Chapter 2. First Sparks.
The daycare "Sunny Bunnies" greeted the trio of gods with the kind of chaos typical for such places: shrill squeals, the pounding of tiny feet, and the smell of semolina porridge. Yet the moment the four children bearing the Midoriya surname stepped into the senior group's room, the noise began to die down suspiciously fast.
Shade immediately retreated into the nearest corner by the coat lockers, pulling the hood of his ever-present hoodie over his head. The shadows beneath his feet curled and tightened in displeasure, reacting to the overly bright fluorescent lights and the children's screaming. Grimm, on the other hand, froze in a flawlessly straight posture, lightly adjusting the hem of his dark sweater as if afraid to dirty it against the local walls. His crimson eyes calmly and coldly scanned the territory. Myla simply walked to the center of the changing room, proudly lifting her chin as she disdainfully examined the other four-year-olds, who instantly fell silent beneath her amber gaze.
Only Izuku happily spun between them, trying to encourage his new brothers and sister. His green curls bounced amusingly, and in his hands he still clutched his favorite All Might figurine.
Watching that carefree shade of green, Shade involuntarily remembered how only an hour earlier Inko had led them here by the hand. She had been visibly nervous the entire way, tightly holding their small palms — Shade's on one side, Izuku's on the other.
"Kids," Inko had said softly, a slight rasp in her voice as she stopped by the kindergarten gate and adjusted Shade's hood, which kept slipping down. "There'll be a lot of children there. They… sometimes get loud or say silly things. But stay together, okay? Izuku, sweetheart, help them if anything goes wrong. You're one family now."
Shade hadn't answered then. Only his shadows had gently brushed against the edge of Inko's long coat for a brief moment, soothing her trembling. Grimm had simply bowed politely, assuring her that "the situation is fully under control," while Myla merely scoffed and muttered that no mortal brat would dare stand in her way.
And now they were here.
"Whoa, Deku! What's this? Your new servants?" a sharp, confident, and loud voice suddenly rang out from the depths of the playroom.
From behind a toy castle emerged a boy with messy ash-blond hair. His bright red eyes burned with arrogant fire, and a contemptuous smirk played across his lips. It was Katsuki Bakugo. Tiny crackling sparks occasionally flickered around his small palms, carrying the distinct scent of gunpowder. Two other boys immediately lined up behind him, ready to support their leader.
Izuku instantly flinched at the nickname and subconsciously stepped back, clutching the figurine tighter to his chest.
"K-Kacchan…" Izuku muttered quietly, lowering his head. "They're not servants. They're… my new brothers and sister. They live with me now."
Katsuki stepped closer, demonstratively ignoring Izuku, and stopped directly in front of Myla. What irritated him most was the superiority with which this golden-haired girl looked at him. In Sunny Bunnies daycare, there was only one leader — and that was him, the future Number One Hero.
"Brothers? Sister?" Katsuki scoffed disdainfully, and a slightly larger spark cracked in his palm. "They look like some gutter trash! Hey, you, blondie! What're you staring at? If you think that just because you're with Deku you can look at me like that, I'll burn that ugly face of yours in no time! My power's the coolest, and all of you are gonna do whatever I say!"
The atmosphere in the changing room became so thick in a single second that even the caretaker standing by the door froze, not daring to interfere.
Myla slowly lowered her arms. Her amber eyes narrowed into thin, dangerous slits, and her golden hair seemed to stir ever so slightly from the hidden inner energy of the Goddess of Light.
"What did you just hiss at me, you filthy-haired stinking worm?" she spat, her voice dripping with such icy venom that Katsuki instinctively shifted back in surprise.
Grimm smoothly stepped forward, shielding Myla, and his crimson eyes flashed dangerously in the corridor's dim light. His fingers twitched faintly, ready to release the first sparks of nightmare fire.
And from the corner, almost unnoticed by everyone, Shade's thick black shadows began to crawl slowly but steadily across the floor, stretching directly toward Bakugo's feet. The Void inside the former Vessel had once again reacted to a threat against Izuku.
The words "stinking worm" struck Katsuki's childish ego hard. His face instantly flushed crimson, and his small fists clenched so tightly that sparks burst from his palms in every direction, crackling throughout the changing room.
"What?!" Bakugo snarled, puffing out his chest and trying to appear taller. "Who the hell are you calling a worm, huh?! You're all just worthless extras! You, and your quirkless Deku, are nothing but background characters beneath my feet! I'm gonna become the Number One Hero, and you extras will just be cleaning the dust behind me!"
He took a sharp step forward, intending to shove Myla in the shoulder to show everyone who was boss. But suddenly his sneakers felt as if they had sunk into thick swamp mud.
Bakugo looked down in surprise and noticed black ribbons of shadow tightly coiling around his legs. They held him firmly, not allowing him to move even an inch. The temperature in the changing room dropped rapidly, and children in the background began wrapping themselves in their sweaters while Bakugo's friends nervously backed toward the playroom.
"Hey! What the hell is this?!" Katsuki jerked his leg, but the shadows held him like iron chains. "Some stupid dirty stains! Let go, you gloomy extra, or I'll blow your hoodie to pieces!"
Shade slowly stepped out from his corner. His hood slid back, revealing an utterly motionless ash-pale face and empty black eyes dotted with white points. He wasn't angry. He wasn't shouting. He simply stared silently at Bakugo — yet that lifeless gaze made even the fearless Katsuki catch his breath for a moment. The shadows around the blond boy's feet thickened further, rising all the way to his knees. Shade was subconsciously punishing him for every insulting word aimed at Izuku.
Grimm assessed the situation and realized that if they allowed the Void to go too far now, the daycare would end with an investigation and a call to the heroes. He smoothly approached Shade and gently, but firmly, placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Our gloomy brother dislikes loud noises, young man," Grimm said, his deep voice finally snapping the caretaker out of her frozen stupor and making her step forward. Grimm's crimson eyes looked at Katsuki with thin, almost invisible irony. "And we would advise you to watch your tongue. The word 'extra' sounds rather amusing coming from someone who has only barely learned how to make sparks."
"Why you—" Bakugo choked on his rage, his palms exploding again with tiny pops, though Shade's shadows still restrained his movements.
