The air hung cold and dry beneath the earth, carrying a faint metallic tang as dust swirled in lazy spirals. Kael stepped into the wide, cracked atrium of the abandoned Hero R&D facility, buried deep beneath the jagged cliffs of Zone Blackridge. Decades ago, a Quirk-reactor explosion had shattered its purpose, sealing it from the world above—a tomb of forgotten ambitions, lost technology, and faded dreams. Now, it stood ready to become something new. A beginning.
Around him, the group fanned out—nearly forty souls, a patchwork of former villains, rogue heroes, and broken youth, all bound by the hope of Kael's vision. They knew him as the vigilante once called Equinox, a name whispered in awe for his relentless fight against villains. He had stripped countless villains of their Quirks, saving lives from their tyranny, and his deeds had made him a hero to those discarded by the world. That legacy fueled their trust in him now, a beacon in the shadows of Blackridge.
Mira stepped to his side, arms crossed casually over her chest. Her lavender eyes scanned the atrium, its shattered skylights letting in faint slivers of moonlight. "This place is massive, Kael. Surprised you to find a fortress even All for one couldn't touch."
Kael nodded, a faint smile acknowledging her nod to his past exploits. "It's solid. Structurally sound, and the radiation's long gone. Quickcode's scans confirmed it. We're set to make this ours."
He turned to face the crowd. They stood in loose clusters, some clutching packs, others staring wide-eyed at the sprawling space. Forty pairs of eyes fixed on him, their trust rooted in his vigilante feats—the man who'd saved countless lives by dismantling villain strongholds and claiming their Quirks for the greater good.
"Spread out," Kael said, his voice steady and clear, cutting through the stillness. "Explore what's left. Pair up if you want, but stay sharp. Take your time however —get a feel for the layout, find rooms we can use for sleeping, storage, training. This is our base now, our home. We need it functional. Regroup here at dawn."
The group nodded, a ripple of agreement passing through them. Their enthusiasm echoed the resolve kindled in the warehouse, their faith in Kael unshaken by the challenges ahead.
The red-eyed boy tilted his head, his voice brimming with excitement. "So, we're settling in? Building our fight from here, like you did when you took down those villain gangs?"
Kael met his gaze, catching the reverence in his words. "Exactly. Look for anything useful—space, tech, weapons if any survived. This is our foundation. Let's build it right."
A tall man with a scarred face stepped forward, his tone firm but respectful. "We'll do as you say, Equinox. You've saved people like us before, taking down monsters like the Sigil Bearers. This place is our new home—we'll make it work."
Kael offered a small, approving smile. "Good. Let's get to it."
The group dispersed, peeling off into side corridors and shadowed halls. Mira shot Kael a quick nod before vanishing into the depths with a handful of others, her silhouette swallowed by the dark. "I'll check the west wing," she called over her shoulder. "Bet there's tech like the kind you snagged from those villain hideouts."
Only one lingered beside him.
A girl with dusky rose hair curling softly at the ends, her crimson eyes catching the dim light like embers. She hadn't spoken much during the trek through the portal, but now she stayed close—not out of fear, Kael sensed, but a quiet curiosity.
He glanced at her as they started down a dust-choked corridor. "I don't think we've been properly introduced. What's your name?"
She blinked, caught off guard, then met his eyes. "Reina. Reina Smith."
"Nice to meet you, Reina," Kael said, nodding. "I'm Kael."
A faint smile tugged at her lips. "No duh."
He chuckled, a low, easy sound. "Guess my reputation is spreading quickly amongst the group. So, Reina, you're not like the others, huh. You didn't flinch when we entered. You seem… at ease here."
"I've lived in worse places," Reina replied, her tone casual but edged with something deeper. "This feels more like a graveyard than a battlefield. Quiet, forgotten. I like it. You got taste."
Kael gave a short hum of acknowledgment. "So, what's your story, Reina? How did you end up here?"
Her steps slowed, and she hesitated, her gaze dropping to the cracked floor. When she spoke, her voice was low, raw, as if the words were being dragged from a wound that hadn't healed.
"It's not a pretty one. I grew up in a slum on the edge of Zone 7 in Texas—a place called Iron Hollow. No Heroes, no law, just desperation. My mom was gone by the time I was five, dead from overusing her Quirk to keep us fed. My dad… he wasn't a kind man. He ran with a gang, smuggling Quirk-enhancing drugs. When I was nine, I manifested my Quirk, and he saw it as his ticket to power."
Kael's expression remained steady, but his eyes softened as he listened, keeping pace beside her.
