Umaru’s scream had finally died down as he lost consciousness after the ‘ordeal’ he went through.

Akira tested his quirk in my ‘creative’ ways and learnt of its limits. He found out that he could even inflict indirect damage albeit it tired him a lot.

This surprised him as it turned out that his quirk was far more powerful than he had imagined it to be.

His quirk was now more interesting and he was eager to learn more about it. He had observed that when he had imagined the man burning, only his skin had started showing signs of inflammation but there was no fire.

This meant that while he could cause indirect damage, it was only limited to the biological changes.

He wanted to test it out more but it was taxing his body so he decided to stop. He felt that as though he had run a marathon when he used his quirk to cause indirect damage.

Umaru had fainted but Akira still needed to test a few more things so he tried using the quirk closing his eyes but it didn’t work.

He kept his eyes open but didn’t look at his target and again it didn’t work.

‘Hm...so it requires the target to be in direct line of sight to work…’

He moved away from Umaru and tried using his quirk from a distance and it worked alright till he was over 30 meters or so from him.

‘..The effects were not weakened over distance and remained constant but they stopped working once I was out of its ‘range’. How does it work I wonder?’

Coming to physical damage or direct damage, it took considerably less energy and could even make the target’s body exceed its limits. Umaru’s arm shouldn’t have had the strength to bend like that but it did.

‘A sort of telekinesis but extremely limited and I can’t take back the order once I have stated it.’

Indeed Akira couldn’t take his orders back. The quirk only activated when he wanted to use it or if it was fueled by extreme emotions but once it did activate, it wouldn’t stop until the target is harmed.

He also couldn’t use it quickly so if he broke his foe’s hand, they could just defeat him if they reacted quickly.

He didn’t know if he could use his quirk on multiple targets simultaneously and he couldn’t test it now either.

‘I wonder if the effects will weaken if it does work on multiple targets.’

‘Will the range reduce?’

‘Can I use it in such a way that they harm each other?’

Akira was feeling excited thinking of all the ways to test his quirk. If Umaru looked at him now, he would have been shocked as the expression on Akira’s face was similar to a kid who got a new toy.

Having a quirk or superpower of his own made Akira understand why people of this world were obsessed with quirks and civilization had come to a halt with its appearance.

Quirks were something that went against all laws of science humans had established over the years. Even till date, there is no proper reason why they exist or how they work.

Only rough theories and a few observations were known and it was a new field for mankind. It was just starting to be explored and it made Akira excited to be a part of it.

It was like how science was in the late 16th century. The revolution of science began when man started thinking why things happened instead of just relying on faith.

Religion declined in the face of science as it couldn’t provide facts and didn’t help in mankind’s progress. Of course, it played a role in it and it was still widely practiced even when Akira was in his previous life but it was only a hollow remnant of what it was.

People believed in it but didn’t depend on it, the same thing had happened in this world when quirks started manifesting and religion had faded away in this world.

Akira had another goal now, he wanted to know the how and why of quirks. It would also help him in his other mission as knowledge was power after all and Akira would be the last person on the planet to actually refuse power.

….

‘I guess they will be here anytime now..’Akira thought as he soaked his hand with blood and started splattering it on himself. He gave himself a few tiny bruises here and there to make it seem like he struggled and had no choice but to fight back.

This made him confirm the fact that he could use his quirk on himself. He could even make himself shed tears naturally. It was a rather creative way of using the quirk and it made him pleased.

‘Acting is much easier now that my body can cooperate…’

It was not too hard setting all this up as creating evidence was much easier than erasing it. Of course, if they did a thorough investigation, they might find a few abnormalities here and there but they wouldn’t suspect him too much or so he hoped…

After arranging everything, he waited for the heroes to come ‘rescue’ him.

…

“We looked everywhere near the vicinity except this place..” Pro Hero Mr. Plastic says pointing at the Municipal park located near the amusement park.

“We know that the villain has not left the area so he must be here…”

Like his name suggested, his quirk was related to plastic. He could manipulate plastic at free will in a nearby radius.

He had established his agency years ago but he had not made much progress in his career as a hero. His quirk was not strong or he didn’t know how to use it well and this along with his cowardly or underoic mentality, it was no wonder why he never made progress.

He had thought he could raise his ranking if he caught a C-rank villain. Now he knew C-rank villains were tough but this new guy had never fought heroes head on so he thought he could take him.

When he did run into him, he along with his intern Dove, A U.A brat had tried taking him down but they had failed which might not have been that serious but the villain escaped with a hostage, a kid on top of that.

His career was doomed if he failed. Maye if he was a top hero, he could still have a chance but bottom feeders like him wouldn’t get another chance.

“Okay..we will go there Sensei...but is the backup here yet?” Dove asks with a look of worry. She too knows that her career wouldn’t be bright if something happens to the hostage.

