*This is pretty long. Enjoy.*

June. The month that Luna estimated that Teka’s core would shatter. Luna wasn’t wrong. More cracks had spread across it and more nanites had to be made. At this point, the nanites had spiderwebbed themselves across her core and her body.

They couldn’t wait any longer.

Thick grey clouds covered the supervolcano. Lightning could be seen crackling from deep within. News helicopters orbited Teka and her friends as they double-checked, and triple-checked all the gear.

“That Press Conference… it’s today ain’t it?” Teka said, looking at the helicopters. She found it irritating that it just had to be today and that the Prime Minister decided to hold it in Minato of all areas.

“It is,” Aiko replied. She took a seat on a pile of metals while stretching. “How you feeling? Ready to move an entire core over an active volcano and drain it of its energy? Rin already said that he spoke with us about it. even though that’s not true.”

“I’m guessing it was her doing. It also seems that some other countries have caught on to what we're doing and gave us public permission to use their volcanos if need be.”

Luna abruptly materialized from some of the extra nanites in Teka and pulled up a hologram of the countries.

[So far, at least 15 major countries, including the United States, Russia, China, South Korea, and more have all announced that they would grant us permission for this.]

“Ah really? Even the United States?”

[Correct.]

“Must really be struggling if they’re willing to do that.”

[Criminal ratings have been rising, but have flatlined in recent years.]

“I see.” She stood up and looked towards the sky. Lightning crackled as she raised her hands. The storms responded. Blue energy began to spiral down and wrap itself around her before abruptly stopping. Teka flinched a bit once she saw some of the lightning turn white and cut it off.

It's difficult to control. ..

“Aiko. My gauntlets. Did Nana give them to you?”

A look of dread appeared on her face. “I… forgot to take them back when Mei came over. And now they’re…”

“…With Ryuku.” A long sigh escaped her lips once she realized Ryuku also attended the press conference. The reason why she wanted her gauntlets was that after the... cracking incident, Nana had taken her artifacts and rigged them to stop her if she'd ever become Lost again.

“Luna. How long until everything is set?”

[Approximately twenty minutes.]

“Then I guess I’ll have to get them from her.” Blue electricity crackled off her skin and her hair began standing on edge.

Aiko suddenly grabbed her arm before she could leave. “Wait. Your artifact is cracked. I’ve tried to repair it, but I only managed to do it partially. You need to be careful with it, alright?”

Teka nodded, checked with Mei and Kori, then entered her first state.

“Ah and before I forget, there are a lot of heroes there! Try not to piss them off!”

A fury of flames washed over her; she gave a slight wave to her and let her flames consume her.

“…Something is going to happen.” Mei made her way to Aiko as pink ice followed. “It seems like there has been nonstop action ever since she was around. This is probably the first month since Christmas where we could settle back a bit.”

“Well, she was a mischievous girl when she was younger. Always causing trouble with a smile on her face. Kori was with her a lot too! Those two always stuck together.” A hologram unfolded in front of them of the press conference. “For now though, let’s see how this’ll play out.”

*

Flowers. Red, white, blue, and a few purple decorated the Minato skyline. In the center of it all, a cracked core silently floated without making a single sound. The same couldn’t be said for what was occurring under it though.

Representatives from countries across the world gathered in under it. Civilians and reporters were kept at a distance since some world leaders attended the press conference themselves.

“…for now, thanks to cooperation from Ryuku and another beast, we understand some of the capabilities that beasts have,” David stated, a hologram of a scan of Ryuku and himself appeared on the screens. “Beasts have major regenerative abilities. Some even have absolute control over certain elements. These stem from their core. Think of it as a second heart or the true version of their heart."

A representative from the United States pinged David. “Mr. Shield, I know you’re a brilliant scientist that worked with All Might. Hell, you’ve even made his hero costume and was his sidekick for a few years. People already know about this information from the scientist sent here a few days after Flaming Christmas. Is there anything else you could tell us besides this? Or could you allow Ryuku back there to answer some of our questions? Maybe even one of the royals or a beast themselves?”

Ignoring the disrespectful tone, he spoke again. “The personal information on the royals is only known to a few select people. The information I’ve shared so far is all that I’m allowed to share. As for if you can speak to the royals... The Second Princess is said to appear at one point.”

“Then what about that Ice beast? From your paper that you released a few weeks ago, Kori is the one who stole from I-Island.”

