Ai lifted herself from the rubble, sitting up, using the sword to keep her up. Her hands and feet were trembling, ‘This is…fear…?’

She viciously grinned, with the fear visible on her face as she stood up, ‘What did you think would happen? Fighting the strongest man in the world.’

She got by him, she even managed to put Aizawa out of the equation by a surprise attack, but it didn’t matter. It only took a punch. A single punch, and she was at the end of her ropes.

“You aren’t using your Quirk? Why?” All Might walked towards her, and she would have liked it better if it was an army in front of her. It would have given her more chance to win this, but seeing him come alone was more fearful.

“I don’t care about the Quirk…the only reason I took him out was that I thought I might need it to keep up with you. As much as I hate to do so.”

“Hate? A strong word,” Captain Celebrity floated beside All Might, looking at her, and Ryukyu, in her Dragon Form, landed behind them, and Mirko jumped down from her. Not far behind, Best Jeanist and Edgeshot and even Endeavor, though he didn’t seem so keen on working with them, and yet he did. Not far behind them were Present Mic and Midnight, watching her closely.

“Hahahaha, ah…you don’t get it. I don’t hate the Quirks. I hate using them,” Ai put the sword on the ground, taking a deep breath, “I’ll enlighten you on this.”

“At first, I wasn’t sure, but then I observed that even Quirkless humans who have had parents with Quirk have higher basic stats than the Quirkless ones. Then, I came across someone who had lost his Quirk, and guess what I found? He can fight toe to toe with those who have a Quirk.”

She glanced towards Ingenium and a few other Heroes who came but stopped by Midnight and a few other Heroes and Detective Naomasa. She needed time to regain her strength, and they wanted to hear a story, so it worked out for both.

“Do you think that is normal?”

“Of course it is! All that training made them stronger!” Present Mic said in his loud voice.

Ai tilted her head, smiling, “I see. Then why don’t the Quirkless Train become that strong?”

Detective Naomasa walked to the front, narrowing his eyes, “Because they can’t.”

“Yes. So you see. It doesn’t matter what your Quirk is if it’s strong or weak. What matters is that it’s a gateway to step into a realm higher than humans. The Enhanced Ones. Like that guy that can erase Quirks, but even a power like that, and with the right tools, he can fight those who can pick cars, throw, and more. I am sure others have felt that, right?”

She placed her palms on the sword, bending forward to catch her breath, “I believe that Quirks are Gates. Once you have that, a path to a higher level is unlocked; what matters is that you work hard enough to reach it. Though that doesn’t mean that you will have strength or speed like All Might, skill, a particular skill could be taken to that level. In my case, it’s swordsmanship. I have honed it to levels beyond human, and you must have felt it too.”

“I hate to say it, but she’s right,” Aizawa dragged himself over, nearly falling by Present Mic held him, “I was observing her. She only moved or was pushed out of her comfort zone when Endeavor used his flames. Any type of physical attack is useless to her. Unless it’s on the level of All Might.”

“Observant, aren’t you? You are right. Endeavor, Midnight, and your Erasing Quirk are more effective than any other. All Might be the exception.”

“Hey, what about me!!” Captain Celebrity patted his chest.

“You? You have some forcefield. It was easy to put you in a situation making you freeze. You are from the US. Ever played Basketball? It’s the same trick as an ankle break. Put you in a situation like that, and your forcefield goes away. Still, you were more annoying than others.”

She glanced towards Pop and Koichi on the roof, peeking down at the Heroes and her. They were probably too scared to come here, but even Makoto was there.

All Might shook his head, “I still don’t understand what you want?”

“Who cares what she wants! Let me go and beat her till she starts talking!” Endeavor got fired up as his flames burned brightly.

“Quirk Singularity Doomsday.”

Detective Naomasa frowned, “So are you one of the believers too?”

“No. That’s what first gave me the idea. We have Quirks; one day, they will become so complex that they will go out of control. Or…human bodies and minds will evolve to the point that they can control those Quirks. Like they have come to control the current ones.”

All Might frowned, “Isn’t that a good thing?”

“Of course it is, and I love it. I believe there are more than a few ways to reach Quirk Singularity and stand in front of that Gate again. Pile up Quirks, one over the other, until you have a stair that helps you walk up to that Gate. Or, you can make a Quirk so strong that it allows you to jump to that Gate. I believe All Might’s Quirk is the second type. Maybe his child would have that potential.”

All-Might nervously gulped, feeling his heart thump, when Aizawa laughed, seemingly going crazy, “I see. So that’s your goal.”

“What? What did I miss?” Midnight nudged him, asking what was going on, and she wasn’t the only one; most others felt so.

Aizawa looked at Ai with a glow in his eyes, “The two possibilities that you said are near impossible to achieve unless you are born with a Quirk like that. But the third one is to reach that Gate with sheer Skill. You want that.”

He fixed his eyes at her, “And I might not be the only crazy person here who thinks if anyone has the chance to do that. It’s you.”

“I know,” Ai said as a matter of face, “One day. I am going to step in front of that gate too. Like I stood in front of this one. But right now…I can’t beat All-Might. I am not even on the same level as I am now,” She took out her sword walking towards them, “It seems that I still need to hone myself before fighting you.”

“Where do you think you are going!” Endeavor rushed towards her, seeing her arrogantly walk.

Ai raised her eyes, watching him, waving her palm towards him, and she deconstructed the air and every molecule, causing a vacuum to form that put out the flames; hands rose from the ground, capturing him. In moments he was gasping for breath, unlike Eraserhead (Aizawa) erased her Quirks.

