[OBSERVATION]

"Did you like the show, Kota-kun?" Shiki asked as Kota remained on her lap as they watched the recently finished kid's show. A kid's show that in this day and age still produced content that was not related to any sort of hero culture and just detailed a simple story of two characters who tried to work on a local farm. A farm that had an admittedly magnetic attraction to various sorts of weirdness that ranged from the supernatural to aliens.

The most recent episode featured the two trying to fight back against a killer plant from outer space that was mind-controlling their boss and the local town. It was an episode that both Kota and Shiki laughed together all throughout.

"Yeah… it was fun," Kota said as he eased back into her again.

In response, Shiki ruffled his hatless head as he giggled while the credits played. Then the local network they were watching shifted to a commercial that involved a small summary of clips promoting the current year's UA Sports Festival. It displayed a lot of notable students, all with various powerful quirks going at each other while small segments of Pro Heroes given some time to comment about it were shown.

To the average child or person, this commercial would probably put some rabid interest in them to watch, glued to the screen as most of the country was, or perhaps the world but Kota only felt discomfort. He began subtly squirming into Shiki's arms before she made him feel calm and comfortable again with her soft embrace.

"What is it?" Shiki asked, her voice soft, filled with concern and curiosity.

"It's nothing."

Shiki managed a small smile that Kota returned. "It's definitely something. Otherwise, poor Kota-kun wouldn't be sighing as hard."

Kota then allowed himself a mirthful chuckle that washed the sourness a bit as he looked at her. "Nothing escapes you, especially when it comes to me."

"Well… your Onee-san wasn't the most sociable person back then either, I don't think I still am right now, given I still don't wholly understand humans, but… it kinda helps more when you actively care about some of them. Love them even… and in this case, your big Onee-san loves you, so I get to know all of the little details that make up my Kota-kun nearly perfectly."

A small rash of heat and crimson blossomed on Kota's cheeks as he heard those words from her 'big sister'. A role that Kota was acclimating to very closely after multiple weeks and months already of being together. He wasn't as open compared to her, but deep inside the little boy found solace and peace in the fact that despite the wounds from the past, he had someone that he could confidently confide in, who listened and cheered him up every single time.

"T-Thanks…"

"See? Your Onee-san is very good at making you smile now. Back then you kept frowning at me all the time for everything that I do. Now… it's nice that you're a lot less grumpy now when we're together."

They really did, Kota mused. They were like two peas in a pod, even if unrelated, they felt in sync with each other as he watched Shiki grin, through her perfectly friendly face and kindly crimson eyes. They eventually returned their gaze to the TV as the programming changed yet again.

"Shiki?"

"Hm?"

"All of those silly stories about you being a Magical Girl… were they true? Were you… a hero? Like those on TV? Like Aunt Shino?"

Shiki placed a contemplative finger to her lips as she looked up as if trying to remember or parse a response for her 'little brother'. She then grinned like the ditz she was as she explained,

"I don't think so. I don't think you can consider me as one but… I did hunt monsters and sometimes thieves. One thief in particular did something really mean to me… but a loved one of mine and a skank helped me beat him so everything's okay!"

"What's a ska-

"LANGUAGE YOU TWO! And no Kota… don't you dare use that word. Shiki don't you ever dare say that again for crying out loud. Use… bad person, a bad girl, something instead of that one." They heard Kota's aunt say in the kitchen as she prepared them lunch.

"~Sorry Aunt Shino!~" The two said together as they heard a satisfied hum from Shino.

"Anyway, where was I? Oh right. Well, I managed to beat up a thief and everything went well. Other than that, I can't really call myself a hero. That's just silly."

"Aren't Magical Girls considered heroes?" he asked only to make Shiki pout cutely.

"They are not! They just beat monsters and some bad people that turn into monsters!"

"Shiki, what you're saying fits exactly what every Hero currently does today. Just replace Monsters with bad people and it's basically the same. Some people even call bad people as monsters."

"They are absolutely not! A magical girl like me beat up monsters precisely because I wanted to. They were a danger to people yeah, but I beat them up because they were mean to me."

"So you're a vigi-… what's that word again, vigilante?"

"NO! Your Onee-san is no such thing. Your Onee-san is a magical girl and that's where that line ends!" Shiki argued as she crossed her arms and mockingly turned away from him with a pout as Kota continued to tease her.

"Wearing a Magical Girl costume is also like a Hero Suit… you know that right?" Kota teased her as Shiki moaned in innocent frustration.

"~Mou! Kota-kun is bullying his dear Onee-san! Whatever should I do?"

The two started to lightly bicker with each other until Kota, whose laughter was now receding started wondering again about her stories about 'monsters' and the 'thief' that she kept telling him. He then recalled his parents and how they similarly spun said stories in a different light to him to entertain him. Those memories, while painful, were very vibrant ones as he could still hear his mother talk to him like it was a bedtime story about the many people they helped on a daily basis.

