Hello again, everyone. I am so, so, SO sorry for this delay in uploading. My current English class has really been pushing my nose to the grindstone when it comes to planning this current arc, writing the actual chapters, AND trying to put together an original short story for school. This is obviously the result. I'm hoping once I get through this project, it'll free up my time a little bit so I can be able to focus more on writing this story, but that old saying exists for a reason: God laughs while man makes plans. I can only promise to try and be better about this.

Anyway, here we finally are, at this story's version of the third MHA movie, World Heroes' Mission. I've really been looking forward to taking this one on, as it gives me a chance to come up with some new original Pro Heroes with this more global setting, as well as hopefully expand on some unexplored featured Heroes in the process. I can only hope that you'll all enjoy what I bring to the table with this particular story arc.

I would once more like to thank my two beta readers and consultants, Johnny and Carlos, as well as all of you that continue to read this story every day, even though this platform is currently on the fritz and not giving me any kind of readership numbers…for the last several damn weeks.

I would also once more like to sincerely thank the current and expanding roster of artists on DA (and possibly other platforms in the near future) that have contributed some stellar artwork for this story: Syyndev, Akane Kahomi, AliceKuroCross, Suki-Chan2509, effasempai, Eliza-Frost, Vanera-Taro, Shalissey-N, Yumake, AnekoBS, Urielnaely, and the most recent addition: Sherlleen. Please drop by their accounts and check them out; they are all awesome and absolutely deserve the support and patronage.

My Hero Academia is the property of Kouhei Horikoshi and Shonen Jump. I only own my original characters and the original events surrounding them. Except the character of Stampede Hopper is the property of Carlos.

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

Chapter 137

Global Mission

(Глобальная Миссия)

Tuesday, January 13th

A single pair of footsteps echoed through the looming reaches of the dimly lit and massive chamber, lit only by an assortment of candles lining its walls, its ceiling adorned with a fresco of a nightmarish amalgamation of mythological-looking beasts; a chimera by any other definition; and upon the lower floor beneath the elevated podium at the opposite end of this chamber, was a raised sculpture of a resting baby cradled in the glow of what resembled the sun. In fact, it was almost as though the child itself was glowing from within. This pillar was surrounded by a handful of cloaked and armored individuals all wielding large spears around it, as though they were caging the baby sculpture itself.

At last, emerging from the shadows, the single approaching figure was suddenly awash in a more brilliant glow emanating from the floor beneath, before all the lights across the chamber similarly ignited; illuminating the chamber and revealing the large gathering of identically cloaked onlookers filling the floor below, and lining the steps flanking the podium…and at last revealing the stranger in question who stood over them all: a towering adult man dressed in a billowing white and black-striped cloak like a bishop, adorned with numerous glowing blue disks, and its collar wide enough to make his smaller head stick out that much more pronouncedly, especially due to the iridescent blue glow his head emanated; his hair and pointed goatee a closely cut dark blue, and his eyes yellow and reflecting a piercing sharpness like the arrow-shaped earrings framing his angular face as he gazed upon his fellows that looked up at him like their messiah, and the colossal banner bearing a red and black sigil, with the single words 'HUMARISE' emblazoned beneath.

With his heart pounding resolutely within his chest, the preacher-resembling glowing man at last spoke; his voice a thundering boom through his chapel: "Why were supernatural meta powers…otherwise known as 'Quirks', introduced into the human race in the past? Why was the first meta-human; the Shining Baby; born into this world?"

Slowly, he proceeded to lift a heavy and exalted-looking tome over his head within his hands; as though the very weight of the world itself rested within. In his heart and soul, it did, as engraved upon the small bronze disk that adorned its cover, was the title: 'QUIRK DOOMSDAY THEORY.'

He could just feel the eyes of his followers gazing upon it with silent and shaken reverence. "It is all a tragedy. Quirks are not a blessing for humanity, but a harbinger of the doom of our species; the beginning of the end. As it is written in the Quirk Doomsday Theory: As generations pass, Quirks mix and evolve, eventually reaching the point where they become so powerful, no one can possibly hope to control them! In this modern day where 80% of the population possesses Quirks, the remaining pure 20% will inevitably experience revelations with them and reduce their number in the process even further!

"But that is why we have risen from the shadows of this misguided, Quirk-loving society! We see the impending danger where so many others have turned a blind eye! It is the sacred duty of us, Humarise, to take action to preserve the pure, Quirkless human race, the way God originally intended us to be! We are His chosen, the ones destined to save our species from extinction!

"For years we have painstakingly worked, bolstered our ranks and come together as one unified front, guided by glorious divine purpose! It is a purpose that will sadly require great sacrifice, on both sides, so that the rest of our chosen brethren can see the light as we have, but it is a price we must be willing to pay in order to save humanity altogether! They must see the true danger that those with Quirks pose to our survival! The people of Russia, up until recently, were on the correct path, but have now been led astray. It now falls to us to help the rest of the world see the truth as they once did…as we always have. Brother Marius, step forward."

At his request, a single hooded figure emerged from the congregation; looking up to reveal the olive-skinned, youthful yet thick darkly bearded face of Marius Lazarescu; his dark brown eyes reflecting no less devout intensity than the illuminated leader above. Knowing he now had permission to speak; his voice resonated through the chapel: "My name is Marius Petrovich Granin…but that doesn't matter now. My father, Pietro Dobrynich Granin, poured his heart and soul into organizing the displaced Slavic people of our town in Hokkaido, so that we could try to save our homeland from the tyrannical government that had driven us out for having Quirks in the wake of the Siberian Flash.

"He was simply trying to help people…but Heroes came and destroyed everything he worked for…before destroying him altogether. I once believed in his cause, for those of us with Quirks to have just as much a right to exist as anyone else…but this whole foolish society gave rise to the Heroes that punished him…punished all of us for that cause. As far as I am concerned, the only true way to put things right anymore, is for that world of Quirks and the Heroes and individuals who defend it to be removed, so that the human race can have a clean slate once more."

With that, the leader spread his arms wide. "And thanks to the selfless contribution of not only our recent influx of like-minded Slavic members pledging themselves to our faith in light of their new president's foolish words of amnesty; thus expanding our ranks and influence; but likewise that of our good Brother Marius and his material offerings upon his induction, we came into possession of the one building block we needed to perfect our ultimate tool with which we will enlighten and save our species."

"We are unwavering in our faith, in the knowledge of what must be done. Today, let us prove the resolve of Humarise to help ensure the salvation of humanity."

"FOR THE SALVATION OF HUMANITY! FOR THE SALVATION OF HUMANITY!"

At his word, a large television screen began to descend from the ceiling above, now obstructing the Humarise banner before illuminating the chapel in its glow, while the worshippers in their vast numbers continued to chant their goal from the bottom of their hearts.

Upon the screen came a multitude of different camera feeds, showing numerous different sections of what many of the onlooking hooded congregation recognized as Berlin, Germany; one of the biggest and most bustling cities in the world, filled with countless people of just as many Quirks.

After giving his followers a second to see just where they were observing; the leader suddenly produced an ornate-looking dagger from within the folds of his robes, holding it high above his head, as though he sought to drive it into the earth or himself…before subtly pushing a single button upon its hilt. Suddenly, a small gem in the base of the blade began to glow a brilliant blue. And for but a few seconds, nothing happened afterward…

BKOOOOOOOM!

Suddenly, the entire city began to get swallowed in a colossal cloud of sickly green mist erupting from manholes all over the city; so thick that some of the cameras couldn't even see clearly through them, only able to see the massive crowds run in a panic before getting swallowed up in the rolling banks.

Once more, all was still for but a few moments…but then, a flicker, a flash, a bolt of pure energy began to emerge from out the sitting mist that now obscured the city…and from there, it was as though Armageddon itself had decided to finally come. From one screen to another, all of the people caught in the mist, visibly Quirked or otherwise, began to writhe in agony as they breathed in the mist, before their Quirks suddenly began to deform, shake, and ultimately explode or activate in greater levels of power than their wielders knew possible.

Even the civilians without Quirks unfortunate enough to be outside and caught in the mist looked as though their bodies were breaking apart from within, before the signs of whatever their Quirks could have been suddenly erupted from out of their bodies with horrific violence; bodies shattering, exploding, contorting, burning, transforming, breaking and dissolving from one corner of the city to the next, while the city itself was systematically leveled to the ground in a multitude of raging natural elements gone out of control by their Quirk-users, or blown up or cut apart; all ultimately collapsing on the people trapped in their cars below, smashing streets, bridges and freeways into rubble; the civilians and Heroes caught underneath like helpless insects.