“Before you all come attacking me. Let me introduce you to my Quirk. It’s called Bonds. It’s simple. It allows me to manipulate Bonds between Atoms, which allow me to absorb, meld, replace, deconstruct, reconstruct, mimic, or transform any matter.”

All-Might appeared in front of Naomasa, and Ingenium hastily took Endeavor back.

Ai watched them, darting her eyes between one or the others, waiting, wondering what was going through their head.

“You might be strong, but that doesn’t mean we are going to let you get away after all that,” Detective Naomasa held his hat, narrowing his eyes.

“Right! I am not leaving this city without taking care of you!” Captain Celebrity made a fist when one person shouted at the top of her voice.

“DON’T!!! DON’T ATTACK HER!!!!!!!”

Ai looked over her shoulder, knowing that a few Pro Heroes were about to attack, when Koichi, with Makoto hanging on his back, flew towards her, landing between her and Pro Heroes.

“Makoto!!” Naomasa worriedly took a step forward, watching his sister appear.

“Makoto, getaway,” Midnight hastily ran over to pull her up, but Koichi got in the way, “Hear her out!”

“Stop!” Best Jeanist tied everyone up, even Mirko, who was about to sneak attack.

Makoto wiped the sweat off her face, “You say you can manipulate Bonds…from your confidence. I assume you can do that too?”

Ai looked up at the sky, “I wonder if I make one above this city, will the people get sick from radiation?”

Best Jeanist narrowed his eyes, “Nuclear Fission and Fusion at your fingertips. You…have the power to destroy the world.”

Ai softly smiled, “Why do you think I am called the Demon King?”

“I thought it was because of those inhuman skills,” Koichi scratched his cheek when Pop slammed a fist down his head.

Ai shook her head, walking towards the Pro Heroes, “Now. Will you give way? Or should I make you?”

Detective Naomasa clenched his fist, taking a deep breath, “Let her go.”

“No,” All-Might took a step forward, refusing.

“But All-Might!” If it were only her Quirk, Eraserhead would have risked erasing it and letting All-Might capture her. But she possessed skills beyond. It was too dangerous.

“Use it!” All-Might earnestly looked at her, “Use it!”

He appeared in front of her, punching down, breaking Edgeshot’s try to stop him or Best Jeanist’s threads. His punch was about to connect when he used Transparent World and Electricity to power her cells at a sub-atomic level, moved at lightning speed, and appeared behind him.

She generated repulsive force on her feet, shooting up to the sky, and yet All-Might appeared in front of her, flying at the same speed as her, “You won’t use it?”

Ai laughed, “How did you know I won’t use it?”

“Because…you are not the kind of person who would ever hurt an innocent person,” All-Might knowingly smiled.

Ai scratched her head, “I see. Take some time out of your busy schedule and come for dinner?”

“I plan to,” All-Might stopped chasing her, and she turned in mid-air, changing direction.

She zig-zagged a few more times before reaching a building that had been demolished recently, landing in the rubble, “Mask.”

All the debris was as it was, but inside, her Mask was injured by an injured man she hadn’t seen in a while. She broke it, dropping him on the ground, “Tell me you didn’t lose?”

Knuckleduster opened his eyes, feeling his wounds closing, scoffing, “I didn’t win.”

“Same thing,” She picked him up, putting him over her shoulder, “I didn’t win either. Next time, I will.”

“Yeah,” Knuckleduster fainted again.

“Well…I’ll ask him who was behind it the next time. I also have my Pro Exam. I am enjoying this.”

That night,

“How did you know? That it was me,” Ai ate ice cream, sitting on her balcony at midnight, and glanced towards Toshinori Yagi, sitting right next to her. Though, he was different than his old, weak self. He had his muscles back and looked in good health, handsome.

“It was the energy that is running in my veins that you put in me. Because of that, I feel a connection with you,” Toshinori realized what he was saying and changed his statement, “Physical connection!”

“So…you want to reach Quirk Singularity too?” Toshinori hesitantly asked, “Why? That doesn’t seem like you.”

“Hm. How about a story? Not a good story. It’s full of holes since even I don’t know the whole story,” Ai muttered, “Once there was a being, born with existence so unique that there could be no two of him. If you clone him? And you’d find that it’d be him. Make a duplicate, even create an illusion of him, and you’d find it’s the real him.”

“Really? Someone like that exists?”

“It’s just a story,” Ai said, continuing, “Now. What happens when this person has a child? Even a fragment of him would cause an illusion to become him. So what about real, fifty percent of the DNA?”

“I…it….”

“Would be swallowed up by him and become him. Existence…demands Singularity. There can’t be an extension to it. Blessing? Curse? I don’t know. I don’t even know why his child is still alive. There are so many unknowns that I can’t wrap my head around. But there is something that I do know…beyond that Gate. If only that child could reach Beyond that Gate. They will know more than they know now…maybe…one day that child will get to see their parents again.”

“Is that so,” Toshinori leaned back, knowing there was something more she had to say.

“Toshinori…I am not of this world…Universe.”

“Hm?” Toshinori blinked, realizing the meaning of that sentence, “What?!”

Ai grinned, letting out a big sigh, “Yeah. That feels so good. Telling someone.”

“Why would you say something like that?!”

Ai shook her head, grabbing his collar, pulling him close, “No wonder you are single.”

She tilted her head, clasping his lips with hers, giving him a slow kiss, whispering, “Why do you think I am telling you that?”