The Hero Backdraft worked quickly, using his water Quirk to carve a clean, safe path through the lingering smoke and debris so that medical personnel could reach the injured.
Near the scene, medical staff and police surrounded the two conscious teenagers. Midoriya Izuku, the green-haired boy, was being harshly reprimanded by heroes for his reckless, Quirkless charge into danger. Meanwhile, Bakugo Katsuki, the blonde with the explosion Quirk, was being enthusiastically praised and solicited by the heroes into their agency.
All Might, still concealed,, kept his intense focus on Adam, the boy who lay unconscious near the shop sign.
"I can't be wrong,"
All Might thought, his breath held tight.
"That black light I saw in the morning, that pitch-black color… it's identical to the substance that appeared on his hand and covered the villain. Could his Quirk have lost control and caused the strange incident this morning? It seems to break apart anything it touches… but when it passed over me and the other civilians, it caused no damage. Why? Am I wrong? Is this just a terrifying similarity? No. I must confirm it myself! I must—Huh?"
All Might's golden eyes narrowed. Below, the scattered green sludge was slowly, agonizingly, drawing back together, condensing and reforming into its previous grotesque shape.
The Sludge Villain was a terrified and angry.
He Got Shattered into tiny fragments by the boy's power, he had fought against his own molecular repulsion. Each part felt slippery, refusing to fuse. But through sheer, desperate will, he had finally managed to reclaim his form.
He let out a shaky sigh of relief, instantly replaced by a roaring surge of hate.
"That Brat! That Bastard is the one who did it!!"
The Sludge Villain's eyes, bulging with rage, turned blood-red. His dream, acquiring a powerful vessel, rising up, had been ruined.
"I'll take your body as compensation!"
With a speed born of malice, the Sludge Villain shot toward the unconscious Adam. Nurses and medical staff screamed, scrambling backward in sheer, immobilized fright.
"Your power will be mine!! Ha ha ha ha ha!"
SWOOOOSH—
A golden flash tore through the smoke—
BOOOOM!!!
Like a thunderclap of golden lightning, the massive, muscular figure of the Symbol of Peace appeared at the blink of an eye, materializing instantly between the villain and the vulnerable boy.
"As if I'll allow you!" All Might roared.
"ALL—MIGHT!!" The green Sludge Villain shrieked, instantly freezing in mid-air, the panic draining all aggression from his body.
He didn't even have a chance to turn and run before he heard the final, terrible verdict of his demise:
"DETROIT SMASH!!!"
The powerful fist never touched the villain. It slammed only into the air, compressing it violently and releasing a shockwave that tore through the alley. The invisible force sent the Sludge Villain's body flying away, ripped apart into countless inert pieces. The remaining fires were instantly extinguished by the hurricane-force airwaves.
People and heroes nearby were nearly swept away, saved only when Mt. Lady, reacting instantly, used her gigantic, quickly enlarged arms as a massive protective barrier.
The immense shockwave generated a swirling tornado, sucking up all the leftover black smoke and debris. It rose into the sky, gathering nearby clouds and squeezing the moisture from them.
It began to rain.
All Might stood tall in the sudden downpour, steam visibly rising from his muscular body as he gasped for breath. His form was beginning to fail, but he used every ounce of willpower to steady himself, his hand discretely wiping away a small trickle of blood that seeped from his mouth, a cost of forcing his body past its limit.
For a full minute… the world was silent.
Everyone stared at the enormous blond man who had appeared from nowhere, wearing a simple white shirt and green army pants.
"ALL MIGHT!!"
"Hey! He made it rain! With just one punch?!!"
"He changed the weather with a casual blow!"
"That's All Might for ya!"
The onlookers erupted in a frenzied, triumphant roar, the cheers drowning out the sound of the rain.
All Might lifted his right hand high, declaring his victory with his characteristic, world-saving smile.
'Just hold it. Just for a moment longer…'
"Huh?"
A sudden, sharp chill, cold as ice, ran up All Might's spine.
"What a pure killing intent!"
He turned, his enhanced senses instantly pinpointing the source. His eyes zoomed onto a building directly facing the shopping district. On the rooftop stood a teenager clad in all black. What made the hero's blood run cold was the disturbing array of pale, zombie-like hands covering the boy's face, neck, and shoulders.
Beside him stood the swirling humanoid form of purple dark mist.
"Villains?!"
All Might saw the hatred, a focused, almost materialized desire to kill, oozing from the young man.
"I should capture him Right now!" All Might thought, his vision wavering. "But my body has reached its absolute limit. If I dare to use my power one more time, the whole world will see my true, weakened form! damn it!"
But looking at the chilling figure of the teenage villain, All Might made his decision. he can't let the villain dare to do something now, He couldn't risk the exposure, but he could risk a bluff.
He dropped instantly into a low, pre-running stance, channeling every remaining ounce of One For All into his posture.
he radiated imminent, world-ending speed, with an an unmistakable message:
"If you move, I'll be there before you blink."
...
