Chapter 215 - 214: Escalation

Location: Naruhata Ward - Kaito's Room

Time: Evening

CLACK. CLACK.

Kaito typed quickly on his keyboard. He sat at his large wooden desk, looking closely at the computer monitor.

The screen displayed a complex 3D model of a mechanical gauntlet.

Kaito adjusted the pressure valves on the digital blueprint. He increased the thickness of the kinetic-absorbent foam lining the inside of the forearm guard.

Eve the artificial intelligence spoke through the desktop speakers. [Boss. The communication servers are currently receiving a massive influx of traffic. The Provisional Hero License Exam results were just published publicly.]

Kaito kept his eyes on the screen. He dragged a digital piston into place on the gauntlet model.

"Specify the sources," Kaito instructed quietly.

Eve replied instantly. [I am tracking direct consultation requests from the principals of Seiai Academy, Isamu Academy, and the Seiji. Academy. Several mid-tier hero schools are also submitting request s.]

The results of the exam made Shiketsu High and Ketsubutsu Academy once again on headline. The other schools realized they can also ask help from the Golden Manager after what Ketsubutsu and Shiketsu did.

"Archive all of them," Kaito said. "I am currently under contract. I am not taking new academic clients at this time."

[Archiving the requests now.]

RING. RING.

The encrypted company phone buzzed on the desk.

Kaito stopped typing. He picked the phone up and accepted the call.

"Arisaka Consulting," Kaito answered smoothly.

"Mr. Arisaka," Principal Kouzuki spoke through the speaker. His strict, intimidating tone was completely gone. He sounded incredibly happy. "I am calling to share the final results from the entire exam."

"I assume the faculty seminar yielded a positive outcome," Kaito replied.

"Thirty-one passing licenses across both of our second-year classes," Kouzuki confirmed with pride. "Our students executed the physics grids perfectly. The U.A. Academy only secured sixteen licenses nationwide today. We officially established a massive edge over them."

"Congratulations, Principal," Kaito said. "Your teachers drilled the syllabus properly."

"The school board is thrilled," Kouzuki continued. "We want to authorize a substantial monetary bonus to your agency account to show our gratitude."

Kaito leaned back in his chair.

"I decline the offer," Kaito stated simply. "We agreed on a flat fee for the two-week seminar. You paid the invoice. I do not accept unearned bonuses."

Kouzuki laughed quietly on the other end. "You are a very principled man, Mr. Arisaka. If you ever wish to return to Shiketsu High, our doors are always open to you."

"Goodbye, Principal Kouzuki."

CLICK.

Kaito hung up. He set the company phone back on the desk.

BZZT. BZZT.

His personal phone vibrated in his vest pocket.

Kaito pulled it out and looked at the screen. He swiped right to answer.

"Hello, Emi," Kaito greeted her casually.

"Kaito," Emi Fukukado laughed loudly through the phone. "You really flipped the whole board today."

"I told you didn't I?" Kaito pointed out. "Even if they asked me for help you still have countless students that passed the exam right?"

"I know," Emi sighed, still sounding cheerful. "I was completely shocked when I saw their terrain control. My students didn't hit a one hundred percent pass rate this time. Snipe's sidekicks caught a lot of them off guard with those curving cement bullets in Phase Two."

Kaito picked up his coffee mug and took a sip.

"You still at least secured eighty plut spots," Kaito reminded her. "That is an overwhelming majority."

"Yep," Emi agreed. "The principal is practically throwing a party right now. I just wanted to call and say thank you again. We couldn't have pulled this off without the Shadow Hero playbook."

Kaito said. "Have a good night, Emi."

"You too, Kaito!"

CLICK.

Kaito set his personal phone down next to the keyboard. He looked back at the 3D model on his screen.

He highlighted the hydraulic release mechanisms on the gauntlet. He needed to finish the physical build by the end of the week.

...

Location: Otheon - Abandoned Tech Office

Time: Night

SCRAPE. CLICK.

A rusted server room door opened.

Giulio Gandini stepped inside the dark room. He kept his hands in his dark coat pockets. His single eye scanned the dusty computer terminals.

Rody Soul walked in right behind him. He held a small flashlight, sweeping the beam of light across the broken desks and tangled cables.