In all honesty, Kota knew deep down that he did not resent Heroes saving or helping people just as his mother, his father, and his aunt and her team do nearly every day. It was just, it was through that selflessness, that urge to help people that caused them to meet the bad man that took them away from him. The bad man was a villain. A villain that heroes battled similarly day to day, out there right now that cycle continued, and out there right now this magnetic interaction between bad people and good people kept continuing without any sign of stopping…

Leaving kids like him, losing their most precious loved ones.

He didn't understand how Hero-Villain interactions worked in a deeper sense. He didn't understand the broader strokes of the world around him that allowed this cycle to continue, but all he understood was the simple fact that he was scared.

He was scared of losing people he cared for again due to this cycle.

"Kota-kun?"

He was horribly scared to one day hear on the news again, or from other people that his aunt, her team, and…

"Kota?"

…and S-Shiki might be gone from him again. Just like his parents. Just like his-

"KOTA-KUN!"

Kota didn't even realize that he was tearing up as his breaths became ragged and heavy. His heart beat faster than it should while he felt his hands tightly clawing against Shiki's white sweater. He even felt some of his fingernails break as a red started to stain it.

"I-I'm sorry…" he said, now bursting into actual tears as sadness and guilt overtook him.

Yet, Shiki, even with her mesmerizing crimson eyes, managed to create a smile that slowly and surely calmed him down. A smile filled with empathy and dare he say it, love. She calmly stroked his head as he then felt his Aunt, who looked similarly worried kneel down next to them both, doing the same thing.

He couldn't say it out loud, but, Kota truly cherished his bond towards the two.

Even his Aunt. He just couldn't muster the strength nor the ability to actively show it to its fullest capacity, at least… until Shiki arrived.

"Shhhhhhhh… everything's going to be alright, Kota-kun. Your Onee-san is here." She whispered as he closed his eyes and clung to her.

"Like she said my dear Kota… you're fine. You're with family." He heard his Aunt say as with his other hand he felt himself clinging onto his aunt's fingers. Squeezing hers and Shiki's as his panic attack started to settle down into appreciation he felt the two women in his life embrace him in their arms. He thanked them. He thanked them immensely for being there.

But…

He wanted to hear them promise that they wouldn't leave him so soon, just as his parents did.

Words could not express how much Shino thanked Shiki for how she quickly dealt with Kota's recent panic attack. Not that they both expected one to occur. Even back then before the boy met Shiki, he was never as fragile, emotionally speaking to be vulnerable to panic attacks.

Especially on the scale of him even managing to hurt himself, even if it was a relatively small injury that Shiki and she managed to fix quickly.

Kota never had such issues before. The closest he ever had was him nearly running away from home before Shino was able to find him and he was an angry, crying mess that further did not want to be spoken to for nearly two days and even then, she couldn't call it a panic attack.

It was just him, understandably lashing out, a week after it settled in that his parents were truly gone.

This, on the other hand, was purely something that Shiki and she did not expect in the slightest. Mainly due to the overall improving state of Kota after Shiki, the mystery magical girl came and easily slotted herself into their lives without much of an issue. At this point, given how close the two were, how much Shiki stayed in their house, and how much Shino saw the lengths and degrees Shiki would do everything in her power to help and make Kota smile, had turned into family.

Shino was even considering the two as siblings at this point, with the girl herself warming up to her with how much she tended to help around the house and with Kota, as well as little snippets of them talking about her own life, that Shino was still trying to understand behind the scenes.

But that was beside the point, the fact of the matter was that Kota was healing and he was returning to being a normal, happy child again who was now steadily recovering from the deep emotional wounds of his parent's deaths.

She and Shiki had a large role to play in making sure that was the outcome, to finally make him ease off some of the pain, to live a life that his parents would have wanted. That Shino's sister would have wanted. So, seeing him return to this painful state again broke Shino.

"Damn it." She whispered as she looked through the doorway of Kota's room, where the boy was resting while Shiki sat beside him, face unchanged, yet was focused heavily on her nephew.

The event it seemed, also bothered the mostly cheerful girl to a good extent.

What could have caused such a potent panic attack in the first place? The two were just laughing happily earlier as they watched their favorite show and Kota wasn't as hateful or vocal anymore towards Heroes… so what could have pushed him to have such a visceral, emotional outburst?

Frowning, Shino stepped into the room softly. Placing a hand on Shiki's shoulder, one that the girl smiled back in response as she turned to her, but her smile seemed a tad strained. Shino gave one back with a hint of encouragement, but the look of worry for both of them was still there.

Hopefully, it wasn't as bad as they thought it was.

"I think I know a solution to make Kota-kun better," Shiki said with much enthusiasm. Her eyes brightened with the idea that was flaring in her mind that Shino tried to decipher, but before she could say anything the doorbell to her house was rung and she felt a lot more comfortable as she knew who it was that just arrived.

"Mandalay, open up!" a muffled voice said from her front door lightening Shino's mood somewhat, knowing that her friends and close colleagues were now at her door.

Following behind her was Shiki, who had a determined look on her face to fulfill this idea to cheer up her nephew. Shino didn't mind the girl for trying such an idea as she trusted her enough to always do right with Kota and she's never failed in that since.