“Kori Okami.” The hologram behind him shifted to pictures of him in his beast form and a blurry picture of when he entered his first state. “He’s known as an ‘Ace’ among beasts. Second of the three rankings. He controls ice and can change the temperature to whatever he pleases. As long as it’s under the freezing point. The blurry picture you see here is from a ‘state’. In this form, he gains more control over his ice and even gains the power to make blizzards… as seen from the assault on I-Island.”

Another representative sent a ping. “What about the royals?”

The holograms switched to three separate images. “Akako Kage, also known as the Second Princess. What we understand so far about her is that she can rise shadow-like creatures that fight alongside her. She can also decay things around her with or without direct contact. The black liquid that you saw on Flaming Christmas is called 'Umbra' and corrosive enough to eat away just about anything. These are from samples gathered from All Might and Endeavor.

Hato Sora. The Third Prince. According to an anonymous trusted source and some footage from Flaming Christmas, he has the power over glass, ribbons, and what our source called ‘Penumbra.' He has a strong distaste for humans for reasons we don’t know yet.

Now for the last and fourth one. Teka Kai, the Fourth princess. Total authority over fire, lightning, magma,” Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the blue core above Minato shift. His heart quickened a bit, but he continued. “According to Ryuku and another beast, she isn’t a fan of violence and doesn’t mind humans.”

As if on cue, the flowers in the sky swiftly began to melt and converge above him. The reps and their bodyguards began to panic. But since Ryuku had already warned David and the others that she has something she needs, they were prepared.

With blue flames slowly approaching, all cameras sharpened as they merged and formed a few meters from the stage. Teka Kai materialized in her first state.

Her bare feet touched down on the uneven ground. A tattered cloak covered her body but let her long white hair fall down to her waist.

“…”

The bodyguards of the representatives were on edge. Not that it mattered since she didn’t even pay any attention to them.

Embers followed her as her thrusters hissed from heat. The blindfold disintegrated as Teka’s dull eyes became visible to the world. She stumbled a bit before catching herself by leaning against one of her cooling thrusters, grasping her cracking face. “ Shit… I can’t even stay in that state for a minute? ”

Glancing up one more time, the cameras caught a crack stretching down her left eye. Blue engulfed and covered it up just as quickly as it appeared.

[Warning: Unstable fluctuation in Ether veins. Proceed with caution.]

Luna sat on her head as Teka turned to reps, who were startled by her sudden appearance. “Yea, I know. I’m just here for my gauntlets. I don’t really give a damn about…”

Bitter smoke. Disgusting and horrible bitter smoke filled her nose. Teka didn’t even have to turn around to feel her dear sister and brother. In the skies, a black wyvern and a pure white amphiptere descended from the clouds.

Smoke rose off of Kage and ribbons off of Sora.

“…”

Her eyes began to glow a harsh blue as their eyes met. The clouds began to crowd overhead, and red lightning could be seen flashing across the sky. She raised a hand towards the duo and whispered a single word.

“Percusserit.”

The sky roared and red decorated Minato. With just a flick of her finger, red lightning bolts struck Kage and Sora. Not just once. But multiple times. The sound of lightning striking was deafening. And it seemed with each strike, they were stronger. Much more powerful. More deadly. More Lethal. Like they were meant to kill.

Then it stopped. Lightning danced around Teka’s skin as she watched the dust clear. Cameras zoomed in to reveal a shield of the black liquid and another one made of glass.

Both of them dissolved as Kage and Sora descended in their human forms, unhurt. Her shadows peeked up from her shadow, pissed off that she’d been attacked.

The same couldn’t be said for Teka. Fresh blood dripped off Teka with massive cracks stretching down to her stomach. She didn’t seem too bothered by it though. Despite the looks of horror she was receiving from just about everyone else. “ You… You have some fucking nerve to even be in front of me right now. ”

[Warning: Additional use of Ether without proper veins will lead to further cracking! Shattering will occur if excessive Ether is used!]

“ It’s good to see you too Teka. ” He said, an annoyed look plastered on his face. “ Have you been having fun on Earth these past few months? Don’t think I don’t know what you’re trying. Like I said before, It won’t work. ”

“ I don’t think that’s any of your fucking business. Leave me out of your fucking plans or get Erity. ”

Sora scoffed at her, recalling Flaming Christmas. “ I already tried. Your dear brother died a couple of times trying to get her on my side. And you know what was funny? She was with a human too. ”

Teka’s thrusters glowed brighter. She didn’t even care about the representatives that were behind them or the growing cracks. “ Don’t make me repeat myself. ”

“…” Her eyes narrowed to a slit. Sighing, he raised a hand. Two more beasts dropped from the skies. Rei and Riza materialized and kneeled in front of the three of them.

