Location: Washington D.C. – Department of Defense
Date: Monday | 02:00 PM (EST)
BEEP.
A red dot blinked on the massive digital map covering the wall of the Pentagon's secure command center.
Secretary of Defense Davis stood at the head of a long, heavy oak table. He crossed his arms, staring intensely at the screen.
The dot was hovering right over a military runway in New York.
"General Roberts," Davis said, his voice tense. "Please tell me that satellite transponder is glitching."
General Roberts, a man with grey hair and a chest full of medals, turned to the young intelligence analyst sitting at the terminal.
"Verify that signal," Roberts ordered.
The analyst typed rapidly on his keyboard. He swallowed hard before looking up at the high-ranking officials surrounding him.
"It's not a glitch, sir," the analyst said. "Captain Celebrity touched down in New York twenty minutes ago. He completely bypassed all standard air traffic controls and ignored the FAA warnings."
"He just left?!" Secretary Davis yelled, throwing his hands up. "We stationed him in Tokyo for a specific reason! He is our primary heavy deterrent against the League of Villains and All For One! The Japanese HPSC is going to call my office in ten minutes asking why our biggest gun just flew home!"
"Settle down, Arthur," a woman in a sharp black suit spoke up from the side of the table.
It was Director Vance, head of overseas intelligence. "Panicking won't put him back in the air."
"I'm not panicking, Vance. I'm furious," Davis snapped. "Did we issue a recall order? Did Japan kick him out?"
"Neither," Vance replied, looking down at her encrypted tablet. "According to our intercepted comms, he left voluntarily."
General Roberts narrowed his eyes. "Why would he abandon a highly classified post? Was there a credible threat? Did someone target his family?"
"No, General," Vance said. She let out a long, tired sigh.
SIGH.
She looked around the room at the top military leaders of the United States. "He found out that Cathleen Bate hired a private logistics consultant from Japan. Arisaka Kaito. Christopher found out about the contract and... well, he got jealous."
"..."
"..."
The entire command center went dead silent.
General Roberts stared at Vance.
Secretary Davis looked like he was trying to process a different language.
The sheer, unbelievable stupidity of the reason left the room full of hardened politicians and military veterans completely speechless.
"Jealous," Roberts repeated slowly. His voice dropped into a dangerous, quiet tone. "He abandoned a classified international post... because Cassie hired a new manager."
"It appears so, General," Vance said dryly. "He wants to make sure he isn't being replaced as the Number One American hero."
SMASH.
General Roberts slammed his fist onto the heavy oak table.
"I don't care about his billboard rankings!" Roberts roared. "Get him on a secure line right now! Tell him to turn his ass around and fly back to Tokyo before I court-martial him for dereliction of duty!"
"Right away, General!" the analyst scrambled, grabbing his headset and frantically dialing the secure frequency.
_-_-_-_-_-_
Time: 02:15 PM (EST)
BZZZT.
The communications analyst yanked off his headset.
He rubbed his face, looking back at the generals gathered around the console.
"Sir," the analyst hesitated. "He rejected the secure voice channel."
"Then dial it again!" Secretary Davis snapped, pacing behind the row of monitors.
"I can't. He blocked the incoming frequency," the analyst explained. He held up a secure military smartphone. "And he just sent a direct text message to the Pentagon's emergency alert hotline."
General Roberts marched over and snatched the phone. He glared at the screen.
There was a single message from Christopher Skyline.
[Don't worry, the Symbol of Hope is here now! 👍]
"....."
General Roberts closed his eyes. The muscle in his jaw twitched.
He slowly turned the phone around so the rest of the room could see the screen.
Secretary Davis stopped pacing. He stared at the glowing screen in pure disbelief. "Did he seriously just send a thumbs-up emoji to the Department of Defense?"
"He knows we can't touch him physically," Director Vance said from her seat.
She didn't sound angry, just deeply exhausted. "He is a walking PR nightmare, but he's still our strongest asset in the Pacific. If we send military police to the New York base, Christopher will just cause a scene. Someone will record it, and the government will look completely incompetent."
"MPs can't arrest a guy who bench-presses cruise ships anyway," General Roberts grumbled, tossing the phone back onto the console. "Standard military orders don't work on him. We need to use the nuclear option."
Secretary Davis frowned. "What nuclear option? We don't have the legal authority to freeze his hero license without a full hearing."
