All Might POV
We appeared just outside the base. The air was crisp, cold, and quiet. Bang and Anissa were already stretching like they were prepping for a warm-up set at the gym.
"Are you two seriously stretching right now?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
Bang cracked his knuckles. "It's been a while since I had a real fight. Training's fine, but nothing brings out my true strength like a battlefield. Gotta stay sharp now that I've got my youth back."
Anissa nodded in agreement. "Same. Fighting Ed, Battle Beast, or Killer Croc is great, but I haven't had a chance to fully cut loose. This might be fun."
That reminded me. "Speaking of Battle Beast... I'm surprised he didn't come. Actually, now that I think about it, he wasn't at the meeting either."
"He's watching Ruby," Anissa explained. "She's still under supervision. None of us thought the meeting would turn into a mission, so I told him to stay back and keep an eye on her."
"Hmph. He's going to be disappointed he missed this."
Kimiko started signing beside me, her fingers moving quickly. 'I wonder when the new guy's going to be involved. He hasn't been in a single meeting.'
I nodded. "He's still adjusting to this world. Technology here is way ahead of what he's used to. Give him time—he'll join us soon enough."
We stood in silence for a moment. Calm before the storm
"All right, they're counting on us. Let's make some noise," I said.
I cocked my arm back and swung it with full force—an immense shockwave blasted from my fist, tearing through a chunk of the base in one go.
Anissa glanced at the destruction. "I keep forgetting how powerful you are for a human."
"Thank you," I replied casually.
Right on cue, loud alarms started blaring, and armed guards began pouring out of the facility.
"All right… let's get this started," Bang said, dropping into a fighting stance with a grin.
Ed POV
We teleported into the base—Annie's team had landed on the opposite side, focusing on rescuing the prisoners. Once they gathered them in large groups, they'd ground bridge them straight into the medical wing. Church would help them pinpoint exact locations, as planned. Meanwhile, my team's objective was simple: find Stryker.
Delta guided us over comms, directing us toward Stryker's main office. A few guards tried to intercept us along the way, but they were barely a delay. I stopped their bullets mid-air with my telekinesis. Plo Koon did the same with the Force, and while we had their firepower frozen, Steve charged in and took them out with precise strikes and that ridiculous shield of his.
I have to say, that shield breaks the laws of physics. I remember in the comics, Steve always said he calculated the angles so it would bounce back to him… but seeing it in action now? Total nonsense—but somehow, it works.
We pushed forward, carving through resistance like it was nothing.
"Sir, Stryker is moving to a lab. Sending you the location now," Delta's voice came through the earpiece.
"Thanks, Delta. We're heading there now."
I found it strange that Stryker would flee to a lab instead of trying to escape the facility altogether—but that didn't matter. We arrived at the lab and found Stryker inside.
He wasn't alone.
Standing with him were four women, I recognized instantly—Sarah Kinney, Kimura, X-23 and Lady Deathstrike.
And just like that, the situation had become a whole lot more complicated.
"Arsenal?! How did you find this base?! Who gave you the information?!" Stryker shouted, eyes wide with panic.
I stepped forward, voice calm but laced with fury. "That's not important. All you need to know is… you're going to pay for everything you've done here."
"Kill them!" Stryker barked.
Kimura and Lady Deathstrike moved instantly.
Kimura charged at us first—fast and relentless—but Steve met her halfway, shield raised. He tried to slam it into her, but she caught the shield mid-swing and smashed him in the chest with a punch that sent him flying backward.
Lady Deathstrike came at me with those razor-sharp claws ready to stab, but I caught her mid-air with my telekinesis and slammed her into the ceiling, pinning her there like a paperweight.
"I can sense her mind," Plo Koon said quietly beside me. "She's not in control. Mind-washed… maybe even controlled completely."
"Then we'll help her. But for now, let's finish this."
Steve was still trading blows with Kimura—and losing. His attacks weren't phasing her. She was too durable. Worse, she seemed to phase through his shield just to land a clean hit every time.
"Hey Steve! Tag out. Time for the main event," I called out, stepping forward.
Steve glanced back, nodded, and backed off.
Kimura laughed wildly as I approached. "What, you think you can do better than your friend? I'd love to see you try, motherfuckr"
"Language. Children are present."
I blurred forward and drove my fist into her gut. She shot backward like a cannonball, crashing into the wall hard enough to leave a dent. I hadn't even used full force—I wanted to test her durability. Sure enough, she peeled herself out of the wall, scowling.