Opening her front door, a deluge of joy filled her as she saw all three of her closest friends, more so family at this point jump in attention at her, like always.

"Shino-san! We're here." Yawara said through his intimidating but kindly appearance even in Civilian clothing. Ryuko grinned with both brows rising in a teasing manner and lastly, Tomoko, their ever-gleeful and youthful (Hey- Ryuko) smiled as Shino welcomed them in.

Their joyful presence lit up her day like usual as Ryuko excitedly talked about being excited about an upcoming 'date' (which Shino doubted) while Tomoko and Yawara started telling her about their day given that they took the week off. Mostly for preparation for a joint operation that they had officially with an academic institution two weeks later.

Much like how she acted with Kota and Shiki, Shino found comfort, solace, and warmth with her team which had been operational, loyal, and tightly knit since its inception. A true family in every sense of the word that had done a great service (mostly in terms of rescue) for their community and Japan as a whole.

Eventually, the trio were able to meet Shiki behind her who happily waved at them as she passed them by.

"Hello Neko-chans! I apologize for leaving, but Kota's Onee-san needs to make sure Kota-kun is happy and well again." She proclaimed enthusiastically as she skipped away through the door as the Pussycats watched her go.

"You know… I swear the other day that she was able to make Cat Ears for herself. It's like she can manifest quirks out of nowhere sometimes, I tell ya." Ryuko commented as Shiki disappeared from view.

"She would be a very good possible member of the Pussycats one day if you think about it. She's possibly stronger than all of us, and yet… she doesn't seem to be willing to be a hero." Tomoko added as Shino thought about it as well.

Even trying to ask Shiki about her Quirk had her dodging the topic a lot of the time.

"The kid's dangerous but she has a very kind heart. At least to us, that is…" Yawara said with an ominous tone to his last few sets of words. His voice trailed in a way that Shino found herself frowning, despite having full trust in Shiki, with how much she proved to value Kota.

"Did you finally find something, anything… involving her?" she asked with a heavy tone.

Her three friends looked at each other as Tomoko took out a very thin folder manila folder from her bag that was less than what she expected, given the depth of Shiki's mystery quirk, and her 'connections' that the group was trying to research ever since she arrived on Kota's doorstep.

In summary, they knew next to nothing, in the span of literal months.

The closest Shino ever got to making Shiki open up was talking, in a nostalgic manner, about her past loved ones, her grandfather, her 'uncle', and her supposedly rich family that was more absent now at present, leaving her with nothing but a vague sum of wealth that she sometimes used, and that she was in Japan mostly because she felt more comfortable here than any place abroad that she once stayed at.

It spoke nothing in broader detail of what they were dealing with.

They didn't even know her nationality given how well she spoke Japanese as if she was a native and that this 'Tohno' family was already by legal standards, extinct, with literally no current descendants nor closer, related families to speak of.

Shino trusted the girl's willingness and love for Kota, but she knew nothing about the girl in exchange, and part of her was still bothered by it.

"About that… we uh, I guess we did find something…" Tomoko said with a pained expression.

"Is it bad?" Shino asked in concern, some of it for Shiki's sake too given how she also cared for the girl these past few months.

"No… not exactly," Ryuko said as she pulled up her phone.

"But it's definitely something we need to discuss more seriously and thankfully, it's almost perfect that she's out of the house while we do." Yawara finished.

"I see." She said, hoping that it wasn't something as problematic as all of them hoped it to be.

"Speaking of our mystery girl, where's our beloved little guy at?" Ryuko asked.

"Ah…" Shino said as the three finally caught on that there was a somber bit of aura in the house the moment they stepped in. As usual, given how close she was with her teammates, they also had a growing concern for anything that Kota was in and Shino was glad that they treated her nephew like they were family as well to them.

…

The sound of the TV in her dining room, put at medium volume while she and her teammates talked filled the air in the background. News coverage of anchors talking to their interviewees about the latest Hosu incident and the growing crime rate ever since that incursion in UA. Shino and her comrades didn't pay much attention to it as they shared tea at her table, talking about much more important things at the moment.

The TV was just there to fill the silence so that things wouldn't feel too serious as they talked.

"What could've caused the poor kid to act like that?" Tomoko asked in full concern. She was basically Kota's closest other Auntie just below Shino given how much she peppered the boy with love and affection, so she was rightfully very bothered by what Shino explained about what occurred earlier that day.

"I don't know myself, Tomoko. Thankfully Shiki and I were there to respond, and we were able to deal with some of it to calm him down after."

"I thought the night terrors were over?" Ryuko said and while she was focusing on her phone, something about I-Island detecting a harmless NEO about to approach Earth in a few days, she was still Kota's caretaker and family through and through, so Shino didn't mind it.

"They were… that's why it's concerning that he even got to that point," Shino exclaimed, frustration rife in her tone.

"We could always ask Hound Dog for help; we are getting support from UA recently given their Summer Program plans. Perhaps we can sneak in a favor to get him to check Kota." Yawara suggested, given that he was the most experienced of the four of them when dealing with Mental Health for students and those in the field of Rescue that they held.