"Children! Stop this immediately!" the caretaker finally cried out, rushing toward them. She glanced fearfully at the black ribbons restraining Katsuki. "Bakugo, you mustn't threaten the new children! Shade… please remove your quirk, you're scaring the group!"
Shade shifted his gaze toward the caretaker, then toward Izuku. The green-haired boy was staring at him with a mixture of awe and slight fear for his new brother. Noticing that look, Shade tilted his head faintly, and the shadows instantly and obediently retreated back into his corner, releasing the blond boy's legs.
Katsuki nearly fell when the grip vanished. He breathed heavily, staring at the trio without his former absolute confidence, though his pride still refused to let him back down.
"You… you're just three weird extras!" Bakugo shouted, shoving his hands into his shorts pockets so nobody would notice how slightly they trembled from the Void's cold. "You think your creepy tricks make you cool? I'm still gonna be the first! We'll see each other on the playground!"
He spun around sharply and marched deeper into the playroom, throwing one last vicious glare at Izuku. His two lackeys immediately hurried after him.
Once the space cleared, Izuku ran up to Shade and Grimm, his eyes glowing with sincere gratitude.
"Whoa… you… you stood up for me against Kacchan?" Izuku whispered, glancing between the two of them. "Usually nobody does that. Kacchan's really strong… everyone's scared of him…"
Myla, who had silently observed Shade and Grimm's intervention the entire time, scoffed in annoyance and walked past Izuku, lightly bumping his shoulder as she headed toward the toys.
"Stood up for you? Don't make me laugh, kid," she tossed over her shoulder. "I simply won't allow some explosive runt to scream in my presence. And your little Kacchan… he's just loud garbage. Next time I'll deal with him myself."
Grimm merely chuckled softly as he adjusted his imaginary tailcoat.
"Well then, Izuku, welcome to our new theater," he said gently. "I believe this day promises to become a rather entertaining performance."
When the caretaker finally seated everyone on the carpet for the morning activities, the silence in the room became almost unnatural. Usually the children shouted, argued over the best spots closest to the toys, but now everyone was trying to sit as far away as possible from the new "Midoriya square."
Myla sat right in the center, deliberately ignoring the caretaker's instructions to sit properly. She lounged back with her hands braced against the floor, lazily watching the colorful blocks on the shelves. Beside her sat Grimm, neat and motionless as if carved from porcelain, his legs folded carefully beneath him. Shade chose a place at the very edge, closer to the shadow cast by a large bookshelf, completely swallowed by his hood. As for Izuku, he settled himself between Grimm and Shade, constantly throwing them fascinated glances while muttering rapidly under his breath — his analytical mind was already working overtime trying to understand how his gloomy brother's shadow control functioned.
Katsuki sat on the opposite side of the carpet. His red eyes practically burned holes through the trio of newcomers. His palms twitched endlessly inside his pockets, releasing tiny sparks. The fact that some "extras" had managed to stop him — and humiliate him in front of the others — wouldn't leave his mind.
"Today we're going to draw our dreams, children!" the caretaker announced loudly, though with obvious nervousness as she tried to ease the atmosphere. She began handing out sheets of paper and colored pencils. "Draw what you want to become when you grow up!"
Izuku instantly grabbed a bright red and yellow pencil. He didn't hesitate for even a second — the outline of All Might's huge smile and iconic cape immediately began taking shape on his page.
Myla lazily twirled a single golden-yellow pencil between her fingers. She paused in thought for a moment before sketching several sharp, powerful strokes across the paper, creating something resembling a majestic many-winged creature towering above jagged cliffs. Even in a child's drawing, there was a sense of fierce, blazing pride.
Grimm drew calmly and elegantly. Black and crimson lines obediently spread across the paper, forming a complicated, almost gothic pattern resembling either a burning circus tent or the wings of an enormous bat.
And Shade… Shade simply picked up a black marker. Inch by inch, he completely colored his entire sheet in solid, impenetrable darkness. There wasn't a single patch of white left on the page. Only pure Void.
Katsuki, sitting opposite them, craned his neck to look at the trio's drawings. His own paper displayed a huge explosion and himself in the costume of the Number One Hero. Seeing what the new "extras" had drawn, he let out a loud mocking snort that echoed through the room.
"Hey, teach! Look what these weirdos are drawing!" Bakugo shouted, pointing first at Shade's drawing and then Grimm's. "What kind of garbage is this? One idiot just covered everything in black like road dirt, and the other drew some gloomy creepy crap! Heroes don't draw stuff like this! These are drawings for dumb extras who only know how to hide in corners!"
Izuku froze with a pencil in his hand, looking fearfully at Kacchan.
"Kacchan, stop…" Izuku tried quietly. "It's just… their thoughts…"
"Shut it, Deku! Nobody asked you, quirkless extra!" Katsuki snapped, rising to his feet. "Real heroes draw power! Bright and awesome, like my explosions! But you three… you don't even know what a real hero is! You're just trash getting in the way of me becoming Number One!"
Myla slowly set her golden pencil down on the table. Her fingers twitched faintly. She straightened up, and that same dangerous divine light flared once again in her amber eyes, making the air around her suddenly feel hot and dry.
"You're beginning to annoy me, you tiny explosive worm," she hissed, and her voice sounded far heavier than the voice of a four-year-old girl ever should have. "You scream far too much about your strength. Want to see what real power looks like? The kind that could burn you and your pathetic sparks into ash? Make one more sound, and I'll ensure those stinking hands of yours never draw anything again."
At that tone, Katsuki froze for a moment. The instinct for self-preservation that had remained silent until now suddenly started screaming alarms inside him. This girl wasn't merely offended — she radiated the heat of a true, merciless sun prepared to incinerate everything in its path.
The caretaker instantly jumped to her feet as she felt the air around Myla becoming hot and dry, like a desert beneath the midday sun. The children on the carpet began whispering fearfully among themselves, while Bakugo's little followers outright crawled beneath a table to stay far away from trouble.
"All right, children, quiet down! Bakugo, sit back down! Myla, please calm down!" the woman babbled nervously, stepping between them. "Everyone draws whatever they want! All drawings are wonderful! Katsuki, apologize to the new children immediately!"