They spoke in unison while ignoring everyone else. “ Prince Hato. Princess Teka. Princess Akako. It’s a pleasure to see you all. ”

“ Axel? ”

Rei spoke this time. “ He’s with a human girl. …I believe it’s the fifth one this month. ”

Another long sigh escaped his lips. “ I’ll have to deal with him later. For now... ”

Two boxes made of Earth and Water dropped down in front of Teka. The energy in her thruster remained the same.

Sora glared at her cracking thrusters and turned to Kage. “ Convince her. The sooner we get her on our side, the faster we can dethrone mother. You two used to be so close after all. ”

The glass climbed up his body and he exploded into hundreds of glass shards. Rei and Riza gave one last bow before disappearing, leaving only the two sisters.

The tension that had been building up died down. Even if it was just a bit. Since they were conversing in beast tongue, people could only wonder what they were talking about.

“Teka I…”

A red kunai suddenly darted at Kage, one which she swiftly dodged. Despite the warnings, Teka still didn’t stop using her Ether. Her eyes narrowed to a glare with bloody tears falling off her cheeks. “Shut the fuck up. I told you once to leave me out of your plans.”

“Do you even know what’s happening up there?”

“I do not give a fuck or care about that place,” Teka began to walk past her, letting the blue replace the red and wrap around her body. “Not since all of those bastards, including you, left me for dead. ”

Kage grabbed Teka’s hand before she could take another step. Her chibi shadows began to rise up from her shadow and black tears started to fall from her face. “Teka. Listen to me! I know you hate me with every fiber of your being, but please. Just listen for one minute. Listen to what I have to say. ”

The air around her became heavy. Her long white hair covered her face, so it was impossible to see the evil glare under her bangs. But the thick tension building around the two said it all. She switched back to Japanese. “Let go.”

“Thirty Seconds.”

“Don’t make me repeat myself.”

“Teka please…”

For just a second. No, less than a second. Her eyes flashed purple. Before anything could happen, two pairs of hands split them apart. One belonged to the strongest human and another to one of the weakest beasts.

[!Warning! !Warning! !Warning! Shattering will occur if excessive Ether is used!]

Luna’s green eyes became red with multiple holograms appearing in front of her. Teka pushed her bloodied hair up as she examined the holograms, showing the deep cracks on her arms and face. “Tch. This body can’t even handle a few lightning strikes.”

[Proceeding to use extractors one and two to power 2% of nanites. Process until fully healed will be 15 minutes and 30 seconds]

“Teka that’s enough. Any more of this and you might actually end up shattering.” Ryuku said, eyeing the holograms. “Kage, just stop for now.”

Kori’s voice came through Luna.

[Enough Teka. You still have a promise to keep.]

Begrudgingly, she cut off the Ether flow. The skies calmed down along with the flames. “…How long until I’m healed?”

[15 minutes.]

A long sigh escaped her lips as she looked up from Kage. All Might glared at her. Returning the glare, she could feel a pulse echo from deep inside of her. “Attacking a civilian, even if they are your sister, is against the law. You even used your quirk. Shouldn’t you at least hear her out?”

“As if you know about my life. Just because you’re on top doesn’t mean anything.”

“Being the number one hero doesn’t mean I know everything Kai.”

Teka's eyes widened once she realized he didn’t know why. “Ah… so she hasn’t said why.” Her shocked look was replaced with an evil grin. “Hey, do you remember that day? Cause I remember it so clearly.”

“…”

“The day when Haru nearly shattered Kori and I stepped in to save him,” Her eyes narrowed and began to glow again. “All while every beast watched as my core was nearly shattered from me stepping in.”

Bits of actual tears began forming at the edges of her eyes. “…What happened on that day was something that should’ve never happened,” She stretched out an arm towards her. “Please. If we go back now, we can heal your core. I’ll protect you this time. Not as a princess, but as your big sister.”

It seemed convincing enough. Akako really wanted to become someone she trusted again. But it was far too late for that now. Five years too late.

“I saw both of you on that day. And you both did nothing. …I don’t believe in second chances,” Her glare became calm. “Or rather, I no longer believe in giving you another chance after I’ve given you so many.”

Turning her back to Kage, who was silently on the edge of tears, she made her way to the stage. “Never again.”

She suddenly stopped when she felt that same pulse. An old man who was no taller than a table. Crouching down to his level, he looked the old man up and down. “You… Your name wouldn’t happen to be ‘Toshinori’ or ‘Sorahiko’, right?”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

He flinched a bit but still responded. “And what if I am?”