"Not the law, Arthur," Vance said, rubbing her temples. She looked at the analyst. "Pull up the direct line to his wife. Put it on speaker."
The analyst quickly typed on his keyboard, dialing a private domestic number.
RING. RING.
Three thousand miles away, in a spacious suburban home, Pamela Skyline was bouncing a sleeping toddler on her hip.
With her free hand, she was scrolling through a stack of her husband's latest merchandising contracts.
Her personal phone buzzed on the kitchen counter.
SIGH.
She saw the encrypted Washington D.C. caller ID. She let out a quiet, tired sigh, adjusting the baby on her hip before picking it up.
"This is Pamela," she answered, keeping her voice low so she wouldn't wake the kid.
"Mrs. Skyline," Director Vance's voice came through the phone. "This is Director Vance with the Department of Defense. I have General Roberts and Secretary Davis here with me. We have a serious situation regarding your husband."
Pamela stopped looking at the contracts. She pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Let me guess," Pamela whispered harshly. "He flew to New York."
Secretary Davis leaned closer to the command center's microphone. "Yes, ma'am. He abandoned a highly classified international post. He is currently ignoring our direct orders to return to Tokyo."
Pamela closed her eyes.
Christopher had actually grown up a lot over the last few months.
The Sky Egg incident and Kaito's management had turned him into a genuine hero.
He wasn't cheating on her anymore, and he was actually a decent father and a husband.
But the second he felt his spotlight was threatened by Cathleen Bate getting a new manager, his brain completely reverted to a jealous toddler.
"I swear to God, I leave him alone in Japan to work for a few months, and his ego causes an international incident," Pamela muttered into the phone.
The baby shifted on her hip, letting out a small, sleepy babble. Pamela gently patted his back to soothe him.
"Listen to me, General," Pamela continued. "Do not send armed guards to that base. It will just make Christopher stubborn, and he will end up breaking your jets to prove a point."
"Then how do we get him back on mission, Mrs. Skyline?" General Roberts asked, his voice tight with frustration.
"I'll handle it," Pamela answered, her tone shifting into pure, authoritative wifey mode.
"I'll get the nanny to watch the baby, and I'll take the private jet to New York right now. I'm going to grab him by the ear and personally drag him back to Japan."
The heavy tension inside the Pentagon command center instantly vanished. Secretary Davis let out a loud breath of relief.
"We highly appreciate your cooperation, ma'am," Vance said.
CLICK.
Pamela hung up the phone. She looked down at her sleeping child, shaking her head.
"Your father is an absolute idiot," Pamela whispered.
She walked toward the living room to call the nanny.
_-_-_-_-_-_
Location: New York – Star and Stripe HQ (Briefing Room)
Date: Tuesday | 09:00 AM (EST)
The secure briefing room smelled strongly of dark roast coffee and whiteboard markers.
Kaito stood at the front of the room next to a large digital screen. He had his sleeves rolled up to his elbows.
Sitting around the long metal table were Cathleen Bate, Ethan, Timothy, Kashiko, Jackson and other pilots.
They all had fresh cups of coffee and open notepads.
Captain Celebrity was nowhere to be seen.
Cathleen had explicitly locked him out of the room so they could actually get some work done without him complaining about camera angles.
"Let's start with your Quirk, Cathleen," Kaito said.
He tapped the screen, pulling up a file titled *New Order*.
"You can touch an object, call its name, and assign a new rule to it. But you have a hard limit. Two rules at a time."
"Right," Cathleen nodded. She leaned her elbows on the metal table. "I usually keep one rule on myself to enhance my physical strength to match the heavy hitters. I keep the second rule open for an attack, like grabbing the air."
"And that is exactly where your bottleneck is," Kaito said plainly. "You are treating a reality-warping power like a blunt hammer."
Cathleen frowned slightly. "A blunt hammer works. If I hit them hard enough, they go down."
"But it costs you half your entire arsenal just to throw a punch," Kaito pointed out. He picked up a black marker and drew a simple flowchart on the board. "We are going to change how you write your rules. We are going to use basic programming logic."
Timothy sat up a little straighter, pushing his glasses up his nose. "Wait. You mean like an If/Else statement in coding?"
Ethan looked over at him, looking completely lost. "Speak English, Tim."