"No way!" Bakugo snapped, though he could already feel familiar icy ribbons of Shade's Void creeping across the floor behind him again, carefully but firmly separating Izuku from his explosive anger. "Extras don't deserve apologies! I'm gonna become the Number One Hero, and I don't care about their stupid scribbles!"
He sharply turned around, tossed his drawing onto the table, and confidently marched toward the exit leading to the playground — the caretaker had just announced it was time to go outside. His tiny palms continued crackling furiously with sparks.
When the group finally stepped into the fresh air, the atmosphere relaxed slightly. The daycare playground was large, complete with slides, a sandbox, and a broad wooden bench beneath an old oak tree. Naturally, the trio of gods claimed that bench without hesitation. Myla sat in the center, tilting her face toward the real spring sunlight as if absorbing its energy. Grimm settled beside her, calmly watching the other children running around, while Shade climbed beneath the thickest part of the tree's shadow and perched there like a gloomy little gargoyle.
Izuku sat beside them with his notebook in hand, already hurriedly sketching what he had witnessed in the changing room. His pencils flew wildly across the paper.
"Grimm-kun, your fire… is it hot or cold?" Izuku asked breathlessly, scooting closer to the boy. "Because crimson flames usually mean a lower temperature than blue ones, but yours felt… strange. Like it wasn't burning wood, but something else! And Shade-kun's shadows! Can they lift heavy things? Are they more like liquid or solid metal?"
Grimm turned his head toward him, and a faint, subtle smile appeared on his pale face. Izuku's childish curiosity didn't irritate him — if anything, it amused his divine ego.
"Our flames, little Izuku, burn not from fuel, but from… emotions and fears," Grimm said smoothly, as though telling a fairy tale. He lightly moved his fingers, and for a brief moment a tiny, completely silent crimson spark flickered in his palm before instantly vanishing. "They warm those dear to us and scorch the minds of those foolish enough to stand in our way. And as for Shade… his darkness has no weight, yet it can hold tighter than any mortal steel. If he wishes it."
"Amazing…" Izuku whispered, his green eyes widening with excitement as his fingers rapidly scribbled notes into his notebook. "Fire made from emotions… weightless shadows… That's so cool! You guys could become incredible heroes! Even support-system breakdown quirks look boring next to this!"
Hearing that, Myla cracked open one amber eye and mockingly glanced at Izuku.
"Heroes? What a ridiculous idea, little broccoli," she drawled lazily, crossing one leg over the other. "Saving pathetic mortals who scream at every little noise? I have no intention of working for a crowd. If I ever do anything, it'll only be because I feel like it. And all your so-called 'heroes' are just as much extras as that explosive runt."
Izuku looked slightly embarrassed by her words, but he wasn't offended. By now, he had already realized that Myla simply liked pretending to be prickly and untouchable — even though that very morning at home she had been the first to check whether his shoelaces were tied properly while Inko wasn't looking.
But their peaceful conversation didn't last long. From the direction of the sandbox came a loud crack, and a small explosion scattered sand in every direction. Katsuki Bakugo, surrounded by his usual entourage, was marching toward their bench once again. His face radiated absolute determination to reclaim his status as the daycare's undisputed leader.
Katsuki stopped three steps away from the bench, arrogantly planting his hands on his hips. Thin streams of gray smoke curled from his palms, leaving the smell of gunpowder hanging in the air. Behind him, his two lackeys tried to imitate his intimidating expression, though they kept nervously glancing toward the gloomy Shade beneath the oak tree.
"Hey, runts!" Bakugo shouted, jutting out his chin. "Quit hiding behind Deku! If you think your little tricks inside scared me, then you're seriously mistaken! Real strength is tested in battle! Come on, blondie, show me your quirk if you're not a coward! Or are you only good at running your mouth like everyone else?"
Myla slowly rose from the bench. The spring sunlight seemed to illuminate her golden hair, making it appear brighter and fuller. She stepped forward gracefully, lowering her arms, and fixed Katsuki with such a deadly amber-eyed stare that the blond instinctively tensed.
"You bark far too much about strength, explosive worm," she said lazily, though her voice carried deep, regal superiority. For a brief moment, pure dazzling-white sparks of former divine Light flickered around her tiny fingers, distorting the air with heat. Myla crooked a smile while staring directly into Katsuki's eyes. "But do you know something? The only pathetic extra in this yard… is you. Your sparks are barely useful for setting dry leaves on fire. Don't you dare open your filthy mouth toward us again."
She didn't strike him. She didn't attack.
She merely allowed her aura of Light to press down on Katsuki for a single second.
Suddenly the blond felt as though a massive concrete slab had been dropped onto his shoulders, while unbearable radiance darkened his vision. His little followers squealed in terror and ran back toward the sandbox. Bakugo only remained standing through sheer stubbornness, though his explosions instantly died out and cold sweat appeared on his forehead.
Grimm, who had been carefully watching every movement, smoothly stepped beside Myla and gently took her by the elbow, prompting her to withdraw the pressure of her energy.
"It is nearly lunchtime, dear sister. We should not waste our magnificent time on those who have yet to learn balance," Grimm said with subtle irony, casting one final calm crimson-eyed glance toward Bakugo.
Shade silently slipped down from the oak branch, landing without making a single sound, and took his place at Izuku's right side. His shadows lazily twitched one final time across the grass toward the blond, as if placing a final period on the conversation.
Izuku, still amazed by the courage and grandeur of his new brother and sister, quickly tucked his notebook into his pocket and smiled at Kacchan — not with malice, but with the same pure childish sincerity that had always irritated Bakugo.
"Come on, Kacchan! The teacher's already calling everyone to wash their hands!" Izuku called, hurrying after the trio as they headed toward the daycare building.
Katsuki remained standing alone in the middle of the playground. His small hands trembled slightly — not from fear, but from furious rage and confusion. He, Katsuki Bakugo, the future Number One Hero, had just been ignored and humiliated using his own favorite word against him. He stared as the three strange newcomers walked together beside that damned "Deku," forming a tight, impenetrable circle of protection around him.
This isn't over, extras… Bakugo thought darkly, clenching his fists tightly, though somewhere deep inside he had already realized one thing:
Those three were not ordinary background characters.
They were people he would have to reckon with.
Years passed.