Holograms appeared in front of her.

[His name is Sorahiko Torino. Hero name: Gran Torino. Age: Very Old. Occupation: Retired Pro Hero and School Teacher.]

“…Thought so,” A quick flash of golden light filled her hand and a golden envelope floated in her palm. “Before my grandmother, Nana Shimura, shattered, she left some messages for some people. You are one of them. Take it or don’t. I honestly don’t care what you do with it.”

Not saying another word, she pushed the envelope into his hands and stopped in front of David. Raising an arm, she pointed to her the circuit pattern on her skin. “You’re the one who made this right? The nanomachines?”

He gulped a bit, his eyes looking over her arms. “I… I’m the one who came up with the prototype that your friend stole. Scientist David Shield.”

“Hm. Thought so. Luna if you would be so kind…”

[Commencing.]

Luna’s eyes switched to blue and two holograms dropped down in front of her. One was a contract, and another had the symbol of a royal beast on another. The air around them became serious.

“You see, I have some files and documents I would like for you to look over. These contain info on the nanites, the Beasts, Royals, and more that I shouldn’t name here. Naturally, I don’t want anyone else but you to see them. But for that to happen…”

It didn’t take him very long to understand. He answered in a heartbeat. “I’ll do it.”

She put out a hand that had begun leaking blue. “Say less then.”

Just before he could shake it though, All Might quickly rushed in and pulled him away.

Teka clicked his lips as that same pulse came up again. “Still interfering in things you have no business in…”

“You haven’t explained the details of the contract or what will happen if he breaks it.” He spoke harshly, both of their eyes glowing the same blue.

“I don’t think you have any right to be in this conversation.”

“David is a close friend of mine. I think I have a right as a hero to protect him from danger.”

“…” She looked him up and down. From his yellow hair to the way he put himself between David and her. It reminded Nana. Just for a second. That same pulse came back but stronger this time. Ignoring it, she pushed down the memories again while gripping her head.

Teka sighed and let the blue die down. “Luna. Time.”

[12 minutes and 57 seconds.]

“Create a custom profile for David. Grant access to files that include the completed version of the nanites and the scans of me in both my human and beast form.”

“!!!”

[Creating Custom Profile…. Done! Registered I.D: David. Real name: David Shield. Occupation: Scientist. Shard: Bendy Fingers. Welcome to the system David! Please stick out your finger.]

He obliged and Luna bit down, drawing a bit of blood from him.

[Registration complete!]

“I apologize for trying to force you into a contract. These last few months have made me a bit cautious about everything. But anyway, I was wondering if it was possible if you could look over this?”

A confused look rose on his face as he instantly began running through the documents. “This… shouldn’t be possible though. The nanites were designed to use the host’s calories to run. Yet Kori and his bond managed to modify them to work with lava? And…”

She placed a finger over his lips and moved the mic farther away. “Not publicly. If you’d like to discuss it, just whisper Luna on your phone. Remember. Keep this a secret.” Once he nodded, she pulled away.

“Would it be alright if I make a request?! Two actually!” He blurted out, just before she could step off the stage.

“…What would they be?”

“For the first one… I’m not the only one who developed these nanites,” He gestured to the team of scientists to the side that was been staring with envy. “It was the hard work of everyone here. Would it be alright if they viewed these documents as well?”

She shrugged. “You have to run that by Mei and Kori.”

“Ah... Then for my second request. There's a lot this world doesn’t know about beasts. About where you came from or what exactly you are,” He took the main microphone from the podium and handed it to her. “Since you’re going to be stuck here until you’re healed, would you be so kind to share some information with us?”

Teka glanced at the heroes, most of which were still on guard. Then to Rin and Ryuku and finally to the world leaders. Kage had disappeared a while ago. “Luna. Pull up all the articles about beasts from Flaming Christmas until now. Chat rooms too.”

[One moment…!Warning: Not enough Nanites. Permission to extract nanites from drones?]

“Permission granted.”

Three drones dropped out of the sky, their thrusters giving off a soft blue. A wave of black particles shot out of them and filled the entire sky. Articles from around the world soon replaced them. Most of them in different languages.

Teka quietly eyed the documents while ignoring the looks of awe from everyone around her. “…Most of these are criticizing the beasts. Citing property damage, illegal quirk usage, causing violence, and murders,” She commanded the articles to shrink. “Nearly all of these are bullshit. Bunch of dumbasses talking about shit they don’t know. About shit they don’t understand.”

