Musutafu, Japan was shining ever so brightly, felt as peaceful as a cloud and would stay just like that on this fine sunny afternoon, if Takami Keigo A.K.A. Hawks had anything to say about it. Watching over the city never felt like a job to him as he always enjoyed the sights from far above the city and whenever the sunlight beamed at just the right angle, it made being so high above it all one of the best feelings in the world. He was no fool however and always remained vigilant but without a little fun here and there, who would even wanna be stuck on watch duty anyway?
An 18 year old rookie like himself who just opened his own agency, of course had a lot to prove when it came to showing the public that he was dedicated, talented and above all else, serious when it came to keeping the peace and protecting them from harm. He knew all too well what could happen, if he became too lax and started cutting corners with his job and promised himself long ago if he ever made it this far, he would give 120% and beyond in order to make sure everyone can enjoy the "boredom" just a little bit longer if possible.
His idol, Endeavor was never the most popular with the fans and public in general, but didn't get to the rank of number 2 by chance or coincidence. With his own eyes he had seen how hard the man works and while he could be a little more friendly, figures as long as he's doing his job and giving his all to protect them, the people shouldn't be complaining.
Making his rounds across the city was a breeze with his quirk, Fierce Wings, and he always did love to show off for the kids as he has a massive soft spot for them. With his own childhood being so...problematic, he figures he can sacrifice a small time out of his schedule to show some love to them whenever possible. Before heading down to the city to relax a bit before his shift ends, he flies down to his normal watchtower spot, which gives him the best opportunity to scout his entire patrol route in one swift motion and with a flick of his wings, sends hundreds of tiny feathers into different parts of the area to search for any signs of trouble or any injured civilians in need of assistance.
If nothing else, he was always thorough in this as one to many times, he's seen people lose their lives as heroes cut corners towards the end of their shifts and miss out on the window of opportunity that might've been available to save a life. After 20 minutes or so had passed, the wings shot back towards him with as much speed as they'd left with and quickly reattached themselves to his back much to the winged man's delight.
"Man that always feels so damn good!" He thought happily to himself. "Like a massage that speedruns the entire process but still hits every spot completely."
Seeing his job done for the day, he decides it's time to meet up with his colleagues before clocking out for the day. Hawks glided down to the bottom of the tower and proceeded to walk the rest of the since it's only a few blocks away from everyone and saving his wings stamina in order to show off felt like the right thing to do.
Coming closer to his goal he spots Endeavor "conversing" with fans….if you could really call angrily scowling at them talking. Thinking nothing else of it, picks up the pace to meet with the man and report on his job being completed. Hawks always knew the man was big and intimidating, but being able to meet and work with your idol everyday was like a dream come true so he was always easy to talk to whenever he had the chance to report to him.
"Yo, Endeavor I finished my rounds across the city, same as always. Nothing spectacular or dangerous, but I did see some unique looking clouds while patrolling. Anything new on your end?" The annoyed look on the fiery man's face said all he needed to say on the matter.
"Boy, does it look like I have time for idle chit chat? I have better things to mingle with small fry heroes who are lucky to work near me to begin with." The larger man said with a tone that Keigo could only smile at.
"Sorry, just wanted to check in, plus you looked kinda annoyed with your fans so I figured you might enjoy talking with someone as fun as me."
This statement earned him a glare so big it could've burned a hole in his very being, but Keigo was nothing if not persistent and figured he'd press on a bit further just to see how far he could go before the man acknowledged him somewhat.
"What would your fans say if they knew you were looking down on those trying so hard to protect them? Who knows they might make someone like me number 2 instead and I know you wouldn't like that." Keigo said this last portion with such a shit eating grin the man had his wings prepped in case he needed to make a quick getaway from a raining firestorm that was sure to come his way.
"Quite arrogant aren't you, you cocky brat. Be lucky you aren't burned where you stand and for your information, my relationship to the public means nothing to me. As long as I perform my job as I should, then no one will ever take my title away from me no matter who that person might be!"
Hawks deciding enough was enough, backed down from teasing the man as he had heard everything he needed to hear. "He can really say some cool stuff when he wants too." he thought to himself.
"You're right, I had no right to tease you like that and apologize greatly for my mistake." bowing deep enough to seem sincere even if it did seem half assed and knowing he's doing everything in his power to hide the grin on his face.
"Hmph."
"You can report to the commission that your shift is over and pass it over to Jeanist since he's the one who decided to put on patrol near me anyway."
Hawks saluted the man and opened his wings to take off towards Jeanist when he suddenly received a call in his earpiece.
"Hello, Hawks are you there? Please pick up immediately!" The tone the person on the other side of the line was using made him worry just a bit.
