"I told you, I'm retired."

Padme merely shrugged as she looked over the menu. They were in a restaurant that managed to straddle the line between fine dining and casual eating. You sat down, placed your order, and had a quiet conversation that didn't disrupt everyone around you… but you didn't have to wear expensive suits and dresses. She would have been fine doing that (though she enjoyed wearing her stylist jeans and her sweater, hair held back thanks to a hairband), but her companion would have rather died than put on a suit or tie, by his own admission.

"Then consider this a chance to eat on Yagi's dime." She glanced up at the old man seated across from her. "Come on… you know you want to."

"…heh, maybe," Torino said with a chuckle, looking over what the restaurant had to offer. "Not afraid your husband will be jealous of you eating with another man?"

"Oh, he'll be very angry."

Torino laughed at that. "Going to rant and rave?"

"If you so much as looked at me in a sexual way he'd use his Quirk to squeeze your throat till you couldn't breathe."

THAT made Torino chuckle again… until it slowly dawned on him that despite Padme smirking at him she was DEADLY serious. "Wait… what?"

"He doesn't even need to be near you," Padme stated. "Obi Wan has a similar quirk and told me once that with enough focus he could make you feel like you were being strangled from across the planet so long as he knew where you were."

Torino swallowed, checking to make sure he still COULD. "Well… that is… horrifying."

"You know," Padme said, her voice taking on a breathy tone that normally would have made Torino wonder if he should invest in some little blue pills. But knowing her husband could choke him with a thought ruined that desire completely. She reached over, eyes half-lidded, a soft smile forming on her lips as she continued to speak, "If Anakin believed I actually might be attracted to someone he wouldn't even bother with the strangling. His quirk… it lets him do SO many things."

"That… that so," Torino said nervously.

"Yes," she cooed. "He can rip your mind apart. Burst blood vessels. Force you to do all sorts of horrible things. All in the name of keeping me…"

Torino stared at her… before smiling.

"Oh, I knew I liked you for a reason!"

Padme at once straightened. "I had to pretend to be my own handmaiden many times. I've learned how to prank people, Torino."

He guffed at that. "I like it, I like it!" He shook his head.

"By the way?" Padme said. "I wasn't lying about what Anakin can do. In fact an old friend of mine, Clovis, he got a bit too close and I think Anakin was ready to go full villain on him. Considering he got me poisoned…"

"That makes him a shitty friend but point taken."

"Don't worry, Anakin isn't like that anymore. Coming to Japan and working with Hound Dog… you know Hound Dog, right?"

"Asa Inui's son," Torino stated. "Good kid though I always thought he focused a bit too much on trying to live up to his mother's legacy. She did some amazing work at UA… of course I'm a bit biased as she helped me get over Nana's death. Anakin seeing her son then?"

"Anakin… well, he had a bad childhood. Had to leave his mother due to his quirk and she died before he could truly reconnect with her. They loved each other and… she died in a villain attack. It caused him to have issues with relationships and… I shouldn't say more, its his story to tell. The point is though that he had a lot of issues when we first got together but being here has helped him work through them. Made him see that he can trust me to not leave him. That allowing others into my life isn't a betrayal, just like he can have people in his."

"Hmmpf. We need to stop discussing this, getting to heavy and mushy."

"Very well."

But the old man couldn't help but ask, "So… he's not watching right now?"

"No no… he said he wanted to do some patrolling. Normally he does it during the day-"

"Saw him on the news rescuing those people from that overpass collapse. Sir Steel… it's a horrible name."

"Blame Midnight," Pamde said. "Anyway, he said he wanted to begin mixing it up, do some night time patrols. Honestly I think him and Obi Wan and Rex are tired of the press. Back home we didn't need to deal with being hounded over every little thing they did to help the people."

"Always been a problem," Torino stated. "There are heroes that get into this job for the fame… they are the ones that don't last long. One bad mission and the crumble. The ones that manage to make it through the decades are the ones that actually try to avoid the limelight." He paused. "Yagi and you included. You use the press and the tv appearances to your benefit but if you didn't have to have them you wouldn't."

"Then Obi Wan will never quit then, that's for sure," Padme teased. "But like I said, Anakin is patrolling tonight and Ahsoka will be in her room for hours playing her video games." It had been her friend/Rex's student Izuku that had gotten Ahsoka into playing video games as a stress relief. Anakin was all for it, understanding better than most that sometimes meditation came through different things. He himself tinkered and if Ahsoka liked to strap a headset on and play games online against strangers, trading trash talk and discussing their lives and issues… well, Padme wouldn't stand in her way.

Torino looked down at his menu, humming a touch at that. "I can get a doggy bag, right?"

"You can," Padme said.

"Good because I'm ordering steak and lobster." He glanced up at her. "You realize how long its been since I had either steak or lobster? And now you are letting me have both? Oh… this is gonna be good!"

