My Hero Academia: Son of Justice

by Jayme F. Midorikawa

The son of the disgraced former greatest Hero of The Soviet Union is extended a chance at a new life by the Symbol of Peace, All Might. After having lived so long resenting Heroes and Villains, and being scared to death of his own Quirk, will he be able to step forward and become the Hero he once dreamed of, and will he be able to find new purpose through friendship, or even love?

64. Hokkaido Arc Part 2 - First Impressions

Hello again, everyone. Well, last week we got to see Vukodlak, Tomura, Himiko and Twice finally embark on their own original journey to occur parallel to the Hokkaido Arc and the Shie Hassaikai Arc (Oh, don't worry, I've got plans on how to explain that), and today we'll finally get to see Kolya and Mina be properly introduced to their new mentors, and finally begin to bring their story together with the story of Pietro Dobrynich Granin and his Quirked insurgent army. This is the beginning of something big for this story, and I hope you'll all stick around to see it through like you have been. This has been a very long time in the making, and ultimately still is, so some honest feedback would be immensely appreciated.

I'd also like to give another grateful mention to my two beta readers, Mizu and Johnny. Yes, personal life has made things so busy for both of them recently, but the fact they still stay in communication despite that goes a long way.

My Hero Academia is the property of Kouhei Horikoshi and Shonen Jump. I only own my original characters, the original events surrounding them, and the alterations of established events that occur from their existence.

A/N: [[]] indicates that characters are contextually speaking Russian.

Chapter 65

First Impressions

(Первые Впечатления)

Sunday September 7th

Despite Nikolay and Mina having gone through the effort of waking up ready and prepared so early in the morning on their one official day off in the week, it was still more than two hours of switching trains just as many times before they finally had crossed the one undersea rail tunnel that exited out onto the island of Hokkaido, the final leg of their journey; a journey that, depending how things would pan out today, would become a regular trip to make throughout the weeks and months to come.

"Oh, wow, I haven't actually been to Hokkaido in years! Last time was for, like, a family vacation when I was little! Everything looks so pretty!" Mina exclaimed excitedly once they had finally emerged back out into the sunlight, looking at the especially hilly terrain covered in trees blooming in autumn colors. Already, much of the flora that Nikolay could see from the train was decidedly different from how it was on the main island of Japan. Hokkaido had a notably more alpine foliage to go along with its normally colder climate, and if that was the way it was looking at this, the southern edge of the island, he could only imagine what it would be like once they got further north, like their destination was.

"It really is, but I can definitely already see why Hadou-senpai changed her mind about travelling this far regularly just for internships." Nikolay immediately regretted even saying such a thing the moment he had, but a reassuring hand from Mina on his shoulder immediately made him turn back to see the enthusiasm all over her face.

"Aw, c'mon, Kolya-kun, we can't turn back if we've already come this far! Besides, we're just going for introductions, right? I mean, it's not like they'll say 'okay' just like that, right? We should at least give it a try like everything else." Without fail, Mina's energy and eagerness was able to do away with Nikolay's lingering doubts, at least for now.

He knew she was absolutely right. The whole reason they were making this trek was precisely because they had both been loud and clear about how much they didn't want to part ways for their internships. As far as they were both concerned, they'd already been proving to be a team practically made for each other, even for as disparate as their Quirks were from one another; and nothing was going to break them apart if they could help it.

"You're right, Mina. We owe it to ourselves to at least give today a try. We shouldn't have much longer to go; did you remember to grab your contract copy before we left?" The moment Nikolay even asked, he was already digging through his personal book bag and letting out a sigh of relief when he felt the folded piece of paper that Aizawa had given all the 1-A students yesterday after having officially given them the official green light for interning with Agencies with good track records.

Mina, at the same time, was now anxiously foraging through her backpack and letting out an intense sigh of relief of her own once she pulled her own copy out. "Wow, good job thinking of that before we actually got there, Kolya-kun! That would've been so embarrassing!"

Of course, the irony of thanking her Russian bestie for only thinking of the most important thing for their introductions after having already ridden the trains for two hours from school was quick to occur to them both, as Mina and Nikolay started laughing amusedly with each other. As nervous as they both still were about how these introductions could potentially go, to be able to still laugh about times like these did wonders to help ease their nerves.

It was just barely after ten in the morning by the time their last train had finally reached its destination: Arakisu City in Soya Sub-Prefecture. Looking out the window at the expansive rolling cityscape, it was already very easy for them to compare it to Musutafu City in terms of sheer size, just with a northern Hokkaido kind of aesthetic, like that of a Japanese take on the typical mountain town. The blooms of autumn colors on the tree foliage lining all throughout definitely helped add to the overall image. It was strangely serene in its own way.

"Wow, this place is already way bigger than I thought it'd be! I thought every other Hokkaido town was tiny and Sapporo was the only big one." Mina said in astonishment once their train had finally stopped at the station, prompting her and Nikolay to step outside and be greeted by the chilly autumn northern air.

"Yeah, it's almost like Musutafu with a northern-style makeover. I just don't get why we never heard of any of the Agencies up here before. I mean, this Kapenta Agency sounds like it fits the teachers' requirements for us to intern, you'd think we'd have heard the name at least once before." While Nikolay was musing this question between them, Mina was already two steps ahead, eagerly pulling him along by the hand she'd never let go of since the train, while busily looking over the directions on how to get there on her phone; quickly prompting Nikolay to do the same, both teens barely managing to keep the suitcases with their Hero costumes around their wrists.

Thanks to Reflector's directions, it didn't take long for the two Yuuei students to find themselves now standing before the Kapenta Hero Agency building. Where the Kamuron Agency had only been two floors, this one was easily twice the size. While it still didn't hold a candle to something like the Endeavor Agency or even the Mt. Lady Agency, it was still an impressive sight amid the rest of the city.

"Well…now or never, right?" Nikolay finally asked, giving Mina a smile of quiet confidence; a sight she happily returned as they marched in through the doors into the polished lobby, wherein stood a well-built man with closely trimmed dark blue hair and lilac-colored eyes, dressed in a bodysuit made up of vertical stripes of blue and red, with the blue stripes turning thinner on the left half of his costume, and turning thicker on the right.

At the sight of Nikolay and Mina, this unfamiliar man visibly lit right up with surprising recognition. "Good morning! You must be our two starry-eyed internship applicants from Yuuei that Reflector-san told us about!"

Neither of the young Heroes could even get a word out before this strange Pro Hero stepped forward and gave them both a very welcoming bow, urging them to do the same. "Welcome to the Kapenta Hero Agency, Nikolay Bezpalov-kun; Ashido Mina-kun! Come with me to the second floor so you can meet the others! Don't worry; there are only two others around right now, not including our Agency head. Everyone else is already out on patrol or resting up for night shift."

There was an especially eager spring in the man's step as he beckoned Nikolay and Mina to follow him into the elevator. With his welcome having come on so strong, only now could Nikolay finally ask: "So, you were all already expecting us?"

"That's right. Reflector-san is a close friend to us since we all interned here together from different Hero schools way back when. He spoke really fondly of you two, plus we'd of course heard about you and your handful of other Yuuei students because of what happened at Erubi City. We'd already pretty much been anticipating hearing from you after he contacted us and our boss, even before you sent your applications last night. Good timing on that, by the way, even if it was ultimately just a formality."

With that, the elevator doors suddenly opened, and their Hero host was already all but sliding Nikolay and Mina forward with his hands to their backs, as they now found themselves standing before two other Pro Heroes of wildly different looks: another male one with especially long and shaggy-looking orange hair, dressed in what looked like faded and worn out blue jeans, a bullet belt around his waist, boots and a long sleeved mesh shirt underneath a denim sleeveless vest covered in numerous patches with scrawled on Japanese text too sloppy for either of the two to read. He also had a strap slung around his left shoulder with a single medium-sized red rectangle strapped to it, standing right in the middle of his chest.

The other was a woman no older than Midnight with tied up black and white hair dressed in a very elegant, yet noticeably flexible, black two-piece Hero suit that almost looked like its design could have been more fitting being upon a Victorian-era dress. She had piercing white irises and red lipstick, carried a black umbrella over her head, black leather heeled boots that went up to her knees, and most curiously of all, two wristwatch-styled sundials upon her wrists.

"Hey, you guys; our new potential interns are here! Bezpalov-kun, Ashido-kun, why don't you step forward and make this official? It's a big step for you kids, best to initiate it yourselves, after all." At their enthusiastic host's insistence, standing side-by-side in the inquisitive gazes of the three Pros, Nikolay and Mina both took a resolute breath and took as professional a bow as they could.

"Good morning! I'm Nikolay Olegovich Bezpalov! My Hero name is Solovei, but you can just call me The Frequency Hero, Nightingale!" "Hi! I'm Ashido Mina! You can call me the Ridley Hero, Pinky!" "Thank you for taking the time to meet us today!"

With their individual introductions and a unison expression of gratitude, the three Heroes before them couldn't help but chuckle to each other at their youthful energy. Finally, the shaggy-haired Hero stepped forward. "Well, Reflector-san certainly wasn't kidding about their spirit! I like 'em already! Welcome to the Kapenta Hero Agency, Nightingale-kun, Pinky-kun. I'm Ongaku Kazuki; but you'll better know me as the Jukebox Hero, Blast Beat!"

Even though Nikolay and Mina were granting their elder the respect of eye contact, the Hero known as Blast Beat was quick to notice how their eyes kept momentarily glancing to the line of bullets around his waist. At this, he chuckled in amusement once again. "Don't worry; you're far from the first ones to give me that kind of reaction. These aren't real; just an assortment of flash bangs, smoke bombs and sleeping gas pellets for crowd and Villain control. I just thought this design looked cooler."

"Yes, if by 'cooler,' you mean more barbaric," the female Hero suddenly spoke up with a good-natured barb that left Blast Beat pouting, and Nikolay and Mina watching her with rapt attention as she took a curtsy. "It's nice to finally meet you both after Reflector-san's glowing recommendation. I'm Kuragari Asami; the Shadow Hero, High Noon. I look forward to seeing how you both manage with us after having to travel so far from Yuuei."

And finally the blue-haired stripe-suited Hero threw his arms over both teens' shoulders, practically reeling them in while he had the biggest grin on his face. "And I'm Kashiwagi Mitsudo; the Reinforcing Hero, De-Condensor. Now we just gotta introduce you to our boss, since they're the ones that need to stamp your internship contracts for your teachers."

However, while De-Condensor was already about to guide the two into the elevators again, High Noon and Blast Beat suddenly stepped in the way. "Hey now, we're not in that intense of a rush. We've still got a little time before our patrol shifts have to start. I'd say they deserve to know what we can do."

As Blast Beat explained this, High Noon was in surprising agreement with an inviting nod. "That's right. What do you say we take them down to the training room and give them a little showcase, Mitsudo-kun?"

At their invitation, Nikolay and especially Mina both visibly lit up with anticipation. "I'd like to see that, actually! We could even show you some of what we've learned, too!" Totally! It's always super cool meeting new Pros! I wanna see your Quirks! PLEASE?!"

With that and a resigning shrug and chuckle, the whole bunch filed into the elevator and made their way down to an underground level beneath the building, wherein they were greeted by a wide and empty room with nothing but illuminated walls and a gridline running along the floor, walls and ceiling.

"Alright, we'll give you both a singular demonstration of how each of our Quirks works. Luckily we've got our own special individual training programs set up that suit our abilities specifically. I'll go first," De-Condensor explained as his fellow Heroes took their spots in the area cordoned off from the training floor, where a single computer module stood, with Blast Beat taking his spot at it.

As De-Condensor made his way onto the training floor and the training program for him was set up, he looked back to Nikolay and Mina over his shoulder. "My Density Quirk works in a very specific way. I can directly affect the density of objects based on which of my hands I touch it with. For example, I can take away the density of a reinforced steel wall with my left hand and make it as delicate as a wall of toothpicks. Just as easily can I transfer that absorbed density into a shoji wall with my right hand and make it as durable as that previous steel wall. Of course, I can also hang onto that density and use it to reinforce my strength or physical durability to withstand an attack."

From the moment he finished speaking, an alarm suddenly rang across the training floor, and De-Condensor quickly turned on his heels just in time to meet a large robot charging him down one of the gridlines, and it was an especially fierce looking setup of a machine to be sure. However, the blue-haired Hero was far from being intimidated, as he suddenly leapt up and over its head, planting his left hand atop its head and nearly maintaining a perfect handstand for a good two seconds before springing himself off of it as it began to spin to try and knock him off.

Without even missing a beat from the moment his feet touched the ground, De-Condensor suddenly hopped straight up and delivered a beautifully performed rear spinning kick straight into the robot's midsection, causing the whole torso of the robot to shatter like sugar glass and send the whole thing toppling and shattering the rest of the way into a pile of obliterated scrap.

Just as quickly did a single small block of a picket wood fence no taller than De-Condensor himself suddenly rise up from the floor right behind him, and another, even fiercer looking robot adorned with spinning blades come racing straight down the way for him. Even from this distance, it was clear this thing would go right through such a weak barrier like it wasn't even there.

Never taking his eyes off his coming opponent, the Density Hero suddenly planted his right hand to the fence, just in time for the robot to swing both its blades straight down; only instead of the buzz of steel slicing through wood, the whole room was now met with the whirring and grinding of the high-powered weapons actually struggling against what should have been an utterly nonexistent obstacle, before the motors for the blades themselves started to smoke, and the blade got worn down into nothing.

As the final coup de grace, De-Condensor planted his left hand to the fence again, then just as quickly leapt off the top of it and delivered another devastating downward hammer strike with both his fists clasped together onto the robot's head, smashing it straight in and through, exploding out the bottom of its overall body, and sending the whole metal monstrosity crashing down lifelessly.

Needless to say, Nikolay and Mina were both absolutely stricken by what they'd just witnessed, and the smile on De-Condensor's face made it all too clear he was all the happier for it as he cleared the training floor, just as several floor panels flipped over to get rid of the debris and robot remains, leaving it perfectly clear for whoever was next.

Accepting the invitation, High Noon proceeded to step forward while Blast Beat was once again putting in the specs for her specific training program. As she started flexing her fingers and popping the joints in her shoulders and neck for maximum maneuverability, she likewise looked back to the two potential interns. "My Shadow Puppet Quirk allows me to physically manipulate any of my opponents by their shadows if my shadow comes into contact with theirs. That's why I have these sundial bracelets, so I always know what angle the sun or any source of light is, relative to me."

Once again with pitch perfect timing, the lighting of the training room suddenly changed to where only the roof and right wall were illuminated, while the floor and left wall turned off, and a number of man-sized robots emerged from the illuminated wall to her right. With not even more than a split second to look at the shadows upon her sundials, High Noon suddenly threw herself into a spinning leap to her right, getting her shadow on the left wall to intersect with the shadows of the two nearest robots.

The instant that happened, she clutched her hands upon landing and threw her arms upwards as though she were tossing something, only for the two robots to get thrown straight up and crashing into the air, raining down in pieces as though the floor beneath them had launched them up like a springboard.

The rest of the robots seemed to finally turn on High Noon the moment this happened, all starting to approach her, before she just as quickly began to run up the wall to her back and kick herself off when she was far higher above their heads than such a kick would be able to do anything for.

However, as she did this, the light on the right wall suddenly turned off, leaving only the roof shining a light straight down, thus projecting her shadow upon those of the next two robots. As soon as she saw this, she threw her body into a downright chaotic mid-air roll, causing the two robots to come flying and crashing into each other as though she were tethering them along.

As soon as she landed, the rest of the lights finally turned back on and she rose up to her feet, taking a steadying breath, and then another graceful bow while Nikolay and Mina were both eagerly clapping for her impressive display and acrobatics.

As she stepped off of the training room floor, the two teens quickly turned their attention to Blast Beat, who wasn't making any steps away from the console. "What about you, Blast Beat-sensei?! Can you show us your Quirk, too?" "Yeah, yeah! If you're the Jukebox Hero, your Quirk's gotta be super rocking and cool, right?!"

However, the metal head-looking Hero gave a bemused chuckle, shaking his head as he hit a button on the small rectangular object hanging from the strap over his chest. Before Nikolay and Mina's eyes, the rectangle suddenly began to expand, unfold and reconfigure itself, until within a matter of seconds; they found themselves looking upon one of the most high tech-looking guitars ever.

Without even missing a beat, he suddenly tore a dark blue patch from his left shoulder and slapped it onto the body of his guitar, and with a pre-constructed and timely series of plucks of his guitar strings while keeping his eyes on the two energetic teens, they both felt all of that energy get quickly sucked right out of them, leaving them completely lethargic and all around drained.

Despite the surprised and worried looks on their faces at what just happened, Blast Beat just laughed to himself as he removed the blue patch, reapplying it to his vest, and then just as swiftly tore off a yellow one, slapped it onto his instrument, and with a much faster but no less coordinated series of tremolo picks, Nikolay and Mina both felt that very same energy come rushing right back into them, only now they were far too surprised to be bouncing and chattering excitedly as they once were.

"My Quirk isn't exactly dependent on my using music; but it serves as a good conduit to control it. You see, my Mood Quirk does exactly that: it directly alters the mentality, mood and energy of whoever I intend it to. This guitar and these patches were developed for me by our partnered Support Company as a way for me to keep my Quirk from affecting entire crowds instead of a single intended group of targets. With a single set of strums I can take away someone's whole fighting spirit, or I can add to my partners' energy and strength just as well. It's essentially a Support Quirk by nature."

Nikolay and Mina both looked completely amazed to each other at just what unique Quirks their future possible instructors were going to have them be working with. Seeing this, De-Condensor spoke up: "You may be thinking: 'if they've been Pro Heroes for as long as Reflector-san made them sound, why would they still need a training room like this?' Well, it's precisely because, when you're a Pro Hero, you can never allow yourself to get complacent, especially in training. That was the way we thought even before All Might's retirement got all the Villains across Japan acting up and getting bold."

Wanting to keep the mood from getting down at the mention of All Might, however, High Noon suddenly spoke up: "Between what Reflector-san told us about your experience at Erubi City and all the talk on the news about that Villain attack on your training camp, it's obvious you Yuuei kids this year have already had more than your fair share of legit Hero experience with Villains already. So how about you both take a turn on the floor and show us what you can do? All the talk can't compare to the real thing, after all."

"Yeah, you don't even have to worry about changing into your Hero suits just yet. We'll give you both the most basic training run just so you can showcase what you've learned. It'll be a good way to see if you're both really Kapenta Agency material, after all." Blast Beat agreed, already putting in that very same program.

The hum of the motors within the training room pretty much answered their question of whether or not they truly had a choice. However, instead of nervousness or apprehension, the fact they were being given this chance to prove themselves only served to ignite their hearts even more.

"Sit back and enjoy the show, Sensei's! You won't be disappointed!" Nikolay declared as he already began untying his shoes, with Mina having already kicked her own aside and taken away her socks, just before throwing a victorious fist into the air to match her determined smile. "Time for us to show our stuff, Kolya-kun! Let's do it!"