Teka took the mic and sat on the edge of the stage. She tossed it to the nearest rep. “Ask away.”

The rep who caught it belonged to none other than the United States. The country where David was from and the one who dedicated most of their scientists towards the nanites.

She tapped the mic a few times to make sure it was working and spoke clearly. “Firstly, it’s a pleasure to have an audience with a Princess. I want to start out with the nanites. The United States is the main benefactors for I-Island and the research behind the nanites. Don’t you think it would be fair to hand over the research to them?”

Teka shrugged. “I don’t know. Weren’t they also the ones who rushed it and caused someone to die because of it?”

Murmurs broke out in the crowd as red flushed the rep’s face.

“Well… that’s…’

“It ain’t my place to hand over research to an entire nation,” She pointed to Luna sitting on top of her head. “If anything, it should be the ones who made Luna talking about this.”

“Then what about the drones? From our reports, they have the ability to completely erase their presence. It’s also believed that they can fly faster than the speed of sound. Is that correct?”

“Not really sure about the sound barrier part. But the camouflage part is real.”

“And those missiles from I-Island?”

“…” Teka moved her hand upwards. A mechanical hiss filled the air as the empty bomb bays revealed themselves. “There are none. The ones you saw from I-Island were the only ones we’ve ever used. And besides. All they did was pump out smoke.”

“Do you have any intention of handing them over to the government?”

“Like I said before. It ain’t my place to make decisions like that. Take it up with Kori or Mei if you want,” Blue flames surrounded the mic as she picked it up and passed it to another rep. “And if you’re going to keep on asking about this stuff, then just shut up. Don’t go blowing this chance on some stupid questions.”

Naturally, some people would be cautious of pissing off a rep or any official from the United States. Teka had no concept of who was powerful and who wasn’t, so she wasn’t aware of that.

Teka stopped the next rep from speaking and met the U.S’s rep’s glare with harsh blue eyes. “If you want to say something, then say it. Otherwise, keep your mouth shut and get your glare out of my sight. It reminds me of a person that I’d rather forget.”

The rep, along with everyone else, was taken aback by Teka’s words. The rep stammered a bit before apologizing and lowered her glare.

Teka gave the go-ahead for the next rep.

This time, it was a French man. All three of his eyes looked at Teka and the drones. “I would like to start by saying...”

She raised a hand to stop him. “Drop the formalities. I’m a Princess of the Beasts. Not of humans. You don’t have to be so kind.”

“…Right,” He cleared his throat a few times and pulled out a folder. It had a confidential seal on it but he ripped it off and flipped through the pictures. “About four years ago, there was a fluctuation in the gravity around Brest, a city in France.” He made his way over to her and handed her a picture. “There was a tear in the sky in the port of Brest. It was written off as a quirk anomaly and the case faded into existence to be forgotten. I was wondering if you knew anything about this.”

Teka took the picture while rubbing her neck. “…What date was this taken?”

“Four years ago. A few days after New year’s.”

“Got any more?”

He nodded and pulled out even more maps and marked locations. “I found out that this wasn’t the only anomaly. There were multiple across the entire world in nearly every major country. But the thing is that they only appeared for mere seconds before disappearing. There were also different intervals of when they appeared, ranging from days to weeks apart.”

[Teka...]

Kori’s voice came through Luna but Teka shushed him.

“I know,” She took another long sigh and leaned against the podium. “Those are portals to the Aether which means…” Teka cursed her luck while recalling the fight with the Chimera.

“Um, Could you explain a bit more?” The rep said, gathering his belongings.

[9 minutes and 7 seconds.]

Teka shrugged a bit. “…I’m afraid I’m as clueless about you right now. I only regained my memories recently. But if I had to guess, It means that Kori and I aren’t the only ones who left the Aether.”

She snapped her fingers, the blue flames reached for the mic. She tossed it to another rep, still looking at the portals from the pictures. “I’ll be taking a few. I’ll give them back whenever I can.”

The French rep nodded, bowed, and rushed back to his seat.

A Canadian rep spoke this time. “This question is directly about you and those thrusters of yours. Those black wings seem to represent high-speed jet engines. Would you mind explaining how they function?”

Teka flexed each individual thruster to as far as they would go. Three on each side with a twenty feet wingspan. She dropped off the stage and put her back to them so they could get a better look. “There are thin vents that suck in oxygen as I fly. That mixes with a special liquid I secrete inside the wings to create the thrust.”

