Dagoma's municipal beach was famous for having currents that constantly dragged garbage onto its shores. This situation had been ignored by people for years; in fact, many used it as an excuse to illegally dump trash there.
"Someone should report this," Allen said as he looked at the piles of trash beside him, while sitting comfortably on a huge old tractor tire.
Felicia – And why don't you do it yourself?
"I'm way too lazy to do that..." Allen smiled maliciously. "Although I'm sure Momo wouldn't mind taking care of it."
Allen was thinking about how to mess with Momo Yaoyorozu. That girl seemed to have a strict and righteous personality, which made her the perfect target to annoy.
Inside a large mansion, Momo felt a chill run down her spine as she stopped cleaning the bathtub under the supervision of a maid. At the same time, she remembered Allen's face and became even more irritated.
Back with Allen, someone's groan pulled him out of his thoughts.
"Urgh..."
Looking down, Allen saw a green-haired boy pulling with ropes tied to the same tire he was sitting on.
Allen smiled mockingly. "What's wrong? Already tired? You won't become All Might like that."
"Not yet!" the boy replied stubbornly, and continued pulling the tire with all his strength, but without even moving it an inch.
Allen laughed. "That's fine. Remember, you're only allowed to rest once you move the tire three steps."
Izuku Midoriya, also known as Deku, froze when he heard Allen's words. Then he looked up at him in fear.
"I-is that for real?"
"Of course. But I'm not a demon." Allen slowly floated down and landed next to Deku before putting on a half-smile. "Even if you fail, you just have to keep trying until you puke or pass out. That will be sufficient."
"Nooo!" Deku threw himself to the ground and screamed in despair.
Allen shrugged. "Oh, if you don't want to, you don't have to. But there's not much time left before the U.A. entrance exams. If you fall behind, you will not be admitted. And if that happens, forget about becoming a hero..."
"Y-you're a demon!" Deku shouted, but he grabbed the ropes again with determination. "I won't give up!"
Allen laughed at that. "Well, at least you've got willpower."
When he woke up that morning, Allen hadn't expected to spend his day supervising All Might's successor.
Allen had no plans for Sunday, but in the morning he received a call from All Might. Luckily, it was to the house phone; otherwise, Allen would've felt weird about a big, unfamiliar guy having his personal number.
Toshinori Yagi, better known as All Might, asked Allen for a small favor. He was supposed to train Izuku Midoriya. Why? Because the boy had been chosen by All Might as his successor. Unfortunately, a situation had come up—there was a cruise ship stranded off the coast of Okinawa, and All Might had to deal with it.
All Might called Allen to replace him for the day.
At first, Allen refused and suggested postponing it, but All Might said he couldn't.
– "Young Allen, that boy is the best candidate I've found to be my successor. However, there's little time left before the U.A. exams. Young Midoriya has to pass, he needs to start growing as a hero. I don't know if my body can last another year... my Quirk puts immense physical strain on me, and for it to be inherited, it requires a suitable body." –
At that moment, Allen was left speechless. Not only had All Might revealed the identity of his successor, but he also told him about his physical condition—and the secret behind his Quirk.
Allen didn't know whether All Might was careless or simply trusted him too much.
"Refusing in that situation would make me a complete asshole," Allen sighed, shaking his head.
Of course, the main reason he accepted was that All Might wasn't unpleasant. Maybe Allen didn't know him well, but the fact that he wasn't a Homelander or an Omni-Man was more than enough to do him a favor.
Luckily, Allen only had to watch over Deku, since All Might had already given him his first objective: cleaning these mountains of trash. This would not only help the beach, but also strengthen him.
'But will he have enough time?'
There was a little over a month left before the exams. U.A. wasn't just the most famous hero school—it was also the hardest. The entrance exams wouldn't be easy. Most applicants like Momo and Toru had been preparing for years. Could Deku really make it with so little time?
Allen had no way of knowing that in the original timeline, Deku would have had ten months to prepare. This reduced timeframe could be the butterfly effect caused by Allen's existence—or perhaps Lucifer's doing. However, neither he nor his Chat had any way of knowing.
"Ah!" Deku collapsed to the ground, exhausted. "Damn it!"
"You're not puking yet!" Allen said coldly.
Being a successor was an enormous burden. Allen wasn't the type to do favors halfway, so he wasn't going to be lenient with Deku.
"I know! I won't give up! I've waited my whole life for an opportunity!" Deku stomped the ground harder. His nose even began to bleed from the strain. "And now I have it. My idol, the number one hero, accepted me as his successor. I can't give up!"
The tire moved slightly.
"Oh." Allen smiled in approval. At least Deku didn't lack guts.
Deku continued for another half hour until he finally managed to move the tire three steps, then collapsed to the ground, unable to move.
