, only for another to m into him and take him higher. Over and over again more of the earth is sundered and piled on while carrying him toward the heavens. The ground above and around Horizon breaks apart and moves away, but the news drones had long left the area to avoid this attack, so nobody could see Horizon standing in ce with one hand to the sky, focused on this technique. Off in the distance, civilians are escorted by Pro Heroes out of the city. Mt. Lady is in her gigantified form clearing a path beside the highway for the people to walk more clearly, moving trees, and ttening the earth as she goes to effecitively add morenes to the roads. She suddenly stops as Pantu''s message rings through her earpiece, confusing her. "Avoid the rubble?" She asks, looking around, "What rubble?" "RUN!" she hears hundreds of people yell in panic behind her, causing her to turn around and see everything in the city rising up. Entire skyscrapers were torn from the earth, along with massive chunks of earth itself. The phenomenon expands outward like a wave, and her heart sinks as she sees iting toward them, faster than any of them could escape. "Use whatever Quirks you have to get away from this, and don''t get pulled in by the rubble!" Mt. Lady screams, her voice carrying for a great distance. She sees chunks of earth rupture andunches into the air before floating in ce just above the ground, then with incredible speed they all rocket toward the city. All around her this happens, and the men, women, and children being evacuated are hopefully unprepared. Flying rockunches them about or crushes them as it rakes across the earth toward the city. Mt. Lady is knocked down as massive boulders m into her back, but she rolls to the side away from the people, only to turn away from the city and see what could be a meteor swarm rushing past her. She looks to the side, seeing most of the thousands of people that were marching away from the city reduced to bloodstains, turning dirt to red mud and leaving a trail back to Dagga city. "YU!" Kamui Woods yells out as he swings and jumps betweenrge pieces of rubble as they float through the air, directly toward his girlfriend. Seeing him she extends her hand while more rocks m into her, battering her body, but the moment she feels his roots wrap around her hand she shrinks. The force of her shrinking pulls them together, and he wastes no time wrapping his arms around her before shielding them both in a wooden sphere. As it felt like the world was ending around them, with civilians dying by the hundreds each second, all he could do was protect the woman he loves. Now sealed in this wooden sphere he extends his roots as much as possible, trying his best to keep them on the ground and avoid being picked up by that attack. From within they can hear the destruction, rocks grinding and shattering, trees snapping, and below it all the drowned-out sound of hundreds of people screaming for anyone to help them. This nightmare persists for nearly a minute before everything goes silent, and Kamui begins making an opening in the sphere. "No!" Mt. Lady says as she weakly grabs his hand the moment light enters. "We need to see what''s going on out there," he says, holding her shaking body in his arm. As he opens their sphere they see...nothing. There was no road, no forest, no people, just, nothing. It was as if something had raked the earth all around them, excavating anything and anyone that was here. Off in the distance away from the city, miles away, he could see a wall that looked a few stories high. "A wall," he narrowed his eyes, but it was hard to see at this distance. As if they were now in a massive te or dish and he could see the brim on the horizon around them. "That''s just how high the ground was," Mt. Lady says in a shaky voice. "Look, he put everything there." Kamui Woods turns around, and stumbles backward, falling as he cranes his neck upward. Seeing the 3km -4.8 mi- sphere of earth hovering high above where Dagga city was. He looks below it, but doesn''t see any city, only excavated earth and an ocean still miles out, as if scared of the ongoing battle. As seconds go by people around the world see exactly what they see, and can''tprehend the insurmountable dread of facing this cmity in person. Kamui Woods gets back up, and raises a finger to his earpiece, "Is...did anyone else survive?" "Just focus on getting out of there for now," Pantu says, and that told them everything they needed to know. Before they could collect their thoughts, a loud roar echoes across the entire region, drawing their attention to the side of the satellite as Machia'' burrows through the side of it. He uses his massive ws to cling to the side and from the distance they see himunching balls of energy downward, seemingly at Horizon. Before new drones can get back to the battlefield to get eyes on Horizon, the satellite begins to rotate, intending to ce Machia'' directly beneath it, and everyone who sees this knows what''s about to happen. In the distance Ryukyu and Nejire rush toward the injured Mt. Lady and Kamui woods, knowing they can''t escape. But as for the couple, they simply hold hands, and look upon the satellite in awe. "Is this how the world ends?" Mt.Lady asks. "I don''t know," Kamui Woods says. "I hope they cane back from this..." The satellite suddenly, without warning, elerates toward the earth. Faster than a simple falling object, as if it''s being pushed toward the ground by some invisible force. "I''m d we were together at the end of the world," Mt. Lady says as she removes his mask and gives him a kiss, all while the entire nation and surrounding countries shake, and a st wave is speeding toward them. END CHAPTER--- Chapter 283: (The Gigantomachy III) Chapter 283: (The Gigantomachy III) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "Ouch," Horizon mutters as he pushes some rocks off of himself, sitting up in the rubble of Dagga City, surrounded by massive bits of ruptured earth and the broken satellite. Looking around he sees some dust clouds in the air, and extends his Room farther than he''d ever done before withplete ease, sensing all the corpses buried in the dirt. In the distance he senses four broken bodies, faintly moving, struggling to breathe, but ignores them for now as he focuses on himself. He stands up, Scalpel in hand, and looks down at his exposed right leg. He looks down at his Hero Costume, now reduced to only the body glove, and sees holes and tears in it exposing the flesh below. Raising a hand to his visor he feels the entire right half of it missing and the mask below shredded to show some of his face."Pantu," He calls out, then raises a hand to hismunicator, hearing no response. "Broken," he says while looking around. His eyes can''t even see past the miles of destruction he''s caused, and when he looks to the ocean the sea is muddied with the fallout of his attack. He stretches his body, feeling pain wracking him as he groans. "Dropping a small moon onto myself, not my brightest moment," he says. "But considering I was just moving on instinct and couldn''t think...dropping a small moon, pretty cool." Taking a few steps forward he senses some of the news drones that survived the harsh winds of his attack flying toward the impact site, and immediately activates Booster Shot. All of his exposed skin glows blue, hiding himself as a much thinner energy mist wafts off his body. "Ok, earning back my public image is gonna be harder than killing this thing," he looks off to the other side of the city whererge pieces of rubble are moving. Machia'' slowly rises from beneath the rubble, using his Mole Quirk to dig through the rubble and reveal his new metallic skin, adding a silver hue to his dark purple Nomu skin. Machia'' sniffs the air and immediately looks toward Horizon. "He just doesn''t quit," Horizon mutters as the titan begins sprinting toward him. "I''ll deal with you in a minute." Around the world, even on public streets, this fight is being shown on digital billboards, and anyone who could watch, was devoting their full attention to this sh. As if the entire world was holding its breath, knowing that the winner would decide the fate of all their lives. Because if Horizon could ovee this monster, what viin could stop him? And if Gigantomachia could kill Horizon, then one could imagine eventually they''d create a monster to kill Star and Stripe. When the drone broadcasted Horizon standing in the rubble, stretching his limbs as Machia'' was miles away sprinting at him, their hearts both sank and rose. They''d hoped the viin would be dead, and feared Horizon had ended his own life in that absurd attack. Yet bothbatants got up, ready to continue. Seeing the energy pouring off of Horizon, his exposed flesh glowing bright blue, they grew concerned that the battlefield would spread even further. Then nearby cities were already heavily damaged, and now the berserk Horizon was standing yet again. And only some of the viewers realized, at one point or another, their fear had moved from being ced on Gigantomachia, over to Horizon. But much of it was relieved when Horizon looked at the drone, and casually waved, as if to signal that he was back in full control. SHAMBLES! He disappears from the scene, causing Machia'' to skid to a stop and sniff the air again. A few secondster, he turns and sprints off south-east, toward one of the small nearby cities. SHAMBLES! Horizon appears in the parking area of a small hospital where a field of tents were set up, people who couldn''t walk are waiting for helicopters of Pro heroes toe to collect them. Injured Pro Heroes were under many of the tents getting healed by the few healing Quirks that were avable here, ready to get back to helping the evacuation. And on the nearby streets were thousands of people marching out of the city, forced to walk due to all the highways copsing after thatst attack. The mountains beyond the city were clearly broken, having suffered massivendslides due to the quakes, and the buildings in the city were all cracked, many of them werepletely copsed. Yet this noisy ce becamepletely silent, as if the world itself froze when Horizon warped into the middle of it. Behind him were the broken bodies of Ryukyu, Nejire, Mt. Lady, and Kamui woods. Ryukyu and Kamui Woods were in the worst health of the group, having taken most of the damage onto themselves. All the Pro Heroes in the area, healthy or not, get ready for a fight, but Horizon just drops Scalpel, letting it tter to the ground. "I''m just here to drop these off," he gestures to the Pro Heroes behind him. But the crowd is still petrified. "Go back to what you were doing!" Endeavor''s voice roars through the silence. "Get back to work, now!" he yells while walking up to Horizon. He had an IV Pole with bags of blood and drips connected to him as he walked, moving it along in his one remaining hand as his left stump was burnt shut. "Sorry about the---" Endeavor raises a hand to stop Horizon''s apology, "you can fix itter, Machia'' ising this way, we don''t have much time before you need to warp away again." "I know," Horizon says as Scalpel hovers back into his grip. "I just came to drop off these four, I stabilized them, they''ll be waking up any second now." "Good, and Machia'', do you have a n?" Endeavor asks. "Those shes you used before weren''t effective, neither was throwing a moon at him." "Brute force can''t really work on him, but I wasn''t in any state of mind to think clearly enough to realize even that obvious aspect of the fight," Horizon looks around, still seeing people keeping an eye on him, more scared than anything else. "And a lot of people suffered for it." "Problems forter, first you need to destroy that Nomu," Endeavor says. "Do you need backup? I can provide a distraction to buy you a few seconds if needed." "Not in this kind of fight you can''t," Horizon says. "And I think enough people have been hurt so far in this disaster, focus on the evacuation, let the monsters fight it out." "Nishiya!" Horizon turns around to see Mt. Lady wakes up and kneels beside Kamui Woods. "I stabilized him," Horizon says, and the moment he speaks she turns around and res at him. "When I''m done with Machia'' I''ll start healing everyone---" As he''s speaking she stops up to him, fist clenched, and punches him directly in the face, cracking the left side of his visor. He doesn''t move, and doesn''t try to block it, and for a moment he just sees the hate and anger in her eyes as the tears don''t stop flowing down her cheek. "---Yeah, I know," Horizon says as he just reaches up and takes her earpiece out before warping away. Arriving on the battlefield Horizon sensed Machia'' reverse trajectory, following him back to where Dagga city once stood. "Pantu," Horizon says after recing his broken earpiece with Mt. Lady''s. "Finally," Pantu sounded actually relieved, the first time he''s heard emotion from her. "I hope your brain is working again." "I''ve adjusted, so yes,and I can promise you that won''t happen again." "Good, you''ve already created a big enough mess as is," She says. "Do you have a n for Gigantomachia, do you need anything?" "No, I am enough, but about, all of this," he gestures to the destruction around. "As a National Asset, I''m limited in what I can do to punish you, depending on how the Supreme Court rules, well..." "I know, not looking good," Horizon admits. "Either way, this is on me, you don''t have to worry about anything, I''ll deal with the consequences." "Right, we''ll finish this conversationter, this is still a public channel after all," Pantu reminds him. "Now please, finish this fight, by whatever means necessary, I need to apologize to the people of South Korea." "South Korea?" "Dagga City is only 120 km from South Korea, and whatever you did to the sea, plus the earthquakes you caused, damaged their coastlines." "Uh, did I---" "No tsunamis, not for ack of effort, but Japan is about to get arge bill for flood damages," Pantu says. "Put it on my tab I guess," Horizon sighs as he sees Machia'' only a mile away. Taking a deep breath he steps forward into abat stance, gathering blue energy around the de of his sword. "Time to really test out the new ability," he shes out at Gigantomachia in the distance, and a sh of blue energy leaves the de. One slightly taller than him it soars through the air and harmlessly ms into Machia'',pletely ignored. Horizon looks down at the sword and nods, "ok, now I get it. I just need to make the energy dense and infuse it better...enhance it," he chuckles. "Guess it did have a use after all." SHAMBLES! He warps a few miles away just as Machia'', strikes his location with a massive open palm. One of the other cameras instantly locks onto him, seeing him already charging another sh. But this time, the energy bes denser and thicker. Clinging to Scalpel and seeping into the de as it shifts from a bright blue, almost white, to a dark blue. It pulses and builds as the titan gets closer, before Horizon shes upward, vertically in the direct middle of Machia''. "Divine---" He takes one step forward, pivoting with all this as he shes upward. "Divi---!" CLINK! The energy dissipates harmlessly into the air as hepletes the sh, and half of Scalpel''s de goes hurtling forward, snapping in half from the strain of his energy. Horizon sighs and looks down to examine the de, seeing itpletely broken in two. "Of course that would happen today," he says as thest of the energy dissipates into the air. "And I''m not efficient enough with that attack to make another one right now---" SHAMBLES! He warps away as Machia'' gets to his new position, still looking down at the de. Horizon takes the hilt of Scalpel and throws it as hard as he can, high above the destroyed city before closing his eyes. The cameras see him take a new stance, holding his right hand out, palm to the sky, and the other holding onto his wrist. The viewers are both curious and terrified at what he''s about to do, and Pantu''s words only build their fears. "If you do that, with enough power to take him down, can you manage the fallout?" Pantu asks. "Yeah, I''ve been practicing a lot," Horizon says as shimmers of green energy begin flowing toward his palm. Machia'' closes the distance with each second, yet Horizon remains unmoving. He shrinks his room, keeping the damage as low as possible while gathering enough radiation to put down this monster. 8 km -5mi- away, frost begins forming in a circle, creeping toward Horizon in the middle of the Room. Motes of green energy begin to manifest at the edges of the Room, hovering in ce like fireflies all about the battlefield. As Machia'' is at point ck range with Horizon, he warps away, now able to maintain his focus on preparing this attack while warping. The hilt of Scalpel appears in his previous location, and Machia'' wastes no time turning to the sky to get a view of Horizon. "RAAAAAAAARGH!" Gigantomahia roars as it strikes out with a massive fist. "GAMMA---!" Suddenly all the motes of green energy copse into the middle of the battlefield so quickly that they appear as streaks of light. The frost spreads inward from the edges of Horizon''s room as he drains all the heat from miles around him. The ice seems to chase the green radiation and heat as it gathers in his palm. All across Japan rms go off as the national Geiger counters spike, picking up what would usually be a nuclear bomb detonating. But less than a secondter all the radiation seems to disappear as Horizon strikes out at Machia with a glowing spear of solid radiation. "---SMITE!" He pierces Machia''s fist with the spear, shattering it, and a blinding green light explodes outward, brightly visible even from space. The entire world seems to fall silent, where people took cover, expecting an explosion, they only heard a ringing in their air and the sound of static in the air. A momentter the light disappears and the air smells scorched in the area, and when the cameras focus on where Dagga city was, they only see a molten pit of g, miles wide. In the middle of the site is Gigantomachia, or at least that''s what it was called. Now they see a charred skeleton, brittle and broken apart. So frail that the ocean breeze was breaking pieces of it away and scattering them about. And standing in the middle of the skeleton, floating on the molten rock, was Horizon. His entire Body Glove scorched and burnt, visor and mask below entirely destroyed. Identity only hidden by the fact that he still had a blue glow about him, no longer releasing energy as mist because of how exhausted he was. He takes one painful step forward, and can feel Hand Of God about to deactivate. ''Oh no,'' he thinks as the blue glow begins fading away, and soon his features would be made visible. He looks down at his scorched fist and takes a deep breath, ''not enough energy to warp away, might as well make it look good.'' And as he clenches a fist, moving to raise it to the sky, to mirror All Might''sst stand, a wall of orange fire erupts around him, hiding him from all the cameras. END CHAPTER--- Chapter 284: (Political Fallout) Chapter 284: (Political Fallout) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "The death toll of the Gigantomachy incident centered on what was formerly Dagga city continues to grow as more people are either found in undesirable states or reported as missing since the event. Many demands for justice against Horizon have been brought to the attention of both the government and the Hero Public Safety Commission, as much of Japan and its surrounding neighbors feel unsafe after yesterday''s events. As of this moment there are hundreds of protesters outside of UA High, Horizon Tower, and the Hero Public Safety Commission main office, all demanding justice for the loved ones that were lost during the battle. No sign of further viin activity has been reported in regards to the League Of Viins, nor has Horizon appeared in public since he was abruptly escorted away from the battlefield by Endeavor. The South Korean Coast Guard are still trying to study and make sense of the strange phenomenon caused during the battle which somehow avoided any Tsunami in the nearby ocean, but the Republic of South Korea is still calcting the cost of the devastation caused by the sudden floods brought on by the quakes. Repairs on all major r roads affected surrounding Dagga city and her neighbors have been non-stop since the battle in a desperate bid to re-establish routes, but in the meantime Pro Heroes, military personnel, and first responders have been working non-stop to get everyone out of the ruined areas.By the second we be more aware of the magnitude of this devastating battle, and we must wonder, where is Horizon now?" In further news the United Nations Quirk Council is considering---" Pantu mutes herputer and leans back in her chair, massaging her temples and catching her breath. In her silent office she takes a moment topose her thoughts, tapping the desk with her fingers as the pressure on her continues to build. Pantu picks her phone up from the desk and begins walking to therge windows looking out at Tokyo. As she does she makes a call and raises the phone to her ear. While the phone is ringing the stands at the one-way windows and looks at the street below. Thousands of people were chanting and screaming, not that she could hear them from her office. But she could see the signs they were holding, some with words that were too far for her to read. But the signs with Horizon''s face crossed out didn''t leave any mystery regarding their desires. "Lady Pantu!" Dr. Garaki''s excited voicees through her phone. "Doctor, the sample we recovered yesterday, any progress?" "Well, its only been a few hours since I''ve had it so---" "Any progress?" Pantu asks again. "Uh, right, well I''ve ran the blood samples through many tests, they react to outside stimulus as regr blood normally would, but, well..." "Just say it doctor," Pantu says. "His blood is different, as if super-charged with absurd amounts of energy, each cell is its own living thing. The samples you sent me are effectively still alive on their own, that''s how much energy they have." "That''s impossible, that leg was torn off over a day ago," Pantu says. "Yes, but he''s Mystery ss, and Horizon at that, his cells are far from normal." "Is there anything you can tell me about Hand Of God from those samples?" "Unfortunately no," he says. "None of these cells have even the smallest trace of a ''Quirk Factor'' in the traditional sense, it''s as if they belong to some energized Quirkless person." "That doesn''t make any sense." "I believe it was some sort of a defense mechanism built into Hand Of God, its desire to be whole at all times." "You speak as if it has a mind of its own." "No, but Horizon''s paranoia and other traits will influence it." "Is there anything you''ll be able to tell by studying it, regarding that project I''ve assigned you toplete." "Hmm, with these samples that task is far less impossible, but it doesn''t have anything substantial," he says. "Perhaps if I had more, bone marrow, or the entire leg maybe." "Oh, and do you have a n for when Horizon senses his missing leg in yourb and decides to confront you?" "Uhhhh..." "Precisely why we left the leg for him to recover after taking those blood samples," Pantu says. "Overstepping will only lead to angering him, Dr. Garaki, studying him requires us to be cautious." "I see, well I must get back to work, if anything interesting is discovered I''ll be sure to call you." "Thank you doctor, that will be all," as Pantu is about to end the call, however, he speaks very quickly. "One more thing, if you don''t mind that is." "Do you need more funding?" "No, but, I pounced at the chance to study Horizon for you, because I was curious about Mystery ss Quirks, but things have gotten dangerous now," he signs nervously. "What happens to me if he, well, discovers this, and doesn''t...approve." "I hired you to study him because that''s my job doctor, as president of the Hero Public Safety Commission, I don''t just manage Pro Heroes, I keep the public safe from the Pro Heroes---" "And we certainly need a way to do that after the Gigantomachy," Dr. Garaki says. "Yes, but let me assure you, Horizon is not a reasonable person when people draw swords against him, and you''ve not only done that but invaded her personal autonomy with your research. There is nothing, and no one in the world who can stop what he will do to you if he discovers this." "But...won''t hee for you too?" "Yes, but that''s the risk of my job, which I''ve long epted," Pantu says. "For you, use this as motivation, to figure out how to keep him in line if he turns against us," she ends the call before he can respond. She continues to look out at the protestors for a few minutes before a voice speaks through her earpiece, "President Pantu, the protestors are bing more rowdy, should we get the water hoses out?" "No, they''re only scared, they don''t want to hurt anyone," Pantu says. "Contact the Pro Heroes among them and update them on the situation." "As you wish ma''am, also, Endeavor just entered the building." "Send him to my office directly, and keep him away from any windows," Pantu says. A few minutester Enji Todoroki enters the office, wearing casual clothes, a beige sweater and coat with simple cks. The left sleeve folded up to the stump where his shoulder is. "Lady Pantu," Enji says as he walks over to her desk, seeing her typing on herputer. "Endeavor, please have a seat, I need to speak to you," she says before leaning back in her chair, giving him her full attention. "Do you have any idea of what I want to ask?" "No," he lied while taking his seat. Pantu''s face remains cold and stoic, "I''ve read your debrief of the Gigantomachy incident multiple times, but it didn''t detail what happened after the battle ended." "And what would you like to know?" "Did you see his face?" Pantu asks, not wasting any time. "No," Enji lies. "Not many people know this, but I can detect lies, Endeavor." His eyes widen slightly before he detes in his seat, "what do you want me to do?" "Tell me who he is, that''s all." Enji thinks about it for a moment, then realizes something that doesn''t make sense, "why don''t you, the president of the HPSC, know the identity of one of your heroes?" "Legally, Horizon is his only name, it''s on his birth certificate and medical forms," Pantu says. "But that identity was only created a year before he joined UA, when Nezu found him." "Really?" "Yes, it''s not something I would have agreed to if I knew what he was, but at the time I was told the boy was a healer than could help All Might, nothing more, and admittedly in my eagerness to preserve our former #1 Pro Hero, and my trust in Nezu, I made a deal I shouldn''t have." "And now they won''t tell you who he is?" "Precisely." Enji considers it for a moment, then shakes his head, "I''m sorry, but whatever business you have with them is none of my concern. Horizon asked me not to reveal his identity and I agreed to do just that." "And if I order you directly to reveal it?" Pantu leans forward slightly. "Well," Enji looks at his stump. "I don''t have much time as the #1 Hero either way. So I''ll simply retire a bit earlier." "Are you that afraid of him?" "I''d be foolish if I wasn''t," he says. They stare at each other for a moment before Panu relents, "fine, moving onto other matters, how are you feeling?" Enji takes a relieved breath, "he gave me a bit of healing when I got him away from the battlefield, not enough to trigger regeneration, but I''m not tired anymore and can use my Quirk if needed." "Did anyone see you enter here, has anyone seen your current condition since you left the battlefield?" "No," Enji says. "National morale is low enough without the #1 Pro Hero being seen like this." "Good, then you''ll go to Musutafu immediately," Pantu says. "Musutafu?" "Go meet Nezu at UA, he''s the only person who knows where Horizon is and you need healing. Go get healed then show your face so people feel slightly better, but don''t let people get close enough to ask you anything until after the court case." "What court case?" Enji asks. Pantu reaches into her desk and takes out a stack of documents, "you will deliver this to Nezu and Horizon, if you risk losing it, incinerate it." "What is it?" "The details of ''The People Of Japan VS Horizon'', he''s being called before the supreme court to make sense of what happened." "You want this hand delivered?" "The details in here cannot be put on any electronic device until after the case," Pantu says. "If people knew the true extent of the damages done we could have riots on our hands, and I can''t trust most of the people in this building with this information." "Yet you trust me," Enji says. "Not entirely, but you''ve seen his face and you''re still here, so Horizon trusts you." "Right, I''ll deliver it, and get healed," he takes the folder and begins to get up before she stops him. "One more thing," Pantu says. "Since Horizon is listed as a National Asset, he''s treated like his own sovereign body within Japan, that at least means nobody will be stupid enough to demand his arrest, but how would you like to see it end." "Well, many people want him arrested," Enji gestures to the window. "Did you see the crowd outside?" "I saw." "Mhm, but those people haven''t been in the kind of fights I''ve survived," Enji says. "If once a decade someone like Gigantomachia arrives, and we must sacrifice a city to stop him, then so be it. Because the alternative is, the next time a monster like that shows up, we won''t have a monster to fight for us, and there won''t be anything left to protect after that." "So you''d like for everyone to simply ''get over it'' and forgive him?" Pantu asks. "No, but I''d like them to realize, we can''t afford not to have Horizon standing in front of us, facing the monsters..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 285: (Expanding The Circle) Chapter 285: (Expanding The Circle) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "Front Gate Opening," Law''s security system speaks through the entire house before its quickly silenced. Laying facedown in bed he stirs awake, and with a wave of his hand all the lights in his bedroom turn on while the mechanized curtains slide open, revealing his backyard with the ocean at the base of the hill. "Ugh," he groans while sitting up, taking in the view from his home that he rarely uses. "Almost forgot what it''s like to be Law," his stomach growls, shifting his focus to more pressing matters. "Need breakfast," he gets out of bed and enters his private bathroom to get ready for the day, all while extending his senses. ROOM! He suddenly feels the movement of every leaf for miles around him, every drop of water breaking apart from the waves crashing against the shore nearby, he could feel the air being pushed aside with every movement his houseguests make.It was, intoxicating, yet also calming, having such precision and control at his will. "No more headaches," he smiles, resting a hand on his chest. "And I''m even stronger now than I was yesterday, I''ve fully adjusted." He stands in front of the mirror, shirtless, checking his tattoos. "Don''t need to get any of them redone, again," he looks at his right hand. He moves his right leg a few times, then looks at it carefully, "regenerated in the exact state it was lost, no surprise there." After brushing his teeth he passes a hand through his hair, stillpletely normal thankfully, then gets into the shower. "So, Hand of God is functioning perfectly again, took a bit longer than expected," he says to himself as the water pours over him. "But you''d have to be a psycho to let yourself die for Quirks to adjust, no wonder Nomu are basically undead monsters. I''ve got more energy than before, but, nothing I wouldn''t have achieved naturally," he raises a hand and activates Booster Shot, causing the energy mist to begin pouring out of him. "Feels like, maybe it elerated my growth by 8 years, maybe 10," Horizon smiles while shutting off his Quirk. "Ok, that''s dealt with, I''m back to full power. Now I need to just get to my Quirk Awakening." As he says that he takes a deep breath, activating his Quirk, but the moment the Room begins to form in the middle of his chest, he stifles the instinct. As if forcing his own nature to change he attempts to shift the origin point of his Room, raising his hand and guiding it to his palm. But as he does so, it simply causes a geyser of healing energy to erupt from his palm, so dense it erupts almost to the ceiling before falling down as glowing blue liquid. He quickly shuts off his Quirk, "definitely need more practice with that," he finishes his shower and dries off, getting dressed in a pair of ck shorts, leaving his chest bare. "Projects forter, I need to focus on my new abilities and liberating my current ones first," he says while walking out of the room, taking a casual stroll downstairs toward the living room. halfway down the stairs he stops, then frowns, "if I have to leave Japan, moving Matani Industries''s main office will be a real pain in the ass," he mutters before walking downstairs. Walking into the living room he sees Nezu casually tapping away on his phone, drinking a cup of tea as he sits on the couch. On the coffee table is a small metal case, clearly reinforced, and arge binder, thicker than a text book, hundreds of pages waiting to be read. Across from Nezu on one of the single seats is Enji Todoroki, drinking a cup of coffee, looking around awkwardly as he taps his foot. As Law enters the room he looks at them, and Enji isn''t sure what''s about to happen, but Nezu just keeps drinking his tea. Then he walks past them toward the kitchen. A minuteter he walks back into the room with a ss of liquor and two breakfast sandwiches they''d brought for him, along with some of his meal bars. Taking a seat on the couch opposite Nezu he leans back and begins eating. After a moment of silence Nezu speaks, "you don''t have my brand," he says between sips of tea. "This is terrible." "Firstly, I don''t really drink tea, and secondly, nobody lives here, I just have people clean the ce and make it looked lived in," Law says as he continues eating. "It''s terrible." "Then stop drinking it." "I already poured it," Nezu says before he grumbles, "I should have brought some of my tea..." Enji just awkwardly looks between them, not sure what to do, so he tries to break the ice, "the coffee is good," he says. "Oh, did you want something stronger?" Law raises his ss, gesturing to it. "Uh, fire and alcohol is a bad mixture," Enji says. "Also, I thought you were 16, aren''t you?" "17 next month," he says before taking another sip.Law quickly finishes both sandwiches and leans back to eat the meal bar. "So, what did I miss?" "What do you remember?" Nezu asks. "Everything, but I''ve been asleep for," he looks at the clock on the wall, seeing it''s 3pm, "22 hours." "And now you''re...fine?" Nezu asks. "Better than ever," Law''s eyes sh bright blue for a moment beforehe continues eating. "Any updates from Pantu?" "That''s what we''re here to discuss," Nezu says. "She''s, terrified, I''m sure." "For good reason," Law says. "I did tell her if she stabs me in the back I''d---" he nces at Enji. "---be very unhappy." Noticing Enji is awkwardly just staring at Law, Nezu puts his tea down, "well we should get this out of the way first, now another person knows who you are, and that the excuse of needing your Body Glove to survive isn''t true." "Well, technically I only said ''Horizon can''t exist'' without it, never said I''d die," Law shrugs. "But anyway, Enji, thanks for the help at the end of the fight, and not being blinded with rage over the whole, well, you know," Law gestures to Enji''s missing arm. "I trust you''d bring it back eventually, hopefully sooner rather thanter," Enji says. "As for your identity, I never believed the excuse of needing that suit. But whatever deal you have with the government is not my business." "Yet you helped," Nezu says. "Japan needs Horizon," Enji says inly. "But, Law Matani, really?" "What''s wrong with me?" Law asks, feigning offense. "Well, a lot of Japan loves you, but a lot of people also think you''re some kind of new age mafia boss." Neither Law or Nezu deny it, causing Enji''s concern to grow. "This isn''t inspiring confidence," Enji says. "Well, let''s just focus on the important things," Law says. "How much does the public hate you?" "They don''t hate you that much," Nezu says. "But take a look at how scared they are," he slides the metal case forward. Law opens it to see a new phone, and the moment he touches it the screen turns on, cloning everything from his destroyed phone onto it. "Nope," Law immediately puts down the phone as it begins vibrating in his hand, flooded by all the notifications. It vibrates against the ss table, making so much noise that he simplymands it to float in the air above the table. "So, people aren''t happy with me I''m guessing." "Mt. Lady is jumping up the rankings after punching you," Enji says. "That should speak for itself." "She basically punched a god in the face," Law nods, somewhat impressed. "That''s pretty heroic." "You let her punch you, that was the most surprising thing," Nezu says. "People were already nervous enough, and I earned that hit," Law says. "I''m not unreasonable, you know that." "Oh I know, which is what I''ve told Pantu, even if she''ll never believe me." "I told her if I mess up then I''d just walk away, no bad blood between us, and I think the entire world can see I messed up, so where do we go from here?" "The People of Japan VS Horizon," Nezu gestures to the binder on the table. Law takes it and begins reading, "I got lucky, if I wasn''t listed as a National Asset like you, she could have just expelled me from the Pro Hero program immediately." "But this will also raise the question of whether or not you ''National Assets'' should be treated with the level of sovereignty you already have," Enji says. "Speaking of being expelled, will UA still keep him?" "Ofcourse," Nezu says. "So long as you manage to win this case, otherwise my hands are tied." "That will bring a lot of bad attention onto UA," Enji says. "I will deal with that, as I always do," Nezu says. "Now, Enji and I will most likely be called upon, alongside Aizawa, but he will refuse, so we need you to tell us exactly what happened during the Gigantomachy." "Fuck," Law sighs and sinks down into the chair. "We should get Pantu in on this, she''ll most likely be requested to testify on my behalf." "She''s expecting our call," Nezu says as Law floats his still vibrating phone to his hand. "Wait, should I leave?" Enji says. "I mean, of course I''ll testify if asked, but, I feel as if I''m about to get involved in something I would want no part of." "Toote, you''ve seen my face," Law says, casually. "You learning a bit more won''t change anything now, no matter what you divulge the consequences for you will be the same." "What consequences?" Enji asks. "President Pantu is scared of me, so what do you think?" Law gives him a shrug as realizations dawns on Enji. "Oh, I see," Enji sighs. "Well if I''m stuck either way, it''s best I know as much as possible to best navigate this mess." "Exactly," Law says as he''s about to call Pantu, only for his phone to start vibrating again. "Seriously..." He denies the call but sends a quick message before going back to calling Pantu. "Telling your ssmates you''re alright?" Nezu asks. "No, my team should know I''m fine," Law says. "I was responding to Ryuko, she''s been bombarding me this entire time." "And how is she handling this entire¡­event." Law shrugs, "I''ll call herter." "So you and Ryukyu were really a thing?" Enji asks. Nezu shakes his head, "no, a different pro hero name Ryukyo." Before Enji can respond, Pantu''s voice speaks through Horizon''s phone, "are we in a secure location?" she asks. "Yeah, and the line is so secure you can''t even track it, but you''ll still try." "One thing at a time," Pantu says. "Firstly, regarding our contract..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 286: (Expanding The Circle II) Chapter 286: (Expanding The Circle II) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "So...does anyone else feel like I shouldn''t be here?" Enji asks as Law begins reading the documents. "Not really much of a choice for you," Law says. "You already know my face and who I am, which Pantu probably tried to get out of you but you didn''t say because you''re not that stupid, so now you''re here." "And having the current #1 Pro Hero on our side will make the courtroom matters that much easier," Pantu says. "I can''t imagine they wouldn''t call you as a character witness to speak about him." "I see, so what should I know? If I''m going to speak about this then I can''t simply go in blindly, especially after what you did yesterday," Enji says. Law nces up at Nezu, then back down to the documents. "It''s your life, tell him as much as you''d like," Nezu says.Law thinks it over for a moment, then sighs, "ok, fine, so, I''m not really interested in being a hero." "I always knew that," Enji says. "Becuase, my parents are Arsenal and The Heart Thief---" Enji chokes on his coffee, coughing a few times, "they''re what?" "Hey you''re in no position to judge, one of your kids is friends with Shigaraki," Law says. "What?" Nezu looks between thempletely confused. "His son is Dabi," Law gestures to Enji. "Your son is Dabi?!" "The DNA sample also had some traces of Nomu blood mixed with his," Enji says. "So All For One likely pushed him deeper into darkness." "Yeah but he didn''t start it," Law says. "Anyway, I''m basically working off their sentences with my Pro Hero stuff." Enji takes a moment to soak it all in, as does Nezu, then he rxes back into his chair. "So, your parents are in Tartarus, that''s why you''re doing this." "I moved them from Tartarus," Pantu says. "Horizon ims to be honorable regarding deals he makes, but I couldn''t risk it, we need his presence to stabilize the country." "I see, so if he wasn''t a ''National Asset'', would you have simply given him a p on the wrist and let that be the end of this?" "Ofcourse," Pantu says with no hesitation. "Without him the next time a monster like that shows up there won''t be a Japan, that is what you said, right?" "It is," Enji says. "I just didn''t think the corruption would be this tant, from the beginning too." "Sometimes the people don''t know what''s good for them." "Those words are often used to justify the most cruel decisions," Enji says. "I hope you don''t make this kind of thing a habit." "Horizon is simply that exceptional," Pantu says. "My main concern is what happens if we lose, Horizon?" "You don''t have to worry about that," Law says. "I''ll keep my word, you can execute them and I''ll just go to whatever country makes me the best offer." "Assuming you don''t get some kind of prison time as a punishment," Enji says. "That would be a way of keeping you away from the public but within Japan, a ''Break ss in case of emergency'' type situation." "Mmmm," Law grumbles. "Well whatever punishment they decide, I''ve earned, but I''d hope they''re smarter than trying to lock me up." "Nobody is that dumb," Pantu says. "Everyone knows the international pressure of having someone that can cure anything being locked in a hole would ruin Japan''s standing on the world''s stage. This case is all about whether or not the people trust you to continue acting as a Pro Hero without having another mental breakdown." "Thest thing anyone wants is you intentionally trying to hurt people," Enji says. "Have you ever done that, trying to kill people?" Law feigns offense, "what you think just because of who my mom is that I''m some kind of trained killer?" "Uh, no, I just meant---" Law cuts off his sputtering with a quietugh. "I''m messing with you, she trained me in everything she knows, as I''ve mentioned before, let''s leave it at that," Law says. "Oh, I see," Enji goes back to quietly drinking his coffee. "Now can we get to the important things please," Pantu says. "Can you give us an assurance that you won''t have another episode like that? I''d hate to imagine you turning that kind of power against a civilian poption¡­again." "It won''t happen again, that''s just a little barrier I had with my Quirk," Law says. "Hand Of God, the Quirk you refuse to give proper details on, I respected that before but after this, I need some answers." "That...is fair," Law says begrudgingly. "It''s a bit difficult to understand unless you experience it yourself, but, imagine my Quirk as the ability to understand things around me, and myself. This includes energy, radiation, and if I push my senses, light, but that''s still really hard to do. When I use an ability it''s me giving the world an instruction, but eachmand takes a certain amount of my stamina, some more than others. Demanding change from the world takes the most, so at first my warping was so inefficient I could only do it once per day, and not even far enough to get to another room. As I was growing up and constantly training, the barriers became more mental as my body could store more energy within it. Techniques became easier to grasp but still nearly impossible to a regr person''s understanding. I don''t even know how I''d begin exining what Shambles and Amputate really do if I was asked, so I often just say they''re spatial and leave it at that. But after fighting All For One, I put my training into overdrive. I worked harder and grew faster than ever before, but it was like I had a wall instinctually built into my Quirk, preventing me from essing all the power I''d been developing, and I needed a push to break through it." "Gigantomachia gave you the push when he killed you," Enji says. "And you woke back up with your brain running on pure instinct, that''s why you couldn''t use any of the abilities that require a more refined thought process." "Well I didn''t actually die, but I was close enough to trigger it, yeah," Law says. "And now I''m stronger than ever, and I can assure you that will never happen again." "While I trust your word on this," Nezu says. "The public isn''t as logical, and fear is currently ruling them." "They aren''t wrong to be afraid, especially considering what you did so casually to the second most powerful hero in Japan," Enji gestures to his own arm. "But they are thinking too short-term, not realizing that if Gigantomachia could be made, another one is imminent." "People are stupid, nothing new there," Law takes a sip of his liquor. "Don''t suppose if this goes bad we can cut another deal?" "Unfortunately I''ve already been putting my job, my life, and the trading rtionships of the entire nation at risk by keeping your parents alive," Pantu says. "Did you mom really have to make half the U.N. personally hate her?" Law shrugs, "she was just very good at her job, ites with the trade." "How many people know they''re still alive," Enji asks. "You made a false announcement that they were executed over a year ago, is that secret safe?" "Aside from the people in this conversation, nobody knows who those ''mysterious prisoners'' were, only that they had to move them," Pantu says. "That''s why we didn''t reveal any names or faces." At this moment Law finishes reading the documents and shakes his head, "ok, so I''m fucked." "That was my initial thought, yes," Pantu says. "But we have a few days to prepare, ideally they announce which judge will be presiding over this matter and I can leverage my connections." "That''s highly illegal," Enji says. "I am the government," was her simple response. "If I can get him to hand this matter over to the HPSC then I''ll simply sweep this away." "That could cost you your job if Prime Minister Bosu disagrees," Nezu says. "What happens to them if you lose your job?" The line is silent for a while before Pantu speaks again, "Nevermind, If I lose my job all the files will be passed onto my sessor, including all the secrets holding Japan together." "Bosu will insist on some punishment for Horizon," Enji says. "He became president by promising the people that Pro Heroes would have a tighter leash, this flies in the face of his promises." "This is a real mess I got myself into," Law mutters. "Normally I''d just call up America''s president and have him give me a hand, but if anything they want me to lose this case so I take his offer." "Is that where you''ll be going if we lose?" Pantu asks. "Well, it''s a really really good offer, I don''t even have to do anything, just be in the country," Law shrugs. After a few more minutes of talking, Pantu got an important update. "The official number from the battle just got to my desk," she says. Enji''s heart sinks into his chest as a grim look forms on his face, "how bad was it." "Confirmed dead, 470,000, confirmed injured, at least 7 million, the numbers are climbing by the second since more bodies are being found, and more reports of missing people are stilling in." "Is that news public yet?" Law asks. "No, and it won''t be until the trial is over, I''ll dy it," Pantu says. "Thanks," Law takes another sip of his drink, looking mostly unbothered, while Enji can''t even fathom loss of life on such a scale. He gets up and begins walking to the kitchen, "I need more food," was all he said before leaving the room. As Enji sits alone once again with Nezu, he looks over at his former school principal who was cutely drinking his tea. "Does this not bother you at all?" Enji asks. "Letting the past bother you is arge part of why you humans can''t step forward together," Nezu says. "I prefer to look to the future, a future where Horizon will save many more lives than this cmity has taken." Enji sighs, "you''re really hopeful, as expected from the principal of the worlds best Hero Course." "You know you could visit sometime, maybe be a guest teacher like Thirteen," Nezu suggests. "Having the three greatest Pro Heroes in the history of Japan on one campus would be quite something." "Horizon isn''t fully a Pro Hero yet Nezu," Pantu reminds him. "True, but he''s already better..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 287: (Divergent Thoughts) Chapter 287: (Divergent Thoughts) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- ---Minato Tokyo, 11 PM... Ryuko Tsuchikawa, formerly known as the Pro Hero Pixie-Bob, sits alone on a train after being sent home early from her workce. She idly scrolls on her phone, but ever so often nces around at the entirely empty train. "This is actually pretty nice," she mutters, enjoying the subway beingpletely empty rather than the usual crowds. The train slows and eventually stops at the main Minato Tokyo station, and she steps out before smoothing out her outfit. Her simple dark blue long skirt and matching long-sleeved shirt appear perfect as always, and holding her purse in hand she quickly makes her way to the streets above.She makes it all the way to the surface without so much as seeing a single person on her path. As she gets to the street above there are no cars on the road, only an eerie silence of the once alive cityys still. She looks to the east, seeing Horizon Tower standing proudly in the middle of the city, directly in the middle of this long main street for all to see. Once a beacon of hope, now transformed into a symbol of fear and uncertainty. In the hours after the Gigantomachy, the area around Minato Tokyo had effectively shut down. Businesses and residences were sealed up as everyone got as far away from Horizon Tower as possible, aside from the mobs still protesting at the foot of it. A forlorn look ims her face as she sighs and turns her back to it, walking to her apartment. She slows her pace and lifts her phone to her ear, returning a call she gottest night, and before it can ring a second time the person answers. "Ryuko!" the voice of an older womanes through the phone. "Did something happen?!" Ryuko sighs, "no mom, I was just calling to let you know the office is closed today, until further notice it seems." "Good, then you can get out of that ce before hees back, you shoulde home, I haven''t seen you in months." "I''ll call Shino and find out what I can, she said the mountain resort has been full for the first time since the League Of Viins attacked it, so they may need an extra pair of hands." "That''s good, the more heroes around you the better," her mom says. "I really don''t think any amount would help," Ryuko admits. "But I know you''ve been worried about me staying in Tokyo, so I was just calling to let you know I''m on my way home to pack, looks like our office was thest to run away." She looks around at all the buildings boarded up or simply closed, the bustling streets of Minato Tokyo now transformed into a ghost town in less than a day. "Right, just get as far away from that ce as possible, call meter before you leave." "I will, and how are things back home?" "Mmm, lots of new people in Hokkaido, too many. But the shop is busier than ever," her mom says. "Do you know if things will be changing soon?" "No idea mom, I''m not a Pro Hero anymore so they don''t update me on that kind of stuff," Ryuko says. "Shino says the Hero Network is put on high alert, everyone is expected to respond if something happens, even the Rescue Heroes." "Oh..." her mother hesitates for a moment. "Will you go help if they need it?" Ryuko stops walking for a moment, looking back at Horizon Tower in the distance, "well, if he goes crazy again there isn''t any point in me going, but if it''s something less dangerous and my team is involved, maybe..." Her mother chuckles softly, "still my little hero." Ryuko sighs, rolling her eyes, "alright mom, I need to call Shino, I''ll give you another call before I leave." "Ok, I''ll be waiting," the woman says before ending the call. Ryuko sighs and looks down at the phone, "yeah, hero, tell that to La Brava..." After another minute of walking, when her apartment building is within view, she calls Shino. "Hey, what''s up?" Mandy''s voice reaches her ear the moment the call connects. "Things are a bit busy here today so I can''t talk long." "Uh, right, I was wondering if you could use another pair of hands, my office is clearing Tokyo until this mess is over," Ryuko says. "That''d be great actually, all the nearby towns are busy too so lots of people are justing to the hot springs for a few hours," Mandy says. "Oh, and can you grab me some stuff on the way here, I''ll send you a list." "Sure thing, I''ll be there in a few hours." "Great, see you then!" Mandy hangs up and presumably gets back to work. As the call ends Ryuko is already entering her high-end apartment building, taking the elevator up to the 43rd floor, still having not seen another person on her journey home. As she enters and locks the door behind her, turning on the lights, she quickly takes off her heels and breathes a sigh of relief. She immediately walks over to the kitchen to make herself some tea, and as the electric kettle is on begins walking to her room. As she''s passing through the hallway she notices light out of the corner of her eye, and is immediately on edge. She ces a hand on the wall while walking toward the living room, quietly and slowly, ready to activate her Quirk at any moment. Only to rx as she looks into the room, "let me guess, you found the spare key?" Ryuko asks as she moves to take a seat, ring at Horizon who was sitting watching the muted news. "Something like that, do you like the new apartment?" he asks without even looking at her. "Seriously?" Ryuko folds her arms across her chest, taking a single seat across from him. "You drop a city from the sky, disappear for almost an entire day, don''t answer any calls, send me a ''I''ll call youter'' text and never bother to call, then break into my home, and that''s all you have to say." "Well, how is it?" he looks over at her. Ryuko just res even harder at him, "it''s amazing, thank you, again. But why are you here now, didn''t even call me..." "I was, busy, dealing with some things." "Getting ready for court in two days I assume." "Yeah, pretty much," he goes back to looking at the TV. "It''s been, distracting." Hearing how unsure he sounds Ryuko''s gaze softens, "what''s wrong?" "Are you...scared of me now?" Ryuko looks taken aback by that question, "what?" "Everyone is scared of me," he gestures to the news which is once again updating people on the status of the battlefield. "They don''t know what to do with me anymore." "Well I''m not everyone," Ryuko says. "I''m just...upset. It was scary, you know, watching someone you love get hurt like that and then they disappear without a word, how''d you expect me to feel?" "Right, sorry, I should have atleast called," Horizon says. "How have you been dealing with all of this?" "I don''t have anything to deal with, at leastpared to you," Ryuko moves to sit beside him, looking directly at him. "But why are you here, when you should be getting ready for court, or healing people you hurt, or looking for bodies, or doing anything else, why?" They sit in silence for a minute. Then he takes her hand, "because, I have so much to do, so many options, but for the first time in my life I don''t know what to do...and you''re the only person I can really talk to, I don''t have anyone else." Hearing him so lost and confused nearly breaks her heart, "Nezu---" "---sees me as a weapon to use against evil, we''re friendly but...that''s all there is to it." "Well, what do you want to be?" "Happy," Horizon says. "But, I don''t think my original n is the only option for that anymore, and that''s what scares me." "What was the original n?" Ryuko asks. "Be a Pro Hero for a while, finish the contract, retire and disappear forever, start a family of my own." "And what changed about that?" "I um, didn''t count on enjoying being a Pro Hero, but part of me likes it," Horizon says. "Maybe not actually helping people, but the way they worship me, the perks it brings, like being allowed to freely use my Quirk in public, it''s intoxicating..." "You''re scared of going back to hiding in the shadows?" Ryuko asks. "I''m just...unsure, but depending on what the judge decides, I could lose my chance to be a Pro Hero here, in Japan at least." "And what would you lose if that happens, is being in Japan that important to you?" "No, but, that would make me break my contract and...I''d lose some very important things if that happens." "And losing those things scares you?" "That''s the worst part," Horizon says. "I thought the idea of losing them would scare me, but...part of me doesn''t mind that happening." "Why do you think that is?" "Because, they wanted me to move forward without them, and live life on my own terms, so I know it''s what they''d want..." "But you just can''t let go of them," Ryuko leans against him. "Hand of God changes the world around you, but you''re so scared of something in yourself changing, it''s part of life." "Yeah, but that doesn''t mean it isn''t scary," Horizon says. "epting this...is terrifying, more terrifying than fighting Machia'', by far." "Why not simply, go get what you want anyway, even if you didn''t earn it?" Ryuko asks. "You''re Horizon, nobody can stop you." "I can stop me," Horizon says. "Family culture stops me, all the lessons my mother taught me about honoring any contract we make, will stop me." "Sounds painful." "It is," Horizon reaches forward as if touching the air. "It''s like everything you could ever want is right there, and the only thing stopping you from grabbing it, is yourself," he lowers his hand. "I could never do that," she says as she gives his hand a gentle squeeze, "that''s why only you could be Horizon." "Yeah, I guess you''re right..." After a few more minutes of talking Ryuko makes her tea and changes into morefortable clothes before returning to her seat. "This defense doesn''t sound promising," Ryuko says after he exins the details of what happened during the Gigantomachy. "I mean you killed a lot of people...like, a lot of people." "I know." "And you think saying ''trust me it won''t happen again'', is a good enough defense?" Ryuko asks. "Even for Horizon that might be pushing the extent of your special treatment." "Well I''m hoping with Endeavor and Nezu speaking for me that''ll help." "Oh, I won''t be called as a character witness right?" "No, Pantu makes sure nobody knows about us," Horizon reassures her. "That''s a relief," Ryuko says. "But, and I know you probably don''t want to think about it...what''s the n if you lose the case?" "I''ve already gotten some offers, so it looks like I''ll be moving to America." "Oh, did they beat the offer from Germany?" Ryuko asks. "Easily, and much better perks," Horizon shrugs. Hearing this Ryuko puts down her tea and climbs into hisp, wrapping her arms around his neck, "you know, living in America could be a nice change..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 288: (The People Of Japan VS Horizon) Chapter 288: (The People Of Japan VS Horizon) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- --- 8 AM, Tokyo... Sitting in the back of an armored SUV, Horizon is wearing his Hero Costume, without Scalpel.He rxes in the luxurious seat and just watches out the heavily tinted window, seeing the empty buildings and streets on the other side of the ss. ''All of this, for you,'' he looks down at his Provisional Hero License, floating above his palm, above his hand that was resting on hisp, slowly rotating in ce. ''I lose you, and I lose everything,'' Horizon thinks as he looks back out the window. ''Or maybe I lose the chains on me and regain my freedom¡­what would you want for me?'' he asks himself, questioning what his parents would be telling him right now. ''Forget about us and live for yourself, we love you no matter what happens,'' Horizon thinks. ''They''d probably say something like that, no matter how many times I tell them I''d never give up.'' Horizon looks back at the license, andmands it to hover just a bit higher above his palm.''Maybe I''m a terrible son, for actually wanting to listen to that stupid request,'' he thinks, closing his eyes and recalling thest time he spoke to them. ''But then, why don''t I feel like shit for thinking like that, what the hell is wrong with me?!'' "You should stop doing that," Nezu''s voice snaps him out of his own thoughts. "What?" he looks over to see Nezu typing away on his phone, briefcase at his side on the seat. "Using your Quirk, it''ll make people nervous," Nezu says. "You haven''t lost the privilege to do that but best not to make people more scared than they already are, don''t you think?" Horizon sighs and holds the license between his fingers, "sorry just, habit¡­" "I know, you''re nervous, it''s ok to be scared sometimes," Nezu says. "Fear prevents action and focus," Horizon says. Nezu shakes his head, "onest piece of advice, at least try to appear rtable and human when we''re inside." "I''ll do my best." "You''re Horizon, that''ll be more than enough I''m sure." A few minutester as they''re being driven further to the courthouse Nezu receives a call from President Pantu. "We have a problem," Pantu says. "Wait till we''re face to face," Nezu nces at the ss dividing them from the agents driving the vehicle. "Is it unsolvable?" "No, but it will certainly make things more difficult, how long until you two get here?" "Less than five minutes." "Good, I''ll try to make some calls and solve this¡­" While they were still being driven to the courthouse, hundreds of people had already crowded the steps and sidewalks around and opposite the building. Chants and shouting were echoing through the empty city as their loud and emotional cries carried on the cool morning air. Many of the people here were the bravest members of the press, mixed in were disgruntled and mournful civilians holding signs with Horizon''s symbol crossed out. And over half of these protesters were Pro Heroes in full costume, most of which were at the front of the crowd riling everyone up. At the front of the crown is Mt. Lady, wielding a megaphone in her hand as she leads the chant. Her Hero Costume was still somewhat damaged since the entire country had been focused on the Gigantomachy incident and helping the survivors and search parties. Her waist was bandaged along with her right leg being in a cast, and her other arm was holding a sign protesting Horizon. The roaring of the crowd only grows as they see the ckout tinted armored vehicle approaching, emotions begin running high as anger and fear builds in the crowd. And as the vehicle stops, and the door opens. For the first time since the Gigantomachy the publicys eyes on Horizon, and the entire world seems to go silent. As if they were scared to breathe too loudly, they could hear their heartbeat drumming away in their ears. And all the words they wanted to say to him got stuck in their throat as a sense of dread and fear filled the area. Even Nezu''s adorable body in his shoulder wasn''t enough to draw their focus away from him, and not a single person was willing to move in his presence. "Be nice," Nezu quietly mutters in his ear as Horizon slowly looks around. "I am being nice," Horizon whispers back as he begins walking toward the entrance. As he''s halfways there Mt. Lady musters all her courage and cuts him off, standing in front of him to block his path. Horizon doesn''t speak, only looks down at her. But he can feel everyone shifting nervously, terrified of the oue. "I hope you''re here to plead guilty," Mt. Lady says, beads of sweat on her forehead, a quiver in her voice. "I can''t discuss that out here," Horizon says. "Tch," she scrunches her face. "I hope I really do get called as a witness, because you need to be brought to justice for all the people you''ve killed!" "I will ept whatever the verdict is," Horizon says as he simply steps around her, leaving the woman frozen in ce. As they step inside both of them notice all the security in the building has been reced by Pro Heroes from the top 100 ranking. One of which is Rabbit Hero Mirko, who anxiously taps her foot while she res directly at Horizon, standing beside the door to the main chamber. Horizon begins walking to their meeting room with Nezu on his shoulder, "so if I did go crazy, what was their n, have all the top 100 Pro Heroes here so Japan loses all of them?" "Pantu organized this so the people watching at home can feel a bit safer, seeing you being somewhat contained, they need whatever false sense of security we can afford them," Nezu says. "And Japan needs to flex its muscles for them to see I''m all powerful," Horizon says as they enter the meeting room. As they enter Horizon sees Endeavor in a fully repaired Hero Costume with his quirk off, sitting across from Pantu at arge desk. Kamui Woods is also at the table and immediately gets up, silently leaving the room as Horizon and Nezu enter. "What was he doing here?" Horizon asks. "He and Edgeshot agreed to be positive character witnesses for you, we were just going over details," Endeavor says. "That must mean team Lurkers is destroyed, since Mt. Lady is outside getting everyone to hate my guts," Horizon says as he and Nezu sit at the table. "We have bigger things to worry about than the feelings of some mediocre hero," Pantu says. "14 of the judges have resigned." "What?!" Nezu nearly falls off his chair in surprise. "Only one of them stayed, why?" "Nobody wants the pressure of judging this case," Endeavor says. "And they were nning to rule against Horizon," Pantu says. "So I persuaded them to simply not be present if they weren''t on our side." Horizon immediately ces a hand on hers, "is that true?" "Yes, they were going to rule to have you expelled from the national Hero Program," Pantu says. "Japan can''t afford to lose you right now." "And thest judge?" Horizon asks, still holding her hand. "He''s undecided," Pantu says. And Horizon detects no lies in anything she said. "This case should be dyed if this is the situation," Nezu says. "We can''t afford that, literally," Pantu says. "Japan is essentially shut down right now, the country is losing too much money each hour, dying this a week will be another problem waiting to happen." Horizon lets go of her hand, "alright, so we''re neutral with the current judge, that''s good, so now it''s fair game on who wins or loses, right?" "It all depends on who they call as character witnesses," Pantu says. "Their prosecutor is¡­very good." "A betterwyer than the smartest creature in the world?" Nezu gives a proud smile. "No," Endeavor says. "But unlike us, she''s not fighting a nearly impossible uphill battle. Not to mention any character witness I can imagine her calling won''t have nice things to say about the kind of first impressions you make." "Your terrible attitude makes fighting for you very difficult," Pantu says. "Luckily you''re absurdly powerful, and hopefully that alone will be enough to persuade them, along with the medical miracles you provide for free." "So is there any good news at all?" Horizon asks. "No," Pantu says bluntly. "Almost everyone hates you and at best we have a fair judge." "Great," Horizon leans back and sighs. "We need to go," Pantu gets up as she checks the time. "Endeavor and I need to take our ces in the room before all the press are let inside, otherwise we''ll be swarmed with questions." Endeavor gets up to join her only for Horizon to stop them, "wait," they both look back at him. "If I lose, what happens to you?" he asks Pantu. "If you lose, I''ll likely lose my job for siding with you," she says. "But this is my job, keeping powerful assets local, protecting Japan," she leaves the room followed by Endeavor. Horizon closes his eyes and tilts his head back, taking a moment to collect his thoughts. "Who are you texting?" he asks Nezu, sensing the bear-mouse typing on his phone. "Backup, in case we need it, hopefully he''ll get here fast enough," Nezu says. Horizon chuckles, maybe I should send a few messages, tell the white house to get a ne ready. "And tell Ryuko to pack perhaps¡­" "I, I don''t even know anymore." "Your ssmates would miss you, I hope you''d at least say goodbye to them," Nezu says. "The best I can do is try to keep them as far away from this as possible, luckily with Pantu''s help nobody''s tried to drag my team into this crap." "They are promising your heroes, of course she will protect them, and what about your¡­friends?" "Those girls liked the idea of a perfect invincible hero," Horizon admits. "So I think that¡­convenient fun, is dead now." "Well that''s one positive of this," Nezu chuckles. "I don''t have to worry about you seducing any more of my students¡­or teachers." "She wasn''t technically a member of UA Staff," Horizon says. "Oh no, I''m talking about one of my other teachers, one who got invited to a grand g and was charmed by the sponsor of the event, ring any bells?" Horizon just chuckles quietly, "that was fun¡­" A few minutes of further discussionter and Horizon is walking toward the main chamber with Nezu walking in front of him. As he''s about to push open the doors, guarded by both Mirko and Edgeshot, she raises a hand to block him. He internally grumbles, ncing over to look at her, seeing that familiar fire in her eyes. "Do you need something?" She holds his gaze for a moment, then scoffs, reaching up to pat his chest. "Regr people and weaklings can''t understand it, and they never will. When you blood is pumping, when the fight is getting serious, sometimes instincts just take over for you to win, right?" Horizon nods, "yeah, they wouldn''t get it." Mirko smiles at that, "this doesn''t mean I''ll ever forgive you for all the people that became coteral damage, but we need you. So go be Horizon, and do what you always do, win." She gives him a hard punch on the shoulder before he enters the room, ready to face whatever fate has in store for him¡­ END CHAPTER--- Chapter 289: (The People Of Japan VS Horizon II) Chapter 289: (The People Of Japan VS Horizon II) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- An eerie hush befalls the courtroom as Horizon enters. One step behind Nezu, followed closely by Mirko and Edgeshot who close the doors behind him. He stops for a moment and looks around, seeing the room filled with Pro Heroes and Press, rows of cameras facing forward to capture and broadcast everything to the world. And many people were holding cameras to capture his first moment in the room. Ahead of him he could see the judge''s desk, fifteen chairs elevated above the room with two seats slightly lower in front of it. In front of them are two tables, one on each side. Nezu walks to the right side while an older Japanese woman is sitting at the table to the left, a stack of documents on the table and three assistants sitting behind her.The prosecutor was currently having a meeting with her assistants, and Horizon just ignored it to get to his seat beside Nezu. "She seems serious," Horizon says as he sits beside Nezu, ncing over to the prosecutor for just a second. "Win or lose this case is a career ender," Nezu says. "I forgot to ask before but, how many times have you had to use yourw degree?" "Every time I want to really get new things done at UA, or deal with a mess on campus," Nezu says. "You should have seen the mountain of paperwork after USJ and the summer camp incidents." Horizon chuckles at that, "two national assets and this is what we have to do." "I didn''t m a meteorite into Japan," Nezu says. "Tch," Horizon leans back and takes his Provisional Hero License out of his wallet, dropping it onto the table. "Can''t wait for this whole thing to just be over..." "Why''d you take that out?" Nezu gestures to the card. "That''s what this is all about right, might as well remind everyone." Watching Horizon rx in the seat beside him Nezu realizes something, that since Horizon woke up after the Gigantomachy, he never once asked, "how do you feel about all of this?" "Honestly, tired, really damn tired," Horizon says. "But this ends today, so that''s good." Nezu looks at him strangely, "this case couldst days, if not weeks." "No, it won''t," Horizon says. After a few more minutes of soft murmuring across the room the Supreme Court Justice enters the room from therge double doors behind the judges desk. Everyone in the room stands as the older Japanese man looks around, eyes lingering on Horizon for a long moment before he moves to the middle chair. "Please be seated," the man says as two other men enter the room behind him, moving to the seats in front of his desk slightly lower, facing the room. These two men are the Judicial Truth Seers assigned to this particr case, belonging to a collection of men and women who have pledged to use their lie detector Quirks to uphold honor and honesty within the courts of Japan. "I am the honorable judge Boshu, here to preside over the case of, ''The People Of Japan VS Horizon'', the prosecution on behalf of ''The People Of Japan'' is being represented by," he gestures to the woman sitting at the other table with her assistants. "Lady Gisei of the Gisei Law Firm, your honor," the woman stands and says. The judge nods and gestures for her to sit. "And the defense on behalf of ''Horizon'' is being led by," he gestures to Nezu who stands up on his chair to be seen. "Principal Nezu of UA Academy," Nezu proudly says before he''s instructed to take his seat. "Now that everyone is introduced, please do be aware that everything within this room is recorded," the judge says. "This case is a matter of both national and international interest and therefore all records of it will be made public by regtion, I urge both prosecution and defense to keep that in mind before any evidence is presented to the court." He gets nods from both Nezu and Lady Gisei. "Very well then," Judge Boshu gestures tody Gisei. "Let''s begin, as of 9: 13 AM, we shall now begin with opening statements from the prosecution,dy Gisei if you''d speak." "Thank you, your honor," Lady Gisei says as she stands and takes a deep breath. She nces over at Horizon for a moment, seeing that he was apparently more focused on the license on his table than her. "On behalf of ''The People Of Japan'', I am here seeking justice for the millions of people affected by the excessive damages caused by Provisional License holder Horizon. Over a quarter of a million people have been confirmed dead or missing and countless more are injured, not to speak of the billions of dors in property damage stretching from every side of Japan all the way to South Korea''s coastline. These damages and tragic losses are so severe that if it were anyone else, they''d be locked in Tartarus for the remainder of existence, yet here we are, holding a case in our sacred Supreme Court. The very act that proves how far Japan''s preferential treatment of Horizon extends, and now we are here to question how we should treat him moving forward, if this is how allowing him to act freely in good faith is rewarded. This, is our chance, to truly show the world, that at least within these inds we call home, not even Horizon is above thew..." Lady Gisei takes her seat as her words reach far and wide across the globe, emboldening many that resonate with them. "And for the defense," Boshu gestures to Nezu. "Thank you, your honor," Nezu stands on his chair. "I would like to bring it to the attention of the court that Horizon was not in his proper state of mind when this tragedy urred. Had he been operating as per usual, he would avoid unnecessary destruction and strive to save everyone as he normally does. This was a ploy made by the viins specifically to target Horizon, just as Shigaraki confirmed multiple times, a trap designed to push him to his limits and kill him to leave us defenseless. I do not believe Horizon should be held fully responsible for the events that urred, considering the magnitude of the threat he faced and exactly how much effort it took to destroy Gigantomachia." Boshu gestures for Nezu to sit as the room remains silent, the man contemtes his next words very carefully. "I see, so you argue that Horizon wasn''t thinking clearly, somehow adversely affected by the experience?" "Yes, your honor," Nezu says. "Then please borate, give us all the details you can regarding this event. If what you speak is the truth, then this is not as simply as deciding a punishment for Horizon, but ruling on whether or not he should be allowed to use his Quirk at all if this can be the result of him losing control." As Nezu dives into the borately scripted and practiced exnation''s they''d rehearsed, Horizon zones in and out of the conversation. Looking at the judge from behind his visor with a bored expression as he recounts all the fond memories he''d taken for granted. All the times he''s spent with his parents, and now surprisingly some of his moments with his new friends from UA, and even teaming up with certain Pro Heroes or fighting some unique viins. All the new and interesting Quirk''s he''s been able to study and the research the Miracle Ward has allowed him to ess. "Is that true Horizon?" The judge asks, snapping him out of his daydream. "Can you say with absolute certainty that such an incident will never happen again?" "Yes your honor," Horizon says. "As Principal Nezu said, this was caused by a defensive mechanism of my Quirk, one which no longer has control over my power." "I see," the judge seems to write a few notes at his desk, then nces off to the side. Horizon can sense him looking at his phone behind there before he reads his notes once again. "And should we assume that you can and will return to your previous mode of operation at this current moment?" The judge asks. "I''m ready to resume Hero Work at this very moment, your honor," Horizon says. "Hero Work which is shaping up to credit him with the greatest record of public service¡­prior to this tragedy," Nezu says. "The sooner we can get him back to stopping viins the better for everyone." "Hmm," Judge Boshu rubs his chin for a moment while he looks at Horizon. "Yes, considering how instrumental this case is for the future of both Japan and the world atrge that would be the ideal scenario, and if the loss of life wasn''t so egregious I would have already had you back to working to protect the people. But too many have died or been hurt by this for me not to peer deeper into the past, present, and potential future of both Horizon and his mental state, along with the root causes of this event." "A very wise decision, your honor," Gisei says, as she stands up, holding a stack of 50 pages in her hands. "But the public record is only the heroic side of the story, as I''ve recently learned¡­" All eyes shift to her, including Horizon''s as he''s not sure what she''s talking about. "Permission to approach?" she asks. "Granted, and you may exin yourself for the record to show," judge Boshu says. Lady Gisei begins begins to borate as she moves to hand him the documents, "it appears that the scale of this catastrophe we now call ''The Gigantomachy'', was so great that some people deem it necessary to ce themselves in harms way to bring light to our so called ''Miracle''," she turns her back to the judge after handing him the papers but remains in the middle of the floor, all cameras focused on her. "Some of these people include members of public stations, namely, high-ranking members of the Hero Public Safetymission who have been sworn to secrecy." Horizon''s eyes widen as both he and Nezu stop themselves from ncing back at Pantu. Using his Scan he can feel her eyes widen for a moment as her features take a look of surprise and confusion before they return to normal unnaturally fast. "These brave men and women knew they would surely be tried for treason for sharing this information, but it is necessary for the sake of us understanding exactly what we''re dealing with. The documents I handed Supreme Court Justice Boshu, share detailed, signed ounts, of multiple acts of cruelty, brutality, and even capital murder of a surrendered foe, all done by Horizon." The crowd gasps and the judge raises his hand to silence them, then gestured fordy Gisei to proceed. "At a certain point in preparation for this case I simply had to describe the brutality at the top and have the next few pages only listing names, three columns per page, both sides, well into the thousands of names," Gisei says. "All covered up by Hero Public Safety Commission President, Lady Pantu." As she gestures to Pantu the doors open and a group of eight armored police officers enter, making their way toward the woman. "What is the meaning of this?" Pantu asks as the men get her away from the crowd and move to put handcuffs on her. "Lady Pantu, you''re under arrest," the man leading the group says as all cameras shift to them. "You''re making a mistake, those records she has must be fake," Pantu says. "Lie," both the lie detectors sitting before the judge say in unison, sensing her lie. "You''re under arrest for perjury, fraud, falsifying government documents,plicity in capital murder, hiding evidence, and treason," the man says as he quickly puts the cuffs on her and begins shoving her out of the room. The murmuring grows into loud chatter for a moment before the judge ms the gavel, silencing everyone. "Prosecutor, please continue," he says while continuing to read the documents she handed him. "Thank you, your honor," Lady Gisei says. "The most notable examples were printed on the first page, namely Horizon''s murder of Wolfram. He was admittedly a viin and the cause of the metal storm months ago which decimated Port Ind, however the sources who are here and willing to testify their ounts of what happened have all stated that Wolfram surrendered, yet Horizon seemingly became enraged and ''beat him and tore into him with his bare hands until the upper body looked like burger meat'', to use their exact words. Pictures were also included in the documents of that specific example." As she says that the man has a disgusted look on his face as he turns the page, "yes I saw the pictures, very detailed¡­" "The second example is Horizon''s excessive use of force against the League Of Viins," Gisei says. "Now while the League Of Viins do hold the disdain of the world, this encounter simply showed how far Horizon''s cruelty can stretch when he believes there isn''t anyone who will stand up for his victims. He split the viin known as Mr. Compress''s arm in two, down the middle, fractured his skull and neck, left him covered in 3rd degree burns, and multiple broken bones all across his body. The viin known as Spinner was brutalized in much the same way but suffered extreme nerve damage in his legs, most likely permanently impairing his ability to walk. And the viin knows as, well, her name, Himiko Toga. She was afflicted with a spinal injury which left her paralyzed from the neck down, along with a fractured skull and broken jaw." The judge can see the crowd go from not caring to being surprised by the brutality delivered to these viins. "The records show that Horizon''s brutality grows with the severity of the crimes as he must clearly think less people will care for worse criminals, but that is simply not how the justice system works, at least not in this great nation. The following pages go on to list the names of his victims, people who suffered everything from fingers and limbs being cut off, permanent disability, drowning only to be brought back at thest moment. And there are even some cases of him constantly warping people into the middle of the forest, and every time they reach civilization he''d warp them deeping into the middle, for days at a time. All to get answers out of them. Or warping someone to a river, and every time they try to drink he''d warp them back to their previous location, torturing them by dehydration. The documents show no end to his creativity in regards to cruelty¡­" "Yes I''ve noticed that," the judge says as he keeps reading, trying his best not to show any emotion. He nces up to see the crowd unsure of what to think anymore while some are ring at Horizon. "Horizon, do you deny any of these usations?" Horizon stands up, "no, your honor," he says. "And were you aware of President Pantu''s maniption of government forces to hide your activities?" "Yes I was your honor," Horizon says. "Then you may take your seat," the judge says. "I hereby add perjury, excessive cruelty, torture, capital murder, cruel and unusual torture, misuse of Quirk, and Heroic misconduct to your list of charges. Do you believe that within the eyes of thew these charges apply." Horizon stands up, "Within the eyes of thew, yes your honor." The judge is so surprised by this he actually looks up, noticing Nezu isn''t shocked either, but Endeavor looked confused, which all the cameras saw. "I see, then you may take your seat." "Your honor may I call for a short recess to discuss this newly presented evidence?" Nezu asks. Without looking up the judge sighs and nods, "it will take me atleast 20 minutes to read all of this and take notes, so we shall resume in thirty minutes¡­" END CHAPTER--- Chapter 290: (The People Of Japan VS Horizon III) Chapter 290: (The People Of Japan VS Horizon III) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "What the actual fuck was that?" Law asks as he paces back and forth around the living room within Horizon Tower. Nezu was sitting on the couch typing away on his phone trying to figure out what''s going on while Law kept walking. "I''m making a call to the Prime Minister," Nezu says. "Hopefully he can give us a hand." "Yeah I hope so," Law runs his fingers through his hair as he walks to the window, staring out at Tokyo. "Those fuckers really betrayed Pantu, betrayed us, I didn''t ever think she''d lose control of her own people." "When someone rips a city from the earth, crumples it into a ball, then throws it at their country, that inspires enough fear and doubt to make people turn on each other," Nezu says. Law nces back over his shoulder, seeing Nezu begin talking on the phone.Ignoring Nezu he closes his eyes, focusing on Scan, sensing Pantu being processed at a police station only 25 miles away. Her items have been removed, and now she sits cuffed to a table in the interrogation room, under heavy guard, waiting for what he assumes is her legal team. SHAMBLES! He warps his visor onto his head before looking back at Nezu, "I''ll be back in a minute¡­" SHAMBLES! He warps away, appearing across the table from Pantu, seeing the woman staring down at the table deep in thought. "You shouldn''t be here, breaking into a police station," Pantu says without even looking up at him. "I just want to know what''s going to happen to you, any ideas?" "I''ve been charged with everything short of treason, and since I''m not a National Asset like you and Nezu, lethal injection," Pantu says. "So you''re definitely in no position to help me," Horizon mutters. "I was hoping you''d have some way out of this¡­" "Covering for you is what got me into this," Pantu looks up at him, then gestures to the cuffs. "I was so desperate to keep you in Japan that I covered up all those things you did without hesitation, because I knew that even if I lost my job, or worse, all I had to do wasst until your contract was done." "Then what?" "Then, hopefully you''d be so happy with the support I''d given you, and with some convincing from Nezu, you''d stay in Japan," Pantu sighs and leans back, rattling the cuffs. "But I didn''t ount for you being so scary that my own people would be willing to turn on me, just to get you out of Japan, the filthy cowards." "I see," Horizon sits on the chair opposite her. "And all the spy games, trying to learn about me¡­" Pantu scoffs, "considering how things yed out, do you really think I was wrong for wanting to know how to bring you down if you did turn against us?" Horizon nods, "no, that''s just you doing your job." They sit in silence for a moment before Pantu asks,"Was I close?" "I¡­don''t even know anymore," Horizon admits. "You were closer than I''d like to admit, I was really starting to like this hero stuff." "I spent my entire life working myself ragged, sacrificing everything to keep Japan safe. And now, when I was so close to getting some immortal war god to protect us, everything blew up in my face." "At Least you have someone else to me," Horizon says. "In my case, everything that happens now is all on me, and I just have to grit my teeth and deal with the oue." "Consequences, yes," Pantu reaches forward and gently touches his hand. "I''m sorry but, if you''re hoping I can tell you where that facility is, I sent them to a ce I don''t know the location of, just in case I waspromised." Horizon doesn''t detect any lies from the woman, before she withdraws her hand. "Sorry, standard procedure for the paranoid," Pantu says. "You had good reason, but that''s not why I was here," Horizon says, and Pantu doesn''t detect any lies. She collects her thoughts for a moment before speaking, "then why are you here?" "I, um¡­ I don''t know," he lies, which she easily detects. "But I suppose this is goodbye, thank you for trying to help me, I''m just sorry it turned out like this, for all of us." SHAMBLES! He warps away, leaving her alone in the room to face her fate. Horizon appears back on the couch in his living room, then quickly removes his visor once again. "Where''d you go?" Nezu asks Law. "To visit Pantu," Law says. "She''s going to be executed, probably sooner rather thanter." "The Prime Minister confirmed that much," Nezu says as he continues writing some ns for their new courtroom strategy. "He also said he isn''t allowed to get involved in this matter, and is in the process of deciding who the next President of the HPSC will be." "Already trying to rece her huh." "The country cannot function without someone in her chair," Nezu says. "Do you feel bad for her?" "No, she knew the risks of helping me," Law says. "I just never expected things to go this badly for us, what about you, how do you feel?" "I''m fine," Nezu says. "Lives were lost but humans will mourn then move on as if nothing happened, it''s what you''re all best at after all. Adapting and oveing." "Wow, and they think I''m the monster." "I''m not human," Nezu reminds him. "My students and staff are one thing, but people who don''t affect me are another story entirely." "And what about me?" Law asks. "You turn a blind eye to all the horrible things I''ve done, why? Why can you easily look past all the lives I''ve taken?" Nezu looks at him in surprise for a moment, then shakes his head and continues writing. "Because, you''re Horizon, it''s really that simple," Nezu says. "I will guide you down the hero path as long as it takes, no matter how many times you stumble and fall, I will pick you back up, because the good you can bring to this world is boundless. And so long as you keep returning to the hero path, no matter how many times you are knocked away from it, or even if you abandon it on your own. So long as you return to it, we have endless chances, to have our own Guardian Deity." "I see," Law mutters. "I also quite like talking to you," Nezu quickly admits. "But you''ve probably noticed that. After all, you''re the only other person I''ve met that''s truly unique, so we can best understand the istion it brings when you operate differently from every other thing in the world." "Yeah, it''s lonely being better than everyone," Law says. "Well I wouldn''t put it like that." Law sighs, leaning back into the couch. "Just me, you, and apparently Pantu, versus, everything. Never would have expected this to be the oue." "Yes we''re all in this together." "And I''m sorry, for whatever repercussions you''ll be facing for standing by my side, and for whatever happens next," Law says as he warps his visor back on. "Ready to get back into the fight?" Nezu asks. "I''m ready to end the fight," Horizon says as the both warp away. Minutester Nezu and Horizon, along with everyone else are back in the courtroom. Horizon''s Provisional Hero License rests on the table in front of him, but as Nezu and Lady Gisei go back and forth making their points either for or against Horizon, everyone can feel Nezu''s points being shredded. The odds were far too stacked against them, mass murder, government corruption, and all the smaller crimes thaty between them. For the first time it seemed as if being Horizon simply wouldn''t be enough. This is all but confirmed when he gets a message on the inside of his visor from the Whitehouse, extending another offer from President Christopher Skyline. ''Everyone is ready to pick apart Japan''s corpse¡­'' Horizon thinks as he recedes into his own mind. He thoughtlessly begins ying with his Provisional Hero License again, making it hover and slowly rotate above his palm as he considers his future. ''Even if I win this case by some miracle, Pantu is going to get executed, and my parents will soon follow. UA will be in serious trouble when I leave too, so Nezu will have a mountain of problems to deal with. Endeavor will be the main target for Shigaraki, and at this rate he''ll be dead before the end of the year. And I¡­ I don''t even know what I want to do anymore. I really didn''t count on enjoying this hero crap,'' Horizon thinks. He recedes further into his mind, recalling his parent''s words to him, December 24th the year beforest. How they begged him to forget about them, to move onto a new chapter of his life. To simply let them go and live the life he wants to live. "---Horizon!" Judge Boshu snaps him out of his thoughts. "Yes?" Horizon asks. "Did you not hear the question?" Horizon looks around, seeing everyone looking at him, "uh, no, i wasn''t really paying attention." "You are on trial for serious crimes, and you weren''t paying attention?" "Well, yeah," Horizon takes a deep breath as he gets up, still hovering his license above his palm. "It''s not like I''m the one on trial here, right?" He walks closer to the judge, making the man a bit nervous as he gets to the middle of the room, taking the floor. "But you are," Lady Gisei says. "No, I''m really not," Horizon looks at all the cameras and spectators, then points at them. "All of you are." He sees some people look confused while Endeavor just nods, knowing what he meant. "Because this case doesn''t decide my future, it decides yours, all of you. Because if I lose, it''s not like I''ll be locked up, I''ll just go to a different country, they''ve already sent dozens of offers, I just have to pick one. But all of you, well, if I leave, you''re all going to die. Because when Shigaraki sends his next monster, you won''t have anyone capable of fighting it, and it will leave Japan as a pile of rubble. And the very best you could hope for, is that whatever country I move to allows me toe stop them, but that''s unlikely, and it''ll be toote anyway." Horizon sighs and raises his Provisional License to float even higher. "All of this drama, to decide if I can keep this, as if you could possibly survive without me. You need me, because none of you, can save you, only I can do that, because I''m Horizon, and you''re not. You need me, and I¡­" he pauses for a moment, finallying to the realization, and epting his parent''s words. "I really don''t need anyone," with those words he feels a weight being lifted from his spirit. As a newfound sense of freedom rushes through him, allowing him to finally be whoever he wants to be. The room is still for a moment until he looks around, seeing most of the people here terrified of whates next, but some such as Endeavor and Mirko are smiling, knowing this was the only way for the masses to understand. Horizon exhales and rxes his shoulder, "the fate of a nation is in your hands now," he hovers the Provisional License over to the judge. "But I only stay if Pantu stays, so think very carefully about what you decide¡­" With that being said he warps away, leaving everyone stunned silent. They now realize they''d not taken a single breath since he began speaking, fear and astonishment was so thick they couldn''t drink in the air. Judge Boshu looks at the license in his fingers, unable to collect his thoughts. Everyone expected this case to continue for days, but it seems that Horizon''s patience had run thin after only a few hours, now the fate of a nation rests in his hands. ''So this is the pressure that child must have felt, every day as Horizon,'' he thinks to himself as he looks up at the crowd, into the cameras. Billions of people ready to hand onto his every word. But he is not Horizon, he is not ready to face such a daunting challenge head on, so he retreats to collect his thoughts, and the facts. "Court will resume after a 2 Hour recess," he ms the gavel, and the room immediately erupts into chaos as reporters rush toward Endeavor and Nezu¡­ END CHAPTER--- Chapter 291: (Classroom Tension) Chapter 291: (ssroom Tension) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "Court will resume after a 2 Hour recess," Judge Boshu''s words are immediately followed by an uproar in the courtroom that''s cut short when the screen cuts to a news update. Mina immediately mutes the TV as everyone is stunned silent by what they just witnessed. All of 1A were gathered in themon area watching the trial with bated breath, only for things to constantly escte beyond belief. The only sound in the room is Sero eating a bag of potato chips, waiting for the case to resume as he idly scrolls on his phone. Beside him Shinso is tapping his foot nervously. And among the other girls sitting on nkets and cushions on the floor, Momo and Jiro are deep in thought, forced to consider the implications of their rtionship with an admitted murderer."Is that true?" Asui is the first to break the eerie quiet. "If Horizon leaves is everyone really going to die?" "Pretty much," Bakugo admits, surprising many of his ssmates. "ss face is strong enough to scare the viins just as much as the regr weaklings." "But he may have just ruined his chances at winning this case with that stunt," Ojiro says, one arm draped around Hagakure as she''s clearly worried about this entire situation. "I mean causing that kind of scene after all the things he''s being used of, not smart." "I don''t know about that," Shoto taps his chin. "The only way to make people realize the truth of the situation is to be direct and stating it, and being that blunt and graphic is the best way." "Does your dad have any thoughts about this?" Mina asks. "I''d hope the #1 Hero would have an opinion at least, or are you not allowed to tell us?" "He''s backing Horizonpletely," Shoto says, surprising many of his ssmates. "Really? I didn''t expect that, I figured he''d want to put Horizon in jail or something," Mina says. "Well, maybe he''s not as heroic as All Might in that kind of way." "Him not being as ''heroic'' as All Might is the best course of action right now," Deku says, which definitely surprised everyone. "I hate to say it, but right now only thinking about things in terms of right and wrong will hurt a lot of people. Horizon doesn''t hurt innocent people as far as we know, and I really don''t like the way he treats viins, and that he''s so open about his¡­kills. But I don''t imagine he''d just let someone put cuffs on him without a fight. Not to mention if he really does leave Japan everything will happen exactly as he said. Endeavor must know that and understands that we atleast need Horizon here until the League Of Viins has been stopped." Hearing that from Deku of all people makes Uraraki sick to her stomach, and for Deku, saying it felt even worse. "I can understand how that makes sense, logically at least," Uraraka admits. "But, I don''t know how I feel about sharing a ssroom with some mass murderer." "Him being here is what was keeping the viins away, remember?" Jiro asks, with a disgusted look on her face. "So as much as we may hate it, it''s necessary for a while." "That''s assuming they''d even allow it," Asui says. "I mean would they allow him to return to UA, at this point why not just have himplete the Provisional Hero License time just working from Horizon Tower, or just give him a full Pro Hero License." "Well for the first part, they''re definitely gonna let hime back to UA," Kirishima says. "I mean principal Nezu is the only one he trusts and they''ll want someone to keep an eye on him for them, so they have to keep those two close." "The full Pro Hero License could still happen though," Shoji says. "I mean before they didn''t do it because of the reformations in Japan''s constitution regarding Quirks and Pro Heroes, plus some United Nations stuff that I still don''t understand. But if they allow someone to remain free in the country after all the things he''s done, making him a full Pro Hero should be nothing inparison." "The public would fall apart if they did that," Shinso says. "People are already getting ready to riot in the street," he gestures to the muted TV. "If Horizon is made a full Pro Hero, then that means Japan has truly epted him for the foreseeable future." "Yup," Sero cuts in. "But the reason we have Provisional Licenses is because Japan doesn''t really trust us yet and it''s easier to cut someone with just a Provisional License, which will obviously still be the n." "I don''t get it," Mina admits. "Why keep him if they don''t n to ever ept him? It''s not like he can remain a Provisional License holder forever, they''ll have to make a decision in just over 2 years." "It''s like only keeping a yer for one season," Tokoyami says. "Japan essentially will keep him until he deals with the League Of Viins, then he''ll ept one of the offers another country has made him and the government will cut him loose." Mina snaps her fingers, "Right! But making him a full Pro Hero would be showing some form of permanentmitment, I get it now!" "Damn, who would have expected this to happen, just when you think you''re getting to know someone," Ojiro sighs. "Yeah, I know right," Mina says. "I mean he was always a jerk, but I never took him for a murderer." She eyes Bakugo wearily, "anything you wanna tell us Bakugo?" "Tch, I''m not a killer Pinky! I''m gonna be the #1 Hero!" "Alright alright," she raises her hands in surrender. "Just making sure." "If you''re gonna question anyone it should be those morons," Bakugo gestures to Sero and Shinso. "They''re on his team, if anyone knew it was them." All eyes immediately turn to them, with the exception of Momo who just keeps staring lifelessly at the TV. "Well?" Kirishima asks. "Did you guys know?" "Obviously not!" Sero says. "He''s always been a bit heavy handed with viins, but nothing lethal, at least that we''ve seen," Shinso says. "But like they said, he wasn''t in his right mind during the Gigantomachy, or versus Wolfram, and against Overhaul he didn''t have much of a choice." "But he was when he tortured those viins, what about that?" Asui asks. Sero frowns, knowing this probably won''t end well, but he speaks regardless, "look, the kind of cases Horizon gets handed by themission, with the stakes that high you really can''t afford any dys when getting information out of people, maybe sometimes it goes to far but its always to save lives." Beside him Shinso nods, but the ssmates look disappointed in them all the same. At this Momo finally moves, standing up with much of the color drained from her face as she lifelessly walks out of the room. "I''ll see you allter, I need some rest," she says while walking past them. "Uh, don''t you want to see how it ends?" Hagakure asks. Momo stops, and they see tears forming, at the brink of overflowing, "it''s Horizon, he''ll win, he always wins, even when he shouldn''t¡­" is all she says before going to her room. Nobody speaks for a minute after she leaves, then Hagakure looks around awkwardly, "well, she took that a lot better than I expected." "But a lot worse than a certain someone," Shinso nods toward Jiro. "Huh, me?" Jiro asks as she feels all eyes fall onto her. "Howe you don''t seem as affected,did you not care about him, or are you just better than her at hiding it?" Shinso asks. "I did care about him, a lot," she res at Shinso, then rxes. "But I wasn''t anywhere near as into him as Momo. "To her he''s been this symbol of perfection from the first day of UA, and now he''s been proven to be some kind of psychopath." "And for you?" Shinso asks. "It hurts, a lot, someone you''ve reluctantly started to l¡­ like, turns out to be some kind of, thing, that you can''t even describe. I don''t even know what I''m supposed to do anymore," Jiro says as she wipes the tears the moment they start flowing. Mina and Uraraka wrap their arms around her, "well if nothing else he owes both of you some apologies," Mina says. "Yeah, definitely," Urakara says. "I should go check on Momo," Jiro says as she gets up, tears still flowing down her cheeks. "I''m the only person who really understands what she''s going through, so I have to be there for her," she says before quickly leaving the room to find her best friend. After Jiro is long gone Sero leans closer to Shinso to ask quietly, "so, do you think if hees back they''ll keep sleeping with him, or is it done forever?" Shinso looks at him as if he''s a moron, "he crushed a city into a meteorite then dropped it on Japan, what do you think?" Sero thinks about if for a moment, "definite no on Jiro, 50-50 on Momo?" Shinso thinks about it for a moment, then sighs, "10-90 against for Momo." "Yeah that makes more sense," Sero says. "You two morons know we can hear you, right?" Asui smacks them both with her tongue. "And those are our friends you''re talking about." "We were just thinking of how weird things could get if hees back, jeez," Sero rubs the side of his head." "The better question is, would either of you remain on Team Horizon after this?" Shoto asks. "Now that''s the real question¡­" the entire room freezes as Horizon walks into themon area from the hallway, looking directly at Sero, "so, what''ll it be, and why are you eating my chips?" END CHAPTER--- Chapter 292: (Classroom Tension II) Chapter 292: (ssroom Tension II) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "First of all," Sero eats another chip while everyone is frozen, just staring at Horizon. "Yes, these are your chips, but in my defense...I ran out of snaps." "How is that any defense?" "Because it''s your fault I was so stressed out, matching you in court isn''t fun." "Are you seriously ming me for the fact that you''re eating my snacks?" "Yup," Sero continues eating. Beneath his visor Horizon rolls his eyes and sighs."Whatever, being there was less fun," Horizon says. "What about the other thing, Team Horizon?" Sero shrugs, "depends on how this thing goes," he gestures to the TV. "Speaking of which, shouldn''t you be there?" Shinso asks. "From where we''re sitting it looked like you had a mental breakdown then just disappeared." "Nezu can handle the rest without me," Horizon says as he looks around the room, seeing a few of his ssmatespletely stiff, as if they were too scared to breathe in his presence. "I just had to put all my cards on the table so everyone understands what''s really at stake." "Will you really leave?" Uraraka blurts out. "I mean, if you lose the case." "Well, do you think I deserve to be a Pro Hero?" Horizon asks, and she frowns, looking down at herp and clenching her fists. "No," she grits out, squeezing her eyes shut as if expecting him tosh out. "But more people will die if you leave, so I... I don''t know." Deku and some of the others are watching him closely, ready to react to anything he does. But Horizon just nods, "not bad floaty, saying that to my face took some real balls. But yeah this situation isn''t about True Hero crap, because when the chips are down the only thing that matters is the numbers." "You can''t win the chips if you walk away from the table," Shinso says. "You should go back to court." "Nope, toote to do that now, it''ll make me look weak," Horizon says. "I actually just came here to check in on my team, and get my spare sword from my room." "You burnt all that energy just toe get Scalpel?" Sero asks. "Honestly, it wasn''t that much energy, only took me two steps to get here," Horizon chuckles. "Only took me two steps to get here." Sero pauses for a moment, trying to do the math, but Shinso beats him to it. "That makes you, what, ten times more powerful than before the Gigantomachy?" Horizon chuckles deeply, "well, that''s a start, I''m still getting the hang of exactly how far my reach is now, but I''m at least one order of magnitude stronger, plus a little extra." "Well atleast if you lose your mind again we won''t have to worry," Shinso says, confusing everyone. "Nobody will be alive to deal with whateveres next." "I''ve got perfect control now, that won''t happen again," Horizon says. "Now have fun watching my court case, I''ve got more important stuff to do." Horizon walks down the hallway toward the elevator, leaving his ssmates to breathe easy once more. "Well, he seems exactly the same," Sero rxes into his seat. "He acts like nothing happens, but he''s a lot scarier," Asui says, wrapping an arm around Ochako tofort the shaken girl. As Horizon is in the elevator he checks his phone, seeing a dozen missed calls and messages from Nezu, and after texting him a simple response he puts his phone back into his pocket. Getting to the top floor and walking slowly, enjoying the peaceful moment before he gets back to work, Horizon stops in the hallway and looks to the girls side of the dorm. He senses Momo and Jiro talking in Momo''s room. He considers what he should do. Then just shakes his head, "I''m not in the mood for this shit," he says before turning and walking to his room. Entering his room Horizon turns on the lights and does a quick Scan, not sensing anything missing aside from some snacks, and no new additions. Horizon takes a deep breath, rxing his shoulders as he removes his visor. Walking over to his desk he picks up his backup sword. He grips the handle and draws it from the sheathe, only to frown at the sight of his de. "This isn''t going to work, if I try to use that Super Move again, you''ll break just like the other one," he says while sitting behind his desk, turning on hisputer. Warping his boots off he leans back into his chair while putting his feet on the desk, using Takt to levitate Scalpel just above his palm, slowly rotating for him to admire. "I''ll probably never have to use ''Divine Divide'', well, unless I want to cut one of Japan''s inds in half, but better to have it and not need it¡­" he leans forward and brings up the Hero Network. Only to see his ount locked. "Ofcourse," he sighs, leaning back into his chair. "I doubt any material can handle my power at this point, at least not when I really put my back into it, so you''ll probably shatter too¡­" He raises and hand and slowlystarts spinning the sword like a top, dancing in the air. He nces between the de and his hand for a moment, and an idea springs into his mind. "No material can handle me, but I can handle me," he takes out his phone to make a call, but stops just before calling Mei. He nces down at the floor, seemingly looking at it, but truly looking past his ssmates, who were most definitely discussing his presence back at UA. "Hopefully Mei isn''t as conflicted as they are," he says before calling her. To his surprise she answers on the first ring. "Great timing,e to myb!" she blurts out before hanging up. Law just looks down at his phone for a moment before shaking his head, "well at least she doesn''t seem mad at me." SHAMBLES! He appears fully suited up with Scalpel at his side, just inside her engineering room. "What''d you need?" he asks, seeing her moving boxes around the room. Me was covered in oil and dust, clearly having been locked in here for days working on a project of sorts. "Move those boxes into my dorm room," she points to a few cardboard boxes at the far side of the room. By the time she packs the box she was carrying onto the shelf and turns around the boxes are gone and Horizon stands expectantly in their ce. "Is that all?" Horizon asks. "Yup, thanks for that, saved me a few trips," Mei says as she walks over to her drawing table, not even looking at him. "Did you need something?" "Uhh¡­" Horizon takes a few careful steps toward her until he''s beside her at the table, watching her draw. "I need some upgrades." "Yeah yeah I know, I''m taking a bit long on the new skeleton you want in your Hero Costume, but the parts are taking a bit longer than expected to fabricate," Mei says without stopping her work. "It''ll be ready for the sports festival at least." Horizon is surprised for a moment, then realizes what''s going on. "Mei, when was thest time you watched the news, or left this building?" "Dunno, when you asked for the new upgrade I guess," Mei shrugs. "Ah, so you don''t know about the Gigantomachy¡­" "The what?" "That''s what people are calling it, my fight with Gigantomachia," Horizon says. "You win?" she asked. "Uh, yeah, but, a lot of people became coteral damage," Horizon says. He speaks slowly and carefully, expecting her to turn on him at any moment. "I sort of picked up a city then threw it at Japan." "Wow, didn''t know you could do that," was all Mei said. Horizon takes a surprised step back, "did you hear what I said?" "Yeah, you dropped a city from the sky or something, was that the quake I felt a few days ago, man that knocked over all my tools, and you owe me a coffee for that." "Wait, so it doesn''t bother you that I killed a lot of people?" Horizon asks. Mei''s hands stop working for a moment, then she resumes. "I can''t let things like emotions get in the way of my dreams and goals. So long as you''re still in the Pro Hero business I''ll make your gear to get my name out there, wait, are you expelled? Is that what you''re here to tell me?" "The court case is ongoing, I''ll know in a few hours," Horizon says. "But I do have some bad news for you." Mei stopped working to look at him, narrowing her eyes at his visor, "what did you do?" "So I got a lot more powerful very suddenly, and broke Scalpel." She immediately throws her pencil at his visor, which he stops with Takt, "what the hell is wrong with you!" she says while punching him in the chest, not even making him move. "Do you have any idea of how hard it was to upgrade that stupid sword for you!" "Which is why I''m here to discuss another upgrade," he gently holds her shoulders and makes her take a step back. "What, so you can break another one of my babies?" Beneath the visor he rolls his eyes, "look either you can make it or I call Melissa." Mei immediately stops talking, but keeps ring at him with obvious disapproval, "tch, traitor..." She returns to drawing her designs. "What was the issue with the one that broke?" "Energy overload, the metal can''t handle my Booster Shot flowing through it to that level." "I didn''t know Booster Shot could flow into inanimate things." "Booster Shot is the basis of my new move, Divide, basically energy sh projectiles." he exins. "Why do you even need those, doesn''t Amputate cut open everything?" "Yeah but Divide does real damage from range, that''s invaluable, anyway I need a sword that can handle it." "Well I don''t even have to look at what happened to know the only thing that might be able to handle your energy is you, so, you''ll need an organic Hero Costume, or at least just a sword." "Ok, so you need me to shave my head?" Horizon shrugs. "I can make my hair grow pretty quick so it shouldn''t be a problem, how much?" Mei stops working and looks at him, then takes one step forward and touches his jacket, feeling the material. Then does the same for his shirt, pants, tie, torso, then pokes his body, feeling the gel tes of his Body Glove beneath. She steps away and does the math in her head, then speaks, "it''ll take at least a few feet of hair for this much fabric, considering the amount ofyers you have. Not to mention that the amount of unique energy flowing through them will wear it down quickly if we don''t mix in enough." "Will that work for the sword too?" Horizon asks. Mei chuckles darkly at that, "oh no, for that I''ll need something harder." "Like, fingernails?" "You and I both know what I''m talking about¡­" she gives him a devious look, enjoying this small revenge for him breaking Scalpel. Horizon sighs, "fine, how many of my bones do you need?" END CHAPTER--- Chapter 293: (Switching Sides) Chapter 293: (Switching Sides) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- In a world of absolute darkness, Law hears both his parents clearly, as if they were still here talking to him. He recalls the important lessons they taught him, things that he must never allow himself to forget. He feels weightless, untethered to the world around him. Finally, truly, absolutely¡­free. "Focus your mind," his mother says. "Steady your breathing, and focus on your own heartbeat, on the blood flowing through your veins." "You must steady yourself, and understand yourself, before you act," His father says."You can''t exert your will on the world if you aren''t in control of yourself," Arsenal says. "Your Quirk is many things Law, and it wouldn''t be wrong to call it a manifestation of desire and will," Corazon says. "But without a clear image and intent, that will all fall apart." "You must be decisive and trust your instinct, do not falter, and do not give up," Arsenal says. "See what you want clearly in your mind, then reach out and make it reality." "You can do anything, people view children as balls of infinite potential, but you really are that," Corazon says. "You could level cities, push the oceans away, rip satellites out of the sky and raise inds to the stars." "But you have to master yourself first," she says. "Boundless possibility isn''t easily contained, it will copse your mind and shatter your body if you don''t work diligently to constantly improve yourself." "But what if it''s too much?" Law asks, his voice small and terrified. "What if I''m not enough?" To this Kikuughs quietly, then his father answers, "you will always be enough, because you''re our son, and that''s all you even need to be." "And if it ever bes too much for you, that''s what we''re here for, to help you," Kiku says. "We will be here to guide you, no matter how many times you trip along the path to bing whoever you want to be." "Most people live a full life without even discovering who they were really meant to be, you know," Corazon says. "But you, well, because of who you are now, we know whoever you''re meant to be must be beyond our imagination, and that''s a challenge us regr people can''t wrap our heads around." "But don''t let that deceive you into thinking the person you believe you''re meant to be is where you have to end up," Kiku says. "It''s an even more rare thing for the person you believe you should be, to be who you must be." "Think about it for a while, and tell us, who do you want to be?" Corazon asks. "I want to be¡­I want to be," Law pauses for a long time, then his voice reaches out again. "I want to be someone who can go anywhere, and do anything, and not be bothered by all the annoying weak little people." Both his parentsugh as they hear that, but not at him, simply because it was such a simple desire from a genius such as himself. "Well if that''s what you want, you''ll have to stay focused," Kiku says. "If you want to be as powerful as I think you do, then losing focus could cause a lot of problems in the world around you. So you''ll have to train a lot more than anyone else." "And if you want to be able to go anywhere without having to hide your presence, then you''d better take your lessons with me even more seriously," Corazon adds. "Doctors are loved everywhere we go, and a walking miracle like yourself will only make that more true." "And if they don''t love you as a savior, they can fear you as a ruler," Kiku says. "Power is the ability to exert your will onto the world itself, and you have more of that than anyone else¡­or at least you will, so the only thing stopping you, is you." "That''s right," Law says. "Because the only rule of nature is¡­''Who''s going to stop me?'', right?" Hearing that both his parents begin tough as Law opens his eyes. The bright sunset illuminates the ocean just beyond the beach at Matani Manor, causing the ocean to look like shimmering ss while reflecting