The next day.
5th period, 1:20 PM.
"Albert you can go on ahead." Said Ectoplasm, a tall slender man that wears a tan cloak that covers most of his body with a helmet that covers his entire head.
Ectoplasm presses a button and the side of the room's wall opened up where the students costumes are kept.
"Hm." Albert gets up and gets his costume.
"Sensei where is Albert going?" asked Kirishima.
"He is going to take his practical exam ahead of everyone else." Ectoplasm said.
"What!?" they said surprised.
"See ya guys later." Albert leaves the room.
Driving their way to Ground Beta, a city type training area, was All Might at the wheel while Albert was in the back.
"So." Albert spoke up. "I bet you wanna see what I can do huh?"
"Curiosity got the best of me. My apologies Young Albert, or would you prefer—"
"Call me Albert. It's my current identity."
"Hm." He nods. "So um… how was the internship?"
"It was nice. I came across that chest glowing man with the sword."
"!" All Might hair stood up. "R-really?"
"Yeah. When I told my handler about it he sounded kinda concerned a bit surprised. Do you know why that may be?"
Albert gazed at the back of All Might's head.
"There… things even I do not know. You are not hurt are you?"
'He possibly knows… about a low chance but still something to keep in mind.'
"I am sitting here with all of my limbs. But you know what is funny? He called himself Saber, heh. Considering how weirder names there are his is rather tame."
Bullets of sweat dripped down All Might's back.
'He really knows huh? Interesting. It feels like the world is unraveling.'
A few minutes of silence they were at Ground Beta.
"So you have 30 minutes." All Might said. "You can either run away or catch me using these special cuffs." All Might hands him the cuffs.
"Hm." Albert swings them around. "Strong."
"By the way click!" All Might put on some cuffs. "I will be a bit handicapped by these ultra compressed weights."
"Damn. I wanted to test myself."
"Maybe some other day."
"Shame. I wanted to beat you at your best, that way I would have some grasp of All For Ones strength."
"…" All Might remained quiet. "I will not let you meet or take a life while I—"
"My hands are already dyed All Might." Albert opens the gate. "And so are yours. Letting that old fossil of a myth live has caused countless innocents to have their lives torn down."
"Going down to their level is—"
"What a stupid argument. If you were a real hero you should have thrown your life and killed him. But like any normal person you seek to live, to survive to see the next sun rise. It's funny thinking about how Stain thinks your altruistic, but I wonder how he would feel if he knows that you did it all to avenge your predecessor for One For All?"
"!!" All Might's expressions stiffens. "Did Herod tell you?"
"No. I overheard you and Midoriya talking about it in the teachers' lounge."
It was his own mistake to think Albert would not find a way to get his hands on sensitive information, after all the precautions he took he still found a crack.
"Do you plan on doing anything with that information?"
"No, so long as you mind your business."
"Then even with these weights I will give you a challenge. If you are to kill AFO then you need to at least be able to beat me."
"Looking forward to it."
Center of Ground Beta. Albert examines each and every inch of the area.
"Mel, ready to see your master giving it his all?"
"You are not wearing your special suit, Albert." She said, ready to watch it all unfold.
"You are right, but the suit only supplements me. After all it's me who makes it work."
Albert takes a breath and has his hands over his guns. His muscles were relaxed, his heart steady.
"GO!!" shouted from the speakers.
"!!" Albert's body came to life, his veins, nerves everything turned on like the start of an engine.
The world slows down for him, he draws Chisato and Takina and flickers out of view of the cameras.
Flicker!
Watching from a field tent were Nezu and Recovery Girl.
"… Nezu." Recovery Girl said. "Did he just flicker like a lightbulb?"
Watching closely Nezu couldn't help but sweat.
"To think he still had feats that keep impressing me."
"You know something about the boy?"
"Yes. Seeing him go a bit more serious tells me a lot."
'This power! Are they still continuing the Adam Project!? I need to find out! I need to make sure they do not make more of his strength!'
"Say Nezu." Recovery Girl chimed in. "He isn't appearing anywhere on the monitors?"
Recovery Girl has been checking and flicking through several other cameras.
"What!?" Nezu looked through all the monitors. "How!?"
The battle was not what All Might had expected.
Tap~
Tap~
Tap~
All Might walks through the city; he is on high alert.
'The hairs at the back of my neck have not stopped standing. My arms are covered in goosebumps. There is a lingering sense of danger within the city.'
