What does the fox say????????????
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Akira and Momo reached the VIP room.
As the door opened, and before either of them could take a single step inside, a missile hit them.
Reika grabbed both Momo and Akira in a collective hug so tight that neither of them could breathe. She pulled them against her chest, one arm around each, squeezing them hard.
"I AM SO PROUD OF YOU!!" Reika yelled, her voice cracking as she cried. "BOTH OF YOU!! YOU WERE INCREDIBLE!! MY BABIES!!"
"Thanks, Mom," Momo managed, her voice muffled against her mother's shoulder.
"Thank you, ma'am," Akira said, his face squished against Reika's other shoulder, unable to move.
Reika held them for a solid ten seconds before Honoka gently pried her off. "Reika, they need to breathe."
"They can breathe later! I'm not done!!"
She was, eventually, convinced to let go.
Kiyomasa walked up next. He stopped in front of Momo, looked at her for a long moment, and then placed his hand on her shoulder. And said one line.
"I am proud of you."
From Kiyomasa, that was equivalent to a twenty-minute speech from anyone else.
Momo smiled at him.
"Thanks, Dad."
He nodded once, squeezed her shoulder, and stepped back. That was all he needed.
And then the final visitor arrived.
Not a person this time, but a crazy cat.
Nia launched herself from Wei's arms like a furry missile, sailed through the air, and slammed into Akira's chest. She clung to his shirt with her tiny paws, her tail whipping back and forth, and looked up at him with the widest grin a cat-child could produce.
"DADDY GOT RAILGUNNED BY MOMMY!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!"
The room followed with laughter.
Honoka snorted. Reika covered her mouth. Kiyomasa's covered a small smile — just barely, just a twitch at the corner of his lips, but it counts. Xiao, who had been leaning against the window, giggled too. Wei was grinning. Na was shaking her head but smiling.
Mei, seated in her chair with her legs crossed, laughed out loud and pointed at Akira.
"You might be the first boyfriend in history to be railgunned by his own girlfriend," Mei said, wiping her eye. "Congratulations. That's a record that will never be broken."
Momo's face turned red. "Come on now... you're making me look like the bad person here."
"You literally built a warship cannon and shot him with it," Mei said.
"It was a railgun, not a cannon. The electromagnetic acceleratio-"
She stopped herself and summarized.
"In short, you shot your boyfriend."
"...Yes."
The room laughed again.
"Daddy was so cool," Nia murmured. "Mommy was cooler though."
"Traitor," Akira said.
"Nyahahaha!"
The twins approached Momo with identical expressions of excitement.
"That was incredible!!" Xiaoqing said, grabbing Momo's hands. "The railgun design! The coil spacing! The targeting integration with your visor! How did you calculate the magnetic flux density in field conditions?!"
Na was right beside her. "And the suit! The micro-thrusters! The drone deployment system! Would you like to work with us on future projects?! It would be amazing to collaborate with someone who has a creation quirk like yours!!"
Momo blinked, overwhelmed by the dual assault of enthusiasm. Then she smiled.
"I would love to," she said.
Both twins pumped their fists simultaneously. "LET'S GOOO!!"
They immediately pulled Momo aside and started sketching diagrams on napkins. Momo was pulled into their orbit like a planet caught between two suns.
Just then, a knock came at the door.
Yu and Jian walked in. Jian was carrying a large box, and the smell that came with it was unmistakable..... fresh burgers.
Jian looked at Akira and Momo while grinning.
"Just in time. Excellent work, by the way. Both of you."
He set the box down on the table and flipped it open. Stacked inside were a dozen gourmet burgers, each one thick, loaded with wagyu beef, and wrapped in gold foil because Jian Li didn't do anything without excessive presentation.
"Here, grab one," he offered, gesturing at the box.
Akira took a burger so did Momo. Then everyone else descended on the box like vultures. Within thirty seconds, every burger was claimed. Nia had somehow secured two despite being the size of a housecat.
As the room settled into the comfortable noise of people eating, talking, and laughing, Yu reached into her bag and pulled out two documents.
She handed one to Akira and one to Momo.
Akira looked at the paper, still chewing. "What's this?"
"An internship opportunity," Yu said, smiling. "With our agency. Celestial Axis."
Momo looked at hers. Then at Yu. Then at Akira.
"Isn't this too early for that?" Momo asked. "Internships usually don't start until-"
"No," Yu said, waving her hand. "After what I saw today, waiting would be-"
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!
The sound hit the stadium like a bomb. The floor shook. The windows of the VIP box rattled. As the lights flickered.