"Yea, I'm here, what's the matter?"
"If you aren't already in the air, fly to the top of the city and tell me if you see anything strange in the sky. Reports of a giant mass of pitch black clouds congregated in one spot in the middle of the downtown area are being reported. We don't know if it's dangerous, but would like you to confirm it for us."
"Roger that."
Hawks and Endeavor heard the entire thing since he had put his earpiece on speaker just in case the call was urgent and he didn't want to have to waste time repeating the conversation. Knowing the growing feeling in the back of his mind he looked at Endeavor unsure of what the man was about to say.
"On a sunny day like this, dark clouds showing up out of nowhere, doesn't sound good at all. Get to the scene as quick as you can and report it to us through the earpieces and I'll get the sidekicks my agency employs that are already there to prepare for trouble until I arrive."
Hawks was about to interject before the man continued. "I'll find my own way there and my weight would only slow you and your quirk down so stop wasting my time and go!"
Nodding with a determined fierceness in his eyes, his wings opened and he shot off the ground with the same quickness that earned him the title of being the youngest ranked hero in Japan's history and once in the air began surveying his environment.
"Well would you look at that? They were as accurate as ever with the description." On a sunny, peaceful day like today there was a large circular congregation of clouds in the middle of downtown and the ominous and foreboding look it was giving off didn't ease his mind at all.
Touching his earpiece to report back he wasn't surprised in the slightest when they picked up with the same urgency they called with.
"It's most definitely here, but what can we even do about it while its way up there?"
"We aren't sure but we are beginning to issue an evacuation order to downtown just in case it's the signal of a villain attack. They have been down these past few months but something like this isn't coincidental."
His worst fear was always a large scale attack where he knew his wings would end up seperated in order to protect civilians from villains and anything that might harm them while leaving himself vulnerable. He'd be defenseless and would end up needing saving himself, but with the threat that loomed over all these people he had to at least do what he could before things got out of control.
Zooming towards the center of the city he began to hear out of his earpiece the evacuation order that was now being played on the large scale televisions that are scattered across the city.
"Thank God, they at least work quickly when it comes to things like this."
Arriving at his destination he could only watch as heroes and policemen alike began rushing civilians from the area as the clouds swirling above had now gotten larger and darker than before. "Ok this is most definitely not normal."
Gliding down to the first officer he saw, he decided to see if they had any information on this thing. Approaching them while they were busy was a hassle but knew that it had to be done.
"Yo officer, do you have any idea when this first showed up?"
"Maybe 20 minutes ago at most. It just started to form from nothing at all and now is just swirling growing stronger and I don't know about you but I'm not sure I'm comfortable with standing near anything this remotely dangerous looking." The officer said with growing nervousness in her eyes.
Did he mention he had a soft spot for women as well as children?
Because he most definitely does.
Putting his hand on her shoulder and pushing his shades up showing his sun golden eyes, he said as calm and collected as he possibly could've, "Don't worry that's why heroes like me are here to protect pretty women like yourself." At this the woman blushed and quickly turned away to hide her face.
"Um..*cough*..well tha-thank you s-sir." Knowing he'd done his job, he pushed his shades back down and with the grin still plastered on his face, turned upward to the sky and pushed off leaving the woman there to continue helping with the evacuation. Touching his communicator again, calls the commission back to see who is on the way to help deal with this.
"Hello, this is Hawks, who else is coming to help with the situation?"
"All Might, Endeavor, Jeanist and Eraserhead are already in route with numerous other sidekicks helping with the evacuation thanks to Endeavor." the man in his ear piece replied back.
"All Might and Eraserhead both showing up... damn this must really have you guys on edge if you're calling in the big gun in the big guy himself. Why Eraserhead, I thought he didn't work daytime and big, crowded events like this bad boy is turning out to be?"
"All Might is here in case this turns out to be a large scale villain attack which is being theorized and Eraserhead will be used to immediately turn any quirks they have off, helping our chances of stopping them. We want all angles covered with the least amount of casualties possible."
While he always had contempt for the commission for how they used quirks for their own gain at times, he did have respect for them with how they treat events such as this. No wasted movements or choices and more likely than not they tend to be right with these things.
Spotting Eraserhead crouched on top of a building waiting for the signal to go in case things pop off, he decided to hold his position and wait until the place was fully cleared out and luckily other than a few stragglers, it was basically evacuated, save for the apartment buildings near here but there was no worry about that.
"Hopefully."
