Location: Musutafu - Death Arms Agency
Time: Morning
STRAP.
PULL.
Death Arms pulled the yellow and black warning-tape bands tight around his thick wrists. He locked the heavy metal buckles in place.
[Pro Hero: Death Arms]
[Quirk: Forearm Hypertrophy: Grants immense superhuman strength and durability specifically concentrated in his arms and upper body!]
He stood inside his small office. Three metal desks sat pushed together near a window overlooking the busy shopping district.
CREAK.
The office door opened.
"Boss, I brought the dark roast," Goro said.
Goro walked in holding two paper cups of hot coffee.
[Pro Hero: Brickhouse]
[Quirk: Concrete Skin: He can harden his epidermis into solid concrete to block heavy physical attacks!]
Ken, the younger sidekick, followed right behind him holding a plastic clipboard.
[Pro Hero: Springstep]
[Quirk: Kinetic Bounce: He can store momentum in his legs and release it to jump or dash at extreme speeds!]
"Morning," Death Arms grabbed a cup from Goro. He took a sip of the black coffee. "I need you two to cover the shopping district routes without me today."
Ken stopped walking. He looked up from his clipboard.
"Are you taking a sick day?" Ken asked. "You never take a sick day."
"I am perfectly fine," Death Arms shook his head, setting the coffee cup on his desk. "I have a meeting across town."
Goro raised an eyebrow. "Who are you meeting?"
Death Arms crossed his arms. He couldn't hide the small grin forming on his face.
"Arisaka Consulting called me back," Death Arms told them directly. "My third application finally went through."
Ken dropped his clipboard.
CLATTER.
"Wait, seriously?!" Ken yelled, his eyes wide. "The Golden Manager? We actually got picked?"
"I am heading to Kashiwa Ward to finalize the contract this afternoon," Death Arms nodded. "Just handle the streets until I get back."
"You got it, Boss!" Ken scrambled down to the floor, quickly picking up the scattered papers.
Goro laughed. He walked over and patted Death Arms heavily on the shoulder.
"Go get it done," Goro said.
...
Location: Kashiwa Ward - Arisaka Consulting
Time: Afternoon
DING.
The elevator doors opened on the top floor.
Death Arms stepped out and walked into the main office.
Kaito sat behind his black glass desk, typing quietly on his keyboard. He looked up and smiled.
"Take a seat, Death Arms," Kaito offered. "I told you I would look at your file closely."
Death Arms let out a heavy breath of relief. He pulled out the leather chair and sat down.
"Third time is the charm," Death Arms said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Thank you for the call, Kaito. Seriously."
"Your rescue numbers earned it," Kaito replied. He slid a digital tablet across the desk. "Let's finalize the terms."
Death Arms didn't look at the tablet. He kept his hands resting on his knees.
"I want to set the focus right now," Death Arms said, getting straight to the point. "My agency is small. It is just me, and two sidekicks. Our dispatch and paperwork is simple. I don't need a too much agency changes."
Kaito leaned back in his chair. "What do you want to focus on for the next three months?"
Death Arms tightened his jaw.
"We talked about Gigantomachia last time," Death Arms reminded him.
Death Arms looked down at his own large, calloused hands.
"I reached my own limit," Death Arms admitted, his voice full of frustration. "I can lift cars. I can break concrete. But against these new threats, raw muscle isn't enough. I don't know how to improve my striking power anymore. I don't want to just strap heavier metal to my wrists."
He looked right at Kaito.
"I want you to break my ceiling," Death Arms told him. "I want to dedicate the entire contract to upgrading my quirk. Making it stronger."
Kaito listened quietly. He appreciated the direct approach.
"Pure quirk development," Kaito confirmed. "We'll make the agency restructuring secondary. We focus entirely on weaponizing your physical output through training and tailored support gear."
"That's right," Death Arms nodded firmly.
"I agree," Kaito said. He reached across the desk.
Death Arms grabbed his hand and they shook on it.
"We start the physical evaluations tomorrow morning at your agency," Kaito told him.
Death Arms stood up. The heavy tension in his shoulders was completely gone. He looked energized.
"I will have the basement cleared out," Death Arms said. "See you tomorrow."
CLICK.
The heavy glass door closed as the veteran hero left the office.
