Guild Master here again, again.
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Today was the day. All that training all led up to this one day where the heroes of this nation would all come together to take down the greatest threat they all knew to be Bloodsoaked; the deadliest killer in the history of the country, if not the world.
The plan required one of the boldest strategies to date in regards to how they were going to capture this murderer. Spreading out the available heroes over the entire city with sensors equipped to each of them would triangulate the location of Bloodsoaked when he made his killing blow against All for One.
His signature of trying to remain out of the detectable range of his targets was a weakness the heroes could exploit in taking on the killer. Whenever his target possessed a high profile in society, he would always take on the target at a further range in comparison to how well known they were to the public. Nobody in the country ranked higher in terms of notoriety than the one villain who the public ranked as the one right under the legendary serial killer Bloodsoaked. He was the perfect bait to bring out Bloodsoaked into the daylight.
Because of the nature of his skills in comparison to the available resources the heroes possessed in being able to triangulate the killer's position, the operation heavily depended on the individuals who were all spread out over a large search area. No backup would be immediately available when the killer made himself known with the firearm he would use to eliminate his target.
Although nobody wanted to protect All for One, just letting him be killed by Bloodsoaked didn't sit right with anybody. The transport taking the individual to another high security location was the strongest of defenses in comparison to anything else in the past.
Plated alloy metal, geometrically perfected armor angles, high levels of security with the convoy transporting the villain; everything regarding the bait's safety was calculated to guarantee Bloodsoaked wouldn't be successful in his assassination attempt. It was the least they could do to make sure their mission wouldn't end in complete failure.
All the heroes were in their designated positions to enhance the chances of success the individual had in the face of the danger present. A strategic grid of heroes all spread out so that the response time of others would be minimalized felt the most appropriate for the gamble taking place.
The calculated weaknesses and strengths of each individual hero was taken into account when devising the positions taking place in this mission.
If everything were to go right during this operation, then nothing could go wrong for the heroes on their part. Anything less than perfection would end in possible failure.
Tartarus Prison
Within the walls of Japan's most secure institution for the criminally challenged, a convoy had been assembled with the infamous All for One loaded into the most secure vehicle for his safety. The mere fact his life was taken into account for this mission's success felt wrong to the former hero who watched the convoy prepare for the operation ahead.
Not wanting to waste his last chance to try and get something out of his former arch nemesis, All Might requested a personal audience with the villain currently secured in the armored vehicle. The officers present all vacated the vehicle with the medics in charge of maintaining All for One's vitals shutting off the anastesia to let the two have a face to face conversation. Now only these former enemies were alone in the transport with one another. Restrained in a medical pod, the villain groaned as he was freed from his medically induced coma.
All Might saw that something was wrong. Compared to their last meeting, the villain lacked all the manic fear which possessed him like an evil spirit. All that was left was the shell of a human being.
"... This may be the last time we can converse, so I'll make this quick. Who was in your head? Are they connected to Bloodsoaked? Just what the hell is going on? Tell me anything and everything. This will likely be your last chance to do yourself a favor and redeem what little of a soul you have."
At first the villain remained unresponsive. He was clearly awake, but All for One looked so drained of everything. Even his body looked emaciated to half his original weight and mass.
There was something being mumbled by All for One. All Might came closer to listen in on what his greatest enemy was mindlessly saying under their breath. It took him till he practically hovered his ear over the armored clear shielding to hear what All for One said.
"... H… He's… My…. In… Head… In… T-taking… Me…"
From what he remembered about how All for One worked as a quirk, All Might knew that the ability allowed the villain to take and distribute other quirks at his will. No other quirk had that sort of functionality. The notion that All for One was the one unable to stop somebody stealing his quirk seemed impossible. Not only that, All for One himself looked to be drained of his own health and stamina as this mysterious quirk thief now left the former greatest threat to the world a braindead husk.
"Who is he?! ANSWER ME!"
Both his fists collided with the extremely durable clear polymer shielding separating them. All Might needed answers as to who or what was doing this. Someone out there had taken this villain and transformed him into a feeble husk. An individual capable of this much presented the free world with an enemy that they knew nothing about. The world barely survived the recent conflicts which almost collapsed society. Having to contest with an even more powerful opponent who took out the previous threat for their own benefit would bring everything crumbling down for good.
"Sir, we are about to embark. Please exit the vehicle."
The officer behind All Might politely asked the retired hero to vacate the transport so that the mission could begin. There really wasn't much left of All for One at this point. Only the same cryptic words could be heard from the broken villain. Without much else for him to gain from the villain, All Might turned away frustrated with how much he still remained in the dark.
ESD operations were now working in full gear to get ready to send out the convoy across the city. As he walked back to the monitoring room within the prison to check on the operation, the bitter taste of frustration sat heavily within All Might.
Too much about this new enemy remained unknown. Whoever they were, they held most of the chips in this game of conflict.
Musutafu City
Everyone was in position for the operation to take place. Spread all over the city in a strategic grid for every individual to occupy, they were ready to take on the world's deadliest assassin.
A lot of heroes were rather nervous now that they really were about to undergo a dangerous capture mission for someone who single handedly killed thousands of dangerous individuals. Their lives were on the line for the sake of stopping this murderer from running rampant and doing as he wished in the criminal underworld. To make matters worse, this was their only chance to actually catch him before he disappeared again.
Probably for good this time around.