Not long after he spotted Endeavor and Best Jeanist arrive to his far left waiting near an empty alley not wanting to be in the immediate vicinity of the circle in case they were about to be ambushed. Jeanist always preferred sneaking his enemies and ensnaring them with fibers which more often than not were inescapable. "Wonder how he got Endy to agree to that?" musing to himself but still vigilant to his surroundings.
Hearing another buzz in his communicator he picked up hoping for some sort of update.
"Hawks, is everyone in position? We can't get in contact with All Might but we are sure that we'll be able to handle it without him for the moment."
"What do you mean you can't find him? This looks big and the number 1 hero can't be bothered to show up?!" He yelled at the man in his ear.
"I understand your feelings, but for now it can't be helped. Be prepared for anything as we still don't know who and what we are dealing with." The phone call ended again but the sense of dread in the air was at an all time high.
Seeing as there was nothing else he could do, Hawks decided to wait like the rest and hope they are prepared for whatever's about to happen.
So they waited...
And waited...
And waited some more before they heard a rumbling above and it was unlike any noise Hawks had ever heard from a storm cloud before. The noise above wasn't loud but considering it was the middle of the day, it was extremely off putting. Before anyone could comment on it however… "It" happened.
And nobody could've prepared them for this.
*Craaaaaaacccccccccckkkkkkkkkk*
Without warning the fiercest, sharpest and loudest lightning strike, Keigo had ever heard pierced down faster than he had ever seen anything move in his light and struck the ground pushing anything within its reach away like nothing at all. Policemen and sidekicks were being thrown away like litter in the road. Hawks himself was almost pushed out of the sky and was flung through the nearest building wall since he was in the air in proximity when the blast occurred. Attempting to sit up but failing he realized he'd hit his head somewhere along the way of meeting the building wall and the cold hard floor he landed on.
It took everything in his power not to pass out from the throbbing pain and ringing his head.
"Fuck, must've been alot closer than I thought." Shaking his head, attempting to clear the cobwebs so he can fully process what just happened, he stands up but leans on the wall for assistance.
"If it did that to me, I can't imagine what it did to the others down there. I hope they're alright." he muttered to himself before noticing how heavy his eyelids felt. Feeling them close on his own he fought to stay awake but was failing, surely about to give in the pain and fatigue before remembering the police woman he made the promise to earlier.
"Don't worry that's why heroes like me are here to protect pretty women like yourself."
"Cmon dumbass, you already know the promise you made so no time to fall asleep like a geek. Gotta move and locate everyone."
Moving the edge of the hole that brought him here, his eyes widened in horror when he saw the destructive power of whatever the hell they just got hit with.
Buildings leaning out of place, cars tossed around in different locations, unconscious policemen and sidekicks spread out in different directions and to top it all off, the blast was so large that it not only hit the square but everything around it as well. To say it was scary was an understatement. Hawks realized that if the villains that did this were able to use an attack like this multiple times, they'd be screwed even if All Might were here.
"Well at least the black cloud of death is gone. Gotta look at the positives Hawks." He sarcastically muttered to himself before readying to fly.
Flying out of the building he surveyed the damage and immediately scattered a vast number of his wings in every direction possible to find, retrieve and save any lives he could since he understood pro heroes like himself trained to get thrown through stuff like that.
"Any normal person would've died on impact back there especially since they don't have wings to lessen the blow. No way any of them down there are ok after something like that."
Using his quirk to sense the individuals themselves he began to count how many people his wings were picking up so he can get some idea on where to put them for the time being.
"1, 6, 12, 20, 29, 34…Ok, I think that's everyone who's unconscious that I could find so let's get 'em somewhere safe."
Bringing everyone back to himself on a roof and laying everyone down gently as he began to do a visual headcount of who's here he grimaced seeing the same officer he swore to protect with a nasty head wound that was sure to need stitches.
"I was supposed to protect them so this didn't happen." He thought angrily to himself knowing that he'd failed in his promise to the woman. "What's the use of these damned wings if I can't protect the people when it counts, not after the damage is already done!"
"Well I guess I'll just have to make it up to everyone here when they wake up huh." Still groggy, he attempted to fly but his body and quirk were already at their limits thanks to that class he had with the wall a few minutes back.
"Damn...not now….MOVE BODY!" He could feel his body slowing and his movements and vision becoming and feeling hazy which meant he probably wasn't gonna be up much longer.
He didn't want to admit it but he'd barely done much and had already given 120% even if he himself hadn't realized it thanks to the head injury he'd sustained.
He sat down on the ground next to the woman he'd failed to protect and figured he had a minute or so before he joined them in unconsciousness. Using his quirk one last time, he sent one out towards the area Endeavor and Jeanist were in, hoping they'd be able to track it back to him and save these people's lives.
