A heavy, suffocating silence had fallen around the group. It was the kind of tense, atmosphere that felt so thick a knife could cut into it.
On one side stood Ryukyu. Despite her torn costume and the painful scorch marks marring her skin, she stood tall and unyielding. Her golden eyes were narrowed, locked onto the three strangers who had just rescued them from what may have been their last day on earth. Beside her, Nejire Hado was leaning heavily on a concrete barrier, still recovering her breath, but her bright blue eyes were darting rapidly between the old man in the high-tech suit and the green-haired boy who had just transformed into a jurassic giant.
On the other side stood Tatsuo Kendo, his face an unreadable mask with his granddaughter Itsuka and Izuku flanking him.
Tatsuo's mind was racing at a million miles a minute, calculating the pros and cons of the absolute mess they had just stumbled into. Standard operating procedure dictates memory wipes and immediate exfiltration, he thought grimly. The existence of extraterrestrial life was the most strictly guarded secret on Earth. If the general public, let alone the Hero Public Safety Commission, found out that alien monsters were roaming the streets and that a cult of fanatic knights was trading Level 5 weaponry with human villains... society would tear itself apart in absolute paranoia.
But Tatsuo looked at the scattered Laser Lances. He looked at the dented shipping container where Grit had been standing. The Forever Knights weren't just hoarding tech anymore; they were actively arming the criminal underworld. And worse, they were working alongside the DNAliens.
He glanced down at Izuku. The boy was leaning against a crate, looking completely exhausted. The Omnitrix was back online, humming with a faint, recalibrated green light on his wrist. It was a miracle the device had repaired itself, but it had also thrown a massive wrench into Tatsuo's plans. Izuku had transformed into a Vaxasaurian—a massive, impossibly strong species from the planet Terradino. Tatsuo knew of them, but Midoriyas grandfather had never used that specific transformation during their glory days. Tatsuo realized with a cold pit in his stomach that the watch had unlocked a completely new playlist. He couldn't mentor Izuku on aliens he knew nothing about. He couldn't teach the boy the limits of his own new powers fast enough to fight a war alone.
We are outgunned, outmanned, and out of our depth, Tatsuo concluded heavily. We need help. Real help. He let out a long, ragged sigh, the tension bleeding out of his shoulders.
"My name is Tatsuo Kendo," he said, his voice deep and gravelly, lacking any hostility. He gestured to the orange-haired girl beside him. "This is my granddaughter, Itsuka. And this young man is Izuku Midoriya. And, Hero Ryukyu... you have just taken your first step into a very, very large universe."
Ryukyu's stern expression faltered slightly, replaced by genuine bewilderment. "A large universe? Mr. Kendo, what are you talking about? Those creatures... those weapons..."
"They aren't from around here," Tatsuo said bluntly. "And I don't mean they're from outside the prefecture. I mean they are extraterrestrial. Aliens. The weapons are smuggled, and the monsters that nearly killed you are a parasitic species we call DNAliens. They are an invasive threat, and they are here on Earth right now."
For a long, agonizing moment, the only sound was the wind howling through the shipping containers.
Then, Nejire Hado broke the silence.
"Hey hey hey! Aliens?!" Nejire suddenly shot up from the concrete barrier, completely ignoring her exhaustion. She practically teleported across the gap, suddenly standing inches from Izuku's face. "Are you an alien?! Is that why you turned into a giant dinosaur? Or are you a human with an alien quirk? Or an alien with a human quirk? Do you eat normal food? Do you have two stomachs? Can you speak alien languages?! Hey, hey, why are you turning red?"
Izuku stumbled backward, completely overwhelmed by the sudden barrage of questions and the very close proximity of the beautiful older girl. "I-I-I'm human! I promise! I'm from Musutafu! I like katsudon!"
Itsuka stepped forward, gently but firmly placing a hand on Nejire's shoulder and pulling her back a step. "Give him some space, please," Kendo said, offering a polite but guarded smile. "He's had a really long night. I'm Itsuka Kendo. I'm a first-year at U.A., just like you, Nejire-senpai."
Nejire's eyes lit up even brighter. "Ooh! A kouhai! You have the big hands quirk, right? That was so cool! You were swatting those creepy monsters like they were giant flies! Wham! Bam! We're going to be great friends, Kendo-chan!"