Kaito sat back down at his desk.
"Eve," Kaito spoke to the quiet room.
[Yes, Boss.]
"Update the main website," Kaito instructed. "Announce Death Arms as the physical client for this quarter."
[Updating the servers now.]
"Also, reopen the ten online global consultation slots," Kaito added, grabbing a pen from his desk organizer. "Run the digital applications simultaneously with the physical contract. Send the alerts out."
[The global slots are live. Broadcast complete.]
...
Location: Rock Lock Agency
BEEP.
Rock Lock stared at the monitor on his desk. He crossed his arms tightly.
"I met him three months ago," Rock Lock complained loudly. "I even updated my patrol numbers yesterday."
A sidekick stood next to the desk, holding a cup of coffee.
"The Golden Manager didn't even take a vacation this time," the sidekick pointed out. "He just signed Death Arms immediately."
Rock Lock rubbed the back of his neck.
"Death Arms gets a full three-month physical contract," Rock Lock sighed in annoyance. "
Now I have to wait another entire quarter just to apply again."
He leaned back in his chair, completely frustrated.
...
Location: Yoroi Musha Estate
Yoroi Musha sat on a wooden porch. He drank hot green tea from a ceramic cup.
SLIDE.
A young sidekick threw the paper door open. He ran onto the porch, panting heavily. He held a digital tablet in both hands.
"Sir!" the sidekick yelled happily. "The online slots is up again!"
Yoroi Musha smiled under his thick white mustache. He set his teacup down.
"Good," Yoroi Musha said, letting out a long breath of relief. "Send our application again."
The young sidekick wiped sweat from his forehead. "Are you sure you didn't want apply for the physical contract next time, sir?"
"Absolutely not," Yoroi Musha laughed quietly. "I saw what the Golden Manager did to everyone. I am entirely too old for that. Getting the entire consultation for the agency and quirks straight to my email is exactly what I need."
...
Location: Unknown Location- Humarise Underground Laboratory
Time: Evening
The laboratory was sterile and claustrophobic.
Eddie Soul sat at a long metal workbench. He wore a dirty white lab coat over his street clothes.
Deep dark circles hung under his eyes from months of sleep deprivation.
He picked up a pair of metal tweezers. He carefully grabbed a tiny copper wire and connected it to the main circuit board of a heavy, red gas bomb.
He wasn't alone.
Two other kidnapped scientists sat at the tables next to him.
An older chemist from France and a young mechanical engineer from Germany. They were all blackmailed, locked in this underground room just like hostages in a warzone.
A heavy steel door locked them inside. A small rectangular viewing window slid open every few minutes.
The Humarise guards watched them from the hallway, carrying high tech rifles.
"My hands won't stop shaking," the older chemist whispered, keeping his head down as he tightened a valve. "They told me if I don't finish the chemical mixture by the month, they will send someone to Paris to find my daughter."
The young woman swallowed hard. She didn't look up from her soldering iron.
"I haven't seen my husband in eight months," she whispered back, her voice trembling. "Do you really think they will let us go if we finish this new formula?"
Eddie kept quiet. He knew the cult wouldn't let them go.
"This new formula is supposed to permanently burn out the Quirk Factor," the older chemist muttered, wiping sweat from his forehead. "One of the guards bragged about it yesterday. They want to use this specific batch on that vigilante in Japan."
"Hero X?" the woman asked quietly.
"Yes," the older man nodded slightly. "The one who stopped the global earthquake. They think this technology will strip his powers away."
CLINK.
The heavy steel door unlocked.
The scientists immediately stopped talking. They focused completely on their tools.
Sidero walked into the lab. The arrogant Humarise member tossed a solid iron ball up in the air and caught it barehanded. He walked slowly behind their chairs, inspecting their progress.
"Speed it up," Sidero barked, stopping right behind Eddie. "We need this permanent batch completely operational. No mistakes."
Sidero tossed the iron ball one more time, turned around, and walked out. The steel door slammed shut and locked.
Eddie tightened a screw on the bomb's casing.
'These fanatics are complete idiots,' Eddie thought to himself.
He listened to the other scientists whispering, but his mind went straight to the engineering problem.
He saw the news footage of Hero X last time. After all the entire world had a doomsday event.
