When I next opened my eyes, it wasn’t to the sight of a hospital ceiling’s sterile palette, or the repetitive beeping of heart monitors and life support. There was no Cassie at my side, cradling my limp head and nuzzling her forehead against my cheek. There was no Eri, the clingy, lost little girl that she was, holding onto my chest for dear life. There wasn’t even All-Might, freshly healed and brimming with the full breadth of One for All’s stockpiled power, standing over my body and announcing his gratitude for not stomping his crippled ass into the turf.
No.
Instead, there were only stars, endless and familiar. My home, far far away from home.
Or, in other words…
My soul.
Entire galaxies drifted lazily across a skyline of abyssal black, dusted with what seemed like infinite pinpricks of light that glowed bright and golden across the cosmos. Nebulae bloomed in slow, all-encompassing spirals of multicolored clouds - violet, cyan, and scarlet, sprawling across the starry canvas in such a way that none of it ever felt cold or empty or scary. Instead, it felt warm.
Alive.
I’d only fully been in this void twice before; once with Rune, which felt so long ago that it might as well have been ancient history, and the other when I’d murderized the fuck out of Leviathan by slamming a cosmic drill through its chest.
Real Tengen Toppa shit.
It was here, though, surrounded by stars and magic, that I could gather my thoughts and deal with that annoying bead of disappointment bobbing uncomfortably at the base of my throat. I leaned back against my hovering throne of stardust and space rock and floated in place for a moment, closing my eyes to the cosmic abyss spread out before me. It felt nice to be back here, even if the circumstances surrounding my unexpected return sucked ass.
Because I’d lost against All-Might. Got knocked the fuck out in our final exchange, too.
And even more than that, I’d done so purposefully.
It stung, but not for the reason most would think.
“Let’s see the damage, then,” I murmured drily, resting my elbow against the smooth armrest of the throne and leaning my chin against my fist. “That’s ‘prolly why I’m here, right ‘Grimmy? Come on out.”
For a beat, there was only silence. The stars didn’t answer my command, and neither did the luminous motes of light that twinkled and hummed with every single breath I took. In fact, the entirety of my soul-scape was eerily, almost uncomfortably quiet, save for the low tap, tap, tap of my clawed fingers against the armrest. I raised an eyebrow, turning my gaze upwards to try and will my eternal companion into existence-
And that’s when it answered.
Its arrival was heralded by a sensation not unlike biting into a copper wire. Incandescent, intermingling waves of raw, unadulterated magic coalesced into being in the starry void right above me, and contained within their glow was seemingly every single color of the rainbow, with blue, silver, and gold being the most prevalent out of the myriad of shades. Then, in a flash of light so bright that I instinctively slammed my eyes shut, the waves of magic solidified. Deepened. Transformed.
And in its place, as huge and majestic and ancient as ever, was the core piece of my immortal soul.
My Celestial Grimoire.
I exhaled, deadpanned stare watching its infinite, ethereal pages begin to rapidly flip between themselves.
“Kinda dramatic, ain’tcha?” I rubbed my right eye, but my new draconic vision seemed well-prepared for sudden flashes of light. One blink, and I was completely fine. “Whatever, I get it. You’re apart of me, and I can be a bit dramatic sometimes, too. That’s fine. Mind showing me my latest Quest?”
I didn't actually need to speak, but there was something grounding about the act.‘Grimmy was an omnipotent magical artifact forged by a coven of ultra powerful Goddesses, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t hear me. Didn’t have some form of sapience. That’s why I gave it a nickname all those months ago - just in case there was some sort of arcane entity being born within its very pages, the more I milked power from its magic.
Which would sorta be my kid, right? Since it came from my soul. And technically, the Goddesses would be its baby mommas, considering they created the Grimoire in the first place.
…
‘Yeah’, I snorted inwardly, shaking my head, ‘Let’s not think about that right now. For Cass and Amy’s sake.’
More importantly, whether from the force of my will or the sound of my voice, the fluttering pages of the Celestial Grimoire stilled. One particular sheet of parchment unfurled midair like the petal from some eldritch, larger-than-life flower, golden filigree threading across its ancient seams in mystical patterns that shifted if you stared at them too long. Words began to burn their way into existence, not written so much as revealed.
It was a heading that appeared first, gilded and precise. The moment my eyes locked onto it, I felt something dull and aching tug behind my ribs.
Celestial Quest - Failed! ❌
“All-Might Who?! (Part 2)”
You have claimed the right to bear the title of ‘Number One Hero’ on Earth Bet, o’ Champion. Your strength is mighty, your magical prowess undeniable. But as you traverse the path between worlds, you will meet many others who claim to be the very best.
Show them why they are wrong.
Objective:
Defeat All-Might in a one versus one battle.
Reward:
(1x) Moderate Might Perk
Yeah. That sucked to see.
I’d been given this Quest mere moments before the spar had started. At the time, seeing as All-Might had declined my healing, I’d accepted it. I’d issued the challenge in the first place because I’d wanted to test my limits against someone who could actually push me to my limits and beyond, and Heroic needed actual struggle and danger to facilitate my accelerated growth. Combined with the fact that I’d just gotten a massive physical boost from soloing Leviathan, and fighting All-Might in fisticuffs only seemed like a good bet. Win or lose, I’d be gaining some much needed experience.