And as quickly as this nightmarish display of human mutation and death had begun all over the entirety of Berlin, just as quickly did it all come to a stop, as the last of the green mist had finally dissipated, leaving a once proud and gleaming city nothing more than a sea of ruins, flames and blood; every single person who had breathed in the mist having died down to the last man, woman or child, as the onlookers in the chapel could all see with revelry in their eyes under their armored masks.

And soon enough, more and more civilians slowly and shakily emerged from their shelters; their eyes wide and faces pale with horror as they saw what had suddenly become of their great city, now reduced to something straight out of the darkest painted vision of Hieronymous Bosch himself.

And no sooner than they had finally showed themselves stepping into the open, were they soon approached by just some of the many similarly cloaked Humarise members that had been instructed to simply stand in wait for this divine moment. They all carried the same message in their hearts to be delivered to these confused and terrified people:

"You are one of God's chosen. You have been spared the abomination of Quirks and their sickly spread, and what they will all ultimately lead to. You have a far greater purpose lying before you; that is why you have been saved today. You belong with us, brothers and sisters. Bring humanity's salvation to the fore with us."

With that, the televised feed shut off, and the fervor in the chanting of the congregation of Humarise was borderline ravenous at this moment; all eyes burning into their glowing prophet and leader above them; their hearts and souls ringing with devotion as he motioned them all forward. "The first step has at last been taken. Now let us gather, my brethren. The time has finally come to make our voices well and truly heard, for our to-be-saved flocks…and for those that would dare to stand in the way of humanity's survival."

Tokyo, Japan, Wednesday, January 14th

"HOLY CRAP, GET THE LEAD OUT, YOU DOLTS, THEY'RE GAINING ON US!"

The trio of thieves with varying Bird-based Quirks, between those of an Eagle, a Falcon and a Hummingbird, were tearing through the skies above Tokyo with the speed of a hurricane wind, flying like their lives depended on it. Were it not for the large duffle bags in their hands or talons, all packed to the brim with money and jewels from their recent string of high-speed robberies across the richest district in the city, they would have been able to escape with ease…or so they could only hope, as it was now too precious a haul for them to just abandon.

"YOU SHITTY BUNCH OF THIEVES! DIE!" The bloodcurdling animalist roar of the hotheaded young Hero flying after them echoed through the rushing winds loud and clear, but none of the three crooks dared to look back. They didn't need to see just how close he was getting. The continuous thundering roars of his propelling Explosions made that abundantly clear.

"THE HELL WITH THIS! SCATTER!" The Eagle-Quirked leader called to his comrades, and like a well-adjusted and trained unit of fighter pilots, they managed to expertly swerve in three separate directions from each other; certain it would now be enough to buy at least two of them a little extra time

BK-BK-BK-BK-BKOOM!

But as the Falcon-Quirked thief tried to make a speedy nosedive for one of the nearby alleys to squeeze through, a rapid-fire and approaching din of Explosions closed in on him from behind, like a chain of lit TNT sticks in their volume and burning power; and even their speed managed to dwarf both those thing, as the Villain suddenly felt his whole body get rocked by the burning heat of a final Explosion plowing into his back just before he could get into the alley; sending his body slamming into one of the walls and tumbling down to the asphalt below like a ton of bricks; his head ringing and his whole body aching tremendously, while his pursuer, Bakugo, landed hard next to him, snatching up his bag of ill-gotten goods and sneered nastily at his pathetic state; speaking into his earpiece spitefully: "I got one down! The rest of you better be pulling your weight up there just as much!"

"Don't worry, Kacchan, we've got things under control here!" Izuku immediately replied back into his own earpiece, while he was currently in the middle of chasing after the brown-white blur that was the Eagle Quirk user; expertly weaving through the air like something entirely against the laws of physics, he was so fast.

But Izuku was no slouch; expertly bouncing back and forth between using his Blackwhip to swing himself around the sharpest corners whenever they got lower into the rooftops of the city, and timing the use of his Air Force attacks to launch and propel himself higher and farther through the air, never letting his target out of his sight, but the Villain was nevertheless making the freckled young Hero work for his win.

And a win was what he ultimately came up with, as with another well-timed and accurately strengthened Air Force attacks; Izuku came barreling high up above after his target, before finally pinpointing the direction he needed to aim, in order to send another full-handed set of Blackwhip's tendrils shooting from out the holes in his gauntlet's knuckles, mercilessly snatching their way around the dumbfounded criminal before then stabbing into the corner of a rooftop below, effectively acting like a perfect spider web to ensnare him and stop his flight in its tracks.

At the same time, the Hummingbird Quirked thief didn't even have time to check and see if his two partners were still in the game or not, as he had his own approaching thunder in the sky to worry about; that of Nikolay, systematically launching himself like death from above with his Kinetic Blasts routinely firing out of one hand and foot after another; organically and smoothly sweeping through the air and every twist and turn the thief could think to go through in order to try and shake him off. It was like watching the criminal trying to flee the perfect human missile that was honed in to target him alone, and there was nothing he could do to get away.

Until he ultimately had to rely on his animal namesake's talent for sporadic and unpredictable steering with its wings, in order to jolt out of the way of Nikolay's incoming airborne dive as they flew over one of the larger streets in the district; forcing him to roll and meet the incoming wall with his feet, before just as quickly launching himself off of it after his target like a ricochet.

'He hasn't lost me yet, and I know I'm gaining on him, that's gotta mean he's starting to tire out. If I can just get him low enough into position, Todoroki-san's Ice should be able to weight him down enough for us to capture him like that!'

So confident was Nikolay in this unspoken strategy between him and Shoto, that he didn't utilize the next backup trick he had in mind until he knew they were close enough to where his fellow Hero was positioned in the district. There was no way for the Villain in front of him to know all his tricks, so there was no reason for him to think this would fail, so long as the criminal was solely focused on him. It was admittedly a gamble, since he wasn't sure if their chase would lead them in this direction, but so far things were unfolding just good enough for him.

With a timely flick of his wrist, Nikolay kept his eyes focused on his right, knowing that his sneak attack would be coming in that direction. As soon as their mid-air pursuit took them over another much wider street, he could see the sunlight glint off of his incoming smaller tuning forks; set up by himself in position at the time the whole chase had started, and now coming in just like he'd hoped.

But Nikolay had gotten too complacent in the certainty that his attack would work, as the Villain had likewise caught the unnatural sunlight glint out the corner of his eye, and not wanting to risk continuing his flight pattern, he quickly beat his wing/arms in an opposite angle, sending his body flying directly upwards while sacrificing his forward momentum; allowing Nikolay to come flying out right underneath him, completely overshooting his target, and sending his incoming tuning forks swerving and flying after him and his Magne Grips.

"DAMMIT!" Nikolay instinctively exclaimed as he hurriedly rolled his wrists again to deactivate the magnets while rolling himself in mid-air to get his eyes on the target again; just in time to see the gloating Villain suddenly get blindsided by a massive plume of Fire that sent him freefalling and crash landing on another nearby rooftop; courtesy of the Flame Hero Endeavor; who came soaring across the air in a blaze of Heroic glory, while Nikolay could only watch Shoto come racing through the air from the opposite side with an emerging tower of Ice, before just as quickly freezing the downed criminal in place where he lay with another instantaneous cold front.

Nikolay quickly came launching and landing on the same rooftop as his friend and their mentor, grabbing the struggling criminal's duffle bag and looking over its contents before speaking into his earpiece to Izuku and Bakugo. "We've got the last one and his bag. It's all still in here, not a diamond necklace out of place. How about you?"

As soon as Izuku and Bakugo confirmed they had the other two bags of stolen riches as well, Endeavor resolutely announced: "Good work, all of you. The police will be here momentarily to take these three troublemakers away. Let's regroup and get back to patrol."

And just like that, the Flame Hero took off into the air in another flaming trail once more, while Nikolay quickly flicked his wrist to reactive the Magne-Grips and get his smaller tuning forks back to him. As soon as they were back in his bandolier, he and Shoto were once more off to catch up with their teacher, with Bakugo and Izuku coming in to reconnect as well. It was truly just another day as the four interns of the Number One Hero. That alone should have been enough to satisfy all four of them.

But unfortunately, today that simply wasn't good enough, as Nikolay couldn't hide the perturbed look on his face as he emerged from the dressing room, once more adorned in his winter Yuuei uniform; his three classmates standing in wait for him. Bakugo was still wearing the same simmering scowl of impatience, so that didn't surprise anybody, but Izuku naturally couldn't stay quiet when he saw his foreign friend looking so troubled after such a productive day. "Kolya-san, is something wrong?"