All Might wasn't sure on how to act in this situation. He could start breaking things, but he would feel it was planned.
Back with Nezu and Recovery Girl.
"He doesn't know what to do." Recovery Girl said.
"All Might is a brawler, not so much a tactics kind of man. This is the first time he can't draw from his wealth of experience to rely on." Nezu said. "Albert is taking his time, readying his fangs to rip his throat like a predator."
Both watchers look on with anticipation.
Back to Ground Beta.
All Might slowly walks under the footbridge when a shadow caught his eye.
Flap~
"!?"
All Might looks up to see Albert's red scarf flutter down.
He immediately jumped back, the scarf slowly descends down, All Might looks up and around to not find him.
'Where are you! Where are you hid—'
—THUD!!!
"!?!?" All Might felt his head get struck, dead in the center of his forehead.
A warm liquid slowly dripped down his brows and down his face, followed by a boom.
BOOM!!!
All Might immediately took cover.
Crack!!
Whoosh!!
"Huff!! Huff!!" He touches his head and sees blood on his fingers. "That sound, he throw something faster than the speed of sound!?"
Back with Nezu and Recovery Girl.
"My." Recovery Girl said. "This made my blood run cold. It's rare to see Toshi bleeding from a single attack, and one he did not even see."
"…" Nezu regretted only sending All Might in by himself. He quickly looked through the cameras stationed opposite of where All Might was struck. "Damn." Nezu said. "He is getting in the camera's blind spots."
Back at Ground Beta.
"Fuu~" All Might takes a breather and collect himself. "I can see why Herod holds you in such esteem."
All Might slowly begin to peek around the corner when—
—Crack!! Ting!!
"Grr!!"
All Might was shot in the leg through the concrete wall, it struck one of the weights on his legs.
BOOM!!!
All Might retreated back to the center of the building.
"He hit my weight." He moves his leg around to find it's still good, but the imbalance makes it weird for him. "… No he hit it on purpose."
With his accuracy he hit his leg weight to make it difficult for All Might to run and move, he would constantly have to keep in mind the different weights on his legs.
"Tsk!"
All Might took two steps forward and turned to face the side of the building.
"So be it." He placed his fist onto the wall, reeled it back. "This game will not go as you wish. Hm!!!"
All Might threw his back into this strike.
CRACK!!! BOOOOM!!!
FWHOOOSH!!!
His punch tore through the city block, right down the middle.
Whoosh~
All Might did not hesitate and moved within the cloud of dust he made.
~~~!!!
"!?"
All Might took a step to the left as one of Albert's shots narrowly missed All Might. Using the smoke All Might could see the attack coming far more easily.
CRASH!!
WHOOSH!!!
Yet the attack blasted the wind causing the knocked up dust to quickly disperse.
All Might grabbed a chunk of concrete and crushed it into small rocks and with his waist and a flicker of his wrist he threw the rocks.
Boom!!!
CRASH!!!
CRASH!!!
CRASH!!!
The attack riddled the bullets building Albert was firing from.
Rumble~!! Rumble~!! Rumble~!! Rumble~!!
Rumble~!! Rumble~!! Rumble~!!
Rumble~!! Rumble~!! Rumble~!!
The building itself began to fall.
'Seems I hit a crucial pillar.' All Might thought observing the area. 'But I can't let him breathe.'
All Might reeled his arm back and threw another devastating punch.
THOOM!!!!
He blew the top part of the buildings high into the air.
"Grr!!"
All Might was still on edge.
Crack-Rumble!!
Crack-Rumble!!
Pieces began to fall and break around All Might.
Crack-Rumble!!
Crack-Rumble!!
'Where is he? Where?'
All Might turned and glanced around but dust began to build up.
Crack-Rumble!!
Crack-Rumble!!
"Hm!!"
With a powerful swing he swipes the dust away.
Whoosh~!!!
Crack-Rumble!!
Crack-Rumble!!
↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑
"!?"
A murderous feeling rose up from behind All Might, descending behind him.
"There you are!!!" He turn and swung.
Thoom!!!!
He blasted the falling debris, but Albert was not there, the feeling he felt—
↑↑↑↑↑___|
—Had disappeared.
Tap-Tap~
"!"
A light tap reached All Might's ears. Turning once more he came face to Albert's fist.
"AHHHHHHHH!!!!"
Albert roared as his fist connected to All Might's face, more specially his chin.
THUD!!!!!