The fact that I’d become a motherfucking Dragon in between killing the villains at the USJ and infiltrating the main Shie Hassaikai compound was just icing on the cake. More things to train in high-speed, high-intensity combat. But even then, at the end of the day, I’d initially gone into the spar expecting to take that easy win once I grinded what I could out of the beginning of the fight. Hell, maybe I’d even get to teach All-Might a lil’ bit about underestimating foes he knew fuck all about.
And then I practically beat him. Pulverized him into the ground and pushed his body into having what was basically a Quirk Stroke. And suddenly, winning no longer felt good.
I truly don’t think I would’ve been able to look at myself with any sort of pride if I’d taken that Mickey Mouse assed victory. Even more than that, I had Eri cheering me on from the stands; an impressionable little girl who was only just coming out of her shell, and who was already looking up to me as her ‘hero’ for saving her from Overhaul’s disgusting clutches. I wasn’t her father. Hell, I don’t think I was father material in the fucking slightest… But children didn’t know any better. They emulated their heroes.
I’d made a decision.
I mentally came to terms with forfeiting the reward for the Quest - a ‘Moderate Might Perk’, murmured words of magical power beneath my breath, and called upon threads of Hysh to heal and reforge All-Might’s body anew. And after the waterworks and hugging and gratitude was over, I’d suggested we finish the fight in five more exchanges - less because I’d wanted to finish the battle quickly, and more because I’d seen how stressed and exhausted Cementoss was. If he could barely handle All-Might and I fighting at a mere fraction of our power, he wouldn’t be able to handle what came after. Not for more than a handful of seconds.
All-Might had agreed, and so we powered up - him with the full breadth of One for All, and me with enough Mana Enhancement to damn near superheat my scales. I’d grown quickly during the spar, and calling upon different facets of my draconic heritage had become as easy as breathing. Scaled arms. Scaled legs. Claws. Tail. Shit, I’d nearly let loose and transformed into a complete dragon, but Hidden Intuition warned me before it happened. I didn’t want to accidentally blow up the entire Stadium and kill hundreds of students, after all.
I’d never felt as physically strong as I had in that very moment. Mana Enhancement was made for enhancing your strikes and blows, not your entire body. It wasn’t ki, or One for All, or Reinforcement… but I was pretty fucking good with magic. I’d forced it to substitute as magical reinforcement, if only for a few seconds, and although it had nearly burnt me from the inside out, I’d managed to survive the first few exchanges.
All-Might had been faster than me. Stronger than me. If not for Hidden Intuition warning me well in advance, I would’ve been creamed by the first unrestrained Smash. My body had been fractured and ripped apart by the glancing blows, as I couldn’t completely dodge attacks that were just too fucking fast for me, but I hadn’t been completely at his mercy. I got in some glancing blows of my own. Thee, maybe. Three and a half. Hits that cut sharp lines across his cheeks, and fist-shaped bruises against his chest. Each one came faster. Harder. In those brief trades, I probably learned more about my own limits and strength than the entirety of the fight before.
It was the fifth exchange that did me in.
I thought I could block the punch completely. Stalemate us. Breaking a bone, or even losing the arm… That was light work. I could survive that, heal it back up, and be back with boots on the ground in under an hour. In exchange, I’d tank the hit, overcharge my right arm with all the mana I had left, and blow his cheek to smithereens with one final haymaker.
It could have worked. Would have, if I’d survived.
As it turns out I really underestimated the absolute nuclear warheads he’d been tossing my way, because that final Smash broke more than my arms. I’d never experienced so much fucking pain in my life, all at once. One loud, heart-wrenching crack and my body had simply given up. Folded.
…
And then I woke up here.
It didn’t hurt my pride that I ‘lost’ against All-Might. If given the choice, I would’ve made the same decision a thousand times over. I had an intimate connection with the concept of ‘Victory’, but true Victory didn’t lie in bullying those weaker than you. And in the middle of the battle, before things changed, All-Might had been weaker than me.
Smaller.
Nah, I was moreso just pissed that I failed the Quest and missed out on a perk. Even if it wasn’t something I personally wanted to utilize, I was all for empowering my girlfriends and teammates. When looked at from that optic, every perk was outright useful, no matter how odd or uncanny. Power-Granting Deal limited me to only granting perks up to eight people at a time, which sucked, but the more perks I got, the better the chance of me also getting one that outright eliminated that limit.
I was strong. No one could ever deny that. But I was also finding that I enjoyed lifting other people up, nearly as much as I enjoyed empowering myself.
Didn’t mean I’d compromise on my own code of honor and ethics for it.
There would always be more Quests.
“‘Ight,” I lazily waved my left hand towards the massive, floating tome, “I get it. Next time I’ll pick my targets a lil’ better. Maybe a pedo, or a jay walker. Someone real fucked up. Now if that’s all, Grimmy, I’d really like to get the hell outta here and return to-”
The unnatural twinkling of fluttering parchment cut me off. Before I could even blink and wrap my head around the unexpected interruption, the Grimoire had already flipped to a new, blank page. That electric tingle of biting into copper wiring slowly faded away, replaced by the sweet and pleasant taste of Vanilla Coke and something vaguely fragrant and strawberry-scented.