"It's computer programming, boss," Timothy explained quickly, gesturing with his coffee cup. "You set a condition. If X happens, the computer does Y. If it doesn't, it does Z."
"Exactly," Kaito said, pointing the marker at Timothy.
He looked back at Cathleen. "Instead of using a static buff like 'I am super strong', you set a condition. You say: 'If my feet touch the ground, my body is an immovable object. If I am in the air, I am completely weightless.'"
Cathleen blinked. She stared at the board, her brain working through the logic.
"Wait," Cathleen said, her jaw dropping slightly. "That gives me two completely different physical states depending on where I am..."
"But it only costs one rule slot," Kaito finished. "Because the rule is defining your relationship with gravity. It is a single state of being, just with conditional reactions. You just doubled your operational efficiency."
"...."
"...."
Ethan let out a low, impressed whistle. "Damn... That's a massive upgrade."
"We go further," Kaito said. He swiped the digital board to a new blank page. "Vector manipulation... You constantly try to increase your own raw strength so you can fight villains head-on... Stop doing that... Make physics do the heavy lifting for you."
Kaito looked at the towering woman. "Instead of making your muscles stronger, you apply a rule to your flight suit. You state: 'All kinetic energy directed at my body is reflected outward at two hundred percent power.'"
"...."
The room went completely quiet. The pilots just stared at Kaito.
Jackson, the heavily built pilot who handled close-quarters combat training, leaned back in his chair. "Are you serious? So if a guy with a strength Quirk punches her directly in the chest..."
"He shatters his own arm," Kaito nodded. "And the resulting shockwave hits him twice as hard, throwing him through a wall. Cathleen doesn't even need to throw a counter-punch. She becomes an untouchable wall, and her second rule slot is completely free."
"Holy crap," Kashiko muttered. She grabbed her pen and started writing furiously on her notepad.
"And for your offense," Kaito continued. He drew a rough sketch of a combat knife on the board. "Conceptual sharpness. You don't need to make the air into a giant fist. Grabbing the atmosphere takes too much focus and drains your stamina."
Kaito walked away from the board and stepped up to the table. He picked up a solid metal pen and held it up for everyone to see.
"You apply a rule to a physical weapon," Kaito said, tossing the pen lightly into the air and catching it. "You say: 'This object ignores molecular cohesion.' You don't need super strength to swing it. You can just lightly drag this blade across a steel vault door, or a villain's energy shield, and it will effortlessly slide right through. You turn a simple piece of metal into a weapon that cuts through space itself."
Cathleen stared at the metal pen in Kaito's hand.
She looked down at her own calloused palms. She had spent her entire career idolizing All Might.
She had spent years trying to copy his brute strength, forcing her Quirk to act like a physical enhancement. She never realized she could just change the laws of physics instead of fighting them.
"This is insane," Cathleen whispered.
A massive, genuinely excited grin started to spread across her face. "Arisaka, this changes everything about how I fight."
"That is just your personal combat," Kaito said, setting the pen back down on the table. He looked around the room at the eager pilots. "Now, we integrate the squadron."
_-_-_-_-_
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Kaito tapped the digital board again. A schematic of the squadron's X-66 fighter jets appeared on the screen.
"The current tactic is simple," Kaito said. "The jets fly in a guard formation. Cathleen touches them to physically redirect them or grab the lasers. It is highly inefficient. We are going to build a tactical circuit."
He looked at the pilots sitting around the table.
"I already sent a request to the engineering bay to install Resonance Coils into your jets," Kaito explained. "When you fly in a specific geometric formation like a tight pentagon, these coils link your jets together energetically."
Timothy leaned forward, his eyes tracking the diagram on the board. "So the energy signature overlaps. We become a single connected network."
"Yes," Kaito nodded. "And because the jets are connected, Cathleen's Quirk will treat the entire fleet as a single, solid object."
Kaito looked at Cathleen. "You touch your lead jet. You set the rule: 'Anything inside this flight formation is subject to my law.' You instantly create a five-mile dead zone. You don't have to touch the villain directly anymore. If your pilots surround the target, the villain is trapped inside your rule."
Ethan slammed his hand on the metal table.
THWACK.
"That is brilliant!" Ethan grinned, looking at his squad. "We actually get to trap the targets for her instead of just watching her back!"
