Location: Chiyoda Commercial District
Time: 6 Days Later
SWIISH.
A thief in a gray hoodie sprinted down the crowded sidewalk.
He carried a stolen cash register drawer under his arm. Coins spilled out onto the pavement.
"Youre going nowhere." Ricochet stood at the end of the block. She slapped both hands against the asphalt.
BOING. BOING.
A wide square of the street instantly turned to bouncy rubber.
A young sidekick named Ren ran out from an alleyway.
He had a speed type quirk. He stepped directly onto the rubber trap.
BOING.
Ren launched forward like a rocket. He flew through the air and tackled the thief right in the chest.
THUD.
They both crashed into a pile of empty cardboard boxes. Ren tumbled awkwardly, hitting his shoulder hard against a metal trash can.
"Ow," Ren groaned, rubbing his arm. He grabbed the thief by the collar and pulled a zip-tie from his belt.
Back at the dispatch center, Aoto watched the body-cam feeds on his monitor. He pressed the radio button.
"Pod Bravo, target secured. Local police are moving in," Aoto spoke clearly.
Kaito stood behind Aoto, drinking a cup of green tea.
"The man needs to tuck his shoulder when he rolls," Kaito noted casually. "But he cleared the civilian zone perfectly. No property damage."
Aoto nodded, typing the incident report into the system. The new agency rhythm was finally clicking into place.
...
Time: 8 Days Later
Location: Chiyoda Suburbs
CREAK. CREAK.
The living room smelled like dust.
Hiroshi pressed a hand against his forehead. He wrapped his other arm tightly around his wife, Miyu.
Miyu sat on the hardwood floor, rocking back and forth. She held her young son, Tomo, against her chest.
UWAAA. HIK. HIK.
Tomo cried uncontrollably. He gasped for air, his small shoulders shaking from a severe panic attack.
Clack. Clack. Clack.
Trapezius Headgear paced back and forth in front of them.
Grumble.
His stomach growled loudly. He gripped his own stomach, sweating through his torn shirt. His quirk gave him incredibly thick, spiked shoulder muscles and a heavy, reinforced skull.
His shoulders were so wide he scraped the wallpaper off the hallway walls just walking inside.
"Shut the kid up!" Trapezius yelled, his voice cracking. He pointed a large finger at Hiroshi. "I didn't want to do this! I didn't want to break into your house!"
Hiroshi pulled his family closer, terrified to speak.
"Look at me!" Trapezius grabbed the sides of his own head. "I can't even fit through the doors at the hiring offices! Nobody wants a freak working for them! I haven't eaten a real meal in weeks!"
Trapezius turned around.
He pressed his spiked shoulders directly against the main wooden support pillars in the center of the living room.
He leaned his heavy head out the broken front window.
"I want ten million yen!" Trapezius screamed at the police cars and local pros parked on the street. "And a car! Bring me the cash right now or I snap these pillars! I will drop the second floor right on top of this family!"
Outside the house, local heroes hid behind the police cruisers.
A hero with a water-whip quirk wiped sweat from his neck. He looked at the police captain.
"Captain, we cannot breach," the local hero stuttered, his hands shaking. "He has complete leverage. If he snaps that wood, the roof caves in before I can even reach the family."
Behind the yellow police tape, a crowd of civilians pushed against the barricades.
Dozens of people held their smartphones high in the air, recording the standoff live.
"Why aren't the heroes moving?" a young guy in the crowd complained, zooming his camera in on the broken window.
"Look at the little boy crying in there," a woman covered her mouth. "He is going to drop the roof on them."
"Someone do something!"
SKRRRT.
A black tactical van parked aggressively at the intersection.
Slid.
Crust stepped onto the pavement. He wore his thick agency armor. Phalanx and Ricochet hopped out right behind him.
The crowd immediately shifted their phones toward the van.
"It's Crust!"
"The Shield Agency is here!"
Crust walked past the squad cars. He looked at the broken window, analyzing the layout of the house.
"Pod Alpha," Crust spoke calmly into his radio earpiece. "Secure the civilian zone. Leave the lawn to me."
"Copy," Phalanx replied.
Phalanx ran to the yellow police tape. He raised his hands and deployed his Layered Vacuum Spacing.