I watched, only vaguely bemused, as text began to scrawl its way across this new page. Each line seemed to glow with the blush of the morning sky - soft hues of amber and rose gold, twining into pale lavender script. Petal-shaped sigils bracketed every paragraph, dancing ever so slightly along their edges as if animated by some ambient magical spell.
I could tell immediately that neither Hecate or Freya wrote this one. It was way too girly.
Hidden Celestial Quest - Completed!🌸
“Unto Others, As To You”
A quest not spoken aloud, not declared with fanfare nor obligation.
No, my precious, beautiful Champion, this one was not for the world to witness.
This was for you.
For the kind heart that chose healing over hollow triumph.
For the brave soul that held fast to honor, even when none would have begrudged a break.
For the mirthful hero that dared to bring laughter into violence, light into battle, and kindness into power.
You chose not to snuff a spark, but to nurse it into a blaze.
And I saw it all.
Objective:
Heal All-Might in the midst of battle, and survive.
Reward:
(Dominion) Perk Gained - Cutting Loose
“Sometimes, darling, restraint is just the foreplay.”
It’s no secret that Thor holds back when he’s fighting, most people other than Tony Stark realize this. But few realize just how much power he has when he really cuts loose. This perk doesn’t give you the raw power of Thor, but you’ll be able to really cut loose now.
You now possess a mental dimmer switch for your own powers and capabilities, easily reducing them even all the way down to normal human levels; this dimmer switch is about restraining your full potential, it won’t let you turn off limitations, weaknesses, or vulnerabilities. While this can help you avoid collateral damage, it does more than that.
See what’s important is when you stop holding back. When you restrain yourself it seems like you build up a sort of charge, and the longer and more habitually you hold back even in the face of danger and threats the bigger this charge will become. And when you fully cut loose this charge is released, pushing you above what would be your normal levels of abilities. If you usually held back the power to make continent spanning storms to merely something like a city, you might manage to briefly make a world spanning one.
This full release is draining however. You are pushing yourself to and well beyond your normal maximum exertion, forcing out your energy in a short burst of beyond peak performance. But when you need the power it can be well worth it.
There was no dramatic build-up to my acquisition of the perk. No sudden flashing of lights, or showers of magical sparks.
The moment I finished reading its description, I simply knew.
I felt it - at the back of my mind, as quiet as breath and twice as subtle. It was a metaphysical dial, smooth and responsive, hovering somewhere behind my eyes. I could twist it left or right with nothing more than a flex of will, no more effort than lifting a finger or blinking twice. All I needed to do was think - about strength, about speed, about magic, about any single aspect of any of my abilities - and with that tiny shift of intent, I could scale it down. Strip it bare. Dim my power until it was no more impressive than that of a completely mundane, untrained human.
Holding myself back, however, wasn’t the point of the perk. It was called Cutting Loose for a reason after all.
The closest I could think to describe it was like …having a pressure valve installed in the deepest part of my chest - one that hummed faintly with restrained power, quietly collecting the surplus of every moment I held myself back. It wasn’t loud, or overbearing, or even particularly noticeable unless I turned my awareness inward. But once I did - once I felt it - it was impossible to ignore.
That metaphysical dial wasn’t just a dimmer for my magic or my strength, though that was a large part of it. No, it was something more elegant. More intimate. It was restraint given shape. Self-discipline transformed into a weapon all its own.
The longer I held back, the more pressure built beneath the surface. Every time I cast a spell at a fraction of its power instead of tearing through the veil of reality like a man - or dragon - possessed, I would be able to feel it, not unlike steam coiling beneath the lid of a boiling pot. It wasn’t inherently dangerous, but it would be, when I decided to let it all go. It built up over time, slowly but surely.
It was simple cause and effect. Magic as consequence. It was a celestial perk forged not for carnage… but for control. And control was something I really needed right now.
Cutting Loose wasn’t about being strong - it was about being patient. About learning when to wait, and when to hold back. It was about refusing to let your strength control you, and instead, saving it. Hoarding it. Keeping it building up, ounce by ounce, until the very moment came when you had to break your chains. Because one day, when the time was right-
I would stop waiting.
I would stop holding back.
I would cut loose.
And the whole fucking world would burn.
…
Fuck, that was dramatic and unnecessary.
‘Maybe I really am a chuuni.’
I breathed out slowly, letting the quiet rumble settle somewhere deep in my spine. I could still feel it - that coiled, electric promise, waiting. Ready. Not begging to be released, not yet, but eager to get to stockpiling.
In spite of myself, I found myself grinning.
“Well,” I muttered, voice husky with tempered excitement, “Cringe aside, that’s gonna be real fun to play around with.”
My gaze flicked up toward the parchment still glowing faintly in the air above me, haloed in hues of rose-gold and blush-pink - sunrise colors, soft and mischievous. I didn’t know who had left me this particular gift, but I could probably hazard a guess after ten or so minutes of studying female Goddesses. There was laughter in the script. Joy. And just the tiniest hint of flirtation. She seemed to respect and admire mercy, grace, and kindness, as opposed to Hecate’s cool pragmatism, or Freya’s war-like love of dominance and battle.