"Does it really need to get to that point, for my Kota to get a Psych Evaluation?"

Shino's sorrowful expression as she asked that question made all three of her friends look at her with equal and valid concern. Ryuko even turned off her phone after being frustrated with the dating app that she was using just to help her friend. Tomoko eased in, moving her chair closer to Shino's as Yawara sighed.

"Ideally speaking, unless this becomes a trend, I would first recommend observing him closely at the moment. Though asking advice from Hound Dog always helps, Mental Health after all is not something to belittle given how much it affects even Pro Heroes in this day and age, and from what I recall, we nearly went through with it for Kota before Shiki came into your lives, yes?"

"Right," Shino confirmed.

"Then we should just put it on the table, just in case we ever need to do so in the future. Hopefully, it doesn't come to that, but you know how unpredictable things are."

"Right…" Shino echoed again, a sentiment the whole team shared.

Inevitably, she reached out towards the Manila Folder in the middle of the table, subtly making their entire group focus back on their 'Shiki' dilemma.

"Anyway, before we get sidetracked again, we must tell you right now… Shino, that any scrounge of information we have on 'Shiki Tohno' is either hearsay or the files are so old and unrecoverable that we're lucky to even get something out of it." Yawara warned.

Shino's interest, curiosity, and confusion doubled from that cryptic sentence.

She then re-opened the file again and realized that most of the contents of the very thin Manila Folder and saw that it was just barely scraping ten pages worth of information. Alongside it was a zip bag containing scraps of old, yellowed paper that had small remnants of texts and blurry pictures that showed a young man with unruly black hair and a pair of glasses in another separate photo. Shino couldn't at first make sense of the pieces before her, despite her overall experience in the field, though then again, she was more of a rescue hero than an investigative one.

Still, she and her team had garnered sufficient skills enough to cover for that weakness.

"What exactly am I looking at?" Shino said, giving up after looking at the uncoordinated mess that these 'files' were. She was not even counting the cryptic scraps into the mix as she looked at her team.

"That is what our current resources can muster in terms of research in the span of two weeks and like you, we're similarly confused as hell," Tomoko said as she stared into Shino's eyes.

"Are you telling me, we have nothing in terms of information regarding her?"

"We do… but it's information that either doesn't exist or no longer exists given the timestamp on some of the records we can scrounge and even beg with the police contacts we have. Hell, Ryuko and I were even surprised that we were asked some level of federal clearance just to get… these." Yawara explained as he reached for the zip bag. The mention of clearance got Shino's attention.

"Wait… hold on, did you say clearance?" she clarified.

"It's not as bad as you think, merely clearance to get into their vault of records. Which includes declassified documents, cases, and any of the sort that existed before quirks. The oldest of the papers don't even scratch the day and age when the transitionary period into Quirk Society was a thing. Meaning this was before all of those wars after Quirks started exploding into the population here and abroad." Yawara replied as Ryuko nodded in affirmation.

"You could tell that entire section was old, the smell alone was just thick with dust and whatever stenches old, recovered papers can be." Ryuko groused as she shuddered with the memory. "… and quite frankly, even then the caretaker of the vault told us that these records are what's left that is just cataloged there with names that don't even exist in the census anymore."

Blinking in surprise and awe, Shiki looked at the zip bag again, admiring and even feeling slightly scared of the implications that all meant for their current Shiki.

"And what does this have to involve with her?"

"Well… the name she gave, for starters is a rabbit hole that goes to nowhere but does exist in what files remain and from what little we can still read. This Tohno family was a big enough name back in Japan before the Quirk Era until they all vanished. What names we do that still survive is one young male named Shiki Tohno and his sister, Akiha. Other than that, nothing." Tomoko said that the summary files from the archive that Shino was currently looking over addressed that.

"It begs the question why she would use such a name at all. It couldn't have been too random given the specificity that she claims in some of her stories but why a damn near century-old family in the age before Quirks to use as a name?" Ryuko asked in contemplation.

"When you think about it, nobody truly remembers nor cares enough today of anything that happened before the dawn of Quirks. Especially for people her age and the fact that it took government clearance to even get to those archives in one of its more obscure sections - I might add - for you to even get a lick of information, it doesn't make sense for her to even know this boy's family in the first place." Tomoko argued as she tapped into the picture of the male Shiki Tohno.

"Unless she knew them personally that is…" Yawara speculated.

Shino, Ryuko, and Tomoko all instantly looked at their friend with a frown.

"Don't be stupid. Immortality quirks aren't a thing. Humans who do have quirks have slightly prolonged lives if you put lifestyles in the equation, but to live at such an absurd lifespan is impossible." Shino said.

The large man shrugged though he did lean forward and thought about it more.

"We used to think powers to the degree of All Might's was impossible, yet here we are now you know?"

A small bout of silence was shared amongst them before Tomoko animatedly waved both her arms in rejection of the idea.

"I don't even want to humor that sort of talk at the moment. We don't even have the evidence for it to consider such a stupid thing."

Shino hummed in agreement. "But the question still stands… what exactly are we dealing with here? These other papers don't say much of anything besides the archives you all gathered."