The first childish clashes in daycare faded far into the past. The trio of gods learned to perfectly disguise their powers as ordinary human quirks, though in Musutafu's official records they were still classified as "extremely dangerous and unstable abilities." They grew up in the small Midoriya apartment, slowly building their new world around Inko and Izuku. They shared homemade meals, silently watched Izuku obsessively study heroes, and maintained a strict neutrality among themselves. Myla still grumbled at Shade, Shade still sought silence, and Grimm remained the conductor of their strange household orchestra.
But mortal time is merciless.
Daycare became elementary school, and elementary school became Aldera Middle School. Izuku grew taller, his hero analysis notebooks turning into thick journals, while Katsuki Bakugo evolved into a true school tyrant whose explosive personality only became more dangerous with age.
The end of middle school was approaching.
The moment when each of them would have to make their final choice.
Chapter 3. Broken Scripts and Paper Airplanes
The morning in Musutafu breathed with the usual city bustle. Fourteen-year-old Izuku Midoriya was walking briskly down the street, tightly clutching the straps of his yellow backpack. His green curls fluttered in the wind, and his eyes burned with the same fanatical fire of a researcher as they had ten years ago. Life was bustling all around: a giant villain had just caused a ruckus at the train station, drawing the attention of the crowd and new pro-heroes like Kamui Woods or Mt. Lady.
Izuku got stuck in the front rows of the crowd for a few minutes, quickly jotting down new data about the destruction radius in his battered Hero Analysis Notebook No. 13. However, he knew he couldn't be too late. Today was a special day—the final day at Aldera Junior High, the day their future would be decided.
And most importantly, he wasn't walking there alone.
A little behind him, keeping a strict distance, marched his unusual family, which over the past ten years had turned into a true visual dominant of any street.
Myla had grown into a tall, incredibly beautiful girl with long golden-white hair, now gathered into a high ponytail. She walked with her usual proud gait, unbuttoning the top buttons of her school uniform and keeping her hands in her skirt pockets. Passing boys couldn't help but stare at her amber eyes, but if anyone lingered their gaze for a second too long, Myla would bestow upon them a look so contemptuous and murderous that the poor souls instantly quickened their pace.
Beside her, walking smoothly as if gliding over the asphalt, strode Grimm. His black-and-blue bangs were perfectly styled, his porcelain skin seemed almost translucent in the sun, and his dark Aldera uniform fit him as though tailored by the finest courtier. His crimson eyes calmly reflected the light, and a faint, mysterious gentlemanly smile constantly played on his lips.
And on Grimm's other side walked Shade. He was no longer that little boy who used to hide in corners. The essence of the Shadow Lord sleeping within his body had stretched his height nearly level with Grimm's, turning him into a tall, slender, and strikingly statuesque teenager. His broad black hoodie, layered under his school blazer, no longer hung like a sack—it emphasized his silent, monolithic build. A deep hood securely concealed his ashen face and entirely black eyes with white pinpricks. Around his long legs, like a submissive trail of void tar, barely noticeable black ribbons of shadow constantly shifted, ready to react to any sharp sound. Against the backdrop of this tall trio, Izuku seemed even smaller and curlier, but it was around him that their entire space revolved.
"Izuku, if you don't stop running after every trash hero who simply blows up in size, we're going to be late for this pointless ceremony," Myla tossed sharply and lazily, catching up with the boy at the gates of Aldera Junior High. "I'm sick to my stomach just looking at these mortals screeching with delight over a simple increase in mass."
"But Myla-chan! Mt. Lady just demonstrated incredible timing for her debut!" Izuku turned around, actively waving his notebook. "Her Quirk requires immense control over the surrounding space!"
"Our dear sister simply dislikes it when someone draws more attention to themselves than she does," Grimm spoke softly and in a velvety tone, drawing level with Izuku. "Pay it no mind, little researcher. Your enthusiasm, as always, is refreshing in this gloom."
Shade only shifted silently beside them, and his thick, long shadow gently washed over Izuku's sneakers for a moment, showing that he was completely on board with moving forward.
Together, they crossed the school threshold and headed to their classroom.
The third-year classroom was in an absolute uproar. The homeroom teacher, a balding man with glasses, stood behind the podium, holding a large stack of papers in his hands.
"Alright, class!" the teacher announced loudly. "You're all third-years now, and it's time to start thinking seriously about your futures! I've handed out these career choice forms, but..." with a grin, he suddenly threw the entire stack of papers into the air, and they scattered across the room like white birds. "...Who am I kidding? You all want to go into the Hero Course, don't you?!"
The classroom instantly exploded with cheers of joy. Teenagers began rising from their seats, showing off their Quirks.
Only at the back desks did an absolute, icy calm reign.
Myla sat by the window, propping her chin on her hand and watching this "freak show" with deep contempt. Around her desk, the air rippled slightly with a dry heat. Grimm sat perfectly straight, spinning a pen between his fingers with such speed that it appeared as a black-and-crimson blur. Beside him towered Shade, who even while sitting at his desk seemed larger than most of his classmates. He sat motionless, like a grand black statue of stone, completely immersed in the shadow cast by the bookcase. As for Izuku, he was just quietly settled between them, feeling entirely safe under the protection of these two tall figures.
"Oh, come on, teach! Don't lump me in the same gutter with these losers!" a loud, arrogant voice suddenly rang out from the front desk.
Katsuki Bakugo was slouched in his chair, his feet kicked right up onto the desk. His ash-blonde hair spiked aggressively in all directions, and his red eyes burned with a wild, predatory fire. Over the years, his attitude had only grown worse.
"All these extras with their crappy Quirks are only good for a background crowd!" Bakugo snorted disdainfully, as the first sparks began to fly from his palms. "I'm the only one here who's gonna pass the grueling screening! I only applied to one place—UA Academy! I'm gonna surpass All Might, become the number one hero, and my name will be carved into world history! While all of you extras will just be dust under my—"
"Ah, yes, Bakugo-kun, you did indeed apply to UA," the teacher calmly interrupted him, looking down at his roster. "But, if I'm not mistaken... Midoriya Izuku wants to apply there as well."
The classroom went dead silent in a single second, as if the audio had been cut.
