It started as a flicker.
Not lightning, not flame — just a pale shimmer that split the sky in total silence.
Most people didn't notice. A few did — a child tugging at their mother's sleeve, a street vendor mid-sale, an exhausted office worker idly staring out a café window. They paused, frowned, squinted. The shimmer grew, stabilizing into a streak of silver that cut across the clouds, gliding as if weightless, as if guided by its own rules of physics.
For a moment, the world held its breath.
Musutafu – Streets
Civilians gathered in pockets around the city, eyes drawn upward like iron filings to a magnet. The silver shape wasn't falling. It wasn't spinning out of control. It wasn't soaring upward like a hero in pursuit or retreat. It was simply moving. Steadily. Uninterrupted.
"Is that a drone?" someone murmured near a bus stop, shielding their eyes.
"No way. Drones don't move like that."
"It's a person. It has to be."
"Looks like they're glowing."
Phones came out. Videos began to roll. Social feeds burst alive.
What's happening in Musutafu??New hero?Some kind of flying villain???Why is no one talking about this on official channels??
But this time, the silence wasn't ignorance. It was confusion. And concern.
Nobody knew what they were seeing.
And that was the problem.
Hero Association Broadcast – Central Operations Hub
Inside the Musutafu regional Hero Association office, a high-alert notification blinked on every display unit:
ANOMALY DETECTED — HIGH ALTITUDE, UNKNOWN CLASSIFICATION.NO QUIRK SIGNATURE. BIOLOGICAL CONFIRMATION PENDING.
Enji Todoroki — Endeavor — was the first to respond over the system-wide commlink.
"This thing came out of nowhere," he said, his voice clipped and sharp as he stood on the rooftop of a high-rise, flames simmering from his shoulders. He stared at the distant speck — the silver glimmer — with a scowl. "No flight trail. No heat signature. Just motion."
He activated his gauntlet. A crackle of static later, his voice boomed across the lines with the authority of a man who knew how fast things could go wrong.
"Keep civilians out of the target zone. No close contact until we determine what it is."
A second voice answered, accompanied by the rush of air.
"Already securing the outer blocks," said Hawks.
He glided low across the city rooftops, wings beating like feathers against silence. Loose feathers detached from his back, dispersing through alleyways to gather data and monitor movement. His normally playful tone was replaced with something rare: unease.
"But it's not losing altitude anymore," he continued. "It was descending at first. Now it's just… hovering."
"Hovering?" Endeavor echoed, narrowing his eyes.
"Like it's watching us," Hawks finished grimly.
U.A. High School – Security Room
Inside U.A.'s high-security surveillance chamber, Principal Nezu reviewed a cluttered series of live feeds streaming from the government, the Hero Public Safety Commission, and satellite scans.
Static. Silver blurs. Partial silhouettes that refused to stabilize.
"It appears to be humanoid in shape," Nezu observed, voice calm but low.
Aizawa stood beside him, arms folded, emotion carefully hidden. Only his narrowed eyes revealed concern. "But no known quirk allows for flight at that speed or angle. Not without propulsion, not without sound."
"And no student, faculty, or registered hero is out there," Nezu added.
He pressed a button, sending out a secure audio broadcast to registered pro heroes.
"This is Principal Nezu. Unknown airborne presence over Musutafu. Unidentified, silent, and currently non-hostile. Not confirmed to be using a quirk. Maintain observation perimeter. Students are not to be deployed. Leave response to the highest-ranking heroes on-site."
The directive was clear. Almost cold. But it needed to be. In moments like this, panic wasn't just useless — it was dangerous.
Even so, the silence that followed carried a weight even Nezu felt.
Because even he — genius, strategist, analyst — didn't know what they were dealing with.
Streets of Musutafu – Civilian Viewpoints
Meanwhile, the presence continued its quiet glide through Musutafu skies.
Some saw it as a faint glimmer. Some saw nothing at all—just a feeling, like the air itself was charged with something they didn't have words for.
A child walking home from school tugged at her mother's coat. "Mom! Look! There's someone in the sky!"
The mother turned, saw nothing at first… then caught a fleeting reflection of sunlight off something metallic — no, organic. She swallowed, unsure why her chest felt tight, unsure why she wanted to keep walking but also run.
"What's going on today?" she whispered.
Nobody answered.
Hero Response Intensifies
Back near the city center, Endeavor re-lit his flames, the heat distorting the air around him. More heroes were gathering behind him now, ready if called — but waiting for orders.
"Todoroki, Bakugo, and the U.A. students will remain inside campus," he said firmly. "Not their level. Hawks and I will take lead. Stand by for Hostile Classification if this thing deviates from its current path."
"Copy that," Hawks said, quieter than usual.
And there was another thing — neither of them could joke about this, not when every instinct told them this wasn't a quirk incident… this felt like something else. Something older.
Stillness filled the sky.
A Shift in the Air
The being — if it could truly be called that — drifted through the skies in perfect silence, no turbulence, no flicker in its movement. It didn't seem lost, frightened, or threatened.
It seemed… deliberate.
Then, without warning, it stopped.
Above the city. Above the people watching. Above the heroes preparing.
Suspended in air.
Looking down.
No one could predict what would happen next.
But one thing had already become clear:
Something had entered the world of heroes and villains — and it didn't belong to either.
Midoriya – Personal Perspective
"What is that…? It doesn't feel like a villain, or even a quirk…" Izuku muttered, standing alone outside U.A.'s west wing, his eyes fixed on the trembling sky. "Is this… something we're meant to face? Am I meant to face it?"
He pressed a hand to his chest.
"Calm down, Midoriya. Think first. Observe."
His heart kept racing.
"But why… why does it feel like everything I've known about heroes is about to change?"