"And that's the problem right there, Shino… we don't have anything at all about the girl. It's like a virtually impossible thing that she's managed to achieve in this day and age. She doesn't have a name, an address, a date of birth, etc. She's a ghost in the system, at least in Japan's case."

"There's no matches, anything?" Shino asked.

"Not even fingerprints or a blood sample for the matter. Unless of course she even volunteers for one in the first place and maybe we can trace a mode of data we can get from her." Ryuko stated.

"I mean we haven't tried yet, and with Kota's help I think we can manage it," Shino suggested.

"That's great, but we're still down to the original problem. It's rather concerning that she doesn't exist in any records at all, especially here in Japan, where she's presumably resided the longest, right?" Tomoko asked as Ryuko opened her phone again, the news being the same, but the emphasis on the 'NEO' that I-Island detected and the scientists' excitement over it grew in articles.

"It is… and frankly, given our team's resources, I don't think we can muster the rank to ask for international authorities on the matter lest we alienate the girl entirely." Yawara finished with great concern as he rubbed his temples.

"We do have a possible solution for that problem, but it involves UA, and we are working with them in the next few weeks…" Tomoko suggested which got all of the Pussycats interested in the proposition.

"How much can we trust Nezu, then, is the question? Because… let's face it, even with all our suspicions regarding 'Shiki', I think we can all agree at this very moment that the girl, despite her eccentricities and power, poses no such threat to anyone, especially to us and Kota. She's a very kind-hearted individual, rather wishing to play and act lazy than even do anything with the vast applications of her quirk and I think she's proven time and time again within this team, this… family that she is both worthy of our respect and our trust…" Shino said.

Her words and feelings were an echo of her entire team as they all agreed to it, even without needing to say it. The girl, as Shino said, was family at this point to all of them and they all knew the consequences should word come out of her abilities to the HSPC or even just the media for all their carrion-like behaviors.

No, they weren't in essence afraid nor convinced that the HSPC had bad intentions towards the girl, but they were more so concerned about how they would want to use the girl given her untapped, monstrous potential that only the team knew to a good extent. A prospect that bothered the Pussycats, knowing how Shiki was very dismissive of the idea of heroes and the like.

They didn't want both sides to get forced into an altercation especially if the girl had any connections, sinister or benign, abroad.

"I think we should at least humor the possibility since Nezu does in fact run UA more independently compared to its constituents and… the principal cares much about their students, best I recall to a heavy extent," Tomoko suggested to which Yawara managed a huff as the background TV started to talk about increasing crime rates in the country.

"Somehow I question that, given he administered the Sports Festival, after the USJ attack." He said as Shino smirked in response, but ideally, she did agree about UA's reputation. At the very least it was an avenue that they could choose, if posed without any more options.

"I just hope that everything goes okay at the end of this," Shino said with finality after a heavy sigh as Tomoko and Yawara similarly smiled lightly towards her frustration. Tomoko even reached for Shino's hand, touching it as the two shared a glance.

"Have faith. I think it'll all be fine." She reassured. The mood in the room lightens up…

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

…until a loud bout of static at high pitch and volume suddenly intruded into their senses.

One of the thinner glassware cups on her table cracked from its intensity as the Pussycats felt some of their hair stand up while they all covered their ears in a desperate attempt to stop the sound from bursting their eardrums.

Pain started to encroach on their systems as even Yawara, their team's muscle was starting to buckle onto himself while the rest were nearly pushing their heads into the table.

Then, as sudden as the tone manifested itself into the world, there was a sudden loud sound of a blown fuse as small sparks of the now broken TV abruptly returned everything back to silence. What remained after was just the smoking, burning remains of the TV and the cracked wall clock on the nearest wall striking its final tick towards twelve and more after…

Slowly, as senses started to return to normal for the team, they opened their eyes to the now slightly scorching remains of the TV and pieces of ceramics and glass scattered on the table while Shino's tea trickled to the floor.

Shino, as quickly as focus returned to her had her eyes widen in panic as she recalled that her nephew was still in his room.

"Kota!" she screamed as she ran, leaving the others in the room.

The silence made them feel uneasy as Yawara stood up from his seat.

"The hell was that?" Tomoko said with exasperation and fear as she still kept her hands covering the top of her head for protection. She snuck a glance at Ryuko who, somehow found that her phone was still working and wasn't cracked from what happened earlier.

"You two okay?" Yawara asked, but before Tomoko could answer, Ryuko managed to say something that made them all pause.

"My phone's got no signal, can't even connect for emergency calls."

The two took out their own devices to see for themselves, equally seeing the same results as the silence from the entire ordeal brought them into a greater feeling of unease.

Di Porta Fascina, Italy

19:36 PM

Marco Barbieri huffed a puff of smoke as he walked through the tight and swerving roads of his area to get home. Hearing the sirens that were abound, he walked to the edge of the road as police vehicles rushed along at great speeds, despite the swerving, tight roads alongside other emergency vehicles that probably contained some Heroes as well. Their destination was unknown to him, but what chatter he did catch from the local townsfolk that he just came from, they were going upstream of their local river, Tiber.