“Not exactly sure who you are, ma’am,” I murmured, tilting my head up towards the nonexistent sky, “But I ‘preciate the gift.”
I paused. My grin widened, irreverent and lazy.
“And the compliment. I’m sure you’re absolutely gorgeous, yourself.”
Something clicked in my gut, and I knew that I was beginning to wake up.
But before I felt myself fully fade away from my soul-scape…
I could’ve sworn I heard a light, beautiful, high-pitched giggle, like a soft breeze through wind chimes.
_____________________________________
Jason Black
Nurse’s Office, UA
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
A tinny, mechanical rhythm, slow and steady, pulsed at the edges of my awareness, tapping at the shell of my skull with the repetitiveness that could only come from a heart rate monitor. Unlike the floaty, ethereal weightlessness of my soul-scape, I could finally feel my body again, or at least… fragments of it. A dull, aching pressure wrapped around my limbs like wet plaster, dense and cold, laced with the familiar, white hot throbbing that often came with the breaking of bones and the tearing of muscle.
I barely even acknowledged the pain.
The first thing I noticed - before the aches, and even before the full realization of consciousness - was the presence.
Quiet, murmuring voices speaking in Japanese. Movement. I could feel warmth pressed tight against my left side, small and trembling. There was another warmth on my right - larger and firmer against me than the other, still, but no less desperate in the way it clung to my battered body. I smelled salt and tea, faint antiseptic, and the distant metallic tang of magic that hadn’t quite dispersed from the broken shell of my body.
And still, the beeping.
My breath rasped in my throat as I drew it deeper, blinking slowly against the sterile white of hospital lighting. The ceiling above me swam into view, all blurs and bleeding edges, before resolving into clean panels and a singular bright, dangling light fixture. I turned my head - just barely - and the room suddenly exploded, like a boulder dropped into a shallow pond.
Voices erupted everywhere.
The little girl clinging to my left side - Eri, I noted distantly - let out a gasp so loud and thick with emotion that it nearly caught itself in her throat and choked her silent. She launched herself forward, tiny arms wrapping around my bandaged torso, burying her tear-stained face in my chest. She was crying, sobbing, though whether it was from joy or fear or both I couldn’t tell with the way my mind was still in ‘wake-up’ mode. Her soft grip quavered against my body, but she held on with the sheer, stubborn strength of a little girl who’d lost way too much already.
It was more of a mercy to my overstimulated brain than it was anything else that I made the executive decision to silently cast my jury-rigged translation spell, name pending.
“B-big b-b-broooo!” The tiny, white-haired child sputtered through loud, gasping hiccups, “U-um, Y-Y-YOU-”
There was a woosh of soft strawberry, and suddenly Cassie was there, half-leaning over my stiff body and gathering the babbling little girl into a comforting hug. Her eyes were pink from tears that had long since been wiped away, her black and pink makeup thoroughly scrubbed clean from her red-splotched face. Her hair was a frizzy mess, her bottom lip slightly swollen from that damned nervous habit of hers, but the smile on her face didn’t seem to get the memo. It was wide. Blinding. Radiant.
Mine.
“Eri, it’s okay!” she laughed, trying in vain to pry the girl off of my body, “I-it was a joke anyways, sweetie! Let’s give Big Brother a sec to-”
“N-no!”
Eri slammed her little fists against the broadness of my chest, and although I couldn’t even feel it, the thump it made cut right through Cassie’s giggles. She brought herself up into a proper sitting position against my torso, squeezing her eyes shut hard enough to wrinkle her nose and purse her lips. I blinked again, genuinely puzzled by what was transpiring before me. I could’ve spoken up, interrupted whatever ritual this was before it could properly occur, but overt curiosity had always been one of my more prevalent flaws.
Eri opened her eyes and pouted down at me. It was probably the most adorable mean mug I’d ever received in my entire fucking life.
“B-big Bro Jason…?”
The quaver in her voice had to be a paid actor, because God(dess) damn it my heart nearly broke in two.
I gave her a gentle smile.
“Yes, Er-“
“YOU JUST GOT KNOCKED THE FUCK OUT!”
Several scandalized gasps rang throughout the room.
…
…
…
SNORT.
Cassie was the first one to break. And not just break break.
She howled.
Like, full-body laughter - shoulders shaking, breath hiccupping, the sound almost a sob and almost a pig-like squeal all at once. She collapsed half onto my chest with her splotchy face pressed against my bandages, just barely avoiding Eri, and she wheezed like she’d just gotten done sprinting a marathon. It hitched and caught in her throat before it spilled out again in waves, practically falling out of her mouth like it physically hurt to hold the laughter in.
She had such an ugly laugh. I loved it.
I didn’t even realize I’d joined her, though not nearly as loud. My bones ached with the effort, but my left hand was already stress-testing a small, glowing ball of Restoration magic. Within minutes, I’d feel healthy enough to stand and do fucking cartwheels.
“Cassie,” I chuckled quietly when our laughter died down, voice gravel-laced and husky from dehydration, “What the hell did you teach this girl while I was out?”