"HRRR!?!?"
Creak~
Fwhoom!!!
The bones of his fist cracked at the cost of uppercutting All Might into the air.
The sensation of ants crawling up his body slowly encroach on All Might. But All Might was not the number one hero for no reason.
"GAAAAH!!!" He pulled his mind back into focus, he looked down to see Albert was already away from his sight.
Grab-Grab!
Albert grabbed his legs and swung him down, yet unlike Siegfried, All Might has nothing in his hands.
Thud-Thud!!
CRACK!!!
The earth broke beneath them. All Might had stopped himself from being slammed into the ground with his own two hands.
"Very nice." All Might said, smiling, impressed beyond words of how strong Albert is.
"Gr! Damn!"
Albert began to lift All Might off the ground again.
"Do you think I forgotten leg day?"
"Ah sh—"
"Hm!!
FWHOOSH!!!
All Might kicked his legs with an explosive force sending Albert high into the air.
"Haa…" All Might relaxes a little on the ground, taking a quick breather.
Albert threw a punch once he began to fall back.
Boom~
The force of the punch slowed his speed enough for him to think of a plan on approach and it's requirements.
Looking up All Might could see Albert coming down fast.
"He must have used his punch to decelerate to come down faster." All Might said seeing him divebomb like a peregrine falcon towards him, feet first.
As he tried to get up he was struck by two things.
Thwip-Thwip!!
"Hm?" All Might felt something hit his chest.
Back with Nezu and Recover Girl.
"Huh?" they both said.
"Is… that…" Recovery Girl said getting a closer look.
"Web shooting from his wrist!?" Nezu said shocked.
Back to Ground Beta.
Albert made web shooters for himself. He was thoroughly trained in engineering and some other stuff. Much like when he gained resistance to blasts it was absorbed into another skill thus Engineering is a broad kind of term that not only housed mechanical but also chemical engineering.
"Like'em!!!" Albert shouted and he pulled with all of his strength to lift All Might's body off the ground.
"!?" All Might was surprised by the move, and he was pulled up. "You can shoot web!?" he said grabbing onto and ripping the web with some strain like ribbing plastic from a case of water bottles.
Thwip-Thwip!!
Thwip-Thwip!!
Albert fires more and hitting All Might's limbs.
"I made them the other day!!! Hrrr!!!"
Albert pulled even more, using a quick use of his Mana Burst and All Might drew even closer.
"Grr!!"
'How strong is he!? Even with these weight resisting his pull is absurd!?'
Thou Albert may not be able to throw a punch and destroy a whole city block his strength is far more geared towards individuals. Not to say if he trained his Mana Burst more that he could reach such feats of destructiveness liken to a kinetic orbital bombardment but if such a time occurred he would prefer as much cover as possible.
"You won't beat so—"
Thwip-Thwip!! Thwip-Thwip!! Thwip-Thwip!! Thwip-Thwip!! Thwip-Thwip!! Thwip-Thwip!! Thwip-Thwip!! Thwip-Thwip!! Thwip-Thwip!! Thwip-Thwip!! Thwip-Thwip!! Thwip-Thwip!! Thwip-Thwip!! Thwip-Thwip!! Thwip-Thwip!! Thwip-Thwip!! Thwip-Thwip!! Thwip-Thwip!! Thwip-Thwip!! Thwip-Thwip!! Thwip-Thwip!!
Albert covered him, pulling him even more with some of his Mana Burst.
"Get fucked!!!"
Albert struck All Might dead center of his body.
"!!!!" He had tensed up his torso in advance but the speed at which Albert had struck him was very much felt.
CRASH!!!
RUMBLE!!!!!!
All Might is kicked into the ground.
Back to Nezu and Recovery Girl. The two observers wait as the dust settles with bated breathe.
Albert's figure appears through the dust, and the match seem to have been set.
"Well… color me impressed." Recovery Girl said as she leans back on her chair. "The kid did it."
"…" Nezu looks on in disbelief.
They both look at the monitor, Albert has his gun in All Might's mouth. Recovery Girl leans over and pressed a button.
"All Might, do you wanna continue?"
Her voice filled Ground Beta.
Albert turned and looked at a camera and shakes his head.
"Then I guess the exam is over."
Albert sighs as he looks back at All Might.
"You wanna know something, All Might?" He said with his gun still in his mouth.
"What?" He said through a muffled voice.