Already, a number of robots were elevating up from the floor, setting themselves up to go on the attack. The moment they had made their formation, Mina instantly leapt right in, forming up her sliding fluid from the soles of her feet, with Nikolay leaping in right on her heels, sliding in tandem right behind her and matching her momentum with the most minor blasts from his hands aiming back.

Once they and the robots were the same distance from the middle of the training room, Nikolay suddenly brought his arms around her shoulders from behind, and as soon as she took her feet off the floor and landed them on his own, he instantly launched them both up into the air, bringing them into another midair roll.

Just like back at the Provisional License Exam, Mina immediately began to release her least-acidic fluid from her hands, bringing it all raining down on the robots below, immobilizing them within the quick-hardening fluids within seconds.

As soon as they realized this, the two teens separated from each other, and Mina met the floor in a perfect roll that quickly turned into a blindingly fast improvised break dancing routine, sending her acid flying all around her in a perfect spraying circle and melting down the robots around her.

At the exact same time, Nikolay came landing directly onto the head of one of the robots, sending a perfectly timed kinetic blast from the connecting foot, all but obliterating the robot from the inside out from the immense vibration, and also serving as a springboard to send him into another flying ricochet where he did the same exact thing to another robot through his hand, destroying it at his touch and sending him into a second ricochet, and the process continued with blinding speed while Mina was continuing her break dance/attack maneuver, melting down half the robots while Nikolay obliterated the second half.

While the two best friends reconvened amid the energy of the moment, none of them realized how De-Condensor had put in more commands into the training console, already thoroughly impressed alongside his peers at their natural synergy.

Before they could look back to the three onlooking Pros, another mechanical whirring drew both their attention to the farther end of the training room, from where they had just entered. Now they found themselves being faced down by two bigger robots with what looked like automated guns for arms.

Once it was clear they had the two in their sights, however, that natural sense of teamwork instantly kicked in, as while Mina was still in a momentary kneeling position, Nikolay quickly threw himself into a roll, using her back as a ramp to control his landing so he could instantly get down and plant his hands to the floor, firing a double-dose of his full kinetics into the ground, sending all of the debris from the other robots flying straight up into the air, instantly following up with a veritable leap into the air, wherein he fired a two-directional blast from his hands aiming forward and back, stabilizing himself in the air, and sending half the airborne metal pieces flying at breakneck speed towards the robot to the left, rending through its armor like bullets through tissue paper.

At the same time, taking advantage of her lower position, while the second robot was already firing a barrage of rubber bullets that the lifted scrap was acting as a momentary shield against for her, Mina let herself fall onto her side and bring her hands together, firing a precise long-reaching Acid Shot for the robot's legs, melting them out from underneath it, sending the rest of its body toppling over, only for her to fire another shot and melting the rest of its mass away.

As soon as she and Nikolay both got back on their feet, a movement outside their peripheral vision snapped them both to attention, just in time to find a final, and even larger tank of a robot, already long since having them in its sights and firing another barrage of rubber bullets and nets, just a fraction of a second before Nikolay could react and try to deflect them all away.

But not too fast for Mina at his side, as she already had her arms reeled back from picking herself back up, already building up a full coating of acid over her hands as she threw her arms forward and upward, throwing and building up a thick Acid Veil in front of herself and Nikolay, melting every single rubber bullet and net coming their way.

Nikolay immediately followed her momentum, as he just as quickly threw his own arms forward and fired everything he had at full blast, sending Mina's Acid Veil flying forward, turning it into a full blown Acid Wave that melted the whole robot down where it stood in a matter of seconds.

With that, a second electric alarm sounded across the training room, immediately followed by a trio of enthusiastic applause from the Heroes, who now looked absolutely ecstatic at what they'd just seen.

Of course, their shared elation at having apparently done so well was quickly replaced with worry once they actually took the time to see the multiple pieces of debris now lodged into the walls, and the numerous melted spots in the other walls and across the floor. "I-I'm sorry, Sensei's, I wasn't thinking!" "Yeah, we didn't mean to destroy so much of the place, honest! Please don't kick us out!"

However, the three Pros could only keep laughing and cheering as De-Condensor motioned for the two to return and get their footwear back on. "Why would we kick you out? You think you're the only ones to have ever done this kind of damage to this place on a training session? Trust me, you're both fine."

"Fine? Better than fine, when was the last time you saw first-year Hero students with such wildly different Quirks show such a natural adeptness towards working together and combining their abilities? It's no wonder they both specifically asked to intern together as a team!" High Noon exclaimed with the most outward enthusiasm they'd seen from her yet; such compliments restoring the smiles on the two teens' faces, and further strengthening their confidence and pride in themselves and one another.

"You two performed above and beyond, just about what I was expecting after hearing Reflector-san talk, and even more! If you ask me, I think you two would make great interns for the Kapenta Agency. Now we just gotta introduce you to our boss, his old mentor, since she has the final say." Blast Beat was already in the middle of hitting the button for the elevator as he said this, with De-Condensor and High Noon both eagerly following, but leaving Nikolay and Mina visibly surprised once they had stepped inside as well.

"His old mentor? But when he told us he'd contacted you, he said his mentor was retired." Nikolay remembered, with Mina nodding her head and pumping her fists in excited confusion as well.

"Well, she is. However, she still lives on the top floor of this building and keeps eyes and ears on whatever happens here, and we keep her posted on any of our activities around the area." Blast Beat explained as the Pros watched the small screen above the door indicating their ascent up the floors.

"Yeah, she's only really retired in the sense that she can't really do field work anymore. The truth is that, in the world of Pro Heroes, you never truly retire in the full sense. Whether it's persistence, or that natural need to do good and help people, varies from person to person." High Noon finished up, just at the moment a sharp *ding* sounded, and they could feel the elevator come to a stop.

With an upswing of eagerness in his voice, De-Condensor announced: "Alright, kids, time for you to finally meet the head of the Kapenta Hero Agency."

As the doors opened up, Nikolay and Mina both felt an air of intimidation hit when they found themselves stepping into a darkly colored yet clearly very upper class-looking combination of an office and an entire living space, with a very pleasant oak smell coming either from the furniture or candle-lit lanterns lining the walls. At the end, between sizable bookshelves and before a large window overlooking part of Arakisu City, was a large oak desk, and sitting behind it was a middle-aged woman, probably somewhere in her fifties, in an ornate white shirt underneath black suspenders connected to tight black trousers under thick black leather boots. She had her hands adorned in black gloves, and upon her back and shoulders was a dark purple cape. She had only a few wrinkles at the outer corners of her piercing orange eyes underneath large circular glasses, and a head of short dark purple hair with large streaks of grey in it.

Her eyes were already busily looking the two youngsters before her with piercing focus that they could physically feel, displaying no outward sign of surprise at their arrival. "Well, it's a pleasure to finally meet you both in person. I know my working Pros didn't prove too overwhelming a set of personalities for you. Now come, look me in the eye and introduce yourselves, young interns."

Despite her authoritative and learned aura, her voice was surprisingly inviting and polite, prompting Nikolay and Mina to quickly do as they were asked, looking her in her bespectacled eyes as they introduced themselves the same way as before: "Hello, Miss. I'm Nikolay Bezpalov; Hero Name Solovei or Nightingale." "It's really nice to meet you. I'm Ashido Mina; Hero Name Pinky. Thanks for seeing us."

The older woman never broke eye contact as she answered the two kids in kind: "And it's a pleasure to finally meet you both as well, especially after hearing Kagami-kun and his Kamuron partners talk so highly of you both. My name is Sakakibara Chizuru, formerly known as the Overlay Hero, Chiaroscuro. Photography enthusiasts would call me out for my Hero name not matching my Quirk, but you can't argue it rolls off the tongue, right?"

Despite this out of nowhere question, Mina could only ask the most natural question of the moment: "'Overlay Hero?' What's your Quirk able to do, Sensei?"

However, Chiaroscuro said nothing. In fact, she didn't even seem to show any indication of reaction. Before Mina or Nikolay could ask if she was feeling alright, they both suddenly felt a single finger poking on their shoulders, sending both teens jumping and yelping with shock, only to find the older woman now standing smiling right behind them, with the other Pros all grinning and chuckling amongst themselves in amusement.

"Whoa! H-how did you do that? Do you have some kind of instantaneous warping speed Quirk?" Nikolay asked while trying to keep his heart from exploding from the shock, with Mina's pink complexion momentarily turning pale from the surprise.

"No, not at all. My Quirk works in the way that, if I blink while making direct eye contact with someone, I supplant an image of myself on their eyes that remains no matter where they look; thus allowing me to get the drop on them. It's nothing more than simple illusion, but it's carried me through many years working as a Pro Hero. You should no doubt know by now that there's no such thing as a truly worthless Quirk so long as you know how to properly apply it."

By the time Chiaroscuro finished explaining her Quirk, and Nikolay and Mina had both visibly calmed down, she placed a much gentler hand on their shoulders, guiding them to her desk. "To tell you kids the truth, I was watching and listening in on your little training session in the basement just recently. I have to agree with the others; for first-years, your abilities with your Quirks, and especially in combining them together and working as a team, is some of the best I've seen in a very long time. It's no wonder Kagami-kun suggested we take you both in as a full package deal."

Taking the two empty seats at the foot of the desk, Nikolay and Mina both clearly looked overjoyed to hear even the head of the Agency say so, and she could likewise tell they were just about ready to start giving all the expected promises interns did of giving their all and coming by as often as possible to work; hence she was ahead of the curb as she held up a silencing hand; her expression now growing considerably more serious. "However, as vital as it is for you young Heroes to master and advance your capabilities with your Quirks in order to fight Villains and rescue civilians; it is of equal importance for you to sharpen your social abilities, to be able to form attachments and build rapport with the people you'll be saving. Being a figure of hope for the public may even be considered to be of far greater importance in the long run."

"Please forgive me for speaking out of turn, Chiaroscuro-sensei, but we've actually already been taught some of that by the Kamuron Agency Heroes and our own teachers before." Nikolay finally chimed in, looking noticeably surprised that this lesson was being brought back to the forefront, with Mina quickly following suit, looking just as confused: "Yeah, the coolest Heroes can both kick Villain butt, save people and be everybody's friend all at the same time. That's how we got our Licenses, after all."

However, a momentary tapping of Chiaroscuro's fingertips against her desk was enough to silence both the students before her, while her expression reflected no such increase in seriousness. "I understand that. If you didn't have your Provisional Licenses, you wouldn't be here right now. However, I'm not talking about simply being able to build those tight-knit connections between yourselves and the general public of whatever community you ultimately decide to work as a Pro Hero in. You need to be able to reflect such strength in sociability and being able to calm and be there for people, no matter where you are. You need to be able to properly conduct yourselves, even in areas that are far beyond your areas of experience, like Japanese citizens."

All at once, Reflector's most unique reason for recommending them to come this far north came right back to Nikolay and Mina, just at the same time that the other three Pros audibly lit up with the same realization, with High Noon being the first to speak up: "Chizuru-san, you really think it's a good idea to send them that way on intro day?"

Chiaroscuro leaned back in her seat, meeting her fellow Hero's questioning look. "Well, you making it sound like they're being sent into a war zone certainly doesn't help, Asami-san. They need all the experience they can get; plus Bezpalov-kun would be a natural going out there, so why not send them both with Mitsudo-kun? It's his turn for Gagaringrad Duty this week, anyway."

Before either Nikolay or Mina could ask just what exactly it was Chiaroscuro was suggesting, De-Condensor spoke up: "But, Chizuru-san, today's supposed to be the first day for our new hire, remember? The one who decided to come on as my sidekick?"

Chiaroscuro rose up from her seat, making a determined beeline for the elevator, thus prompting everyone else to climb back in with her, while her expression remained completely unperturbed: "Well, there's no harm in taking her along as well, Mitsudo-kun; you'd essentially be killing two birds with one stone, giving them a taste for the job."

As the elevator began to descend back to the ground floor, Chiaroscuro shifted her gaze down to their two young interns and the contemplative looks on their faces. "I couldn't help but notice the two of you didn't look nearly as confused by any of what I just proposed as I expected."

Being put on the spot, Nikolay quickly answered: "Oh, we're sorry, Chiaroscuro-sensei. It's just that, when Reflector-sensei suggested interning in Hokkaido, he mentioned there being lots of Russian people in these parts. I remember reading it's been like that for a really long time, actually."

Following his train of thought, Mina similarly stepped in with a confident smirk on her face, acting as though she were mentally piecing together some deep dark secret: "Yeah, plus you saying Kolya-kun would be a natural somewhere? That made it real easy to guess what's going on. I mean, that weird city name you just said doesn't sound Japanese at all. What else could it be up here, you know?" As Mina further answered the Agency head's curiosity about them, De-Condensor suddenly spoke up:

"You're both right about that. Hokkaido as a whole has always been really contested land between Japan and Russia, and there have definitely been some Russian families that have managed to integrate with the Japanese living here for generations. If you're looking for a chance to gain some experience being Heroes with an international audience, you made the right choice coming up here."

As the elevator doors opened up and everyone stepped out, High Noon continued from there: "But what we call 'Gagaringrad Duty' is what makes the Kapenta Hero Agency unique among all the other Hokkaido Hero Agencies. See, Gagaringrad is essentially a sanctuary zone that was agreed upon by the Russian and Japanese governments generations ago; something like a political safe haven for Slavic citizens who needed to flee war or political oppression. They would have the rights to form their own local government, and would essentially live in a condition of amnesty."

Upon reaching a nearby set of restroom doors, and understanding that things were finally starting to get rolling for them, Nikolay and Mina hurriedly ducked inside in the middle of the explanation, hurriedly changing into their Hero costumes and stepping back out just as quickly. After the momentary series of whistles and exclamations of approval for their costume styles, it was once again back to making their way for the lobby, with Blast Beat continuing with the impromptu local history lesson.

"For the longest time, barely more than a few dozen people lived there. However, over the last thirteen years, a lot more Quirked Slavic people have migrated and settled down in Gagaringrad, with a huge influx of them having come in several months ago. They're technically under the legal and political protection of the Japanese government, as was the agreement. However, in order to properly balance that with their right to self-govern, since our Agency is the closest one to their area geographically, it's been agreed upon for a while that every other week, one of us goes out there each day of that week to check things over, communicate with the locals on the street and the local government, make sure everything is okay and the people living there aren't in trouble or in danger from outside threats like gangs of Villains, ecological damage and things like that."

Taking in the historical context (especially the part Nikolay and Mina were both by now more than familiar with) and the sheer scale of this specific assignment of theirs, the two Yuuei teens' eyes similarly lit up with a mix of understanding and admiration, with Mina's fists once again pumping with anticipation: "Wow, constant public outreach to a whole community of displaced people? That's, like, one of the most low key Heroic things I've ever heard! And we get to be a part of it, Kolya-kun! Isn't it exciting?!"

She could easily spot the anticipation and nervousness equally in her beloved friend's expression, but before he could properly answer her, Chiaroscuro once again leaned in with that inescapable discerning eye. "I have to admit that, like many other Pro Heroes out there, no doubt; I'd been keenly interested in you since watching the Sports Festival this year, Bezpalov-kun. It's the first year I can recall where Yuuei actually had a fully foreign student amid its roster.

"After that, reading about you two and your fellow students during the Erubi City incident, and then finding out about your connection to that Tunguska character that fought alongside All Might the night he was forced to retire, and then finding out about his history back in the Soviet Union online, I already found you fascinating. Kagami-kun's glowing recommendation of you two only further solidified the fact that I wanted to take you both in and really see how you could help each other grow even further into truly great Heroes. Sending you on this assignment with Mitsudo-kun will be a fantastic learning experience for both of you in how Heroes conduct themselves with all kinds of people."

While Nikolay was momentarily taken aback by the fact that Chiaroscuro had all-but admitted to having already accepted him and Mina as her Agency's newest interns, Mina's glowing enthusiasm suddenly turned to an unexpected crestfallen sadness. "Oh no…all this time, and I just remembered we never even got a chance for you to teach me any Russian like we'd promised before, Kolya-kun! If this place is full of people that only speak your language, what good could I possibly be? I'd totally be stuffing my foot in my mouth out there!"

At her momentary despair, alongside Nikolay's when realizing how royally he too had dropped the ball in actually taking the time to teach Mina anything, the Pro Heroes were once again chuckling amusedly to each other, with their two young followers realizing they were on the outside of a serious inside joke between them, with High Noon quick to clarify: "Don't worry yourself about that, Ashido-chan. Trust me, the people at Gagaringrad have the resources you'll need to fit right in without even trying."

SLAM!

The sudden bang of the Agency's front doors being thrown open snapped everyone to full attention, just in time to be met by the sight of a young woman, barely into her twenties from the looks of it, hunched over as though she had just run a mother of a marathon in order to get here. She had shoulder-length black hair and black eyes with pronounced white plus symbol-shaped pupils. Her outfit couldn't have possibly been casual, as it resembled more of the uniform worn by a typical delivery driver, in solid purple and white, with a similar multitude of plus symbols adorning it all over.

"S-sorry…*gasp* sorry I'm late, everyone! I had to get a lot of packing and unpacking done for the move up here and I completely lost track of my sleep cycle! Please don't fire me already!" The young woman was already all but pleading once she realized what an embarrassing spectacle she'd just made of herself.

The sight of this woman gave De-Condensor a real boost in his energy, as he and the rest of the Pros all actively approached her. "Don't worry about that, you having to relocate so far for the sake of your first Pro Hero job; anybody would run themselves ragged, believe us. The important thing is that you're here; and none too soon, too. Come and meet our new interns."

For the third time in less than an hour, as they brought this flustered-looking young Pro Hero to them, Nikolay and Mina happily introduced themselves. And for the third time that day, this new face similarly lit up with courtesy and happiness to meet fellow Heroic faces as she gave a courteous bow in return: "It's a pleasure to meet such promising young Heroes-in-the-making. I'm Shibosaki Erumi, but you can also call me The Empowering Hero, The Giver."

Unable to take her eyes off The Giver's outlandish idea for a Hero costume, Mina spoke up with that childish curiosity: "Your costume's so different from all the other Hero costumes, Giver-sensei. What can your Quirk do?"

The knowing looks on all the other Pros' faces had The Giver visibly blushing as she started scratching the back of her head, trying to find the best way to describe it. "I-it's not really the kind of Quirk you'd consider using when out in the field in the middle of a situation, especially alone. Mine is purely a Support-based Quirk. See, when I rub my hands together, based on the amount of time I do it, and then put my hands on another Quirk-user, I'm able to boost the power of their respective Quirk by a corresponding amount for a limited time. Your father, Tunguska-san, could actually be able to vouch for me in that regard, Bezpalov-kun."

Nikolay and Mina both looked completely dumbfounded that she somehow knew the Russian Pro Hero enough to speak so personally about him. All the while, The Giver looked as though she simply stated the most obvious fact in the world: "What? Either in Hokkaido or on the main island, you don't come across a whole lot of entirely foreign Pro Heroes, and especially not foreign Hero students. Plus, I remember reading about you two together in the papers after that incident in Erubi City. Tunguska-san and I actually participated in the same Pro Hero License exam just recently. For an old-timer, he was really impressive, honestly. If things go well for him, I really think he could go on to be Top Ten Hero Ranking material in time."