Not wanting to make a bigger deal of it than it was, Nikolay didn't bother to try and act like it was nothing: "Nothing out of the ordinary. I didn't expect that Endeavor-sensei would always be weighed down so we could be faster than him when something happens…but while the rest of you seem to be growing and adapting in all your developing techniques just fine, I can't help feeling like I'm still several steps behind, that's all."

"You were up against a Villain with a Quirk designed for unpredictable flight patterns, Bezpalov; he could've given anybody the slip as easily as you." Shoto pointed out straightforwardly; and while Nikolay could understand why he would think that would make him feel better, he couldn't let it go that easy.

"I'm sure you're right, Todoroki-san, but whenever I see the three of you in action out there, you don't look like you've got any difficulty with anything. Me, I still can't get my Refraction ability to differentiate like I want it to. I gotta try and get a handle on it before the time comes when I'll need it."

Thankfully, Izuku could certainly understand Nikolay's frustration. "Well, I think you've improved your maneuverability in pursuit a great deal, Kolya-san; I can't imagine you won't be able to get a full handle on the Refraction part in time, either. Remember how you were only able to get it to work every once in a while during training last year? Now you're able to get it to activate pretty much every time in training, so I know you're on the right track."

But before Nikolay could answer Izuku with thanks, Bakugo angrily chimed in: "Don't go busting your ass and crippling yourself trying to rush to catch up with the rest of us, Russkie. Recognize where you stand, first."

"You're actually telling me to be patient in strengthening my Quirk, Bakugo? Bozhe milostiviy, konyets sveta deiistvitel'no nastal (Good God, the end of days is really upon us)." Nikolay replied; thankfully able to snicker to himself, while Izuku was almost about to start chuckling at the irony of his old friend preaching the values of patience, before Bakugo shot him a murderous glare to keep his mouth shut; grinding his teeth all the while. "What the hell is that filthy Pig Latin you're spouting off at me, dammit? Are you mocking me?!"

The four interns had finally stepped out into the front lobby of the Endeavor Agency by this point, but before Nikolay could either try to defend himself, or Shoto could simply try to redirect the conversation to anything else as a diffuser; they found themselves being intercepted by Endeavor's hulking frame; the flames upon his face having finally extinguished as his intense blue eyes gazed upon his young charges.

"Before you all head back for your train to Yuuei tonight; I realize I would be remiss in not acknowledging the hard work your boys all put in during patrols and training today. That's why you're all to join me for dinner as a show of recognition for those efforts."

Nikolay, Izuku and Shoto's natural first assumptions were that this was to be yet another Todoroki family gathering like before; while Bakugo had half a mind to warn Endeavor not to be cheap on them if he was being serious. But before any of them could begin to express thanks or skepticism either way; the awkward stillness between them was suddenly broken by the incoming sound of footsteps across the lobby.

And as soon as they and Endeavor himself all turned to see what was going on, they were met by the incoming sight of his sidekicks, the fiery-haired female Hero Burnin' and the rest of her fellow flaming Sidekickers; with her wielding a small tablet in hand, while all their expressions were uncharacteristically urgent, which naturally set all their senses of alertness spiking as well. "ENDEAVOR, BOYS, HOLD UP! SOMETHING SERIOUS IS BREWING RIGHT NOW! DID YOU ALL HEAR ABOUT THIS?!"

Without wasting any time explaining, Burnin' already had the tablet handed out to their boss, and as Endeavor took it, Nikolay and his fellow interns crowded around to get a look for themselves; and all their eyes went wide and intense at what they were seeing: a Japanese news report with coverage of what looked like an utterly annihilated foreign city, but not just any: it was actually the capital of Germany, Berlin, that the newsfeed was identifying it as, with the projected death toll of this apparent disaster numbering in the hundreds of thousands in what was being described as just a matter of minutes.

And as Nikolay, Izuku, Shoto and Bakugo all felt their hearts plummet and their stomachs twist at hearing of such an unprecedented disaster; Endeavor's phone suddenly began to vibrate within his coat pocket. Fishing it out, he was met with but a single text; one that made his already intimidating and intense face darken even that much further. Setting it back, he spoke with a deathly resolve: "Boys…disregard our previous plans. There's a very important meeting I must attend…and you're all to accompany me. It's time for you all to learn of one of the most important Hero organizations you'll ever know: the All-Star World Heroes Association."

Such a name was all too fitting for where the five of them had ultimately gone; a colossal government building that almost resembled a marble spear pointing up to the skies. Once inside, they made their way further and further down into the underground levels, before ultimately emerging into a massive conference hall-looking room, filled from end to end with all kinds of different Pro Heroes.

And what made this especially interesting, was the fact that none of them, not even Izuku, recognized a good number of them, which could only have meant one thing: they were actually standing in the presence of foreign Pros from who-knew how many different countries.

There had been no doubt that this all had to be in response to the disaster in Berlin, and the Hero students had only so many questions as to just why they had been brought along, but thankfully some levity came with the sound of Ochako Uraraka's voice calling out to them from within the crowds. "Hey, Deku-kun, Kolya-san, Todoroki-san, Bakugo! You guys are here too?!"

Seeing their rosy-cheeked classmate waving to them with a relieved smile on her face helped a lot; and seeing Tsuyu emerge beside her with a friendly wave of her own only compounded that relief. Joining the two girls' sides, they were quick to spot the Sea Rescue Hero, Selkie, nearby, currently in the middle of speaking with another Hero that looked like a wizard from a European fairy tale; wearing an orange vest, pointed hat and multiple different-colored sashes all over, including one over his eyes. The sight of Momo and Setsuna Tokage hovering nearby answered their initial curiosity; this had to be their internship mentor, the Magic Hero, Majestic.

And close by was also the all-too familiar sights of three of Yuuei's teachers: Present Mic, Cementoss and Vlad King of Class 1-B; all currently in the middle of speaking quietly with the Killer Whale Hero, Gang Orca; the sight of him almost perfectly followed by the incoming greetings of Kyouka and Mezo as they worked their way through the crowd upon spotting some more of their friends.

"Hey, it looks like almost our whole class is here!" Denki suddenly called out from another direction; drawing eyes to him, Minoru, Hanta, Mashirao and Rikido eagerly approaching to greet them all, with the quiet yet devout-looking Ibara Shiozaki currently speaking with her fellow Class B friends, Nirengeki Shouda and Jurota Shishida just behind them;

Even further behind them were Mt. Lady and her partners known as The Lurkers, currently speaking with a fierce-looking Hero with long spiky brown hair, dressed in a golden fur vest with furry spiked gauntlets on his hands, with half his face obscured behind a black face mask adorned with sharp fangs, with even further white spikes protruding from the furry collar around his neck, resembling the maw of a ferocious animal. With Mashirao and Rikido being here, it didn't take long for someone as unfamiliar as Nikolay to realize that had to be their internship mentor, the Lion Hero Shishido.

"HEEEEY! YOU'RE ALL HERE!" All of a sudden, the ecstatic energy that could only have been Mina's voice nearly broke through all the other simultaneous conversation around the students, as everyone turned to see their pink classmate bounding over with the biggest smile on her face, closely being followed by a similarly excited Tooru and Yuga as they eagerly met their friends head-on; Mina naturally springing into a leaping hug around Nikolay at the forefront. "Oh wow, this is the last thing I ever expected today! How awesome is this? Is everybody here?"

"Surprisingly no, but it doesn't seem like the meeting's really officially started, so there's still time." Kyouka answered, still visibly scanning all around for any sign of their absent classmates or their Pro mentors.

"It looks like everybody's Pro Heroes are here so far. If you're here, Mina; does that mean Mirko is somewhere around too?" Nikolay asked once he and his girlfriend had finally let each other go; Mina already looking around with a spring in her step. "Yeah, she came in with me, but she said she had somebody to look for once she'd gotten the call to swing by."

KRRRRACK!

Without warning, a deafening striking sound echoed across the entire conference hall like two thousand tightly bound whips striking directly into each other; rendering everyone silent with surprise; many of the students momentarily on alert as to what was going on, until they saw one section of the congregation hastily part, making a clearing for them to look into… only to find none other than the Rabbit Hero, Mirko herself, currently suspended in the air, as she had one leg down like she was trying a dropping heel kick, only for it to have been expertly met by the colossally muscular bestial leg of another Hero below her; a young adult man with short messy red hair, scruffy five o'clock shadow on his chiseled jaw, good-humored brown eyes, and a gator-skin vest over a powerfully built torso…while the rest of his limbs and ears were those of a kangaroo, rippling with muscles that looked like they had been carved out of solid rock and draped in hide.

