The Dream Walker had rarely worked out in his childhood.
Being the son of a tycoon, there weren't many things expected of him, besides a sound head on his shoulders to continue the family business.
He didn't even have an outstanding, practical Quirk like Aina's, which almost all Hero Agencies would die to have among their ranks.
Even when he joined UA two years ago, he had no hope of coming out of this stigma he had imposed upon himself—a boy who would never become a Hero!
It wasn't like Rikuya had any desire to be a Hero, either.
However, he wanted to be more than a mere privileged son; he wanted to have a unique identity, to be himself.
And, in dreams, through his Quirk, he found an escape.
It was in those dreams that he had created his vigilante persona—Dream Walker.
Of course, apart from creating an illusion for himself, deluding his own senses, Rikuya had always known he would never be the Dream Walker he desired to be… because he couldn't walk in his dreams.
Then, things changed.
His idiotic stepbrother became… a different person.
Singularity contacted him through the dreams, letting him do more than he had ever hoped for.
And the childish fantasy that he had been carrying in his heart, buried deep not to let anyone sense it, came exploding out.
He could do it, too, Rikuya had realized.
He could be a — Hero.
Secretly, Rikuya began training himself in the dreams.
He could have gone down his stepbrother's path, too, asking Sand or any other trainer to teach him. But his path had always been destined to be a solitary one, Singularity had told him.
This was the fate of Dream Walker.
This was the price.
He couldn't fight like his stepbrother. He couldn't attract eyes like his sister. He lacked influence like his father. He would never be a… Hero.
Because he was the Radiant of Dreams.
With one step after another, thinking of these ridiculous things, Rikuya walked toward Kurogiri, who was glitching like a bad TV screen.
Among the chaos that surrounded him, Rikuya kept advancing toward the Villain that was Shigaraki and Stain's only link to running away from this place.
The cyan-colored trails were hissing past Rikuya as well, each one representing the Quirk Suppression Drug that would work the same on him as it would on others.
Once he lost his Quirk, Bakugo too would lose his link to return home.
And yet, something extraordinarily illogical was happening in his surroundings.
Was it because of increased gravity?!
But the increased gravity was uniform at all places, then what could it be?!
No matter how many syringes came toward him, they just… never hit him. Occasionally, a few of them just diverged, losing their momentum. Other times, some pieces of rock, flying everywhere because of the fights, would hit a syringe, making it miss him.
Unfazed by the special treatment, Rikuya reached into his robe and took out a long, black rod.
With one flick of Rikuya's wrist, the small rod became a staff.
The same syringes that were avoiding him were passing right through Kurogiri's mist-like body as well. A few of them were barely missing the metal brace around his neck—the only part where his mist didn't work as intended.
Knowing this well, and standing a few feet away from Kurogiri, who was still holding his head, Rikuya held his staff like a lance.
Little sparks crackled at the staff's tip as he aimed at the long gap between the metal brace around Kurogiri's neck.
However, just as he was about to strike, a whirring noise blasted Rikuya's ears, making him wince.
What… Rikuya looked over his shoulder, the entire earth shaking under the intensity of the whirring noise. … is that?!
…
Captain Celebrity slammed the syringe in Stain's eye.
But the flesh inside Hero Killer's head twisted unnaturally, a flesh tendril shooting out the eye that was being stabbed.
With one flick of his sword, Stain cut off the flesh tendril with the Quirk Suppression Drug coursing through it.
Wincing, the red glow in Stain's eyes pulsed. "… Enough…"
Captain Celebrity sensed the omen, pulling back his hand, making a fist.
However, just before the Hero and Villain could make their finishing moves, the same whirring noise made them wince as well, the shaking earth making them stumble back from each other.
…
Shigaraki landed on the ground and twisted his neck, his red eyes reflecting Bakugo's shocked, blurry face.
"… Have we… met before?" Shigaraki asked, scratching his neck, grinning.
A chill ran down Bakugo's spine.
Yet, the same grin appeared on his face, too.
Ignoring his blackening vision, Bakugo let out a shout and threw himself forward. From the other side, Shigaraki blurred as well, the tips of his lava-like fingers brushing on earth, decaying everything in his wake.
With one blast from his feet, Bakugo boomed toward Shigaraki, facing out his palms.
Shigaraki reached out with his hand as well, feeling the thrill.
Right at that moment, a deafening whirring noise entered their ears, making them wince, and the earth between them gave in.
Shigaraki fell as his foot landed on nothing but emptiness, his hand barely missing the Hero.
The sudden fall also made Bakugo miss, a loud explosion sending both of them flying in different directions.
…
Using the Paper Figurine Substitute, Luke reappeared a few meters away from Koichi.
However, in the very next moment, his Danger Intuition went haywire, a large shadow looming over him.
Luke's heart skipped a beat.
From the corner of his eye, he looked at the spot where Alex had been lying. Now, there was nothing there but emptiness…
In one moment, Alex had taken advantage of Luke's escaping technique to catch him off guard. Which meant the huge man had already come out of Stain's Quirk's effect and had just been waiting for a moment like this—like a predator.
Luke's face mechanically turned around and found a monstrous fist raised high, Alexander Becking's bloody face donning bluish eyes.
The increased gravity in a 1000-meter spherical radius suddenly vanished.
Almost instantaneously, 1800 kg of weight fell upon the earth within a 100-meter radius around Alex.
Koichi's face struck the earth as he got flattened.
Luke's knees buckled as well, his body involuntarily resisting the gravity.
And this was what Alex had been aiming for—making sure that Dr. Blessed wouldn't use any trick to run away.
Air whistled.
Space constricted.
The humongous fist came for Luke's face like a hammer of judgment.
However, just as the fist was about to land, a whirring noise entered their ears.
It was so loud that even Alex and Luke, who seemed to be nearest to it, winced, blood trickling down their ears.
And then the earth between them exploded, a large, metallic arm came blasting out, tiny bolts of electricity crackling around it.
The hand was followed by a 12-foot-tall giant, its eyes glowing red.
"… Stay…" A robotic voice escaped the giant's nonexistent mouth as it made a fist of its own—a fist quite tiny compared to that of Alex's. "… away from my Master…"
The organic-metallic fist struck Alex's chest and sent the Radiant of Gravity flying —
— a BOOM heralding the return of Mushroom-nimi!!!
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