Before the conversation could go any further, or Nikolay and Mina could even ask what the Pro Hero License Exam was like, De-Condensor hurriedly stepped in: "It's great to see you already getting along so well with Bezpalov-kun and Ashido-kun, Erumi-san, but we have a full day ahead, and I'd like you to come with the three of us for your first day. We're starting our outreach week to a nearby town of Slavic expats. Go ahead and clock in and we can all get started."

While The Giver was rushing like crazy to do so, Chiaroscuro similarly perked up with remembrance as she returned her attention to Nikolay and Mina. "Forgive me, you two; I'm afraid I'm starting to get forgetful in all the excitement. I believe you both have internship contracts for me to stamp. Best we make this official, no?"

With their school bags still hanging from their hands, Nikolay and Mina hurriedly began digging through before presenting both their folded forms. Without any further hesitation, the older semi-retired Hero proceeded to look their forms over before giving a resolute stamping, confirming her acceptance of both of them together as her Agency's newest interns.

Chiaroscuro quickly took the forms and handed them off to High Noon to fax them over to Yuuei in order to inform their teachers. As soon as she was gone, the older woman's eyes fell upon her two new interns with focus and contemplation. "We're all really happy you've decided to come all this way just to intern with us, Solovei-kun, Pinky-kun. This is by far your biggest step towards officially becoming Pro Heroes one day."

The two kids were practically aglow with pride in their respective progress, but the fact that Chiaroscuro wasn't reflecting the same kind of all-around enthusiasm gave them considerable pause. "However, you must both understand that this is a great deal of responsibility you're both taking on in your first years as Hero students. The trip from Shizuoka Prefecture to here alone, as you saw, was quite the chunk of time taken out of the day. Then again, it has been quite some time since Kagami-kun ever came up this way to see us, so of course he wouldn't know about the newer train lines that practically cut the travel time in half."

With that, she hurriedly took out a small notebook and began scribbling down different train lines for the two to take from now on. If she truly believed these would be able to make the trips even a little shorter, they knew they had no reason to argue.

Picking up from there, the Agency head continued: "Even with this little secret, however, the time you're taking to come all this way, work with us and then go back to school in time for the next day is a great sacrifice of time you're both making. It is unfortunate that you will both inevitably have to expect instances of having to be absent from school in order to make your internships with us truly work.

"Of course, you're both well within your rights to request interning with a different Agency in the future if the demands required of this one ultimately prove too much for you in your youth. Make no mistake, there'd be no shame in it. I can speak to your teachers to see about setting up a sort of schedule for your internship work, thus allowing you both approved absences over the coming weeks. That should take a great deal of worry off your shoulders, I'm sure."

The way Nikolay and Mina's eyes softened and sparkled with relief all but answered Chiaroscuro immediately, as well as their eager bowing and expressions of gratitude for all their hospitality. Shortly after, The Giver came rushing back with another steady flow of apologies for her poor time management. With that and a hearty farewell to his fellow Pros, De-Condensor beckoned his new sidekick and two new interns along.

Just like that, Nikolay and Mina were finally official Hero Interns as a duo, and were now finally moving out to their very first day of intern field work, to a whole new place that was practically tailor-made for the young Russian boy specifically. Knowing that, every step forward was making him more and more nervous, but the constant supportive presence of the ever-bubbly and willing Mina always helped to balance him back out.

After all their constant mutual worry about whether they'd have been able to do this, here they now were. The last great obstacle to their biggest communication goal was finally crossed, and now it was simply a matter of finding the right chance to say so, finally; with Nikolay momentarily feeling at the locket tucked into his costume pocket for good luck.

---

Elsewhere, less than an hour later…

In the confines of Alyosha Mikhalkov's lab, he'd spent the last two days since the field team's return bouncing back and forth between continuing his work on researching the properties of the Quirk-erasing syringe-like bullet, or rather figuring out a way to alter it; and continuing his medical work on the blood from Backtrack's bullet wound. Only now did he finally get to the point of applying the final closing stitches after having had to work so meticulously to repair the young recruit's muscles.

Just as he applied the finishing touches, did Pietro and his dome-headed comrade come stepping in. [[Any progress to speak of, Alyosha Stepanovich?]]

Just then did the Russian scientist give the final snip of the line he'd run through the young recruit's injured shoulder. [[Just finished patching up our young friend here. Had I not needed to divide the focus of my efforts, this would've been done in less than a day. Alright, Backtrack, give it a couple more days and your shoulder should be back to normal and flexible as it was before, my boy. Until then, you can still participate in the morning training drills, but try to take it easy on any other strenuous physical labor.]]

With a groan of soreness did the olive-skinned young man with long and straight black hair get up from the checkup table, rolling his injured shoulder just to make sure it wasn't too painful as it had been before. [[Thank you, Dr. Mikhalkov. I was starting to worry if I'd even be able to move this arm again.]]

With clearance to leave, Backtrack quickly got himself re-dressed and hurried out of the office, leaving the three most senior members of this little army to themselves, with Pietro immediately getting right back to business: [[Thank you for helping with his injuries, Alyosha. We need everyone as able-bodied as possible for the future. Now, how has work on reverse engineering that Quirked blood been coming along?]]

Turning his attention to the aforementioned bullet, Alyosha's body language went from relaxed to increasingly eager. [[I'm more than confident I'm on the verge of a breakthrough. Assuming no more interruptions come our way and I can simply focus on that once I finish up the formality of running through Backtrack's blood work, I may be able to actually give this bullet the reverse effect of its original function. From there, I may even be able to replicate the process to others. You could have the town smiths and glass-makers start casting multiple bullets based off this one, and I can apply the special touch from there. It could very well be the edge we've been looking for.]]

Despite his enthusiasm, and even the dome-headed man crossing his arms and giving a muffled grunt and nod of approval, Pietro still looked visibly torn between wanting to join in the optimistic mood, or remaining as cautiously withdrawn. [[Well, we can't let ourselves forget: this is the start of the week that Kapenta Agency sends one of its Heroes out here to check on things, so we all need to keep our heads down and just be as subtle as we can be, just like always. Alyosha Stepanovich, you can carry on with your work while our friend here stands guard, and the rest of us will simply try to keep things here under wraps so as not to draw any unwanted attention.]]

Both men were clearly in agreement with this plan, as once Alyosha had finished cleaning his hands of blood, he was already heading right for his lab, and the dome-headed man was simply taking his position at the door, while Pietro made his exit, already heading upstairs so he could at least get out into the sun and observe his recruits' morning drills; all while still dealing with his conflicting feelings in his head on what he should have done or not; a conundrum he found himself dealing with more and more over the last several weeks.

As he finally stepped out into the late morning/early afternoon sun; overlooking a wide and walled expanse with numerous half-wrecked walls and rubble set up into what resembled some kind of obstacle course, with numerous spring-loaded and automated targets and obstacles running at once for specific soldiers; he was immediately greeted by the joyous voices of most of his young followers, with the melted wax-haired Knot, the red-and-gold-haired Petto, the white-haired and scarred Grenadier, and the dark-haired and mustachioed Blackout of course taking the lead over the rest in their greeting; always as happy as ever to see their leader and mentor up and about in spite of everything.

[[Sorry to interrupt your morning drills, everyone. I've no doubt you've already noticed our comrade Backtrack is once more up and about. This is all great news, but we can't let ourselves forget right now to-!

VRRM!

A sudden vibration emanating from his pocket rendered the older leader quiet, and had all of his followers at attention as he quickly pulled out a small earpiece, hurriedly adjusting it onto his ear before hitting the only button on it, knowing already who it had to have been, based on the last assignments he had given hours before. [[Yes, Gust?]]

[[I'm sorry to bother you sir, but I just got eyes on the Kapenta Agency Hero that's been sent to check things out for this week; he just got off the train. It's De-Condensor this time.]]

To this, Pietro actually let out a mild sigh of some relief. Out of all the Kapenta Heroes, De-Condensor was easily one of the easiest going ones. [[All right. As long as nobody does anything especially loud in town or nearby, we should be able to ride this week out without incident.]]

[[That's not it, though, sir. He's not alone. There's three other Heroes with him, two of them are practically kids. I've never seen them before. They might be new sidekicks, or maybe interns from some Hero school. One of them definitely isn't Japanese, I can already tell from the clothes and the face. If he's coming along with De-Condensor into town, maybe it's possible he's Slavic, too.]]

The mentioning of new faces was bad enough, but the detail of one of these supposed interns being a total foreigner and a Hero student made a spark of remembrance fire off in Pietro's brain. He could already recall many months ago, having overheard on the Japanese news about a Russian boy who was a student at some apparently big Hero school called Yuuei, who along with several of his schoolmates, had fought a Villain responsible for an attack on a city and a local Hero Agency; specifically a Russian Villain whose name he hadn't heard in decades: Vukodlak. And in the news discussing that same boy came another name that had long since disappeared into the dusty hall of time within his head: Tunguska.

There was no way this was some kind of mere coincidence and this was some other random Slavic boy going around with a handful of other Heroes. This had to be the very same kid, and if his connection to a once-thought-long-dead Hero like Tunguska was truly to be believed, then what Pietro had once thought to be a week of relatively smooth sailing for himself and his comrades had just gotten much more complicated. [[Thank you for telling me, Gust. Return to the compound ASAP. I'll take care of things from here. We still don't know exactly what we're dealing with.]]

As soon as he turned off and tucked away his earpiece, Pietro could already feel and see the serious looks on his soldiers' faces, as the sound of his voice growing grimmer had set off their natural senses of alertness. Steadying himself, he looked to his three most capable followers among the bunch: [[De-Condensor's just arrived for the weekly outreach…but he's not alone this time. Gust reports three new faces, one of them distinctly non-Japanese. Knot, Petto, Blackout, you all know what to do. Same routine as always. Get your eyes on them, and see for yourselves what they can do.]]

---

After what probably had to be the shortest train ride for any of the three newcomers to have ever experienced to date, Nikolay, Mina and The Giver finally found themselves following the ever-confident and striding De-Condensor into the small-sized city of Gagaringrad, or 'Gagarin City,' as Nikolay had taken the chance to explain to Mina along the way in an incredibly brief attempt at a Russian language lesson; as well as expressing his theory that it had to be named after Yuri Gagarin, the Russian cosmonaut immortalized for being the very first human being to ever be sent into space.

Making their way further in from the entrance of the city proper, Nikolay and Mina both felt the strangest kind of sensation overtake them as they took it all in. It was hard to describe properly: the architecture was no different from the rest of the northern Japanese architecture in the other cities they'd seen traveling through Hokkaido; yet at the same time it also had a distinctly Russian air to it as well that Nikolay could identify almost immediately. Between the architecture bearing Cyrillic signage, and with all the people they could see walking the streets or driving about or working in their storefronts and whatnot being as far from Japanese as could be, it almost felt like this whole town was one big juxtaposition, a total Twilight Zone moment, as The Giver was surprisingly quick to call it.

"Wow, this place is so totally different from everywhere else. Did you ever think you'd see so many of your people in one place out here, Kolya-kun?" Mina asked almost whimsically the more she took it in; especially seeing just how pleasant everybody seemed to be at the sight of this motley quartet, with many of the people greeting De-Condensor in the lead in what hers and Nikolay's ears were able to recognize was Russian, but with others even speaking out in what sounded like similar languages, but also distinctly different.

"These people really seem to like you, Sensei." Nikolay finally noted when seeing the pleasant demeanor on the peoples' faces, mixed with the glances of surprise and wonder directed towards himself, Mina and The Giver, but especially himself. He couldn't rightfully say he was surprised; he had little doubt these people considered this town to be the only place in Japan to have any Slavic peoples in it.

"Well, the Kapenta Hero Agency has been giving a helping hand and a caring ear and eye to these people for years, and by working together at the same time, these people have managed to make a decent home for themselves, considering the conditions they were escaping from. If you kids stick with us long enough for these duties, they'll come to welcome you the same way." De-Condensor explained as he too began greeting the townspeople back in surprisingly concise and accurate Russian as well, making Nikolay, Mina and The Giver all momentarily pause with surprise.

However, they knew they had no choice but to keep following after him once it was clear he wasn't about to stop. As they continued on, Mina couldn't help but notice how, while the citizens were indeed noticing their presence with the Pro Hero they knew, none of them were outright gawking at Nikolay like she had instinctively expected, given just what kinds of people they were going to be helping.

She couldn't keep her curiosity to herself as she hurriedly caught up with the boy himself, giving him the lightest nudge with her shoulder to get his attention. "Isn't it kinda weird that none of these people recognize you, Kolya-kun? I mean, after the Sports Festival, Erubi City, the camp attack and Tunguska-sensei helping All Might, I thought everyone here would know you from your pictures at least."

Nikolay's eyes were similar watchful of the people as he answered Mina's honest confusion: "Yeah, it's not really what I expected, either. Maybe these people don't pay attention to the news outside this town…or maybe they just prefer to keep to themselves. Dad told me that people who are refugees tend to do that when settling in foreign countries."

Nikolay dropped the subject just like that, to Mina's surprise, as he was actually quick to find himself getting enraptured in the fact that, for the first time he could remember, he was actually seeing numbers of his own countrymen, women and children actually wielding their Quirks out in the open with nary a hint of apprehension or fear. There were even people with very standout mutations from their Quirks just walking in broad daylight. It was, frankly, a sight he had long since given up on ever seeing with his own eyes back in the Motherland.

Mina was just as quick to notice this dreamy quality to Nikolay's gaze as he took in their surroundings. Such a sight already had her smiling knowingly to herself, as she could only imagine what such a place as this could have had her best friend thinking of right now. After hearing him and Tunguska talk so much about what a miserable place Russia had become for people with Quirks, it didn't seem too far-fetched to imagine this kind of town and this kind of mood among its people was what Nikolay liked to imagine his home country would have been like if things had played out very differently.

Truth be told, she had the very same thought now racing through her head, and the thought of so much suffering and loss being averted and replaced with so many people living happily brought an emotional tear to her eye.

Just as they began to turn a corner leading uphill, The Giver finally spoke up to her now-official mentor and partner: "So, De-Condensor-san, if you've been helping the people in this town for as long as you say, is that why you're able to communicate with these people so readily and clearly?"

To this, the blue-haired Hero let out another chuckle of amusement. "Oh, don't get me wrong, none of us actually speak fluent Russian. I've just been around these folks and listened to them for so long, I can recognize what they're saying just from the sound of it. They don't speak a word of Japanese for the most part, either."

At this, Nikolay couldn't possibly stay silent: "But Sensei, if you can't speak Russian and they can't speak Japanese, how the heck have you all managed to work with them for so long?"

"Well, that would be thanks to me, young man. I was wondering what was keeping you for so long, Mitsudo-san!" The quartet was suddenly interrupted by the sound of a much older and jovial man's voice from further up the hill. Looking that way, they now found themselves being approached by an old but proudly standing man with a thick gray beard and a bald head, with particularly friendly-looking blue eyes and both arms wide open. He was dressed in what could only have been described as especially aged librarian clothes, from faded slacks to an old dark green sweater and worn out loafers.

Without missing a beat, De-Condensor eagerly approached this old man in kind, for once not greeting someone with a bow, but instead meeting him with an especially hearty hug that man was more than ready for. "Yeah, sorry about that, Linguist-san. We got a bit sidetracked, accepting my new sidekick and our two new interns into our ranks this morning. Giver-san, Solovei-kun, Pinky-kun, come on up and say hello. This is about the closest thing Gagaringrad has to a mayor, Linguist-san."

Nikolay, Mina and The Giver all simultaneously bowed and introduced themselves just as before, only for the old man known as 'Linguist' to chuckle and wave such formalities aside. "It's a pleasure to meet you all. It's always nice to see such youthful individuals embracing the responsibilities of becoming Heroes in this day and age. I am Leonid Viktorovich Briner; but as you've already heard, everyone just calls me 'Linguist.' Since you're here on the same business as Mitsudo-san here, just hold still and you'll see why."

And just like that, without any warning or buildup, Linguist suddenly tapped his pointing finger directly against the center of De-Condensor's forehead, before stepping forward and doing the exact same thing to The Giver and Mina at once, ignoring Nikolay completely. Unlike their Pro Hero guide, the two female Heroes both looked immensely dizzy, as though they were suffering from their own serious headaches while Nikolay could only watch them both worriedly.

[[Not to worry, young Solovei. The only reason I didn't use my Quirk on you is because you're already a native Russian speaker, given your name. That's how my Quirk works: with just a thought and the poke of my finger to the forehead, I can temporarily re-wire the language center of your brain, and thus make you capable of thinking in and speaking any foreign language of my choice like a native born speaker. This is how the Kapenta Agency Heroes have managed to work with the people of this town for so long.]]

With a confident grin, De-Condensor followed up in absolutely flawless Russian: [[He's right. I've gone through this process multiple times, so I'm used to it. This being The Giver and Pinky's first time, though, they're going to be feeling pretty dizzy for a few minutes. Once it looks like they've ridden it out, go ahead and try speaking to them and you'll see Linguist's Quirk is the real deal.]]

After a few minutes of watching Mina and The Giver squatting down and clutching their heads in order to try and ride out the dizziness, they did indeed seem to be getting back to normal as they rose back up. Nikolay took a deep and steadying breath of preparation as he finally stepped forward to his pink best friend. [[How are you feeling, Mina? Are you okay?]]

Mina was still visibly wincing as she answered, and thus completely missed how much the young boy's eyes widened when he heard her: [[Yeah…yeah, I think I'm okay, I…]]

Just like that, Mina's brain finally caught up with the realization of the unnatural movements her mouth was making as she spoke, and just as quickly did she realize the bizarre and unfamiliar, yet crystal clear language her mind was suddenly thinking in, completely separate from Japanese, but unmistakable after having heard Nikolay speak it so many times before.

Like a shot, she grabbed Nikolay by the shoulders; her black-gold eyes wide as she started bouncing repeatedly with excitement. [[Oh my God! Oh my God, Kolya-kun, are you hearing this?! Is this for real?! Am I actually speaking Russian like you?! How is it?! Am I doing it right?! It doesn't sound stupid coming from me, does it?! Oh, wow, this is soooo cool!]]

While The Giver was just about going through the same routine, albeit with much less excitement and much more nervousness, Linguist was chuckling happily at such a youthfully energetic sight. [[In case either of you are worried, don't be. As soon as you decide you've done all there is you can do around here today and leave for the Agency, I'll deactivate my Quirk and you'll be back to thinking and speaking in Japanese in no time. It'll be much less physically stunning going the other way around, anyway.]]

While the old man was explaining all of this, Mina was still lost entirely within her own head and eagerness, while Nikolay was still simply reeling from the fact that he was actually hearing something from her that he'd started to genuinely believe he would never hear. This was already proving to be a day full of miracles.

However, the moment he stopped thinking about this, he instantly noticed how Mina's eyes were starting to reflect what actually looked like regret, as her excited bouncing started to slow down. [[Mina, what's wrong?]]

