Seven months after the Grave Mind's fall.
The Japanese Alps were quiet.
Snow covered the roof of the small cabin. Smoke curled from the chimney. Inside, a fire crackled. Katzuki sat on a futon, his arms normal, his eyes human, his body relaxed for the first time in years. He held a cup of tea. He stared at the ceiling.
"I'm bored."
Kur-Bai'el sat across from him, reading an old book. He didn't look up.
"You're always bored."
"I'm not always bored. Sometimes I'm hungry." Katzuki sipped his tea. "Right now I'm both."
Kur-Bai'el turned a page.
Katzuki sighed dramatically. "You're ignoring me."
"I'm reading."
"You've been reading that same book for three months."
"It's a long book."
Katzuki threw a pillow at him. Kur-Bai'el caught it without looking.
"You're getting slow," Katzuki said.
"You're getting predictable."
Katzuki grinned. "That's not a no."
They sat in comfortable silence. Outside, snow fell. Inside, the fire crackled.
Then someone knocked on the door.
Katzuki frowned. "We don't get visitors."
Kur-Bai'el closed his book. "Apparently we do."
Part Two: The Uninvited Guests
Katzuki opened the door.
Atlas stood there. Snow on his shoulders. Stella beside him. Captain Spirit behind them, wearing a ridiculous winter coat. Vexxa brought up the rear, arms crossed, looking unimpressed.
Katzuki stared.
"...What the hell are you doing here?"
Atlas: "We missed you."
Katzuki: "We've been gone for seven months."
Stella: "Exactly. That's too long."
Katzuki looked at Kur-Bai'el. Kur-Bai'el looked at Katzuki.
Katzuki: "You invited them."
Kur-Bai'el: "I did not."
Atlas: "We followed you."
Katzuki: "That's creepy."
Captain Spirit: "We prefer 'persistent.'"
Vexxa pushed past everyone, walked into the cabin, and sat by the fire.
"Nice place. Too quiet."
Katzuki closed the door. Turned to face his uninvited guests.
"Fine. You're here. What do you want?"
Atlas and Stella looked at each other. Then back at Katzuki.
Atlas: "We want to form a team."
Katzuki: "A team."
"A real one. With a name. With structure. With a mission."
Katzuki: "I hate names."
Stella: "We already have one."
Katzuki raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? What?"
Stella looked at Atlas. Atlas looked at Stella. They spoke together:
"Devoted Vanguards."
Silence.
Katzuki: "...That's terrible."
Captain Spirit: "I like it."
Katzuki: "You like everything."
Spirit: "I like competence. And that name sounds competent."
Vexxa: "It sounds like a law firm."
Katzuki: "A boring law firm."
Kur-Bai'el spoke for the first time: "I don't care what it's called. I'll fight."
Katzuki stared at him. "You're supposed to be on my side."
"I'm on the side of not dying."
Katzuki threw his hands up. "Fine. Devoted Vanguards. Whatever." He pointed at Atlas. "But I'm not wearing a uniform."
Stella: "No uniforms."
"And I'm not doing paperwork."
Katzuki narrowed his eyes. "This feels like a trap."
Captain Spirit: "It's definitely a trap."
Atlas: "It's not a trap."
Stella: "It's a little bit of a trap."
Atlas: "Stella."
Stella: "What? Honesty is important for team cohesion."
Katzuki sighed. "Fine. I'm in. But only because Kur-Bai'el would go without me."
Kur-Bai'el: "I would."
Katzuki: "I know. That's why I'm coming."
---
Later that night. The cabin. A laptop on the table.
Atlas pulled up news feeds. Security footage. Police scanners.
"I've been watching these three for weeks," he said.
The screen showed a man in a green suit, black mask, fedora — The Green Hornet. Beside him, a younger man in a dark coat — Kato. And a woman in tactical gear — The Driver.
Stella: "They're good. Decent. But they're mercenaries."
Atlas: "That's why they'll join. Mercenaries have a price."
Katzuki: "And you're going to pay it?"
Atlas: "Yes."
Katzuki: "With what money?"
Atlas: "I'm a CEO. I have money."
Katzuki: "Right. Forgot."
---
A warehouse. Dim lights. The Green Hornet sat across from Atlas, his cane resting on his lap.
The Green Hornet: "No."
Atlas: "I'll pay you."
The Green Hornet paused. "How much?"
Atlas named a number.
The Green Hornet looked at Kato. Looked at The Driver. They nodded.
The Green Hornet: "...We're in. Temporarily."
Atlas extended his hand. The Green Hornet shook it.