Not that I really minded. It was funny as shit.
But being the magical sugar daddy that I was, I at least had to pretend to be responsible.
Cassie grinned at me, unrepentant, even as Eri blinked down at my face with her fists still raised like she wasn’t quite sure whether she was actually in trouble or not. The little girl’s face was flushed bright pink, her breathing ragged, and her eyes - those big, expressive red eyes - were wet and wide with worry and embarrassment. But underneath all that… there was an innocent, wholesome, and all-consuming pride. As if she was proud of screaming the infamous Friday quote at the top of her lungs.
“I told her it would make you laugh when you woke up,” my cyber-sorceress girlfriend giggled, shrugging helplessly and wiping under her eyes with the sleeve of her- my overcoat. “I- I thought we’d need to break the inevitable tension, you know? Considering the whole ‘brutally beating a cripple, and then almost dying from said healed cripple’ situation we’ve got going on here. No, uh, offense big guy.”
“Absolutely none taken, young lady.”
I couldn’t even turn my head to acknowledge All-Might in all of his post-healed glory. Or, I guess I could have; Eri’s soft little palms smacking themselves snugly against both of my cheeks was cute in theory, but definitely not strong enough to halt me in my tracks. Nah, it was probably just the way that she stared down at me with such shy, fragile intensity that kept my neck locked firmly in place. And the fact that she was Eri.
This kid had me kinda whipped, didn’t she?
“D-did I make you laugh, Jason-onii?” Eri released my cheeks, rocking back atop her heels and crossing her arms across her chest. When she tried to frown ‘seriously, it looked more like an adorable pout - an effect that was compounded all the more by the way her chubby cheeks puffed out. “Because Big Sis said you’re really ‘sar-castic’. And she said you only laugh when she’s being dumb. And- and- she said you-“
“Are awesome,” Cassie chuckled awkwardly, casually yanking Eri back into her chest with a squeak. “And sexy. And totally not dead, so, like, thanks for not making me a widow or whatever, hehe. Not that I was ever worried!”
“Really now,” I tried to deadpan - as I tended to do, but completely schooling my expression was damn near impossible with the way the previously ‘intense’ Eri was giggling and wriggling around in Cassie’s arms. Too fucking cute. Made me wanna blow something up.
“Really!” Cassie chirped back, nodding her head seriously. “You slayed an Endbringer, Jay. You’re, like, a max level Archmage going for New Game Plus, Prestige Edition! If you died to some normal max-level Brawler, I genuinely would’ve l found you in Limbo or Hell or whatever and zapped your balls off myself. Magic trumps all.”
I blinked. Then, I grinned.
“… You’re dick-eating super hard right now, babe, not gonna lie. But my ego likes it. Please continue.”
Cassie’s smiling face slackened, faux disgust wrinkling her nose. “Ewwww, narc. Nevermind. You can go back to sleep forever, actually. Gimme that pillow - I’ll help you out myself.”
“Et tu, Brute?”
“… What the heck does that even mean in this context-“
Eri blinked innocently, her head swiveling back and forth in that unnecessary way children do to follow a conversation. “Um… What’s ‘dick-eating’?”
…
Right. Shit. Impressionable little girl, sitting right in front of me.
“Er-“ Cassie flushed bright pink, shooting me a scandalized glare. “Remember what I said earlier, cutie?”
Eri narrowed her eyes in concentration, cupping her chin thoughtfully as she glared down at the bed. “Um… You said that if I wanted to survive on the streets, I had to know how to hotwire cars and vending machines? For snacks! And ‘grand-theft-auto’…?”
Cassie physically spasmed.
“Aha-haaa. Nope!” she burst out, her laugh going high-pitched and panicked. “N-not that part, Eri! That was just, like, theoretical. You know, hypothetical street-survivalist talk! For educational purposes only!”
I gave her what had to be the driest, most unamused stare of all time.
“Did you seriously teach a six-year-old how to jack a vending machine, and commit fu- freakin’ grand-theft-auto? In a literal super hero high school?”
Cassie stiffened like a deer in headlights, still cradling an utterly confused Eri like she could somehow smother the evidence of her delinquency in a warm, mildly stifling hug. “Nooooo? I mean, define ‘teach’? I might’ve just mentioned that most vending machines don’t bolt their power supply casings shut anymore and that if you angle a strong magnet at the card reader juuust right and wiggle it towards the scanner, you can- …. Okay, yeah, I did, Jason, dang it! I’m sorry. But in my defense, she was really sad about you almost dying, and super curious about the world!”
Eri beamed up at me proudly, like she’d just earned her first Girl Scout badge. “And Big Sis said if I ever see a cop, I gotta pretend to be lost and cry really loud, because then they’ll feel bad and they won’t arrest me!”
I opened my mouth.
Closed it.
Opened it again.
“You-”
But before I could launch another sarcastic volley, a throat cleared from off to the side - quiet, somewhat awkward, but deliberate.
“Ahem. If I may interrupt…”
Like clockwork, we all turned, and All Might - in his ‘normal’ form - stood a little straighter at our sudden attention. The man who’d quite thoroughly trounced me with the full force of his power whilst smiling… He looked guilty, now. And awkward. Like a man standing in someone else’s kitchen, unsure if he was allowed to open the fridge. Or a man who clogged the toilet at a friend’s house.