Taking her hands off his shoulders, the crestfallen pink Hero let out a reluctant sigh. [[I don't know, it's dumb. I mean, this is seriously the coolest thing I've seen in a long time…but I can't stop feeling bad. I mean, I was so excited about you maybe teaching me to speak…but I never even took the chance after. This just…oh, it just doesn't feel the same, you know?]]

Fortunately for her, Nikolay could easily understand how she had to be feeling right now, as he stepped in and gave her a reassuring hand on her shoulder. [[You don't have to feel bad about that, though. I didn't take the chance, either, so it's on me, too. I mean, if it helps, I could still try to teach you when we get some free time at school, or something like that.]]

Thankfully, this seemed to be exactly what Mina wanted to hear, as despite the lingering regret in her eyes, there was an especially warm smile on her face now as she nodded in eager acceptance. [[It's a deal, Kolya-kun! But hey, until then, how do I sound, huh? Does it make me sound tough? Or does it make me sound all sexy and lady-like? I won't get mad if you say yes to any of it, pinkie promise!]]

Even as Mina was grinning happily from ear to ear and holding out an extended pinkie finger to prove how serious she was, Nikolay could once again feel a huge lump building in his throat. How on earth could he have ever possibly been able to tell the girl who had his heart that her already precious voice sounded any better in one language over another? It didn't matter what she spoke; her voice and everything else about her gave him the same tingling sensation of joy all over, if not even more so than he already felt before over the course of the last few days.

However, before he could actually try and summon up the guts to give her a straight answer, both De-Condensor and Linguist gave a resounding clap of their hands to snap everyone back to attention, with the Pro Hero regaining control of all the chatter: [[I understand your excitement for your new temporary multilingual skills, Pinky-kun, but we are still technically here on official work, so maybe try to tone it down. I'm sure Solovei-kun can give you a full answer by tonight once you've given it a full day's run.]]

[[Yes. In the meantime, why don't I give you all an official tour of the whole of Gagaringrad. Come with me, please.]] And with Linguist, or Leonid, officially stepping in, the whole group found themselves on the move again up the rest of the hill, where a modest yet noticeably larger building than many of the others stood, overlooking a majority of the town, which went all the way down to the harbor, where there were a handful of small fishing boats that could be seen even all the way from the top.

Traversing through the narrow and winding streets downwards, there were numerous houses, storefronts, some industrial buildings like a small glassworks and even a smiths shop, a pristine-looking Russian Orthodox church near the geographical center of the town, and next to that was a moderate-sized two-story building that had the words 'school and orphanage' stenciled across its fence.

All throughout the firsthand tour, Leonid proceeded to fill De-Condensor's three young partners on everything there was to know about the city of Gagaringrad. [[As a sanctuary city, as I'm sure you've come to realize by now, we're essentially self-governed. The interventions of the Kapenta Hero Agency are, by definition, a continuous show of good faith and support by the Japanese government; a reassurance to the people that the country that gave them refuge hasn't forgotten about them. I suppose you could say that's pretty much a summary of just what it is that a Hero in general represents to the public: an assurance that they haven't been forgotten and are still always being looked out for.

[[In order to financially provide for the city, a fair share of the people here have managed to find jobs out in the neighboring cities; thanks in no small part to coming to me for my Quirk's daily assistance until they can properly learn and memorize it themselves, of course. A lot of those finances, and the labors of many more of our people, go towards really setting the foundation for what this city can provide for the people, especially since a great number of our population only recently emigrated here several months ago out of the blue. It's a struggle, but as you can see, we've managed rather well for ourselves, and make it day by day. Of course, that doesn't mean we don't have our own little form of community security, either, just to keep an eye on things nearby. That's how we always know when Kapenta sends its people here in plenty of time.]]

To suddenly know that there was such a thoroughly built and unified community of Quirked Slavic people from all over the former Soviet Bloc like this was downright overwhelming for Nikolay, Mina and The Giver alike, who finally couldn't help but ask on all their behalf: [[Excuse me for my forwardness, but things around this town actually seem really quiet. I understand there are, of course, Villains that operate behind the scenes, and that's why we always need to keep our eyes and ears open, but this place seriously seems pretty peaceful. So what exactly is it that we do when we come here two weeks out of every month?]]

With a thoughtful look in his eyes as he scratched at his chin, De-Condensor's answer was as straightforward as his new sidekick's question: [[Well, it's pretty rare, but this place has had a few incidents with low level Villains over the years. There have been times when we've needed to step in and help them neutralize said Villains for the authorities, and there have also times when their community security has taken care of the problem just before we showed up. In those cases, we stick around to tend to the injured and help with repairs.

[[For the most part, however, it's just as Linguist-san said: a continuous show of goodwill. Just because we aren't fighting Villains or saving people from natural disasters every single day, doesn't make those more subtle deeds any less Heroic.]] As their mentor explained all this, Nikolay and Mina already found themselves thinking back to the very same lessons that Willow Light and Power Press had given them during their Field Training, about the importance of local outreach and street level good deeds for every individual in need of help. More and more were those lessons proving so much more invaluable, as neither of the two teens felt like their time was being wasted by coming out here and taking this town in.

However, that still didn't stop Nikolay from finally asking one question that had been steadily building up in his head: [[Mr. Briner; I'm sorry, but if this town is made up of almost nothing but Quirked people fleeing from all over the former Bloc, how come nobody's thought of trying to put together their own local Hero Agency here? I mean, it sounds like Gagaringrad will just keep growing. Wouldn't it make sense for there to be Heroes of their own to keep an eye on things here?]]

[[Hey, yeah! I mean, you said you govern yourselves, right? Wouldn't it just make sense to do that?]] Mina agreed excitedly at the thought of there being yet another Hero Agency for the people here.

However, instead of the wiser form of enthusiasm they'd all come to expect from their older host, Leonid just let out a pensive sigh as his eyes surveyed the skyline of the town from where they were standing. [[It is an admirable idea, I won't deny either of you kids that. However, while these people did all come here to try and escape the Anti-Quirk persecution that came after the Siberian Flash…it doesn't change the fact that everyone in the Soviet Bloc putting all of their faith in Heroes...primarily one, was what ultimately led to the Flash happening to begin with. They've all still suffered the same kind of immense losses as the Quirkless people that ran them out of their homes out of fear. That's why we all band together and look out for one another as a whole, instead of relying on a single individual to shoulder all the responsibility for our safety.]]

While Mina and The Giver alike both looked notably disappointed by this decision on the town's part, Nikolay simply bowed his head, able to understand their reasoning far too well. Just because they were the ones to have been chased from their homes or to have chosen to flee for fear of even worse retribution, didn't mean these people still hadn't suffered the same exact losses as everyone else had. They had just as much right to really reevaluate where they had placed their faith before as all those other people. What right did any of them here have to tell them what they should have considered doing for the sake of their community? After all, with things the way they were now, everything did seem to be surprisingly alright.

WHAM!

Nikolay was too caught up in his own thoughts to catch the rapidly approaching sound of sprinting footsteps from behind his back, hence why he nearly felt his heart explode when he suddenly felt a whole person's weight come crashing straight into him, nearly sending him toppling face first into the asphalt.

Fortunately, he was just barely able to bring his hands up and fire a gentle enough kinetic blast towards the ground to send his body leaning up and back so he was flat on his feet again. As his heart continued to race from surprise and he tried to get his bearings back, while a similarly surprised Mina was already stepping in to make sure he was okay, The Giver was meanwhile calling out to whoever it was that had nearly waylaid the young Russian boy. [[Excuse me, young lady, you should really be more careful.]]

[[Oh, sorry, my bad! In a bit of a rush! See you!]] An unfamiliar yet noticeably young and uniquely accented female voice called back, finally drawing Nikolay and Mina's attention to a fair-skinned girl no older than either of them from the looks of it, albeit notably taller than them, even from a distance; dressed in torn denim shorts, sneakers and a short-sleeved leather bomber jacket. She had turquoise-colored semi-long hair that, in the sunlight, resembled dried melted wax atop her head, tied into a small ponytail, and her eyes, looking back, seemed to be pink at the top and blue at the bottom.

With the corner of her mouth barely lifting into a smirk, the mysterious girl took off into an impressive sprint, leaving the whole bunch behind while Mina could only watch with total surprise. [[Who the heck was that?]]

[[Whoever she was, she can haul ass. Must be in a real hurry, wherever she's going.]] The Giver sounded all but indifferent in the wake of such a sudden introduction, while Nikolay was in the middle of patting himself down to dust himself off, mainly out of sheer habit after nearly getting plowed into.

The instant his hands momentarily ducked into his costume's pockets, though, his whole body froze completely, drawing the attention of his companions, and putting Mina on alert when she saw how much his green eyes had widened with his own shock, hurriedly and anxiously foraging through his pockets.

[[No, no, no, no, no, no! They're gone! They're both gone!]] As Nikolay exclaimed this dreadful realization, Mina and The Giver both tried to step in to get filled in as quickly as possible: [[What are you saying? What's missing?]]

Nikolay's head jolted upright, his eyes staring at the quickly retreating back of the already-distant girl. [[My wallet! That girl swiped my wallet, and my Provisional License was in it! YOU THERE, STOP!]]

Without another moment wasted, Nikolay suddenly took off into a determined sprint after her, with Mina just as quickly following after him before throwing herself into a perfect slide; The Giver and De-Condensor quickly following suit.

The fleeing girl was able to hear Nikolay's driven voice echoing after her, and that told her everything she needed to know about how doggedly he was already chasing after her. The sound of his hands firing pure kinetic bursts in order to catch up with her only drove her to go that much faster.

With her natural understanding of the layout of this part of town, she was quick to start ducking into the first of the many narrow single-file alleyways, but the continuous bass bursts and echoes of footsteps behind her made it clear she was far from in the clear.

Upon clearing the opposite end of the alley, she immediately focused and threw her right hand back, releasing a momentary but steady flow of thick white wax from the palm of her hand, completely encasing the end of the alley in it, and drying into a reinforced barricade within seconds, granting her plenty of time to build more distance.

BWOOM!

The resultant blast from within the alley sending her hasty wall into countless pieces put an extra jolt into the female thief, already getting the message that this wasn't just some chump that would give up at the first sign of difficulty.

Her improvisational skills were already being put to the test once she spotted the pink female Hero that had been with her mark earlier, emerging from around the corner of the street ahead with what looked like some kind of slimy fluid emitting from her feet and allowing her to slide freely.

Spotting another diversionary direction she could duck into, the wax-haired girl suddenly threw her body into a spin, throwing two handfuls of her wax from her hands, exploding into a wide spread across the ground in Nikolay's immediately trajectory, sending the Russian boy trudging right into it, and almost immediately adhering his feet to them and forcing him to stop.

Immediately from there in the middle of that same spin, she proceeded to throw her entire lift arm towards her pink pursuer with just as much intensity, causing her whole left arm to suddenly liquefy and fly freely towards Mina; forcing her to come to a sudden stop, just as the liquid encapsulated in front of her and over her head, almost forming a complete hardened wax dome over her. It wouldn't last more than a few seconds, but that was all the time the thief would need to make her escape.

As she fled into another back street, Mina was already in the middle of melting the wax dome around her away, just at the same time Nikolay launched himself through his feet, breaking free of her wax trap, and landing on the nearby rooftop in a forward roll that immediately turned into another sprint, with Mina similarly continuing the chase by sliding through the back street and resulting alleyways after their little pickpocket.

As Nikolay continued to sprint and jump from one rooftop to the next, it was not long at all until he could spot the thief still running through the alleys, with Mina thankfully not too far behind.

Nikolay was forced to take his eyes off the thief once he realized an especially large gap between the rooftop he was currently on, and the next one after was coming up. Throwing himself into another launch to cross the street and coming to a rolling landing, Nikolay hurried to the edge to try and figure out where the thief was now, only to find she was now standing completely still within a small empty lot off the side of the first alley on this side of the road.

Just as he was about to jump down from the roof to finally confront her, though, his ears picked up the distant sound of that same thick liquid rushing sound from a small ways away. Taking that moment to look where it was coming from; at the same time, Mina was just then reaching the edge of the empty lot, bringing herself to a stop once she spotted the pickpocket standing still. [[Please don't run! Just give my partner's wallet back.]]

[[Mina, it's a decoy!]] Nikolay shouted down from the rooftop, spurring Mina to turn back in total surprise, seeing the Russian boy above was staring in the direction further down the alley she was still in. What he was seeing in that moment, was the same thief in the middle of propelling herself upward onto the distant rooftops by building up a large column of wax from her hands, and following up by breaking into yet another sprint without even breaking her momentum. [[This way!]]

While Mina was in the middle of following through with her instinctive curiosity and poking the still image of the girl thief, only for it to topple over and shatter on impact, Nikolay was already in the middle of chasing after the real thing, practically launching himself like a catapult over several rooftops at a time, and never allowing the thief to escape his sight, although she was quickly able to prove that much more elusive as she began ducking down into further alleyways again, and then elevating herself to yet more further down just to keep trying to throw Nikolay off track.

For a good couple of minutes, other than the distant bass booms of her mark's Quirk indicating he was still trying to chase after her, the young thief saw no signs of the pink girl from before managing to gain on her. As far as that little extra obstacle was to be considered, it seemed she'd finally given that one the slip. However, the boy up on the rooftops was still proving especially persistent, and she knew she was starting to run out of terrain to flee to. Luckily, one of the larger buildings of Gagaringrad was coming up. If need be, she could at least try to make a stand there and bring this little game to an end.

At the last second before she was about to emerge out this last back road and propel herself up onto the rooftops ahead, though, the thief found herself suddenly getting cut off by the speedy sight of the pink female Hero from before, somehow having managed to make a wide berth around the route she and the Russian boy had been going for the last several minutes, and sliding across the width of the road with the fluid emanating from her feet.

With the speed the female thief was already going, and the suddenness with which Mina had come sliding right across her path, she wasn't able to react in time, and felt her feet give right out from under her, as Mina's mildest acid had managed to melt down any traction on the asphalt.

As soon as she came slamming down onto her back, she quickly found herself being advanced upon by Mina and the at last caught up Nikolay. [[Okay…whoever you are, you've had your fun, alright? Now please give me back my wallet.]]

SPLOOSH!

Without missing a beat, even as she was on her back and pretty much surrounded, the turquoise wax-haired girl suddenly fired a full blast of wax from her hands, pretty much melting her arms down to her shoulders and encasing Nikolay and Mina's torsos in a hardening cocoon of the stuff, while she quickly leaped back onto her feet. More wax began emanating from her shoulders, reforming her arms and hands within seconds before their eyes.

[[You two are way more persistent and quick on your feet than I thought. Good on you for that. See ya!]] However, just as quickly as she teased the two Heroes with this, was her entrapment method proven to be completely useless, as Mina suddenly melted the wax away with a full acid coating along her arms, while Nikolay's cocoon exploded from all around as he fired a concentrated kinetic pulse from his own arms through the material of his costume.

This time, the thief was visibly impressed, but not about to simply give up from there, as she suddenly began building up a thick glob of wax in both her palms, before they began to elongate and form into two handheld bludgeons.

Nikolay and Mina knew that Heroes didn't resort to violence if it could be helped, hence neither of them was willing to make the first move if it carried the risk of anyone here getting hurt. Unfortunately, their sudden adversary knew that just as well, as she was quick to make the first move, sweeping her leg across the ground, forcing Nikolay and Mina to both hop up to avoid getting tripped, and thus exposing themselves to another splash of wax emanating from her legs, only for Mina to throw her arms up and across, creating another sudden Acid Veil to melt her wax attack away in mid-air.

The moment both Heroes' feet were back on the ground, their mutual opponent was already quickly going on the offensive, swinging, kicking, sweeping and jabbing with her feet and handheld weapons alike, forcing Nikolay and Mina to separate, but they were just as observant and quick on their reflexes to meet every attack of hers with one of their own, eventually landing them all in a clear stalemate, especially as Mina kept managing to melt away every obstruction and weapon the thief could make with her wax as quickly as she could form it.

Nikolay was able to make the thief start backing away once he drew out the two large tuning forks from his sides, using them to either channel his kinetics and destroy her defensive walls of wax between them, or as a means to try and ensnare one of her attacking limbs, only for her to just as quickly break free by liquefying said limb and just as quickly reconstituting it once she was free.

For as fast as all three teens were throughout this fight, and as on-point as all their respective reflexes and synergy (in Nikolay and Mina's cases) were in terms of attacking, combining their Quirks and deflecting or countering both side's attacks, anyone watching for long enough would be able to see that they were all three simply inching closer and closer towards tiring themselves out. It was simply a matter of seeing whose constant use of their Quirk would take them out of it first.

After another flying spinning kick had met nothing but the face of another split second decoy the thief had made after taking a backwards leap and leaving a life-sized hollow quick-drying copy of herself, almost like a reptile shedding its skin; Nikolay was about ready to start considering just going for full-on kinetic blasts/palm strikes in order to bring this fight to an end.

Luckily for him, he noticed at that moment, that all of Mina's sliding and throwing her mildest acid had left a whole bunch of her liquid splattered all over the ground, and by now they all found themselves standing in the middle of it all. The Russian boy now found himself thinking back to the final stretch of their training session just earlier today, and the same idea came right back to him.

Without wasting any time after throwing a quick kinetic palm blast her way, which she quickly jumped aside to try and avoid, Nikolay practically threw himself up and leaning downward, about to plant his hands to the floor and send all the fluid across the ground up into the air, hoping it would be enough to stun the thief even for a moment, long enough for Mina to get a lucky grapple in so they could finally put an end to this.

THPT!

The moment he was in the air, Nikolay winced as he felt a sudden piercing sting in the back of his neck, akin to a syringe injection. But before he could even focus on that—

BWOOM!

Without even thinking about it, or even focusing or willing it, Nikolay's legs suddenly bent back and fired out through his feet, sending his body rolling in midair backwards before crashing down hard on the ground on his upper back. As he tried to get back up and figure out what the hell just happened, it instantly occurred to him that his arms and legs weren't moving at all, instead keeping themselves flat to the ground. His body was literally fighting against his mental commands. Even when he tried to speak, his jaw was stubbornly refusing to move. He was completely immobilized through sheer physical force; his own.

At the very same time, as Mina tried to throw a huge coating of what was supposed to be her healing salve into the thief's face in the hope that it would similarly stun her, she caught a very sudden movement out the corner of her eye, to which she instinctively turned to react. However, at the very moment she saw a young adult man with semi long smooth black hair, a neatly trimmed mustache and tiny little tuft of facial hair just beneath his mouth drop down beside them both from the nearby rooftop; Mina's entire field of vision suddenly went completely black, taking every ounce of her focus and preparedness away, and leaving the pink young Hero panicked and flailing in confusion. [[What the hell?! What did you do?! I can't see!]]

SPLASH!

With the extra time her comrade's intervention had just bought her, the turquoise-haired thief quickly threw a double-handed splash of her wax straight into Mina, this time with enough force to knock her down on the ground and completely encase her everywhere but her head; the young girl still too much in a momentary panic to even try and melt her way out.