Bakugo froze. His red eyes slowly dilated with wild rage, as if in slow motion. The entire class turned their heads toward the back desk where the curly-haired boy sat.
"De... ku..." Katsuki hissed, and his palms exploded with a real, loud pop that slightly singed the desk under his feet. "Have you... completely lost your mind, you damn Quirkless extra?!"
He bolted up from his seat, intending to cross the distance to Izuku's desk in a single leap. However, this time, the script of the anime's first episode broke right at takeoff.
The moment Bakugo took his first step, the light in the Aldera classroom abruptly died out, as if a storm cloud had swallowed the sun. The temperature in the room dropped so precipitously that the teacher lost his voice, and breath plumed from the teenagers' mouths.
Shade rose slowly, but with immense weight, to his full, towering height. His figure at that moment seemed like a massive, monolithic shadow looming over the entire class. From beneath his feet, like the black tentacles of the Shadow Lord, thick, anthracite plates of the Void erupted. In a single blink, they sealed off the entire space in front of Izuku, forming an impenetrable, solid, and high wall between him and the enraged blonde. The shadows pulsed wildly, radiating such a primal, cold terror of an abyss deity that the entire class desperately gripped their chairs, and Bakugo himself involuntarily froze in his tracks, feeling his explosions begin to weaken under the sheer pressure.
Beside the shadow wall, Grimm rose just as smoothly. His crimson eyes glowed like two ominous rubies in the dimness of the classroom.
"Young man," Grimm's deep, theatrical voice echoed, causing the teacher's knees to buckle. "You yell far too much for someone in an enclosed space. Our brother Izuku has every right to apply wherever he sees fit. And if you attempt even one more aggressive advance in his direction... I am afraid your explosions will fizzle out long before you can even think about UA."
After Shade demonstrated the majesty of his Void to the Aldera classroom, the rest of the lessons passed in dead silence. The teacher never mentioned UA again, the classmates tried not to even breathe in the direction of the back desks, and Bakugo sat until the end of the day with his eyes glued to his desk, furiously burning holes in it with sparks. He no longer risked picking a fight in class—his pride demanded revenge, but instinct told him that Shade's wall of anthracite shadows would tear any of his explosions apart before they could even land.
When the final bell rang, Izuku quickly packed up his things. However, Katsuki still waited for the moment the green-haired boy lingered at his desk for a second while Myla and Grimm walked out into the hallway. The blonde snatched Notebook No. 13 right out of Izuku's hands, singed its edges with a light explosion, and threw it out the open window.
"Don't even think about UA, Deku," Bakugo spat, slinging his backpack over his shoulder and glaring sideways at Shade, who rose behind Izuku like a silent cliff. "Your pet shadow extras won't pass the exam for you. A Quirkless loser stays a Quirkless loser."
He quickly bolted out of the classroom before the Void could react.
A few minutes later, all four of them were standing by a small pond in the school's backyard. Izuku was sadly fishing his singed notebook out of the water, shaking the duckweed off it.
"Why are you whimpering over that piece of scrap paper anyway?" Myla leaned lazily back against the parapet, squinting into the evening sun. Her golden ponytail swayed gently in the wind. "That explosive worm is becoming far too predictable. I should have just burned his retinas back in the classroom so he'd stop touching your papers."
"Don't, Myla-chan!" Izuku waved his hands in a panic, carefully cradling the notebook to his chest. "Kacchan is just... he's just really driven. He wants to be the best. And he's right about the exam... The UA practical exam uses battle robots. Without a Quirk, I—"
"Izuku," Grimm stepped closer smoothly, his crimson eyes flashing from beneath his perfectly styled bangs. He gently took the wet notebook from the boy and, with a single light, barely noticeable snap of his fingers, sent a thin stream of the crimson fire of Nightmares across the paper. The flame didn't burn the paper—in a split second, it evaporated all the moisture, leaving the notebook completely dry and even flattened. Grimm returned it to his brother with an elegant bow. "Your weakness in this body is merely a constraint of the mortal world. You possess something that explosive boy lacks—a mind and a heart. As for UA... if that institution is unable to see your potential, we will simply burn its scripts to ashes."
Shade, who had been standing motionless until now, raised his head. His tall figure in the black school blazer blocked the sun, casting a long, thick shadow across the entire pond. White pinprick pupils gleamed faintly from the depths of his hood. He slowly extended a long arm from his hoodie sleeve and gave Izuku a light nudge on the shoulder—it was his only, yet perfectly clear, gesture of support. The shadows on the ground obediently wrapped around Izuku's feet, giving him that familiar feeling of absolute protection and warmth.
"Thanks, guys... Thanks, Myla..." Izuku sniffled, and that same genuine, freckled smile reappeared on his face. "Well, shall we go home? Mom promised to cook something delicious to celebrate the end of the term!"
They headed toward the residential district, taking a shortcut through a deserted underpass beneath the railway. Izuku walked ahead, already eagerly flipping through his dried notebook again and mumbling hero attack patterns under his breath. Myla and Grimm were discussing something of their own, while Shade brought up the rear, matching Izuku's footsteps.
The echo of their voices bounced dully off the concrete walls of the tunnel. The light at the exit seemed like a distant, bright spot.
Squelch. Squelch.
A strange, wet, and disgusting sound made the trio of gods stop simultaneously.
A thick, dirty-green liquid began to erupt rapidly from a sewer manhole in the middle of the tunnel. It bubbled, grew in size, and took the shape of a massive, slimy monster with two large, malicious eyes and a mouth full of liquid teeth. It was the Sludge Villain, who had just escaped from All Might.
"Ohoho! What a splendid Quirk package! Especially that little green cloak!" the sludge gurgled, spreading its liquid tentacles and instantly lunging toward Izuku. "I desperately need a live hideout to lay low from that idiot! Don't squirm, kid, this will only take forty seconds!"
Izuku didn't even have time to get scared—his Quirk analyst brain jammed from shock.
However, the villain had just made the biggest mistake of his pathetic mortal life. He had chosen a victim surrounded by three higher entities who had once held entire dimensions in terror.
The script where Izuku starts suffocating in the sludge shattered to pieces once again.