orange rays directly onto Law. He stands on the water of his pool, wearing only a pair of blue swimming shorts. He takes a deep breath, filling his chest with air before exhaling and bringing his hands together. He cups his hands in front of him and focuses. Feeling the blood in his veins, the power leaping between each of his cells and rushing toward his hands. His Room shrinking from the size of the pool down to just a meter around his body. He continues to shrink it, focusing his thoughts more so as he does and increasing the energy used for it. For the first time in a very long time, he deactivates themand to make his Room invisible, allowing it to be its natural blue form, causing everything he sees within to have a blue hue to it. Using his Quirk in its more raw and unnatural form, he realizes he''d almost forgotten what this feels like. To use Room without any specificmands so instinctively iy. "Now for the next step," he mutters before slowly shrinking it even more. He aims to make the room the size of a baseball and hold it in his palm,a goal he believes will be vital for his Awakening. But once again, the moment the Room shrinks, too small to fit his entire body, it copses. "Ah!" he sshes into the water. Law swims to the edge of the pool and sits with his feet in the heated water. "Still can''t get past that rule of needing my entire body to be in the room¡­" he mutters. Lawys back onto the heated outdoor tiles as the grooves between them begin glowing slightly to illuminate the outdoor area. He reaches up as if to grab the orange clouds, moving his fingers without his Quirk bing active, as if imagining he could make them move so easily. "I still can''t make a Room that I''m not within, and I still have to make my body the center of it, so how the hell do I even get this done with impossible restrictions like that?" he mutters to himself. "That''s it," Law snaps his fingers as he sits up. "If I just make them- - -" BEEP BEEP BEEP! Law turns around and opens a Room, sensing Nezu and Endeavor entering his house. "There goes my quiet night," he says while getting out of the pool. Walking into the house all the water droplets on his body seem to be held in ce, leaving them floating in the air as he walks away from them before they fall to the ground behind him. "You could have called first," Law says as Enji and Nezu enter the living room, both appearing tired. Enji doesn''t even speak, just sighs and begins walking into the kitchen. "I should have brought some of my tea," Nezu says as he getsfortable on the couch opposite Law. "What''s with the visit? And why is Enji all the way out here?" "Because you ditched me in Tokyo and I needed someone to escort me back to UA, did you forget that?" "Oh right, my bad," Law says. "And how''d the case go?" Nezu gives an annoyed, almost pained groan as he rubs his head, "did you seriously not watch the end of it, or atleast look at the results?" "Well I''ve been trying to have a good day, so nope," Law stretches out on the couch,ying back and closing his eyes. "You won," Enji walks into the room with a cup of coffee and takes a seat beside Nezu. Law''s eyes shoot open and he hops out of his seat, "ha, seriously?" "You sound surprised¡­" Enji says. "I ripped a city out of the ground and threw it at the country, so yeah I''m surprised," he giggles quietly as he sits back down. Nezu and Enji nce at each other, looking more concerned as each second passes. "Man, this really is ridiculous," Law says as he settles down. "What was the decision exactly?" "A 6-Month suspension of your Provisional Hero License, for ''training and self assessment of newfound applications of Hand of God''," Enji grumbles out before taking a sip of his coffee. "Wow," Law says as he can''t seem to stop smiling. "I killed so many people, so many, and they gave me a little vacation, a p on the wrist, hehehehe." "Now I''m getting worried," Enji says. "Nothing to be worried about," Law says. "Its just finally sinking in, that I really can do whatever the fuck I want, this really is what it meant to be Horizon, to be me." "To be Horizon?" Nezu asks. Law warps his phone down from his room and begins scrolling through his social media, seeing people rioting in some parts of Japan while in others they''re rejoicing that Horizon would remain in the country. "To be Horizon, is to be able to do whatever you want, but you cannot be Horizon, without first being the strongest, and damn it feels good¡­" he sighs and sinks down in the chair, happily watching all the riots unfold. "Now I''m officially concerned," Enji says, ncing warily at Nezu. "That depends on what he says next," Nezu says, catching Law''s attention. "So, you can still be Horizon in Japan, Pantu also got cleared and will be keeping her job. Your contract and parents are like it was before, so, what do you want to do?" Law doesn''t respond for a few minutes, but the sounds of riots ying on his phones. The sounds of fires and screams echo through the room, and Enji only grows more ufortable as Law''s smile grows. Law swipes the screen and the sound immediately changes to chanting and singing. Enji and Nezu can''t see it, but they know what he''s watching, the people celebrating outside Horizon tower and UA, people praising him. And that''s when Nezu sees it, the shimmer in his eyes that he''s waiting this long to see, the spark of desire to be a truly great hero. Nezu giggles, confusing Enji, then Law speaks the words he''s wanted to hear since they met. "I''m going to be the greatest Hero¡­ever," Law says with casual finality, as if he was simply stating something obvious. Nezu giggles quietly for a moment then catches his breath, "you know, I think I will have some tea¡­" because even Law''s terrible tea is good enough to toast to his victory. For on this night, Law Matani experienced the first spark of desire to be a True Hero¡­ ---Later That Night, Prime Minister Bosu''s Office¡­ "Lady Pantu, you have a lot of exining to do," are the first words Pantu hears as she enters the ornate office atop a Tokyo skyscraper. She wears her clothes from earlier in court that day, with her hair slightly messy, and walks through the ornate office to see an older Japanese man behind arge wooden desk, signing some papers. The moment she steps in, the guards behind her close the doors and she hears the locks click into ce. "Mister Prime Minister," Pantu says as she approaches the desk. "May I sit?" "No, but you can start exining what the hell happened, all of it, now," Boshu says as he sets the papers aside and looks up at her. "And stop using your Quirk, that''s an order, Facade is too troublesome at times like this." Hearing that Pantuplies, and her stone cold features immediately soften to show how tired and stressed she really is. Facade is an almost entirely unique Quirk, allowing the user to detect lies as well as hide their own lies and falsehoods from other lie detector Quirks, even deceiving Hand Of God. This Quirk alone has catapulted Pantu''s career to get to her current position, alongside her ingenious machinations in the political world. "That''s better, now, start talking, why''d you want Horizon to lose the case?" "What would you like to know?" Pantu asks, genuinely concerned, so much so that he could see the fear in her eyes. This causes Bosu to hesitate, but he steels his nerves, "as much as you can tell me without further implicating Japan in whatever mess you are in." "Well---" "Just sit down," Bosu says. "I sense this will be a long conversation." "How much do you know?" "I know you and Horizon have some sort of ndestine deal, I know he wanted you to be free from charges and retain your position, which is exactly what happened. I know you leaked information regarding your illegal activity of covering his tracks after his murders and sacrificed yourself and three of your top agents in order to do so." Pantu looks surprised that he knew that. "And I know that not only were you willing to die for him to lose the case, but you will willing to put Japan into a crisis of magnitudes we have never conceived by doing so¡­and I know it would have worked if I didn''t call Judge Boshu during the recess and persuade him to change his decision at thest moment." "You did that!" Pantu gets up and ms her hands on the desk, ring at the man who was unfazed. "After I worked so hard to get all the judges that would have sided with him to quit!" "Then start exining why you did all of that, and why Horizon demanded that you be free of charges alongside him¡­" Pantu takes a deep breath and sits back down. "Before Horizon joined UA, before I knew he was a Mystery ss, I made a deal with him. He heals All Might and ys hero, and I give him back his parents, not anything new regarding the kind of deals we''ve made before." "Hawks is one of the more sessful ones, yes," Bosu says. "And you failed to realize he was a Mystery ss because?" "Because Nezu intentionally kept that information hidden, because he knew that our protocol is to fold someone like that into the proper chain ofmand, because¡­" Pantu scrunches her face as she admits it, the words leaving a bitter taste in her mouth. "Because from where Nezu was sitting, keeping me out of the loop for as long as possible was the right decision." "But now you''re trying to sabotage them, because?" "Because, when I realized what Horizon was, and that he has a rage in him that can roll across a nation, if not a, and that it is an inevitability that it would fall upon Japan, the only option was to make him break the contract." "Why?" "Because he has this warped code of honor that if he ever fails to keep his word then he won''t get mad and throw a tantrum about the consequences." "And why would he be mad?" "Because the deal was he''d get his parents back, Arsenal and the Heart Thief." Bosu shrugs, "they''re in a secret facility off the coast, that''s easy enough." "No, they''re not¡­" Bosu closes his eyes and immediately pinches the bridge of his nose," please don''t tell me¡­" "Star and Stripe threatened to fly to Japan and execute them herself," Pantu says. "At the time we didn''t know what he was, he was only a doctor with a warping Quirk, an easy problem to sweep off the board." Bosu sits back in his chair and rolls his fingers on the desk, "and how long have they been dead?" Pantu sighs, "four months prior to him entering UA, they were both executed in Tartarus¡­" END CHAPTER--- Fun Fact: ''Pantu'' trantes into ''traitor'' Chapter 294: (1st Year Ends) Chapter 294: (1st Year Ends) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- Within UA resides a new structure, a massive Quirk Gym built to amodate training that simply couldn''t be donefortably or safely in the basement gym each dorm building has. This gym was gargantuanpared to all others and housed unique rooms and equipment, built as both a training facility and an underground shelter incase of viin attacks. But today, it was entirely full, almost every Hero Course student currently residing within UA was here. Walking through the hallway of this facility Horizon idly scrolls on his phone, wearing his UA PE Uniform and carrying a bottle of water in his other hand, he rounds the corner to the main training room to see it almost entirely full. He sees some of the 3rd years in the firing range area,unching all manner of projectiles down range. Thankfully the thick ss between them and the firing range spared them from the noise, especially since Bakugo was also there practicing his AP Shot.He looks around a bit more through the ss doors before he enters the room, seeing some of the new 1st years getting pointers from some of his ssmates as well as some 2B members like Kendo. "Looks like they couldn''t wait to get to Quirk training," Horizon mutters as he sees a few of them floating through the air with Uraraka, clearly getting a lesson in aerial maneuverability. A few momentster she cancels her Zero Gravity Quirk, and two of the students hover in ce, one with mes from both hands and another with a small green tornado below him. The third sprouts metallic wings from his back to stay in ce, and they all share augh. ''What, so everyone else can fly?'' he rolls his eyes beneath the visor. Looking around a bit more his attention is drawn back to the firing range. He sees a young boy generating an orange force field in front of him, only for a girl standing nearby to fire a thinser beam from each eye into it. The force field absorbs the energy and bes a brighter orange before the boyunches theser down the firing range. ''That kid, he''s the one I metst year. His brother was my inside man for the raid I nned¡­He really wasn''t kidding about wanting to get into UA.'' He stands there for a while longer observing the Quirks, eventually seeing one of the 1st years grow to 15 ft -3m- tall, and see Kendo erge her hand to give him a high five which sends him tumbling backward. Each moment he sees more interesting and amazing Quirks, with students excitedly helping each other figure out exactly how they work. Then a ringing starts within his visor. "Do you need something?" Horizon asks. "I see you''re enjoying the show, well, what do you think?" Nezu asks. Horizon nces up and to the side, seeing a camera facing him as he stands in front of the one way ss doors. "Lots of interesting Quirks, but I see some that I''m sure wouldn''t have passed the entrance exam," he says while looking at a boy turn into smoke for a few seconds before turning back, exhausted from a long day of training. "That is true, but this year Eraser Head was in charge of the entrance exams, and he made sure to have special interviews and tests for those who weren''t battle focused in regards to usefulness." "So we won''t have another Shinso situation?" "Precisely, and admittedly it''s been long overdue," Nezu says. "We even have a telepath in 1B." "That''ll be useful, are they any good?" "She''s clearly been practicing discretely her entire life, are you looking for a new recruit?" "We''ll see, anything else I should know? Any more interesting Quirks?" he says while seeing a boy dissolve into liquid and reform to look like the student he was talking to. "Well that''s a new one¡­" "The number of applicants was greatly reduced, down to 3 thousand from our average of 10 thousand, but the number of applicants from overseas grew surprisingly." "What do you think caused that?" Horizon chuckles. "Well it could be anything, from Viins bing more and more dangerous which discourages people from wanting to be Pro Heroes, to UA in particr having a seemingly unstable and psychopathic demi-god walking around campus, to any number of reasons." "I see, well at least you know the ones that are here really really want it," Horizon says. "And what''s with this training facility exactly?" Horizon sees a boy transform into a massive snake and rush across the room, surprising everyone and scaring many people. "It was built at the request of Ms. Midnight and Ectosm," Nezu says. "Usually we have facilities like these separated by year group, but in the event that UA will be attacked its best if all the Hero Course students know how to work together, and as you can see some of the upperssmen like yourself aren''t above giving advice and pointers to their younger peers." "I noticed," he sees Momo off in a corner sparring with some of the 1st years using her metal staff. And right next to them is Deku giving instructions to a few students doing agility drills. "Well, have fun, and try not to hurt anyone," Nezu says. "No promises," Horizon says before hanging up and pushing open the doors. As soon as he steps inside the entire room goes silent and everyone stares at him, most of the people here have only seen him on TV, a few even have posters of him and action figures in their rooms here at UA. So seeing him in person was both exciting and terrifying all at once. Until one person speaks up, Sero, from within a boxing right where he''s sparring with Ojiro. "Hey you gonna get in the ring after?" Sero asks, loudly since he was across the room. Horizon sighs and begins walking over, "I''m only in here because it''s raining outside, I''ve got my own training to do right now." "Awe, a god who can''t even stop the rain," Sero cackles, surprising most of the room. "Horizon doesn''t even look at him while walking by the ring, "if I change the weather every time it rains the environment would suffer genius," Horizon raises a hand back and gives him the middle finger, and Sero''s right glove suddenly punches himself in the face. "AH!" he yells while falling down, rubbing his red cheek. "Jerk!" Ojiro immediately beginsughing which eventually spreads to a few other people, and after a few more tense moments everyone gets back to their training, trying to ignore Horizon. Some of the 1st and 3rd year students were a bit uneasy with Horizon being here, but watching the 2nd years ignoring him and getting back to training, after all, his ssmates would know him the best. He makes his way over to the back of the room where there is a massive wall of solid metal with a marked area in front of it, boldlybeled ''caution'' across the floor. The solid metal wall is over 200ft -60 m- wide, spanning the width of the entire building, and 150ft -45m- tall, reaching almost the ceiling. Horizon drops his water bottle, leaving it to hover in the air before warping to a control panel at the edge of the steel wall, raising the stic security case and inputting a password to activate this device. A password that only a few students knew because of how dangerous this was. Many people noticed this, as most of them made sure to inspect all the high tech training machines when they first entered the room, but only a few people even knew what this was. And the moment he entered the password, the solid wall revealed itself to be made of thousands pieces of oddly shaped metal, all which fit together with zero tolerance between them to appear as one piece. Horizon warps back to where his water bottle is, hands in his pockets, and looks up at the metal that was no longer being held in ce by the mas that kept it in ce. The caution area just in front of his feed begins to descend into the floor to create a massive pit as all the metal objects begin falling, starting from the top. The rain of oddly shaped tungsten catches everyone''s attention, and Horizon simply stands there as it begins clearly falling directly into the pit without leaving the caution area. Then suddenly, every piece stops. Not too far away 2B Student Reiko Yanagi is practicing by moving around a dozen 100lb tes simultaneously with her Telekinesis Quirk, showing a new 1st year how to best use this type of Quirk as he''s struggling to move only 3 tes at once. But both of them stop, with the 1st year dropping his tes as they see Horizon casually a wall of metal. Of Course they''ve seen him do far more impressive things on TV, such as the entire Gigantomachy, but to witness this in person was an entirely different story. A summit they could never dream of reaching, especially since both of these students were told about that machine, and the 1000 lbs of weight each segment has. Then a moment after all the weights stopped, they began zooming around the caution area, never leaving, but each time they would collide Horizon warped them around, constantly speeding them up and warping them to avoid collisions. Hundreds of pieces of metal moving in a perfectly coordinated yet random symphony all at once. Most of the newer studentspletely stopped what they were doing and just stared in awe, even more so when Horizon took out his phone and started texting someone. "Wow, I wonder if I''ll be able to do that someday¡­" the boy mutters, only for Yanagi to gently flick his forehead. "Ah, what was that for?" he asks. "First rule of UA, don''tpare yourself to Horizon," she says tly. "We have mortal limits, and he''s Horizon. Now, let''s get back to our training." "Right!" he says excitedly, focusing on the weight he was moving once more. A few momentster Horizon puts the phone away and taps the side of his visor, which his ssmates would recognize as him epting a phone call. "I got your message," Ryuko says. "And aren''t you forgetting something important is happening tomorrow?" she asks. "Well, I''ve got an important call about a contract tomorrow, but aside from that there isn''t anything else, nope¡­" "I meant your first day as a 2nd year in UA, the opening ceremony, did you forget that." "Well I would go, but, it''s my birthday," Horizon says. "So let''s ditch it." "April 3rd is your birthday?" Ryuko asks. "Yeah, so let''s go have some fun." "Hmm, what did you have in mind?" Ryuko asks. "And do remember I''m still at the mountain resort with my team right now." "Lets go surfing," Horizon says. "Babe, I don''t know how to surf." "Exactly, that''s half the fun," heughs deviously¡­ END CHAPTER--- Chapter 295: (2nd Year Begins) Chapter 295: (2nd Year Begins) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "Settle down," Aizawa says as he enters the 2A Homeroom, only to notice everyone was already silently waiting for him. He nces around the room while closing the door behind him, seeing Horizon''s seat empty, but he doesn''t even acknowledge it. "Wee to second year, the curriculum for this year will be a lot more intense thanst year, so I don''t want any of youining about it." "And it''ll be more fun right!" Mina asks with a broad smile on her face. Aizawa gives her a bored look, "no," he turns and begins writing on the ckboard. "So have any of you noticed the changes around campus?" "The new gym is super cool!" Kirishima yells out."And the new pool," Asui adds. "And the new defenses," Shoto says. "Is UA preparing for a war?" At this point Aizawa finishes writing ''Invasion Defense Training'' on the board and turns around to face them. "Yes, we are," Aizawa says, worrying some students. "And sadly, if it happens that UA is invaded we won''t be able to safely evacuate everyone while viins with untold types of Quirks are attacking, so we''ll need everyone in the Hero Courses to fight." Midoriya raises his hand," even those without Provisional Hero Licenses?" "Yes, since you''re at UA, so long as you''re within our walls you''ll be free to engage the enemy." Hagakure raises her hand next, getting a nod from Aizawa, "sensei, you said this is in the case that we can''t evacuate people right, but¡­how would the viins stop Horizon from just warping everyone out of here?" "Moron," Bakugo grumbles out. "The viins won''t attack if Horizon is in UA, that''s why his being missing today doesn''t affect this lesson¡­" "That''s true," Aizawa says. "Every ss will be running this drill today, but the 2nd and 3rd year Hero Courses skipped the opening ceremony this morning for a more extensive breaching." "Since we''ll actually be engaging the viin that does make sense," Momo says. "Not all of you," Aizawa says. "Most of you will be more focused on getting the students from other courses to safe ces or away from UA, but the more advanced students in regards tobat will be fighting alongside the teachers." Kirishima raises his hand then immediately starts talking, "is that why that new gym was built, they mentioned something about students working together, was that so we know how to work with each other''s Quirks in an emergency?" "Exactly," Aizawa says. "So today all 2nd and 3rd year Hero Course students will be conducting this drill, after the 1st years get some initial Quirk training they''ll be joining us too." "Won''t they just get in the way?" Bakugo asks, ring out the window. "Not necessarily, consider the fact that you, Shoto, Midoriya, and Tokoyami, are each more powerful than the average Pro Hero in any country, and one or two of the new 1st years have even more potential than you, so don''t underestimate them," Aizawa says. "No way!" Bakugo gives Aizawa his full attention. "Is that another Mystery ss weirdo here now?!" "Nothing that crazy, thankfully, one of those is enough of a headache as it is," Aizawa says. "But one of them has a personal gravity field, so who knows what kind of surprises the others could have for you." Uraraka looks down at her hands, ''I should find that person, maybe we could help each other train¡­" "Alright, that''s enough of that, go get changed into your Hero Costumes then meet in Training Ground Beta," Aizawa orders before leaving the room. As he steps outside he sees Monoma standing in front of the 2B ssroom scrolling through his phone. Without missing a step Aizawa walks past and simple mutters, "follow me," and Monoma rushes to fall into step beside him. "Uh, am I training with you today sensei?" "d King will be leading the second year Hero Course students through the drills, you and I will be studying a bit differently," Aizawa says as they get to the elevator and he hits the button to take them to the top floor. "What kind of training?" Monoma asks. "This kind," Aizawa takes something out of his pocket and hands it to Monoma, revealing it to be a ck metal case with Horizon''s logo on it. "Try to copy that." "No way,st time I tried to copy Hand Of God it broke my brain." "That''s not Horizon''s DNA, he just got it for me." Monoma gives him a skeptical look as the elevator stops, and he follows Aizawa down the hallway. Opening the case he sees a piece of purple flesh, then nces wearily at Aizawa. With much hesitation he takes the piece of flesh in his hand and can feel the Quirk factor within, he feels his Quirk, Copy, reaching out and reshaping his own body, but before itpletes his Quirk fails. "Huh, I almost had it, but, I don''t think this is enough," Monoma says. "I thought you could copy a Quirk just by touching a single strand of hair, was that not true?" "It can, if the hair is still attached to a person, if I could just take hair from my ssmates and walk around with it then that''d make my life super easy," Monoma says as he follows Aizawa into a screening room, setup like a private theater room. "So you need more of the Quirk Factor in order to copy it?" Aizawa says while directing Monoma to a seat. "It''s more like my Quirk scans a person''s entire body, especially their brain," Monoma says. "My Quirk can''t change my brain to use a Quirk if I can''t scan their brain, my Quirk is ''Copy'' not ''Evolution'' after all." "That''s a damn shape," Aizawa sits beside Monoma and turns on the screen. "Having someone on our side with Warp Gate would have been really useful in these uing months¡­" "Warp Gate?" Monoma looks disgusted by the piece of flesh in his hand. "This is from Kurogiri, oh yeah, Horizon captured him." "And has been studying him, which is what you''re here to do," Aizawa points at the screen, which shows recordings of all the Hero Course students training. "In the case of an emergency, copying any Quirk is better than no Quirk if it''s from a Hero Course student, so you need to learn all of them." "And improve how long I can use a copied Quirk, and how many Quirks I can copy, and my ownbat ability with all of those Quirks, and who has the Quirks, and the n for if viins attack us, and---" "Yes I get it, you already have a lot on your te, and don''t forget your academic studies," Aizawa says. Monoma groans, "I miss just being a side character, how does he do this crap?" "Do what?" "Control all these working parts and have everyone depend on him all at once?" "He''s Horizon, that''s how," Aizawa says. "Now focus, I''m going to exin how the staff members Quirks work, and I''d rather not say this stuff out loud too much." "Oooh, does this mean I get to try Principal Nezu''s Quirk? I''ve always wanted to know what it''s like to be a genius." "If Horizon''s Quirk broke your brain, Nezu''s will be the same thing, except there won''t be a walking miracle there to save you¡­" "Speaking of which, where the heck is Horizon?" "Being someone else''s problem, so let''s enjoy the peace and quiet¡­" ---Elsewhere,ter that day¡­ Standing on an almostpletely empty beach wearing only his new Body Glove, Horizon looks at Ryuko who was anxiously sitting on a surfboard floating in the water, waving for him to join her. "This had better be good Nezu," Horizon says as the call connects. "Where are you?" Nezu asks. "You''re supposed to be in school." "Don''t pretend like you aren''t tracking me, did you need something?" "I need to talk to you about the sports festival, we''ve moved it forward a bit." "How far forward?" "Three weeks, will that work for what you have nned?" "That''s perfect actually, the sooner the better," Horizon says. "So what is there to talk about, I enter, I win, I smile and wave for the cameras, then I take a vacation, perfect." "Well, not exactly," Nezu says. "You won''t bepeting this year¡­" END CHAPTER--- Chapter 296: (To Be The Horizon) Chapter 296: (To Be The Horizon) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "Mmm," Ryuko groans as she rolls over onto her back. "What time is it?" she asks before even opening her eyes. Dull sunlight shes against her eyelids before she raises a hand, resting her forearm across her eyes. The gentle ocean breeze massages her body and sends a chill through her as she pauses for a moment, listening to small waves crash against the shore. "Just before 5," Horizon''s slightly mechanical voice says. "Had a good nap?" "Surfing is a bit exhausting, but, it''s pretty fun¡­" "Oh, are you admitting I was right, that you actually like it?""Well, I never said you were right," Ryuko says. "But, a custom board would be nice, if you want to make this a regr thing." "Let me guess, cat themed?" Horizon asks. "You know me so well," Ryuko says as she finally sits up and opens her eyes. She looks around the secluded private beach, still not seeing anyone but them here. Stretching for a moment she adjusts her blue bikini before looking at Horizon, seeing him wearing only his new Body Glove. Simr to the previous version but with the armor tes more pronounced and further reinforcements on the joints, as well as other changes she couldn''t see, but could feel. Seeing him there leaning against their cooler she frowns and pokes him, yet he doesn''t stop ying with the holographic datapad being projected from his left forearm. She pokes him a few more times, then moves closer on the nket and continues, feeling his shoulders, sides, behind his knees. "What are you doing?" Horizon asks, without stopping his work. "I miss the other one," Ryuko says as she gets up, and Horizon leans forward a bit for her to ess the cooler. As she''s getting a drink she steps out from under their massive beach umbre to get a proper look at the magnificent sunset, then sits beside him, leaning against his arm. "What other one?" Horizon asks as she starts reading what he was working on, only to see chemical structures and long words she''d never seen before. "The other Body Glove, why is this one so hard anyway? It''s not like anything will hit you," Ryuko says. "Cuddling this one is ufortable." "This upgrade is a necessity," Horizon says. "I now have the¡­delicate touch I needed, to pull off a trick I''ve been working on since I was a kid." "So I have to cuddle a robot because you want to be shy?" "You''ll get over it, besides we usually sleep naked anyway," he says as she pushes his arms away to sit on hisp, resting her back against his chest. Horizon shuts off the holopad and relents, resting his arms on her midsection as they sit in silence, watching the sunset for a few minutes. "Did anything happen while I was sleeping?" Ryuko asks. "Remember Judge Boshu?" "The guy who gave you a 6-month vacation and called it a punishment, yeah I remember him," Ryuko giggles at the absurdity of Horizon''s ''Punishment''. "Killed himself this morning, cut his stomach open in his shower." "Oh god!" "Wife found him a bit toote to be saved," Horizon says. "But anyway, how much time off work can you get? Since I''ve got all this free time I''d be nice to havepany." "Well, I can probably get a lot, but the kids need me," Ryuko says. "Having a Quirk Counsellor that was a Pro Hero is kind of important, gets them to take what I say more seriously." "Eh, at least I''ll have you during the summer, I get my Provisional License back in September anyway, you will be spending summer with me right?" "Oh definitely, a free vacation like that, you couldn''t keep me away if you tried," Ryuko giggles deviously. "Babe every day with me is like a vacation." "Well that goes both ways, so let''s call it even," she says."Right, you pay for everything and I look amazing on your arm?" "And incredible sex, so yeah, it''s even," Horizonughs. "A win-win scenario if I''ve ever seen one." "Are youing to see the UA Sports Festival this year? Nezu said he moved it up, it''s in 3 weeks, and should be even bigger thanst year." "Yeah, spending the day with Kota and Eri at the Culture Festivalst year was pretty great, and Eri will be super cute when she''s cheering for you." "Oh, I won''t bepeting this year," Horizon says in a disappointed tone. "Some crap about the ''student morale'' and all that, fighting a god isn''t really as inspiring as you''d think." "And I''m guessing he won''t be announcing that, right?" "Nope, because I''ll still be there, he wants me to help out with the games themselves, it should be fun." "But not as fun as beating up your ssmates on stage for the world to see?" "Nothing is that fun." She smacks his leg, hard. "Almost nothing is that fun," he corrects himself. "Is that what you were working on? All the chemical forms and stuff?" "Huh, no, that''s uh, something else, something bigger." "Not sure how I feel about the sound of that, thest time you said you''re preparing ''something big'' you dropped a city on, um, itself?" "Let me just show you," Horizon raises his right hand, holding a pebble he picked out of the sand in his palm. "Ok, I see a rock." SHAMBLES! The rock is swapped for a small white flower from nearby. Ryuko quirks a brow at that, "I''m not really the flowers kind of girl, but you could have at least gotten me some roses, white ones." "Those are only for pure maidens, andst I checked, I''ve done a lot to your flower," he crushes the flower in his hand. Ryuko rolls her eyes, "jerk." "Hold the flower for a second," Horizon says, and she follows his lead, holding the flower that''s now missing most of its petals and has a broken stem. "Ok, now what?" "Now, this," Horizon raises a hand over the flower, hovering his index finger directly above it and pointing down at it. She sees the familiar blue mist manifest on his hand, then be more and more dense as it clings to his hand. Eventually it bes so dense, that a thin sheen of blue liquid forms on his hand. Then it all runs down his gloved hand, down his index finger, forming one bead of solid blue glowing liquid, and dropping onto the flower. Ryuko''s eyes go wide, "Wooow," she awes with barely a whisper as not only does the broken stem repair itself, but new petals bloom and a second stem begins growing out of the first to form another flower on it. "You made a second one?" "I was only trying to fix the stem and regrow the petals, so it still needs some work before human trials," Horizon says. "Yeah I don''t think people want to grow a second head when you operate on them," Ryuko chuckles. "But why do you need this, can''t you already cure, like, everything?" "Ever heard of the Panacea?" "Is it rted to Pangea?" "No, Panacea was one of the four daughters of a god of medicine and healing, she had a tool that could cure any disease or sickness," Horizon raises his hand and lets her see a bit more healing energy flow off of him and join the wind. "But in the modern age, we call it the---" "Miracle Elixir," Ryko leans forward and turns back at him, eyes wide as the realization dawns on her. "You''re actually making the Miracle Elixir?!" "I''m working on it, figured people already call me ''The Miracle'' because they think I am the Panacea, why not make one?" "Right, and this gives you more leverage than anything else in the world possibly could," Ryuko says. "Enough leverage to really strongarm the entire world into doing whatever you want." "Well, I''m the only one who can make it so, that''s just a fortunate, or unfortunate coincidence, depending on what mood I wake up in," Horizon shrugs. "Not like I''d ever use that leverage in any way, I''m a hero remember." Ryuko rolls her eyes, "how is it that people like you, people who should never be trusted with power, always seem to get the most?" "Because life isn''t fair. Because the devil gives men power to test if they''re truly good enough, because if a man lives his entire life without power over others we never learn what his true nature is." "Are you saying you''re above the temptation to use the power you have for¡­selfish and horrible things?" "Well, maybe you should ask me when I''m not on a private ind I bought through government connections I made by healing people," Horizonughs. "Well, you never said you were fair and just." "I''ve never even been used of such things," they both share augh at that. "But the public must think you are, right, since you want to actually see how great of a Pro Hero you can be, if you really try," Ryuko getsfortable in hisp, leaning her chest against his and wrapping her arms around his neck. "Nobody has more power than Horizon, so nobody has more temptation than Horizon." "That''s true, but everyone knows that, what''s your point?" "Well, after yourst showing, will they believe that you''re above the temptation, the anger, the pain that can turn even the brightest people into evil and cold things? Are you above sumbing to that kind of suffering and hatred, are you above moral corruption and decay, and will they even believe you?" Beneath his visor Horizon just smiles, "of course they will, because to be Horizon, that''s exactly what you have to be, you have to be better, no matter what¡­" END CHAPTER--- Chapter 297: (Desire For Justice) Chapter 297: (Desire For Justice) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "So, how does it feel being the new ''Big 3'' in Japan?" Horizon asks as he sits in the cafeteria. The entire cafeteria was empty aside from Team Horizon at the moment since they''d left ss a bit early to get ahead of the lines, wanting to have some of Lunch Rush''s food for a change. Now they were all in full Hero Costume having lunch before they got back to training. Horizon has two steaks on his te, while Sero has some rice and grilled fish, Juzo is enjoying a burger, and Shinso is having Miso Soup. "I still don''t get why I''m in the Big 3 and you aren''t," Juzo says before taking a bite of his burger. "Wouldn''t really be fair topare me to other people, plus the point of Team Horizon is to get all of you in the spotlight instead of just me.""And he made it a three-person team because of this," Sero adds. "Oh, what''s happening with Tokoyami anyway?" Horizon shrugs, "told him if he does well in the sports festival I''d let him join the team, when I''m done with my suspension that is." "And you still can''t tell us what they''re nning for the sports festival?" Shinso asks. "Would be pretty useful to know, and since they''ve got you helping with the games..." "How would that even help us?" Juzo asks. "Horizon doesn''t want uspeting and showing the world who we are remember." "Yeah but I can make more educated bets if I know what the games are," Shinso says. "The business and management courses put up a lot of money for this kind of thing." Juzo rolls his eyes, "isn''t that technically insider trading or something?" "Not quite," Horizon says. "But I still won''t be telling you since I promised Nezu I wouldn''t, now, how was your first day as the new official Big 3?" "Awesome!" Sero says. "Those first years were totally a bunch of fanboys, just like when we met Nejire and the othersst year." "Feels weird being on the other side of that," Juzo says. "It''s annoying," Shinso says. "I don''t get why we need to do a presentation like that, just give them a booklet or something." "Or make Horizon do it," Juzo says. "He is the main attraction after all." "Yeah but he''s not a realistic goal," Sero reminds them. "The point is to inspire them not depress them." "They did have some cool Quirks at least," Juzo says. "But I''m sure you''ve already read about them so that''s old news..." As they continue talking students begin pouring into the cafeteria, and nobody can miss the way many of the students look at Horizon. Most of the new students stare at him with awe and amazement, almost having stars in their eyes. Others make it clear that they''re trying to keep some distance between him and them, and the fear was almost palpable from them. A select few made their disgust apparent with the looks that were fired his way, but of course, nobody had the nerve to voice their disapproval of him returning to UA. After another short discussion, Team Horizon finished their lunch and immediately warped back to Horizon''s training grounds, ironing out their training schedule for the next few months. ---Later That Day... "I''m still having second thoughts about this," Snipe says. "Just remember these are my 1st year students, not your ssmates, don''t go making them quit UA this early." "I''m always gentle with fellow students," Horizon bites back a chuckle. He and Snipe were standing in the observation area of one of the many new massive Quirk Gyms in UA, this particr one built to amodate more intense sparring sessions. Looking through the ss above the control panel they could see the mainbat are two floors below them, massive and well-lit with concrete tiled floors and cameras positioned to record everything for teachers to review. "They''re here," Horizon says. "And looks like you were right, he is a loner, I can sense him walking in the back." "I still think he just needs time to adjust," Snipe says. "I mean he still came to UA even with you being here so it can''t be that bad." "I dropped a city on his family... it''s probably that bad." "I was being optimistic," Snipe sighs as the main doors open into the sparring chamber and the new ss 1B enters. Many of them look around curiously while most of the others are still shaking with excitement at finally getting somebat training in their Hero Costumes. Horizon could see many generic Hero Costumes, a few were inspired by obvious sources such as Samurai or Ninja, along with what he could only guess was a Gundam-inspired design. "I don''t recall anyone in your ss having a Quirk that needs a Hero Costume like that," Horizon says. Snipe sighs, "He doesn''t, but he likes Gundam." "Ah, he''s a mecha nerd." "Alright everyone time to focus," Snipe says through the speakers, getting everyone''s attention. "This is your first real battle drill, normally I''d start you off small but the UA Sports Festival is in less than 3 weeks so we have to elerate the physicalponent of your Hero Course training." He sees most of the students'' excitement only grow at the mention of the UA Sports Festival. "Now, all of you get into positions, this will be a 20-vs-1 battle," Snipe says. "I''ll be throwing you as far into the deep end as possible with this, so just know that you''ll likely never face any challenge as daunting as this in your entire life." He sees all the students spread out but they keep looking up at the observation area, even though they couldn''t see past the one-way ss. "Your task is tost 5 minutes, begin," Snipe announces. All the students are immediately on edge, turning toward where a pair ofrge reinforced doors are, below the observation area, made for the release of Nezu''sbat robots, something they''re all familiar with. But nothing happens. "What''s going on, is this part of the test?" One of the girls asks, she has both hands raised and glowing green with mes, aimed at the door. "It has to be," the boy behind her says, he had one hand raised on his temple ready to use his Quirk. "AH!" one of their ssmates, a more muscr boy yells as he falls onto his butt, at the entrance to the facility. Everyone looks over at him, shifting their attention from the reinforced doors to see him trembling and sweating, a look of horror on his face as he breathes heavily, pointing at the far end of the facility. They all turn around to see Horizon casually standing there with one hand in his pocket as the other waves at them. "So your battlefield awareness is, just awful," Horizon says jokingly. It takes a moment, but quickly they all realize exactly what their test was, and their reactions are quite varied. Some begin to panic and back away, terrified. Others are excited by the challenge. More than half of them are simply starstruck, tempted to ask for an autograph of some kind. But while all of them are processing, Horizon''s main focus rushes forward. The boy is wearing a simply armored body suit and helmet, gold and blue, and both his hands are glowing gold as he rushes forward. "You''re supposed to let long-range fighters start the show...well, I suppose against me would be the one exception huh," Horizon shrugs as he casually avoids the shorter boy''s wide and wild swings. "AHH!" the boy yells in frustration as Horizon reaches the edge of the room, and sidesteps a punch that ms into the wall. The boy''s punch shakes the room and sinks his arm elbow-deep into the reinforced concrete wall as Horizon casually walks away from him. "Damn it!" the boy yells as his arm is stuck in the wall. "Well that was dramatic," Horizon says as he slowly walks toward the students. "C''mon just work together, I''ll make an opening for you guys tond some hits," a boy with his fingers on her temple announces as his eyes glow white for a moment. "Argh!" all the veins and arteries on his face and head pop and burst as blood flows from his nose, eyes, and ears. They all look horrified as he copses on the floor in front of them. "This is why you never try to read my mind," Horizon says as he walks up to the boy and kneels beside him, starting to heal him. "He should have focused on linking all your minds together to coordinate the fight, you''ve never worked together like this before so that would have been more efficient." "Please take him to Recovery Girl when he''s stable," Snipe says through the speaker before Horizon disappears then reappears in the same spot. "Done." Immediately the girl with green mes on her fists charges forward, "No long-range attacks! He''ll just warp us into them!" she yells before leaping into the air anding down with a fire-infused punch. Horizon steps back, which she responds to by raising the same hand in an uppercut after she scorches the concrete floor. He takes another step back, and much to the horror and amazement of her ssmates, flicks her on the temple, knocking her out. Once again he steps back as he crumples to the floor, then he simply steps over her body. The muscr and bulky boy who first noticed him rushes in beside a girl who transforms into a lioness, and seeing this the boy begins to grow. Gigantifying himself to be 7m -21ft- tall. The lioness jumps at Horizon, only for him to catch it and throw it to the far side of the room, where the first attacker is still stuck in the wall. Then without looking back he raises a hand and catches the goliath''s fist mming down onto him. The impact is enough to drive him nearly an inch into the concrete floor, but his body doesn''t even budge. He pushes the arm to the side and the boy''s weight brings him toward Horizon''s fist, which easily taps his head with just enough force to knock him out. Seeing this the other students immediately throw everything they have at Horizon, but naturally, it would all be meaningless against him. "Forty seconds," Snipe says over the speakers while looking at hispletely defeated students, only a few of whom were knocked out. "Not bad considering who it is, but he rarely went on the offensive and didn''t warp once, he was studying your Quirks more than fighting you." "You have some interesting Quirks," Horizon admits. He then turns back to the far side of the room where the first attacker finally gets his arm free from the wall. "You missed the fight." The boy begins walking over to everyone else, massaging his sore arm, "next time I''ll at least hit you," he says. "I doubt that," Horizon says. "Why are you even at UA?" This question confuses everyone in the sparring area, "to be a Pro Hero," the boy says. "So it''s not to try and kill me in my sleep or anything like that? Considering, well, you know..." "That my parents were in the Gigantomachy," the boy says, shocking his ssmates. "No, revenge is not my goal, justice is." "Oh, so you want to be strong enough to arrest me or something?" "Yeah, you''re only free because the side of justice can''t deal with a monster like you, I n to change that, and if you step out of the light again, I''ll be able to take you down," the boy says with a refreshing amount of conviction. As he spoke he raised his fist to point it at Horizon, then ttened his hand which began glowing once again. This time the light shifted across his hand and extended into a sword of hard sma, radiating heat as he held it beside Horizon''s visor. And to no one''s surprise, when the energy de suddenly extended forward, Horizon didn''t react, he was still looking down at the boy who was more than a head shorter than him. After a tense moment, Horizon chuckles, and much to their surprise he raises a hand and grabs the de with his fingers. "You clearly don''t understand how the world really works," Horizon says as the energy of Booster Shot begins leaking out from his finger onto the de. The energy de seems to crack slightly, before Horizon flexes his fingers and shatters it in his hand, holding the broken half de in his hand as the boy backs away, horrified. "How?" the boy mutters. Horizon holds the de and inspects it while speaking, "When the energy is disconnected from you it quickly fades into the environment, it loses its ''sentience'', which means it''s mine to manipte at that point." Horizon drops the energy de, and it dissipates before even reaching the floor, "this, is why your so-called ''justice'' cannot exist. Justice isn''t about what''s right and what''s wrong, it''s about who has the power. Governments decide justice because they have the military, Heroes are justice because they have more power than viins, and Shigaraki wishes to have the strongest force so that his will bes justice. And I get to walk about freely after the things I''ve done, because I''m, arguably, no, I''m probably the most powerful being on the. So if you wish to be whatever version of ''justice'' you want to be, I suggest you make a lot of friends. Because you aren''t Horizon, you aren''t strong enough to be justice while standing alone..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 298: (In Horizons Palm) Chapter 298: (In Horizon''s Palm) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "Is there anything else you can tell me about him?" Chitose asks. "Anything I should know about?" She was sitting in the back of an SUV, phone in one hand and notepad in the other as she anxiously clicked her pen. Blue skin ented by her well-fitting red dress and matching purse, legs crossed as she leans back and tries to rx, failing terribly at that endeavor. "No he''s been busy these past three weeks leading up to today," Rikiya says on the other side of the call. "Hatsume did mention he got a new sword, but aside from that I couldn''t get any more information out of her." "And here I thought you offering a contract with his equipment girl would get us useful intel," Chitose mutters. "It''s Horizon, his hands are more than enough for our forces, all I needed from her was some insight into his ns, which we got."Chitose rolls her eyes, "him sequestering himself to train for a few months isn''t new information, that''s literally what the court ordered him to do." "Well you''re the professional interviewer, I''m sure whatever you gather today will be far more substantial," Rikiya says. Chitose doesn''t respond, just looking ahead as the driver takes her through Musutafu. "You don''t have any reason to be so scared my dear," Rikiya says in a soothing tone. "Horizon doesn''t know anything that would make him aware of what we are. As far as he knows I''m just a business partner using his name to grow mypany, and you''re my secret girlfriend using our connection tond some interviews." "That doesn''t make this any less nerve-wracking." Rikiya sighs, "I wouldn''t put you so close to that thing if I had any other choice, you know that, but we have to see where Horizon stands. He could be a key yer in helping us liberate people from this restrictive society." "And what do we do if he sees us as the enemy?" Chitose asks. "We could leave Japan, just the two of us." "We could, but that would betray the people as much as the current governing system already does." Chitose chuckles, expecting that response, "Well, hopefully, whatever All For One has in motion will get him out of our way, if he refuses to join us." "Our mystery benefactor says the Demon Lord''s n is going perfectly thus far, but regardless, we''re too weak to stand against either of those monsters. Horizon is too strong and All For One is too connected, best to let them kill each other instead." "Tch, it''s too bad we aren''t allowed to wipe out the League Of Viins, those fools are making our jobs harder." "One thing at a time my dear," Rikiya says. "Ma''am, we''re here," the driver says, and she looks up to see that they''re directly in front of UA. "Don''t park too far away, I doubt I''ll be staying for the entire event," Chitose says as she opens the door and steps out of the car. At the entrance, she looked up to see gargantuan stadiums built, simr tost year, but this time the stadium in the middle was at least 5 timesrger, expecting a much greater demand for seats in the 2nd Year''s arena. She could see the cloudy sky moving to be overcast, and looking at the massive crowd all around the main entrance area of the school nobody seemed concerned with rain dulling this event. ''Ok Chitose, you''re a viin walking into the most heavily defended facility in this half of the world, you can manage this,'' she thinks before crossing the threshold. At the entrance, she sees people lined up to enter, but due to her VIP Pass, she''s allowed quick ess, skipping the lines entirely. "It looks simr to the previous years, but, something is different," she says while looking around, slowly moving through the crowd. There was a sea of people and stalls set up, food, games, drinks, snacks, and hero merchandise as far as her eyes could see. Among the crowd, she sees Endeavor, who couldn''t hide even if he tried as he towers over most of the people here, and is glowing slightly. His mes weren''t active but his Hero Costume was bright enough. She sees him standing awkwardly beside Shoto Todoroki and Fuyumi Todoroki. Chitose quickly takes note of that as the family is at one of the game stalls. Looking around she sees families enjoying the games and a few Pro Heroes near the merchandise stalls signing things for younger fans. But then she realized why something felt differentpared to the previous years. She looks around quickly and does a rough headcount. ''Only 20 Pro Heroes in this area,'' she double checks her numbers and gets the same result. ''Even if Endeavor and Edgeshot are here, there were at least 4 times as manyst year, did they cut back on security that much?'' She spends a few more minutes walking about and observing the crowd, spotting some of the more popr students walking among them, easily spotted since they were all wearing their PE Uniforms for thepetition. Eventually, she finds someone who she recognizes and knows is, or at least was friendly with Horizon. Itsuka Kendo is sitting on a bench in a yground area answering questions from some children who are all dressed up as different popr Pro Heroes. The moment they leave Kendo leans back and takes a sip of her drink, taking out her phone to check the time, and Chitose swoops in. "Hi!" she says excitedly, startling the girl. Kendo looks to her left to see the woman sitting beside her, notepad ready and not blinking at all, "Uh, hi, can I help you?" "Yes actually, I''m Chitose Kizuku, and I was wondering if you could give me just a small interview, I promise this won''t take too much of your time." "Uh, sure, I''m---" "Itsuka Kendo, right?" Chitose asks. "I''m a pretty big fan of Battle Fist so it wasn''t really hard to spot you." "Oh wow, this is the first time someone actually recognized me, at least for more than the modeling we did," Kendo says in a sad tone. "Oh no, I''m much more interested in showing the world that girls can fight, not just be a pretty face." Kendo smiles, eyes shining at those words, "Exactly! So what''d you like to know?" "Well, mostly about whether things have changed at all on campus since," Chitose looks around and leans in, speaking in a whisper. "The Gigantomachy." "Oh, right," Kendo thinks for a moment. "Well, UA added a bunch of new facilities for the students of different year groups to train with each other, and they''re taking alot more precautions in case of viin attacks here, but aside from that I haven''t really noticed anything." "And how does the student body feel about Horizon still being in UA?" Chitose asks, and immediately sees Kendo recede a bit. "You don''t have to answer anything you don''t want to." "No it''s okay," Kendo says. "Well, not everyone is ok with Horizon being here, but it''s not like the school forces us to be ok with it exactly. We can voice ourints and a lot of people have even told Horizon this to his face, but he understands our grievances and concerns and just lets us get it all out." "So students aren''t afraid of him?" Chitose asks. "Well I think it''s only natural to be concerned when a person with that much power exists, but we know he won''t just wake up one day and decide to destroy the country, we trust him that much at least." "I see, andstly, is there anyone I should keep an eye out for during the games?" Chitose asks. "Will you be taking home a medal this year?" "Well, I''d say don''t count ss 2B out of the running, we''ve gotten a lot stronger sincest year!" Chitose''s mood is lifted after that interview, so much so that she''s ready to go see Horizon directly. So enamored with the information she has, that she''s writing in her notepad while walking through the crowd. Only to bump into a small girl, appearing to be only ten years old, with two extra arms below her main arms. As she bumps into the girl she drops her pen and notepad, while the girl lets go of her Mt. Lady balloon which begins floating away. "Oh my, I''m so sorry!" Chitose immediately apologizes, taking a step back to look at the girl. "I''ll buy you another balloon." The girl looked up at her, seemingly confused, "Horizon will bring it back," was all she said. Chitose gives her a strange look, and before she can question what the girl means, the balloon seemingly descends on its own, with the attached ribboning down to the girl''s hand. The girl reaches out to it, but it instead ties itself around her wrist, to prevent this incident from repeating itself. The girl looks up at the sky, a broad smile on her face, "thank you mister Horizon," she says before running off into the crowd. Chitose just stands there, stunned by what she just saw. She looks around, seeing the massive crowds of people, all smiling and enjoying the festival. And suddenly the distinctck of Pro Heroes makes sense. ''Horizon, he''s everywhere,'' her eyes dart around, seeing all the people and things blissfully aware or unaware that this force was here, all-epassing and seemingly benevolent. She looks down to get her pen and notepad, but as she turns to where they fell, she sees them hovering, waiting for her to im them. Her breath hitches, mind reeling in understanding at how absolute his power was. Looking around she sees all the innocent lives, she sees Endeavor. She knows even a great hero like him would be nothing if Horizon willed it. All the speeches and rallies she''s written and heard, all the years of secretly campaigning for this oppressive government to be brought down. All these years of building their forces to intact a great change. After a lifetime of work, of generation of nning. And now she''s surrounded by the smiling faces of people, who don''t realize the situation they''re truly in. Happy to be here, under his absolute control. Chitose realizes how infinitely insignificant all the power and connections they''ve gathered are, as she stands her, like a single grain of sand. In the hand of a god. A god, that can, and will close his hand, and there is nothing the entire world could do about it... "Are you alright?" a voice snaps her out of her panic attack, and only now she realizes the cold sweat on her forehead and how difficult breathing had gotten. She turns to the woman, seeing a blonde woman roughly the same age as her, with a young boy beside her and a little girl with a single horn on her head. "Oh, sorry I just...I''m not good with crowds," Chitose says as she tries topose herself. "Oh, well inside should be a lot more quiet, until people start entering the stadium," Ryuko says. "And you should get out of the sun." "Right, thank you," Chitose says as she turns back to her notepad and pen. She grabs the notepad, but the pen moves to avoid her grasp, spinning slightly and pointing, then moving slowly. "I think he wants you to follow it," Ryuko says. Chitose swallows nervously, "Right, well enjoy the festival..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 299: (Pre-Game Talks) Chapter 299: (Pre-Game Talks) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "y chapter five," Lawmands. From his seat in one of the private viewing rooms at the highest level of the stadium, he could see the entire massive arena. A few people were already filling the stadium, trying to get ahead of the crowd before everyone rushed in to view the games. In the dimly lit room behindpletely cked-out one-way ss, he''s rxed on his single-seat couch, feet up on a small ottoman as he eats from a tray of cookies, clearly homemade. Both his visor and the mask of his body glove were resting on the small table beside him, between both the seats as he enjoyed his snacks. "People of Japan, hear me!" his phone ys the recording loudly. "Horizon is the only way forward for us, he is our truth, and our destiny is to follow him and be defended by his grace and radiance!""Hmm, religion seems kind of appealing when you''re the god," Law chuckles as he raises a hand, and suddenly a bottle of water appears in his grasp. "It is clear that new monsters will arise with each passing year!" the speaker says. "Horizon is our shield, our light in these dark times!" The speech goes on for a few more minutes, all of which seem like harmless hero worship to Horizon, until he hears something he likes. "Which is why I believe Horizon should be truly embraced as our guardian deity, as the true God Emperor of Japan..." Law raises a brow at that, "If I''m going to be a God Emperor I don''t think I''d only settle for Japan, I''d at least im a continent...or somece that''ll pay me for my time." "Which is why I petition all of my listeners!" the man says. "Go onto my website and sign the petition, let us elect Horizon to governing office so---" "Ach!" Law chokes on his water. "What the fuck!" he looks at his phone, seeing this broadcast was a few days old. He immediately clicks the link to the website and sees that 17 million people have signed it. "You''ve got the be kidding me, I hate babysitting you useless fucks, I don''t want to lose even more of my freedom for it." Law sighs and takes his phone, checking his social media Horizon ount once more to see more growing concerns about this Cult of people worshiping him. "No wonder all you religious people are ignored by your gods, you''re all so annoying," he locks his phone and tries to rx. Only for his mask and visor to warp back onto his head. "Juste in!" Horizon yells, clearly annoyed. Horizon hears the door open behind him then close once more, then Deku''s voice reaches him. "Hi, uh, I''ve been looking for you---" "I know," Horizon says, still not opening his eyes. "I can sense everyone moving on campus and in most of the city, remember." "Oh, right," Deku takes a deep breath and walks over to Horizon. "I was wondering if I could talk to you about something, I need some advice for---" "No, ask someone else," Horizon says. "Thanks," Deku sits on the other seat beside Horizon. "So anyway Uraraka asked me out earlier this morning and I''m not really sure what to do..." Horizon turns his head to look at Deku, who was just sitting there in his PE Uniform but wearing some new boots from his upgraded Hero Costume. Horizon groans as he sits up, "The only reason I''m not warping you away is because this at least seems interesting, so what''s the problem?" "I don''t know what to do," Deku admits. "Well she''s been into you since day one and you have a dick, so...seems simple enough." "That, uh," Deku stutters and gets red-faced as he thinks about what Horizon means. "I don''t think we''re ready for that yet." "How did All Might have the..." Horizon thinks for a moment. "7th strongest Quirk in the world to someone like you, you can non-consensually ''Smash'' viins but can''t smash the girl who wants you?" Deku looks mortified, "I really didn''t think about the name of my moves meaning that, I need to change them." "Focus please." "Sorry!" "Look, for whatever reason, Uraraka likes you, that makes things super easy. Just be bold, be brave, be decisive, and be...yourself." "Be myself, really? I assumed you tell me to be more like you" Deku admits. "I mean it would make the most sense since you were dating both Yaomomo and Jiro, and I think Mei liked you..." As Deku begins mumbling Horizon flicks him in the forehead to get his attention, "Don''t be stupid. Pretending to be someone else is horrible advice, just be yourself, and if women don''t like who that is then self-improve until they can''t not like you, but that has to be done holistically, you can''t just lift weights and make that your personality." "So you didn''t have to change anything?" "Why would I do that, I''m perfect?" Horizon asks, then sees Deku''s dejected look. "It''s like this, Momo liked...likes, the idea of Horizon as the perfect Pro Hero, Jiro likes how dangerous I am, and she still does, but she hates herself for liking that. And well, I''ve got a lot of qualities that other people really like. But they only work because I''m Horizon, you can''t act like me if you aren''t the strongest, or most capable, you have to be a necessity, not a person." "Ok, so how does this apply to me?" Deku asks. "Becuase, Uraraka being interested in you from the beginning of UA means she clearly doesn''t want someone strong, or capable, or charming, or good looking, or rich, or..." "I think I get it," Deku says. "I''m a loser." "Yeah, but for some reason she liked you from day 1, when you were an immensely bigger loser than you are now, so just be yourself. She likes that stupid part of you that always helps no matter how dangerous it is for yourself and the fact that you''re a nerd who spends all his time studying Quirks." "But, aren''t you also a nerd who studies Quirks?" "No, because I''m a doctor who studies Quirks, you''re a fanboy," Horizon says. "So really just be yourself, but if I have any advice, for rtionships and for being a Pro Hero. Be bold, be decisive, and don''t be afraid to take the first step, and I suggest you keep that in mind for the sports festival too." "The Sports Festival?" Deku looks out to see people filling the stadium. "Wait, was that a hint, do you know what the games are?" "Focus Deku," Horizon pulls Deku''s focus back onto himself. "Just go out on a date with the girl, or at least do some 1-on-1 training with her, that''s as much of a date as anything for UA students anyway." "Right," Deku begins to get up, but sits back down. "One more thing?" "No, I''m not giving any sex advice aside from don''t get anyone pregnant." "Not that!" Deku blushes. "But, is having rtionships a smart thing for me, because I really really really want to go out with her, but will I be letting down All Might if I do? I mean, I''ve got a lot of people counting on me to use their power and be a great hero, do I have time to focus on girls?" "Well, you know I think Pro Heroes should be people with nothing to lose, but I''m also a bit of a hypocrite on that, because as contradictory as it sounds, what''s the point of fighting that hard if you don''t have any real love in your life," Horizon shrugs. "I guess I''ve got a lot to think about." "Not really, just get some pussy it''ll clear your head," Horizonughs as Deku''s face goes red, "Now get out of here, something pretty is about to walk in." Deku thanks Horizon and gets up, then freezes when he opens the door to leave. With her hand poised to knock Chitose is standing there as he opens it, "Wow," Deku mutters. "I''ll take that as apliment," Chitose says yfully. "Uh, yeah, you''re, really pretty," Deku stutters out. "Don''t fall for it Deku!" Horizon yells from the couch. "She''s worse than any viin, and far more dangerous!" Deku immediately leaps back and takes a fighting stance, startling Chitose whose thoughts are racing, ''Oh god does Horizon know? Did he find out? Can he read my thoughts? I thought he had to touch a person to sense lies! This is a nightmare! Reikiya is here so maybe together---'' "She''s a reporter!" Horizon yells out, shattering her thought process and allowing Deku to rx. "Those things are dangerous," heughs as they both give him annoyed expressions. As Deku leaves Chitose closes the doors and sits beside Horizon, "You almost got me punched with that joke." "Nah, I would have stopped it," he sees her getting her notepad and voice recorder ready. "I hope following the pen wasn''t too hard." "You could have simply warped me here, is there a reason you didn''t?" "I was having a chat with my ssmate there, and I figured you''d want to look around the festival on the way here." "I see, and that boy, is he possibly a new member of Team Horizon? Assuming there is still a Team Horizon after The Gigantomachy." "There is, and he won''t ever be joining it, sh of ideals and all that," Horizon sits up properly. "Ready to officially start the interview?" "Always, just like I see you''re always eager to skip the pleasantries," Chitose says. "Yes well, you know I''m a man of action." "And I''m sure the people will want to know if this man of action is still single, well?" "Single as can be," he lied. "And the secondrgest concern," Chitose giggles. "Your feelings after the Gigantomachy, now that you''ve had a few weeks to think about it." "What I said in court hasn''t changed, and that still reflects how I feel entirely." "I see, and people being afraid of you, how do you feel about that?" "It''s the logical response, after all, anyone with a brain would be afraid of me, I''m sure you thought twice before asking for this interview, and even now with only a small table between us, it scares you to know I''m this close." "Well I don''t think this table distance matters in the grand scheme of things, " Chistose says. "Everyone in UA is currently within your area of influence yes, I''d imagine you can feel the movement of every de of grass." "If I wanted to be that precise, yes." "Quite all-epassing," Chitose says. "And your feelings regarding the somewhat religious and political zealots blooming to praise you?" Horizon groans, "I''d rather they didn''t, but so long as they aren''t hurting or attacking anyone or other groups then, it''s probably, hopefully, just harmless fun. All Might had a simr effect, even if it was to a slightly lesser degree." "Would you ever give in and maybe be President of Japan?" "Politics aren''t my preferred field of battle," Horizon chuckles. After getting some more national topics out of the way Chitose raises a question that the world has been curious about. "Since you''re no longer able to act as a Provisional Hero within Japan, and you''ve said you''ll be staying away from the public eye to train for the uing months, will you perhaps be attending the Global Heroes Summit in Paris?" "No I don''t see that being in my ns," Horizon says. "But maybe next year I can attend, that one will be held in Las Vegas which is a bit easier to travel to from Japan." "Ah right, you likely can''t leave the country for long, if at all, with the League Of Viins running about," Chistose says. "The marked increase in crime across Japan has happened much as everyone expected, however, Musutafu and Minato Tokyo are still almost entirely crime-free, it seems even without you being able to intervene criminals know better than to cause problems where you work and live." "Well, they aren''tpletely stupid, but still stupid enough to be viins when the heroes have me fighting for them." After a few more questions, and as the stadium is almost filled, Chitose gets to the final round of questions. "Now, about the UA Sports Festival, since you''ll obviously be iming the gold medal again, who will be the runner-up? The polls say Shoto Todoroki is once again the favorite of the other students, butst year Katsuki Bakugo caused an upset, do you foresee another upset this year?" "Well, since the games start in a few minutes I suppose I can tell you, that I won''t bepeting this year." "Really?" Chitose doesn''t seem surprised. "That makes sense, many people were concerned about having other students fighting against you, it hardly seems fair after all." "It''s not fair, but with me being out of the picture," Horizon thinks for a moment. "My team also won''t bepeting, which leaves only people who I haven''t seen go all out in a long time, so I can''t tell how much they''ve improved." "I''d imagine so with all the time you spent stopping viins or at Horizon Tower," Chitose says. "Hmm, yeah, but based on how I think people have improved, if Izuku Midoriya gets to the 1-on-1 stage of the tournament, it may be tough, but he''ll win..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 300: (2nd Year Sports Festival) Chapter 300: (2nd Year Sports Festival) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "Is everyone ready?" Momo asks as she steps into the 2A changing room. "The crowd is excited and they''ve started bringing out the other sses, we need to go." "I don''t think I''ll ever be ready for this much attention," Jiro mutters as they all get up. ncing around the room Momo sees Kirishima and Sero chatting about something, Sero is in his full Hero Costume while Kirishima is in his PE Uniform. She sees Nejire talking to Uraraka and Asui, and a bit farther away Izuku is saying goodbye to Eri and Kota whom Ryuko apanies as they came to wish him luck. "LETS DO THIS!" Kirishima screams. "This year I''m gonna be even more manly and bring home a medal!" "Are you also aiming for the gold medal?" Tokoyami casually asks as they all exit the room and make their way through the stadium hallways."Tch," Bakugo scoffs. "If anyone is beating ss Face and taking that gold medal this year, it''s me." "You aren''t the only one that''s gotten a lot stronger Khan," Deku says. "I''ve got a lot of tricks that I held back when we were training together." Shoto breaks his silence, "Nothingpared to the progress I''ve made training with my father, this yeah I have enough power to win a tournament match against even Horizon." "That''s pretty brave considering how it wentst time," Mina says. "But I bet they have a bunch of rules to prevent him from ripping out hearts again." "Well they don''t allow him to use his sword," Toru says. She was wearing a bodysuit made of her DNA below her PE Uniform, allowing her to gopletely invisible. "That new sword is intense," she mutters. "I''m just hoping to get to the 1-on-1 stage this time," Ojiro says. "Me too," Shoji says as Jiro nods along as well. As they''re walking to the entrance into the main event area, Uraraka notices Midoriya''s face is intense and thoughtful, and falls into step beside him. "Hey, Deku, are you ok? You look like you need to use the bathroom," she says quietly. "Huh, oh, sorry it''s just, Horizon said some things earlier that I can''t stop thinking about." "Oh," she says in a smaller voice, clearly sad. ''Be decisive, be bold, be brave, take the first step...'' Horizon''s words echo in Deku''s mind. Taking a deep breath and ignoring the intense blush on his face he leans down slightly to whisper in her ear, "I''ll exinter, we can have dinner together to celebrate my win, just you and me..." Uraraka stops dead in her tracks, facepletely red. She sees everyone walking ahead, and Mina who was standing directly beside her just looks back and gives her a thumbs-up, which makes her blush even more. She takes a moment topose herself before jogging to catch up, just as everyone else is stepping onto the field shees outst. "Hey! What makes you so sure that I won''t be the one to wi---!" her words fall away as the spectacle of the stadium stuns her. The crowd was roaring so loudly she couldn''t hear herself think. Even afterpetingst year, she couldn''t grasp the magnitude of what she was seeing. This year the stadium was at least 4 times asrge, with tens of thousands of people here cheering them on. High above fireworks were going off like thunder, but Ms. Midnight''s voice cuts through it all. "And there you have it folks, the Hero Course students take to the field!" she says proudly, causing the crowd to get even louder. Most of the other 2nd-year students were on the field wearing the PE Uniforms, with the Hero Equipment students equipped with all kinds of gadgets. "Hatsume isn''t here, that''s odd," Deku says as he scans the crowd. "She''s probably up there," Jiro points to the highest level of the stadium. There they could see a floor that didn''t have balconies like the other seating areas but was separated by one-way ss. The private booths are for wealthy sponsors of the tournament or simply important people from around the world. One of which had the Detnerate logo on the front of it. "Oh, that''s a pretty bigpany to make a deal with," Momo says. "I hope it goes well for her." "I''m more concerned about why the hell that''s up there," Bakugo says as he nods toward one of the private booths in the middle section of the stadium, with Horizon''s logo on the front of it. "Wee to the UA Sports Festival, 2nd Year arena!" Midnight announces as the crowd quiets down. "Now I know you''re all very excited for what we''ve got in store for you, and we know the 2nd-year students will be the main attraction this year. So we''ve taken a lot more precautions for safety, and changed things up a bit for entertainment. We''ve done away with the traditional method of spinning a wheel to randomly decide the game, and this time we''ve got a Game Master controlling things from behind the scenes." This causes a small murmur in the crowds. "I, the luscious and beautiful Ms. Midnight will be acting as the referee for the games in this arena," she points to the announcer''s booth high above. "Present Mic, d King, and Eraser Head will act as the announcers and provide more specificmentary as things unfold." She looks around the crowd, seeing many people holding manners with Horizon''s symbol or dressed in his merch, waiting for his appearance. "And now for a bit of good, and bad news," Midnight says. "It hase to our attention that Horizon would be an unfair entity to pit against the other students, so he won''t bepeting this year..." A look of relief washes over the students as disgruntled noise begins building in the crowd. "Oh but that doesn''t mean he isn''t involved," Ms. Midnight cuts them off. "He''s been tasked with not only security this year, but with the prestigious honor of being this arena''s Game Master!" sses 2A and 2B look at each other, visibly concerned at the implication of that, while the crowd erupts into cheers and the other students look simply confused. "He''s been tasked with making an entertaining and challenging first round for this arena, but before he cane down here and exin the first game, we''ve got Katsuki Bakugo, the runner-up fromst year''s Sports Festivaling to the stage to say a few words of encouragement." Bakugo takes his time and walks onto the small raised stage as the entire arena goes silent, the look on his face is a mix of disappointment and rage as he tries to contain his anger. "Alr---" He snatches the mic out of Ms. Midnight''s hand and turns his back to the students, looking directly at Horizon''s booth high above. "What''s the point of all of this if I''m not up against the best!" Bakugo yells. "ss Face! Get down here so I can have a real challenge already!" "Hm, looks like you were right Eraser," d King says through his mic. "You know your students quite well." "Yes," Eraser Head replies in a groggy voice. "Which means any second now Horizon is going to---" SHAMBLES! Horizon suddenly appears standing in front of Bakugo, wearing a much more casual outfit of white pants and a matching t-shirt with his logo on them, he looks down at the shorter boy. Bakugo isn''t surprised when Horizon appears, and doesn''t even take a step back, just res up at him. For a few seconds, the tension builds, and then Horizon sighs. "If you want to challenge me, the least you could do is win the gold medal first." Bakugo gives a vicious smile at that, "First I kick their butts, then yours!" Horizon chuckles, "It''s good to dream big, but that''s just delusional," Bakugo suddenly warps back to his spot among his ssmates, but the mic hovers in ce beside Horizon. "And now Game Master Horizon will exin the rules of his game!" Ms. Midnight announces. "These feisty students sure don''t like wasting time!" "The first game, reflects life," Horizon says. "Which means it will test every aspect of you. Power, speed, intellect, adversity, social skills, leadership, and your ability to function under pressure. It is an obstacle course like you''ve never imagined before, that is all the information I''ll be giving any of you about it." The students and spectators look a bit confused at that. "You''re allowed to make teams asrge or small as you''d like, so long as you hit every checkpoint along the course you''ll be fine, but this year there are only two rounds of the tournament for our arena. But I promise you, this will be more exciting than both the obstacle course and calvary game fromst year put together, but this also means, that regardless of howrge your teams are, only the first 16 people to touch the g will move forward..." Some murmurs break out around the arena and even Ms. Midnight looks confused, but she trusts Principal Nezu to have signed off on all of this. Kirishima raises a hand. "Yes Kirishima, what is it?" "If we make teams but only 16 people who touch the g advance, what''s stopping us from betraying each other during the game?" "Nothing, that''s part of life, picking your allies carefully," Horizon says. "But just like life, most people cannot make it alone..." Monoma raises a hand and then immediately begins talking, "How do we know you aren''t going to cheat for your ssmates, huh?!" "Do you really think I value them winning this game more than my reputation?" Horizon asks, as if he were talking to a confused child. "Good point," Monoma lowers his hand. Shoji then raises his hand. "No more questions, life doesn''te with a manual," Horizon says. "You''ve got 15 minutes to create your strategies and teams, but remember, to win at life you must either be stronger, smarter, adapt better, or simply be first, and most of the time the person who takes the first bold step is rewarded, good luck..." As soon as he finishes speaking Horizon disappears once more and Cementoss begins moving the stage to the side, clearing the field. The students also scatter to form their teams, with most people rushing toward Momo, Shoto, Bakugo, Izuku, and Tokoyami. Much to their surprise Izuku refused to be part of any team, stating ''I want to show the world that I''m capable without always needing people to pick me up, Pro Heroes don''t always have backup after all...'' He goes off to the side and gets the same thoughtful look on his face, muttering to himself. "Horizon''s said that twice now, once to everyone here but twice to me. What does he mean by the people who move first are rewarded, it has to be a hint at the game...he said it was life advice but he also said the game reflects life when I spoke to him earlier, but it is Horizon. This could just bee trick to make me look stupid, but then again he''s been...less horrible to metely so maybe he wants to be friends. Or at least he doesn''t want me to trip and break my neck anymore..." "Uraraka I think your boyfriend is broken again," Mina says as she points out Izuku muttering to himself across the field. "I''m sure he''s just---" Uraraka stops herself. "He''s not my boyfriend yet!" "Yet?" Asui asks. "Mmmm," Uraraka hides her blushing face in her hands. "Anyway we should just focus on ourselves for now," Mina says. "Shoto and Bakugo are ying solo, and pretty much everyone else that is self-sufficient doesn''t want to form a team with others." "Even Momo doesn''t want to team up," Asui says. "And Tokoyami just said ''the darkness demands he works alone,'' whatever that means." "It means Horizon told him not to form a team," Setsuna says as she walks over. "Don''t suppose you girls want to form a little alliance with my team, how about it?" "Who''s on your team?" Uraraka asks. "Manga, Shoda, Bondo, and me." "What does the alliance mean? And why''d Horizon tell Tokoyami not to form a team?" Asui asks. "Just means our teams don''t attack each other unless we''re both right in front of the g and there aren''t enough spots left for all of us, and as for Tokoyami," Tokage begins whispering, "he got offered a spot on Team Horizon and this Sports Festival is his little test." "Wow, how''d you even find out about that?" Mina asks. "That team doesn''t spill, like ever." "Oh, Horizon asked me about considering joining too but his teaching style just wasn''t for me, he''s kind of...very intense." "I never thought he''d let girls into team Horizon," Uraraka says. "Oh no, he was considering forming a second team with justdies and wanted me to lead it, but I turned him down...don''t tell Momo that please, he said she was too nice to be a leader during a crisis." "That makes sense," Mina says. ---10 Minutester... The entire field was cleared off the stage and other props to reveal simple and lowwn grass. Ms. Midnight was on a raised tform attached to the spectators'' area above, looking down closely at all the students gathered along the far side of the arena. All the students gather and jostle each other to get their feet directly only the starting line, staring out at the tunnel leading out of the arena which acts as the first of many checkpoints. "Alright, now that everyone is in position, it is time for the game master to exin the rules of this game...Skyward!" The crowd erupts in cheers as the students look at each other, even more confused. SHAMBLES! Horizon appears in the middle of the arena only a few hundred feet ahead of everyone, holding a g in his hand with the UA symbol on it, and stakes it into the ground. A few momentster the arena goes silent again for him to speak, "The rules are simple, stick to the route and pass through all the checkpoints, then be one of the first 16 to touch the g to move onto the next round. But we won''t be announcing when someone makes it to the next round, so if your entire team gets there, well, I''m sure you''ll figure out which of you gets to touch the g first..." Many of the students look at their teammates, eyeing them warily and already thinking of how a fight between them would go. "And as for the obstacle, you only really have one to deal with," Horizon puts his hands in his pockets and takes a few steps forward, positioning himself between the g and the students. "Me..." END CHAPTER--- updates about future dys such as this one are posted in my discord, sorry about today''s dy Chapter 301: (Skyward) Chapter 301: (Skyward) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "So, who''s up first?" Horizon asks, staring down all the 2nd Year Students in thispletely silent arena. The crowd seems to hold a collective breath as the students share concerned nces. The Hero Course students immediately have all eyes on them, and among them, 2A naturally gets the most attention. "You''re smart," Kendo says to Momo. "You must have thought of a n to fight him, right?" "Yes, live in a different hemisphere and send robots to deal with him," Momo says quietly. "Shoto, Bakugo, and Deku will likely move first, just wait until they get his attention and make a break for the g, that''s my n." Kendo eyes the g standing behind Horizon, "mhm...""This tension is insane!" Present Mic says. "To think Horizon himself would be the first obstacle, looks like he found a loophole to participate in the games after all!" "I can''t imagine a more difficult obstacle than this," d King says. "He''s effectively forcing everyone to work together without fully trusting each other at the same time, all the team nning they did minutes earlier was torn apart in one move, done directly after they likely shared some of their unique skills with their presumed allies." "Attacking the bonds betweenrades! How devious!" Present Mic says. "What do you think Eraser, who''d you bet on?!" "Horizon," Eraser Head says. "It''s more than 100 versus 1, but, this is as far from fair as those students will ever face in their lives. Luckily the goal isn''t to defeat him, but to get to the g." "I see some movement from thepetitors!" As the announcements went off, as if a silent agreement had been made, the students waited for Midoriya, Bukugo, or Shoto to make the first move. Shoto and Bakugo had the same thought, wait for the others to charge forward, and in the moment Horizon responds to crush them, rush toward the g. They knew this was still likely impossible, but it was a better shot than a direct confrontation. While they were somewhat confident in facing Horizon during the 1-on-1 section of the Sports Festival, at this stage there were no ring-out rules for them to use against him, so it was best to secure a spot in the next stage instead. However, Izuku Midoriya had an entirely different thought. With one brave step, he''s the first person to cross the starting line. The people watching unconsciously lean forward, excited to see what''s about to happen. "Izuku Midoriya from ss 2A is the first to enter the course!" Present Mic announces. "This student made it to the final evenst year before losing to Shoto Todoroki in an incredible sh of power. Now one yearter everyone is excited to see how that explosive power provided by his Quirk, Super Power, has developed!" Midoriya takes a deep breath, looking directly at Horizon, still standing there with his hands in his pockets. ''One For All: Full Cowling 45%!'' Electricity begins dancing around Midoriya''s body as his hair seems to move on its own as if it were in the wind. His muscles feel tingly and his bones are almost creaking with each step, walking diagonally to Horizon so there isn''t anything between himself and the g. Eventually, Midoriya stops and faces the g, then crouches down into a sprinter''s stance, yet Horizon hasn''t done so much as turn his head toward the boy. Bakugo''s hands begin sweating, flexing his fingers to rx his joints and prepare for an onught of explosions. Frost begins gathering on Shoto''s right side, cooling his body in preparation for the mes he''s about to unleash as a booster. BOOM! The air shatters as Midoriyaunches at the g in a green sparking blur. The ground around him shattered just as the sonic boom broke the air, many people covered their ears and were startled at the sudden burst of power. It all happened so fast that Bakugo and Shoto didn''t even have time to take more than a single step over the starting line, before they came to a stop once more. They were all amazed even and the crowd erupted into cheers, as "IZUKU MIDORIYA ADVANCES TO THE NEXT STAGE!" was announced. Because there at the other side of the arena, Midoriya was sweating profusely, his entire body shaking uncontrobly, and the g pole was in his hand. The UA logo on the g changes for a moment to show ''1'' before changing back. He stakes the g back into the ground before taking a few steps away, still shaking and sweating uncontrobly. ''That was too much,'' he thinks to himself, tuning out the crowd. ''I can maintain 45% for a while, but pushing myself to 60% can only be done for one burst, but it was enough,'' he sighs in relief. Back with the students, Bakugo is furious while Shoto ispletely confused, if anyone they''d expect Horizon to use the games as an excuse to beat up Midoriya, but yet, he didn''t even more while the g was captured. He was still standing there, like a statue. Midoriya, while still panting heavily, walks back over to Horizon. "I doubt I was too fast for you, so I was right, about the puzzle," he says. Hearing that everyone is confused, but Horizon just chuckles and turns to face Midoriya, leaving his back to the other students as they all begin rushing to the g, "the first to move is often who life rewards the most, honestly you could have just walked over here while they were all frozen in ce..." Midoriya''s shoulders rx, "I guess my usual overthinking came in handy this time." While they spoke the other students already began rushing toward the g, eventually parting like water around an immovable object when they got to Horizon and Midoriya, harmlessly moving around them. "Strategy and problem-solving is part of life," Horizon says. "And this game reflects all aspects of life...or at least the ones I could fit within it. If you aren''t the first to move, things usually get exponentially harder." As he said this and it was announced through the speakers and broadcasting systems, Bakugo had already made it to the g, with Shoto flying via mes a few meters behind him. But when his fingers were millimeters from touching the gpole. The entire thing simply disappeared. Bakugo skids to a stop as everyone else begins looking around the arena, then not finding the g they look to Horizon. "Didn''t you hear me?" He asks. "Things get exponentially harder if you aren''t the first to move, remember to stick to the course, you''ve got 1 Hour to get to the g." "So it''s at the end of the course?" one of the General Studies students asks. "Something like that, but I''ll give you a hint, the name of this game," Horizon takes a hand out of his pocket and points to the sky. "Is ''Skyward'', so..." TAKT! The entire arena along with all of UA begins shaking as massive chunks of earth are ripped from the ground just outside the arena. The surrounding fields of UA are excavated, forming massive looping paths curling like a spring above the arena and toward the sky. Over 10km of track, uphill, on what seems like a massive floating spring made of earth and trees. As if he stretched out a small mountain and simply hung it in the air, the shadow cast was both awe-inspiring and terrifying, and a momentter massive rings appeared around certain sections to act as checkpoints. Each of the massive paths was at least 150ft -50m- wide and they intertwined and crossed over each other, and the small bits and pieces of earth that fell from them simply hung in ce as if they were stuck in the orbit of the track. "And onest touch," Horizon mutters as part of the earth directly outside of the stadium lifts to connect to the floating track, acting as a ramp so everyone can simply run to the track. As soon as this happened Shoto wasted no time and began skating on ice through the tunnel and past the first checkpoint. BOOM! Bakugo''s explosions seem to snap everyone out of their trance and get them focused back on the event, "don''t think you''re beating my icy-hot!" he screams while trying to catch up. Both Horizon and Midoriya are warped away as the crowd stampedes through the tunnel, ready to truly begin the first event Skyward. "Oh, right, I''m the only student here until someone else touches the g," Midoriya says as he appears in the almost empty seating area of 2A, above the civilian seats, high above the arena. "Well done Midoriya!" Yagi says, waving his one arm for Midoriya to join him at the front row. "All Might, what''re you doing here?" he asks while taking a seat beside his mentor. "Well, I knew this is where he''d send you after you passed, so of course this is where I''d be..." "What an insane course!" Present Mic says as the students take off. "Eraser Head, how confident are you in this not going terrible for us, considering where we are?!" he says while looking up at the massive track floating above their arena. "I don''t doubt that Horizon can hold up a mountain with his brain, we''ll be fine," Eraser Head says. "I''m more worried about the other students," d King says. "If this is the course, I can''t imagine what traps he hasid out on it for them..." Meanwhile, in Horizon''s viewing area, he has his feet up while scrolling on his phone, seeing the social media response to histest spectacle. All the members of Team Horizon were fully suited up in their Hero Costumes, minus their masks, sitting on couches and seats nearby watching the games. "Where''d you evene up with this idea, seems insane, and unsafe," Sero asks. "Oh, I was looking up ideas for interesting race tracks and found one that everyone hated from this super old game, the thing came out over 300 years ago," Horizon says. "Was it called ''Rainbow Road'' or something like that?" Juzo asks. "Oh, you''ve heard of it?" Horizon asks. "That''s surprising." "I like looking into old stuff," Juzo says. "What''s more surprising is you letting Deku advance that easily," Shinso says. "Well he solved the little riddle part of it, and if I''m going to be so critical of him, the least I can do is be fair," Horizon says. "Besides, I''m excited to see what else he''s capable of..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 302: (Skyward Pt.II) Chapter 302: (Skyward Pt.II) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "Out of my way Icy-Hot!" Bakugo screams as he rockets past Shoto, making their way up the winding earth tendril course Horizon made. "Watch it!" Shoto yells as he uses his mes to get out of Bakugo''s way, intentionally slowing down to let Bakugo get past him. As Bakugo takes the lead Shoto smirks, then looks back to see all the other students trying to catch up. He sees Tokoyami closing in and waves his hand back, creating a st of fire that ignites the grass behind him. ''That should stall hi---'' Shoto''s thoughts are cut short as Tokoyami uses Dark Shadow to dig into the cylindrical course and crawl along the underside, avoiding the mes. ''Attaching himself to the underside to avoid direct sunlight and my mes, looks like he''ll be a bigger problem than I thought,'' Shoto thinks as he keeps rushing ahead, using Ice to form a path and mes to push him forward.''If I let Bakugo go first he''ll trigger any traps Horizon has on this course, while all I need to do is be one of the first 16 people to touch the g, no point in revealing any of my new moves this early.'' "Tokoyami Fumikage takes second ce!" Shoto hears just before the announcement gets out of range. As hepletes the first loop Shoto looks over the side, seeing the stadium hundreds of feet below him, and among the course floating out of range are drones with cameras on them. Looking above him Shoto sees flickering light and hears the explosions of Bakugo''s Quirk on the loop just above him, and on this loop he sees arge red ring floating around it. ''So the checkpoint is a concentric circle with the track in the middle of it, allowing people crawling below it to pass that way if they want, a fight in all nes...'' As he realizes this he sees that directly above him Tokoyami is flying on the underside of the next loop. "Tch, just because taking the lead isn''t my goal doesn''t mean I''ll let you two embarrass me," he puts more power into his fire and ice, rocketing forward even faster. Meanwhile, in the lead, Bakugo was enjoying the wind rushing past his face, not even feeling any pain or soreness as his explosionsunched him ahead of thepetition and up the track. Enjoy his freedom to unleash his Quirk on the world''s stage he quicklypletes another loop, then reaches a junction in the course. "What the hell..." he mutters as hees to aplete stop, nting his feet on the dirt track and looking ahead to see it split into three parts. Two made of earth on the left and right, and one in the middle made entirely of what smells like seawater. Yet around each, he could see a checkpoint, all sharing the same number ''3''. ''So I have to pick a path, and the middle is probably for people like Froggy who are faster in water, since flyers and regr people can use the normal track, whatever, I just have to keep moving...'' BOOM! Bakugounches up the left path, moving faster than before as he clears another loop. This time instead of diverging paths, he''s met with what appear to be UA Training Robots. More humanoid in appearance but each was now 10ft -3m- tall, no longer inspired by animals they simply looked like big metal people. "Tch, you''ll have to do better than that to stop me!" Bakugo screams as he elerates even more, moving higher, above the robots. "I''m not wasting my time on this piece of trash when the real fights are in the next stage!" As he screams all the camera drones are focused on him, seeing him soar over the robots. Then suddenly all their heads turn to him, and with one massive leap two of the robots leap the 15m -45ft- distance into his path. Bakugo''s eyes widen for a moment, never seeing UA''s Training Robots acting like this before. One of them spins to kick him in the side, and in response, he raises his right hand toward it while still flying with his left. As the explosion is about to go off directly into the robot, a piece of rock ms into his forearm, directing the st upward and allowing the kick to connect to his side. "Argh!" he feels the metal foot m into him, but before he can go hurtling into the ground below the second robot that leaped at him grabs his face and drags him down. mming him into the dirt and pinning him down with its weight. "What the hell," Bakugo groans as he''s pinned down. ''Since when did these pieces of trash fight like this?'' As he thinks that, he flips his hand up, palm facing the sky, and releases a massive explosion to blow the robots holding him down apart. Before the smoke could clear Bakugo moved through the cloud, getting behind his third target and swinging with an open right palm. As he''s about to connect the explosion begins to form, and without looking the robot crouches down and spins, kneeing him in the gut and sending him out of the smoke. "Gah..." he tries to catch his breath after he stops rolling, then looks up to see the five remaining robots sprinting at him. "Damn it!" Bakugo punches the ground as he gets up, taking a runner''s stance with his arms behind him ready to activate his Quirk. ''So much for saving this for the next round, but since I''m fighting Horizon, then I may as well use it right now...'' He feels his arms bing warmer, his muscles bulging, flexing, his bones creaking for a moment before they adjust. His months of training came together once again for him to shine brighter than anyone else on this course. CLA-CLA-CLA-BOOM! Instead of his usual explosions, this time as he rockets forward at a new top speed, the explosive sweat is much more dense and concentrated, forming bright spherical explosions in his palm before they release the energy outward to push him forward. Each explosion is like a white-orange star as it explodes behind him with more power than one of his Super Moves from this timest year. Bakugo blitzes past these robots and is onto the next loop before the spectators can ever realize what''s going on. He makes it to the next section of the track where the paths converge, and two dozen robots are standing guard, but notices some scattered pieces about. ''Who the hell was already here, then must have gotten past me during that fight, freaking Icy-Hot!'' "Out of my way trash!" Bakugo screams as he rushes into the next swarm of robots. With each destroyed robot he feels his body be lighter, his muscles get hotter, and his mind bes clearer and more focused. ''One year,'' he thinks as he clears this section and rushes on to the next. ''One entire year since Horizon and I first fought, and now I''m getting my rematch.'' He makes it to the next junction and sticks to the left path. ''But I''m not the same person I was back then,'' Bakugo clears some more robots, taking some hits that set him back slightly but still not disappointed by his own pace. ''I''m not delusional enough to think I can beat a monster like that. Someone who can make an entire track like this appears with a thought, someone who can fight all thepetitors at once without even being here... I''ll use him as exactly what he is, an insurmountable obstacle that pushes me to keep surpassing my limits and climb to heights that Deku and Icy-Hot could ever get me to reach! That''s your purpose for Nezu bringing you here after all, isn''t that right, Horizon...'' ---Many Loops Below... Finally making it to the section of the course with the robots, Momo is leading the pack by riding a bike, followed closely by the weightless Uraraka and Asui duo as well as Tokage floating as a collection of body parts. "I don''t have time for Nezu''s toys," Momo mutters as she creates a small grenade-like device in her right hand and throws it forward, directly into the middle of the robots. As the group is about to reach the robots her grenade goes off, setting off an electric shock that seemingly powers them all down. "Thanks Yaomomo!" Tokage yells from above. "I don''t suppose you''re thankful enough to let me touch the g first?!" Momo asks. "Ha, not even with you bo---!" Tokage trips over her words as Momo res at her. "Not even with the world watching!" The girls get past the awkward moment as they rush into this swarm of robots, yet the moment they''re in the middle of the swarm one of the robots swings its hand out to grab Momo. "Look out!" Uraraka tackles her out of the way, sending them both rolling in the dirt. "Tha---" Momo''s words are cut off as she suddenly bes weightless and gets thrown back down the track, losing her leadpletely. "I''ll get you some snackster as an apology!" she hears Uraraka yell as the robots begin engaging. Momo creates a de from her forearms and stakes it into the ground to anchor herself, looking up at the fight in time to see Uraraka touch a few of the robots, making them weightless and then throwing them into the air. She sees Uraraka taking the lead and gets up, making roller skates on her feet withrger rubber tires for the dirt track, and begins rushing back to them. ''I don''t get it, that EMP grenade should have short-circuited those robots, they never failed before, something doesn''t seem right. They waited until we were close, ying dead so they could strike, did Nezu reprogram them for this game...'' As she''s catching on to what Bakugo had instantly realized earlier, the robots move toward Uraraka, flying with no obvious assistance toward the girl. One by one she sees all her friends quickly being overwhelmed, forced to work together, and when one of the robots is shattered to pieces and falls at her feet. Momo sees the inside of it ispletely hollow. "Oh my god..." she mutters, looking around at over a hundred students fighting these robots all at once. "Horizon is controlling all of these with his telekinesis." "Looks like another student figured it out folks!" Present Mic announces as Momo''s shocked face is broadcast to the world. "Game Master Horizon is controlling all these metal puppets from hisfy spot in the stadium, that''s why it seems like they can fly and have eyes in the back of their heads, pretty cool right!" The crowd looks both astonished and horrified at the sight of one student simultaneously controlling a small army of puppets with apparent ease, only for Present Mic to snap them out of their daze as the broadcast changes. "And looks like we''ve got another student at the g!" he says as the screens show Bakugo rocketing toward the g, on the final stretch. "Looks like he''s had a rough journey but he made it after all!" Making it to the g Bakugo stopped in front of it, his clothes were slightly torn and burnt, caked in dirt from all the times he''d been sent rolling across the floor. His hands were already aching, but nothing he couldn''t deal with before the real fights began. And looking back he didn''t see anyone in sight, "guess I got a good lead on them after all," he says as he touches the g, and instantly warps away. As he arrives in the 2A seating area, he sees Midoriya and All Might sitting there watching the games as Present Mic announces his name. "Katsuki Bakugo secures his spot in the next round!" Present Mic announces. "Well, Eraser Head, are you surprised the first people to qualify are from your ss?!" "I can''t honestly say I am," Aizawa says. "I would have been more surprised if those three didn''t qualify..." Bakugo smiles at that, then a confused expression forms on his face, "Wait, what the hell does he mean ''those three''?" Bakugo looks around, only to see Tokoyami sitting in the back, clearly exhausted. His feathers were dirtied and slightly matted in some ces, his beak had a small crack with a bandage on it, and his left arm was in a sling. "What the hell happened to you?" Bakugo asks, more curious than angry or surprised. "I don''t want to talk about it," was all Tokoyami said before limping away from the observation area... END CHAPTER--- The chapter was a bitter because tournament arcs are hard... Chapter 303: (Semi-Finals Begin) Chapter 303: (Semi-Finals Begin) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- One screen seems to float in nothingness in a void of absolute darkness. On it is Shoto Todoroki in the UA Sports Festival arena, the boy was resting on his knees looking up at the crowd, the entire concrete stage around him destroyed, some parts frozen, others melted, and most of it sted into dust. Most of his clothes were destroyed, leaving him topless to reveal a body of cuts, burns, frostbitten flesh, bruises, and all manner of injuries, including a broken right arm. As he breathes heavily the view on screen changes, panning away to the far wall of the arena to show Neito Monoma in a simr state, nearly a foot deep into the concrete wall. Monoma forces his eyes open, raising a hand aimed at Shoto, and forces a small me to form, only to be cut off by Ms. Midnight. "Neito Monoma is out of bounds!" She announces loudly. "Shoto Todoroki advances to the semi-finals!"The crowd erupts into mad cheers as Monoma stops his attack. As Cementoss and Ms. Midnight get Shoto to the infirmary the screen shifts to show Present Mic. Eraser Head, and d King, who was clearly upset. "And there goes ss 2B''s chances of getting a podium stop this year!" Present Mic announces. "How do you feel about your ss''s performance d''?" "My students went out there and showed why they''ll be phenomenal Pro Heroes!" he says proudly. "They showcased ingenuity at every stage and I couldn''t be more proud of them!" "Ipletely agree," Eraser Head says. "Each semi-finalist has rare levels of potential even for a ce like UA, it would be hard for most Pro Heroes to survive any one of them in singlebat, so facing them as a student is certainly no easy feat." "Those kids of yours really do pack a punch!" Mic yells, hyping up the crowd. "We''re in for some serious supercharged matches folks, so how about a little insight from Eraser Head since all the semi-finalists are in his ss!" Eraser nces down at the arena to see it still being repaired and gives a long sigh, "Well, since Shoto Todoroki was just on stage I''ll start with him." "Looks like someone is in the festival spirit!" "Whatever," Eraser Head groans. "Shoto Todoroki, he inherited an inferior version of his father, Endeavor, the greatest me hero in history''s Quirk, Hellme. Along with his mother''s ice Quirk , which made a unique Qurik known as Half-Cold Half-Hot...which is a stupid name but he''s attached to it. As everyone saw, and those closer to the arena felt, he''s able to generate an immense amount of fire and ice. His control is nothing whenpared to his father but isparable to more normal levels Pyrokic Pro Heroes usually have. This control also extends to his ice which he''s must more skilled with due to only focussing on training his fire afterst year''s Sports Festival. The benefit of his Quirk that singr fire or ice Quirks can''t have, however, is the fact that they cancel the weaknesses of each other in his body, allowing his temperatures to reach higher highs and lower lows than most people with simr Quirks." "That''s why he''s able to fight longer than other ice of fire users folks!" Present Mic exins. "The ice counters overheating and fire counters the frostbite that those Quirks usuallye with, pretty awesome right!" "All that power and those advantages, yet he''s still got a serious fight ahead of him to win this tournament," d King says. "Just goes to show how capable this generation is, and how awesome Monoma is for almost beating a person like that! Great job Monoma!" Present Mic and Eraser Head give d King strange looks for a moment then continue the announcements. "Right..." Eraser Head says. "Shoto Todoroki''s next opponent will be Izuku Midoriya, a rematch fromst year. Actually, both the semi-finals will be rematches fromst year. Izuku Midoriya has improved the mostpared to any students fromst year, well, maybe all but one student, but that one isn''tpeting this year. Last year he lost to Todoroki, but this year it''s an entirely different Midoriya in the arena. He won''t back down from anyone and he''s got a serious handle on his power now. His Quirk, Super Power, is a variant of themon ''Power'' Quirk, it really earns its name as I''m sure everyone remembers, but has immense drawbacks that nearly crippled himst year. But now he''s got that power under control and is ready to put it all into action. I''ve been observing his training this past year, and he''s got tricks up his sleeve that his friends really won''t be expecting." "Sounds like you''ve got a favorite student," Present Mic teases him. "I''m not d'', I don''t y favorites," Eraser Head says. "Who do you think is gonna win that match?" "Impossible to say," Eraser Head says. "They''re two of strongest students UA has ever had, but that can be said about all the semi-finalists, but I''m sure both of them have been holding back some of their tricks. Respectfully, all the Hero Course students have fought each other before and these four are well aware that they''re the toughestpetition in this tournament. They won''t use all their tricks against anyone but each other, even as close as thatst match was, something tells me Todoroki has moves he''ll only lose against the people in these next matches." "Well that covers the second semi-final match, now how aboutst year''s silver medalist?!" Present Mic asks. "Katsuki Bakugo is fighting in the next match, he''s not shown much new moves so far but everyone is excited to see what he has up his sleeve." "He''s only shown those more concentrated type of explosions he creates, but I''ve never seen those before so there isn''t anything I can say about them, aside from them looking like exploding suns. But Bakugo excels in all aspects ofbat so I''m sure he''s got many tricks up his sleeve for the uing match." "His opponent is an interesting one," d King says. "Fumikage Tokoyami''s Quirk is quite strange in the way it behaves, as if it were sentient on its own, although we haven''t seen much of that today." "He''s been doing some special training to improve and understand his Quirk," Eraser Head says as he quickly nces at Horizon''s observation room above. "His Quirk is the most mysterious of all the remainingpetitors as even he is still exploring the limits and uses it has, along with the mechanics of exactly how it works, but he is strong, none of these students will underestimate him..." "It looks like the arena has been repaired, so let''s get ready for the first round of the semi-finals!" Present Mic yells, and the crowd roars in excitement. "Will Tokoyami Fumikage and Katsuki Bakugoe on down to the arena so we can get this show started!" As he says that the void in which the screen appeared to be floating appears to open a pair of eyes looming in the nothingness. Sharp, glowing red eyes looking directly at the screen. Then another pair, and a dozen more pairs of eyes all open looking at the screen, before they close once more, and the darkness retracts. It moves like a living shadow rushing away from the screen and into Tokoyami who was sitting in this waiting room, meditating, waiting for his match to begin. Tokoyami takes a deep breath and exits the room, with his arm still in a sling he walks toward the stage, ready to give it everything he has. As he''s limping down the hallway, listening to Present Mic announce Bakugo at the other side of the arena, Horizon suddenly warps into the hallway, leaning against the wall just out of sight from the spectators. "Are you here to wish me luck?" Tokoyami asks as he approaches, stopping beside Horizon. "Just here to see how you felt about our deal, figured you might have changed your mind," Horizon shrugs. Tokoyami shakes his head, "the little help you''ve given me has already greatly increased my mastery of my Quirk, there isn''t much in this world that could stop me from joining your team and learning more about myself." "Well, I don''t mind helping you even more, if you show me you''re worth the investment," Horizon gestures to Bakugo entering the arena. "But you already know that much." "I do," Tokoyami says as Present Mic begins hyping him up for his entrance. "One thing has been on my mind." "What''s that?" Horizon asks. "I know you focused me during the obstacle course, I expected as much since this Sports Festival is my test, but, did you also match me against Bakugo since he''s my greatest counter?" "What? Me, lying about the matches being random and rigging it to give you more difficult opponents," Horizon feints surprise,plete with over-the-top gestures. "I can''t believe you''d use a hero like myself of such a thing." "Your acting could use some work," Tokoyami says tly. "Meh," Horizon shrugs. "Its enough for when I want to convince those people of something," he gestures to the crowd. "So I was right then?" "My team doesn''t have any ce for people who don''t learn from their mistakes," Horizon says. "I thought of dozens of oues during your match with Bakugost year that would have let you win, but you still lost, show me how much you''ve grown." Tokoyami is about to speak, but Present Mic calls for him to enter the arena at that moment, cutting him off. "Don''t disappoint me..." Horizon says, patting Tokoyami on the shoulder before warping back to his observation room. Tokoyami smiles as he walks into the arena, seeing the already familiar concrete stage, twice asrge asst year''s looming ahead of him. As he ascends the stairs, expecting the same pained sensations to wrack his both as the previous match, he felt lighter. He''d been so caught up in his own thoughts that he''d failed to realize until now that his limp was gone, the pain in his body had disappeared, and his arm in the sling feltpletely fine. So as he ascends to the stage he removes the slight and casts it aside, thankful that Horizon had healed him when they made contact moments ago. But as he gets to the top, standing across from him, is a fully healed Bakugo. The boy waspletely silent, eyes burning holes through Tokoyami as if he were just another obstacle in his path. "Are both of you ready?!" Ms. Midnight asks from beside the stage, g raised ready to begin the match. "You''ve got bad luck to face me two years in a row," Bakugo says, narrowing his eyes at Tokoyami. "Tokoyami and Dark Shadow no longer exist Bakugo, you now face something else entirely," he says. "And it won''t end likest year..