Five paper-thin light shields stacked over the crowd, creating an invisible, bulletproof barrier between the house and the civilians.
Ricochet jogged behind the police cars. She slapped her hands against the asphalt, rubberizing a wide section of the street to create a safe landing zone for any falling debris.
Crust stepped onto the green grass of the front yard.
Trapezius Headgear saw him approaching. Panic washed over the villain's face.
"I said stay back!" Trapezius screamed desperately. "I will definitely harm them!"
Seeing that Crust still walking forward to him, Trapezius flexed his legs.
BAANG.
He slammed his spiked shoulders hard into the wooden support pillars.
CRACK.
The wood splintered completely in half.
CREAK-BOOM.
The heavy wooden beams above the living room started to crash down directly toward the hostages.
"No you dont."
He activated his new technique.
SWISH. SCRATCH.
Thick, jagged stone scales erupted from his chest and arms. The micro-hexagons fused together instantly, forming a heavy, wedge-shaped drill over his entire front side.
SWOOOSH.
Crust charged across the grass at maximum speed.
CRASH.
The razor-sharp leading edge of his stone armor sliced completely through the exterior brick wall and the front door.
THUD.
Crust blew into the living room, tearing the entrance open.
"GET OUT! I JUST NEED SOME MONEY!" Trapezius roared in fear.
Driven by pure survival instinct, the villain lunged forward.
BOOOM.
He threw his entire body weight into a desperate punch, slamming his reinforced skull and spiked shoulder directly at Crust's chest.
Crust dropped the armor.
CRACKLE-SKKKRD.
He shifted his quirk to the Kinetic Absorption Battery. He forced his stone cells to become extremely porous.
BAM.
The heavy blow connected.
Crust didn't even flinch. He planted his feet firmly on the floorboards.
The porous stone cells compressed, trapping every ounce of the kinetic energy from the villain's punch.
Crust aggressively expanded his body mass a fraction of a second later.
BOOM.
He released the trapped pressure in a directed kinetic shockwave.
"Aghh!"
The blast hit Trapezius point-blank, launching the heavy villain backward across the living room and completely separating him from the terrified family.
RUMBLE.
THUD.
The ceiling beams directly above the family snapped. The roof was a second away from crushing them.
Crust raised both arms straight up. He fired massive hexagonal shields directly into the falling ceiling beams.
CLANG.
The shields locked deeply into the wood and plaster.
Crust used Structural Bracing, physically catching the collapsing roof and holding the entire second floor securely in place.
Without missing a beat, Crust pointed his wrists at the stunned villain on the floor.
He fired a rapid succession of detached plates into the air around Trapezius.
CRACKLE.
A wave of cellular calcification triggered. The floating plates slammed together instantly. Thick stone bars bridged the gaps.
A Hexagonal Cage formed around Trapezius Headgear. The heavy stone prison dropped to the floor, locking the villain inside a multi-tiered box. It crushed his footing and pinned his arms tight to his sides.
"Let me out!" Trapezius couldn't move.
The living room went completely silent.
"..."
The entire sequence took exactly six seconds. The roof didn't fall and the family hostage didn't have a single scratch on them.
Crust knelt down on one knee. He looked at young Tomo and offered a warm, wide smile.
"Take a deep breath, kid," Crust said gently. "You are completely safe now."
HUFF.
Tomo stopped hyperventilating. He looked at the hero and hugged his mother tightly.
"HERE!"
Agency medics rushed through the broken wall, carrying first-aid kits to treat the father's head wound.
...
Outside the house, the local heroes stood frozen. They stared at the secured building.
Ten minutes later, police officers loaded the heavy stone box holding Trapezius into an armored transport truck.
"CRUST!"
"THIS IS A VETERAN!"
The crowd behind the police tape erupted into loud cheers, clapping and screaming Crust's name.
FLASH. FLASH.
Camera shutters clicked rapidly from the press pool. Reporters shoved against the barricades, holding out their microphones.
Yumi, the lead reporter from X-News, pushed her way to the front.
"Crust!" Yumi called out loudly. "That was an unbelievable rescue! You defended the hostages, held the building up, and captured the villain at the exact same time! You moved different from the past."
