"These gauntlets are indeed monsters. And this is just medium-class weapon according to the supplier?!"
Said a soldier, from his sides sprouted ram horns, looking at the crater made from a simple jab. The hole reached a height five times that of him, the depth enough for four people to hide from rain. The blue energy radiating from his fist hummed in approval of the man's statement.
The gauntlets, despite the name, were actually an exoskeleton aimed at storing kinetic energy from movements and impacts taken before unleashing all of the pent-up power in wavelets that constructively interfered at a singular point. The emission of blue crackling lightning was a discharge function to protect the capacitors and to prevent explosions.
The weight of the thing required trained personnel in terms of both skill and muscles in order to utilize the item flexibly and efficiently. The bulky alloy plates with piston shafts running along the arm's curve favored durability over aesthetics.
"Let the things charge! You guys have been playing around with this thing for quite some time now. Aside from training, as per protocol, leave the exoskeletons in the charger. To be frolicking around and punching holes out of the training room ... who do you think is repairing the damage?"
One of the military engineers responsible for maintenance scolded loudly. Aside from the usual destruction from quirks training by soldiers and generals, the place also suffered from testing damage of any new weapons but not to such extent. His team had already unscrewed everything off the gauntlets to take a deeper look and they were all amazed by the use of unknown alloy and composite materials in the fortification around the main energy module. With their estimation, one set of gauntlet and exoskeleton could range from 100 million yen to 1 billion yen. Therefore, any possibility of breaking the item was prevented cautiously in order to salvage the budget.
"Okay okay. Let me return the gauntlet. But my shoulders hurt so much. Can they make it less heavy?"
"Not possible. We have already requested for a lighter version but the producing company said that the models have been engineered to only minimal components. And the gauntlets only work when you are punching so normally, you will still need to carry your guns and ammo with you."
"Of course. But before joining the military, I am not even aware such technologies like my armor and this exoskeleton even exist. Is this a thing everywhere?"
"Seeing that no one is nearby, I believe sharing basic information is within my duty as an engineer. Since the mandatory classes did not get through your hard skull..."
"Do not need to jab me like that!"
"Since the emergence of Quirk circa 200 years ago, technology has been on a full sprint. New phenomenon keeps popping up and new demands for everything rises accordingly. This has lead to a life where all aspects of problems for a living beings, especially people, can be solved within minutes. We have already done that.
But research into health found that to implement all of our technology would end our humanity since we have nothing else to do. Therefore, a worldwide ban on the implementation of technology beyond the pre-quirk era is imposed."
"Wow... so it is for protecting people that we use ancient technology."
"Not ancient, old! And give me your phone, I see you taking a picture."
"No!"
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"And we are here, everyone! At Heroes-Con, or HC, in Chiba!
We are live right the location and there is an explosive rumor going on and on: All Might is coming to HC for a meet-and-greet! And even if the rumor turned out to be wrong, we are happy to inform to viewers that figures such as Endeavor, Yoroi Musha, Crust and many more are also coming. "
Before the main gate of a large event-holding complex, a reporter and her team were doing a news program on the coming event for heroes lovers. Aside from the appearance of some popular heroes as special guests, the event also is the place for cosplayers, fans, influencers and merchandise makers.
With the advent of hero culture and the idolisation of auch figure, it was in the favor of governments to host a hero appreciation event annually to earn tax money and to promote consumerism through purchases. With some maneuvers from the pro heroes, they had situated themselves in crowded areas around the complex to look out for any potential harm. This year's number of attendants had dropped due to news of a storm hitting in the midst of the four-day span but there were still some ready to face nature to meet their psychological support pillars.
Looking at the reporter crew outside of the place from the driver seat, Endeavor was feeling a fire raging in his stomach at how the HSPC was putting civilians' lives at risk to bait out their target. Burnin, his sidekick and his secretary, notified him.
"Endeavor-san! The wheel! You are burning it."
That reminder snapped him off the wheel, the residual heat emitting from his hands had already partially melted the leather and a pungent smell wafted inside the car. Checking the clock specially crafted to endure his heat, Endeavor starts pulling off his suit to reveal his hero clothing: a spandex suit sticking to the trained muscles, fiery orange and calm dark blue combined to evoke security. From his face exploded controlled flames and they turned into a mask covering his facial features.
Clack!
As Endeavor was stepping out of the car, the news crew noticed him and a brief moment of silence passed. Then the latter rushed toward the towering man, their news reporter formulated a question. With most heroes, she would have ask plenty of questions but for someone serious as Endeavor, even one question was enough. Combing through the man's biography and history working as a hero, she noticed that this was the first time he had shown his face to any public events. Finalizing the scope and the extent, she asked.
"Endeavor-san! It's such a surprise to actually see you here. With your work history and dedication to efficiently saving people, we and every viewers are not expecting you to take time off to attend the event. What is the reason for attendance this time around?"
Endeavor usually hated reporters and news crews as they took precious time off his clock. Any seconds can by another life saved. And this reporter actually tried to keep thing concise.
"I'm attending for security. If improving public trust saves more people then I will do it without hesitation."
Answering with a simple declaration to his commitment to saving people, Endeavor walked inside the complex, his hand touching the earpiece in his left ear.
"Burnin, report if mishaps. If not solvable, retreat."