For what reason he was very much unsure, yet it didn't stop his workmates and neighbors from speculating about it.

Not that he cared at all. His area and town were one of the smaller settlements and didn't have much attention in terms of the local Heroes. There was one in town, but he was more of a rescue hero than anything, being able to fly and cast rope-like appendages from his legs that allowed him free control to save anyone in the mountainous and hill-laden parts of his home.

This added much to the bit of strangeness when multiple authorities and first responders rushed through the town and were still adding more as the hour passed. He even saw some semi-popular heroes like the crystal woman from Perugia make a pass back in town as people gawked at her despite their hurried advance.

Marco reckoned it might be a large drug bust or an operation regarding the local mafia that was still around in these parts. Their presences in cities were admittedly diminished by quite a lot, but in the more provincial, remote areas, they would tunnel into the mountainous, empty, and forested terrain just to keep their operations continuing.

At least that's what his buddy told him, according to the rumors.

Still, he wasn't all that amazed by this occurrence. Heroes were never something that Marco openly liked, unlike his friends and family, given how he was raised by a former villain but it didn't mean that he hated them. His own quirk was practically useless in combat given it was just stretching his fingers to an unnecessary degree, but he never harbored as much hate as his old mafia-connected father had even after he mellowed out when he came out of prison.

What he did dislike, however, was that it meant the relatively peaceful and quiet area of his home would most likely be filled with journalists and the generic clout of things that follow such incidents in the first place.

The last time any sort of Hero did something that was close to the level of this operation had the entire town have a party for nearly a week… joyful and fun as it was but it got on his nerves when he could hear them late into the night even if his house was a good deal away from said town.

He hoped that if they did their business, it would be quick, and he hoped that his son wouldn't ask him to go meet those heroes to get their autographs.

Alas, he knew that his luck wasn't that good, so he just sucked it up and just as he arrived at the gates of his home, hearing the bell of the family dog running forwards to meet him, he felt ready at least to once again see his beloved family after a day's work.

The sound of crickets filled the night as his lovely wife greeted him at the front door.

With a small kiss and a greeting, they both went inside as he wondered where his son was.

"Were you and Enzo safe in the factory?" his wife suddenly asked.

"What do you mean?" he said as he took off his jacket and placed it on the couch, where he slowly sat, feeling the exhaustion finally get to him. "Did something happen Giulia?"

He then saw his wife looking confused at him saying, "What do you mean what happened, didn't you see the news? Or that small earthquake earlier? There was this trail of smoke coming from the sky, I was so scared that I had to take Mattia into the basement to hide before the rumbling happened."

Oh right… he mused in his thoughts.

He didn't know about the trail of smoke in the sky given that his co-workers weren't advised to get out of the building for the next hour, but he and his friend Enzo did feel the quake. The quake that shook the entire town for a few minutes.

"Did you hear anything from the town as to what caused it?" his wife asked.

"Only that a ton of police and heroes are rushing upstream of the river. Besides that, not much else. Did the news not say anything about it?"

"Marco… there's no signal. It's all static. Even the phones are down."

"Really? But I just had a call from Sandro earlier," he said as he rummaged through his pockets to get his phone out. "…see?"

Only for him to pause when he saw that just as his wife said, there was no sort of signal present. He tried to call for the emergency feature on his phone, only to see it glitch out.

"Hm… strange."

"I'm scared Marco…" his wife said as she rubbed her arms reflexively. Their beloved family dog even lay down beside her leg, as if trying to soothe her. Marco at first frowned but he stood up and walked to his wife, putting her into his arms as he soothingly kissed her neck and slowly trailed to her cheek and lastly the top of her head.

The action made her more calm and loving towards her husband, but the anxiety was still present and Marco felt it. His wife was a very delicate person, but she had a heart of Gold that nobody could compare to, and their marriage was strong despite the many times she got angry at her for his drinking habits. Their family was Marco's greatest treasure and their child, the proof of their love.

He then whispered into her ear gently, "In the quiet of our hearts, I am your peace and you are my strength…"

"…and Together, we are unshaken…" his wife finished. It was one of their vows when they were wed together, under a beautiful tree where they first shared a kiss. It was a beautiful, bright day that both cherished in reminiscing.

"Everything will be fine Giulia. It'll be fine." He whispered as they started slowly swaying as if a song was in the air amidst the silence and the crickets.

"You're right. The heroes should fix it soon, right? And whatever it is… it's probably too far away from us to matter." She said, mostly to herself to calm herself further. Marco couldn't help but feel elated at least that his wife's anxieties were tempered, but he too felt a bit unsure.

"Yeah."

Especially since the crickets outside that filled the dark silence were no longer playing their tune.

…

Marco was woken up from his slumber by the howl and cries of the family dog.

Groaning, he turned the lamp right beside him as his wife turned in her sleep, woken up by the loud noise. Annoyed, he bid his wife to settle back down in their bed as he stood up to check what it was. The house's lights were mostly turned off due to them sleeping this time of the night but he made sure to turn some of the important ones as he walked through the halls of his home if need be.