[[Thanks for the save, Blackout,]] she finally thanked the man who had come to her aid, while at the same time another young adult woman similarly leapt down from the opposite rooftop, this one with long hair of fiery red and gold tied into a single braid, with pink eyes and x-shaped pupils and twin trails of freckles running down her cheeks in straight lines from her eyes. [[You too, Petto.]]

Looking the two young Heroes over, Petto couldn't help but chuckle amusedly to herself. [[Can't say I wasn't impressed with their stubbornness at least. When's the last time anyone you swiped from actually forced you into a genuine fight, Knot?]]

The younger girl among them just gave a resigned shrug of her shoulders. [[What do you want me to say? They're interns for the Kapenta Agency, so they clearly must be a little good at least.]]

Looking up and down the street they were on, the young man revealed as Blackout nodded his head towards a nearby alleyway with a simple balsa wood fence. [[Speaking of whom, we should get out of here before De-Condensor shows up, or whoever that sidekick of his is.]]

Both girls nodded in full agreement, with Petto anxiously taking the lead, especially once she could hear the sound of Knot's wax encasing around Mina starting to melt away. Even after being blinded, that frizzy pink-haired girl was somehow still pushing herself to try and fight back. Had circumstances been different, she would've been able to admire that kind of spirit.

With a full charge behind her, Petto ran for the fence, knowing she had enough upper body strength to break through such weak wood with a properly aimed shoulder charge.

BAM!

Upon impact, where there should have been the satisfying sound of wood giving under her speed and strength, there was instead the ringing sensation of having just slammed head first into a reinforced steel wall, sending Petto tumbling back in surprise and delirium, with Blackout just barely managing to catch her before she could hit the ground.

[[You three really put a lot of effort into this one, I gotta give you that.]] The sound of De-Condensor's voice drew all three of their gazes up to the roof directly above, where the blue-haired Hero and his young delivery driver-looking sidekick were looking down at the whole scene with determined eyes of their own. [[Even with my sidekick here's helping touch, I had to take the density from quite a few heavy duty things to make that fence strong enough to resist you. Now come on, you've all had your little introductory bit of fun, yes?]]

A few increasingly tense moments passed, as Nikolay and Mina could both hear this exchange between their three assailants and their mentor loud and clear. Even if she couldn't see, Mina was more than ready to fight tooth and nail, as nervous as she was; and Nikolay would fight through this bizarre restraint his body was putting itself through, no matter how much pain it would have to put him in to do it. He wasn't stopping until he got back what was his by his own hands and effort.

In that singular instant, like the flipping of a light switch, Mina's eyesight suddenly came right back, once again making her jump with surprise and almost immediate relief afterward. At the same time, Nikolay's whole body suddenly was able to move at his command freely again, leaving him squirming and shaking with relief and the bizarre sensation of feeling his muscles come back under his mental control again.

As Mina hurriedly helped Nikolay back to his feet, De-Condensor and The Giver finally descended from the roof on both sides of the trio of locals, who all clearly looked on in realization at their decreasing odds.

[[I have to say, you three really put on quite the show this time around!]] A sudden applauding and the jovial sound of Leonid's voice further up the road drew everybody's attention, turning to see the brightly smiling bearded man clapping his hands as he finally rejoined everyone, specifically eyeing the three bizarre local hoodlums, who by now were all starting to smile and chuckle knowingly among themselves as well. This was all simply leaving Nikolay, Mina and The Giver that much more confused, especially when De-Condensor started laughing as well.

[[Well, they pretty much forced our hands this time around. Your little interns have got real gumption, De-Condensor-san,]] the ponytail-wearing thief finally admitted with an optimistic grin, while Leonid was already motioning for the trio to come together, as well as the visiting Hero's sidekick and two interns, clearly looking to make introductions.

[[Try not to look too confused, you three. There was never really any kind of serious danger for you from this lot. Please, why don't you introduce yourselves to our young guests, properly this time?]] At Leonid's insistence, the three former assailants gave a nod of agreement, of course with the wax-haired girl being the first.

[[Nice to meet you all. I'm Maja Kieslowska, from Białystok. My comrades all call me Knot, though. It's Polish for 'wick,' like a candle's wick. I know it's corny, cause of my Quirk, but it's short, sweet and to the point, right?]] With that, she was already offering a hearty handshake to Nikolay and a respectful bow to Mina and The Giver all at once, while the three could still only watch this sudden shift in mood with a total loss for words.

Following her lead was the red-and-gold-haired young woman in track-running clothes and fingerless gloves, offering the same kind of hand with a casual smirk. [[I hope you don't hold my restraining you against me, kid. The name's Eliška Horáčková, from Příbram. Everybody calls me Petto, though, like Gepetto from Pinocchio. I know, with that, me being Czech and the whole controlling other people like puppets thing being my Quirk, it almost feels like a total stereotype. But hey, some things are stereotypes for a reason, you know?]]

Just before Mina was even able to ask just what kind of names these two girls had and what kind of home town names those were, she suddenly found herself getting very forwardly approached by the dark-haired young man amid the trio, who instead of a handshake, was actually extending his hand as though he were about to kiss hers if she took it. [[Same goes for you, young lady. I simply had to do what I needed to for my comrades. My name's Hristofor Stoyanov, from Kavarna. That's in Bulgaria, in case you're wondering.]]

While Mina was visibly taking a step back from Hristofor's incredibly forward means of introduction, and Nikolay was still reeling from the fact that this town had not only Quirked Russians but even Quirked Polish, Czech and Bulgarian people respectively; the two students were thankfully quick to remember their own manners, as Nikolay shook their hands (Maja's with great trepidation) and Mina and The Giver both bowed, and finally gave their Hero names in return.

[[Oh come now, you're not dealing with genuine enemies anymore, there's no harm in giving your real names, I can promise you that with this bunch.]] De-Condensor surprisingly urged, leaving Nikolay, Mina and The Giver especially hesitant, given what had just happened. However, if their mentor really believed there was no harm, then the last thing any of them wanted to be was rude.

[[Nikolay Olegovich Bezpalov. It's nice to meet you all.]]

[[I'm Ashido Mina. I hope we can all become friends while we're here.]]

[[And I'm Shibosaki Erumi. Your town is very nice.]]

With that trio of admittedly awkward introductions made (not helped by Hristofor going out of his way to note how pretty Mina's name was, to her visible discomfort), Nikolay finally brought his attention back to Maja proper, holding his hand out to her. [[Now, I don't mean to sound aggressive, but would you mind telling me why you stole my wallet, after you give it back?]]

With a chuckle, Maja fished through the pocket of her bomber jacket, her eyes momentarily going wide and leaving the boy even paler at the thought she had dropped it somewhere, only for her to then pull it out of her other pocket with an amused smirk, thus prompting Nikolay to just snatch it once she held it out, hurriedly rifling through it to make sure nothing was missing. [[No hard feelings about that, I hope. Our leader just wanted us to check you three out once we heard De-Condensor came with unfamiliar faces. I just wanted to see what you all were capable of, that's all.]]

With that, Eliška suddenly started clapping her hands on her own. [[Yeah, Hristofor and I saw how you two were holding your own against Maja here. Your mutual persistence and fighting capabilities weren't half bad. However, you two really need to work on your abilities to adapt and improvise if our jumping in was all it took to throw you off your game.]]

At this, both Leonid and De-Condensor started to laugh to themselves, with the Density Hero finally stepping in between the trio of locals and his youthful charges. [[Honestly, Pietro-san is getting far too paranoid if he's sending more than one of you to pull this kind of stuff on new faces these days.]]

[[Who's Pietro?]] Nikolay, Mina and The Giver all asked in perfect natural unison, nearly making De-Condensor laugh at such an outlandish bit of cosmic timing, while Leonid stepped in for yet another insightful explanation of how things around this town worked.

[[Well, remember how I said Gagaringrad has its own little community security to help keep an eye out for trouble and help us to defend ourselves? Well, Pietro Dobrynich Granin is the head of that security, and these three little troublemakers are all members of it, or perhaps senior members would be more appropriate, since they all showed up the same time he did several months ago with that huge influx I mentioned before. He runs a training facility out of an old hospital on the coast just a little ways north of here, offering to give Quirk training to whomever here wants it so they can better utilize them for self or community defense if need be. So far, with the exception of these three and a few of their other comrades, only the oldest of our town's orphans have taken him up on it fairly recently, but as you can see, that training has paid off.

[[You could say he's essentially the third community leader besides myself and our local priest. He hasn't been here nearly as long as a lot of the people living here, but he's certainly ingrained himself here like he has been. You can credit that to his natural charisma, I suppose.]] As soon as Leonid finished explaining all of this, De-Condensor began looking around, as if trying to watch out for some sign that something else was amiss.

[[Say, it isn't really just the three of you out here right now, is it? Are the rest of your training comrades just waiting to get the drop on us?]] He asked this in jest, of course, only to immediately regret doing so when he saw a flash of concern cross Maja's eyes.

[[I mean, now that you bring it up, I just might try that on you guys one day…but no, it's just us. Everybody else is still in the middle of morning training drills. Also, one of our newer recruits, that Hungarian kid, Gazsi Istvan, accidentally got hurt during a field exercise out in the woods, so Pietro and Dr. Mikhalkov are looking after him.]]

After yet another brief rundown from De-Condensor explaining who the town's closest thing to a doctor, Alyosha Stepanovich Mikhalkov, was; the plucky Pro Hero's eyes began to look northward. [[Well, I'd certainly hate to interrupt everyone's training, but considering the time, I can't imagine they'd still be going for much longer. Linguist-san, what do you say we introduce Giver, Solovei and Pinky to Pietro and the others? If they're all going to stick around with the Kapenta Agency for a while, it'd do them good to really get to know everyone here.]]

Leonid looked to be giving it some serious thought, before once again brightening up and forcing his way into the lead of the ever-growing group. [[Pietro Dobrynich is a sensible man, he'd surely understand that sentiment, if not agree with it outright. So come along, everyone.]]

With the bearded older man taking the lead, Nikolay and Mina's anticipation was only growing more and more, while trailing in the back, Maja, Eliška and Hristofor were all silently hoping this bunch wouldn't be the overly inquisitive type once it came time to actually meeting their boss, and that their comrades wouldn't jump the gun at the sight of three new faces.

Ten minutes after leaving the outer limits of the town proper, they finally got first sight of a large white, yet aged, building with a walled off courtyard perched atop a cliff overlooking the white-capped wavy sea running along to the group's left. It was certainly a beautiful locale, but the newcomers could still only imagine what the other people inside this place would be like.

---

[[You don't think I should go up there with you, just in case De-Condensor and these new folks show up at our door after all? It only makes sense they'd want to show the new blood everything there is to see and know about in these parts, and you know it, Pietro Dobrynich.]] The dome-headed man standing guard at Alyosha's laboratory door was unmistakably adamant in his belief, even through the filter his voice spoke through.

All the while, Pietro was not necessarily pacing, but it was noticeably difficult for him to keep still as he kept thinking their situation over repeatedly. [[Of course I know that. If nothing else, that was another reason I sent those three to keep an eye on them and gauge their abilities. If they do, in fact, come here, they can perhaps help to keep them from getting too nosy.]]

The dome-head kept his arms crossed, his obscured eyes underneath the visor already looking upward to the surface level of their compound. [[You said Gust described one of the supposed interns as being clearly foreign, likely Russian if he came all the way up here from mainland Japan. I have to admit I'm curious to get a look at such a kid for myself. If nothing else, he could make for a promising recruit if need be.]]

VRRM!

Just as Pietro was about to retort what a terrible idea that was, if the kid was directly connected to a high-profile Hero school like Yuuei, when his earpiece suddenly went off again. Given what they were dealing with, he didn't even need to guess who it was, and just what reason it was for; already affixing it and answering as before: [[Yes, Gust? Is it them?]]

[[Yes, sir. It's De-Condensor, Linguist, Knot, Petto, Blackout and the three new faces. They don't look particularly tense, so I don't think they're coming with any suspicions or trouble.]]

Pietro took a deep and stalwart breath, knowing now what the best thing for them all to do was. [[All right. Tell everyone to stop with their training, come down from your perch, and let's give them a nice, friendly greeting, no need to be hostile. Let's just keep them from coming indoors.]]

With the single push of a button to end the call, Pietro straightened his uniform before turning to the expectant dome-head. [[Stay here. I'll get a look at these new young Heroes for myself and tell you what I think later.]]

With a filtered sigh indicating his compatriot understood, Pietro put on his most welcoming face and made his way up for the surface and the entry gate to the compound wall of this former hospital building.

---

It wasn't long after Leonid had noticed the glimmer of sunlight reflecting off a pair of binoculars atop the building itself, that the visiting group found the gate being opened, and upon stepping through and into their established courtyard, they just as quickly found themselves being approached by more than a handful of especially tough-looking youths of varying sizes and physiques.

Despite Maja, Hristofor and Eliška all immediately telling their comrades to ease up about the intentions of their surprise guests, none of them looked prepared to do so; a sight that had Nikolay, Mina and The Giver looking and feeling especially intimidated. Some of these guys definitely looked like they could hold their own in a serious full-on battle, just from the looks in their eyes.

[[Come now, Gust, I thought I asked you to tell everyone to ease up and be hospitable to our visitors.]] A much more welcoming and older-sounding voice suddenly called out from near the building, and the crowd of defensive recruits immediately turned their attention back, forcing their visiting group to do the same. The three new Heroes now found themselves being approached by a pleasantly smiling middle-aged and noticeably built man dressed in a nice but aged olive suit underneath a thick olive-colored coat with insignias that Nikolay, Leonid and everyone else of Slavic origin immediately recognized as a Red Army commander's coat. This strange new man had neatly trimmed black hair with large streaks of grey, a chiseled jaw with a number of scars clearly able to be seen even from a distance, with one noticeably running along the left side of his scalp, and a pair of surprisingly warm orange eyes.

Once he was halfway to them, Leonid and De-Condensor both readily met the man with smiles and extended hands, prompting the three youthful new faces to quickly follow suit.

[[It's good to see you again, Leonid Viktorovich, De-Condensor-san. And these must be your newest additions to the Kapenta Hero Agency. Welcome. I am Pietro Dobrynich Granin.]] As soon as this imposing yet gentle-sounding man introduced himself with a bow, Nikolay, Mina and The Giver quickly followed in kind with their Hero names as before.

Afterwards, Pietro quickly brought his attention to his onlooking recruits. [[Well don't just stand there on ceremony, everyone. Come, introduce yourselves to our guests.]]

Looking back to the rowdy-looking bunch that had nearly barred their way mere moments before, they now found themselves being approached by easily the tallest and most muscular of the lot; a young man with closely cut white hair, almost luminescent purple eyes and a distinct third-degree burn scar going up the left side of his neck up to his ear. [[If Commander Granin thinks you're all okay, I suppose I don't have a reason to think otherwise...for now. What do you say we get to know each other a little bit? I'm Ljubomir Milošević, from Belgrade.]]

With no further warning than simply nodding his head towards the extensive-looking obstacle course, where numerous armor-reinforced target dummies were propped up, Ljubomir suddenly extended his right hand in the direction of one, just in time for his hand to suddenly dislodge at the wrist, falling limp, and revealing a black hole inside his wrist, from which suddenly fired a high-speed glowing ball that immediately blasted his target to smoking pieces; leaving Nikolay and Mina especially wide-eyed with shock.

Snapping his hand back onto his wrist, Ljubomir gave a cocky grin that would have made even Bakugo jealous. [[Don't worry, so long as you're not directly in the way of my Grenade Launcher Quirk, you'll be fine. Needless to say, that's why everyone here just calls me Grenadier.]]

With easily their most thickheaded Serbian member actually extending a welcoming hand, the rest began to step forward and similarly offer open hands or respectful bows to their guests, one after the other.

First was easily the shortest member of the whole group, who had a much less muscular but more toned build, pretty similar to Nikolay's; short dark blonde hair, dark blue eyes and what looked like unusually big knuckles on his hands. [[I'm Danila Ignatenko, from Odesa. You can't really see them with the naked eye, but I've got these microscopic hard protrusions running along my hands and arms. Watch this.]]

With that, Danila suddenly took off into a sprint up the nearest ramp of the training course, for the nearest armored practice dummy. Just when it seemed like he was about to tackle the damn thing, he suddenly came to a screeching halt on the soles of his shoes, and suddenly reared a fist back and threw it straight into the midsection of the dummy. From the way the metal for the armor looked, Nikolay and Mina both would have been dead certain Danila was going to break his hand.

BOOSH!

Instead, a hole the size of Danila's fist exploded out the back of the dummy's torso, almost looking as though it had taken a spear from a cavalryman point blank. Without even missing a beat from there, Danila leaped back, threw himself into an almost ballerina-like spin on his toes, and with exceptional grace, he threw his right arm in a diagonal swinging arc, and they could all hear a fierce whooshing sound tear through the open air from where he stood, just before the dummy was cleanly sliced in half in the same arc that he had just swung his arm.

When nobody did so, Danila begrudgingly began clapping his hands in applause himself as he came back down the ramp to rejoin the group, glad to see he'd clearly made his point from the looks on Nikolay and Mina's faces. [[That's why they call me Scythe instead. These protrusions are the mutation from my Wind Blades Quirk. They help me manipulate the air into veritable invisible blades.]]

With the short Ukrainian having made his introduction, next came a taller young man with slightly tanner skin, a jovial grin on an already bearded face with a short head of black hair, dressed in a distinctly old-fashioned looking long sleeve shirt and pants of white and red. [[Nice to meet you all. I'm Marius Lazarescu from Brașov, Romania. My Untouchable Quirk is really hard for me to try and showcase on an obstacle course. See, it really only works if I'm being directly attacked by another flesh and blood person. Grenadier, you wanna help me show them? Please, nothing too intense, just a flick of the finger.]]

With a sigh of what distinctly sounded like reluctance, the hulking Serbian approached the comparatively meeker Romanian, and with lightning speed, flicked his index finger directly against Marius' head, only to immediately have his own head reel back as he groaned with sharp pain.

Marius' dark brown eyes then shifted over to Danila, who likewise understood just what he was now being roped into. Knowing he couldn't rightfully back down here in front of everyone, he took a deep breath, dashed in and threw a carefully aimed elbow into his opponent's stomach, only to similarly keel over as though he'd just taken his own hit to his gut, falling to the ground while Marius continued to stand with nary a scratch.

Smiling at the astonished looks on Nikolay, Mina and The Giver's faces; he finally proceeded to explain: [[My friends here call me Blowback for my Quirk. It basically lets me instantly redirect all the physical force an enemy directly throws at me right back at them.]]

At this explanation, Nikolay visibly lit up with familiarity. [[Oh, my Kinetics Quirk actually lets me do the same thing! If I focus enough on the spot of my body that someone's about to hit, I can absorb that force and then send three-quarters of it right back at them in a concussive blast.]]

However, at this, Marius simply chuckled, shaking his head. [[No, I'm afraid it's not exactly the same thing. You're describing a sensation wherein you still have to take the brunt of a hit into your body in order to redirect it. Yours is like a shock absorber, while mine is an altogether shock deflector. I don't have to take the hit, because my Quirk displaces the hit itself onto the person inflicting it.]]