Pino, the small pink bird, sat quietly on his shoulder.

Giulio walked up to the main server rack in the corner.

"Your father worked out of this laboratory before he disappeared, right?," Giulio said quietly.

Rody gripped the flashlight tighter. "Hmm."

A few weeks ago, Giulio sat Rody down and laid out a very clear theory.

Eddie Soul was a dedicated family man. He loved his children. He didn't just betray his country and his family and join the Humarise cult voluntarily.

Giulio suggested a different reality. He believed Eddie was blackmailed.

The cult wanted his brilliant engineering skills for them.

Rody spent the last three weeks helping Giulio track down this specific abandoned office to find the truth.

THWAP.

Giulio pulled a thick cable from his coat pocket.

He plugged one end into his personal digital pad and shoved the other end directly into the dusty server port.

WHIRR.

The old server fans kicked on, blowing dust into the air.

CLACK. CLACK.

Giulio typed rapidly on his screen. He bypassed the old security firewalls.

"I am accessing the deleted security logs from the week your father vanished," Giulio explained, his eye tracking the scrolling code. "I hope we can find something."

He stopped typing and tapped a specific video file to recover the data.

"Got it," Giulio muttered with relief.

A grainy, black-and-white video feed played on his digital pad.

Rody stepped closer, pointing his flashlight down at the screen.

The video showed a narrow alleyway behind the tech office.

Eddie Soul walked out the back door holding a briefcase.

Two large men stepped out of the shadows, blocking his path.

They wore the dark, hooded robes.

The audio was muffled, but the actions were clear.

One of the robed men pulled a stack of photographs from his pocket. He shoved them into Eddie's chest.

The camera angle caught the top photograph. It was a picture of Rody walking his younger brother and sister home from school.

Eddie dropped his briefcase. He looked completely terrified. He raised his hands in surrender and nodded rapidly.

The two robed men grabbed his arms and dragged him into a waiting black van.

The video ended.

Rody stared at the blank screen. His hands shook violently.

CHIRP. CHIRP. CHIRP.

Pino chirped a sad, angry noise, fluttering her wings against his neck.

His father didn't abandon them. He traded his own life to keep the terrorist away from his kids.

"They forced him," Rody whispered, his voice cracking. "They threatened to kill us."

Giulio pulled a small flash drive from his pocket. He plugged it into his pad and transferred the recovered video file directly onto the drive.

"We have the physical proof," Giulio stated calmly.

He unplugged the drive and immediately ran a complex encryption protocol over the file.

He pulled the cable out of the server and wiped the terminal clean.

Rody looked at the encrypted drive in Giulio's hand.

"What do we do with it?" Rody asked, wiping a tear from his eye. "Do we take it to the Otheon police?"

"No," Giulio answered, slipping the drive into his coat. "The local police cannot handle this organization. We need to escalate this to someone with enough clearance."

"Who?" Rody asked.

"I am going to send this file anonymously to Clair Voyance," Giulio decided.

Rody recognized the name. Clair Voyance was a famous Pro Hero working in Otheon.

"Why her?" Rody wiped his face with his sleeve.

"Her agency recently spiked in successful closed cases," Giulio explained his logic. "As far as I know, she received a consultation from the Golden Manager. She changed her operational protocols. She is currently the most reliable and secure hero in this country. She will know exactly how to handle this intelligence without compromising the investigation."

Giulio turned around and walked toward the door.

Giulio said. "I need to find a secure public terminal to send the email. And I can just follow their results and trail them. Now that you know the results. Go home Rody. It's not safe for you to come with me."

"..."

"..."

"I'm sorry but they have my father."

CHIRP. CHIRP. CHIRP.

"You need to think about your siblings."

...

Location: Musutafu - Death Arms Agency Basement

Time: Seven Days Later

CLINK.

Kaito set a heavy metal case down on the concrete floor. He popped the latches and opened the lid.

Death Arms stood on the training mat wearing gym shorts and a tight black tank top.

Goro and Ken stood near the stairs, watching closely.

Inside the case rested a pair of massive, heavy mechanical gauntlets.

They were forged from dark gray steel, fitted with thick pneumatic pistons along the forearms and heavy pressure valves near the wrists.