I noted with satisfaction that his body seemed much healthier now, though - leaner, still, than his ‘roided out Hero Mode, but the Symbol was no longer brittle. His spine no longer bowed. His handsome face was no longer haunted and gaunt, but instead glowed with vitality. Curiously enough his scleras were white again, clean and clear, while the bright blue irises contained within them sparkled with a light that I hadn’t seen until the end of our fight, when we’d both decided to go ‘Plus Ultra’.
All in all, All-Might looked young, healthy, and happy… If you discounted the white bandages stuck to his cheek, and the fact that his right arm was wrapped up in a sling.
Not too far behind him was Principal Nezu, his ever-present tea cup held up to his lips.
Though I could still smell its sugary scent on the air-conditioned breeze, there was no steam wafting from its dark surface - meaning it had long since gone cold. Considering the fact that I’d been utterly preoccupied with the two girls sitting on my hospital bed ever since I’d woken up, it wouldn’t have surprised me if he’d been silently watching alongside Toshinori the entire time.
“Principal Nezu. All-Might,” I greeted them with a respectful nod. “Lookin’ good, Mister Symbol of Peace. Minus the sling and the bandages.”
All-Might blinked, visibly caught off-guard. “Ah, well… Thank you, Jason. I- no, we actually wanted to talk to you about that. The battle, that is - not my physical wellbeing. No amount of fractured bone or lacerated skin can ever counteract the life you’ve given me with your healing ability, and I wear these bandages proudly.”
Healing Ability, Hidden Intuition noted amusedly, Not Healing Quirk. All-Might suspects your magical ability.
My gaze flickered to Nezu, who met my stare with a completely placid expression of his own. And with that one look, I turned Hidden Intuition to its highest setting.
Nezu doesn’t suspect. Nezu knows. Nezu knows that you aren’t just a Hero. Nezu knows that you don’t possess a Quirk. Nezu knows that you’re an outsider. Nezu is afraid of you. Nezu is terrified of you. Nezu wants to run away. Nezu wants to hide. Nezu understands these instincts. Nezu doesn’t care. Nezu respects you. Nezu likes you. Nezu is curious about you. Nezu is worried. Nezu-
Too much. Useful, but too much.
And very, very interesting.
This time, instead of just putting the Quirk on mute, I tried reaching towards that brand new dial in the back of my mind - Cutting Loose - and wrenching it to the left and effectively dimming Hidden Intuition’s cold-reading analysis until it was barely anything more than vague, subconscious instincts in the pit of my gut. When the voice faded, it did so slowly, subtly - barely even a moment had passed since I’d turned that dial, but I felt the effects immediately. With only a flex of my will, I knew that I could bring that voice back. And if I felt like I couldn’t figure something out for myself, I’m sure I would.
But for now, I had a pretty good feeling I knew how this was gonna go.
… Or was that just the dimmed Hidden Intuition putting in work?
I finally shifted my gaze away from Nezu, returning my attention back to a somber but patiently waiting All-Might. The hand that had just been channeling the restorative magicka of Fast Healing throughout my sore and aching body rose to tear away the white bandages that had been wrapped around my chest and neck, revealing smooth, unmarred brown skin.
My fingernails, I dully noted, were still clawed. A flex of my hand muscles fixed that dangerous little problem.
“Cass,” I smiled tiredly, glancing down at the hyper-alert hacker. “How ‘bout you take the little lioness down to the cafeteria, huh? Get her some pudding or something.”
Her eyes narrowed.
She’d known something was up the second All-Might announced that they wanted to speak to me.
“It’s, like, twenty minutes past midnight right now Jason. The cafeteria’s ‘prolly closed,” she frowned, hugging a drowsily glaring Eri closer to her chest. The little girl clearly didn’t like All-Might after she’d seen the aftermath of our battle, and he looked absolutely sheepish in the face of her clear disapproval.
I snorted. “Since when did you care whether or not something’s inaccessible, Cass?”
Cassie twitched.
A muscle in her cheek jumped like she wanted to argue, but the look I gave her - half-exhausted, half-pleading - softened her edges. Cassie wasn’t stupid. Not even close. She could smell tension like blood in the water, was empathetic to an almost scary degree, and could read people nearly as well as I could… And I had magic helping me out.. And while she hated being out of the loop, Cassie probably hated the idea of pushing me when I was still technically on bed rest even more.
She made a face. A very Cassie face. Scrunched nose, narrowed eyes, lips pursed into a pout that nearly mirrored Eri’s.
“Fine,” she huffed, hoisting the white-haired girl onto her hip like a child-shaped handbag. “But only because I want pudding too. Chocolate, ‘cause vanilla pudding tastes weird.”
“But… Jason-onii…” Eri grumbled a sleepy protest, her red eyes glued to me with obvious concern. Her fingers curled tighter into Cassie’s coat.
“I’m okay, little one,” I murmured gently. “I promise. We’re just gonna talk about grown-up stuff. Bureaucracy, capitalism, taxes. You’d be bored in five seconds.”
She didn’t look convinced.