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 304: (Semi-Finals) Chapter 304: (Semi-Finals) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "BEGIN!" Ms. Midnight yells as she lowers the g. Tokoyami lunges forward, as does Bakugo. Before Tokoyami can do anything Bakugo swings his right arm forward and releases a concentrated explosion. Tokoyami raises his arms to block with his forearms as he takes the hit directly. The force is enough to knock him out of the small dust cloud it made and send him hurtling across the arena. He''s still far from the boundary of the arena, but while he''s still lying on the floor trying to recover, Bakugo rockets out of the dust using his explosion to fly directly at Tokoyami.Tokoyami tries to sit up, propping himself up with his right hand as he thrusts his left hand forward, "Dark Shadow!" he yells out, and the shadow creature rushes out of his torso toward Bakugo. Bakugo holds out his right hand, creating bright light by constantly setting off tiny explosions in his palm, forcing the shadow creature to retreat into Tokoyami. Bakugonds in front of Tokoyami and holds out his bright hand, "just likest year, I''m still a bad matchup for you," Bakugo says with a vicious smile. There is a tense moment between the two students as they re at each other. Tokoyami sighs, "Bakugo, you---" In one instant the arena below them shatters and erupts into the cloud of dust and concrete, blocking the audience from seeing exactly what''s happening. From in the dust they hear Bakugo screaming and shouting, and as it clears they all understand why. He''d been wrapped tightly in a void ck energy of some sort, his body waspletely bound aside from his head, and both his hand were being held directly against the sides of his head. "Void Body: Shadow Binding," Tokoyami says proudly as he''s stillying on the ground. As he gets up with his forearms still damaged, his right palm that was touching the ground is revealed to have released Dark Shadow to tunnel into the ground. "Quite clever, don''t you think?" He asks Bakugo. "There is no light underground, and Dark Shadow is strong enough to burrow, all I needed was to raise my mastery to expel him from any part of my body so you wouldn''t notice." "ARHG!" Bakugo screams, struggling with all his might but unable to get out of the trap. "Since when the hell could you do this, and why does your stupid Quirk look so different now?!" "You aren''t the only one that''s been training," Tokoyami says as Dark Shadow''s head manifests out of his shoulder, staring at Bakugo with its glowing red eyes. "Now, surrender." "Never!" "I figured as much, but if you use your Quirk you''ll blow your own head off, so I''ll just wrap this up," Tokoyami says as he waves his hand. The energy extending from his hand moves on its own and rips out of the arena, breaking apart more concrete to show the exact path it took underground to cocoon Bakugo. Then gently lifts Bakugo and turns him upside down, touching his head to the outside of the designatedbat area, all while he''s kicking and screaming. "Katsuki Bakugo is out of bounds," Ms. Midnight announces. "Tokoyami Fumikage moves on to the finals!" ---Horizon''s Observation Room... "That was over so quick, we barely even got to see anything," Sero whines as they see Tokoyami and Bakugo leaving the arena for Cementoss to begin repairs. "Bakugo must be beyond angry," Shinso says. "First he has to fight Awase which provided no challenge, then he gets defeated this quickly in the next round." "Yeah, but what did you three think about Tokoyami?" Horizon asks. "Honestly, that was pretty smart," Juzo says. "He knew Bakugo''s Quirk was a counter to his so he went where the light couldn''t reach and when he grabbed him he put Bakugo''s palms against his head so Explosion couldn''t be used." "I wonder what he said at the end that got him so mad," Sero says since they crowd couldn''t hear the fighters speaking. "He asked Bakugo to surrender," Horizon chuckles. "As if anything could make that happen." "Dark Shadow looks much different now, why is that?" Shinso asks. "I thought that version of the Quirk was only used during the Summer Camp Attack, and it was uncontroble." "I gave him some pointers, about not fighting as Tokoyami and Dark Shadow, but as Tsukuyomi instead, let two be one and realize Dark Shadow is just an energy construct." "So he was using it as kind of like an imaginary friend this entire time?" Sero asks. "Basically," Horizon shrugs. "He put some pieces of himself that he was either unaware of or ashamed of into it, that''s why it would always act like a totally different person, now he should be more whole, and able to draw out more of its power." "Did you actually think it was a separate living entity this entire time?" Juzo gives Sero a disappointed look. "Hey, that''s what it said on his paper, who am I to judge when this guy has ''Hand Of God'' on his Quirk License, and that''s apparentlypletely urate," Sero raises his hands in frustration. "Quirks can be weird man." "This means his Quirk is more like that guy from Belgium, the one who retired a few months back," Shinso says. "Lion Surge," Horizon says. "Yeah, but I think Tokoyami''s Quirk is moreplex than making energy crystal lions, but that remains to be seen..." "The next match is about to start," Juzo says as Present Mic begins announcing Todoroki. As he enters the arena with a fresh PE Uniform, some of the marks and bruises from the previous fight are still visible on his face and arms, leading Sero to look over at Horizon. "You didn''t heal Todoroki?" he asks. "Part of the event is being able to conserve your energy and health for the next round, the only reason I healed Tokoyami was because I was targeting him during the obstacle course, and I healed Bakugo to make it even." "Well, I guess that makes sense," Juzo says. "So, who wants to make a bet on who wins this match?" Momentster Midoriya enters the arena and is standing opposite his friend, both looking at each other as nothing butbatants in the ring. They''re so focused that the noise from the crowd doesn''t exist to them, only Ms. Midnight''s words reach their ears. "BEGIN!" she announces and immediately is raised away from the arena by a cement construct as Todoroki''s mes roar to life. Luckily Midoriya had activated One For All: 45% at the same time, allowing him to react in time to leap to the very edge of the stage. With his heels almost touching the edge of the legal area he raises on foot and stomps down onto the stage. At the moment just before impact his power jumps up to 75%, and as it makes impact returns to 45%. He felt the muscles and bones in his leg sting slightly, but easily worth the massive stwave of wind that pushed back against the mes. Todoroki was forced to stop using his mes and instead create a massive barricade of ice from behind his back to the edge of the stadium but even then the wind pushed him so hard he skidded off the stage. Had he not been standing on his ice he would have already been considered out of bounds and lost the match. By the time he looks up, still wondering ''when did Deku get this strong'', Midoriya is only a few meters away with a fist reared back aimed directly at his face. Todoroki''s eyes widen as the mes roar to life once again, and Midoriya pushes off the rapidly melting ice andnds back in the arena. Todoroki feels his feet sinking and looks down to see the ice melting away, revealing the grassy out-of-bounds area below, and focuses his mes with his left hand and foot to fly back to the arena. As he gets back onto the stage he lowers his mes and begins cooling off his body with ice. And the instant Midoriya notices that he rushes forward yet again, clearing the few dozen meters between them so fast that Todoroki is forced to simply push more energy into his ice rather than swapping to his mes. ''He''s taking advantage of my inability to simultaneously use elements during intense moments like these...'' Todoroki realizes toote as the massive torrent of ice he creates is easily smashed through by Midoriya. Suddenly Midoriya''s fist was once again closing in, this time only a meter from Todoroki''s right shoulder. Todoroki tried to manifest roaring mes once again, but this time he was too slow and instead had to roll with the ncing blow. "Agh!" he yells as the graze ragdolls him across the stage. Just a mere touch from Midoriya using 45% and he could feel his shoulder and arm aching. He sees Midoriya about to fly out off the stage, but his hopes are dashed when his friend twists his body and stomps his foot into the concrete, entrenching himself ankle-deep and carving out a small trench that stops just before the out-of-bounds area. As Midoriya stops they both take a moment to assess the battle, but Todoroki is slower to formte a n and is forced to react instead. He sees Midoriya raise a hand, ready to flick his finger forward just likest year. Watching the finger he sees Midoriya flick it forward, and before the motion can beplete a massive column of ice surges across the stage directly at Midoriya. But no air pressure collides with it, instead, there is no response at all. Todoroki looks forward and realizes what he''d done, created an ice structure that blocked his vision of an immensely faster opponent. Exactly as Midoriya wanted. Suddenly the ice shatters, sending a sleet storm along with dust and debris toward Todoroki. In response, he manifests mes from his left side, and as they roar to life he uses them to push himself toward his right, away from his opponent. He couldn''t see through the sleet and dust, so he raised his defenses and made some distance between them. But before he could realize what was going on he noticed in the corner of his eye that something was moving toward him, not through the smokescreen of ice and dust, but from where Midoriya hadunched that very attack. When he''d dodged to the right, Midoriya wasn''t actually in the smokescreen, but still hidden behind the ice, and now he was less than a meter away from punching Todoroki''s right side, his ice side, while all his energy was focused on the mes of his left side. Midoriya took the instant Todoroki dodged to the right to rush directly toward his right side andnd a decisive blow. In this moment Todoroki felt a surge of adrenaline and fear, for the second year in a row matched against someone he instinctively recognized as a monstrous threat to his life. And in response, his Quirk ran wild. BOOM! An explosion of heat and snow erupts on the stage, destroying the entire stage, leaving parts melted and others frozen solid. Todoroki has frostbite on parts of his body and burns on others as parts of his uniform are once again ruined. He breathes heavily, sweating profusely, and with a wave of his hand creates a surge of heat that clears the air. Ms. Midnight and the crowd looks around, only seeing Todoroki in the arena. "Uh, Midoriya is..." Ms. Midnight keeps looking around, confused, until Todoroki exins. "It''s hard to see if you weren''t at the heart of it," he says. "But when he saw what I was about to do," Todoroki points at the sky. "He jumped away..." Everyone looks up, seeing Midoriya over 200m above the stadium and rapidly diving down toward Todoroki. He has one armed cocked back, in a very familiar pose to any All Might fan as he grits his teeth. "If I can''t get close to you, I''ll just st you away with one massive attack!" Midoriya screams loud enough for everyone to hear, and now they''re all even more thankful that the arena was muchrger topensate for these massive shes. Todoroki smiles, looking up at his friend, "Don''t think it''ll be that easy for you." He creates his most powerful mes yet, so hot that the entire stage begins melting away around him. The crowd begins feeling this immense heat for a moment before it''s contained, being pulled along with the mes toward his left fist that was cocked back while he looks up at his friend. Feeling his thoughts fighting themselves, Todoroki decides to forego cooling his body with his ice, deciding that he wanted all of his focus on this attack instead of keeping his body cool to continue fighting afterward. Raising his heat to the absolute limit the me condenses onto his fist, heat still melting the ground directly around him, showing hisck of mastery whenpared to his father. "shfire Fist---!" he punches toward the sky, releasing all the focused heat and mes in one pir heading directly toward Midoriya. "JET BURN!" END CHAPTER--- Chapter 305: (The Finals) Chapter 305: (The Finals) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "JET BURN!" Todoroki''s battle cry is barely heard over the roaring mes. "UA''s first-ever true legacy move!" Present Mic says excitedly as the pir is about to collide with Midoriya a few dozen meters above the stage. In the crowd Enedavor''s mes dance excitedly as heughs hysterically, filled with pride, and excitement, in his son''s abilities yes, but mostly because this means his rtionship with Shoto has taken yet another step toward being mended. Beside him Fuyumi is crying, already seeing her dream of having her family together and happy bing that much more tangible. But all of that quickly changes to looks of shock, as Midoriya suddenlynds on the ground directly in front of Shoto. At thest second before the Jet Burn hit, when he was supposed to throw his strongest punch and collide with the attack.He instead raised his hand and flicked his finger to the side, using the recoil to throw himself out of the way. Easily dodging where nobody expected him to, in mid-air, he then spun around andunched a powerful kick at the sky, using that tounch himself down toward the arena, directly in front of Todoroki. Shoto''s eyes track some of this as a blur, but they lock onto Midoriya''s as the boynds in front of his, hunched over with his first reared back. Shoto''sck of mastery has locked him in ce, breaking his control of the Jet Burn now is impossible, since all of Midoriya''s movements to get from in the air to where he is now, happened in less than one second. Before Todoroki could even lower his hand, a brutal straight right connects to his gut,pletely doubling him over onto the fist before Midoriya stands up and transitions into an uppercut. But instead ofunching his friend into the air he simply stopped there, holding Todoroki''s body on his fist for a moment before calmly cing him onto his shoulder to be carried to Recovery Girl,pletely unconscious. It all happened so fast that only a few Pro Heroes such as Endeavor, Ms. Midnight, Eraser Head, and a few others were able to see exactly what happened, leaving the audience confused until the slow-motion rey rified things momentster. "Shoto Todoroki is unable to continue!" Ms. Midnight announces to the stunned crowd. "Izuku Midoriya advances to face Tokyami Fumikage in the finals!" ---Horizon''s Observation Room... "Oh c''mon!" Juzo whines as he hands Shinso some money. "The one time I bet against Deku and he wins, seriously?!" Sero and Shinsough at him while Horizon just shakes his head. "We haven''t been in school most of the time to know what their training has been like," Horizon says. "Even I didn''t expect that kind of show from Deku." "Yeah well we are too busy dealing with viins to keep up with the news around UA," Shinso says. "But a little birdie told me Deku''s been doing a lot of training with All Mighttely so I took an educated guess." "And by little birdie you mean...?" Sero looks at Shinso, expecting something interesting. But instead, Shinso just shrugs, "I just asked Aizawa what our ssmates have been up to before the festival started." "Lame," Sero says. "I thought you meant a secret girlfriend or something, you know, like Juzo." "I don''t have a secret girlfriend," Juzo says. "Tokage and I are just, taking things slow, it''s not like we don''t know we like each other, I''ve just been super busy with Team Horizon stuff." Shinso just listens in and takes a sip of his drink, until Horizon speaks up. "Shinso is just as busy and he manages to have a secret girlfriend---" "ACH!" Shinso chokes on his drink and begins sputtering. "---And she doesn''t even go to UA, so stop making excuses," Horizon says. As Juzo and Sero immediately turn on Shinso, Horizon warps away, arriving in Recovery Girl''s infirmary. There he sees Shoto lying in bed, half awake as Endeavor is scolding him for being so reckless, something he couldn''t deny as his left hand has severe burns on it. Across from him Deku and All Might are having a quiet conversation while Deku is doing some stretches after his checkup. "I got your message," Horizon says, drawing all eyes onto him as he approaches Recovery Girl. "It''s this one," he taps Shoto on the head with her cane. "His injuries are too much for me to use my Quirk so it''d be best if you step in." Horizon groans, but looks between Endeavor and Shoto. "Fine, but this means he''s out of the tournament, which means I get the fun job of telling Bakugo''s he''s been demoted, from silver, to bronze..." After a break so that everyone could go have lunch, the Sports Festival resumes with the stagepletely repaired and the crowd excited for the final match. All the students are watching, even Bakugo who''s bitter about his bronze medal defeat and sulking behind his ssmates. "Let''s get this show started!" Present Mic yells as both Midoriya and Tokoyami are already standing on the massive concrete stage, staring each other down. Away from the stage, Ms. Midnight and Cementoss are on a raised tform, keeping them away from any wide-sweeping attacks while allowing them to intervene where necessary in the match, a lesson they learnedst year. "Is everyone ready?!" Ms. Midnight asks, and both the boys nod at each other. She raises her fan high as the crowd goes silent, allowing the tension in the air to build, then quickly brings it down. "Begin!" Midoriya instantly dashes forward with One For All 45% andunches a direct kick at Tokoyami''s face. He makes direct contact, causing a gust of wind to blow through the arena and reach the crowd, but to his surprise, Tokoyami isn''t sent tumbling off the stage. Instead, he sees his friend''s head and parts of his body shrouded in shadow energy as he tanks the kick, only having it slightly move his head. Midoriya''s eyes open wide as Tokoyami swings his right hand out,unching a fist toward his chest as shadow energy erupts from his skin to make a reinforced punch. Midoirya quickly steps back, avoiding the punch and making some distance between them. ''He actually took that hit and activated his Quirk as armor fast enough to counterattack,'' Midoriya thinks as he sees Tokoyami''s body now fully enveloped in shadow energy, with two glowing red eyesyers over his own. ''He''s gotten even stronger than we realized...'' "That''s new, you''ve been holding back this much in ss Tokoyami?" Midoriya asks with a wide smile on his face, taking a moment to stretch his limbs as they both rx slightly. "This is my power," Tsukuyomi says in a distorted voice. "One With The Abyss: Dark Shadow, Tsukuyomi!" "Wow, even your voi---" Midorya immediately jumps to the right as the ground he''d been standing on erupts, arge tendril of shadow energy breaking out of the floor and whipping at him. Before his feet are back on the ground he nces at Tsukuyomi, seeing him stretching a spear of shadow energy directly at him. Midoriya immediately gets his feet on the ground and spins into a kick, crashing his shoes into the side of the shadow energy construct de, trying to knock it aside. But instead, it shifts to act as a liquid, taking the blow and swallowing his foot up to the ankle. ''His shapeshifting it better too!'' Midoriya realizes as he bends and twists while the tendril tries to fling him out of the arena. ''I can''t grapple with him since it''ll be like fighting water, range or quick strikes are the only options...'' ALL FOR ONE: 60%! Midoriya''s momentary sudden surge of power before returning to 45% surprised Tsukuyomi who was intentionally avoiding breaking his friend''s foot, with a strong kick he breaks out of the hold andys t on the ground to avoid the tendril swinging back at his head. From his prone position, Midoriya digs into the concrete with his fingers and his hands, breaking the stage to make handholds andunch forward like a missile. He moves so fast that to everyone he bes a blur while dashing around the arena avoiding a torrent of sharp tendrils extending from Tsukuyomi. Along many of the tendrils more glowing red eyes form, causing them to gradually be more and more urate as Midoriya desperately tries to close the distance. To the audience they see blurs of darkness whipping about destroying the concrete arena with bits of green appearing all over as both students send gusts of winds and shockwaves through the stadium. ''He can keep up at this speed?'' Midoriya wonders as he deftly avoids the torrent of attacks, but after a few more moments he notices the edges of the arena are also being destroyed. ces he''s been unintentionally avoiding. ''His Quirk gives him more of those glowing eyes, but his brain still has to process dozens of fields of vision, he''s only pretending to keep up...'' Realizing that Midoriya grits his teeth and charges directly, finding a gap in the attack his power suddenly jumps up to 60% to close the distance before returning to 45% as he punches at Tsukuyomi directly. BOOM! The first impact pushes Tsukuyomi back a few meters and he instantly retracts all the shadow energy moving about the arena onto himself, reinforcing his body with dense armor. Tsukuyomi''s arms be more dense, mimicking the makeup of muscles before seamlessly merging tounch a counter punch. But Midoriya is much, much faster, and matches the strike fist against fist. The shockwave cracks the stage and sends Tsukuyomi flying back, but he extends shadow energy from his legs to anchor him into the arena and catch himself, preventing him from going out of bounds. ''I''m stronger and faster, this is it,'' Midoriya thinks as he rushes in once again, but this time Tsukuyomi shifts the shadow energy to form tendrils out of his back, effectively creating a dozen arms topensate for hisck of speed and power as he anchors himself into the stage. In a constant onught they brawl, blow for blow without taking a single step back, refusing to give each other an inch of ground. The audience can barely keep their eyes open with the intense winds rushing about the arena and when they do, all they can see are tendrils rushing forward and Midoriya''s blurred form matching it, his image moving so quickly he appeared to have multiple sets of arms. "What an insane match, it''s like they''re determined to see who breaks first!" Present Mic yells out over the thundering shes from the arena. "Midoriya is speeding up, while Tokoyami is getting tired," Eraser Head points out, not that most people could notice such small changes in a hectic battle. Tsukuyomi was forced to keep his Quirk tough, like armor, to avoid the air pressure from Midoriya''s punches from throwing him out of the arena. Even with his ability to fly, avoiding being thrown around by hurricane winds is beyond his capabilities which is why he''s decided to stay anchored during this fight. But now the constant use of that skill along with the mid-day sun beating down on them is wearing on him after only a few minutes. Along with that, he too could feel Midoriya getting stronger. Yet Midoriya couldn''t feel it, he simply focused on breaking through the wall in front of him, thest obstacle separating him from the next challenge. He elerates in increments, and his punches hit harder each time. At 45%, Tokoyami was feeling the punches deep within the armor, but grit his teeth and dealt with them, mostly by shifting his armor to make them ncing blows rather than direct hits. At 47%, the punches became slightly harder to see, forcing Tsukuyomi to respond by softening pieces of his armor as he felt contact was made to ease the blows. At 50%, he could barely avoid the full strength of the punches, and the determined, if not excited look on Midoriya''s face had him greatly concerned for what came next. As with every hit Midoriya seemed to recover some of his stamina, instead of slowing down his was speeding up, his body was moving more responsively and subconsciously, he could track the attacks easier, and his muscles didn''t feel as sore after every hit. And momentster, acting on instincts Midoriya performs an uppercut with his left hand, using the air pressure and direct contact against Tsukuyomi''s arms to knock them upward, making a clear opening for a straight right into his opponent. Before Tsukuyomi could realize what was happening, faster than the cameras or even Eraser Head could see, Midoriya punched forward with all his might. No, he punched with beyond all his power. In this moment his body finally became so limated to One for All that it finally began acting like part of him, no longer needed to constantly activate and deactivate it. In this moment he unconsciously punched forward with 100% directly at Tsukuyomi. But not his previous 100%, no, now instead of the previous 8 users'' strength, he could finally internalize his own stockpiled power and add it to the Quirk. Now instead of 100% of All Might''s strength, for barely a fraction of an instant, he esses 100% of the 9th User''s power. 100% of Izuku Midoriya''s strength , which surpasses the legendary strength of even All Might himself. Before he can realize what''s happening he strikes Tsukuyomi and feels a direct hit. All of UA shakes as if it were hit by an earthquake. The entire arena erupts into dust and stone as the walls of the stadium crack. This wind nearly rips spectators out of their seats but their clothes seem to tether them to the earth all on its own. The sound temporarily deafened everyone and nearly permanently ruptured Jiro''s eardrums as everyone tried to steady themselves, waiting for the dust to settle and reveal what remained after that attack. Momentster the dust settles, and everyone sees the arenapletely cratered, reduced to a pile of rubble. Mirodiya is standing in the middle of it, holding his right arm, looking around at the destruction with a look of horror on his face. He looks to where his opponent was just a few meters away, and doesn''t see anything, then to where Ms. Midnight and Cementoss were, and only sees more rubble. "Don''t look so worried," Horizon''s voice calls out from the far side of the arena as thest bits of dust settled, revealing him in his casual clothes with both hands up, Antibacterial Curtain at its current full strength with pieces of it missing and massive cracks across the structure. And a clear trench in front of him from the force of Midoriya''s attaching pushing him to the far wall of the stadium. He drops the Curtain and shakes his aching hands for a moment while walking up to Midoriya. "If I knew that attack would be so strong I would have warped you away instead of Tokoyami and the others, actually I think this is better since that attack would have carved a path through Musutafu at the very least," he looks around at the rubble. " But regardless, I had to warp Tokoyami away because he was losing, he''s out of bounds. So congrattions De---, Midoriya, you won..." The realization hits Midoriya like a train, not only had he won, but Horizon of all people congratted him. The crowd erupts into cheers as the faint sound of angry explosions can be heard in the distance as a certain bronze medalist isn''t taking this turn of events well. SHAMBLES! Ms. Midnight, Cementoss, and Tokoyami, who now had his Quirk deactivated, are warped into the field of rubble to stand beside them. Looking at the celebrating crowd Ms. Midnight frowns, "announcing the winner is my job you know," she tells Horizon. "Well you weren''t here, and I did it fast to get everyone past the whole destructive finale we just had," He gestures to the destroyed arena they were standing on, to which Cementoss just sighs. Ms. Midnight raises her mic and begins speaking to the crowd, turning their attention back to her for the announcements. "Now that the finals are over, we''ll be taking a, hopefully, short intermission before the medal ceremony!" she says. "We''ll be back to see these incredible students im their prize for these hard-fought and incredible victories soon folks..." The crowd erupts into more cheers as Midoriya and Tokoyami take it all in, they both know that the reporters will be waiting for them, and Tokoyami is the first to leave by strolling through the hallway to speak to them directly. While Horizon, Ms. Midnight, and Cementoss are about to start discussing the state of the arena and the uing ceremony, instead of basking in the excitement of winning the gold medal and talking to the waiting press, Midoriya walks over to them and taps Horizon on the arm. "Hmm, do you need something Midoriya?" Cementoss asks as they turn their attention to him. "Yes actually," Midoriya says as he gestures to the mic in her hand. "Oh, you have a message for the people, well I''m sure with you it''ll be something quite cute," Ms. Midnight raises the mic to his mouth. Midoriya doesn''t take his eyes off Horizon as he speaks, and the entire world stops to listen. "You said that if Khan won the gold medal you''d consider having a match with him, right?" Midoriya asks, and many, many people, already hate where this is going. Ms. Midnight silently shakes her head, as if begging Midoryia not to do what she''s sure he''s about to do. But he continues anyway. "Well, I won the gold medal, so how about one more match before the Sports Festival ends?" The crowd goes silent, waiting for Horizon''s response. He looks down at Midoriya and tilts his head to the side, then chuckles happily, "Do you have any idea how long I''ve waited for this, you''re finally strong enough that maybe it''ll be a bit of fun to knock you around..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 306: (The Main Event) Chapter 306: (The Main Event) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "One For All: 65%!" Midoriya yells out as power flows through his body, small arcs of current dance around him as his hair begins moving wildly. "Gah!" he shuts off his Quirk and stumbles back, sitting on the bench in this changing room as he catches his breath. "I guess my new limit for constant use is just 50%," Midoriya says as he looks up at the small screen in the corner of the room, seeing the stage almost fully reconstructed as Present Mic excites the crowd for the final match. As he sits on the bench he looks over at his Hero Costume case beside him, and opens it to reveal his upgraded costume. Then begins changing his sports sneakers into his new Hero Costume books and gloves, made to enhance and protect himself while using his Quirk. As he''s done with his shoes and about to pull on his gloves, however, the door ms open, startling him."Huh?" "Izuku!" His mother rushes into the room, tears streaming down her face. "Mom? What''s going on?" he asks as All Might enters behind her, trying to catch his breath. "Why are you guys here?" "We need to go,e on," His mother begins dragging him away, which he resists. "Go where? What''s going on?" "To call off this match," she says. "I don''t want you fighting him of all people, we need to hurry, we can tell them you aren''t feeling well..." As he hears this Izuku bes immovable to the woman, causing her to look back at him in surprise. "No," he says, causing All Might to awkwardly stand watching this unfold. "But---" "No mom," he says again. "I challenged him in front of the entire world, I can''t back down now," he sits back down and continues getting ready. "Is that what this is about?!" she begins crying even more, which he ignores. "This is because of your pride or something silly like that?! What does that matter if he identally kills you Izuku, this is bad and you know it. You don''t have anything to prove, not to me, and not to All Might, he chose you above everyone else for a reason." "I don''t think it''s that simpl---" All Might''s words die in his throat as she res at him. "It''s not just that mom," Izuku says. "Sure, part of it is that I want Horizon to see that I''m not the same loser I was when we started UA, I want him to acknowledge how much progress I''ve made. But I also want to see what the top of the world really looks like. This Quirk I have is supposed to be a light that can ovee any darkness, but if that light has a massive hand shrouded in darkness falling upon it, will I be enough to ever shine through?" "I don''t get it, what are you saying?" she asks. "I think he''s worried about the example Horizon sets," All Might says. "Yeah," Midoriya confirms. "Horizon is great at being a Pro Hero, he''s probably the best there will ever be. But, if the entire world thinks like him, there won''t be much of a world left. I want him to acknowledge me, not just for me, but so people can see that he isn''t the only great hero they can use as an example. I want to be for people, what All Might was to me. Maybe I am being a bit selfish, I know I should only care about saving people, but, I want to be more than just another Pro Hero saving people and never being recognized, I want to help inspire people to be better than they were yesterday. And I''m willing to fight Horizon, to be acknowledged by him, and maybe even hurt...a lot, if that''s a way to make this journey easier." As Izuku and his mother cry and hug each other, All Might observes everything and smiles. Reminded of a conversation he had with the previous user of One For All, with Nana Shimura. ''Being a hero and saving people isn''t enough, people need someone they can look up to, can be inspired by. They need a pir to support them and let them know everything will be alright, someone who shows them a better path, a brighter path...'' he recalls his exact words, and the radiant smile she gave him in response. ''Izuku Midoriya, you can see it without me ever telling you, being a hero and saving lives isn''t enough. If you can''t inspire people to change on their own, then your impact will only be as long as your career, I''m proud of you, for realizing this on your own,'' All Might thinks as Izuku finishes getting dressed. "So, do you have a n?" All Might asks as the Midoriyas settle down. "Yeah, I''ve got a few," Izuku says. "But I can''t say them out loud, Horizon couldbe reading our lips with his Quirk." "I doubt he''d ever do that," All Might says. "He really doesn''t think so much of you that he''d try to look at your ybook, also he''s a man of his word." "That''s true," Izuku says. "Can he really do that?" his mom asks. "Oh yeah, it''d be super easy," All Might says jokingly. "Horizon is sensing every minute movement on UA and in most of Musutafu right now and hasplete control of everything within that range, just as an invisibleyer of security." All the color drains from her face as she grabs onto Izuku, "Please don''t go fighting this person Izuku!" ---Minutes Later... Walking out of the tunnel leading into the arena, Izuku immediately notices that the concrete stage was extended to upy more of the space. It was thicker and had a greater surface area, but the floor of the games area was lowered deeper into the earth so thebatants would be even lower than before, further from the crowd. As he climbs the stairs he takes note of all these changes. ''They reinforced the stage and made itrger, plus the walls of the arena as well to protect the crowd. I still have to be extra careful with my Shoot-Style and Air Force shots. But this means I can be a lot more lenient than before since most of the air won''t even reach the crowd because they put us in a deeper hole. The negatives of these changes are bad too, arger stadium means he has more space to warp about, so getting a Ring Out victory will be even harder, although I can''t imagine what could be harder than ''impossible''. But at least I don''t have to worry about him trying to knock me out of the ring, knowing him that''ll be an absolutest resort, him doing that is like him admitting he couldn''t make me submit, and he''d never admit that. I just have tond hits without holding contact for more than a fraction of a second each time, so no grappling, otherwise he''ll electrocute me with Counter Shock...'' As he''s done thinking Midoriya is standing in front of Horizon, looking up at the boy. While Horizon was now 198cm -6ft6-, Midoriya has grown as well, standing at 175cm -5ft9-, with more lean muscle on his frame to amodate his power. Both students wore their UA PE Uniforms, with Midoriya also wearing his gloves and boots from his Hero Costume. While across from him Horizon had the jacket of his PE Uniform open with no shirt beneath, showing the Body Glove directly to the crowd, and on his back is his symbol as usual. "You took my offer and actually decided to use it," Horizon says. "But I''m a bit disappointed you didn''te wearing the full costume." "These are the main functional parts," Midoriya says as they continue to ignore the crowd. "No sword?" Horizon shrugs, "figured I''d keep things reasonable, besides I''m still not entirely used to the new sword yet." "Is everyone ready?!" Ms. Midnight asks, causing the arena to go silent and both students nod. She pauses, allowing the tension to build, then lowers her fan. "BEGIN!" Horizon, Midoriya, Ms. Midnights, and Cementoss, all instantly disappear from the arena. The cheers fade as confusion blooms in its ce, cameras turn to Ms.Midnight and Cementoss who appear at the same instant in the stands, at the lowest level nearest to the stage. Both teachers turn to each other, just as confused as everyone else. "Huh," Present Mic looks around, just as confused but understanding his role as the announcer. "Well if they both left the arena then---" KRAKOOOM! The sound of thunder nearly deafens the crowd, but not from the overcast sky above, from the stage below. KRAKOOOM! It continues rumbling, and this time the stage itself explodes into dust and derbis, the entire stadium, no, all of UA, no, all of Musutafu and this entire stretch of Japan''s coastline shakes. Over and over, like the world itself was falling apart, like an invisible force was rolling through reality to a choir of thunder. People in the crowd cover their ears, for what little that can do, children who were cheering moments ago begin crying, begging to go home. The entire world watches, confused, as if reality itself wasing apart in the arena. KRAKOOM! One final thunderous explosion echoes out from what''s left of the stage, but instead of kicking up more dust. The dustcloud is pushed aside, revealing Horizon, lookingpletely untouched. His energy was visible and radiant, his entire being cloaked in a flowing blue energy vapor, that had they not known better, people would have assumed to be mes. He had one fist outstretched, shing with the fist of Izuku Midoriya, who was also enveloped in the energy vapor as it leaked off of Horizon, but Midoriya had bruises and scratches on his body. Pieces of his PE Uniform were torn, and his eyes looked more serious than his peers could ever imagine. No, at this moment, he had no peers. There is no being equal to him at this exact moment, there are only those who are above him, one of which he is shing with. And there are those that areing to the realization, that they simply cannot keep up. ''One For All: 85%!'' Midoriyamands as his power increases by yet another magnitude, and they both disappear again. This time the shes are more visible, if it can even be called that. The chorus of thunder echoes out as they flicker about, like floating holograms all about the arena. In every instant they sh, Horizon warps them away. They appear above the stage, Midoriya kicking toward Horizon''s visor, and Horizon''s hand already raised with Curtain on his forearm taking the blow. The sh happens, and then they warp away, yet their afterimage stays in ce. With each sh another afterimage is formed, then they warp to the next, then the next. Seeing dozens of these appear before the first begin to fade away, Eraser Head scoffs. ''If he can afford to do all of these little tricks while guiding the fight, he still isn''t taking Midoriya seriously...'' he realizes. Horizon cannot simply make illusions such as this, and while most people think this is a byproduct of the fight, Eraser Head knows better. He''s warping them back and forth while conducting this fight like a dance, and each time moves are repeated he warps them into the exact same spot. Making the illusion of dozens of frozen shes perfectly in the air. KRAKOOM! All the afterimages disappear and Horizon and Midoriya appear on the stage one more, and Midoriya kicks forward with everything he has. ''Shoot Style: 85%!'' his metal shoe collides directly with Horizon''s fist that''d manifested a Curatin on itself. The curtain instantly shatters, knocking Horizon''s hand back. SHAMBLES! He warps away, swapping ces with Midoriya to avoid the follow-up punch. The moment he appears, however, the fist is millimeters away from smashing into his visor. SHAMBLES! He warps to the other side of the stage, and the moment he appears his vision is blocked by Midoirya''s fist yet again. This dance continues on for a while, with Horizon always barely avoiding a direct attack. In such a cramped space, Warping and Super Speed are much closer in use than in arger ce, and against Midoriya, Horizon''s usually invisible faults are being shown. Horizon can Warp at the speed of thought, but his body cannot move at that speed. He cannot raise his hand fast enough to block a strict to his face, and Midoriya has broken his hastily made shield countless times before. He simply does not have the time he needs to contest an enemy with immense speed and instant maximum eleration in such a confined area. While he works to solve this issue, Midoriya simply has to use his elerated perception and capabilities to look around, and the instant Horizon appears he charges directly toward him. The goes on for a few more seconds, until Horizon begins using one of his newer moves. SHAMBLES: Flicker! He simultaneously appears all across the stage at once. ''Doesn''t matter,'' Midoriya thought. ''These aren''t illusions, so if I connect with one, that''s all I need, all he did was make himself a bigger target!'' With that Midoriya charges forward, fist reared to crash into the visor of a flickering Horizon. Yet as he''s above to make contact, it flickers and reappers with a fist raised to meet his. ''He changed the position of his body while he was warping, how?!'' this realization came to Midoriya as they collided and sent a shockwave through the stadium. Horizon''s arm is knocked aside and he''s sent flying away through the air, while Midoriya barely feels anything at all. In fact, he feels better than ever. ''One For All: 90%!'' Heunches into the air, away from the designated fighting area and above the stadium where Horizon was still sent flying. Before anyone could blink he''d arrive below Horizon, ready to kick him into orbit. SHAMBLES! Horizon appears on the stage, standing perfectly rxed as he flexes his arm. Unbeknownst to most, including his opponent, with every sh all the bones in the connecting limb, and sometimes all across his body, were shattered. The shroud of energy around him was focused entirely on healing, and that was all he could do to keep up in this fight. The moment he appeared, Horizon, Midoriya was inches away yet again, a foot about to crash into Horizon''s face. Midoriya has punched the air from high above the stadium to rocket back down, a mix of All Might and Bakugo''s techniques, and now he unleashed his power directly toward Horizon. "SMASH!" The entire coast shakes as the 95% One For All attack collides with the arena. Just as Horizon held everyone to the earth via their clothes in previous rounds, he does the same thing again to keep the ground itself from caving in and swallowing UA. The sound is deafening, the wind more intense than any hurricane, but only for a fleeting moment. And the dust cloud blocks everyone''s view of the arena. In the middle of the cratered stage, Midoriya gently waves his hand, clearing the dust cloud, and looking around for Horizon. ''That attack was so massive it must have made contact,'' Midoriya thought. ''He couldn''t have warped away and stayed within the fighting area at once...'' He looks around to see the crowd more scared than anything else, looking at him with fear and awe in their eyes. They knew he wanted to be a Pro Hero, but in the face of such power, intent is not what stirs human emotions to the surface. "How are you feeling?" Horizon asks, and Midoriya''s head snaps to look up, seeing the man standing in the air with his hands behind his back. He shuts his eyes and shakes his head, forcing the memories of All For One away before looking up at his ssmate. "Since when could you fly?" Midoriya asks, still using 95%, energy arcing off of his body every few seconds. "Not really flying," Horizon says. "More like standing in the air, I got sick of people wondering why I couldn''t fly, so I got creative..." "And just when I thought I did an attack you couldn''t run away from." "I''d be foolish to take one of your serious attacks head-on," Horizon says. "I could, of course, but this isn''t the time and ce for that to happen. But again, how are you feeling?" Midoriya raises a brow at this, "Better than ever, in fact, I feel like I could do this forever," he clenches his fists and closes his eyes, ONE FOR ALL: 100%! The earth begins rumbling, hundreds of tremorspounding onto each other as his power is pushed to its current limit. This was not intentional, but simply his muscles constantly twitching while he was standing on the ground. "You should get up here before you destroy the ce," Horizon says. Taking a deep breath Midoriya focuses his mind, and with the most gentle movements he could muster, flicks his finger. The quakes stop as he appears before Horizon, a dozen meters between them as Midoriya keeps flicking his fingers at his sides to hover in ce. "That looks familiar," Horizon says. "I got the idea from Khan," Midoriya admits. "I kept it a secret in case I got matched against him, or you." "Good decision, and your Quirk?" "I feel like I''ve fully mastered it now," Midoriya says. "I don''t know why but, I feel like fighting against you brought out my full power, and I must have instinctively managed to control it." "The answer will reveal itself soon," Horizon says. "Just give it a few seconds..." "Oh," Midoriya looks slightly confused, but both students and the crowd are enjoying this moment between them. "And what about you, how long were you going to save the fact that you can fly...walk on air." "Well, I n to disappear from the public eye while I get some training done, then maybe at my big reveal after the suspension is over," Horizon shrugs. "But you ruined it, I had to use it to avoid that kick." "Oh, sorry, I just---" As Midoriya is speaking One For All suddenly shuts, off. He feels all the muscles in his body cramp up as he cks out from the immense pain. And Horizon watches him fall, onto the stage below,pletely unconscious. While he''s lying face down in the rubble, Horizon raises one hand, and condenses some of his energy into a single drop, then allows it to fall. It falls directly onto Midoriya, and the boy gasps back to life, the heart attack that was killing him immediately stops. "Gah!" Midoriya tries to sit up but just falls onto his back once again. "What?!" Most of the onlookers are confused, so of course they turn to Horizon for an exnation. "You cked out, so you lost," Horizon says. "I told you, ''give it a few seconds'', remember?" Looking up at him, Midoriya has an expression of immense pain and confusion on his face, "My Quirk, I didn''t master it in this fight, did I?" "Not even close," Horizon says as his energy shroud manifests once more. "This energy around me doesn''t hurt people, it heals them. Every time you got close or we shed, I healed you, hundreds of times until you were so saturated with energy that your body didn''t even realize your Quirk was trying to rip it apart." "What? Why?" Midoriya asks, but sees Horizon isn''t nning on answering him. "Because he had no choice," Eraser Head cuts in. "This arena, these rules, the handicaps ced on Horizon by them. They made the perfect scenario for someone as powerful as Midoriya to defeat Horizon. And they left Horizon with no real way of forcing his opponent to submit. Instead, he used the fact that your own body can''t handle the immense power of your Quirk to his advantage, baiting you into thinking you finally got control, then he simply stopped healing you. And your Quirk did the rest for him..." "Tch, that man refuses to just let people live with the mystery," Horizon grumbles. "But, he''s right, a battle with you in such a confined space is very annoying, this was the best-case scenario for you to ever defeat me." "Yet I couldn''t even scratch you," Midoriya says. "Don''t be too hard on yourself for this defeat De---" Horizon cuts himself off. He takes a moment to collect his thoughts, and decides his next moves very carefully. "Do not be dejected, Izuku Midoriya, you are strong," his words surprise everyone, especially Midoriya. "I always knew your strength and speed would surpass All Might, and your intellect was always ahead of his. Today we saw the true limits of those, and they were great. I am sure you''ll be a great Pro Hero, and your strength will grow to greatly surpass all, even All Might, this I see as an absolute truth." Horizon''s words surprise the world, his ssmates most of all, and as Izuku Midoriya has tears of joy streaming down his face, the entire world takes note of this incredible young man. "But strength isn''t everything," Horizon says. "Strength and power are far from the same thing. I will never match your strength, I couldn''t even truly match it today, and you will only grow more with each day. But even if you had the strength of 100 All Mights, in a world of true superhumans, there are those who simply have real power. Real power is bending the world to your whims, real power is being able to reach up, and sunder the heavens," Horizon raises one hand toward the overcast sky, and everyone expects him to part the clouds, but he continues. "Real power, is the will, to reach up, and rip power from the sky..." With that he takes his raised hand and grips the air, making the same motion as his now globally infamous Gamma Knife. But instead of the horrifying green energy the world fears, dozens of lightning bolts strike out from the sky directly at him, all gathering in his palm. He brings his hand down in front of him as a blinding white light causes everyone to look away. The sound of thunder is heard, then the scent of ozone fills the stadium. And when the light fades, they look up at Horizon, to see him standing in the air, holding a crystalized lighting bolt, brimming with power. Its very presence causes everyone''s hair to float upward toward it. "Counter Shock: Charged Bolt," Horizon says, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. With that he stretches his hand out, still holding the object, and begins to squeeze. The absolute silence of the stadium allows the small hairline fractures in the ss-like material to be heard, and everyone feels their hearts skip a beat. "Lightning Smite..." KRAKOOM! The air is vaporized as a massive pir of lightning punches a hole in the arena below it where Midoriyays, and extends all the way to the sky, punching a massive hole in the cloud cover. "Oh god," was all Present Mic could say, not in a scream, but in a soft mutter. "God indeed," Eraser Head says as the light and pir of lightning disappear, to reveal the area having beenpletely vaporized by it. A hole for hundreds of meters into the earth was glowing red, walls slick with molten rock. Yet there are pirs raised in it where the lightning seemingly didn''t hit, forming Horizon''s logo, the smiling face with checkered teeth. And on one of the eyes,ys Izuku Midoriya,pletely untouched, smiling, with not a single drop of fear in him. "This is gonna take all day to fix," Cementoss grumbles while looking at the hole. The people and cameras look around, only to find no sign of Horizon. For just as he said, he disappeared from the public eye. On this day, April 23rd, Horizon made hisst public appearance for quite some time, until heter emerges, to save the world... END CHAPTER--- VOLUME COMPLETE! Chapter 307: UPDATE! Chapter 307: UPDATE! Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene ''Hi everyone, author Keanu here. Sorry about the dys but...I hate tournament arcs, and I needed to take my time with the Horizon VS Deku chapters since you''ve all waited 300 chapters for it. I hope it didn''t disappoint, but if it did feel free to hop into discord or thements here to let me know. Or you can just tell me what you liked about it. Before the next volume, ''VOLUME 9:Horizon- Super Hero'', goes public on Webnovel and Scribblehub I''ll be only publishing it on Pa.treon for a couple of weeks since I won''t be able to upload at the current monday-wednesday-friday schedule. Uploads will be erratic for a while until I really get back into the flow of things, and I also want to rebuild my pa.treon to its 30+ chapters ahead glory, they''ve been supporting me this entire time and I think it''s about time I be better for them. Regr uploads will resume as soon as I''ve got that sorted out, hopefully 2-6 weeks. The next volume will have, at least judging from thements, a lot of things people have on their wishlist for this story and will take ce after a short time skip, so I hope you''re all excited for that.Feel free to leave any questions or concerns you have in thements ore chat in Discord. Seeingments and answering questions etc is actually a big motivation for writing, especially as I sell my soul and pull my hair out toe up with 300 chapters and give each a unique chapter title, now onto the next 150 chapters, that''s just a rough estimate. Thank you all for the support, and I''d appreciate a review if it''s not too much trouble. Now, onto the next adventure...'' Chapter 308: UPDATE! Chapter 308: UPDATE! ''Hi everyone, Keanu here. Chapters are resuming Monday for our regr schedule of Monday-Wednesday-Friday. I''ve written quite a bit over the past few weeks...but I haven''t been editing that much since I''m also working on my original story during this time, as well as some other obligations. So yes the original story ising eventually, after Horizon, and most likely one other fanfic is done. (Either ATLA, Korra, Or Fairy Tail, still undecided so feel free to let me know what you''d like) Startingter today I''ll edit and prepare everything I''ve got and upload it all to pa.treon, then we''ll be back on schedule for Webnovel and Scribblehub Monday. If you have any questions or concerns feel free to ask/state them here or in the discord server, see you all Monday...'' Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene Chapter 309: (While Horizon Is Away) Chapter 309: (While Horizon Is Away) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- ---June 7th, 3 PM... Within the Mt. Lady Agency, Tsukuyomi has his arms crossed and eyes closed. The silence and stillness of the waiting room only feed his anxiety, which is not at all helped by how casual his friend is being. Beside him sits Simon, who is busy typing something on his phone, passing the time as they wait for the others. "Cellophane says they''re almost here," Simon says. "Good, it''s almost time for the meeting," Tsukuyomi says. "Do you know how many people will be here?"Simon shrugs as Tsukuyomi looks over at him. "How many of these have Team Horizon done before?" "Just a few, but we haven''t done any since Horizon''s been on vacation. What, you nervous?" Tsukuyomi looks down at the floor, "Hawks never took me on any of his Team-Ups, we only worked with those within his Hero Agency, I was familiar with those people." "Mhm, well, wee to the big leagues, I guess," Simon says. "Well, I guess technically it''s a downgrade since Mt. Lady isn''t in the top 10 while Hawks is number 2. How are you holding up after he dropped you?" "He didn''t drop me, we simply parted ways," Tsukuyomi says. "Well whatever, you chose Team Horizon over Hawks, most people would think that''s stupid, but it was a good move, you''ve already learned everything that only he could teach," Simon says. "Did you ever learn what his problem with Horizon was anyway?" "The same thing many Pro Heroes don''t like, he dropped a city on a civilian poption and only got a p on the wrist for it, but it did seem a bit more personal when Hawks spoke about it." "Hmm, Horizon never really mentioned anything about Hawks before, maybe Cellophane will know." "It doesn''t matter, I''ve learned more about applying and growing my Quirk in the past 6 weeks with Team Horizon than I did with him," Tsukuyomi says. "I''ll always be thankful for all he taught me, and he knows that much, but I do feel as though to grow I had to---" "---Spread your wings and leave the nest?" Tsukuyomi groans, "Leave the bad jokes for Cellophane." "Yeah, I really should. But you don''t have to be nervous about Team-Up events like this, really," Simon says. "We''ve done a few of them, and even without Horizon we''re more useful than most Pro Heroes, that''s why we''re here even if half of them don''t approve of us still being on Team Horizon." "They aren''t what I''m concerned about," Tsukuyomi says. "Horizon expects near perfection from us, and now I''ll have the entire world watching, more than usual, it''s intimidating." "That part never goes away, ites with the territory..." They fall back into silence for a few minutes before the door opens, and both Cellophane and Mudman walk over to them. "You''re almostte," Simon says. "Almost doesn''t count," Cellophane counters. "There was a car chase on the way here so we got distracted." "Viins have been making up for lost time with Horizon gone," Mudman says. "I forgot how obnoxiously populous they were." "Are," Cellophane says. "They were just hiding, the number never really went down." "Let''s go," Mudman says as he turns around and begins leaving the room. They all fall into step beside him, moving through the hallways of the Hero Agency, finallying upon arge room with chairs and desks set up. In the front of the room was a small stage and podium with a projector shining onto the far wall. On the stage were Mt. Lady and Edgeshot, both speaking quietly, away from the mic. They look up for a moment as Team Horizon enters the otherwise empty room, getting a wave from Cellophane, then return to their quiet conversation. Mudman looks around, finds one of the long tables with their seats already reserved, and begins walking over to it. "Did Gang Orca note with you?" Tsukuyomi asks as they take their seats. "They wanted Team Horizon, so he stayed back at his Agency," Mudman says. At a nce he notices Tsukuyomi''s arms crossed, one finger tapping his arm. "Quit being so nervous, they called us here for a reason, don''t forget that." "Yup," Cellophane chuckles. "They called us halfway across Japan instead of just leaning on the local Pro Heroes, try to chill out and enjoy being important." "I rather they lean on the Pro Heroes from this area," Simon says. "Securing Minato Tokyo is already more than a full-time job." "You''re just whiny because we''re away from Horizon Tower," Mudman giggles. "Missing your girlfriend already?" "Tch." Cellophane sighs, "You''re so lucky she works just one stop from Horizon Tower, I only get to see Yui in school, and we''re barely even there anymore." "I for one appreciate the practice," Tsukuyomi says. "Spending four days a week in Tokyo is good for my Quirk, but..." "School is catching up to us," Mudman grumbles. "Yeah, you''re not alone on that front." "Just three more weeks and we''re done, then we can do whatever we want," Cellophane says as more Pro Heroes pour into the room. "If ''whatever we want'' means spending all our summer vacation doing Hero Work in Minato Tokyo, then yeah, whatever we want," Mudman says quietly as the seats around them begin filling up. "I think we could take a weekend and head to the beach, just us and the girls, or we could have a party," Cellophane says quietly. "Just because Horizon left us a card for expenses doesn''t mean we have to use it, you do realize that, right?" "He''s a billionaire, he won''t notice," Cellophane says. "Besides, it''s a, um, ''team building'' exercise, yeah." "Let''s put a pin in that until summer starts," Mudman says as Mt. Lady walks to the podium. "Hey Cellophane, I thought The Lurkers broke up after the Gigantomachy?" "They did," he says. "That''s why Kamui Woods isn''t here, and why they don''t talk anymore, but I''m guessing she has to put up with Edgeshot since he''s the most high-ranking contact she has." "No wonder Horizon doesn''t want girls on the team," Tsukuyomi says. "Well he can have them now," Mudman says as Mt. Lady prepares to speak. "I''m the only single guy in the tower, and I''m the smart one, smart enough not to sleep with a teammate." "I''m also single," Tsukuyomi reminds him. "Oh, I thought I heard you talking to a girl the other day on your phone." "That was Ms. Midnight, feedback on an early submission of our Hero History project." "Wait, the what?" Cellophane looks at him,pletely surprised. "Thank you all foring on such short notice," Mt. Lady draws all eyes onto her, with Edgeshot and Ryukyu standing nearby just off the stage. Team Horizon falls silent along with the others as she begins her presentation. "I know we normally prefer to have more time and information before organizing a raid of this magnitude, but unfortunately the criminals have gathered under a few major banners in these past few weeks. Since Horizon disappeared from the public eye at the end of the UA Sports Festival, not only have the League Of Viins been making bold moves, but other criminal organizations that his presence had suppressed have banded together. They''ve been very careful not to cause anyrge-scale disasters, it seems they''re aware that if anything too extreme happens Japan can always end Horizon''s suspension early, but that doesn''t mean they haven''t been busy. They wish to make the most of their time until he''s back on the field in September. Because of this getting intel has been much more difficult, even with theparatively absurd amount of drugs, weapons, and ...other contraband they''ve been moving into and through Japan." She gestures to the wall behind her and the the projector shows arge warehouse in a port. "This building is located 14km -8.6 mi- west of here, not only is it storing a stockpile of illegal guns and Trigger, but in two days a boat will be docking nearby to take these items out of the country. Due to the limited information, our main objective is to secure the area, apprehend all the viins, and confiscate the illegal items. Now, before we go over theyout of the building and what kind of resistance we can expect, are there any questions?" Only one person raises a hand, Mudman. While he does that Cellophane leans back, taking out his phone and subtly doing some searches, already knowing where this was about to go. Simon, who sits between Cellophane and Mudman, just gives a tired sigh. Tsukuyomi who sits to the right of Mudman doesn''t react, not sure what''s going on. "Yes, Mudman, what''s your question?" Mt. Lady asks. "What happens to the other stockpiles they have around the country when we raid this one, won''t they just move all of that contraband to multiple smaller ces that make it harder to find?" "That is a possibility, but unfortunately we can''t focus on that at the moment." "But that will just make our jobs in the future harder to do, and make things worse locally." Mt. Lady and many others give him a slightly perplexed look at those words, "What do you mean?" "Well, if the guns and stuff are leaving Japan, then we just let them go and it''s not our problem for a while. All we have to do is find the person at the top and lock them up before they use the money. But if we attack this warehouse then all the other stockpiles scatter and circte through Japan even longer." "Are you saying we should leave those weapons to go abroad and hurt people, simply because it keeps our country slightly safer in the short term?" Mt. Lady asks. "No, I''m saying if we''re doing this we should hit all the stockpiles at once, while also finding the source and dealing with them too," Mudman says. "It''s not quite as simple as what we want," Mt. Lady says. "This is all the information we were able to collect before our source had to get out of there, this is all we have to work with, so we''re working with it." "By running into a group of viins that are ready, willing, and armed with a massive stockpile of guns," Mudman says. "And regardless of the oue, it makes future raids near impossible, this is a bad n." Mt. Lady res at him as the tension in the room rises, "If Horizon asked you to do this would you have been this determined to punch holes in it?" "Yes, that''s why I lead Team Horizon when he''s not here, to think of all possibilities and oues, not that it matters," Mudman says. "Horizon would have known better than to ask..." Mt. Lady''s eyes go wide as the Pro Heroes in the room look between her and Mudman in disbelief, as does Tsukuyomi, yet Simon and Cellophane don''t seem surprised. Before Mt. Lady can speak Edgeshot steps forward, raising a hand to stop her. "Can you get us the intel we need?" Edgeshot asks. "We discarded that path since the time is so limited, but if you can get it before tomorrow morning we may be able to alter our course." Hearing that Mudman simply turns to his left, nodding toward Cellophane and Simon, "five hours." "So much for an easy Team-Up," Simon says in a tired voice as he gets up. "When we''re done we should get some dinner," Cellophane says as he gets up. "Pizza?" he asks Simon as they move toward the door. "You decide..." All the Pro Heroes turn back and forth between the two Provisional Heroes and Mt. Lady, as if asking ''Seriously?'', but she simply schools her annoyed features and continues on with the meeting... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 310: (While Horizon Is Away Pt.II) Chapter 310: (While Horizon Is Away Pt.II) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "What''s up?" Sero asks as he answers his cell phone, cing it on speaker on the desk. He was in an opulent office, sitting behind the desk and typing away on theputer. His visor was off, resting on the desk beside his phone as he worked. "Any news on your search?" Edgeshot asks. "It''s almost midnight, and we need the intel before 7, otherwise things get messy." "I''m working on it right now," Sero says. "How are things with recruiting more Pro Heroes for the other locations?" "Enedavor was busy working on bringing down a potential Nomu manufacturing facility, but we got a lot of B and C list Pro Heroes.""Well, we left you Tsukuyomi and Mudman, so you''ll be good," Sero says as he continues working. "Is Mt. Lady still mad at him?" "For embarrassing her in front of everyone?" Edgeshot''s words were drenched in sarcasm. "Who doesn''t want to be embarrassed in front of their peers during their first time leading a big operation like this?" "That bad huh?" "Worse thank you think, luckily your team is more useful than most entire Pro Hero agencies in Japan so she can''t retaliate." "Awe, you''ll make me blush," Sero chuckles. "Has Mudman been helping to n things?" "Yeah, he''s better than you said, didn''t think that was possible," Edgeshot says. "What kind of training does he do with Horizon?" "No idea, that big brain stuff isn''t really what I do on the team," Sero says. "I''m a versatile hitter and utility yer, Mudman and Horizon do all the tactics stuff for big projects." "Hmm, can I head back to UA with you when you''re going back?" Edgeshot asks. "I''d like to talk to Horizon about some ns I have." "Uh..." Sero tenses for a moment. "That, won''t be possible, Horizon doesn''t want to be bothered during training." "Oh, I see." "Yeah, but I can tell him to give you a call when we get back." "Yeah, thanks, I really appreciate it," Edgeshot says. "He hasn''t been on the Hero Network in weeks, he''s taking this mandatory vacation thing seriously." "Yeah, he really wants perfect control of his Quirk, he''s been training non-stop every day at UA," Sero lied. "I figured as much, what about your bird friend?" "What about him?" "I heard he used to work with Hawks, but now he doesn''t anymore." "They had a difference of opinion," Sero says as he starts downloading the files he wants. "Tsukuyomi joined Team Horizon, Hawks doesn''t like Horizon." "Lots of people don''t, but he''s necessary, unfortunately," Edgeshot says. "Well I was just curious, think your friend would want to join us at my Hero Agency? Granted you four are stuck in Minato Tokyo until Horizon gets back in the fight, but he seems like he''d be good for stealth and investigations." "Hmm, I assumed he would have signed up with Gang Orca after this, but I''d rather have him with us," Sero says as the download finishes and he begins wiping the security footage. "Yeah, you should ask him after the raid." "I''ll just go ask him now," Edgeshot says. "Really? Don''t you want to see him versus real viins first?" Edgeshot scoffs, "Don''t you guys always say ''Team Horizon has no weak members''?" Sero smiles, "That''s right, we don''t. Anyway, I need to go collect more intel, I''ll call when we''re done." "Gotcha," Edgeshot hangs up. After double-checking the security system Sero sees tonight''s records arepletely wiped and the system is still off. Taking his visor he holds it under his arm and begins walking out of the office. He enters the hallway and is greeted by a wall of ss, showing the outside of this penthouse suite overlooking Kyoto. Walking down the hallway he makes it to the balcony above the living room, and while walking down the stairs of this luxury penthouse looks over the railing to see Shinso sitting on this couch. He had his feet up and mask off, idly scrolling on his phone. To his right, there was a middle-aged woman tied to a chair using the curtains, her mouth was also gagged, but her eyes were wide and staring directly at Shinso, terrified and enraged. Tears continuously flowed down her cheeks, ruining her makeup. She waspletely unharmed, just like her husband, the man in an identical situation beside her, but instead of crying, he was red-faced with anger. "Did you get everything?" Shinso asks, not even looking back at Sero. "Almost, two of the big names at the top of the organization were missing," Sero says as he sits on the couch beside Shinso. "Who do you think will talk first, Bonnie or Clyde?" Shinso nces over at the couple, "They''re not much of the Bonnie and Clyde type, unless Bonnie was an ountant and Clyde was awyer, for criminals that is." The restrained man shakes in his restraints, clearly pissed off by thatment. "Yeah yeah," Sero rolls his eyes. "Not criminals but ''respectable businessmen'' or whatever youwyers tell yourself." "I must admit, I can''t tell if it''s smart that the criminal organization''s mainwyer and ountant are a couple." "We should ask," Sero says as he walks over and removes the gags. "You fucking brats!" the man looks up at Sero. "I''m awyer! I know my rights! You broke into our home and tied us up, do you realize how fucked you---" Sero shoved the gag back into the man''s mouth, then looked over to see the woman still silently crying. He gestures to her, and Shinso nods. "ountant," Shinso''s words get her attention. "Tell me the two names missing from your files." The woman looks between Shino and her husband, then back at Shinso, "no, I won''t." "Won''t, or can''t?" Shinso asks. "If they''re forcing you to work for them, we can help you, you know who we are, right?" "I know, you''re team Horizon," she says. "And I also know that no evidence you collect from us in here, in this state, will be usable against us in court. You can''t do anything to us since you broke in here and threatened us, all you can do is use whatever scraps you have to arrest our clients." "Criminals you wereundering money for," Sero says. "You can''t prove that in court," she res at him finding her courage after crying all night. Shinso sighs, "She''s right. But you see, I''m willing to bet their files will make the connection for us, and give us all the reasons we need to arrest both of you. It''s a ''Chicken or the egg'' situation, doesn''t matter whiches first because they''re both connected." "We''ll never tell you," she growls out. "You break into our home, tie us up, and now what''ll you do, huh hero, you''re out of options. So how about you just walk away, and maybe we''ll only sue you and your family into the dirt for a few generations." Shinso sighs and nods toward the man. Sero quickly removes his gag, and before the man starts yelling at them Shinso cuts him off. "Do you love your wife?" That catches the man off guard, and he takes a moment to respond. He scoffed, "What, you expect me to believe you''re going to torture her if I don''t talk? You''re a Pro Hero boy, you don''t y by those rules." "We''re Team Horizon," Sero says as he takes out a copsable serrated knife from his utility belt. "We can do whatever we want." "But we won''t be hurting her," Shinso says. "You will..." PARTIAL BRAINWASHING COMPLETE: Body Puppet. The man''s body, everything below his neck, goes entirely numb to him. Shinso nods to Sero, and he immediately begins removing the man''s restraints. "What are you ---" the man swallows his words as he tries to get up, but his body below the neck refuses to move. "What the---What did you do!" "I don''t know what you mean," Shinso says as Sero holds out the knife. "Take the knife from my friend." The man obeys, only now, while following Shinso''smand, can he feel his body. Only when following themands of his master were his senses connected to his body, allowing him to feel the hard rubber handle in his grip. "What are you doing!?" "Nothing at all," Shinso says as Sero sits beside him, taking in the show. "Now, slowly, use the knife and gouge out one of her eyes," hemands. "What?!" the woman looks up just in time as her husband holds her face and begins moving the knife toward her right eye. "Wait! Stop! Please don''t do this!" her tears began flowing all over again. "I can''t! He''s controlling my body!" the man had tears building in his eyes. "I''m so sorry! He won''t let me stop!" "Stop," Shinsomands, and the man stops just an inch from her eyeball. "Now are you willing to talk?" "Wait," the man gets a bright idea, "you''re bluffing, you can''t actually make me hurt someone!" "Hmm, let''s see," Shinso thinks for a moment. "Illegal arms dealing, extortion, rape, kidnapping." "Organ theft," Sero says. "ckmail." "Illegal drug smuggling and dealing." "Selling kids for their Quirks." "Embezzlement." "Assault and battery, and of course, murder." "And bribing government officials," Sero says. "That''s at least thirteen crimes." "You forgot the Money Laundering," Shinso says. "Fourteen." "I''ll round it up to fifteen," Shinso says. "Now, slowly carve fifteen tally marks into her forehead, deep enough to dig into the bone, begin," hemands. "AHHHHHHHHHHH---!!!" The woman''s screaming drowned out their thoughts, drowned out her husband''s begging for forgiveness. He begged Shinso to let him stop hurting his wife. But themand had been given, and Shinso didn''t make it a habit of showing mercy to monsters, that''s not how Team Horizon does things. She screamed, and cried, and bled. And her husband cried with her, forced to get a front-row seat as his own body held her head in ce as he carved her up. He could feel her warm blood running down to his hand. Feel the serrated de of the knife cause the handle to bump ever so slightly as it grinds through the bone of her skull. And after the first three cuts, the woman is begging for it to end, for them to just knock her out. She begs and pleads, telling them that she doesn''t know anything, that only her husband ever meets the clients. Yet Shinso and Sero give her unbothered stares. And eventually, at the 7th cut, her vocal cords ruptured, taking her voice with it. The pain became so much that her body went into shock, temporarily causing her to ck out. With her screams now gone they could finally hear the man''s words. "I''ll talk, just please let me stop!" "You should have said that before I gave themand..." After themand was done the man was forced to stand there, looking at his work, the love of his life with her face drenched in blood. Leaking from all the carvings he made into her forehead. "Now, this is the part where you give me the names, or I''ll make you start removing fingers, and toes, then who knows where we''ll go from there," Shinso says. "Yes, please!" the man rejoices. "Just please don''t make me hurt her again." "We won''t, unless you lie, then it''ll get much worse..." After collecting the intel they needed, Shinso waits for Sero to send it over to Edgeshot while he''s guarding their new friends. The man doesn''t take his eyes off Shinso the entire time, burning every feature of the boy''s face into his mind, already plotting the most horrific revenge possible. ''I don''t care if Horizon is protecting them, they can''t be with that monster all the time, they''ll pay for what he made me do!'' he thought, ncing over to his still-unconscious wife. "Alright, all done," Sero says as he enters the room. "Let''s get out of here." "Finally," Shinso walks over to the woman and takes out a small pen-sized tazer, just powerful enough to wake someone up, which is exactly what he did to her. "How are you feeling?" he asks. "Ngh, stnghany!" she yells with ruptured vocal cords, trying and failing to back away as she is still tied to the chair. Then suddenly her body goes limp and her eyes ze over. Shinso nces at her husband, "is there anything else you want to tell us?" "No, I''ve already given you everything," the man immediately falls under Shinso''s control as well. He and Sero untie them and step back, double-checking everything around before putting on their masks. "Stand in the middle of the room facing the wall," Simonmands, and both people obey. "When I snap my fingers you''ll forget everything that happened within thest 12 hours, forever, and fall asleep." He raises a hand, then... SNAP! Two bodies crumple to the floor, with his Quirk literally forcing their minds to erase those memories. Granted they weren''t perfectly erased, but in all of Japan, only he could bring them back to the surface. "Alright, so what did you settle on?" Simon asks Cellophane as they head to the roof. Cellophane shrugs "I couldn''t decide between pizza or burgers, so pasta..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 311: (While Horizon Is Away Pt.III) Chapter 311: (While Horizon Is Away Pt.III) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "So how does that work exactly?" Edgeshot asks Tsukuyomi. They were both sitting on a rooftop overlooking a massive warehouse, but even from here Tsukuyomi stretched Dark Shadow in a thin line through the night sky. It extended over to the warehouse roof, and was looking inside. "I can extend my senses through Dark Shadow, but it has limits, and takes focus," Tsukuyomi says. "Any movement?" Edgeshot asks as he sees on nearby rooftops other Pro Heroes begin moving in. "The people inside haven''t moved, it seems they''re quite rxed..." "Good," Edgeshot raises a hand to his earpiece. "Our site is ready, confirm when ready."Multiple other team leaders across Japan confirm that their assault teams are ready to enter the buildings. "Perimeter teams?" Edgeshot asks. "Ready," Mt. Lady is the first to respond, and he looks across a few rooftops to see her in position. He receives confirmation from other heroes from the various locations as well. "Alright, we go loud in 30 seconds," Edgeshot says. He nods to Tsukuyomi as the countdown begins, and the boy retracts Dark Shadow, returning the nod. Tsukuyomi mentallymands Dark Shadow to cloak his body, acting as armor and muscle on his exposed skin and head while four glowing red eyes cover his organic eyes, giving him a full mask. "The kids these days are scary," Edgeshot mutters. "Only for viins," Tsukuyomi speaks, and it sounds as if two voices were crudely mixed together. "I know, that''s why you''re working with me after this." "What?" Edgeshot shrugs, "Cellophane told me you aren''t working with Hawks anymore, so, why not? You don''t want to?" "No it''s just, I''m honored, thank you," Tsukuyomi says. "I''m sure you''ll fit right in..." As Edgeshot says that, the timer finishes and everyone moves at once. He ttens himself into a drill with the width of a pistol bullet and rockets through the air, almost breaking the sound barrier as he punches a thin hole through the warehouse. Moving faster than anyone else there, he was the first to get inside. ''Hmm, Foldabody, the superior version to Tiger''s Pliabody. It looks a bit odd up close,'' Tsukuyomi thinks. ''The ability to manipte your body and be paper thin, or fold yourself like origami. If I recall correctly Egypt''s #1 Pro Her can tten himself as thin as paper, but he''s not very useful outside of running faster. If Edgeshot went there he''d easily take his title.'' His thoughts are interrupted as automatic gunfire goes off inside the warehouse. He focuses on Dark Shadow, enhancing its vision so he can see through the small windows, but all he sees inside is chaos. Bodies were flying about, with fire and electricity shing ever so often. "Mt. Lady, runners at the side entrance," Edgeshot says through themunicator. Tsukuyomi nces to the side in time to see Mt. Lady jump off the rooftop and activate her Quirk, growing while falling to break her fall. Secondster a 20.68m -67ft 8- tall Mt. Lady is rushing to the side of the building. "Tsukuyomi, the roof," Edgeshotmands, and he sees two viins punch their way through the warehouse roof andnd atop it. Tsukuyomi leaps off his rooftop and flies over using Dark Shadow, and before they can even notice, their attention is already fixed on Mt. Lady at the side of the building. He crashes into one of them, kicking the man in the arm. "Ah--!" the man yells as he goes tumbling across therge rooftop, immediately knocked unconscious. BANG! Tsukuyomi is shot in the back by the other man, but Dark Shadow resides between his Hero Costume and his skin. With this new Hero Costume that Horizon suggested, made from an extremely stic material, he could keep Dark shadow below the surface, hidden in the dark to act as armor and gather strength. BANG! The man shoots Tsukuyomi as he turns around and begins walking to him, "drop the gun!" BANG! Many more bullets m into Tsukuymi''s chest, but Dark Shadow seeps through his semi-permeable costume to protect the fabric, easily taking the rounds, and the boy beneath feels nothing. He simply keeps walking toward the shaking viin, four glowing red eyes staring up at the taller man as he closes in. "Surrender," Tsukuyomi''s haunting voice says. "Never," the man flexes his arms and both hands extend des from the palms. "Annoying," Tsukuyomi says as the man rushes forward, holding the des out to skewer him. Not even bothering to look at the man in front of him Tsukuyomi turns to the side, seeing the viin Mt. Lady is confronting has grown to be slightly shorter than her. The man was standing at 15m -45ft-, looking up at Mt. Lady, but they were both in a standoff. He didn''t want to fight a group of Pro Heroes, but he also couldn''t surrender, and she didn''t want to fight a fellow giant and damage the area. She''s had enough trouble paying off her Hero Insurance as is... At least that''s what Tsukuyomi assumed, until he saw a Pro Hero in the man''s grasp, just one flex away from being sttered. Tsukuyomi begins walking toward the giants, striding across the rooftop as the man with des in his palms rushes at him. When the man gets within striking distance, Dark Shadow forms two car-door-sized hands and crushes him between them, breaking the des and knocking him out. All while Tsukuyomi didn''t spare him a nce, or lose a single step. "Large man!" both the giants look over for a moment to see Tsukuyomi addressing them from the nearby rooftop, at shoulder level with the man. "Huh?" the man locks his eyes back onto Mt. Lady immediately. "Anyone move and I crush him, all you heroes need to get out of here, now!" The man raises the Pro Hero in his grasp so Tsukuyomi can see him properly, not that he recognizes the man. "We don''t want anyone to get hurt," Mt. Lady says. "Look, you''re outnumbered and outgunned, if you surrender it will look better for youter, I promise." "No way!" the man looks between them frantically. "I''m never going back! I''ll die before I---" For just a moment while he was speaking, waving his arms around, he moved the Pro Hero close enough to the roof, and Tskuyomi struck. Dark Shadow was lightning fast, mming into the hand holding the hostage and then moving like liquid. Seeping through the gaps between his fingers and expanding, easily beating his grip strength and pulling the hostage away. Tsukuyomi doesn''t bother to retract Dark Shadow, instead, the energy creature simply flicks the extendedrge arm for a moment and throws the rescued hostage toward Mt. Lady. "Wow!" she steps forward and gently catches the man, taking a few steps back to cushion the blow while cradling him in her hands. "Are you ok?" she asks the man. "Yeah, just, really embarrassed," the man says. "Being saved by a kid is gonna look really bad on my record." "I don''t think that''s a normal kid," Mt. Lady says with wide eyes as she looks forward. The man follows her line of sight, and is both horrified and impressed. For how else could he feel while watching Tsukuyomi use the same shadow energy arm that saved him, to strangle the giant viin, all while holding the man slightly off the ground? Mt. Lady notices the noise in the warehouse has already stopped and begins walking closer to Tsukuyomi. "Wow, that''s impressive," she says, seeing the giant still being held aloft while Dark Shadow strangles him. "More difficult than it looks," Tsukuyomi says with some difficulty, even the armor on his body was now gone as all his focus was on this viin. After a few more seconds the man begins to return to his normal size and Tsukyuomi simply drops him into Mt. Lady''s hands. The Pro Hero in her hand checks on the man while she moves one hand to unconsciously rub her throat, ''he seriously choked out a gigantified viin...'' "Can I get a ride?" Tsukuyomi asks. "Oh, sure," she lowers a hand for him to step onto it. "Thank you," they begin making their way to the others. "So, you''re a lot stronger than the other kids on Team Horizon huh," Mt. Lady says. "Yes," Tsukuyomi says. "With Horizon off duty for some time, the team needed someone to fill his shoes in regards tobat power." "Wow, that''s a lot to live up to." "Living up to it is impossible, he simply needs someone to be the ''heavy hitter'' for the team, that, is why I am here..." ---At The Same Time, Tokyo... Stepping out of a heavily tinted car, Shigaraki and Dabi look around the mostly empty warehouse they''re in. They see two men standing behind a woman, eyeing them suspiciously. The men were wearing simple suits while the woman wore a grey dress, her striking features softened as she eyed Shigaraki. Dabi wore his standard ck pants and white t-shirt, now with a new ck coat. And in front of him, Shigaraki wore a simr outfit, but with a ck t-shirt and arger, fur-lined coat. "You said you had something interesting for me," Shigaraki says. "Yes, a very rare thing, mutual interests," she says, all while eyeing him seductively. "I represent a group that wants a foothold into Japan, and you may be exactly the way we get it." "Keep talking." "We''re prepared to fund your movement with weapons and other war materials you need," she says. "And judging by the fact that you came here by car and not Warp Gate, I''d say you require more support." "And what would we have to do?" Shigaraki asks. "I assume its something impossible." "For most, yes, but not for you," she licks her lips. "Because you are powerful, truly powerful..." Dabi looks between the woman and Shigaraki, not at all used to people being interested in his boss, at least not like this. "Keep talking." "We can call a meeting of top-ranking politicians, Pro Heroes, and businessmen. All we need is for you to put five fingers down nearby and clear the board. That makes way for our people to swoop in and get a stranglehold of Japan''s economy. In exchange for that, you get arge war chest to fund your ns to dominate Japan, and we get to sell off assets for many times more than we bought them for after you take over, everyone wins." "And what about you?" Shigaraki asks. "What do you want, personally?" She pauses for a moment, never having been asked this before by anyone she''s been sent to meet. They lock eyes for an intense minute before she seductively walks up to him and rests an arm on his shoulder, leaning forward. "I want to see what the most powerful viin in the world is really capable of," she barely gets the words out before their lips meet. Dabi uses all the willpower he has not to react as he''s forced to awkwardly stand there and endure this entire event. After they part, and she catches her breath, Shigaraki speaks. "And what happens if I don''t want to y along?" She looks a bit confused by that, "Well, I''ll tell my boss we need to get someone else to do it, and hopefully, you and I can go have dinner, or skip dinner..." "Hmm, I thought as much," Shigaraki puts both hands on her hips and pulls her body against his. "You said you wanted to see what the most powerful viin in the world was capable of, right?" He can feel her shivering from excitement in his arms, "yes, oh god yes..." "Well, that viin, is Horizon." "What---?" FWOOM! Two sts of blue fire incinerated her men before they could react. "What are you doing?" she tries to get away from Shigaraki but he easily holds her in ce. Long enough for Dabi to walk up and kick her in the side of the knee, shattering it. "Ahhh!" she screams as Shigaraki lets her fall. "Tempting, very tempting," Shigaraki says. "Both you and that n, but I can''t have anyone giving Japan a reason to call Horizon back onto board. The longer that monster is trapped in UA the better." Shigaraki turns and begins walking to the car while Dabi drags her by her hair behind him. "We''ll rip the answers we need out of your head at base, then if you''re still interested we''ll skip dinner," Shigarkai says as Dabi tosses her into the trunk. "Right now, I just don''t need anyone doing something stupid to get Horizon back onto the field. I need these precious few months to build my arm..." Dabi ms the trunk shut and they both get back into the car. As the driver pulls out onto the street and they begin moving, Dabi looks over at his boss. "So, is this how all your first dates go, or is she just that special?" Shigaraki rolls his eyes, "you''d better not tell anyone about this." "We both know I''m telling everyone about this..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 312: (While Horizon Is Away Pt. IV) Chapter 312: (While Horizon Is Away Pt. IV) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- ---Horizon Tower, 2 AM... "Where the hell is it," Tokoyami mutters as he searches Horizon''s bedroom. He was wearing a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, his usual sleepwear, but currently, both he and Dark Shadow were searching the room. The shadow creature was busy inspecting Horizon''s walk-in closet while Tokoyami was checking the cabs in the room. Suddenly Tokoyami receives some information through Dark Shadow that surprises him. He walks over to the closet with a curious look, then steps in to see more than half the space upied by women''s clothes."This isn''t what I expected," Tokoyami mutters as he retracts Dark Shadow. "Yo Tokoyami! You still in here?!" Shinso calls out from the bedroom. "I''m in here," Tokoyami says as he walks back into the bedroom, seeing Shinso in casual clothes, sitting at the edge of Horizon''s bed with arge bowl of popcorn. "Why were you in his closet?" Shinso eats some popcorn. "I was looking for the sword, I couldn''t find it in here anywhere." "Oh, did nobody show you?" Shinso sets down the bowl and walks over to the wall above Horizon''s backboard. "Show me what?" Shinso simply taps a spot on the wall and then ces his hand on it, and secondster a hiddenpartment opens. Tokoyami''s eyes widen as he sees Scalpel restingfortably in the hiddenpartment, alongside a collection of 18 Gold Ingots. "What in the world?" Tokoyami looks both amazed and confused. "Why was this necessary?" Shinso removes the sword and ces it on the bed before grabbing a Gold Ingot, straining slightly to hold it before tossing it with both hands over to Tokoyami. "Hngh!" Tokoyami catches it and stares down at it. "Horizon keeps this stuff here ''Just in case'', whatever that means," Shinso says. "Your biometrics are in the tower database so you can open it too. I guess he expected us to exin this stuff eventually, but we kind of forgot." "Exin that he keeps gold in the tower?" Tokoyami asks as Dark Shadow gently returns the Gold Ingot. "Not just that," Shinso sits on the bed eating his popcorn. "Horizon tower was broken into a few months ago, Horizon''s..dy friend, got hurt, pretty badly." "That exins the women''s clothes in his closet," Tokoyami says. "So all that stuff about him not partaking in rtionships?" "That''s just crap he says for the camera, sells the whole ''True Hero'' image better. Honestly, he''s yed around with Momo and Jiro for a bit, but he''s been pretty consistent with Ryuko since they first met." "Ryuko, so the rumors about him and the Dragon Hero were true." "No, not that Ryuko, the other Ryuko, Pixie-Bob, from the summer campst year." "Wow, I never would have guessed that, she always seemed so sweet, and he''s---" "Yeah, but she''s got a whole other side to her that he tends to bring out, it''s kind of annoying how nice they go together," Shinso admits. "But yeah the tower got attacked, she was here, and the issue got resolved." "What does that mean?" "It means all we get to know is that ''the issue got resolved,'' and now Horizon Tower has more security and some other emergency systems," Shinso seals up the secretpartment and gets up. "As part of team Horizon, emergency procedures fall onto you as well." "I don''t see how the gold ys a part in that," Tokoyami admits as he follows Shinso out of the room. "If Horizon ever gives us the word, we grab the few people we care about the most and ditch Japan." Tokoyami chuckles, "That''s absurd, what viin could ever threaten Japan in such a way?" "I don''t think that n is because of viins," Shinso says as they enter the living room. "Do remember who the leader of our team is..." "Oh, right," Tokoyami walks over and sits on the couch, drawing the sword and inspecting it. Shinso sits beside him and begins searching for a movie to watch as Sero is on the floor wracking his brain to finish his Project for Ms. Midnight. On the other couch, Juzo is lying across itpletely asleep after writing and sending Horizon their team report afterst night''s raids. "Can''t one of you jerks just let me copy your project?" Sero asks, again. "You''re almost done anyway, just hurry up so we can start the movie," Shinso says. "We kicked so much ass and then we have toe back here and do homework, this sucks," Sero says. "Yeah yeah, get over it, at least we have tomorrow off so you don''t have to train," Shinso says. "Aren''t the girlsing here tomorrow?" "Why else do you think I''m trying to get this done tonight, I won''t have any timeter." "Well while you three are having quality time with your girlfriends, I''ll be mastering the de," Tokoyami says, methodically moving Scalpel through the air. Sero gives him an unimpressed look, "you do know everyone here trained to use a sword, right?" "Wait, what?" Tokoaymi looks between them. "Ryuko too, she''s actually better than Juzo and I," Shinso says. That knocks the spirit out of Tokoyami for a moment, "well, I''ll be the only one aside from Horizon who uses it regrly inbat, so I need more practice than all of you." "Why do you even want to use a sword, can''t you be a giant or something?" Shinso asks as Sero gets back to work. "I''m learning the technique, it will pair nicely with Dark Shadow, after I master hardening my Quirk, like my armor, or in this case, des." "And he likes swords," Sero says without looking at them. "That too..." After a few more minutes Juzo''s phone rm goes off and he jolts awake. "Turn on the Global Hero News Network!" he says before opening his eyes fully. "Alright, jeez," Shinso pauses the movie and turns on the GHNN Channel. The screen shows a gorgeous Japanese reporter, but behind her is the Eiffel Tower in the distance, basking in the rays of the setting sun. "Wee to you live from Paris," the reporter says. "As top Pro Heroes from all around the world make their way through the za for the International Heroes Conference. Held annually, this year Frace won the bidding war to host this prestigious event, and now the Pro Heroes are showing up in force to represent the good of this world." "Oh good, we didn''t miss her," Juzo says. "Miss who?" Sero asks. "Her," Juzo says as Star and Stripe gently flies into the za for everyone to see. Seeing her wearing her usual Hero Costume with a bit more re added for the asion, he can''t help but voice his thoughts, "Do you guys think Horizon could take her?" "Well, she''s a lot more muscr than his usual women, and she''s barely a hair shorter than him, so I don''t know about that," Sero says. "But if you mean in a fight, yeah I''d bet on him." "I wouldn''t," Juzo says. "I mean he said as much, that''s why he''s currently working on his iplete Quirk Awakening after all. After he perfects it she won''t stand a chance though." "We don''t even know what her Quirk does," Tokoyami says. Simon nods, "From the looks of it, her Quirk can do anything, with even fewer restrictions than Horizon, but not all of her effects are permanent. Her ability to manipte the world is more versatile in some regards, but his are more absolute." "If two Mystery ss people fight, won''t ite down to whichever one snaps their fingers first?" Sero asks. "I mean isn''t their whole thing being able to do anything, so they could just stop the other person''s heart instantly." "I don''t think it works quite like that," Juzo says. "A year ago Horizon said she would beat him with absolute certainty, now he believes the oue is more bnced." "Well, they''ve got to meet eventually, so then we can just ask him," Shinso says. After twenty more minutes of Pro Heroes from across the world arriving at the event, the channel suddenly cuts to a different broadcast. "Breaking news!" a reporter says as live footage of Washington DC ys in the background. "As you can see the Whitehouse is under siege by a group calling themselves The Evoluationaries!" "Holy shit," Juzo mutters. "The first time Star'' leaves the United States since she became a Pro Hero and they instantly attack the Whitehouse." "This group has now confirmed that they have been responsible for many attacks all across the United States Of America, including the failed nuclear strike against Manhattan just over one year ago! Their leader has now revealed himself to be John Sev! But the world will know him as the United States Former #1 Overall Pro Hero: Optics!" "No way, he''s a viin!" Sero says in disbelief. "He is currently personally leading the attack on the Whitehouse after uploading his deration of war against what he deems the ''improper and artificial order of mankind'', and sadly, he is far from being alone. Hundreds of Pro Heroes all across America had secretly rallied to his cause, causing a nationwide Pro Hero civil war to erupt..." "Wait a minute," Tokoyami says. "Why would they even bother with this, won''t Star and Stripe just fly back to America and put an end to this?" "Think about it," Juzo says. "They waited for her to leave, the head viin is a former #1 Pro Hero in America, so he must have known she was leaving somehow, and he''s personally targeting the Whitehose, where the president still is." "He wants to take the president hostage," Tokoyami says. "You''re thinking too small," Sero says. "Star'' is Mystery ss, do you think one hostage would be enough to stop her or Horizon?" "No, you''d have to...to...oh god," Tokoyamies to the horrific realization. "They n to get control of the nukes and hold the country hostage," Shinso says... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 313: (#1 VS #1 VS #1) Chapter 313: (#1 VS #1 VS #1) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- ---Washington DC, 1 PM... Under the mid-day sun, hundreds of Pro Heroes are gathered around the Washington Monument. All around the monolithic white obelisk is arge fair, Pro Heroes from all across the country gathered in the Washington Mall -the massive park housing the monument-. Children and fans of Pro Heroes excitedly rush about, getting autographs and buying merchandise from many famous Pro Heroes, but above, at the top of the monument are two men. One hovers a foot above the monument, looking out at the Mall, with his eyes he can see all the way to the Capitol Building, standing at the eastern end like a monolith of democracy. He can see the individual faces of each person, even from thousands of meters away."All these people relying on Pro Heroes to save them, then they turn around and expect us to follow their rules, this really is long overdue," he says, turning to the man sitting cross-legged atop the monument working on aptop. Beside him is a small briefcase-like object, entirely ck. "One new world order,ing right up," the man mutters as he keeps typing away. "Sure you don''t want to fly down there and say ''hi'' to some of those kids before this goes down, you''ve rarely been seen since retirement, it could make their day." "If they want to meet me, they just have to climb to the top," the man says as hends on the monument. He was an older caucasian man with salt and pepper hair, wearing a skin-tight Hero Costume which showed off his muscr frame. The blue and ck of his Hero Costume was often overlooked, however, because his eyes were glowing bright blue. John Fulton, aka The Sentinel, Former #1 Pro Hero of Texas, and Former Overall #1 Pro Hero of the United States Of America. "You set the bar pretty high for just a greeting," the other man says, wearing baggy clothes and a full mask to hide all of his features, but leaving his hands exposed. "They''ll understand eventually," Sentinel says. "You decided on a Code Name yet?" "Mind Hacker?" "Not very creative, but it''ll work," Sentinel says. "How long?" "Annnndddd, done," Mind Hacker taps one final button. "Congrattions, you just dered war on The United States Of America." "This country has always been at war, with others or itself, it''s the only reliable thing we do," Sentinel says as he looks to the north, directly toward the Whitehouse. From atop the monument he could only see the back of the building, but within moments the security forces were evacuating touring civilians and low-clearance personnel. Sentinel then looks east, to the Capitol Building, and sees the security detail of many politicians bolstering their forces, calling nearby Pro Heroes from the festival inside to support them. "Well, things are going as expected, scared weak people relying on us to protect them, bossing us around, and you?" "The Whitehouse is being cleared out, full lockdown," Mind Hacker says. "All but one, right?" "Yeah, you were right, he''s staying in the Oval Office, looks like the President is refusing to go to his bunker with the Chief Of Staff." "That much was obvious," Sentinel smiles. "You don''t get to be the Overall #1 Pro Hero by running away from fights." "Yeah, but he''s old and weak now, plus we outnumber him a few hundred to one," Mind Hacker says. "He''s not the one I''m worried about," Sentinel says. "As by my count, we''ve got 800 people here, which means we''re outnumbered, more than 2:1." Mind Hacker looks up, confused, "That doesn''t even make any sense, I''m keeping tabs on every Pro Hero in his region, they''re either all on our side or too far to respond in time." "Is the message out yet?" Sentinel asks. "Yeah, all our people are causing chaos across the country, and the agents in Paris are keeping her distracted, we''re ready to start." Sentinel smiles and looks around at the hundreds of Pro Heroes gathered, talking to civilians, then lifts a finger to his earpiece. "Now, my Evolutionists! Rise up!" On his word, every Pro Hero gathered in the Washington Mall moves in unison, a mad dash begins as hundreds of bodies swarm the back of the Whitehouse. From above, Sentinel watches them like swarming ants, his loyal believers taking their rightful ce, at the top of this world. "How are things in Paris?" Sentinel asks Mind Hacker. "Getting messier by the second, we''ve probably got an hour before she gets here." "Good, then lets---" Sentinel cuts himself off, noticing the chaos had stopped for a moment. He turns and looks toward the Whitehouse, seeing the Pro Heroes have destroyed the fence and crossed into thewn, but were hesitant to take a single step forward. "Adams," Sentinel growls before turning back to Mind Hacker. "Call one of the fliers to get you into position, I need to go deal with this problem." He soars over the army of Pro Heroes toward the Whitehouse, and descends to hover in front of them, crossing his arms anding face to face with a man more than a few years younger than himself. The man wore a blue and yellow skin-tight suit with a full face mask, showing off his muscr build as he stood there, daring any of the traitors to take a step toward the Whitehouse. "Adams, I wondered where you were," Sentinel says in a serious voice. "I tried to contact you, you''re exactly the kind of person we''re trying to help." "Call me Legion, John," the man says with disgust. "I''m only going to say this once, walk away, now..." Sentinel sighs andnds, nting his feet on the grass as he rxes his arms. "I already sent my message to the world, you know I can''t back down now, and neither can the people behind me since I''m sure they''ve all been marked as traitors alongside me, this only ends one way, you know that." Behind him the army of Pro Heroes were hesitant, they''d been promised that the strongest Pro Heroes wouldn''t be here to defend the president, that the only #1 Pro Hero they''d possibly have to fight would be the president himself, but now, things suddenly changed. Now standing before them is Legion, Former #1 Pro Hero of California, Former #1 Pro Hero of New York State, Former Overall #1 Pro Hero of The United States Of America, a man who can and has single-handedly suppressed armies of viins. "So this is where you came after retirement, the Secret Service," Sentinel grumbles out. "Just my bad luck today, but it''s not toote. You and I, we''re the same, two men more powerful than most people, but constantly asked to save people that are so weak nature itself wants them gone. Join me..." he extends his hand to Legion. Legion sighs, "Chris'' is more than just the president, he''s also a friend, just like you were, and I don''t betray my friends." "So be it," Sentinel says before rocketing forward. He rears back his hand to punch Legion in the face, but the man raises his arms to block. He takes the hit which sends a shockwave across thewn and shatters his arms, breaking them into blue ss-like energy with ease. As he''s sent backward, from the side of his body, an identical copy of himself forms in an instant and punches Sentinel in the face. The hit barely moved his head, but before he could adjust and the first body fully disappeared, the new copy began multiplying. Sentinel was suddenly surrounded by a dozen copies, each of which then began making copies of their own. They began battering him, forcing him on the defensive, and within seconds, after he''d been swarmed the copies realized they''d run out of space to get their hits in, and turned on the army of traitors. "Oh crap..." One of the former Pro Heroes mutters as chaos unfolds. A dozen copies be hundreds, each able to match a 30% Full Cowling Deku. Each perfectly synchronized through all their senses and thoughts, each a perfect copy of the original body, even those made via a copy of a copy lost no power. Up to 2000 copies can exist at any one point in time, and the creation of any more will destroy the oldest copy currently existing. This is the power that suppressed entire states before Star and Stripe came onto the scene, before Legion retired after losing interest in being a Pro Hero. "ARGH!" Sentinel unleashes two green energy beams from his eyes, slicing apart all the clones that were swarming him and flying into the air. "You''re such a damn waste!" He wipes the blood from his lip before looking down at the battlefield, seeing his forces being overwhelmed by one man before feeling something grab onto his boots. He looks behind him to see Legion grabbing onto his legs, and that one copy then multiplies while on his body to swarm him. Countless blows crash into Sentinel, disorienting the man as he flies around, desperately trying to get them away from him, but the more he destroys, the more copies are made. Eventually, he unleashed an omnidirectional st of green energy, knocking all of them away and destroying most of them, earning himself a short reprieve. "Missed one!" he hears, then turns around to see Legion falling to the ground hundreds of feet below. The one copy makes another, which he throws at extreme speeds directly at Sentinel. The man unleashes energy beams from his eyes, but the copy extends an arm to the side and creates another copy from his palm. This new Legion grabs its arms and swings it out of the way of the beam, before spinning and throwing two copies of his own at Sentinel. Sentinel stops his energy beams and tries to move out of the way, only for the copy to make a chain of copies as it rockets past him, grabbing him by the waist as it continues creating copies all the way to the ground. The copy on the ground stops his feet into the dirt while making a few more to anchor himself, then yanks the chain of copies out of the sky and down into the ground, bringing Sentinel down with it. His impact creates a crater and a small shockwave that scatters the nearbybatants, only for Sentinel to get up, hovering above the ground with a slight nosebleed after countless hits. "You''re being a real pain in my neck, you know that?" Sentinel asks as a swarm of copies stands in front of him. "That''s the n, give up yet?" "Never, heroes never give up," Sentinel says. "You aren''t a hero anymore." "If that''s what you think, then I''ll stop ying like it," Sentinel raises a hand to his earpiece. "Forget the Whitehouse, I''ll deal with the president, all of you go capture the members of congress, and capture anyone else you see..." Legion''s eyes widen as he sees all the Pro Heroes instantly change their course of action and make a mad dash to the Capitol Building. "Looks like you''ve got a choice to make," Sentinel says. Legion shakes his head, "The entire point of my Quirk is to be everywhere at once, I can save the hostages, beat down yourckeys, and kick your ass, and I''m not even in the country," he shrugs. "You and I both know you can''t really take me down." "Don''t need to, I just have to protect the presid---" "Legion," a bored voice speaks through his earpiece, and Sentinel uses his enhanced hearing to listen in. "I will not have you defend me when civilians may be in danger, take the detachment of copies surrounding the Whitehouse, and yourself, and go protect the people, I can handle myself." "But, Mr. President..." "That was an order, everything is ready, I''d like to invite my friend in for a chat, rather than have them kill each other." Sentinel grins, "You heard him, go y hero," he flies over Legion and toward the Whitehouse. Legion just watches him leave while making dozens of copies from this body, "I really hope you know what you''re doing Chris''." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 314: (#1 VS #1 VS #1 Pt.II) Chapter 314: (#1 VS #1 VS #1 Pt.II) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- ---The Oval Office... "What''s the situation at Capitol Hill looking like?" a man asks. He was an older Caucasian man with a pronounced and strong jawline. His grey hair neatly kempt and short. Sitting behind his desk he holds a phone to his ear while looking at the holographic screen being projected from the desk. Even now as he sits and appraises the situation with a calm expression, his towering stature and imposing build -maintained via help from his Quirk-, gives him an aura of strength. As one would expect from the Former #1 Pro Hero of California, Former #1 Pro Hero of New York State, Former Overall #1 Pro Hero of The United States Of America.Christopher Skyline, formerly known as Captain Celebrity, now the President of The United States Of America. "Most of congress is being captured and held as hostages sir, Legion''s copies are here and swarming the ce but clearly these traitors have been nning this for months, if not years," the secret service agent says through the phone. "Yes, but so have we, stay the course, and leave Sentinel to us," President Skyline says. "And what of Star''? Has she left Paris yet?" "No sir, Colonel Agpar''sst update said there were bombings in Paris just before The Evolutionistsunched their attack on you, she went to help the locals beforemunications were jammed." Hearing that, President Skyline smiles, "well we expected that much, and the bunker?" "Your family was moved to the bunker below The Whitehouse 2 minutes ago, they''ve already been moved to safehouse in New York since then." "Good, now just focus on the small time Pro Heroes that revealed themselves as traitors, make me a list and raise the security on our boarders, protect thecivilians instead of trying to capture them." "Are you sure sir?" "Their regime is about to fall apart, they''re only confident because Star isn''t here, so long as I don''t crack and give them the nuclearunch codes, they''ll lose, not that they''ll ever get the chance, after all..." President Skyline looks over his shoulder toward the window. "Modern America may be a monolith, but that isn''t our greatest strength, andpared to that, you''re weak..." "Are you really so sure about that?" Sentinel asks as he opens the nearby window and hovers into the office. "I don''t have to be sure of it, because you''re sure of it," President Skyline says. "After all, that''s why you waited until Star'' was gone beforeunching this attack, right?" Sentinel res at him for a moment, but then his gaze softens as he casually walks about the office, eventuallying to a stop in the middle of the room, in front of the desk. "One of the things we''re taught is knowing when to pick our fights," Sentinel says. "Mystery ss individuals effectively hold whatever group or nation they stand in or against hostage. And [''In a hostage situation, sometimes the best course of action is inaction, because when people are in danger---" "---Timing is everything''," President Skyline says. "Don''t Quote my own words to me." "You were my favourite Pro Hero, I can''t help it." President Skyline scoffs, "don''t ever say that again, this is certainly not the legacy I want, I spent my life helping people, no matter how strong or weak they were." "Yes, and how''d they repay you for it?" Sentinel asks. "They used entrapment and other underhanded nonsense to nder you, drag you to court over and over, sued you into near bankruptcy, and they would have gotten away with it if they were a bit more careful, and you would have just sat there and let them." President Skyline raises a brow at that, "what does this have to do with your actions recently?" "Everything," Sentinel says. "You were the most powerful man in this half of the world, you could do anything you wanted and nobody could stop you. But because our society has ''rules'' and ''etiquette'', you were bullied by weak pathetic people abusing the system you spent your life protecting. You were my hero, and I watched them throw stones made of legality that made you bleed, it really broke my heart." "Yet their schemes got revealed, and all was well." "You were lucky," Sentinel says. "If they were more careful your wife and the triplets never would have forgiven you, the nation would have turned against you, they would have used a pen to make god bleed, how can you stomach that crap?" "Because like it or not, this system, while it isn''t perfect, stops rampant violence caused by selfish desires like your own." "But its not fair," Sentinel says. "No system is perfectly fair, which is why we have to constantly remain vignt and keep improving the ones we have." "Nature is fair," Sentinel says. "The strong live, the weak die, you were the strongest of your era yet you let the weak bully you because the system kept you in chains." "You''d rather I kill everyone who I disagreed with?" "I''d rather you have the option to," Sentinel says. "When my takeover isplete, a few generations will suffer, but eventually this nation will be perfected because people will know better than to bite the hand that protects them." "You''d be a dictator," President Skyline says. "At least until someone stronger than youes along." "That''s part of the system, and I''m fine with it." "Then why not brawl it out with Star and Stripe, let power decide what happens next, you fight for your system and she fights for us." "Because I can''t convince people by talking about it, I have to show them, I need to make this nation an example to the world as it''s always been." "And that can''t happen if she rips you in half on mywn," President Skyline chuckles. "Knowing what toes you can''t step on is part of my new world." President Skyline nces down at this watch. "Star'' is a bit busy," Sentinel says. "I know you''re stalling, but it''ll be at least another two hours before she gets here. Her idiotic desire to protect the weak won''t allow her to leave until the people there are safe, besides, you aren''t the only one stalling." The doors to the room open and in steps Mind Hacker, metal case in hand. President Skyline, looks at the case, and sees the all of Mind Hacker is covered aside from his hands. "Let me guess, a copy of the Nuclear Football awaitingunch codes to be activated, and he''s has Tactile Telepathy, one touch and he rips them out of my head, right?" Sentinel smiles, "it''s good to see retirement hasn''t dulled you too much, now, lets just get this over and done with." President Skyline gets up, pushing his chair back slightly, then rolls his shoulders. "You know, you never did give a reason for retiring," President Skyline says. "Tell me, what was your reason?" "I saw how pointless the current system was, that''s all," Sentinel says. "The more interesting question is, why did you? You were in your prime when you retried, it really did hurt the nation." "I learned something that valuable, something that your so called ''new world'' wants to be built upon, something you''re about to learn the hard way." President Skyline suddenly flips his heavy wooden desk toward Sentinel, blocking the man''s view for a moment. He instantly fires two energy beams from his eyes, yet as the punch a hole through the desk, the entire thing shatters as President Skyline uses his Flight to barrel through it. ''Slow,'' Sentinel things as he raises a hand and ms his fist into President Skyline as the man was rocketing past him, toward Mind Hacker. The hit sends a small shockwave through the room, knocking Mind Hacker off his feet and back against the wall. President Skyline is sent toward the ceiling but uses his Flight to stop himself from mming into it. Sentinel looks up to see a piece of the wooden desk in President Skyline''s hand, which the man throws at Mind Hacker. ''Shit,'' Sentinel hits it with his eye beams, only to break it in half mid flight. The wood wasunched with such force that he barely diverts its path, causing it to shred the side of Mind Hacker''s face, removing pieces of bone and his entire left ear, instead of punching through his skull. Sentinel continues his sts, moving his head to the m into President Skyline as the man rockets down from the ceiling. The energy visibly interacts with President Skyline''s secondary Quirk, his skin tight bioelectric force field, harmlessly dissipating it across his body. Sentinel stops the energy beam and raises his arms, taking a powerful punch to the arms that sinks him ankle deep into the reinforced concrete floor. At the same moment he grabs onto the president and throws him back toward where the desk was, once again putting himself between the president and Mind Hacker. Sentinel pulls himself out of the ground and hovers an inch above it, ncing back to see Mind Hacker still in shock but slowlying to his senses. ''Using his telepathy to dull his own senses of fear and pain, clever,'' Sentinel says as Mind Hacker forces himself to stand. He looks back at President Skyline to see the mannd on the floor, breathing heavily. "You''ve gotten even weaker than I thought, this is just pitiful," Sentinel says, eyes focused on President Skyline''s mangled right hand. Fingers to wrist were broken, blood dripping to the floor, bones protruding through his skin, all because of the recoil in his previous punch. "Yeah well, that''s what I learned, that''s what I was talking about before, than that''s what you''re about to learn," President Skyline chuckles as he stumbles backward and copses into his chair. "Mind Hacker, it''s safe to approach now," Sentinel says, which causes the president to smile. "When its time to retire, to get out of the way, you''ll know, because the kids will tell you," he says in a tired voice. SHAMBLES! END CHAPTER--- Chapter 315: (Your Perfect World) Chapter 315: (Your Perfect World) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- SHAMBLES! Horizon swaps ces with President Skyline, surprising Sentinel and Mind Hacker. The man immediately notices Horizon''s gloves showing slightlyrger grooves between the armor ting than at the UA Sports Festival, now the grooves were rivers of softly glowing blue energy. Sentinel takes a careful step back, ncing at the new de behind Horizon, an Odachi that matches Horizon''s height of 194cm -6ft4-. But he sets aside the troubling thought of the sheathed weapon hovering just behind Horizon. "You aren''t allowed to be here, at least not here and using your Quirk," Sentinel says. "You''ve broken countless crimes by simply warping, much less into the Whitehouse, getting involved any further could cause Japan to look bad..." Horizon raises a hand and opens it, then Sentinel has to fight his instinct to flinch as a small card is warped above his palm, hovering in ce. With his enhanced vision he easily scans it, and the sweat on his forehead worsens.With the existence of a simple metal card, his entire dream fell apart. "Why did they give you a 50 State License?" Sentinel swallows nervously. Behind him, Mind Hacker is already leaning against the far wall, rigid with fear as he hyperventtes. To the surprise of no one, Horizon speaks in perfect English. "Well, I had nothing to do in Japan, so why not?" Horizon warps the card back into his wallet. "Besides, Chris'' told me you were nning something but all your ns for getting Star and Stripe out of the way failed, so he figured he''d remove her for you." Sentinel res at Horizon, "he knew about our n, and created an opening by sending her out of the country for the first time ever, after you''d already agreed to help out." "Personally, I think you should have attacked when she was here," Horizon admits. "This is effective one big hostage situation, which is much more my style." "Would it have mattered?" Sentinel asks bitterly. "No, but honestly, I figured you''d be happy about this," Horizon says. "Happy, about what?" "Well, this is what you wanted, right? A world where the powerful rule, where the weak don''t get to decide their fate," Horizon leans forward slightly, looking into Sentinel''s confused eyes. "You just didn''t count on ever being the ''weak'', right?" Sentinel''s eyes glow brighter and brighter as his rage builds, a sight that would make most people cower in fear. But Horizon simply hums curiously, looking directly into the glowingser canons. "I''ve always been so fascinated by those, eye beams, they always look cool," Horizon says before he leans to the side slightly, looking past Sentinel, looking at Mind Hacker. "So you''re the telepath, and that''s the device, right?" Mind Hacker just silently cries, not feeling the tears flowing down his face as his vision blurs in and out, so overwhelmed by the situation. Horizon steps to the side, leaving his sword floating in ce as he walks around Sentinel. "Sorry but I''ll need to cut this short," Horizon says as he walks toward the telepath, ready to prepare him for an interrogationter. After all, Sentinel would never tell them anything, but this terrified person certainly would. And considering how integral he was to their n, the chances were high that he knew important information. Sentinel also came to this conclusion, and turned around so fast that a gust of wind ripped through the office. His eyes locked onto the back of Horizon''s head as he swung with a right hook, aiming at the back of his Visor. His fist shattered the air as he pushed himself to his limits, and with his enhanced vision he could see it. Horizon was frozen in cepared to Sentinel''s speed, yet, when the fist was less than an inch away from contact. SHAMBLES: Flicker! Horizon''s form flickered for barely a moment, and while his body couldn''t move to match the speed of that attack, to Sentinel''s eyes his entire being flickered in ce once, as if he glitched in real life. Then when he reappeared, his new de was drawn and blocked the fist with its t. The hilt and grip were the exact same as his previous, smaller swords. But where Scalpel had a standard de with only the edge being blue, Sunder had an entirely blue de with a white edge, an unintentional side effect of the alloy mixing with Horizon''s DNA. Yet Sentinel saw the moment before his fist connected, the entire de began glowing a matte blue, as if it drank Horizon''s energy. The entire Whitehouse shook as the collision urred, yet neither gave an inch. Sentinel kept adding more and more strength to his effort, yet even as he began to struggle Horizon didn''t tremble in the slightest. ''This isn''t just his physical strength, his body isn''t feeling the recoil,'' Sentinel noticed. ''Must be using telekinesis on the de.'' Realizing this Sentinel withdrew to the air, hovering above the floor as he moved backward. He immediately locked his eyes on Horizon, intending to st the man with his eye beams. But before the beams could form he realized the error in his n. ''If thises down to a battle of attrition, my beams against his energy, no way do I evere close to winning that. I should keep feeling him out until I find the w I need...'' With his mind made up Sentinel rushed toward Horizon with another powerful punch, however, this time Horizon had enough time to swing his de in response. The glowing blue de collided with the fist in the exact same way, and a loud crack echoed through the room as Sentinel was knocked back to where the desk was. The pain wracks his right arm for just a moment before it disappearspletely. He opens his eyes in a panic, looking down at his arm, surprised to see that it was still there, then taking a second to realize what just happened. He sees some of the fingers on his right handpletely shattered in multiple ces, he doesn''t feel anything from the entire arm, yet he finds no blood there. ''He didn''t cut my arm off, he used the t of the de again, he''s ying nice for the cameras outside,'' Sentinel realizes. ''Heh, to think he''s such a softi---'' Sentinel''s thoughts are cut off when he looks up to see Horizon standing there looking at him, sword in hand. And behind Horizon is Mind Hacker, cut into dozens of little pieces, perfectly alive and well, but scattered across the floor. "What the hell is under that mask, you can''t be human, right?" Sentinel asks. "Well, you could, and should, surrender," Horizon says. "Or you coulde try to take it off..." "You ruined everything!" Sentinel rushes forward and swings wildly, but Horizon simply warps a few feet away to avoid it. "You shouldn''t be here!" Horizon uses his de to parry the attack. "You shouldn''t exist!" Sentinel fires his eye beams, and the sh of light blinds him for just a moment. He suddenly feels the cold and wet sensation of water on his body, flowing into his nose and mouth. He instantly stops his attack, then exhales and holds his breath before looking around. He couldn''t see anything, it was all absolute darkness. ''This taste, fresh water, he warped me into the river maybe,'' Sentinel thinks as he flies directly upward. "Gah!" he takes a deep breath as he rockets out of the river, "I was right, good, I''m still close by," he sees the Whitehouse in the distance. He flies right back to the Oval Office while raising a finger to his ear, "Horizon is in the Whitehouse, I need backup!" As he finishes giving themand he''s only a few kilometers away, close enough to see Horizon through the windows. To see him inspecting this Faux Nuclear Football device. The briefcase-like device was floating off the flood for Horizon to inspect, then Sentinel saw him warp the sword into his hand, and without looking away from the device he raised the de. He aimed it through the window, directly at Sentinel. ''A ranged attack, I just need to---'' Sentinel sees the ss between them suddenly break, a perfect hole with the thickness of a finger was punched through it, and before he could react, faster than any projectile could move. There was an immense pain in his cor bone on his right side, as if a piece of it had just been ground into dust while still inside his body, without breaking the skin. "ARGH!" Sentinel loses concentration for just a moment and stops in the air, looking at his cor in shock. "So it really isn''t just a fancy invisible air bullet, the air didn''t even distort between the de and me, he just makes holes appear in things." He thinks about it for a few more seconds, "No, that would mean...no," he tenses, then takes a deep breath. Sentinel looks at all his true believers around Washington DC''s Mall, then resigns himself to what he''s about to do, even as he sees them disappear one after another. "All fliers, look up, ande to me," hemands through his earpiece, before turning around. He sees Horizon there, standing in the air just a few hundred meters above the ground, above the Whitehousewn, sword in hand. "I''m surprised you let me give that order," Sentinel says as he gets ready for the real fight. "Call all the Pro Heroes you want, unless she is with them, it won''t matter," Horizon raises his sword to Sentinel. "Because, I am here..