"He forced me to use it," Reina continued, her voice tightening. "My Quirk, Blood Haze, allows me to evaporate my blood and turn it into a mist that I can manipulate. But, the way I was forced to use it wasn't clean back then—I was a kid, barely understood it. He'd cut me himself if I refused, shallow slices to draw enough blood for the mist. Said it was my duty to help him climb the ranks. I'd make shields, blades, whatever he needed to intimidate rivals or worse. By ten, I was his weapon, running jobs with his crew—raids, extortions, hits. I saw things no kid should see. Did things no kid should do."
She paused, her hands clenching into fists, nails biting into her palms. "One night, we hit a rival gang's stash house. My dad wanted their supply, thought it'd finally make him untouchable. I was supposed to capture the guards with my mist, keep them held down. But it went wrong—someone had a fire Quirk, and the place went up in flames. My dad… he didn't care about me. He grabbed the drugs and ran, left me trapped in the inferno. I tried to shield myself with the mist, but the heat was too much, and the severe lack of blood in my body at the time only made me weaker. I heard the screams of the others, smelled the smoke and burning flesh. I thought I'd die there."
Kael's jaw tightened, but he stayed silent, letting her speak.
"I don't know how I got out," she said, her voice cracking. "Maybe dumb luck, maybe my Quirk held just long enough. But when I stumbled into the street, I was alone. My dad never came back for me. I was eleven, covered in burns and scars, with nowhere to go. The streets took me in after that. I survived by stealing, fighting, using my Quirk to scare off anyone who tried to hurt me. I hated everything—Heroes for ignoring places like Iron Hollow, villains for making it worse, myself for what I'd become. I was angry, lost, just… empty ."
Tears brimmed in her crimson eyes, and she swiped them away with a quick, furious motion. "I kept moving, kept hurting people to survive. Joined a crew for a while, did worse things—robberies, sabotage, even took a few lives. I didn't care anymore. Nothing mattered. Then I heard about you—Equinox, the vigilante who stripped villains of their Quirks, saved people from monsters like the ones who ruined my life. It was the first time I felt… something. Like maybe I could be more than a weapon."
Kael placed a hand on her shoulder, his touch steady and grounding. "I'm sorry you went through that, Reina. No kid should be used like that, abandoned to suffer for someone else's greed. You carried too much, for too long. But you're here now, fighting for something real. That's strength."
She nodded, swallowing hard, her eyes meeting his with a flicker of resolve. "Thanks. It's been hell, but I'm done being a pawn. I want to fight for what you're building. A better world were no one has to fight anymore. Where everyone can wake up to sunny skies and food on their plates."
"Keep fighting," Kael said, his tone firm but warm. "You're with us. We're going to change things—make sure no one else gets chewed up and abandoned like you were."
Reina's lips curved into a small, determined smile. "That's why I'm here. Once Kai voiced that you were coming, I stepped out of the shadows, deciding then and there I was going to follow you no matter what. You've saved lives when I never could. I believe in that."
The silence that followed was heavy but comforting, a quiet bond forming as they pressed deeper into the facility.
…
As they walked, Kael and Reina passed through interconnected chambers, each revealing fragments of the facility's past. The first was a sprawling laboratory, its walls lined with shattered glass tanks and rusted machinery. The air carried a faint hum, a ghost of long-dead technology.
"This must've been where they ran Quirk experiments," Kael mused, his eyes tracing the cracked consoles. "Building tools for Heroes, before villains like All for One twisted their work."
Reina nodded, her fingers brushing a broken screen. "It's wild how much they left behind. Like they just vanished in an instant."
Kael stepped over debris, glass crunching underfoot. "The reactor incident was chaos. They evacuated fast, abandoned everything. I'm sure we're going to find all sorts of things in here."
They moved on, entering a corridor splitting into smaller rooms. Some were living quarters—rusted bunk beds, dented lockers. Others were training areas, with faded sparring mats and collapsed obstacle courses.
In a training room, they found the red-eyed boy testing a punching bag, his fists glowing red as he struck. "Hey, Kael!" he called, grinning wide. "This place is incredible! A playground for Quirks! Bet you trained in spots like this when you were taking down creeps back in the day!"
'Was he always such a fanboy? The hell have you been saying to him Mira.'
Kael smiled, catching the nod to his vigilante days. "Something like that. Don't break it. We need to keep what we can."
The boy laughed, his energy contagious. "Don't worry, I'll be gentle."
Reina chuckled softly. "He's like a kid in a candy store."
"He's not wrong," Kael said. "This place has massive potential to improve everyone's Quirk and overall strength."
Further on, they found a mess hall—rows of tables, a dusty kitchen. With effort, it could feed them all.
"This could be our dining area," Reina suggested, her eyes brightening. "Meals, stories… like a family."
Kael nodded, impressed. "Good thinking. We'll need supplies, but it's a start."
Their exploration led to a control room, its walls studded with cracked monitors. A few screens flickered with static, hinting at dormant systems.