"And for your weapons," Kaito pointed to the jet's laser cannons on the schematic. "Lasers are just concentrated light. But Cathleen can make them physical. She sets a rule: 'These lasers are unbreakable chains.'"
Kashiko stopped writing on her notepad. She looked up. "Wait. So when we fire..."
"You aren't shooting to kill the target," Kaito said. "You shoot a literal cage around a high-tier threat. You instantly lock them down from the sky, and it doesn't drain Cathleen's stamina to hold them."
"...."
The pilots were completely energized now.
They leaned over the table, quickly sketching out flight formations and talking over each other with new tactical ideas.
"Okay, this is amazing," Cathleen said, holding her hands up to quiet the room. The pilots settled down. "But Arisaka, there is a massive problem. The Pentagon."
Ethan let out a heavy sigh, leaning back in his chair. "She's right. We can have all the tactical circuits in the world, but if Washington doesn't give us the green light, we can't deploy."
"I thought Admiral Agpar handled your deployments," Kaito noted.
"He does," Cathleen explained, her tone turning serious. "Agpar is on our side. He fights the brass for us every single day. But his hands are tied. The politicians treat me like a nuclear launch key. They won't let the Admiral authorize a launch unless it's a declared national emergency. It drives him crazy."
Kaito didn't look worried. He opened his black briefcase, pulled out a thick legal document, and dropped it on the metal table.
THUD.
"Then we give the Admiral a better shield," Kaito said plainly. "A legal one."
Cathleen raised an eyebrow. "A loophole?"
"The military restricts you because you are classified as a Strategic Asset," Kaito explained. "So, we bypass that classification. We draft a 'Standing Order for Immediate Life Preservation.'"
Kaito tapped the document.
"This order states that if a civilian life is at a ninety-nine percent risk of loss, the squadron is pre-authorized to engage. But here is the trick. We aren't giving the authority to Cathleen."
Kaito looked at Ethan and the Bros.
"We are giving it to you," Kaito noted. "You are all active-duty military officers. I am having your helmet HUDs upgraded. If you spot a villain threat on radar, you press a button. That button officially logs a 'Request for Tactical Support' from your commanding officer, Cathleen Bate."
"...."
"...."
The room went completely silent as the sheer brilliance of the legal hack set in.
"If the pilots request support, Cathleen isn't going rogue," Kaito said, a small smirk finally breaking through his serious expression. "She is simply fulfilling a direct field request from her troops. Agpar can stamp the paperwork as 'supporting soldiers in active combat' instead of 'deploying a strategic asset.' The lawyers in Washington can't do anything about it."
Ethan started laughing. It was a loud, genuine laugh of pure relief.
"Haha... We basically get to weaponize the chain of command," Ethan cheered, high-fiving Timothy across the table. "Agpar is going to love this. It gives him the perfect excuse to let us off the leash."
"This is completely airtight," Kashiko said, quickly reading through the first page of the legal document. "Arisaka, you are a lifesaver."
Cathleen looked at Kaito.
She felt a massive weight lift off her shoulders. For years, she and Agpar had fought a losing battle against the government's red tape. In less than twenty-four hours, this young man from Japan had completely shattered those chains.
"Thank you, Kaito," Cathleen said sincerely.
_-_-_-_-_-_
Location: The Main Hangar
Time: 08:30 AM (EST)
Kaito stood near a cluster of computer terminals, checking the baseline physical metrics for the morning tests.
A few feet away, Christopher was sitting on a stack of metal crates.
Nom. Nom-nom.
He was eating a powdered donut, loudly complaining over the noise of the base.
Ethan was lying flat on a creeper underneath an X-66 jet, holding a wrench.
"I'm just saying, Ethan," Christopher chewed, gesturing with the donut. "Japan treats heroes right. My face is plastered on an Osaka bullet train. You guys are stuck wearing standard green jumpsuits. You need to let me introduce Cassie to some actual merchandise guys."
"We don't sell merchandise, Chris," Ethan groaned from underneath the wing. "We're the US military."
"Yeah, and it shows! Haha.." Christopher let out his booming laugh. "No brand recognition at all. Cassie wants to keep the Number Two spot, she needs to step it up. That's why I had to fly out here. I have to make sure Arisaka isn't giving away my trade secrets."
Cathleen was stretching her hamstrings on the training mats.
She rolled her eyes. "Christopher, please stop talking. My head is starting to hurt."
Click. Clack.