He gulped and asked a question that would shock not only the heroes but some of the beasts that were watching. “…Would it be alright if I… touch them.”

“…What?”

“I mean, only if it’s fine with you! I didn’t mean to be disrespectful to a princess…”

“…” She lowered them and crouched down a bit. The rep jumped a bit before running his hands over them. Teka and everyone else watched as the rep pulled out a notepad and began to examine them closely. “They’re… hard. No. That wouldn’t be a good enough word for them. Compressed or…”

At this point, he was in his own little world running and collecting info on them. Teka simply didn’t move but signaled for another rep to ask a question.

This one was German. He gave a slight bow. “It’s a pleasure to have this opportunity to speak with you.”

“Wish I could say this same.”

He chuckled a bit at her sense of humor. “This is a question about the flowers. My dear friend was a scientist that was examining them. They were told to never touch them and to have gloves on at all times. Naturally, this wasn’t a problem because he had no idea what would happen if we did,” He raised a finger and pointed it to the third-ranked hero who had been nodding off. “He claimed that after Hawks was spotted touching one, he heard voices of a screaming child resonating from the flower he was examining. I can back this up from other scientists who had heard the sounds of various weapons and laughing from the other flowers.”

“…” Her eyes died down to a slit as he continued.

“Princess Teka, this is purely a hypothesis that I wish to be confirmed. Each flower, if the scientists are correct, means…”

A blue dagger flew across the scene and stopped just millimeters from his eye. He didn’t flinch because he knew that blue didn’t hurt. But he couldn’t help but piss himself a little from her glare. “Either ask another question or pass the mic to another rep.

“…I’m guessing you don’t want to answer because you don’t want the world to know,” Carefully, he pushed the dagger out of the way. He bowed again as an apology. “I apologize. The question was rude and inappropriate.”

The dagger dissipated. “As long as you know.”

[7 minutes and 22 seconds.]

“Then a question about your core. From the research we gathered, we’ve concluded that ‘quirks’ as a whole originated from the beasts. But I must know. If you were to compare the average human’s core to that of a beast, how much of a difference would that be?”

Teka scratched her cheek before eyeing Ryuku. “…I’m not sure. I’ve never seen a human one before. And just to be clear, you can’t even call what humans cores. It’s best to call them shards,” Her eyes met Endeavor’s before switching to All Might’s. “For the majority that is."

“Ah, if that’s the case, I would like to know… why is it that you’re on the edge of dying when humans without shards live perfectly fine even without their shards? Is it because we’re human or because we originally never had shards, to begin with?”

She frowned a bit. “Beasts rely on their cores from the day they're born. We don’t need food or water at regular intervals like you. If anything, we could go for years without it. As long as we have our core, then anything is possible.”

“You sound like you’re speaking from experience.”

“Maybe I am. Maybe I’m not,” She signaled for him to come out of the crowd. He quickly did and stood in front of her. Teka got a good look at him. He was… old. White hair and a bald spot. Properly dressed like an old person too.

Teka leaned her head into her palm. “Before your previous question, you asked if I could show a difference between a shard and a core. I’d be glad to pull your shard out of your void if you’d prefer.”

He jumped a bit in surprise. “You can do that?”

She nodded as Luna floated down in front of her face. “ Kori. Mei. If you two allow it, would it be alright if I have permission to share some of your research? ”

[…]

The temperature around them suddenly dropped. Sharply. Snow began to fall even though there were no clouds and ice formed on the top of buildings.

Teka didn’t even flinch as a mix of ice and snow rushed past her. It compressed and exploded as her two friends touched down on the stage.

Kori held on to Mei as the cameras focused on them. A pink and white haze rose up from them as they pulled away from each other. Another Luna was sitting on top of his head too. “You didn’t need to call us over here. You can share it if you want to . ”

“I just didn’t want to piss you off.”

“Hah? When have you ever pissed me off?”

“…That time I cheated in that race.”

“I knew you cheated then! There’s no way I would have ever lost on the ground!”

She scoffed a bit and folded her arms. “A few years have passed since our last race. I think… no wait. I know I can beat you this time.”

He cracked his knuckles with an icy grin. “I’d love to see you try after your core is healed.”

“…Dumbasses. We’re on live tv. In the middle of a serious discussion,” Mei gave a bland glare from David’s side. “You too can bicker later.”

[3 minutes and 1 second.]

“…Right.”

She pointed towards the German rep. “You. You asked about the difference between human shards and beast shards right? I’ll need a human volunteer for this,” Her pink eyes looked over the heroes before landing on a certain one. “Bird Brain, care to be an assistant?”