"One of my favorite assassinations was faking a suicide of a rich oil CEO. Never saw it coming, got him done in less than a minute for me to draw my gun and paint the glass behind him red. I say it's my favorite because it's one of the few times I remember doing something good. The guy was dabbling in human trafficking and the like. Really sick, didn't even have to plant child porn in his computer, he just had a lot of it."
"Does suck the whole operations was then taken over by some rich American. Never did get his name… Hm. Maybe when I am free I'll find and kill them."
He then pulled his gun out of his mouth and wiped it on himself before holstering.
"Ugh." All Might spat out some spit. "Is that really a fond memory? And I would think you would want to avoid any more killings… you really shouldn't say that to a hero you know?"
"To me, very. As for the killing, I am not sick of it, I am sick of having a collar bound tightly around me. Besides I have felicitated evil around the world, it is my way of correcting it. Welp, see yeah, All Might." He waved goodbye as he left in a brisk pace. "Got stuff to do!"
A while later with Nezu, Recovery Girl and All Might.
"Haa…" All Might was resting on a bed in a deflated state. "Thank you for healing me."
"You had a tough fight." She said. "We are lucky he wishes to be a hero."
"Tell me All Might." Nezu said. "Do you think you could have won without the handicaps?"
"Yes." He responded immediately. "Even he admits that if my movements were not slowed the result would have been very much different and shorter."
A bit later in the Locker Room. Albert's adrenaline excitement of the fight wore off, it is something he can control through some techniques he learned.
"Fuuuuuu~~" Albert sat with his head down. "I didn't think my heart would pump that fast, a feeling of anxiety, clutching my limbs like a ball and chain."
"Yet you moved masterfully, Albert." Mélusine said, proud at what managed to accomplish. "You are even making such a diabolical smile!"
Albert was unintendedly smiling like some villain. He had fun fighting All Might.
"Seems so." He loosened his face muscles a bit. "I need to improve my Mana Burst. Only then can I be assured of my kill."
"You don't want to claim this as a victory?"
"No. More of a test, and I got the results back. If there is a next fight between me and All Might I assure you either I leave with a body clinging on to life or him with a few limbs missing."
"I see… Can you make me some web shooters to! Their so cool! Maybe even a cool laser gun!"
It was within his skill to grant her that request, but he needed the resources… then he thought if he did this for Mélusine she would ask him to make her more stuff that would require him to get more rare material to build her stuff.
"… Maybe one day. Today I'm going home early. I'm too tired for school."
"So what of the name for those web shooters? I feel like they earned themselves a name?"
"Hmm…" Albert thinks on it for a while as he takes his clothes off. "How about The Arachne's? They did help me beat the number one hero after all who has the might and wit of a war god."
"A fine name for one who went against the war god."
Shortly after changing and washing up Albert returns to class.
Clack!
Everyone turns to look at him.
"Uwaah."
It was the first time they saw a look of fatigue on him. It was oddly refreshing to see him so… human. He had taken a quick shower, so his hair was damp with his uniform a bit soaked from the shower droplets.
"Sensei." Albert looked to Midnight. "I'm going to head out now. Could you open the wall so I can put my costume away?"
"You can leave it on the top desk." She nodded. "Did it go well?" She smiled.
"You will have to ask your co-workers." He replied with a little, forced smile. "But I certainly had fun."
Albert walked over and put the briefcase on the desk and just walked away.
He did not look back as he got his shoes from the entrance lockers and left the school grounds.
Elsewhere in some bar in Japan.
"Haa~" a middle-aged man with a pair of circular glasses.
"What is it? Kagero Okuta?" Said Kurogiri.
"Why'd you say my full name?" he said swirling his drink.
"Because you were bumming us out." Tomura said reading a book.
"Well sorry~ it's been tough as hell to find reliable recruits. Your friend Saber had to step in a few times from all of these Yakuza people."
"Those old relics." Tomura puts his book down. "Have you found some potential people?"
"Yes, luck shined on me to find some rather interesting people. I had them tell me what they seek by joining the league and Saber judged whether they were genuine or not."
"So their good?"
"Very." He smirks. "One of them even wanted to fight against Saber. Gotta say his fire quirk is something else. There is a problem about him thou."
"Of course there is. What is it?"
"You two would get along rather roughly."
"And how bad is it?"
"Nothing you and him can't put aside some views for the ultimate goal of bringing down hero society."
Little by little Japan's powder keg is slowly filling and the gears of fate turn.