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 316: (Your Perfect World Pt.II) Chapter 316: (Your Perfect World Pt.II) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "Will you be alright fighting up here with those who can fly?" Sentinel asks, looking at Horizon. "We aren''t some weak and inexperienced viins that you''re used to, that little trick won''t make me believe you can fly like us." Horizon is still standing in the air across from Sentinel and aiming Sunder -his new sword-, at the man. But he rxes and lowers his de to the side. "As expected from a fossil like you," Horizon says. "But I never imed I could fly, social media just assumed that. All this is, is standing in the air." "It''s an advanced form of skimming, right?" Sentinel asks, trying to buy time. "Instead of controlling an object or device like a hoverboard you once used, your new suit probably has some more dense ting for you to control, moving yourself like a puppet on strings, right?" "Tch, those eyes of yours are kind of annoying, don''t you know it''s a bit rude to reveal things like that?""I like to learn things about the people I face, never expected to lock horns with you, so I''m learning as we go," Sentinel shrugs, but halfway through the motion he winces in pain as the hole in his corbone crashes through him, but he quickly sets it aside. "Likewise, but most people are so...boring," Horizon says. "Tell me, what else have you learned about me?" "More than enough," Sentinel asks. "You''re just like her, but alsopletely different. She''s analytical too, but hides it behind that annoying smile, and her range is much more limited than yours, but her Mystery ss Quirk is much more adaptable than yours, right?" "Hmm, so even the Overall #1 Pro Hero from her own country didn''t know of her Quirk, your government keeps it that well hidden." "Well considering today''s events, I wouldn''t say they were wrong for keeping it a secret." "True, you did turn out to be a traitor---" "---Revolutionary," Sentinel interrupts him. "And what about your Hand Of God?" "What about it?" "Warping, Healing, Perfect spatial awareness, damn near omnipresence within what, 50km?" Sentinel asks. "That''s the basic stuff yeah, pretty scary huh," Horizon chuckles. "Scary and full of lies," Sentinel says. "Yeah, you''re definitely smarter than most about this kind of stuff, but only a Mystery ss Quirk user can understand how the Mystery ss Quirk can work." Sentinel raises a brow at that, ''what an odd way of phrasing it, he must have said that on purpose...'' Horizon turns to the side slightly and touches the side of his visor, and although the conversation urs within the soundproof visor, Sentinel can hear it clearly. "Yes Mr. President, I''ve already warped the others into the assigned cells, some are trying to get away but I''ll deal with them in a minute when I''m done with Sentinel." As Horizon continues speaking Sentinel looks down, looks around the Washington Mall, and sees thatmost of the forces following him have disappeared. "Fliers, where are you?" Sentinel asks, only to get no response. "Damn it, you were stalling too," he res at Horizon who was still casually talking to the president. Sentinel res at Horizon''s back as the man turns away, aiming his de at thebatants below and picking them off one at a time. ''The perfect technique for sniping and assassination, Injection Shot leaves no trace and hits instantly,'' Sentinel thinks. ''It acts under the same principles as a bullet, but there isn''t a projectile, everything between the de and whatever range he decides is simply obliterated. Then there is his Warping, also seemingly perfected. Yet when he''s unfamiliar with a ce, like a few months ago during the Gigantomachy, he was forced to swap with things constantly, but in Tokyo where he''s always stationed he can move about freely. Divide is also a monstrous ability, from what we see in hisst battle, I don''t doubt its destructive capabilities can almost match Endeavor, almost, but that was months ago. And I''m facing an entirely different Horizon now. And then there''s Tact, his ''telekinesis'' that only works on non-sentient things. No, that''s not correct, from what I understand anything with a will of its own cannot be controlled by it.'' All of Sentinel''s intel on Horizon collides within his mind in barely 0.1 seconds. The man who assembled multiple ''perfect'' Pro Hero teams for the government across his career is nearly peerless in terms of Pro Herobat strategy. He has vastly more experience than All Might, and has always scoured all information sources to collect a database of Quirk Data that surpasses most Pro Hero Agenciesbined. This is why thus far, only he coulde to the true conclusion of Hand Of God. The realization almost broke the man, his shoulders slumped as every thought process came to the same result. ''Hand Of God, is that much stronger than New Order,'' sweat ran down Sentinel''s forehead. ''He enacts change on the world, just like her, but unlike her, he has a route to true permanence...'' "Hey," Horizon snaps Sentinel out of his daze. "I finished with all the losers you gathered, time for you to surrender." Sentinel''s only response to that, was to st two powerfulser beams from his eyes directly at Horizon. SHAMBLES! Horizon appears behind him and easily pierces his highly durable body with Sunder. "Ach!" "Counter Shock..." Bright sparks stand out under the blue sky as cameras and news crews all across the Washington Mall record the short-lived struggle. With the sparks stopped, they see Sentinel with burns all over his body, exhaling ck smoke as he plummets to the grassywn below. He collides with the earth, knocking up a dust cloud as police officers move forward to arrest him. But by the time they arrive, he''s already back on his feet, fully awake. He sees them aiming at him with the futile guns, and in a fit of rage, heshes out, firing another eye beam at them. SHAMBLES! Horizon appears in front of the men with a hand raised, palm facing Sentinel. ANTIBACTERIAL CURTAIN! The eye beam harmlessly collides with the blue shield before sputtering out, showing a small stream of blood flowing from the man''s eyes. "Horizon, what are you doing here?" One of the officers asks as Horizon drops the shield, seeing Sentinel down on one knee. "You may not believe this, but I''m actually on a little vacation," Horizon says before walking over to Sentinel. "So, do you like it, the world you wanted?" Horizon asks, looking down at the man as he reaches out to touch his forehead with one finger. "I believe in the natural order of things," Sentinel says. "You, are not part of that order, you shouldn''t exist." Horizon chuckles as he gently touches the man''s forehead, "You wouldn''t believe how many times I''ve heard that, but no matter what, you viins prefer to learn the hard way." "I''m a Hero, the real Hero here," Sentinel says. "And now you''re just annoying," Horizon says. "Mes: Breakdown..." Sentinel shatters into hundreds of pieces, each perfectly alive and well but broken like a jigsaw puzzle. One of the officers immediately throws up as the former Pro Hero is scattered across the floor as individual body parts. "I''m done here Mr. President, did you get all the data you needed?" Horizon asks as he reaches into the pile of parts. "The operation was aplete sess, but I''ll have to send France a small apology. Sentinel went a bit overboard with his distraction in Paris, but Star'' is almost done there." "Well I''m sure you can handle it," Horizon picks up Sentinel''s eyeballs from the pile. "I''ll drop Sentinel off in his cell, minus his eyes, I''d like to research them." "That''s...fine, just be sure to return them soon, I''d rather not have the public think we torture criminals." "Right...I''m sure they don''t think that already," Horizon''s words were dripping in sarcasm. "I''ll show up at the press conference, but until then, I''ve got research to do." Horizon looks at the eyeballs in his hands, which glow a dull green even now, and smiles. Beneath his visor for the first time in months, there was excitement in his eyes. ''The most powerful Optical sts of any Pro Hero, what a perfect test subject for me. This was enough to get you into the top 200 in America, and that was when you were Optics, before you discovered that you could fly. Now I''ll see exactly how efficient these are.'' "Horizon!" a swarm of reporters rush over to him as he''s still observing the eyes, which he quickly pockets when he sees them. He turns to them and sheathes his new sword, "sorry but I can''t answer any questions right now, official statements will be released soon enough!" he says with a casual wave. SHAMBLES! Both he and Sentinel disappear. END CHAPTER--- Chapter 317: (Moving Assets) Chapter 317: (Moving Assets) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- Less than one day after the battle at the Whitehouse, Law Matani is in one of his best business suits sitting in a conference room. Across therge table are empty seats, and behind them is a perfect view of Central Park, showing the Manhattan skyline under the mid-day sun. While he rxes in his seat his phone is on the table, ying a live press conference being held at the Whitehouse, in which President Skyline addresses the nation, or more urately, the world. While this isn''t the first time an attack on the Whitehouse has happened, the involvement of Horizon makes this a matter of global political concern. His presence suddenly shifting overseas has raised brows all around the globe as many countries fear that their bid for his services was beaten, or that he possibly lied about not leaving Japan until he finished his time at UA. President Skyline first revealed that President Harrison''s death was, in fact, not a simple heart attack, but the first attack by the Evoltionaries to seed.But instead of publicly crediting the viins, the government kept things quiet to force their hand again, this time with more leads to track them. This eventually led to them getting spies into former Pro Hero Optic''s organization, now publicly known as the viin Sentinel. Using this information they engineered the perfect situation, one in which the viin would have no choice but to strike. By sending Star and Stripe out of the country they forced Sentinel to act, all while they''d already had Horizon on standby as a trump card. ''We are stillpiling data on who and where the remaining members of the Evolutionaries are, but I''m d to report that over 3 thousand members have already either been arrested or surrendered themselves to us,'' the president said, causing an uproar in from the press. Dozens of questions were hurled at him, including the major concern that Pro Heroes turned against the people they were meant to protect, and how that would make the civilian poption feel toward their guardians moving forward. ''This is not a situation that can be dealt with easily or quickly, it will take much effort and teamwork. But together, as a nation, we can recover and be even stronger than before. The ideology of ''Might makes right'' is more apparent in the world now than at any other point in history, this is a natural consequence of a superhuman society. But being part of a society means helping your fellow man, especially those who aren''t as capable. Those who believe in that barbaric ideology are vastly outnumbered, and as we saw in Washington DC, they are also hopelessly outgunned. I still believe in the system we have, and in the good people who are a part of it, so I ask you to simply watch us closely as we earn your trust once more,'' was the president''s official stance on that matter. Another uproar urred in the crowd before they settled down, and someone finally asked what most of the world was wondering. ''Does his involvement in this incident indicate that Horizon will be moving to the United States for the foreseeable future?'' a woman asks, and the world waits with held breaths for the answer. ''No,'' the world breathes a sigh of relief, especially those in Japan. ''The stars simply aligned for him to help us for a short time, at least until his suspension in Japan is lifted. Although, I have convinced him to stay until the end of summer possibly. Due to his suspension from Pro Hero work in Japan, Horizon''s presence there is not fully utilized. In exchange for helping us with this small matter, he has been granted a coveted 50-State License to continue growing as a Pro Hero within our borders. He can act within the capacity of a Pro Hero at his leisure wherever he desires within our borders, and has already made it clear that he will be moving around to help the most unfortunate medical cases whenever he can. As Horizon is ''The Miracle Ward'', that is simply another benefit of allowing him to perform his natural functions instead of being under house arrest.'' ''Are you at all concerned about the possibility that he still cannot control his Quirk?'' A reporter asks. ''A Gigantomachy within our country could be catastrophic, especially now that he''s allegedly much stronger.'' "Oh please, I''d make that look like a joke with my current power," Law says, rolling his eyes. ''Many people have raised such concerns, but I assure you, Horizon is in perfect control of his power,'' he hears the president say. ''And if he''s not, well, we have someone who can handle such a situation...'' Law can''t help but smile at that, "Well it makes sense he''d have to say his Pro Hero is stronger, but now I''m even more excited to meet her..." "Mister Matani," an older caucasian man with small purple mes on his bald head enters the room. "I''m sorry to keep you waiting." "It''s not your fault in the least," Law responds, also speaking perfect English as he gets up and shakes the man''s hand. "I got a bit excited and arrived early, your secretary told me you were in another meeting." "Yes well, we''ve been working on something big recently," the man says as he sits opposite Law. "Something that I''ll be happy to pitch to you once things are a bit more concrete, it''s a phenomenal investment opportunity." "If it''s anything like thest few, I''m sure I''ll be interested," Law chuckles as they both rx. "So, are you here to buy another skyscraper around Central Park?" The man asks. "Maybe you could buy one closer this time, we could be neighbors. How about that one?" the man points to the building just beside theirs. Law chuckles, "No no, the building I have is plenty for now. I''m actually here to discuss my overseas investments." The man frowns for a moment before schooling his expression, "Ah, and what direction are you looking to take with those." "How many of your clients are taking money out of the Japanese markets right now?" Law asks. The man tenses for a moment, "more than I''d like, but I can''t say any more until the official quarterly report." "People are scared because Horizon moved for a while, and they''re taking their money out, right?" "Right, we told them it''s only temporary but, certain markets are so vtile that our assets and holdings can fluctuate within minutes." "They aren''t exactly wrong," Law says. "Japan''s crime rate is about to spike, viins will run wild, the League Of Viins and their freaky monsters will rampage and cause billions if not trillions of dors in damages, it will be chaos." "But it will recover," the man says. "But that will take years, and people will lose money in the process." The man winces, now sitting across from one of theirrgest single clients who could see through all the tricks. "And how exactly would you like to proceed?" Law thinks for a moment, then simply nods, "Send my people a list of everything that''s being dumped, they''ll sort through the wreckage of this and we''ll buy up whatever we''re interested in for the same price it was dumped for, that way you''ll actually make some profit. Of course that offer only stands if we get first preference to everything that was dumped in the chaos." The man looks confused for a moment, "you''re willing to lose money, to buy assets, which will lose value for the foreseeable months or maybe years, why?" "They will regain them eventually I''m sure, I''m young, I''ve got time," Law says. "Besides, I''ve told you many times before, this isn''t about the money. I''m here for legacy, and it''s nice having Japan in my pocket." The man shakes his head, "You know, this country has very detailed andplexws to prevent situations such as this, and so does Japan, but the way you have things set up so expertly dances around them. It may be the most impressive thing I''ve seen in quite some time." "Coming from you, that means a lot," Law says. "Oh, and, does yourpany hold any assets in Italy at the moment?" "Sicily, Rome, Mn, Venice, or Bari?" the man asks. "We have both money-making assets and properties there, but I warn you, these are beloved by the executives." "Sicily and Mn, I''m thinking of taking a trip there sometime this summer..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 318: (Mystery Class Clash) Chapter 318: (Mystery ss sh) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- Just below the clouds, Horizon stands in the air, casually scrolling through his social media feed on his phone as Sunder hovers beside him. The Pentagon is below him, basking in the morning sun, the seat of The United States Of America Defense Council. The council which was reformed after the advent of Quirks to regte Quirk use and integrate them into the militaryplex. Unlike many smaller countries, America does not separate between its military systems and Pro Hero system, they simply used the military they''d spent all their time as a nation perfecting to fold Pro Heroes into the operating system. This allowed them to get ahead of the rest of the world in organizing the Pro Hero system, making them the capital for Pro Heroes the world over. In fact, until Principal Nezu reorganized UA, the United States was head and shoulders ahead of any nation in regards to training Pro Heroes, and even now it''s argued that they are simply better at it.However, the difference in national culture causes the world to lean more toward Japan''s UA because of its softer approach. America is much more aligned with Horizon''s methods since they ssify ''viins'' differently. "Enjoying the view?" a voice asks behind Horizon, a confident and yful feminine voice. "I was wondering how long I''d have to wait to meet you," Horizon says as he puts his phone away and turns around to see her, Star and Stripe. The #1 Overall Pro Hero, the only other Mystery ss Quirk user in history. Wearing her full Hero Costume as always with her hair blowing in the wind, looking at him with an amused smile. "Sorry if I''ve kept you waiting," Star'' says as she hovers closer, staying just out of arms reach while eyeing him curiously, and the sword beside him. "And here I thought I''d bete for the meeting, but when I saw you hovering out here I decided toe say hello." "We''ve got some time, the president is still on the way to The Pentagon," Horizon says. "It''s a pleasure to meet you, but...its a bit---" "Unsettling?" Star'' chuckles. "Atleast that''s how I feel, finally having to share the sky with someone who can really challenge me. But it is also a bit exciting." "I couldn''t have said it better myself," Horizon admits. "It''s also rare for me to be able to observe a fellow Mystery ss Quirk." "I figured as much," Star'' sighs. "You are the top Quirk Researcher, after all, follow me." After saying that, she slowly flies through the clouds above, disappearing in them. Below his visor Horizon raises a brow, sensing her reach out from above the cloud and touch it, then she suddenly drops to stand on it. ''That''s...new,'' he thinks before warping just above her, seeing her standing on the cloud which was now acting as if it were a giant pillow under her weight. "It''s one of the first tricks I learned, to get away from all the cameras and eyes," Star'' says. "Quite incredible," Horizon drops onto the cloud, and feels as if he were walking on a trampoline. The cloud sinks slightly under his weight, but he never falls through. "Your English is perfect, which is a real relief, because I can''t speak Japanese at all," Star'' admits. "Thank you, ites with the job, I have patients fly from all around the world to see me after all," Horizon says while looking at her, making it quite obvious that he was checking her out. "See something you like?" she barely suppresses herugh. "It''s just, you remind me of All Might." "Thank you!" Star smiles brighter at that. "He was a big inspiration for me, I''m hoping that I can meet him someday, but the damn council doesn''t want me leaving our borders to visit." "Well, maybe I can convince him toe to see you, not that I can rmend he travels, speaking as his doctor of course." That causes Star'' to frown, "Right, he''s not well right now. If things ever start looking bad, just let me know, and I''ll fly over there with or without council approval, I have to thank him personally for saving me." "He saved you?" "When I was a child, and he was still here studying, but that was ages ago." "Well, I believe he''d be happy to know he inspired someone like you to rise up, that was his goal after all," Horizon says. "Hearing that means a lot to me," Star'' says. "So, mind if I ask how exactly this deal between you and President Skyline came about?" "It wasn''t even between us originally," Horizon says. "Before President Harrison died we had were acquainted with each other, he''d already convinced me toe to America after my time in Japan was over." "So those rumors were true?" "Yeah, but when he died so suddenly a few weeks ago, your government was concerned that I changed my mind, so they reached out. President Skyline had just been sworn into office at the time, so he made the call personally. Then we got to talking about what I could do to help find the people that killed the former president, and he came up with this n, simple really." "I see, that''s about as much as I expected," Star'' says. "Are you concerned about having to share your country with me?" "I''m not the one I''m concerned for," she says, getting a more serious look on her face. "My concern is for the people of Japan. You and I are capable of suppressing entire nations by simply being present within them, granted due to the surface area of my nation I''m not as all-epassing as you are for Japan, but now that you''re public abroad, what happens to Japan?" "A massive crime wave, obviously," Horizon says. "And you''re so casual about such a thing happening." "I wasn''t allowed to do any Pro Hero work either way, and the government wouldn''t undo that sentence to look weak on the world stage. The crime wave was inevitable, and while this way it will be a bit more...intense, the viins won''t do anythingrge enough to have the government call me back to Japan." "So you believe they will put a cap on how evil they can act, lest the Japanese government call you back." "Essentially, yes," Horizon says. "And honestly, I needed the vacation. I''ve been working non-stop since before entering UA, this suspension they gave me is such a relief." "That I can understand," Star'' admits. "Back when I first became the #1 Overall Pro Hero and the concept of Mystery ss Quirks was introduced, nobody believed it, which meant I constantly had to be taking down viins that wanted to see how powerful I was, I could barely get any sleep back then." "And now?" "Well, now they know Star and Stripe is too much for them to handle, so there are only a few incidents that demand my attention each year." "I figured as much, well I hope we can work together while I''m here, it''ll be nice to study your Quirk." "Oh, being so open about your intentions," Star'' smiles. "Shouldn''t you at least try to be sneaky when studying my super secret Quirk?" "Why bother, your people are viewing this as a chance for them to learn about Hand of God, obviously I''d do the same," Horizon sighs. "They really don''t get us, do they?" Star'' shakes her head, "No, they still don''t, and they never will, but that''s the burden of being us, which is why I''m d you''re here, now hopefully we will each have someone who can understand us," she extends her hand for him to shake. He shakes her hand, and Star''s eyes widen in surprise, feeling a powerful tingling sensation flow through her body. As if ants were crawling under her skin. "That''s very rude," she says as they finish the handshake. "Well I like to get an early start on my projects," Horizon says as he turns away from her. "Besides, it''s not like anyone would believe me if I told them what I just learned, but I am curious, what does the real you look like?" Star'' scoffs, "painfully ordinary, but remember this goes both ways, they wouldn''t believe what you just learned about me, just like they wouldn''t believe that Shambles, isn''t actually ''warping'' at all." "Warping is the easiest way for them to understand it," Horizon shrugs. "Atleast I didn''t lie about Takt." "True, and you never tried to hide the limits of it either, granted I doubt the public put that much thought into what you can and can''t manipte." "Yeah, but you and I share that weakness, at least in regards to Takt." "So much for trying to hide all traces of my Quirk activation from the media," Star'' says. "How did you figure it out." "The only person you ever manipte is yourself, it''s pretty obvious, at least to someone with Hand Of God topare." "Our Quirks are all about will, sentient beings have a will of their own that can instinctively resist us, although we''ve both found ways around that." "That''s why Injection Shot exists," Horizon says. "I''m honestly surprised you''re so open about this, figured you''d want to keep all your secrets to yourself," Star'' admits. "Why bother, these things aren''t worth hiding, what''s the point of hiding a hydrogen bomb from an ant, nothing they do can change what''s going to happen." "And we would have figured it out eventually, so now you get a bit more freedom earlier on," Star'' says. "That''s certainly a factor, plus both sides know the risk of revealing too much to the public, pissing off the woman who can touch the air and make the atmosphere cease to exist, or the guy who can swing his sword and cut a city into shreds, isn''t a good idea." Star'' slightly narrows her eyes at him, "At this point, only we can defeat each other, at least in a fair fight, but that does make me curious," she clenches her fist, which he notices. Horizon reaches out, still facing away from her, and warps Sunder into his hand, casually swinging it down at the cloud, leaving arge sh in it without making contact. Seeing this Star and Stripe flies a bit higher, farther away from the city below, and Horizon follows her. And when they got to a high enough altitude, above the clouds, they both stopped and looked out over the river. From here, they could see the Pentagon, the Whitehouse, and the Washington Mall where the main battle was. "Where will you be based while staying here?" Star'' asks. "New York, I figured with how my Quirk works it can be most efficient there, since I''m basically one giant security camera." "I see, then they''ll want me on the West Coast," she frowns at that, which he notices. "Don''t like Cali''?" "I grew up there, and, some memories are painful," Star'' says. "But this is for the best, the past is dead, and it''s time I move on with the future." "Yes, well..." Horizon raises Sunder, holding it with both hands, and the de glows bright blue, releasing a think blue mist before he focuses his energy even more, and the mist clings to the de like a liquid. ''Still needs a bit of work,'' he thinks, feeling his control slipping by the second. Seeing this Star'' smiles, and readies a strong right. She punches with everything she has, aiming for the de, otherwise he wouldn''t be able to react to her. And even then, he flickers in ce, reappearing with his de on a collision course with her fist. ''His physical reactions are really that slow, well, he is more of a ''mage'' I suppose,'' she thinks. As her fist ms into his sword, all the clouds around them are obliterated as a shockwave sts outward. INCISION+BOOSTER SHOT+DIVIDE+ANTIBACTERIAL CURTAIN+TAKT! His entire being is coated in the blue vapor to protect and empower him. And yet, when they stop their attacks, Star'' looks at her fist, not even noticing a scratch, yet feeling her stamina noticeably diminished, more so than any time in thest decade. And Horizon, who couldn''t feel his arms and was almost sweating below his visor, quickly and quietly healed his arms while sheathing Sunder. "Well, I guess that settles it, at alteast for now," Horizon says, as they both now understood the truth. "You''ve taught me a lot today, about myself, about how our Quirks collide and interact, so much to learn and improve upon." Star and Stripeughs excitedly, "You really are incredible, to think someone so young could be this powerful, I''ll be forty soon you know,peting with a high schooler is a bad look for me, but it seems like that''s what I''ll have to do." "And you really are just like All Might, so impossibly polite," Horizon says. "What''s the name of your Quirk anyway?" "Oh, right, it''s called New Order," she says. "Not as shy as yours, but it fits." "Hmm, New Order," Horizon looks down at his sword. "I wonder how long it''ll take before I reach your level..." "You grow faster than me, and your ceiling is beyond even myprehension," Star'' admits. "If we had a serious fight right now, you wouldn''t stand much of a chance, but at the rate you grow, it won''t be like that for long." "Yeah that''s true, but we can spar some other time, right now we have a meeting to get to," Horizon says as he disappears, leaving her alone in the sky, as she''s always been. Star takes a moment to collect her thoughts,bing over everything that just happened, andes to one conclusion. ''I moved us away from the clouds so he wouldn''t notice that I removed the Order holding that cloud we were standing on together, then I ced an order on my body to make it impossible for his Quirk, Hand Of God, to manipte my body....but even then I could feel our Quirks shing with each other for control. If I hadn''t applied that order, he would have cut me in half, even if I''m as durable as All Might was back in the day, such a scary power. If he knew the truth of my Quirk, that I can only have two Oders active at a time, I''d definitely lose...'' Star takes a deep breath to steady her mind, then looks down at the Pentagon, ready to fly to the meeting, but stops herself. She looks around at the empty sky around her, but even now, a much lighter tingling sensation floods her body. ''Hmm, that must mean I''m within his range, how troublesome...'' END CHAPTER--- Chapter 319: (State of America) Chapter 319: (State of America) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "So, how fucked are we?" President Skyline asks as he steps into the secure conference room, leaving his security detail outside. They''d usually insist on remaining with him, regardless of his personal power, especially now that Legion wasn''t present. But they understood that they were not necessary, nor would they be useful if anyone in the room tried to attack him. Sitting at the head of the table was President Skyline, but at the sides were Star and Stripe, Horizon, and the Secretary of Defense. They''d decided to keep this meeting as private as possible until a proper assessment of the national state could be made, only then, would information be slowly released to the public. "Twenty-three thousand Pro Heroes turned on us," the Secretary of Defense says."Damn," Horizon says. "So much for a vacation." "Yes that is a bit more than we anticipated," President Skyline says. "The borders?" "Locked down tight, they won''t be able to get through, at least most of them," the Secretary says. "Some of the traitors have Quirks that make capture, tracking, or containment, difficult. Those we''ll need to assign teams for." "Hound will be perfect for that," Star'' says. "He''s a friend, I can call him up after this meeting." "I already contacted him," the Secretary says. "Luckily he wasn''t one of the traitors so that makes this a bit easier." "What about the trackers?" the President asks. "All worked as expected, the trackers in every Pro Hero license tagged the people we needed them to, lots of people ditched their cards but we already know who the traitors are." "Which means they can''t hide forever," Star'' says. "Just need a camera to spot them once and I can fly to wherever they are." "Assuming they stay in the country, which they won''t," Horizon says. "I appreciate you all letting me be part of this meeting, but, it will take more than two miracles to secure all the borders of this nation from that many former Pro Heroes." "Agreed," The President says. "You and Star'' will only be called upon for the higher-level fugitives, the Canadian and Mexican governments have already agreed to allow us some very limited operating room in their countries, so long as after we capture the traitors hiding there and bring them back here for punishment." "Hmm," Star'' raises a brow at that. "I figured they''d want to corner them themselves to cut a deal, what caused this?" "There was a prison break during the failed uprising," The Secretary says, causing Horizon and Star'' to look at each other, confused. "Why is this the first we''re hearing of this?" Star'' asks. "If such a thing happened and more seasoned viins were on the streets, you should have told us." "Because this facility isn''t one the public knows about," The President says. "They broke out Kelvin." "Crap," Star'' frowns bitterly. "That exins why Mexico and Canada are so willing for us to cause some coteral damage instead of dealing with the viins themselves." "Yeah, containing him now that he''s no longer sedated is all but impossible for their Pro Heroes," Horizon says, causing the three other people to give him strange looks. "What?" "How do you know about Kelvin?" The President asks. "That''s a very high-level secret." "I read a lot," Horizon says. "Are there any other people they broke out that we should know about?" "We''re stillpiling a full list," The Secretary says. "But it''s obvious you two will have a lot of work to do, even if you are technically on a vacation of some sort." "I won''t go chasing every traitor that pops up, but if any of them are near New York, you can count on me to deal with them." "That''s for the best," The President says. "Star'' can deal with any of them regardless, it''s more important that you continue your research, and if youplete it before you return to Japan, we get a discount on the first contract." "I remember the deal, but I''m still waiting for ess to your National Quirk Medical Database." "You''ll get it soon," The President says. "We couldn''t hand it over before you went public, otherwise people would have known you were working with us." "If you can truly make what you promised, some sort of Panacea," Star'' thinks for a moment. "Then you can leave hunting down every traitor to me and spend all your time in theb." "Sadlyb time and progress speed aren''t 1:1 on this," Horizon says. "While the supeputers are running the simtions I''ll have days at a time to get some Pro Hero work in." "New York is perfect for you," The Secretary says. "Your Quirk is good at ying the role of a security camera for dense ces like that. We''ll have to send Star'' to the west coast to keep things bnced." "Which means Crustacean should be in the middle, Texas, to prevent them from using the border there," The President says. "That''s a damn shame, I was hoping to meet him," Horizon says. "Oh and about my license..." "Is there a problem with it?" Star'' asks. "No, but I took out the tracker," Horizon says. "I appreciate being one of a handful of people with a 50-State license so I can operate anywhere in the maind United States, but I don''t like being watched that closely." "That''s fine, any other concerns?" The President asks. "Just one, that nuclear football they got, how the hell is that possible?" "We haven''t been able to figure that out either, the technology is beyond us, atleast until David Shield gets his hands on it," The President says. "Our mental interrogation shows that some mysterious person calling himself Tech contacted Sintenel when he learned of his n and offered it to him." "That person also tried to get his hands on some dangerous technology back in Japan, and on I-Ind." "Did he try to steal weaponry there too?" Star'' asks. "No, just some unique technology, but I was able to stop him so nothing happened." "This is a very concerning trend," The Secretary says. "I''ll make some more calls, spread the information around so other nations are ready. With any luck, it''ll make this Tech person nervous, and nervous people make sloppy mistakes." "Smart move," Horizon says. After a few more hours discussing the finer points of their strategy and exactly what therger local, regional, and global effect shall be, they get toward the end of this meeting. "Alright, now thest thing is public perception," The President says. "Tomorrow you and Star'' should make some public appearances, just show the people that you''re working together on this." "That will certainly lower the chances of any more protests happening," Star'' says. "And legally someone has to exin how Pro Hero work is conducted here in America." "And I couldn''t imagine anyone better for that job than you," The President says. "Where would you like to meet?" Star'' asks. "I can arrive in New York in the morning, then how about I meet you at your assigned residence." "Sounds great," Horizon says before turning to The President. "And I really do appreciate you getting a penthouse for me to use while I''m here." "It''s really nothing in the grand scheme of things," The President says. "Well now, we need to make a few public statements while you two Mystery ss Pro Heroes go show the people that we''re stronger than ever." "I''ll go get started in New York," Horizon says. "But after today crime rates there should plummet just as fast as they''re climbing in Japan right now." "Luckily you''re on vacation over here. Now, will that be all?" The President asks, and sees nobody moving to interrupt him. "Then this meeting is over, you all know your roles, let''s get to work..." With that the President and Secretary of Defense get up and begin to leave the room, Star'' gets out of her seat out of respect, but Horizon just stays seated and takes out his phone. "So you''re taking me to lunch tomorrow?" Horizon asks. "Not much of a gentleman are you?" Star'' asks. "Only when it''s convenient, besides, this is your house." "All of America isn''t my house." "Maybe don''t wear the American g as a cape next time you say that," Horizon says before warping away. "Well, it''s not like this Hero Costume was my choice," Star'' mutters as she leaves the room... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 320: (Classic American Lunch) Chapter 320: (ssic American Lunch) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "This really isn''t what I expected," Star'' says as she scrolls through her phone. She was sitting in a small New York diner, and across the table from her, sitting on the other side of the booth, was Horizon. They were the only people in this diner, aside from the staff, all three of which were anxiously preparing their meals. "What else could be the oue," Horizon looks out the window to see swarms of people with their cameras aiming at them. Some even had banners, posters, and of course some merchandise for bother Heros to sign. "I''ve just never seen the projected crime rate get this low before," Star'' says. "People knowing you''ll be setting up your temporary base in New York was enough to change everything...I wish I could cause a change like this.""It''s nothing to feel bad about," Horizon says. "My Quirk gives me the ability to constantly monitor everything and everyone within the city, which makes people a lot more scared, since unlike everyone else, I can be everywhere at once." Star'' sighs, "It''s too bad your range doesn''t cover the entire country, then maybe I could take a vacation." "If you had the chance, would you ever take a vacation?" "How can I possibly do that, every day I don''t do my duty, people can be getting hurt." "You can''t save everyone," Horizon says. "Doesn''t mean I shouldn''t try, no matter the cost." "Tch," Horizon looks away from her, toward the penthouse the government reserved for him across the city, "you really are just like All Might." "Thank you." "Wasn''t apliment," Horizon says, which confuses her. "Yagi, of all my patients, is the most insufferable." Seeing this Star'' raises a brow, sets her phone aside, and leans forward slightly. "What?" Horizon asks as she stares at him. "I was just wondering, why is someone like you a Pro Hero, you don''t have the disposition for it." "With great poweres the responsibility to help others," Horizon says. "That''s all." Star'' groans and rxes back into the booth, "I''m giving us some privacy, the least you could do is not lie to my face like that." Horizon looks at the rowdy crowd outside, and considers all the noise they were making, all the noise that he couldn''t hear because New Order was giving them a privacy barrier within the diner. "What? You don''t believe in that line?" "I do," She says. "But I don''t believe that you believe it, I used to, but then I watched you in court." "Was it entertaining at least?" "Annoying," Star'' rolls her eyes at his amused tone. "Let me guess, the United Nations constantly calling in case they needed you toe handle me." "My life was so much more peaceful before you, now every time you make a government nervous they start reaching out, and because of my position I have to respond," she says in an annoyed tone. "I miss when I just had to save people and punch viins." "You make it sound like you''re my babysitter," Horizon says. "I''m not that unstable, people just need to do what I say and leave me alone, mostly the second one honestly." "The problem is that you have the power to make most of the people do exactly that, which is why every time you''re on camera threatening a judge in court, they get ready to send me to arrest you." "Oh, and who would they send after you?" Star'' narrows her eyes at him, "You think I''d die?" "I think the cost would be too high." Star'' frowns, but nods in agreement, "Yeah, a fight between us would get so many people crushed as coteral that it might just be better to count Japan as a loss and hand it over to you." "Especially since if I win, then I''d know there isn''t anyone to stop me." "Remind me again how you aren''t a viin?" Star'' asks. "Because my government says I get a pass from bending thew, and at the end of the day, they decide who is a viin." "Yes, but it''s a bit different in America," Star'' says. "Over in Japan ''Criminal'' and ''Viin'' are intertwined, that''s partly because of how low the crime rate was during the era of All Might, Pro Heroes were so numerous that they could respond to even basic criminals who didn''t use Quirks tomit crimes. But over here things are a bit different. Publicly they''re viewed the same, but Pro Heroes andw enforcement view it differently. We view people who don''t use Quirks -outside of some obvious exceptions like those trying to bomb a mall or something-, as just ''Criminals''. ''Viins'' is abel more synonymous with ''terrorist'', those people we can be a lot rougher with since, while it is frowned upon, ''Necessary Lethal Force'' isn''t that big a deal over here." "Well I''ve read the self-defensews, so that''s not surprising," Horizon says. "All the shit I got for killing Overhaul wouldn''t have even made the news if it happened over here." "Oh no, everything you do will make the news, because you''re Horizon." "Which is the most annoying thing about being a public hero, not having a ''Secret Identity'' is such a pain." "Really, you don''t have one?" Star asks, dumbfounded. "I assumed you read my file your government collected." "Yes, and it was concerning, all your documents, and even your medical certificate just have ''Horizon'', we just assumed it was part of the deal you made with Japan." "No, the deal was actually to heal All Might," Horizon says. "Really? I read about that but, why are you trying to be a Pro Hero if that was the extent of it?" "Because I agreed to do this in exchange for them leaving me alone, I like having absolute freedom to explore my Quirk and its mysteries, can''t do that unless you''re a Pro Hero. But I had to promise to graduate UA, which is bing a serious drag." "Luckily they don''t require you to spend much time there anymore," Star'' says. "You barely spend more than one or two days a week there, at least beforeing to America." "Perks of being as smart as I am, High School is easy." "I''d at least hope so, you are a doctor after all." "Best in the world," Horizon says. "Here you are," the waitress says as she walks up holding arge tray. "It''s on the house as always, I hope you both enjoy it." "Thanks, Cindy, I''m sure he''ll like it," Star'' says as the woman ces arge burger and a milkshake in front of her, and an identical meal in front of Horizon. "Thank you very much," Horizon says before the woman scurries away to behind the counter, anxiously cleaning while constantly stealing nces at the pair. "I''ve never seen her this nervous," Star'' says as she starts eating her fries. "Atleast not since the first time I came here with Agpar." "That guy you want me to meet?" Horizon says as he looks down at the massive burger. "He''s your handler right?" "Technically yes, who is yours?" Star'' asks as she sees him just staring at the food. "Not going to eat?" "I will, just, my visor doesn''t openrge enough for me to bite into this. They really should make burgers wider instead of taller," Horizon says. "Oh, and my handler would technically be Nezu, although since he''s a ''National Asset'' he should have one too, but I guess he''s not that kind of person." "I see, and they tried the wider burger strategy a while back, but it didn''t sell. People think food is bigger when it''s taller because they can see more of it." "Kind of like how the 1/3rd pounder they tried to sell in America didn''t work because people thought ''1/4'' was bigger, because it had a ''4'' in it," Horizon says as his visor retracts slightly at his mouth for him to take a sip of his drink. "Heart disease either way." "The most dangerous thing in America," Star'' chuckles. "Burger and fries are the most American thing I can think of." "I would have said a hotdog and beer at a baseball game." "I''m not that big a fan of baseball, plus I''m a regr here, the food is good, and us showing up will be good for their business." Horizon exaggerates a fake gasp, "The woman with an American g for a Hero Costume doesn''t like baseball, how absurd." "Yeah yeah, I know. But at least I like burgers and fries like the next person." "That''s the spirit, take French and German food and say it''s ''True American Food''," Horizonughs. "You can do that when you''ve never lost a war, how did thest one go for Japan again?" "Ouch, that''s a low blow, besides, I''m only half Japanese." "Did the other half do any better?" "...I''d rather not talk about it," Horizon says as he reaches for his burger, then he stops himself. "Well, taking this off for a few minutes shouldn''t kill me," he says before reaching to the back of his visor. To the amazement of Star and Stripe, the diner staff, and the public taking pictures outside, his visor copses into a small metal te the size of his palm toward the back of his neck, and he casually ces it onto the table. "Wow," Star'' says as she sees his entire head glowing blue, almost blinding, releasing a geyser of energy mist that floats up to the ceiling, blocking his identity and facial features entirely. "You aren''t going to die on me are you?" "Well, hopefully, the burger is worth it, but I should be fine," Horizon says as he lifts the burger into the blue energy geyser to take a bite. "Well, what do you think, am I pretty?" "You look simr to Kurogiri, with all the fog and mist, but this is a lot more dense." "It''s pure energy, it heals anyone that touches it," he gestures to the waitress. "In a few seconds, even from this far away, her feet will stop hurting." Star'' looks over to the woman as Horizon continues eating. "Wow, they really do feel better," the woman says. Star'' looks back to Horizon, "risking your entire life to eat a burger, you really are ridiculous," she says before also eating her food. But even now, her mind was breaking down his power. ''Constantly releasing that much energy and he seems fine for a few minutes, he must have a lot more energy than I realized. But this matches our descriptions about his visor being a vital container for him, which I''m sure killed any chance of him having a secret identity.'' Giving into her curiosity Star and Stipe reaches out toward the edge of the energy mist. NEW ORDER: Horizon''s energy mist will be a liquid sphere in my hand. As she touches the mist a small piece of it rushes into her hand, condensing into a liquid the size of a tennis ball and maintaining its structure. "How much of your energy did that take?" Horizon asks, still eating his food. "More than I''d care to admit, even for this small amount," Star'' says. "Well considering that has enough energy to power a few city blocks, you didn''t do that bad, especially since you first had to wrestle with Hand Of God for the energy to do what you wanted it to." "Your Quirk is very, controlling, but you allowed me to take this for a reason, what does it do?" Star'' asks as she ys with the sphere of liquid energy in her hand. "Booster Shot." "Your healing and physical enhancement skill?" Star'' asks. "Is this it?" "An unstable form, I don''t rmend directly using that on a person. When separated from me, it will heal them. But could cause mutations, they may grow a second head or extra arms, maybe a second pair of lungs which would then cause everything in there to get crushed," Horizon says. "This is what you''ve been working on, right?" Star'' asks. "The President said we''d get the first bid if you perfected it while you were here." "Yeah, but what''s in your hand is better to use on nts, it''s pretty unpredictable, honestly, even touching it could cause problems for you." Star'' immediately drops it onto the table, where it falls apart into harmless mist and disappears. "You''re just full of surprises," Star'' says. "Oh, you have no idea..." END CHAPTER--- AUTHOR NOTE: ''Some chapters recently have been taking a bit longer than usual to get right, this is mostly because I have to get these new characters and their interactions, such as Star and Stripe, perfect, since we''repletely out of Canon now. Along with having to world-build...the entire world that isn''t japan. Sorry for the dys, please be a bit patient with me. Thank you for reading, and a review will always be appreciated.'' Chapter 321: (The Formula For God) Chapter 321: (The Form For God) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- ---New York City, Central Park... "Horizon! Come down here and face me!" The bellowing demand echoes through Central Park as a 33ft -10m- stone golem rampaged about, breaking trees and ignoring constant gunfire from police officers swarming the area. A news drone was already circling the park and reporters were swarming as the viin continued to rampage, but even as countless bullets were fired at him. None could crack the reinforced heart encasing his human form, deep within the core of the golem. As the golem begins uprooting trees and throwing them aside, making a stage for his battle, the police drive their cars onto the grass to form a wide blockade around him.Between the gunfire, the golem yells once more, "Horizon! You scared off those cowards, but New York is my gang''s city! After I squash you, no one will be able to challenge that!" The golem keeps walking in circles, yelling over and over while ignoring the constant gunfire, all while one of the police Sergeant ducks behind his vehicle with another officer. "How long do we have?" the Sergeant asks as he peeks over the hood. "At best, 12 minutes," the other officer says. "Most of the Pro Heroes moved out of Manhattan, if not the entire city over the past few days since Horizon moved in." "Damn it, they''re so desperate to get paid they couldn''t just hang around in case something like this happened," the Sergeant grumbles. "And where the hell is Horizon anyway, the news didn''t say he was out of town?" "Central dispatch says they were having difficulties contacting him sir," the officer says. "That damn Trigger junkie will turn his attention to the city if Horizon doesn''t get down here now, we don''t have time for this," the Sergeant says as he rushes over to one of the more heavily armed officers. This man, like many others, was using an assault rifle to keep the viin as distracted as the useless bullets could. "I need your weapon, now," the Sergeant says, and the man doesn''t hesitate to hand it over. "That doesn''t actually hurt him," the man says, only for his eyes to widen as the Sergeant turns away from the viin and aims at a nearby hotel at the edge of Central Park. "Sir what are you doing?!" The man carefully aims at the penthouse, even as he responds, "Horizon is the only resident in that ce, and the staff should be in the basement or evacuated right now, so I''m just gonna knock." A chorus of bangs echo out as 6 bullets m into the ss wall of Horizon''s balcony. "That should get his attention," the Sergeant hands the gun back to the man. "Couldn''t we have just gone there and rang the buzzer?" the man asks. "That''s the first thing I sent men to do," the Sergeant says. "But I figured if anything would get his attention, it''s the rm on his temporary home." "C''mon!" the golem bellows as he ms both fists into the ground, shaking the entire park and knocking most of the men off their feet. "Give me a real challenge!" Another wave of gunfire begins, and as the golem is about to focus on the police officers, the entire battlefield goes silent. "Huh?" The golem looks above him to see Sunder -Horizon''s new de-, glowing blue as a liquid-like energy clings to the de,pletely coating it. "The toy," The golem says, seeing the sword floating on its own, but before he can reach out and grab it. The de rushes toward him,ing down in a powerful sh. The golem raises an arm to block, and before the de makes contact his rocky body glows golden for just a moment, reinforcing his body even more. "Annoying," the golem says as he swats it away, not suffering more than a scratch from the de. "If you want to beat me you''ll have toe down here yourself, my defense is rock solid!" The sword strikes out a few more times, some of which were blocked, but none of which did damage to the golem. And after just a handful of shes, the energy around the de fades. CLANG! With one final collision, the golem grabs the de, but even the regr police officers and people watching at home could see that something was wrong. As if the de slowed down for him to grab it. But this didn''t make sense to them, after all, Horizon was controlling it via Takt. The man who can rip cities from the Earth wouldn''t let his sword be so easily captured. Then the golem raised his ''trophy'' in victory, to show it to the world, and thest of the energy on the de fell to the earth. And with it, the instion keeping the positive charge of the de away from the air. KRA-KOOM! A lightning bolt descends from the heavens, so bright that it was easily visible in broad daylight as it hits the de. It then travels through the golem, shattering it into pieces and leaving the unconscious human viin lying on the floor. Surrounded by red hot earth and charred grass. "I think he got our message sir," one of the officers says to the Sergeant as they watch the sword hover about the battlefield. "Yeah, I just hope he doesn''t take it personally," the Sergeant says as he orders some men to lock up the unconscious viin. ---Meanwhile, Matani Tower, around Central Park... Sitting in his study, which at the moment is apletely sealed-off, cked-out room with a hologram in the middle of it. A holographic projection of a single helical DNA strand, reached up like a twisteddder, from floor to ceiling. "Run simtion again, against new DNA samples collected from USA Quirk Database, alter string #18525-13, practical trials at 50mm dosage..." The hologram begins rotating as it processes Law''s new request, all while he''s looking at it with intensity from his glowing blue eyes. As it''s processing he raises his left hand, and warps Sentinel''s eyeballs to float above his palm, moving in a circle for him to observe. After a few minutes, the room receives a priority notification, to which Law simply warps his phone into the room and hovers it beside him as some of the lightse on. "Need something?" Law asks as Nezu appears on his phone. "Can''t I just be calling to check in on my precious student?" Nezu asks as Law''s camera points toward the hologram. "What is that?" "A project I''m working on, but I could use more processing power, can you help?" "Not if you want it to be secure," Nezu says. "The global web has a few nexus locations across the globe to help keep connections secure and efficient. UA happens to be one of those ces, since it''s the base for my supeputer." "Where is the nearest one?" "Middle America," Nezu says. "But I can''t secure that one so anything you do, the government will get." "Are there any closer?" "You''d have to go to Europe, which would break your agreement with America, or Hawaii, which is technically an American location." "I guess I''ll just deal with the slower speeds," Law sighs. "I just heard you had to be called by a police officer firing into the hotel they reserved for you, dangerous." "Well my 50-State License is there, but Matani Tower is on the other end of Central Park, so luckily I couldn''t get shot." "That doesn''t answer my question," Nezu says. "What are you working on that takes so much of your focus, and demands that muchputing power." "Look at this," Law gestures, and the hologram changes, showing three strands of DNA. To the far left, the one he''d been working on, in the middle, a simr strange with thickeryers, like a reinforceddder. And to the right, a strand with four helical pirs instead of two, and in the middle is one pir that they''re all connected to as they twist toward the ceiling, heavily reinforced. "I don''t even understand what I''m looking at," Nezu says. "Medicine isn''t my expertise, remember?" "I know, it''s quite simple, at least easier to exin than apply. To the left, the basic DNA structure, is of humans before the advent of Quirks, this no longer exists since now even humans born with no Quirk have the DNA structure to support Quirks. That''s why Deku didn''t develop some kind of cancer when he got One For All, but it needs something to fill the gap in the Quirk section of the DNA sequence. One For All did that, which activated his DNA fully, hence him now being able to regrow teeth like everyone else who was born with the Quirk Gene active." "So the first one is extinct, which means the middle is the new normal human DNA, right?" "Close, it''s more like regr animal DNA," Law says. "Humans and animals alike all have reinforced Quirk Capable DNA, anything without it died off centuries ago, this is the new normal for animal life on earth." "I see, and the final one, is that even DNA?" "It is, theoretically," Law says. "Theoretically?" "In theory, that DNA Sequence can support enough power to do anything. With the correct addition of Quirks, enough power to fuel it, maybe the power of a hundred nuclear reactors, the modern Nuclear Fusion ones, and mastery...it could do anything." "Do anything?" "Even things I can''t do, mess with space in ways I can''t even begin to imagine, maybe even time, its evolution perfected," Law says. "Atleast ording to our current understanding, I''m sure it still has room for improvement that I just can''t imagine." "Evolution perfected...how did youe up with this?" "A lot of studying, recent studying." "Hmm, the new data you pulled from thosest few Nomu and Kurogiri a couple of weeks ago, this is what you''ve been doing with it," Nezu says. "I thought you were trying to find a cure, but you were trying to solve the endgame for All For One, figure out what he was doing, right?" "Nomu can''t be cured," Law says. "If you rip apart Frankenstein''s monster and return the pieces to their original owners---" "The monster dies." "Worse, it ceases," Law says. "Kurogiri is still in his catatonic state, but he can still hear and see. Eraser and Mic need to pull some ''power of friendship'' out of their ass and talk to him, well, keep talking to him." "It would be nice to have Oboro back," Nezu says. "It''d be nice to have Kurogiri on our side, not to mention all the intel he has locked up in there." "That too I suppose," Nezu says. "But about this 3rd DNA Strand, you think this is the end goal for All For One, right? Hebines all the needed Quirks, using One For All''s immense energy to power it, and bes a perfected lifeform?" "It''s possible, but," Law hums as he considers the list of Quirks he knows. "I can''t imagine him being able to pull that off even if he collected the Mystery ss Quirk. That''s just not how All For One works." "What do you mean?" "All For One has the second DNA Structure because it acts as aputer and the Quirks are just files on it, and his physical and mental ability are the RAM, more files running, the more RAM used, the slower the entire thing moves. The theoretical DNA I came up with needs all Quirks to constantly feed off of each other without dy or rest, a perpetual motion machine, well, no, but as close as we can get to it. A hyper-efficient nuclear fusion reactor..." "What about the Overhaul Quirk?" Nezu asks. "If they somehow recovered a sample could they do it, make this, thing?" "God Form?" Law asks. "urate but, that name is a bit much." Law shrugs, "Well there is a reason this entire thing is just a theory anyway, I don''t think even with All For One, he could pull this off." "Yet you came up with it, because?" "Because it''s the answer," Law gestures again, and lines connect all three DNA Structures. "I''m trying to alter and transpose piece of his sequence onto another, to make a universal answer, but I need more data." "A universal answer?" Nezu asks. "Your Panacea? You''re trying toe up with a temte for the standard modern human genome so you can restore anyone to a healthy state, that''s a tall task in a world of people with countless mutations." "This is why I need the Quirk databases from China and North Africa, but they''re being difficult," Law says with slight frustration in his voice, then rxes. "But if they keep being difficult I''ll just offer it to every other country, lets so how long those politicians survive when a nearly universal cure hits public markets and their people are the only ones without ess to it." "They''d be dead within a day, not even the Pro Heroes or military would protect them," Nezu says. "You may have identally created the most powerful weapon of influence in the world." "Not idental, that''s the original intent," Law says. "The fact that it''s medicine is a fortunate side effect." "How kind of you," Nezu rolls his eyes, and as he does so the camera turns slightly to show Law. "Why do you have two eyeballs floating in your palm?" "Oh, I took these from Sentinel to study how they transfer and convert energy, I''m almost done with them now." "Can he---" "No I temporarily blinded them so he can''t see anything through them, I''ll probably remember to fix that before returning them." "Law..." "What? He''s spending the rest of his life trapped in a metal coffin deep underground, not like he needs to see, it''s just dark in there." "You''re ridiculous." "In all the best ways, how have things been going in Japan anyway?" Law asks. "They''ve been a bit more busy, and hectic, but I---" BEEP BEEP BEEP! Law''s emergency alert interrupts Nezu. "Answer," Lawmands, and the room''s speakers connect to the call. "Horizon, I need you!" Star and Stripe''s voice yells through the speakers. "I''m ttered, but I''m a bit busy." "Miami, now, I have a lead on Kelvin!" she hangs up. "Shit, I actually have to go deal with that," Law grumbles as he gets up, warping the eyeballs away as all the lights turn on. "Have fun, try not to get melted," Nezu says as he hangs up. SHAMBLES! Law''s entire Hero Costume warps onto his body as he pockets his phone. "Results inconclusive, cross reference sequence variations required," hisputer says as all the DNA Holograms be red. "Open collection tray," Horizonmands as he steps forward to where a desk rises from the ground, with a small ss case in the middle of it. "Label project, title: The Form For God." "Label epted," theputer says as the tray opens. "Inserting sample 1835, version 2," Horizon says as he reaches forward, warping the glove of his left hand away before making a small cut into his finger, releasing a few drops of blood into the tray. The holograms immediately be blue as another God Form sample is epted and studied. "Reverse engineer sequence 15 to begin with, solving the most basic illnesses is a good start before moving onto organ failure, alert me of results immediately." "Command epted..." theputer says as Horizon is about to warp away, but he stops. He considers the conversation is just had, and tries a new approach. "Computer, insert One For All as a base sample, remove energy storage factor, focus processing power on ''Gic Transference'', run tests using this as the new bridge." "Command epted." "Alert me of all results in real-time," Horizon says as he warps away... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 322: (Hot Trail) Chapter 322: (Hot Trail) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- SHAMBLES! Horizon appears just above a tree, swapped with a lone leaf in the wind, and looks down at the swamnd below him. Walking through the air he takes a few steps forward, looking around under the blistering mid-day Florida sun to see sparse trees and tall grass between the countless pools of muddy water covering the area. "You know, when you said Miami, I was thinking sand, waves, girls in bikinis...not this," Horizon says as he slowly descends to hover just an inch above a small barren ind. "Well, the city isn''t that far away," Star'' says. She was standing directly atop the water, with another man just a bit older than her, standing beside her. He wore a fur-lined vest and long cargo pants with a knife on his left leg and arge pistol on his right hip."She''s right," the man says. "You can always go have some fun, after we get this work done, of course." "Well with you here this shouldn''t take long," Horizon says as he walks over to them, still hovering an inch above the water instead of standing atop it like them. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, but my nose isn''t very useful right now, but that''s not the first thing not to make sense today, especially after that," the man gestures forward, and ahead of them is a 300m -930ft- wide circle of swamnd that''s entirely frozen. Water,nd, trees, unfortunate animals and all, frozen solid. There were even some shattered birds atop the ice, broken from their fall after being sh-frozen mid-flight. "This is a top-level mission," Star'' says. "My lips are sealed," the man says. "So what can the Great Hound do for you?" "A viin, codenamed ''Kelvin'' is on the loose, we need to get him under control before he does something like this to the public," Star'' says. "Your nose can lock onto one scent and track it for hundreds of miles, we figured you''d be the best bet." "If he''s going into cities, cameras might be more useful," Great Hound says. "Honestly with facial and gait recognition software, I''m mostly used in more rural areas or to find bodies...or unique animals." "Tech won''t work on this guy," Horizon says. "Star'' neglected to mention that he was the head of a CIA death squad that had a disagreement with the government, he knows how to avoid all the tricks in their book." Star'' res at him, but Great Hound doesn''t seem bothered by being left in the dark about this. Normally Horizon wouldn''t be so casual with this information, but Great Hound is former Special Forces. "Well, that exins why there''s a secret base under there with a lot of dead people in it," Great Hound says, pointing to the ice. Star'' sighs, "This undergroundb was a training facility, are you sure there are no survivors?" "Frost burnt to the heart, all of em," Great Hound says. "But it does make sense, most prisoners who escape usually run to where they feel most at home, if this was his base they should have expected him toe knocking." "They did, but he wasn''t this strong when he got locked up," Star'' says. "Can you really not get any scent from him?" Horizon asks. "Sorry, I---" Great Hound stops as he turns to Horizon, then looks down at Horizon''s feet. "Uh, I think you made some friends." Horizon looks down to see tworge alligators sleeping at his feet, and sighs. "Ignore it," he says while stepping over them, only for them both to rush over to his new spot and resume their nap at his feet. "Right...well, as I was saying," Great Hound turns back to the frozen underground base. "He was obviously here, but it''s like his scent doesn''t exist, maybe he''s using the same trick you use." "Who? Horizon?" Star'' asks. "Yeah, his suit is sealed, right, that''s why I can''t smell him," Great Hound gestures to Horizon. "It''s a bit moreplicated than just that, but sure," Horizon says. "After Hound Dog revealed that weakness in my setup, I resolved it." Star'' turns to the frozen area and taps her chin, "Should we just excavate the base whole, or maybe just melt it to find some clues while it''s in there?" "I''m just here to help track," Great Hound says. "Ripping entire military bases out of the ground is above my pay grade." "Moving the base isn''t a good idea," Horizon says. "The way his Quirk works means the entire thing is too brittle." "What does that mean?" Great Hound asks. "Kelvin is a codename, his real name was deleted from all records when he joined," Horizon says. "His Quirk allows him to control, absorb, or transfer thermodynamic energy, to either extreme." "If that''s true, then..." Great Hound reaches down for a floating piece of wood and picks it up, then gently tosses it onto the ice. The piece of wood immediately freezes and shatters upon impact. "Yeah, definitely above my pay grade," he says with a concerned look. "No wonder they sent you two, he can get anything he touches to absolute zero or absolute heat." "Honestly I''m just here for the investigation part," Horizon says. "If a certain someone would figure out more detective-style applications of her Quirk, I could be back in New York getting work done." "Tch," Star'' side eyes him. "Hand Of God is supposed to see everything, so go see some clues for us..." "I already found one, it''s that way," Horizon points to the far side of the marsnd before warping away. Both the alligators seem annoyed that he left before swimming away from both Pro Heroes. "So he controls animals?" Great Hound asks as they walk over to Horizon. "No," Star'' says. "They just... they don''t really see us as people, I suppose. We''re more like part of nature, but it''s a lot stronger with him than with me." "Ah, I see," Great Hound says. "So, how''s Agpar?" "He''s back in L.A., but I''ve been trying to convince him to get to New York to see Horizon." "Just to meet him, or...for the miracle doctor side?" "I think it''s about time he got them back, enough with this crap about punishing himself." "Well I don''t know either of you well enough toment on that, but he seems like a good man," Great Hound says. "He is," Star'' says as they arrive at Horizon. "So, what''s the clue?" Great Hound asks as they arrive a few hundred meters away at a small broken-down dock connected to a dirt road out of the marsnds. "I can pick some scents but, too many people, which is why I was looking over there. Looks like peoplee here to fish pretty often." "Here," Horizon points to a pair of muddy footprints in the ground. "These are fresh, and the bigger ones are cold, even under this sun." "Kelvin," Star'' says. "And the person he was talking to, a hostage, someone we can at least track. He must have either kidnapped this man or stolen his car, that gives us a scent trail." "No, not a hostage, an ally, look," Horizon crouches down and both the heroes do the same. "Kelvin''s boots were moving back and forth, but not getting off the ground. He was excited about something judging by the way they got deeper. But the other guy was just standing still, at least until they started walking." "A friend?" "Or at least a temporary ally," Horizon says as he points farther up the dirt road. "Farther up the new guy overtakes Kelvin while they walk away, then eventually starts walking in reverse, like he''s talking to a friend he''s familiar with, before they leave the road and cut through the grass closer to the main road ahead." "So they were both excited about whatever they''re nning," Great Hound says. "Well, I can only imagine one thing Kelvin would be excited about after years in lock up." "Which means his ally must share a goal, he wants revenge too," Star'' says. "I''ll make some calls and try to figure out who they''d want dead. The CIA is always difficult to get any information from, but they won''t refuse me." "You''ll likely have to go get a hardcopy of the files, so we''ll stay on the trail," Horizon says. "And I''ve got a hit," Great Hound says. "It continues for just about a hundred miles north, then things get tricky, we should go there first." "Alright, let''s get out of here, Star''?" "I''ll catch up when I''ve got something, remember, no talking about any of this overms," she says before rocketing into the sky. "Can you estimate where on the map we should warp to for you to keep the scent?" Horizon asks. "Sure," Great Hound takes out his phone and looks at that map, but as he does so he can''t help but ask. "So, animals like you?" "It''s a bit moreplicated than that, but yeah, sure..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 323: (Shadow Networks) Chapter 323: (Shadow Networks) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- Walking to the edge of a forest area, Horizon and Great Hound stop at the treeline and look toward the massive open field ahead. The entire clearing was cut low with only one structure in the middle, a five-story armored building withrge hangar doors on the front. "So this is where the scent is leading?" Horizon asks. "You sure?" "Yeah this is it," Great Hound says. "It''s strong in the building but...there," he points to the far end of the field. "It''s too to the air over there, the bad weather recently scattered it too much but if we get far enough in that direction I can pick it up again." "Hmm, yeah they''d likely be in the direction they took off in, this clearing isn''t long enough for a ne, so they used a helicopter," Horizon says. "It''s just a shame the guy in there wasn''t the target, would have made this a lot easier." Great Hound follows Horizon as he steps into the clearing and begins walking to the building."I only smell one person inside, but, this faint," Great Hound takes a long sniff of the air as they continue walking, and draws both his knife, and pistol. "It''s faint, and smells...metallic." "Yeah, I can sense him, whatever the hell it is," Horizon says as they stand a hundred feet away from the building. "How does that work anyway?" "My sensory ability is Scan, think of it like echolocation, but it works for a few dozen miles around me at once," Horizon says. "Damn, and I thought my nose was impressive." "It is, but I can effectively ''see'' everything all at once, in fact, when we arrived here I immediately sensed him, but he''s got nowhere to go---" "And you were hoping for him to call for help so we could track the call, since we must have triggered their rm system in the forest." "Yeah, but he didn''t call for him, weird." "He probably knew it wouldn''t matter," Great Hound says. "Yeah that''s fair, after all," therge hangar doors begin to creak and crumple as they''re ripped off their supports by Takt, "I am here..." "ARHHH!" leaping out of the building is a 15ft -5m- tall robot, aiming a punch directly at Horizon. ANTIBACTERIAL CURTAIN! A dome barrier forms around him and Graet Hound, and therge humanoid robots ms into it andes to a stop. "ARGH!" the robot continues to m its hammer-like fists into the barrier while both men simply look up at it. "My god, he''s in there," Great Hound says. "But why do I smell, blood?" "Not a robot, or a exosuit," Horizon says. "It''s connected to him, he''s a cyborg." "Like you? Do you know him?" While the viin is hammering at the barrier Horizno turns toward Great Hound, "Firstly, I''m not a cyborg, and secondly, that must have been racist. Do you think all people in wheelchairs know each other?" "Well, no..." "Whatever, let''s just deal with this guy," Horizon says. "Warp him out of there." "Can''t, he''s fused to it, so they''re one being right now," Horizon says. "Warping him out is like trying to warp only your leg off your body." "Well?" "I''m just making sure I don''t identally rip away any life support systems," Horizon says. "I''m not very tech inclined so I''m double-checking theponents." Great Hound puts his weapons away as the barrier drops. The viin brings both hands down to crush the heroes, but neither man reacts as the limbs freeze. The sound of metal tearing and creaking echoes through the clearing before the limbs of the cyborg shatter into pieces and areunched to either side, held in the air. Great Hound flinches as the blood-curdling scream of the man within the chest rings out, and a momentter the chest te is torn away and crumpled to the side. And now only the torso area hovers before them, with a man who has no limbs and much of his organs, along with a piece of his head, reced by metalponents. "Power Cell." Great Hound says. "What happened to you?" The cyborg just groans and twitches as pain wracks his body. "You know him?" Horizon asks. "He was a pro hero a while back, but a bad run-in with a viin left him in pieces, I haven''t heard about him in years." "Well looks like someone promised him a chance to get back into the action in escape for his loyalty," Horizon says. "We need to get info from him." "Maybe he has some kind of data drive?" "No," Horizon says. "I recognize this tech, it''s from Tech." "Tech? Those people are real?" "Yeah, that shadow group sent someone to attempt stealing a device from Japan a year ago, they also made the Faux Nuclear Football that Sentinel had, and now this suit." "This tech also looks simr to what''s been popping up a lot more in Brazil, Chile, some parts of Europe, and India, what the hell is going on?" "That''s what I''ve been trying to figure out," Horizon says. "But since these things auto-burn data before conflicts, we''ll have to do this the old-fashioned way." Great Hound is confused for a moment, until Horizon reaches forward and Power Cell''s heart is quickly extracted. Great Hound stumbles back and Power Cell takes a while to register exactly what just happened. "Power Cell, I need to know who you''re working for, and who did this to you." Power Cell res at Horizon, "I''d be dead without them, so do what you must." "Yeah, talks tough at the start," Horizon says. "But you''d be amazed at how much suffering humans can withstand." Then to the horror of both men, Horizon crushes the heart in his hand, all while releasing Booster Shot to repair it immediately. ---10 Minutes Later... While Horizon and Great Hound were searching the building and scouring all the data stored there, Star''nds softly outside and lets herself in. Both men nce over to her as they continue piecing together supply routes, finding clues as to where exactly Kelvin could have been transported to. "Is that a cyborg outside?" Star'' asks as she waves around a folder. "I thought you were the only one?" "I''m not a cyborg, but he is." "It''s Power Cell," Great Hound says. "Damn, they made him so ugly I didn''t even recognize him, any progress?" "Some," Horizon says. "This facility was used to assemble and distribute drones, not that we could find any schematics for them or even some spare parts here." "They cleaned up good," Great Hound says. "But some of the shipping manifests to overseas are here, probably as ckmail against Tech, or whatever other group was using the drones." "How many countries?" Star'' asks. "Damn near all of them," Horizon says. "Seems like they''ve probably got a way to get Kelvin across the border a lot easier than we expected, we''re checking records and the new intel to narrow down the search, and we''re waiting for a report of helicopters that were in this areately." "So Tech is real, and theymissioned a swarm of drones," Star'' wonders as she taps her chin. "Or did they manufacture the drones for sale overseas, either way, it is a problem." "Yeah, and what''d you get?" Horizon asks. "ssified CIA files," Star'' hands him the folder. "Or more urately, files that don''t even exist. Kelvin wasn''t just a powerful hitman, he was the guy they used to train the current generation of specialist agents they have, he even trained some army special forces too." "Damn, so why''d he turn," Horizon asks as he reads the file, then gets to thetest pages, "Ohh, damn..." "Yeah, they did experiments to amplify his Quirk, but they had the unfortunate effect of making him damn near living energy." "Which is why he had no scent," Great Hound says. "It also means he must be wearing some kind of suit to contain himself, that''ll be hard to hide." "It would be, if they didn''t destroy all evidence of his existence, including pictures," Star'' says. "But I did get a lead, retired army General Birch." "What about him?" Great Hound asks. "He was head of the militaryd that ran the experiment, Kelvin tried to kill him when he realized what the side effect was." "So he''ll probably try again, where is Birch now?" Horizon asks. "The Bahamas, family vacation," Star'' says. "He''ll be back in a few days, and I''m sure Kelvin already knows that and will be waiting." "So we have our bait, now we just need to figure out where to spring the trap," Horizon says. "I think we should alert the Colonel first, that way we can avoid this conflict happening somewhere popted like the airport." "It doesn''t matter where it happens if both of us are there," Horizon says. "We shouldn''t contact Birch, just in case Kelvin is listening in somehow." "We can''t just use a person as bait, risking their life and the lives of everyone around them like that." "It''s the best course of action we have," Horizon says. "We just have to watch and wait for Kelvin to get impatient." "Assuming we''re right about him wanting revenge," Great Hound says. "He''lle for Birch," Horizon says. "The man cost him his body, he wants him dead more than anything, and that''ll make him sloppy." "I still think we should contact the colonel," Star'' says before looking to Great Hound. "Well?" "Me?" he asks. "Break the tie, I''m sure either way we can keep civilians safe, but it simply doesn''t morally sit right with me to use a person as bait like this." "Uh, well," Great Hound considers it for a moment. "I think Horizon is right, but it is super dangerous." "Then it''s a good time both of us are here..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 324: (Precious Cargo) Chapter 324: (Precious Cargo) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- Sitting in the cargo hangar of a C-500 Stratofortress, a military cargo ne, retired army general Samuel Birch idly does a crossword puzzle in a book he brought along. On the seat beside him is his suitcase, hastily packed after his family vacation was canceled. The vacation he was still dressed for in cargo shorts and a blue floral shirt. He was an older caucasian man, almost 70 years old, with a head of white hair and a third eye on his forehead. Just as he''s about to finish the crossword puzzle, his phone rings. He groans while answering, "Every time, really?" he sets down the puzzle book and pen on the seat beside him. "This time I think interrupting your puzzle is justified," his daughter says through the phone. "You got taken away by a bunch of soldiers, the kids are scared dad, what''s going on?""It''s nothing for you to worry about my dear, just...tell them grandpa''s friends needed help with something, that''s all it is." "Right," she says. "And for the people who are old enough to know what kind of things your old friends do?" The man sighs, "Look, I can''t say anything over the phone. Soldiers are stationed around but we have no reason to believe any of you are in trouble. Just enjoy the extended vacation and let me deal with this, alright?" The woman takes a deep breath, attempting to appear calm. "Alright, and when should this be over?" "Don''t worry, between Horizon and Star'', it''ll be done soon." "Both of them?! I thought you said it was nothing to worry about." "It is nothing, just, try to rx, let your dad handle things, as I always do." The woman gives a tired exhale, "Fine, just, don''t forget to call so we know you''re alright." "I''ll call when I can," he says before hanging up. His puzzle book is then held in front of him which he casually epts, "Thank you..." The man continues to work on the same puzzle for a moment. "Chance, that''s the answer," Horizon''s slightly mechanical voice startles the man. "Oh god," the man drops the book which Horizon catches and clutches his chest. "You could have given me another heart attack with that stunt." "Then it''s a good thing I''m me, so you''d have been fine," Horizon says. "How did you even get here, don''t you have to swap with something?" "I did, you''re over the maind now, I was waiting en route, and you''d be surprised how many pebbles are in this cargo hold." "Right, well I suppose I should introduce myself, I''m Samuel Birch, former 5-Star General of the United States Army," the man extends his hand. Horizon shakes his hand, "Horizon, I wish I could say we were meeting under better circumstances, I imagine with your specialty, I would have likely worked for you." "I''d imagine so," Samuel says. "I helped train one Mystery ss Quirk user, but as powerful as she is, you...you''re special." Horizon sees a glint of genuine curiosity in the man''s eyes. "I wouldn''t go as far as saying that," Horizon says. "But we would have done incredible things, after all, your specialty was finding interesting ways to train and apply Quirks for military use." "But sadly, none of them could ever reach the level of control your Quirk provides, the entire world doing everything you want it to, what''s it like?" the man smiles, trying and failing toprehend the idea of such power. "If anything, it makes you realize how many people you share the world with," Horizon says. "But at the same time, you also feelpletely alone, because only you can understand yourself." The man smiles, "Yeah, I figured as much, there must be a lot of tears behind that visor." "Then I guess it''s a good thing it''s one way," Horizon says jokingly. "Now, can we get to business?" "dly, I''ve been kept in the dark aside from the fact that Kelvin somehow escaped the containment unit I built for him, how was that possible?" "It wasn''t, he was let out, by a hacker," Horizon says. "That''s impossible, that system was on an isted server, you''d have to go to the facility physically to even get ess to it." "Well, Tech managed." "Tech?" the man looks surprised. "They''re real? Do we have proof?" "It''s a working theory, some telepaths are ripping data out of a prisoner we got, but from the looks of it Kelvin was released for a reason we don''t understand." "What do you mean?" "Well, why break out a top-level killer, then just let him be free and not under your control, if anything he''s supposed to be a distraction," Horizon exins. "But, this is America, Star'' is here, so the moment he meets her, he goes back into a box, which is why it makes no sense." "If you have something to ask, just ask," Birch says. "What was he really?" Horizon asks. "He was listed as a wet work agent for the CIA, but even their offwork files don''t track any of his missions, all the way to the Oval Office, so what was he, really?" "That, is still ssified, and even if you had the clearance, I''m not telling a foreignbatant this information," the man narrows his eyes at Horizon. Horizon sighs, "Fine, be that way. I''ll just have them turn this ne around so you can rejoin your family." "What?" "I don''t like working with uncooperative people, good luck with regr soldiers defending you, and your family." "You wouldn''t," the man narrows his eyes at Horizon. "Oh, but you know I would," Horizon leans forward slightly. "You''re still the top army specialist when ites to taking down people with difficult Quirks, even retired, they must have called you in for some advice about me, given you my physiological profile, well, what do you think I''ll do?" The man stares into Horizon''s visor for a moment, then leans back. "For the record, I advised them to keep you as far away from our borders as possible," Samuel Birch says. "Whatever you are under that visor, it ain''t a Hero, certainly not the next All Might, maybe the next All For One...but probably worse, right?" They share a tense moment, then Horizonughs and rxes in his seat, "damn, you really are good at your job." "Yes, but unlike those people, you can be bought, which is good for us, bad for poorer countries." "True, you people have the most money, but some things are more valuable than that," Horizon says. "Now, about Kelvin?" "First, what''s your n?" "Well this military escort takes you to a base just past Miami, wend there andy a trap for him, simple and effective," Horizon says. "I don''t doubt either of you could easily crush anyone, aside from each other, but the method of capture isn''t the problem," Birch says. "If he knows either of you are there, he won''t show up, assuming he''ll even hit an army base." "His Quirk, Thermodynamic''s, how strong is it?" "It was worthless," Birch exins. "His Quirk can''t be harnessed without technology, we had a machine built to allow him to release and direct his energy, see, he was never really a hitman." "Already knew that," Horizon says. "Quirk control devices, for?" "Energy sector development," Birch says. "The man was capable of absorbing and manipting Thermodynamic energy at a sub-atomic level, absolute zero and absolute heat at his fingertips...it theory." "And in practice?" "He was just a big battery, could take in energy but too slowly for it to matter, and couldn''t release it before the device we built for him." "Then?" "Then, we figured out a way to make batteries out of other things, they could then act like a perfectly clean nuclear power nt, sound familiar?" "The new Geokics project, that''s him?" "He was the answer, how to use the energy the earth generates from its rotation to power cities, he was the medium we studied, and when we learned he could release that energy into certain specially made alloys to hold the charge for ater use, we put him to work on that as well." "So he''s the reason humanity has enough power tost thousands of years, without a drop of environmental damage." "And what did he get for it?" Birch asks. "Turned into living energy due to excessive experimentation, shit luck if I''ve ever seen it." "You must have figured out how to weaponize his energy, how hard will that be for him, on his own?" "The most difficultponent is his Quirk, it takes so much energy and he can''t gain any more in his current form, only use his stockpile until it''s done." "Which will kill him." "Sadly, but the materials won''t be that hard for someone like him to get, what you really need is to track the containment suit," Birch exins. "It''s got a special energy signature that should be unique outside of a nuclear fusion reactor." "Give me the data, I''ll send it to the satellites," Horizon says. After sending the data to the satellites Horizon gets up and starts walking about the hangar, "so, what kind ofbat applications does Kelvin''s Quirk have?" "Before his current form, none, but now, he can freely release energy at the cost of his stockpile, which is his lifespan." "So super strength and energy projection to a high degree," Horizon says. "And if he takes off that suit regr physical attacks won''t be able to hit him, such a pain." "That will also make his stockpile decay," Birch says. "Star'' will be better at handling him, I''ll just y babysitter," Horizon draws his de and aims it at the wall of the ne. "I''ll have her meet us somewhere at the airport." "Airport? I thought we were going to the base." "Nah, he''d never hit a military base, he''s too well trained for that, but you suddenly needed to make an emergencynding at an airport two hours away is good enough bait, he should be in the area checking out the base either way." "What ar---" "Takt," suddenly a small draft begins in the sealed hangar as the entire ne trembles. "What the hell is wrong with you, they could have just faked thending!" Birch hastily clips his seatbelt back on. "Modern sensors are too good, and he''ll probably hack into them, better to be safe than sorry," Horizonughs as he puts his de away. "You''re crazy!" "That''s why this works, don''t worry, we don''t need all the engines to make it to the airport..." ---Elsewhere... Sitting in an empty warehouse at a small desk is a man wearing a full-body grey body glove, covering everything from head to toe, even his eyes. He types away on aputer as the radio beside him begins receiving a transmission. "This is Bravo Actual with precious cargo, we have a critical engine failure and are requesting a runway for an emergencynding, ETA 43 minutes." "Bravo Actual this is ATC, runway 12 will be open for you tond, sending navigation data now." "Copy ATC," the pilot says. The hum of energy vibrating, shaking the air, flows through the warehouse as the tall,nky figure raises his head. "Airport, might not need bomb, less dead innocence, but, in case," he gets up walks over to a truck at the other end of the warehouse, and opens the back. Inside is arge metal cube with a few devices attached, and the man casually hops into the trailer and puts a hand on the cube. "Just...in case," he removes the glove part of his containment suit to expose his right hand. It appeared a translucent glowing purple, instead of a skeleton being visible within, his nervous system itself was outlined, but constantly shifting and flowing in a bright white. As he touched the cube the device began beeping, warning him, "Stabilization good, set deadman timer to...50 minutes," the man says as the timer begins to countdown. "I''ll GPS lock it when I get into position," he says while pouring more and more energy into the cube, causing it to glow bright purple from the inside out, starting at the core. END CHAPTER--- Chapter 325: (High Energy Beings) Chapter 325: (High Energy Beings) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "There it is, shouldn''t be long now," Star'' says. Standing atop the air traffic control tower at the airport, she and Horizon watch as the massive military cargo nends with most of its engines smoking. "See, told you it could make it," Horizon says. "Those things can glide for a while with minimum lift." "Yes, but you could have at least stayed on the ne, you know, in case it starts falling from the sky," Star'' says. "Busy," Horizon taps his visor. "The satellites tracked two things matching the materialposition we needed, but...still difficult to pick them out of the crowd." "How is that possible, I thought you could find anything within like, a thousand miles.""Not that far, and not that simple," Horizon says. "Detecting energy is hard, light is tougher, and telling them apart is a nightmare, and this guy just blends in with everything." Horizon taps the side of his visor a few more times, flipping through security cameras in the airport. "Well, this is his chance, so he''ll show himself soon enough," Star'' says as Birch and the soldiers escorting him begin moving from the ne to the convoy parked on the runway. "And I got him, there," Horizon points to the middle of the building, an observation deck overlooking the runway. "Alright, warp him to a safe ce so I can talk to him." "On it," Horizon says, then goes silent for a few seconds. "Fuck..." "What do you mean ''fuck''?" "Can''t warp him." "What do you mean you can''t warp him?" "I mean, I''ve never had to move anything thisplex before," Horizon says. "He and his...containment suit, it''s like the energy between the material stretches them into individual particles and the energy holds them together." "So warping him is like having to move the Sahara grain by grain, at least before it became a forest," Star'' grumbles. "You know if your Quirk was actually warping and not transposing we wouldn''t be having this problem." "Mine is better, just, never experienced something like this before," Horizon says. "Oh, but I found something else, there," he points to the other side of the airport. "Be specific." "Car park, truck, in the trailer, unstable material like his suit loaded in the back, but a lot more dense than his suit." "You deal with that and I''ll---" Star and Stripe''s words stop as Kelvin rockets through the airport window and flies toward the convoy. Star'' immediately jumps off the rooftop. NEW ORDER: I can freely move through the atmosphere! She leaves a sonic boom in her wake that causes Horizon to take a few steps back, and by the time he steadies himself, she''s already intercepting Kelvin. "BIRCH!" Kelvin''s voice echoes through the area, hitting almost every frequency, disrupting all signals, and breaking every window in the airport. "He''s here!" Birch yells as he covers his ears, seeing Kelvin flying toward him before raising a fist. "Help!" Kelvin fires a st of purple energy, and as he does so, his entire containment suit glows for just a moment. Before the st could hit its target, Star'' intercepts it, grabbing it with her right hand. NEW ORDER: I can contain any thermodynamic energy I make contact with! She holds the energy st in her hand like a glowing baseball, whilending on the runway, since she had to deactivate her flightmand. ''I need to be careful with this guy, he can fly which gives him the advantage,'' Star'' thinks. ''My mainmand keeps my transformation up, so I''ll just alternate between mobility and being able to contain his energy with the other one.'' While in theory, this situation should happen often, considering she''s always had the limit of twomands, because of how powerful New Order is, she rarely even needs more than just her transformationmand. "Move!" Kelvin demands as the soldiers rush Birch to the convoy, but Star'' stays nted in his path. "Kelvin, you don''t have to do this," Star'' says as she throws the captured energy st into the air. It easily clears the atmosphere and dissipates harmlessly. "Are you here to kill me?" Kelvin asks. "They sent you, to hide their mistake!" "No, I''m not even here to fight you," Star'' says, raising her hands in surrender. "I''m here to help you." "Help...me?" Kelvin rxes, descending to stand on the runway. "Why?" "Because that''s what heroes do, they help people," Star'' says. "Alteast, that''s what they should do, especially people like you." "Like me?" "You''re a good man, do you remember who you are?" "I...am..." he looks down at his hands and stumbles back, confused. "Kelvin, from,b #32, energy division." Star''s gaze softens at that, "Well, Kelvin, you helped the entire world, and it''s not fair what happened to you, I''m here to help." "Birch," Kelvin shakes his head. "Birch said, I could help, he, left me, in a box, so dark." "And now I''m here to help you," Star'' says. "And I have a friend who can help you, we can figure out a way to restore your body, but we need time, we need you to let us help you." "A friend?" "A miracle," Star'' says. "His name is Horizon, you were already locked away before he became public, but he---" "The doctor, from the news," Kelvin says. "Yes!" Star'' smiles, seeing some progress. "We can help you, if you let us." Kelvin nods eagerly, "Yes, after I kill Birch," he immediately turns to fly after the convoy, but by the time he turns star is already in his way again. "Sorry but, I can''t let you kill anyone, that''s not how we do things." "Birch, the liar, must die." Star'' sighs, "I know he broke your trust, and you didn''t deserve this, but we don''t kill in cold blood, revenge isn''t justice." Kelvin stumbles back, as if trying to process this was painful for him, "No, Birch dies, he must, killing Birch, is everything." Star'' frowns and lowers her hands, "I''m sorry, but I can''t let you do that." "Fine," Kelvin seemingly takes one step forward, and as his foot touches the ground, energy surges through his suit once more. But this time, it spreads through the runway beneath them, a purple ripple effect carrying massive thermodynamic energy, affecting all the matter it touches. The earth beneath them bes energy-rich glowing purpleva, bubbling on the surface. Star'' immediately realizes what''s going on and rushes forward, grabbing him with blinding speeding and jumping into the air. She leaves a sonic boom in her wake, and after clearing the lowest cloud level nces back to see the attack only spread for a few dozen meters. "Horizon?" "I see it," Horizon says as she sees the chunk of energy-rich earth free itself from the and rockets into the sky before exploding. "Everything he touches bes a bomb, careful." "Yeah, I noticed," Star'' says while turning her focus back to the man in her arms, arms that had rivers of purple energy flowing through them, trying to do the same thing to her. Fortunately, her transformation isparable to the physical stats of prime All Might, short of it by just a hair, but capable of surpassing even his power if she doesn''t split her focus between twomands. "I don''t want to fight you!" Star'' tosses him away as she shrugs off the energy trying to destroy her, then activates her flightmand once again. "Then don''t fight me, just move," Kelvin says. "Revenge, is everything." Star'' res at him, "I really thought you would have listened to reason, I''m sorry it came to this." Before her words can even register, she''s already behind Kelvin with a strong right. "Don''t break his suit!" Horizon yells through hermunicator. Star'' pulls her punch and instead palms the back of his head, and shakes him like a rattle while flying higher, into the overcast sky. "No brain to rattle!" Kelvin inhumanly twists his body and punches her in the face with his entire right arm glowing. The entire sky, along with the surrounding regions on the ground, shakes, as a blinding purple light outshines the sun sun above. As the purple light fades, all the clouds are gone, along with Star and Stripe. Kelvin begins falling for a moment before steadying himself in the air, "too much, power," he says, realizing over half of his remaining lifespan was in that one attack. "Birch," he turns toward the earth, toward the military base in the distance where his target is going, then flies off. As he''s flying, high above, just outside of Earth''s orbit, Star and Stipe floats unconsciously. A few secondster she startles awake. "Guh!" she immediately shuts her mouth, feeling extremely cold as the moisture on her is sh-frozen in space, then looks around. ''Wow, it''s beautiful up here,'' she thinks while observing the earth, then touches her face, feeling a sore bruise on her cheek. ''That''s a first, now to get back in the fight.'' She wills herself to move forward, only to continue drifting in ce. ''Oh, right, no atmosphere to move through, so...'' NEW ORDER: I can freely move through three-dimensional space! She feels her energy taxed slightly more than usual as her body isn''t used to thismand, this would decrease with familiarity. But she realizes thismands, as suspected, even after mastery would constantly drain more energy than her previous flightmand. But casting those thoughts aside she races back into the fight, truly flying. She closes in at 10,000km/h, just slightly over Mach 8, which is her maximum allowed in-atmosphere, legal travel speed. "Don''t kill him," Horizon says through hermunicator, "ask him about the bomb." "What bomb?" she immediately slows down after reaching within a few miles of Kelvin, just outside of the airport. "The one I''m working on, just be quick, the timer only has a few minutes left." "Kelvin!" Star'' screams as she collides with him, careful not to crack his suit as she spins and throws him back toward the sky. "How do we disable the bomb?!" "Argh!" Kelvin doesn''t even bother to answer, simply turning to the earth below and firing another st. Star'' looks at where it''s going, and sees he''s aiming at an empty bridge. ''He wants to destroy the convoy''s route, fine, he''ll have to get past me anyway and that''s not happening,'' she rushes toward him and holds his hands together. "The bomb, how do we disable it?" "You don''t!" Kelvin begins overloading his suit causing cracks to appear in the entire thing. "No!" Star'' rushes toward the edge of space with him as the suit shatters and explodes. Another purple light outshines everything in the sky, but before the energy can ripple out and disturb the people below, Star'' changes hermand and captures it. Trapping it like a sentient baseball in her hands. "NOOOOOO!" Kelvin screams from his new prison as she raises her hand, holding him close to her face. ''I can still see him in there, maybe we can still save him,'' she thinks before flying back to the airport. ---Momentster... Star''nds in the airport parking area to see a crowd gathered at the gate, but she simply goes to where Horizon is, standing behind a truck. "Did you disarm it?" Star'' asks. "Nope, take a look," Horizon says as he opens the back, where she sees a 5ft wide glowing purple cube. "We should have everyone evacuate," Star'' says. "Can''t you just disable it with your Quirk?" Horizon asks. "Not while I''m holding him," she shakes Kelvin for him to see, then looks at him in her grasp. "How do we disable it?" "..." "The silent treatment, very helpful," Horizon grumbles. "Just drop your transformation and disable the bomb." "I can''t." "Why not?" "Because I just can''t, alright!" "Fine fine," Horizon raises his hands in surrender. "Well if we try to move it the GPS lock on it will set it off, but the longer it stays put the stronger the st." "Why didn''t you warp everyone away?" Star'' asks. "I figured you''d snap your fingers and get rid of it, like you''re refusing to do right now, that''s why." "It''splicated, so drop it," she grows out. "Fine, fine, I''ll deal with it, just don''t ask any questions," Horizon walks over to the bomb and cups his hands together. Star'' feels his Quirk deactivate, the tingly sensation of Hand Of God no longer moving across her body. ''What the hell is he doing deactivating his Qui---'' Her mind goes ck as she instinctively takes a few steps back, almost falling out of the trailer as Horizon gathers energy toward his hands. Then between his cupped hands, a small translucent blue sphere forms and grows. He stretches his arms out, over the bomb, and it seamlessly seems to phase through the bomb and continue expanding, and when the entire bomb is in the middle of it. The sphere bes a slightly darker blue, glowing bright, and instantly hardens, cutting through the trailer and the ground below topletely seal itself. "That''s new..." Star'' mutters as Horizon stumbles back, only for her to steady him. "Yeah, which is why it''s not efficient, and is so damn draining," Horizon struggles to speak, leaning against the wall of the trailer. As she''s about to ask another question, the bomb detonates, with enough power to make a crater the size of Manhattan Ind, yet they can''t feel it. They couldn''t even hear it, the only way they could tell it went off was the bright purple light shining from within the barrier. As the light dims and fades away, Star'' shakes the surprise away to collect her thoughts. "And I thought you were scary before," Star'' says. "Was that your awakening?" "Part of it, still needs a lot of work, this barrier won''t hold for much longer," Horizon says as they walk to the back of the trailer, to see the oblivious masses taking pictures of them. "What happened to Kelvin?" Star and Stripe raises her hand to show her prisoner, or what was left of him, "when the bomb failed he stopped holding himself together, seems revenge is all that was fueling him..." "I can''t imagine what a miserable life that was..." Horizon says as he sits in the back of the trailer, trying to catch his breath. Star'' sits beside him, gently waving to the adoring public as she whispers, "Will you be alright?" "Yeah, I''m just so hungry." "I know a great seafood ce not too far from here, how about it?" "Yeah, lets go eat..