The district remained sealed off long after the battle ended.
Police vehicles lined the streets.
Emergency lights painted the damaged buildings in flashes of red and blue.
Construction crews had already begun inspecting the worst of the structural damage while rescue workers moved through the area one final time, searching for anyone who might have been overlooked.
Fortunately, thanks to the evacuation efforts of the heroes, the number of injuries remained far lower than it could have been.
The same couldn't be said for the property damage.
Several rooftops had been destroyed.
Two apartment complexes had suffered major damage.
Broken glass covered entire sections of the street.
Near one of the police barricades, Inko Midoriya sat wrapped in a blanket.
Her hands still trembled slightly as she answered questions from an officer.
"...and then it crashed through the window."
The officer nodded while taking notes.
"And after that?"
"Aoyama-kun stood in front of us."
Inko glanced toward Izumi.
"If he hadn't been there..."
She couldn't finish the sentence.
The officer silently wrote something down.
Nearby, Izumi was giving her own statement.
"He specifically came for my mother."
The green-haired girl folded her arms tightly.
"He wasn't robbing us or anything."
"You believe Mrs. Midoriya was his target?"
"Yes."
The officer frowned.
"Did he explain why?"
Izumi shook her head.
"No."
Though that wasn't entirely true.
She remembered some of what the villain had shouted.
Something about his family.
But she wasn't sure what any of it meant.
Across the district, heroes were giving their own reports.
Kamui Woods stood beside a damaged patrol vehicle while answering questions from investigators.
"The suspect first appeared in the commercial district."
He crossed his arms.
"I attempted a standard apprehension."
"And then?"
"He escaped."
The officer's pen paused.
Kamui Woods sighed.
"Repeatedly."
Several rooftops away, Reina Iida spoke with rescue personnel while checking over casualty reports.
Thankfully, no deaths.
Just injuries.
Property damage.
And a city that would be talking about tonight for weeks.
Meanwhile, Endeavor had left the main investigation area.
The Number Two Hero stood atop a nearby building overlooking the district.
His sharp eyes scanned the rooftops.
Eventually, they found who he was looking for.
A lone figure sat near the edge of a building.
Legs hanging over open air.
Watching the aftermath below.
Aoyama Hikaru.
The boy didn't look surprised when Endeavor landed nearby.
BOOM.
The rooftop trembled slightly beneath the hero's weight.
For several moments neither spoke.
Together they watched emergency crews move through the streets below.
Finally, Endeavor broke the silence.
"I already gave my report to the police below. They told me you were the first hero on the scene."
His eyes shifted toward Aoyama.
"I expected a newly licensed pro hero."
Aoyama glanced back.
"Sorry to disappoint."
"But I think I handled that guy pretty well for being a kid."
Endeavor's expression didn't change.
"Before I arrived, that villain was already preparing to go on a rampage."
"If that's your definition of handling the situation, you should hang up your gloves early."
The rooftop fell silent.
Aoyama stared at him.
Then raised an eyebrow.
"Are you telling me to give up on being a hero before I've even started?"
Endeavor folded his arms.
"Being a hero isn't something you should aspire to if you're weak."
The response came instantly.
No hesitation.
No apology.
Just a simple statement.
Aoyama slowly stood from the ledge.
The wind tugged at his clothes as he looked out across the damaged district.
"You're right."
That answer actually caught Endeavor's attention.
Aoyama lowered his gaze.
"I thought I was already strong enough."
His hands clenched slightly.
"I thought I could handle anything that came my way."
Images flashed through his mind.
Carl breaking into the apartment.
Izumi almost getting hit.
The ghost ray blasting through his shields.
Endeavor ending the fight in a single attack.
Aoyama let out a slow breath.
"But I was wrong."
He turned.
His violet eyes met Endeavor's.
"Train me."
Endeavor blinked.
For a brief moment, he wasn't sure he had heard correctly.
"What?"
"I want you to train me."
The request was blunt.
Direct.
Endeavor studied him carefully.
At first, his instinct was to refuse.
Yet something in the boy's expression gave him pause.
Determination.
Frustration.
A burning desire to improve.
It was familiar.
Painfully familiar.
For an instant, Endeavor saw a reflection of his younger self staring back at him.
Then he shook his head.
"No."
Aoyama frowned.
Endeavor turned away.
"I'm proficient in fire-based combat and closely related emitter quirks."
He gestured toward the city.
"From what I saw, your abilities revolve around with those web-like threads you were swinging from along with none-basic strength and agility."
He started walking.
"I don't think I could teach you anything useful even if I wanted to."
Aoyama considered that.
Then spoke again.
"What if I made a flame quirk?"
Endeavor stopped.
Slowly, he looked over his shoulder.
For the first time all evening, he actually laughed.
A short, incredulous laugh.
"Quirks aren't something you change at a whim, kid."
He resumed walking.
"Get some sleep."
Aoyama looked at the floating interface only he could see.
Then reached forward.
A translucent slot machine materialized in front of him.
Its glass surface shimmered beneath the sky.
Endeavor heard a metallic click.
His footsteps slowed.
"...What?"
A lever appeared on the side.
Aoyama grabbed it.
And pulled.
CLACK.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
FIRST ROLL
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
SPIN.
SPIN.
SPIN.
[Gamblers Luck] (Active)
The reels blurred.
Symbols flashed past faster and faster.
DING!
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[Skin Acquired]
Name: Johnny Storm
Origin: Fantastic Four
Rarity: Uncommon
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The world went silent.
Endeavor stopped walking.
Aoyama's eyes widened as he selected the newly acquired skin.
For a brief moment, nothing happened.
Then—
Heat exploded through his body.
His veins felt molten.
Fire flooded his lungs.
His heartbeat thundered inside his chest.
Every nerve screamed.
And then—
WHOOOOSH!
Information crashed into his mind like a tidal wave.
Heat.
Fire.
Flight.
The power of a star burning within human flesh.
The essence that made the Human Torch.
Flames flickered to life around his fingertips.
Small.
Harmless.
Just sparks.
Then another appeared.
And another.
Until—
WHOOSH!
Fire erupted across his arms.
The flames spread rapidly over his body, concealing the transformation beneath.
His frame grew taller.
His features shifted.
His clothes dissolved into fire before reforming as a sleek blue-and-white suit.
The inferno intensified.
A living blaze now stood where Aoyama Hikaru had been moments before.
The temperature atop the rooftop skyrocketed.
Waves of heat rolled across the surrounding buildings.
Endeavor slowly turned around.
For the first time that night—
The Number Two Hero looked genuinely stunned.
Aoyama stared at his burning hands.
Flames danced across his fingers without harming him.
He could feel it.
The power.
The heat.
The freedom.
Slowly, he raised his head.
The fire reflected in his glowing orange eyes.
Then he looked directly at Endeavor.
"What about now?"