But the most striking detail of this veritable snapshot of conflict, was that compared to the fiery look of aggressive determination on Mirko's face; the Kangaroo Quirk-using Hero had a grin of the utmost amusement on his face, borderline cocky even. "You really don't change a mite no matter what, do you, love? You got a real punch behind them steel heels now, do ya? Doesn't help you to sneak up on a bloke worth a damn, though, does it?" he chuckled in English with a thick Australian accent.

"It's those damn ears of yours; otherwise you'd be kissing the floor right now and you know it!" Mirko growled in surprisingly clear English once she sprang herself back off her opponent's leg; dusting herself off while he just started laughing. "That's bloody rich, coming from you, of all people. Good to see you again, Rumi."

"Good God, is that how she greets you every time you come to work, Ashido?" Denki muttered; his face similarly as disbelieving as everybody else watching this scene unfold; while Mina could only look at her mentor and the foreign Hero with a glimmer of eager knowing. "Sensei! Sensei, is that who I think it is?! Hey guys, you're all gonna love this; Mirko-sensei told me all about this guy! He's the Number One Hero in Australia! They-!"

But before Mina could get another word out in her blind enthusiasm; she was stricken frozen and silent by the intense glare Mirko was sending her way; a look that said everything between them that needed to be said without a word being uttered. Thankfully for her, everybody else in her class could see that same threatening look, and knew instinctively that it was for Mina's own sake that they don't ask any questions.

But to Mirko's consternation; the Kangaroo Hero beside her had heard what Mina had referred to his old friend as, and was sending another cocky smirk that had her shivering in discomfort from head to toe. "'Sensei'? Well now, looks like I'm eating my words for dinner, eh? You're finally playing den mother to the young'uns of the Hero world, are you, Rumi, love? You gonna introduce me to your pink little sprog here?"

As soon as he saw Mirko grinding her teeth in irritation, he chuckled and took the most restrained hop forward off his all-powerful legs, before giving a slight bow and spoke up in barely comprehensible Japanese: "Lovely evening to you, boys and girls. Number One Hero of Australia, Kangaroo Hero, Stampede Hopper, at your service."

Despite having just had the fear of God put in her by Mirko's stare; Mina was already back to giggling excitedly to herself, bouncing where she stood while balling her hands into fists in her happiness; knowing what she knew was between him and Mirko. At the same time, the rest of her classmates all awkwardly bowed in return to Stampede's greeting once they realized that's what he was saying; Bakugo all the while muttering in annoyance: "His Japanese is even less comprehensible than the damn Russkie."

"OH MY GOSH, LOOK AT ALL OF YOU!" a sudden young woman's distinctly accented voice suddenly called out; once more bringing the students to attention, only for Nikolay, Mina, Ochako and Tsuyu to all light up at the sight of Willow Light and Nejire racing over; the former happily embracing her two former interns with a laugh in her heart, while Nejire and her two juniors were already eagerly catching up with one another. "Oh, it's been so long! You've both grown so big since I last saw you, all of you have!"

Of course, Nikolay and Mina could only glance confusedly to one another, while Denki was chuckling at the simmering look of indignation on Minoru's face at the comment, knowing full well his tiny frame hadn't raised a centimeter since then. But, seeing this confusion, Willow Light giggled sweetly to herself:

"Oh, come now, don't be so literal, all of you. When you're in the Pro Hero game long enough, you get a sense for just how much another Hero in the making has grown…and I can just feel it's exploded in leaps and bounds in all of you since last year. Trust me, you'll all be able to feel it in due time as well. Now how have all of you been since we saw each other last? I know at least some of you have been especially busy in the meantime." She quickly redirected the conversation whilst sending Nikolay and Mina a knowing mischievous smirk and a wink at the hint; causing them both to blush glowingly between each other.

"Hey, guys! Glad to see there's so many familiar faces here!" "Right? Getting to see each other in costume out on the field like this; feels like we're a real hardened Hero team!" The sound of Eijirou's excited voice suddenly called out from the direction of the entrance; spurring them all to look and see their grinning red-haired friend come rushing over with Tetsutetsu and Maja Kieslowska closely following behind, with the twin towering forms of Tunguska and Fatgum close behind; Nikolay once more feeling relief, once Maja was done initially hugging him and Mina in greeting, at his father's presence, as well as a little natural awkwardness at the realization this was his first time actually meeting the BMI Hero beside him, as Tunguska quickly introduced them; all while Tamaki was keeping himself mostly hidden behind the large Hero's frame in the presence of so many people.

"It's nice to finally meet my working partner's son after all this time, Solovei-kun. Tunguska-san and our interns have told me a lot about you and all your classmates." Fatgum initially greeted Nikolay after the two gave each other a courteous bow; Izuku and Shoto quickly remembering to do the same whilst urging Bakugo to begrudgingly do so as well, with the rest of their classmates quickly following suit.

"It's an honor to finally meet you too, Fatgum-sensei. Hey, Dad. I didn't expect we'd see you all here. You have any idea what this is all about? Nikolay finally asked, only for Tunguska to look over the massive gathering of other Pros with a furrowed brow.

"I wish I could say for sure; it certainly has something to do with what happened in Berlin yesterday, but I still don't see why that calls for all of us to gather out here; especially all you kids. I've honestly never even heard of this organization before."

A sudden clasp to his shoulder stirred Tunguska and surprised nearly everyone, only to be hit with a wave of further relief to see none other than Toshinori Yagi at the Russian Hero's side. "Well, the All-Star World Heroes Association is still a relatively new project put together by the governments of the world. Honestly, you can count the number of situations that have called for Heroes from different nations to work together on one hand. In fact, I think the first time we ever met was one of the first, Tunguska-san. It's good to see all of you young Heroes together like this, even under these unfortunate circumstances."

The students all immediately bowed in greeting to the former Symbol of Peace before them; Izuku naturally asking: "It's good to see you too, All Might…but why exactly are you here? Do you have any idea why we've all been called here with the Pros?"

But thankfully, Toshinori smiled understandingly. "No need to worry yourself over mere words, Midoriya-shonen. I was asked to come here so that I may serve as an advisor for the association's plans. If everything is coming along in a timely manner, you should all be getting your answers very soon, actually."

Indeed, no sooner than Toshinori had given this answer; the lights across the conference hall began to dim, before one shone especially bright upon a small raised podium before a few television screens lining the walls behind lit up; revealing an older but very stern-faced man in a white suit standing before them, with Toshinori taking that as his cue to step up and join this figure of authority's side.

As soon as he knew his chosen associate was ready, the unfamiliar association leader finally broke the silence; his voice echoing crystal clear all around. "Thank you all for making it here on such short notice. I wish this could have been under much more pleasant circumstances, but unfortunately, situations of this tremendous scale are precisely why our association was founded. I have no doubt the Hero students among you are wondering why you've been pulled out here as well…and I regret to inform you that this is why."

With the press of a single button, the screens all came on; revealing the numerous news feeds of Berlin in smoldering ruins; leaving a dreaded chill across the conference hall among Pros and students alike.

But after a few seconds of this, the video feed suddenly changed to a wide panoramic recording of a multitude of strangers in matching white hooded cloaks and armored masks over their faces like those of medieval European knights, with only a thin slot over the eyes. Granted, there were but a scattered few among the bunch that didn't have their hoods on, but none of them looked familiar, and none of them stood out as much as the one who stood in the center, clearly their leader, thanks to his humorless and piercing yellow eyes upon a face that emanated a blue glow. And behind them all upon the wall was the massive red and black sigil that was their brand.

"Everyone, these individuals you see before you are a notorious Anti-Quirk terrorist organization, or religious order as they like to refer to themselves, known only as Humarise. This man at their forefront with the incandescent blue glow is their leader, whom our data gathered from all over has only identified as 'Flect Turn'. No other background information on him exists that we know of at this current moment.

"Yesterday, they committed a terrorist attack of unprecedented scale on the German capital of Berlin…but regardless of scale, this was unlike any terrorist attack on record. With the use of a bomb construct we have no history of encountering before; they unleashed a chemical compound they have labeled as Ideo Trigger from underground, which caused the Quirks of all the individuals caught in it to expand in their power to a scale that the users' bodies could not physically contain or control them; thus causing them to all ultimately be destroyed by their own Quirks. What's even worse, was that this chemical likewise caused the Quirkless civilians caught in the area to spontaneously develop Quirks of their own…which ended up growing out of control just the same. We are looking at an incident with a death toll in the hundreds of thousands, all within less than three minutes."

The chill and the instinctive emotions of sadness that swept across the Heroes gathered, and especially among the students, was palpable; just the thought of so much loss of life in such a horrifying-sounding manner being enough to leave some of them clutching at their chests. Nikolay instinctively couldn't help but think of the previous warnings given to him and Izuku of what would be liable to happen if they'd kept pushing their Quirks to their ultimate limits without care, but he also couldn't help but start morbidly thinking of what it would look like if his classmates' Quirks were to go out of control like what their host was describing. Just the mental image of Bakugo's body blowing to bits from inside out, or Shoto burning or freezing to death, or Mina's body melting had him hyperventilating in growing panic.