Up on a city skyscraper, Izuku had his mask off and hood pulled down to keep an eye out for any potential clues as to where Bloodsoaked could be hiding. There were occasional updates on the comm link in his ear regarding the team leaders in charge of certain groups all over the city. They were charged with making sure that the comms weren't overcrowded with chatter and would relay any critical information regarding their movements. For Izuku, he was placed under the command of Mirko. Her intensity paired well with Izuku's quick decision making and ability to understand orders immediately. Much to her pleasure, the kid had a good head on him with decent enough physicality to boot.
"Heads up, convoy is exiting the nest. I repeat, convoy is on the move."
Everyone focused up for the upcoming mission. Izuku equipped his mask and pulled his hood back over his head as the target exited the primary gates of Tartarus Prison. Anything less than their absolute commitment would risk the success of this operation.
Radio chatter was cut down to the bare minimum communication for efficiency sake. Each checkpoint the vehicles passed were confirmed by central operations and given as updates to the heroes to help maintain their coordination. So far, all that happened for a while was a whole lot of nothing as each update only gave the heroes the updated location of the convoy. They all remained vigilant for their target, since they were all briefed in the nature of what a hitman of Bloodsoaked's caliber was capable of. The moment they dropped their guard could be the one window he could abuse and eliminate his target.
Midoriya knew the stakes of his mission. He saw the death this man was capable of. Despite the few out of place instances of him protecting his loved ones, that didn't eliminate the evil this one person had committed. More than anything, Izuku wanted to know how they were connected. Too many things put them in contact with one another time and time again for the past year. All Midoriya wanted from the masked killer was to have his questions answered.
What happened between him and Shigaraki during the end of their fight? Why was the shadowy figure of the mystery inheritor so adamant in not wanting Izuku and Bloodsoaked to meet? For what reason did Bloodsoaked reemerge after decades of remaining hidden from the public? Was the timing of his arrival to UA and the return of Bloodsoaked somehow connected, especially since they've only met during times of crisis? Nothing about this man felt logical enough for Izuku to make heads or tails of him.
For now, he put such thoughts on the backburner until the job was complete. Getting distracted would just make things harder for himself.
Another update of the convoy passing through a checkpoint passed through the comms when Izuku felt something was wrong. Looking around revealed nothing out of the ordinary. He couldn't call in for a feeling he had either. It wasn't his danger sense; his gut feeling nagged to Midoriya that something somewhere was about to happen.
His suspicions were confirmed with the very next update on the comms.
"The convoy has been hit! I repeat, the convoy has been hit!"
"What?! How?!"
"Just shut up for a second! I'm getting an update!"
A very tense forty five seconds passed before Mirko alerted Izuku and the rest of her team that All for One was eliminated from a shot that passed through the armored plating from an impossible angle. Apparently, the shot that killed the former villain came through from the top of the armored vehicle. No buildings or mountains could have given the infamous Bloodsoaked that sort of angle based on the entry point. Nobody amongst the heroes could understand how such an impossible shot could be made. Nobody except Izuku.
He wasn't the only one capable of coming to the conclusion he did, but he did it first.
Quickly opening up his channel, he told the rest of his team his crazy theory which made way too much sense for how much it made sense in this context.
"Guys, he's above us!"
A Few Minutes Earlier
About forty five kilometers above earth's surface, a small aircraft hanging from an alloyed balloon opened up to let its sole passenger stick his upper body outside of the cabin. In the hand opposite to the one used to open the door was a heavy duty rifle. His entire body was covered in an airtight black suit for the atmospheric pressures. An oxygen mask with a rebreather had two wide circular windows for the eyes to see unimpeded.
Kneeling over the edge of his aircraft, he took aim back towards earth and began adjusting his scope with the data he received from the holographic projection displayed from his watch. He didn't rush his aim as he identified his target before waiting for the ideal conditions for his shot to become accurate enough.
The minutes ticked by until the sensors dictated the most ideal atmospheric settings for him to take his shot. A thunderous bang echoed out into the void when he fired his weapon, sending a solid tungsten shot back down through the earth's atmosphere.
Checking his scope finally revealed what happened when his bullet hit his target dead center. All of the convoy had to stop after All for One had his head blown off from a high powered projectile out of normal visual range.
With his target dead, Bloodsoaked left his weapon in the floating cabin of his craft before stepping out onto the ledge. He took a moment to let go of the handlebars behind him to start his descent back down to the earth's surface. Shortly after he fell off of his aircraft, the interior of the ship ignited into high temperature flames to melt anything and everything before the thing would eventually burn up in earth's atmosphere in the descent.
Musutafu City
"The atmosphere?! Kid, we can't even see that far up! How the hell did he make that shot from that distance?!"
Mirko put Izuku's insane theory on the spot for good reason. She didn't want the others to panic at the fact their target just made an impossible shot from out of sight. His response was far too confident for him to second guess himself.
"He's up there. I guarantee you he's now gonna try to make it back down anytime soon now. We have to be ready when he falls close enough rather than trying to search below. Please, trust me…"
Hearing his resolute tone, the slightly reluctant Mirko radioed HQ to let them know that the shot was likely made far above the earth's surface. Many of her fellow heroes were in disbelief at the notion as central command told her to let them confirm the theory. This would cost valuable time in searching for Bloodsoaked, but it would help recoordinate everyone if the idea held water. Several tense moments passed before HQ confirmed that there was something approaching the earth's surface past terminal velocity. That object was exactly the size of an adult male.
Now everyone was prepared as they followed the directions of the location of the falling object's expected collision point. Even Mirko told Izuku she was impressed that his crazy idea turned out to be the answer.
For now, all that mattered was that they bring Bloodsoaked to justice. Izuku hardened his spirit in preparation for probably the greatest fight of his entire life.