Hawks was stunned for a bit but immediately regained his composure. “Me? Would I be the best choice for this?”

“Well, you are the one who caused Teka to wake up a couple months ago.”

He chuckled a bit and decided to play along. Even though his boss through his earpiece was instructing him not to. He floated over to Teka, who had stood up. “I’ve never done this before. Do you think it’ll tickle?”

Teka placed her palm on his chest. “Dunno. Never done it on a human before.” She closed her eyes and whispered a word. “Venit.”

Instantly, his body tensed up as a wave of heat washed over him. Every single one of his feathers rose up above him and what seemed to be a large flaming circle formed above him.

Teka’s eyes glowed a bit as she pulled her hand away. His feathers covered the circle and rose up again before slamming down next to him. “Now compare this,” Mei pointed to Teka’s core in the sky. “To that.”

Hawk’s shard was bright red. Feathers and red shards slowly orbited the shard as he sat stunned at it. The size wasn’t even comparable. Hawk’s stood at just at about eight meters. While Teka’s was well over thirty.

Some of the reps gulped at the sheer difference. Kori crouched down to Hawk’s level and formed an ice blade. “During my research, I figured out a lot of things. Including the healing abilities of beasts.” Quickly, he cut into his arm. Not too deep, but enough for Hawks to flinch a bit. “What I found… was astonishing.”

Teka placed a palm onto Hawk’s shard, she pushed a bit of ether into it and redirected Hawk’s Ether veins from his back to his arm. A slight blue hue began to resonate with it and frosty feathers rushed over the cut. In just a few seconds, the wound was gone.

Kori pointed into the sky next. “I know it might not be as special because healing shards already exist in this world. But the reason that Teka is able to even stand right now when a regular human would need to be in a coma is that her core is automatically healing her. Even though her core has nothing to do with healing.”

Teka put the shard back in Hawk’s void as everyone took in what Kori was saying. “The question that I’ve been asking myself a while now is if everyone has the means to hold a shard. The shardless. Or rather, quirkless in this world.”

Holograms dropped down of a shardless human and one with a shard. “The answer to your question… is yes. Every human I’ve seen so far has a void, a place where our cores your shards lie. This also means the shardless have the ability to hold a shard. They just haven't manifested a shard."

The German man rubbed his beard while nodding. “But how do shards even develop in the first place? Genetics must play some role in it, correct?”

“Ah, of course, they do. The parent’s shards mix and create a new one. Let’s say parent one has a shard that allows them to read minds and parent two has one that allows them to generate flames,” The nanites from the drones formed into two shards and followed Kori’s words. “And when they have a child, that shard will either be a mix of the two or the stronger shard will take over.”

“Is it possible to influence the outcome?”

Kori laughed at that. “No. By all means, you’re welcome to try. But you might end up shattering the child if you do.”

“Then... how did shards even come into existence in the first place?”

“…” All of the beasts, including Ryuku, fell silent. The man thought he’d stepped on a bad mine and was about to apologize. Teka stopped him though.

She pointed at the ground and lava began to rise around her. Her voice came out quietly. So quiet that the microphones barely picked it up. “The blood of hundreds of thousands, if not, millions, of beasts runs through this very Earth…”

[30 seconds]

He swallowed a nervous gulp once their eyes met. He opened his mouth to ask what he already knew deep inside of him. “You don’t mean...”

She nodded and placed her chin on the top of her hands. “A couple thousand years ago, the beasts used to roam the Earth. Alongside humans.”

“…”

“From the magma running deep under the Earth to the resources made to build your giant cities… the energy of the beast is there.”

This was all too much for the man. “But… that’s impossible. The..."

She raised a finger over her lips and let a wave of blue wash over him. Just as the final crack healed.

[Healing Complete!]

“The story of how the beasts fled to the Aether will be told another day. I’m not sure what would happen if I said it to the entire world. But it wouldn’t be pretty,” She turned and faced the camera, her eyes glowing the same harsh blue she gave to her siblings. “That goes for every beast watching. Not a single word about our past. Not until I tell it or say so. Luna. Cut the audio.”

[Done.]

She turned towards All Might, materialized the second envelope, and spoke in a hushed whisper. “And you must be Toshinori. Or All Might.”

He was stunned for a bit but nodded. It felt like he couldn’t lie in front of her. And she looked… familiar. Teka handed her the envelope as Gran Torino approached. “Nana Shimura. Does that ring any bells?”

“!!!”

His reaction said it all.