Thankfully, Mina instinctively latching onto his arm in her need for similar reassurance from her own anxiety, ended up doing the same thing for him, with Tunguska placing a secure hand upon his son's other shoulder at the same time.

"In response to this attack and this declaration, an international Hero investigation was swiftly carried out. As a result, we have managed to pinpoint all 25 known bases of operation linked to Humarise in just as many cities in as many countries all across the globe. No one country has enough Heroes to be able to apprehend all known members in each location, and especially not in enough time to prevent any one of these other Ideo Trigger bombs from detonating."

Toshinori, having thankfully been filled in on this operation on his way here ahead of time, thusly spoke up: "That is why the students among you have been called in to help bolster the Heroes' ranks in the operation to come. All arrangements have been confirmed. Starting from this moment forward, until we have all known members and leaders of Humarise apprehended, and all Ideo Trigger bombs deactivated and accounted for; all of you here right now, domestic and called upon foreign Heroes alike, are to be working together in your hosts' respective nations, to raid the known Humarise bases, secure and deactivate the bombs, and confirm the capture of all their leaders. Professional histories and Quirk capabilities have all been taken into account in order to arrange you all into the best possible teams before we ship you all out."

As he saw the sheer weight of what this mission was really going to be settle upon the Heroes and the students; the association director continued: "Time is of the absolute essence in this situation, so you will all be directed to your respective host Heroes and their associates, before your flights are to take off. Furthermore, Humarise is unfortunately an organization that has developed a considerable following online over the years, and thus we have no true way of knowing exactly how much influence they have in these foreign nations. As such, this is a solely clandestine operation, so we cannot ask local law enforcement for support. As such, once you're over your respective areas of operations, your missions will immediately begin, and you will all need to move fast to clear the facilities of all hostiles. You will all be given stealth suits based on the time zones your missions will take you to, so that Humarise will not spot you before your assaults have begun. Unless there are any questions among you, then the present Hero students, stick with your respective teachers, and you Pro Heroes will be given your confirmation of which foreign Heroes you will be joining, given your respective suits, and will be sent to your respective flights."

With incredible accuracy, a number of different slots suddenly opened across the floor beneath the Heroes' feet, followed by a multitude of rising platforms with matching steel suitcases upon them, with their respective Heroes' names stenciled across them; with small digital screens on the faces revealing what the new costumes inside looked like.

Izuku and Bakugo's costumes looked like even darker-colored versions of their original costumes, except that Izuku's was primarily black with green highlights, while Bakugo's had a raised collar and retractable hood with orange highlights. Shoto's costume was a primarily black hooded coat with white stripes lining the rims, and Nikolay's was a primarily black two-piece outfit that more resembled military fatigues with a dark brown highlight running across the chest in a diagonal line from the right shoulder to the left hip, with a series of loops sewn down from both shoulders to the beltline, with the smaller tuning forks already slipped into them for easy access; while his headwear was a dark green military-esque beret.

"Wow, with this, I'm going to look more like a Spetznaz officer than a Hero." Nikolay muttered primarily to himself, until Mina suddenly plowed into him from his right; still smiling brightly as she held up her own suitcase like a vaunted trophy; the costume displayed on its screen a clear cut example of a form-fitting leather catsuit, adorned with a black and dark purple camouflage pattern all over. "Oh, wow, this is gonna look so cool on me, and your outfit looks super badass too, Kolya-kun! Those Humarise jerks are gonna be quaking in their boots when they see us coming in decked out like this, no matter where we go!"

No sooner than Mina had said so, the platforms once bearing their new costume cases quickly sank back down, before just as quickly coming back up, this time with printed documentation confirming the Hero teams they were to be joining.

As the Heroes all proceeded to look it over and start joining up with their respective teams, and the students with their teachers, Toshinori once more spoke up: "I understand that for a fair number of you, it will be quite intimidating to find yourselves working with entirely new Heroes in completely alien new countries for you; not least of all because of the ever present issue of the language barrier. However, the association has taken care to secure the aid of someone that can help rid you of that problem for the duration of your missions abroad."

Suddenly, a third bright light shone at the one empty spot remaining on the podium, where a third individual soon stepped in; a familiar older, grey-bearded face that hit Nikolay, Mina and Maja like a sledgehammer of nostalgia:

"Hello, everyone. I'm Leonid Briner; the association was kind enough to reach out to me so that my Linguistics Quirk can help you all ease into your worldwide missions much easier. If you'll all please form up into an orderly fashion based on your teams and destinations, I can take care of you all."

Without hesitation, the already formed up teams began to step forward so that Leonid could see where they were going, and thus be able to use his Quirk to implant the respective language into the minds of each Hero going there. All the while, the students were eager to share who they and their teachers were going to be teaming up and where.

Mina, to her immediate eagerness and Mirko's subsequent annoyance, were to be sent down to Sydney, Australia to work alongside the likewise grinning Stampede Hopper; who simply would not stop elbowing the Rabbit Hero once she'd confirmed their placement for herself.

Ochako and Tsuyu, alongside Selkie, were to actually go with the surprising joint team-up of Nejire with Willow Light, and Tooru and Yuga with their samurai armor-bedecked mentor, the Number Nine Hero, Yoroi Musha, to work in Paris with their host, France's Number One Hero, Frère Intrépide; an especially powerful looking Hero in a costume that could only resemble a classic musketeer, but with a cape made of what looked like flexible steel fabric, and a glowing rapier hanging at his side, while under the brim of his dark blue hat, his eyes were a brilliant red and white, while a dark blue scarf was securely wrapped over the lower half of his face.

Fumikage was to work alongside Hawks, while Mashirao, Rikido, Nirengeki and Jurota were to work with Shishido; both teams being sent to New York in America, to apparently work under their Number One Hero, Star and Stripe, who was surprisingly the only of the Pro Heroes involved in this mission to be absent from the meeting. Those with optimism in their hearts simply took that to be a sign of just how busy that Hero had to undoubtedly be.

Momo and Setsuna were to work together with Majestic alongside the Number One Hero of Singapore, Big Red Dot; a lion-headed Hero in a light blue-scaled wetsuit with his country's flags emblazoned on the sleeves.

Lastly, Minoru, Denki, Hanta and Ibara were to go with Mt. Lady and the Lurkers all the way to Cairo, to work alongside the Number One Hero of Egypt, Salaam; a literal living two-dimensional hieroglyphic-looking Hero that resembled those ancient writings' depictions of a pharaoh.

Of course, such an outlandish look, even among the wide array of Heroes already here, didn't even register for Minoru, who could only bemoan to himself: "How am I supposed to gain the adoration of hot babes in a country where they aren't even allowed to show their faces?"

Lastly, Kyouka, Mezo, Eijirou, Tetsutetsu, Tamaki and Maja all stood outside the line, as their documents confirmed they were going to be staying conducting their mission here in Japan alongside Present Mic, Cementoss, Gang Orca, Tunguska, Fatgum and Vlad King, between Tokyo and Kyushu.

"It's good you're all still going to be working together, but Maja-chan, what does this all mean for you if you still don't have your license yet?" Mina asked once they'd been filled in on where the Polish girl and her partners would be working.

With a resigned shrug of her shoulders, Maja answered: "Honestly, I'm hoping Fatgum, Vlad King or Tunguska-sensei can answer that for me. I'm assuming if things go sideways, I can at least help evacuate any possible civilians; however many that could be if we're hitting these people where they kick their feet up. I honestly just don't know."

As they slowly but surely made their way to getting the language centers of their brains rewritten; Nikolay and his fellow interns under Endeavor (whom was now joined by a smaller, young adult foreign woman with long blonde hair with a splotch of brunette atop her head, wearing blue-tinted glasses, black thigh-high boots and a short-sleeved blue and white body suit) were looking over the documentation stating who they were teaming up with and where they were going.

"So we're gonna be working with this…Clair Voyant person, in a place called Otheon. The hell is that supposed to be?" Bakugo sneered, to which Endeavor sternly answered: "It's a large manmade island nation in the Mediterranean, split between its self-titled capital city and nation on one half, and its neighboring nation of Klayd on the other. Keep in mind that we are effectively guests of our host and ally while we're out there, Bakugo, so keep any such barbs and snide comments to yourself."

Thankfully, their female host and ally, Otheon's Number One Hero, Clair Voyant, didn't look at all perturbed by Bakugo's attitude. By the sharpness of her own eyes beneath her glasses, she looked to be entirely focused on them all getting ready for their mission instead.

