The world did not simply break that night—it was torn apart in a single violent instant.
The explosion consumed everything in blinding orange light. Windows shattered outward like shrapnel. The ground convulsed beneath my feet as if the earth itself had been struck by a god's hammer. A fraction of a second before the blast hit—
Danger Sense erupted inside my skull.
The warning came sharp and absolute.
I moved—
But not fast enough.
The ceiling collapsed in a deafening roar. The walls folded inward. Concrete and timber came crashing down in a storm of debris. Heat and smoke swallowed the air, choking my lungs. I was thrown across the room, barely managing to shield my head as the house caved in around me.
"MELLISIA! MOM!"
My voice ripped through the chaos.
Through the dust and ringing in my ears, I heard something faint.
"…I–Izuku…"
Mom.
I forced myself up and began tearing through the rubble with my bare hands. Broken wood cut into my palms. Concrete scraped skin from my knuckles. I didn't feel it. None of it mattered.
Then I saw them.
Pinned beneath a massive slab of collapsed wall.
Mellisia was unconscious, blood streaking down her temple. Mom's body was trembling violently, her arms raised upward as the slab hovered inches above them.
She was holding it with telekinesis.
Her breathing was strained and uneven. Sweat and dust clung to her face. The concrete shook with every second she maintained control.
"Izuku…" she whispered. "Stay focused."
A voice echoed from outside, cutting through the smoke with cruel amusement.
"GET THE FUCK OUT, IZUKU MIDORIYA!"
The mockery in that voice ignited something vicious inside me.
My vision darkened at the edges as rage surged forward. My muscles tensed to move—to hunt—to destroy.
I stepped toward the sound.
An invisible force slammed against my chest and shoulders, stopping me mid-stride.
Mom.
She was restraining me too.
"Izuku," she forced out between clenched teeth, "this is not the time. Mellisia needs a hospital. Don't throw your life away."
Her words cut deeper than the explosion had.
If her concentration slipped for even a second, the slab would crush them.
If I rushed out blinded by anger, I could lose everything.
I swallowed the fury.
Think.
I needed help.
"Kurogiri…" I muttered.
I grabbed my phone and called Rin, my fingers shaking despite my effort to stay calm.
"Rin!" I shouted the moment he answered. "Tell Kurogiri to open a portal to the hospital. Right now!"
He didn't question me. He didn't hesitate.
Within seconds, violet mist spiraled open beside us, forming a stable portal.
Relief hit me hard—but so did guilt.
I hated using them like this.
They were people.
Not tools.
I carefully lifted Mellisia into my arms. Rin stepped through and took her from me. Mom released the slab only after crossing safely, her strength clearly drained.
I watched until they disappeared.
Then I turned back toward the smoke and ruin of my home.
Whoever did this was still here.
And I was done holding back.
---
"Where the hell is Izuku Midoriya?" a voice called out lazily through the settling smoke. "Did he die from just that?"
The dust slowly thinned, revealing two silhouettes standing calmly in the middle of the destruction that used to be my home. Flames crackled around them, but neither seemed even remotely concerned.
One had grey hair and a mocking smirk that looked permanently carved into his face.
The other, blonde, stood slightly behind him, more cautious—eyes scanning, posture tight.
"Stop it, Nine," the blonde said quietly, though there was tension in his voice.
Nine.
So it really was you.
The so-called movie villain who thought he could play god.
You picked the wrong house.
"You shut up," Nine replied dismissively. "He's the key to my evolution. Since he's his son, his blood will solve my little problem."
His son.
My jaw tightened.
Are they after us because of Dad?
Garaki's Ten Calamities.
That had to be it.
Engineered monsters chasing power, built to surpass limits, to devour quirks and evolve beyond humanity.
"If boss finds out you went off plan—" the blonde began again.
"Oh, shut up," Nine snapped. "He and his family can just die for all I ca—"
He never finished.
I crossed the distance between us in less than a heartbeat and drove my fist into his jaw with every ounce of fury I had restrained until now.
The impact cracked the air like thunder.
His head snapped sideways, and his body was launched through a half-collapsed building behind him. The structure gave way completely under the force, exploding outward in a cloud of debris.
For a brief second, his body lay twisted unnaturally in the rubble.
Then bone shifted.
Skin tightened.
His jaw reformed as though the damage had been nothing more than a minor inconvenience.
He stood up slowly, rolling his neck as if stretching after a nap.
"That hurt," Nine said with a grin that only made my blood boil hotter.
I didn't waste time responding.
Blackwhip erupted from my arm, lashing forward and wrapping tightly around the blonde's torso. The energy strands constricted with crushing force, strong enough to immobilize most enemies instantly.