Kendo blinked, surprised by the older girl's immediate warmth, and found herself genuinely smiling back. "I... I'd like that."
Ryukyu stepped forward, her posture softening back into the humble, gentle demeanor she was famous for. She looked at Tatsuo, then down at Kendo, and finally at Izuku. Slowly, gracefully, the Number 10 Hero bowed at the waist, a deep, respectful bow of complete gratitude.
"Regardless of where those things came from," Ryukyu said, her voice filled with deep, resonant sincerity. "You saved our lives. I was completely overpowered, and my intern was moments away from death. It was a failure on my part to properly assess the threat. I endangered Nejire, and for that, I am deeply ashamed. But you stepped in. You risked your own lives for ours. Thank you. Truly."
Izuku's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. He furiously waved his hands in front of his face, completely flustered. "N-No! Please, Ryukyu-san, don't bow! You're an incredible hero! We couldn't just stand there and watch! We didn't do anything special, we just—"
As Izuku stammered, his eyes accidentally locked with Nejire's.
The image of what had happened just minutes prior hit him like a freight train. He remembered the desperate panic. He remembered leaning over her. He remembered tilting her chin back. He remembered the feeling of his lips pressing against hers, breathing life desperately into her lungs.
Izuku's face went from its normal pale complexion to the color of a ripe tomato in a matter of a microsecond. Smoke practically poured out of his ears.
Nejire, seeing his reaction, suddenly paused. The memory rushed back into her mind as well—waking up, gasping for air, looking up into those terrified, tear-filled green eyes, her lips still tingling from the desperate contact. The bubbly, infinitely curious third-year suddenly froze. A fierce, brilliant blush spread across her cheeks, turning them a deep shade of pink. She abruptly looked down at her boots, suddenly finding the cracked concrete incredibly fascinating, her hands fidgeting nervously behind her back.
Kendo looked between the two of them. She saw Izuku practically vibrating with embarrassment, and she saw the gorgeous older girl blushing shyly at him. A sudden, sharp, utterly unfamiliar pang flared in Kendo's chest. It felt hot and uncomfortable.
Without a word, Kendo stepped sideways and drove her elbow sharply into Izuku's ribs.
Thwack!
"Ow!" Izuku yelped, stumbling sideways and holding his side. He looked at Kendo in total confusion. "Itsuka? What was that for?"
Kendo crossed her arms, turning her head away with a distinct, irritated pout, her own cheeks slightly flushed. "For being an idiot and jumping in front of a laser gun," she lied, her voice tight. "Don't do that again."
Izuku groaned" but didn't we settle that already ?" He asked teary eyed.
Tatsuo cleared his throat loudly, amused but eager to move on. "As touching as this is, we have a very serious problem. The Forever Knights escaped with a truckload of Level 5 weaponry. If they manage to arm enough villains and crooks on the streets, they'll have an army capable of leveling cities. We need to know where they went."
He pointed across the yard to the massive dent in the shipping container where Humungousaur had knocked the mercenary. "And I believe we have someone who can tell us."
Nejire jumped at the distraction. "I'll go get him!" she squeaked, moving incredibly fast to escape the awkwardness. She dashed across the yard, her spiral energy flaring as she effortlessly lifted the unconscious, groaning Grit and dragged him back to the group.
Tatsuo wasted no time. He pulled a set of heavy, glowing blue Energy Cuffs from his belt and snapped them onto Grit's wrists and ankles, locking his quirk down completely. Then, Tatsuo pulled a small canteen of water and splashed it directly into Grit's face.
Grit gasped, his eyes snapping open. He thrashed against the cuffs, his metal muzzle clanking as he tried to summon his Agony Drive, but the glowing blue cuffs completely neutralized his kinetic build-up. He looked around, seeing the old man, the two kids, and the two pro heroes glaring down at him.
"We want answers," Ryukyu stepped forward, her voice dropping into a stern, authoritative register. "Where did the Forever Knights go? How did you come into contact with them? And who were you purchasing those weapons for?"