However, Izuku and Shoto were quick to spot a look of intense trepidation on Nikolay's face; prompting Izuku to ask: "Kolya-san, what's the matter?"

"Don't you all remember hearing on the news recently; about that man we saved up in Hokkaido who became the new Russian president, Konstantin Khodamchuk? They were saying that he'd arranged for a conference calling for amnesty of all dislocated Slavic citizens with Quirks, and it's going to be held in this Otheon place as neutral ground. If this Humarise group is about Anti-Quirks through terrorism, then doesn't that sound like the perfect spot for them to try another one of these awful attacks? Can you imagine what the public fallout could possibly be back in Russia, if the man who had just called for them to forgive the people they'd driven out, were to be killed out there by these people?"

"We don't know that that's their target for certain though, Bezpalov, so there's no point getting overly worked up about it right now." Shoto tried to help Nikolay think about this reasonably, while Bakugo still had his own attention on Endeavor. "This seems like a pretty random place for us to get sent off to specifically. What gives with that, huh?"

However, Clair Voyant herself had naturally overheard him, and thusly answered with no room for doubt in her professional tone: "I was already able to figure that out, Bakugo-kun. About halfway through this video, if you fade out the audio of Flect Turn's speaking and listen to the background noise, you should hear a very distinctive ringing."

Despite initially sneering at his foreign host's clear confidence in her information, Bakugo begrudgingly did as she suggested, listening in as the video played at a lower volume, listening past the speaking leader's words for whatever was in the background.

And just like she'd said, he could soon make out what clearly sounded like the ringing of a bell, only it was unlike any kind of bell ringing he'd ever heard, it had a far more bizarre cadence to it, as though it were actually fluctuating between lower and higher octaves as the preceding rings echoed.

As soon as she knew he'd heard it, Clair explained further: "That bell is one of the more popular tourist attractions in Otheon's capital city; there's no other bell with a resonance like it."

Finally, Bakugo's piercing eyes reflected a resolute understanding as he spoke; all-too aware that his three partners were listening to him as well: "I get it now; if Otheon is where their leader is hanging out, then that's where the most security, and the biggest fight is going to be, so that's why we're the ones being sent to bring in the big guns."

"Precisely." She confirmed.

Finally, it was the Otheon team's turn to step up so Leonid could implant the local language into their brains for their mission. As soon as the old community leader saw Nikolay among them; the young Russian could see the man's face form a smile as he stepped forward.

But before Leonid could flick his finger against Nikolay's forehead in order to activate his Quirk, he spoke up quietly: "Whether it's you, Solovei, or Pinky, or any of your friends out there, wherever you go, know that all of us back in Gagaringrad have the utmost faith in every last one of you… but please keep your eyes open when dealing with this Humarise lot. There's more at stake in this fight than even the association knows."

"What do you mean?" Mina asked before Nikolay or Izuku could, as she and Mirko stood behind their small team, and thus couldn't help but listen in.

Sighing in resignation, Leonid motioned to the screens on the walls still displaying the freeze frame of the whole gathering of Humarise. "Look among those of them that don't have their hoods or masks on. It's well hidden among them, but you should be able to spot him."

Following his directions, Nikolay, his partners and Mina all looked throughout the few discernible faces before them, and at first they were coming up short…until Maja suddenly exclaimed in shock: "Holy shit, are you kidding me?! He's with them?"

Following their shocked Polish friend's gaze, they looked once more to the image, and all at once could they finally see what they were supposed to among the unmasked faces: an unmistakable young olive-skinned face with brown eyes, black hair and a thick yet trimmed beard.

"Whoa, are you serious? THIS is where Marius-san disappeared to?!" Nikolay exclaimed in utter disbelief; Mina almost copying him verbatim at the same time; both of them completely ignorant to the confused expressions of their respective Pro Heroes, before Endeavor and Mirko likewise strictly asked: "Do you actually know one of these terrorists?"

Nikolay could already feel his head spinning, trying to think of how to possibly begin, before ultimately deciding to just cut right to the chase: "Yes, he was a victim of a Villain we fought together back in Hokkaido last year, but he was the only one of them nobody could find! I didn't think this was where he'd ultimately have ended up! He'd gotten brainwashed by that Villain back then, and the doctors suggested it was powerful enough to be permanent; otherwise there's no way he'd have fallen in with a group like this!"

Then, Maja suddenly interjected, a look of horrified clarity in her eyes: "Oh no…that explains how these guys were able to make such a terrible weapon like these…Ideo Trigger bombs, or whatever they're calling them! It's like an improved version of the compound Pietro's scientist pal, Sergei Mikhalkov made back then; the samples that were never recovered! He must've given it to them, and they took him in while they…'improved' upon it!"

Unfortunately, this overall scene was drawing far too much attention to them from all the other Heroes; but thankfully, Tunguska was quick to step in and intervene before anyone could start asking the wrong questions. "Well, at least that's one of your remaining questions answered. Now it's just a matter of figuring out which base he's stationed at,…and making sure he doesn't slip away. Don't worry, malenkaya Kieslowska, he's not going to stay with these terrorists for long."

And, ever faithful and quick to follow on his old comrade's word as ever, Toshinori thankfully stepped in as well to address all concerned Hero students. "Exactly right. Everyone here knows what their job is, and they'll make sure your friend is brought back safe and sound, where he can then be treated for what was done to him. You have the word of everyone here as Heroes, Candelabra-shoujo."

Indeed, as Maja's tear-filed eyes looked among her fellow Heroes from both classes, she could see a similar light of determination and unspoken promises to her reflect in their eyes, as most of them put a resolved hand to their hearts and gave her a reassuring nod; a sight that did wonders to lift her already crumbling heart back up. "I know…and I'm grateful to all of you for that…but you all deserve to know, too, that if by some miracle, he's here in Japan…license or not, I'm getting him back. That's not me asking for permission, that's a fact."

With no one daring to doubt such conviction, Toshinori likewise nodded in resolved understanding. "I have no doubt that every one of your fellow Heroes is as resolute in that new goal as you are. Any chance to save someone from such a fate they never asked for is more than a worthwhile cause to take up."

With these unspoken promises having finally been made, now that they knew at last where Maja's wayward Romanian friend was, Leonid was finally able to apply his Linguistics Quirk to the rest of the departing Heroes in rapid but precise succession, making no errors in what language to implant in them with his Quirk; and with each one, silently wishing them all the very best of luck.

With that now over and done, the director announced; with the automated loudspeakers already translating his words into as many different languages as needed for the affected teams: "Your missions are ultimately the same: your teams will be split between those that will apprehend the Humarise members and their leaders, and those that will seek out and disarm the Ideo Trigger bombs. We will be watching and hearing everything that unfolds once you're all on your respective sites. Let us all work together and see to it a tragedy like Berlin doesn't unfold once more. All-Star World Heroes, commence missions!"

With that, the assembled teams all finally began to take their leave for their respective bus shuttles that would take them to their respective abroad flights, while those that were to remain in Japan had armored vans in wait to take them to their respective destinations within which they would carry out their respective raids.

Amid all the hustle and bustle, whilst knowing they now had it to where they couldn't speak the same language to convey their feelings and wishes of good luck to each other whilst abroad; Mina and Nikolay did the one thing that could say more than words ever could, as they briefly met each other with a tight and heartfelt embrace, and an even stronger loving kiss to each other's lips that was there and done in the blink of an eye.

Thankfully, none of the other Heroes or their classmates noticed or cared about such a brief display of affection…but it still wasn't enough to escape the gaze of Mirko and Stampede; the Australian Hero already in the middle of chuckling knowingly to himself while prodding the Rabbit Hero with an elbow. "Looks real crackin' familiar now doesn't it?"

"Oh, just shut it, Jack." Mirko grumbled in embarrassed annoyance before stomping to the exit that would take them where they needed to go.

[[Kolya, wait!]] Tunguska took the chance to call out to his son, stoping Nikolay in his tracks. Just because Leonid had implanted the Otheon language in his brain didn't mean he didn't still know how to think and thusly speak in Russian or Japanese.

[[I just want to wish you and all your friends the best of luck, son…and…to ask you to please, just promise me that you'll be careful out there." Tunguska spoke under his breath as he knelt to meet his son's eyes; his normally powerful voice dripping with fatherly concern.

Smiling gratefully in response, Nikolay briefly embraced his father. [[I will, Dad, I promise…but you promise me the same, you hear? We both know how trouble has a habit of finding you, don't we?]]

Tunguska couldn't help but smile as he hugged his son in return, gently patting his back. [[That it does, Kolya, that it does. I best not keep you from your team; we don't need Endeavor or malenkii Bakugo any angrier than they already constantly are, right?]]