He roared and flexed violently.
The whips snapped apart under raw power, shredding like threads against steel.
They moved at the same time.
Nine lifted his hand and launched compressed air blades that screamed through the battlefield, slicing through the smoke and carving deep scars into the ruined street.
The blonde lunged toward my blind spot, his fist igniting with intense flames aimed straight at my ribs.
I twisted midair, narrowly avoiding the air blade as it sliced through a nearby wall. I raised my arm to block the flaming punch, but the impact rattled my bones and sent me skidding backward across broken concrete.
They weren't just attacking.
They were synchronized.
Like two halves of the same mind.
I pushed forward again, ignoring the ache in my arms. I drove a powerful kick into the blonde's side, sending him flying across the ruins. Without pausing, I pivoted and slammed Nine into the ground with a Detroit Smash that cratered the asphalt and sent shockwaves rippling outward.
Before I could press the advantage—
My arm stopped mid-swing.
A hand had caught my wrist.
The grip wasn't just strong. It felt absolute.
Like gravity itself had decided I would go no further.
I looked up.
A tall man with black hair stood in front of me, calm and expressionless. His eyes were steady, unreadable, almost detached.
His presence alone changed the battlefield. The air felt heavier around him, like the pressure before a storm breaks.
Without warning, he drove his foot into my abdomen.
I barely managed to raise my arms to absorb some of the force, but the kick blasted me backward through two ruined buildings. Concrete shattered around me as I skidded across the ground, debris raining down in my wake.
He stepped through the destruction without urgency, without wasted movement.
Like he already knew how this would end.
I forced myself back to my feet and activated One For All: Full Cowl 100%. Lightning erupted across my body, crackling violently as power flooded every muscle fiber.
The ground fractured beneath me as I launched forward.
I attacked first.
Our fists collided midair, and the shockwave split the clouds above. The impact flattened what little remained of nearby structures and deepened the crater beneath us.
He did not move.
Not even an inch.
He adjusted his stance slightly, redirecting the force with terrifying precision, and drove his knee into my abdomen with brutal efficiency. The blow knocked the breath from my lungs. Before I could recover, he struck my forearms with a palm strike that sent a wave of numbness shooting through both arms.
I retaliated with a barrage of rapid punches, each one thrown at maximum speed and power.
He evaded every strike with minimal movement, as though stepping around falling leaves rather than dodging lethal blows.
Then he extended his hand.
A black rod condensed into existence, forming from nothing as if the air itself had hardened into a weapon. It wasn't glowing or dramatic—it was simply there, dense and oppressive.
He swung.
I tried to dodge, but the rod blurred faster than my body could fully react.
It struck my side with overwhelming force.
I felt something crack.
My body was sent crashing into the pavement, rolling across broken asphalt and shattered stone.
He approached slowly.
Another rod came down toward my gut.
I tried to rise, forcing my legs to respond, but the strike connected and drove me to my knees. The weapon felt impossibly heavy, as though it carried crushing pressure with every swing.
Behind him, Nine floated into the air, completely healed, irritation replaced by amusement.
"That's it!" Nine shouted. "Kurotsuki, finish him!"
Kurotsuki.
So that was his name.
The black-haired man—Kurotsuki—did not react to the command. He simply looked down at me, studying me like an experiment he hadn't decided to discard yet.
"Izuku," a voice warned faintly inside my mind, "this opponent exceeds your current limits."
My arms trembled violently. My legs felt unstable beneath me.
Still, I forced myself to stand.
"You're only alive," Kurotsuki said calmly, "because I have allowed it."
There was no arrogance in his tone.
Only certainty.
That made it worse.
I spat blood onto the cracked ground at his feet.
"Then stop talking," I growled, forcing my voice steady despite the pain tearing through my body, "and try."
Nine laughed above us.
Kurotsuki's expression did not change as he slowly began to rise into the air.
"Do not misunderstand," he said evenly. "The next time we meet, it will be the end for you."
Nine floated higher, smirking down at me.
"That is, if you survive long enough."
They continued ascending.
I clenched my fists, green lightning flickering weakly around my battered frame as my muscles screamed in protest.
"You better remember that," I shouted, pouring every ounce of will into my voice. "Next time, I won't be the one struggling to stand."
Kurotsuki did not respond.
A portal opened behind them, swirling with dark energy.
They stepped through without hesitation.
And vanished.
Silence settled over the ruined street.
Smoke drifted through what remained of my home.
Nine.
Kurotsuki.
The blonde.
They were part of the Ten Calamities of Garaki.
And tonight, I had faced one of their strongest—and survived.
Next time…
I wouldn't just survive.
I would win.