"Put them on," Kaito instructed.

Death Arms stepped forward. He lifted the right gauntlet out of the case. It was incredibly heavy.

He slid his hand inside and locked the thick metal straps over his forearm. He repeated the process with the left gauntlet.

HISS.

The pressure valves sealed tightly against his skin.

Death Arms rotated his wrists. The metal plates shifted smoothly. "This is nice.."

"Walk up to the concrete block," Kaito pointed at a solid, reinforced concrete pillar set up in the corner of the room.

Death Arms stood in front of the pillar. He squared his stance.

"Do not throw a punch yet," Kaito told him. "Place your right fist flat against the concrete."

Death Arms pressed the metal knuckles of the gauntlet directly against the rough stone.

"Expand your right forearm," Kaito ordered. "Compress your quirk. When you reach the peak threshold, clench your fist to trigger the internal sensor."

"Good." Death Arms gritted his teeth.

SQUELCH.

He forced his quirk to activate. The muscle fibers in his right arm expanded massively.

The heavy steel plates of the gauntlet expanded outward with his skin, accommodating the extreme shift in size.

The veins on his bicep bulged.

Death Arms clenched his fist hard.

CLACK. PSHHH.

The internal sensor triggered. The pneumatic piston on the back of the gauntlet fired with extreme, violent force.

It drove the heavy metal knuckles forward artificially.

CRASH. BOOM.

The solid concrete pillar shattered instantly. Dust and gravel exploded across the room.

CRUMBLE. CRUMBLE.

Death Arms stepped back, grabbing his right shoulder.

He lowered his arm.

HISSSS.

The gauntlet hissed, venting hot steam from the pressure valves. The concrete pillar was completely gone.

Death Arms looked at the rubble on the floor. He looked down at his metal knuckles.

"..."

"..."

"Awesome!" "That is sick boss!" The sidekicks on the side was very excited.

"Hahaha!" Death Arms let out a loud, booming laugh. "The kinetic force didn't stop at the surface. It blew straight through the entire block. I didn't even try that hard."

"The piston handles the forward drive," Kaito said, pulling his stopwatch from his pocket. "You handle the pressure control. We start the cycling drills now."

...

Ten Days Later

Location: Unknown Underground Warehouse

The underground warehouse was big, smelling of cigarette smoke and junk foods.

The Shie Hassaikai provided the place.

Dabi sat on a wooden shipping crate near the back wall.

He wore his heavy dark coat.

Across the room, his subordinates sat around a folding table.

Dabi held his smartphone. He scrolled through the internet, reading the daily news feeds.

He stopped on a trending video clip.

It was live aerial footage from a news helicopter. A massive commercial office building was completely engulfed in raging fire.

The camera zoomed in. Endeavor stood in the middle of the street.

The Number Two hero didn't speak. He moved with absolute precision.

Endeavor used a highly controlled vortex of flames to suck the oxygen out of the burning building, snuffing the chemical fire out in seconds.

His sidekicks moved in smoothly to extract the civilians.

The news ticker at the bottom of the screen read.

ENDEAVOR SECURES BUILDING. ZERO CASUALTIES REPORTED.

Dabi stared at the screen.

Creak. Crack.

His grip on the phone tightened. The plastic casing cracked slightly.

He watched the reporters praise Endeavor. They called him a perfect hero.

Then it clicked to him.

Dabi felt a deep, twisting anger burn in his chest.

He spent the last several months managing the Vigilante underground.

He wasted his time fighting with man-child with bratty personality and his lackeys. He got entirely sidetracked from his actual goal.

FWOOSH.

FLICKER. FLICKER.

Bright, roaring blue flames erupted from Dabi's left hand.

The sudden heat spiked the temperature in the warehouse instantly.

The subordinates dropped their playing cards. They stood up from their folding chair, looking over at Dabi with wide eyes.

"Boss?" One of them asked cautiously. "Did that hand face guy caused trouble again?"

Dabi crushed the smartphone in his right hand.

The glass screen shattered into pieces.

Dabi stood up from the crate. The blue fire danced across his knuckles, burning hotter than ever before.

"No," Dabi answered, his voice completely cold. "Playtime in the underground is over."