Crust walked up to the cameras. He stood tall and wiped some plaster dust off his shoulder.
"HAHAHA."
Crust threw his head back and laughed his signature booming laugh. The sound carried across the entire street.
"I cannot take the credit for this new coordination and techniques!" Crust told the reporters, pointing a thick thumb at his sidekicks. "My team worked perfectly today! And the Golden Manager at Arisaka Consulting gave us these changes! We are just following the Golden Manager's standard!"
...
Time: 10 Days Later
Location: Shield Agency Breakroom
BRRRING. BRRRING.
The phones in the main office rang non-stop.
Corporate sponsors and news outlets called the agency constantly after the hostage rescue broadcast.
Inside the breakroom, it was quiet.
Phalanx, Ricochet, and the rest of the sidekicks sat around the circular table.
Ren the newly joined sidekick rubbed his forehead. He stared down at an open radio manual.
"I choked on the codes again," Ren muttered, clearly frustrated. "During the bank patrol this morning, I used the medical code instead of the perimeter code. I completely confused the two."
Phalanx grabbed a fresh cup of coffee from the counter. He walked over and slid it across the table to the younger sidekick.
"Drink that," Phalanx said, sitting down. "You are overthinking it."
"You guys never mess up," Ren sighed, taking the coffee.
Phalanx laughed out loud. Ricochet grinned and shook her head.
"Kid, a month ago, I threw up in a gutter because I drained all my stamina trying to make a razor-thin shield," Phalanx told him casually. "I couldn't stand up for twenty minutes. Ricochet accidentally launched a purse snatcher into orbit last week."
"Hey, I fixed the angle," Ricochet defended herself, laughing.
"The point is, we aren't perfect," Phalanx looked at Ren. "The Manager's system works because it covers our mistakes. If you use the wrong code, Aoto asks for clarification. We just keep practicing."
Ren looked at the two veteran sidekicks. He let out a long breath, finally relaxing his shoulders. He picked up his coffee cup and took a sip.
...
Time: 8 Days Later (3-Month Contract ends)
Location: Golden Bites, Chiyoda Branch
BLING. BLING.
The bell above the glass door chimed constantly.
The newly opened Golden Bites fast-food restaurant was packed.
The smell of fried chicken, seasoned fries, and melted cheese filled the air.
Crust rented out the entire second floor for the night.
The tables were pushed together into one long row.
All old and new sidekicks, logistics personel, and the medical staff crowded into the booths.
Cardboard buckets of chicken and wrapped burgers covered every inch of the table.
"Give me the spicy sauce," Ren yelled over the noise, reaching across the table.
"You already took three packets!" Ricochet grabbed his wrist, laughing. "Eat the regular ketchup."
Crust sat at the head of the table. He took a massive bite out of a double cheeseburger.
Kaito sat right next to him, eating a few french fries.
"You can have a discount for this party Crust," Kaito offered casually, picking up his soda. "Seventy percent off."
"Absolutely not," Crust chewed his food and swallowed. "I am paying full price for every single burger on this table. It goes straight to your company numbers."
"Suit yourself," Kaito smiled. "But now that you have done a free advertisement today. You can have 20% discounts in the future."
"I like that." Crust wiped his mouth with a paper napkin grinning.
He leaned back against the leather booth. He watched his sidekicks arguing over the last piece of chicken.
"Three months," Crust said. His voice was completely relaxed.
"The contract is officially over," Kaito confirmed.
Crust rotated his right arm. He flexed his thick elbow joint.
"I used my quirk just to mostly defend in my entire career," Crust mentioned quietly. "And now I can counterattack, attack, support all of the same time. You're really unbelievable Kaito. I wonder how you be able to think all of these."
Kaito drank his soda, listening.
"You're overthinking it, Crust," Kaito replied smoothly. "It's my job to make you better than before. Tomorrow, you have to run your own drills and training now."
"Haha.. I felt alive now." Crust let out a loud, booming laugh.
CRUNCH. CRUNCH.
He grabbed another piece of fried chicken from the bucket, genuinely happy to be sitting with his team.
...
Location: Otheon - Underground Market
Time: Afternoon
Giulio Gandini pulled the collar of his dark coat up. He walked past rusty metal stalls and shouting vendors.