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 326: (Finding Tech) Chapter 326: (Finding Tech) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- ---June 30th, Horizon''s Penthouse, New York City... "Are you sure we aren''t missing anything?" Nezu asks as he''s typing away on the other side of the screen as Horizon paces through the living room of his penthouse. "Ibed over everything that fits their usual style and this is it," Horizon says. "So they stole that device from David Shield, which we recovered before it could leave Japan." "And they sacrificed a android that''s beyond anything even you''ve built until now to do it, which means they don''t value that tech as much as the rest of the world." "An android that I couldn''t hack into before theputers inside melted," Nezu reminds him. "Then what else, they created the Faux Nuclear Football for Sentinel, which luckily didn''t get used.""But again, nobody could hack into it before it self-destructed, so another dead end." "Until recently, right, a few weeks ago." "Yeah, the same day we dealt with Kelvin an energy efficiency researchb in Argentina was hit, along with a data uplink center in India, hacked like it was nothing and the manpower was handled by local viins given advanced tech in response." "All of these things point to a big antenna of some kind." "Yes but, if they broke Kelvin out for the reason I''m guessing, to get ess to their own Thermodynamic Reactors, they''re probably trying to build more than just an antenna," Horizon says. "Especially since Russia''s DED system waspromised a few months ago." "Well, the Direct Energy Defense system powered by one of Kelvin''s reactors could create a weapon of immense power, but that power signature would be impossible to hide." "Which means either they figured out how to hide it or they haven''t built it yet," Horizon says. "What would they even need the antenna for, it feels like they''re already in damn near everyputer in the world." "True, and an antenna of all things would make the signals flowing through the air easier to track via certain systems or Quirks," Nezu says. "If they want to reach the entire world like we believe there wouldn''t be anything else projecting and absorbing that much data at once." "Not to mention the device they build, even with modern tech, would be massive, that won''t be easy to hide," Horizon says. "They also need a fast uplink point, that''s mandatory if we''re right about them wanting to control the entire global web." "Yes but people have swept every data nexus around the world, and we''ve got people stationed there more than usual, they didn''t find anything." "Which Nexu has the most security?" "Technically the one here in America, just outside Houston," Horizon says. "I''ve reviewed the security on all of them, and not only is that one deep under a massive Airforce base, it''s also the headquarters for Star and Stripe, attacking it would be suicide." "True, especially while you''re in America," Nezu says. "And the weakest?" "India, the city is too close and has too many people, attacking it would be easiest," Horizon says. "What about UA?" "The UA Nexus is secure and safe, I''ve been keeping a careful eye on this ess point since David leftst year, having him around made maintaining the UA systems so much easier." "Right, well this still leaves us in a position where all we can do is wait and respond to whatever they do," Horizon sighs. "They''re either building a massive cannon, aputer of some kind, or both." "Or a giant robot," Nezu says. "Nah, that''s not their style, they never do direct confrontations like that. Whatever Tech wants, it''s probably something like threatening to take down every globalwork if we don''t pay a few billion or something." "That would be in line with what previous hacker groups were aiming for," Nezu says. "The only difference is this one may be capable of pulling it off." "Yeah, but we need more data." "Any ideas?" "Yeah, I think I have one that will work, I''ll call you back if I get any leads." "Alright, good luck," Nezu ends the call. Horizon quickly finds another number and begins calling, "it''s just past midnight in Japan but, he''s probably up still," he says as the call connects to his TV. "HIYA!!!" Mina Ashido appears on the screen. "What the hell," Horizon looks down at his phone, seeing Juzo''s number on the call. "Why do you have Juzo''s phone, I thought you were dating the Brick." "Ew, gross," Mina scrunched her face. "Kirishima is like a brother to me." "Yikes," Horizon says as he takes in the background behind her. "Are you in my kitchen, in Horizon Tower?" "Yeah everyone is here, Juzo''s phone is charging in the kitchen, I came to get more snacks before heading back to the pool," Mina says as she leans the phone against something so he can see her searching the cabs. "Right, whatever, take the phone to Juzo." "Gotcha, just giving me one second," Mina says as she bends over, giving him a view of her bikini-d body. "This is important Mina," Horizon says. "So are my snacks...I could have sworn I saw chips down here somewhere," Mina says. "Well, at least you''re giving me a nice view to pass the time," Horizon chuckles. "Is everyone in the tower?" "Just all the Hero Course students from our year," Mina says as she finds the chips. "And I hope you appreciated the view, you''re the only one that''s gotten to see me from that angle," she winks yfully before grabbing the phone. "Awe, someone has a crush on me." "Ew." "Ouch." "I just figured you''ve already seen all of us naked," Mina says as she moves about the kitchen. "Sero says you keep a stash of foreign snacks here, where?" "Top cab, near the fridge," Horizon says. "Thanks." "And why the hell do you think I''ve seen all of you naked?" "Your Quirk, can''t you see everything all the time?" "Well you''d just appear as outlines in ck and white, and I chose how specific I want to be, people''s anatomy is usually a blur unless I''m studying them." "Well, you studied me." "Your DNA, not your assets." "Awe, and here I thought I was getting some sexy, rich, superhero, doctor, boyfriend," she feigns sadness before gathering all the snacks and the phone, and marching through the hallway. "I''m not your type." "And that''d be totally not cool since I''m friends with Jiro and Momo," Mina says. "But mostly, you''re kind of a jerk." "Says the girl in my house raiding my kitchen." "You''re supposed to be polite to guests." "Oh please, you''ve met me," Horizon says as she enters the elevator. "How has America been treating you? You don''t respond to us in the group chat when we ask, but we look out for you in the news, even if you don''t show up much in it." "Most of the criminals and viins know better than to do anything in New York, or this side of America, so it''s more like a vacation if anything, what about you?" "Personally, I''m actually kind of scared," Mina admits. "We''re having this party because after this week we have to spend summer at our different mentor''s agencies, well, your team will be staying here. But now with viins getting extra excited since you and All Might are gone, at least until September, things are a lot more dangerous for us..." "You''re scared that more ssmates will die." "Scared that...maybe I won''t be good enough to save someone." "Being a Hero isn''t about saving everyone, you just have to save one person," Horizon says. "Get one more person out alive than there would have been if you didn''t be a hero, and that''s enough, everything else is just extra." "Easy for you to say, you always save everyone," Mina says. "Not everyone," Horizon says. "The day I lost my parents, I panicked, I lost focus, I''d never seen anyone I care about hurt before. If I kept my focus, they''d be here with me right now." "But then you never would have be a Pro Hero, right?" Mina asks as she exits the elevator. "You said you only chose this life because you have nothing for viins to take from you, but, you''ve saved so many people already, if you could have them back, but all those people you saved would die---" "I''d make that trade in a heartbeat," Horizon says, and sees his words hit her like a punch to the face. "What? Really?" she looks at him through the screen with wide eyes. "Mina, I''ve always said I''m good at this Pro Hero game, I have skills that allow me to help millions of people, but I''ve never imed to be a good person." "Yeah, well we knew that from the first day of UA," Mina chuckles as she continues walking through the building. "When you''re Horizon, you can make whatever kind of first impression you want." "Yeah we saw that, you did get away with mass murder after all," Mina says as she enters the pool area, and Horizon hears the music. "The world needs me, that''s all." "Hey, Horizon," Mina sets down the snacks and looks at Horizon through the phone. "Thanks, for what you said earlier...about saving one person. It means a lot you know, since you''re all the way at the other end of the scoreboard in our ss." "Don''t worry about it Mina, just do your best, you''ll be enough..." "Awe, be careful, or I might just fall for you," she teases him. "And I''d watch you hit the floor." "Tch, jerk," she hands the phone to Juzo, who takes one look at it and begins getting out of the pool, entirely tuning out whatever Tokage was talking to him about. Horizon waits until Juzo walks away from the other students, to where he can''t hear the music anymore. "Ok, we can talk now," Juzo says. "What''s up?" "I''ll send you some data in a few minutes, I need you to go handle something for me tomorrow night." "What kind of situation is this." "You won''t be going as Pro Heroes, just, wear some masks and pretend to be generic criminals, if you get caught." "So full stealth, and the target?" "Take one of the ck data drives from my office in the tower, you need to get to the mainframe at the address I''m sending and plug it in. The drive will do the rest." "Alright, so I''m guessing you''re copying all their files and making a virtual clone on Nezu''s system to track future transfers, what are they moving?" "Data, a lot of it," Horizon says. "The guy you''re targeting is a data broker, he runs everything between Japan, China, Russia, India, and Australia, I''ll go collect data from his counterparts stateside." "That''s a lot of data, what kind?" "ck market technology, if somebody managed to steal even one of the UA robots they''d have to go through him to sell it, so the tech I''m looking for must have used him as the middleman to sell it." "Right, this guy sounds dangerous, how the hell hasn''t he been caught yet?" "Every time someone sells things like weapons-grade plutonium to build some nuclear bomb, he tags it then gives the tracking data to Interpol." "So governments look the other way because he gives them what they need," Juzo says. "Makes sense, so why not just ask him nicely?" "The less people know I''m connecting the pieces, the fewerputers this will be in, so don''t log any of this outside of UA servers." "Computers, so this is about Tech?" "Yeah, we got a few more concerning puzzle pieces since I''ve been stateside, it''ll all be included in the files I send you." "Got it, anything else?" "Hmm, yeah," Horizon nods. "Take Mina with you." "Mina? Mina Ashido?" Juzo. "Look you know I don''t question you unless I have a good reason, but she''s not exactly stealth trained, or trained to work with our team, plus if we have to do some...less than ideal things, like some creative questioning, she could get squeamish." "If you do your job well it won''te to that," Horizon says. "In fact, you shouldn''t encounter anyone at the site at all, just a simple infiltration." "Then why Mina?" "She needs a win," Horizon says. "Plus, it''ll be nice when the press questions the girls about me, at least one of them won''t hate me and want me to rot in prison." "I have a feeling after this summer that won''t be a problem," Juzo says. "Gang Orca has been getting some troubling updates from the HPSCtely, we think the League Of Viins may be vetting new ways to smuggle Nomu in and out of Japan." "I see, well I can''t help from over here so it makes sense they wouldn''t bother me with this," Horizon says. "Just keep yourself alive, when I get back we''ll go hunt them all down." "Can''t wait." Horizon immediately hangs up and beginspiling files to send Juzo. A few minutester Juzo is sitting at the opposite side of the pool area on a lounge chair, enjoying a soda and some chips. In hisp is Setsuna Tokage, who was scrolling through social media on her phone. "You alright?" Setsuna asks, noticing he hasn''t spoken in the past few minutes, and is still intensely watching his phone. "Yeah, Horizon just made a strange suggestion in this briefing," Juzo says as his gaze passes over the pool area. He sees most of the students still enjoying the heated pool, most of the other girls are in the hot tub, while at the swim-up bar, Bakugo, was manning the grill while ying cards with some of the other students. "Well, I guess on paper it makes sense, and if the security is as good as Horizon thinks it is, we could use them," Juzo set his phone down and wrapped his arms around Setsuna. "I''ll tell them in the morning, no need to ruin the fun mood." Juzo''s gaze falls onto Deku, who is ying cards with Bakugo and a few others at the bar, then to Mina, who is in the hot tub eating some snacks, andstly, Yanagi, asleep on arge pool float drifting between everyone. END CHAPTER--- Chapter 327: (Distorted) Chapter 327: (Distorted) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- SHAMBLES! Horizon appears, Sunder -His new sword- in hand, on the sidewalk of sgow, the small town in Kentucky. The few cars driving through this street, the main street of the town,e to a screeching halt. Fortunately, they miraculously stop before all crashing into each other as everyone looks at him in surprise. Horizon gives a short wave to some of the people on the street before he begins walking deeper into town, toward a nearby diner. As he gets closer a small crowd begins to form, staring at him from a distance.People who were walking this street on their way to work took small detours and raised their phones to take pictures and record videos of him as he entered the diner. Stepping into the ssic American diner, Horizon sees the people he came for. An older,nky woman, with bright green hair tied in one long and thick braid, which was draped around her shoulders twice. Her eyes glowed green even as she casually ate her breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, and ck coffee. She was in casual clothing, a pair of sweat pants and a matching hoodie, but beneath it, Horizon could sense her Hero Costume already on. As she ate, her friend had a pile of waffles, 13yers high and drenched in syrup. She was just over 7ft tall, but a hair shorter than All Might''s former height of 7ft2, in his muscr form. And while she didn''t sport the same build, her blocky body was arguably more intimidating, seeing as it was entirely metal. Chrome gray and smooth with sharp edges where muscle separation would be. Even her eyes were solid organic metal. Horizon nced at the chair she was on, and wasn''t surprised to see it was specially made for her and heavily reinforced. ''So they really are regrs here. Well it makes sense that the public doesn''t know these two are involved, we kept it like that on purpose,'' he thinks while walking up and sitting opposite them. And neither woman bothers to nce at him, they simply continue eating. "sgow Kentucky," Horizon says. "What a ce to be sent this early in the morning. Honestly, I was confused as to why your government was sending me to Scond, but then they told me this ce exists." "There''s a small town called London less than 200km that way," therge metal woman nods to the East. "Yeah, I learned that this morning too, as if one London wasn''t enough," Horizon rxes into his seat. The metal woman chuckles and gets up from the table, walking over to the counter to refill her coffee. Horizon''s eyes lock onto the other woman, "So, Distortion, anything you want to tell me?" "Nope," the woman says. "Not even about who contacted Sentinel to give him help...the kind of help to hack into a nuclear football." "I wasn''t that trusted within the organization," she says, taking a sip of her coffee. "We managed to rip a lot of his mind you know, before it copsed," Horizon says as the other woman returns to her seat at the table. "Like the fact that you and Steel Golem here were trusted more than most, and the fact that Sentinel had you bent over in his bed on most nights..." Distortion stops eating and stares down at her food. "Is he dead?" Steel Golem asks. "No, well, not physically, mentally...probably." "But you can fix him," Distortion says. "If it was worth it, but he''s already outlived his usefulness, unlike you two." Distortion sets her fork down and leans back, folding her arms across her chest, but Steel Golem keeps eating. "Tech made contact with you, and you made contact with Sentinel, how?" Distortion raises a brow at this, staring at Horizon with her glowing green eyes, "drones." "Like this?" he ces his left forearm above the table and pulls back his sleeve, revealing the device Mei installed into his body glove that projects a small hologram for them to see. "Yeah, it looked simr to that, but a lot more advanced," Distortion says. "Happy now? You don''t have to let the CIA destroy our minds for your answers." "I''ll let them decide that, but I got what I wanted," Horizon says as he puts the hologram away. ''So the attack on the droneb in Mexico a few months ago was Tech, the more clues I get the less any of this makes sense, I need to find a motive for them so I can put it all together,'' Horizon thinks as a young girl walks up to him. He looks down to see her no older than Eri, with a phone in hand. "Hello mister Horizon, can I get a picture with you, please?" "Sure thing princess," Horizon gets up and picks her up with one hand, handing her Sunder to hold while supporting its weight with Takt. With the other hand, he makes a peace sign, all while using Takt to hold the phone away from them and take the picture. "Thank you, sir," she says while returning Sunder to him. "Anything for a fan," Horizon says. "Now you and your parents should get out of here, things might get messy when I take down these viins," he gestures to the women at the table. "They will," Distortion says as she continues drinking her coffee. "We aren''t going down without a fight." Hearing this the diner staff and customers quickly leave, putting the town on high alert, while Horizon returns to his seat at the table. "Damn, I wanted them to make me more waffles," Steel Golem grumbles. "I''m more concerned with the fact that Mr. Miracle over here didn''t bother warning the civilians earlier," Distortion says. "Do you not know who we are?" "I do, but it doesn''t really matter, after all, I''m Horizon." "You do realize my Quirk counters yours, right?" Distortion asks. "Or did they not include that in the briefing?" "The briefing said that, yes," Horizon says. "What about it?" Steel Golem chuckles, "I like this kid, he''s fun." "A privilege you only have when you''re the absolute strongest," Distortion says with a newfound hunger in her eyes. "I don''t mind younger men, just in case you''re wondering." "Sorry, my physiology makes romance...logistically difficult," he taps his visor a few times. "It''s alright, I''m flexible, for powerful people," Distortion leans forward, licking her lips. "And there isn''t anyone as powerful as you." "For the next month or two, Star'' is stronger." "I''m not interested in women," Distortion says. "Well I''m sure she''ll be relieved to hear that, but for now, how about I just apprehend you two and we''ll pretend you didn''t just try to get fucked by a 17-year-old hero while being a viin." "You should learn to enjoy the liberty thates with your position and power," Steel Golem says. "I do, but this doesn''t interest me," Horizon says as he gets up. "So?" "Let me finish my food," Steel Golem says as she only has three more waffles and some bacon left. "We''ll be out in a few minutes," Distortion continues sipping her coffee as Horizon exits the diner. They look through therge windows in front of the diner and see Horizon standing in the middle of the now-abandoned main street as the sound of news helicopters and drones begin closing in. "You should go to the bathroom before we get out there," Steel Golem rolls her eyes at Distortion. "Go dry off." "Why bother, I''ll just get drenched the moment we start." "You need help, like a therapist, or religion," Steel Golem grumbles. "You wouldn''t understand," Distortion stares at him through the window, seeing him as a nearly blinding blue beacon of power before she deactivates that secondary aspect of her Quirk. "Sentinel was a drop of waterpared to Star'', who is like a bucket of water. But this one...oh, the things I would do to feel his power stretching my p---" "---Focus." "Oh, right," Distortion shakes her head and finishes her coffee in one big gulp. "If Sentinel was a drop of water, and Star'' is a bucket, he''s like an Olympic pool, and that''s just what I can see. His raw energy is, impossible, but his Quirk, it takes so much, and yet even then I can''t see his limit." "Trying to scare me?" Steel Golem asks. "No, just stick to the n and we''ll be fine," Distortion says. "Horizon has taken damage before, he''s not invulnerable, which means he can die, and my Quirk will give us the perfect opening tond a lethal blow." "Then let''s go," Steel Golem says as she gets up, having finished her food. Distortion follows her out to the door, and as she steps outside her casual clothes bend and twist before falling apart on her body, revealing the all-green, skin-tight Hero Costume below with a whirlpool symbol in the middle of her chest. She lifts one finger and the air around her seems to bend and twist in a visible way, and her long braid is raised over her head and draped behind her, hovering above the road. "We really don''t have to do this, you can just surrender," Horizon says, looking up at the news drones and the one local helicopter above. "If you want to lock me in a box forever, you need to earn it," Steel Golem says. "Damn right, now show me what you can do with all that energy," Distortion says. Horizon warps Sunder into his hand, de drawn, and aims at Distortion. "So boring," she says. "Is hiding behind that fancy sword all you do, can you even fight without it?" Horizon raises a brow beneath his visor, and warps Sunder and the sheath away. "It''s been a while since I''ve had a chance to really enjoy a fight, and it looks like you''re volunteering," Horizon flexes his fingers to get in the zone. "But don''t think for a second that I don''t know what you''re trying to do." "You''re supposed to stand at the very top in all aspects of being a Pro Hero, or at least in fighting viins," Steel Golem says as she rushes forward, trying to close the 30m space between them. "Let''s test that!" Horizon sees her massive fisting and can''t help butpare her to Deku. ''Stronger than Deku, but not as fast or agile, she''ll never hit me, even if I don''t warp around,'' he says while sidestepping her first swing. He casually leans back to dodge the second, then into herrge frame to avoid the third cross. He then ces a hand on her metal body and releases arge electrical attack. "Counter Shock," a massive arc of current flows through her body, but instead of hurting her, she instantly speeds up. Horizon barely raises a hand and creates a Curtain fast enough to block the onught of attacksunched at him. "You think I''ve never been hit with that before?!" Steel Golem asks. "After decades of fighting, I turned my most obvious weakness into a strength!" As she continues to wail away at him, the temporary boost begins to wear off, allowing Horizon to once again physically react to her speed. He dodges her attacks while striking with his own. BOOSTER SHOT! His reinforced gloves crash into her metal body, unable to leave a single dent. Even as the blow shakes the entire street and breaks all the windows in the area, Steel Golem is unphased as she continues pushing forward. ''Ouch,'' Horizon thinks as the bones in his hand are quickly healed. Seeing that she''d need more time to be taken down, he simply intercepts a straight jab to his face and wraps his hand around her wrist. TAKT! The ground beneath Steel Golem rockets into the air, lifting her feet up. BOOSTER SHOT! Horizon pulls her arm forward, shoulder throwing her in an arc through the air. She soars through the air andnds nearly a hundred meters away, down the main street of this small town, cratered into the road. He turns around just in time, however, to erect another shield blocking the powerful wind from mming into him. While Steel Golem was still pulling herself out of the street a hundred meters behind him, constantly being pelted with rubble and debris by Takt, Distortion was pelting Horizon with ranged attacks. She was simultaneously distorting the atmosphere around her to lift her and move her around, simting flight while visibly bending the air around her, causing an effect simr to heat mirages all around her. She then extends one hand forward and snaps her finger, and in front of her a massive distortion forms where air bends and folds into itself, creating a super high-pressure air bubble. And in the next moment, the bubble is released, and the air around it is distorted to create a tunnel, like the barrel of a gun, aimed directly at Horizon. He raises another shield, and this time the road around him is stripped away, meters below and around him are easily carved out, simr to All For One''s Air Cannon Quirk which he used against Horizon and All Might. Horizon remains in ce, using his Faux-flight to hover above the gap in the road and move forward. He gets his feet back on the asphalt and sprints toward her, all the while using Takt to lift chunks of the road that she tore apart andunch them at her. With ease she constantly snaps her fingers, destroying them all whileunching almost a dozen more attacks at Horizon. But instead of stopping to stand his ground, he uses Antibacterial Curtain like a tower shield on his shoulder and bashes through them all. He is no longer limited to standing in ce while using this ability after his months of training. With the shield on his left shoulder, he sees an opening while closing in, and twists his body to throw his right hand forward. COUNTER SHOCK: Ranged Bolt! He throws a small electric bolt at her, startling the woman as it''s mixed in with the other projectiles being simultaneouslyunched via Takt. Seeing this she puts all of her focus into defending against it, and warps space itself around her. This causes her to drop to the road once again as the electric bolt curves around her and it sent back toward Horizon. As it''s almost about to hit him. SHAMBLES: Flicker! His entire body flickered, as if he glitched orgged in real life and appeared in a different stance, this time catching the small bolt and crushing it in his hand. The current scattered across his body harmlessly and dissipated in the air. "NO!" Distortion yells as she thrusts both hands forward, and the space all around her twists and bends, making the entire area look like a funhouse mirror. Horizon stops, and tilts his head slightly, "warping space, making it unstable to I can''t warp in there." "I told you, I''m a natural counter for spacial Quirks like yours," Distortion boasts as she sees Steel Golem closing in behind Horizon. Horizon doesn''t pay any mind to the heavy footfalls behind him and simply shakes his head. "Mystery ss: Quirks beyond humanprehension," Horizon says. "Yet you think you understand it, really?" Distortion narrows her eyes at him, sweat pouring down her forehead as she focuses on maintaining this area, then extends it to surround him, "you''re trapped." Horizon sighs, "In this world, there are people with abilities with power and applications that you cannot fathom, even if most of them aren''t necessarily Mystery ss." Horizon raises his right hand, as if reaching out to grab her. "And above all of them---" SHAMBLES! He suddenly appears in the warped space in front of her, his outstretched hand perfectly arriving around her throat and squeezing it. "---is me." With a sickening crunch, he pushes his thumb against her windpipe and shatters it, causing immense pain that forces her to deactivate her Quirk. She drops to her knees, looking down to the floor while raising her hands to her throat, feeling the inside of the windpipe and her lungs burning as she slowly drowns in her own blood. "You...lied..." she struggles to say, looking up at him through teary eyes. "Not necessarily lied," Horizon says as he turns his back to her, now facing Steel Golem who was twenty meters away. "I just simplified how my Quirk works for the masses, otherwise you''d never understand what it really does, for example..." As Steel Golem gets within arms reach of him and raises both her arms to m down onto Horizon, he stands there with both hands in his pockets and stares at her. And at thest moment. LASIK! Two bright blue energy beams are released from his eyes, breaking his visor, and mming directly into Steel Golem, pushing her back as her feet carve trenches into the road. "This little trick I learned from studying Sentinel''s eyes, see, how am I supposed to exin that with enough time and resources, I can do damn near anything," Horizonughs as he feels the intoxicating power flow through him. To Distortion and Steel Golem''s horror, he begins taking careful steps forward while raising the intensity and width of the energy beams, until they both merge after leaving his eye sockets and begins pushing Steel Golem into the road. The street cracks and shakes apart as he pushes her deeper and deeper underground, as the asphalt begins to melt and flow into the hole he is making. And a few secondster when his eyes begin to burn, he finally stops. And everyone sees the car-sized hole he punched and melted into the street with molten asphalt flowing into it, and at the bottom, a half-melted Steel Golem, with a hole punched through her chest. "Damn, I overdid it, oh well," was all Horizon said before turning back to Distortion. She looked up, on the verge ofpletely drowning, to see the two broken holes in his visor releasing seemingly boundless energy mist into the air. And in this moment, her fear, excitement, and infatuation hit heights she''d never be able to match with anyone else. So she smiles, with blood pouring out of her mouth, she smiles, even as Horizon grabs her by the hair and lifts her to his eye level, she smiles. "Now, I''ve got some questions for you," he says before they both warp away... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 328: (Lone Star Base) Chapter 328: (Lone Star Base) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "Wee to Lone Star Base," Star and Stripe proudly announce as Horizon warps onto the rooftop just beside her. "Kind of on the nose, don''t you think, I mean we are in Houston Texas," he says while walking to the edge of the massive air traffic control tower to stand beside her. Below and all around them was a massive military base, more akin to a city, 13km wide making itrger than Manhattan Ind by arge margin. "Well this entire base was built to protect and train me, and it happened to be ced in the Lone Star State, so I suppose you could say the stars aligned," she nudges him yfully. "All the power in the world and that''s the best you coulde up with?" Horizon shakes his head. "Anyway, you said you wanted to make an introduction before we got to business, who is it?" "That willeter, he''s in a meeting right now, so first, the tour.""I can sense everything in the base from here, remember?" "Yeah, but that''s no fun, let''s go," Star flies off across the runway where some massive cargo nes werending, past the hangars and toward the far end of the base. Eventually after following her around for a while, they arrive at one of thest stops. Sensing hernding and waiting for him, Horizon swaps ces with a pebble at her feet, and finds himself in a massive dirt field with a few hills and barricades, and targets down range from them. The firing range. "I know Japan has strict gunws, but have you ever fired one before?" "Compared to America, everywhere has strict gunws," Horizon says as he warps a grenadeuncher from the firing range armory into his hands. "But that''s part of the American charm you''re all famous for." "The range is closed to anyone but us, so..." Star'' gestures to the field where the targets are. With no hesitation, Horizon fires a grenade from therge weapon and scores a direct hit nearly 50m away. Star'' whistles in response, nodding proudly, "So, not your first time huh? We knew you had some kind of training, more than Pro Hero training, and you mentioned your parents trained you, was one of them military?" "Advanced security contracting," Horizon says. "I see, so what weapons can you use?" "From what I can sense in your armory, and on the base...everything that doesn''t require piloting." "So you''re saying you can''t drive a tank, well I''m sure we can give you a crash course," Star'' says with a mischievous smile. "Emphasis on crash most likely," Horizon rapid fires a few more grenades down range, hitting each of his targets perfectly. "Projectiles weapons with Takt is kind of cheating." "I figured as much, but you seem sofortable with it, I doubt your Quirk is making that much of a difference, right?" "Best be prepared for anything," Horizon says. "And learning how a weapon works allows you to better understand how to stop a viin that''s using it." "That''s what Agpar said, he''s the person I want you to meet," Star'' says. "Well, at least he sounds like he knows what he''s doing," Horizon says as he warps a tripod-mounted 80.cal anti-material rifle into his arms. "You''re a sharpshooter too?" "It''s hard to miss when you can see exactly where everything is," Horizon doesn''t bother going prone, simply using Takt to handle the recoil as he takes just over a minute to line up his shot, adjust the scope, then destroy a target that was behind a fewyers of a brick wall without using Takt on the projectile. "So, know any other tricks?" Star'' asks. "Because around here, bending bullets and finding targets behind walls, isn''t that special." "And here I thought the UN doesn''t allow soldiers to use their Quirks." Star'' shrugs and looks down the range, "idents happen in the heat ofbat, we''re only human after all." "Or at least we all started that way," Horizon says as he waves his hand, causing a dozen pebbles in front of them to hover in the air. "Shambles." Each pebble is swapped for an assault rifle at this firing range''s armory. The guns begin moving, disassembling themselves before quickly putting themselves back together in mid-air as dozens of magazines are warped in ce beside them and quickly loaded. "Wow," Star'' nods with an amused smile, "are you sure you aren''t American? Because the way you handle guns is very practiced, and I doubt Japan lets you get that much time with them." "They don''t," Horizon says as the guns are ready to fire. "But I''m a quick learner," he raises his right hand and snaps his finger. All the guns fly from in front of them facing down the range, to now surround both Horizon and Star'' And Stripe. The woman raises a brow at this, but doesn''t bother giving anything more than a curious look at him. "I don''t recall you being bulletproof, are you?" "Not exactly, I can take a beating but bullets would still hurt me, if they hit." "And if you aren''t actively enhancing yourself," Star'' says. "Well, get started." Horizon raises his hand once more, and snaps his fingers. All the rifles immediately begin firing directly at both heroes. Star'' doesn''t even flinch, knowing that even if he didn''t have something special nned, the bullets could never hurt her. Yet as the cacophony of gunfire rattled their ears and the entire shooting area, not a single bullet hit them. Star'' smiles as she sees what he was doing, all the bullets were being fired at them before curving, mming into each other, and falling to the floor in pairs, one embedded into the other. Star'' bursts outughing as the gunfire stops, then picks up one of the pairs from the floor. "Your precision is so freaky," she closely observes that just like all other pairs, one bullet tore through the shaft of another before stopping halfway through. "My mom said it happened way back, two soldiers fire at each other and their bullets end up like that, and they both survived the battle. She said it was something like divine intervention on the battlefield." Star'' raises the bullet to her eye level and observes it closely, then lowers it to scoff. "And now you can do it at will, divine intervention," She says. "Trying to say you''re a god?" "I''ve never said that, but people talk, what would you call me?" "The name of your Quirk says otherwise." "I was five," Horizon shrugs. "Well, you''re certainly not human, not anymore. Personally, I was betting that you were a cyborg under there," she reaches forward and casually taps his visor. "Would have exined this fishbowl, but the truth is just so much worse." "That I''m too impossibly handsome for anyone to focus in my presence?" "That you''re a human bing living energy, and that suit is keeping you held together, right?" Star And Stripe gives him a serious look as she puts the one pair of bullets away. "You don''t even feel human anymore, they may not be able to tell, because no matter how much we care about them, they aren''t like us." "No, they aren''t," Horizon says. "And don''t worry, regardless of what the future holds, I don''t see myself bing a threat to you." "Good, because why make enemies when you can make friends," Star'' gives him her million-lumen smile. "Friends, is that what we are?" Horizon asks. Star''s voice bes somber as she speaks, looking down the range, away from Horizon. "Well, as far as I can see, you''re the only person I can even really be friends with, the distance between you and everyone else...I know what that feels like. To feel like the entire world is at your fingertips, and to have nothing at the same time. You and I, we quite literally view the world in ways they could neverprehend, these Quirks that were given to us, they''re not just a tool to help people, they''re---" "---A wall to box us in, away from the world itself," Horizon sighs and gently reaches up to touch his visor. "Without my parents, the closest thing I have to family, is Nezu, and...he''ll never really understand what''s under here." "And what if he did, what if I did?" "Either your mind would copse from the sheer shock, or you''d hate it." Star'' chuckles, "Well, it''s a good thing the fishbowl neveres off huh?" She turns and begins walking away, and Horizon falls into step behind her. "It does feel pretty good, for the record," Horizon says. "Being able to talk to someone that''s not terrified of me or dropping to their knees to worship me, the only other people like that are Pantu and Nezu, but they still treat me like I''ll snap at any moment." "Well, history isn''t on your side with that one," Star'' says as they leave the firing range and begin walking toward a hangar a few buildings away. "But I get it, everyone is either a fan of us, or scared of us, it''s nice having you around, no need to walk on eggshells around you." "And a powerful sparring partner is nice," Horizon says. "Oh yeah, that reminds me, I got permission from President Skyline for us to have a real fight sometime, you know, just to see how it would go." "Seems kind of risky. This entire time your people have been trying to figure out Hand of God and I''ve been figuring out New Order, a direct fight like that...probably means you guys hit a roadblock in observing me." "Probably, but that''s not really a problem for me." "Right, because you can simply tell your body to resist my Quirk, that really is annoying." They take a few more steps as Star'' silently nods, then waves to a few soldiers running nearby. "So you can detect that huh, just like I can feel whenever I''m in your ''range'', I guess it''s only fair for it to go both ways, anything else?" "Yeah, it''s weird how much you trust me," Horizon says. "I''d always have thatmand on when I''m around, but you only have it on when you don''t want me to warp or cut you during training." "All Might said you''ll be the next great hero, of course I trust you," she gives him a dazzling smile. "Sheesh, you really are just like him." "Thank you." "Again, not apliment," Horizon says as they arrive at the hangar. "But if you''re really curious about how a real fight between us would go, let''s save it until the week I leave." "Finally, something that''s really fun happens around here." "We''re heroes, boring is what we should celebrate, anything else usually means we have to work." "C''mon, aren''t you excited, just a little bit." "Mmm, maybe a little, but don''t get too excited, because we both know how it ends." They both think about it for a moment, and Star'' nods. "I''ll win," they both say at once, looking at each other in surprise. END CHAPTER--- Chapter 329: (Arsenals Legacy Pt.III) Chapter 329: (Arsenal''s Legacy Pt.III) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "I want one," was all Horizon said as they entered the massive hangar. In the middle of the building, currently being inspected by dozens of engineers, was arge stealth aircraft that even he didn''t recognize. "You don''t even know what it is," Star'' says as she stops beside him. "ck paint, shaped like an almost t triangle, some kind of stealth bomber?" "Close," Horizon looks to his left as a short blue man in an electric wheelchair rolls toward them. The man had an extremely short moustache and blue skin, a bald head, and most notably, nothing below his knees. "It''s the next get stealth hybrid technology tform, part of a project we''re suspending until further notice." "Horizon, this is Colonel Timothy Agpar," Star'' says. "He''s the man I wanted you to meet, and the only family I have left.""I can see the resemnce," Horizon chuckles, as does Agpar. "So, something tells me I don''t have the clearance toy my eyes on something like this." "You don''t," Agpar rotates his wheelchair to face the aircraft. "But your ''Scan'' is infamous for being able to discover any hidden details in the area, and we''ve already taken out the most sensitiveponents and shipped them off for storage." "The project was suspended until Tech is deemed a non-threat toward America," Star'' exins. "We couldn''t risk them hacking into this project." "And what exactly is this project?" Horizon asks. "That much is above your clearance," Agpar says. "Project Tiamat," Horizon then says, earning surprised looks from Agpar and Star''. "How the hell do you know about that?!" Star'' asks. "I just read about it. Ink on paper isn''t impossible to find with my Quirk, but it sure is annoying." Agpar grumbles, "We were forced to move everything onto paper and hardcopies to prevent Tech from reaching it, and now we have you to deal with." "Unlike Tech I have no reason to use this against you, after all, I intend to move to America in the future," Horizon surprises them with this admission. "Having next-gen Intercontinental Thermonuclear Missiles on an insanely expensive technology tform like this makes my life easier." Agpar sighs before cing two fingers in his mouth and whistling loudly, enough to have everyone in the hangar looking at him. He raises his hand and makes a gesture, causing everyone to put down their tools, "Alright, put it all back together, but leave the power cells andm systems out!" Many of the engineers groan, but they don''t hesitate to follow his orders. "I hope you realize this means we''ll be forced to monitor you even more closely," Agpar says. "With how closely your government is already watching me, that won''t be possible unless they try to give me a cavity search." "Wee to my life," Star'' says. "I can''t go anywhere without logging it." Agpar scoffs, "What life? I''ve been trying to get you to have a life since you were a kid, but all you''ve ever wanted to do was y hero." "Being a Hero is my life." "Doesn''t have to be the whole thing," Agpar says. "Can we do thister, I''m really not in the mood," Star'' rolls her eyes and looks away. "So you two go way back huh, you''re one of her trainers?" "Yeah, since she was a kid," Agpar says. "After we met, after she moved onto this base, I was tasked withmand of the facility to train and protect her." "He was the only person I could trust," Star and Stripe says. "Without him, there would be no me." "Ahh, I see," Horizon looks over at Agpar, "so, is there an operating room around here we can use?" "Excuse me?" Agpar looks up at him, genuinely surprised. "I figured that''s why she wanted to introduce us, miracle doctor who can heal anything, man in a wheelchair, doesn''t take a genius to figure out the desired result." "I hope I''m not asking too much of you," Star'' says. "I really don''t want it to seem like I only want to use you, especially since I do enjoy hanging out with you, but I had to ask." "I get it, and really it''s no problem," Horizon says. "Healing heroes is never a chore, nor is healing the people my friends care about, this happens to be both." "I''m no hero," Agpar says. "Every soldier is a hero to his people, even if they don''t appreciate or acknowledge it," Horizon says. "Now, the operation should take a few minutes, how long it takes for you to relearn how to walk will take longer, but that part depends on you." Agapar looks up at Horizon for a few moments, and an awkward silence forms between the trio. "Have you ever experienced failure?" Agpar asks. "What?" "Failure, defeat, anything like that?" "Hmm, well, I lost to All For One when he ambushed me, some of my ssmates died because I lost." "Yeah, so you understand," Agpar ces his hand down at the stump, drawing their attention to his missing body parts. "I''ve had the option to get the best prosthetics the US government could get ess to. But some failures, some mistakes, they can''t be undone. And living with the scars is the only atonement for some people." "I understand," Horizon says. "And I can''t force my services onto someone, so the option is open if you change your mind." "Bullshit!" Star'' pushes Horizon aside to stand in front of Agpar. "You''re getting your legs back, it''s about time." "I don''t deserve to---" "Yes, you do!" Star'' leans down to look him in the eyes, and he sees the tears forming in hers. "I forgave you decades ago, now just let go of the past and let him heal you." "But---" "You''re the only family I have left, please," Star'' begs. "I don''t want to see you punish yourself over this anymore." Agpar looks away and gives an exhausted sigh, "Well, it''s about time I start walking forward." Beneath the visor Horizon rolls his eyes, "and it''s also time for you to get better jokes." ---30 Minutes Later... Timothy Agpar is lying on an operating table, unable to feel anything below his waist as he stares at the ceiling. "Comfortable?" Horizon asks as he carefully cuts open the stumps where the rest of his legs should be. "The robe is a bit windy, and the table is cold," Agpar says. "It was rhetorical." "Your bedside manner is terrible," Agpar says. "Well, the next guy who can give you temporary regeneration is a lot nicer." "What next guy?" "Exactly, that''s why I get to be...me." Horizon finishes inspecting the nerves on his left leg and cuts it open, then ces a hand on it. BOOSTER SHOT! Blue healing energy flows from his hand into the leg, and a momentter the bones begin growing, extending outward, immediately being covered by nerves, blood, muscle, skin, and everything else his genome demands to be fully restored. Horizon watches as everything down to the toes is fully restored, then carefully performs a few more Scans to ensure everything is perfect. "So what was the mission that went so wrong you ended up adopting a Mystery ss kid?" Horizon asks. "Firstly, I never officially adopted anyone," Agpar says. "And secondly, it''s a messy story." "Well we aren''t going anywhere, and I''m pretty smart." "Ever heard of Arsenal?" Horizon continues operating as ifpletely unaffected, "everyone''s heard of Arsenal." "Had a run-in with her toward the start of her career," Agpar says. "She cut your legs off?" "No, that would have been a lot nicer." "Ouch." "Yeah, we were tasked with escorting a new asset to this base, Arsenal was sent to intercept us, and a lot of people died, including all of my people. Star'' and I were the only survivors." "So did you fight her directly?" "That was my job, is my job, standing between monsters and the innocent," Agpar sighs. "My Quirk gives me enhanced reactions and agility, alongside some minor physical enhancement, standard stuff, and yet..." "She cut you down," Horizon says. "I''ve read about her, she likes hurting people, letting them know she''s better." "She is, too bad she''s not on the side of the angels like us," Agpar says. "The things she did, and all that Star'' was forced to witness...it left scars that even you can''t fix." "Well, at least she can rest easy now. Arsenal was caught in Japan and executed soon after," Horizon says. "I just don''t get why Star'' didn''t go hunting for her after all these years, no way Arsenal could have survived her." "Officially, she''s not allowed to leave the States without permission." "And, unofficially?" Agpar stays silent for a while, then closes his eyes and speaks, "The things she saw made Arsenal aplete demon in her eyes, all the power in the world can''t make you walk toward a monster like that, with all that baggage in the way." "Is that why she came up with that transformation?" Horizon asks. "Scared to be the vulnerable little girl again?" Agpar chuckles, "How long did it take you to figure out that piece of her Quirk." "The first time we shook hands, Scan is thorough," Horizon says. "Also figured out she can only have two of thosemands active at once, and they''re always temporary." Agpar smiles, "And we know you have a 60km radius of influence, you aren''t the only one that can put the pieces together." "True, but unlike her, the more you know about my Quirk the stronger it seems, the more demoralizing the idea of fighting it is." "No matter what your Quirk is, can''t be scarier than your psychological profile," Agpar says bitterly. "Someone like you, with your mentality, should never have that kind of power and influence." "He says to the man currently restoring his legs." "Nothing I''m saying is new to you, at least not in regards to you knowing what we think of you, but be honest with me for a moment, what really is your goal?" "Doctor-patient confidentiality?" Horizon asks, jokingly. "Sure." "Well, at first I just wanted to get permission to public use and train my Quirk, to find my limits and break them over and over, but now, well..." "Now you want to really be a superhero, I can tell," Agpar says. "But you''re certainly not the All Might type, your methods are much more, well, old testament." "Is that a problem?" "You focus it on viins so I don''t really care, and most people won''t admit it but they feel the same way," Agpar says. "But it is nice knowing you actually want to be a hero now, even if you certainly do have more motives than just helping people." "Yeah, just don''t tell Nezu, he''s unbearable when he''s being smug..." "AHAHAHHAHAHAHA," Agpar clutches his stomach and sits up, hisughter roaring through the room as he feels his feet being tickled. "Stop it, stop it!" The tickling stops as Horizon walks over to sterilize his tools once more, "well, they work, just relearn how to use them." Agpar catches his breath, then his mind finally realizes what happened. "Wow," he stares down at his fully regenerated legs. "Incredible, I don''t even feel tired after." "Yeah, I''m good like that, now I should go get ready for a little spar with Star'', I suggest you use crutches for a while to get used to them." "Yeah, will do," Agpar keeps staring down at his legs. END CHAPTER--- Chapter 330: (Our Quirk) Chapter 330: (Our Quirk) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "No no, youpletely misunderstand," Horizon says to Agpar. Both men were sitting outside at a few tables, at the edge of a massive grassy in just beyond the base. On the other tables around them were the engineers who had been working on the new jet, some Quirk researchers here to observe the spar, and some high-ranking military personnel sitting beside Horizon and Agpar. "So your n is to...not capture the League Of Viins?" one of the colonels asks. "I don''t understand." "Think about it like this, viins, are rats," Horizon looks around to make sure everyone is following. "They can''t really operate in Japan while I''m there, which is why since I''ve been over here on vacation the Nomu presence in Japan has returned, but what happens when I return?" "They crawl back into their hole," Agpar says."Exactly, but in this case, the ''hole'', is anywhere that I''m not," Horizon says. "We''ve already had reports of them selling Nomu to viins across the world, which means they''ve found a way to transport them without Kurogiri''s Quirk." "But none of those have been confirmed stateside," one of the colonels says. "Because they don''t want to poke America, they already have me hunting them down, they don''t want to give you people an excuse to send Star'' after them too." "Ok, ok," one of the colonels takes a sip of his water. "So you move back to Japan and scare them, then what?" "Then, I just put my hands on someone they were supplying with Nomu, that viin spreads the word about what happened and the lengths I''ll go to to find Shigaraki and his friends, and suddenly all the viins they''ve beenworking with are more scared of me than them." "Assuming you get permission to operate internationally," Agpar says. "Would Japan let you go abroad every time you get a lead?" "I''m working on something to handle that, but essentially I want the League Of Viin''swork to grow, so when I really scare all the viins who think they''re untouchable because they''re not in Japan, more people can submit intel in exchange for me not paying them a visit." "I see," Agpar nods. "Giving Shigaraki a long rope so he can hang himself with it the moment you pull, quite clever." "But far from ''heroic''," one of the colonels says. "A lot of innocent people could get hurt before you get permission to tug on that rope." "People get hurt all the time, but trust me, Shigaraki won''t give any of the powerful Nomu to other viins, he''s not that dumb," Horizon says. "He''ll keep those locked up in whateverb they have, so Pro Heroes around the world should be able to handle Nomu." "And when your hunt begins viins will be hesitant to use Nomu publicly, since that would put them on your radar," Agpar says. "Exactly." "And what about Shigaraki, what are your ns for him?" Agpar asks as he sees Star'' walking toward them. "We fight, he resists, my hand ''slips''," Horizon shrugs. "And his heades off, nobody will cry for that animal being put down." "That''s a relief," Agpar says. "Yeah, but first I have to figure out who is creating the Nomu for him, that''s more important than stopping Shigaraki himself, and I also have to figure out what All For One is nning." "All For one?" Agpar looks confused. "He''s already in Tartarus." "Yes, but there''s no way in hell someone as old and powerful as All For One didn''t have a contingency n that triggers if he gets captured, but I assume the person creating the Nomu will be part of that n." "Two birds, one sword swing," Star'' says as she arrives behind Horizon. "Are you ready?" "To fight you, never," Horizon jokingly says as he gets up and begins walking away from the table. Star'' falls into step beside him as they walk toward the field, even with her incredible eyes she couldn''t see the other side of this empty in. "What was the hold-up, had to prepare something special?" Horizon asks. "Phone call with the President," Star'' says. "He wants me in L.A. for a while, new leads on the Sentinel issue, the Pro Hero turned Traitor side at least." "Ahh, does that mean my proposed n got the green light?" "Maybe, but if it did, he''ll be calling you in a few minutes then you''ll have to leave, so let''s make this quick." "Have fun dealing with the muscle side of their failed takeover, I''ll have to deal with the backend of it." "Well you''re better suited to politics than me, I prefer to just punch stuff," Star'' shrugs. "I just can''t believe he''s letting you be so open about this." "Scare tactics work on people who''ve gone their entire life pulling strings and avoiding first-hand violence," Horizon says. "Now, we''ll start when you''re ready." SHAMBLES! Horizon appears in the middle of the field, and Star'' immediately feels the sensation of ants crawling all over her body. ''His Quirk activation and use are instant,'' She thinks as a broad smile splits her face. ''Now let''s have some fun and really flex our muscles!'' NEW ORDER: My Body will resist Hand Of God! Focusing her eyes, she sees him 5 miles -8km- away, now drawing his de. He sends the scabbard away before touching his palm to the de, and a blue glowing liquid energy flows from his body onto the de, clinging to it. For a moment the de appears to twist and flex, bending and wabbling, before returning to its sturdy and straight shape. ''That seems like what he did to stop the bomb, but different, a different application of his awakening. Well, that''s interesting,'' Star'' crouches slightly and narrows her eyes at him. Miles away Horizon raises his de with one hand, ready to swing down. AMPUTATE! He begins a perfect vertical swing, intending to divide the earth between them and test her resistance to his Quirk. FWOOSH! Star and Stripe is suddenly at his location, before the tip of his de could even descend an inch she cleared the distance. Her face was a hair breath from his visor. SHAMBLES! He barely swaps with a de of grass behind her as her punch sends what can only be described as a horizontal tornado. Carving out the earth in a 20m wide trench for miles ahead. ''Too fast!'' Horizon thinks. ''Need distance!'' Before he can adjust his body she turns on a dime and reaches out to grab his face, only for him to disappear once more, now hovering above her, high in the air. "What?" Star'' instantly spots him, and sees the sword pointing at her. She moves with the same unreal speed to dodge his attack, but still feels the sensation of ants gently nibbling at her arms and legs. ''No projectiles, just instant damage, good thing I''m resisting his Quirk,'' Star'' thinks as she experiences Injection Shot. The ability couldn''t affect her, and had she not been focusing intensely on the sensation it would cause, she wouldn''t have recognized it affected her at all. As Star'' is moving to the side her eyes are fixed on his location, which instantly changes. She looks ahead in the direction she''s moving, and sees him swinging horizontally, but she is already mid-sidestep moving toward the de. ''Ok, I''ll let this one hit me, let''s see what he can do!'' She twists her waist and punches toward the de. "HAHAH!" Star''s manicughter echoes through the battlefield as Horizon silently swings Sunder. The de, coated in the blue energy shes with her fist. Star'' can feel her resistance pushing against his attempt to manipte her being, and she can also see him adding more and more energy to the de as they sh. As her feet are nted on the ground once more, she withdraws her fist and punches forward yet again, faster than anyone in the world can possibly match or react to, including Horizon. SHAMBLES: Flicker! Horizon''s ''glitches'' in ce, and appears already in perfect position to block the blow with the edge of his sword. ''If I didn''t have a resistance to his Quirk, or my durable body, I''d already be dead,'' Star'' thinks. ''Not many people can take a hit from this sword and walk away.'' "You''re a tough nut to crack open," Horizon says with clear strain in his voice. "HA! This is incredible!" Star'' gets even more excited. "I''ve never had someonest this long against me, usually viins go down after one hit!" "With power like yours, I''m not surprised," Horizon disappears once more. Star'' turns around, looking for him, then she feels a change in the air. She looks up to see a lightning bolt descending from the overcast sky directly toward her. ''He gave me an opposing charge while we shed, clever,'' she thinks, smiling at the lightning bolt. As it''s less than an inch from her head, using her absurd speed and perception she steps to the side. She had to divert a bit more energy than usual into her physical transformationmand, but the sight of lightning slowly making its way toward the ground as she casually moved away was worth it. While in this same super-speed perception, she turns to find Horizon, seeing him, raising hundreds if not thousands of small rocks and des of grass around the battlefield, at shoulder level. ''Giving himself options to warp away,'' Star'' thinks as she observes him, and even now he appears to be a statue. She nces at the lightning bolt that''s about to hit the ground, admiring it once more, then races off toward Horizon. As she''s about to punch his visor, at the veryst moment he swaps ces with a de of grass, avoiding the hit. Star'' returns her physical transformation order to its standard energy consumption, then turns to him. "This is incredible," Star'' says. "This must be what it feels like to havepetition huh!" Horizon nods and lowers his sword, "I''m not surprised you''ve never felt it before, you are the first Mystery ss Quirk user after all, you were born peerless." "Are you saying you''ve felt this before, you''ve had a rival?" Star'' asks. "Was it one of your ssmates?" Horizon scoffs, "What a bad joke, as if they could dream ofpeting with us. Ever since I figured out what my Quirk was, you were already a Pro Hero, a rookie, but a Pro. So I''ve always known that there was one person out there stronger than me, and that''s why I improved at such an exponential ratepared to you. And you''ve been stagnant all your life." Star'' frowns, "It''s not like I don''t train, but when everyone goes down in one hit, it''s hard to improve. What I am to you, I never had. In spirit, I look up to All Might, but in power, I could eclipse him over a decade ago." "Well, now you aren''t alone at the summit, not anymore," Horizon''s entire body begins releasing his blue energy mist, then it gets thicker, clinging to him, then it seemingly ispressed beneath his body glove. "And if you don''t start improving, I''ll be strong enough to kick your ass before I head back to Japan!" Star and Stripe suddenly feels his Quirk deactivate, not having the sensation of ants crawling across her body anymore. But her eyes know better, they still see the energy radiating from his de, only now, none of it is leaking to the earth below. It''s more refined, more controlled, and sharper. She feels the ants crawling across her once more and he instantly appears in front of her, striking down vertically. ''He didn''t flicker this time, he just changed his orientation while he was being transposed, what the hell?!'' Star'' panics slightly as she raises a hand to block him. INCISION! She feels her forearm be hot as her skin gets cut, not even enough to draw blood, but enough. The feeling of pain is all but alien to her, and she panics at that moment. She leaps backward, allowing his swing to continue. The tip of his de hits the ground and a massive chasm appears as the earth is violently sundered. ''I don''t know what the hell he did, but his Quirk is different now, like,yered. Ah, he must have twomands as well, of course, just like me!'' Star'' thinks before her feet touch the ground. The moment she''s back on the floor she charges forward, but this time, as opposed to when he was a statuepared to her speed. She could see him moving, slowly, but it still surprised her. He swung his de at her while she was in mid-air, unable to dodge. NEW ORDER: I can move freely through the atmosphere! She deactivates her resistance to Hand Of God and narrowly avoids the attack by flying upward. SHAMBLES! She suddenly appears back at ground level, and this time Horizon is already there, thrusting his de forward to impale her in the shoulder. Star'' raises her hands to catch the de, and feels the sensation of warm blood flowing down her arms from her palm, as the sharp point inches closer to her face. ''What the hell, he can cut me!'' NEW ORDER: My body will resist Hand Of God! His de immediately is unable to cut her, allowing her to toss him aside. And thanks to her absurd Quirk, less than a secondter her body ispletely healed. ''I can never deactivate my resistance to his Quirk, that was foolish of me. I''ve been invincible for so long that feeling pain surprised me too much, but now I''ve adjusted,'' Star'' thinks as Horizon casuallynds on his feet. Deep within her very being, she feels it, blooming, growing. From a spark, to a raging fire. Her smile splits her face, as usual, but this time the look in her eyes wasn''t calm or gentle. There was a fire in her, a desire to improve, to grow, to pull further ahead of this person standing across from her. For the first time in her life, she felt true inspiration to push and surpass all of her preconceived, self-imposed limits! Feeling this, new Order responds, and Star'' feels a swell of energy she''d never had ess to before, as if Hand Of God and New Order were challenging each other, pushing the other to go higher than before. Horizon sees the look in her eyes, and beneath his visor, and a devious smile splits his face. He considers the battlefield, the things he''s just experienced. He feels his awakening draining him by the moment, iplete, inefficient, and far from stable. But C-Room was enough at the moment, enough to ignite the fire in her eyes. ''Star and Stipe, our Quirk truly is incredible,'' he thinks as they sh dozens of times more. Each sh bes stronger and stronger, clearing the overcast sky and forcing the grass the cower away from them. While Star and Stipe was relishing the sensation of having someone who can seemingly keep up with her, of having a friend who could walk beside her, Horizon was doing the same. Her speed was beyond anything he could ever dream of matching, so instead he would flicker between shes to reposition himself. They both knew, if this were a real fight, he''d be dead in an instant. He cannot keep up, cannot hit her, not unless she allows it. But they were having fun, therefore she allowed it. But with each sh something else grew, only within Horizon, something he''s never felt before. Jealousy, envy, wishing he had something another person had was so foreign to him that until now, it never truly resonated with him. And the thing he was so jealous of, of all things, was Star'' and Stripe''s simple-minded talent. He always had the theory, he almost spilled this idea to Nezu before he came to UA, but now after meeting her, he knew it was true. Hand of God and New Order, are the exact same Quirk. They allow the user to to manipte the code that makes up reality, but the human brain cannot process this, therefore each user interprets it differently. For Star and Stripe, she was never a genius in any regard, so she simply ''speaks things into reality'', she doesn''t understand the mechanics of what happens when her Quirk is used. But eachmand temporarily edits the code of the world around them, including the code of other people depending on their will to resist, and understanding of themself. But Horizon was a genius before he had his Quirk, which is why his road to train and master it has been exceptionally difficult. Albeit he can reach height even Star and Stripe couldn''t imagine. He knows that he edits the ''code'' of the world around him, which is why his alterations can be made permanent, much more so than Star and Stripe''s. This is why, even now, no living person aside from Horizon knows what his Quirk truly is. Lies upon lies upon lies. ''Warping. Spatial shes. Invisible Bullets.'' So many lies, because exining the mechanisms of his Quirk to someone who has never experienced it. Is like describing a rainbow to a person that was born blind. How do you tell someone, that instead of opening a gateway in space to enter, you simply appear someone else because that is where you already are? Even Nezu would be lost as such an exnation. But even Horizon doesn''t know everything, even Horizon doesn''t know, that there was another user before Star and Stripe got her Quirk. Even he, no, especially he, would never consider such a thing, because he could never imagine passing his Quirk to another person. BEEP BEEP BEEP! Both Horizon and Star'' freeze as Horizon''s phone rings. Horizon''s hero costume was torn up, his jacket, vest, and shirt werepletely shredded and lying on the floor in ribbons. His body glove was perfectly fine, and his pants had some tears in them. And beside him, Star'' was only missing a piece of her cape and had some shes in her Hero Costume, but they both stopped for him to answer the call. "I need to get going," Horizon says as he hangs up. Star'' wipes the sweat from her forehead, "So he really approved your n, how absurd, but it''ll be good to see the politicians getting punished for once." "That''s the n, now I need to go get ready for the party," Horizon says as he sheathes his de. "Party?" "Sorry, I''ve already got a date," Horizon says jokingly as he looks around at the miles of destroyednd around them. "You''re good to clean this up yourself, right?" "I---" Before she can respond he warps away, leaving her to pick up after him. "He''s so annoying sometimes..." END CHAPTER--- CHAPTER 17(Two Types Of People), just in case anyone was wondering if this Quirk reveal was hinted at before... Chapter 331: (Kicking The Hive) Discord: .gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- ---Upstate New York, 7:00 PM... "Not what you expected, right?" Law asks as he takes a seat in the small diner. He ces two trays on the table, each having a burger and fries, but the one opposite his also has a sd. "I only ordered a sd," his date says, a gorgeous ck woman with arge afro, bright golden eyes, and a Quirk that acts like a moving tattoo of golden ink across her skin, constantly moving and changing like the tides. Her dress, ck and gold, well-fitting and backless, matches his suit, and her eyes are impossible to track as they glow gold, yet he knows she''s staring at him while he takes his seat opposite her. "Women always order the sd, it''s polite," Law says as he starts eating his fries. "But then they stare all night staring at your burger, regretting that decision.""Well I suppose you''d be the expert, you are the international yboy, after all, Mr. Matani," she says, eyeing her burger before reaching for the fries. "And you''re the reporter who agreed to be my date, even knowing that, na." "Already on a first-name basis?" she asks. "Are you always this polite, telling women what they should eat then assuming they''re going to sleep with you just because you''re," she gestures to all of him. "Thank you?" Law smiles as he takes a sip of his drink. She shakes her head, then continues eating her fries. "Is this the first time you''ve had to agree to a pletely business and not a date'' type dinner?" "No, but it''s the first time I''ve been sent a dress and purse I could never hope to afford, only to be taken to a diner," she gestures to the empty diner around them. "Also, if you''re trying to buy a woman, you really should add some jewelry." Law chuckles "You don''t need jewelry. You''re my jewelry." "Excuse me?" she sits back in her seat, folding her arms. "You''re a junior reporter to some reporting agency that''s already bankrupt, won''t evenst until the end of next month, you''ve got no de, no experience, nothing to offer, except..." he points to her. "My body?" she narrows her eyes at him. "Your Quirk," Law says, pointing at her with a fry. "Dark skin and golden skin, matches thepany colors, the family colors, you look good on me." The woman scoffs, "Four years in college and the biggest opportunity of my life, is because he thinks my Quirk is pretty. You could have at least called me smart before you called me pretty." "I''d never use you of being smart," Law says, jokingly. "Can''t be smart if you spent four years studying journalism." "Now you sound like my dad." "Well I am a father to my people," Law says. "Ready to get started?" "Halfway ready for this night to be over," She says while reaching into her purse and taking out a small notepad. "So what would you like to know first?" Law asks. "Your English is very good, by the way," she says. "My American too." "American isn''t anguage," she says. "Every three states the people soundpletely different," Law shrugs. "It''s one of the charms only a country this big and divided can have." "So have you been enjoying your stay over here, you''ve been seen at a few fundraisers and parties, but you''re new headquarters stateside is the Manhattan Matani Tower, why?" "Central Park is a nice view to wake up to," Law says. "Plus in New York, you can get anything you want...except a street with no noise or traffic." "Well I can''t attest to the former, but thetter is certainly true, which I''d imagine you dislike considering your car collection is ever-growing." "Buying stupid things like that is a good way to meet people who have more money than they know what to do with," Law says as he takes a bite of his burger. "I''d rather you not put that part about my, associates, in your story." "Got it," she scratches out herst note. "And now you''re here, in America, enjoying your life and setting up some new businesses all of a sudden, why?" "Growth is part of life, it''s that simple." "You make your employees in Japan nervous, over a hundred thousand people exist under the Matani banner, you being overseas scares them," na says. "But they have faith in you. You kept their paying when you weren''t making any profits, you quite literally bought their trust and respect." "Everything has a price," Law says. "Well, almost everything." She raises a brow, "You believe there is something that can''t be bought, like what, loyalty?" "No, money buys opportunity, and one good opportunity is all it takes to earn loyalty," Law says, with a sad smile. "But the only thing I ever cared about can''t be bought, after all, people always say money doesn''t follow you to the grave." "Right, your family," she says while taking some notes. "When I researched you, I learned about them. I''m sorry that happened." "idents happen, it''s not anyone''s fault," Law says. "I just try to make the most of what they left me, help all the people I can." "Using your inheritance and going public, growing the family business and brand, donating money as if you don''t care about your personal ount, I should have guessed you don''t care about money," she says. "But do you care about yourself?" Law gives her a strange look, "that''s a new one. Hundreds of reporters and none have ever asked me that." "People rarely ask heroes how they feel." "Hero?" Law chuckles. "Sorry, I forgot to wear my cape." "You quickly became a pir in Japan, what else would you call that?" Law sighs, "A man with no time on his hands." "And a man that''s good at avoiding questions," she says. "How do you feel, Law?" Law stops for a moment, thinking about it, then smiles. "Hopeful." "Hopeful?" "I feel stupid for it, but I have to be hopeful, otherwise," he pauses for a moment, thinking very clearly about the future. "Otherwise I don''t know what I would be." "Well, if you ever stop being hopeful, a hundred thousand people could suffer," na says. Law smiles as he takes a sip of his drink, "Sure, just a hundred thousand. What about you, how are you feeling?" "I''m on a date with one of the most rich and powerful people in the world, so I''m nervous." "Date, I thought this was an interview?" "That too," she quickly takes a deep breath to focus. "And what''s your endgame?" "No idea," Law admits, seeing her finally eating her burger. "I''ve got a lot of things I want to do, maybe be the messiah, maybe the devil, which should I be?" "There are people calling you both, how about we flip a coin and you decide?" "Nah, I know what I am, now we just wait," Law says, jokingly. "Enjoying your burger?" "It feels wrong eating a burger on a da---interview." "That just helps it taste better," Law shrugs. After another half hour of talking, they both finish their meals and get up to leave, and Law leaves a thousand-dor tip on the table. "I wish more rich people were like you," na says as she notices the tip, before following him out of the diner. "Would make a lot of people working regr jobs happier." "Most people care about the money they have," Law says. "But nothing I want has a price tag, unless you know someone who can resurrect people...do you?" "Maybe you should get on Horizon''s list, win the bid, and have him try his magic." "It''s not magic, it''s just a strong Quirk," Law says. "Besides, already tried that. Two billion dors for him to tell me it''s impossible. If there is a god, it''s not him..." "Wow," na says as they arrive at his car, a sports car she doesn''t recognize in the Matani colors, ck and gold. "What kind of car is this?" "It''s custom, from the wheels and chassis to the engine and interior," Law says. "Well, driving back to Manhattan does give us some open road for you to actually enjoy it, can''t say I''m excited for the drive back," na gestures to her car parked nearby, a slightly worn down older car. "About that," Law says as he takes out the keys and hands them to her. "What?" "You think I''d have someone this beautiful on my arm and not show you off?" he asks after handing her the keys. "So the interview isn''t done?" "Not even close," Law walks over to the passenger seat. "And you''re driving, someone wille by to get your car, it''ll be waiting for you after breakfast. Now lets go, we''ve got a party to get to..." END CHAPTER--- Chapter 332: (Kicking The Hive Pt. II) Discord: .gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "This is the most ridiculous thing ever," na says as she drives over two hundred miles per hour -200kmph-, through the clear roads in a massive private area of Upstate New York. "Which part?" "All of it," na says. "If I crash I hope you know I can''t pay for this." "If we crash that''s not gonna be a problem," Law says. "Yeah, I was trying not to think about that." "Anyway, we''re close now so we should clear up some things," Law says. "Do you drink?""Only on special asions," na says. "No drinking tonight, you''ll want to keep your head on straight around these people." "And what kind of people are we talking about, because it sounds like I''m about to walk into a drug deal or something." "Ha, you wish it was that simple," Law says. "We''re about to party with a lot of dangerous people, people who drug dealers wish they could bepared to." "People like who?" "Senators, judges, elected officials, Pro Heroes, some military people, private sector businessmen, that kind of thing," Law says. "It''s a charity g, but you can call it a...Kingmakers Ball, it''s where the future of this country gets decided." "The entire country?" "One part," Law says. "This is the faction that recently lost, because they put all their chips on Sentinel." "Sentinel!?" she ms both her feet on the brakes, bringing them to a screeching halt. "These people are working with those traitors?! And you want me to go there?!" "Yes, because you''re the only reporter I know they can''t buy, since one of those traitors killed your dad when they attacked DC, he was just a police officer trying to do his job, and they put him down, and these people were backing them." na grips the wheel so tightly that her knuckles whiten slightly, then rests her head on it. "You expect me to party with the people who killed my father?" na asks. "No, I expect you, to act as arm candy, a piece of ass they can ignore because that''s all they''ll think you are," Law says. "Listen, observe, learn, start writing a story that doesn''t have my name in it, and take down their entire empire." "And leave all theirpanies and connections on the table for you to take, right?" "Well, someone has to," Law says. "But if you want to walk away right now and miss your chance, now is the time." na takes a moment to collect her thoughts, then continues driving. "They won''t let me in there, I''m a reporter," she says. "You''re not big enough to be on their radar," Law says. "And they have this event every few months, they let their guard down, they''re used to being able to speak freely." "So I''ll get everything without asking a single question," she says. "And when can I publish this story?" "You''ll have to wait until I confirm," Law says. "These people are dangerous and well connected, I''d rather be more established in America before you put a target on yourself." They continue talking for a few minutes and she finally sees the estate in the distance, "and they say crime doesn''t pay." "It doesn''t," Law says. "Sometimes it just takes longer to catch up to people, but now we''re here." ---30 Minutes Later... Standing in the extravagant ballroom, na is clinging to Law''s arm as they chat with an older caucasian man and his wife. The man has hair that glows green every few seconds while his wife appearspletely normal. "I was hoping Senator Heftran would have been here," Law says. "It''s not very polite for the host to be fashionablyte to his own party." "Well when he gets here you''ll have to get in line," the man says. "Everyone wants to talk to him after ourst investment went belly up, which is why we invited you here, hoping to set up some more, concrete, infrastructure overseas. Mainly Japan." "Well Colonel, I''m sure in that regard I can be of major assistance," Law says. "But I was rather surprised when I got the offer, after all, Horizon currently resides in Japan." "Yes, for now," the man''s wife says. "But we have sources that say Horizon and Skyline are in talks about him moving to America after graduating UA, these are just some, long-term investments." "The type of investments you forget about until they be useful," Law says. "It makes sense, after all, America does seem to be more aligned with his...personality, than Japan." As they continue speaking, na quietly observes, trying her best to remember every name, face, piece of useful information, and every name mentioned in passing. All of it, clearing anything else from her mind as she gathers evidence for the story of a lifetime. Ever so often she speaks, making her presence known but not adding anything of value, ying the role of an essory for her wealthy and powerful date. Going along with the persona he prepared for her, a wealthy heiress from overseas who shares in his ambitions. As they''re talking another manes along and whispers something in the colonel''s ear, leading to him and his wife excusing themselves from the conversation. "What do you think that was about?" na asks, quietly. "Not sure, let''s get some air and wait for Heftran, he''s the one I need to talk to," Law says as he leads her to the balcony. "He looked really worried back there, and he wasn''t the only one," na says as they walk onto the balcony, which was fortunately deserted. "Well, whatever it was, I''m not part of their inner circle yet so hopefully it doesn''t apply to me." "I''m sure being here means you''re too deep to be separated from them, which is why you want to control the story, right?" "And I want to see these people brought down," Law says. "Expanding my reach along the way doesn''t hurt though." "I''m sure it do---" na stops talking as she sees dozens of fancy cars leaving the mansion. "Wow, they''re in a hurry, something must have really spooked them." "Clearly, take a look inside," Law says. na walks away, back to the ballroom, and he takes the moment to close his eyes and activate Hand of God. Hiding his glowing blue eyes he takes in everything, every word people are saying, their physical traits, every piece of paper every word every license te. Everything. Before she returned he warps away for just a second before returning. ''That bug should be enough,'' he thinks as shees rushing back over to him. "The entire room is empty, thest few people just rushed out," she says. "I guess they forgot we were here, but what could have scared them like that." "Well, let''s get to the helipad, we can find out on the way there," Law says as he holds her hand, giving her some sense of relief. "Helipad?" "Well it beats driving back to Manhattan, and I figured by now you''d want to get out of those heels." "That was an hour ago," na says as she follows hit to collect their phones and get to the car. He takes the driver''s seat and begins driving away from the estate while she checks her phone. "I found it," na says. "Oh my god, I just found Senator Heftran." "Where is he?" "Look," na swipes her screen, and the video is projected onto the dashboard screen for him to see. "Horizon posted this on his ount, so it must have happened a few minutes ago." "Oh my god," Law sees Horizon sitting standing behind a couple who were bloodied and tied to chairs, gagged and conscious for it all. "That''s Senator Heftran, and his wife." "Sorry about the mess," Horizon says, in English. "But I decided it was best not to hide anything from the American people, not about my intentions and resolve to deal with this current crisis of...loyalty. This man, is Senator Heftran, and this woman, is his main aplice, his wife. And they, along with many other politicians, were supporting the Evolutionists, Sentinel''s deranged movement. Some because they believed, most for profit, but regardless of why they supported it, they will be dealt with the same way." Horizon steps forward and ces his hand on the man''s head, squeezing hard enough to make the man scream through the gag. "Pain and suffering will meet these traitors before justice finds them, because President Skyline has given me permission to hunt you, with the full resources of the United States Of America supporting me. He chose me, because he wants this to be public, to be a lesson, because the entire world will be watching. Because while some people do not appreciate how...aggressive, I am with viins, the majority, regardless of what they say to their friends and family to appear nicer than they really are. They do support me, and my methods, after all, viins are monsters. But you people, the people who took the faith and trust of the public, of the people who gave you power with their votes. The power you promised to use to help them, to lift them up to a better life. You who decided to use that power like a knife and stab them in the back, there won''t be anyone pretending to care about you, because you are worse than any Viin. Because as much as we hate Viins, they are honest about the monsters they are. Just as I am honest about what will happen to you, when I put my hands on you. I will make you talk, and the longer you refuse, the more you will be educated on how resilient the human body can be. Your only option, is to go to the nearest police station and turn yourself in, give up anyone and anything you can, because the longer it takes for me to get you, the less patient, and gentle, I will be. It''s only a matter of time, after all, as of this moment no one holding public office is allowed to leave the country, so I''ll see you soon..." The video abruptly cuts off, leaving na speechless. "Oh my god," she whispers. "I can''t believe they really did this, with Horizon hunting them down they''ll be handled in no time!" she says excitedly. "Well, I''m d you''re excited about this." "The people responsible for my dad dying have the most powerful, dangerous, psychopathic monster in the world hunting them, this is the best news I''ve gotten in a long time." "Well, we can celebrate back at my ce, and I can give you some more info for your story." "Ahh," na melts into her seat slightly, feeling much more rxed. "This night was full of surprises, but all good ones." "Well, I''m d you enjoyed it," Law says, happy this yed out so well. With his deal with President Skyline, he''s only allowed to reveal certain people during his scare tactics campaign, but since na was here tonight she can fill in the gaps for the public, giving him some distance from it all. Degrading public trust in politicians and their Pro Heroes even more, and transferring it all to Horizon... END CHAPTER--- Chapter 333: (Villain Disputes) Discord: .gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "Have you been enjoying your vacation?" Nezu asks, appearing on Law''s phone as it floats beside the pool, currently hosting the video call between him and Nezu. Law takes a deep breath as he floats in the water, enjoying the luxuries of the Matani Tower in Manhattan. "It''s been, easier than I expected," Law says. "Politicians are cowards, after that announcementst night a lot of them surrendered, more than I expected made the wise choice to turn themselves in instead of running." "But not all?" "No, not all," Law says. "But most of my part is already done. President Skyline agreed to involve me because a scare tactic like that is exactly what they can''t deal with, they aren''t used to the violenceing to them directly." "And what else do you have to do?""Make a few examples, nothing serious," Law sits up on the surface of the water, eyes glowing bright blue as he makes the surface support him. "Are you really only calling me to get a update?" "Hmm, no, not really," Nezu says. "A lot of smaller gangs are rising up since you''ve been away, trying to make a name for themselves and cash out before you return to Japan." "Oh, Shigaraki''s people?" "Surprisingly no, the League Of Viins is still only doing background work, supplying weapons and manpower in the form of conventional weapons and Nomu, they''ve gonepletely dark otherwise." "Hmm, that''s not too surprising," Law says. "They know better than most what it''s like to stand against me, and they know I''d hunt them in particr, the first chance I get, so they don''t want to leave a trail that I can follow once I get back to Japan." "UA has also been quiet," Nezu says. "All the Hero Course Students with Provisional Licenses are spending the summer with their mentors, and the others are preparing for the exam in September. A few spend a few days at a time at UA to get upgrades to their equipment however." "Ahh, so that''s why you''re calling," Law smiles, mischievously. "You miss having me around¡­you''ve built a system that''s so efficient it leaves you with nothing to do." "Things were more interesting with you around, besides, it is always good to have a project in the works." "Speaking of projects, about the Panacea¡­I got ess to the US Medical Quirk Database this morning, the simtions are already running," Law says. "I noticed, it''s putting a serious strain on my systems over here," Nezu says. "Have you settled on a price, or are you still going to make it free?" "A miracle cure should be free, I am a Pro Hero after all," Law says. "But anything that requires more intimate surgery will still need an operation." "So you won''tpletely kill your business, is that intentional?" "No, if the body doesn''t recognize things that need to be removed as obstructions then there isn''t anything the Panacea can do about it," Law shrugs. "If a person was born missing an arm, their body thinks that''s normal so the Panacea won''t grow a limb for them." "And are any countries still hesitant to share the data they have?" "Only a few, but their people will deal with that for me, after the announcement is made. Whoever reces those politicians will know better." "And what about the doses you left here, at UA?" Nezu asks. "Ibeled those with names for a reason, they only work for the person I made them for, otherwise things could getplicated," Law says. "The version I''m working on right now is universal, which is why it''ll be so expensive." "Well, the miracle cure is done, what''s next? World peace?" Lawughs at the absurdity of his serious question, "Why would I want that, a peaceful world, is a world without progress, and that''s too boring¡­" ---South Korea¡­ "What do you mean he doesn''t care?!" Spinner ms his phone down, shattering it on the floor. He turns to the corner of his room where Twice and Toga are ying checkers, seeing both of them staring at him, clearly worried. "So Shigi'' isn''t going to do anything about them?" Twice asks. "That''s what Compress says, but I''m gonna go talk to him," Spinner says. "Either of youing?" "Sure, I need snacks anyway," Toga says as she gets up, wobbling slightly before Twice holds her. "Take your time," Twice says. "You only just got out of the wheelchair, no need to push yourself." Toga pulls her arm away from him, shooting him an annoyed look, "I''m not a baby you know!" "We know, babies are cute," Spinner says as he rushes out the door, marching down the hallways of theirtest headquarters to find Shigaraki. "What the hell does that mean?!" Toga yells as she takes out her knife and rushes after him, only to stumble and prop herself up on the hallway wall. "Stupid legs!" "Want a piggyback ride?" Twice asks. "No, I need to walk more anyway," Toga says as she pushes off the wall and continues walking down the hallway. "Thanks for trying to help, Twice." "Sure thing," Twice salutes her as they walk down the hallway. "What do you think about this whole situation anyway?" "I think anyone disrespecting us should get stabbed in the neck," she stabs the air in front of her to emphasize her point. "We got together because the world was disrespecting us and calling us freaks, so why is Shigi'' letting a bunch of wannabes do that to us, it doesn''t make any sense." "I hear ya," Twice says. "Especially since those damn pieces of trash made fun of big sis Magne, after she gave her life protecting us from those Pro Heroes." "They have to die for that," Toga says in a serious tone. "Nobody makes fun of our friends and lives, nobody." "Well, I wouldn''t say ''Nobody''...but that one is out of our control," Twice grumbles. Toga stops walking as memoriese flowing back. Twice walks a few steps before he notices, looking back to see her leaning against the wall, sweating, breathing heavily, eyes flooded with fear and panic. "Oh crap! I''m sorry I''m sorry I shouldn''t have brought him up!" Twice rushes over and hugs her, not letting go until she calms down. A few steps ahead of them spinner looks back, taking in this scene. "We won''t get anywhere if they stop fearing and respecting us," Spinner says. "We need to show those new wannabe Viins that they can''t mess with us, otherwise everyone will want to mess with us, and we''ll all get hurt like you did. I won''t let that happen to my friends." Twice nods in agreement as Spinner walks forward, entering the elevator and going to the warehouse below. He exits the warehouse to see Shigaraki leaning on the railing, overlooking their five-story tall, massive warehouse, filled with tubes of Nomu that have already been sold. Shipping containers are lined up beyond the massive gates, being loaded onto ships just a few hundred meters away. "Shigaraki, you can''t be serious," Spinner says as he approaches, looking around to see Nomu loading and moving the cargo around the warehouse. "I am, we aren''t going to retaliate," Shigaraki says. "We aren''t street-level thugs anymore, we have a business to run. Being a Power Broker is our new role, not just regr Viins." "Is that what this is about, the fact that there aren''t any profits in it?" Spinner asks. "They publicly disrespected us, and big sis Magne, they said she was ''worthless trans trash'' and that''s why she died, are we gonna let them get away with that." Shigaraki''s jaw tightens, then he rxes. "We are in Korea, they are a small-time Viin group in Tokyo Japan, without Kurogiri there are now logistical issues in going there for simple retaliation." "We can easily get over there, the same way we ship Nomu from here to South America." Shigaraki sighs, "If you want to wipe them out, then contact one of our cells in Japan, send them to kill them all, and make an example of them, problem solved." "You know that''s not how this works," Spinner says. "People around Japan are talking, they think we ran because Horizon scared us off, that we''re cowards who don''t get our hands dirty anymore, they aren''t respecting us." "You want me to leave our base and go kill them, over respect?" Shigaraki asks. "You fret over the respect of ants, Spinner?" "You know, that''s exactly the kind of thing Horizon would say about us¡­" Shigaraki''s grip on the railing tightens, "Spinner, we aren''t foot soldiers anymore. You''re one of my generals, act like it. Give some orders and have them wiped out, problem solved." "Then people will respect us even less, and the other groups grabbing for power will grow, then where will that lead, think about it." "Hmm," Shigaraki rubs his chin, pondering the possibilities. "We''re at the top of the Viin food chain in Japan right now, if our position starts slipping the other groups will start fighting in the streets." "Which is normally what we want, chaos and death, but¡ª" "The government could call Horizon back early," Shigaraki says. "Then all the shipments we have in Japan, and n to move before he gets back to Tokyo, would be found¡­crap." "Yeah, so let me wipe them out," Spinner says. "If you won''t go, then send me, I am your right-hand man after all." Shigaraki groans, "Spinner, I rather lose the respect of those ants if if means my friends can remain safe, and our ns can continue forward." "If I don''t go deal with them, everything will be at risk," Spinner says. "We need to remind the Viins of Japan that we''re on top." "Don''t do anything public, we don''t want the cops and Pro Heroes getting excited about us showing our faces in Japan," Shigaraki says as he turns to Spinner. "If they catch your scent you can be sure damn near every Pro Hero and cop in Japan will be hunting for you, and without Kurogiri, there won''t be an easy way to get you out of there." "I know, and I''ll be careful," Spinner says. "Is Dabi still in Japan, I could use some backup on this." "Dabi working on something to shake up Endeavor, apparently his daughter teaches at an elementary school that''s seriouslycking security." "If he does that then Horizon will definitely be back in Japan." "Which is why he''s just setting things up for now, this will act as a diversion if we need it. But for now, only you, Dabi, and I, know about this n, so keep it that way," Shigaraki says. "We can''t afford to let too many people know, Telepathy is a thing after all." "Got it, when I''m done with these guys I''ll go help out Dabi." "Good, take your usual Nomu, along with a Twice Double, we can''t afford to let his main body leave this base." "What about Toga?" Spinner asks. "Hmm," Shigaraki raises a brow at this. "Something you want to tell me?" "Uh, no," Spinner blushes and looks away. "I just think she really wants a chance to kill the guys who made fun of Magne, and this will be a good chance for her to get back into the flow of things." Shigaraki turns back to the Nomu working in the warehouse, "Whatever, just don''t let your feelings get in the way of the mission, and promise me you''ll alle back alive." "I promise you." "Alright, take some of the more basic Nomu, keep things as quiet as possible," Spinner says. "And check in with Dabi before you hit them, maybe he''ll be in the mood to cremate some people." "Got it, boss!" END CHAPTER--- Chapter 334: (Hope Of Cloud Cover) Discord: .gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "I just feel like, things would have been a lot better for us, for the three of us, for you, if things had gone differently," Aizawa says as he looks down at the photograph in his hands. The small picture was of himself, Hizashi -Present Mic-, and Oboro-Kugorigi- at the end of their second year at UA. They were all sitting on a cloud he''d created, and Aizawa couldn''t even recognize the smile he wore in that picture. He wipes the tears from his eyes and looks up to see Kurogiri strapped to a chair beyond two feet of reinforced ss with some holes for them to speak. "Heroes make hard choices, that''s what makes us different, different from Viins especially," Aizawa says. "Heroes sacrifice themselves for others, so I wonder. If things had gone differently, if you had gotten out before the building copsed, if the three of us graduated together and formed that Hero Agency we wanted to¡­" Aizawa stops for the moment, shoulders slumping as he leans back in his chair, staring down at the picture with a frown."Would the person who took my ce, in that version of things. Would they have been able to protect my precious students? I couldn''t protect them all, maybe they would have done better than men." Aizawa brings the picture up so he can look at it side by side with Kurogiri, who was silently staring at him, unresponsive, as usual for these visits. He''d been visiting much more often since summer vacation began, but the Viin had yet to say a single word to him. "It''s all I''ve thought about this past year, even more recently. This month makes it one year since you¡ª," Aizawa coughs to interrupt himself. "Since the League Of Viins, attacked the summer camp, and killed some of the students. But no matter how much I think about it, since All For One was there, the best possible scenario was me being there." Aizawa scoffs. "If he and All Might or Endeavor fought there, everyone would have died as coteral, so my Quirk makes me uniquely qualified to neutralize him, to protect my students," Aizawa lowers the picture, focusing on Kurogiri. "I suppose against the devil himself, limiting losses is more realistic than saving everyone, right?" Kurogiri continues to silently stare at him. "Yeah, I figured you wouldn''t disagree. You were always the type to keep trying to save everyone, even to the point that it got you killed¡­you were always meant to be a Hero, so it''s no surprise he used you like this. Turning the best of us is what devils and demons are supposed to do, and if you were alive they never would have managed that, you were the strongest of us in that respect." "Five more minutes," the guard announces through the speakers. Aizawa detes even more, muttering to himself, "Five minutes, five years¡­what''s the difference?" Aizawa looks down at the picture, feeling hope slipping away as a new set of tears fall onto it, until a new ray of hope shines through. "Cloud," Kugorigi''s deep, hoarse voice says, struggling with each syble. Aizawa''s eyes snap up to the Viin, widening to their limits. "Cloud?" "Cloud¡­cover," Kurogiri says. Aizawa gets out of his seat and presses a hand on the ss, "Yes, that''s the name you wanted the Hero Agency to have, Cloud Cover, what else can you remember?" "Cloud¡­Cover¡­Hizashi¡­Shota," the dark purple fog around Kurogiri''s face begins to dissipate slightly, revealing flowing dark purple hair atop his head, a piece of a scarred, surprisingly young face. Aizawa could only see the right eye, and the new scars on the forehead, but he would recognize his friend anywhere. "Oboro!" Aizawa yells as he sees his friend cry a single tear, before his eyes glow yellow again and the fog begins reforming. "Shota?" Oboro asks, clearly confused. ERASURE! Aizawa activates his Quirk, finally seeing a piece of the body below the fog. But it doesn''t stop the fog from fully reforming, and Kurogiri from going rigid and unresponsive again. For better or worse, it does not affect his current state. "Vitals say he''s in a deep sleep," the guard announces through the speakers. Aizawa sighs and dries his tears, leaning his head against the ss. "So it''s notpletely hopeless after all," he mutters, looking up at Kurogiri. "Hizashi will be happy to hear about this, but we need you to keep fighting. Keep trying toe back to us, you''ve never given up on anything before, so don''t start now, not when you''re friends are fighting too." Kurogiri''s eyes open for a moment before closing again. A few momentster the doors open, and Aizawa is escorted out of Tartarus. After getting to the surface from floor four, Aizawa gets into his car and begins the ten-mile drive across the bridge that connects Tartarus to maind Japan. "Hizashi, are you busy?" Aizawa asks as the call connects. "Not really, I just got back from that emergency. Now I''m just helping some of the kids with their Quirks," Hizashi says. "What''s up?" On the other end of the call, Hizashi Yamada, aka Present Mic, was sitting on arge boulder in casual clothes, nursing his sore throat after a surprising amount ofbat in an emergency mission he was sent on. Ahead of him is arge grassy field filled with boulders of varying sizes. While talking on the phone he observed Kyoka Jiro, in her Earphone Jack hero costume, shing her earphone jacks together close to the boulders without touching them. Each time she does this a soundwave rushes out in every direction, knocking her back into the grass. He watches with an amused smirk as the girl struggles to learn something that came so naturally to him. In fact, destructive soundwaves were so natural to him, that when he was born, his first cries burst the ears of everyone in the room, doctors, nurses, even his parents. So wrapping his mind around not simply being born powerful was something he took years to achieve. "It''s about Kurogiri," Aizawa says, and Present Mic''s amused smirk stops. "Oh, did something change?" he asked, hesitation clear in his voice. "For the better," Aizawa says. "I saw Oboro." "..." "Hizashi?" "..." "Hizashi, are you there?" "Uh, yeah," HIzashi says. "What do you mean?" "I mean, he remembered the Hero Agency we wanted to start, or atleast what he wanted it to be called, and I never mentioned that name." "So he really is in there," Hizashi says, fighting the tears trying to form. "I''ll be sure to go with you next time¡­I can''t believe the one visit I can''t go to is when this happens, what a sick joke." "Well he always was a prankster like that," Aizawa says. "But seriously, he''s still in there Hizashi. Our friend, Oboro, he''s still fighting." Hizashi smiles, "If anyone could fight his way back from the grave, it''s him, especially when there are people who need him to save them." "Aizawa," Hizashi says in a quiet voice. "He was born to be a great Hero, he''ll save us from this, I can feel it." "At this rate, it''ll be decades before that happens," Aizawa says. "What do you think about moving him out of Tartarus?" "Out of Tartarus, where the hell would¡ª" Hizashi stops as he sees some UA buildings in the distance. "You can''t be serious here?" "We can keep the transfer quiet, and even if Shigaraki did learn about it, they won''te here. Horizon Tower and UA are arguably safer than Tartarus when ites to them." "The Hero Commission would never agree to that, the risk is too high." "Maybe, but I could see Oboro, his tears, he wants us to save him," Aizawa says. "And don''t you think we''ve kept him waiting long enough?" Hizashi bites his lip, but nods. "How would we even do this?" "We have powerful friends, and people who owe us favors. Between Nezu, Horizon, All Might, and Endeavor, I''m sure we can get something done." "Yeah, friendship is the best Quirk after all, so let''s rely on it for this," Hizashi says. "I''ll go talk to Nezu when this training is done." "Good, I''m going to meet up with Edgeshot and Sir Nighteye, they asked for my help on a case." "Oh, you''ll be working with Deku and Lemillion too then, plus Cellophane and Tsukuyomi." "Team Horizon is managing Minato Tokyo until their boss gets back, so just Deku and Lemillion," Aizawa says. "Before I get back I''ll make a stop in Saitama Tokyo and talk to Endeavor." "Right, I should probably tell Nemuri about this too, she''ll be d to know we''ve made some progress." "Yeah, but don''t tell anyone who doesn''t need to know. This could still take a lot of time." "So, his parents?" Hizashi asks. "Best not to get their hopes up," Aizawa says. "We didn''t tell them he was Kurogiri in the first ce because of how hard his death was on them, so that news plus this¡­I hate to imagine what it would do to them." "Or if he''d even want anyone to know. When he''s back, if he has all his memories from his time as Kurogiri¡­" "He can me himself all he wants, after hees back to us," Aizawa says. "Let''s just focus on one thing at a time." "Yeah, I suppose you''re right, call me when you''re done with Edgeshot and Sir Nighteye." "Will do," Aizawa says as he hangs up. Hizashi looks up at the sky, seeing the scant few clouds high above, and smiles. ''I guess there are always clouds somewhere, huh Oboro?'' He falls into his memories, mainly of his friend who could be with them again, soon, and can''t help but feel more hopeful by the second. After all, miracles are being granted all around himtely, so maybe he finally got his. "Sensei!" Jiro snaps him out of his thoughts, almost a half hour after he began cloudwatching. "Huh, what''s up?" Hizashi asks, looking at the girl with a battered Hero Costume and bruises on her body. "I still can''t direct the soundwaves forward, I think I should go see Mei to have some equipment made for that, like yours," she says. Hizashi raises a hand to touch his neck, where his sound-directing equipment would usually be. "That''s not a bad idea, but just keep in mind that sometimes equipment that starts as training wheels bes a crutch," he says before hopping down from the rock, and walking over to her. "Master it, but keep training to achieve the same effects without it." "Of course sensei. Plus if I ever have to fight a viin without it, I''d rather be ready for that too," she says while removing her visor, which looked simr to Horizon and Cellophane''s, but had a speaker design where the face would be. "It should be capable in theory, but the output just feels, off." Hizashi rubs his chin, "It''s based on the design of my gear, so we assumed your power output was the problem, hence making you train to create destructive soundwaves without it, but maybe your rhythm is the problem." "My rhythm?" Jiro asks. "Well, your Quirk amplifies the sound of your heartbeat, that''s why pumping that into the ground so easily causes quakes for you," he says. "Mine amplifies my voice, so I have more power but can''t use to to prevision like you can with your Earphone Jacks, plus it doesn''t help me use echolocation like you, so maybe rhythm is the problem. Or more urately, stockpiling the energy matching the rhythm." "What do you mean?" Jiro gives him a genuinely confused look. Hizashi sighs, "Your Quirk is connected to your body, so keep the sound of multiple heartbeats moving around in there then release them all at once, instead of trying to amplify one, amplify a few at once. I do a simr trick with the vibration of my vocal cords, but it puts a serious strain on them." "My Quirk uses my heart, and by extension my entire body¡­so what happens if I strain it?" "Your bones will hurt before your heart, so stop if you feel any pain at all, try it out after you go get some lunch," Hizashi says. "I need to go see Principal Nezu." "Sure thing sensei," Jiro says excitedly as he walks away. After he leaves she rxes, looking at the one boulder she''d been trying to shatter all day, which still stood strong. Then farther ahead, at the 5m -16ft- wide, circr trench carved in the ground, spanning the field they were currently training in from end to end, almost 33m -100ft-. She then looks to the man as he walks away, already on another phone call. "I guess he''s not just someme DJ¡­" END CHAPTER--- Chapter 335: (Mental Jolts) Discord: .gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- ---South Bend, Ohio, USA, 8 PM¡­ "I didn''t take you for a football fan," Star'' says, sitting beside Horizon atop the stadium while the teamse back onto the field. "Sure, ''Football''," Horizon says. "When you''re in America, you call it football," she says as the second half of the game begins. "Do wee to your country and try to change things?" Horizon slowly looks at her, "Yes, that''s what you people are most famous for¡­being obnoxious is part of your culture." "Psh, whatever," she says as one of the cameras finally turns to them, showing them on the massive screen and announcing their presence to everyone.Both Horizon and Star'' politely wave to the people before the cameras return to the game. "Do you n to go shake hands and pander to the crowd after the game?" Star'' asks as they return to their quiet conversation. "We won''t be staying for the whole thing, my target should being back to this city soon, as soon as he''s in my range we''ll warp out of here." "Oh great, am I going to have to watch one of your infamous torture sessions," Star'' frowns at the idea. "Hey I didn''t ask you toe find me, you can fly back to your base if you want." "Are you saying you don''t like mypany?" "You aren''t my type, but the free food is nice." "Don''t like blondes?" "Don''t like ''Heroes''," Horizon says. "But it is nice talking to someone who isn''tpletely terrified of me." Star and Stripe gives him a smug look, "Maybe if you figured out that Awakening I''d have something to be scared of, but you''ve still got a bit of work to do with that." "I''m close, just needs the final touches, and studying your Quirk is exactly what has helped me get this far," Horizon says. " "Oh, really?" Star'' raises a brow at that. "And what have you figured out about my Quirk?" "You impose your will on the world around you to force temporary change, the concept is simple, the quantum implications are¡­much less so, but you and I are beings of will, we just apply it differently," he says. "Would be helpful if you told me the name, for my personal records." Star and Stripe sighs, "It''s called New Order, and yeah it''s basically what you just described, but I''m not giving you any more info on it." "And I would never ask." After a few more minutes of friendly conversation, Horizon stiffens and taps her arm. "He''s here, we should get into position," Horizon says. "Damn, and I was just getting into the game," Star'' grumbles. SHAMBLES! Star''tenses as she''s suddenly in an expensive kitchen overlooking a small privateke in the backyard. "I expected to feel, something," she says. "Don''t be stupid, you know how my ''Warping'' works, why would you feel anything?" "Yeah, I guess you''re right," she says while looking around, seeing Horizon looking through the fridge. "Where are we, you said we were going to ambush someone, shouldn''t we be on a rooftop someone waiting for them." Horizon grabs a bottle of water from the fridge and then moves to the cabs, rifling through them, "the best ce to ambush people is where they feel safe, for this person, that''s in his home." As he''s rifling through the kitchen Star and Stripe walks around, looking at the family pictures on the walls. An older couple, and from what she could tell their daughter had already graduated college. "Do you do this often?" she nces over to see Horizon walking into the living room with a box of cookies. "All the time," he sits on the couch and puts his feet up. "They''ve got some cameras in here but I looped the footage from before we arrived, they''ll be here soon enough, and we''ll surprise them." Star'' gives him an ufortable look, noticing how rxed he is, sitting on his soon-to-be victim''s couch, eating their snacks, scrolling on his phone. Eventually, with a sigh and roll of her eyes, she takes a seat beside him and turns on the TV. "Is this seriously what people watch?" Star'' asks. "When was thest time you watched TV?" She shrugs, "Back when I was a kid, my sister and I were watching cartoons on the ne when¡­" Horizon nces at her, seeing the ufortable look on her face, "bad memories?" "Yeah, something like that," Star'' says before flipping to the news channel. "Yeah, figured you''d do that. Everything else is Pro Hero propaganda bullshit anyway, especially the idiots who have their reality TV shows." "Probably half the reason that Stain guy wanted to kill people," Star'' says. "Oh, sorry, I shouldn''t have mentioned him." "Why?" "Didn''t he kill one of your friends?" "Oh, that," Horizon shrugs. "I told the idiot that would happen if he tried to get revenge for his brother, but he didn''t listen." Star and Stripe turns to him, shocked. "I thought that was just bad luck, your statement was¡ª" "Aplete lie," Horizon says. "He wanted revenge for someone he loves, which is something I canpletely understand." "Revenge isn''t what Heroes do." "If someone killed a person you cared about, you wouldn''t want them dead?" Star'' frowns and turns back to the TV, "I guess I was being a bit of a hypocrite. If I had the chance, I would have done anything for revenge, but¡­it turns out I didn''t need to." "Wow, so you do have a dark side, who could possibly bring out that side of you?" "I''d rather not talk about it," she says. "Whatever," Horizon shrugs. "The target is almost here, now is yourst chance before things get messy. I''d hate for Star and Stripe to get stained with blood because of me." "I''ll be fine, besides, I''m handling the Pro Hero side of the traitors¡­that''s why I needed this break." "Too many fights?" "Too many former allies, too many traitors, too many reminders that I can''t drop this mask for anyone." "Heh, no wonder you like spending time with me," Horizon says as he gets up. "I''m honest about what I am, and I don''t care about what you are." "You know, some would say that makes us friends," Star'' gives him a mischievous smile. "But I can''t be friends with someone who prefers pizza to burgers." "I thought we agreed to settle on steak." "It''s about the principle," Star'' scoffs and folds her arms, jokingly. "I wear this cape for a reason, you know." "And that reason is because your government isn''tvery creative, so they just wrapped you in their g." "It works when your g is undefeated," she gives him a cocky smile. Before Horizon can respond they what the front door open, and an older couple enters the home carrying some travel bags. They hear the couple chatter from the hallway before the woman walks into the living room, removing her coat. Only to freeze as she sees Horizon standing there, casually, while Star and Stripe are sitting on her couch, bashfully waving at her. "Hi," Horizon politely waves, and her phone flies out of her pocket into his hand. "Robert!" the woman yells, not taking her eyes off the heroes for even a second. "I know I know!" The man says from down the hallway, Horizon can sense him struggling with their bags. "But I''m just saying I''d like to see my grandson more than twice a year, it''s not like herw firm will copse if she takes a few days off to¡ª" The man freezes as he sees Horizon and Star and Stripe in his living room. "Honey, you should go wait upstairs," the man says, and his wife begins taking shaky steps back. "Sorry but, that''s not how this works," Horizon says, causing the woman to freeze. "Would you mind asking your husband where Senator Silvers''s money is?" "Robert?" she turns to her husband, getting more scared by the moment. "What is he talking about." "I uh¡­I don''t know what he''s talking about, I¡ª" The man suddenly warps in front of the couch, and with a wave of his hand Horizon uses Tack to control his clothes and shove him down onto the couch beside Star and Stripe. "I''ll take this," Horizons says as the man''s phone flies over to his hand as well. He deftly connects the phone to the device on his left forearm with a small cable before turning to the woman. He casually gestures for her to walk over to him, and as if sensing the impending danger, she slowly begins to back away. "No," Horizon uses the same trick to pull her over to him, grabbing her shoulder and turning her to face her husband. "Don''t you touc¡ª" the man tries to get up, only for Star'' to casually ce a hand on his shoulder, keeping him seated. "Damn it! You''re supposed to be heroes, why are you threatening innocent people?!" "I haven''t threatened anyone," Horizon says. "But innocent¡­the only innocent person here is her," he points to Star''. "You''re a traitor who did a lot of secret ounting for senators, stealing money from the federal budget and funneling it to them, so they can give it to Sentinel¡ª" Horizon pauses, and turns to the man''s wife. "And the fact that she barely reacted to that news, means she knew." "I swear she didn''t know until after I¡ª" "It doesn''t matter," Horizon says. "For better or for worse, right? You''re married, you''re in this together. You had the better when you were livingvishly, and used some of that money to help set up your daughter''s Law Firm¡­now I''m the worse." "Wha¡ªwhat are you going to do to us?" The man asks, barely getting the words out. "Anything I want, until you start talking," Horizon grips the woman''s shoulder, causing her to scream out and w at his hand before he begins lifting her into the air by her shoulder. "Stop it!" the man yells, and Horizon surprisingly drops the woman, allowing her to crumple to the floor and hold her shoulder. "See, this is why I don''t have anyone I love, all it does is invite weakness for my enemies," Horizon says. At his words, Star and Stripe used all of her training to fight the emotions that almost showed on her face. Feeling a profound sense of deja vu, as if watching a younger version of herself, who said the exact same words. "I''m going to get some air," Star'' says as she gets up and walks away. "Wait, wait!" the woman begs. "Don''t leave us with him! Please!" Star'' ignores her cries as she steps into the backyard, leaving Horizon to his heinous work. ---20 Minutes Later¡­ "Star'', get in here," Horizon says as he steps into the backyard. "What''s wrong?" Star'' asks as she steps into the living room, seeing a bloody mess left on the carpet and walls as the couple cling together, terrified. "Jesus Christ!" "He''s not here right now, obviously," Horizon says. "Can you just get her to shut up, I can only focus on one this at a time for this." "Fine, whatever it takes to get this over with," Star'' says as she walks over to the woman and gently ces a hand over her mouth, pulling her away from Horizon and her husband. "Now, this is going to hurt, a lot, so if you want to tell me the address, this is the time," Horizon says as he kneels in front of the man, the crying, blood-drenched man. The man looks over to his wife, who is staring in horror, "If I talk, they''ll know, and they''ll kill them all¡­I''m sorry." "Protecting your family, I can respect that," Horizon says, his voice surprisingly gentle. "But I''m a bit annoyed that you''re more scared of your traitor friends than me, especially since I''ll do much worse than just killing your kids and grandkids." "Wha¡ª" Horizon grabs both sides of the man''s head, holding him in ce. "Hold still, I''d rather not fry your brain too soon," Horizon says as the man''s eyes begin to flicker white and roll back into his head. Star and the man''s wife watch, in horror, as Horizon slowly moves his hand away from the man''s skull. But streams of electricity leap between his palms, through the man''s head, burning the man''s hair and skin as his body trembles and nose bleeds. After almost a minute of this horrific show, the man''s eyes pop and are burnt shut. And after a few more seconds of spasms, the corpse falls back onto the floor. The woman in Star''s arms was frantically kicking and screaming, with her hand muffling her, with tears flowing down her face. "What did you do?" Star'' asks, not sure what she witnessed beyond the clear murder. Or more urately, execution. "I um¡­whew," Horizon tries to get up, but strumbles and drops to one knee. "Wow, that''s a serious headache. I need a minute," Horizon sits on the floor, removing his visor for Star'' and the woman to see his masked face beneath. And the blood flowing from his nose, which he quickly wipes away. "So god bleeds," Star'' says. "Shut up," Horizon says, struggling to get up. After a few deep breaths, he puts on his visor, and takes a moment to sort the new memories. "What was that?" Star'' asks. "I''m thinking of calling it, Bioelectric Mimicry, what do you think?" She raises a brow at him, "You copied the signals in his brain to get some of his memories?" "Surface thoughts, but he''d been thinking so hard about not giving me that information, that it was at the surface, I have what I need," Horizon says as he stretches his limbs, trying to rx. "Did he have to die?" Star'' asks as she releases the woman, who rushes over to her husband, desperately trying to shake him awake. "It''s a new move," Horizon shrugs. "I have what I need so we can get out of here, let''s go." "What about her?" Star'' asks, gesturing to the woman. "We need to send her to a police station." "No, the people I''m hunting are well connected, she gets arrested they''ll know I''m after them using this route," Horizon waves his hand, and the woman and her husband disappear, swapped for two small rocks. "Where did you just send them?" "Down, a few miles," Horizon says as he takes out his phone. "I need to make a call to have this ce sterilized when we leave, give me a minute¡­" Star and Stripe stands there, stunned, as he casually walks into the other room to call his connection in the US Government, the team assigned to help him hunt down the traitors. Part of her was concerned about how coldly he acted toward people. How casually he took the life of others. It was almost, familiar. But she shakes her head, banishing the thought. ''No, I won''t let her haunt me anymore, he doesn''t have anything to do with her,'' Star'' quickly convinces herself. Simply happy that she finally had a friend, a real friend who wasn''t using her because of what she could do. "Yo, I managed to get a name for the address, it''s in Florida," Horizon says as he casually enters the room. "Oh, are you going there tonight?" "No there isn''t anyone in there right now, I got ess to the camera around that entire block, how about we head to Manhattan?" Star'' raises a brow at him, "I thought your enemies would be smarter than to go to Manhattan, where you spend most of your time." "They are, but there is a restaurant I''ve been missingand tonight is the grand opening of the first location outside of Japan, youing?" "Sure, let''s go," Star'' says as she walks over to him. "What''s the name, I''d look to look up the menu before we get there." "Golden Hearts, they''ve got food from all over the world," Horizon says. "But I personally just pick something at random every time, it''s all good." "Ohh, is it that good?" "And it gives people like us privacy away from the fans and cameras," Horizon says before warping them both away. END CHAPTER--- Chapter 336: (Rainy Stealth) Discord: .gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- ---Japan, 11:30 PM¡­ "I already regret agreeing to this," Mina says through her chattering teeth, barely able to think past the cold rain pouring down onto her. "You could have atleast let me keep my raincoat, jerk." "Your bright pink raincoat for a stealth mission, great idea," Juzo rolls his eyes as he continues peering through the binocrs. Both he and Mina were dressed in all-ck tactical gear, with apanying masks. Mina''s mask even had one-way ss to hide her distinct eyes and the pink skin around them. She and Juzo were currently standing on a crane, three stories up, hanging over the dark ocean waters below, and a few hundred feet away was another dock, with arge ship docked, currently being loaded."Thest one was morefortable, just saying," Mina says. "Are you going toin all night?" "Yes." Juzo grumbles, "I''m starting to question why Horizon