The Green Hornet: "If this goes wrong, I'm blaming you."
Atlas smiled. Calm. Positive. Decent.
"That's fair. I wouldn't expect anything less."
The Green Hornet stared at him for a moment. Then nodded.
"Fine. When do we start?"
---
The next morning. The cabin. Breakfast.
Stella turned on the TV.
News footage. A man in a dirty hoodie, jeans, worn boots. He stood in the middle of a destroyed street — cars flipped, asphalt cracked, fires burning. He wasn't fighting anyone. He was just... there.
The news anchor's voice: "The man known as Hancock was seen yesterday in downtown Chicago. Witnesses report he stopped a robbery — but caused over two million dollars in property damage. Citizens are divided. Some call him a hero. Others call him a menace."
Katzuki: "A superman who's not?"
Stella: "He has powers. Strength. Flight. Invulnerability. But he's reckless. Drunk. Lonely."
Atlas watched the screen. Hancock walked away from the destruction, head down, shoulders slumped.
Atlas: "He's not a menace. He's broken."
Katzuki: "Same thing, sometimes."
Atlas: "No. It's not."
---
A park bench. Late afternoon. Hancock sat alone, feeding pigeons.
Atlas sat beside him.
"Hancock."
The man didn't look up. "Go away."
"I need you on my team."
Hancock laughed — a rough, broken sound. "I don't do teams."
"You used to."
"Used to." He threw breadcrumbs to the pigeons. "Then I got older. Slower. People started dying around me."
Atlas: "That's not your fault."
Hancock finally looked at him. His eyes were red — from drinking, from crying, from decades of loneliness.
"Tell that to their families."
Atlas: "I'm not here to judge you. I'm here to offer you something ."
Hancock: "I don't want anything."
Atlas: "A second chance."
Hancock stared at him.
Atlas: "If I recruit that you would join the quad."
Hancock: "I work alone."
Atlas: "How's that working for you?"
Hancock was silent.
Atlas stood. "I'll be here tomorrow."
Hancock: "Waste of time."
---
Atlas came back the next day. And the next. And the next.
Each time, Hancock refused.
"I'm not a hero anymore."
"I don't trust people."
"I work alone."
"I'll only slow you down."
"I don't need friends."
Each refusal was a little weaker than the last.
Five days later.
Rain poured over the city. Hancock sat on the bench, soaking wet. Atlas stood beside him, holding an umbrella.
"You're still here," Hancock said.
"I told you I would be."
Hancock was silent for a long moment. The rain pattered on the umbrella. The city was gray. Quiet.
Then he spoke.
"I was a hero once. A real one. Saved people. Stopped disasters. They loved me."
Atlas listened.
"Then I got old. My powers started failing. I couldn't save everyone anymore. People began blaming me for everything, even when I was doing the right thing. Then they suddenly stopped loving me and started hating me… because I was a fraud.
I knew Girlsteel—she was my idol. She was insane, man. Like, dang… how could that woman be so strong when she fought that Godzilla-like thing in the monster scene?
He looked at his hands — scarred, trembling."
"I've been alone for thirty years. Thirty years of drinking. Sleeping in alleys. Forgetting what it feels like to have someone care."
He looked up. His eyes were wet — rain or tears, Atlas couldn't tell.
"I don't know how to be on a team anymore. I don't know how to trust. I don't know how to be human."
Atlas sat beside him. The rain soak his shoulders.
"Neither do I. But I'm learning."
Hancock stared at him.
Then — slowly — he nodded.
"Fine. I'll try man."
He stood. Cracked his neck.
"But if I screw up... don't say I didn't warn you."
Atlas smiled.
"Wouldn't dream of it. Beside we're all here for improvements or opportunity for change it doesn't bother for me. It's normal."
---
The next day. They were in headquarters.
The war room was full.
Atlas. Stella. Captain Spirit. Vexxa. Katzuki on screen. Kur-Bai'el on screen.
The Green Hornet. Kato. The Driver. Hancock.
Atlas stood at the center. He looked at each of them — broken, lonely, stubborn, hopeful.
"Everyone, this is the Devoted Vanguards."
Katzuki on screen "That name is still terrible."
The Green Hornet: "I agree."
Katzuki: "I like this guy."
Hancock looked around at the others. At the screens. At the weapons. At the hope in their eyes.
He hadn't seen hope in a long time.
He almost smiled.
"Let's get to work."
---
The team stood together.
Broken people. Lonely people. People who had lost everything.
But they were together.
And for the first time in a long time — that was enough.
TO BE CONTINUED…