The underground market smelled like cheap spices and engine oil.
He kept his hands in his pockets. His single eye scanned the faces of the people walking past him.
He looked incredibly tired. He spent the last few months tearing the European underground apart, searching for the young mistress, Anna. Every single lead he chased ran completely cold.
He had one connection left. Humarise.
Giulio remembered the iron-ball user, Sidero, from the European shipping port. If Anna really was controlling the underworld, a massive, international cult like Humarise either worked or cooperated for her or knew exactly where she was hiding.
He traveled to Otheon because the underworld whispers pointed to a heavy organization presence here.
CLATTER.
A wooden fruit stand tipped over near the intersection. Apples spilled across the dirt.
"Hey! Get back here!" an angry vendor screamed, waving a wooden broom.
Giulio stopped walking. He looked down the street.
A teenager in a faded green jacket sprinted away from the fruit stand. He clutched a brown paper bag tightly against his chest.
A small, bright pink bird flew right beside the teenager's head, chirping loudly.
Two large people holding metal pipes chased right behind him.
"Grab him!" one of the people yelled.
The teenager hit a dead end. A tall, sharp chain-link fence blocked the alleyway.
He didn't panic.
"You're slow."
FWOOP.
He jumped onto a discarded wooden crate, kicked his boots off the brick wall, and grabbed the top of the fence.
He flipped his entire body over the sharp wire in one fluid motion, landed softly in the mud on the other side, and kept running.
"DAMN IT! This is the same guy who always steal here. Why can't you even managed to catch him."
"Shut up dude, you're the same. Try climbing that building then."
Giulio narrowed his eye.
The parkour was absolutely flawless. The kid moved with extreme evasive precision, reacting entirely on survival instinct.
Giulio stepped into the shadows between two brick buildings. He climbed a rusty fire escape ladder quickly and quietly.
He reached the tin roof. He looked down and tracked the green jacket moving rapidly through the dense slum alleyways.
Giulio followed him. He jumped silently across the narrow gaps between the roofs. He kept a very safe distance, making sure he didn't spot his movements.
Ten minutes later, the teenager slowed down.
He walked into a muddy, abandoned lot filled with broken tires and rusted car parts.
Giulio crouched near a brick chimney on the roof of a nearby warehouse. He watched the teenager approach a heavily dented silver trailer at the edge of the lot.
"Rody!" a young voice yelled.
A little boy and a little girl ran out of the rusted door.
The teenager dropped the brown paper bag. He smiled brightly and hugged the two kids. The pink bird landed on the little girl's head, chirping happily.
Giulio pulled a small pair of binoculars from his dark coat pocket. He focused the lenses on the silver trailer.
He looked right past the hugging family. He looked at the side of the metal trailer.
Fresh red spray paint dripped down the silver metal.
Traitor's Kids.
Humarise Scum.
"Hmm?" Giulio slowly lowered the binoculars. He let out a very quiet breath.
He remembered the news he got from a few days ago. After arriving in this country.
Eddie Soul, a brilliant Otheon engineer, abandoned his family to join the Humarise organization.
"This teenager was most probably the engineer's son."
Giulio put the binoculars back in his pocket.
If Rody's father worked directly for the cult, there was a high chance this broken trailer held old lab notes, hidden hard drives, or letters.
Any small clue could point directly to a main Humarise headquarters.
Whether he joined voluntarily or involuntarily.
Giulio needed to find that headquarters.
..
WEAP. WRAP.
Rody grabbed the paper bag and walked inside the trailer with his siblings. The metal door clicked shut.
THUD.
...
Giulio waited until it's evening and climbed down from the roof quietly. He dropped into the mud.
He moved silently through the abandoned lot, keeping his back against the rusted cars. He walked toward the back of the silver trailer.
He found a large pile of garbage and discarded cardboard boxes.
Rody clearly hated his father for leaving. He threw out everything that belonged to him.
"This should be it." Giulio knelt down in the mud. He started digging through the trash silently.
He moved broken glass and wet newspapers aside. He pulled out an old, torn lab coat. He checked the pockets. Empty.
He dug deeper. He found several half-burned blueprints covered in complex engineering schematics. He carefully folded them and slid them into his coat.