Taking this all in, Mina's hair looked like it was starting to stand on end at the implication. [[Whoa, so you, like, can't get hit, period? Like, at all?! Dude, that makes you totally invincible, doesn't it?!]]

However, Marius was once again chuckling to himself, pointing towards a tiny, almost unnoticeable scar protruding from just below his hairline above his left brow. [[I wish that were true. My Quirk only works if I'm being attacked directly by another person, even if they're using a weapon instead of their own bodies. However, if it were free-flying debris or projectiles from firearms, I'd be shit-out-of-luck. That's why I need to be careful whenever Grenadier uses his Quirk, even for training.]]

At this, the next member of the group hurriedly stepped in; a much more awkward-looking but notably tall young man with curly black hair and hazel-colored eyes, with a thin little billy goat sprout of facial hair sprouting from the chin of his gaunt-looking face. His hands both hung at his sides, and immediately could Nikolay, Mina and The Giver all see how his fingers ended in tiny gun barrels, making it very easy to figure out what his Quirk was, and he could tell just from the looks on their faces.

[[Y-yeah, I know, it's pretty obvious, and not really that unique. I-I'm Jozef Mečiar from Nitra, Slovakia, by the way; b-but everybody just calls me Spitfire here. I haven't really eaten that much today, so I can't really show off my Quirk that much yet.]] With that, focusing his eyes on a distant cluster of practice targets, Jozef proceeded to aim both his hands directly straight at them, before suddenly letting off a two-second long rapid fire barrage of genuine-sounding gunfire from his fingers, blasting the whole lot to smithereens just as quickly.

As soon as they returned their attention to the two remaining recruits to be introduced, the one clearly female member among them, with icy blue eyes and short lavender-colored hair that seemed to stretch back straight from behind her head like she had spent her life in a wind tunnel, suddenly closed the distance between herself and the trio of newcomers in less than the blink of an eye, as though she'd literally just warped.

The instant she grabbed the brim of Nikolay's mariner's cap, her eyes suddenly went up to the top of the hospital building, and she instantly vanished without a trace, alongside the shocked young Russian's headwear.

The chuckling of everyone else, quickly followed by the distant echoing voice of a girl from up above, drew his and Mina's eyes up to the top of the building, just to see that same girl grinning cheekily down at them, twirling Nikolay's hat on her finger.

Just before either of them could ask her to come back down, she instantly teleported right before the Yuuei duo instantaneously, grinning as she plopped Nikolay's hat back on his head crooked, before just as quickly teleporting right alongside her comrades again.

With her arms crossed and leaning against Ljubomir's side with a grin on her face, she finally spoke up: [[The nickname's Gust, but the real name's Tuule Koppel. The birthplace is Püssi, Estonia; and the Quirk is Instant Teleport, at least as long as it's within twenty meters and I can see it clearly. I'd challenge you two to a race, but I don't want you resenting me just yet.]]

Finally, all eyes fell upon the last member of the group: a young man with olive skin and long flowing black hair who was on the shorter side, but still stood a few inches taller than Danila. The bandages adorning his right shoulder made it unnecessary to even wonder, as Nikolay spoke up: [[You must be Gazsi Istvan, the Hungarian, right? Maja, Eliška and Hristofor there mentioned you being hurt earlier.]]

After a moment shooting a sharp glare at the awkwardly grinning trio of their group's seniors, he let out a resigned sigh. [[Yeah, that's me, but my nickname around here is Backtrack, cause of my Reverse Quirk. Everybody take a few steps back from the direction of those targets Spitfire just took out, and you'll see what I mean.]]

Doing exactly as they were told, everyone watched with rapt attention on Nikolay and Mina's parts, as Gazsi focused his eyes on the rubble of the distant wall and the numerous bullet holes in it. Watching as he began to hold his open hands towards it, the three young Heroes quickly followed his line of sight, and before their very eyes, it almost looked as though the bullet impacts from before were starting to go in rewind, as the rubble began to levitate and reconstitute itself into the wall, while the bullets themselves suddenly came shooting right out from where they had impacted with the same kind of vicious speed, flying back the way they had come, only to now come slamming into the once spotless wall on the other side, flying harmlessly past Gazsi himself, and slamming into the wall as though they had been fired all over again.

The young Hungarian had to take a moment afterwards to catch his breath, having visibly broken a sweat once he was done with his own little demonstration. [[It's a pretty risky Quirk…but as long as I'm in the right position in any situation, and I'm working with the right people, I can either trap people who get caught in the middle of the reconstituting rubble…or I can hit someone with a bullet or other projectile that's already been fired and landed. I still need to work on it, though…as you can clearly see.]]

As he motioned towards his bandaged shoulder to emphasize his point, Nikolay and Mina both looked absolutely stunned. [[Wow, your Quirks are all really impressive, you guys.]] [[Yeah, they are! Even if they didn't use them, they're still scary enough, I'll bet no Villain would mess with them!]]

[[Why don't you give us a demonstration of yours, then? Like I said, we should be able to know each other equally.]] Ljubomir suddenly suggested, and when the student duo looked back to see there was no sign of cockiness or deception in his purple eyes, they felt their own sense of resolve build in their chests.

[[Don't feel like you have to go nuts with some big course run, we're not that close yet. It'd just be nice to know what such bright-eyed Heroes like yourselves are able to do.]] Marius noted as Nikolay and Mina stood side-by-side, carefully looking over the obstacle course, or general training ground, in front of them. If De-Condensor wasn't actively telling them not to indulge this bunch, then clearly there must have been no risk.

With Mina cracking her knuckles and Nikolay rolling his right shoulder, the two suddenly took off in tandem up the first ramp, with Mina quickly throwing herself into another Acid Slide while Nikolay launched himself up through his kinetics upon reaching the top, practically taking off into the air.

Nikolay threw himself into another forward midair roll thanks to a propelling blast from his hands and feet. Just as he had become used to doing, he timed his landing with another buildup of energy into his feet, and met the ground with a shockwave-inducing powered stomp that sent all the loose debris across the training ground airborne, to the surprise of every one of the recruits watching, and even more so when he immediately followed that up by throwing himself into a spin with his arms extended to his sides, firing one blast after another from his hands, sending the momentarily hanging debris flying this way and that, pounding into several more targets and the previously blemish-free walls.

At the same time as Mina was currently free-sliding down a knocked over pillar, she was proceeding to throw one carefully aimed handful of acid after another into the first few targets she could see. By the time she finally reached the bottom, she all but leapt off of it, landing perfectly on her feet and immediately after throwing her right hand downward, creating another Acid Veil for herself to melt down any wayward specks of rubble flying about.

Without wasting a beat, she immediately followed this up by clapping her hands together once she turned back the way she came, and fired an especially thin and far-reaching Acid Shot at one of the few upstanding pillars in front of her, melting its base out from under it and sending it toppling forward towards her, only for the grinning pink Hero to immediately spread her index and middle fingers apart, firing a resulting upward arcing Acid Shot from the new opening, easily melting down the only portion of the pillar that would have any chance of hitting her, and thus causing the rest to come crashing down several feet away from where she stood.

To cap off their respective showcase, Nikolay quickly came rushing towards the now downed pillar, this time with both of his large tuning forks drawn, and with another flying leap and a timely charge through his hands into his weapons, he came crashing down with both metal objects slamming and discharging their collected vibrations into the prone mass of the pillar, resulting in a fine resonating ring for a good few seconds, just before the rest of the marble structure suddenly exploded into a pile of chunks and dust, and inadvertently leaving the once grinning Russian boy white with the dust all over his costume, only for Mina to come in with a sweet supportive giggle as she started patting him down.

As they returned to their large group of hosts, they could both feel an immense swelling of genuine accomplishment when they saw the impressed looks on all the young soldiers' faces at just how versatile the two Hero students' Quirks already were.

And of course, among them, nobody looked genuinely more pleased at such a display than Pietro himself, as he stepped forward and planted a firm yet welcoming hand on Nikolay and Mina's shoulders. [[A damn fine display of real youthful power, if I do say so, myself. Clearly a school like Yuuei has more than earned its reputation for being able to produce such fine future Heroes.]]

However, amid all the praise, Jozef had his eyes now focused on the black-haired girl among their visitors. [[What about you? That doesn't look anything like what I'd imagine a Hero costume looks like. What can your Quirk do?]]

Realizing she was now finally being given a chance to show her stuff, The Giver hurriedly approached the young Slovakian boy, directly turning him around so he was looking at the same wall he had just shot before, before she just as quickly did the same to a similarly confused Ljubomir.

Her excitement had her genuinely spit into her palms before slapping her hands together and vigorously rubbing them together; a myriad of colorful sparks starting to emanate from between as she looked at the backs of the two young Slavs. [[Just keep your eyes on that wall as your target and don't use your Quirks until I say so, okay?]]

Neither of them said anything, but the fact they weren't already letting their Quirks loose was a good enough sign they understood. Finally, after several seconds of building up her power through rubbing her palms, she finally slammed both her hands hard against their backs, and in an instant, they could both feel the power building up inside of them skyrocketing. [[Alright, give them a try.]]

BKOOM! BRRRRAK!

With a level of sheer power that none of their comrades had seen from them yet, Ljubomir and Jozef fired off their Quirks, and the gunfire from the Slovakian's fingers was now suddenly able to tear straight through the solid stone walls like tissue paper, while the taller Serbian's explosive energy shot now leveled half the wall and produced a concussive wave that nearly sent him flying back several feet, forcing everyone else to shield their eyes.

Satisfied with the display, The Giver practically bounced as she spun to address the rest of their hosts. [[It's not useful to me personally, but it's a great Support Quirk. Given enough time to build it up, I can increase the power of anyone else's Quirk at a touch, for a short time, of course.]]

It was no surprise just how enthusiastic such a Quirk had made all of these young fighters, while Pietro was once again simply applauding in approval. [[Absolutely splendid! Any Hero would be more than lucky to have you for a sidekick, my dear. De-Condensor-san, you've really lucked out with these three, I must say!]]

[[What's your Quirk able to do, Granin-ojisan?]] Mina suddenly asked with the same bubbly tone, while Pietro and his followers simply looked to her and Nikolay with surprise that she would address him as such already. However, Nikolay was looking just as enthusiastic as his best friend: [[Yeah, Mr. Briner said that you've personally trained everyone here, and with so many different Quirks already made so strong, I can't even imagine what yours is! If you don't mind telling us, of course.]]

While De-Condensor and The Giver both looked particularly embarrassed at the two interns' forwardness, they were instead answered by Pietro giving a deeply amused chuckle. [[Yes, I wouldn't have been any less eager to know if I was in your shoes, kids. Well, to put it simply, my Quirk is simply an enhanced ability to inspire the utmost courage and loyalty in those directly under my command, something to do with altering the emotional chemistry of a desired subject's brain; it's all very subtle stuff. Of course, I prefer to think of it less like a Quirk, and more just a natural gifted personality trait that, frankly, everyone in your line of work or mine should have.]]

To his approval, both the young Heroes looked to be just as inspired by his words, as Nikolay was already nodding in agreement. [[So, with that being said, now I must ask you three to forgive me for being so forward. Since my trainees here have given you the courtesy of their nicknames and real names alike, why don't you show us the same? So, Solovei, Pinky, The Giver, what are your real names?]]

While they were all of course initially hesitant to actually say, the overall casual and inviting demeanor Pietro was giving off, as well as the lack of any hostility from the rest of their hosts, was able to ease their apprehension, with De-Condensor's official sidekick being the first one to step in with a polite bow, which Nikolay and Mina quickly gave as well: [[I am Shibosaki Erumi. It's a pleasure to officially meet you, Granin-san.]] [[I'm Ashido Mina! Maybe you could give me and Kolya-kun a little of your kind of training sometime!]] [[And I'm Nikolay Olegovich Bezpalov. It's an honor.]]

What Nikolay never noticed in that moment he gave his name and had his head bowed down, was how for just a split second, Pietro's welcoming demeanor, especially in his eyes, cracked, before quickly returning to normal. Clearing his throat, he turned back to address his young recruits. [[It's my honor to meet you three, make no mistake of that. Everyone, considering Backtrack's wound is still in the last stages of recovering, and you've all been training plenty hard today as it is, how about I give you all the rest of the day off, go into town and take the time to relax and get to know our guests a bit more, you've all more than earned it.]]

While at first there was the to-be-expected look of confusion from some of his closer followers, they all were thankfully able to take what he was saying for what it was, and with their own expressions of gratitude, they soon all finally left out the gates, ultimately leaving Pietro alone in the courtyard, finally shaking from head to toe as the Russian boy's name echoed like a clarion in his head.

'My God, so I was right! All the stories on the news really were right! How could I have possibly let myself doubt it for a second before? That boy, Nikolay…for God's sake, it's right there in his patronymic and family name together! Not only that, but he looks just like Gamayun everywhere but his eyes, and his Quirk has the same base mechanic as Tunguska's, only with kinetic energy instead of light! I should've just realized it years ago, they never found the man's body once the dust settled! It's all really true, after all! Tunguska really is alive out there, somewhere in this country! I can't believe it!]]

---

It hadn't been long after the whole motley crew of Leonid, De-Condensor, The Giver, Nikolay, Mina and all of Pietro's young followers had returned to Gagaringrad proper, that everyone's building appetites had finally decided to really make themselves known, and as such, it was decided all around that they could afford to stop off at a nearby open-air eatery sitting right next to the humble excuse for a beachfront.

As everyone took their spots around two brought-together tables and ate their fill, Maja was especially quick to see how Nikolay's eyes were still so busily looking over the span of the town behind them, as well as just all the people he and his pink companion were currently eating with. With an amused chuckle, the young Polish girl suddenly spoke up: [[Try not to stare at everything too hard there, Nikolay Olegovich. You don't want everyone to think you're too much of a tourist, do you? You're both supposed to be here to learn how to become Pro Heroes, aren't you?]]

Nikolay was blushing with embarrassment that he'd already been caught getting so lost in his own head, while Mina thankfully had the self awareness to clean her mouth off from her last mouthful from a bowl of ukha (Russian-style fish soup) to chime in with a wide smile while leaning in close to his side. [[That's right, but how can any of us not stare?! I don't think Kolya-kun thought a place like this with so many of his people could ever be real anymore than I did! It's just so cool to see these people come together like this after everything he told me happened back there.]]

As Mina's cheerful tone appropriately lowered when it came to mentioning the biggest elephant in the room between everyone here, everyone's eyes naturally went to Nikolay himself, who stopped picking at his pelmeni (Russian dumplings) and met their gazes in kind. [[Mina's right, actually. After living in Russia the way it had become for so long, I'd genuinely given up hope that any Quirked people from there had made it out. To see all this is such a surprise, I'm still trying to process all of it.

[[I'm especially surprised at just how many different kinds of people from all over the Bloc came this way, too. I mean, I knew that the Soviet Bloc as a whole broke apart once the Union dissolved again, but I didn't honestly think any of the other countries had reacted as badly as Russia did towards Quirked people once the dust had settled.]]

However, for as surprised and ultimately optimistic as Nikolay was trying to sound by saying this, he just as quickly found himself regretting it when he, Mina, Erumi and De-Condensor could physically feel the air change among their hosts, with Leonid ultimately clearing his throat to speak: [[While they weren't admittedly as widespread as they were in Russia…make no mistake, my boy, that all the other former Bloc countries suffered the same kind of Quirk purges in the early years following the Siberian Flash. These people can all attest to that for you; then you'll understand why they dedicate their growth to Pietro Dobrynich like they do.]]

Looking to the rest of their now especially pensive-looking hosts, Nikolay felt a guilty twisting sensation in his gut for having brought it up at all, with Mina feeling much the same. On the other end of the conversation, Marius cleared his throat before speaking up: [[Well, Jozef, Tuule, Gazsi and I, we only joined the town security team just less than a month ago. Our parents aren't around often at all, so training under him just sounded like the sensible thing to do. If you really want to know, though…]]

Marius, Tuule, Gazsi and Jozef all uncomfortably turned their gazes towards Maja, Ljubomir, Danila, Hristofor and Eliška, who all looked especially distant by this point.

However, finally, it was Eliška who broke the silence, despite how much it pained her to do so: [[It's true. The Quirk purges in all the other Slavic countries were nowhere as official as the ones in Russia, from the way I've heard it described. Everywhere else, it either came in the form of arrests from plain clothes police officers when people were just out and about minding their own business…but more often than not, it came in the form of full-on vigilante assaults in the middle of the night…and yet further, more subtle methods. All of us here…we suffered the worst of it.]]

Maja let her fork clatter onto her plate as she laid back in her chair, eyes closed and drawing in a hissing breath in order to steel herself to have to tell it out loud again. [[I…I lost both my parents in one of those vigilante raids. I only survived because my mom had made me hide before they could have found me. When it was all over, all I could do was simply run.]]

Nikolay, Mina and Erumi could all feel their hearts plummet, while Hristofor was now clearing his throat to speak, glancing Eliška's way. [[Eliška and I, we were actually orphans before the Siberian Flash even happened. We'd been living in the same orphanage in Czechia at that time…but when everyone started turning on people with Quirks, the people in charge of the orphanage kicked us out along with every other child who they knew had a Quirk. We tried to tough it out together out there…but by the end, we were the only ones who'd made it.]]

While Maja, Hristofor and Eliška all looked especially emotional having to revisit this, Ljubomir's brow was twitching with unmistakable anger, especially once he realized it was his turn. [[My parents were both Quirkless. If you can believe it, once the shit royally hit the fan…my old man, he actually tried to burn our home down with me in it while I was sleeping. That's why I'm as pretty as I am now, see? I still don't really know how I managed to escape; all I know is that once I did, I just went off and never once looked back.]]

Finally, it was down to an especially bitter-looking Danila, who couldn't even bring himself to look anyone in the eye when he gave his answer: [[My parents…shit, they didn't even say anything. I just woke up one day and they were just…packed up and gone, left me behind all on my own. Hell, even if they'd told me they were disgusted by me and wanted me gone, it would've been something! But nothing, not a single goddamn word from either one of them. From there, I just walked and tried to do what I could on my own to stay alive, and just making sure nobody ever figured out I had a Quirk the whole time.]]

While the Ukrainian and Serbian were both visibly stewing with their own resentment, Eliška once again carried on for the group as a whole: [[Some way or another, we'd heard about there being a place of sanctuary far to the east for Slavic peoples with Quirks, and we all tried our best to get there. One by one, along the way over those hard years, Commander Granin managed to find us, and took us all under his wing. In his own way, he'd given us all a second family where we had none. Ever since then, we stuck by him every step of the way until we all finally came here several months ago, finally. It was a very, very hard time, but…by God, because of him, we all made it.]]

As soon as it was clear that the Czech woman was starting to try and lift everyone's spirits again, all the newer recruits suddenly took up their glasses as soon as their seniors in experience did, with Gazsi all but declaring: [[As for us, we were just sick and tired of feeling like we couldn't do anything for ourselves, when so many of the people in this town don't seem to have the will anymore to fight for themselves when they have to. That's why we joined up; Commander Granin helps us to feel like we can actually accomplish something and really fight back if we truly have to. In a number of ways, everyone at this table owes that man everything.]]