“..He said he was arriving soon..” Plastic began but stopped as he spotted his backup coming.

It was a tall man with a muscular build and slightly tanned skin. He had a square jaw, small eyes and short white hair spiked out behind his head.

It was the pro-hero Death Arms, a relatively new hero if Plastic recalled right but still higher ranked than him which made him feel bitter a littl.e

“Hello..are you Mr.Plastic?” he asks in a deep voice.

Plastic nods, “Yes.. I was the one--no we were the ones who requested backup..”

“Tell me about the situation?”

Plastic nods again and takes a deep breath and quickly begins explaining.

“I see..” Death Arms begins. “I must say that it was very reckless of you to engage the villain especially in a public place like this but you did well not provoking him so there might be a chance that the hostage is unharmed.”

“..Y-yes..you are right..we looked everywhere except this one place so he might still be there.” Plastic replies.

“Which place?”

“Umm...the abandoned Municipal Park..Sir.” Dove cuts in and answers not wanting to be seen as inactive in front of a better hero.

“Ah..that junkyard right?” Death Arms asks to which the other two nod.

“Well then what are we waiting for?..lets go.”

….

The pro heroes quickly head towards the park. Seeing the condition of the park and the heaps of trash everywhere, Plastic feels a little confident as he could see numerous plastic junk which would boost his combat capability.

They had discussed how they were going to capture the villain and had decided on first securing the hostage by distracting the villain.

Death Arms had a rather powerful quirk which granted him a superhuman level strength in his arms. This made him the apt man to fight Umaru with Plastic supporting him while Dove got the hostage to safety.

‘This park is too quiet’ Dove thought. Her senses were better than the average human so she was surprised it was so quiet.

‘Maybe he is not here..’

She was walking quietly when a pungent smell hit her nose. It was like something was burning. She followed it slowly and as the smell got stronger, she gulped and then she entered a clearing.

Her eyes widened at the sight that was present in front of her eyes.

“Sensei...I..think I found the target..”

“What do you mean you ‘think’ ? her sensei asked in an annoyed tone as he made his way towards her with Death Arms in tow.

What they say made their breath hitch as they took in the sight.

A child was sitting propped against a broken machine covered in blood and bruises. His hair was messy with drops of blood having dried on it. He was huddled up with his arms around himself as he kept shivering at the sight in front of him.

“Ackh..waa” Dove couldn’t handle it anymore as her senses filled with the rotten smell of burnt flesh which coupled with the sight in front of her made her vomit.

The villain they had planned on taking down was lying on the cold ground in a puddle of his own blood. His arm was bent all wrong, as were his legs and his face was all smashed up.

His other arm had formed blisters all over and had taken a dark red color with hole like patches on it.

The other’s reactions were similar albeit significantly lesser. Plastic had a disgusted expression on his face while Death Arms had a grim look on his.

“..Dove.. secure the hostage..” he orders her.

Dove nods and slowly makes her way to the traumatized kid by taking a detour avoiding the body in front of her.

“H-hey k-kid...it's all-alright, we heroes are here to- to rescue you..”Dove said, stuttering as she was nervous and afraid.

The kid looked up as his eyes widened in shock, he stayed silent for a while before jumping towards her and locking his arms in a hug.

“Hero--hero nee chan..*hic*..I.. I was so scared..I don’t know what happened..he-he attacked *hic* me and then he became like that..” the kid replied crying into her arms.

Dove’s eyes softened at the sight.

She hugged him back and drew circles on his back to calm him down.

Death Arms calmly observed as Dove calmed the boy down. He then knelt down next to the villain.

He wrinkled his nose as he tried to fight the smell of burnt flesh. He picked the villain’s ‘better’ hand and checked for the pulse.

“He’s alive” he said, which caused Plastic to heave a sigh of relief. Any death, be it villain or civilian in a case was a mess to deal with after all.

“So we write it down as case type 35?” Plastic asked.

“Yes..put Quirk awakening in the report. We will deal with it later after the kid has calmed down..First, call an ambulance..”

They gathered around again and began leaving the park.Dove was carrying the child in her arms as the child leant against her.

She quite liked the kid. He was not annoying like others and one just couldn’t hate him after seeing his cute innocent face.

She would have not thought that way if she had known what the child was thinking then.

‘As humiliating it is..being carried like this..I succeeded in winning her over..being a kid makes it easier to earn trust..as everyone lets their guard down around them..’Akira thought inwardly.

He had thought a lot about how he would fake his performance and when he saw the female hero approaching him, he hugged her. He knew hugging resulted in oxytocin being released and it was especially effective after a shocking event which did happen to her when she saw the villain’s state.

‘..Plan A succeeded..now I only have to downplay my quirk and then act confused and grateful..’

He was in Dove’s arms with his face facing the other way so none of the heroes noticed as his eyes shone in the dark with a calmness similar to the sea behind them.