Then, he saw a piece of thick white plastic buried in the mud.
Giulio pulled it out and wiped the dirt off with his thumb. It was a security keycard.
SQUELCH.
A heavy boot stepped into the mud directly behind him.
"..."
Giulio stopped moving. He kept his hands perfectly still over the trash pile.
"Stand up slow," a voice said coldly.
Giulio turned his head slightly.
Rody Soul stood right behind him. The teenager gripped a heavy, rusted steel pipe with both hands, holding it like a baseball bat.
Rody's eyes were locked onto Giulio, filled with absolute, protective fury. He was ready to swing at the man's head.
CHIRP. CHIRP. CHIRP.
Pino sat on Rody's shoulder. The small pink bird had her wings flared out aggressively, squawking loudly at the stranger.
"Who the hell are you?" Rody demanded, tightening his grip on the steel pipe. "And why are you digging through my trash?"
...
Location: Kashiwa Ward, Arisaka Consulting Building
Time: 2 Days Later
CLACK. CLACK. CLACK.
Kaito sat at his sleek glass desk. He typed rapidly on his keyboard.
The large monitors in his office displayed dozens of complex quirk diagrams and agency logistics spreadsheets.
Kaito finished typing the final paragraph on his screen.
[Subject: Madagascar Rank 25 Hero - Kinetic Output Adjustment Finalized. Transmission ready.]
"Eve," Kaito spoke into the quiet office. "Prepare the data packets."
[Encrypting the files now, Boss. The last pro hero consultation package is ready.]
"Send them," Kaito instructed.
[Transmissions sent. Confirming receipt from the last clients. Four million dollars has been successfully wired to the holding accounts. The cycle is complete.]
Kaito leaned back in his leather chair. He stretched his arms over his head, popping his shoulders.
Working with Crust face-to-face for three months while simultaneously managing ten global hero agencies online is a piece of cake for him. It's just job and hobby.
[I have pulled up the travel brochures for your usual post-contract vacation. The Maldives and the Swiss Alps are currently showing excellent weather conditions. Shall I book a ticket now? And call Grandma Saki or Miss Makoto?]
"Cancel it, Eve," Kaito said, grabbing a pen from his desk. "I am staying in Japan this time."
[Canceling the travel plans. You are skipping your recovery period?]
"The momentum is too good right now," Kaito explained, spinning the pen between his fingers. "I want to keep moving."
KRING. KRING.
A green light flashed on Kaito's desk phone.
[Incoming call on the private agency line, Boss. It is the pro hero Death Arms.]
Kaito stopped spinning the pen.
"Patch him through to the speakerphone," Kaito said.
CLICK.
[Manager?] a deep, gruff voice came through the speaker.
"Good afternoon, Death Arms," Kaito replied smoothly. "What can I do for you?"
Death Arms cleared his throat awkwardly.
[I saw the news about Crust,] Death Arms said, trying to sound casual. [You really turned that guy around. He looks completely different out there.]
"He's a veteran for a reason," Kaito said.
[Yeah, well,] Death Arms hesitated for a second. [Look, I know this is my third time calling the firm. I know you usually take a long vacation after you finish a big project. I just wanted to touch base early. I was hoping you might consider looking at my file after you get back from your trip again.]
Kaito pulled his digital calendar up on his monitor.
"I am skipping the vacation this time," Kaito told him directly.
Silence hung on the line.
[Wait, seriously?] Death Arms asked, his voice losing the casual tone completely.
"My schedule is open starting today," Kaito confirmed. He clicked a blank time slot on his calendar. "Come to my office tomorrow at two in the afternoon. We will go over your agency's financials and sign the three-month contract."
[Tomorrow?] Death Arms stuttered loudly.
"Do you have a conflict?" Kaito asked.
[No! No conflict!] Death Arms yelled into his phone, completely dropping his tough-guy act. [I will be there at two! Thank you, Arisaka! Seriously, thank you so much!]
"See you tomorrow, Death Arms."
CLICK.
Kaito hung up the phone. He smiled slightly, pulling a fresh, blank folder onto his desk.
He opened the cover and grabbed his pen, ready to rebuild another pro hero.