Grit let out a dark, muffled laugh, spitting a wad of blood onto the concrete near Ryukyu's boots. "Go to hell, hero. You think a pair of fancy glowing bracelets is gonna make me sing? I ain't afraid of you. I ain't afraid of prison. And I sure as hell ain't selling out my contacts to a bunch of bleeding hearts."
Ryukyu frowned, her draconic eyes narrowing. "If you do not cooperate, the charges against you will ensure you never see the outside of Tartarus. We are dealing with unregistered, catastrophic weaponry."
"Blah, blah, blah," Grit mocked, rolling his eyes. "Lock me up. Do your worst."
"He doesn't fear the law," Tatsuo said coldly, stepping past Ryukyu. "Because he thinks human laws protect him. But you aren't dealing in human affairs anymore, Grit."
Tatsuo crouched down so he was eye-level with the mercenary. He leaned in close, his face inches from the metal muzzle.
"You've been dealing with alien technology," Tatsuo whispered, his voice dangerously soft, yet carrying enough malice to make the air around them feel colder. "Do you know what the Plumbers do to human traitors who help the DNAliens? We don't send you to Tartarus. We send you to the Null Void. It's an alternate dimension of absolute, infinite sensory deprivation. No sound. No light. No ground to stand on. You just fall in the dark, forever. And the best part for a quirk like yours? There is absolutely no pain. Just an empty, hollow numbness that drives you insane in a week. And I can open a portal right here, right now, and drop you in. No trial. No judge."
No one else heard what Tatsuo said, but they all saw the immediate, visceral reaction.
Grit's cocky demeanor evaporated instantly. The blood completely drained from his face, leaving him a sickening shade of grey. Sweat beaded on his forehead, pouring down his face in rivers. His eyes widened in absolute, primal terror as he looked at the old man's cold, deadpan expression.
"N-No..." Grit stammered, his voice cracking behind the muzzle. "Y-You can't do that. You wouldn't."
"Try me," Tatsuo whispered.
"Okay! Okay!" Grit shouted, thrashing against the cuffs in a panic. "They're at the Blackwood Estate! It's an old, abandoned European-style castle up in the Ashitaka Mountains, deep in the Shizuoka prefecture! Some billionaire built it decades ago and left it to rot! The Knights use it as a staging ground! They have a whole armory there!"
"And who were you buying the weapons for?" Tatsuo pressed, his voice unyielding. "Who is the big man?"
Grit shook his head violently, genuine tears of fear welling in his eyes. "I can't! He'll kill me! If I say his name, he'll rip me apart! I swear to god, I just do the pickups! I don't know anything else!"
Tatsuo stared at him for a long moment, reading his pulse and his panicked breathing. "He's telling the truth. He's too terrified of his boss to give up the name." Tatsuo stood up, raised his hand, and delivered a swift, precise chop to the nerve cluster on the side of Grit's neck. THWACK. The mercenary's eyes rolled back, and he slumped over, unconscious once more.
"Well done," Ryukyu said, though she looked slightly disturbed by how quickly the hardened villain had broken. "I will contact the police to take him into custody. Then, we move on the Blackwood Estate."
"No, we don't," Tatsuo corrected, turning back to Izuku and Kendo. "Midoriya. Itsuka. We're leaving. Let's go."
Ryukyu stepped forward, blocking their path. "Excuse me? You just discovered the location of a heavily armed, extremist terrorist cell. You cannot seriously tell me you intend to assault a fortified castle by yourselves with two children."
"This is not a matter for local law enforcement, or Pro Heroes," Tatsuo said stubbornly. "If more people see the DNAliens, if more people see the tech, the secret will get out. Society is fragile, Ryukyu. The knowledge that we are not alone in the universe, and that the universe wants us dead, will cause mass hysteria. It is my duty as a former Plumber—an intergalactic peacekeeper—to handle this quietly."
"I don't care about your intergalactic jurisdiction!" Ryukyu argued, her voice rising in passion, her protective instincts fully flaring. "My duty is to the people of this country! Those weapons were built to atomize steel. If they get into the hands of the villains operating in my city, thousands of innocent people will die! You are one man and two teenagers! You cannot handle an army alone! It is my responsibility as a hero to stop this, and I will not let you walk into a death trap!"