A few moments earlier, back on the observation rooftop, Shigaraki Tomura and Kurogiri tracked the renewed action below.
"Tomura," Kurogiri murmured, his misty form slightly relieved. "It seems our candidate has regained consciousness. He managed to pull himself back together."
Shigaraki laughed, a sharp, manic sound. "Ha ha ha, I take back my words! The world is fair! Go, sewage! Go rebel against this hero society and kill that brat!"
"The boy is in serious danger, Shigaraki-san. The sludge is purely driven by anger now."
"THAT'S GOOD!" Shigaraki shrieked, scratching the skin below his facial hand. "Kill him! That is the proper result for anyone who tries to be a hero, they must die!"
But before the sludge could reach its target, a thunderous BANG! erupted. A colossal, muscular blond man in a simple white shirt and green trousers appeared instantaneously, positioning himself directly between the charging villain and the unconscious boy.
The man clenched his enormous fist. Just the compression of his muscles made the residual smoke and heat around him shudder. Then, he smashed the air in front of him toward the Sludge Villain.
The resulting shockwave was blinding. Shigaraki and Kurogiri suddenly saw nothing but a massive, opaque wall of air and wind. A miniature tornado manifested, soaring into the sky, violently swallowing all the black smoke. The clouds above instantly gathered, thickening, and squeezing out water.
Rain began to fall, washing the filthy street clean.
"C-Cheater!! That's absolute cheating!" Tomura Shigaraki began tearing at his neck and face with intense speed, oblivious as flakes of skin peeled away.
Next to him, Kurogiri involuntarily opened a small, black sliver of the warp gate, his tone heavy with fear and respect.
"The Symbol of Peace... All Might... he seems unaffected? Was he simply occupied? His strength is still as utterly ridiculous as always. Tomura, we must leave. With that man's speed and his sharpness, he can reach this rooftop in an instant. We cannot risk capture."
Shigaraki screamed his rage at the unmoving, steaming figure below. "Ah... game over... ALL MIGHT!!! I'LL DESTROY YOU! I'LL DESTROY YOUR FAKE SYMBOL OF PEACE! I'll destroy everything you have built! Just you wait!"
Kurogiri, still watching through the binoculars, suddenly saw All Might's massive head turn toward their rooftop. The hero then sank low, planting his feet into a terrifying, pre-running stance—the posture of a man about to launch himself at impossible velocity.
"TOMURA! QUICKLY! ENTER THE WARP GATE!!!"
Tomura Shigaraki, recognizing the difference in power, abandoned his screaming rage. He jumped backward, falling into the safety of the misty void.
Kurogiri followed suit, his misty form flowing into the gate. He closed it instantly and tightly, worried that All Might might somehow follow them through the dimensional tear.
He did not notice the small, single red feather clinging tightly to the metal brace at the back of his neck.
On the street below, seeing the two dark figures vanish in a flash of purple mist, All Might breathed a heavy, internal sigh of relief.
"Phew. They were fooled," he thought, holding his perfect smile. "That warp gate user—his Quirk is devastatingly dangerous; he can appear and disappear at will. But that kid... the leader... I felt a vile, cold intent from him. My gut is shouting at me that something truly terrible will happen because of that boy. I hope my bluff was the correct call, because I certainly couldn't have forced the capture."
...
Hawks saw the entire events unfolding. He saw All Might's terrifying display of power, and he saw the two villains shrink back and flee.
"I guess luck is on my side," he thought, pulling his wings in tight. "I don't have to show myself or confront them, which might have startled the snake. Should I tell All Might what I learned immediately? Hmm, he noticed them himself, they were clearly scared of him."
"No. Better safe."
"I should do this without the media frenzy seeing me interacting with the Symbol of Peace," he decided. "I'll track him secretly and have a private conversation."
As for the League of Villains, that was now a secondary, long-term operation.
Hawks swiftly pulled out his phone and made a rapid call to his sidekick.
"Hey, where are you now? Okay, good. Remain there. I'm sending a feather your way. Follow its direction as fast as possible. Don't ask questions now. When you reach the destination, do not, under any circumstances, take action. Just watch."
Hawks already had numerous covert feathers placed around the city, telekinetically guided the feather closest to his sidekick and delivered it.
Hawks was sent specifically by the HPSC to find the source of the quirks incident, in order to gather intelligence quickly, he had already put several of his feathers across the city.
The task of tracking the unknown League of Villains was now delegated. Hawks' current, immediate priority was to close the distance on the Number One Hero and share his chilling discovery.
After All, he seems to be the main target of the villains.
---SaikiKusu---
Brother and Sisters, Thank you for reading, I Hope you liked what I cooked up. I'm eager to hear your theories, can you figure out my intentions from the clues I've dropped? Tell me what you expect to happen so I can either subvert your predictions or do it more subtly.
please consider leaving a review and a comment , your feedback help me improve and help the story reach more readers. Donations of power stones also boost ranking and visibility, and are greatly appreciated.
One more thing: what do you think about Adam's power, and how do you expect him to use it going forward? Share your theories!