The windows that he moved past covered him in weak traces of light as he reached the front door of his home. He peeked through the window beside it, seeing only traces of… blue and green light? He mused that his neighbors were probably partying again. Or that the town, which can be seen on his lawn was probably celebrating something.

Opening it, it was then through his drowsiness and exhaustion that he realized that the family dog was no longer barking and when he saw the outside of his home, he also noticed that the crickets were nowhere to be heard, which was next to impossible, given how close they were to the woods and shrubbery.

The blue and green sheen of light passes by him as he walks into his lawn.

Mesmerized by this curiosity as he followed that light, like a moth to a flame, he didn't notice that the ground he was walking on, even with the grass was sticky, with clouds of steam emanating with each step. What used to be claws were now merged wholly with the grass and what used to be teeth, and a skull were molding with the concrete.

Marco didn't notice it as his gaze was solely on where the town was.

Long, plant-like tendrils extended high up into the sky as the environment was molding onto itself, biologically, even against solid surfaces made of non-biological materials. Colors of different kinds bounced against an immense darkness while the panicked sight of cars, heroes, and other still unaffected organisms ran in the horrifying immutable silence.

Marco's eyes were fixed upon the transcendent color as spores were ejected into the air.

Around him, said matrices of an impossible strain were ejected by the steadily morphing landscape. Marco, still entranced by the lights, even as the ground shook when a commercial airliner rammed itself into the town slowly turned his eyes towards his palm, where his ear landed.

His quirk, his useless quirk, extending his fingers towards the ground where he was greeted by the whole. He didn't know what to think of it even as he felt his body slowly unravel into the 'dirt'. There wasn't even a hint of crimson, from his lively blood that was spilled as his thoughts tried to call out to Giulia.

His dear Giulia and his son Mattia.

He was scared for them for he would leave them alone…

He was… excited to have them join… soon.

Marco Barbieri, an honest and hardworking man was now reduced to a strange phenomenon that melded his body into the whole. Like how worms and leeches reacted harshly to salt before they were dissolved and reintegrated into the nutrients of the soil via decay.

Sinking into nothingness as tendrils of a plant-like quality burst from the ground and finalized the process.

The entire area infected by the incursion from the heavens upstream of the Tiber River was now expanding at a steady pace. High above where the crash site was, where the remains of heroes, first responders, and the like were molded into the environment, an unearthly plant was buried deep. Encroaching and tunneling its roots deep into the changing soil as it once did in Venus…

Its influence upon the world produced an impregnable silence.

Even as Giulia and her son, and many others in that part of Italy cried out into the void. Hoping for salvation, where there was none. Their existence to be repurposed as seeds for the production of spores. Spores that were now trying to travel through the planetary winds as high above the clouds and into space where satellites and space stations once hailed their home…

[DISRUPT]

Lay another lifeform of an ultimate kind.

One closer to the darker depths that Neptune basked in lay the sovereign of Uranus. Resembling a ghostly and devastatingly large cnidarian like the Portuguese Man O'War, it coordinated with its Venusian ally as it sent signals into the space surrounding the planet. Destroying most of the technology present there with its long tendrils that would wrap the world thrice over.

The tendrils themselves almost symbolically represent the arms strangling Cronus/Kronos as the Primordial lost his existence. They were now arms, strangling the children of Gaea, preventing them from escaping into the stars.

The being's translucent nature, undetectable even to the strongest devices that encompassed the EM spectrum, caused it to glide unseen into the void where no telescope would dare see it. All the while it sent its cries, resembling that of the sound of crickets (at least to the approximation of lifeforms on Earth) to return the people of Earth to a much more primitive time.

Eventually, signals from the Venusian counterpart gave data on the current mission directive.

[UNDERSTOOD]

Things were proceeding as planned.

I-Island

1:30 AM

Shield Residence

Melissa groaned awake. She initially wanted to finish her school project, which was a smaller scaled-down version of her father's ground-breaking fabricator technology. One that allowed small devices ranging from something as small as a microchip to much more complex objects like laptops and even phones. With her father's assistance, she was able to make headlong progress with it but given her current understanding of engineering and computer sciences, she still had a long way to functionally complete it.

She was still a good deal ahead of most of her classmates, but it was due to this hard work that she was sleeping very late into the night, sometimes within her own workshop herself as her father picked her up every time she would snore cutely into her desk.

This time however, her school announced an early dismissal as they were told to finish their assignments and even work on their projects for the time being given that there was a supposed 'grand meeting' that the heads of each department in I-Island needed to attend to.

Being busy with her project, she went through her assignments quickly as soon as she went home, but her father, hurriedly arrived barely an hour later and he prompted her to take the day off. His administrative and advisory duties were needed by I-Island's current leadership and she was poised to follow after her father told her that the silent alarm was tripped onto the entirety of the island.

The silent alarm, being a simple one-word code, was known only to a few personnel when something was afoot, or something posed a danger to the island's existence. It was a code that would prove near impossible to use as an actual threat assessment was only trained to the enforcers and security of the island in the event that needed actual action. It was a precaution to not stir chaos and anxiety in the more civilian-focused population of the island so that silently dealing with an issue would be more easily handled.