Nikolay and Mina could only watch as their hosts all shared in a toast to their common leader, all while feeling a myriad of their own emotions come out, with Nikolay being the first: [[I'm sorry…for everything you've all had to go through out there. For the longest time, I was certain I'd had the worst of it, because not only did I have to live with knowing my Mom was gone, and so was the whole world I'd been trying to prepare myself to go into…but that I was now no more than a monster just like my Dad and all other Quirked people in the eyes of the public I was supposed to one day be fighting to save.

[[In all honesty, throughout all that time, I hated the fact I had a Quirk. All I wanted was to just bury myself and let that be it. I have to admit, even if it may be coming from entirely the wrong place, I actually kind of envy the fact none of you ever seemed to get that low throughout all of this. I still wish I could've been able to have that.]] None of the others could bring themselves to say anything, mainly because they did in fact understand exactly what the Russian boy was describing. With everything they themselves had lost on their way here, how could it have been possible for that kind of self-loathing not to kick in at some point? Of course, today was supposed to be a day of simply expressing gratitude for what they had now, and the mood among this table was getting low enough as it was, they all instinctively felt that much.

At the same time, even Mina couldn't help but make her own feelings about this be known; her black-gold eyes starting to shimmer with tears: [[I'm so sorry you've all had to suffer like that, just for being who you all are. It just isn't fair that this had to happen to everyone here just because they have Quirks! I mean, Quirks should be able to make anyone a Hero if they want to be, right? Like, you guys could all be awesome Heroes if you wanted to, I know you could! I know this whole Flash hurt so many people so badly, but that still shouldn't make people turn on each other like that! You guys didn't deserve any of that!]]

The young pink girl had to take that moment to reconstitute herself from getting so impassioned about what she was trying and struggling to really get across. However, the way everyone's eyes visibly softened to hear her sympathize with their common suffrage despite her downright well-off upbringing was clear to see.

While Mina's train of thought was still as scattershot and energetic as a child of her age could be, it was still clear, even to the most hardened of their hosts, that her heart was undoubtedly in the right place. Hristofor was especially capable of picking up on this, as once Mina seemed to finally start calming herself down, he took that chance to lean her way down the table, making full eye contact once she noticed what the young yet mustachioed Bulgarian was doing. [[Thank you for expressing such feelings so earnestly on our behalf, Ashido-san. It's not often someone from such vastly different circumstances goes out of their way to even try and empathize with what we've had to go through. Clearly you're the kind of Hero who's just as beautiful on the inside as you are on the outside.]]

While Hristofor's suave grin never faltered, Nikolay and Mina's eyes went as wide as they possibly could, while her pink face went tomato red and their hair both stood completely on end at the realization of just what the hell he'd just said so blatantly. In fact, Mina was already trying to inch her chair back as much as she could on such short notice, while Nikolay felt an immense flare of white heat building up in the pit of his chest; every instinct in his body telling him to get in between and protect his beloved best friend from such a shameless flirter with everything he had; all the while unaware that this protective instinct of his perfectly mirrored what Mina herself had felt towards him back at the Provisional Exams with that Shiketsu High girl, Camie Utsushimi.

However, at the last second, Ljubomir suddenly flipped his own bowl of hot soup over with a precise flicking of his wrist, sending the contents spilling right into the flirtatious Bulgarian's lap, sending him flying from out of his chair and screaming in shock at what the cackling Serb had just done to him, all before rushing for the nearest washroom as fast as he could.

With that one action, all the grimness among the group had vanished, as everyone was now laughing themselves to the point of tears, while Nikolay and Mina were both letting out a sigh of relief that this whole uncomfortable confrontation was finally over. Once he could finally breathe again, Ljubomir gave the two Yuuei students an assuring wink. [[Try not to let it get too far under your skin, you two. He's like that with every new female face he sees. Just because that stupid mustache makes him look like an in-his-prime Milorad Milinković*, he thinks he's such a damn ladykiller.]]

By now, Nikolay, Mina and even Erumi couldn't help but laugh along with everyone else at what an admittedly hilarious show that had just been. However, before they could carry on for much longer, a booming voice suddenly began to echo across the air with a certain musical cadence from what sounded like a pretty good distance away, drawing the three young Heroes' attention. From what Nikolay could recall of the town's layout from before compared to where they were now, it had to have been coming from the Orthodox church where Maja had stolen his wallet.

[[Is somebody actually singing from out of nowhere?]] Mina asked innocently once her ears picked up the bizarre intonations the echoing voice was speaking with, only for Maja to answer knowingly: [[No, but he'd definitely be good at it if he went for it. It's the local Orthodox priest, Sergei Cherenkov, that's all. He has a Quirk that allows him to amplify his voice, so he uses it whenever he calls for prayer, or even to simply give local announcements pertaining to the town. I guess you could say he's the town crier, too.]]

While everyone else was simply listening in on the priest's echoing call for the townspeople to come to the church, Mina's wayward train of thought brought her to impulsively speak: [[Wow, he kinda sounds like Present Mic-sensei if he didn't need that stereo thing on his neck, doesn't he, Kolya-kun?]]

While Nikolay was chuckling and wholeheartedly agreeing with the comparison, Maja noticeably perked up with remembered curiosity: [[Hey, you know, bringing that up, I'd been meaning to ask for a little while, Nikolay Olegovich.]]

Realizing he was now the subject of apparently everyone's curiosity again, Nikolay felt particularly put on the spot, but the wax-haired Polish girl didn't back down: [[I'd been curious to know, coming from you specifically: what's it like to be the one foreign student in a whole school full of nothing but future Japanese Heroes?

[[No, even more than that: I was convinced we were pretty much the only Slavic people in this whole country after the Siberian Flash. I never would've expected there to actually be another Russian Hero, let alone a Hero student, anywhere else out there. I mean, granted, this town pretty much keeps to itself, we don't bother ourselves with outside news these days. So I'm just wondering where exactly it is you really came from.]]

SKRRRRCH! CRAASH!

Before Nikolay could actually think of how to answer her question, the air was disturbed by the sudden sound of a screeching set of car tires, followed by a noticeably close-by crash. Like a pair of shots, he and Mina were already back on their feet and rushing towards the scene, with De-Condensor and Erumi quickly overtaking them as they could start to hear the sounds of multiple people's shocked and notably emotional voices growing louder and louder further up the street.

Once they rounded the corner where it looked like a crowd was already gathered, they all came to a stop at the sight of this sudden yet tragic scene. At the end of a set of skid marks along the road was a single small car that had seemed to lose control and come swerving this way and that down the asphalt, before ultimately crashing into the corner of a thankfully reinforced building. From the looks of things as the driver had already gotten out by now, he thankfully didn't look to be banged up too badly. Fortunately for him, he didn't look to have been intoxicated either; for all intents and purposes, this was purely a mechanical accident.

However, none of that did anything to alleviate the heartbreak of seeing that, just before the car had crashed, it had ended up catching one single medium-sized dog in its wake, as it now lay motionless on the road, with a trio of especially small children gathered at its side in tears, with cat ears and paws, a unicorn's horn and six arms respectively.

Already, Nikolay, Mina and Erumi could feel their hearts shattering over and over again at the sight of these kids crying over what was clearly their pet. As Heroes, their duty was to try and step in and look after the mental and emotional well-being of all citizens, but barely being more than kids themselves, neither Nikolay nor Mina could imagine how they could be able to try and reassure these children after witnessing something so personally devastating?

But try they still did, as they both stepped forward, about ready to kneel down to at least meet these kids at eye level and try to just tell them something from the heart to help them, whatever that could have been.

[[Valera, what are you doing? Valera, stop! Come back here!]]

The sudden sound of a single man's voice calling out to someone else managed to pry the two teens' eyes off the awful sight before them, only to now find a fourth child, barely older than a toddler, with a head of helmet-shaped blonde hair and yellow eyes, come practically waddling forward in his thick winter jacket towards the motionless dog in the road, with an older man who almost looked like a perfect representation of that same child as an adult hurriedly rushing after him, closely followed by a young adult woman with dark blonde hair tied in a bun; clearly the toddlers' parents.

The moment he saw this kid named Valery (with Valera being his shortened name, it was already obvious) start deliberately watching and approaching the dog specifically, Nikolay's protective instincts quickly kicked in: [[Valera, you don't want to look at this, alright? Let me take you back to your parents, okay?]]

However, even as Nikolay was about to open his arms to pick the little boy up, he just sidestepped past the older Russian boy completely, and just as Mina took her attention away from the original kids and saw the boy reaching out to put his hands on the dog's body, she was all but ready to swoop in and take him in her arms away from it as well. [[Little boy, don't touch it!]]

However, in that instant, Valera placed his hands on the dog, and instantly there was an immense warm golden glow emanating from the point of contact, forcing all the presiding Heroes and bystanders to shield their eyes.

In a matter of seconds, the glow seemed to finally dissipate, and when everyone lowered their arms to see just what exactly had happened, they were met with the single most miraculous sight in this given moment: that of the kneeling little boy smiling happily, while the once dead dog he had put his hands on was now back up and on its feet with not a single sign of any injury upon it. With the way it was moving, yipping and immediately returning to the little kids it had clearly belonged to, who were all equally as surprised and overjoyed to see it up and about again, there was simply no denying it: somehow, someway, Valera had actually brought this animal fully back to life through the power of a truly incomparable kind of Quirk.

Not even Maja and her comrades could believe what they had just witnessed. [[Holy…shit.]] Ljubomir even stated under his breath as he saw the kids and their resurrected dog go on their merry way, completely ignorant of all the astonished looks on all the other people's faces.

Even Nikolay couldn't possibly keep his natural thoughts to himself, looking back and forth from the departing children and their pet, to Valera as he dutifully returned to his parents' sides. [[All this time, of all the Quirks I've read about and seen…I never thought something like that would be possible.]]

[[That little kid…that was, like, a complete and total miracle, what he just did! Was that seriously for real?! That's, like, a super duper Quirk, what he has!]] Mina exclaimed in astonishment, with many of the other people in the crowd beginning to voice the very same sentiments, while Nikolay and Mina now looked back to the little boy and his parents; both of whom looked especially regretful at what a scene their child had just caused.

[[W-we're terribly sorry. Our Valera, he's still so young, he hasn't had nearly enough practice with his Quirk to know when to use it properly. He's constantly going around, using it on whatever unfortunate animals he can find out in the woods, it's just not a responsible way of using it.]]

As the father continued to apologize on his child's behalf, despite not a single person having a single negative look anywhere on their face; his worried eyes quickly fell upon the unfamiliar sight of Nikolay, Mina and Erumi amid the crowd; having at least seen De-Condensor before in his family's brief time living here. The sight of a young foreign Hero among this bunch had his momentary worry quickly replaced with curiosity: [[Young man, forgive me for prying. W-we've come to know a good number of the people around these parts, but I've never seen your face or your pink friend here. Please, who exactly are you?]]

This was really starting to genuinely feel like routine by this point, as Nikolay and Mina were once again bowing politely before this curious-looking family. [[Hello. I'm the Ridley Hero, Pinky; but since we're going to be coming here more often to help however we can, you can call me Ashido Mina if you like.]] [[And I'm the Frequency Hero, Solovei; but you can also call me Nikolay Olegovich Bezpalov if you're all so inclined in time.]]

Just as Nikolay was about ready to move on from there, he, Mina and Erumi were all simultaneously shocked when Valera's father suddenly went completely wide-eyed, almost rushing in and grabbing the boy by the shoulders, looking as though he'd just seen a ghost. [[Bezpalov? Olegovich Bezpalov? Oh…oh my God…yes, I…I recognize you now, young man! You…your father, he…he saved my life in the shipyards at Vladivostok last November, just after telling me to take my family out of Russia! He…h-he pretty much saved all of us! You…you're the son of Tunguska, the Sun of Justice himself!]]

The moment this man said this out loud for absolutely everyone around to hear, Nikolay could feel his stomach starting to twist with what was nervousness at first, especially when several people amid the crowd were already beginning to chatter excitedly among themselves: [[Did you hear that? That boy is Tunguska's son! If he's here, then surely that must mean Tunguska is, too! Yeah! I should've known he wasn't really dead! The Sun of Justice is still out there, can you believe it?!]]

However, once Nikolay, Mina, Erumi and De-Condensor looked back to the crowd, the boy could feel that nervousness turn into a chilling dread when more and more of the crowd began glaring his way with what could only have been pure malice. This was certainly not helped when he could see the similar look of caution on their mentor and Leonid's faces, already able to clearly read the emotions of the crowd.

[[How can you people act so happy? Did you all just go braindead? That son of a bitch is the reason we lost everything in the first place! He's the reason we're refugees from our own Motherland, for God's sakes! So the rumors really were true that he'd fled the country, and now his brat comes here to rain pity on us for what his old man did?! What, is the Sun of Justice such a coward, he has to send his kid to take the judgment in his place?!]]

The way more and more people's voices were rising, and the enthusiasts were starting to clash with the pessimists, it was becoming increasingly clear that this situation was quickly getting out of hand, especially when Nikolay actually tried to speak up for himself: [[No, that's not what this is at all! I didn't come here for my Dad, I'm just here so we can learn to be the kind of Heroes that people need!]]

[[We don't need Heroes like you! Especially not the offspring of reckless mass murderers parading as Heroes! Get the hell out of here! We don't want you here!]]

Nikolay was nearly blown back by the sheer volatile volume with which the majority of the crowd spat back at his attempts at pacifying their anger that had built up over the years. Like that, Mina, Erumi, De-Condensor and even Maja were coming in to try and get the wide-eyed and shocked boy away from the clearly more aggressive members of the crowd.

Following their initiative, while the crowd was already busy turning on each other thanks to such starkly contrasting opinions, Leonid hurriedly joined his group of guests, ushering them away. [[I think this is about as much as you're all going to be able to accomplish anything around here today, I'm afraid. You've just given the people a chance to vent out many years worth of building emotions, and it's likely they may try to take it out on all of you if you stick around. I'm sorry.]]

As Leonid and Maja continued reluctantly ushering Nikolay and his companions towards the entrance to the town, he couldn't help but feel the worst spike of guilt run through his gut when seeing the saddened look on Mina and Maja's faces at just how quickly such a good day had nosedived through no intentional fault of his own. He had pretty much sabotaged the day they were supposed to really prove themselves as worthwhile interns up here, simply for who he was.

Looking back to the rest of Maja's comrades only made it that much worse, as he could see the same kind of burning resentment on all their faces as well. How could they, especially, not feel the same as most of these people? They'd just poured their hearts out about how the Siberian Flash had destroyed their lives, and all to the son of the man who was the most directly responsible for all of it.

However, seeing the troubled looks on his and Mina's faces, Maja was actually somehow able to bring herself to smile reassuringly: [[Try not to worry. I get it, you both being Heroes, you're supposed to go into scenes like this and keep people from getting hurt. My comrades and I will help the crowd disperse before anybody gets hurt, you'll see. I'm sure that, with this big old band-aid on the town ripped off, things will go much smoother for you here tomorrow.]]

Nikolay honestly couldn't tell if Maja was being unbelievably naïve, if she was just telling him what she thought he wanted to hear, or if she genuinely believed that. He knew he certainly wanted to; they all did, especially as Mina was trying to speak up as well: [[I know they all have the right to be mad about everything that's happened, but none of it is Kolya-kun's fault! He's just trying to help, we all are!]]

By this point, they had finally reached the entrance to Gagaringrad, where Leonid finally stepped away from the group, panting heavily to try and catch his breath in his old age. [[We understand all of this, Pinky; but you all also need to understand just how these kinds of feelings of anger, loss and resentment can build over the years without an outlet for it, especially when it's shared among an entire community.

[[This whole town is made up of people who either thought all their Heroes were dead, or that Heroes were the ones responsible for their losing everything and everyone they had. To know now that the Hero they were told was solely responsible for all of it is not only alive and in this country somewhere, but also that his own child is here among them, it's only natural they would react like this. It's a lot for anyone to process on their own, let alone together as a community.]]

Even despite what had just happened, they could all see how Nikolay was already looking back into the town, where the clamor of the people arguing could still be heard echoing all this way.

Nikolay was suddenly stirred from his regret when he felt the familiar warm gentleness of Mina taking his hand in hers, before Leonid suddenly followed suit with a kind hand on his shoulder. [[Please try not to hold their emotions against them, Nikolay Olegovich, everyone. As angry as they may be, these are all still fine, decent people that deserve to be protected as much as anyone else. They've simply gone for so long without any real semblance of hope to cling onto. Perhaps, with time, any one of you may be able to be that for them, and help them see that there is still hope for them in this world.]]

Thankfully, this vote of confidence looked to strike a chord in Nikolay and Mina alike, even if the boy wasn't smiling quite as confidently as his pink best friend was.

Getting in on the overall emotion of the moment, Maja poked her head in as well, giving the two Yuuei students an optimistic smirk. [[I hope we'll get to see you all again soon. It's nice to have new faces around here to talk to.]]

With that, De-Condensor and Erumi were already bowing in departure to Leonid and Maja both, hurriedly spurring their two interns to follow suit while giving thanks for their mutual hospitality. With a heartfelt smile, Leonid proceeded to wave them off toward the direction they had first come. [[Don't worry, kids. As I said before, once you're back in Arakisu City, my Quirk will lose its affect, and you'll be speaking your original Japanese like normal again. If you do indeed end up coming along tomorrow, going through the transition again should be less dizzying for you.]]

With their last goodbyes given, De-Condensor, Erumi, Mina and Nikolay finally began to take their leave, with Leonid and Maja watching on, both silently hoping they would indeed follow through and come back soon. Once it was clear they weren't about to turn back, Leonid let out a tired and aged groan, finally taking his leave, with Maja soon following suit, knowing she would need to return to help her comrades with the unrest.

[[Please, wait.]] Nikolay's voice suddenly spoke out from behind her back, for once catching the turquoise-haired girl by surprise as she jumped into a spin to see the Russian boy looking her in the eye. Only this time, his typical boyish awkwardness was replaced with that same look of determined focus as he had when she'd taken his wallet.

To further drive home the strange nostalgia of it, Nikolay once again had his hand extended towards her. [[I didn't want to say anything about it in front of everyone, but I'd like you to give it back, please.]]

Deciding to play along with the moment, Maja decided to feign complete ignorance with a playful smirk. [[What are you talking about? I already gave back your—[[You know that's not what I mean. I want both my things back.]]

Once it was clear he was not in the mood for playing around, Maja gave a bemused sigh and quickly dug into her other pocket, pulling out the same small silver locket he'd been keeping in his own since this morning, until she'd come crashing in.

Tossing it to him, Nikolay caught it in his hand with exceptional precision, looking it over to make sure she hadn't dinged it up any throughout their chase. Maja then suddenly spoke up: [[I hope you don't mind, but I decided to take a look inside it for myself. That's definitely quite a gift for that Mina girl to give you.]]