She rushed me again. This time, I hit her with a blast of heat vision. She staggered, but her skin didn't blister. So I kept walking forward and cranked up the heat.
By the time I was in front of her, I saw it—a faint burn mark. Barely visible.
"I've got to admit… I'm impressed by how tough you are," I said.
Kimura grinned, wild and unhinged. "I'm so durable, not even adamantium can pierce my skin. You think you can hurt me?"
"Your skin's tough, sure. But tell me..." I leaned in just a bit. "Do you still need to breathe?"
"What—?" Her grin faltered. There was fear in her voice now.
A portal opened beneath her feet. She fell through it before she could react.
Snap. I closed it instantly.
Stryker went pale. "W-What did you just do to her?"
I turned to him, calm as ever. "Oh, I just sent her into space. Close to the Sun. If you had super hearing, you could listen to her suffocate."
And just like that, Stryker knew—he was completely and utterly screwed.
"I can pay you!" Stryker stammered, backing away. "I have resources—whatever you want, I can help."
I stepped closer, my expression cold."All I want is to rescue my kind... and make you suffer for everything you've done to them."
Stryker's eyes widened. "So... you're a mutant?"
"Yes," I said simply.
Before he could say another word, an explosion rocked the facility.
BOOM!
"What the hell was that?" I asked, looking toward the hallway.
Stryker gave me a twisted grin. "Your friends... probably dying by now."
All Might's POV — A few minutes earlier
I have to say—this was going easier than expected. Just regular guards, some with slightly advanced weapons, but nothing we couldn't handle.
Eventually, the stream of enemies stopped.
"You think we've taken them all down already?" Bang asked, glancing around.
"No," Anissa said, narrowing her eyes. "There's still a few more. I can hear movement, someone's coming."
A man stepped out. He looked to be in his forties, long black hair streaked with gray, and a matching beard. He wore a strange suit—blue with white accents, laced with advanced tech. He looked straight at us, and his eyes suddenly turned glowing white.
Then everything got heavy.
The air thickened. My body felt like it weighed a ton. I dropped to the ground—then floated up slightly, paralyzed in midair.
"Hahaha… little ants," the man mocked.
Kimiko and Bang were flat on their faces. I was down on one knee, and Anissa was as well—though I could see her forcing herself up. The man raised his hand, increasing the pressure. You could feel it pushing down harder.
But Anissa didn't stop.
She burst into the sky, flying out of his range, then shot back down toward him with a punch ready. Just as she got close—boom—a burst of invisible force blew her away like she hit a wall.
As soon as his focus shifted, I could move again. I jumped at him and swung with full force—but right before contact, it felt like I hit a barrier. Still, the force of my punch pushed him back a few feet.
He caught himself midair, then locked eyes on me. A second later, I was slammed into the ground like a meteor.
Crack!
Before he could follow up, Anissa came flying in again. This time, her punch actually landed—and he crashed into the dirt with a shockwave.
I stood up and regrouped with the others.
"Whoever that guy is, it's clear—he's manipulating gravity," I said.
"Yeah," Anissa added. "His control is sharp. Even when I got close, he threw up a shield at the last second to block most of the hit."
"I hate to admit it…" Bang muttered, rubbing his shoulder, "…but we're kinda useless against that level of power right now."
Kimiko nodded in agreement.
"Maybe. But I noticed something," I said. "He has to focus on his target to use his power effectively. That's our opening."
I looked to Bang and Kimiko. "While Anissa and I keep him distracted, you two move in for a sneak attack when he's locked onto one of us."
They both nodded.
The man rose from the rubble, face twisted in anger—and then, like a meteor of his own, launched straight toward us.
"Here he comes. Let's bring him down."
Anissa flew straight toward him again while I charged on foot. The man reacted fast—he sent Anissa flying with a wave of gravitational force, then turned his full power on me. I was slammed into the ground, the gravity around me increasing until the dirt cracked and I began to sink into a crater. The pressure was immense—every muscle in my body screamed—but I refused to stay down.
With a roar, I started pushing myself back up, climbing out of the crater. He increased the gravity again, the crater expanding beneath me, but I didn't stop. I kept moving—inch by inch, step by step.
While he was focused on crushing me, Anissa recovered and took her shot. She punched him mid-air, knocking him down into the dirt again, then rocketed after him. She landed punch after punch—but just like before, his shield activated at the last second, softening every blow.
I leapt into the air and joined the assault. Anissa and I hit him together, over and over—our fists colliding with his barrier so hard that shockwaves echoed around the battlefield. The ground cracked beneath us.
"ENOUGH!" the man screamed.