Allen tossed him a bottle of water while he himself looked out at the sea. Deku failed to catch it and was hit on the head instead.
"Ouch!"
"Fool, pay attention."
"Couldn't you have warned me?"
"Villains won't warn you when they try to kill you."
"..."
When he opened his eyes, Deku looked at Allen's silent profile—this mysterious young man who could transform and gain incredible powers.
Deku couldn't believe that someone like Allen, who even knew All Might's secrets, was completely unknown. No matter what forum or site he searched, there were no records of any of the superheroes Allen had transformed into.
"Allen-san..."
"What?"
"Why don't you train too? Aren't you supposed to enter U.A.?"
Deku was curious, but he wasn't going to pry into Allen's secrets, so he limited himself to asking about U.A.
Allen shrugged. "Unlike you, I'm stronger and more skilled. Besides, who says I'm not training?"
Deku blinked in confusion, but Allen just laughed and floated upward.
"Drag those refrigerators back and forth. I'll be watching you from above."
Deku turned pale, but still stood up and continued the hellish training.
From above, Allen looked at the sea and slowly closed his eyes.
The sunlight slowly seeped into his body.
Yesterday, Allen had obtained three chances at the slot machine. He used them casually, expecting nothing—but unexpectedly, he got lucky and obtained a Golden Superman Template QG 7: (Near Mint), which granted him the ability to turn into Superman for three hours.
Rukia – Is it really okay to use it like that?
Mirajane – Allen, wasn't that something valuable?
Superman – Allen, are you absorbing sunlight? Can that template be strengthened?!
Allen opened his eyes and looked at the sky. He felt strangely comfortable being under the sun. Seeing the comments from his Chat, Allen explained.
"Yeah. From what I've experienced, the first time I use a template, I become a version of myself as 'that someone.'" Allen smiled. "So you don't get confused, imagine that in a parallel universe I'm Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, etc. What this template does is create that alternate version of me. It happens once, and the next time I use the same template, I become that same version again."
Rogue – Oh, I see. It's like creating a character the first time, and when you log back in, you enter the same save file...
"That's an accurate, though somewhat strange analogy." Allen chuckled to himself.
It was strange—during his fight against the Giant, he had been injured by the colossus. Even if he didn't defend himself, and Giant had Lucifer's help, he shouldn't have been hurt so easily.
Thinking about it over and over, Allen came to the conclusion that he wasn't as strong as an adult Superman. At least, he couldn't face the Clark he knew. He accepted that fact, but strangely, when he transformed into Superman again—this time during the day—he felt himself slowly absorbing sunlight.
It was a slow process, but it was happening. This led him to conclude that he could strengthen his transformations by using them, training, or fighting. Of course, there was a downside: to strengthen them, he had to use them—and doing so consumed the template's time.
Allen descended, and once on the ground, he stopped using the Superman template.
[Template: Superman – Golden
QG 7: (Near Mint)
Activation: 50%
Remaining Time: 5:50:14]
Because he had only activated it at 50%, he not only doubled the usage time, but also avoided physical changes such as growing taller or more muscular. The suit didn't appear either.
Allen believed that if he did this, he could use his templates discreetly at U.A., without fully transforming. Besides, a 50% Superman was still far more than most villains could handle.
Deku collapsed again, and this caused a wicked smile to appear on Allen's face.
"What?" Deku panicked when he saw Allen approaching.
Allen smiled brightly—but that smile only scared Deku more.
"Believe me, this will hurt you more than it hurts me. But you'll thank me for it..."
"Nooo!"
....
Allen spent a few more hours torturing... supervising Deku's training.
When All Might returned, he found Deku lying on the ground, hollow and lifeless.
"OH MY GOD! YOUNG MIDORIYA!" All Might shouted as he held Deku's pale body. But Deku opened his eyes and smiled.
"I-I'm fine."
All Might looked at Allen for confirmation.
"Well... he's still breathing. Is that enough, right?"
At that moment, the number one hero thought that maybe asking Allen for help hadn't been the best idea.
Allen finished the favor and decided to leave, letting mentor and student continue alone. Since Allen had six hours as Superman, he decided he could take a little break, so he rose into the air to fly.
Allen flew through the sky, passing through the clouds and reaching the point where they ended.
As he did so, he looked at the horizon and felt a pleasant sense of freedom. While his body absorbed more sunlight.
....
....
(In another part of the city.)
Sunday is one of those days everyone loves, mostly because it usually means rest—whether from school or work.
Toru Hagakure was no exception, so she decided to go out to karaoke with some of her friends.
She was only invisible; aside from that, she was a girl like any other. She had a great time at the place, and a few hours later she said goodbye and headed back home. However, on the way, she ran into a problem—she found a little boy crying.
"What's wrong?" the girl asked.