Through experience, she and her father have only dealt with two scenarios by far in her life regarding said protocol, and both were silent alarms, or training given to those with access to said code should the need arise.

In this case, Melissa was forced to comply with her father's command to the letter when he hurriedly gathered important hardware from his personal office within their residence before leaving the house in a serious fit. She had never seen him that dangerously serious, except for small bits back when she was a child in regard to her uncle who was now residing back in Japan.

Hoping that everything was alright, Melissa went to sleep early thinking that everything would be okay in a few hours.

Now…

She noticed that through the darkness of her room and towards the opened sliding door, there was light down the hallway. She frowned, knowing that her dad even in his most exhausted of states always woke her up for a bit when he arrived home, almost every night.

And she knew for a fact that the only lights turned on within their residence at this hour would be the main living room. The lights were seemingly coming from the direction of her father's workshop.

It also didn't help that there was a muffled sound of the music being played in that direction. Anxiety, but also curiosity filled Melissa as she slowly got to her feet, hoping that perhaps it was just a malfunction (which was next to impossible) or one of her father's colleagues on the island (which was also impossible given the only one allowed access to her father's workshop was him and her).

To check, she turned on the panel right next to her bed that was connected to the residence's systems. The internet was still down, as well as signals from other important networks, but the local servers and connections within the island were still intact, making her see and diagnose her home.

With confirmation, she was a bit nervous knowing that there was someone within the residence. Someone who was able to have clearance (somehow) to enter and get into her father's workshop.

She felt anxiety crawl into her veins but also determination. She hoped that whoever it was, they weren't dangerous but at the same time she was mad if they were there to steal from her father, and with the control panel in her hands, she could override security in the whole place and lock them in. She knew the blast doors in her father's workshop were strong enough to trap even those with advanced strength quirks.

She silently pressed the button to send a distress signal directly to her father and nearby security within the island's local network. As she did, she gently walked down the halls of her home underneath the darkness as she approached the light and the music.

Being naturally curious, Melissa was at least determined to see if the intruder was a true threat. This was her home, and she wanted to fight for it, if the need came.

However, the more she closed in, the more she found it strange that the intruder was playing music. Music that was at the level of it being heard in full for half of the residence. What intruder would even do such a thing? Weren't burglars need to be quiet, reserved…

She stopped when she heard the soft squeak of her stepping on one of her All Might dolls that were scattered on the floor. All Might dolls and her older toys that were neatly kept in one of their storage rooms. The same storage room where once she picked up her doll she turned to, seeing it was opened wide with all their storage units and their personal things strewn out on the floor.

Including her very embarrassing Halloween costumes as a child.

"What in the world?" she intoned as she turned back to the direction of her father's open workshop, from the distance where she was, she could similarly see her father's workshop which was naturally neat, was now a sordid mess.

The song was more clear to her now as she slowly approached. It was one of her father's favorites and a song she grew to like as well.

Clutching the control panel she vigilantly walked forward and as soon as she stepped into her father's workshop with the mess now in clear view, she then noticed that the traditional whiteboard that her father used to oftentimes write his equations on was now smeared with math and scientific computations that were too advanced or were simply gibberish now filling it entirely. Some were even written on the walls, seemingly 'correcting' the established writing that her father placed on those boards as they reached even the ceiling of all things.

Then, as she stood in the middle of the workshop, the music blared loudly as it reverberated into her ears, she then heard the sudden groan of an unknown voice.

Turning, she saw a girl, almost her age, delicate-looking and graceful standing in front of the plethora of screens where the music video of the tune was playing, trying to replicate the guitar solo of the song with the use of her father's own personal guitar.

This individual had her back turned from Melissa and from what she could infer she looked strange. Especially with the delicate-looking wings on her back, a halo floating atop her head, and the fact that she was wearing her white sundress (that she didn't like as a gift) that fit her quite well. Even though it looked a tad bit loose on her, it still fit her better than it ever did Melissa.

She was also humming to the tune as she swayed lightly holding that guitar…

-x-

Oh, I'm burnin' through the sky, yeah

200 degrees, that's why they call me Mister Fahrenheit, hey

I'm travelling at the speed of light

I wanna make a supersonic man out of you (hey, hey)

I'm having such a good time

I'm having a ball

(Don't stop me now) if you wanna have a good time (ooh, alright)

Just give me a call

-x-

…it was an absurd and strange sight.

This girl even finally turned to her, finally noticing her presence. Her face, was so pretty that even Melissa herself blushed as she vibrantly smiled at her. Only for it to change into a blushing mess of shame as she realized that she had made a mess.

"O-Oh… hello! I… oh dear. I apologize for the mess?" the girl said, unsure of what to say.

Melissa blinked at her even as the song continued.

With her mouth only being able to say one thing,

"H-Hi?"

END OF CHAPTER

AN: Do listen to the song and think of it in the concept of what the TYPEs are doing lol.

Hope you all enjoyed it.