"The nerve center," Kael said, awed. "They could've watched everything from here."
Reina touched a dusty keyboard. "If we get this working, it'd be great for security."
Kael grinned. "Exactly. We'll need tech skills. Quickcode might know something."
Kaels pointer finger formed into a flash drive as he stuck it into a port.
"So, Blood Haze," Kael said, leaning against a console. "Tell me more about that Quirk. I've never seen someone in person with a blood manipulation-related Quirk."
"Yeah," Reina said, relaxing. "I evaporate my blood into mist and control it. I can shape it into blades, shield, guns, anything if I really focus."
Kael raised an eyebrow. "Solidify the mist into weapons? Very interesting."
"I think so too. Daggers, or whip-like tendrils. I have almost full mastery over it. Like I said, If I'm focused, I can't lose."
"We'll see about it. So, you said you could create guns, right? I assume you create bullets made out of the blood mist as well. The more I think about it, the more I realize just how complicated it would be to make a gun since you would have to know the exact mechanics of a real one in order to replicate it, wouldn't you?" he asked.
She nodded. "Glad someone appreciates my efforts!"
Kael smiled a little and continued. "What's the rang of those tendrils of yours?"
"10 meters. Beyond that, the mist fades."
Kael frowned slightly. "You're Quirk is strong, but quite costly—you hurt yourself and become physically weaker the longer a battle draws out."
"True," she admitted, glancing at her scarred forearms. "I cut myself to release blood. I've learned to do it cleanly—shallow, avoiding veins. It hurts, and too much usage makes me dizzy or worse."
"Double-edged blade," Kael said. "Powerful, but demanding."
"It is," she agreed. "But I'll use it for us and our cause."
Kael nodded respectfully. "We'll make it unstoppable. You're an asset, Reina. I'm gonna need someone like you by my side during this war. Are you up to the task?"
She smiled genuinely. "I'm ready."
They returned to the atrium, where the group gathered, arms full of scavenged tools, weapons, and papers. Mira approached, holding research logs. "Found these in an office. Damaged, but promising."
Kael skimmed them. "Anything even remotely useful in these?"
"Maybe, it's hard to decrypt them however," she shrugged confidently. "This place is a goldmine, Kael. ."
"I know. That's why I chose it."
…
Kael stepped forward, raising his voice. "Gather up. I want to talk about what's next."
They formed a loose circle, faces expectant. Kael felt their trust, forged by his vigilante past and their shared pain, settle on his shoulders.
"This facility isn't just a ruin," he began. "It's a relic of a system twisted by villains like All for One. But it's our future. We've found spaces for living, training grounds, research facilities. With work, we'll turn this into a stronghold—a base to plan against the evil plaguing this world."
He paused, letting the words sink in. "It won't be easy. We'll need trust in one another, unity among ourselves, sacrifices willing to be made for our greater good. You know I've fought villains alone—taking their Quirks, saving countless lives from their chaos. Now, we fight together as one."
Murmurs of agreement rose, their resolve hardening, fueled by memories of Kael's heroism.
"In the days ahead," Kael continued, "we'll assign roles—repairs, supplies, training, strategy. We'll secure this place, keep it hidden. This is our home. Let's make it a place to grow, fight, and win."
Cheers erupted, raw and hopeful. Kael felt pride and responsibility surge within him, tempered by Voidflare's voice: *Bear it. Shape it.*
Reina, beside him, smiled faintly. "We're on the right path. I'm glad to be here."
"Me too," Kael replied, returning the smile.
…
That evening, Kael roamed the facility, checking on his people. In the lab, Mira pored over the logs. "They tried enhancing Quirks," she said. "Making them stronger while also trying to make them stable enough for its user to control."
"Useful," Kael noted. "Need help?"
"Maybe from Dr. Sato," she said. "He's got more experience than either of us in this matter."
"Smart. Talk to him tomorrow."
In the training room, the red-eyed boy hammered the bag. "You'll wear it out," Kael teased.
"Just warming up!" he grinned. "Can't wait to fight like you did against those villains."
"It's strategy, teamwork," Kael said. "Rest up—we've got work."
He nodded, serious. "I'm in."
In the mess hall, Kael found Aiko, a young recruit, teary. "Hey," he said softly, sitting across from her. "You okay?"
"It's a lot," she whispered. "I miss my family. Did I do the right thing?"
"You did," Kael assured her, touching her hand. "We're fighting for them, like I fought to save others. Find Reina—she'll understand."
Aiko smiled weakly. "Thanks, Equinox."
Later, he spotted Reina sketching in a corner. "What's that?" he asked, peering over.
She flushed, showing a drawing of the atrium, filled with people. "Imagining what this could be."
Kael studied it, touched. "It's good. Keep that vision."
She nodded, eyes bright. "I will."
…