Eddie broke the situation down logically. He was a top-tier engineer. He knew human biology had a hard caloric limit.
The human body could only generate and store a specific amount of energy.
Stopping a global tectonic plate required billions of joules of kinetic force. If a human generated that much power biologically, their own physical cells would instantly vaporize from the extreme internal heat friction.
Eddie deduced the truth immediately.
'Hero X doesn't have a biological quirk. His power is conceptual. It should be what they call singularity right?'
Eddie realized that building a bomb designed to erase biological genes and shooting it at a reality-warping entity was entirely useless.
The organization was trying to fight a god using basic medicine. The Trigger gas wouldn't even scratch Hero X.
CLANG. CLANG.
Eddie shifted his heavy toolbox an inch to the left.
Under a pile of loose metal screws, a small, torn photograph lay hidden.
It showed Rody holding baby Lala, with Roro standing right next to them.
Eddie stared at the faces of his kids.
He didn't care if the organization failed against the vigilante. He didn't care if Humarise collapsed.
He just needed to hit his daily manufacturing quota. If he stopped building the bombs, the guards would send hitmen to the Otheon slums to murder his family.
'Forgive me Rody... Look after your siblings...'
Eddie picked up the tweezers and went back to work in total silence.
...
Location: UA Academy, Class 2-A
Time: Next Day
TAP. TAP.
Chalk tapped against the blackboard.
Snipe stood at the front of the classroom. He wore his cowboy hat and his signature gas mask.
He wrote a single date on the board and turned to face the twenty students sitting at their desks.
"The Provisional Hero License Exam begins next week," Snipe announced loudly.
The classroom instantly erupted into noise.
"Finally!"
"I need to upgrade my gauntlets before we leave."
"So we fight other schools this time after the sports festival?"
A tall student sitting near the back row leaned back in his chair and laughed.
"Why are you guys stressing out?" the student joked loudly to the class. "We have the Big Three in our class. Mirio, Tamaki, and Nejire are basically like pro heroes already. I am just going to grab onto Mirio's cape and let him clear the entire exam for me."
Several students laughed in agreement.
Mirio sat near the window. He smiled and gave the class a bright thumbs-up. Tamaki slumped forward, resting his head on his desk, completely embarrassed by the attention.
BAM.
Snipe slapped his hand hard against the wooden podium.
The laughter stopped instantly. The class went quiet.
"If you think Togata is going to carry you, you will fail," Snipe warned them strictly. "This exam is not a simple physical test. It is a massive battle royale against the best hero schools in the country."
Snipe picked up a remote and clicked it. A video projector booted up, displaying footage of an organized, highly tactical student squad wearing matching blue uniforms.
"Look at Ketsubutsu Academy," Snipe pointed at the screen. "They have maintained a one hundred percent passing rate for the last two years. They don't rely on one strong guy. They have a strict, formula to eliminate other schools."
Snipe leaned heavily against the podium.
"Not just them. Other schools also have a lot of changes for the past year. You need to review the combat footage from the last two exams. You don't want to fail and take remedial exam to get your licenses right?"
"..." Everyone.
...
Location: Musutafu - Death Arms Agency
Time: Next Day
Death Arms stood next to his metal desk. Goro and Ken stood right behind him.
Kaito walked into the room. He placed a small metal projector disc on the center of the briefing table. He tapped the top of it.
BZZT.
A bright blue digital hologram projected upward. It displayed rotating 3D models of the three heroes.
Kaito started, looking at the group. "Today is entirely about breaking your quirk limits."
Kaito swiped his hand through the air. The hologram zoomed in on Goro.
"Brickhouse," Kaito looked at the veteran sidekick. "You cover your entire body in concrete. That adds too much weight and drains your stamina fast. What happens if you only harden your knuckles and shins a split second before you hit a target?"
Goro looked down at his rough hands. He visualized the weight shift.
"The mass concentrates at the point of impact," Goro realized out loud. "I stay light on my feet, and my punches hit like a wrecking ball."
"You got it," Kaito nodded.
He swiped the hologram again, shifting the blue light to Ken.
"Springstep. You control momentum," Kaito continued. "You jump in straight lines. That makes your trajectory entirely predictable. You need to bounce between alley walls and streetlights to stack your speed. Then, you grab the back of Brickstep's belt."