He walked past the folding table, heading straight for the heavy metal garage doors at the front of the warehouse.

"Where are we going?" Slice asked, grabbing her jacket.

"My goal of course." Dabi stated.

...

Five Days Later

Location: Musutafu - Death Arms Agency

CRUNCH.

Kaito took a bite of a salted rice cracker. He sat at the main desk in the agency office, looking out the window to watch Ken and Goro training with their new techniques.

The small television mounted on the office wall interrupted its regular broadcast. A loud alert chime played.

The screen cut to a female news anchor sitting at a desk with the Sato X News logo behind her.

[We interrupt this broadcast to bring you breaking news from the Hosu District. A massive, destructive battle is currently underway.]

Kaito stopped chewing his cracker. He looked up at the television.

The news feed switched to shaky, raw footage recorded from a rooftop.

Two massive pillars of fire clashed violently in the middle of a city intersection. One pillar was a deep, burning orange. The other was a blinding, roaring blue.

[The Number Two Hero, Endeavor, was ambushed while on routine patrol. His attacker has been identified as the famous Azure Fire Vigilante.]

Kaito watched the blue flames wash over a brick building, melting the concrete instantly.

[The vigilante is displaying unprecedented thermal power. Early reports indicate his blue fire is actually burning hotter than Endeavor's own flames. Furthermore, analysts are pointing out that the vigilante's combat movements directly mirror Endeavor's signature techniques and also the snapping gesture of Hero X.]

"So it's this guy." Kaito remembered. He recognized the tall figure throwing the blue fire.

Dabi.

When Kaito found him bleeding in an alleyway three years ago, he fixed Dabi's biological defect out of pity.

He removed his quirk defect so the kid wouldn't burn himself alive when using his quirk.

[The government has just issued an emergency mandate. Due to the extreme property damage and the direct assault on a top-ranking Pro Hero, the Azure Fire Vigilante has officially been reclassified. He is now designated as an S-Rank Villain.]

The footage showed Endeavor throwing a massive spear of fire, only for Dabi to snap his fingers alternately and caused continuous explosion directly infront of Endeavor.

"Woah!! This guy even did Roy Mustang." Kaito was amazed looking at the guy in the news.

The family drama of the Todoroki household was finally spilling into the streets.

...

Location: Musutafu - City Streets

Fifteen Days Later

A heavy, reinforced armored truck drifted wildly around a street corner, knocking a mailbox over.

Two bank robbers sat in the front seats, laughing as they floored the gas pedal to escape the police cruisers behind them.

"They can't catch us!" the driver yelled, shifting gears.

Up ahead, Death Arms stood in the middle of the road. Goro and Ken stood right behind him.

"Intercept them," Death Arms ordered firmly.

Ken activated his Kinetic Bounce.

BOING.

He jumped hard against the brick wall of a nearby bakery. He ricocheted off a streetlight, bouncing to the opposite wall.

He stacked his kinetic momentum three times, turning his body into a high-speed blur.

Ken shot straight down the sidewalk toward Goro.

Ken grabbed the heavy leather straps on the back of Goro's utility belt.

He didn't stop moving. He transferred all the built-up kinetic speed directly into the veteran sidekick.

WHOOSH.

Goro launched forward like a human cannonball. He flew straight toward the speeding armored truck.

The driver panicked, slamming on the brakes. It was too late.

Goro pulled his right arm back. He kept his skin completely soft and normal. He waited until his fist was exactly one inch away from the grill of the truck.

His knuckles turned dark gray, hardening into solid concrete right before impact.

CRASH.

Goro punched the front grill. The concentrated mass hit the vehicle like a falling meteor. The heavy truck flipped upward, the engine block completely shattered, and slammed back down onto the asphalt.

The two robbers groaned, unconscious against their airbags.

Goro landed perfectly on his feet. Ken jogged up next to him, breathing heavily.

"Perfect hit," Ken gave a tired thumbs-up.

An hour later, back at the agency basement, the two sidekicks sank into the warm green fluid of the Detnerat bio-med tanks.

The healing fluid bubbled around them, rapidly repairing the torn muscle tissues from the extreme physical strain from daily training and patrol works.

...