Padme smiled; the only thing he could have done to complete the picture would have been if he had rubbed his hands together and licked his lips. "Well, I'm glad I can make you happy." She waited a few moments before asking, "Why is it you enjoy tormenting Yagi?"

"Because he makes it all too easy," Torino said without a second thought. "The big lug… he's smarter than he lets the public know. You've seen that. He lets them all think he's some big dummy that only knows how to punch things. It takes brains to use his quirk."

"You have to constantly be in control of yourself," Padme stated. "Relearn how to do things. What was once easy is now difficult and what was difficult is now done with ease."

~Earlier…~

"Well," Anakin said as he looked over at Padme, who was sheepishly staring at the refrigerator door that was dangling from her fingers, "I can fix this."

"You shouldn't have to," Padme complained. "Stupid quirk! I should be able to get a snack without destroying the apartment."

"You destroyed the fridge," Anakin pointed out. "That's it." He walked over and took the fridge door, hiding the fact that he had to hold onto it a bit tighter and with more effort in order to keep it aloft (he might have loved the fact that Padme was stronger and loaded with muscles but that didn't mean he wanted to be a fragile snowflake when compared to his wife). "I can fix this." He set the door down and looked over the fridge. "You know, I don't like how long it takes this to cool down food. I bet if I rewired the freezer-"

"Anakin, please don't try and fix our appliances. I am still convinced that you turned the toaster into a droid."

"I did not," Anakin said, using the Force to toss away the toast the device popped out which had the words 'Yes You Did' toasted into it.

~MC~MC~MC~

"People forget what its like to just develop a quirk. For so many of us it comes in when we are young, sometimes so young we don't remember life without it. For you and Yagi your quirks are always growing, developing, increasing in power. When I was training him there were days that he seemed to have completely mastered One for All only to come to me the next day having no idea what to do; all oafish and bumbling and the like." He shook his head. "Every day Yagi woke up just a bit stronger."

"Yeah," Padme said.

"You have to be smart to deal with a quirk like that. You can't just stomp around with it. Yagi… the boy is smart. Far smarter than he lets people realize. That's what makes him dangerous against so many villains: they see him smiling and spouting out his catch phrases and think that's all there is to him. And then he does some cunning move that totally neutralizes the threat."

"You ever tell him that?" Padme asked, surprised by the fondness coming from Torino. Many times when he and Yagi talked the former was complaining and the latter was shrinking down upon himself with nerves.

"Hell no!" Torino exclaimed with a laugh. "Would give the boy a big head. Besides, like I said… he's too easy. For as smart as he is he falls for every one of my tricks. Has this weird blind spot when it comes to his mentors and his teachers. Me, Nana… everyone who taught him at UA, to be honest. He just gets all awkward, like he was when he was a kid looking for his place in the world."

"Some would say it's cruel to do that to him."

"Some would say that even the Symbol of Peace needs to be reminded that he's mortal." Torino shrugged. "Giants don't care about the pain they cause ants. Not unless the ant bites back."

"So you are a biting ant."

"One who is getting steak and lobster!"

Padme shook her head at that as the waitress came over to take their order.

"You are trying to butter me up," Torino stated.

"Is it working?" she asked.

"I told you, I'm retired. Done teaching. Only do hero work if I have to… and some days I'm ready to just let my license lapse. The whole thing is a bitch, you know? Keeping up with the testing they require and all that…"

Padme raised an eyebrow.

~One Week Earlier~

"I'm here to get my hero license," she told the clerk at the desk. Padme was dressed in her Star Might outfit, blond wig held in place, mask firmly plastered over her eyes, One for All thrumming happily just under her skin.

"Of course!" the clerk said, gobsmacked.

"So where do I go for the written-"

"Can I get your autograph?" the clerk asked. "And a picture?"

"Well, I suppose… but I do have the written exam-"

"Oh, we can get someone to take that for you!" the clerk said to Padme's confusion. "Rin! Come quick! It's Star Might!"

~MC~MC~M C~

"I'm done. Whatever you want to ask me to do… I'm done. I'm ready to retire." He sighed, taking a sip of his drink. "I've seen too many people die. Strangers who I swore I'd never forget are now just shadows I see out of the corner of my eye. Friends that should have been around long after me, who I'd trade my years to have back for a day."

"There are only two problems with that," Padme said, keeping her face utterly neutral. It was her "Senator Face", something that the Chancellor had shown her was needed in order to survive the world of politics. To be able to act as if everything was right in the world even as madness swirled around everyone. "First… people like us?" She gestured at the two of them. "We don't get the happy little retirements."

Torino frowned at that. "You think you can go on forever but give it time and you'll feel the weariness seep into your bones."