Ken tilted his head, completely confused. "Why am I grabbing his belt?"
"You transfer your built-up momentum directly into him," Kaito explained smoothly. "You turn your heavy concrete partner into a high-speed projectile to close the gap on villains."
Ken grinned widely. He looked over at Goro. "I get to throw you."
Goro let out a rough laugh, crossing his arms. "Go easy on me, kid."
BEEP. BEEP.
"The rest of your training development paths, is in your phones."
Tap.
Kaito tapped the metal disc. The hologram changed completely.
It displayed a highly detailed biological scan of Death Arms alongside a blueprint for a massive, heavy pair of mechanical gauntlets.
Death Arms stepped closer to the table. He stared at the blueprints.
"Raw lifting strength fails against giant villains," Kaito said quietly, bringing up the Gigantomachia fight naturally. "You need extreme pressure, recoil management, and stacked momentum. I am personally designing new support gear to replace those yellow warning bands on your wrists."
Death Arms rested his hands on the edge of the table. "What do the new gauntlets do?"
"They work directly with your forearm muscles," Kaito explained, pointing at the blueprint. "I installed gas-powered pistons inside the bracers. You expand your muscle mass to the absolute limit. You compress your blood flow for exactly one second. You release that physical pressure the exact millisecond the piston fires."
Death Arms visualized the movement. He flexed his right hand.
"It drives the fist forward artificially," Death Arms muttered. "Like an industrial machine. A piston drive."
"If you flex those expanded muscle fibers right as you hit a villain's body," Kaito added, "the kinetic force doesn't stop at the surface. It travels straight through their outer shell and ruptures their internals."
"A shockwave dispersal," Death Arms nodded slowly.
Ken leaned over the table, looking at the massive gauntlet designs.
"If his arms get that huge, won't he be way too slow to fight normal-sized guys?" Ken asked.
"You train the muscle to cycle rapidly," Kaito answered the sidekick. "The left arm inflates, strikes, and deflates instantly. The right arm inflates right behind it. You throw heavy-weight punches in a continuous barrage without losing your balance."
"A machine-gun rush," Death Arms gave the move a name, his eyes tracking the digital diagrams.
"You also need a better static defense," Kaito tapped the screen, changing the 3D model. "You expand both forearms to maximum width. You slam them straight down into the dirt to catch falling debris or block heavy energy blasts."
"Good," Death Arms said.
"Now we address taking damage," Kaito shifted the hologram to show the internal padding of the new gauntlets. "These gauntlets are lined with a highly advanced kinetic-absorbent foam. You cross your massive arms in front of your face and take a catastrophic hit directly."
Death Arms frowned slightly, listening closely.
"Your dense muscles act as organic shock absorbers," Kaito explained the physics. "You trap the villain's kinetic energy inside the foam and your own muscle fibers. The second their attack ends, you step forward. You uncross your arms and snap that stored energy right back in their face as a massive, short-range blast."
"..."
Death Arms went completely wide-eyed. He saw exactly how that mechanic worked. It was pure payback.
"A counter blast," Death Arms whispered, genuinely amazed. "A haymaker."
"For a finishing move," Kaito brought up the final diagram. "You fully expand one arm. It makes your body entirely top-heavy on one side. You spin that arm in a wide circle to build momentum. You let the sheer weight of the muscle drag your fist forward into a single hook."
"A centrifugal wrecking ball," Death Arms finished the thought.
"..."
The small office went dead silent.
BEEP.
Kaito tapped the metal disc, shutting off the blue hologram. He picked the projector up and slid it into his pocket.
Death Arms stared at the empty space above the table. He mentally processed the fighting style.
The damage absorption, the hydraulic pistons, the internal shockwaves.
It was a simple, overwhelming physical technique.
Death Arms looked at Kaito. The heavy, frustrated look he carried for months was completely gone.
"HAHAHA."
Death Arms let out a loud, genuine laugh. He slammed his thick hand down on the metal desk.
"I didn't expect. I can still use my quirk like this. Asking for your help wqs really the right decision for me, Manager." Death Arms grinned. He turned around and looked at his two sidekicks. "You guys. Clear out the basement training mats immediately. We start today"
"Yes sir!" Ken yelled, sprinting out the office door.
...
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(9 Advanced Chapters)