Not letting her answered, he switched to the agreed-upon frequency.
"Endeavor have arrived."
Nezu, the one upholding the connection, and The Director, the one providing funding, had worked together to ensure no compromise in communication channel. The bear rat took notice and switched to a private channel.
"What took you so long?"
"Personal matter. Something you are not privy into."
The remark did not deter Nezu. He quickly searched through his database of heroes history and finally reached a possible match: Endeavor's son's death atop the mountain in September 5 years ago.
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"You are weak. Pathetic."
"SHUT UP! HELL SPIDER!"
Explosions ripped the ground apart, leaving gashes following the mad swing of arms. From the tip of fingers were concentrated beams of flame acting like claws and swords.
The opponent, not even taking the teenage boy seriously, weaved their ways through the coming storm of red blades. A step here, getting away from a ray aiming right at the neck. A step and a crouch there, moving away from a horizontal swipe. If one could witness such fight, one would believe that the attacker was a villain. And yet ... this was but a fight between family members.
"So hostile! Getting you away from others is indeed a good choice. Because ... I can have this fight for myself!"
A fiery arrow appeared out of thin air behind the boy followed the girl's punch. It fired but was then later caught while on its way toward the target's heart as he had swung himself to the side using the backlash from his impressive output of fire. A patch of scorched earth formed in a cone. Not letting him off, from the girl's upward flick of her wrist, five talons followed the motion of the fingertips and readied to slice the opponent's body apart. Stopping the motion halfway was a punch directed at the hand, the motion enhanced via streams of jet fires acting like rocket engines. The two separated, their fight turned into a staring contest.
The boy's skin around the arms were smoking, his blue eyes screamed at such pain but what was behind the layer of pain was utmost wrath and madness. On his legs were a large burn, the flesh beneath bubbling. The girl was not without a wound. One of the blade before had cut into her rib but the heat had cauterized the wound. Her green eyes fully expressed the joy she was experiencing in such a fight.
"We are similar. But while you want to impress him, to have his eyes laid upon you, I want to surpass him!"
"..."
The dry air did nothing to aid the residue fire. Soon, the trees began to caught on fire and not before long, the entire mountain top was ablaze. The staring contest continued for minutes, neither of them daring to move.
"huh ... huh ..."
The labored breathing shared between the two due to the lack of oxygen. The air was heating up to a dangerous degree and this had turned into something much worse. Such commotion could attract their father.
"JET PROMINENCE!"
The signature move of their father was supposed to bring a simple punch to another level of impact. But for the boy's case, he had adapted it to match the level of power he believed his father would be proud of. The flame concentrated behind the arms turned a ghastly blue, the smell of charred meat became more pungent. Not stopping at just his elbow, a ball of concentrated fire formed in front of the chest and the air distorted to accompany such violent presence.
Matching the extreme attack, the girl used her own method. Her quirk, despite utilizing flame, was more about controlling separated body of flames. Heat resistance of such quirk was excellent but even here, it had showed signs of falling behind the damage. She was severely dehydrated, her body temperature on the verge of killing her.
The most she could control was five different flame groups at their maximum output at the same time but to converge all of them together was something she had never dared to try. All of the fire she could emit and could control was forged into a singular edge, the combination gave birth to a turbulent weapon with lava-lamp material. The Leidenfrost effect was the only thing protecting her muscles beneath the skin from burning up.
She had always been amazed by spears, so simple and yet so effective in warfare. And there was a name she wanted to granted her first ultimate skill.
"Gungnir."
After a moment of priming, the two closed the distance. Then, an explosion could be heard.
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After getting home from his hero agency, Endeavor looked around the house for a missing boy. His steps hastened as worry took over his heart. Locating his wife, he approached her.
"WHERE IS TOYA?!"
Shaking violently his fear-struck wife, Endeavor, or Enji Todoroki, could not stop the negative thoughts pulling him down. He had meant for his son, Toya, to stop harming himself with excess training. His training regime had already taken account of the limit of a growing body so additional training would do more harm than good. And seeing the burn marks on his son's arms was a reminder of how much he had done to try to get his attention. The boy's stability was questionable compared to the other sons and daughters so he had been paying close attention to the boy's actions.
Then he turned to look at the mountain where the training ground was situated in, his intuition told him that his son must be over there. And what he saw terrified him. The training ground was on fire and it was spreading to the entire mountain.
"REI! Call the firefighters!"
He rushed toward the training ground after telling his wife such message. He had never felt his Jet Burn this powerful even when fighting villains. In minutes he reached the place but no one was there, except a dragging mark toward the house. He then frantically pulled an all nighter amidst the raging fire to find any evidence of his son but to no avail. That day went down in the Todoroki family as a funeral for their eldest son.
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"Tomiya, are you listening?"
"Of course, ojou-sama. You were talking about how your father has been spending time to attend to his disciple, Mastermind-san? I am not privy into such information. Now, let me refill your cup. The tea has gone cold."
Splashing the water across the bushes of roses inside the greenhouse, Tomiya kept his eyes gazing toward the horizon. The chest muscle around his heart ached as if in synchronity with something. With the tea pot in his raised hand, he poured the fragrant liquid, the trajectory formed an elegant curve gapping the distance. Without spilling a single drop, he finally returned the teacup to where it ought to be.
Right here.