Tatsuo glared at her, his jaw set. He wanted to argue, but he looked at Izuku. The boy was strong, yes, but he was barely trained. He looked at Itsuka, who had a bandage wrapped hastily around a bleeding scrape on her arm.
He needed them.
Tatsuo let out a heavy breath, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Fine. But you follow my lead. And whatever you see tonight... you take it to your graves."
Ryukyu nodded solemnly. "You have my word."
Ten minutes later, the group was speeding away from Kamino Ward in Tatsuo's vehicle. From the outside, it looked like a standard, albeit slightly bulky, black SUV. But the interior was a marvel of hidden technology. Glowing holographic displays lined the dashboard, tracking atmospheric anomalies and running facial recognition algorithms. The seats were lined with shock-absorbent gel, and the windows were heavily tinted and bulletproof.
Tatsuo drove in silence, navigating the highway toward the mountainous Shizuoka prefecture.
In the back seats, Nejire was practically leaning over the center console, completely unable to contain her curiosity. Ryukyu sat beside her, maintaining her professional composure, but she was listening to every word just as intently.
"Hey hey hey, Mr. Kendo!" Nejire asked, pointing at the dashboard. "Is this an alien car? Does it fly? How many aliens are there on Earth? Do they live in secret cities underground? Do they disguise themselves like in the movies? Have I ever met one? Do they like ice cream?"
Tatsuo couldn't help but chuckle softly at the girl's endless energy. "It's human-made, but modified with Level 3 technology. It doesn't fly, but it can take a hit from a tank. As for aliens on Earth... there are more than you think. Most of them are refugees, merchants, or diplomats stranded here. They use ID Masks—holographic projectors—to blend in and live normal lives. And yes, some of them are quite fond of Earth's junk food."
"Fascinating," Ryukyu murmured. "And the Plumbers? You are a police force for them?"
"We are the Magisters of Peace," Tatsuo explained, his voice taking on a tone of deep respect. "We regulate alien activity on Earth, protect the innocent from extraterrestrial threats, and protect the peaceful aliens from human prejudice. But the organization on Earth... it was put underground years ago. I'm one of the last few active members still on earth."
While Tatsuo answered the heroes' questions, Itsuka's attention was completely focused on the boy sitting next to her.
Izuku was staring down at his left wrist. He was gently turning the dial of the Omnitrix.
Bloop. Bloop. Bloop.
With every click, a new, glowing green hologram popped up from the faceplate. Kendo watched in awe as the silhouettes changed. There was a creature that looked like a giant walking plant with a flame shaped flower head. A bat shaped alien with antenna on its head. A small, strange creature with a large mouth.
"Should you really be playing with that right now?" Kendo asked softly, leaning in slightly. "You don't know what that thing can do, Izuku."
"I'm not playing around with it, I promise," Izuku whispered back, his green eyes reflecting the holographic light. "I'm trying to understand it. When I turned into Humungousaur, I didn't even know what I was doing. The watch was locked, and then it suddenly glowed green and recalibrated itself. It gave me a set of 10 aliens. If I don't know what these guys do, I'll be useless in a fight."
"Midoriya," Tatsuo called from the front seat, looking at him through the rearview mirror. "Stop turning the dial. The Omnitrix is not a toy. If you accidentally engage the locking mechanism or trigger a randomizer function, we won't have time to fix it before we hit the castle."
Izuku immediately froze and pushed the dial down until it clicked shut, the holograms vanishing. "Sorry, Tatsuo-san."
Ryukyu turned around in her seat, her golden eyes locking onto the strange, bulky device on Izuku's wrist. "What exactly is that device, Midoriya? From what I can tell by your red shoes, you have no quirk... yet you physically changed into something else."
Tatsuo answered before Izuku could. "It's called the Omnitrix," he explained carefully, choosing his words to formulate a protective half-truth. "It is an advanced piece of genetic technology. It allows the user to temporarily alter their own DNA to match that of different alien species stored within its database. It is incredibly dangerous, and highly sought after by criminal elements."
Tatsuo conveniently left out the fact that the Omnitrix was a Level 20 piece of technology created by the smartest being in five galaxies, capable of destroying the universe if set to self-destruct, and was currently the most coveted item by every warlord from Earth to the edge of the Milky Way. Ignorance, in this case, was safety.