"Before I came here," Padme told him, "I was a queen. I watched my home be invaded purely because greedy… people… decided that they wanted to make more money off of us than they already had. We were peaceful. We didn't even have heroes. I became queen because I worked hard to aid the less fortunate; I had no training, not knowledge of warfare. And yet somehow I found myself with a blaster in my hand leading the charge into my own palace in order to free my people."

"…you were a queen?"

"I was," Padme said. "And now I am not. Because as soon as the crisis was over I surrendered my crown. I had seen death and destruction and I felt that I was… done."

She paused.

"That lasted about… oh… three months?" She tittered a bit, remembering what had come next. "Everyone assumes that the Queen who replaced me begged me to become a Senator. Or that the people pleading I step up and take over. A lot of people assume that it was Chancellor Palpatine after the man who replaced him in the Senator had that speeder accident and the position opened up again. But the truth is that I tried to live a peaceful life. I went to my family's lake house and tried to just relax. Considered writing a book about what I went through. Take up… sculpting. Or painting. And for the first few weeks it was wonderful and I enjoyed it. But as time went on I began to feel myself growing restless. The need to be back out there again, doing something to help the world and my people… it began to grow like dough rising in the sun. Until I couldn't ignore it and I begged the Queen to give me SOMETHING to do.

"I think the same is true with you, Torino."

She paused as the waitress brought their appetizers. Padme had gone with a large salad while Torino had gotten a creamy soup. The server assured Padme the next course would be coming soon, most likely worrying that she wouldn't be able to eat all of it for Padme had placed a LARGE order. Of course she had no idea that One for All meant that Padme had to eat three times what she once had in order to fuel her body. While technically she could have gotten by with a normal meal eating extra meant that One for All was able to do more than simply increase her strength; it could augment her body, increasing her muscle mass, making her bones denser, and overall allowing her to survive using the increasing power of the quirk. Yagi had admitted to her that in the 6 years after his battle with All For One he had been forced at first to plateau his strength and then actually begin dialing it back. But Padme, if she ate right, would be able to keep pushing the power of the Quirk, to discover just what it could do.

"I'm enjoying my retirement very much, thank you."

Padme though merely stared the old man down. "Yes, because someone who was content with their lives would stage their own murder just to scare the Number 1 Hero in Japan."

"I told you its fun to prank Yagi!"

"Or you were getting so bored that anything that offered you a bit of excitement…"

The old man glowered at her, dipping his spoon in his soup and taking a sip, lingering on it though that had nothing to do with savoring the taste.

They said nothing as they ate, their main courses soon arriving.

"Let's say that I agree with what you are suggesting…" Torino said slowly, cutting into his steak. "Let's say that ever since you and Yagi showed up and asked for my help I began getting the itch to do something more."

"And let's say that you heard that I am looking for people to work at the All Might Agency…"

Torino nodded, switching to his lobster, cracking it open and forking out some white meat that he dipped in some liquid butter. "Yes, let's assume all that. What exactly do you think I might be doing? Because I'm gonna warn you now… I have some demands."

"And those are?"

" I enjoy sleeping in late."

"And late for you is?"

The old man's jaw worked for a moment. "…7:30am. Sometimes 7:45." When Padme smirked at that Torino grumbled, "You get up early for decades so you can go teach at UA and its hard to break out of old habits."

"Hours are flexible. Honestly most of the work would happen after lunch."

"I don't want to deal with crowds. Or politicians. I'm done messing around with shit like that." He pointed his fork right at Padme. "I mean it. I'm sick to death of having to shake hands with government types."

"Then you should leave now since I use to be a Senator."

"I have no idea what that is supposed to mean but you're different, kid."

Padme took the compliment. "I've assembled my team and working with one member, Tobita, has made me realize that there is an opportunity to help people that society has let fall through the cracks. Ones that have been told that their only choice was to become a villain… but only because the voices calling that out were the only ones they could hear. I have begun to bring in a few people who WANT help but are at risk of going back to their old ways. I need someone that can-"

"Baby sit them?" Torino asked.

Padme though shook her head. "Put the fear of whatever god they might worship right into them."

That made the old man laugh. "Pranking people and getting paid to do it? Scaring them and making them paranoid wrecks so they have no choice but to stay on the side of the law?" He flashed Padme a slightly deranged smirk. "And I get to be around Yagi and watch him squirm as he tries to hide the fact that we know each other? Oh kiddo… why didn't ya say so sooner?"

"If I had you wouldn't have gotten your meal."

"…fair enough!"

~MC~MC~MC~

Ahsoka grinned as she leaned forward on her bed, controller gripped in her hands as she moved her character along a side street. "You in place, Dustinator314?"

A gruff raspy laugh filled her headphones. "Of course I am! Been stationed for a while now waiting for you to hurry up. Could have done a few speed runs in Table Menace in the time it took you to get your gear set up, Sidewinder."