Cassie kissed the top of her head, shouldered her ridiculously bulky travel backpack, and turned to Nezu and All-Might - both of which bowed their heads to hear in apology.
She didn’t bow back.
“If my boyfriend dies while I’m gone, I will hack both of your bank accounts and donate your money to catgirl streamers. And I’m being so serious. Bye-bye.”
And with that, Cassie marched out, boots squeaking lightly against the linoleum. Eri clung to her side like a baby koala, watching back over her shoulder with a sleepy, red-rimmed glare. I could almost see her doing the ‘i’m watching you’ gesture with her fingers.
Then the door clicked shut behind them, and a heavy quiet settled.
It wasn’t silence, exactly. There was still the soft hum of the heart monitor, the whisper of the AC, the muted rattle of facility and custodians moving around in the distant buildings - but it was all still there, even louder in my ears due to my draconic senses. Ambience.
I let it linger for a few seconds before I looked to All-Might, and then to Nezu.
“Enough with the tense awkwardness already.” The heart-rate monitor made frightful little beeps as I abruptly sat myself up with a minor flex of the abdomen, yanking suction-cupped wires away from my arms and chest. “Shit, man. Y’all are acting like we didn’t just have a crazy shonen bro-mance moment back at the stadium. What gives?”
All-Might flinched upright, straightening his spine out of the slouch it’d inadvertently fallen back into. Nezu merely chuckled, gently placing his lukewarm cup of tea on the bedside table.
“J-Jason,” the blonde-haired hero hurried to my side, the bluntness of my words apparently having broken through whatever dissonance that had been plaguing the air between us. “I wanted to say that I am sorry. Both for underestimating your strength, and using too much of my own. I know that we agreed not to hold back in that final exchange, but I should have realized-...”
“Should’ve realized what? That I’d break? That I’d die? All-Might-”
“Yagi,” he cut me off quietly, both large hands gripping the frame of my hospital bed hard enough to make the metal whine, “Toshinori Yagi. You, of all people, deserve to call me by my given name, Jason-kun.”
A lazy, fanged smile curled my lips. “Yagi,” I enunciated, placing my hand against my chest. “Look at me. Do I look broken to you? Do I look dead?”
“Before, after I-”
I shook my head before he could even go there. “I’m not a dumbass, bro. … Most of the time. I knew what I was doing. And I knew from the other four punches that I wouldn’t outright die if I tried to tank the fifth one. That’s why I chose five instead of one. What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger. Literally.”
Yagi looked like he wanted to protest further, but the words were caught in his throat. He stared at me, searching for cracks in the façade, some sliver of lingering pain or weakness that he could latch onto to validate his guilt, but there wasn’t any. Not really. My ribs were already mending. My internal bruising was healed over. I could move and breathe and laugh without feeling pain. A full night’s rest would take care of the rest.
.I saw the exact moment he realized he’d lost the argument. That there was hardly anything to argue about in the first place. A fond, tired smile formed on his lips, and instead of clenching the bed frame, he instead laid a heavy hand on my bare shoulder.
“You’re truly alright?” He asked, completely and utterly serious.
I waved my left hand in a so-so gesture. “Good enough.”
The smile grew broad and white.
“I can accept ‘good enough’,” Yagi acquiesced, “But I refuse to waste this second chance you’ve given me. You do not need to tell me right now, Jason-kun, but - and I mean this with every fiber of my being… I owe you my life. I owe you my future, as the Symbol of Peace. And if there is ever anything you need, for as long as I am physically capable of providing it, I will be there. Guaranteed.”
…
I swallowed, feeling the tip of my ears began to heat up with embarrassment. “It’s cool, dude. I-”
“No, Jason.” Yagi’s grip on my shoulder tightened. Not enough to hurt, or even to alarm me, but just enough to capture my attention. When I looked back up at him, the Symbol of Peace had so many emotions packed into two moist eyes and one bright, dazzling smile that I found myself relieved that I’d dialed Hidden Intuition down already. “Thank you. I will never forget this, and neither will I let you.”
“... You’re welcome.”
A quiet, polite cough from Principal Nezu (thankfully) interrupted our little moment before Yagi found it inside of himself to actually yank me up and hug me again. He let out a little grunt as he hopped onto my bed, brushed lint off of his snazzy black vest, and bowed his head to me.
I nearly groaned. “Not you too.”
But when he looked up at me, there was a playful twinkle in his beady black eyes. “No, not exactly Jason-kun. I am not apologizing, though if you’ve found my behavior unseemly in any way, I would not mind doing so in order to keep the peace. Otherwise, I am merely offering a formal greeting to the first interdimensional being I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. And a dragon, no less! Scary. Terrifying, actually.”
Yagi blinked owlishly. “... Interdimensional bei- Principal Nezu, I thought that ‘hypothesis’ was still in the works?”
But the Principal didn’t respond. He only stared at me knowingly. Nonplussed.
I couldn’t help but chuckle at the little critter’s gumption.
“I prefer ‘multiversal mage’,” I shrugged, taking a mental snapshot of Yagi’s gaping expression as he looked back and forth between Nezu and I. “Has a pretty snappy ring to it, right?”