In a single millisecond, Shade's monolithic figure materialized in front of Izuku. The sound of the tunnel vanished. Instead, the air was filled with the deep, vibrating hum of the Abyss. The Shadow Lord's entirely black eyes flared with a cold white light. From beneath his feet erupted not just ribbons, but actual giant, razor-sharp spears of pure, concentrated Void. With a wild whistle, they pierced right through the green sludge, pinning the villain's liquid body immovably to the concrete walls and ceiling of the tunnel.
"What... what the hell is this?!" the sludge shrieked, trying to break free, but his liquid mass simply dissolved and dried up wherever Shade's Void touched it. His Quirk couldn't find a solid grip—it was as if it had struck an absolute Nothingness. "Let go! My body... it won't obey me!"
"What a disgusting, shapeless heap of mortal garbage," Myla's icy, loathing voice echoed.
She stepped out from behind Shade. Her golden hair was no longer just a hairstyle—a blinding, burning halo of pure divine Light of the Goddess began to unfold around her head. Her amber eyes glowed with such power that the entire tunnel was flooded with white flames, making the walls crack and melt. A terrifying, scorching dryness instantly filled the space. The sludge gasped—his liquid body began to rapidly boil and evaporate from Myla's mere approach.
"You dared extend your filthy entrails toward our little one?" Grimm stepped forward smoothly, keeping a hand on his chest. A luxurious trail of the crimson fire of Nightmares exploded around his shoulders, taking the shape of massive bat wings. His theatrical smile contorted into a predatory, sinister grimace. "I am afraid your performance in this theater concluded before the first act could even begin, you wretched amoeba."
The Sludge Villain froze completely in primal, animal terror. Looking at the three teenagers in front of him, he realized: these were not heroes. These were monsters. Three ancient, merciless deities who would erase him from the face of the earth for a single wrong move.
"P-please... don't..." the sludge croaked, shrinking in size and trying to crawl into the cracks of the concrete under the strikes of the Void and the searing heat of the Light.
The Sludge Villain was already mentally saying goodbye to his pathetic life. He writhed, shrank, and literally melted before their eyes: from below, he was held by the icy, all-consuming spears of Shade's Void, which siphoned away the remnants of his strength, while from above, Myla's merciless Light scorched him, turning his dirty green mass into foul-smelling steam. Crimson sparks of Grimm's Nightmare danced in the air, ready to incinerate whatever remained at the first signal.
"G-guys, stop! Don't! You're going to kill him!" Izuku suddenly cried out, snapping out of his shock.
He rushed forward, grabbing Shade by the edge of his oversized black sleeve. For an ordinary human, touching the Shadow Lord while his power was active could result in severe frostbite or mental shock, but Shade reacted instantly—his Void inside the human body obediently receded, becoming completely soft and safe for the green-haired boy.
"If you destroy him, you'll get into trouble with the police and heroes!" Izuku spoke rapidly, waving his hands and looking up into Shade's hood. "Pro-heroes are supposed to capture criminals, not... well... erase them into dust! Shade, Myla, please, stop!"
The trio of gods locked their eyes onto Izuku simultaneously.
Myla snorted in displeasure, and the blinding halo of Light around her head instantly vanished, returning the tunnel to its usual dimness. She spun around on her heels and hid her hands back in her skirt pockets, proudly tilting her chin up.
"You're lucky, you foul amoeba, that our broccoli is so soft-hearted," she tossed over her shoulder, giving the villain one last glare with her amber eyes. "Your existence doesn't make any sense anyway."
Shade slowly tilted his head to the side, looking at Izuku with his black eyes. The spears of the Void, which had pinned the sludge tightly to the walls, noiselessly dissolved into thousands of tiny black droplets and withdrew back under the teenager's long legs. Shade hid his hands in his hoodie sleeves again, becoming like an ordinary—albeit far too tall and gloomy—statue.
The Sludge Villain fell powerlessly onto the concrete floor of the tunnel, turning into a small, pitiful puddle that trembled violently, not daring to even move its liquid eyes.
"Our little brother is, as always, far too merciful toward lower life forms," Grimm spoke smoothly, and the crimson wings of Nightmare behind his back folded back into an elegant school blazer. An impeccable, artistic smile reappeared on his lips. "However, the law of this world is indeed somewhat... strict regarding the manifestations of our true nature. What shall we do with this actor from a ruined theater?"
Before anyone could answer, however, a loud, heavy rumble of metal echoed from the depths of the sewer manhole from which the sludge had just crawled out, accompanied by a blast of a powerful air current. Even Myla had to close her eyes against the sharp gust of wind that swirled dust and old paper airplanes all over the tunnel.
"IT IS FINE! WHY?" boomed an incredibly loud, thunderous voice that was painfully familiar to every citizen of Japan.
Leaping out from the shadow of the manhole, flashing a snow-white smile and unbelievable muscles in the rays of the setting sun, was the Number One Hero.
"BECAUSE I AM HERE!" All Might locked into his signature pose, ready for battle, but his raised fists froze in the air for a moment.
The eyes of the world's greatest hero rounded comically as he assessed the scene before him. Instead of a terrified schoolboy being held hostage by a dangerous villain, he saw four teenagers standing completely calmly in the middle of the tunnel. What's more, three of them—a tall golden-haired girl, a pale boy with perfect posture, and a gargantuan, gloomy teenager in a hood—were looking at him with such blatant, deep boredom and indifference, as if a failed street magician stood before them rather than the Symbol of Peace.
Only the green-haired boy in the middle looked like his brain was about to explode from pure happiness. Notebook No. 13 in Izuku's hands trembled so violently that the paper nearly ripped.
"A-A-All Might?!" Izuku screamed at the top of his lungs, his eyes turning into two massive green searchlights. "The real one?! Alive?! Here?!"
Meanwhile, on the floor by Shade's feet, the miserable Sludge Villain squeaked squeamishly, trying to crawl under the nearest rock:
"Get me out of here... I beg you, hero, put me in jail... These kids... they're monsters..."
All Might was momentarily bewildered, shifting his gaze from the puddle of sludge that was literally begging for arrest to the strange trio of teenagers, from whom a barely noticeable but incredibly heavy residue of some otherworldly energy still wafted. The Symbol of Peace subconsciously tensed up—his instinct, honed by years of battles, told him that these children were not nearly as simple as they seemed.