Father and son chuckled knowingly to one another before Nikolay began to take his leave to rejoin his team, while Tunguska watched on; his right hand hovering pensively over the pocket of his costume at his right hip.

[[Kolya!]] he suddenly called out, stopping Nikolay once more as he looked back, now visibly looking like he was in a major hurry. The first thing he saw was a small packet of papers now clutched in his father's hand.

Tunguska couldn't dare look between these papers and his son, lest it reveal just how concerned the man truly was, and thus get Nikolay asking the wrong questions at the wrong time. Ultimately, swallowing the building lump in his throat, Tunguska gave his son a heartfelt departing wave. [[Never mind. I'll give these to you first thing when you all get back. That's a promise.]]

[[Okay…I'm gonna hold you to it then. I love you, Dad.]] Nikolay finally gave one last goodbye before hurrying off after his team, while Tunguska sighed regretfully, tucking the papers back; such inconspicuous things feeling like they carried the weight of the world in the palm of his hand as he finally turned to rejoin his team.

A couple days earlier…

"Are these what I think they are?" Oleg had asked the moment Toshinori had presented the collection of documents to him in the employee break room; the blonde-haired former Hero nodding in confirmation. "Yes, the results of Sir Nighteye's investigation into Gamayun's Quirk ancestry, just as you'd asked. He's always been a thorough investigator, but I honestly had my own doubts that he'd be able to uncover this much from a region that's still somehow able to be this secretive about even its past Heroes."

Oleg was already urgently reading through all of these recovered documents of his wife's predecessors that he'd never even known of before. On every page were a number of different handwritten notes by Sir Nighteye himself, either as questions for Oleg himself to answer, or simply his means of asking these questions of himself as he collected them. "Did he already share any of these thoughts of his with you before giving these over?"

Toshinori nodded as he took his seat across from his friend. "He did. He would've preferred to be here for this moment, but unfortunately, even working simply a a detective keeps him as busy as Pro Hero work ever did. He was very thorough in telling me what his theories were. He said you'll find the first piece of proof as to our shared theory about your son on the seventh page."

Doing as was suggested, Oleg hurriedly turned to the seventh page, and what he was now looking upon gave him immense pause. Toshinori, nodding in understanding of what his friend was undoubtedly thinking, spoke up: "Yes, Gamayun's paternal grandfather, former Georgian Pro Hero, Bolter Fist. A Quirk that allowed him to shoot bolts of energy from his hands in a variety of firing styles, between rapid-fire, burst and precision. Sounds an awful lot like Bezpalov-shonen's recent Kinetic Gatling move, doesn't it? Similar in mechanic, but decidedly different in its application or element. Are you certain he was never awae of any of his maternal grandparents or ancestors' Quirks, Oleg-san?"

"No…no, he never asked, not that I would've had any answers for him…and that aside, we never had any documentation discussing it. This is all just as new to me…it's just not possible that Kolya would be able to develop such a specifically identical ability with his quirk, from an ancestor he knew nothing about. I'm looking at Nighteye-san's notes through all of these, and I have half a mind to think he's going on a limb."

Toshinori bowed his head in acceptance. "I honestly would've thought the same…but I know that man well enough…more than well enough, to know that he doesn't do something as reckless as make baseless assumptions. The only reason he's making such a bold theory as he is in those notes, is because he can feel a great deal of certainty in it just through what he's reading there."

Oleg collapsed back into his chair listlessly. "It just sounds so insane unfeasible: that Kolya may be able to systematically unlock the Quirks of his ancestors through Lyudmila's bloodline, not identically, but unlock and adapt versions of them that align with his original Kinetic Absorption/Release Quirk. If nothing else, wording it like that makes it sound like all our theories of his having a connection to One For all were based on nothing after all."

Clasping his hands together, Toshinori answered: "Under any other circumstances, I would agree that this was ultimately just an insane coincidence…but there's still the fact that his Quirk not only reacted at the same time as Midoriya-shonen's back then…but the fact that he described hearing a voice he didn't know speaking directly to him at that time…after everything we've heard from Midoriya-shonen about One For All's vestiges, it leaves no room for doubt in my mind. Bezpalov-shonen may not have an ember in the exact same way that Midoriya-shonen does, but its mechanic of inheritance is still ultimately there. Now the only question that remains from here, is how you plan to ease him into this, if that's even possible."

Alas, from that moment even to the present, Oleg would still be at a loss as to exactly how he was going to pull such a feat off without running the risk of mentally and emotionally overwhelming his son. He could only hope that, once this operation of theirs was done, that the answer would finally come to him.

Otheon, several hours later…

The flight from Japan to Otheon had ultimately been quite speedy, but no less tense for all the Heroes sitting in wait. Nikolay and his partners had taken the chance to get changed into their new suits along the way, and while Nikolay was quite fond of how he looked in his, it still couldn't take his mind off of the tension of the battle that was to come, especially once the pilot had announced they were finally in Otheon airspace.

Taking the chance to look out the window, Nikolay and Izuku both couldn't help but marvel at the expansive cityscape below; a veritable sea of lights spanning a vast valley surrounded by rolling forest and desert mountains; but towering above all else in the ehart of the city was a interconnected pair of dark blue and red towers that almost resembled a DNA strand in shape. In Nikolay's eyes, if there was any place in this city where Konstantin was to hold his amnesty conference when the time came, that surely had to be it.

But there was no time beyond those precious minutes to even pretend to sight see, as Endeavor and Clair Voyance quickly rose up from their seats; ushering the rest of their fellow Pro Heroes and the students to quickly do the same.

"I've already contacted the rest of my sidekicks down on the ground. As soon as I give the signal, they are all to hit Humarise's forward operating bases across the city at once, to keep them from alerting each other or their headquarters of our arrival." Clair immediately explained to her allies.

As he approached the rear bay door to open it up for their aerial entry, Endeavor spoke up as well: "Remember our strategy, all of you: we split into two teams mid-HALO jump: Clair Voyance and I will lead the first team to scour the headquarters for the Ideo Trigger bombs, which we will then work to deactivate. Shoto, you four will be a part of the second team, and it will be your job to neutralize all hostiles in your path as you work your way inside to apprehend Flect Turn and any other Humarise leaders. Work together in conjunction with each others' Quirks as you've trained to, and you should be able to remove these threats with ease. Do not forget, the majority of these individuals are Quirkless, so restraint is a must to avoid potential lethal action."

Endeavor was surprisingly so confident in the understanding of his interns and fellow Heroes, that he didn't even need to ask if they understood. With that, he finally hit the button to open the bay doors, knowing they were now finally seconds away from drop.

As Izuku noticed Nikolay's visibly tense posture, Bakugo spat: "The hell's the matter with you, you go airborne all the damn time."

Nikolay tried to wear a confident smile, but his teeth were audibly chattering. "Yeah, but launching myself by my own will is still a far cry from jumping out of a damn plane."

"Humarise Elimination Otheon Team, let's get to work!" Endeavor suddenly announced with all the earth-shaking power his voice could possibly carry, as he didn't hesitate to leap out of the back of the plane, before his body suddenly ignited in a brilliant inferno, tearing through the night skies like a shooting star, with more and more of the Pro Heroes, and ultimately his four interns all jumping out after him; Nikolay having to let out a rapid-fire prayer before he finally jumped after them.

But once he'd finally managed to get his body flat in the air like everyone else, he was finally able to open his eyes and see the rapidly incoming palatial mansion space atop the hill directly below that was their identified target, with Endeavor's flame still serving as their guiding light to their landing point. Such a sight, as well as seeing all three of his partners and all their Pro Hero backup around him, managed to finally get his heart to stop racing.

"ALRIGHT, LET'S DO THIS, DAMMIT!" Bakugo finally declared with all but literal bloodlust once they were finally within two-hundred feet of landing; detonating a far-spaced series of his Explosions in order to boost, redirect and ultimately slow himself down, with Shoto soon following suit with his fire in order to slow his descent, while Izuku suddenly unleashed his Blackwhip in order to latch onto the nearest corner of the nearest roof of the base in order to give himself a forward swinging momentum, and Nikolay finally launched himself into a drill-like spin on his way down, redirecting himself in order to get into the same wing of the courtyard as Izuku, while Shoto and Bakugo took the other side.

Before Nikolay could even release the first Kinetic Blasts from his feet in order to slow himself down, he could already make out the scattered forms of several Humarise members across the courtyard; the urgency in their body language making it clear that they'd noticed the Heroes descending upon them.