“Ohoho, so it is magic! It sounds so far-fetched, like something out of an old storybook fairytale, but I knew your abilities could not only be the effect of a Quirk, or multiple Quirks.” Nezu waddled closer, his lilting voice going even higher as his excitement and curiosity rose. “I’d been pretty much on the fence for a while, you see. The chances that you were merely an extremely rare human with a Quirk that challenges the sheer versatility and power of All for One were low, but not impossible.”
I found myself leaning in, genuinely intrigued by what the Principal had to say. “What gave me away?”
“Hm. Two things,” Nezu announced proudly, holding up two fingers- er, toes, “One, you were too purposeful. Too focused. If you’d arrived through that portal appearing confused, disoriented, or lost, I could have believed that you’d been practicing with a newly acquired Quirk and ended up across the region without your bearings. However, I watched the security footage back, and you appeared very calm and in-control. More than that, it seemed as if you somehow recognized the USJ.”
… Point. It was something to keep in mind for future jumps.
“And the second?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.
“Lightning doesn’t strike twice very often,” he said softly, nodding his head. “Your mate, Cassie - she used some manner of lightning during the battle against the villains, but so far since she’s been here at UA, I’ve seen her create popsicles for little Eri with frost that comes from her gloves, light dinner napkins on fire with the tip of her finger, and heal herself with a golden orb of energy after stubbing her toe on the threshold.”
I did a double-take. “She casted Healing on herself because of a stubbed toe?”
Nezu tilted his head. “‘Healing’, is it? So curious! Honest-to-life restorative magic. However, that does bring me to my next question, and apologies if this takes a slightly more somber tone: What, pray tell, are you doing here of all places? Was Eri your objective? Or, perhaps, sparring with Toshinori-kun?”
Yagi, though silent and visibly struggling to keep up, leaned in closer to hear my answer.
It took me all of five seconds to make the decision to tell the truth.
The cat was already out of the bag, and honestly, I’d never even cared much about keeping the cat in the bag in the first place. Not here, at least. Not with these guys.
Call it foolish or naive, but I could probably count on both hands the amount of people in the entirety of the multiverse who I’d wholeheartedly put my complete and utter trust in… and All-Might was definitely included. There was a chance he pulled a heel-turn in the latter seasons, but I doubted it. And Nezu was a little weird, but I could tell his heart was in the right place.
Besides, the big guy owed me big time.
How fucking sick would it be if I made Prime All-Might of all people… an honorary member of Invictus? Better yet, what if I could convince them to allow a permanent Wormhole between U.A. Academy and the Palace back at home? Having this absolute monster of a superhero on multiversal speed-dial was one thing, but eventually being able to trade resources and equipment with the world of My Hero Academia… That was some intelligent, long-term thinking right there.
Hell, maybe we’d even be able to establish different bases across different planets. Form some kind of magical, interdimensional sanctum to link ‘em all to. That would solve a fuck ton of safety, logistical, and privacy issues in one giant, fell swoop, wouldn’t it?
…
Holy fucking shit, it would.
I was a Gods damned genius-
Epic Celestial Quest Issued! (1/3) 🌓
“A Refuge Between Realms”
When one world cannot hold you, build a place that spans them all.
You, who walk the rift between space and time, have proven yourself worthy of higher works. The realms are many, their struggles vast, and no singular mortal bastion shall suffice.
Thus, my ever faithful Champion, you are granted this task: Forge a sanctum unbound by fate, hidden beyond the reach of time and tyrants. A nexus of magic and might and comfort, where weary Goddesses may rest, wounded heroes may heal, and loved ones may grow peacefully and happily forevermore.
Anchor it well. Guard it fiercely. Let it grow to rival Olympus.
Objective:
Forge a dimensional sanctum: a centralized, extradimensional fortress beyond time and space, anchored between worlds.
Reward:
(1x) Legendary Artifice Perk
(1x) Major Erudition Perk
(1x) Major Dominion Perk
???
???
…
Huh.
Good to know I’m on the right track, Hecate. Holy shit.
‘Let’s not fumble the bag now. Pressure’s on, baby.’
I cleared my throat, and allowed Force of Spirit to coalesce on my tongue like liquid gold.
“Well, Principal Nezu - like you’ve already deduced, this ain’t exactly my neck of the woods. Cassie and I, we come from a world called ‘Earth Bet’, and Bet… It’s goin’ through some pretty hard times right now…-”
I didn’t lie.
I didn’t need to. Worm’s shittiness spoke for itself.
Suffice to say, All-Might agreed to be on standby in case Invictus required his help, pending Cassie developing communication devices capable of breaching the barriers between dimensions. Light work.
And when we left - that is, me, Cassie, and Eri, because there was no conceivable way I was leaving that adorable little girl behind - it was through a Wormhole placed in the closet of Principal Nezu’s private office. A temporary anchor point until something with a bit more permanence and security was built.
We hadn’t accomplished what we’d set out to do, which was find a ‘happy’ place for Riley to live…
But, at the same time, I’d argue that we came back with significantly more.
And I, for one, had a fire set under my ass for the first time in weeks.
A goal. Something to strive towards.
Multiversal Mage.
It had a really nice ring to it.