Footsteps echoed sharply against the concrete.
The side doors of the hangar were open. Pamela Skyline walked in.
She was wearing a heavy travel coat over a comfortable sweater, looking exactly like a mother who had just spent six hours on a red-eye flight.
She looked exhausted, and she looked incredibly pissed off.
The two mechanics working near the door took one look at her face and immediately scrambled out of her way.
Christopher stopped talking.
The powdered donut slipped right through his fingers. It hit the concrete floor.
Gah-kough.
"Pamela?" Christopher choked out. All the blood drained from his face.
"Christopher," Pamela said. Her voice wasn't loud. It was terrifyingly calm.
Step. Step. Step.
She walked straight up to the crates.
Christopher immediately hopped off the metal boxes, his posture snapping perfectly straight.
The massive Symbol of Hope suddenly looked like a terrified teenager.
Ethan slid out from under the jet, his eyes wide.
Cathleen stopped stretching, a highly entertained grin breaking out on her face.
"Do you have any idea what it took to get the nanny to cover a last-minute overnight shift?" Pamela stopped right in front of him. "I leave you alone in Tokyo for a few months so you can actually do your job, and I get a phone call from the Secretary of Defense because my husband decided to throw a temper tantrum and hijack his patrol route."
"Pamela, honey, listen," Christopher held his hands up defensively. He tried to use his deep hero voice, but it wavered. "It wasn't a temper tantrum! Cassie hired Arisaka! I needed to make sure she wasn't taking my spot!"
"He is a consultant!" Pamela snapped, poking him hard in the center of his chest. Christopher actually flinched. "And you left Japan because you were feeling insecure! I had to leave our son at home to fly across the damn country and clean up your mess!"
"I'm sorry," Christopher mumbled.
"You are a father now," Pamela said, her voice dropping into a harsh whisper. "We are a family. Stop acting like a jealous toddler."
Christopher stared down at his boots. "Yes, dear."
"Go to the barracks and get your bags," Pamela ordered, pointing toward the hallway. "The jet is waiting on the civilian runway. We are flying back to Tokyo right now. And you are buying me a very expensive dinner when we land."
"Okay," Christopher said quietly.
He turned around and trudged toward the hallway, his massive shoulders completely slumped.
Ethan slowly stood up, wiping grease off his hands with a rag. He stared at Pamela in pure awe. He had never seen anyone put Captain Celebrity in his place before.
SIGH.
Pamela let out a heavy, tired exhale. She rubbed the bridge of her nose, the angry-wife demeanor fading away.
She turned and walked over to the computer terminal where Kaito was standing.
Her expression softened completely into a warm, genuine smile.
"You must be Kaito," Pamela said, holding her hand out.
"I am," Kaito replied, shaking her hand. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Skyline."
"Call me Pamela," she said. She looked him directly in the eyes. Her tone was incredibly sincere. "I know my husband is an absolute idiot right now. But before you took over his operations in Japan, he was a cheating, reckless mess. Our marriage was falling apart."
She squeezed his hand.
"You didn't just fix his PR," Pamela continued. "You made him a decent father. You fixed my husband, Kaito. I just wanted to say thank you."
Kaito let go of her hand. He gave a small, respectful nod.
"I just laid out the parameters," Kaito replied simply. "He made the choice to follow them."
Pamela chuckled softly. She turned back toward the hallway.
"Christopher! Move your ass!" Pamela yelled. "I am not paying the airport parking fees for another hour!"
"I'm coming!" Christopher yelled back from the hall. He jogged out, awkwardly hauling his heavy duffel bags.
Pamela walked out of the hangar. Christopher followed closely behind her, keeping his head down.
Pamela treated the entire international incident like a minor, annoying chore she had to check off her list.
Cathleen walked up next to Kaito, watching the couple cross the tarmac.
She finally let out the loud laugh she had been holding back.
"HAHA. Oh my god!," Cathleen wiped a tear from her eye. "I need her number. That was the greatest thing I have ever seen."
"She is effective," Kaito agreed.
THUD.
He tossed his empty water bottle into a nearby bin and picked up his tablet. He turned back to Cathleen and the flight squad.
"All right," Kaito said, his voice dropping back into a crisp, clinical tone. "The distractions are gone. Get on the mats, Cathleen. Let's start the physical calibration."
_-_-_-_-_
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