"Ah! A ghost!"
"I'm not a ghost!"
Toru sighed. This wasn't the first time a child had been scared by her, and it definitely wouldn't be the last.
"This is my Quirk. Now tell me why you're crying."
The boy wiped his tears and pointed at a balloon stuck at the top of a tree.
Toru looked at the height and felt she should call the firefighters, but quickly dismissed the idea.
"No, no, no. They must have important things to do, like putting out fires."
In a situation like this, there wasn't much to be done—maybe buy him another balloon or make him understand that it wasn't the end of the world. However, Toru wanted to be a superhero. How could she call herself one if she left a child crying?
The girl gathered her courage and started climbing the tree. As she climbed higher, Toru felt more nervous, because falling from a certain height started to become dangerous.
"Sis, how are you doing?" the boy asked with innocent eyes.
'Damn it, why did it have to be a pine tree?' Toru complained internally, but on the outside, she kept smiling. "I'm almost there, don't worry! Leave it to me!"
"Yay! The ghost sister is amazing!"
"I already told you I'm not a ghost!"
Frustrated and annoyed, Toru reached the large red balloon—but when she grabbed it, she lost her balance and fell.
"Ahh!"
Toru screamed in fear, cursing her luck. She adjusted her falling position as best she could, hoping to only break a bone or two. However, the pain never came. Instead, she found herself in someone's arms.
"Have you ever heard the phrase, don't use a nail to hold a nut?"
"A... Allen!"
Toru opened her eyes in disbelief, realizing that he was holding her like a princess.
"W-what a strange saying," She looked away, trying to hide her embarrassment.
"It's normal you think that, because I just made it up," Allen laughed.
Toru was thankful she was invisible—otherwise Allen would see just how red her face was right now.
The girl looked at Allen with a bit more confidence, noticing how his eyes were watching her, while that smile—somewhere between amusement and mockery—never left his face.
"Well, we'd better go down."
"Huh?"
Hearing those words, Toru was startled as she realized they were floating. Seeing the height they were at, she wrapped her arms around his neck.
Many people who had seen them started recording. That was modern society—there were always people with phones in their hands, ready to film whatever happened. Of course, Allen didn't care.
He slowly descended to the ground under everyone's gaze. The reason Allen drew so much attention was that flight-type Quirks were rare. Of course, many heroes could fly, but it was usually through other abilities or mutations—like Hawks, the number three hero, who had wings; Endeavor, the number two hero, whose fire allowed him to fly; or All Might, who simply leaped vast distances.
But Allen's Quirk was clearly flight in its purest form. And considering that he was handsome and had just saved a girl from falling, it was obvious he would attract attention.
Unlike the other times, this wasn't during a transformation—it was him as himself.
[Are you okay with this?]
Allen felt unconcerned. 'Either way, once I enroll at U.A., I'll draw attention.'
Superheroes in this world didn't live in secrecy. In fact, it was almost a requirement to be public and accessible so everyone could know you. So regardless of whether Allen wanted to live a double life using templates, he still needed a public side.
[I recommend you not use too many abilities as Allen Walker.]
'We'll see.'
Allen didn't want to draw too much attention, but he also didn't care that much. In that sense, Allen was more like Marvel heroes—many of whom chose to be public—rather than DC heroes who hid their identities as much as possible.
After landing, Allen set Toru down. She adjusted her skirt and handed the balloon to the child.
"Thank you, sister," the boy said gratefully, then quickly looked at Allen with sparkling eyes. "Mister, are you a superhero?!"
Toru felt offended. She had taken the risk to get that balloon, and the kid practically treated her like she didn't matter.
"I'm not, kid... well, we'd better go, Toru." Allen laughed. He picked Toru up in his arms and flew away.
"Ah, wait!" the girl shouted—more out of embarrassment than surprise.
....
In a secret hideout, All For One watched multiple screens. Each one showed Allen as Superman, Shazam, Batman, and even swinging between buildings like Spider-Man.
"So many heroes appearing out of nowhere... this is troublesome..."
Despite his words, the man felt no fear at all. On the contrary, his hidden eyes gleamed with greed and ill intent.
"Legal heroes are easy to monitor because most of their actions are public. But these unknown vigilantes are a mystery..."
"Sensei, do you want me to eliminate them?"
A deep yet young voice said from the shadows. Only red eyes were visible behind a mask shaped like a hand.
"Tomura-kun, don't be reckless... You still lack what's necessary to deal with heroes of that caliber."
The man in the black suit with the jet-black helmet stood up and walked toward the exit, leaving a sinister and dangerous aura around him.
"Don't worry, I have a plan"
"As expected of you, Sensei..." the young man said, staring at the screens with murderous intent. He wouldn't allow anyone to stand in the way of his Sensei—the most important person in his life.