"And that's why I'll have to save your behind!" Ahsoka teased.

"Would you two shut up and get ready?" Black Mambo snapped. "I got work tomorrow and I'd rather not have this turn into an all nighter."

"Sucks to be you, old man," Dustinator314 cackled.

Ahsoka though shook her head. "I hate to admit it but Mambo is right. I have a thing tomorrow." She almost slipped up and said she had a school thing but caught herself at the last moment; she didn't want anyone knowing how old she actually was. While she enjoyed hanging out with the group and playing games online she didn't know what kind of creeps they might be in real life and didn't need them getting all pervy just because she was still in school.

The Sports Festival was the next day and Ahsoka knew that Anakin and Padme would want her to get a good night's rest but honestly the best thing for her was playing the games. She wasn't tired and if she tried to rest up she'd just begin worrying about the whole thing. It was so odd, because it wasn't that important, considering what she'd dealt with before. It wasn't a life or death battle. Her actions wouldn't determine if her troopers came home or were left to rot on some planet that would never learn their names. It might affect her internship but even then she knew that Rex, Master Kenobi, and Anakin would all be willing to take her on; hell, if she begged Padme would get All Might to make an offer!

And yet… she found herself thinking about it constantly. What it would entail. How she would do. What she-

"You fuckers ready?"

Ahsoka smirked at Dustinator314's comment. "Yeah… let's do this."

~MC~MC~MC~

His brother's first sports festival.

Tensei had been looking utterly forward to it. He remembered what it was like… the race, the group battle, the one on one matches. Never knowing who you might take on. It might have been someone that you had never met… Tensei had dealt with that his first year, when a cocky little Gen Ed student with burning red eyes had for the first time made him feel slow. It could also be someone they knew oh so well, like his third year when him and Hizashi had put on a barn burner of a batch that saw them taken to their full limit. He had wondered just what Tenya would discover during his own Sports Festival.

He'd been so eager that he'd decided to race through his last patrol of the day, eager to get it over with, mind racing (pun completely intended) with all his thoughts about his brother and his big day.

So he hadn't been paying attention.

And now… that had proven to be his undoing.

"Ingenium," the hero killer Stain declared, looming over Tensei with a demented leer. His eyes were wild with madness and he kept running his tongue along the blade he'd used to slash through a gap in Tensei's armor, savoring his blood. He would have shivered in disgust if he still had the ability to move. "You are but the latest in the Ida family to call yourself 'heroes'. You clad yourselves in gleaming silver armor, believing that its purity can help you hide the foul sludge that coats your souls. But just as a rotted peach will reveal its corruption if one simply presses on it slightly, so too will I show the world the truth of your family with this act."

"I don't know what you are talking about," Tensei hissed. He was trying to stall for time, hoping one of his sidekicks would notice that he was late getting back and send out help. And yet at the same time he hoped it was another hero instead because he didn't want any of the young up and coming heroes he was mentoring to try and face the hero killer.

Prioritize the rescue. And while he wished to be rescued he also understood that if he had to die here to save his sidekicks… that was what he would do.

"The great Ida Dynasty!" Stain exclaimed. "That is why you are a hero. Not because you wish to be, not because it is fate or destiny, and certainly not to aid in those that need help, like a true hero. You have taken on this mantle in order to raise your family up. Like lords in the dark times, caring only for your family name and not the small people that you crush!"

"That's not true," Tensei said, grimacing as he struggled to try and get SOMETHING other than his face to move. But he was frozen stiff, body betraying him as he lay on the ground, staring up at the Hero Killer.

"Your parents… they had you and your brother purely to continue on the bloodline. There is no love and certainly no heroic notions within them. You are the foul fruit of a diseased tree." Stain raised his blade up and Tensei realized that the time for talk was over. He'd done all he could and now Stain was going to finish their fight. "And I will prune the tree, one branch at a time!"

Keeeerrr-puuuh

Keeeerrr-puuuh

Keeeerrr-puuuh

Stain slowly turned, Tensei staring along with him, as a demon stepped from the shadows. He was coated in black, from his thick soled boots to his armored arms and legs to his long black cape and his helmet and mask that looked like the skull of some monster from a forgotten age. He was towering, a foot taller than the hero killer, and every inch of him screamed power. Tensei, even if he had been able to move, would have still been frozen in shock and terror at the sight before him and he wondered if Stain had merely been the doorman, opening the portal for something far worse to step through.

And then the new arrival spoke, voice deep and dreadful.

"Do not fear, Ingenium. For I. Am. Here."

Stain suddenly snapped out of his daze, raising up his sword. "Oh? And who are you? Another fake hero come to aid this fraud?"

"No," the figure said, lifted up his hand, a silver and black cylinder grasped between his fingers. He moved his thumb and a beam of crimson shot from the shaft. "I… am Vader."