Eight Days Later

Location: Death Arms Agency Basement

PSHH. BANG.

PSHH. BANG.

Death Arms stood in the center of the training mats. He faced two heavy steel striking pads mounted on reinforced springs.

He expanded his left arm to maximum size. He clenched his fist. The left pneumatic piston fired, driving his metal knuckles into the pad.

BANG.

His left arm deflated back to normal size instantly. He inhaled deeply, forcing the blood pressure straight into his right arm.

The right arm swelled massively. He clenched his fist.

BANG.

The right piston fired, slamming into the second pad.

He sped the process up. Left arm. Right arm. Left arm. Right arm.

PSHH. BANG. PSHH. BANG.

He threw the heavy, piston-driven punches in a continuous, rapid barrage.

"Keep the breathing steady," Kaito instructed, watching the rhythm. "Do not hold your breath. Cycle the oxygen with your quirk."

Death Arms gritted his teeth, sweat pouring down his face.

The Machine-Gun techniques was physically agonizing to maintain, but the destructive output was terrifying.

...

Eleven Days Later

Location: Death Arms Agency Basement

​The heavy steel striking pads in the center of the basement were already dented from weeks of the Machine-Gun Rush drills.

​Death Arms stood on the mat. He wiped sweat from his eyes and adjusted the heavy pneumatic gauntlets on his forearms.

​"Reset your stance," Kaito instructed, standing near the concrete stairs. "Do not fight it. Let the weight pull you."

​"Understood.." Death Arms nodded. He planted his left foot forward.

​He closed his eyes and activated his quirk, isolating the blood flow entirely to his right arm.

The muscle fibers expanded rapidly, swelling to maximum capacity. His right side became incredibly top-heavy. He swayed slightly, adjusting his boots to keep from tipping over.

​Centrifugal Wrecking Ball

​He twisted his torso backward, pulling the massive right arm behind him to build rotational momentum.

​He stepped hard off his back foot. He spun his upper body forward in a wide circle.

The sheer, crushing weight of the expanded muscle drag his fist forward into a wide hook.

​SWIISH. BAAAM.

​His metal knuckles slammed into the side of the steel pad. The heavy metal support beam bent entirely in half.

THUNK. THUNK.

The impact ripped the bolts straight out of the concrete floor.

​Death Arms stumbled forward from the follow-through, catching his balance just before hitting the wall.

​"This technique is good." Death Arms grunted, deflating his arm quickly to relieve the stress. "Swinging momentum doubles the impact force."

​"It is a finisher after all," Kaito said, writing a note on his digital pad. "Take a five-minute break."

​...

​Four Days Later

​THWUMP.

​A heavy industrial pitching machine fired a solid steel baseball across the room at eighty miles per hour.

​Death Arms stood ten feet away. He crossed his massive, gauntlet-covered arms directly in front of his face.

​CLANG.

​The steel baseball hit the thick outer plating of his left gauntlet.

​The kinetic-absorbent foam lining the inside of the metal plates compressed.

His dense forearm muscles acted as organic shock absorbers, catching the violent kinetic energy and trapping it inside the gear.

​THWUMP. CLANG.

​A second steel ball hit his right gauntlet. He absorbed the impact again.

​The steel balls dropped to the floor.

​Death Arms stepped forward with his right foot. He uncrossed his arms rapidly. He snapped his right fist out, releasing the trapped kinetic energy directly from the foam padding.

​BOOM.

​A massive, invisible shockwave blasted out from his knuckles.

BAAM. THUD.

The sheer force of the Counter Blast hit the heavy pitching machine, blowing it completely backward and sliding it ten feet across the concrete floor.

​"I finally got the hang of it." Death Arms lowered his arms, breathing heavily. He looked at his smoking gauntlets. "But it has requirements."

​"It requires the enemy to strike first," Kaito pointed out. "It is a retaliatory mechanic. You use it when a villain attempts to attack you. The more kinetic force you take, the harder the return blast hits."

​...

​Another Three Days Later

Location: Musutafu - City Streets

Time: Morning

​RUMBLE.

​A massive chunk of a brick building shattered, sending heavy debris falling toward the crowded sidewalk.