All Might quickly recovered from his brief stupor. Laughing loudly as was his custom, he picked up two empty plastic soda bottles that were lying nearby and, within seconds, shoved the remnants of the terrified Sludge Villain inside. The mass of filthy liquid didn't even put up a fight—it practically flowed inside on its own, desperate to hide from the three teenagers standing nearby.
"HA-HA-HA! IT IS FINE, YOUNG MAN!" the Symbol of Peace turned to Izuku, screwing the caps on the bottles and tucking them into the pockets of his oversized pants. "Your Quirk... or rather, your friends' Quirks are something truly spectacular! You apprehended him before I even arrived! Thank you for your assistance, and now I must deliver this garbage to the police!"
"A-All Might, wait! An autograph! Please!" Izuku cried out, holding out his Notebook No. 13, which Grimm had dried.
"HA! IT IS ALREADY THERE!" The Hero flashed a snow-white smile, pointing to an open page where a massive signature already proudly stretched across the entire spread.
Izuku nearly fell to his knees with happiness, clutching the notebook to his heart. Myla rolled her eyes so hard at that moment it felt as though they might lock into that position permanently.
"What a clown," she spat, quietly but clearly, watching All Might drop into a deep crouch, preparing to leap. "He reeks of cheap mortal theatricality and emptiness. I despise such loud nonentities."
"Do not be so harsh, dear sister," Grimm murmured with an ironic smile, adjusting his blazer. "The audience loves bright costumes and wide smiles. It is a classic one-man theater."
All Might pushed off the concrete with tremendous force, launching from the tunnel like a rocket. However, he had failed to account for one thing—Izuku's fanboyism. Driven by desperation and the urge to ask the most important question of his life, the green-haired boy leaped at the very last second and locked onto the hero's pant leg in a death grip.
"Hey, hey, hey! Young man! This is a bit much, even for a fan! Let go!" All Might shouted while already airborne, dozens of meters above the city.
"If I let go... I'm going to di-i-i-e!" Izuku shrieked as the wind buffeted his cheeks.
Below, near the tunnel exit, the trio of gods froze, staring up into the sky at the two rapidly receding specks.
"Is that idiot seriously doing this?" Myla clenched her fists, and the asphalt around her feet began to crack from a sudden flare of anger. "He decided to hitch a ride on a mortal?!"
Shade didn't waste time on words. His tall figure instantly dissolved into a thick, anthracite puddle of the Void, which flowed across the shadows of buildings, fences, and trees at breakneck speed, tracing the trajectory of the hero's flight. The Shadow Lord had no intention of leaving his "vessel" alone.
"Well, the show is getting more and more interesting. Let us keep up," Grimm spoke elegantly, as a vortex of crimson sparks exploded around him.
Myla merely let out a heavy sigh, and her body was enveloped in a flash of blinding white light. In the next moment, she and Grimm were moving across the roofs of skyscrapers at superhuman speed, barely keeping pace with All Might.
Due to Izuku's wild thrashing and a sudden sensation of heavy, foreign energy pursuing him from the ground, All Might lost his concentration. His hand inadvertently jerked near his pocket. The two plastic bottles, inside of which the Sludge Villain was still thrashing in a panic, slipped unnoticed out of the deep pocket and plummeted downward, straight into one of Musutafu's busy shopping alleys. The cap of one of them cracked upon impacting a roof...
All Might landed heavily on the roof of a high-rise building, breathing raggedly. Izuku let go of his leg, tumbling onto the concrete and gasping for air.
"Young man! That was incredibly dangerous!" the hero boomed sternly, turning away and heading toward the edge of the roof. "I have no time... I must go..."
"Wait!" Izuku stood up, his head lowered, his voice trembling. "I have to know! Can... can someone without a Quirk... become like you?! A real hero who saves everyone with a smile?! Everyone has always considered me a useless loser... Deku... Tell me, is it possible without a Quirk?!"
All Might froze. His time was up. Suddenly, a thick cloud of gray steam exploded around the massive body of the Symbol of Peace. Izuku shielded his face with his hands in fright, and when the smoke cleared, his eyes widened in sheer shock.
Instead of a mighty titan, standing before him was an emaciated, incredibly gaunt man with sunken cheeks, pale skin, and two long strands of hair hanging powerlessly over his face. A trickle of blood ran from his mouth.
"A-A-A imposter?! Who are you?! Where is All Might?!" Izuku shrieked, backing away.
"I am All Might..." Toshinori Yagi spoke hollowly, sitting down on the edge of the roof and lifting the hem of his oversized t-shirt to reveal a horrific, mangled scar on his left side. "Five years ago, in a battle with a certain villain, I lost half my internal organs. My body is ruined. I can only be a hero for about three hours a day. This is my secret, young man. The world must not know that the Symbol of Peace is waning."
At that exact moment, three figures materialized right out of thin air on the roof. Shade emerged from the shadow of a large ventilation pipe, instantly taking his place beside Izuku as a silent, towering guardian. Grimm and Myla stepped out of a crimson-gold flash of light and sparks, not even winded after their sprint across half the city.
Toshinori flinched in alarm upon seeing them, but recognizing the teenagers from the tunnel, he merely let out a heavy sigh and turned his somber gaze back to Izuku.
"You asked me if one can become a hero without power?" Toshinori wiped the blood from his lips and looked at the boy with deep, almost cruel pity. "Pro-heroes have to risk their lives every single day. They face monsters who can level a city in a second. Without a Quirk... without power... No, young man. A mortal human without abilities will simply perish on the battlefield. The world is too cruel. If you want to help people, become a police officer. They do good work too. But a hero... you cannot become a hero. I'm sorry."
The words of the Symbol of Peace struck Izuku harder than any explosion from Bakugo ever could. The world he had spent fourteen years building inside his notebooks shattered into tiny splinters. The pencils in his pocket creaked softly, and tears threatened to burst from his eyes. He lowered his head, feeling a total, absolute emptiness. His idol had just handed down his verdict.
All Might's words hung in the rooftop air like a heavy, suffocating smog. Izuku stood motionless, his shoulders trembling slightly, as Notebook No. 13 nearly slipped from his powerless fingers. All the pain he had endured for years from his classmates had just returned, signed and certified by his ultimate idol.