Every person in the room froze.
The crowd outside — a hundred thousand people who had been chatting, eating, stretching during the intermission — went silent. Then the screaming started.
Akira was at the window in a second. Momo was beside him. Honoka, Jian, Mei, and Yu — all of them pressed against the glass, looking down at the arena floor.
Something had hit the centre of the field.
The impact had cratered the stadium floor, sending chunks of concrete and steel flying into the lower stands. Dust and debris billowed upward in a thick grey cloud, obscuring the point of impact. The screen tower that had been erected for the battle royale had been destroyed.
Emergency alarms blared across the stadium. The crowd was on its feet, pushing toward the exits. Security drones activated and descended from the stadium ceiling. Pro heroes in the stands were already moving, jumping over railings, pushing through crowds.
"What the hell?!" Jian yelled, his hand already on the window frame, ready to move.
Mei's eyes narrowed. "That impact pattern.... It wasn't a single object. Multiple simultaneous landings."
The dust began to clear.
And what it revealed turned the silence into more panic.
In the centre of the arena floor, standing in the crater, were ten figures.
They were massive. Each one stood between two and three metres tall, their bodies grotesque — swollen with muscle, covered in black, leathery skin. Their eyes were empty while their mouths hung wide open. Others had limbs that were too long, joints that bent the wrong way, bodies that looked like they had been assembled by someone who had only heard a description of a human being but had never actually seen one.
They stood in a loose formation, motionless, waiting.
In the commentary booth, Aizawa was already on his feet, his capture weapon unwinding from his scarf.
In the stands, the pro heroes who recognised the creatures stopped moving.
Because every hero in Japan knew what these things were.
Momo and Akira said it at the same time.
"Nomus."
Akira had fought one of these at USJ. They had seen what they could do.
And now? There were ten of them standing in a place full of civilians.
In the stands, Class 1-A had frozen. Students who had been heading toward the changing rooms had stopped in their tracks, and Bakugo was already moving toward the arena.
The pro heroes were mobilising. Endeavor's flames roared to full intensity. He was happy to find something to take out his frustration on.
And then the dust at the centre of the crater finished clearing.
And Akira saw him.
Standing in the middle of the ten Nomus was a man....
He was massive. His body, though... was weird — the left half was still human, but ut the right half was different. It was covered in the same black, leathery skin as the Nomus. The same grotesque texture.
His right arm was twice the size of his left, the muscle fibres visible beneath the dark membrane, twitching with barely contained power.
His face was split down the middle. Human on the left. Nomu on the right. One eye was there while the other eye was empty.
That thing had a wide smile on its face.
A smile that Akira remembered to his day.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!!"
The laugh echoed across the stadium. Deep, unhinged, rolling through the speakers that were still active from the Sports Festival broadcast. Every person in the arena heard it.
"I SEE YOU UP THERE, KID!!!!!" The man.... AKA: Muscular screamed, his voice shaking the air. "REMEMBER ME?!"
The VIP box was silent.
Honoka had gone white. Her hand was gripping the railing so hard her knuckles had lost all colour. She was staring at the man on the field with pure rage.
Mei's hand was on the hilt of a blade that hadn't been there a second ago.
Momo looked at Akira.
His expression had changed.
The calm was gone. The ever-present lazy smile was gone.
What was left was something she had never seen before.
His eyes were burning. Not glowing.... burning. The crimson irises had deepened to a shade of red so dark they were almost black. His hands were shaking..... not from fear, but from something being held back.
The temperature in the VIP box spiked instantly. The glass in front of Akira cracked. A single fracture line running from top to bottom, caused by nothing but the heat radiating from his body.
Akira was staring at Muscular.
And Muscular was staring back.
"I remember," Akira said.
His voice was quiet. Barely above a whisper. But everyone in the box heard it, because the air itself seemed to carry it.
Momo reached for his hand.
His skin was hot. Almost too hot to touch. But she held on anyway.
"Akira," she said softly.
But he pulled his hand and ignored her. Right now, no one could stop him. Right now, Akira was gone, and the world will see The symbol of Fear for the first time.
+++++++++
Wellllllllll..... time to deal with a pest form the past.... I really wanted too fully re-write this part. As it makes a lot more sence dor the villains to attack right now... as they will get the max covering.
Hope I am not overcooking it.
Now bye... I finally got a gaming laptop!!!!! Gotta set it up.
Plus if you want to support me, you can join my P@teron and read up to +15 advanced chapters and support me you can alway join my P@treaon. (Just search up Joe_Mama p@treon on google.)