He'd have sent more but his body was barely listening to him at the moment so the best he could do was the one.
"Sorry guys, but...it looks..*wheeze*..like the rest is...up...to...you." And with that Hawks passed out next to the lady he had failed to protect, but not before his feather reached its location in hopes that they got the message of where he's located.
In another part of the city, one mummified man can only look on in absolute horror of what just transpired.
Toshinori Yagi A.K.A. the symbol of peace, All Might was absolutely astonished with the events that took place as he was minutes from downtown. Buzzing his earpiece he attempted to call for anyone at the scene to tell them, he's almost there and to see if anyone is harmed.
"Hello is anyone there, please pick up! I'm moving as fast as I can and will be there shortly!"
Hearing static on his end, he feared the absolute worst seeing how big the strike was and the winds blowing all the way from across town.
"Damn those villains! If my body wasn't so fragile, I'd have been there without needing to recharge my strength." He thought to himself angrily.
Not being at the scene of the calamity was running through his mind at a breakneck pace and while he knows he can't be everywhere at once, it still hurts all the same. Hearing someone buzz in he answers,
"All Might, WHERE ARE YOU?!, it's a shitshow right now and we could really use your help. People are hurt from being too close to the blast zone and I can't carry them all with just my capture device."
All Might recognized this voice as belonging to Eraserhead and silently thanked the stars above someone there was ok.
"I got held up, but I am almost to your location. How many people are hurt?" he asked while still sprinting through the alleyways awaiting an update from the night time hero.
"I was somewhat safe from the blast due to me being sitting at the top of a building, but everyone else is either too injured to move or unconscious. Endeavor and Jeanist aren't answering either so I think they're down and I saw Hawks helping people near him who were hurt, but by the time I was able to trace the wing he left back to him, I find him passed out from a head wound in need of medical attention."
"And that's not the only thing, Toshinori…" The pause in his tone meant there was more to the situation than originally thought. All Might always knew Aizawa never paused in his updates unless something truly unprecedented happened.
"There's a kid… I'm not sure if it was him or.." There was that pause again and his suspicions had more or less been confirmed that whatever was happening had even Aizawa afraid. "Just hurry and track my location but DO NOT go near the center. Don't know if he's dangerous or not." and with that the phone call ended leaving a stunned All Might on the other end picking up the pace even more.
"A child."
His mind could only imagine the scenarios that might've happened in order for a child to be in the center of the blast zone. These villains will pay for this transgression today. That would be a promise he intends to keep.
"If what Aizawa is implying what I think he is then I definitely CANNOT afford to waste any more time." Seeing a straight shot to the man's location he powered up off the ground and shot towards the sky deciding to use the rooftops to move faster. In the air Toshinori was able to spot Aizawa and dozens of other police and civilians that had been saved by Hawks and power shot off the side of another building to get over to them.
Reaching his location, All Might could only grimace at the fact that all these people were injured because he was unable to find and quell this threat before an incident like this could occur. Noticing Aizawa looking into the blast zone, he walked up to the man to let him know he had arrived.
"Aizawa, has anyone else contacted you?" No response.
Touching the man's shoulder only prompted Aizawa to flinch and shrug Toshinori away unwilling to avert his gaze from the center. Realizing his quirk was active, All Might immediately went into battle mode, pumping himself with OFA ready to go on offense or defense.
"Aizawa I understand I was late and you're on high alert but you have to work with me here. Why won't you look at me?" At this statement, Aizawa could only point to the center of the blast and at the very very very center of all this unwanted and senseless destruction….was a child.
He could barely make it out but he was barefoot and was covered in rage, that couldn't be called clothes and had blonde hair that looked like he was sunkissed by the heavens. Heart sinking at the realization of what had happened here he looked at Aizawa with bated breath.
"Has he moved at all since the blast?"
"No..." "But I'm not even sure he's alive to be honest so I was hoping you could go with me to check up on him and I'll keep my quirk on so he can't go nuclear again."
"Do you think it's his quirk that did this or villains using a child as a bomb?"
Aizawa's eyes never left the child for even a second and Toshinori could tell his quirk was beginning to strain him. "Both scenarios are viable but either one no matter how you shake it is horrifying." He said with a frown on his face knowing this might've been a freak accident and the boy might've been unlucky with the quirk lottery.
"If it's the latter, then we will save this child from anymore harm and regroup once things have calmed down. This much destruction, cannot and will not be forgiven." He spoke the last part with such venom it made even Toshinori flinch. "That's a promise."
Deciding to not waste anymore time, Aizawa stood up readying himself to begin the approach.
"You ready to move, All Might?"