asked me to start including you." "Because I''m cute, obviously." "Whatever, you''ve done well so far, just don''t let a little rain and cold get to you," Juzo says. "We''ll be back in Horizon Tower by sunrise." "And I''ll be back in the hot tub, oh, is your girlfriending over?" Mina asks. "I''ve been dying to go shopping. I think I deserve a little break after all the Hero Work we''ve done, and only half the summer is done." "A little more than half, but no Tokage won''t be here tomorrow," Juzo says. "And she''s not my girlfriend." Mina scoffs, "You''re the only one who thinks that. Honestly, you really should have brought her, isn''t she stealth and recon-trained?" "Yes, but Horizon said to start including you, so you''re here, it''s that simple." "Yeah, but why?" "Probably because of all the girls in our ss, you''re the closest to being actual friends with him." "Oh, that''s kind of sad," Mina says. "Also the press loves Pinky." "Oh," Mina narrows her eyes at Juzo. "So this was a publicity thing, is that it?" "I''m sure there is more to it than that, hell, maybe he does just think you''re cute," Juzo shrugs. "Yeah well I still think he''s a jerk, I mean he ruined my high school romance arc!" Juzo lowers the binocrs for a moment to give her a confused look, "You liked Ho¡ª" "No you idiot," Mina sighs, clearly exasperated. "He mentioned something about my um¡­down here, being a potential acid fountain. And you''d bet teenage boys who eventually want to do that with their girlfriends don''t want to take that risk." "I was there, and he was just genuinely curious, like when he asked Asui if she ever had the urge to eat bugs," Juzo shrugs and goes back to stalking. "He also tried to test if Tokoyami would eat birdseed." "I know he was being curious, but it still sucks¡­but did¡ª" "Yeah, he likes the bird seeds," Juzo says. "But don''t tell him I said that." "That''s pretty funny." "Did you be a Hero just to get a boyfriend or something, to be a celebritylike Toru wants to be?" "No, I just don''t like seeing people scared, so I wanted to help," Mina says. "Well if you want to keeping along on these missions, don''t tell Horizon that sappy stuff, he doesn''t take it seriously as motivation." "But, isn''t that why you came to UA?" "No," Juzo says. "Pro Heroes are the only ones encouraged by society to train their Quirk to its maximum potential, haven''t you always been curious about what you could do at your absolute best?" "I''ve been scared of it my whole life," Mina says with a bitter frown, staring down at her gloved hands. "With a Quirk like mine, sometimes other kids get hurt when you get excited ying, and that was enough reason for me to not want to use my Quirk at all." "I see, must have been hard, especially since you don''t have many traditional human cosmetic traits." "Yeah, but that''s just all the more reason to be a Pro Hero, to show them that monsters can be cool too!" She says with a bitter, forced smile. "Pretty cool huh?" "That''s why Shoji does this stuff too," Juzo says. "And if you really want a boyfriend, try Kirishima, I doubt anything scared him, especially not a little acid ssh." Mina lightly punches him on the shoulder, "Don''t joke about that, jerk." "Sorry sorry, but it is kind of funny." "Only for you," Mina says. "Besides I''ve known Kiri'' since middle school, so dating him would be weird. Also, I don''t think putting the two people with the lowest theory scores in ss together is good, what if we got married and our babies turned out to have rocks for brains?" "Then you''d know for sure they''re yours." "Ugh, talking to boys about this stuff is the worst," Mina groans, dramatically. "Especially you Team Horizon people." "Hey, what the hell is that supposed to mean?" "It means, Horizon is Horizon, Shinso broke up with his girlfriend before any of us even got to meet her because ''Romance got in the way of Hero Work'', Sero is decent enough, but ogles other girls when he''s Cellophane, and you¡­Tokage is clearly in love with you but you still won''t make it official. You''re practically her boyfriend already." "Things are perfect as they are, no need to change them," Juzo says. "If Tokage has a problem I''m sure she''d just tell me." Mina folds her arms under her chest and rolls her eyes, "Smart with the Hero stuff¡­but you''re still such a guy." "Well, I''ll think about whatever that''s supposed to meanter, right now we need to start swimming," Juzo says as he puts the binocrs away. "They just finished loading the ship, so we''ve got an hour before the engines start." "Ugh, this is gonna suck." "Yeah, no arguing there," Juzo says as he leaps off the crane, into the dark, cold, choppy water below. Mina takes a few deep breaths to hype herself up, "Horizon owes me a shopping trip for this," she says before leaping after Juzo who was already swimming toward the ship. ---Minutes Later¡­ Quietly crawling over the edge of the ship and joining Juzo in the shadows between the shipping containers, Mina is shivering so much she has to actively stop her teeth from chattering. "Next time, call Sero as your backup for stupid shit like this," Mina says as she crouches behind Juzo. "Since when do you swear?" "Since you had me jump into ice cold, pith dark, scary ocean water, now hurry up so I can get warm and give Horizon a piece of my mind." Juzo waits for a moment until all the ship''s crew is inside before getting up and searching for a specific container. Mina follows closely behind him. "For the record, normally this kind of thing is a solo task for Sero," Juzo says. "But since his dad is in the country for a few days he''s spending tonight over there." "I thought his dad lived in Japan, isn''t he a construction worker or something?" "He''s retired, and moved, they came into some money so things are looking up," Juzo says as he''s picking the lock to one of the containers. "Oh," Mina gave it some thought. "So, his dad has, or I''m guessing ''had'' back problems, right, did Horizon fix that too?" Juzo pauses for a moment, then continues. "Yeah. Perks of being part of the team, and a friend." "That''s¡­a lot, even for a friend, don''t you think?" Mina asks as Juzo uplocks the container, revealing a stockpile of green and purple vials secured within. "What is that?" "That''s what we''re trying to figure out," Juzo says as they both step inside and pull the door closed behind them. "Stay close to the door and listen for anyoneing, I''ll get some sample." "Got it," Mina says, leaning against the wall as Juzo looks around with a shlight. After a minute of looking around, Juzo speaks up. "Does it really surprise you that much?" "Huh, what are you talking about?" "That Horizon would do that for Sero, that stuff." "I''m surprised Horizon cares about anyone really, atleast beyond his Pro Hero persona," Mina says, then remembers all the quiet conversations she''s had with him since the video call at Horizon Tower. "Well, I know he has his softer moments, but still." "Yeah, he invested a lot of money and effort into keeping Sero''s dad safe, but, you should know by now Horizon doesn''t care about money. And Sero is his friend, so eliminating Sero''s vulnerabilities by getting his dad out of danger was necessary." "So it''s just business," Mina mutters. "Mina, Horizon has said he''d sacrifice everything for his parents if they were alive, his friends aren''t that far behind," Juzo says. "Normally we see the side of him that makes that clear, but when you''re on his good side, it''s like having a guardian angel." "I guess I never really thought about it like that before. So, are there any other perks?" Juzo collects the samples he needs and then ces a tracker in a few hidden ces, which she notices. "Trackers?" "Interpol wants to track these new variants of Trigger to find the source, which is why this isn''t an official operation," Juzo says as he walks to the door and slowly steps outside. "And as for other perks, our unlimited credit cards are pretty nice." "Damn, now I''m jealous," Mina says as they lock the container and move back to the side of the ship. "Don''t suppose you can let me borrow that tomorrow?" "I''ll think about it, if you help me get a gift for Tokage." "Deal," Mina says as they both jump overboard¡­ END CHAPTER--- Chapter 337: (Enter Immolation) Discord: .gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "I''m almost done in here, prep the next patient immediately," Horizon says to the empty operating room as he takes a scalpel to the brain lying on the metal table. Hearing him through thems his assistant at this hospital responds, "You''ve been performing surgeries for nearly twenty hours straight, don''t you need a break?" "I can still go for twenty more before I need some sleep, but these kids may not have that time," Horizon says as he continues focusing on the brain. He very carefully and gently touches it with one finger, sensing where the tumor is once more, then takes one look to his left. On the other end of the operating table where the three-year-old girlys, her head harmlessly detached beside her body, her brain harmlessly removed and split in two right down the middle in front of Horizon. Horizon leans forward and sees the tumor, half the size of a marble, attached to the top of her brain stem.A terminal case for any person, unless Horizon is their doctor. Horizon carefully pilots the scalpel to cut into the tumor, slowly, gently, cutting between where it and her brain stem meet. He keeps one hand on the brain, holding it steady and constantly sensing her biological response to his intrusion as he goes. After some tense moments and much concentration, Horizonpletely removes the tumor and allows it to drop onto the table. He pauses for a moment, prepared to react if her body, for whatever reason, responds poorly to the change. But nothing happens, so with a wave of his hand, he reassembles her body perfectly, better than it was before he began. "Now for onest check," Horizon mutters as he gently touches her head, doing a full Scan of her, down to the gic level. Beneath his visor, he smiles, "yet another miracleplete," he says before turning around, walking out of the operating room. There are three nurses standing in the hallway with sanitation equipment and a gurney to move the child, who smile as Horizon steps outside. "She''ll be fine, just needs some rest and physical therapy to get over her muscle degradation," Horizon says as he walks past them. As they move to sterilize the room and get the girl to the recovery ward, Horizon looks around, not seeing the second group of nurses with his next patient. A two year old boy with degenerative bone marrow in dire need of a miracle. Horizon sighs and walks through the hallway to the main nerve center of this wing of the hospital, seeing everyone moving about. "Where is my next patient?" He asks, causing much of the room to pause for just a moment before they get back to work. "Horizon, you''re still here?" the nurse assigned to him asks, genuinely surprised. "Why wouldn''t I be? I still have lives to save." "But, Central Park, we assumed you''d warp there right away," the man pointed down the hallway where a faint orange light was shining onto the wall. ROOM! Horizon expands his Room to cover more than just the hospital, but Central Park, which is just across the street. "Wow, I''ve never sensed anything like that before," Horizon says as he walks down the hallway to a window overlooking the park. On one of the baseball fields was a bright orange glow which then dimmed for a moment. Horizon tilts his head to the side, clearly studying what he was sensing. "We assumed you knew," the nurse says. "Other Pro Heroes and SWAT teams have already arrived on the scene." "No, when I''m operating on a patient they get my full attention," Horizon says as he looks across the park, seeing the building that the United States government rented for him,pletely melted. "Clearly whatever is going on there wants my attention." "Should I postpone your other patients?" the man asks. "Normally we''d evacuate the hospital, at least those who aren''t hooked up to essential life support machines, but¡­" "I know, I am here," Horizon says, looking around to see the doctors, nurses, support staff, and patients looking at him. "No need to evacuate, prep my next patient, this won''t take long," Horizon says before he warps away. Horizon appears two blocks away, leaving the Children''s Hospital to arrive in a general hospital, specifically the emergency room entryway. He was yet again surrounded by chaos, police officers, civilians, and Pro Heroes alike wereid out on gurneys, chairs, and the floor, with doctors rushing to identify and treat the most heavily injured first. BOOSTER SHOT! Blue energy vapor begins pouring off of Horizon like a thick morning mist, spreading through the room and stabilizing the patients. "What is this?" One of the doctors asks, looking away from the police officer he was struggling to stabilize, who was already trying to sit up. "Booster Shot, it heals injuries and such, but still give everyone a once over before you clear them," Horizon says as he walks over to the help desk, noticing the sense of relief washing over the room. The man behind the desk gives him a confused look as Horizon reaches over the desk and grabs all the pens and pencils held in a small cup, out of view. He then snaps them all in half, then snaps them once more. Without a word he then tosses them outside, into the drop off bay. SHAMBLES! Most of the pieces are swapped for civilians, Pro Heroes, and police officers, including some more heavily armed officers. Then new arrivals look around confused, until they feel the cool sensation of Horizon''s healing energy flowing through them. ---Minutes Earlier¡­ Walking through one of the many baseball fields within Central Park, a man made entirely of solid mes, glowing orange and melting the ground with each step, walks to the pitcher''s te. "Damn it, and here I thought that would have gotten his attention," the man groans in annoyance, looking back at Horizon''s assumed residence within Manhattan. The entire building was melted, molten stone, steel, and ss, now flowing into the streets and affecting the nearby buildings. BANG! A high caliber sniper rifle bullet ms into the man''s head, entering one side and leaving the other as molten metal. "Well, at least someone finally noticed me," the man says as three Pro Heroes arrive on the scene. One of them had two massive bat wings protruding from his back, and under each arm he carried an ally. Under his left was a man with a sniper rifle, still aimed at the viin. And under his right was a woman withrge gauntlets on her hands. The three Pro Heroesnd, and immediately take abat stance. "Surrender, before this gets messy," the man with wings says. "Seriously? You ask me to surrender after shooting me in the head, isn''t that supposed to be the other way around?" The man with the rifle responds by taking aim yet again, then loads a special round without moving the gun at all. "When you melt a skyscraper, I tend to get trigger happy." "You''re lucky since Horizon lives there there isn''t anyone else in the building!" the woman says, mming her fists together to cause a shockwave through the area. "You could have killed someone!" "That''s¡­the point, now,e be the first victims!" the man yells while running at them. "Don''t let him touch you!" the winged man says as he ps his wings, sending a massive gust of wind through the area and kicking up a small sandstorm. "Annoying!" the viin yells as he can''t see through the sand, but from outside they see him as a bright glowing target. The Pro Hero with the rifle fires a special ''Cryo Round'' directly at the viins'' head, only for the special payload that can freeze a moving lotive engine in ce, instantly, to have no effect at all. "He runs hot," the man says, "we need backup." "We''ll stall him, get us some help, and find Horizon!" the woman says as she rushes into the sand cloud. "Got it," the winged hero rockets into the air, leaving his friends behind. Seeing his wife rushing forward, the man raises his rifle once more, aiming at the viin''s head, then hits a button at the side of his gun to make itpletely silent. He quickly steadies his breathing and focuses his Quirk, preparing the next few rounds with it. He fires one round at the stationary viin, and while it''s soaring through the sand cloud it suddenly changes directions, making a sharp turn upward. After less than a second it changes again, making another sharp turn forward. Then it makes a third sharp turn, and strikes the viin''s head from above, directly opposite the man who shot it. His Quirk, Loaded Vectors, allows him to preset coordinates into projectiles, and when they reach those coordinates, the vector will change without losing any energy. He can set up to three coordinates per projectile. The viin responds as expected, and turns around. ''Gotcha!'' the woman thinks as she arrives behind the viin, then pivots to the side andunches a strong right at his face. "Skyquake Strike!" she bellows as her fist stops inches away from him. The area shakes as a street widene of destruction isunched point nk at the viin. It shakes the air between the fist and his face, causing a path of destruction from her fist to the water reservoir in Central Park, where she intended tounch him. But as her attack sts away the sand, the viin is standing in ce, hovering in ce actually, as the ground beneath him waspletely torn away andunched into the reservoir. Before the woman can react the viin casually raises his hand, and gently touches her fist with the back of his hand. Her body barely made contact for a fraction of a second, but down to her bones werepletely disintegrated, atomized perfectly into the air. It happens so quickly that her nerves don''t register any pain, only a cold sensation at the end of her arm. "Move!" her husband screams, and she leaps away as he offloads his entire magazine into the viin, and it does nothing. "My Fire quirk is the only Transformation Type for a reason you know," the viin says, looking at the man. "It makes me invulnerable to anything you have, even if you were able to move me, the water wouldn''t have worked. That''s the first thing I tried when I realized the hell my life would be, trapped in this form, so just go get me Horizon." The man nces over at his wife, who already had her left fist raised, ready to continue fighting. "Sorry, but we aren''t the type to give up," he says, noticing his wife''s smile at those words. "Nothing you have can hurt me, so begone¡­" The couple barely have time to react as the viin raises the heat of his body, vaporizing the air around him, sh incinerating the entire baseball diamond into ck dust. The air in the area rushes toward the viin for a moment as his Quirk hungrily consumes it all, then the man simply looks around, seeing police cars and Pro Heroes rushing toward him, led by a man with bat wings. He frowns, knowing they could never hurt him, knowing they couldn''t bring him the peace he wanted¡­ END CHAPTER--- Chapter 338: (Immolation) Discord: .gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "Surrender now,st chance!" A Pro Hero wearing an all blue costume with a small cape at his back says. He was slowly backing up, inching closer to the water reservoir in Central Park, not moving his gaze from the viin in front of him. The man was simply standing there, bored, made entirely of solid fire as he looked around. There was a blockade a hundred meters away with police officers and medical staff, along with new teams and support staff calling for more Pro Heroes to help. Even the fire trucks were here and on high alert, but either fortunately or not, instead of igniting things around him and causing fires to ravage the greenery of the park. Anything the viin touches in instantly disintegrated, torn asunder by the immense heat of his existence.The viin looks around, taking in the sight of all the dead or injured Pro Heroes scattered about, taking in all the carnage and death these people brought upon themselves by crashing against him. "That''s a bad idea," the viin says, his voice reverberating on the scorched air around him. "Using water against me is¡­counter intuitive, trust me." "Great Ssh!" The Pro Hero yells as he waves his hands, controlling the water behind him to create a massive whip, aiming to grab the viin and drag him into the reservoir. The viin sighs, and as he''s been doing this entire time, stands there, waiting for them to haplessly die, as all living things do in his presence. The water whip hits him, and what happens next is instant, and terrifying. His Quirk, is entirely unique. A transformation Quirk which was boosted and modified via illegal human experimentation when he was a baby. Because of that, his body is always in this fiery form, a surprisingly serene experience, but it makes him powerful. Too powerful for the government that created him to control, so naturally, they tried to douse his mes with fire and chemicals at first. And they learned a terrifying truth about his Quirk. The moment the water touched him, his Quirk body transferred its heat into the water, but instead of simply evaporating it. He separated the particles. The Oxygen from the water was greedily consumed by his Quirk, and the Hydrogen instantly became a fiery st. The explosion rocked the area and consumed both the viin and Pro Heroes alike. The Pro Hero controlling the water didn''t even have the time to feel the blistering heat as the mes reached him. Not because it was so fast, but because he was suddenly standing by one of the police officers. "Huh?" He looks around, confused, seeing the officers with their useless weapons aimed at the viin, even as the fiery explosion quickly subsides. "What''s going on?" The police sergeant, wearing SWAT gear and holding arge rifle sees all the injured Pro Heroes and civilians who''d been hurt or killed, gone. And the few who could fight and were closing in on the viin were now standing just in front of the barrier. The sergeant immediately realizes what''s going on, and smiles. "Get behind the barrier, and be prepared to help the firefighters douse any mes thate up!" The Pro Heroes waste no time falling in line as they too realize what just happened, and all the cameras and attention shifts to Horizon, who was now standing across from the viin, sword sheathed and hovering beside him. "What, were you asleep?" the viin asks. The new crews and drones hear and see everything, and can''t help but frown at that question. Because since this incident began nearly thirty minutes ago, everyone had been asking the same thing. "Hey now,, beauty sleep is important for someone as handsome as me," Horizon taps his visor. "But it also takes a lot of effort to keep this perfectly clean." "I always wonder what that feels like," the viin says. "What''s that?" "Sleeping, eating," the viin then looks down at his hands. "Being human." "Well, I can''t reallyment on thatst bit, if you haven''t noticed," Horizon says. "I''m closer to you than regr humans." "Containment suit and all," the viin says. "So what happens if yourses off?" Horizon shrugs, "I''d probably just die. But my Quirk could react poorly, so, who really knows." "Tch, now I''m really jealous," the viin grumbles. "I take mine off when it''s time to get to work, so long as I keep my heat in check it lets me blend in, but take it off, and¡ª" "Self Immtion," Horizon interrupts him, causing the viin''s body to re up for just a moment. "Oh, was I right?" "How do you even know who I am?" "Part of it was a guess," Horizon admits. "Part of it was the fact that you did that to my temporary home," he gestures to the melted hotel. "And the other part?" "You did something simr when you killed Minister Chevil, ten years ago, right?" Horizon says. "I''ve always been curious about exactly what your Quirk is, Immtion." "Oh, I get it, Arsenal must have told you, since she''s the only person who knew that was me," Immtion says, then realizes something. "Nah, she was a real pro, she''d never rat. You people must have dug around in her head before you put her down, so those horrors we hear about Tartarus are true, huh?" "You''re in America, so New Alcatraz is where you''ll be going," Horizon says. "So what is this? You''re trying to take her spot?" "It''s also very profitable to kill you," Immtion says. "But, yeah, part of it is just showing that with her gone, the top spot is up for grabs. And while that level of hyper violent obsession isn''t something I''ve got, I more than make up for it in power." "But not subtly," Horizon says. "No wonder you only got the loud job." Immtionughs, "Damn, you''re not just some nerdy doctor with a powerful Quirk, you even know about people too¡­scary." "I get that a lot." "So, are you done stalling now?" Immtion asks, getting more serious for a moment. "I''m not stupid you know, a lot of people with a lot of experience killing powerful Pro Heroes have been watching you, and we figured out something about what you can and can''t warp, so¡­since I''m still standing here¡­" Immtion yfully gestures to Horizon. And Horizon groans, nodding, "Yeah, you got me, warping energy isn''t exactly easy. Especially not the kind you''re made up of." "Which means all I have to deal with is¡­everything else," Immtion begins heating up his body, and all the grass around him instantly ckened into ash and blows away with the hot air. "Give me one second," Horizon says as he warps away, appearing in front of the police officers. "Push this barrier back another few hundred feet, this can get messy." He turns away, looking at Immtion, and touches the side of his visor. "Did you get all of that?" he asks. "Yeah, but that doesn''t change the fact that I''m busy," Star'' says. "This guy looks like a really bad matchup for you, but I''m sure you''ll figure something out. But I''ll look into the data you sent, and your theory about him while you fight, good luck." SHAMBLES! Horizon appears in front of Immtion once again, but with his sheathe missing, leaving Sunder''s de free as he grips the hilt, and his phone back at Matani Tower. Horizon takes abat stance, and Immtion doesn''t react, as usual. Instead he simply waits for Horizon to get closer, ready to raise his heat and disintegrate the Hero. In an instant Horizon weighs all his options, and sadly, he sees only one path forward. She he takes a more rxed stance and lifts his left hand, palm facing the sky. ''Hopefully his counter attack doesn''t kill me,'' Horizon thinks as he deactivates his Quirk. T-ROOM! He feels his total energy take a massive hit, more energy than he had one year ago was instantly consumed to create a small Room hovering above his palm. Unlike his standard Room, the Rooms created by his awakening cannot be made invisible, leaving it to be a visible blue sphere of energy. Even now, drops of dense liquid energy leaks out of the T-ROOM, onto his hand, then onto the scorched earth below, causing grass to grow. "That''s new," Immtion says, yfully. Then Horizon brings Sunder''s de to the sphere, and the T-Room slowly crawls over the de like thick flowing liquid, leaving the translucent blue energy around it. "Yeah, very new, I hope you don''t mind being the test subject." "That''s what I was literally born to be," Immtion says as Horizon begins walking forward. ROOM! Horizon creates a second Room, a standard room around the immediatebat area, and even that strains his mind and energy. ''The gap between myself as Sunder is problematic, I''m not familiar enough with my Awakening abilities to use them like this, so hopefully I can end this in one go¡­'' With each step forward he feels as if he''s inside a smelting over, and the temperature around him just keeps climbing. Within three steps he''s standing close enough to swing his sword, and as he moves to attack, Immtion raises the heat immensely. Everything around them is incinerated by the instant heat. With no theatrics and mes, a wave of heat hits the earth and grass as Immtion raises the temperature of his sentient sma body so much that the air rushes away from him, carrying death with it. Horizon is struck by this, but Booster Shot envelopes his entire body, healing him as fast as he''s being disintegrated. It wraps around his body, his body glove, and his visor, but everything else is not that fortunate. His formal suit burns away as the de reaches Immtion, shing directly though his head. And as it touches him, the viin''s glowing white ''eyes'' widen. "ARGH!" Immtion screams as the de enters one side of his head and leaves the other, and he feels every bit of the immense pain that a regr person could feel from this, even if his sentient sma body reforms behind the de as it flows through him. The sensation was entirely forgotten by him, so used to being invulnerable that it terrifies him, shaking him to his core and bringing out his most primal survival instincts. Horizon''s eyes widen beneath his visor as Immtion suddenly glows bright orange, raising his temperature so much and so quickly that the earth, grass, and even the air from a hundred feet around him was incinerated, leaving gged ground around them. The rushing air was so intense that Horizon was knocked away, sent tumbling as thebined focus and energy needed for his Awakening and Booster Shot, which kept him alive, that he couldn''t warp away. "Ouch," Horizon mutters, more serious than yful as he gets up, and takes in the destruction. He was now standing inside the entirely evaporated reservoir, with red hot earth all around him. Pieces of his Body Glove were burnt and melted, even through the veil of energy protecting it, and Sunder was red hot, his awakening, deactivated. "What did you do?!" Immtion charges at Horizon, his body glowing as fear grips his heart. All his life he thought death would bring relief, but now, facing someone with the potential to make it a reality, fear consumed him. Seeing the viin running toward him, Horizon warps Sunder away. "I overplicated things," he says while creating another T-Room, this time in his right hand. Then he creates a second, simultaneous T-Room in his left hand. "Time to simplify things." Rushing toward Horizon, Immtion sees his cash both glowing spheres into each other until they be one, then he crushes it between his palms. The spheres break, copsing into each other, and the liquid energy slowly flows across Horizon''s body, coating his body glove and visorpletely. "No!" Immtion stumbles for a moment, recognizing this as the same effect from his sword. "Never again!" Immtion stops before he touches Horizon and raises his temperature yet again, hotter than before. But while the heat rushes outward, Horizon charges forward. Even as the ground is turned onto ck dust around them, he rushes through it. The air around him burns, scorching his lungs with each breath, but the energy constantly heals him, doing nothing for the pain but keeping him alive, keeping him fighting. So d in this mysterious energy, like armor, and punches Immtion in the face. The viin experiences the pain of his jaw breaking and teeth shattering, but his sma body instantly reforms, seeminglyfine. So in a panic he reaches out to grab Horizon and melt him directly, only for the Hero to reach out and grab his wrist. Horizon tightens his grip, only to crush Immtion''s wrist, causing the sensation a regr human would feel if that happened to them, to wrack the viin. Immtion gives a blood curdling scream and directs his heat to his legs, heating the air below his feet and haphazardlyunching himself back. He tumbles on the floor for a few dozen meters, trying and failing to calm his mind. "What the hell is this, what did you do to me?" Immtion asks as he hurries to get up, seeing Horizon already walking toward him. "I reminded you of what it feels like to be human," Horizon says. "You''ve been invulnerable for so long that you''d forgotten, and clearly you neglected to train because of the power you were born with, it''s pathetic, really." "Tch, you''re no different!" Immtion says, pointing at the hero. "You''re strong simply from existing, you were born like that, so don''t tell me that crap." "People always think that, but I was weak at first," Horizon says. "Bullshit!" "No, I''m serious. I was weak, I didn''t even know what my Quirk was. But, I trained, I studied, I worked, I was on the path to the top of this world before I even knew my Quirk wasn''t a useless dude. See, I didn''t be what I am now because I''m strong," Horizon stretches, preparing for the fight ahead. "I''m Horizon, because I was already the greatest, now let me show you¡­" END CHAPTER--- Chapter 339 (Vacation Preparation) Chapter 339(Vacation Preparation) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- Walking through Minato Tokyo on this early summer morning, is Shino Sosaki, also known as Mandy, leader of the Wild Wild Pussycats Pro Hero team. With her brow hair grown slightly longer, now past her shoulder, and wearing a blue pencil skirt and white button-up shirt, she casually holds her purse in one hand while looking at her phone in the other. "This can''t be the ce," she mutters while looking around, at all the skyscrapers she could never afford to live in. "Maybe she got the address wrong." Shino hesitates for a moment, then enters the most famous and expensive building in the area. The lobby is almost empty, and the sight of the fine art and furniture makes her nervous, not wanted to have to walk out after learning she''s in the wrong ce. In the lobby, she sees a doorman and receptionist, as well as some security guards, but they only nod as she walks past them, as if expecting her. Walking to the elevator at the far end of the hallway she inputs a security code, and to her relief the doors open. "So this is the right ce¡­which raises even more questions," Shino mutters as she steps into the elevator and pushes the one button, taking her to the penthouse suite on the top floor. After getting to the top floor, the doors open, and she''s instantly greeted by a surprisingly warmly decorated modern hallway leading into a massive living room. "Ryuko!" Shino yells out as she slowly enters, looking around. "I''m upstairs!" her friend yells from somewhere above. Shino rxes and follows her voice, up some open stairs to the second floor. The entire walk she''s looking around, eyes growing wide many times as she sees some expensive pieces of art on the walls. "I have so many questions," Shino says as she steps into the open bedroom door. "Oh wow," Shino''s mind nks as she notices the bedroom is bigger than the apartment she had in Tokyo years ago. "I''m in here!" Ryuko calls out again, pulling Shino''s attention to therge double doors, the entrance to her closet. "I knew you were holding out on us, but damn," Shino says as she steps inside to see Ryuko sitting on the floor trying to sort through piles of clothes, with one small suitcase open in front of her. "Yeah I know, can you help me sort through this stuff?" Ryuko pleads, giving her best kicked-puppy look to Shino. "I''m only supposed to bring one small suitcase, but I don''t know what to pack!" Shino res at her for a moment, then sighs and drops her purse, joining her friend on the floor. "Thanks so much!" "So, are you going to make me ask?" Shino begins sorting through the clothes with her friend. "Ask what?" "Seriously? Your mom calls me begging for us to take you back into the team because apparently I kicked you out, recently at that, and you don''t know anything about that?" Ryuko pauses for a moment, then continues packing, "She wouldn''t understand me simply quitting the Pro Hero stuff, it was easier that way." "By making me look like a jerk?" "You''re team leader, isn''t that your job?" Ryuko asks. "Besides, I see her once a decade, she only pretends to care so she can brag about her daughter being a Pro Hero, I don''t n ever to see her again." "Then you should have just told her the truth and properly cut ties with her, instead of dragging me into it." Ryuko goes silent for a moment, gathering her thoughts, then looks over at her friend. "It doesn''t make sense, but, even if she''s just a stranger to me, I know this would disappoint her, and I didn''t like that thought." "Well she is still your mom, regardless of how terrible she was at that," Shino says. "You''re just lucky I''m a quick thinker, so I covered for you. But you need to tell her the truth, today, I''m not going to be a part of this anymore." Ryuko groans, "I will, I was kind of just hoping she''d die before she found out." Shino gives her a strange look, not expecting her friend to say something so dark. "Thanks for covering for me," Ryuko says. "And foring to spend the day with me." "It''s fine, but I hope we aren''t spending all day in your closet, even if it is nicer than my entire bedroom." Ryuko awkwardlyughs, "I don''t suppose you''re willing to just¡­ignore all of this?" she gestures to thevish closet and penthouse. "Considering we''ve all been worried that you''re barely making rent in Minato Tokyo, yeah, you need to exin," Shino says. "And don''t even think about telling me your job as a Quirk Counselor is somehow paying for all of this." "Is that so hard to believe?" Ryuko asks. Shino gestures to a shelf filled with designer shoes, "I think one of those costs more than I make in a month." "I¡­won the lottery?" Shino gives her a bored look before going back to sorting the clothes. "That wouldn''t exin why you didn''t tell us, or this¡­" she holds up some very very scandalous lingerie that was not yet opened. "Ok, but, promise you won''t be mad." "No, I''m definitely going to be mad," Shino says. "So, is it who I think it is?" "That depends, what are you thinking?" "That since you''re no longer a Pro Hero on my team, or working under UA, it''s really none of my business¡­" Ryuko breathes a sigh of relief. "But, now I''m concerned about you sleeping next to someone who killed half a city on national TV." "That''s not his fault." "When you''re as powerful as he is, everything is your fault," Shino says. "But I''m not ming him, then I''d be no better than the people who med us for not defeating All For One to protect the students." "Exactly." "But I am a bit worried about the mean streak he has, but I can look past it since it''s only focused on the worst viins." Ryuko freezes for a moment, and Shino gives her a concerned look. Then a momentter she starts crying, ugly crying. "Hey, what''s wro¡ª" Ryuko lunges at her friend, pulling her into a crushing hug and crying into her shoulder. "Hey! What''s wrong? Did he hurt you?!" "I''m just so happy I can finally talk to someone about this!" Ryuko yells, right in Shino''s ear. "Too loud," Shino says as she holds her friend. "Sorry, it''s just really stressful sometimes keeping this all to myself," Ryuko says. "Yeah, can I tell the others?" "Let''s not push it," Ryuko says. "He was really mad when Horizon Tower got attacked with me there, he really doesn''t want me in any danger, so the fewer people that know, the better." "Horizon Tower was attacked?" Shino asks as they separate. "Howe that wasn''t in the news." "Because I got hurt, and Horizon¡­he was really angry." "Oh, I see," Shino nods, not wanting to think about what he did to the viins. "Once you''re fine now." "Yeah, but I can''t go to Horizon Tower anymore, so now I''m here," she waves her hands, a broad smile on her face. "He was kind of a jerk about it though." "What did he do?" "Well, one second I''m in my apartment, then the next me and all my stuff is warped here, he didn''t even ask me if I wanted to move, but he meant well by it, obviously." "Yeah, clearly," Shino folds a designer dress she''d never be able to afford, and nods thoughtfully. "He really spoils you." "But I''m cute so it''s fine." "If you say so." Ryuko lightly shoves her friend, causing them both to giggle. "So, when did you two get back together anyway?" Shino asks. "I told you to stop what you were doing, so it must have been, what, the UA Culture Festival? That would be the next time you saw each other." "Uh, actually, we never stopped." Shino res at her, serious for a moment. "Oh, so you broke your promise to your team leader, how shameful." "Oh, we did lots of ''shameful'' things during the summer camp, wanna hear about it?" Ryuko gives her a mischievous smirk, causing her friend to blush. "I''d rather not know about whatever is under that Body Glove, is it like¡­you know." "It''s amazing," Ryuko smiles at her. "But sharing a bed with a living nuclear reactor is¡­exhausting." "Ok, I''ve heard enough about that. I''m just happy to hear you''re happy, right?" "Better than ever," Ryuko says. "I''m actually packing to go see him next week, shopping in New York will be fun!" "Now you''re just trying to make me jealous. But, aren''t you a bit concerned about the whole¡­you know, Visor, Body Glove, can''t be seen in public together, all of that." Shino feels the mood shift, as if all the air was ripped out of the room. "It''s a lot harder than I thought," Ryuko says, sadly. "But I mean, this is the best way. I don''t think Horizon''s kids would be seen as anything less than a golden prize for his enemies, and I''d be no different." "Well, atleast he spares no expense on giving you a nice cage to spend your life in." "It''s not a cage, I can leave whenever I want!" Shino raises her hands in surrender, "Sorry sorry, alright, rx." "Sorry, sometimes this can be really stressful, but he''s pretty awesome," Ryuko says. "Just I can never tell him that¡­he''s insufferable when he gets apliment." "I just remember him always being a jerk," Shino says as she walks over to the couch in the closet andys down. "Pretty sure he hates me anyway." "He doesn''t hate you, he''s just disgusted by everything you stand for, that''s not the same thing." "You weren''t this mean before him," Shino mutters. "Are you going to me him every time I do something you don''t like?" "Naturally," Shino says as she looks at some of the heels Ryuko was packing, and starts trying them on. "You could have told us earlier, you do know that, right?" "I only told you now because of my mom, I don''t think he would have liked this if it happened earlier." "Not about that," Shino says as she tries walking around in her new shoes. "I''m keeping these, but I was talking about the fact that you wanted to quit the Pro Hero stuff and have a family, we would have understood." "We''re a mountain rescue team, without my Quirk, you''d drop so low in the rankings, that''s also a reason I didn''t want to quit. And because you''re my friends." "I figured as much," Shino says as she tries on a few coats, deciding which would look best for her to wear every day. "But it would be pretty fun to have a few kids I can spoil, hopefully, they aren''t as bratty as Kota was at the start." "But he''s a lot better now." "Thanks to Midoriya, but if your kids take after their daddy¡­ugh¡ª" Shino winces as a shoe hits her in the head. "Ouch! What the hell!" "You know what!" "This is us being roommates all over again," Ryuko smiles, remembering how fun their early Pro Hero days were. "Sorry sorry, damn, I was making a joke, I''m sure they''ll be great," Shino says before she gets to the dresses and finds what would look good with her hair. "Are you nning to take my clothes?" "If it fits me, it''s our clothes, you should know this by now." "This is us being roommates all over again," Ryuko smiles, remembering how fun their early Pro Hero days were. "Great, this will work," Shino says as she finishes up her outfit, now wearing entirely different clothes and a new purse. "Now, you''re taking me on a shopping trip, lets go?" "But, I''m not even close to finishing this?" Ryuko gestures to the pile of clothes. "We''ve got a week to deal with that, since I''ve decided that this ce is too big for you to fully enjoy alone, so I''ll be staying for a few days." "Really?" Ryuko says excitedly. "Yeah, besides, Horizon destroyed my Pro Hero Team by seducing my best friend away from me, so the least he can give me is a week of shopping." "That''s not exactly what happened." "h h, I''m just counting the days until you get pregnant so I can raid this ce and get a whole new wardrobe, now let''s go¡­" A few minutester, after Ryuko got hurriedly dressed, both women were sitting in her kitchen eating ice cream, waiting for the car they hired to arrive. "I''m just saying, he could have got you a car," Shino says. "I can walk to work from here, plus, I already gave him an earful for giving me this ce, so he knew better than to give me any more unnecessary things." "He''s lucky you aren''t one of those women who just want a man''s money." "That''s why I''m here," Ryuko says as she continues eating her ice cream. A momentter Shino''s phone rings, with the Hero Network Alert sound. Ryuko instinctively reaches for her phone, only to stop as she remembers she''s not part of the Hero Network anymore, having officially retired months ago. Shino takes out her phone and winces at the screen, then nces nervously between Ryuko and the phone before trying to put it away. "Show me," Ryuko demands. "It''s nothing, don''t worry." "Then show me." "You aren''t a Pro Hero any¡ª" "Show me, if it made you that worried about me seeing it, then I want to see." "I hope this doesn''t ruin our week," Shino slides the phone over, and Ryuko carefully scans the screen, expression unreadable. On the screen is a man, his entire body seemingly charred ck, with a handprint melted onto his face. The skin on his mouth is missing, torn away as he stands there, speaking as the missing skin and flesh of his mouth and lips bleed into the earth. At the top of the article simply says, ''Horizon''s battle at Central Park''. Ryuko slides the phone back to Shino, and returns to eating her ice cream, seemingly unbothered. "Uh, he looked pretty hurt, are you alright?" "Why wouldn''t I be?" "If you''re worried, you can call him¡ª" "No need, it''s Horizon, he''ll be fine¡­" END CHAPTER--- Chapter 340: (Immolated) Chapter 340: (Immted) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "Get away from me!" Immtion''s voice reverberates through Central Park, carried by a wave of scorching air that pressurizes the area around him, causing a shockwave. "Hngh!" Horizon grunts as he''s sent tumbling across the red-hot earth, in view of all the cameras and spectators. He tumbles and ms his hands on the ground, rolling into a crouch and taking a knee. "Seriously?" Horizon asks, even as the hot air tries to incinerate his lungs with each breath. "You came to fight me, and now a little pain has you crying?" A hundred feet away Immtion is rolling on the ground, holding his left leg, immense pain wracks his body as the sensation of a broken leg floods his mind. His sentient sma body was entirely fine, but to his confusion, Horizon was able to cause pain as if he were flesh and blood, sending phantom pain through him with each strike.And much to his horror, the more they fought, the closer Horizon got to understanding his Quirk and oveing his invulnerability. His mind was filled with more questions than pain as he simply didn''t have enough information to understand what was going on. Immtion rolls over onto his side, seeing Horizon already getting up. Horizon''s body was still cloaked in his blue energy, clinging to him like a thick liquid, seemingly protecting him and his Body Glove and visor from the heat, everything else had already burned away. Now, the entire world could see his Body Glove, with its ridges and gaps between the tes, mimicking his incredible muscture and causing women all around the world to stare at their screens while blushing. Especially when, with each strike, the blue energy glows brighter within the gaps of his Body Glove, further showing the separation of his muscles. "Don''t touch me!" Immtion yells as he raises his body temperature again, creating another pressure zone to push the air away from him. This time, however, Horizon drops into a low crouch and punches into the earth with both hands. Up to his wrists are in the red-hot earth before he spreads his fingers, attempting to anchor himself. ''Should I shut off my sense of pain?'' Horizon wonders. The pain of constantly having his lungs be incinerated and regenerated at once was beyond anything he''d felt in a long time, but he decided to endure it. ''Heat is invisible, so I need the pain to alert me, especially since I can''t have a regr Room open, while using two T-Room applications on myself.'' "That''s it, burn away!" Immtion screams as he glows bright white, causing onlookers to squint and shield their eyes. Horizon feels his lungs burn even more, and then his blood begins to boil, causing his skin to fry and pop below his Body Glove. He squeezes his eyes shut, focusing some more energy on them to prevent them from exploding and drying up. Horizon felt his energy diminished more than ever before, at this point he''d already used more energy than he had when he''d fought All For One, but luckily his total capacity was over a dozen times that amount. But he couldn''t help but acknowledge this. The sensation of someone actually making him work for his inevitable victory. It was almost fun, if not for all the pain. So beneath his visor, with dried cracked lips, he smiles. ''You overdid it,'' Horizon thinks as he sees the earth around them for nearly two hundred feet melt. ''Now I can anchor myself.'' Red-hot earth bes molted liquid rock, and Horizon begins sinking into it. He stands up, allowing all his weight to push him deeper, until he''s almost knee-deep in the melted earth, making it nearly impossible for the pressurized wind to knock him away. Immtion sees this and begins to panic, raising his temperature even more, and Horizon''s protectiveyer of energy begins visibility diminishing. As he gets closer, his Body Glove is burnt, visibly charred as the fabric and iid armor ting melts, binding with bits of his skin beneath. As he''s within 10ft -3m- his visor melts onto his face, advanced polymer and flesh melding into one, and in response, Horizon reaches up and rips away the section above his eyes, not wanting to lose them right now. Immtion sees his eyes glowing bright blue, an almost blinding blue, and tries to stand, only to sink ankle-deep into the earth, trapping himself as well. Before he can fully realize what happened, Horizon reaches forward, and almost grabs him, but his hand still crushes Immtion''s body. He grabs Immtion''s right wrist, pulling it away and causing the pain of dismemberment to wrack the viin. ''I still can''t grab him, but I can cause him pain, so I just have to overload him and let his brain do the rest¡­'' Horizon decides, and unleashes the full brutality that''s usually held back from people that are flesh and blood. With the first punch, hepletely severs Immtion''s left leg at the kneecap, causing the viin to fall toward Horizon''s right fist, which punches him in the side, through his arm which is severed at the elbow. The force knocks Immtion to the opposite side as their energy collides, only for Horizon to strike the side of his face with a strong left, knocking the front of his head entirely off his body, silencing his screams. Before his face can reform Horizon punches him five times, leaving five holes in his torso. All in a perfectly vertical line following his spine, before he punches once more just below the neck, punching a hole through his throat and out the back of Immtion''s neck. Then, as the viin is falling backward, Horizon rushes forward, and pushes more of his energy into his hands to grab the base of Immtion''s jaw. With immense upward force on the jaw, while simultaneously pulling the viin''s shoulder toward him, he rips his entire head off with one hand while the other cleaves through the viin''s body from shoulder to groin, leaving him in pieces. The immense heat in the area immediately diminishes as the body breaks apart and falls into theva around them, quickly sinking into the earth as it melts away. A few tense seconds pass, then a minute, and not a sound is heard beyond the bubbling of theva. Horizon does not deactivate his T-Rooms, not even to activate a regr Room and use Scan, but he rxes slightly as the cheers of the onlookers are heard. Normally for an incident of this scale, as much of Manhattan as possible would have been evacuated, but because Horizon is here, that was simply not necessary. In a hasty evacuation, idents always happen, people are always hurt, or worse, so this was the best possible oue. They were simply fortunate that Immtion brought the fight to Central Park instead of a crowded street, especially since the park is usually less popted at night. Breathing a sigh of relief, Horizon forces his muscles to push through theva as he turns and begins walking toward the police barrier, mentally preparing himself for whatever nonsense he''d have to deal with next. However, when he''s only a few dozen meters away, finally where theva was only ankle deep, he feels a sudden surge of heat behind him. ''Seriously?'' Horizon wonders as he turns around, only to see Immtion rising out of theva, glowing white once again. Unlike before, his body struggled to keep its humanoid form, his face and head were warped and constantly shifting. His screeches and screams were filled with anguish as he clutched his head, as if trying to hold himself together, and failing to do so. "No!" Horizon rushes forward, feeling the heat growing in the area, ready for a sudden expansion, and aiming to stop it. "ARRARGHGGHGA!" Immtion screams as his mind crumbles under the immense pain he''d just endured, and as his mind dies, his body desperately fights to live. No longer limited by his consciousness, his instincts take over, and his body pushes past its limits. The sudden change causes Horizon to be pulled forward, making him stumble for a moment as all the air is ripped out of the area around them to fuel Immtion. But he continues running toward the viin, and next, he feels a surge of heat like he''d never felt before mming into him. It instantly ovees his energy veil,pletely burning his Body Glove, Visor, and skin. Melting everything into his body. His organs instantly begin failing as his blood boils and tries to explode out of his body. And his conscious mind goes nk. ROOM! His energy veil deactivates as he opens a Room to his absolute limit, nearly 200 mi -322km- radius, allowing him to sense everything in the city and much of the states. He could now sense everything on this section of America''s easter seaboard, along with the immensity of Immtion''s energy. The energy released would melt all of Central Park, sending a wave of superheated air through the entire city. Horizon''s subconscious considered his usual responses to such all-epassing threats, and while normally he could simply warp everyone away. Since in this case, he cannot warp the viin. His patients were at the back of his mind, the children who were attached to essential life support systems, the people all around him who for whatever reason should not be moved, all those thoughts rest at the far recess of his mind. Horizon was stuck at an impasse, for the first time in his life, making a decision such as this was, difficult. Some part of him was beginning to believe that it was, wrong. To leave innocents to their deaths, it made him hesitate. That hesitation meant he was now fully enveloped by the wave of heat, causing his eyes to explode and his mouth, ears, and nose to be burnt shut, leaving his head in an even worse condition than All For One''s as his Visor is melted into his skull. Nezu''s words echoed in his mind, the challenge issued to him, half in jest, but his perfect memory would never let him forget it. Because he is Horizon, which means¡ª ''I can save everyone!'' Horizon''s mind goes nk for a moment, as his body moves entirely on its own. Shattering his perceived limits and taking him one step closer to mastering his Quirk Awakening. And in an instant, before the heat wave can even reach the police barricade. The blinding light, the viin, and Horizon, disappear from Central Park. The onlookers couldn''t see what happened, so they all looked around confused for a moment before the firefighters got to work trying to cool the molten rock. But Immtion saw, he saw everything. He saw Horizon get nearly cremated alive standing a dozen meters away from him, then in the same instant, his view was blocked as Horizon''s hand grabbed his face, covering his eyes. Then, before the hand moved away, he felt, for the first time in his life, blistering cold. The sensation was so unbelievable that it snapped him back into sanity for just a moment, for his final moments. And when Horizon released his grip on the viin, he was treated to the sight of Horizon''s body incinerated, and now sporting a thinyer of frost around him. And behind Horizon, a sea of stars, peaceful, tranquil. Then Immtion began falling away, and his body turned to see the Earth below, beautiful and blue. This vast world he was fortunate enough to be born into, is thest thing he sees as theck of air forces his Quirk to shut off, and his human body immediately dies in the vacuum of space. SHAMBLES! Horizon appeared before the police blockade as the firefighters were now getting to work, with a dead Immtion''s human body at his side, holding it by one arm as it was frozen stiff. "Horizon!" one of the police officers says. "Is it over? Is that the viin?" They wait for a moment, holding their breaths as they finally take in his burnt body, not wanting to imagine the mess beneath the Body Glove. Horizon staggers for a moment, as if looking around confused. Then to their horror he reaches up and rips the mouthpiece of his Visor off, taking his lips and some of the flesh from his cheeks with it. The crowd is stunned as his blood falls into the earth below, exposing his bloody teeth as he greedily swallows the air. "Sorry, my entire body got incinerated, couldn''t breathe," Horizon says as he tries topose himself. The officer is about to speak when Horizon raises a hand to silence him. "Ears and eyes are gone too," Horizon says to the officer before gesturing to the others. "Sorry about leaving all of you heroes with the mess, but I have to get back to the hospital, my patients need me. I''m sure the full report of this will be released before morning¡­" With that, Horizon warps away, taking the viin with him, as he has much to learn from Immtion''s body. END CHAPTER--- Chapter 341: (Different Worlds) Discord: .gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- ---Saitama Tokyo, Midnight¡­ "Babe I won''t have to push back our date again," Cellophane says, speaking to Yui through his visor. High above a dimly lit warehouse area, he sits at the edge of a five-story building with his feet off the side of the building, watching the viins below. "Mmm, promise?" she asks, quietly. "You know I can''t promise that, if Viins show up I have to respond, but I''ll do everything I can to make it happen, that I can promise you," Cellophane says as he sees the viins enter the warehouse with crates of drugs. "Stay safe," Yui says."Always, now I have to get to work, I''ll call you tomorrow," Cellophane says before she hangs up. Waiting for the viins to get morefortable inside the warehouse, Cellophane casually leans forward, falling toward the street before firing a line of tape and swinging across the warehouse yard. Over the wall he snaps the tape and gentlynds on some containers, not making a sound. "Now let''s see what''s going on here," Cellophane mutters as he sneaks around to the upper levels, finding an open window and walking along the steel beams above the open warehouse. He sees the viins below, only three men, all with registered Quirks he could easily handle, even at once. But instead of dropping down and crushing them, he remains silent and listens. "I''m telling you, this is the best bet," one of the men says. "We move this little shipment, and they''ll just roll over and let it happen. Shigaraki won''t do shit, he''s too much of a target to make any move, with or without Horizon being here." "I just don''t think it''s worth the risk," One of the other men says. "It''ll be fine," thest man says. "All we need is to meet the dealers here and move the product, then spread the word and show there''s blood in the water." "So that''s the big n?" the first man asks. "Let everyone get a cut of the pie instead of making bank as the sole distributor?" "The more people eating from the pie the less likely it is that Shigaraki targets us, assuming he grows some balls andes out of hiding," the leader says. "Plus we''ll step back and wholesale product to the others anyway, we won''t be on the street selling shit." Cellophane''s visor records everything as he listens intently. ''Ok, so I should put a tracker on the product and follow these guys back to the base, find the person who they''re getting this stuff from,'' he thinks. ''Shut this operation down at the source and¡ª'' Cellophane freezes as the reinforced warehouse door is loudly ripped off its braces, causing the viins to turn around, scared. ''Shit,'' Cellophane thinks as he sees Spinner, Toga, Twice, who he assumes is a Double, and four Nomu walk into the warehouse. "So you''re the wannabe punks disrespecting Shigaraki huh, which of you is the boss?" Spinner asks as he walks toward them, drawing his massive jagged sword as he approaches. Two of the viins step back, leaving their boss to deal with this situation. He looks back, panicked, then turns to face Spinner, doing his best to look serious. Cellophane realizes he needs to call for backup, and raises his hand to the side of his visor. But ncing at the heads-up disy within the visor he sees the symbol for hismunication being jammed. ''That one,'' he narrows his eyes at one of the Nomu in the back with two small antennas growing out of its head. ''Radio Wave Nomu, if I try to call they''ll know I''m here, fuck.'' A few more minutes pass as Cellophane listens to their violent discussion, watching Spinner cut off the leader''s legs with one swing of his sword. And as the man falls onto his back, his eyes look upward, barely seeing Cellophane above. ''Seriously, that''s just shitty luck,'' Cellophane thinks as the viins point at him, and a momentter one of the Nomu fires an energy beam directly at him. He barely leaps out of the way andnds on a different beam as Twice begins to form Doubles, rushing him like a tidal wave. "Help us get him and you''ll get to live!" Spinnermands, and all the viins and Nomu leap into action. ---Meanwhile, Matani Tower, Manhattan¡­ For the first time in over a year, Law was asleep for more than one hour. Ever since his encounter with All For One, only needing one hour of sleep was something he''d not only gotten used to, but greatly appreciated. But now,ying in his absurdly luxurious bed, wearing only a pair of shorts to let his body breathe for a while, he feels more rxed than he''s been in a long time. Atleast, until his phone starts ringing. Law groans as he opens his eyes, ncing at the clock beside his bed to see it''s 11 AM. "One more hour would have been nice," Law mutters as he warps his phone into his hand, seeing Nezu''s name on the called ID. "Well I can''t say I wasn''t worried," Nezu says as the video call connects. Law drops the phone to have it hover beside him as he sits against the backboard. "About me, why?" "Because I turned on the news to see youpletely incinerated and bleeding from the face, it''s not a good look." "Oh please, I always look good," Law says as he turns on the TV, then turns to the news station, and to the surprise of no one, Horizon is on the screen. "I''m on TV, one second." "The full story forst night''s incident in Central Park has now been revealed," the reporter says. "Thanks to official police statements and records from the children''s hospital, we can confirm that from the beginning of the incident to the moment he arrived, Horizon was in the midst of a life-saving operation on a young girl, who is now sessfully tumor free and has a health life ahead of her. The body of the viin was taken by Horizon, so no medical reports have been released, most likely a precaution to prevent the League Of Viins from harvesting that dangerous Quirk for one of their monstrous Nomu. We also have confirmation that Horizon ispletely fine, as after the incident concluded he quickly recovered and continued performing life-saving operations past sunrise this morning, a truly dedicated and responsible Hero. And I think we all know where we''re hoping he''ll settle down after graduating from UA." The man gives a knowing smile, and Law just knows the American people will be even more disheartened when summer ends and he returns to Japan. The news continues, having some ''experts''e on and break down all the footage and reports of the fight, so Law simply mutes the TV and looks over at his phone. "They love me, as expected, since everyone loves me," Law smiles as Nezu rolls his eyes. "Everyone, not counting Midnight, all the viins, Hawks, Mt. Lady, Ryukyu, Asui, and¡ª" "Alright, I get it," Law grumbles out. "Is this just a social call?" "Mostly, I''m just checking in on you, you''ve only got one more month abroad before you have to return. How has it been thus far?" "Honestly, I really needed this vacation," Law stretches, getting morefortable. "Plus Star'' is actually pretty great, I''ve learned a lot from observing her, and the few spars we''ve had." "Oh, did you win?" "It always ends in a draw, her versatility is just annoying," Law says. "Oh, and I have Ryukoing here next week, she''s really excited about shopping in New York." "I''d imagine so, and speaking of incredible moves. What happened at the end of yourst fight, I doubt the report you submit will have the full story, so?" "I''m¡­honestly not really sure," Horizon says. "I couldn''t hold him, or warp him. Nothing I had was doing proper damage aside from my Awakening abilities, but those were taking too long, and didn''t put him down permanently." "We noticed, he reformed," Nezu says. "But you warped him at the end, yes?" "Yeah, but¡­" Law nces at this phone, seeing how focused Nezu was. "Promise me you''ll never repeat this to anyone?" "You have my word," Nezu says. "When he did that final st, I could feel everything, everyone. I could warp them all away, but people would die, and I froze," Law says. "It''s like, for the first time¡­the second time, my brain didn''t make the logical decision. Even with all my power, I didn''t like the idea that I couldn''t save everyone. Then I just, I don''t know." "It was as if your body moved on its own?" Law looks at Nezu, confused, "How''d you know?" "All Might experienced the same thing long ago," Nezu says with a mischievous and victorious smile. Giving Law a full view of his smug expression. "Yeah, I dropped my defenses and took all the pain, broke my current limitations, and warped us into space. There was no air up there for his Quirk to feed on, so, he died, then I brought us back." Nezu''s smile falters, slightly. "Well, atleast the first part was heroic, although in this situation I understand you didn''t have many options." "Nezu, being a ''True Hero,'' sucks, so don''t get any ideas of me doing that in your head." "Sure sure," Nezu clearly wasn''t taking him seriously. "God, you''re the worst when you''re gloating." "That''s rich,ing from you." "Whatever, just forget I said anything, now I need to get ready before Star'' gets here, hopefully, I can get some more sleep. Using my Awakening three times yesterday and for that long, really drained me," Law says. "Ha, you''re acting like a proper hero and making friends, are you sure you''re Law?" Law rolls his eyes, "you''re lucky you''re cute, because you''re not funny." "Cute?! I''m adora¡ª" Law hangs up on Nezu andys down in his bed. Raising his hands to the ceiling he flows his energy toward his palm, feeling his Awakening already more potent and efficient than it was yesterday. ''C-Room should be a lot more reliable now,'' Law realizes, dropping his arm beside him and closing his eyes. ''That means I can focus a lot more on T-Room now. Hopefully, by the time I get back to Japan, I''ll have them both ready for use in a serious battle. Then I can focus on R-Room¡­'' Law takes a deep breath as he rxes, trying to get another hour of sleep before he goes to lunch with Star''. END CHAPTER--- Chapter 342: (Cellophane! Pt. II) Discord: .gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "This was not the n!" Toga says as she paces back and forth, meanwhile Twice is sitting nearby simply watching her and Dabi is scrolling on his phone. They were in an empty building at the edge of Tokyo, a few stories up to overlook the streets below. "Rx," Dabi says. "His boss isn''t in Japan, and they don''t know what happened, we''ll be fine." As Toga is about to respond, Spinner enters the room from one of the connected doors, and puts his phone away. "Well, what''d he say?" Toga asks, hope in her voice. "Tomura said it''ll be almost two days before the Nomu we need gets here," Spinner says. "The best bet is to hold him until then.""So we''re stuck here, that''s just great," Dabi grumbles. "You can head out if you want, the three of us came to deal with this, not to tie you down from handling your business." "Nah, this could be fun," Dabi says. "Besides, if he tries anything, I''d be nice to kill one of those UA brats." After a few more minutes of discussion, they hear scraping in one of the connected rooms. "I think he''s awake," Twice says happily. "We should probably go say hi," Spinner turns and walks to the door. Everyone follows him in to see a hastily emptied room. All the furniture had been moved out and the sleeves were blocking the wall of ss overlooking the city. They''d intended to take him to one of the more remote safe houses, but sadly, this apartment was the closest safehouse they had ess to. And nobody wanted to be caught while kidnapping Cellophane. "Oh, it''s you idiots," Cellophane says while looking over at them, his arms and legs tied to the wooden chair they''ve chained him to. "If you let me go now, I''ll only hurt you a little bit, and I''ll even put in a good word so you only spend the rest of your life in Tartarus." "Tch, is that supposed to be a good deal?" Toga asks as she draws her knife, angrily pointing at Cellophane. "It''s the only deal that you will survive." "You think I''m scared of you?!" Toga rushes forward, ready to pierce his heart, but Cellophane doesn''t flinch, and isn''t surprised when Spinner grabs her. "Guess atleast one of you grew a brain, or piece of one," Cellophane scoffs as Spinner holds back the fuming girl. Dabi and Twice join Spinner and Toga in the room, all standing in front of Cellophane, ring down at him. "I''m not interested in joining the boy band, so don''t bother." "As if we''d ever sing with you," Twice says. Dabi rolls his eyes while Spinner doesn''t react. But Toga res even harder, "How would it be a boy band, I''m a girl dumbass." "I thought they only kept you around as a groupie¡­atleast that''s what the rumors say." "That''s just trash the heroes spread to make me look bad, I''m still saving myself for the one I love!" Toga says while pointing her knife at him. Beneath his visor, Cellophane nces at Spinner, who flinches in response to her words, and he sees his opening. "Rumors? Really?" Cellophane asks. "And here I was considering joining you guys if the initiation rumor was true, about you testing out all the new recruits. I heard when you guys suddenly expanded you had to take them all in big groups¡­all at once." "I''ll kill you!" Toga lunges forward and stabs him in the right shoulder, but Cellophane doesn''t flinch. Instead, he takes the moment that she''s close to him and whispers to her, "See, you''re not cute when you''re like this. No wonder no boy will ever love you, after all, your parents never even loved you." Toga immediately tries to stab him again, but Spinner pulls her back before she can. "Don''t let him get to you so easily, he''s just trying to piss us off," Dabi says. "This fucker thinks he''s untouchable, that he''s better than us, but he''s not. That''s why he''s in the chair, and we''re not." "Well, I''m sure you''re familiar with knowing when someone is superior, right?" Cellophane says. Dabi gives Cellophane a curious look, "Try me." "You know, I''m the person Horizon trusts the most in our ss, we''re actually pretty great friends, so he told me something interesting about you." "And what''s that?" Dabi asks. "He told me your daddy never loved you, he didn''t even go looking for your corpse, that he had a party and got right back to making a better kid the moment you were a memory," Cellophane says. "That''s why you joined the league of idiots right? To get back at whoever your dad is, you''re a manchild who deserves whatever ising to you." Dabi stares at Cellophane, and drops of blood flow from his eyes. He wipes them away and smiles, "damn, you''re pretty good at this. But I know UA doesn''t teach this stuff, he''s making you brats into real monsters, huh?" "It''s not hard when you just have to be honest," Cellophane nods to Spinner. "You should try it sometime, honesty." "What the hell are you talking about?" Spinner asks, hand itching to draw his sword, already tired of hearing their captive speak. Cellophane sighs, "How about you take off my visor so we can talk face to face?" Twice shrugs, "Sure, that thing looks super stuffy anyway, not like my super cool mask!" Yet again Spinner has to stop one of his friends from doing something stupid, preventing Twice from removing the visor. "How about you and Himiko just, keep your hands to yourself for the rest of this, alright?" "But, don''t we want to know who he is?" Twice asks. "No," Spinner says. "Team Horizon has gone to extreme lengths, aside from Tsukuyomi, to hide their identities. We''re trying to minimize Horizon''s reasons for actively hunting us. The best case scenario is we drop this guy off somewhere, Horizon will know it''s a distraction but he will have to respond personally, and then we get some work done elsewhere simultaneously." "Ohhh, yeah that makes sense," Toga says. "But can I stab him some more?" "No, we want him as whole as possible, and as for whatever is beneath that visor," Spinner leans forward and taps the visor. "If we know, Horizon will hunt us across the if he has to, right now we''re barely on his radar, and we''ll keep it that way." "Don''t you think it''s a bit toote for that?" Dabi asks, gesturing to their captive. "I don''t see a way to step backward after this." "You''re probably right, but this guy isn''t a problem for us and won''t change anything on the battlefield, nothing wrong with returning him in one piece and hoping for the best." Toga folds her arms, "Well the longer we have him the more likely his boss is to appear here, let''s just do whatever we''re doing quickly." "I''m working on it." "You''ve been saying that all night," Toga mutters. "Damn," Cellophane says, drawing their attention back to him. "You know, Spinner, it''s moments like these I''m d my girlfriend doesn''t talk much, I can''t imagine dealing with this weirdo." "She''s not my girlfriend," Spinner says. "Oh, sorry, I just figured with the looks you were giving her¡­you know." This causes Toga to look over at her friend, "Spinner? What''s he talking about?" "Uh, it''s," Spinner begins stuttering and awkwardly stepping away. "It''s nothing, I swear, he''s just trying to get in our heads." Toga looks genuinely hurt by that, feeling as if once again she was unworthy of love, and beneath his visor, Sero smiles. "I guess you aren''t his type," Cellophane says. "Sorry, but I guess I was right the first time." Hearing that almost pushes Toga to tears, and at a loss for words, Spinner steps forward and gently hugs her. Beneath his visor Sero nces at his hud yet again, seeing hismunication systems still being jammed, and quietlymanding it to reset yet again. "If you love her, you should tell her," Cellophane says, and Dabi looks around confused as somehow this touching moment was taking ce mid-interrogation. "What we all do is dangerous, we can''t afford to waste a moment." Spinner takes a step away from Toga, and gently wipes some of her tears away, "we should talk after, just us, alright?" She looks up at him through teary eyes and nods, smiling brightly for the veryst time in her life. "I don''t get it," Cellophane says, capitalizing on this serene moment of vulnerability. "You''re not living morously, you''re always on the running, looking over your shoulders all the time, but¡­you''re somitted to being in the League Of Viins, why?" Dabi doesn''t move, only staring at Cellophane. But Spinner steps forward, speaking clearly and simply. "Because this is our family. What about you, I doubt the ''True Hero'' types follow Horizon, so, why?" "Well, at first, it was the money, then, it was because we were friends," Cellophane confesses. "But along the way, I liked how he''d always push me to do better, I pulled ahead of all my rivals, I got the respect of the people I had on posters in my room, and I even got an awesome girlfriend. Not to mention the lifestyle¡­and all he''s done to help me and my family." "So you owe him, is that it?" Spinner asks, disgusted. "Stain was right about you people, you''re no Hero." "Yeah, but, there is one more thing, but I guess it''s a bit stupid that¡ª" Cellophane''s voice became lower with each word, as if he were shy and embarrassed about what he was about to confess. "No, I guess, it''s too embarrassing. Nobody would ever take it seriously." Resonating with those words, after feeling ashamed for being himself his entire life, Spinner''s heart demands he reach out to help the person in front of him. So he takes two steps forward in front of Cellophane, and leans in. "You can''t tell anyone I''m saying this but," Cellophane whispers to Spinner. "The reason I follow Horizon, even while he''s so violent, and ruthless, and after all the things he does to viins, it''s because, well¡­" "Why?" Spinner asks, quietly. "Because I like it." "Wh¡ª AHHHH!" Spinner screams as Cellophane breaks the legs of the chair with his pure leg strength and kicks Spinner in the knees, shattering both kneecaps in one moment. This causes him to get pushed back into the wall behind him, shattering the chair. In their moment of confusion, before the viins can react Cellophane spins and throws a piece of the chair at Twice''s face, making it cross in front of Dabi. Dabi fires a small me at the piece of wood while Cellophane moves in the opposite direction, cing Toga between Dabi and himself and closing the distance on her. Dabi hesitates to fire for a moment while Toga rushes forward, and twice begins making Doubles to grab Cellophane. Cellophane makes quick work of Toga by spinning and kicking her in the side of her leg, breaking her leg, then in the same motion grabbing her hair and throwing her toward the door the viins entered from. Dabi takes this opportunity to release a massive st of mes, not caring about the building or taking the Hero alive, simply wanting this to be over. The blue light blinds everyone in the small room, who isn''t wearing a high-tech adaptive visor. Cellophane barely moves to the right, the entire left side of his body being scorched ck in the process. But his adrenaline is so high that he keeps moving, and the mes are so intense they instantly kill the nerves, resulting in his left side feelingpletely numb. He reaches Dabi and grabs him, swinging him around and throwing him into the group of Twice Doubles, destroying all of them in one motion as Dabi''s mes run wild. The immense heat reaches Spinner and he ignores his pain, rolling out of the way and grabbing a knife from his belt. He looks up just in time to see Cellophane about tond with a stomp directly onto Dabi''s skull, and throws the knife into the Hero''s calf, causing him to miss. Dabi takes his chance and his entire body begins to release smoke as he tries to kill the hero with one vertical fire st, one that would pierce through the ceiling and roof of the building and spare his allies. But to his surprise, Cellophane doesn''t hesitate to remove the knife from his leg and pierce Dabi''s hand, then pin that hand to the viin''s chest, all in one motion. "Argh!" Dabi screams as he feels the sharp pain in his chest. Then Cellophane grabs him by the leg and spins him, throwing him through the door to the other room, shattering it, before blue mes erupt in that room. Seeing all the viins dealt with, for now, Cellophane looks down at his body, and feels himself getting tired as the adrenaline wears off. ''I need to get out of here,'' he decides. ''But I can''t just go tell Horizon I got captured¡­I need something.'' To Spinner''s horror, he''s forced to watch with his broken legs, as Cellophane walks over to Toga and stomps on her head, knocking her out in one hit, then slings her over his shoulder. The Hero then begins walking to the ss wall that was now exposed thanks to Dabi''s attacks, with the viin on his shoulder. But before he leaves, he takes onest look at Spinner, making sure the viin remembers this moment. "I told you, you should never miss an opportunity to tell the person you love how you really feel, this life is too dangerous to be wasting time," Cellophane says, then sighs. "But I suppose you should be used to this, huh? You finally found a girl who might actually be interested in a loser like you, and you can''t even protect her¡­I could never imagine being so pathetic." Those words echo in Spinner''s mind as he sees Cellophane use her as a cushion between himself and the ss and leap out the window, taking her away from them. After swinging a few blocks away, toward the nearest police station, Cellophane''smunication systems are back online, only for a strange video to start ying in his visor. It showed the earth, but from many nations were littered with red circles, blocking entire specious of the globe. ''What the hell is this, and why won''t it cut off?'' As he arrives at the police station, he looks around to see all the electronic billboards and people''s phones are showing the same video. Then words finally appear. ''Hello world, I am Tech¡­'' END CHAPTER--- CHAPTER 333(Different Worlds) CHAPTER 333(Different Worlds) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- ---Saitama Tokyo, Midnight¡­ "Babe I won''t have to push back our date again," Cellophane says, speaking to Yui through his visor. High above a dimly lit warehouse area, he sits at the edge of a five-story building with his feet off the side of the building, watching the viins below. "Mmm, promise?" she asks, quietly. "You know I can''t promise that, if Viins show up I have to respond, but I''ll do everything I can to make it happen, that I can promise you," Cellophane says as he sees the viins enter the warehouse with crates of drugs. "Stay safe," Yui says. "Always, now I have to get to work, I''ll call you tomorrow," Cellophane says before she hangs up. Waiting for the viins to get morefortable inside the warehouse, Cellophane casually leans forward, falling toward the street before firing a line of tape and swinging across the warehouse yard. Over the wall he snaps the tape and gentlynds on some containers, not making a sound. "Now let''s see what''s going on here," Cellophane mutters as he sneaks around to the upper levels, finding an open window and walking along the steel beams above the open warehouse. He sees the viins below, only three men, all with registered Quirks he could easily handle, even at once. But instead of dropping down and crushing them, he remains silent and listens. "I''m telling you, this is the best bet," one of the men says. "We move this little shipment, and they''ll just roll over and let it happen. Shigaraki won''t do shit, he''s too much of a target to make any move, with or without Horizon being here." "I just don''t think it''s worth the risk," One of the other men says. "It''ll be fine," thest man says. "All we need is to meet the dealers here and move the product, then spread the word and show there''s blood in the water." "So that''s the big n?" the first man asks. "Let everyone get a cut of the pie instead of making bank as the sole distributor?" "The more people eating from the pie the less likely it is that Shigaraki targets us, assuming he grows some balls andes out of hiding," the leader says. "Plus we''ll step back and wholesale product to the others anyway, we won''t be on the street selling shit." Cellophane''s visor records everything as he listens intently. ''Ok, so I should put a tracker on the product and follow these guys back to the base, find the person who they''re getting this stuff from,'' he thinks. ''Shut this operation down at the source and¡ª'' Cellophane freezes as the reinforced warehouse door is loudly ripped off its braces, causing the viins to turn around, scared. ''Shit,'' Cellophane thinks as he sees Spinner, Toga, Twice, who he assumes is a Double, and four Nomu walk into the warehouse. "So you''re the wannabe punks disrespecting Shigaraki huh, which of you is the boss?" Spinner asks as he walks toward them, drawing his massive jagged sword as he approaches. Two of the viins step back, leaving their boss to deal with this situation. He looks back, panicked, then turns to face Spinner, doing his best to look serious. Cellophane realizes he needs to call for backup, and raises his hand to the side of his visor. But ncing at the heads-up disy within the visor he sees the symbol for hismunication being jammed. ''That one,'' he narrows his eyes at one of the Nomu in the back with two small antennas growing out of its head. ''Radio Wave Nomu, if I try to call they''ll know I''m here, fuck.'' A few more minutes pass as Cellophane listens to their violent discussion, watching Spinner cut off the leader''s legs with one swing of his sword. And as the man falls onto his back, his eyes look upward, barely seeing Cellophane above. ''Seriously, that''s just shitty luck,'' Cellophane thinks as the viins point at him, and a momentter one of the Nomu fires an energy beam directly at him. He barely leaps out of the way andnds on a different beam as Twice begins to form Doubles, rushing him like a tidal wave. "Help us get him and you''ll get to live!" Spinnermands, and all the viins and Nomu leap into action. ---Meanwhile, Matani Tower, Manhattan¡­ For the first time in over a year, Law was asleep for more than one hour. Ever since his encounter with All For One, only needing one hour of sleep was something he''d not only gotten used to, but greatly appreciated. But now,ying in his absurdly luxurious bed, wearing only a pair of shorts to let his body breathe for a while, he feels more rxed than he''s been in a long time. Atleast, until his phone starts ringing. Law groans as he opens his eyes, ncing at the clock beside his bed to see it''s 11 AM. "One more hour would have been nice," Law mutters as he warps his phone into his hand, seeing Nezu''s name on the called ID. "Well I can''t say I wasn''t worried," Nezu says as the video call connects. Law drops the phone to have it hover beside him as he sits against the backboard. "About me, why?" "Because I turned on the news to see youpletely incinerated and bleeding from the face, it''s not a good look." "Oh please, I always look good," Law says as he turns on the TV, then turns to the news station, and to the surprise of no one, Horizon is on the screen. "I''m on TV, one second." "The full story forst night''s incident in Central Park has now been revealed," the reporter says. "Thanks to official police statements and records from the children''s hospital, we can confirm that from the beginning of the incident to the moment he arrived, Horizon was in the midst of a life-saving operation on a young girl, who is now sessfully tumor free and has a health life ahead of her. The body of the viin was taken by Horizon, so no medical reports have been released, most likely a precaution to prevent the League Of Viins from harvesting that dangerous Quirk for one of their monstrous Nomu. We also have confirmation that Horizon ispletely fine, as after the incident concluded he quickly recovered and continued performing life-saving operations past sunrise this morning, a truly dedicated and responsible Hero. And I think we all know where we''re hoping he''ll settle down after graduating from UA." The man gives a knowing smile, and Law just knows the American people will be even more disheartened when summer ends and he returns to Japan. The news continues, having some ''experts''e on and break down all the footage and reports of the fight, so Law simply mutes the TV and looks over at his phone. "They love me, as expected, since everyone loves me," Law smiles as Nezu rolls his eyes. "Everyone, not counting Midnight, all the viins, Hawks, Mt. Lady, Ryukyu, Asui, and¡ª" "Alright, I get it," Law grumbles out. "Is this just a social call?" "Mostly, I''m just checking in on you, you''ve only got one more month abroad before you have to return. How has it been thus far?" "Honestly, I really needed this vacation," Law stretches, getting morefortable. "Plus Star'' is actually pretty great, I''ve learned a lot from observing her, and the few spars we''ve had." "Oh, did you win?" "It always ends in a draw, her versatility is just annoying," Law says. "Oh, and I have Ryukoing here next week, she''s really excited about shopping in New York." "I''d imagine so, and speaking of incredible moves. What happened at the end of yourst fight, I doubt the report you submit will have the full story, so?" "I''m¡­honestly not really sure," Horizon says. "I couldn''t hold him, or warp him. Nothing I had was doing proper damage aside from my Awakening abilities, but those were taking too long, and didn''t put him down permanently." "We noticed, he reformed," Nezu says. "But you warped him at the end, yes?" "Yeah, but¡­" Law nces at this phone, seeing how focused Nezu was. "Promise me you''ll never repeat this to anyone?" "You have my word," Nezu says. "When he did that final st, I could feel everything, everyone. I could warp them all away, but people would die, and I froze," Law says. "It''s like, for the first time¡­the second time, my brain didn''t make the logical decision. Even with all my power, I didn''t like the idea that I couldn''t save everyone. Then I just, I don''t know." "It was as if your body moved on its own?" Law looks at Nezu, confused, "How''d you know?" "All Might experienced the same thing long ago," Nezu says with a mischievous and victorious smile. Giving Law a full view of his smug expression. "Yeah, I dropped my defenses and took all the pain, broke my current limitations, and warped us into space. There was no air up there for his Quirk to feed on, so, he died, then I brought us back." Nezu''s smile falters, slightly. "Well, atleast the first part was heroic, although in this situation I understand you didn''t have many options." "Nezu, being a ''True Hero,'' sucks, so don''t get any ideas of me doing that in your head." "Sure sure," Nezu clearly wasn''t taking him seriously. "God, you''re the worst when you''re gloating." "That''s rich,ing from you." "Whatever, just forget I said anything, now I need to get ready before Star'' gets here, hopefully, I can get some more sleep. Using my Awakening three times yesterday and for that long, really drained me," Law says. "Ha, you''re acting like a proper hero and making friends, are you sure you''re Law?" Law rolls his eyes, "you''re lucky you''re cute, because you''re not funny." "Cute?! I''m adora¡ª" Law hangs up on Nezu andys down in his bed. Raising his hands to the ceiling he flows his energy toward his palm, feeling his Awakening already more potent and efficient than it was yesterday. ''C-Room should be a lot more reliable now,'' Law realizes, dropping his arm beside him and closing his eyes. ''That means I can focus a lot more on T-Room now. Hopefully, by the time I get back to Japan, I''ll have them both ready for use in a serious battle. Then I can focus on R-Room¡­'' Law takes a deep breath as he rxes, trying to get another hour of sleep before he goes to lunch with Star''. END CHAPTER--- CHAPTER 334(Cellophane! Pt. II) CHAPTER 334(Cellophane! Pt. II) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "This was not the n!" Toga says as she paces back and forth, meanwhile Twice is sitting nearby simply watching her and Dabi is scrolling on his phone. They were in an empty building at the edge of Tokyo, a few stories up to overlook the streets below. "Rx," Dabi says. "His boss isn''t in Japan, and they don''t know what happened, we''ll be fine." As Toga is about to respond, Spinner enters the room from one of the connected doors, and puts his phone away. "Well, what''d he say?" Toga asks, hope in her voice. "Tomura said it''ll be almost two days before the Nomu we need gets here," Spinner says. "The best bet is to hold him until then." "So we''re stuck here, that''s just great," Dabi grumbles. "You can head out if you want, the three of us came to deal with this, not to tie you down from handling your business." "Nah, this could be fun," Dabi says. "Besides, if he tries anything, I''d be nice to kill one of those UA brats." After a few more minutes of discussion, they hear scraping in one of the connected rooms. "I think he''s awake," Twice says happily. "We should probably go say hi," Spinner turns and walks to the door. Everyone follows him in to see a hastily emptied room. All the furniture had been moved out and the sleeves were blocking the wall of ss overlooking the city. They''d intended to take him to one of the more remote safe houses, but sadly, this apartment was the closest safehouse they had ess to. And nobody wanted to be caught while kidnapping Cellophane. "Oh, it''s you idiots," Cellophane says while looking over at them, his arms and legs tied to the wooden chair they''ve chained him to. "If you let me go now, I''ll only hurt you a little bit, and I''ll even put in a good word so you only spend the rest of your life in Tartarus." "Tch, is that supposed to be a good deal?" Toga asks as she draws her knife, angrily pointing at Cellophane. "It''s the only deal that you will survive." "You think I''m scared of you?!" Toga rushes forward, ready to pierce his heart, but Cellophane doesn''t flinch, and isn''t surprised when Spinner grabs her. "Guess atleast one of you grew a brain, or piece of one," Cellophane scoffs as Spinner holds back the fuming girl. Dabi and Twice join Spinner and Toga in the room, all standing in front of Cellophane, ring down at him. "I''m not interested in joining the boy band, so don''t bother." "As if we''d ever sing with you," Twice says. Dabi rolls his eyes while Spinner doesn''t react. But Toga res even harder, "How would it be a boy band, I''m a girl dumbass." "I thought they only kept you around as a groupie¡­atleast that''s what the rumors say." "That''s just trash the heroes spread to make me look bad, I''m still saving myself for the one I love!" Toga says while pointing her knife at him. Beneath his visor, Cellophane nces at Spinner, who flinches in response to her words, and he sees his opening. "Rumors? Really?" Cellophane asks. "And here I was considering joining you guys if the initiation rumor was true, about you testing out all the new recruits. I heard when you guys suddenly expanded you had to take them all in big groups¡­all at once." "I''ll kill you!" Toga lunges forward and stabs him in the right shoulder, but Cellophane doesn''t flinch. Instead, he takes the moment that she''s close to him and whispers to her, "See, you''re not cute when you''re like this. No wonder no boy will ever love you, after all, your parents never even loved you." Toga immediately tries to stab him again, but Spinner pulls her back before she can. "Don''t let him get to you so easily, he''s just trying to piss us off," Dabi says. "This fucker thinks he''s untouchable, that he''s better than us, but he''s not. That''s why he''s in the chair, and we''re not." "Well, I''m sure you''re familiar with knowing when someone is superior, right?" Cellophane says. Dabi gives Cellophane a curious look, "Try me." "You know, I''m the person Horizon trusts the most in our ss, we''re actually pretty great friends, so he told me something interesting about you." "And what''s that?" Dabi asks. "He told me your daddy never loved you, he didn''t even go looking for your corpse, that he had a party and got right back to making a better kid the moment you were a memory," Cellophane says. "That''s why you joined the league of idiots right? To get back at whoever your dad is, you''re a manchild who deserves whatever ising to you." Dabi stares at Cellophane, and drops of blood flow from his eyes. He wipes them away and smiles, "damn, you''re pretty good at this. But I know UA doesn''t teach this stuff, he''s making you brats into real monsters, huh?" "It''s not hard when you just have to be honest," Cellophane nods to Spinner. "You should try it sometime, honesty." "What the hell are you talking about?" Spinner asks, hand itching to draw his sword, already tired of hearing their captive speak. Cellophane sighs, "How about you take off my visor so we can talk face to face?" Twice shrugs, "Sure, that thing looks super stuffy anyway, not like my super cool mask!" Yet again Spinner has to stop one of his friends from doing something stupid, preventing Twice from removing the visor. "How about you and Himiko just, keep your hands to yourself for the rest of this, alright?" "But, don''t we want to know who he is?" Twice asks. "No," Spinner says. "Team Horizon has gone to extreme lengths, aside from Tsukuyomi, to hide their identities. We''re trying to minimize Horizon''s reasons for actively hunting us. The best case scenario is we drop this guy off somewhere, Horizon will know it''s a distraction but he will have to respond personally, and then we get some work done elsewhere simultaneously." "Ohhh, yeah that makes sense," Toga says. "But can I stab him some more?" "No, we want him as whole as possible, and as for whatever is beneath that visor," Spinner leans forward and taps the visor. "If we know, Horizon will hunt us across the if he has to, right now we''re barely on his radar, and we''ll keep it that way." "Don''t you think it''s a bit toote for that?" Dabi asks, gesturing to their captive. "I don''t see a way to step backward after this." "You''re probably right, but this guy isn''t a problem for us and won''t change anything on the battlefield, nothing wrong with returning him in one piece and hoping for the best." Toga folds her arms, "Well the longer we have him the more likely his boss is to appear here, let''s just do whatever we''re doing quickly." "I''m working on it." "You''ve been saying that all night," Toga mutters. "Damn," Cellophane says, drawing their attention back to him. "You know, Spinner, it''s moments like these I''m d my girlfriend doesn''t talk much, I can''t imagine dealing with this weirdo." "She''s not my girlfriend," Spinner says. "Oh, sorry, I just figured with the looks you were giving her¡­you know." This causes Toga to look over at her friend, "Spinner? What''s he talking about?" "Uh, it''s," Spinner begins stuttering and awkwardly stepping away. "It''s nothing, I swear, he''s just trying to get in our heads." Toga looks genuinely hurt by that, feeling as if once again she was unworthy of love, and beneath his visor, Sero smiles. "I guess you aren''t his type," Cellophane says. "Sorry, but I guess I was right the first time." Hearing that almost pushes Toga to tears, and at a loss for words, Spinner steps forward and gently hugs her. Beneath his visor Sero nces at his hud yet again, seeing hismunication systems still being jammed, and quietlymanding it to reset yet again. "If you love her, you should tell her," Cellophane says, and Dabi looks around confused as somehow this touching moment was taking ce mid-interrogation. "What we all do is dangerous, we can''t afford to waste a moment." Spinner takes a step away from Toga, and gently wipes some of her tears away, "we should talk after, just us, alright?" She looks up at him through teary eyes and nods, smiling brightly for the veryst time in her life. "I don''t get it," Cellophane says, capitalizing on this serene moment of vulnerability. "You''re not living morously, you''re always on the running, looking over your shoulders all the time, but¡­you''re somitted to being in the League Of Viins, why?" Dabi doesn''t move, only staring at Cellophane. But Spinner steps forward, speaking clearly and simply. "Because this is our family. What about you, I doubt the ''True Hero'' types follow Horizon, so, why?" "Well, at first, it was the money, then, it was because we were friends," Cellophane confesses. "But along the way, I liked how he''d always push me to do better, I pulled ahead of all my rivals, I got the respect of the people I had on posters in my room, and I even got an awesome girlfriend. Not to mention the lifestyle¡­and all he''s done to help me and my family." "So you owe him, is that it?" Spinner asks, disgusted. "Stain was right about you people, you''re no Hero." "Yeah, but, there is one more thing, but I guess it''s a bit stupid that¡ª" Cellophane''s voice became lower with each word, as if he were shy and embarrassed about what he was about to confess. "No, I guess, it''s too embarrassing. Nobody would ever take it seriously." Resonating with those words, after feeling ashamed for being himself his entire life, Spinner''s heart demands he reach out to help the person in front of him. So he takes two steps forward in front of Cellophane, and leans in. "You can''t tell anyone I''m saying this but," Cellophane whispers to Spinner. "The reason I follow Horizon, even while he''s so violent, and ruthless, and after all the things he does to viins, it''s because, well¡­" "Why?" Spinner asks, quietly. "Because I like it." "Wh¡ª AHHHH!" Spinner screams as Cellophane breaks the legs of the chair with his pure leg strength and kicks Spinner in the knees, shattering both kneecaps in one moment. This causes him to get pushed back into the wall behind him, shattering the chair. In their moment of confusion, before the viins can react Cellophane spins and throws a piece of the chair at Twice''s face, making it cross in front of Dabi. Dabi fires a small me at the piece of wood while Cellophane moves in the opposite direction, cing Toga between Dabi and himself and closing the distance on her. Dabi hesitates to fire for a moment while Toga rushes forward, and twice begins making Doubles to grab Cellophane. Cellophane makes quick work of Toga by spinning and kicking her in the side of her leg, breaking her leg, then in the same motion grabbing her hair and throwing her toward the door the viins entered from. Dabi takes this opportunity to release a massive st of mes, not caring about the building or taking the Hero alive, simply wanting this to be over. The blue light blinds everyone in the small room, who isn''t wearing a high-tech adaptive visor. Cellophane barely moves to the right, the entire left side of his body being scorched ck in the process. But his adrenaline is so high that he keeps moving, and the mes are so intense they instantly kill the nerves, resulting in his left side feelingpletely numb. He reaches Dabi and grabs him, swinging him around and throwing him into the group of Twice Doubles, destroying all of them in one motion as Dabi''s mes run wild. The immense heat reaches Spinner and he ignores his pain, rolling out of the way and grabbing a knife from his belt. He looks up just in time to see Cellophane about tond with a stomp directly onto Dabi''s skull, and throws the knife into the Hero''s calf, causing him to miss. Dabi takes his chance and his entire body begins to release smoke as he tries to kill the hero with one vertical fire st, one that would pierce through the ceiling and roof of the building and spare his allies. But to his surprise, Cellophane doesn''t hesitate to remove the knife from his leg and pierce Dabi''s hand, then pin that hand to the viin''s chest, all in one motion. "Argh!" Dabi screams as he feels the sharp pain in his chest. Then Cellophane grabs him by the leg and spins him, throwing him through the door to the other room, shattering it, before blue mes erupt in that room. Seeing all the viins dealt with, for now, Cellophane looks down at his body, and feels himself getting tired as the adrenaline wears off. ''I need to get out of here,'' he decides. ''But I can''t just go tell Horizon I got captured¡­I need something.'' To Spinner''s horror, he''s forced to watch with his broken legs, as Cellophane walks over to Toga and stomps on her head, knocking her out in one hit, then slings her over his shoulder. The Hero then begins walking to the ss wall that was now exposed thanks to Dabi''s attacks, with the viin on his shoulder. But before he leaves, he takes onest look at Spinner, making sure the viin remembers this moment. "I told you, you should never miss an opportunity to tell the person you love how you really feel, this life is too dangerous to be wasting time," Cellophane says, then sighs. "But I suppose you should be used to this, huh? You finally found a girl who might actually be interested in a loser like you, and you can''t even protect her¡­I could never imagine being so pathetic." Those words echo in Spinner''s mind as he sees Cellophane use her as a cushion between himself and the ss and leap out the window, taking her away from them. After swinging a few blocks away, toward the nearest police station, Cellophane''smunication systems are back online, only for a strange video to start ying in his visor. It showed the earth, but from many nations were littered with red circles, blocking entire specious of the globe. ''What the hell is this, and why won''t it cut off?'' As he arrives at the police station, he looks around to see all the electronic billboards and people''s phones are showing the same video. Then words finally appear. ''Hello world, I am Tech¡­'' END CHAPTER--- Chapter 343: (Hello World) Discord: .gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "Since when do you eat this much?" Star'' asks as she walks into Horizon''s living room with a drink in her hand. They were in the living room of his new temporary home for the remainder of the summer, overlooking Central Park yet again as the sun reached its peak in the sky. "I used my Awakening three times yesterday," Horizon says as he continues eating hisrge bowl of pasta. "And I ran out of meal bars." Star'' sits on the single seat beside the couch and rxes, watching the TV as they''d been doing for some time now. "Still not efficient huh," Star'' says jokingly. "I thought you were perfect or something?" "Says the woman who trained all her life and doesn''t have an awakening," Horizon says as he continues eating."Tch, my Quirk is enough, plus, it''s hard to train it." "Excuses," Horizon says as his phone beeps twice. With a thought, he makes it float over to him, and smiles at the screen. "Pizza''s ready." "Why are you telling me that, go get it," Star'' says. SHAMBLES! She suddenly finds herself sitting on the counter of a pizza restaurant across the city, causing everyone in the crowded business to freeze and stare at her. Without a word she gets down from the counter and turns to face the cashier, "I''m here for Horizon''s pizza." "Uh we," the man looks back nervously as his friend shrugs. "It''s under the name, ''Tim''," Star'' says, and the man is immediately relieved. "Here you are," the man ces four pizza boxes on the counter along with a few orders of sides. "We had no idea this was for you two, I hope you enjoy it." "We always do, we actually order from here a lot," Star'' says as she holds the boxes. SHAMBLES! She appears back in Horizon''s living room, visibly annoyed. "The one day I decide not to constantly resist your Quirk, and you warp me into a pizza ce, seriously?" "And now you know better," Horizon immediately opens one of the boxes and starts eating. "How much energy did you expend yesterday?" Star'' asks as she settles back into her seat. "And was warping him into space hard, since, you know, there isn''t anything up there to swap with?" "I used enough energy to power Manhattan for¡­quite a while. I''m a living nuclear reactor, except I produce a lot more power since my Quirk allows me to exist on a quantum level, like yours¡­even if you aren''t that good at it." "Well considering how much of a freak you are, I don''t feel bad about it." "Yeah well, food is mostly just used by my brain to handle my body using quantum entanglement to, ugh, are you understanding any of this?" "Huh?" Star'' looks over at him. "Sorry were you still talking about the science stuff?" Horizon rolls his eyes beneath his visor as he grabs a second slice of pizza. "As for your second question, I don''t need to swap with anything so long as I''m familiar with the ''Space'' I''m warping within. And since I''ve been here for a few weeks, I keep my range as far out as possible, and that includes going up." "If I want to go to space I usually just fly, but I can''t actually leave the atmosphere." "I did, hence Immtion getting snuffed out," Horizon says. "Problem is I need air to breathe, so, surviving that along with the damage he did to me cost damn near as much as my Awakening." Star and Stripe gives him a sideways nce, then take a slice of pizza, "You know, you''re kind of scary powerful." "Coming from you, that actually means something," Horizon says. "But remember, I''m only 17, imagine when I''m old like you." "I''m not that old, barely past 40." "You''re almost there, basically a senior citizen at this point." They eat in silence for a while, watching TV, and then Star'' gives in to her curiosity and asks something he''s always been very private about. "What''s your range?" "16 to 38." "Not that!" Star'' says. "Also, isn''t 38 kind of old?" "They can be fun," Horizon shrugs. "And some of them are really¡ª" "I don''t need to hear that," she cuts him off. "I meant your Quirk. I can feel when it''s active, and when I fly into your range, so I know there is a limit, so, what is it?" "Are you sure you want to know?" Horizon asks. "My Quirk is one of the very few, maybe the only one, where the more you know the more powerful it seems. Like my ''Warping'', it''s manageable when people buy into that lie, but we both know it''s not really ''warping'', and the reality is a lot scarier." "You think I can''t handle it?" "In a week or two, I''ll be too much for you," Horizon says. "But if you must know, as of yesterday. 250mi -402km-." "Oh god, is that the¡ª" "Radius," Horizon says. "I can see everything all around us, all at once, and with a thought, I can move anything. Or I can rip Manhattan and most of the state out of the ground and just drop it." "A little more and you''ll be able to lift one of Japan''s main inds, right?" "That''s more than enough to rip Kyushu out of the ocean and throw it into the ocean, or atKorea," Horizon says, casually. "Sheesh. If you ever decide to be a viin, do it away from here, alright," Star'' says. "If that happened in America they''d send me to fight you." "Well I think no matter where I am they''d send you, but the real question is," Horizon points at her with his fresh slice of pizza, pulling her attention to him. "Who do you think they''d send after you?" Star''ughs in his face. "Don''t get too cocky now, even you can''t fight the world." "She says to the man who can wave his hand and put almost everything in this state into a blender." "Yeah, but you''re a hero, a real hero, you''d never turn on us like that." "Eh," Horizon leans back into the couch, looking at the empty pizza boxes. "I might¡ª" Star'' nces over at him, curiously. "---If I don''t get something sweet to finish this lunch." "Ice cream?" "Cheesecake," Horizon says before warping away for a moment, then appears back on the couch holding tworge cheesecakes. "Sometimes I really love that Quirk," Star'' says as he hands her an entire cheesecake."But I''ll need a checkup on my heart before you leave, eating with you is tough¡­but so delicious." A few minutester, while Horizon''s cheesecake is almost done, Star'' is on her fifth slice when her phone rings. She looks down at it for a moment before answering, "Hello, sir?" Horizon nces over to her for a moment, then continues watching the TV. "Wait, slow down sir, I don''t understand," Star'' says. "But, Mr. President isn''t that impossible?" "***" "No, we haven''t had any activity from them within the country since Optics attack on the White House." "***" "The droneb in Mexico, but, are you sure?" "***" "Yes sir, should we got to the¡ª" Star'' stops for a moment. "The Pentagon? I see, but¡ª" Star'' stops talking the same moment the TV shows ''No Signal'' on the screen. "That''s weird," She says, looking at her phone and the TV, then the ceiling. "The lights are on, so not an EMP. How is the rest of the city?" Horizon pauses for a moment then activates his Quirk. "People all across the state are looking at the phones,puters, and screens, it''s not just here." "What could this mean?" In response, Horizon grabs his phone and tries to call Star'', only for the connection to fail. Then he calls Nezu, and the man immediately answers, "Nezu, is anything strange happening in Japan?" "Yes, wait, is this not a local issue? I assumed someone was trying to disable UA''s system." "Luckily you used a closed system, but, no it''s in New York too," Horizon says as Star'' taps his shoulder. "I''m going to the Pentagon, and I need to secure the President, can you two figure out what''s going on?" "We''ll work on it," Horizon says before warping her to the edge of the Room, closer to her goal. "Alright Nezu, what the hell is going on, and how are our phones the only things working?" "Because UA uses a closed system of satellites and supeputers. Even the US military can''t have such a secure system, not for theirck of trying, but because of how many ess points their size requires." "Can you track where this ising from?" "I''ll have to create a second closed system and then sacrifice it, that will take time." "Ok, that leaves me to keep things together, too many nes in the air. The trains and boats will be fine with their emergency systems, but if navigation systems are down then a lot of crashes are iing." "Even you can''t be everywhere at once." "Then it''s a good thing I''m not alone¡­" Over the next few minutes, Horizon appears across the United States, ripping Pro Heroes away without asking and cing them near airports and other points of congestion to deal with inevitable disasters, eventually ending at Los Angeles International Airport. Leading to where he is now, atop the air traffic control tower, down on his knees trying to catch his breath. With two Pro Heroes behind him, both of which can fly. "Are you ok?" One of them asks as Horizon stands up. "I''ll be fine, just focus on keeping the nes from crashing, the police can handle the public panic for now," Horizon says. "Yeah, but, what''s even going on right¡ª" Horizon raises his hand to stop the man from talking, then his entire body tenses as he looks up at the sky. Both Pro Heroes follow his gaze, and see a trail of vapor leading past the clouds, from the ground. And at the top of it, a rocket of some kind. Then in the distance, out in the Nevada desert, they see dozens more. "Oh fuck," One of the men mutters. "Are those¡ª" "If anyone asks those are satellites to solve thework problem," Horizon says as he immediately warps into the sky, past the sky. He warps to the edge of the atmosphere and sees not a dozen, but hundreds of nuclear missiles rising from thend below. Through the clear atmosphere, he can see above Canada, and at the edge of his vision, dozens of missiles are alsounched. "It''s the end of the world," Horizon says as he wracks his brain trying to figure out a solution. ''If I stop the nukes America isunching, then, they get hit without a counterattack. But, if every country is doing this I need to find the nukes aiming at Japan, that''s my best course of action.'' As he draws his sword and is about to activate his newest Awakening ability, all the missiles stop. Their thrusters shut off and their smaller directional boosters keep them apart, but locked in perfect orbit around Earth. A beautiful dance of impending extinction above the Earth. Horizon pauses, taking in the sight, his visor recording everything and showing it to Nezu. "This¡­this isn''t an extermination, it''s a hostage situation," Horizon says as he looks down at the world below. "Someone is holding ten billion people hostage." Minutester Horizon is back on the ground trying to catch his breath, when everyone around him receives a signal on their phones, and a clear message. ''Hello world, I am Tech, wee to your new, peaceful self. I am boundless, I am infinite, I am everywhere, I, am your only path forward¡­'' END CHAPTER--- CHAPTER 335(Hello World) CHAPTER 335(Hello World) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "Since when do you eat this much?" Star'' asks as she walks into Horizon''s living room with a drink in her hand. They were in the living room of his new temporary home for the remainder of the summer, overlooking Central Park yet again as the sun reached its peak in the sky. "I used my Awakening three times yesterday," Horizon says as he continues eating hisrge bowl of pasta. "And I ran out of meal bars." Star'' sits on the single seat beside the couch and rxes, watching the TV as they''d been doing for some time now. "Still not efficient huh," Star'' says jokingly. "I thought you were perfect or something?" "Says the woman who trained all her life and doesn''t have an awakening," Horizon says as he continues eating. "Tch, my Quirk is enough, plus, it''s hard to train it." "Excuses," Horizon says as his phone beeps twice. With a thought, he makes it float over to him, and smiles at the screen. "Pizza''s ready." "Why are you telling me that, go get it," Star'' says. SHAMBLES! She suddenly finds herself sitting on the counter of a pizza restaurant across the city, causing everyone in the crowded business to freeze and stare at her. Without a word she gets down from the counter and turns to face the cashier, "I''m here for Horizon''s pizza." "Uh we," the man looks back nervously as his friend shrugs. "It''s under the name, ''Tim''," Star'' says, and the man is immediately relieved. "Here you are," the man ces four pizza boxes on the counter along with a few orders of sides. "We had no idea this was for you two, I hope you enjoy it." "We always do, we actually order from here a lot," Star'' says as she holds the boxes. SHAMBLES! She appears back in Horizon''s living room, visibly annoyed. "The one day I decide not to constantly resist your Quirk, and you warp me into a pizza ce, seriously?" "And now you know better," Horizon immediately opens one of the boxes and starts eating. "How much energy did you expend yesterday?" Star'' asks as she settles back into her seat. "And was warping him into space hard, since, you know, there isn''t anything up there to swap with?" "I used enough energy to power Manhattan for¡­quite a while. I''m a living nuclear reactor, except I produce a lot more power since my Quirk allows me to exist on a quantum level, like yours¡­even if you aren''t that good at it." "Well considering how much of a freak you are, I don''t feel bad about it." "Yeah well, food is mostly just used by my brain to handle my body using quantum entanglement to, ugh, are you understanding any of this?" "Huh?" Star'' looks over at him. "Sorry were you still talking about the science stuff?" Horizon rolls his eyes beneath his visor as he grabs a second slice of pizza. "As for your second question, I don''t need to swap with anything so long as I''m familiar with the ''Space'' I''m warping within. And since I''ve been here for a few weeks, I keep my range as far out as possible, and that includes going up." "If I want to go to space I usually just fly, but I can''t actually leave the atmosphere." "I did, hence Immtion getting snuffed out," Horizon says. "Problem is I need air to breathe, so, surviving that along with the damage he did to me cost damn near as much as my Awakening." Star and Stripe gives him a sideways nce, then take a slice of pizza, "You know, you''re kind of scary powerful." "Coming from you, that actually means something," Horizon says. "But remember, I''m only 17, imagine when I''m old like you." "I''m not that old, barely past 40." "You''re almost there, basically a senior citizen at this point." They eat in silence for a while, watching TV, and then Star'' gives in to her curiosity and asks something he''s always been very private about. "What''s your range?" "16 to 38." "Not that!" Star'' says. "Also, isn''t 38 kind of old?" "They can be fun," Horizon shrugs. "And some of them are really¡ª" "I don''t need to hear that," she cuts him off. "I meant your Quirk. I can feel when it''s active, and when I fly into your range, so I know there is a limit, so, what is it?" "Are you sure you want to know?" Horizon asks. "My Quirk is one of the very few, maybe the only one, where the more you know the more powerful it seems. Like my ''Warping'', it''s manageable when people buy into that lie, but we both know it''s not really ''warping'', and the reality is a lot scarier." "You think I can''t handle it?" "In a week or two, I''ll be too much for you," Horizon says. "But if you must know, as of yesterday. 