Chapter 26: The Engines of Kamino
The Kamino Ward was usually a bustling hub of neon lights and late-night commerce, but tonight, the streets were gripped by a suffocating, unnatural silence. The civilian evacuation order had been issued, but it was too slow.
Deep beneath the pavement, behind feet of reinforced concrete and lead lining, the Number One and Number Two heroes of Japan breached the underworld.
"I AM HERE!" All Might roared, his massive fists obliterating the subterranean vault doors. The sheer air pressure of his entry blew the heavy steel hinges into shrapnel.
Endeavor stepped through the dust right behind him, his hellflames illuminating the massive, cavernous factory. Rows upon rows of cylindrical glass vats filled the room, each containing a dormant, grotesque Nomu.
But sitting in a high-backed medical chair at the far end of the vault, disconnected from his life-support tubes, was the Emperor of the Underworld.
All For One wore a sharp, tailored suit and a featureless black mask that covered his scarred face. He did not look surprised. He did not look afraid. He simply raised his hands and began a slow, mocking clap.
"Punctual as always, Toshinori," All For One's velvety voice echoed across the sterile vault. "And you brought Enji Todoroki. How delightfully nostalgic. But I am afraid your little spy from UA delivered you into a narrative you cannot survive."
All Might didn't waste a breath on banter. He lunged forward, traversing the length of the vault in a microsecond, his fist pulled back for a devastating Carolina Smash.
KRRR-CLANG!
All Might's fist never reached the villain. Three massive, heavily mutated High-End Nomus erupted from the floorboards directly in front of All For One. They didn't have exposed brains; their heads were encased in thick, shock-absorbing bio-armor. The trio of monsters crossed their multi-jointed arms, catching All Might's punch. The kinetic shockwave cracked the vault's foundation, but the Nomus held their ground.
"The Sovereign thinks he is playing chess," All For One mused, stepping down from his dais as the High-Ends pushed All Might back. "But I have been hoarding pieces for a century. Allow me to clear the board."
All For One raised his right arm. It instantly swelled, mutating grotesquely as he activated a dozen Quirks simultaneously—Springlike Limbs, Kinetic Booster x4, Strength Enhancer x3, Air Walk, and Air Cannon.
He didn't aim at All Might. He aimed at the ceiling.
BOOM!
A catastrophic blast of compressed air and kinetic force obliterated the roof of the vault, tearing straight through the bedrock, the sewer lines, and the city streets above.
Up on the surface, Kamino Ward erupted.
The pavement shattered like glass as a massive crater swallowed an entire city block. The surrounding skyscrapers groaned, their foundations compromised. And pouring out of the crater, warped to the surface by a localized spatial Quirk All For One had kept in reserve, were dozens of mid-tier Nomus.
The remaining civilians screamed, stampeding through the neon-lit streets as the brainless monsters roared, tearing into overturned cars and storefronts. Mount Lady and Kamui Woods, who had been establishing the perimeter, were instantly overwhelmed by the sheer volume of the swarm.
"There are too many!" Kamui Woods yelled, his wood-bindings snapping under the brute strength of three four-armed Nomus.
"Run! Everyone get back!" Mount Lady shouted, desperately trying to shield a group of fleeing civilians from a Nomu that was inhaling deeply to spew a wave of toxic acid.
The monster opened its maw. The civilians covered their heads, bracing for death.
SHING!
A blinding, crackling arc of crimson energy cleaved through the air. The acid-spitting Nomu was cleanly decapitated before a single drop of venom could leave its throat.
Giulio Gandini landed gracefully on the wet asphalt, his polished shoes splashing in the puddles. His Crimson Arsenal broadsword hummed with lethal, red intensity. "Evacuate the non-combatants," the butler ordered the stunned Pro Heroes, his golden eye glowing in the dark. "The Vanguard will hold the line."
High above the street, a massive, silvery-blue portal of Sanctuary Phasing ripped open the stormy sky.
"Akio! The perimeter!" a metallic, modulated voice commanded from the void.
Akio dropped from the portal, slamming his hands into the center of the intersection. A colossal, blinding dome of golden-violet energy—the Aegis Pulse—erupted outward, expanding to cover three entire city blocks. The dome functioned perfectly as a one-way filter; terrified civilians ran through the golden walls to safety, but when the mindless Nomus tried to pursue, they slammed face-first into impenetrable kinetic force.
"I've got them boxed in!" Akio yelled, blood already trickling from his nose from the immense strain of shielding a city block, but his Eternal Vitality kept his muscles from tearing.