It took everything the Polish girl had to not start laughing when she saw just how deep a shade of red Nikolay's fair face could become at what she'd just said. That only made her want to push even further. [[So are you two genuinely an item already? I mean, that's hardly the kind of thing you give somebody who's just your classmate, or even just your friend. It wouldn't surprise me if you were, though. Just the way she talks to and looks at you is adorably obvious.]]

Somehow, someway, the boy was simply turning a darker and darker red with every word, which only made her teasing all the more worth it. It was only for the fact he needed to catch up with his companions and more-than-apparent crush, that she decided to cut him some slack and simply turned the flustered boy around and gave him a playful nudge to the lower back with the toe of her boot. [[Word of advice, though: don't screw it up.]]

Taking the hint of what she was trying to do, Nikolay all but sprinted after his companions while Maja simply watched on, giggling amusedly to herself before finally turning around and running back into town once he was no longer in sight.

---

It had taken a few minutes of readjusting to speaking and thinking in Japanese once they had returned to the Kapenta Hero Agency, but once that part had gone, there was no time wasted before Chiaroscuro and the rest of the Kapenta Heroes were asking their colleague, Erumi, Mina and Nikolay about their first day of Gagaringrad Duty of the week.

"It's such an out-of-nowhere kind of place! It was so cool, seeing a town with so many different kinds of people from so many different places all working together!" Mina had immediately exclaimed, going with her very first impressions right out the gate, with Nikolay just as quickly following suit: "There are definitely a lot of interesting people out there. I'd definitely be interested to see what possibly working alongside them could be like."

When it came time for Mitsudo and Erumi to speak up, the plucky sidekick immediately took the lead: "We might not have had much chance to go into action other than one time or two, mainly for the sake of showing off our Quirks, but both times, Bezpalov-kun and Ashido-chan really showed impressive reaction time and reflexes. They definitely aren't slouches, I'll say that."

Then it was finally down to their shared mentor, who was simply looking upon his three charges with an approving smirk. "And when the instance came that people may have been in trouble, they remembered the most important thing, and put the public first, trying to assure those clearly the most in distress…although, the introductory visit, as a whole, kind of got out of hand through some…outside circumstances beyond our ability to control."

From there, he proceeded to give Chiaroscuro and the other Kapenta Heroes the brief yet concise rundown of just why the people reacted to Nikolay's parentage the way they did, and how it connected to the influx of Slavic refugees in Gagaringrad over the last thirteen years to begin with. Fortunately, though, he did have the courtesy to include Leonid's optimistic reasoning for why it had happened the way it did, as well as his hope that the rest of the week would go much more smoothly now.

It was especially quiet and uncomfortable by the time he'd finally finished, and Nikolay found himself reluctant to look any of them in the eye now that they knew his connection to it all, and why it had ultimately cut their first day as interns so unusually short.

Finally, Chiaroscuro herself cleared her throat and focused her eyes on their foreign intern, whom was currently being glanced at concernedly by his pink schoolmate, friend and partner: "Well, Solovei-kun, Pinky-kun, obviously this isn't how I envisioned your first day with us would go. I'm sorry you had to experience that. I've already spoken with your teacher at Yuuei, Eraserhead-san, about your interning with us, and while he was adamant about not granting you two approved absences for the entire week for the sake of your internships, he was willing to at least grant you them for every other day so that you would still be able to hopefully stay on top of your schoolwork in between.

"However, with things having unfolded the way they have, I feel I would be remiss in my duties as one of your mentors if I didn't remind you that despite your internship forms having already been stamped and approved, you both are still well within your rights to seek another Hero Agency to intern under that would be much closer to your school, and therefore much more convenient for your time. If need be, I would be happy to recommend some options for you…although, whether they would be as willing to take you both together as a team, I honestly cannot say. The choice is ultimately yours. As students, you don't have to subject yourselves to the animosity of an entire town for the sake of internship credit."

It was torture to Mina, having to consider having to go through such a difficult decision less than a day after she had thought they'd made it. However, the idea of having to watch her partner be yelled at and spoken to like he had been by the end, for the entirety of a whole week, sounded even worse in its own way. The fact that Nikolay wasn't immediately giving an answer was leaving her noticeably unsettled as she looked into his eyes, even as distant as they clearly were, as he was thinking about what Chiaroscuro was suggesting.

"Kolya-kun, don't think that you have to force yourself to keep coming here and being treated like that. If we have to, I'm sure we could find another place where—"That's not what I'm thinking at all, though, Mina." The moment Nikolay suddenly cut the pink girl off, not with anger or frustration, but a very unexpected sense of resolve; the entire office had fallen silent. All eyes were now on the young Slavic boy as he lifted his gaze to meet the Agency head's.

"I know it sounds crazy, but…I do want to keep interning here, not just because I don't want Mina and I to separate for our training…but also because, in a way...because I should have expected something like what happened today to happen to me at some point." He could just feel the confused looks on everyone's faces as they watched him carry on, his expression showing no hint that he was just messing with them.

"I mean, it's like those people said: as far as they're concerned, my Dad is the reason things happened to them the way they did, and I know they're right. He wouldn't argue if he'd been there, either. And if he wasn't there himself to take the brunt of everything they'd wanted to scream for that long, then of course I would've been their next best option. If I'd been standing where they were, I wouldn't have reacted any different. This was inevitable. It was honestly one of the things I was afraid of the most when I first started going to Yuuei, back when I didn't even really want to become a Hero, but felt like I had to."

Nikolay's eyes momentarily fell as he kept thinking back, not only to what all those people had been saying, and not even just thinking back on all his old fears and self-hatred and resentment he'd lived with for so long. No, right now what he was thinking of, was that day at the bus stop in that heavy rain; the day where his life had officially started over, all because of a letter from his mother, and the pink young girl standing right beside him at this very moment.

All the feelings he'd felt back then came bubbling back up in his chest as his hands clenched into shaking fists, and he lifted his head to meet Chiaroscuro's eyes again; his own almost illuminated with his own drive, to the visible inspired awe of his partner and their mentor. "But I'm not afraid of that, anymore. I know their feelings about me and my Dad won't go away overnight, if ever. But that doesn't matter. What matters, is that I'm not the same kid I was at the start of this year. I want to be a Hero, because those people, just the same as everyone else, deserve to know that there's still hope for them somewhere out there, even after everything they've lost. Heroes are supposed to represent hope for everyone, Quirked and Quirkless alike; that's why you all go down to that town to begin with and not just stay here in this city…and if you're able to give them even a little bit of that hope that they've needed for so long, then I want to be able to be a part of that, too. It's the very least I should do for them all."

Mitsudo, Erumi and Mina all couldn't have looked prouder of Nikolay in that moment, nor could Blast Beat, High Noon nor Chiaroscuro for that matter. It was such a rarity, to see a Hero student so young still be able to speak so maturely and actually sound genuine about it.

"That's a wonderful mentality to have already at such a young age, Solovei-kun. However, since I took you on to intern here as a team, I'll of course have to ask these kinds of hard questions of you both as a team, as well. It's only fair." On that note, the older female Hero was now looking Mina in the eye, as she hurriedly tried to straighten herself out to look serious, while still being too nervous to maintain eye contact.

"So what about you, Pinky-kun? Your partner sounds like he's made up his mind after what's happened today, but how about you? Are you willing to stay on with us for the rest of this week, if not even longer; knowing you would have to sacrifice as much of the free time your mutual youth grants you two to have in the process? It's clear that you're the kind of youngster who loves to have fun when and where she can, but even you must understand this is just one price of many that has to be paid if one truly wants to accomplish becoming a Pro Hero.

"However, if you don't want to give that up, and instead would like to consider your options of another Agency to go to, now is the time to say so, especially for the sake of if you likewise want to maintain your training partnership with Solovei-kun." The severity in Chiaroscuro's tone was unmistakable, and that was why Nikolay felt more than certain that, for the first time, Mina would actually have to really think about what they were really getting into. Even if he personally wanted to try and tough it out here for the rest of the week as they were allowed, he never would have wanted to deprive Mina of everything she wanted either, especially not the chance to actually still have fun with all their friends.

"I'm not going anywhere, either, Sensei." Mina suddenly announced far sooner than Nikolay or anyone else had expected; the young Russian turning in surprise to see that, for the first time in so long, Mina's eyes reflected a deep seriousness she never showed, almost contrasting with the heartfelt smile she still had on her pink face.

"Kolya-kun and I…we've already been through so much crazy stuff together, way more than I ever expected, even going into Yuuei and knowing what we were both trying to become. Through all that, I've watched him grow and become such a cool guy in so many ways, and I know I've changed a lot because of him, too. I really think that's why we've been able to work so well together out there when we've had to…and I wouldn't want to give up a partnership or friendship like that for anything, especially not over a dumb long train trip."

By now, Mina instinctively had shifted her focused gaze from Chiaroscuro to Nikolay himself; the early evening sunlight through the office window illuminating her face in a way that made Nikolay's heart feel like melting when really hearing the ever-present sincerity in her voice. "I wanna be a cool Pro Hero that everybody can call their friend, more than anything…and even more than that, I wanna be a cool Pro Hero with Kolya-kun and all my friends! If staying here can help make that happen, then I'm in it for the long haul, Sensei! If Aizawa-sensei wants to load me down with homework all week in order for me to keep on coming here, then I'll just grin and bear it, cause that's just what cool Heroes do!"

Mina was instinctively already pumping both her fists excitedly as she reached her ultimate point behind her declaration to stay. Nikolay, all the while, felt absolutely amazed, even if he wasn't at all surprised at his best friend's show of complete attachment to him and what they both wanted out of this. The fact that she was willingly sacrificing all the potential free time she could've had to dance and just hang out and have fun with their friends back at Yuuei, all simply for the sake of them staying together, almost made him want to cry tears of infinite joy and gratitude, no matter how many of the other Pro Heroes were here watching.

A resounding clap from Chiaroscuro's hands snapped Nikolay and Mina back to the present moment, both of them feeling elated by the smile on her face. "The loyalty you two both clearly have, to each other and your goals, are admirable to say the least. I have the utmost confidence that, despite today's hiccup, you two will prove to be exceptional interns, and even more exceptional Pro Heroes when your time finally comes."

"THANK YOU, CHIAROSCURO-SENSEI! THANK YOU, EVERYONE!" Nikolay and Mina both enthusiastically shouted their thanks with equally extreme bows of gratitude, which the Pro Heroes and Erumi all returned as subtly as needed.

With that all done, the Kapenta Agency head eyed the nearby clock. "Well, considering the time and the trip you both still have to take to get back to Yuuei, I'd say you've both put in a good day's work for your introductory day as the Kapenta Hero Agency's newest Hero Interns. Now, given what your teacher and I discussed regarding the days you're to be given your approved absences, you will be coming up here this week tomorrow, Wednesday and Friday, as well as Sunday, since you don't have classes then. The train route Kagami-kun gave you took you just a little less than three hours to get here from Shizuoka, but the new route I gave you this morning will make the trip only go just a little over two, with only a single stop in Sapporo once you cross the undersea rail tunnel. Keep that in mind, remember which line you have to get on before you cross, and you should be able to come here in plenty of time to accomplish more with your intern shifts. So with that all being said, I'd suggest you both get changed and get back to Yuuei so you can get plenty of sleep. You're going to have quite the busy day ahead of you here tomorrow."

As Nikolay and Mina once again bowed with gratitude, Blast Beat suddenly spoke up: "You kids might wanna run that info by your schoolmates when you get the chance tonight, too. While you all were gone, another internship application came here from Yuuei; sounds like the kind of student that would be perfect to intern for me. Before you know it, your whole school could end up coming here."

Of course, the shaggy-haired Hero said this in jest, but that didn't keep Nikolay and Mina from grinning happily, knowing yet another familiar face would actually be joining them up here.

After changing back into their school uniforms and once more wishing their new Agency colleagues and mentors a good night, the two beaming best friends happily made their way back to the Arakisu City train station, ready to head back to Yuuei and prepare themselves for their first official day as Hero Interns together.

With the assurance that they had finally cleared the last hurdle together, as they continued to happily bask in their accomplishment and immediate future as Hero Intern Partners (as well as checking their phones for messages, through which they learned that Izuku's introduction through Mirio to Sir Nighteye had ended up a success; and sending their own celebratory texts to the rest of their classmates, informing them of their successful Agency introductions); Nikolay and Mina both silently resolved to themselves that, with this having now been done, they would finally be able to take the chance and just finally get the last and heaviest weight off their chests to one another at last. Nothing was going to get in the way of that, no matter what.

---

After eventually managing to pacify the restless crowds back in town, Maja and her comrades ultimately decided it was time to head back to the old hospital facility. While intervening back in town had thankfully managed to do away with some of their festering emotions after learning what they did about Nikolay's lineage, Maja was able to clearly see it hadn't been by nearly enough. She could right now only hope that perhaps some especially aggressive training through the night would be enough to get their adrenaline and testosterone altogether back down.

Once they had finally returned to the courtyard and made their way through the front entrance, they were all surprised to find Pietro just in the process of having stepped out of one door on a farther corner of the lobby specifically; their leader just as surprised by their sudden return, and able to see the questionable looks on their faces. [[Everyone, welcome back. I didn't think you'd all be back so relatively soon.]]

[[Sir, isn't that the door to the basement? I thought you said nobody was allowed to go down there.]] Danila immediately asked, almost sounding like a child who'd caught his parent doing something even he knew they weren't supposed to.

With a regretful sigh, Pietro began to approach his young recruits. [[Yes, it is, and that rule still stands for all of us, especially you lot. However, there are times when I simply need to go down there to clear my head and reassure myself of exactly what it is we're doing. Now then, I take it our guests have already left for the day? What are your impressions about them? Be completely honest, please.]]

Without even missing a beat, Ljubomir let out an especially spiteful-sounding scoff. [[A couple of overenthusiastic kids with their heads in the clouds about how the real world works…and that's not even considering just where the boy comes from.]]

Spotting the raised brow on their leader's face, Eliška continued with a similarly intense scowl. [[Turns out, of all people, that brat is the son of Tunguska, himself. After everything that piece of shit does while pretending to be saving us, he has the nerve to actually still be alive and playing Pro Hero all over again somewhere in this country.]]

In complete contrast to her two comrades' simmering angry comments, however, Maja spoke up with a tone of complete empathy, earning her more than a few surprised glances: [[I thought Nikolay Olegovich and Ashido-san actually have pretty good heads on their shoulders for being so young as Hero students, honestly. I mean, neither of them ever gave off some air of acting like they were better than anybody just because they're trying to be Heroes. That has to count for something, doesn't it? I mean, in the end, he's not Tunguska himself. If anything, they seem to keep each other relatively grounded.]]

[[How exactly did their time here end today, Knot?]] Pietro suddenly asked with an inquisitive glimmer in his orange eyes.

Standing tall and looking the older man in the eye, Maja went on: [[There was an accident in town, and the father of one of the kids there recognized him by his real name and made the connection to Tunguska. Once everybody else there heard, some of them actually seemed to take the news happily…but most got really pissed, for good reason.]]

Pietro brought a pensive hand over his mouth as he began to pace around the room, as he often did when taking everything he learned into consideration. [[Yes…yes, I'd had my suspicions as to who that boy was when he gave his real name. Part of me wasn't certain, but the part that was, honestly felt this kind of reaction was inevitable once the people put it together.]]

Coming to a sudden stop, he gave all of his young recruits an especially piercing glance that put them all at full attention, just like any good squad of soldiers before their commander. [[Listen close, all of you. Under no circumstances can any of you tell Ocean Master about who that boy is. I don't have time to explain why, but I cannot emphasize enough how serious I am about this. Things may be going smoothly for us right now, and even more so once Alyosha Stepanovich finishes reverse engineering that Quirk-erasing bullet's biological property; but we must all still remain on the same page for what's to come next, and telling him about this could very well put that at risk. Do you all understand?]]

[[YES, SIR!]] This resounding and completely convicted response from all of his charges in unison seemed to visibly put Pietro's apprehension to rest, as he let out a heavy and exhausted sigh.

[[All right then. You all must keep yourselves rested and ready for tomorrow, so you all go ahead and retire for the night.]]

With their good night wishes spoken as they took their leave for their respective rooms, Pietro simply stood in the front doorway, looking upwards at the infinite sparkling night sky in deep contemplation as to just what exactly tomorrow and all the days after that were to bring them all.

---

Just outside of Japanese airspace…

Perfectly hidden within the darkness of the late night sky, no one ever suspected the silent flying aircraft currently in the middle of making a wide banking turn, just in the process of opening its bay doors so that its half-dozen-person payload could leap out from it. From there, they proceeded to make a perfectly synchronized free fall, silently making their way personally into Japanese airspace and manipulating the angles of their bodies relative to the ocean surface tens of thousands of feet below, along with the current wind currents, in order to cover as much of the horizontal distance between their exiting point and the Hokkaido coastline as possible before they would have to open their parachutes for their landing into the water.

Keeping their eyes on the their synchronized wristwatches as to their current altitude, the man heading the formation, a heavily uniformed Konstantin Khodamchuk, communicated with the rest of his covert team through their earpieces: [[Alright everyone, let's not forget how we're going about this. We know where the expat community these terrorists have sequestered themselves near is directly below. Once we're seaborne and make landfall, we'll settle ourselves in the surrounding woodland and scope out the layout of the town; all while making use of Angel's Eye's tracker to properly identify our target, and from there find their headquarters.]]

[[And from there, we hit them the next time night falls, get rid of the bodies, head back out to the water, meet the ship for extraction, and that's all there is to it, right?]] Elena Ustinovka quickly chimed in, clearly still sounding more than a little irked that they weren't going to be able to just wipe out this whole town of potential threats and essentially cut out the middle man of any future operations.

However, even as they were free-falling at terminal velocity, Khodamchuk was adamant: [[That's all there is to it, nothing more. Once we make landfall, we stick together at all times and make no rash decisions. Remember, the safety and continued survival of Russia and her people, is currently in our hands. Now stay sharp, everyone. We'll be reaching chute deployment level in just thirteen seconds. God be with us all.]]

In the cover of that fortuitously moonless night, Konstantin Khodamchuk, Angel's Eye and their four other special ops comrades ultimately opened their parachutes and silently landed in the relatively calm ocean waters just off the coast of the town of Gagaringrad, slowly making their way onto the nearby forested shoreline out of view of any civilians still out and about this late at night; not a single soul in the entire town ever once aware of just what had arrived in the periphery of their one remaining home in the dead of night.

*Milorad Milinković, a Yugoslavian (current day Serbian) musician and film director, whom I primarily know as the singer of Yugoslavian post-punk group Morbidi i mnoći.

And there it is, everyone, your new chapter for the week, and all these once disparate plot threads I'd established so far back are all slowly but surely coming together. It was also really challenging coming up with a handful of new Pro Heroes and other Quirk-users in this entirely brand new setting. This is all an ongoing challenge for me to make cohesive all the way through, so please take the time to leave a review expressing your honest thoughts of how this story is coming along.

Have a great rest of your week, and I will see you all with the next chapter on 02/26!