Ryukyu's expression darkened. She looked at Tatsuo, a fierce, maternal anger flaring in her eyes. "If it is so dangerous, then why does a teenager have it? Why did you bring inexperienced children into a combat zone against armed terrorists, Kendo? They are incredibly brave, but they are just kids. They should be at home, studying for their exams, not fighting monsters in the dark."
Tatsuo gripped the steering wheel tightly, his knuckles turning white. He knew she was right. But he also knew he had no choice.
Before Tatsuo could explain, Izuku suddenly leaned forward, his hands gripping the back of the front seats. His usual timid, nervous demeanor was completely gone.
"I couldn't just sit back," Izuku said, his voice loud, firm, and ringing with absolute conviction.
Everyone in the car went completely silent, startled by the sudden intensity in the boy's voice.
Izuku's eyes were locked onto Ryukyu, blazing with a fire that made the Number 10 Hero sit back slightly. "You're right. I am a kid. I don't have a quirk. But when I saw you getting hurt... when I saw Nejire-senpai suffocating... I couldn't just stand there and watch. If I have the power to help people, to save them, then I have to use it. It doesn't matter how dangerous it is."
Izuku looked down at the Omnitrix, his fingers gently tracing the cool metal casing. His voice cracked slightly, heavy with a grief he had been carrying for days. "This watch... it belonged to my grandfather, Hiroshi Midoriya. He was a Plumber, like Master Tatsuo. A few hours ago, those things... the DNAliens... they attacked my grandpas home. They destroyed it, and my grandpa went missing has gone missing because of them. I don't know if he's alive. I don't know where he is. But I know that those aliens and those Knights are involved."
Izuku looked back up, looking at Ryukyu, Kendo, and Nejire. Tears pricked the corners of his eyes, but his jaw was set like stone. "I have to find him. I have to save him, no matter what it takes. And if I have to fight an army of knights and aliens to do it, then I will. I can't hide away while my family is out there suffering."
The heavy silence returned to the car, but this time, it was filled with absolute, stunned awe.
Ryukyu stared at the boy, completely speechless. She had met hundreds of pro heroes in her career. She had seen veterans who balked at danger, and rookies who ran from responsibility. Yet here was a quirkless fifteen-year-old boy, bearing the crushing weight of a conflict way beyond what most if not any hero has ever been through, stepping into a warzone to save his grandfather and to protect complete strangers, without a single ounce of hesitation.
He embodies the very soul of a hero, Ryukyu thought, deeply humbled by his resolve.
Kendo looked at Izuku, her heart aching for him. She reached out, gently wrapping her hand around his. She gave it a firm, reassuring squeeze, silently promising him that she was with him until the end. Izuku looked at her and offered a small, grateful smile.
Nejire Hado was staring at Izuku like he was the most fascinating, incredible person she had ever met. Her bubbly curiosity had shifted into a deep, profound respect. Her heart gave a strange, unexpected flutter in her chest. She realized she wanted to know everything about Izuku Midoriya. Not just the alien watch, or the giant dinosaur, but the boy underneath it all.
In the driver's seat, Tatsuo kept his eyes on the road, but a proud, bittersweet smile touched his lips. Hiroshi... your boy is becoming an incredible man.
The emotional moment was suddenly shattered as the tires of the SUV let out a sharp SCREEEECH, biting hard into the gravel of a forgotten mountain road. The car skidded to a halt, the headlights cutting through the thick, unnatural fog of the Ashitaka Mountains.
Tatsuo hit the engine kill switch. The dashboard went dark.
"We're here," Tatsuo announced, his voice low and dangerous.
Through the windshield, looming out of the misty darkness like a jagged, rotting tooth, was the Blackwood Estate. It was a massive, sprawling stone castle, completely overgrown with dead ivy. There were no lights in the windows, but a dozen heavy transport trucks were parked in the ruined courtyard.
Hi everyone, if you're enjoying this story so far and hope to read more faster, then for every 10 power stones I recieve I will post 2 chapters in a single day. So every 10 power stones is a day where i'll post twice ! Thanks for your support !!!