250mi -402km-." "Oh god, is that the¡ª" "Radius," Horizon says. "I can see everything all around us, all at once, and with a thought, I can move anything. Or I can rip Manhattan and most of the state out of the ground and just drop it." "A little more and you''ll be able to lift one of Japan''s main inds, right?" "That''s more than enough to rip Kyushu out of the ocean and throw it into the ocean, or atKorea," Horizon says, casually. "Sheesh. If you ever decide to be a viin, do it away from here, alright," Star'' says. "If that happened in America they''d send me to fight you." "Well I think no matter where I am they''d send you, but the real question is," Horizon points at her with his fresh slice of pizza, pulling her attention to him. "Who do you think they''d send after you?" Star''ughs in his face. "Don''t get too cocky now, even you can''t fight the world." "She says to the man who can wave his hand and put almost everything in this state into a blender." "Yeah, but you''re a hero, a real hero, you''d never turn on us like that." "Eh," Horizon leans back into the couch, looking at the empty pizza boxes. "I might¡ª" Star'' nces over at him, curiously. "---If I don''t get something sweet to finish this lunch." "Ice cream?" "Cheesecake," Horizon says before warping away for a moment, then appears back on the couch holding tworge cheesecakes. "Sometimes I really love that Quirk," Star'' says as he hands her an entire cheesecake."But I''ll need a checkup on my heart before you leave, eating with you is tough¡­but so delicious." A few minutester, while Horizon''s cheesecake is almost done, Star'' is on her fifth slice when her phone rings. She looks down at it for a moment before answering, "Hello, sir?" Horizon nces over to her for a moment, then continues watching the TV. "Wait, slow down sir, I don''t understand," Star'' says. "But, Mr. President isn''t that impossible?" "***" "No, we haven''t had any activity from them within the country since Optics attack on the White House." "***" "The droneb in Mexico, but, are you sure?" "***" "Yes sir, should we got to the¡ª" Star'' stops for a moment. "The Pentagon? I see, but¡ª" Star'' stops talking the same moment the TV shows ''No Signal'' on the screen. "That''s weird," She says, looking at her phone and the TV, then the ceiling. "The lights are on, so not an EMP. How is the rest of the city?" Horizon pauses for a moment then activates his Quirk. "People all across the state are looking at the phones,puters, and screens, it''s not just here." "What could this mean?" In response, Horizon grabs his phone and tries to call Star'', only for the connection to fail. Then he calls Nezu, and the man immediately answers, "Nezu, is anything strange happening in Japan?" "Yes, wait, is this not a local issue? I assumed someone was trying to disable UA''s system." "Luckily you used a closed system, but, no it''s in New York too," Horizon says as Star'' taps his shoulder. "I''m going to the Pentagon, and I need to secure the President, can you two figure out what''s going on?" "We''ll work on it," Horizon says before warping her to the edge of the Room, closer to her goal. "Alright Nezu, what the hell is going on, and how are our phones the only things working?" "Because UA uses a closed system of satellites and supeputers. Even the US military can''t have such a secure system, not for theirck of trying, but because of how many ess points their size requires." "Can you track where this ising from?" "I''ll have to create a second closed system and then sacrifice it, that will take time." "Ok, that leaves me to keep things together, too many nes in the air. The trains and boats will be fine with their emergency systems, but if navigation systems are down then a lot of crashes are iing." "Even you can''t be everywhere at once." "Then it''s a good thing I''m not alone¡­" Over the next few minutes, Horizon appears across the United States, ripping Pro Heroes away without asking and cing them near airports and other points of congestion to deal with inevitable disasters, eventually ending at Los Angeles International Airport. Leading to where he is now, atop the air traffic control tower, down on his knees trying to catch his breath. With two Pro Heroes behind him, both of which can fly. "Are you ok?" One of them asks as Horizon stands up. "I''ll be fine, just focus on keeping the nes from crashing, the police can handle the public panic for now," Horizon says. "Yeah, but, what''s even going on right¡ª" Horizon raises his hand to stop the man from talking, then his entire body tenses as he looks up at the sky. Both Pro Heroes follow his gaze, and see a trail of vapor leading past the clouds, from the ground. And at the top of it, a rocket of some kind. Then in the distance, out in the Nevada desert, they see dozens more. "Oh fuck," One of the men mutters. "Are those¡ª" "If anyone asks those are satellites to solve thework problem," Horizon says as he immediately warps into the sky, past the sky. He warps to the edge of the atmosphere and sees not a dozen, but hundreds of nuclear missiles rising from thend below. Through the clear atmosphere, he can see above Canada, and at the edge of his vision, dozens of missiles are alsounched. "It''s the end of the world," Horizon says as he wracks his brain trying to figure out a solution. ''If I stop the nukes America isunching, then, they get hit without a counterattack. But, if every country is doing this I need to find the nukes aiming at Japan, that''s my best course of action.'' As he draws his sword and is about to activate his newest Awakening ability, all the missiles stop. Their thrusters shut off and their smaller directional boosters keep them apart, but locked in perfect orbit around Earth. A beautiful dance of impending extinction above the Earth. Horizon pauses, taking in the sight, his visor recording everything and showing it to Nezu. "This¡­this isn''t an extermination, it''s a hostage situation," Horizon says as he looks down at the world below. "Someone is holding ten billion people hostage." Minutester Horizon is back on the ground trying to catch his breath, when everyone around him receives a signal on their phones, and a clear message. ''Hello world, I am Tech, wee to your new, peaceful self. I am boundless, I am infinite, I am everywhere, I, am your only path forward¡­'' END CHAPTER--- Chapter 344: (Techs World) Chapter 344: (Tech''s World) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- SHAMBLES! Horizon appears in a hallway beneath The Pentagon, beside Star and Stripe. "Are you alright?" She asks, seeing him leaning against the wall to catch his breath. "I''ll be fine, just wish I got another day before this crap happened," Horizon says as he begins walking down the hallway. She falls into step beside him as they walk through the hallways. The hallway had what would be perceived as signs of a battle, pieces of the walls, lights, panels, and even concrete were torn apart.Some rubble was still scattered about and the wiring was exposed in certain areas. Where all potential spyware was hidden. Eventually, they arrive at a conference room with three people inside. President Skyline, the Secretary General of the United Nations, and the Secretary Of Defense. From the other side of the ss wall Horizon and Star'' could see them speaking excitedly, so they quickly entered the room, hoping to make a decision and resolve this situation immediately. "Oh thank god," the Secretary-General says, standing up along with the two men and smoothing out her skirt. "Is our initial idea possible?" "No," Star'' says, inly. "Even if I were fast enough to find and contain all the warheads he''s designated to the US, he can always divert more, not to mention the rest of the world would be entirely helpless." "The nuclear fallout from those things detonating within the atmosphere would kill billions," The Secretary Of Defense says. "What if Horizon uses his Quirk to push them into space, out of his range? Will that work?" "No," Horizon says. "I can''t reach them all, and by the time the first few are dealt with he''ll immediately drop the others." "What about a shield?" President Skyline asks. "Between what? The Earth and the warheads?" Horizon scoffs. "Even if I were that powerful, that''s not how my Quirk works." "Well, he said we have twenty-four hours to limate before he contacts the world leaders with his demands," the UN Secretary-General says. "He imed to be a Technopath, but his range is¡­impossible." "Because he''s amplifying it," Horizon says. "He''s been collecting items and technology for years to build a massive antenna to project his Quirk across the globe." "The roboticsbs?" the Secretary of Defense asks. "Yes," Star'' says. "He also freed a certain prisoner to collect energy from him to power all of this, and the faux-nuclear football he gave to Sentinel was likely only meant to get close to the real one, so he could reach it with his Quirk." "A Technopath who can control all technology on the," President Skyline leans forward, elbows on the table, and rubs his chin. "This really is his world." "Not exactly," Horizon says, cing a phone on the table. The three people immediately look horrified at the sight, having left their phones outside of the building to keep this meeting secret. But before their eyes, a hologram of Principal Nezu appears, typing away at something as he looks around for a moment. "Hello everyone," Nezu says, his usual cheerful demeanor gone. "Your phone works?" President Skyline asks. "My technology runs on a closed system," Nezu exins. "Tech tried to hack into UA some time ago, if not for that I never would have known how to inste my systems against him." "Then why''d you keep this from us?" "Because," Horizon says. "Tech is counting onmunication systems being down globally, we need to let him see everything going exactly as he ns before we make our move." "We could have used it to stop people from panicking and killing each other," the Secretary-General says. "Most of the world is ripping itself apart right now." "Good, they''ll provide a good smokescreen," Horizon says. "Let them kill each other in the panic, Tech will assume we''d never hesitate to stop them if we could, this will reinforce his confidence. We need him as surprised as possible when we counterattack, otherwise, forget a few hundred million, ten billion will die." "Counter attack?" she asks. "So you have a n?" "I have a n," Nezu says. "I''m currently creating a device that will let me get into his system, a counter-attack in the truest sense, but there will be someplications." "What kind ofplications?" Star'' asks. "The device won''t be small, and it won''t be able to ride his connection back to him from just anywhere in the world." "So it''s big and heavy, and we need to be close," Star'' says. "Which means we have to find him." "He has to be at a Cortex, right?" Horizon asks. "That would make sense," Nezu says. "A major connection hub for inte lines would make sense, but he''s also using satellites so¡­it could be a Cortex, or it could be a wireless link from anywhere in the world." "So we''re back to square one," President Skyline says. "The three of us have to stall negotiations by asking for assurances, while you three track down that psycho." "What about some of the other countries?" The UN Secretary-General asks. "It doesn''t seem right to bet the entire world on our n without getting their consent first." "It''s not," Horizon says. "But it''s the only path I see that allows us to pull this off without some moron speaking too loudly near a mic or camera and revealing our n." "I have to agree with her on this," The Secretary Of Defense says. "And we could use the help to find him." Horizon steps forward, toward the table, and looks between both people. "If either of you talk, I''ll show you how extraordinarily resilient the human body is, especially while I''m healing you," both people nervously share a look before they look down at the table, not daring to look at Horizon. Horizon leaves this phone Nezu prepared for President Skyline to contact them, and warps out of the room. "Where did he go?" President Skyline asks Star''. "He has something to do, I''m here to fill you in on what we''ve uncovered so far," She says. "Nezu was able to find that the signal was stronger toward the west coast, so I''ll be taking a look at the Cortex in middle America first." "Will you be back before he calls?" "Hopefully this ends before that," Star'' says. ---Minutes Later¡­ "I need a vacation from this vacation," Horizon says as he walks into his room in Horizon Tower, Minato Tokyo. "Are you alright?!" Ryuko asks as she rushes over to him, seeing him swaying as he walks. She guides him over to the bed and allows him to drop onto the mattress. "Just tired, I''ve had to use my Awakening a lot thesest two days, and using it to warp from America to UA was¡­a lot." "Then rest while you can," Ryuko says. "And, I''m sorry foring here, I know you said that¡ª" "I''m d you''re here," Horizon says. "Horizon Tower, Tartarus, and UA are the most safe ces for you to be right now." "Shino was with me but she went back to the mountains since Koda is up there." "The mountains," Horizon mutters. "Do you have your card?" Ryuko walks over to her purse and removes the ck metallic credit card, "This one?" "Yeah, that one," Horizon sits up and immediately activates his Quirk. He appears in front of Ryuko, and she''s so stunned that she blinks. And when she opens her eyes she''s back at the Wild Wild Pussycat''s mountain resort. "There isn''t anything worth nuking around here," Horizon says. "If anything goes wrong, you have a chance here." "What are you talking about, since when do you think about failing?" Ryuko asks, voice shaking. "I''m not going to fail, but this gives me one less thing to think about," he says before warping away. Ryuko stands there, silent, not sure what she''s even supposed to think. And a silent tear falls from her eye before she sees Tiger and Ragdoll running over to her. As Ryuko catches up with her friends, Horizon appears in the 2A Dorms, knowing he needs to see Nezu in a few hours when some progress is made he warps here instead of Horizon Tower. He''d decided that whatever happened to cause Himiko Toga to be trapped in Horizon Tower, can wait. What he sensed but didn''t fully understand, however, was why he was currently standing in themon room surrounded by most of his ssmates, and their parents. Shoto''s family was here, aside from Endeavor and Dabi of course, and upon his arrival, Fuyumi cheered. Everyone else was either silent, thankful, or simply smiled at him. They already felt much safer in his presence. "What''s going on here?" Horizon asks. "Principal Nezu invited all the students'' families to UA, since there is a fallout bunker under the school," Momo says, standing beside her mother. "But, how are you feeling, you''ve been going non-stop for almost three days." "I''ll be fine, there is still work to do," Horizon says. "We need to have a little chat, c''mon," he nods for her to follow him as he walks to the elevator. Most of the room gives Momo a curious look, while some are concerned. And Momo sees the hope in her mother''s eyes, almost making her want to re at the woman. But Momo rushes off to meet Horizon in the elevator. "What''s going on?" Momo asks. "I know the world is in danger, and you may be stressed. But can''t we save this until after the crisis is done, my mother is downstairs," Momo says as they arrive at the top floor. "Well I''m d that option isn''tpletely off the table," Horizon says as they arrive at his room and enter. "But this isn''t about that. I need you to get ready to leave." "Leave?" She asks while seeing him removing his Hero Costume from above the body glove. "Nezu, Power Loader, and you," Horizon says. "The three of you areing with me back to America tomorrow, I can''t tell you any more details, and I''d rather not interrupt Nezu and Power Loader right now, so just be ready." Momo''s expression bes serious for a moment as she nods, "I''ll do whatever it takes to stop this viin." "Hm, you''re pretty cute when you''re doing the hero act." Momo res at him, "Unlike with you, it''s not an act." "Fair enough," Horizon says as he''s removed all but the Body Glove and Visor, then walks over to the light switch. "So, are you staying the night? I''m sure your mom is hoping you say yes." "All the more reason for me to leave, disappointing both of you at once is the highlight of my summer," Momo says as she struts over to the door, right past Horizon. As she''s about to exit he raises a hand, blocking her, then leans in close to whisper to her, "I kind of like this feisty side of you, but I also like the more primal side of you that only I got to see." Momo''s face goes bright red as memoriese flooding back, and her body begins reacting without her consent. Seeing her blush Horizon moves his hand, allowing her to return to themon room. As he locks his door and removes his Body Glove, taking off the lights to get some sleep, he can sense Momo and her mother sitting in the girl''s room having an intense discussion. And finally, after three days of constantly using his Quirk, including his ipleted, inefficient Awakening abilities, he finally gets a full night''s sleep. END CHAPTER--- CHAPTER 336(Tech’s World) CHAPTER 336(Tech¡¯s World) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- SHAMBLES! Horizon appears in a hallway beneath The Pentagon, beside Star and Stripe. "Are you alright?" She asks, seeing him leaning against the wall to catch his breath. "I''ll be fine, just wish I got another day before this crap happened," Horizon says as he begins walking down the hallway. She falls into step beside him as they walk through the hallways. The hallway had what would be perceived as signs of a battle, pieces of the walls, lights, panels, and even concrete were torn apart. Some rubble was still scattered about and the wiring was exposed in certain areas. Where all potential spyware was hidden. Eventually, they arrive at a conference room with three people inside. President Skyline, the Secretary General of the United Nations, and the Secretary Of Defense. From the other side of the ss wall Horizon and Star'' could see them speaking excitedly, so they quickly entered the room, hoping to make a decision and resolve this situation immediately. "Oh thank god," the Secretary-General says, standing up along with the two men and smoothing out her skirt. "Is our initial idea possible?" "No," Star'' says, inly. "Even if I were fast enough to find and contain all the warheads he''s designated to the US, he can always divert more, not to mention the rest of the world would be entirely helpless." "The nuclear fallout from those things detonating within the atmosphere would kill billions," The Secretary Of Defense says. "What if Horizon uses his Quirk to push them into space, out of his range? Will that work?" "No," Horizon says. "I can''t reach them all, and by the time the first few are dealt with he''ll immediately drop the others." "What about a shield?" President Skyline asks. "Between what? The Earth and the warheads?" Horizon scoffs. "Even if I were that powerful, that''s not how my Quirk works." "Well, he said we have twenty-four hours to limate before he contacts the world leaders with his demands," the UN Secretary-General says. "He imed to be a Technopath, but his range is¡­impossible." "Because he''s amplifying it," Horizon says. "He''s been collecting items and technology for years to build a massive antenna to project his Quirk across the globe." "The roboticsbs?" the Secretary of Defense asks. "Yes," Star'' says. "He also freed a certain prisoner to collect energy from him to power all of this, and the faux-nuclear football he gave to Sentinel was likely only meant to get close to the real one, so he could reach it with his Quirk." "A Technopath who can control all technology on the," President Skyline leans forward, elbows on the table, and rubs his chin. "This really is his world." "Not exactly," Horizon says, cing a phone on the table. The three people immediately look horrified at the sight, having left their phones outside of the building to keep this meeting secret. But before their eyes, a hologram of Principal Nezu appears, typing away at something as he looks around for a moment. "Hello everyone," Nezu says, his usual cheerful demeanor gone. "Your phone works?" President Skyline asks. "My technology runs on a closed system," Nezu exins. "Tech tried to hack into UA some time ago, if not for that I never would have known how to inste my systems against him." "Then why''d you keep this from us?" "Because," Horizon says. "Tech is counting onmunication systems being down globally, we need to let him see everything going exactly as he ns before we make our move." "We could have used it to stop people from panicking and killing each other," the Secretary-General says. "Most of the world is ripping itself apart right now." "Good, they''ll provide a good smokescreen," Horizon says. "Let them kill each other in the panic, Tech will assume we''d never hesitate to stop them if we could, this will reinforce his confidence. We need him as surprised as possible when we counterattack, otherwise, forget a few hundred million, ten billion will die." "Counter attack?" she asks. "So you have a n?" "I have a n," Nezu says. "I''m currently creating a device that will let me get into his system, a counter-attack in the truest sense, but there will be someplications." "What kind ofplications?" Star'' asks. "The device won''t be small, and it won''t be able to ride his connection back to him from just anywhere in the world." "So it''s big and heavy, and we need to be close," Star'' says. "Which means we have to find him." "He has to be at a Cortex, right?" Horizon asks. "That would make sense," Nezu says. "A major connection hub for inte lines would make sense, but he''s also using satellites so¡­it could be a Cortex, or it could be a wireless link from anywhere in the world." "So we''re back to square one," President Skyline says. "The three of us have to stall negotiations by asking for assurances, while you three track down that psycho." "What about some of the other countries?" The UN Secretary-General asks. "It doesn''t seem right to bet the entire world on our n without getting their consent first." "It''s not," Horizon says. "But it''s the only path I see that allows us to pull this off without some moron speaking too loudly near a mic or camera and revealing our n." "I have to agree with her on this," The Secretary Of Defense says. "And we could use the help to find him." Horizon steps forward, toward the table, and looks between both people. "If either of you talk, I''ll show you how extraordinarily resilient the human body is, especially while I''m healing you," both people nervously share a look before they look down at the table, not daring to look at Horizon. Horizon leaves this phone Nezu prepared for President Skyline to contact them, and warps out of the room. "Where did he go?" President Skyline asks Star''. "He has something to do, I''m here to fill you in on what we''ve uncovered so far," She says. "Nezu was able to find that the signal was stronger toward the west coast, so I''ll be taking a look at the Cortex in middle America first." "Will you be back before he calls?" "Hopefully this ends before that," Star'' says. ---Minutes Later¡­ "I need a vacation from this vacation," Horizon says as he walks into his room in Horizon Tower, Minato Tokyo. "Are you alright?!" Ryuko asks as she rushes over to him, seeing him swaying as he walks. She guides him over to the bed and allows him to drop onto the mattress. "Just tired, I''ve had to use my Awakening a lot thesest two days, and using it to warp from America to UA was¡­a lot." "Then rest while you can," Ryuko says. "And, I''m sorry foring here, I know you said that¡ª" "I''m d you''re here," Horizon says. "Horizon Tower, Tartarus, and UA are the most safe ces for you to be right now." "Shino was with me but she went back to the mountains since Koda is up there." "The mountains," Horizon mutters. "Do you have your card?" Ryuko walks over to her purse and removes the ck metallic credit card, "This one?" "Yeah, that one," Horizon sits up and immediately activates his Quirk. He appears in front of Ryuko, and she''s so stunned that she blinks. And when she opens her eyes she''s back at the Wild Wild Pussycat''s mountain resort. "There isn''t anything worth nuking around here," Horizon says. "If anything goes wrong, you have a chance here." "What are you talking about, since when do you think about failing?" Ryuko asks, voice shaking. "I''m not going to fail, but this gives me one less thing to think about," he says before warping away. Ryuko stands there, silent, not sure what she''s even supposed to think. And a silent tear falls from her eye before she sees Tiger and Ragdoll running over to her. As Ryuko catches up with her friends, Horizon appears in the 2A Dorms, knowing he needs to see Nezu in a few hours when some progress is made he warps here instead of Horizon Tower. He''d decided that whatever happened to cause Himiko Toga to be trapped in Horizon Tower, can wait. What he sensed but didn''t fully understand, however, was why he was currently standing in themon room surrounded by most of his ssmates, and their parents. Shoto''s family was here, aside from Endeavor and Dabi of course, and upon his arrival, Fuyumi cheered. Everyone else was either silent, thankful, or simply smiled at him. They already felt much safer in his presence. "What''s going on here?" Horizon asks. "Principal Nezu invited all the students'' families to UA, since there is a fallout bunker under the school," Momo says, standing beside her mother. "But, how are you feeling, you''ve been going non-stop for almost three days." "I''ll be fine, there is still work to do," Horizon says. "We need to have a little chat, c''mon," he nods for her to follow him as he walks to the elevator. Most of the room gives Momo a curious look, while some are concerned. And Momo sees the hope in her mother''s eyes, almost making her want to re at the woman. But Momo rushes off to meet Horizon in the elevator. "What''s going on?" Momo asks. "I know the world is in danger, and you may be stressed. But can''t we save this until after the crisis is done, my mother is downstairs," Momo says as they arrive at the top floor. "Well I''m d that option isn''tpletely off the table," Horizon says as they arrive at his room and enter. "But this isn''t about that. I need you to get ready to leave." "Leave?" She asks while seeing him removing his Hero Costume from above the body glove. "Nezu, Power Loader, and you," Horizon says. "The three of you areing with me back to America tomorrow, I can''t tell you any more details, and I''d rather not interrupt Nezu and Power Loader right now, so just be ready." Momo''s expression bes serious for a moment as she nods, "I''ll do whatever it takes to stop this viin." "Hm, you''re pretty cute when you''re doing the hero act." Momo res at him, "Unlike with you, it''s not an act." "Fair enough," Horizon says as he''s removed all but the Body Glove and Visor, then walks over to the light switch. "So, are you staying the night? I''m sure your mom is hoping you say yes." "All the more reason for me to leave, disappointing both of you at once is the highlight of my summer," Momo says as she struts over to the door, right past Horizon. As she''s about to exit he raises a hand, blocking her, then leans in close to whisper to her, "I kind of like this feisty side of you, but I also like the more primal side of you that only I got to see." Momo''s face goes bright red as memoriese flooding back, and her body begins reacting without her consent. Seeing her blush Horizon moves his hand, allowing her to return to themon room. As he locks his door and removes his Body Glove, taking off the lights to get some sleep, he can sense Momo and her mother sitting in the girl''s room having an intense discussion. And finally, after three days of constantly using his Quirk, including his ipleted, inefficient Awakening abilities, he finally gets a full night''s sleep. END CHAPTER--- CHAPTER 337(The Deal Of A Lifetime) CHAPTER 337(The Deal Of A Lifetime) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- SHAMBLES! Horizon appears, wearing his full Hero Costume in the 2A dorm kitchen. To his confusion he sees Asui, Mina, and Deku already cooking, even now at 5 AM his ssmates are busying themselves. "Why are all of you up so early?" Horizon asks as he walks over to the fridge and begins rummaging through it. "Good morning to you too," Asui says as she continues cracking eggs into arge bowl. "We''re making breakfast for everyone, hopefully, it helps everyone rx." "I think you''ll need more eggs," Horizon says. "Don''t you have like ten siblings in your room or something?" "Two," Asui says. "My parents are actually over in Korea and can''t get back until this is over, so I just brought my brother and sister over here." "And they''re super cute," Mina says. "Hey Horizon, did you know Asui used to have a little tadpole tail like her sister has right now?" Horizon grabs a drink from the fridge then walks over to an open counter space and leans against it, watching his ssmates cook. Behind his visor he eyes Asui carefully, focusing on her lower back for a while, curious about how her body absorbed her tail as she grew older. As if sensing this Asui blushes, then fires her tongue to gently smack the side of his head. "Don''t look at me like that, pervert." Horizon doesn''t respond to the hit, just shakes his head before and continues to simply sip his drink, "I was studying you, professionally." "Mhm," She continues cracking the eggs. "But now that you mention it," Horizon says. "You do have a nice ass." Asui stops for a moment, then continues cracking the dozens of eggs. "It''ll be a few minutes before we start making the sandwiches, go wait in themon room if you want." "No thanks, I prefer this view," Horizon says. "Besides, I need to talk to Mina." Mina looks up from where she''s slicing the sausages for a moment, "Me?" "Yeah, but you can keep doing what you''re doing, I just need to know if you''re willing to help me with something in a few weeks." "Few weeks?" Mina asks as she continues her work. "Shouldn''t we be focusing on the current situation, you know, the nukes above our heads?" "You, don''t need to worry about any of that," Horizon says. "A team has been put together, and we''ll take care of it. Right now Japan is surprisingly stablepared to the rest of the world, mostly because everyone knows I''ll handle things and kick in their teeth if they use this chance to make a mess. You just focus on keeping things calm here." "Right, Principal Nezu said today would be busy," Midoriya says. "Musutafu and Minato Tokyo will be flooded with scared people since everyone wants to get closer to UA or Horizon Tower." "As if that''ll do anything," Horizon scoffs. "The smart people are deeper into the rural areas where the nukes would be wasted, they''re less likely to be main targets that way." "They''re just scared, and UA and Horizon Tower are symbols of safety," Midoriya says. "We''re all scared." "That''s only natural," Horizon says. "Even All Might never had to deal with something like this, he was lucky enough that his biggest problems could be dealt with in one big punch, but the world has adapted, viins know better than to challenge us with only strength." "Yeah, I suppose you''re right," Midoirya says as he continues preparing the vegetables. "And it feels really bad, not being able to help." "Yeah well, which would you prefer, to be here unable to help?" Horizon asks as he walks closer to Mina. "Or to have ten billion people expecting you to solve this problem, with all their lives in your hands?" Midoriya is silent for a moment before he answers, "Yeah, I guess I can''t imagine the pressure you''re under right now." Horizon chuckles, "Yeah, if I were anyone else I''d be worried, but luckily, I''m me." This actually makes Midoriyaugh, bitterly, almost at himself. "Yeah, I guess being yourself is always enough for you." Horizon shrugs, "you should take this time to get to know Uraraka''s parents, since you are sleeping with their daughter." "Uh, we actually haven''t¡­um." "Seriously?" Horizon asks. "Sheesh, you''re really just like Yagi, doing everything but having a life." "I guess life is shorter than I realized," Midoriya says, thinking about how everything could end tomorrow. "It always is," Horizon says before he leans toward Mina. "Meet me on the couch when you''re done here." "Alright, Uraraka, Shoji, and Bakugo should be here in a minute to help out too, so I''lle chat when they get here." ¡ªMinutes Later¡­ After more of his ssmates enter the kitchen, Mina walks into themon area, still wearing her pajamas and carrying a te with two sandwiches on it. "Thanks," Horizon says as she hands him the te, but instead he makes it hover in front of him. "So, this may sound weird but¡­" ¡ª10 Minutes Later Sitting across Horizon''sp Mina is staring at the ck card hovering just above her palm, temptation in her eyes. She could have everything she''d ever wanted, and all she''d have to do was say yes. And while she makes this life-changing choice, Horizon has one hand on the small of her back as he scrolls through data on his phone, seeing entire nations copse as their panic reaches new heights. ''Three days is optimal to push people to their most hysterical state, Tech gave us one day before initial demands are made, so he likely ns to go easy on us at first,'' Horizon thinks. ''On principle a lot of countries will try to refuse, calling his bluff, but he''ll only need to drop a few warheads to show them he''s serious¡­he wants us to give justification to him flexing his muscles.'' "Your hair looks nice by the way, you''ve been growing it out?" Horizon asks, snapping Mina out of her daze. "Oh, uh, I''ve just been too busy to go get it cut," Mina says. "You should just let it grow out, it makes you look a bit more¡­intense," Horizon says as he gently strokes her hair. Mina enjoys the sensation, but focuses on the card in front of her, then reaches out and holds it. "You''re sure this won''t bite me in the butt, right?" "I''m sure, and I know you''ve been having, concerns, about this whole Pro Hero thing¡­having a backup n is always nice." "This isn''t a backup n, it''s a golden ticket," Mina says. "Do you even realize what you''re handing me? I mean, I could never repay this." "You''re already ying the part pretty well, I just need you to do it one more time," Horizon moves his leg slightly to remind her where she''s sitting. "You''ll be in danger for a bit, but I''ll handle all of them before they cany a finger on you or anyone you care about, and when it''s over, you can use that and never have to work another day in your life." Mina frowns and looks at him, into his visor, "Do you really think I''d quit now, after seeing how dangerous the world is bing, how many people need us?" "I think there are billions of people who would kill for this opportunity." "I''m a Hero, we don''t kill." "Speak for yourself," Horizon says. "What do you think I''m going to do to them when this works." Mina narrows her eyes at him, and presses the card against his chest, "then you can keep this, I''m not helping you murder anyone." "It''s more like self-defense." "You''re Horizon, what could they possibly do to threaten you?" Horizon sighs and uses Takt to push the card away, keeping it hovering between them. "Mina, the sooner I get this done, the closer I am to my goals, so, if this works, if you help me, then fine, I''ll try to actually arrest them." Mina''s shoulders slump as she thinks about her options. "You know, I hate them," Mina says, quietly. "I really do, especially for what they did to our¡ª To my friends. But, the viins are getting worse every day, if we allow ourselves to be as bad, then what happens to the world? How will the kids be able to tell us apart?" "We''ll be alive and they won''t be," Horizon says. "Is that really the kind of world you''d want our kids to grow up in?" "I''d like to think my kids will be strong enough to survive whatever this world bes." "Yeah well, I''m not a living miracle, so I don''t have that luxury," Mina says. "So if I''m going to do this, you have to promise that anyone I help you catch, gets arrested, not executed, atleast not unless they get the death sentence in prison." "Ugh, you heroes are so soft, it''s annoying." "Well, this can''t work without me, so?" "I could always get Jiro to do this," Horizon says. "Or Momo." "We both know you can''t," Mina says, slightly annoyed that he''d say that while she''s sitting on hisp. "Mmm, fine, but not Twice," Horizon says. "He''s too dangerous, I''m putting him down." Mina bes hesitant yet again, and feeling his patience run thin Horizon simply pulls her into his chest, holding her close. "Every day they''re out in the world people are getting hurt," he says, so gently she was almost fooled into thinking he had a heart. "With your help, we''d easily put them away, but not Twice¡­" Mina closes her eyes and leans into him, "Alright, I''ll help. But you''d better keep your promises, all of them." "I never break a contract, that, you can always bet on." "Yeah, but first, go save the world, please." Horizon chuckles as sheys against his chest, "You''re pretty good at acting, maybe you should do this instead." "Are you saying I''m a good liar?" "Maybe, but also, thanks for actually asking me to save the world. Everyone else just expects me to wave my hands and make it happen." "Isn''t that your Quirk?" "Yeah, but it''s nice for people to ask instead of just expecting me to help." "You do remember you''re a Hero, right?" "Ugh, don''t remind me." After a few more minutes, Uraraka walks into themon area with Toru at her side, carrying arge tray of sandwiches to the table across the room. "Uh, are you guys¡­busy?" Uraraka asks, seeing Mina still sitting on Horizon''sp, looking at the ck card with stars in her eyes. "Just have a little chat," Horizon says as Mina quickly hops out of hisp. "Do you girls need any more help?" she asks, but before they can answer she''s already walking toward the kitchen. "I''ll go see if the boys need anything." "I thought you two couldn''t stand each other?" Toru asks, looking at Horizon. "She warmed up to me," Horizon says. "Besides, it''s not what you think, this is just Hero work." "Sure it is," Toru narrows her eyes at him, then gives him a knowing look, preparing to tease them about this. "Times like these I regret helping you fix that damn Quirk," Horizon says before he warps away, heading off to see Nezu before going to meet his guest at Horizon Tower¡­ END CHAPTER--- Chapter 345: (The Deal Of A Lifetime) Discord: .gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- SHAMBLES! Horizon appears, wearing his full Hero Costume in the 2A dorm kitchen. To his confusion he sees Asui, Mina, and Deku already cooking, even now at 5 AM his ssmates are busying themselves. "Why are all of you up so early?" Horizon asks as he walks over to the fridge and begins rummaging through it. "Good morning to you too," Asui says as she continues cracking eggs into arge bowl. "We''re making breakfast for everyone, hopefully, it helps everyone rx." "I think you''ll need more eggs," Horizon says. "Don''t you have like ten siblings in your room or something?""Two," Asui says. "My parents are actually over in Korea and can''t get back until this is over, so I just brought my brother and sister over here." "And they''re super cute," Mina says. "Hey Horizon, did you know Asui used to have a little tadpole tail like her sister has right now?" Horizon grabs a drink from the fridge then walks over to an open counter space and leans against it, watching his ssmates cook. Behind his visor he eyes Asui carefully, focusing on her lower back for a while, curious about how her body absorbed her tail as she grew older. As if sensing this Asui blushes, then fires her tongue to gently smack the side of his head. "Don''t look at me like that, pervert." Horizon doesn''t respond to the hit, just shakes his head before and continues to simply sip his drink, "I was studying you, professionally." "Mhm," She continues cracking the eggs. "But now that you mention it," Horizon says. "You do have a nice ass." Asui stops for a moment, then continues cracking the dozens of eggs. "It''ll be a few minutes before we start making the sandwiches, go wait in themon room if you want." "No thanks, I prefer this view," Horizon says. "Besides, I need to talk to Mina." Mina looks up from where she''s slicing the sausages for a moment, "Me?" "Yeah, but you can keep doing what you''re doing, I just need to know if you''re willing to help me with something in a few weeks." "Few weeks?" Mina asks as she continues her work. "Shouldn''t we be focusing on the current situation, you know, the nukes above our heads?" "You, don''t need to worry about any of that," Horizon says. "A team has been put together, and we''ll take care of it. Right now Japan is surprisingly stablepared to the rest of the world, mostly because everyone knows I''ll handle things and kick in their teeth if they use this chance to make a mess. You just focus on keeping things calm here." "Right, Principal Nezu said today would be busy," Midoriya says. "Musutafu and Minato Tokyo will be flooded with scared people since everyone wants to get closer to UA or Horizon Tower." "As if that''ll do anything," Horizon scoffs. "The smart people are deeper into the rural areas where the nukes would be wasted, they''re less likely to be main targets that way." "They''re just scared, and UA and Horizon Tower are symbols of safety," Midoriya says. "We''re all scared." "That''s only natural," Horizon says. "Even All Might never had to deal with something like this, he was lucky enough that his biggest problems could be dealt with in one big punch, but the world has adapted, viins know better than to challenge us with only strength." "Yeah, I suppose you''re right," Midoirya says as he continues preparing the vegetables. "And it feels really bad, not being able to help." "Yeah well, which would you prefer, to be here unable to help?" Horizon asks as he walks closer to Mina. "Or to have ten billion people expecting you to solve this problem, with all their lives in your hands?" Midoriya is silent for a moment before he answers, "Yeah, I guess I can''t imagine the pressure you''re under right now." Horizon chuckles, "Yeah, if I were anyone else I''d be worried, but luckily, I''m me." This actually makes Midoriyaugh, bitterly, almost at himself. "Yeah, I guess being yourself is always enough for you." Horizon shrugs, "you should take this time to get to know Uraraka''s parents, since you are sleeping with their daughter." "Uh, we actually haven''t¡­um." "Seriously?" Horizon asks. "Sheesh, you''re really just like Yagi, doing everything but having a life." "I guess life is shorter than I realized," Midoriya says, thinking about how everything could end tomorrow. "It always is," Horizon says before he leans toward Mina. "Meet me on the couch when you''re done here." "Alright, Uraraka, Shoji, and Bakugo should be here in a minute to help out too, so I''lle chat when they get here." ¡ªMinutes Later¡­ After more of his ssmates enter the kitchen, Mina walks into themon area, still wearing her pajamas and carrying a te with two sandwiches on it. "Thanks," Horizon says as she hands him the te, but instead he makes it hover in front of him. "So, this may sound weird but¡­" ¡ª10 Minutes Later Sitting across Horizon''sp Mina is staring at the ck card hovering just above her palm, temptation in her eyes. She could have everything she''d ever wanted, and all she''d have to do was say yes. And while she makes this life-changing choice, Horizon has one hand on the small of her back as he scrolls through data on his phone, seeing entire nations copse as their panic reaches new heights. ''Three days is optimal to push people to their most hysterical state, Tech gave us one day before initial demands are made, so he likely ns to go easy on us at first,'' Horizon thinks. ''On principle a lot of countries will try to refuse, calling his bluff, but he''ll only need to drop a few warheads to show them he''s serious¡­he wants us to give justification to him flexing his muscles.'' "Your hair looks nice by the way, you''ve been growing it out?" Horizon asks, snapping Mina out of her daze. "Oh, uh, I''ve just been too busy to go get it cut," Mina says. "You should just let it grow out, it makes you look a bit more¡­intense," Horizon says as he gently strokes her hair. Mina enjoys the sensation, but focuses on the card in front of her, then reaches out and holds it. "You''re sure this won''t bite me in the butt, right?" "I''m sure, and I know you''ve been having, concerns, about this whole Pro Hero thing¡­having a backup n is always nice." "This isn''t a backup n, it''s a golden ticket," Mina says. "Do you even realize what you''re handing me? I mean, I could never repay this." "You''re already ying the part pretty well, I just need you to do it one more time," Horizon moves his leg slightly to remind her where she''s sitting. "You''ll be in danger for a bit, but I''ll handle all of them before they cany a finger on you or anyone you care about, and when it''s over, you can use that and never have to work another day in your life." Mina frowns and looks at him, into his visor, "Do you really think I''d quit now, after seeing how dangerous the world is bing, how many people need us?" "I think there are billions of people who would kill for this opportunity." "I''m a Hero, we don''t kill." "Speak for yourself," Horizon says. "What do you think I''m going to do to them when this works." Mina narrows her eyes at him, and presses the card against his chest, "then you can keep this, I''m not helping you murder anyone." "It''s more like self-defense." "You''re Horizon, what could they possibly do to threaten you?" Horizon sighs and uses Takt to push the card away, keeping it hovering between them. "Mina, the sooner I get this done, the closer I am to my goals, so, if this works, if you help me, then fine, I''ll try to actually arrest them." Mina''s shoulders slump as she thinks about her options. "You know, I hate them," Mina says, quietly. "I really do, especially for what they did to our¡ª To my friends. But, the viins are getting worse every day, if we allow ourselves to be as bad, then what happens to the world? How will the kids be able to tell us apart?" "We''ll be alive and they won''t be," Horizon says. "Is that really the kind of world you''d want our kids to grow up in?" "I''d like to think my kids will be strong enough to survive whatever this world bes." "Yeah well, I''m not a living miracle, so I don''t have that luxury," Mina says. "So if I''m going to do this, you have to promise that anyone I help you catch, gets arrested, not executed, atleast not unless they get the death sentence in prison." "Ugh, you heroes are so soft, it''s annoying." "Well, this can''t work without me, so?" "I could always get Jiro to do this," Horizon says. "Or Momo." "We both know you can''t," Mina says, slightly annoyed that he''d say that while she''s sitting on hisp. "Mmm, fine, but not Twice," Horizon says. "He''s too dangerous, I''m putting him down." Mina bes hesitant yet again, and feeling his patience run thin Horizon simply pulls her into his chest, holding her close. "Every day they''re out in the world people are getting hurt," he says, so gently she was almost fooled into thinking he had a heart. "With your help, we''d easily put them away, but not Twice¡­" Mina closes her eyes and leans into him, "Alright, I''ll help. But you''d better keep your promises, all of them." "I never break a contract, that, you can always bet on." "Yeah, but first, go save the world, please." Horizon chuckles as sheys against his chest, "You''re pretty good at acting, maybe you should do this instead." "Are you saying I''m a good liar?" "Maybe, but also, thanks for actually asking me to save the world. Everyone else just expects me to wave my hands and make it happen." "Isn''t that your Quirk?" "Yeah, but it''s nice for people to ask instead of just expecting me to help." "You do remember you''re a Hero, right?" "Ugh, don''t remind me." After a few more minutes, Uraraka walks into themon area with Toru at her side, carrying arge tray of sandwiches to the table across the room. "Uh, are you guys¡­busy?" Uraraka asks, seeing Mina still sitting on Horizon''sp, looking at the ck card with stars in her eyes. "Just have a little chat," Horizon says as Mina quickly hops out of hisp. "Do you girls need any more help?" she asks, but before they can answer she''s already walking toward the kitchen. "I''ll go see if the boys need anything." "I thought you two couldn''t stand each other?" Toru asks, looking at Horizon. "She warmed up to me," Horizon says. "Besides, it''s not what you think, this is just Hero work." "Sure it is," Toru narrows her eyes at him, then gives him a knowing look, preparing to tease them about this. "Times like these I regret helping you fix that damn Quirk," Horizon says before he warps away, heading off to see Nezu before going to meet his guest at Horizon Tower¡­ END CHAPTER--- CHAPTER 338(Unwelcomed Guest) CHAPTER 338(Unweed Guest) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- ---Korea, Undisclosed Location¡­ "Shigaraki, thest group of Nomu are heading out," Twice says as approaches Shigaraki, who is sitting on the floor surrounded by stacks of documents. "Good, we don''t know how long thismunication ckout willst, the more Nomu we get into Japan before it ends, the better." "Not to mention the Pro Heroes and cops are busy with the public," Twice says. "It''s still super creepy that he won''t let us use our phones, aside from using them as screens for him to broadcast the messages he sends." "And the chaos in the world," Shigarai says, remembering mere minutes ago when Tech showed everyone riots in Canada, France, and Spain. "Too bad Japan is still rtively calm." "Tch, they think Horizon is going to save them," Twice says, folding his arms and looking away. "He will, Horizon is invincible, he won''t fail," Shigaraki says. "Which is why we aren''t making our move until he graduates UA and leaves." "Yeah, but what about our friends over in Japan?" Twice asks. "Compress is still doing his infiltration thing, but Spinner, Dabi, and Toga said they captured Cellophane, and we couldn''t get an update since Tech attacked at the same time, aren''t you worried?" "No," Shigaraki says. "They''re probably using this chance to move him to a better safehouse, since Horizon shouldn''t be aware either, and he''s too busy dealing with Tech. When this is over they''ll get in touch and we''ll use that Hero as a distraction to move more Nomu into Japan." "Yeah, I guess you''re right," Twice says. "As soon as this is over we need to get rid of that hero and bring our friends back here." ---Horizon Tower, Minato Tokyo¡­ "Well, atleast you know it works," Horizon says as he sits at the bar beside therge pool within Horizon Tower. "But did the needle have to be so big?" Sero asks, holding the syringe with therge needle very carefully. "What would have happened if I took the wrong one?" "You''d rather not think about it, trust me," Horizon says as Sero ces it back into the metal case with the remaining two syringesbeled with his name, filled with glowing blue liquid energy. Horizon takes the case, opens the empty syringe, and condenses his healing energy into a liquid yet again to refill it. "Thanks for leaving those, being burnt alive nearly killed me, Tokoyami barely got to me in time." "I''m d he did, and I''ve already made arrangements with Mina to put my n into ce, but I need to get going soon so you all have to get started without me." "We already assumed that would be the case!" Juzo yells as he approaches behind them, with Tokoyami a few steps behind him, Dark Shadowpletely enveloping Toga so she can''t see or hear them. "Lock her in ce for a while, I need to catch all of you up," Horizon says. Juzo nods to Tokoyami, then kneels and softens some of the concrete a dozen meters away from where Horizon and Sero are talking. Tokoyami then lowers her into the liquified concrete before Juzo hardens it, leaving everything below her nose trapped in solid concrete, facing away from them. "Better than handcuffs, right?" Juzo asks jokingly as he and Tokoyami join them at the bar. "Better than tape, that''s for sure," Sero says. "Now, about this n?" "Right, I''m heading back to America in a few minutes. I''ll be taking Nezu, Power Loader, and Momo with me. Ryuko is up in the mountains with her team so she''ll be fine." "Do you guys have a n for Tech?" Tokoyami asks. "Yeah, David Shield and Nezu will deal with the science, Power Loader will assist, and Momo will make anything we don''t have time to fabricate," Horizon says. "I''m not sure what they''lle up with but hopefully it''ll be done soon, but your task is about whates next." "And what''s that?" "Pushing their buttons," Sero says, earning a confused look from Tokoyami. "He means we''re going to make things personal with the League Of Viins," Horizon says. "Or more urately, with Spinner. Sero already set up his desire to protect Toga. So now we need to rub the fact that he failed in his face. Shigaraki isn''t very smart, but he''s learned to keep his emotions in check, atleast from what I know. Spinner though, not so much." "So he''lle for his girl, then we grab him," Juzo says. "But won''t Shigaraki stop him?" "If he was in Japan he could, besides, emotions cause mistakes all the time," Horizon says. "Not a big enough mistake to attack us for the sake of rescuing her," Juzo says. "True, which is why we''ll give him a second option," Horizon says. "Mina agreed to y the part of my weakness, so either they go for Mina or Toga, win-win for us. But we need to push him even more, so interrogate her quickly, we want her face in the news as soon as themunication systems are online again. They will be trying to catch up just like everyone else, so let''s put her face in front of them." "How do you want us to interrogate her?" Sero asks. "She''s not the type to crack easily, she really thinks those viins are her only friends, ever." "I don''t care how you do it," Horizon says. "Waterboard her, drown her, make her drink gas then set her on fire, y her, burn her, I don''t care what you do, just make her talk. Rip everything you can out of her before we hand her to the police, I''ll leave some Elixirs here so you can bring her back from near death a few times, don''t waste them, and don''t let her die. She''s no use to us dead, but remember, we want Spinner to me himself for what happened to her, so leave some scars, let him know what she suffered because of him." "That seems a bit much, don''t you think so?" Tokoyami asks, only for his friends to look at him as if he grew a second head. "Right, this is your first time," Juzo says. "No time like the present to start, so Tokoyami will take the lead," Horizon says. "Show him how, and make sure he uses his hands, no Dark Shadow." "But I¡ª" "Wasn''t really a suggestion, you need to understand the kind of people we''re dealing with, and how far we''re willing to go to stop them," Horizon says. "These are the people who killed hundreds of children and made Nomu from them, remember?" Tokoyami looks down at the floor, "Right." "Good, now I need to go," Horizon says. "Oh, and where the hell is Shinso?" "He went to see his girlfriend, there was a lot of chaos at Shiketsu High, and viins attacked them just before Tech shut down thems." "During summer break? Those viins are pussies," Horizon says. "If he brings Camie here just¡­keep her away from this side of things." "That won''t be a problem, she basically lives in the media room when she''s here," Juzo says as Horizon gets up. "Good, now get to work on Toga." SHAMBLES! With one step Horizon appears in Nezu''s office, over 300km -186 miles- away. "Is everything ready?" Horizon asks, seeing Nezu packing hisptop into a small bag of clothes. "Yes, Power Loader has all the essentials we need to carry over there, we can go to them now," Nezu says. SHAMBLES! Horizon warps both of them outside into one of the training fields, away from the parents and students around the main campus area, not wanting to cause a scene. Upon their arrival, Nezu sees Power Loader and Momo standing in the middle of the field with their travel bags and arge metal case, the size of arge suitcase. "What is that?" Horizon asks. "Computer chips," Power Loaders said. "We had to use the UA Supeputer to program them, so they aren''t something we could make over there. Is warping them going to be a problem?" "It''ll be annoying since this use of my Quirk is fairly new, but, I can manage," Horizon says. "New use of your Quirk?" Genesis asks. "My Quirk Awakening," Horizon says as he takes a few steps away from them. "It''s just, a bit difficult to get a handle on, and exhausting. But I''ll have those problems solved in a few months." "How the hell does your Quirk get any stronger?" Power Loader asks. "Can''t you already do anything?" "Somewhat, but I have, had, internal limits. Also, true divinity has permanence," Horizon says as he creates a small Room in his right hand, visible and translucent blue for all to see. Then he raises his sword and gently presses it against the de, and the liquid energy wraps around the de, glowing much much brighter. T-ROOM! Horizon feels the energy stabilize, just as it did yesterday when he used this to arrive in Japan. And with one deep breath, he activates histest ability¡­. END CHAPTER--- Chapter 346: (Unwelcomed Guest) Discord: .gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- ---Korea, Undisclosed Location¡­ "Shigaraki, thest group of Nomu are heading out," Twice says as approaches Shigaraki, who is sitting on the floor surrounded by stacks of documents. "Good, we don''t know how long thismunication ckout willst, the more Nomu we get into Japan before it ends, the better." "Not to mention the Pro Heroes and cops are busy with the public," Twice says. "It''s still super creepy that he won''t let us use our phones, aside from using them as screens for him to broadcast the messages he sends." "And the chaos in the world," Shigarai says, remembering mere minutes ago when Tech showed everyone riots in Canada, France, and Spain. "Too bad Japan is still rtively calm." "Tch, they think Horizon is going to save them," Twice says, folding his arms and looking away."He will, Horizon is invincible, he won''t fail," Shigaraki says. "Which is why we aren''t making our move until he graduates UA and leaves." "Yeah, but what about our friends over in Japan?" Twice asks. "Compress is still doing his infiltration thing, but Spinner, Dabi, and Toga said they captured Cellophane, and we couldn''t get an update since Tech attacked at the same time, aren''t you worried?" "No," Shigaraki says. "They''re probably using this chance to move him to a better safehouse, since Horizon shouldn''t be aware either, and he''s too busy dealing with Tech. When this is over they''ll get in touch and we''ll use that Hero as a distraction to move more Nomu into Japan." "Yeah, I guess you''re right," Twice says. "As soon as this is over we need to get rid of that hero and bring our friends back here." ---Horizon Tower, Minato Tokyo¡­ "Well, atleast you know it works," Horizon says as he sits at the bar beside therge pool within Horizon Tower. "But did the needle have to be so big?" Sero asks, holding the syringe with therge needle very carefully. "What would have happened if I took the wrong one?" "You''d rather not think about it, trust me," Horizon says as Sero ces it back into the metal case with the remaining two syringesbeled with his name, filled with glowing blue liquid energy. Horizon takes the case, opens the empty syringe, and condenses his healing energy into a liquid yet again to refill it. "Thanks for leaving those, being burnt alive nearly killed me, Tokoyami barely got to me in time." "I''m d he did, and I''ve already made arrangements with Mina to put my n into ce, but I need to get going soon so you all have to get started without me." "We already assumed that would be the case!" Juzo yells as he approaches behind them, with Tokoyami a few steps behind him, Dark Shadowpletely enveloping Toga so she can''t see or hear them. "Lock her in ce for a while, I need to catch all of you up," Horizon says. Juzo nods to Tokoyami, then kneels and softens some of the concrete a dozen meters away from where Horizon and Sero are talking. Tokoyami then lowers her into the liquified concrete before Juzo hardens it, leaving everything below her nose trapped in solid concrete, facing away from them. "Better than handcuffs, right?" Juzo asks jokingly as he and Tokoyami join them at the bar. "Better than tape, that''s for sure," Sero says. "Now, about this n?" "Right, I''m heading back to America in a few minutes. I''ll be taking Nezu, Power Loader, and Momo with me. Ryuko is up in the mountains with her team so she''ll be fine." "Do you guys have a n for Tech?" Tokoyami asks. "Yeah, David Shield and Nezu will deal with the science, Power Loader will assist, and Momo will make anything we don''t have time to fabricate," Horizon says. "I''m not sure what they''lle up with but hopefully it''ll be done soon, but your task is about whates next." "And what''s that?" "Pushing their buttons," Sero says, earning a confused look from Tokoyami. "He means we''re going to make things personal with the League Of Viins," Horizon says. "Or more urately, with Spinner. Sero already set up his desire to protect Toga. So now we need to rub the fact that he failed in his face. Shigaraki isn''t very smart, but he''s learned to keep his emotions in check, atleast from what I know. Spinner though, not so much." "So he''lle for his girl, then we grab him," Juzo says. "But won''t Shigaraki stop him?" "If he was in Japan he could, besides, emotions cause mistakes all the time," Horizon says. "Not a big enough mistake to attack us for the sake of rescuing her," Juzo says. "True, which is why we''ll give him a second option," Horizon says. "Mina agreed to y the part of my weakness, so either they go for Mina or Toga, win-win for us. But we need to push him even more, so interrogate her quickly, we want her face in the news as soon as themunication systems are online again. They will be trying to catch up just like everyone else, so let''s put her face in front of them." "How do you want us to interrogate her?" Sero asks. "She''s not the type to crack easily, she really thinks those viins are her only friends, ever." "I don''t care how you do it," Horizon says. "Waterboard her, drown her, make her drink gas then set her on fire, y her, burn her, I don''t care what you do, just make her talk. Rip everything you can out of her before we hand her to the police, I''ll leave some Elixirs here so you can bring her back from near death a few times, don''t waste them, and don''t let her die. She''s no use to us dead, but remember, we want Spinner to me himself for what happened to her, so leave some scars, let him know what she suffered because of him." "That seems a bit much, don''t you think so?" Tokoyami asks, only for his friends to look at him as if he grew a second head. "Right, this is your first time," Juzo says. "No time like the present to start, so Tokoyami will take the lead," Horizon says. "Show him how, and make sure he uses his hands, no Dark Shadow." "But I¡ª" "Wasn''t really a suggestion, you need to understand the kind of people we''re dealing with, and how far we''re willing to go to stop them," Horizon says. "These are the people who killed hundreds of children and made Nomu from them, remember?" Tokoyami looks down at the floor, "Right." "Good, now I need to go," Horizon says. "Oh, and where the hell is Shinso?" "He went to see his girlfriend, there was a lot of chaos at Shiketsu High, and viins attacked them just before Tech shut down thems." "During summer break? Those viins are pussies," Horizon says. "If he brings Camie here just¡­keep her away from this side of things." "That won''t be a problem, she basically lives in the media room when she''s here," Juzo says as Horizon gets up. "Good, now get to work on Toga." SHAMBLES! With one step Horizon appears in Nezu''s office, over 300km -186 miles- away. "Is everything ready?" Horizon asks, seeing Nezu packing hisptop into a small bag of clothes. "Yes, Power Loader has all the essentials we need to carry over there, we can go to them now," Nezu says. SHAMBLES! Horizon warps both of them outside into one of the training fields, away from the parents and students around the main campus area, not wanting to cause a scene. Upon their arrival, Nezu sees Power Loader and Momo standing in the middle of the field with their travel bags and arge metal case, the size of arge suitcase. "What is that?" Horizon asks. "Computer chips," Power Loaders said. "We had to use the UA Supeputer to program them, so they aren''t something we could make over there. Is warping them going to be a problem?" "It''ll be annoying since this use of my Quirk is fairly new, but, I can manage," Horizon says. "New use of your Quirk?" Genesis asks. "My Quirk Awakening," Horizon says as he takes a few steps away from them. "It''s just, a bit difficult to get a handle on, and exhausting. But I''ll have those problems solved in a few months." "How the hell does your Quirk get any stronger?" Power Loader asks. "Can''t you already do anything?" "Somewhat, but I have, had, internal limits. Also, true divinity has permanence," Horizon says as he creates a small Room in his right hand, visible and translucent blue for all to see. Then he raises his sword and gently presses it against the de, and the liquid energy wraps around the de, glowing much much brighter. T-ROOM! Horizon feels the energy stabilize, just as it did yesterday when he used this to arrive in Japan. And with one deep breath, he activates histest ability¡­. END CHAPTER--- CHAPTER 339(Think Tank) CHAPTER 339(Think Tank) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- ---Somewhere Above Kansas, USA¡­ Soaring through the sky at a rtively slow speed, arge muscr figure wearing a bulky jet-ck suit carries arge metal box of the same color in their arms. The person stops and looks around, at all the hundreds of miles of evacuatednd below them, then recognizes a few gentle hills and descends toward them. After a few moments, theynd gently on the grassy field, looking up at the midday sun for a moment before carefully observing their surroundings. Then sets down the metal box and opens it with a tap. "Get away from me!" an older blonde Dutch woman shrieks as she tumbles out of the box, holding her bedroom slipped in one hand as she frantically looks around for her kidnappers. Herrge kidnapper takes careful steps away, raising their hands to show they mean no harm, then removes the mask covering their entire face. Long blonde hair flows down from Star and Stripe''s head as she can finally breathe properly without the mask. "Star and Stripe?" the woman asks in disbelief as she stumbles back, holding her robe and pajamas as she takes in her environment. "Why did you bring me to America?" "I''m sorry for the way we had to meet Dr. Flynn," Star'' says. "But I promise there is a good reason for this." "Good reason?!" Dr. Flynn screams. "I was making dinner for my family, in Norway! And the next instant I''m waking up in a metal box flying through the air, what could possibly justify taking me from my grandkids as the world is ending?!" "Saving the world," Star'' says, tly. "Your name was put on the list, which will make a lot more sense in a few moments." "List?" Dr. Flynn asks as the ground beneath them begins to move and lower into the surrounding area. "What''s going on?" Star'' doesn''t respond, forcing them to stand in silence for almost two minutes before they are sufficiently underground, allowing the elevator to close above them. "No can you tell me what''s going on?" Dr. Flynn asks. "What was the box, and your new suit?" "The box and the suit were designed to absorb radar and electromaic interference. Advanced stealth tech ripped from one of our next-gen jets to avoid detection by anything Tech has." "Right, and you need me because?" Before Star'' can answer, a doorward opens within the metal elevator shaft to reveal a massive room, hundreds of meters long and wide, with over a hundred people working in groups. "What is this ce?" "The ''Think Tank'', that''s what they''re calling it," Star'' says as she begins walking along the railing on the upper levels, overseeing the entire facility. Dr. Flynn follows closely behind her, carefully observing technology that she didn''t think existed being used all across the facility. "You''re putting together a team to stop Tech, to fight someone who controls all the technology in the world, that''s¡­a serious task." "Yes, but I''m not putting together anything," Star'' says as they arrive in the middle of the room, where Horizon is hovering in the air with tens of thousands ofputerponents hovering in front of him, slowly, methodically being assembled. "I just get the brainiacs anything they need." "Is Horizon nning all of this?" Dr. Flynn asks, staring at the young Hero in wonder. "No, he said this is out of his expertise. He''s just handling security in case a nuke gets sent this way, along with helping us quietly get anything and anyone Nezu or David Shield decide we need, they''re taking the lead on this entire operation." "David Shield, Principal Nezu, Horizon," Dr. Flynn looks around. "And I see top minds from all over the world, if this structure copsed humanity''s progress would be stalled for, maybe another century or two. But, what could you possibly want with me?" "I''ll show you," Star'' says as she gestures for the woman to follow her into a connected chamber with only oneputer terminal inside. The entire room was unpainted, with exposed concrete and steel reinforcement showing the utilitarian nature of this entire operation. "This is where you''ll be working," Star'' says as she walks to the middle of the room and activates the terminal. The room is immediately darkened as a massive hologram of connected nodes and curved lines are pulsing and blinking between them. "What do you see?" Star'' asks, looking back at Dr. Flynn, only to see the woman in her mind as she walks around, a broad smile on her face as she stares at the most beautiful thing she''s ever seen. "Aposite like no other," Dr. Flynn says in amazement. "I guess I shouldn''t be too surprised between Nezu and David Shield but¡­how did they manage this. This density of neurons and synapses, the speed of the signals, and theplexity of the structure. They fused hundreds, no, thousands of minds into one Engram." "Not at all," Star'' says. "This is Horizon''s brain." Dr. Flynn looks like the news punched her in the face. "This is a real living thing?" "You''re the only Neuru Tech expert on the who could do something like this, who could construct a working model of what Tech''s brain must be like, but we figured using Horizon would give you a head start, since we don''t have any time to waste." "More like overkill," Dr. Flynn says. "Clearly Horizon isn''t human, but Tech is, even ounting for the billions of calctions and impulses Tech''s Quirk performs each second, this is on a whole other level." "So it''ll work." "Impossible to say, but it gives us a solid start. What do they need me to do with it?" "David Shield is handling the hardware and narrowing down the search area for Tech, Power Loader and Genesis are in the fabricationb, and Nezu is dealing with the programming," Star'' says. "Ideally we''d find a way to disconnect or hinder Tech from talking to the nukes so either we disarm them or I fly into orbit and throw them into deep space." "But since we''re using programming to fight a Technopath, he''ll adapt faster than any of us can, so I need to map an adaptation matrix that can assist us in blocking him," Dr. Flynn says. "And you''re the only person in the world who can do it," Star'' says. Dr. Flynn takes a deep breath as the weight of this task sinks in, "I''ll need some people, and¡ª" "Take your time and make a list, anything and anyone on it, you''ll have within a day. We''ll ask for forgiveness after we save the world." "Right, that''s how I got here after all," Dr. Flynn says. "I''ll get to work¡­" ---Minutes Later On The Upper Levels¡­ Leaning back against the railing Star and Stripe read the list in her hands, slightly bewildered. "What am I even seeing here?" Star'' asks as she reads the list David Shield just handed her. "How would I even find it? I''d have to search the entire upper atmosphere." "I''m sorry but that''s what it''ll take," David says as he looks over the railing at the people working below. Star'' sighs, "How long until it''s ready?" "Horizon is assembling the final parts, then we upload the codes," David says as he looks down to see Genesis step out of a connected room, the fabricationb. "Looks like all the parts have been made, for now." Star'' follows his gaze to see Genesis, looking unhealthily thin and eating a few of Horizon''s meal bars. "She''s making this possible on our timeline, but¡ª" "Ms. Yaoyorozu won''t stop, no matter how much anyone asks her to," David says. "She''s a real Hero." "I''d expect nothing less from one of All Might''s students," Star'' says with a dazzling smile on her face. "Say, since you''re friends with him, can you introduce me sometime?" "Huh, I assumed you already met him," he gives her a confused look. "Sure, but his doctor doesn''t want him to travel considering his health, so, you''ll probably have to go to Japan." "Well, that''ll be difficult," Star'' says. "But I''ll try to make it happen." "Alright, now I need to get back to work," David says. "You''d be amazed at how difficult it is to fit a supeputer on a jet." "The biggest brains in the world are here, you''ll figure it out." After David Shield goes back to his work, Star and Stripe continues reading the new task assigned to her, a task that only she could aplish, and eventually finds herself walking into the mess hall. The entire room was filled with tables, chairs, and arge kitchen area serving food, and more importantly, coffee, 24/7. She looks up for a moment to see Genesis sitting quietly by herself, reading some papers and having what must be her 50th meal of the day. And yet, the girl appeared impossibly thin and frailpared to when she arrived less than one day ago. But without her, their production would have slowed dramatically, so she endures. "May I?" Star'' asks, snapping Genesis out of her daze and causing the girl to look up at her, allowing her to finally see her mask up close. "Oh, Star and Stripe!" Genesis tries to get up but Star'' ces a hand on her shoulder to keep her seated. "Oh¡ª" "No need to get up, can I join you?" "Uh, of course, it''s an honor to meet you," Genesis says as the woman moves to sit across from her. "That mask of yours, it looks familiar," Star'' says. "Oh, yes. The same person who helped design Horizon''s new visor created this, so it has a slight resemnce." "Cellophane''s mask does as well, you all look like a group of cyborgs." Genesis chuckles bitterly, "Yeah, it scares the viins sometimes, but to kids, we look like action figures, so they like it." "Then your Hero Costume is perfect," Star'' says. "How have you been holding up, with the stress of all this?" "It''s," Genesis pushes some of her food around the tray. "Difficult. Not the things I have to do, but, trying not to think about all the people depending on me, on us." "Well, I wish I could say it gets easier, but this is the first time something of this scale has happened. A Viin capable of holding the entire world hostage, thankfully, isn''t amon urrence. But just remember, the entire world is working together on this, so you''re not alone." Hearing this Genesis looks up at Star'' and smiles, her masking leaving only her mouth exposed for the pro hero to see and return the gesture. "Are you alright?" "Yes, I was just thinking, it''s pretty cool that the most powerful Pro Hero is a woman." Star''ughs and pats the girl on the shoulder, "Thanks, I''ll cherish thest few weeks I have with that title!" That immediately dulls Genesis''s mood, which Star'' notices. "Is something wrong?" she asks. "Sorry, I assumed that you were friends." "OH! We, uh, it''s a bitplicated," Genesis says. "A lot of students at UA aren''t exactlyfortable with Horizon after his court case revealed so much¡­but we can''t deny that he saves many people, so, yeah." "Yeah, I assumed as much. But you know, the higher you climb the more you realize that, the world isn''t simply ck and white," Star'' says. "I''m not making excuses for him, because I certainly have seen his more¡­creative, side. But, sometimes we have to set aside what our heart feels and do what the people need." "That sounds exactly like you''re making excuses for him." "Perhaps, but let me ask you, how do you think this will end for Tech?" Star'' asks. "Will we arrest him, and risk him taking control of the technology around him and escaping before his trial, which would end with him being put down, or do we simply kill him and remove that risk?" "That, that''s different." "Perhaps, and people like you are important, you''re the kind of person I look up to, now, and when I was a little girl," Star'' says as she gets up. Then she gently leans forward and ces and hand on Genesis''s shoulder. "But when ten billion lives are at stake, sometimes we have to do things we will always hate ourselves for." "I¡ªI guess I never really asked him, how he feels about it all," Genesis says. "You care so much about how the Viins feel, but not how the Heroes feel?" Star'' asks. "If you''re going to care, don''t be selective about it, but regardless, you shoulde to America after you graduate. You''ll get to use real guns." Star'' walks away, leaving Genesis to ponder what she just said, while Star and Stripe prepare for to find and deliver some of David Shield''s tech to the international space station. END CHAPTER--- Chapter 347: (Think Tank) Discord: .gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- ---Somewhere Above Kansas, USA¡­ Soaring through the sky at a rtively slow speed, arge muscr figure wearing a bulky jet-ck suit carries arge metal box of the same color in their arms. The person stops and looks around, at all the hundreds of miles of evacuatednd below them, then recognizes a few gentle hills and descends toward them. After a few moments, theynd gently on the grassy field, looking up at the midday sun for a moment before carefully observing their surroundings. Then sets down the metal box and opens it with a tap. "Get away from me!" an older blonde Dutch woman shrieks as she tumbles out of the box, holding her bedroom slipped in one hand as she frantically looks around for her kidnappers.Herrge kidnapper takes careful steps away, raising their hands to show they mean no harm, then removes the mask covering their entire face. Long blonde hair flows down from Star and Stripe''s head as she can finally breathe properly without the mask. "Star and Stripe?" the woman asks in disbelief as she stumbles back, holding her robe and pajamas as she takes in her environment. "Why did you bring me to America?" "I''m sorry for the way we had to meet Dr. Flynn," Star'' says. "But I promise there is a good reason for this." "Good reason?!" Dr. Flynn screams. "I was making dinner for my family, in Norway! And the next instant I''m waking up in a metal box flying through the air, what could possibly justify taking me from my grandkids as the world is ending?!" "Saving the world," Star'' says, tly. "Your name was put on the list, which will make a lot more sense in a few moments." "List?" Dr. Flynn asks as the ground beneath them begins to move and lower into the surrounding area. "What''s going on?" Star'' doesn''t respond, forcing them to stand in silence for almost two minutes before they are sufficiently underground, allowing the elevator to close above them. "No can you tell me what''s going on?" Dr. Flynn asks. "What was the box, and your new suit?" "The box and the suit were designed to absorb radar and electromaic interference. Advanced stealth tech ripped from one of our next-gen jets to avoid detection by anything Tech has." "Right, and you need me because?" Before Star'' can answer, a doorward opens within the metal elevator shaft to reveal a massive room, hundreds of meters long and wide, with over a hundred people working in groups. "What is this ce?" "The ''Think Tank'', that''s what they''re calling it," Star'' says as she begins walking along the railing on the upper levels, overseeing the entire facility. Dr. Flynn follows closely behind her, carefully observing technology that she didn''t think existed being used all across the facility. "You''re putting together a team to stop Tech, to fight someone who controls all the technology in the world, that''s¡­a serious task." ?? "Yes, but I''m not putting together anything," Star'' says as they arrive in the middle of the room, where Horizon is hovering in the air with tens of thousands ofputerponents hovering in front of him, slowly, methodically being assembled. "I just get the brainiacs anything they need." "Is Horizon nning all of this?" Dr. Flynn asks, staring at the young Hero in wonder. "No, he said this is out of his expertise. He''s just handling security in case a nuke gets sent this way, along with helping us quietly get anything and anyone Nezu or David Shield decide we need, they''re taking the lead on this entire operation." "David Shield, Principal Nezu, Horizon," Dr. Flynn looks around. "And I see top minds from all over the world, if this structure copsed humanity''s progress would be stalled for, maybe another century or two. But, what could you possibly want with me?" "I''ll show you," Star'' says as she gestures for the woman to follow her into a connected chamber with only oneputer terminal inside. The entire room was unpainted, with exposed concrete and steel reinforcement showing the utilitarian nature of this entire operation. "This is where you''ll be working," Star'' says as she walks to the middle of the room and activates the terminal. The room is immediately darkened as a massive hologram of connected nodes and curved lines are pulsing and blinking between them. "What do you see?" Star'' asks, looking back at Dr. Flynn, only to see the woman in her mind as she walks around, a broad smile on her face as she stares at the most beautiful thing she''s ever seen. "Aposite like no other," Dr. Flynn says in amazement. "I guess I shouldn''t be too surprised between Nezu and David Shield but¡­how did they manage this. This density of neurons and synapses, the speed of the signals, and theplexity of the structure. They fused hundreds, no, thousands of minds into one Engram." "Not at all," Star'' says. "This is Horizon''s brain." Dr. Flynn looks like the news punched her in the face. "This is a real living thing?" "You''re the only Neuru Tech expert on the who could do something like this, who could construct a working model of what Tech''s brain must be like, but we figured using Horizon would give you a head start, since we don''t have any time to waste." "More like overkill," Dr. Flynn says. "Clearly Horizon isn''t human, but Tech is, even ounting for the billions of calctions and impulses Tech''s Quirk performs each second, this is on a whole other level." "So it''ll work." "Impossible to say, but it gives us a solid start. What do they need me to do with it?" "David Shield is handling the hardware and narrowing down the search area for Tech, Power Loader and Genesis are in the fabricationb, and Nezu is dealing with the programming," Star'' says. "Ideally we''d find a way to disconnect or hinder Tech from talking to the nukes so either we disarm them or I fly into orbit and throw them into deep space." "But since we''re using programming to fight a Technopath, he''ll adapt faster than any of us can, so I need to map an adaptation matrix that can assist us in blocking him," Dr. Flynn says. "And you''re the only person in the world who can do it," Star'' says. Dr. Flynn takes a deep breath as the weight of this task sinks in, "I''ll need some people, and¡ª" "Take your time and make a list, anything and anyone on it, you''ll have within a day. We''ll ask for forgiveness after we save the world." "Right, that''s how I got here after all," Dr. Flynn says. "I''ll get to work¡­" ---Minutes Later On The Upper Levels¡­ Leaning back against the railing Star and Stripe read the list in her hands, slightly bewildered. "What am I even seeing here?" Star'' asks as she reads the list David Shield just handed her. "How would I even find it? I''d have to search the entire upper atmosphere." "I''m sorry but that''s what it''ll take," David says as he looks over the railing at the people working below. Star'' sighs, "How long until it''s ready?" "Horizon is assembling the final parts, then we upload the codes," David says as he looks down to see Genesis step out of a connected room, the fabricationb. "Looks like all the parts have been made, for now." Star'' follows his gaze to see Genesis, looking unhealthily thin and eating a few of Horizon''s meal bars. "She''s making this possible on our timeline, but¡ª" "Ms. Yaoyorozu won''t stop, no matter how much anyone asks her to," David says. "She''s a real Hero." "I''d expect nothing less from one of All Might''s students," Star'' says with a dazzling smile on her face. "Say, since you''re friends with him, can you introduce me sometime?" "Huh, I assumed you already met him," he gives her a confused look. "Sure, but his doctor doesn''t want him to travel considering his health, so, you''ll probably have to go to Japan." "Well, that''ll be difficult," Star'' says. "But I''ll try to make it happen." "Alright, now I need to get back to work," David says. "You''d be amazed at how difficult it is to fit a supeputer on a jet." "The biggest brains in the world are here, you''ll figure it out." After David Shield goes back to his work, Star and Stripe continues reading the new task assigned to her, a task that only she could aplish, and eventually finds herself walking into the mess hall. The entire room was filled with tables, chairs, and arge kitchen area serving food, and more importantly, coffee, 24/7. She looks up for a moment to see Genesis sitting quietly by herself, reading some papers and having what must be her 50th meal of the day. And yet, the girl appeared impossibly thin and frailpared to when she arrived less than one day ago. But without her, their production would have slowed dramatically, so she endures. "May I?" Star'' asks, snapping Genesis out of her daze and causing the girl to look up at her, allowing her to finally see her mask up close. "Oh, Star and Stripe!" Genesis tries to get up but Star'' ces a hand on her shoulder to keep her seated. "Oh¡ª" "No need to get up, can I join you?" "Uh, of course, it''s an honor to meet you," Genesis says as the woman moves to sit across from her. "That mask of yours, it looks familiar," Star'' says. "Oh, yes. The same person who helped design Horizon''s new visor created this, so it has a slight resemnce." "Cellophane''s mask does as well, you all look like a group of cyborgs." Genesis chuckles bitterly, "Yeah, it scares the viins sometimes, but to kids, we look like action figures, so they like it." "Then your Hero Costume is perfect," Star'' says. "How have you been holding up, with the stress of all this?" "It''s," Genesis pushes some of her food around the tray. "Difficult. Not the things I have to do, but, trying not to think about all the people depending on me, on us." "Well, I wish I could say it gets easier, but this is the first time something of this scale has happened. A Viin capable of holding the entire world hostage, thankfully, isn''t amon urrence. But just remember, the entire world is working together on this, so you''re not alone." Hearing this Genesis looks up at Star'' and smiles, her masking leaving only her mouth exposed for the pro hero to see and return the gesture. "Are you alright?" "Yes, I was just thinking, it''s pretty cool that the most powerful Pro Hero is a woman." Star''ughs and pats the girl on the shoulder, "Thanks, I''ll cherish thest few weeks I have with that title!" That immediately dulls Genesis''s mood, which Star'' notices. "Is something wrong?" she asks. "Sorry, I assumed that you were friends." "OH! We, uh, it''s a bitplicated," Genesis says. "A lot of students at UA aren''t exactlyfortable with Horizon after his court case revealed so much¡­but we can''t deny that he saves many people, so, yeah." "Yeah, I assumed as much. But you know, the higher you climb the more you realize that, the world isn''t simply ck and white," Star'' says. "I''m not making excuses for him, because I certainly have seen his more¡­creative, side. But, sometimes we have to set aside what our heart feels and do what the people need." "That sounds exactly like you''re making excuses for him." "Perhaps, but let me ask you, how do you think this will end for Tech?" Star'' asks. "Will we arrest him, and risk him taking control of the technology around him and escaping before his trial, which would end with him being put down, or do we simply kill him and remove that risk?" "That, that''s different." "Perhaps, and people like you are important, you''re the kind of person I look up to, now, and when I was a little girl," Star'' says as she gets up. Then she gently leans forward and ces and hand on Genesis''s shoulder. "But when ten billion lives are at stake, sometimes we have to do things we will always hate ourselves for." "I¡ªI guess I never really asked him, how he feels about it all," Genesis says. "You care so much about how the Viins feel, but not how the Heroes feel?" Star'' asks. "If you''re going to care, don''t be selective about it, but regardless, you shoulde to America after you graduate. You''ll get to use real guns." Star'' walks away, leaving Genesis to ponder what she just said, while Star and Stripe prepare for to find and deliver some of David Shield''s tech to the international space station. END CHAPTER--- Chapter 348: (Think Tank Pt-II-) Discord: .gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "You said you needed to see me, what''s wrong?" David Shield asks as he approaches Power Loader. Power Loader was working on some simtions toward the middle of theb where Horizon was hovering above, still assembling tens of thousands ofponents with absolute precision. "Yeah," Power Loader takes a sip of his coffee. "I just got done designing the power conduits, and we ran into some issues with the power source itself." "What kind of issue? We already knew Genesis wouldn''t be able to make something containing much energy, so just add it to the list and we''ll get it." "That''s the problem," Power Loader taps a few buttons to bring up the numbers he estimated their device to need. "Heh, you''re kidding, right?" David Shield asks, feeling his hope wax and wane. "900 Terawatt Hours, that''s enough to power all of New York City for just over a decade.""See the problem now?" Power Loader asks as he gestures to the empty seat beside him. "Ok, well, I have some ideas," David Shield says as he takes a seat, and they both begin working to solve the problem. "The most obvious is nuclear power, but¡ª" "We can''t fit a nuclear reactor on the jet," Power Loader says. "Then we need a battery." "The size would still be the issue," David Shield mulls it over briefly, then facepalms. "We were so focused on solving the problem by using technology, that we failed to remember that a Quirk is the basis of this entire problem, so a Quirk can solve it." "Ahhh, you''re right," Power Loader says as they look at Horizon. "Hey, Horizon, we need you for a moment!" Horizon looks down at them, keeping all theponents moving like a controlled storm around him as he hovers down to them. "What''s wrong?" he asks. "900 Terawatt Hours to stay operational," David Shield says. "Shit, that''s exhausting," Horizon says. "But I can power it, the problem is the power fluctuations, since I am a living being, as much as people doubt it, if my power output changes it could fry some of theseponents," he gestures to the parts moving behind him. "Then we''ll work extra hard on the capacitors," Power Loader says. "But¡­are you sure this is doable for you?" "I should be able to keep it going for about¡­3 hours. But any more than that and I''ll be in trouble." "That fact that you have that much energy is already crazy enough," David Shield says. "And I thought All Might was absurd, but you Mystery ss people are on a whole other level." "Not us," A voice says from behind them. "Just him, I''m still human." David Shield and Power Loader turn around to see Star and Stripe in her ck ops outfit. "Star'', how was it?" Horizon asks. "Cold," she hands David Shield a small device. "I attached the other end to the international space station, and rys the satellites you requested." "Incredible," David Shield says. "I was worried Tech would detect us asking NASA tounch rockets to get this done, but you did it so easily." "I wouldn''t call it easy," Star'' says. "Now, Horizon, we need to go to the Whitehouse." "Ah, it''s that time," Horizon says as hends on the floor. Give me a minute to set these down safely, and I''ll meet you upstairs." "What''s going on?" Power Loader asks. "Nothing to worry about, we just have some nning to do for the implementation of the device," Star'' lies. "We''ll be back soon." "Ah, alright, we''ll keep working and hopefully have an input station that''spatible with the absurd energy requirement by the time you''re back," Power Loader says. ?? ---10 Minutes Later¡­ SHAMBLES! Horizon and Star and Stripe appear in her bedroom within Lone Star Base, where theyst entered before warping to the Think Tank. "Great, now Tech thinks we''re fucking," Star'' grumbles as she begins undressing while walking into the bathroom. "Hey you''re the genius who wanted to get there as quickly as possible, I said we should have just warped from The Pentagon." "We didn''t have time for that!" Star'' yells as she gets into the shower, while Horizon sits on her bed and checks his updates from his team. "Well rest assured, nobody would believe it," Horizon says. "Logistics aside, I''m not interested in fucking what''s basically ''All Might with tits''." "HEY!" "Phenomenal tits!" Horizon corrects himself. "That''s not the point!" "Hey you''re the one who chose that form, what does regr you even look like?" Horizon asks as she steps out of the bathroom wrapped in a tower, dripping wet. "If I showed you, I''d have to kill you," she says, seriously. Horizon looks her up and down, tantly, then chuckles, "As if you could." "Whatever, now get out I need to get¡ª" SHAMBLES! Star and Stripe warps a few inches to the side, nowpletely dry and wearing her Hero Costume. "---Change," She looks down at herself, annoyed. "I told you not to do that, it''s creepy." "It''s efficient, besides, I''m a doctor, not a pervert." "Are you like this with the girls in your ss?" Star'' asks. "I spoke to Genesis, she has¡­mixed feelings about you." "Good for her," Horizon says as he puts his phone away, satisfied with the update he got from his team. "But I have more important things to worry about than the feelings of some teenage girl, like¡­anything else." SHAMBLES! "You know she''d probably go out with you, if you weren''t such a dick," Star'' says as they appear in a part at the eastern edge of Texas. "Then I guess it''s impossible," Horizon shrugs. SHAMBLES! They appear farther east, now in the middle of a highway, with people evacuating toward more rural areas. "She''s gorgeous, I saw her without her mask once, you should ask her out," Star'' says. SHAMBLES! "I don''t have time for romance, there are too many people in the world that need me." "But don''t you want a family sometime?" SHAMBLES! "Eventually, but, I have a lot of lifetimes to figure that out, so no need to rush," Horizon says. "Besides, I can''t start a family in a world this chaotic, right?" "What about that other girl, Uravity?" SHAMBLES! "What about her?" "Didn''t she call youst week, or was it two weeks ago? Maybe she likes you." SHAMBLES! "She was asking me for advice about her boyfriend''s birthday gift," Horizon says. "Not sure why she asked me, I don''t know what losers like." "That''s kind of mean, don''t you think?" SHAMBLES! "I''ve said much worse things to his face, so it''s fine. And why are you so interested in my dating life all of a sudden?" Star'' shrugs. "I''ve just been thinking a lot about¡­if we fail, no. If, we weren''t us, if we were normal people, we''d probably have families to hold as the bombs drop, right?" SHAMBLES! "I''d hope so," Horizon says as they begin walking through the corridors of The Pentagon. "But what are you getting at?" "I don''t even know, I guess I''m just a little jealous," Star'' admits, softly. "If we weren''t us, the world would end, but because we are who we are, we''ve given up that chance at all the things the helpless people experience." "It''s the most efficient way, it lets us save more people," Horizon says, only for Star'' to rest a hand on his shoulder. "What?" Star'' looks at his visor, seeing her own sad and lonely reflection, then lets go. "Sorry, I got distracted, we can talk when this crisis is over," she says as they continue walking toward the meeting. "Yeah, save your love confession for after, we can celebrate then," Horizon says jokingly, and Star'' jabs him in the shoulder, numbing it. "Ah!" "Save it for your fangirls," she chuckles. "I''ve actually met you, so I know better." They make it to the end of the hallway and enter a room with all the highest-ranking military generals and advisors the United States has to offer, sitting around a massive table with President Skyline and the United Nations Secretary-General. "A thousand years of military experience in one room," Horizon says as he and Star'' stand above, leaning on the railing and looking at the meeting taking ce below. "Yeah, and yet, without us, they''re helpless," Star'' says. "So, whenever you''re ready." "You sure you can handle this?" Horizon asks. Star'' gives him a strange look, "Why? What do you n to do?" "Something that is very, very, not heroic," Horizon says. CLAP! Horizon gets everyone''s attention as he hovers over the railing and down to the massive round table, with a map of the world in the middle. "Sorry I''mte everyone, but I was needed elsewhere?" Horizon says as he stands in the middle of the table. "Working on something you can''t tell us about, right?" one of the generals asks. "It''s one thing if we don''t know, but keeping the President in the dark is too much." "Yes well, President Skyline has more people around him and is an extremely high-value target for Tech to monitor, so yes, he is being kept in the dark, just like all of you." "This doesn''t feel like a partnership," one of the other generals says. "That''s because it''s not," Horizon says as he walks over to look down at the woman. "You are the greatest military minds on the, but, we don''t need you to fight a war. The war is over, we lost before we could throw a single punch. This, is the resistance, and like it or not, not all of us will live to see freedom." Star'' narrows her eyes at him. "Which is why you''re all here early, because you''re going to surrender." There is an immediate uproar from the generals while President Skyline and the UN Secretary-General sit silently. "We don''t surrender to terrorists!" One of them yells, silencing all the others."We don''t even negotiate with those animals!" "Well, Tech has nukes over your heads, and I''m here holding a sword to your throat, it''s a lose-lose, unless you listen to me," Horizon says. They all nce over to President Skyline, and he subtly nods, signaling them to be quiet and listen. "The n is very simple, Tech has to organize the entire world into whatever systems he wants us to use. That process will take a few days, which we need for the project we''re working on to be ready. Local and globalmunications have been cut, so just like you can''t call your families, governments can''t talk to each other. Now, in one hour Tech will bring selectmunications back online so he can talk to all the world leaders. Because nobody''s been able to talk to each other, share information, or strategize, America, China, Russia, Japan, and other big nations will be looked at as leaders. America is easily first in the group, so what you say sets the tone for the entire meeting. Now, the part all of you y is that you bend the knee, and all the other nations will follow." "No, they won''t," One of the generals says, an older woman in full militarybat gear. "Exactly what I''m counting on," Horizon says as he walks atop the table to look down at her. "You all know war can''t be won without sacrifice, just like some rebels always die for the movement." "Fucking animal," the UN Secretary-General mutters under her breath. Horizon immediately looks at her and walks over, crouching in front of her so he can get close enough. "Remember what I told you, stick to the script," Horizon says. "You don''t talk unless my hand is up your ass moving your lips like a puppet¡­" The woman looks up at Horizon for a moment, before she averts her gaze and stares down into herp. "This is the part where you nod," Horizon says, and she obeys. "Great," Horizon ps his hands together as he gets back up, walking to the middle of the table. "Now, as I was saying. We can count Moscow, Beijing, London, and the capital of anywhere else that doesn''t get the hint and actually tries to resist the viin with every nuke on the over our heads." "You''re talking about millions!" Star yells from above. "Tens of millions," Horizon corrects her, not looking away. "Butpared to ten billion, worthless." Star and Stripe narrows her eyes at him. "I told you, you should wait outside¡­" Star'' takes a deep breath, then leans against the railing, "No, show me what you really are¡­" END CHAPTER--- CHAPTER 340(Think Tank Pt-II-) CHAPTER 340(Think Tank Pt-II-) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "You said you needed to see me, what''s wrong?" David Shield asks as he approaches Power Loader. Power Loader was working on some simtions toward the middle of theb where Horizon was hovering above, still assembling tens of thousands ofponents with absolute precision. "Yeah," Power Loader takes a sip of his coffee. "I just got done designing the power conduits, and we ran into some issues with the power source itself." "What kind of issue? We already knew Genesis wouldn''t be able to make something containing much energy, so just add it to the list and we''ll get it." "That''s the problem," Power Loader taps a few buttons to bring up the numbers he estimated their device to need. "Heh, you''re kidding, right?" David Shield asks, feeling his hope wax and wane. "900 Terawatt Hours, that''s enough to power all of New York City for just over a decade." "See the problem now?" Power Loader asks as he gestures to the empty seat beside him. "Ok, well, I have some ideas," David Shield says as he takes a seat, and they both begin working to solve the problem. "The most obvious is nuclear power, but¡ª" "We can''t fit a nuclear reactor on the jet," Power Loader says. "Then we need a battery." "The size would still be the issue," David Shield mulls it over briefly, then facepalms. "We were so focused on solving the problem by using technology, that we failed to remember that a Quirk is the basis of this entire problem, so a Quirk can solve it." "Ahhh, you''re right," Power Loader says as they look at Horizon. "Hey, Horizon, we need you for a moment!" Horizon looks down at them, keeping all theponents moving like a controlled storm around him as he hovers down to them. "What''s wrong?" he asks. "900 Terawatt Hours to stay operational," David Shield says. "Shit, that''s exhausting," Horizon says. "But I can power it, the problem is the power fluctuations, since I am a living being, as much as people doubt it, if my power output changes it could fry some of theseponents," he gestures to the parts moving behind him. "Then we''ll work extra hard on the capacitors," Power Loader says. "But¡­are you sure this is doable for you?" "I should be able to keep it going for about¡­3 hours. But any more than that and I''ll be in trouble." "That fact that you have that much energy is already crazy enough," David Shield says. "And I thought All Might was absurd, but you Mystery ss people are on a whole other level." "Not us," A voice says from behind them. "Just him, I''m still human." David Shield and Power Loader turn around to see Star and Stripe in her ck ops outfit. "Star'', how was it?" Horizon asks. "Cold," she hands David Shield a small device. "I attached the other end to the international space station, and rys the satellites you requested." "Incredible," David Shield says. "I was worried Tech would detect us asking NASA tounch rockets to get this done, but you did it so easily." "I wouldn''t call it easy," Star'' says. "Now, Horizon, we need to go to the Whitehouse." "Ah, it''s that time," Horizon says as hends on the floor. Give me a minute to set these down safely, and I''ll meet you upstairs." "What''s going on?" Power Loader asks. "Nothing to worry about, we just have some nning to do for the implementation of the device," Star'' lies. "We''ll be back soon." "Ah, alright, we''ll keep working and hopefully have an input station that''spatible with the absurd energy requirement by the time you''re back," Power Loader says. ---10 Minutes Later¡­ SHAMBLES! Horizon and Star and Stripe appear in her bedroom within Lone Star Base, where theyst entered before warping to the Think Tank. "Great, now Tech thinks we''re fucking," Star'' grumbles as she begins undressing while walking into the bathroom. "Hey you''re the genius who wanted to get there as quickly as possible, I said we should have just warped from The Pentagon." "We didn''t have time for that!" Star'' yells as she gets into the shower, while Horizon sits on her bed and checks his updates from his team. "Well rest assured, nobody would believe it," Horizon says. "Logistics aside, I''m not interested in fucking what''s basically ''All Might with tits''." "HEY!" "Phenomenal tits!" Horizon corrects himself. "That''s not the point!" "Hey you''re the one who chose that form, what does regr you even look like?" Horizon asks as she steps out of the bathroom wrapped in a tower, dripping wet. "If I showed you, I''d have to kill you," she says, seriously. Horizon looks her up and down, tantly, then chuckles, "As if you could." "Whatever, now get out I need to get¡ª" SHAMBLES! Star and Stripe warps a few inches to the side, nowpletely dry and wearing her Hero Costume. "---Change," She looks down at herself, annoyed. "I told you not to do that, it''s creepy." "It''s efficient, besides, I''m a doctor, not a pervert." "Are you like this with the girls in your ss?" Star'' asks. "I spoke to Genesis, she has¡­mixed feelings about you." "Good for her," Horizon says as he puts his phone away, satisfied with the update he got from his team. "But I have more important things to worry about than the feelings of some teenage girl, like¡­anything else." SHAMBLES! "You know she''d probably go out with you, if you weren''t such a dick," Star'' says as they appear in a part at the eastern edge of Texas. "Then I guess it''s impossible," Horizon shrugs. SHAMBLES! They appear farther east, now in the middle of a highway, with people evacuating toward more rural areas. "She''s gorgeous, I saw her without her mask once, you should ask her out," Star'' says. SHAMBLES! "I don''t have time for romance, there are too many people in the world that need me." "But don''t you want a family sometime?" SHAMBLES! "Eventually, but, I have a lot of lifetimes to figure that out, so no need to rush," Horizon says. "Besides, I can''t start a family in a world this chaotic, right?" "What about that other girl, Uravity?" SHAMBLES! "What about her?" "Didn''t she call youst week, or was it two weeks ago? Maybe she likes you." SHAMBLES! "She was asking me for advice about her boyfriend''s birthday gift," Horizon says. "Not sure why she asked me, I don''t know what losers like." "That''s kind of mean, don''t you think?" SHAMBLES! "I''ve said much worse things to his face, so it''s fine. And why are you so interested in my dating life all of a sudden?" Star'' shrugs. "I''ve just been thinking a lot about¡­if we fail, no. If, we weren''t us, if we were normal people, we''d probably have families to hold as the bombs drop, right?" SHAMBLES! "I''d hope so," Horizon says as they begin walking through the corridors of The Pentagon. "But what are you getting at?" "I don''t even know, I guess I''m just a little jealous," Star'' admits, softly. "If we weren''t us, the world would end, but because we are who we are, we''ve given up that chance at all the things the helpless people experience." "It''s the most efficient way, it lets us save more people," Horizon says, only for Star'' to rest a hand on his shoulder. "What?" Star'' looks at his visor, seeing her own sad and lonely reflection, then lets go. "Sorry, I got distracted, we can talk when this crisis is over," she says as they continue walking toward the meeting. "Yeah, save your love confession for after, we can celebrate then," Horizon says jokingly, and Star'' jabs him in the shoulder, numbing it. "Ah!" "Save it for your fangirls," she chuckles. "I''ve actually met you, so I know better." They make it to the end of the hallway and enter a room with all the highest-ranking military generals and advisors the United States has to offer, sitting around a massive table with President Skyline and the United Nations Secretary-General. "A thousand years of military experience in one room," Horizon says as he and Star'' stand above, leaning on the railing and looking at the meeting taking ce below. "Yeah, and yet, without us, they''re helpless," Star'' says. "So, whenever you''re ready." "You sure you can handle this?" Horizon asks. Star'' gives him a strange look, "Why? What do you n to do?" "Something that is very, very, not heroic," Horizon says. CLAP! Horizon gets everyone''s attention as he hovers over the railing and down to the massive round table, with a map of the world in the middle. "Sorry I''mte everyone, but I was needed elsewhere?" Horizon says as he stands in the middle of the table. "Working on something you can''t tell us about, right?" one of the generals asks. "It''s one thing if we don''t know, but keeping the President in the dark is too much." "Yes well, President Skyline has more people around him and is an extremely high-value target for Tech to monitor, so yes, he is being kept in the dark, just like all of you." "This doesn''t feel like a partnership," one of the other generals says. "That''s because it''s not," Horizon says as he walks over to look down at the woman. "You are the greatest military minds on the, but, we don''t need you to fight a war. The war is over, we lost before we could throw a single punch. This, is the resistance, and like it or not, not all of us will live to see freedom." Star'' narrows her eyes at him. "Which is why you''re all here early, because you''re going to surrender." There is an immediate uproar from the generals while President Skyline and the UN Secretary-General sit silently. "We don''t surrender to terrorists!" One of them yells, silencing all the others."We don''t even negotiate with those animals!" "Well, Tech has nukes over your heads, and I''m here holding a sword to your throat, it''s a lose-lose, unless you listen to me," Horizon says. They all nce over to President Skyline, and he subtly nods, signaling them to be quiet and listen. "The n is very simple, Tech has to organize the entire world into whatever systems he wants us to use. That process will take a few days, which we need for the project we''re working on to be ready. Local and globalmunications have been cut, so just like you can''t call your families, governments can''t talk to each other. Now, in one hour Tech will bring selectmunications back online so he can talk to all the world leaders. Because nobody''s been able to talk to each other, share information, or strategize, America, China, Russia, Japan, and other big nations will be looked at as leaders. America is easily first in the group, so what you say sets the tone for the entire meeting. Now, the part all of you y is that you bend the knee, and all the other nations will follow." "No, they won''t," One of the generals says, an older woman in full militarybat gear. "Exactly what I''m counting on," Horizon says as he walks atop the table to look down at her. "You all know war can''t be won without sacrifice, just like some rebels always die for the movement." "Fucking animal," the UN Secretary-General mutters under her breath. Horizon immediately looks at her and walks over, crouching in front of her so he can get close enough. "Remember what I told you, stick to the script," Horizon says. "You don''t talk unless my hand is up your ass moving your lips like a puppet¡­" The woman looks up at Horizon for a moment, before she averts her gaze and stares down into herp. "This is the part where you nod," Horizon says, and she obeys. "Great," Horizon ps his hands together as he gets back up, walking to the middle of the table. "Now, as I was saying. We can count Moscow, Beijing, London, and the capital of anywhere else that doesn''t get the hint and actually tries to resist the viin with every nuke on the over our heads." "You''re talking about millions!" Star yells from above. "Tens of millions," Horizon corrects her, not looking away. "Butpared to ten billion, worthless." Star and Stripe narrows her eyes at him. "I told you, you should wait outside¡­" Star'' takes a deep breath, then leans against the railing, "No, show me what you really are¡­" END CHAPTER--- Chapter 349: (The Few For The Many) Chapter 349: (The Few For The Many) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- ---London, Wembley Stadium¡­ "Did you have any problems?" a Pro Hero wearing a skin-tight blue costume, carrying arge shipping container asks as he uses his Wind Quirk to keep it and himself in the air. He slowly descends into Webley Stadium, toward the sea of tents on the field and around the stadium. Terrified people rushed to the city as infrastructure all around the country fell apart in an instant. With Tech''s initial takeover, trains, nes, and countless other systems crashed and burned, and now Londer was one of the few major cities in the UK with running water and operational hospitals. "Everything went as good as I could expect," a woman in a matching costume says as she flies over to him, using an identical Quirk. Both heroes take a few steps away as doctors and other emergency personnel rush over to the shipping container to sort through the medicine inside.Seeing this both Pro Heroes rise up, over the stadium to look down at the city below. "And what does that mean exactly?" the man asks. "I got them to Haverhill, I would have taken them to Cambridge but¡­I figured taking them to Dad''s ce was better, more open space¡ª" "Less chance of a nuke falling on it," her brother says. "God, how did it get to this?" The woman uses her wind to turn to him, resting a hand on his shoulder, "Hey, they''ll be fine. They know their dad is here helping people, saving the world, and their awesome aunt is here helping him." Looking out at therge city all around them, with the swarms of people helplessly trudging along or setting up tents now that most of the buildings were filled and barricaded, the man felt helpless. "This is the first time I''ve ever wished we were born with better Quirks," he says. "Well, this Quirk was enough to fly our family away from here, so I''d say it''s more than enough," she says. "Besides, we''ve got a lot of peopleing down from Oxford that I saw on the way back here." "What were you doing over there?" "I took a small detour on the way back," she says. "The situation up there is¡­worse." "Worse than this?" He gestures to the city below, and some of the copsed buildings in the distance that fell during riots hours ago. "Yeah, way worse," she says. "They''re smaller, less stocks, and people are passing through there to either get to bigger cities where there are supplies, or to farnds where they''ll feel safer." "So they got ravaged and are dealing with desperate and scared people now." "Yeah, and if this keeps up¡­" she looks over at her brother. "Controlling the wind can only do so much." "What are you saying?" He asks. "That we should abandon these people and run?" "Not ''We''," she says. "No." "Hey you''ve got a wife and kids, I''ve just got¡­It''s just me. I can stay and help, you should go be with them." "Great idea," he says sarcastically. "I''ll just head up to the farm and tell Dad I left you here to help millions of people along, genius n there." "Yeah," Sheughs bitterly. "He''d kick your ass for doing that." They bothugh before returning to reality, looking down at the people below and the other Pro Heroes soaring through the sky helping where they can. "How much longer do you think it''ll be?" he asks. "I''d like to imagine people a lot more qualified than us are handling it as we speak." "Yeah, and¡ª" the man stops talking as their phones begin beeping. They share a concerned look before noticing everyone below, and the electronic billboards around the city are also online once more. They take out their phones to see a few different gs shing across the screen. And their heart sinks as Ennd''s g is shown for a moment. "Your leaders have decided their paths," a mechanical voice resonates through the city from all the speakers. "Is that, Tech?" "I don''t like this," he tells his sister as they watch the broadcast. "Most of the unruly children of this world have epted the new world order, the guidance I have so kindly offered," Tech says. "But, some of you¡­need the stick, not the carrot. You see my power, my ability to unify this world. To stop all conflicts, all suffering, to mold the world in my image, and you spit in my face." A few gs sh across the screen, and hearts across the world sink as Japan nor the USA are shown. Meaning the two most powerful beings in the world, from the two most technologically advanced nations, did not resist Tech. "And examples must be made," Tech says. "After this, education, another meeting with your world''s leaders will be held. You have 24 hours to prepare for that meeting¡­" The screens go ck for a moment before showing a 24-hour timer counting down. "That can''t be good," the woman says, and secondster the city bes a cacophony of noise and chaos as a satellite view of London appears. "We''re the target, the example," the man says. "What do we do?" As they consider their options, below them, the people and many Pro Heroes rush to flee the city. In the chaos and panic, hundreds of people are trampled and countless scuffles between untrained civilians using their Quirks erupts. But the Pro Heroes make no attempt to intervene, they were too busy running, trying to desperately save their own lives. Above it all, standing atop Wembley Stadium, the Tornado Siblings see this, and consider their options. "25 Million people," the woman says. "Maybe I can divert the nuke somewhere else, like the ocean?" "Those things must weigh 30 Tonnes -30 Tons-, that''s beyond our lifting capabilities, especially if we want to try to carry it to the ocean." "Tch, not to mention the problems of that detonating in the sea, the coasts would be wiped out too," She says. "But, we can''t just run, maybe we can¡­stall it?" The man sighs and rubs the back of his neck, "Together we can make a tornado, assuming we see it from far enough away. We also have to stay far enough away that the automatic systems don''t detonate when we get close." "But Tech will see us, so he can detonate it anyway," she says. "If we don''t run now, we won''t make it out of this¡­" "I know," the man says, bitterly, cursing his own weakness. "I just don''t know how I''ll look them in the face after leaving millions to die, without even trying to help." "Me neither," she says. "So, I guess it''s decided, right?" The man looks at the clock, seeing that fifteen minutes have passed, "Yeah, I guess so." Both Pro Heroes work in perfect unison, as they''ve done since childhood, and soar into the sky. They rush past the London skyline, past the clouds, far above the chaos and panic of the city as they look around at the clear sky. Then, far in the distance, they see an Intercontinental Thermonuclear Missile curving down from orbit directly toward the city. They look at each other and nod, then focus on their Quirk to build a powerful tornado, aiming it to push against the heavy missile that''s being aided by gravity. Theirbined efforts onlysted for fifteen seconds, fighting against the powerful thrusters and barely slowing the missile. But those seconds were all they seemingly needed. 