But just as Shoto was already making quick work of several in his path with his Ice, and Bakugo was taking care of others with a well-timed Stun Grenade attack, Nikolay was just as quick to react, plucking out the tuning forks from the loops in his costume and launching them directly down, all the while timing the blasts from his hands and feet in order to redirect himself to soar directly over the terrorists' heads like a wing suit diver, before ultimately landing in a blinding fast roll; using that chance to flick his wrists and magnetically pull the tuning forks back to him across the courtyard, slamming them into the confused targets and knocking them flat before they even had a chance to react.

With another springing Blast to get him the rest of the way into the nearby pathway, Nikolay was once more right at Izuku's side; using his airborne momentum to ricochet from pillar to wall and back, sending his tuning forks flying with a well-timed boosting blast from his hands in order to shatter the spears being wielded by the enemies dead ahead, just before a honeybee-based Pro Hero at their side quickly unleashed a barrage of stingers from her hands to pin the targets to the walls, immobilizing them.

While their Pro Hero allies were quick and effective in dispatching the terrorists that either tried to stand in their way or get the drop on them from behind or within the alcoves as they passed; Nikolay and Izuku were masterful in how well they worked together in continuously clearing the way through this labyrinth of corridors in this outright castle of a base.

Rounding one particularly sharp corner, Nikolay was quick to spot and respond to a large cluster of terrorists forming up with firearms to try and meet the incoming Heroes. With a quickly built up Resonating Wheel attack, he cartwheeled through the air and slammed his boots to the floor, sending a powerful shockwave in all directions, strong enough to knock the enemies into the air, just for Izuku to quickly snatch them all up with another handful of Blackwhip, before then slamming them back into the ground.

Just the same, as soon as Izuku spotted the glint of a scoped weapon in the rafters of an especially large and empty hall, he was quick to go airborne and hit the otherwise hidden enemies with a pair of precisely aimed Air Force attacks, sending them flying, just for Nikolay to come flying in beside him and ricochet off of each of them with a well-placed kick or point-blank Kinetic blast to the heads to knock them unconscious, so that the Pro Heroes on their tails could catch and apprehend them in the process.

"Team Two, this is Team One! We've scoured the entirety of the base and have found no trace of a single Ideo Trigger bomb! I repeat, there is no Ideo Trigger bomb on site!" Clair Voyance's voice suddenly announced through all their ear pieces; but neither of the apprehension teams could afford to stop their further assault into the confines of the base, even with dumbfounding news like this.

After all, they'd finally rounded the final corner, and were presented with a large set of double doors at the final end of this hallway; there was no doubt in any of their minds that this was where Flect Turn was hiding. If they could apprehend him here and now, they could neutralize the whole of Humarise just like that.

With that encouraging thought in mind, Nikolay and Izuku both launched forward in a duel charge; Nikolay himself springing forward off another nearby pillar, before bringing his palms together at the moment of firing a fully-charged Kinetic Blast out of both hands, delivering a resonating Thunderous Clap attack straight into the doors, shattering them into splinters, while Izuku charged forward in a blinding energy bolt of Full Cowling, before unleashing two simultaneous Air Force attacks from out both his hands.

But just as soon as the two young Heroes fnally came to a stop to survey just what they were up against…they were only met with nothing more than an empty library, with not a sign of life anywhere.

"What? Was he actually never here to begin with?" Nikolay finally asked in disbelief once his heart rate and adrenaline had started to go down. He should have had some reassurance when seeing that Izuku was just as confused as he was…but there was no such thing to be felt. They had both been mentally preparing themselves for either one hell of a fight, or the chance to end Humarise's threat, and they had been rewarded with neither one. This, on top of Endeavor and Clair's news that there were no bombs, and finally Bakugo and Shoto's news that they had seen no sign of Flect Turn or any other Humarise leaders on the premises, left the whole of the Otheon Hero team with nothing but bitter emptiness to show for their efforts.

It didn't take long for the whole team to finish tying up the whole of the Humarise forces they had managed to capture in the process of their raid; and in that time, Endeavor had the thoroughness to get in touch with the rest of the global teams to check in on their progress. Nikolay and his partners had to keep busy with checking for any possible secret passages throughout the courtyard or anywhere else nearby; a matter that Clair Voyance herself was able to just as quickly rectify with the use of her Quirk, allowing her to see through all walls around them.

But in the process of that, they were still able to overhear from Endeavor's call that the other teams had run into just as little ultimate resistance at their respective bases…but unfortunately had likewise come up with nothing in terms of either bombs or leaders. The four boys were equally as grateful that their classmates and teachers hadn't gotten hurt, but were likewise just as disappointed that none of their raids had pulled up any actual results, and one could easily sense that same frustration in Endeavor when he had to call the association director and Toshinori in order to confirm what they had likewise seen from all the respective video feeds of the different missions around the world.

Hanging up his call, Endeavor finally announced to his whole team: "None of the other teams have found any bombs, Flect Turn, or any other of the identified leaders. From the sounds of things, it looks like all the bases that were raided were nothing more than decoys with expendable foot soldiers."

"Then we should assume that only members of Flect Turn's inner circle have any actual information as to the whereabouts of him, their other leaders or those bombs. But without any information on who that inner circle is made up of, we're left with nothing." Clair confirmed in similar irritation, while Nikolay couldn't help but let his shoulders sink.

"I would've hoped that someone at least would've been able to get Marius out of just one of those bases. That would've been one less thing to worry about in all of this." He admitted unprovoked when he could feel Izuku's concerned gaze upon him.

Suddenly, all the Heroes' earpieces simultaneously rang, before the director's voice spoke up: "The way things currently stand, everyone, we can only speculate that the Humarise leadership, and the possible whereabouts of their Ideo Trigger bombs, are located in a secret Humarise base we have no information on as of yet. Their threat is still very real, and they could make their presence known somewhere in the world at any moment. As of right now, all of you are to stand by in your current locations and await further instructions. In the meantime, we will reach out to any other available Heroes to provide backup to the teams most in need of them. That is all for now."

VRRRM!

No sooner than the call with the association director had ended, did Nikolay and his friends' cell phones suddenly start to rumble in their pockets. As soon as he opened his, Nikolay was met with a deluge of shared texts between all the students involved, all sharing their own similar thoughts of frustration that their raids had turned up nothing, while Mina and Tooru were the two naturally acting like the much needed rays of sunshine in this downer of a moment.

'It's not totally a bummer, everyone! Think of it like this: waiting on standby means we all get a chance to see the sights in the meantime! It's like a mini-vacation or a business trip, y'know? You can't escape my attack of photos, you've all been warned!'

'Totally! I've always wanted a chance to shop in Paris, it's like a dream come true!'

Nikolay and Izuku could definitely appreciate what Mina and Tooru were trying to do for everyone by saying these things, but there was one detail in this whole student texting mass that stood out…or rather, the lack of something that stood out: Maja was the one person who wasn't saying one thing at all.

Nikolay could only imagine the sheer disappointment she had to be feeling especially; knowing that even with the knowledge of just who Marius was with, they were still no closer to getting him back to his family and home where he belonged. No amount of Mina or Tooru's positivity could erase that from her thoughts…or from anyone's, really.

With that continuous reminder, on top of the threat of Humarise still as strong as it was before, Nikolay instinctively reached up and began feeling at the old ring hanging from around his neck under the collar of his stealth suit; silently hoping it would be able to bring about some kind of good luck while he and his friends and allies were out here in an entirely new land.

Elsewhere, out in the depths of a nondescript forest out in the middle of nowhere, a single middle-aged man with messy semi-long brown hair and an eye-patch over his right eye, was frantic in his sprinting through the uneven terrain; clutching a tightly wrapped case under his arm as he kept urgently looking all around himself in the dark for the first sign of either salvation…or trouble.

His blood was burning white hot, his face awash with fearful sweat as he kept trudging on, like he was being hunted, and his life depended on his continuing to move.

But it wasn't just his life that depended on it. That was what drove him so, the one thing he kept repeating in his mind like something more holy than a mantra, as he continued clutching his mysterious quarry for dear life. 'No matter what…I've got to deliver this! If I don't…the entire world will end! I can't let them get this back…no matter what…NO MATTER WHAT!'

I'm so sorry for this humiliating delay in uploading, everyone. Like I said, college is really giving me a run for my money this semester, but I've toughed through writing this story while dealing with harder school periods than this, and I'm not going to let this be the one that breaks me.

I'm only able to promise that I'll keep trying to get these chapters uploaded earlier and on the dates promised. At the very least, I should at least release announcements saying when I'm unable to meet a deadline if nothing else. That's on me.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this first chapter covering this version of the third movie, which I'm dubbing the Otheon Arc. I will see you all with the next chapter on (hopefully) 10/21!