​"Run!" a pedestrian screamed, dropping his briefcase and scrambling away from the shadow of the falling rocks.

​In the center of the intersection, a villain with glowing red arms laughed wildly. His quirk allowed him to generate explosive kinetic bursts every time he punched an object.

​"Nobody stops me!" the villain yelled, pulling his fist back to hit a flipped police cruiser.

​Death Arms dropped from a nearby rooftop directly into the street.

​He looked up at the falling brick debris threatening the civilians on the sidewalk.

​Static Defense

​He expanded both of his forearms to maximum width.

He slammed his gauntlets straight down into the asphalt, anchoring himself into the street. He angled his massive arms upward like a solid metal roof.

​CRASH. CRASH.

​The heavy bricks and concrete slabs slammed into his arms.

"Thank God! It's Death Arms!"

"You saved me!"

"Run!"

CRACKLE. CRACKLE.

The kinetic-absorbent foam compressed heavily.

The sheer weight of the debris forced his knees to buckle slightly, but he held the line. The civilians ran past him to safety.

​The villain turned around. He saw Death Arms holding the debris.

​"Die!" the villain charged forward. He threw a glowing red fist directly at Death Arms' exposed chest.

​Death Arms didn't dodge at all.

He let the falling debris roll off his back.

Death Arms crossed his arms over his chest at the exact millisecond the villain struck him.

​BAAM.

​The kinetic explosion hit the gauntlets.

The shockwave rattled Death Arms' teeth, but his dense muscles and the internal foam trapped the explosive energy perfectly.

​The villain stepped back, completely confused that the pro hero didn't fall over.

​"My turn," Death Arms grunted.

​He stepped forward. He uncrossed his arms and snapped his right fist out.

​BOOM.

​He released all the trapped energy from the falling bricks and the villain's own explosion in a single, devastating Counter Blast.

​The shockwave hit the villain square in the chest.

The man flew backward through the air, crashing into the side of a brick wall and slumping to the ground completely unconscious.

​Goro and Ken jogged around the corner. They stopped and looked at the unconscious villain, then at the massive crater in the street.

​"He actually hit him with the haymaker," Ken said, grinning widely.

​Death Arms stood up straight. He deflated his arms and rolled his shoulders.

The combat flow felt completely natural now.

​...

Location: Death Arms Agency Basement

Time: Another Seven Days (2.2 Months)

HUFF-PUFF. HUFF-PUFF.

​Death Arms lay flat on his back in the center of the training mat. He stared up at the ceiling lights, his chest heaving as he pulled oxygen into his lungs.

The heavy gauntlets rested on the floor next to him.

​Goro and Ken lay on the concrete floor a few feet away. Ken had a cold ice pack pressed against his knee.

Goro's knuckles were wrapped in thick white bandages.

​Kaito stood near the stairs. He held his silver stopwatch.

​CLICK.

​Kaito pushed the button on the top of the watch. He slid it into his vest pocket.

​He looked at the three men on the floor. Their baseline physical stats were completely transformed.

Their quirk control was getting perfect.

​Death Arms successfully demonstrated the Piston Drive, the Machine-Gun Rush, the Static Defense, the Counter Blast, and the Centrifugal Wrecking Ball plans.

​"You guys did great for the past two months." Kaito announced happily.

​Death Arms forced himself to sit up. He rubbed his tired face with his hands, letting out a long, exhausted laugh.

​"We finally survived your grueling plan," Death Arms joked. "Hehe... I haven't had this much training since I was in highschool, Kaito... No your program is mich more brutal than my hero school..."

"I'm so tired but the results is really good. Thanks Manager." Goro joined in

"Finally, I can use my quirk better." Ken chimed.

​"You mastered your own individual quirk developments," Kaito announced to everyone. "We have roughly twenty days remaining on the contract."

​Ken groaned from the floor. "We aren't done?"

​"You shouldn't forget that you still have your Agency development right?" Kaito told the sidekick. "The final phase of the contract begins tomorrow. We spend the next two weeks linking your individual moves into seamless combat synchronization combining with the agency development and changes."

​Death Arms looked at his gauntlets on the floor. He cracked his neck and smiled.

​"I completely forgot about that... Let's get to work, Manager," Death Arms laughed.

...

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