8 km above London, hidden above the clouds, the missile rips through their wind and reaches close enough that a detonation would easily destroy the city below. And thus, a blinding light erupts, causing both Pro Heroes to instinctively look away and shield their faces. But a moment,ter, they''re both still alive. "What?" they both exim at once. Then their eyes widen, seeing hope. Star and Stripe was holding the explosion in her hand, condensed to the size of a basketball as she focused on holding it while falling through the air. Both Pro Heroes rush down toward her and catch her with their wind. "Take me up, as high as possible!" Star and Stripe orders while cradling the sphere of nuclear destruction in her hands. They follow hermands and take her as high as they can, where the air is thin and difficult to control, where it takes all of their focus just to breathe. "This will do," Star and Stripe says as she throws the sphere above, out of the atmosphere and into space. NEW ORDER: I can freely move through the atmosphere! Star and Stripe then regains her ability to fly through the atmosphere, allowing both Pro Heroes to rx for a moment as she looks down at them, with a grateful smile. "That was incredible," the woman says to Star and Stripe. "Thank you so¡ª" Before she can finish speaking, Star and Stripe shatters the sound barrier while flying between them, leaving their ears ringing as she rushes toward the earth below. They both hold their ears for a moment as they look down, to see Star and Stripe racing toward London, while five identical missiles descend onto the city from different angles. "Oh god," the man says as he''s frozen, mortified by inevitable death on such a grand scale. Acting quicker, his sister grabs him and begins flying beyond her top speed north-east, toward their family. The man snaps out of his stupor a momentter and works together with her, using their wind to rip through the sky and flee from the st. And momentster, a blinding light and a cacophony of heartbreaking booms rattle the region. They dear not look back at the mushroom cloud that breaches the heavens which Star and Stripe is somewhere within. ---Minutes Later¡­ "New Order: The ash and dust in the air from this mushroom cloud will form a solid sphere in front of my hand," Star and Strip says from within the epicenter of the st zone. And as she said, the entire mushroom crowd rushes to her and gathers in front of her palm, creating a building-sized ball of ck debris against her palm as she''s standing deep in the crater,pletely naked with bruises and intense burns all across her body. Not wanting to look around at the destruction she couldn''t prevent, she rests her forehead against the sphere as she bawls her eyes out, feeling more helpless than all but one time in her life. "Why! Why! Why! Why!" she screams, stomping on the floor hard enough to shake the multiple-mile-wide crater. "I''m still so useless! I can''t save anyone!" "I''m sorry I couldn''t save you, but¡­nobody listened. They¡ª" Star and Stripe steps away, fists clenched and teeth grinding as she remembers the meeting, where all of this was nned. "Horizon, he sacrificed you. And they, they supported him, they told me to go along with it!" Star and Stripe remembers how much she hated this n, how much her gut told her to stop them, and how for the first time in her life she didn''t listen to her gut. "Never again!" Star and Stripe yells as she rockets into the sky, soaring back to America to have a chat with Horizon¡­ END CHAPTER--- CHAPTER 341(The Few For The Many) CHAPTER 341(The Few For The Many) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- ---London, Wembley Stadium¡­ "Did you have any problems?" a Pro Hero wearing a skin-tight blue costume, carrying arge shipping container asks as he uses his Wind Quirk to keep it and himself in the air. He slowly descends into Webley Stadium, toward the sea of tents on the field and around the stadium. Terrified people rushed to the city as infrastructure all around the country fell apart in an instant. With Tech''s initial takeover, trains, nes, and countless other systems crashed and burned, and now Londer was one of the few major cities in the UK with running water and operational hospitals. "Everything went as good as I could expect," a woman in a matching costume says as she flies over to him, using an identical Quirk. Both heroes take a few steps away as doctors and other emergency personnel rush over to the shipping container to sort through the medicine inside. Seeing this both Pro Heroes rise up, over the stadium to look down at the city below. "And what does that mean exactly?" the man asks. "I got them to Haverhill, I would have taken them to Cambridge but¡­I figured taking them to Dad''s ce was better, more open space¡ª" "Less chance of a nuke falling on it," her brother says. "God, how did it get to this?" The woman uses her wind to turn to him, resting a hand on his shoulder, "Hey, they''ll be fine. They know their dad is here helping people, saving the world, and their awesome aunt is here helping him." Looking out at therge city all around them, with the swarms of people helplessly trudging along or setting up tents now that most of the buildings were filled and barricaded, the man felt helpless. "This is the first time I''ve ever wished we were born with better Quirks," he says. "Well, this Quirk was enough to fly our family away from here, so I''d say it''s more than enough," she says. "Besides, we''ve got a lot of peopleing down from Oxford that I saw on the way back here." "What were you doing over there?" "I took a small detour on the way back," she says. "The situation up there is¡­worse." "Worse than this?" He gestures to the city below, and some of the copsed buildings in the distance that fell during riots hours ago. "Yeah, way worse," she says. "They''re smaller, less stocks, and people are passing through there to either get to bigger cities where there are supplies, or to farnds where they''ll feel safer." "So they got ravaged and are dealing with desperate and scared people now." "Yeah, and if this keeps up¡­" she looks over at her brother. "Controlling the wind can only do so much." "What are you saying?" He asks. "That we should abandon these people and run?" "Not ''We''," she says. "No." "Hey you''ve got a wife and kids, I''ve just got¡­It''s just me. I can stay and help, you should go be with them." "Great idea," he says sarcastically. "I''ll just head up to the farm and tell Dad I left you here to help millions of people along, genius n there." "Yeah," Sheughs bitterly. "He''d kick your ass for doing that." They bothugh before returning to reality, looking down at the people below and the other Pro Heroes soaring through the sky helping where they can. "How much longer do you think it''ll be?" he asks. "I''d like to imagine people a lot more qualified than us are handling it as we speak." "Yeah, and¡ª" the man stops talking as their phones begin beeping. They share a concerned look before noticing everyone below, and the electronic billboards around the city are also online once more. They take out their phones to see a few different gs shing across the screen. And their heart sinks as Ennd''s g is shown for a moment. "Your leaders have decided their paths," a mechanical voice resonates through the city from all the speakers. "Is that, Tech?" "I don''t like this," he tells his sister as they watch the broadcast. "Most of the unruly children of this world have epted the new world order, the guidance I have so kindly offered," Tech says. "But, some of you¡­need the stick, not the carrot. You see my power, my ability to unify this world. To stop all conflicts, all suffering, to mold the world in my image, and you spit in my face." A few gs sh across the screen, and hearts across the world sink as Japan nor the USA are shown. Meaning the two most powerful beings in the world, from the two most technologically advanced nations, did not resist Tech. "And examples must be made," Tech says. "After this, education, another meeting with your world''s leaders will be held. You have 24 hours to prepare for that meeting¡­" The screens go ck for a moment before showing a 24-hour timer counting down. "That can''t be good," the woman says, and secondster the city bes a cacophony of noise and chaos as a satellite view of London appears. "We''re the target, the example," the man says. "What do we do?" As they consider their options, below them, the people and many Pro Heroes rush to flee the city. In the chaos and panic, hundreds of people are trampled and countless scuffles between untrained civilians using their Quirks erupts. But the Pro Heroes make no attempt to intervene, they were too busy running, trying to desperately save their own lives. Above it all, standing atop Wembley Stadium, the Tornado Siblings see this, and consider their options. "25 Million people," the woman says. "Maybe I can divert the nuke somewhere else, like the ocean?" "Those things must weigh 30 Tonnes -30 Tons-, that''s beyond our lifting capabilities, especially if we want to try to carry it to the ocean." "Tch, not to mention the problems of that detonating in the sea, the coasts would be wiped out too," She says. "But, we can''t just run, maybe we can¡­stall it?" The man sighs and rubs the back of his neck, "Together we can make a tornado, assuming we see it from far enough away. We also have to stay far enough away that the automatic systems don''t detonate when we get close." "But Tech will see us, so he can detonate it anyway," she says. "If we don''t run now, we won''t make it out of this¡­" "I know," the man says, bitterly, cursing his own weakness. "I just don''t know how I''ll look them in the face after leaving millions to die, without even trying to help." "Me neither," she says. "So, I guess it''s decided, right?" The man looks at the clock, seeing that fifteen minutes have passed, "Yeah, I guess so." Both Pro Heroes work in perfect unison, as they''ve done since childhood, and soar into the sky. They rush past the London skyline, past the clouds, far above the chaos and panic of the city as they look around at the clear sky. Then, far in the distance, they see an Intercontinental Thermonuclear Missile curving down from orbit directly toward the city. They look at each other and nod, then focus on their Quirk to build a powerful tornado, aiming it to push against the heavy missile that''s being aided by gravity. Theirbined efforts onlysted for fifteen seconds, fighting against the powerful thrusters and barely slowing the missile. But those seconds were all they seemingly needed. 8 km above London, hidden above the clouds, the missile rips through their wind and reaches close enough that a detonation would easily destroy the city below. And thus, a blinding light erupts, causing both Pro Heroes to instinctively look away and shield their faces. But a moment,ter, they''re both still alive. "What?" they both exim at once. Then their eyes widen, seeing hope. Star and Stripe was holding the explosion in her hand, condensed to the size of a basketball as she focused on holding it while falling through the air. Both Pro Heroes rush down toward her and catch her with their wind. "Take me up, as high as possible!" Star and Stripe orders while cradling the sphere of nuclear destruction in her hands. They follow hermands and take her as high as they can, where the air is thin and difficult to control, where it takes all of their focus just to breathe. "This will do," Star and Stripe says as she throws the sphere above, out of the atmosphere and into space. NEW ORDER: I can freely move through the atmosphere! Star and Stripe then regains her ability to fly through the atmosphere, allowing both Pro Heroes to rx for a moment as she looks down at them, with a grateful smile. "That was incredible," the woman says to Star and Stripe. "Thank you so¡ª" Before she can finish speaking, Star and Stripe shatters the sound barrier while flying between them, leaving their ears ringing as she rushes toward the earth below. They both hold their ears for a moment as they look down, to see Star and Stripe racing toward London, while five identical missiles descend onto the city from different angles. "Oh god," the man says as he''s frozen, mortified by inevitable death on such a grand scale. Acting quicker, his sister grabs him and begins flying beyond her top speed north-east, toward their family. The man snaps out of his stupor a momentter and works together with her, using their wind to rip through the sky and flee from the st. And momentster, a blinding light and a cacophony of heartbreaking booms rattle the region. They dear not look back at the mushroom cloud that breaches the heavens which Star and Stripe is somewhere within. ---Minutes Later¡­ "New Order: The ash and dust in the air from this mushroom cloud will form a solid sphere in front of my hand," Star and Strip says from within the epicenter of the st zone. And as she said, the entire mushroom crowd rushes to her and gathers in front of her palm, creating a building-sized ball of ck debris against her palm as she''s standing deep in the crater,pletely naked with bruises and intense burns all across her body. Not wanting to look around at the destruction she couldn''t prevent, she rests her forehead against the sphere as she bawls her eyes out, feeling more helpless than all but one time in her life. "Why! Why! Why! Why!" she screams, stomping on the floor hard enough to shake the multiple-mile-wide crater. "I''m still so useless! I can''t save anyone!" "I''m sorry I couldn''t save you, but¡­nobody listened. They¡ª" Star and Stripe steps away, fists clenched and teeth grinding as she remembers the meeting, where all of this was nned. "Horizon, he sacrificed you. And they, they supported him, they told me to go along with it!" Star and Stripe remembers how much she hated this n, how much her gut told her to stop them, and how for the first time in her life she didn''t listen to her gut. "Never again!" Star and Stripe yells as she rockets into the sky, soaring back to America to have a chat with Horizon¡­ END CHAPTER--- Chapter 350: (Potential Fallout) Discord: .gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "Honestly I was expecting him to hit Beijing," Horizon says as he watches the screen, showing the fallout of an annihted London after having three nukesunched into it. He was sitting in the Pentagon''s war room with the President, Generals, and other advisors, but his feet were up on the table as he wrote something on paper. "I would have just ttened Beijing, Paris, Moscow, and London, all at once," Horizon says. "But I suppose he didn''t want to be too heavy-handed." As he''s speaking rather casually about over 15 million people dying, due to a n he made, to sacrifice those people at that. Everyone else is staring at the screen, horrified, as a small timer at the bottom of the screen counts down to the next meeting. "I¡­I honestly don''t know who''s worse," One of the advisors mutters as he nces between the screen and the seemingly rxed Horizon."I''m worse," Horizon rifies. "And now we also know that our enemy, is better at controlling technology than he is at understanding people. He hit one city while having the entire world held hostage, if anything that will cause silent ns for rebellion. And if the entire world rebels, he''s forced to either drop more bombs, which will onlypound the effect and destroy the world he wants to control, or give in to some demands which would show weakness and alsopound the effect." "You told us he wouldn''t do this," President Skyline says. "You said the intel you had showed that he''d bluff." "I lied," Horizon says. "You''re a former Pro Hero, you''d never sacrifice people to collect information or add hours to the clock." "What the hell is wrong with you?!" President Skyline ms his fist on the table, breaking the surface. "It''s called, cold logic," Horizon says as he continues writing. "Governments often elect retired Pro Heroes, like you because politics is a circus and a poprity contest, not an arena ofpetency, no offense. And because for centuries there has rarely ever been anything as bad as even a small border conflict, the military and government forces are almost entirely focused on internal stability. Because of that, you''re all a bit too¡­nice. And maybe you haven''t noticed, but our enemy is not nice," he points to the screen, causing all of them to frown. "Nobody wants to be the person who potentially pushes his buttons and kicks off the nuclear apocalypse, so everyone is ying it safe with super conservative ns." "Except you," one of the generals says. "Except me," Horizon says. "I have always been, and will always be, held apart from humanity. It makes this type of decision easy. 20 million versus 10 billion, hardly a thought before I shove those 20 million off the table." "Are you really human?" The United Nations Secretary-General asks. "I mean, what did we even gain from this, another day?" "And all the information I need," Horizon says. "Now I know everything I need to know about Tech. He''s ipetent and soft, too much so for their ambition and desires. The Prime Minister spoke up so he destroyed London, to make an example of a city. But the fact that there were discussions in the first ce was a sign of weakness. Never negotiate when you hold all the cards, that proves that we have something he values, which means he has a gap in the armor. If it were me, I''d consider the most rapid and logical option and pursue it ruthlessly. Crater major cities, leave the world confused, let armies and Pro Heroes gear up for a third world war, then crater the military bases everyone uses to prepare. After that, you crush the breadbasket nations and states, use hunger as your messenger to lord your absolute power over the world. Let it break the people for you, and show them that it is only by their will that you allow them to eat, to exist. ?? This would cost, what, half a billion lives? A small cost for holding the entire world in your hand and being the only thing supporting the logistical chains needed to keep billions alive." They all look more and more horrified as he speaks, casually, while still writing his reports. "After that, you re-establish logistical supply chains by smashing them all together, negating the preconceived borders and territories of the past, further solidifying the idea that this is a new world, and untangling the web you''ve made will take decades of bureaucratic nonsense. Aplete takeover that would only take a few months to have the world at your feet groveling for a few grains of rice, and yet, with all that power, he''s so concerned with ruling the current state of the world that he can''t trulymit to burning it all down and restructuring the board." "Because he''s still human," President Skyline mutters, deep in thought. "Which is why he''s weak," Horizon says. "Don''t worry about the few million that died today, I''ll easily save a thousand times that amount with my Panacea, now, I need to get back to work. The next meeting should be fine just stick to this if I can''t make it." With that, he slides some of the papers over to President Skyline before warping away with the others. The moment he leaves they all breathe a sigh of relief, no longer feeling a de to their hearts as President Skyline reads the new n. "He lied to us," one of the generals says. "He lied to us and led us to sacrifice 20 million people, are we seriously going to trust him after that?" Hearing this President Skyline slides one of the pages to the Secretary General, causing the woman to look at it in surprise. "He''s allowing me to speak in the next meeting?" she asks. "You''ll be taking the lead," President Skyline says while reading his own script. "And as for trusting him, unfortunately, we aren''t in a position to stop. 20 million people died ording to his predictions, if we break away from his n now and begin our own, we may have to sacrifice even more." "I can''t do this," the woman says as she reads her script. "He wants me to begin negotiations for logistics by¡­if I divert these resources, I''ll never be able to live with myself." "We can pray for forgiveness together, when all is done," President Skyline says, frowning at his own script. "Besides, it will be over in another day or two so there won''t even be time to get anything into position, just another empty stalling tactic." "Do we still intend to move him to America after he graduates from UA?" one of the advisors asks. "This changes our rtionship with him drastically." "Sadly, his n, as cold and logical as it may be," President Skyline puts down his papers and leans back, closing his eyes. "Has the best n of working, especially since we''re already thismitted. And after this is done, and all the details are revealed, the American people will still want him here, so we won''t have much of a choice unless we want riots." "May god forgive us all¡­" ¡ªMinutes Later¡­ Hovering high above Manhattan Horizon waits patiently above the clouds, sword floating beside him as he waits for the inevitable confrontation to begin. As he stands in the air, Horizon hears a pop in the distance, and senses her rapidly approaching him. Like a missile Star and Stripe rockets over to him andes to a stop directly in front of him, causing the clouds around them to scatter and Horizon to be pushed back by the air for a few dozen meters. "So, I''m guessing you just came from The Pentagon?" Horizon asks, looking at the fuming woman who''s ring at him, a bulging vein on her forehead just showing how pissed off she is. "You lied to us!" she yells while rushing forward, only for him to warp away before her punch can connect. More clouds burst apart from the air pressure of her fist. "Because Heroes are no good at choosing who to sacrifice," Horizon says as he avoids another punch. "Hold still!" "No," he says while warping away to avoid her third hit. "Just listen, and if I''m wrong you can break my jaw after." Star'' moves to punch him again, but this time she stops beforeunching her attack, staring into his visor with tears in her eyes. "You weren''t there, you didn''t see what I saw," she says, sadness in her voice. "I couldn''t save anyone¡­" "I know, and I won''t try to tell you what I did was the right thing to do," Horizon says. "Maybe history will name me a Viin, maybe not, but regardless, the world will be alive to decide that." "You lied," She says. "Because you''re all so¡­heroic. It was the only path I saw going forward, even Nezu and David Shield don''t know what happened, and they won''t until it''s all over," Horizon says. Star and Stripe looks disgusted at that, "There are people in the think tank from that country, their families are gone, and you won''t even tell them?" "They need to focus on their work, and believe that everything they''re doing is to save their family," Horizon says. "Telling them the truth will only distract them, and we need them to be efficient." Star'' floats closer to him, close enough that her chest is almost touching his as she stares into his visor, as if trying to find a drop of humanity behind it. "Be honest with me, are you human?" she asks. "Because this, this is beyond evil, having people work after you sacrificed everything they love for your n, sacrificing 20 million people, and expecting it to be a dozen times that number. All so you can collect information on our enemy¡­that''s¡­I don''t even have words for it." "Because you''re a True Hero, and I''m just someone who always wins," Horizon says. "No matter the cost." "I actually thought you were my friend," Star'' admits, looking away from him. She then sighs and turns away, "Be honest with me, is there any humanity left in you?" "I haven''t considered myself even once this past decade," Horizon admits. "Even before I became¡­this." "Then, what are you?" Horizon thinks about it for a moment, about everything his parents taught him, after everything he''s aplished, and the impossible decisions he''s made. He can onlye to one conclusion. "Better¡­" END CHAPTER--- CHAPTER 342(Potential Fallout) CHAPTER 342(Potential Fallout) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "Honestly I was expecting him to hit Beijing," Horizon says as he watches the screen, showing the fallout of an annihted London after having three nukesunched into it. He was sitting in the Pentagon''s war room with the President, Generals, and other advisors, but his feet were up on the table as he wrote something on paper. "I would have just ttened Beijing, Paris, Moscow, and London, all at once," Horizon says. "But I suppose he didn''t want to be too heavy-handed." As he''s speaking rather casually about over 15 million people dying, due to a n he made, to sacrifice those people at that. Everyone else is staring at the screen, horrified, as a small timer at the bottom of the screen counts down to the next meeting. "I¡­I honestly don''t know who''s worse," One of the advisors mutters as he nces between the screen and the seemingly rxed Horizon. "I''m worse," Horizon rifies. "And now we also know that our enemy, is better at controlling technology than he is at understanding people. He hit one city while having the entire world held hostage, if anything that will cause silent ns for rebellion. And if the entire world rebels, he''s forced to either drop more bombs, which will onlypound the effect and destroy the world he wants to control, or give in to some demands which would show weakness and alsopound the effect." "You told us he wouldn''t do this," President Skyline says. "You said the intel you had showed that he''d bluff." "I lied," Horizon says. "You''re a former Pro Hero, you''d never sacrifice people to collect information or add hours to the clock." "What the hell is wrong with you?!" President Skyline ms his fist on the table, breaking the surface. "It''s called, cold logic," Horizon says as he continues writing. "Governments often elect retired Pro Heroes, like you because politics is a circus and a poprity contest, not an arena ofpetency, no offense. And because for centuries there has rarely ever been anything as bad as even a small border conflict, the military and government forces are almost entirely focused on internal stability. Because of that, you''re all a bit too¡­nice. And maybe you haven''t noticed, but our enemy is not nice," he points to the screen, causing all of them to frown. "Nobody wants to be the person who potentially pushes his buttons and kicks off the nuclear apocalypse, so everyone is ying it safe with super conservative ns." "Except you," one of the generals says. "Except me," Horizon says. "I have always been, and will always be, held apart from humanity. It makes this type of decision easy. 20 million versus 10 billion, hardly a thought before I shove those 20 million off the table." "Are you really human?" The United Nations Secretary-General asks. "I mean, what did we even gain from this, another day?" "And all the information I need," Horizon says. "Now I know everything I need to know about Tech. He''s ipetent and soft, too much so for their ambition and desires. The Prime Minister spoke up so he destroyed London, to make an example of a city. But the fact that there were discussions in the first ce was a sign of weakness. Never negotiate when you hold all the cards, that proves that we have something he values, which means he has a gap in the armor. If it were me, I''d consider the most rapid and logical option and pursue it ruthlessly. Crater major cities, leave the world confused, let armies and Pro Heroes gear up for a third world war, then crater the military bases everyone uses to prepare. After that, you crush the breadbasket nations and states, use hunger as your messenger to lord your absolute power over the world. Let it break the people for you, and show them that it is only by their will that you allow them to eat, to exist. This would cost, what, half a billion lives? A small cost for holding the entire world in your hand and being the only thing supporting the logistical chains needed to keep billions alive." They all look more and more horrified as he speaks, casually, while still writing his reports. "After that, you re-establish logistical supply chains by smashing them all together, negating the preconceived borders and territories of the past, further solidifying the idea that this is a new world, and untangling the web you''ve made will take decades of bureaucratic nonsense. Aplete takeover that would only take a few months to have the world at your feet groveling for a few grains of rice, and yet, with all that power, he''s so concerned with ruling the current state of the world that he can''t trulymit to burning it all down and restructuring the board." "Because he''s still human," President Skyline mutters, deep in thought. "Which is why he''s weak," Horizon says. "Don''t worry about the few million that died today, I''ll easily save a thousand times that amount with my Panacea, now, I need to get back to work. The next meeting should be fine just stick to this if I can''t make it." With that, he slides some of the papers over to President Skyline before warping away with the others. The moment he leaves they all breathe a sigh of relief, no longer feeling a de to their hearts as President Skyline reads the new n. "He lied to us," one of the generals says. "He lied to us and led us to sacrifice 20 million people, are we seriously going to trust him after that?" Hearing this President Skyline slides one of the pages to the Secretary General, causing the woman to look at it in surprise. "He''s allowing me to speak in the next meeting?" she asks. "You''ll be taking the lead," President Skyline says while reading his own script. "And as for trusting him, unfortunately, we aren''t in a position to stop. 20 million people died ording to his predictions, if we break away from his n now and begin our own, we may have to sacrifice even more." "I can''t do this," the woman says as she reads her script. "He wants me to begin negotiations for logistics by¡­if I divert these resources, I''ll never be able to live with myself." "We can pray for forgiveness together, when all is done," President Skyline says, frowning at his own script. "Besides, it will be over in another day or two so there won''t even be time to get anything into position, just another empty stalling tactic." "Do we still intend to move him to America after he graduates from UA?" one of the advisors asks. "This changes our rtionship with him drastically." "Sadly, his n, as cold and logical as it may be," President Skyline puts down his papers and leans back, closing his eyes. "Has the best n of working, especially since we''re already thismitted. And after this is done, and all the details are revealed, the American people will still want him here, so we won''t have much of a choice unless we want riots." "May god forgive us all¡­" ¡ªMinutes Later¡­ Hovering high above Manhattan Horizon waits patiently above the clouds, sword floating beside him as he waits for the inevitable confrontation to begin. As he stands in the air, Horizon hears a pop in the distance, and senses her rapidly approaching him. Like a missile Star and Stripe rockets over to him andes to a stop directly in front of him, causing the clouds around them to scatter and Horizon to be pushed back by the air for a few dozen meters. "So, I''m guessing you just came from The Pentagon?" Horizon asks, looking at the fuming woman who''s ring at him, a bulging vein on her forehead just showing how pissed off she is. "You lied to us!" she yells while rushing forward, only for him to warp away before her punch can connect. More clouds burst apart from the air pressure of her fist. "Because Heroes are no good at choosing who to sacrifice," Horizon says as he avoids another punch. "Hold still!" "No," he says while warping away to avoid her third hit. "Just listen, and if I''m wrong you can break my jaw after." Star'' moves to punch him again, but this time she stops beforeunching her attack, staring into his visor with tears in her eyes. "You weren''t there, you didn''t see what I saw," she says, sadness in her voice. "I couldn''t save anyone¡­" "I know, and I won''t try to tell you what I did was the right thing to do," Horizon says. "Maybe history will name me a Viin, maybe not, but regardless, the world will be alive to decide that." "You lied," She says. "Because you''re all so¡­heroic. It was the only path I saw going forward, even Nezu and David Shield don''t know what happened, and they won''t until it''s all over," Horizon says. Star and Stripe looks disgusted at that, "There are people in the think tank from that country, their families are gone, and you won''t even tell them?" "They need to focus on their work, and believe that everything they''re doing is to save their family," Horizon says. "Telling them the truth will only distract them, and we need them to be efficient." Star'' floats closer to him, close enough that her chest is almost touching his as she stares into his visor, as if trying to find a drop of humanity behind it. "Be honest with me, are you human?" she asks. "Because this, this is beyond evil, having people work after you sacrificed everything they love for your n, sacrificing 20 million people, and expecting it to be a dozen times that number. All so you can collect information on our enemy¡­that''s¡­I don''t even have words for it." "Because you''re a True Hero, and I''m just someone who always wins," Horizon says. "No matter the cost." "I actually thought you were my friend," Star'' admits, looking away from him. She then sighs and turns away, "Be honest with me, is there any humanity left in you?" "I haven''t considered myself even once this past decade," Horizon admits. "Even before I became¡­this." "Then, what are you?" Horizon thinks about it for a moment, about everything his parents taught him, after everything he''s aplished, and the impossible decisions he''s made. He can onlye to one conclusion. "Better¡­" END CHAPTER--- Chapter 351: (Becoming What The World Needs) Discord: .gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- Five days after Tech effectively took over the world, things have begun to settle. Humans have done what they do best, adapt, survive, and move on. The destruction of London 2 days ago still haunts billions of people, but since then no other examples have been made, and in fact, things have gone exactly as Horizon expected. As the person with the most information and mobility, he withheld what he deemed necessary to get everyone into position. Like pieces on a chessboard, and with the sacrifice of 20 million people, he''s ced Tech into a position where they have all the options, all the power, but cannot act because they desire everything, all at once. As Horizon said, Tech wants the world under his thumb, but doesn''t want the world to change.He wants a perfectly preserved world that obeys him, but is not willing to burn it all down and rule the ashes for as long as it would take to rebuild. He is, fundamentally, human, and that, is his weakness. The weakness that Horizon has nned around and exploited to get them into a position to checkmate him. At the cost of earning the ire of many, and surely countlessly more when, or if the full details of their ns ever get revealed. Horizon capitalized on his ability to perform cold logic, set his human emotions aside, close his heart to others, and make the most effective choice possible. But beneath all that, no matter how people think of him, and how hard he tries to show that Horizon is a coldly logical being who only cares about efficiency and can solve any problem with enough time. While even his DNA is evolved and unique, in some regards, he is still human. After five days of no sleep, only working and moving, collecting information, and nning around Tech, Law Matani lies in his bed and stares into the absolute darkness of his room. "Today is the day," Law mutters as his eyes glow bright blue, his Room already active and sensing people doing final preparations within this secret base. Closing his eyes he can even feel some people praying, which almost makes him smile. "If people aren''t working, and are praying, then we''ve really done everything we can," Law says as he warps his phone into his hand. With a few taps, he makes a call, and despite the time difference it instantly connects. All thanks to Nezu''s closedwork and the few phones he shared around. "Hi, is everything ok?" Ryuko asks before he can say anything. "Yeah, I''m just, thinking," Law says as he leaves the phone floating in front of him and closes his eyes. "Oh," he can hear the uncertainty in her voice. "Bad thoughts, or, hopeful thoughts?" "Are you still up in the mountains with your team?" "Yeah, you told me to stay here so, I haven''t left. I saw the broadcasts he did, about London," Ryuko says. "People are a lot more scared, they still believe in you to protect us but, they''re moving either toward Tokyo, toward Horizon Tower, or away from the cities." "Yeah, I figure as much," Law says. "Musutafu is also swarmed right now, UA is doing its best but, too many people¡­" "It''s a lot of pressure huh, how are you holding up?" "I''m Horizon, I''ll be fine," Law says. "But I''ve never had to make decisions this big before." "How big?" "Either soon you hear that we won, or you''ll hear nukes drop across the world," Law says, then takes a moment to imagine it. "Yeah, and either way, a big part of it will be because of me." "Oh, so Horizon has a heart, that''s new," she says jokingly, and she chuckles. "I think I''m buying into Nezu''s propaganda a bit too much," Law admits. "I enjoyed the perks of being a Pro Hero, but, against Immtion, my body just moved when I sensed people were in danger." "So you didn''t intentionally put yourself in danger?" Ryuko asks, with concern in her voice. "That''s bad, what if¡ª" "I know. It''s like All Might and¡­Deku, always say," Law groans. "Seeing people in danger makes your body move on its own, so annoying." "And heroic, but, that scares me," Ryuko says. "I want you here, not a heroic memory." "Yeah, I know, it scares me too. But I guess if you y a part long enough, it bes part of you." "I see¡­should I be worried about you, more than I always worry atleast?" Ryuko asks. "You''ll being back home, right?" "Yeah, I''m not the type to sacrifice myself, you don''t have to worry about that, I''ll live," Law says. "But I can''t speak for¡­everything else." The silence hangs in the air for a minute before Ryuko speaks. "So?" she asks, slightly annoyed. "Huh?" "So what?" she asks, even more annoyed. "If you''re alive, and I''m alive, that will always be enough. Who cares about everything else? When I''m with you, it''s like we''re the only people in the world, so nothing would be any different." Law smiles, "How did you everst as a Pro Hero, if you were always such a selfish woman?" "You''d be amazed what a person can do to please their family and friends." "Yeah, I probably would be, since I''ve never really done that," Law says. "Even my parents didn''t want me to be what I am now¡­maybe I should have just walked away." "Then the world would really have no chance, unless you think the Pro Heroes of the world can handle this disaster without you." Law chuckles, "Now you''re being silly, they care too much, they''d be lost trying to save everyone and making no progress, without me. London would be here, but, then we''d have to live under Tech forever." Ryukoughs, and then the line falls silent for a moment. "I should probably get to work, wish me luck." "You''re Horizon, winning is what you do, you don''t need any luck," Ryuko says. "You fell for my propaganda too? I thought you were better than that." "Nah, if anything I know the truth about what you are, and that''s why I''m still here." "Yeah, I''m catnip, and you''re, a Wild Wild Pussycat." Ryuko groans at the terrible joke, and he can imagine her rolling her eyes at him. "Horizon, you know, I don''t think I''ve ever said it, but¡ª" "Save it for when you see me again," Law says. "Now I''ve got to get out of bed, when this is over, you''ll know how it went." "Right, of course, I''ll be waiting," she says. "Good luck." "Don''t need it, remember? Because I''m Horizon," he says before ending the call. ---Minutes Later¡­ Horizon is standing around arge table with an as projected on the surface of it. Also around the table are Star and Stripe, Principal Nezu, David Shield, President Skyline, and a few military advisors. Spread out across the map are zones of red, green, and yellow, along with purple locations marked with numbers based on transmission speeds. "This is a lot of ground to cover," President Skyline says. "Which is why I''ve spent thest few days narrowing it down," Horizon says as he points to the purple markers. "Those are the data nexus points around the world, basically where all the inte is connected the best, ranked by upload speed." Nezu speaks up, "I managed to map this data transmission speed during thest few calls, Tech is bouncing his data through the entirework all at once, but he has to be using one of these as the main source." "But we already checked those," Star'' says. "They were unbothered." "And we can''t support a fight in most of those ces," One of the generals says. "We can give you close air support around our borders but, the farther out you go the weaker our power projection is, we can''t do jackshit with limitedmunications." "Which is why I''ve been thinking about our attack strategy so much," Horizon says as he points at the green zones, most of which were over the oceans. "This is where we''d be hardest to detect, all the stealth tech in the world can only do so much when the enemy is looking through every military satellite in the world." "Every data nexus is in the red zones," President Skyline says. "And he''s increased his surveince on them, so they are a weak point that he''s aware of," Horizon says. "The yellow is just the in-between, but those might as well be red with how much we''re risking on this n." "If we dy a few more days I can quietly move people into position to a few of these ces," one of the generals says. "But, the ones in Russia and China will be¡­difficult. And those are likely essential to this entirework." "If we believe that he''s connected conventionally," Horizon says. "What are you getting at?" Nezu asks. "Well, Tech was able to do all of this, and is a Technopath, with things that make him infinitely more dangerous," Horizon says. "Between all the technology he stole, and the power generator he got, he doesn''t need any known infrastructure." "So he''s off the grid?" Star'' asks. "That makes him even harder to find." "Impossible to find," Horizon says. "Unless you remember, that he''s just a human." With that he ces his hands on the table and does a few quick motions, removing everything and leaving only the basic as, then pulling up a grid along with regional borders. "This, is how we find him," Horizon says. "He thinks himself a god, or more urately, he thinks himself what humans believe a god to be. He wants the world in his hand but doesn''t want to crush it to make it his, he''s held apart from everyone, so¡­here." Horizon focuses on a piece of the ocean just south of Hawaii, then adds the data grid to the map, showing that it''s one of the thousands of spots where all the data streams are close but never touch. "But there isn''t any strategic value there," Star'' says. "It would be better to spread our forces like a to find him," Preside Skyline says. "I spent four days thinking about this, and I''m sure this is the ce," Horizon says. "The first two days the connection was more solid the closer we got to California, from New York, and Nezu detected it stronger in Tokyo than Seoul. Now that it''s more stable it''s evenly spread across the world, but, thatpse he made when estimating how difficult connecting everything would be, that was enough." "Ok," President Skyline crosses his arms and sighs. "So you want us to bet everything on your hunch that he''ll be here, and if we''re wrong and he detects us then bombs start dropping¡­instead of just waiting maybe a week and getting more intel from all the other possible points." "We don''t have a week," Horizon says. "Tech is growing impatient, realizing that managing the world is more than any one person can handle. His nature is to micro-manage everything but that can''t be done on this scale. I say we''ve got two days until he goes cold and starts molding the world with more aggressive means." "This is still a big gamble," President Skyline says. "We don''t even know what we''ll find there, and we can''t send anyone, because if you''re right he''ll know we''re onto him." "And as soon as weunch the attack we''ve got less than," Horizon gestures to Nezu. "Three hours, at best," Nezu says. "Right, three hours of Tech being blocked from the nukes to take him down," Horizon says. "This is insane," President Skyline says. "Do you atleast have an idea of what we''ll find there?" "A giant robot," Horizon says. And everyone looks at him as if he''s crazy. "No, I''m serious," Horizon says. "He hit the most advanced robots and dronebs short of UA, has an effectively infinite energy source, and is a technopath, there will be an army of drones, and maybe a big one." "UA has them, so I can''t imagine he wouldn''t," Nezu says. "Once you and Star and Stripe can keep me safe to use the device, it shouldn''t matter." "Yeah, so let''s make the final preparations," Horizon says. "We''ve got a world to save¡­" END CHAPTER--- CHAPTER 343(Becoming What The World Needs) CHAPTER 343(Bing What The World Needs) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- Five days after Tech effectively took over the world, things have begun to settle. Humans have done what they do best, adapt, survive, and move on. The destruction of London 2 days ago still haunts billions of people, but since then no other examples have been made, and in fact, things have gone exactly as Horizon expected. As the person with the most information and mobility, he withheld what he deemed necessary to get everyone into position. Like pieces on a chessboard, and with the sacrifice of 20 million people, he''s ced Tech into a position where they have all the options, all the power, but cannot act because they desire everything, all at once. As Horizon said, Tech wants the world under his thumb, but doesn''t want the world to change. He wants a perfectly preserved world that obeys him, but is not willing to burn it all down and rule the ashes for as long as it would take to rebuild. He is, fundamentally, human, and that, is his weakness. The weakness that Horizon has nned around and exploited to get them into a position to checkmate him. At the cost of earning the ire of many, and surely countlessly more when, or if the full details of their ns ever get revealed. Horizon capitalized on his ability to perform cold logic, set his human emotions aside, close his heart to others, and make the most effective choice possible. But beneath all that, no matter how people think of him, and how hard he tries to show that Horizon is a coldly logical being who only cares about efficiency and can solve any problem with enough time. While even his DNA is evolved and unique, in some regards, he is still human. After five days of no sleep, only working and moving, collecting information, and nning around Tech, Law Matani lies in his bed and stares into the absolute darkness of his room. "Today is the day," Law mutters as his eyes glow bright blue, his Room already active and sensing people doing final preparations within this secret base. Closing his eyes he can even feel some people praying, which almost makes him smile. "If people aren''t working, and are praying, then we''ve really done everything we can," Law says as he warps his phone into his hand. With a few taps, he makes a call, and despite the time difference it instantly connects. All thanks to Nezu''s closedwork and the few phones he shared around. "Hi, is everything ok?" Ryuko asks before he can say anything. "Yeah, I''m just, thinking," Law says as he leaves the phone floating in front of him and closes his eyes. "Oh," he can hear the uncertainty in her voice. "Bad thoughts, or, hopeful thoughts?" "Are you still up in the mountains with your team?" "Yeah, you told me to stay here so, I haven''t left. I saw the broadcasts he did, about London," Ryuko says. "People are a lot more scared, they still believe in you to protect us but, they''re moving either toward Tokyo, toward Horizon Tower, or away from the cities." "Yeah, I figure as much," Law says. "Musutafu is also swarmed right now, UA is doing its best but, too many people¡­" "It''s a lot of pressure huh, how are you holding up?" "I''m Horizon, I''ll be fine," Law says. "But I''ve never had to make decisions this big before." "How big?" "Either soon you hear that we won, or you''ll hear nukes drop across the world," Law says, then takes a moment to imagine it. "Yeah, and either way, a big part of it will be because of me." "Oh, so Horizon has a heart, that''s new," she says jokingly, and she chuckles. "I think I''m buying into Nezu''s propaganda a bit too much," Law admits. "I enjoyed the perks of being a Pro Hero, but, against Immtion, my body just moved when I sensed people were in danger." "So you didn''t intentionally put yourself in danger?" Ryuko asks, with concern in her voice. "That''s bad, what if¡ª" "I know. It''s like All Might and¡­Deku, always say," Law groans. "Seeing people in danger makes your body move on its own, so annoying." "And heroic, but, that scares me," Ryuko says. "I want you here, not a heroic memory." "Yeah, I know, it scares me too. But I guess if you y a part long enough, it bes part of you." "I see¡­should I be worried about you, more than I always worry atleast?" Ryuko asks. "You''ll being back home, right?" "Yeah, I''m not the type to sacrifice myself, you don''t have to worry about that, I''ll live," Law says. "But I can''t speak for¡­everything else." The silence hangs in the air for a minute before Ryuko speaks. "So?" she asks, slightly annoyed. "Huh?" "So what?" she asks, even more annoyed. "If you''re alive, and I''m alive, that will always be enough. Who cares about everything else? When I''m with you, it''s like we''re the only people in the world, so nothing would be any different." Law smiles, "How did you everst as a Pro Hero, if you were always such a selfish woman?" "You''d be amazed what a person can do to please their family and friends." "Yeah, I probably would be, since I''ve never really done that," Law says. "Even my parents didn''t want me to be what I am now¡­maybe I should have just walked away." "Then the world would really have no chance, unless you think the Pro Heroes of the world can handle this disaster without you." Law chuckles, "Now you''re being silly, they care too much, they''d be lost trying to save everyone and making no progress, without me. London would be here, but, then we''d have to live under Tech forever." Ryukoughs, and then the line falls silent for a moment. "I should probably get to work, wish me luck." "You''re Horizon, winning is what you do, you don''t need any luck," Ryuko says. "You fell for my propaganda too? I thought you were better than that." "Nah, if anything I know the truth about what you are, and that''s why I''m still here." "Yeah, I''m catnip, and you''re, a Wild Wild Pussycat." Ryuko groans at the terrible joke, and he can imagine her rolling her eyes at him. "Horizon, you know, I don''t think I''ve ever said it, but¡ª" "Save it for when you see me again," Law says. "Now I''ve got to get out of bed, when this is over, you''ll know how it went." "Right, of course, I''ll be waiting," she says. "Good luck." "Don''t need it, remember? Because I''m Horizon," he says before ending the call. ---Minutes Later¡­ Horizon is standing around arge table with an as projected on the surface of it. Also around the table are Star and Stripe, Principal Nezu, David Shield, President Skyline, and a few military advisors. Spread out across the map are zones of red, green, and yellow, along with purple locations marked with numbers based on transmission speeds. "This is a lot of ground to cover," President Skyline says. "Which is why I''ve spent thest few days narrowing it down," Horizon says as he points to the purple markers. "Those are the data nexus points around the world, basically where all the inte is connected the best, ranked by upload speed." Nezu speaks up, "I managed to map this data transmission speed during thest few calls, Tech is bouncing his data through the entirework all at once, but he has to be using one of these as the main source." "But we already checked those," Star'' says. "They were unbothered." "And we can''t support a fight in most of those ces," One of the generals says. "We can give you close air support around our borders but, the farther out you go the weaker our power projection is, we can''t do jackshit with limitedmunications." "Which is why I''ve been thinking about our attack strategy so much," Horizon says as he points at the green zones, most of which were over the oceans. "This is where we''d be hardest to detect, all the stealth tech in the world can only do so much when the enemy is looking through every military satellite in the world." "Every data nexus is in the red zones," President Skyline says. "And he''s increased his surveince on them, so they are a weak point that he''s aware of," Horizon says. "The yellow is just the in-between, but those might as well be red with how much we''re risking on this n." "If we dy a few more days I can quietly move people into position to a few of these ces," one of the generals says. "But, the ones in Russia and China will be¡­difficult. And those are likely essential to this entirework." "If we believe that he''s connected conventionally," Horizon says. "What are you getting at?" Nezu asks. "Well, Tech was able to do all of this, and is a Technopath, with things that make him infinitely more dangerous," Horizon says. "Between all the technology he stole, and the power generator he got, he doesn''t need any known infrastructure." "So he''s off the grid?" Star'' asks. "That makes him even harder to find." "Impossible to find," Horizon says. "Unless you remember, that he''s just a human." With that he ces his hands on the table and does a few quick motions, removing everything and leaving only the basic as, then pulling up a grid along with regional borders. "This, is how we find him," Horizon says. "He thinks himself a god, or more urately, he thinks himself what humans believe a god to be. He wants the world in his hand but doesn''t want to crush it to make it his, he''s held apart from everyone, so¡­here." Horizon focuses on a piece of the ocean just south of Hawaii, then adds the data grid to the map, showing that it''s one of the thousands of spots where all the data streams are close but never touch. "But there isn''t any strategic value there," Star'' says. "It would be better to spread our forces like a to find him," Preside Skyline says. "I spent four days thinking about this, and I''m sure this is the ce," Horizon says. "The first two days the connection was more solid the closer we got to California, from New York, and Nezu detected it stronger in Tokyo than Seoul. Now that it''s more stable it''s evenly spread across the world, but, thatpse he made when estimating how difficult connecting everything would be, that was enough." "Ok," President Skyline crosses his arms and sighs. "So you want us to bet everything on your hunch that he''ll be here, and if we''re wrong and he detects us then bombs start dropping¡­instead of just waiting maybe a week and getting more intel from all the other possible points." "We don''t have a week," Horizon says. "Tech is growing impatient, realizing that managing the world is more than any one person can handle. His nature is to micro-manage everything but that can''t be done on this scale. I say we''ve got two days until he goes cold and starts molding the world with more aggressive means." "This is still a big gamble," President Skyline says. "We don''t even know what we''ll find there, and we can''t send anyone, because if you''re right he''ll know we''re onto him." "And as soon as weunch the attack we''ve got less than," Horizon gestures to Nezu. "Three hours, at best," Nezu says. "Right, three hours of Tech being blocked from the nukes to take him down," Horizon says. "This is insane," President Skyline says. "Do you atleast have an idea of what we''ll find there?" "A giant robot," Horizon says. And everyone looks at him as if he''s crazy. "No, I''m serious," Horizon says. "He hit the most advanced robots and dronebs short of UA, has an effectively infinite energy source, and is a technopath, there will be an army of drones, and maybe a big one." "UA has them, so I can''t imagine he wouldn''t," Nezu says. "Once you and Star and Stripe can keep me safe to use the device, it shouldn''t matter." "Yeah, so let''s make the final preparations," Horizon says. "We''ve got a world to save¡­" END CHAPTER--- Chapter 352: (Siege Against Tech) Discord: .gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- SHAMBLES! Horizon warps into a massive underground hangar where a modified next-gen stealth bomber is undergoing its final tests. The entire hangar was the size of a football field, entirely isted from the rest of the world, and built to the specifications of David Shield, who is currently overseeing the entire project. Horizon carefully weaves through the engineers, not wanting to disrupt their work, and makes his way over to the elevated tform where David Shield and Power Loader are discussing the project with Nezu. "Is everything ready?" Horizon asks, causing the three men to turn toward him. "Everything is perfect," David Shield says. "Although I wish we had more space in here, testing the engines wasn''t usible in this underground bunker so let''s hope they operate as expected.""They''ll be great," Power Loader says. "My concern is still the power generators." "What about them?" Horizon asks. "We weren''t able to fit the backups onto the ne, so we''ve got the equivalent of 25 supeputers and just barely enough power to max them out," Power Loader says. "Anything extra, and you''ll have to step in." Horizon turns to David Shield, who nods, "We''ve arranged for your area in the ne to channel your Counter Shock into the systems safely, you can release quite a bit of energy without frying anything, but don''t go all out." "I guess that makes sense," Horizon says. "Don''t need a few nuclear reactors when you have me. Any other concerns?" "You''ll need this," David Shield hands him a stack of papers. "These are the essentialponents, and while normally we''d just hope for the best during takeoff, since instead of a runway you''re warping this ne into the sky when the engines start, you need to make sure all of these are in ce and secure after the first warp." "I''ll start reading it immediately," Horizon says. "And how is Agpar, is he ready for this?" "He''s¡­excited," Nezu says. "Having his legs back and now getting to fly the most advanced ne ever, fate of the world or not, he''s looking forward to this mission." "And you''re sure he doesn''t need an actual co-pilot?" Horizon asks Nezu. "I know we had to rip out most of the cockpit but, these things usually have a co-pilot for a reason." "This is less of a fighter or bomber and more of a flyingputer, having more space for your administrator to work is more important than a co-pilot," Nezu says. "Plus we automated as much as we could, everything should be fine." "I still don''t like you being on the ne with us," Horizon says. "Connecting from here to the ne and then to Tech would leave us with an additional level of vulnerability, having me on the ne is much better." "And more dangerous." "I''ll have the two most powerful Pro Heroes in the world protecting me, we''ll be fine," Nezu says. Horizon nods, "Alright, I''ll go study this, do whatever final checks you want, we''ve got less than one hour beforeunch." SHAMBLES! He warps into a private meeting room and begins reading the technical documents while calling President Skyline. "Horizon, I''m in my bunker and connected to the viewing systems, how are things on your end?" the man asks. "What do you n to bring up when Tech hosts the next meeting?" Horizon asks. "Some logistical problems between us and some countries in Europe havee up, I figure that should eat up a half hour or so, and that''s just us. Our sources say South America is falling apart much faster, viins are rising up quickly." "Every country without a Mystery ss is having that problem," Horizon says. "We haven''t been able to give anyone some hope since this entire project is meant to be a secret, but we''ll deal with those losses when the world is safe from Tech." "I see, and, how are things on your end?" "Perfect," Horizon says. "We''ll fly toward the first red zone over California, when we hit it we begin isting his connection to the nukes. This will all happen during the call so you''ll have a very pissed-off Tech to deal with." "And I''ll be the prime suspect," President Skyline says. "Between you, Russia, or China," Horizon says. "Japan too, maybe, because I''m from there. But you''re the only world leader who knows about this, so you''ll be the only one acting, make it convincing." "I will, I''ll stall as long as I can." "We don''t need it to be long, he''ll backtrace the signal and find the ne within a few minutes. We can''t iste the nukes and hide at the same time after all," Horizon says. "And remember, if he doesn''t cut the connection, the entire world is watching, so give them some hope." "That, I can certainly do," Horizon can almost hear President Skyline''s smile through the phone. "Right, but keep the details vague," Horizon says. "He''ll expect Star'' in the ne, but I might be a surprise, hopefully. He should think I''m in Japan with how many people are flocking to Horizon Tower because they think I''m inside." "Understood, and when this is over?" "My visor and many other cameras are recording everything. We can share it with the worldter, but for now, let''s focus on saving them." President Skyline sighs, "The fate of the world in the hands of a 17-year-old kid¡­this really feels shitty for us adults you know." "Well, most people just view me as ''Horizon'', so try that instead," Horizon says. "You really can''t me yourself. I''m the only one with the information and range to make the quick choices, Tech took years nning this to make all of you as ineffective as possible, the only thing he couldn''t n for is Hand Of God." "No, your Quirk isn''t what made this possible, it''s because you''re Horizon," President Skyline says. "Now I need to go finalize my stalling points, I''ll be waiting." "And remember, a message of hope," Horizon says as he hangs up. ---Minutes Later¡­ Sitting in one of therge chambers, all the engineers and scientists have gathered before a stage where Nezu and Star and Stripe are addressing them, alongside them are David Shield and Power Loader. Most of the people responsible for this think tank, however, many of them notice Horizon behind them one floor above, leaning on the railing as he reads thest few pages of the booklet David Shield gave him earlier. Nezu gives them his thanks and makes his grand speech, but Horizon tunes it all out, even as Nezu unveils the screens connected to the camera in his Visor, Star''s Hero Costume, and on the ne. Keeping everyone here informed of what happens during the mission and allowing Power Loader and David Shield to help in whatever ways they can from this base. Horizon closes his booklet and shuts his eyes, focusing his thoughts, and pushing everything that''s not mission-critical aside. Combing over every detail he can many times until they be second nature. "Horizon?" Genesis asks, and Horizon is clearly startled as he looks beside him, seeing her leaning on the railing and looking up at him. Her visor was off, but she wore the rest of her Hero Costume. She had bags under her eyes, hollow cheeks, and sunken eyes, along with loose skin from overusing her Quirk during this project. And now she had a nket around her as she''s been ordered to rest and recover. "You shouldn''t be out of bed, your mind needs to rest," Horizon says. "That''s kind of impossible to do with all of this happening today," she says. "Besides, if my mind feels like this I can''t imagine what yours is like right now." "I''m fine," he says. "Right, and I''m sure that''s why you were so in your own head that I managed to sneak up on you, right?" "This is as good as we''ll get," Horizon says. "This is the best chance, Momo." "I know, you wouldn''t bet on anything less," she says. "I just wish I could have done more to help you." "You nearly died from overusing your Quirk, I''d say you''ve done more than enough." "Still, this is a lot for any one person to handle, even for ''Horizon'', right?" A tense silence falls between them before he turns to her, gently touching her shoulder, and she leans into his touch. "Do you want me to Teleport you back to UA?" Horizon asks. "What?" "It''s just that, if my parents were here, and I thought the world was ending, I''d want to spend all the time I could with them." "I do," Genesis says. "I miss my mom, and my dad should be there by now. But using your Awakening, using that ability from it, it takes so much out of you. So I''d rather you go into this mission with everything you''ve got avable." "You know, you''re so sweet it''s a bit annoying," Horizon says. "It''s a wonder we ever got¡­you know." "Competence is sexy," Genesis says. "Especially when you''re a Pro Hero, that hasn''t changed. And who knows, with the way you''ve been acting, it may be more than that soon." Horizon chuckles, "Right, we''ll let''s save any celebrating for if we see tomorrow. But you''ll probably be disappointed with what''s under this visor now¡­" "Oh, right," she reaches up and touches his visor. "I can''t imagine what it''s like, to go from flesh and blood to living energy¡­but you know, looking back at, you know, I''m d it was with you." "Thank you." "Yeah, and tomorrow, I''m sure anyone who doubted you, all the people like me, they''ll know better too." "Well aren''t you hopeful," Horizon says, jokingly. She smiles and pats his chest, "Why would I be anything less? After all, the world can''t end. Because you are here¡­" END CHAPTER--- CHAPTER 344(Siege Against Tech) CHAPTER 344(Siege Against Tech) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- SHAMBLES! Horizon warps into a massive underground hangar where a modified next-gen stealth bomber is undergoing its final tests. The entire hangar was the size of a football field, entirely isted from the rest of the world, and built to the specifications of David Shield, who is currently overseeing the entire project. Horizon carefully weaves through the engineers, not wanting to disrupt their work, and makes his way over to the elevated tform where David Shield and Power Loader are discussing the project with Nezu. "Is everything ready?" Horizon asks, causing the three men to turn toward him. "Everything is perfect," David Shield says. "Although I wish we had more space in here, testing the engines wasn''t usible in this underground bunker so let''s hope they operate as expected." "They''ll be great," Power Loader says. "My concern is still the power generators." "What about them?" Horizon asks. "We weren''t able to fit the backups onto the ne, so we''ve got the equivalent of 25 supeputers and just barely enough power to max them out," Power Loader says. "Anything extra, and you''ll have to step in." Horizon turns to David Shield, who nods, "We''ve arranged for your area in the ne to channel your Counter Shock into the systems safely, you can release quite a bit of energy without frying anything, but don''t go all out." "I guess that makes sense," Horizon says. "Don''t need a few nuclear reactors when you have me. Any other concerns?" "You''ll need this," David Shield hands him a stack of papers. "These are the essentialponents, and while normally we''d just hope for the best during takeoff, since instead of a runway you''re warping this ne into the sky when the engines start, you need to make sure all of these are in ce and secure after the first warp." "I''ll start reading it immediately," Horizon says. "And how is Agpar, is he ready for this?" "He''s¡­excited," Nezu says. "Having his legs back and now getting to fly the most advanced ne ever, fate of the world or not, he''s looking forward to this mission." "And you''re sure he doesn''t need an actual co-pilot?" Horizon asks Nezu. "I know we had to rip out most of the cockpit but, these things usually have a co-pilot for a reason." "This is less of a fighter or bomber and more of a flyingputer, having more space for your administrator to work is more important than a co-pilot," Nezu says. "Plus we automated as much as we could, everything should be fine." "I still don''t like you being on the ne with us," Horizon says. "Connecting from here to the ne and then to Tech would leave us with an additional level of vulnerability, having me on the ne is much better." "And more dangerous." "I''ll have the two most powerful Pro Heroes in the world protecting me, we''ll be fine," Nezu says. Horizon nods, "Alright, I''ll go study this, do whatever final checks you want, we''ve got less than one hour beforeunch." SHAMBLES! He warps into a private meeting room and begins reading the technical documents while calling President Skyline. "Horizon, I''m in my bunker and connected to the viewing systems, how are things on your end?" the man asks. "What do you n to bring up when Tech hosts the next meeting?" Horizon asks. "Some logistical problems between us and some countries in Europe havee up, I figure that should eat up a half hour or so, and that''s just us. Our sources say South America is falling apart much faster, viins are rising up quickly." "Every country without a Mystery ss is having that problem," Horizon says. "We haven''t been able to give anyone some hope since this entire project is meant to be a secret, but we''ll deal with those losses when the world is safe from Tech." "I see, and, how are things on your end?" "Perfect," Horizon says. "We''ll fly toward the first red zone over California, when we hit it we begin isting his connection to the nukes. This will all happen during the call so you''ll have a very pissed-off Tech to deal with." "And I''ll be the prime suspect," President Skyline says. "Between you, Russia, or China," Horizon says. "Japan too, maybe, because I''m from there. But you''re the only world leader who knows about this, so you''ll be the only one acting, make it convincing." "I will, I''ll stall as long as I can." "We don''t need it to be long, he''ll backtrace the signal and find the ne within a few minutes. We can''t iste the nukes and hide at the same time after all," Horizon says. "And remember, if he doesn''t cut the connection, the entire world is watching, so give them some hope." "That, I can certainly do," Horizon can almost hear President Skyline''s smile through the phone. "Right, but keep the details vague," Horizon says. "He''ll expect Star'' in the ne, but I might be a surprise, hopefully. He should think I''m in Japan with how many people are flocking to Horizon Tower because they think I''m inside." "Understood, and when this is over?" "My visor and many other cameras are recording everything. We can share it with the worldter, but for now, let''s focus on saving them." President Skyline sighs, "The fate of the world in the hands of a 17-year-old kid¡­this really feels shitty for us adults you know." "Well, most people just view me as ''Horizon'', so try that instead," Horizon says. "You really can''t me yourself. I''m the only one with the information and range to make the quick choices, Tech took years nning this to make all of you as ineffective as possible, the only thing he couldn''t n for is Hand Of God." "No, your Quirk isn''t what made this possible, it''s because you''re Horizon," President Skyline says. "Now I need to go finalize my stalling points, I''ll be waiting." "And remember, a message of hope," Horizon says as he hangs up. ---Minutes Later¡­ Sitting in one of therge chambers, all the engineers and scientists have gathered before a stage where Nezu and Star and Stripe are addressing them, alongside them are David Shield and Power Loader. Most of the people responsible for this think tank, however, many of them notice Horizon behind them one floor above, leaning on the railing as he reads thest few pages of the booklet David Shield gave him earlier. Nezu gives them his thanks and makes his grand speech, but Horizon tunes it all out, even as Nezu unveils the screens connected to the camera in his Visor, Star''s Hero Costume, and on the ne. Keeping everyone here informed of what happens during the mission and allowing Power Loader and David Shield to help in whatever ways they can from this base. Horizon closes his booklet and shuts his eyes, focusing his thoughts, and pushing everything that''s not mission-critical aside. Combing over every detail he can many times until they be second nature. "Horizon?" Genesis asks, and Horizon is clearly startled as he looks beside him, seeing her leaning on the railing and looking up at him. Her visor was off, but she wore the rest of her Hero Costume. She had bags under her eyes, hollow cheeks, and sunken eyes, along with loose skin from overusing her Quirk during this project. And now she had a nket around her as she''s been ordered to rest and recover. "You shouldn''t be out of bed, your mind needs to rest," Horizon says. "That''s kind of impossible to do with all of this happening today," she says. "Besides, if my mind feels like this I can''t imagine what yours is like right now." "I''m fine," he says. "Right, and I''m sure that''s why you were so in your own head that I managed to sneak up on you, right?" "This is as good as we''ll get," Horizon says. "This is the best chance, Momo." "I know, you wouldn''t bet on anything less," she says. "I just wish I could have done more to help you." "You nearly died from overusing your Quirk, I''d say you''ve done more than enough." "Still, this is a lot for any one person to handle, even for ''Horizon'', right?" A tense silence falls between them before he turns to her, gently touching her shoulder, and she leans into his touch. "Do you want me to Teleport you back to UA?" Horizon asks. "What?" "It''s just that, if my parents were here, and I thought the world was ending, I''d want to spend all the time I could with them." "I do," Genesis says. "I miss my mom, and my dad should be there by now. But using your Awakening, using that ability from it, it takes so much out of you. So I''d rather you go into this mission with everything you''ve got avable." "You know, you''re so sweet it''s a bit annoying," Horizon says. "It''s a wonder we ever got¡­you know." "Competence is sexy," Genesis says. "Especially when you''re a Pro Hero, that hasn''t changed. And who knows, with the way you''ve been acting, it may be more than that soon." Horizon chuckles, "Right, we''ll let''s save any celebrating for if we see tomorrow. But you''ll probably be disappointed with what''s under this visor now¡­" "Oh, right," she reaches up and touches his visor. "I can''t imagine what it''s like, to go from flesh and blood to living energy¡­but you know, looking back at, you know, I''m d it was with you." "Thank you." "Yeah, and tomorrow, I''m sure anyone who doubted you, all the people like me, they''ll know better too." "Well aren''t you hopeful," Horizon says, jokingly. She smiles and pats his chest, "Why would I be anything less? After all, the world can''t end. Because you are here¡­" END CHAPTER--- Chapter 353: (Siege Against Tech Pt.2) Discord: .gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "Well, this is¡­snug," Horizon says as he climbs into his seat in the ne. All around him were data panels, and his chair was noticeably ufortable, all to make room for therge coils around him. They were designed to conduct massive amounts of power without frying the systems. His seat was toward the middle of the ne, to act as a backup generator if needed. At the front Nezu and Agpar were in the cockpit, the heavily modified cockpit which had much of what would have been the weapons bay behind and under it hollowed out to make Nezu''smand centre. "Are we ready?" Horizon asks as Agpar and Nezu do the final checks."The meeting has begun, so let''s get moving," Agpar says. Horizon closes his eyes, feeling everyponent of the ne, all the technology he doesn''t understand but now has to move in perfect sync. He then opens his eyes and looks down, seeing a special screen containing ck iron sand for him to use via Takt. "Alright, Shambles," Horizon says. In the connected room, everyone who worked on this project is seated in a massive area, with David Shield and Power Loader controlling the terminal at the front. The screens above show what the ne sees, and their feeds suddenly swapped for that of the sky and middle America below it. "Everything appears fine, we''re good," David Shield says as he wipes his brow. "We''ve got lift and engines are operating as expected, now let''s go hunt this viin," Agpar says as they begin the flight west. As the massive jet-ck aircraft soars above the clouds at 35 thousand feet above ocean level, Starnds on top of it, standing proudly with a wide smile on her face. "Your Quirk really is incredible," she says. "All I did was move it, building it took a million times the effort," Horizon says as he taps a few of the screens around him, getting a visual of the outside world. "How long until we''re in the marked area?" he asks. "With these drafts, and with Star''s help, we can get there within two hours," Agpar says. Hearing that Star and Stripe kneels atop the aircraft, disabling her flight Order and activating her maic boots to maintain her footing. NEW ORDER: This Aircraft''s weight shall be reduced by 70%! They all immediately get pushed back into their seats as they rocket off toward the west coast. "What a ridiculous Quirk," Horizon mutters as he prepares for the battle ahead. A few minutester they get a call, and Nezu connects them. "I stalled as much as I could," President Skyline says. "But Tech acted exactly as you predicted, he''ll be expecting an assault of some kind, either physical or virtual. And he will wipe out whoever is responsible for this." "That won''t be a problem," Horizon says. "We won''t fail." "For all our sakes, I hope you''re right," President Skyline says before hanging up. "We''re in the middle of the red zone now," Agpar says. "He definitely knows about us by now, it''s only a matter of time before whatever weapons systems he has ess to fire on us." "I''m ready," Star'' says. "No, that won''t be necessary," Horizon says. "He won''t do that since it would confirm that we''re going in the right direction, he''s confident no technology can find him, so he''ll just let this blow over and then drop some nukes afterward to send a message." "And even if he does, no conventional weapons systems can reach us with these two on board," Nezu says. "Exactly, so just focus on getting us to the marked area, we''ll handle the rest." Agpar nces at the map, seeing that they''re still en route to the area south of Hawaii. "We''ll get there far ahead of schedule, within an hour." "Nezu, the dys?" "Holding up better than expected," Nezu says. "The initial program was to iste the nukes from him for three hours, and currently he was only able to get it down to two hours, but I need to continuously change the codes to keep stalling." "Hacking a roided-up Technopath and we have that much time, impressive," Horizon says. "Now let''s go rip him away from his keyboard¡­" ---50 Minutes Later¡­ "We''re here," Agpar says. "Radar is clear and there are a few small inds, no inhabitants, and no infrastructure." "Do someps around here, and take us down to 20 thousand feet -6km-," Horizon says. "Principal Nezu will keep scanning for any signal interference, and I''ll Scan for everything else." "Setting route now," Agpar says as they descend and begin to fly in arge circle around this area. To cover as much area as possible, the circle shrinks with eachp, leaving a maximum of 300km gap between their tracks, giving Horizon more than enough range to sweep everything. "Maybe it''s cloaked," Star'' says after a few minutes of searching, getting slightly nervous as she sees they have less than 45 minutes before Tech has ess to the nukes again. "Should I go fly around and see if I spot anything?" "No, stay in position and be ready to defend," Horizon says. Nezu sighed and rubbed his forehead, "My systems are still picking up nothing, we may have to search a different area. "We''re hunting a Technopath, we can''t just rely on technology," Horizon says. "That''s why I am here." Nezu hears the confidence in his tone and smiles, "Did you get something?" "Everything," Horizon says. "Marking a location now, do someps but give it some space, I need to focus on this. I don''t sense anything wired in so, getting him out of the water should be fine." "Focus on what?" Star and Stripe asks, only to look over the side of the ne and see a massive shadow growing beneath the water. "What the hell is that? It must be half the size of Manhattan." "A bit bigger than that," Horizon says. "And I''m not quite sure what it is, but from what I''m seeing it''s like a massiveputer, and Tech is fused to a chair in the middle of it." "Oh my god, how did he build this without us knowing?" Agpar asks as he looks out the window, seeing a massive citadel ? the size of Manhattan rising out of the water. Its entire structure was made of dull grey metal which has some sealife and rocks now attached to it, showing that it''d been under there for quite some time. And to their further amazement Horizon lifts it up to their altitude of 20,000 feet -6km, 4 mi-. "Horizon, whatever you do, don''t break even a single part of that thing," Nezu says as he can now begin his scans. "What? Why not?" Star'' asks. "Isn''t crushing it and Tech the easiest way to end this?" "If we want to set off the dead man''s switch on the warheads, yes. And that thing is one giant supeputer, the repercussion of breaking one part could mean mission failure," Nezu says. "I''ll make a map and send it back to base, Power Loader and David Shield should be able to find some hardware weaknesses, you focus on the software side of things." "Already on it," Nezu says. Horizon then focuses on the structure and the ck sand within his special device, using Takt to control each grain and build a perfect 3D map that''s transmitted back to the base. "I don''t see any point defenses," Star'' says. "Can we warp inside?" "Only one room," Horizon says. "And all it has is Tech fused to a chair, and nothing else, I can''t warp into there since I''ve got nothing to swap with." "Shit, alright, I''ll wait up here in case anything happens," Star'' says. "I feel pretty damn useless right now." "Yeah well, we may not be able to break the main thing, but the drones should be fair game," Horizon says. "Drones?" she asks. She then sees thousands of dronesunch out of the structure and swarm above, before rushing toward the ne. "Oh, that''s a lot," Star and Stripe says as the drones almost block out the sunlight from above. "Too much for you to handle?" Horizon asks yfully. "Just focus on that map, tell them to feed you intel on where these drones areing from so we can stop the swarm," she says before jumping off the ne. The Order making the ne lighter instantly cancels as she prepares for a new one, punching the air behind her andunching herself at the swarm. "He must have fabrication and manufacturing facilities on board, we need to crush those or this will never end," she says. "The map will tell us how to safely do that, but until then I''ll keep them off of you guys and whatever gets past me, you can handle." "Try not to let that happen, this is already taking a lot of focus," Horizon says. "I know," Star'' says as she punches forward, sending an air cannon as All Might and Deku do, shattering hundreds of titanium drones and detonating some of their explosive rockets. NEW ORDER: The atmosphere will gather into an avatar around me, 2000 times my size! While most people cannot ''see'' the difference, Horizon can clearly sense it. The air around Star and Stripe, including many clouds, was suddenly pulled toward her and formed an invisible avatar of her naked self in the sky. She was held in the chest, where the heart would be, and with a single wave of her arm, the 4km -2.5mi- tall avatar perfectly copies her movements and swats away thousands of drones. ''Seriously? She has an air Gundam mech but she calls me ridiculous¡­'' END CHAPTER--- CHAPTER 345(Siege Against Tech Pt.2) CHAPTER 345(Siege Against Tech Pt.2) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "Well, this is¡­snug," Horizon says as he climbs into his seat in the ne. All around him were data panels, and his chair was noticeably ufortable, all to make room for therge coils around him. They were designed to conduct massive amounts of power without frying the systems. His seat was toward the middle of the ne, to act as a backup generator if needed. At the front Nezu and Agpar were in the cockpit, the heavily modified cockpit which had much of what would have been the weapons bay behind and under it hollowed out to make Nezu''smand centre. "Are we ready?" Horizon asks as Agpar and Nezu do the final checks. "The meeting has begun, so let''s get moving," Agpar says. Horizon closes his eyes, feeling everyponent of the ne, all the technology he doesn''t understand but now has to move in perfect sync. He then opens his eyes and looks down, seeing a special screen containing ck iron sand for him to use via Takt. "Alright, Shambles," Horizon says. In the connected room, everyone who worked on this project is seated in a massive area, with David Shield and Power Loader controlling the terminal at the front. The screens above show what the ne sees, and their feeds suddenly swapped for that of the sky and middle America below it. "Everything appears fine, we''re good," David Shield says as he wipes his brow. "We''ve got lift and engines are operating as expected, now let''s go hunt this viin," Agpar says as they begin the flight west. As the massive jet-ck aircraft soars above the clouds at 35 thousand feet above ocean level, Starnds on top of it, standing proudly with a wide smile on her face. "Your Quirk really is incredible," she says. "All I did was move it, building it took a million times the effort," Horizon says as he taps a few of the screens around him, getting a visual of the outside world. "How long until we''re in the marked area?" he asks. "With these drafts, and with Star''s help, we can get there within two hours," Agpar says. Hearing that Star and Stripe kneels atop the aircraft, disabling her flight Order and activating her maic boots to maintain her footing. NEW ORDER: This Aircraft''s weight shall be reduced by 70%! They all immediately get pushed back into their seats as they rocket off toward the west coast. "What a ridiculous Quirk," Horizon mutters as he prepares for the battle ahead. A few minutester they get a call, and Nezu connects them. "I stalled as much as I could," President Skyline says. "But Tech acted exactly as you predicted, he''ll be expecting an assault of some kind, either physical or virtual. And he will wipe out whoever is responsible for this." "That won''t be a problem," Horizon says. "We won''t fail." "For all our sakes, I hope you''re right," President Skyline says before hanging up. "We''re in the middle of the red zone now," Agpar says. "He definitely knows about us by now, it''s only a matter of time before whatever weapons systems he has ess to fire on us." "I''m ready," Star'' says. "No, that won''t be necessary," Horizon says. "He won''t do that since it would confirm that we''re going in the right direction, he''s confident no technology can find him, so he''ll just let this blow over and then drop some nukes afterward to send a message." "And even if he does, no conventional weapons systems can reach us with these two on board," Nezu says. "Exactly, so just focus on getting us to the marked area, we''ll handle the rest." Agpar nces at the map, seeing that they''re still en route to the area south of Hawaii. "We''ll get there far ahead of schedule, within an hour." "Nezu, the dys?" "Holding up better than expected," Nezu says. "The initial program was to iste the nukes from him for three hours, and currently he was only able to get it down to two hours, but I need to continuously change the codes to keep stalling." "Hacking a roided-up Technopath and we have that much time, impressive," Horizon says. "Now let''s go rip him away from his keyboard¡­" ---50 Minutes Later¡­ "We''re here," Agpar says. "Radar is clear and there are a few small inds, no inhabitants, and no infrastructure." "Do someps around here, and take us down to 20 thousand feet -6km-," Horizon says. "Principal Nezu will keep scanning for any signal interference, and I''ll Scan for everything else." "Setting route now," Agpar says as they descend and begin to fly in arge circle around this area. To cover as much area as possible, the circle shrinks with eachp, leaving a maximum of 300km gap between their tracks, giving Horizon more than enough range to sweep everything. "Maybe it''s cloaked," Star'' says after a few minutes of searching, getting slightly nervous as she sees they have less than 45 minutes before Tech has ess to the nukes again. "Should I go fly around and see if I spot anything?" "No, stay in position and be ready to defend," Horizon says. Nezu sighed and rubbed his forehead, "My systems are still picking up nothing, we may have to search a different area. "We''re hunting a Technopath, we can''t just rely on technology," Horizon says. "That''s why I am here." Nezu hears the confidence in his tone and smiles, "Did you get something?" "Everything," Horizon says. "Marking a location now, do someps but give it some space, I need to focus on this. I don''t sense anything wired in so, getting him out of the water should be fine." "Focus on what?" Star and Stripe asks, only to look over the side of the ne and see a massive shadow growing beneath the water. "What the hell is that? It must be half the size of Manhattan." "A bit bigger than that," Horizon says. "And I''m not quite sure what it is, but from what I''m seeing it''s like a massiveputer, and Tech is fused to a chair in the middle of it." "Oh my god, how did he build this without us knowing?" Agpar asks as he looks out the window, seeing a massive citadel ? the size of Manhattan rising out of the water. Its entire structure was made of dull grey metal which has some sealife and rocks now attached to it, showing that it''d been under there for quite some time. And to their further amazement Horizon lifts it up to their altitude of 20,000 feet -6km, 4 mi-. "Horizon, whatever you do, don''t break even a single part of that thing," Nezu says as he can now begin his scans. "What? Why not?" Star'' asks. "Isn''t crushing it and Tech the easiest way to end this?" "If we want to set off the dead man''s switch on the warheads, yes. And that thing is one giant supeputer, the repercussion of breaking one part could mean mission failure," Nezu says. "I''ll make a map and send it back to base, Power Loader and David Shield should be able to find some hardware weaknesses, you focus on the software side of things." "Already on it," Nezu says. Horizon then focuses on the structure and the ck sand within his special device, using Takt to control each grain and build a perfect 3D map that''s transmitted back to the base. "I don''t see any point defenses," Star'' says. "Can we warp inside?" "Only one room," Horizon says. "And all it has is Tech fused to a chair, and nothing else, I can''t warp into there since I''ve got nothing to swap with." "Shit, alright, I''ll wait up here in case anything happens," Star'' says. "I feel pretty damn useless right now." "Yeah well, we may not be able to break the main thing, but the drones should be fair game," Horizon says. "Drones?" she asks. She then sees thousands of dronesunch out of the structure and swarm above, before rushing toward the ne. "Oh, that''s a lot," Star and Stripe says as the drones almost block out the sunlight from above. "Too much for you to handle?" Horizon asks yfully. "Just focus on that map, tell them to feed you intel on where these drones areing from so we can stop the swarm," she says before jumping off the ne. The Order making the ne lighter instantly cancels as she prepares for a new one, punching the air behind her andunching herself at the swarm. "He must have fabrication and manufacturing facilities on board, we need to crush those or this will never end," she says. "The map will tell us how to safely do that, but until then I''ll keep them off of you guys and whatever gets past me, you can handle." "Try not to let that happen, this is already taking a lot of focus," Horizon says. "I know," Star'' says as she punches forward, sending an air cannon as All Might and Deku do, shattering hundreds of titanium drones and detonating some of their explosive rockets. NEW ORDER: The atmosphere will gather into an avatar around me, 2000 times my size! While most people cannot ''see'' the difference, Horizon can clearly sense it. The air around Star and Stripe, including many clouds, was suddenly pulled toward her and formed an invisible avatar of her naked self in the sky. She was held in the chest, where the heart would be, and with a single wave of her arm, the 4km -2.5mi- tall avatar perfectly copies her movements and swats away thousands of drones. ''Seriously? She has an air Gundam mech but she calls me ridiculous¡­'' END CHAPTER--- Chapter 354: (Siege Against Tech Pt.3) Discord: .gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "What''s the n?" Agpar asks as they see the drone swarm rushing toward them. "We stay in range and dops while Star'' defends and Nezu hacks into Tech''s systems," Horizon says. "I need toplete the map and be on standby for extra energy, but as soon as I can I''ll head outside and help her." "Setting our path now, we''ll give the fortress as much space as we can," Agpar says. "I''ll stay as close as I can, just focus on staying in the air," Star'' says as she rushes forward, keeping up with the ne as Agpar begins doing wideps around Tech''s fortress. A legion of drones open fire at her, but due to the atmospheric density and pressure zones, even the bullets and rockets can''t get to the core of her giant avatar. Instead, she freely moves around the sky and swats them aside, shattering them into pieces while flying parallel to the ne.While the battle begins, back in the base David Shield and Power Loader are working meticulously to find vulnerabilities in the drone facilities that can be exploited withoutpletely breaking Tech''s fortress. And on the screen, everyone sees thebat, they see Star and Stipe flying through the air and waving her limbs about, and the drones that got within her range were seemingly crushed and swatted away by some invisible force. Any that got too close to the ne were crumpled into scrap by Horizon''s Takt, but that was rarely needed. Star and Stripe was putting everything she had into giving him space to work, allowing him to keep his focus on creating the map and holding the massive fortress in the sky. "Is this real?" One of the engineers breaks the silent tension in the viewing room. "I mean, what am I even seeing right now?" "Mystery ss Quirks in action?" Another person asks, not quite sure what to make of this. "I wonder how the world will react to this footage." Toward the back of the room someoneughs, lifting their spirits, "Tech actually thought he could win? Seriously?" This causes most of the people to smile, feeling the mes of hope zing within them. Even as the rest of the world waits anxiously for Tech''s judgment, these lucky and exceptional few were privileged to witness it, in real-time, the heroes who sacrificed themselves to save the world. Back on the battlefield Star and Stripe scoffs as she notices something very problematic. "Some of the drones are maic, collecting the scraps and taking them back," She says. "It''s been a few minutes but the number hasn''t decreased at all, and at this rate, it never will." "Then it''s a good thing you''re you, otherwise we''d have cause to worry," Agpar says. "Can you focus on the scavenger drones?" "No, sensing that kind of stuff is Horizon''s gimmick," she says. "And even if I could, they''d just make more." "We have the EMP," Agpar says. Star and Stripe considers it for a moment while fighting, then shakes her head, "No, that would take power from Nezu, I''ll just deal with the drones." "Speaking of power, I need more of it," Nezu says. "Horizon, you''re up!" "Got it," Horizon says as he rxes back into his seat, while still holding up the fortress, defending them from the drones, and creating the map of the entire structure. He begins releasing Counter Shock from all across his body which hispartment greedily drinks up. "How are you holding up?" Nezu asks. "I''ll be fine, but let''s not take our foot off the gas," Horizon says as he closes his eyes, trying to keep his thoughts clear while processing everything. While splitting his focus on so many things, he could also sense Tech deep within the fortress. The man was sealed within a small chamber, connected to tubes and wires that were fused to his nerves and organs to keep him alive. Horizon could sense how frail his body was, skin hanging on bones like a coat on a hanger, so focused on bing one with technology that his humanity waspletely abandoned. Like looking into a warped mirror. "Can you hear me?" Tech''s voice asks through theirmunications, startling but not surprising them. "Ahh, Horizon, so you''re why my underwater fortress is now airborne." "Yeah, and if you kill me, it''ll fall," Horizon says. "As if I could do that," Tech says. But Horizon notices the man''s body hasn''t moved, he''s using technology to speak for him. "And even if I could, you would never let my base fall," Tech says. "We all know what happens if anything happens to it, or me." "Well I guess we''re at a standoff, so how about you disarm the nukes and I let you down easy, I''ll make it quick, deal?" Horizon jokingly asks while the electricity still dances around him. "I was born to inherit this world, I will not give up my birthright to those who can''t properly use it," Tech says. "Surrender now and return to your homes, and I will forgive this one transgression." Everyone who hears this falls silent, not sure what to make of this. Well, almost everyone, because Horizonughs. Not a smallugh, but a victorious cackle. "I knew you were too much of a pussy to truly take this world," Horizon says. "Never negotiate while you have the advantage, that''s basic knowledge. And time and time again you''ve opened negotiations, all the power in the world but you''re still so weak, and now you''re scared. Because we are here, and no matter how this ends, you''re going to die." "No. That¡­that is not the case." "We''ll finish this conversation in person," Horizon says. "Right before I rip your head off!" An angry growl is heard through themunication systems, "You, of all the things in this world, I thought Nezu would be most dangerous. Yet I couldn''t kill him while you exist, but now I see, you coordinated all of this. I made a miscalction, I may be the only person in the world to still underestimate you. I only considered your Quirk and its known applications, not whatever thing dwells beneath that visor. I see it clearly now, exactly as you once said. You are not only dangerous because of that Quirk, but because, you are Horizon. This is a miscalction, that will never be made again!" As he cuts the connection every drone within the fortress isunched, causing Star and Stripe to be taken aback for a moment. "That''s too many, Horizon be ready, I can''t stop them all," Star and Stripe says as she prepares to defend them. "We finished with the map," Power Loader says at that very moment. "Horizon, crush the marked spots!" Horizon leans forward and looks at the marked areas on the map, the drone fabrication and repair facilities. "Nezu, the power is going to dip for a moment!" "I''m ready!" "TAKT!" Horizon shuts off his Counter Shock and puts everything into crushing the drones and facilities. Outside the ne, Star'' and everyone watching the broadcast are amazed as every drone is crumpled into scrap metal and parts of the fortress visible crumble. COUNTER SHOCK! Horizon instantly resumes powering Nezu''s system, leaning back into his seat to take a few deep breaths. "I''m going to have a headache after this," he mutters. Outside the ne, Star'' smiles as she deactivates her avatar. NEW ORDER: I can freely move through the atmosphere! She flies to the ne and stands on top of it, arms folded and cape billowing in the wind as she stares at the fortress. "The point defenses aren''t firing," she says. "There aren''t any," Horizon says. "But, I''m sensing some movement at the bottom of the base, parts are reconfiguring themselves into some kind of chamber." Star and Stripe takes abat stance, ready to jump back into the action. "My systems are picking up immense energy readings," Nezu says. "We''ve got something big iing." "Yeah, I noticed," Star'' says. "Look outside." Nezu sits up and looks out the cockpit for a moment, seeing purple energy flowing around and through the entire fortress, gathering on the bottom of it. He then turns back to hisputer as Horizon is updating the map of the structure in real-time. "He''s preparing to discharge a massive amount of energy," Nezu says. "I can shield the ne," Star'' says. "No, not at us, downward, that''s the only way thoseponents could fire." "Down?" Agpar asks. "That moron, he''s desperate and wasting energy." "No," Horizon says. "If the energy readings we''re seeing are correct, then that st will leave a crater on the ocean floor. The waves will wipe out Hawaii and any coast connected to this ocean, he''s forcing our hand." "Not our hand, my hand," Star and Stripe say as they now see the energy gathering into arge purple sphere beneath the fortress. "I need to contain that and get it out of here." "Cat¡ª" Agpar cuts himself off. "Star'' can you handle that much energy? This isn''t a simple nuke we''re talking about here." "I know. And honestly, I probably can''t," She admits. "But this is what makes us heroes, we sacrifice ourselves for others." "No, there has to be another way," Agpar pleads. "If there was, Horizon would have mentioned it," Star'' says as she leaps off the ne and begins flying to the sphere. "Thanks for being my family." Agpar doesn''t respond, just staring in horror as the girl he raised flies toward her death, then he musters his will and gets out a few words. "You were always a hero to me kid, even before you were Star and Stripe," he says. As she gets closer the sphere copses into itself and is fired as a beam toward the ocean. Star and Stripe instantly speeds up and flies directly into it. NEW ORDER: This energy beam will gather as a sphere in my hands! She pours everything she can into new order, for the first time in her life since bing Star and Stripe, feeling fear and death marching toward her. Reaching deep into a well of power she''d never been aware of, until now, she pulls all of the energy toward herself. Now cradling the basketball-sized sphere in her arms she falls toward the ocean, her fingers burning away as her Order quickly diminishes. Pushing past the pain she kicks against the air, using the shockwave to propel herself skyward. Normally she''d throw the sphere, but because of the sheer amount of energy, she was terrified of letting go of it, as her Order would greatly weaken when she does. Using his Room, and watching through one of the screens, Horizon sees his friend climbing higher and higher into the sky, racing to her death. "Hey Horizon," Star'' says, the strain and exhaustion clear in her voice. "Kick his ass for me!" "Of course, that''s what we came here to do after all," Horizon says. "Thank you, for everything." "Ha! I should be thanking you. It was nice having a sibling again, I almost forgot what that was like," Star'' says as she reaches the upper atmosphere, leaving the range of his Room. "Now go save the world!" As she says those words, she puts everything she can into throwing the sphere into space, but the moment it leaves her grasp the energy explodes in every direction. Above the ne the entire sky shines bright purple as a shockwave clears all the clouds, shaking the ne and fortress. Both of which would have fallen if not for Horizon. And within him, a foreign anger stirs to the surface. Because as reluctant as he would be to admit it, they truly were friends¡­ END CHAPTER--- Chapter 355: END OF YEAR UPDATE! Discord: .gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene You.tube: @KeanuEugene "Yes, you read that right, it''s a you.tube link. That''s not what this entire update is about but it''d mean a lot if you subscribe. There is already one live stream about writing content and I''ll be making more of those and videos, sharing EVERYTHING I KNOW about writing, FOR FREE. Very useful for people trying to write original books as I''ll be working on that next year and making videos for it. You can also just go see what I look like if you''ve ever been curious. Now onto the things you''re most affected by. Happy holidays everyone, Keanu here. Just sending an end-of-year update to all the sites I post on. I''ve uploaded everypleted chapter to every tier of Pa.treon, so Advanced, Standard, and Unlimited have ess to everything I''ve written and edited up to this point.That means all of Volume 9: Superhero, which ends on NovelBin and Scribble.hub on January 6th, 2025 is now avable there. I did this because I''m nning 2025 at the moment and there may be some changes on all levels. Some new and exciting things are in the works in the background, my original fantasy novel being the main thing, and that will take a healthy chunk of my time. Because of this, I''m considering removing the Standard and Advanced Tiers because it removes deadlines from my life. The goal is to only have to upload to the Unlimited Tier so I don''t have to manage as many tiers and websites. I''m also considering moving the Webnovel and Scribble.hub uploads to 2 per week, so this will also affect the value of Standard and Advanced Tiers. I''m all about full transparency, especially with all the people who support me, so I''d love some feedback on this since obviously, it will affect all of you the most. It''s a lot to consider because as my writing gets better chapters take longer to write, particrly in the final 2 volumes of Horizon which, after January 6th, we''ll be in. Regardless, nothing will be finalized before I get some feedback from you all. I will upload the chapters of Volume 10 to Unlimited Tier as Iplete writing and editing them, admittedly it is the most difficult volume to write, by far. But I''ll get it done and it will be great. §²? But, TLDR; I love writing and want to write 24/7 but hate deadlines and managing websites/tforms so I''m considering removing some of those and clearing up more time and mental processing power to write. I won''t make any changes without giving fair warning of course so you lovely folks can cancel memberships if that''s the decision you settle on. Always do what is best for you. But for now, as I set up everything for 2025 including my YouTube channel where I''ll be revealing everything I learned about writing, FOR FREE, all the chapters are scheduled for auto-uploading and I''ll be working in the background. If you want to contact me feel free to message me here ore yell at me in Discord: discord.gg/eHuxNeZfyS And if you want to see what I''m like as a person check out the first live stream I''ve done on /@KeanuEugene/streams It''d mean a lot to me if you subscribe. Thank you for your support and patience. And now approaching 4 years of writing (I began on January 21st, 2021), I never imagined this is where I''d be. I crammed 2 thousand hours of writing lessons into thesest few years, and got 1.8M words uploaded thus far. Not bad, but we''ve still got a lot more to do, and every story will be better than thest. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the stories and any feedback you give regarding this post of my writing is always appreciated. Thank you!" CHAPTER 346(Siege Against Tech Pt.3) CHAPTER 346(Siege Against Tech Pt.3) Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene CHAPTER START--- "What''s the n?" Agpar asks as they see the drone swarm rushing toward them. "We stay in range and dops while Star'' defends and Nezu hacks into Tech''s systems," Horizon says. "I need toplete the map and be on standby for extra energy, but as soon as I can I''ll head outside and help her." "Setting our path now, we''ll give the fortress as much space as we can," Agpar says. "I''ll stay as close as I can, just focus on staying in the air," Star'' says as she rushes forward, keeping up with the ne as Agpar begins doing wideps around Tech''s fortress. A legion of drones open fire at her, but due to the atmospheric density and pressure zones, even the bullets and rockets can''t get to the core of her giant avatar. Instead, she freely moves around the sky and swats them aside, shattering them into pieces while flying parallel to the ne. While the battle begins, back in the base David Shield and Power Loader are working meticulously to find vulnerabilities in the drone facilities that can be exploited withoutpletely breaking Tech''s fortress. And on the screen, everyone sees thebat, they see Star and Stipe flying through the air and waving her limbs about, and the drones that got within her range were seemingly crushed and swatted away by some invisible force. Any that got too close to the ne were crumpled into scrap by Horizon''s Takt, but that was rarely needed. Star and Stripe was putting everything she had into giving him space to work, allowing him to keep his focus on creating the map and holding the massive fortress in the sky. "Is this real?" One of the engineers breaks the silent tension in the viewing room. "I mean, what am I even seeing right now?" "Mystery ss Quirks in action?" Another person asks, not quite sure what to make of this. "I wonder how the world will react to this footage." Toward the back of the room someoneughs, lifting their spirits, "Tech actually thought he could win? Seriously?" This causes most of the people to smile, feeling the mes of hope zing within them. Even as the rest of the world waits anxiously for Tech''s judgment, these lucky and exceptional few were privileged to witness it, in real-time, the heroes who sacrificed themselves to save the world. Back on the battlefield Star and Stripe scoffs as she notices something very problematic. "Some of the drones are maic, collecting the scraps and taking them back," She says. "It''s been a few minutes but the number hasn''t decreased at all, and at this rate, it never will." "Then it''s a good thing you''re you, otherwise we''d have cause to worry," Agpar says. "Can you focus on the scavenger drones?" "No, sensing that kind of stuff is Horizon''s gimmick," she says. "And even if I could, they''d just make more." "We have the EMP," Agpar says. Star and Stripe considers it for a moment while fighting, then shakes her head, "No, that would take power from Nezu, I''ll just deal with the drones." "Speaking of power, I need more of it," Nezu says. "Horizon, you''re up!" "Got it," Horizon says as he rxes back into his seat, while still holding up the fortress, defending them from the drones, and creating the map of the entire structure. He begins releasing Counter Shock from all across his body which hispartment greedily drinks up. "How are you holding up?" Nezu asks. "I''ll be fine, but let''s not take our foot off the gas," Horizon says as he closes his eyes, trying to keep his thoughts clear while processing everything. While splitting his focus on so many things, he could also sense Tech deep within the fortress. The man was sealed within a small chamber, connected to tubes and wires that were fused to his nerves and organs to keep him alive. Horizon could sense how frail his body was, skin hanging on bones like a coat on a hanger, so focused on bing one with technology that his humanity waspletely abandoned. Like looking into a warped mirror. "Can you hear me?" Tech''s voice asks through theirmunications, startling but not surprising them. "Ahh, Horizon, so you''re why my underwater fortress is now airborne." "Yeah, and if you kill me, it''ll fall," Horizon says. "As if I could do that," Tech says. But Horizon notices the man''s body hasn''t moved, he''s using technology to speak for him. "And even if I could, you would never let my base fall," Tech says. "We all know what happens if anything happens to it, or me." "Well I guess we''re at a standoff, so how about you disarm the nukes and I let you down easy, I''ll make it quick, deal?" Horizon jokingly asks while the electricity still dances around him. "I was born to inherit this world, I will not give up my birthright to those who can''t properly use it," Tech says. "Surrender now and return to your homes, and I will forgive this one transgression." Everyone who hears this falls silent, not sure what to make of this. Well, almost everyone, because Horizonughs. Not a smallugh, but a victorious cackle. "I knew you were too much of a pussy to truly take this world," Horizon says. "Never negotiate while you have the advantage, that''s basic knowledge. And time and time again you''ve opened negotiations, all the power in the world but you''re still so weak, and now you''re scared. Because we are here, and no matter how this ends, you''re going to die." "No. That¡­that is not the case." "We''ll finish this conversation in person," Horizon says. "Right before I rip your head off!" An angry growl is heard through themunication systems, "You, of all the things in this world, I thought Nezu would be most dangerous. Yet I couldn''t kill him while you exist, but now I see, you coordinated all of this. I made a miscalction, I may be the only person in the world to still underestimate you. I only considered your Quirk and its known applications, not whatever thing dwells beneath that visor. I see it clearly now, exactly as you once said. You are not only dangerous because of that Quirk, but because, you are Horizon. This is a miscalction, that will never be made again!" As he cuts the connection every drone within the fortress isunched, causing Star and Stripe to be taken aback for a moment. "That''s too many, Horizon be ready, I can''t stop them all," Star and Stripe says as she prepares to defend them. "We finished with the map," Power Loader says at that very moment. "Horizon, crush the marked spots!" Horizon leans forward and looks at the marked areas on the map, the drone fabrication and repair facilities. "Nezu, the power is going to dip for a moment!" "I''m ready!" "TAKT!" Horizon shuts off his Counter Shock and puts everything into crushing the drones and facilities. Outside the ne, Star'' and everyone watching the broadcast are amazed as every drone is crumpled into scrap metal and parts of the fortress visible crumble. COUNTER SHOCK! Horizon instantly resumes powering Nezu''s system, leaning back into his seat to take a few deep breaths. "I''m going to have a headache after this," he mutters. Outside the ne, Star'' smiles as she deactivates her avatar. NEW ORDER: I can freely move through the atmosphere! She flies to the ne and stands on top of it, arms folded and cape billowing in the wind as she stares at the fortress. "The point defenses aren''t firing," she says. "There aren''t any," Horizon says. "But, I''m sensing some movement at the bottom of the base, parts are reconfiguring themselves into some kind of chamber." Star and Stripe takes abat stance, ready to jump back into the action. "My systems are picking up immense energy readings," Nezu says. "We''ve got something big iing." "Yeah, I noticed," Star'' says. "Look outside." Nezu sits up and looks out the cockpit for a moment, seeing purple energy flowing around and through the entire fortress, gathering on the bottom of it. He then turns back to hisputer as Horizon is updating the map of the structure in real-time. "He''s preparing to discharge a massive amount of energy," Nezu says. "I can shield the ne," Star'' says. "No, not at us, downward, that''s the only way thoseponents could fire." "Down?" Agpar asks. "That moron, he''s desperate and wasting energy." "No," Horizon says. "If the energy readings we''re seeing are correct, then that st will leave a crater on the ocean floor. The waves will wipe out Hawaii and any coast connected to this ocean, he''s forcing our hand." "Not our hand, my hand," Star and Stripe say as they now see the energy gathering into arge purple sphere beneath the fortress. "I need to contain that and get it out of here." "Cat¡ª" Agpar cuts himself off. "Star'' can you handle that much energy? This isn''t a simple nuke we''re talking about here." "I know. And honestly, I probably can''t," She admits. "But this is what makes us heroes, we sacrifice ourselves for others." "No, there has to be another way," Agpar pleads. "If there was, Horizon would have mentioned it," Star'' says as she leaps off the ne and begins flying to the sphere. "Thanks for being my family." Agpar doesn''t respond, just staring in horror as the girl he raised flies toward her death, then he musters his will and gets out a few words. "You were always a hero to me kid, even before you were Star and Stripe," he says. As she gets closer the sphere copses into itself and is fired as a beam toward the ocean. Star and Stripe instantly speeds up and flies directly into it. NEW ORDER: This energy beam will gather as a sphere in my hands! She pours everything she can into new order, for the first time in her life since bing Star and Stripe, feeling fear and death marching toward her. Reaching deep into a well of power she''d never been aware of, until now, she pulls all of the energy toward herself. Now cradling the basketball-sized sphere in her arms she falls toward the ocean, her fingers burning away as her Order quickly diminishes. Pushing past the pain she kicks against the air, using the shockwave to propel herself skyward. Normally she''d throw the sphere, but because of the sheer amount of energy, she was terrified of letting go of it, as her Order would greatly weaken when she does. Using his Room, and watching through one of the screens, Horizon sees his friend climbing higher and higher into the sky, racing to her death. "Hey Horizon," Star'' says, the strain and exhaustion clear in her voice. "Kick his ass for me!" "Of course, that''s what we came here to do after all," Horizon says. "Thank you, for everything." "Ha! I should be thanking you. It was nice having a sibling again, I almost forgot what that was like," Star'' says as she reaches the upper atmosphere, leaving the range of his Room. "Now go save the world!" As she says those words, she puts everything she can into throwing the sphere into space, but the moment it leaves her grasp the energy explodes in every direction. Above the ne the entire sky shines bright purple as a shockwave clears all the clouds, shaking the ne and fortress. Both of which would have fallen if not for Horizon. And within him, a foreign anger stirs to the surface. Because as reluctant as he would be to admit it, they truly were friends¡­ END CHAPTER--- END OF YEAR UPDATE! END OF YEAR UPDATE! Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene You.tube: @KeanuEugene "Yes, you read that right, it''s a you.tube link. That''s not what this entire update is about but it''d mean a lot if you subscribe. There is already one live stream about writing content and I''ll be making more of those and videos, sharing EVERYTHING I KNOW about writing, FOR FREE. Very useful for people trying to write original books as I''ll be working on that next year and making videos for it. You can also just go see what I look like if you''ve ever been curious. Now onto the things you''re most affected by. Happy holidays everyone, Keanu here. Just sending an end-of-year update to all the sites I post on. I''ve uploaded everypleted chapter to every tier of Pa.treon, so Advanced, Standard, and Unlimited have ess to everything I''ve written and edited up to this point. That means all of Volume 9: Superhero, which ends on Webnovel and Scribble.hub on January 6th, 2025 is now avable there. I did this because I''m nning 2025 at the moment and there may be some changes on all levels. Some new and exciting things are in the works in the background, my original fantasy novel being the main thing, and that will take a healthy chunk of my time. Because of this, I''m considering removing the Standard and Advanced Tiers because it removes deadlines from my life. The goal is to only have to upload to the Unlimited Tier so I don''t have to manage as many tiers and websites. I''m also considering moving the Webnovel and Scribble.hub uploads to 2 per week, so this will also affect the value of Standard and Advanced Tiers. I''m all about full transparency, especially with all the people who support me, so I''d love some feedback on this since obviously, it will affect all of you the most. It''s a lot to consider because as my writing gets better chapters take longer to write, particrly in the final 2 volumes of Horizon which, after January 6th, we''ll be in. Regardless, nothing will be finalized before I get some feedback from you all. I will upload the chapters of Volume 10 to Unlimited Tier as Iplete writing and editing them, admittedly it is the most difficult volume to write, by far. But I''ll get it done and it will be great. But, TLDR; I love writing and want to write 24/7 but hate deadlines and managing websites/tforms so I''m considering removing some of those and clearing up more time and mental processing power to write. I won''t make any changes without giving fair warning of course so you lovely folks can cancel memberships if that''s the decision you settle on. Always do what is best for you. But for now, as I set up everything for 2025 including my YouTube channel where I''ll be revealing everything I learned about writing, FOR FREE, all the chapters are scheduled for auto-uploading and I''ll be working in the background. If you want to contact me feel free to message me here ore yell at me in Discord: discord.gg/eHuxNeZfyS And if you want to see what I''m like as a person check out the first live stream I''ve done on YouTube: /@KeanuEugene/streams It''d mean a lot to me if you subscribe. Thank you for your support and patience. And now approaching 4 years of writing (I began on January 21st, 2021), I never imagined this is where I''d be. I crammed 2 thousand hours of writing lessons into thesest few years, and got 1.8M words uploaded thus far. Not bad, but we''ve still got a lot more to do, and every story will be better than thest. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the stories and any feedback you give regarding this post of my writing is always appreciated. Thank you!" The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!