Looking around at all the damage, this boy had caused, he steeled himself together knowing that no matter what happens next, it won't be easy at all for the victims or this child. Pumping OFA through his veins once again, he willed his muscles back to life.
"Of course and we will save him." Aizawa could only nod in agreement before launching themselves off the building towards the location the boy is at currently.
Following Aizawa's lead from behind him, All Might readied himself in case the boy woke up and he had to rush Aizawa out of there. "So far so good."
Unbeknownst to them, the little blond boy had started to stir.
Pausing Aizawa put his hand up to All Might signaling for him to stop moving. "He's waking up." Aizawa spat. "Be ready." Moving forward once again they both noticed the boy sit up, holding his head.
By this point the boy was sitting on his knees still dazed by slowly coming too when out of nowhere, he looked around and began shouting something that seemed like a foreign language to them.
"Wo bin ich? Was ist das für ein Ort?!" Aizawa recognized the language immediately.
"German? "How the hell does a Japanese child speak german?" he pondered to himself before getting a much closer look at the boy's features. Looking at Toshinori, before the man could make any rash decisions, he quickly stated,
"He's a foreigner, he doesn't speak the language so don't try and talk to him. It might agitate him further."
Still freaking out he gripped his head in pain and the shouting became louder and more frantic.
WER BIN ICH?! MEIN KOPF ... ES SCHMERZT !
"Damn it, where the hell is everyone" Aizawa thought. "Midnight should be here by now."
"A-Aizawa, I can help the boy, just keep your quirk aimed at him and I think…no.. I-I KNOW I CAN HELP THIS YOUNG MAN CALM DOWN!" All Might proudly exclaimed with his signature smile and the full force of OFA flowing through his veins for the first time today.
"I CANNOT BE THE SYMBOL OF PEACE IF I CAN'T SAVE A SINGLE CHILD SO I'LL GO IN AND YOU WATCH MY BACK." For the first time today, it felt like Toshinori could take on any threat regardless of his time limit, pushing himself past his limits was always his specialty after all.
The blonde haired boy, still gripping his head slowly calmed down after his initial panic had ended and now he was sobbing with his hands on his head and knees curled up to his chest.
"Wer seit ihr Leute? Tu mir nicht weh …"
All Might at this point was almost inches away from the boy who began trembling in fear. "Abused?" He couldn't help but wonder what this child has been through. The child looked homeless and severely underweight for his height. He had some sort of name tag attached to his clothing that was in German but didn't have time to worry about that as he was able to hear other heroes begin to file into the scene.
"Aizawa, if you can tell everyone to stay away right now until I can calm him down." he all but demanded at Aizawa knowing time was of the essence.
Complying with the swiftness he's known for he radios for anyone listening, "If you are listening in right now, do not come near us right now, I repeat, do not come near us right now. When I give the Ok only Midnight is needed because of her quirk."
All Might, having dealt with thousands of children in his career has managed to gain a second sense when it comes to their emotions and always knows how to handle it. This will not be any different just because the boy has a 'unique quirk' and he just needs help controlling it. It wasn't his fault this happened and will save this young man regardless of any peril he may put himself in.
Lightly touching the boy's shoulder, he gently nudged his head up to look at him and began to speak, "I will not hurt you young man, I am here to help." At the mention of the word help, the boy began crying again.
Wiping his tears away as gently as he possibly could, Toshinori gave the boy one of the warmest smiles of his career and continued, "I will help you. Do you have a name?"
"Help."
"Name."
At the mention of these two words the boy began to stop moving altogether with a deep look on his tear covered face.
"Ich kann mich nicht erinnern." the boy sputtered with the tension fading from his face.
"Merken." Seeing the boy's face falling, Toshinori gave the signal to Aizawa for him to bring in Midnight so she could sedate the young man.
The blonde boy gripped his head once again, not out of pain or panic, but confusion at what he was seeing. The two men in front of him had these colors around them and he couldn't make sense of it. His head hurt far too much for that to happen.
The one thing he can properly process however is a voice ringing in his head and he knows he doesn't have much time left before he passes out again so he listens.
Because that's all he can do.
"You have to remember your name and move forward."he can barely make out what he's hearing as it's not in his native tongue but for some reason his brain won't let him tune it out.
"Remember your name."
"Name."
Hearing the last portion, something his brain kicked in and ran into overdrive trying to process what he was hearing before he knew what was happening, he was being scooped into the giant man's arms and hearing something unintelligible before getting ready to close his eyes again.
"Zeke"
"Ich heiße Zeke Kruger…" and without a moment's notice the last thing the boy was able to see was a strangely dressed woman, removing parts of her clothing and moving near him before closing his eyes once again.