Toshinori Yagi got up heavily, intending to head toward the roof exit, but he wasn't allowed to take even a single step.
The atmosphere on the skyscraper shifted in an instant. The air around Myla suddenly grew so incandescent that the roofing felt beneath her sneakers began to melt, releasing acrid black smoke. Her long, golden-white hair rose into the air as if caught in an invisible vortex, and her amber eyes flared with the blinding, merciless light of the Goddess.
"What a pathetic, short-sighted creature you are," Myla spat. Her voice was no longer that of a fourteen-year-old girl—it echoed with a thousand reverberations of the pure, scorching fury of The Radiance. She took a step toward the emaciated hero, and Toshinori involuntarily backed away, blinded by her glare. "You call yourself the 'Symbol of Peace'? You, whose greatness rests solely on a borrowed fragment of someone else's Quirk and muscle mass? You dare judge our brother's potential, measuring him by your moronic mortal labels?!"
Beside her, Grimm made a smooth yet threatening gesture with his hand. His crimson eyes gleamed with contempt, and a blazing aura of crimson Nightmare plumage exploded around his shoulders.
"A rather wretched finale for such a loud performance, Mr. Toshinori," Grimm added with an icy, venomous smile. "Your theater has rotted, and the script you just recited is nothing but the sheer folly of a weak old man. You built a world where humans are valued for their mutations, and now you yourself fear your own shadow."
Shade said nothing. His tall figure simply took a step forward, completely blocking Izuku from All Might's view. From beneath his feet, a thick Void, black as tar, spilled out onto the roof, instantly swallowing all the light around Yagi's feet and plunging the hero into the primal, freezing terror of the Abyss. The Shadow Lord's eyes burned like two white pinpricks, promising to grind the Symbol of Peace into dust if he made so much as a move.
Toshinori froze, gasping for air. His inner voice shrieked that these three teenagers before him were not children with powerful Quirks. They were entities of an entirely different, higher, and far more dangerous order.
However, the gods' retribution was interrupted by a loud, powerful explosion that shook the entire shopping district a few streets away. A thick plume of black smoke billowed into the sky, and the crackle of concussive pops and the screams of terrified people reached the roof.
Izuku snapped his head up instantly. His eyes, welling with tears, narrowed.
"Kacchan... Those are Kacchan's explosions! Someone's attacking him!"
He dashed toward the fire escape, completely ignoring All Might, who was paralyzed with fear. Shade instantly dissolved into a shadow, following his vessel, while Myla and Grimm, casting looks of absolute loathing at Yagi one last time, vanished in a flash of golden and crimson fire.
Hell reigned supreme in the shopping alley. The Sludge Villain, who had slipped from the hero's pocket, had managed to completely take over Katsuki Bakugo's body. The blonde resisted furiously, his palms ceaselessly setting off powerful explosions, but they only ignited the buildings around him, making the sludge even larger and stronger from the heat and smoke.
The pro-heroes—Kamui Woods, Death Arms, and Mt. Lady—stood along the perimeter, throwing their hands up in helplessness. The fire prevented them from approaching, and their Quirks were ineffective against a liquid body holding a hostage.
"Hang in there, kid! Someone with a suitable Quirk will be here soon!" Death Arms shouted, while Bakugo was already beginning to suffocate, losing his strength. Katsuki looked at the crowd with eyes full of wild rage and desperation, refusing to believe that some "extras" were leaving him to die.
Suddenly, the crowd of onlookers parted. Izuku charged into the smoky street at full speed. Seeing his former childhood friend dying, his legs moved on their own—he rushed straight into the epicenter of the fire, hurling his backpack right into the villain's eye to free Kacchan's mouth for a split second.
"Deku... What the hell are you doing here?!" Bakugo croaked, spitting out green sludge.
"My legs just started running! I couldn't just stand there and watch you die!" Izuku screamed, vainly trying to claw through the liquid mass with his bare hands.
"Why, you miserable little worm! This time I'll kill you along with this explosive garbage!" the sludge roared, raising a massive, heavy liquid tentacle to crush Izuku into the asphalt with a single blow. The heroes in the background screamed in horror, lunging forward, but they were too late.
The script of the anime's first episode broke completely and irrevocably.
Time seemed to grind to a halt.
"MORTAL TRASH," Myla's majestic, deafening voice thundered over the entire district.
Piercing through the thick black smoke of the fire, a downpour of dozens of blindingly white, material swords made of pure Light descended from the sky with a fierce whistle. With a wild crash, they slammed into the asphalt around Izuku and Bakugo, forming a perfect protective cage. One of the light blades drove straight through the sludge's raised tentacle, instantly scorching and drying its liquid mass into a hard, brittle crust.
The villain shrieked in excruciating pain.
The next second, Shade's gigantic, monolithic figure rose from the shadow of a burning building. His entirely black eyes with white pinpricks glowed with the cold triumph of the Abyss. Shade thrust his two long arms forward—and hundreds of sharp, anthracite spears of the Void erupted from the ground. They skewered the sludge's body from all sides, pinning it immovably and tearing the filthy liquid to pieces, while leaving Bakugo completely untouched.
And above all this chaos, on the roof of a burning shop, Grimm landed smoothly. Massive crimson wings of Nightmare fire unfolded around him, extinguishing the entire fire in the alley with a single powerful sweep, drawing the ordinary flames into himself.
"The second act of our play is hereby declared open," Grimm spoke with an elegant bow, his voice silencing even the pro-heroes, who stood frozen with their mouths agape.
Myla descended smoothly from the air, enveloped by a blinding halo of The Radiance. She walked up to the cage of light, dissolved the swords with a casual wave of her hand, and looked down condescendingly at Bakugo, who lay on the asphalt, breathing heavily and staring at the trio of gods in sheer shock.
"Well, explosive worm?" Myla smiled crookedly, glancing at Katsuki. "Do you understand who the actual extras are now?"
Shade stepped closer, taking his place beside Izuku, and his shadows gently wrapped around the green-haired boy's shoulders, restoring his confidence. Izuku stood in the middle of the wrecked alley, clutching his notebook tightly, while around him towered three ancient deities who had just completely shattered the entire canon of this world before the eyes of the stunned crowd and All Might, who had just run up and frozen at the end of the street.