Inside the dome, Kenji landed like a meteor. His silver Knight's Vow armor burned with the density of a dying star. He didn't use technique; he used absolute, immovable conviction. He waded directly into a pack of six Nomus, absorbing their frenzied punches without flinching, and systematically shattered their limbs with devastating, silver-plated strikes.
From the rooftops, Shinso looked down at the chaos. His purple Synaptic Overclock lightning danced across his tactical jacket. He didn't bother trying to mind-control the Nomus—they lacked the higher brain functions necessary for his Quirk to grip.
Instead, he looked at the dozens of opportunistic looters and low-level street thugs who had emerged from the woodwork to exploit the chaos.
Snap.
Shinso's eyes flared purple. He cast a wide, telepathic net, instantly hijacking the nervous systems of twenty different thugs. He didn't just stop them from looting; he networked their cognitive processing power directly into his own brain.
With the processing speed of twenty minds fueling his physical enhancement, Shinso became a blur of purple lightning. He leaped from the rooftop, crashing into a winged Nomu in mid-air, and drove it straight into the pavement with the force of a falling safe.
"Hold the line, Vanguard!" Rin shouted from the safety of her pocket dimension, maintaining the portal above to monitor the battlefield.
High on a nearby skyscraper, completely hidden in the shadows, Nocturne watched his Swarm dominate the streets. The street-level crisis was contained. The innocent were shielded.
But down in the crater, the real war was failing.
Through the massive hole in the street, Nocturne's Emotion Sight could see the terrifying, oppressive aura of All For One. The villain was a black hole of malicious, ancient power.
All Might was bleeding. Endeavor had been thrown through a concrete pillar, his flames flickering weakly. The three High-End Nomus had systematically isolated the Symbol of Peace, wearing him down while All For One prepared a lethal, finishing blow.
"Your flame is nothing but embers, Toshinori," All For One mocked, his right arm swelling to the size of a minivan, crackling with black and red lightning. "It is time for the curtain to fall on the Symbol of Peace."
All Might, coughing up blood, braced his legs, preparing to push One For All far past his absolute limit, knowing it would likely end his life.
"Now," Nocturne whispered into his comms.
Deep within the Sanctuary Phasing dimension, Tensei Iida opened his eyes. They glowed with a blinding, piercing emerald light.
The Celestial Engine exoskeleton hummed. It didn't sound like a normal engine. It sounded like a jet turbine fueled by dying stars.
"Rin," Tensei said, his voice eerily calm despite the explosive kinetic energy vibrating through his bones. "Drop me directly over the crater."
Rin opened a small, targeted tear directly above the massive hole leading down into the subterranean vault.
Tensei stepped out into the Kamino sky. He was in freefall for exactly one tenth of a second.
Then, he ignited the engines.
BOOM!
The sonic boom shattered every remaining pane of glass in a five-block radius. Tensei didn't just fall; he drove himself downward at Mach 3. He was a streak of blinding emerald and white cosmic fire, a human railgun fired directly from the heavens.
Down in the vault, All For One swung his massive, mutated arm forward, unleashing a catastrophic blast of compressed air and kinetic force meant to obliterate All Might.
But a millisecond before the attack connected, the emerald comet hit the vault floor.
The kinetic impact of Tensei's landing was so astronomically high that it generated a localized vacuum. The shockwave radiated outward, completely neutralizing All For One's air cannon and violently blowing the three High-End Nomus backward into the concrete walls, pinning them under the pressure.
Dust and green lightning filled the destroyed vault.
All Might shielded his eyes, coughing as he looked at the figure standing between him and the Emperor of the Underworld.
The man wore no cape. His legs and lower back were encased in a breathtaking, translucent hard-light exoskeleton that burned with emerald fire. The exhaust vents on his calves were venting superheated, cosmic plasma.
All Might's eyes widened in sheer disbelief. He recognized the helmet. He recognized the posture. "Ingenium...?! But how... your legs...!"
Tensei Iida slowly stood up to his full height, the Celestial Engine humming with limitless horsepower. He looked at All For One, his emerald eyes piercing through the villain's featureless mask.
"The Sovereign sends his regards," Tensei declared, his voice ringing with absolute, heroic clarity. "You claim to hoard all the pieces, All For One. But you forgot that knights can jump over your pawns."
All For One's invisible gaze locked onto the emerald engines. For the first time in a century, the Emperor of the Underworld took a step backward.
The god of villains had just met the Swarm's ultimate engine.