“Look, I’m not sure exactly who you are or how connected you two are to her. But… she left some final words for those she cared about.”

Toshinori’s hand shook a bit as he grasped the letter. “…But it doesn’t make sense. She died more than twenty years ago.”

Teka sighed and pointed at her core. “Anything is possible when a beast is involved. Especially if it involves a King and his wife’s mother. After all, beasts are immortal until they’re shattered.”

“You don’t mean…”

She nodded. “Haru Shimura, a former human and the child of Nana, is the current queen of the beasts. She’s also the reason for my cracking.”

Teka turned away and signaled for the audio to come back. “Before I leave, I want to say a few more things. One. Beasts aren’t bad. …The ones on Earth at least. Two. For those wondering about Flaming Christmas, I’ll admit that yes, it was my oldest sister who did it. I have no idea why and don’t know where she is. And Three. What am I going to do after healing my core? I have no idea. Might just go fuck off somewhere with a lot of food.”

She scratched her head as if she was forgetting something. A flash of blonde hair from the masses promptly reminded her. “Oh, yea. Mitsuki. Masaru. I know you’re watching. It’s been a while since we’ve spoken. …You’ll be getting your son back today.”

Her arms spread out and the flames of the flowers began to surround her. They broke down, forming first the blonde hair that belonged to Katsuki. Then the rough and tired face. Katsuki Bakugo’s body formed in her arms. Unburned, Scarless, and with red embers that matched his eyes rising off his body.

Teka handed the sleeping Katsuki to All Might. “I’m trusting you with him. If you want to know more about Nana and us, please get him back home. I don’t have time to wait anymore.”

All Might gave a simple nod in response.

“And you,” She turned back to the German man and stuck out a hand. “Your name?”

“L-Luis Koch. Head scientist of the Quirk Studies in Germany.” He returned the handshake. She moved closed and stuck a blue flower into his chest pocket.

“Luis… I’ll remember that. Ryuku. My gauntlets?”

Eyes fell onto Ryuku. “…They’re on the edge of shattering,” She raised her hands and let two cracked black and white gauntlets form. A look of concern rose on her face though. “Do you think you can manage? What if…”

“Ryuku… it’s fine. It won’t happen again,” She slipped them on. “Not as long as I have these gauntlets. Kori. Mei.”

“Everything is ready,” Kori moved out of the way as Teka looked towards her core. “It’s all up to you now.”

“…” Closing her eyes, she let the world around her die down. Blue flames began to reach across the city and convergence above the core. The clouds began to kick up again electricity could be seen flashing across the sky. The gauntlets responded by flooding with a blue that matched her eyes. Letting the flames wrap around her already closed eyes and entered her first state. “Suffocatus Est Phoenix.”

*

“That crazy girl…” The smell of alcohol and cigarettes filled the bar. A hiccup escaped her lips as she reached for another bottle. “Does she really think she can heal it on Earth? Then again, from the beasts I’ve encountered, they all said that she went through hell up there.”

A smokey hand swooped in and snatched the bottle from her. “I’m sorry Ms. Erity, but you’ve drunk four bottles already. Any more of this and you might go on a rampage.”

“So what if I do? None of these bastard humans can do anything about it though.” She took a long drag of her cigarette and materialized the bottle that Kurogiri tried to take from her. Just before she could take another swoop, the T.V suddenly became hazy. “Ah, looks like the big bad boss is here to assist.”

“It’s good to see you too Erity. I’m sure you’ve seen the news recently?” His voice was raspy and heavy. It still held that oddly comforting feeling even after being alive for nearly a century.

Erity shrugged and drank straight from the bottle. “Obviously. What do you want me to do? Shatter her core?”

“That’s exactly what I want you to do.”

“…Sorry you old blocker. But I’ve already paid back all of my debts.” She stretched for a little before dropping the bottle on the floor. “Besides. I’m bored out of my mind here. Don’t worry though. I won’t tell that you’re hiding your little villain here.”

All for One’s grin didn’t leave his face. “By all means. You’re free to leave the nest. Everyone must do it at some point. Keep in mind though that you too are also a wanted villain.”

“Bah. Don’t give me that shit. Ain’t no human on this planet that can touch me,” Her eyes switched to purple as her body began to disappear. “That includes you too.”

Once she was gone, Kurogiri turned to All for One. “I’ve been feeling a bit… odd for a while now. Like there is a part of my body missing.”

“Oh? Do you think we should have the doctor check you out?”

“I think that would be the best for all of us. I must serve Shigaraki in the best shape I can.”