A massive pulse of gravity exploded from him, blasting us all backward. Then, before we could recover, he pinned us to the ground—harder than before. The force crushed the surrounding terrain and even some of his own soldiers. I heard screams... a few didn't survive. I saw Bang and Kimiko get caught in it too, forced to the ground beside us.
"You think you can defeat me? I control gravity itself. Nothing can stop me!" he declared, floating above us with a twisted grin.
But then—whirr—a Ground Bridge opened up above him.
Before he could react, a blur of muscle and fury shot out of the portal.
Battle Beast.
He flew down like a missile, mace in hand, and SLAMMED it into the side of the man's head. The impact was brutal. The man rocketed toward the ground with devastating speed and crashed hard—shaking the entire field with a deafening boom.
Battle Beast landed a second later, standing tall over the crater.
He looked around at us, smirking.
"Well, look at that. I miss one mission, and you're all in a sorry state. Lucky for you... I am here."
I coughed, groaning as I pushed myself back up. "Hey—that's my line! I'm suing."
We both chuckled, and even in the middle of chaos, I felt a wave of relief. We had backup—and not just any backup.
We had Battle Beast.
"You can try," I said, brushing dust off my shoulders, "but Battle Beast never loses."
The man rose slowly from the crater Battle Beast had smashed him into. He was clearly injured—blood on his lip, armor cracked—but his eyes still burned with power.
Battle Beast grinned, his expression twisted with excitement. "So you're not dead. Good. I was hoping for a real fight."
"Battle Beast, we need to work together," I said quickly. "He manipulates gravity—he controls it completely."
"A gravity manipulator?" Battle Beast repeated, cracking his neck. "Haven't faced one of those in a long time. Don't worry—he's as good as dead."
Before I could say anything else, Battle Beast charged. The man, dazed as he was, raised a hand and used his power to try and pin him to the ground again. Gravity surged—but Battle Beast didn't stop. His feet sank into the dirt, but he just kept walking, smiling through the pressure like it was nothing.
I took the opening.
I launched myself forward, appearing in front of the man in an instant. He barely registered me before I slammed a punch into his chest, hard enough to create a shockwave. This time, there was no shield—he wasn't fast enough.
He went flying, crashing into the ground so violently it carved a fresh crater into the earth. As he tried to move, Anissa dove from the sky, both hands slamming into his torso and pinning him deeper into the ground. He gasped and coughed up blood.
But with another burst of gravitational force, he knocked us both away. We hit the ground hard—but I noticed something different.
That burst was weaker.
I landed beside Battle Beast, who didn't seem the least bit winded.
"The problem with gravity manipulators—at least where I'm from," Battle Beast said, brushing dust off his shoulder, "is they burn out fast. Their power needs energy. Lots of it. That's why they try to end fights quickly."
He pointed at the man struggling to rise again. "But after that blow to the head? He's not focused. Not as strong. He's running on fumes. All we need to do is attack together—overwhelm him, split his focus, drain what's left."
I nodded. "Got it."
We turned toward the man—both ready.
"Let's finish this."
Ed POV
"Nah," I said calmly, crossing my arms. "They'll win."
"What?" Stryker barked, confused and annoyed.
"I know my friends—and I know their strength. Whatever monster you've got out there, they're not losing. So, here's the deal. You can give me the information I want the easy way… or the hard way. Are there more facilities like this? How many? And who's funding them?"
"I won't say a word to you, mutant," he spat, full of venom.
I sighed. "Okay. You all saw I tried the easy way."
Then I knocked him out cold.
"Plo Koon," I said, "you can pull the information from his mind once we're back at base."
I opened a portal beneath Stryker and dropped him into one of the cells in my holding wing. Then I did the same for Lady Deathstrike, placing her in a separate cell for now.
With that done, I turned my attention to Sarah Kinney and X-23.
X-23 had stepped protectively in front of Sarah, her body tense, eyes sharp. I slowly raised both my hands.
"Hey now—no harm's coming your way. I'm here to help. Everyone who was a prisoner here is getting out. Safely."
"Laura, it's okay," Sarah said gently.
X-23—Laura—eased her stance and lowered her arms, stepping back beside Sarah. I lowered my hands too and walked toward them slowly.
"Do you both want to get out of here?" I asked.
"Yes. Please," Sarah replied, her voice filled with exhaustion and hope.
I nodded, then opened up a portal behind me.
"You'll be safe at my base. We'll talk more later, but for now… just go there and rest."
They stepped through the portal without hesitation.
One more win. Now to finish the rest.