First Interlude: Naomasa Tsukauchi

I prided myself on being smart enough to read the situation. The ability to think several steps ahead and plan accordingly landed me a spot above my peers as a detective.

It was because of my deductive skills that I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

A villain that had never been seen before had stolen the Ultraphone despite all its security, using two hostages to get his ally out of our grasp, then he unleashed an attack, using the Ultraphone, that seemed to defy all logic.

It shouldn't have been possible, but it clearly was because I was seeing it happen.

But no matter how much I could think about it for days upon days, it wouldn't change what was happening. It didn't matter right now; it wouldn't matter at all if we couldn't get any solid evidence.

"Tsukauchi, have you learned anything, woof?" Kenji Tsuragamae, my boss, asked me.

He'd left to make a few calls in order to direct where the students caught in the crossfire would go to be treated. I'd be making sure to ask them some questions later, but for now everything was focused on those masked men and the Ultraphone.

"The supposed leader, the one without the scars, used the Ultraphone to attack the chasing heroes. But…." I didn't care to finish due to how insane my statement sounded.

The Ultraphone was a relic that only a few people knew about, with me being one of the lucky few. And we all knew the abilities of the Ultraphone extremely well.

And it couldn't create any attacks.

So for the leader to use the Ultraphone in such a way was either the use off his Quirk, or there was something with the Ultraphone that we didn't know something about. Either that, or someone had more than enough time to modify the artifact, which―in the growing complication of Quirks―was just as possible as the former idea.

It should've been an absolutely ridiculous idea, but it simply wasn't. I was forced to face that today because there was no signs of the Ultraphone being taken until the leader made a show out of it to get his ally back.

There was no break-in to the tower, and according to the heroes guarding the entrance, there was no one who entered that even looked like the masked man, as best anyone could see him from so far away.

He was a threat, but more than that, he was a smart criminal―the worst kind.

I'd been quick to check the twos' backgrounds too, and I did find some interesting information.

The scarred blue-flame wielder seemed to be related to a few sightings of blue flames spurting up in the Kashifu Forest, but there were no other signs of previous crimes. At worst, the blue-flames spotted had absolutely nothing to do with the scarred criminal. At best, we still had no idea why he was in Kashifu Forest, and we had no solid leads.

For the masked man, there was just… nothing. No sightings, no past records, no information. He was an unknown man, with unknown abilities, unknown goals, and unknown loyalties. It was times like these that I missed Kenro―Kenshutsu―a whole lot.

But all of that didn't matter, because we did know that he needed to be stopped.

"Nothing solid. Besides the lack of solid evidence. Everything leads to more questions than answers," I sighed, raising a hand to my chin in thought.

"I agree, woof. However, I would ask 'how is he using the Ultraphone?'" Tsuragamae asked. "We both know that device is overly complicated to use because of the odd energy source, woof. To use it for these nefarious schemes shows some sort of knowledge over it, especially without any assistance from the control station."

The thought completely slipped by me. It was an important question.

The Ultraphone was already extremely complicated when used in the proper room, but when taken out it could only be several times more difficult. I could only remember one other occasion when it was taken from the tower, and when that happened, everyone believed that the Ultraphone couldn't be used outside of certain limits.

Even I thought they were correct, but they clearly weren't.

The idea wouldn't be impossible if information was easy to find about the Ultraphone, but that was a major issue.

Even the creators of the Ultraphone Tower had no idea where the artifact came from, so information besides how to use it in the awfully specific way it was clearly intended to be used was nonexistent. It just….

"It shouldn't be possible. This is something far beyond just a Quirk. This is a clearly coordinated attack that must have a few dozen villains―at least―backing the idea," I slowly nodded, musing to myself just as much as I was speaking to Tsuragamae. "But to be timed so well…."

I didn't care to finish as I noticed that this situation may've been connected closer to him than I originally believed. I turned to one of the many televisions with the situation playing on it.

The leader tossed the Ultraphone high into the air before leaping towards Mt. Lady with superhuman speeds. He barely dodged a swift jab from the Pro-Hero, a cocky grin on his face. He seemed to say something to the hero before throwing a punch in response, only for his wrist to be grabbed by his opponent and slung over the female Pro-Hero's head, getting slammed into the ground.

Kamui Woods reached up into the air, a wooden extension of his arm reaching out for the delicate Ultraphone. He was interrupted by blue flames burning at his Quirk-formed extension, but he still pushed forward into the flames.

Mt. Lady was pushed by some invisible force and flipped backwards, letting go of the leader's arm and attempting to catch the Ultraphone as she soared through the blue flames of the scarred man.

The Ultraphone was suddenly pulled from the air by another invisible force, falling into the leader's outstretched hand as he nonchalantly rose from his spot. Not a scratch was on him, and he didn't look fazed in the slightest.

He seemed to provoke the Pro-Heroes before the Ultraphone entirely disappeared from his hands.

"This man… how is it possible that he has so many different Quirks?" I asked, my voice so quiet that I couldn't even hear myself. Tsuragamae certainly heard me loud and clear though, especially with the help of his Dog Quirk.

"Such a thing… isn't possible," My boss's voice sounded unsure, filled with a hesitation that neither of us wished to address.

Despite―or possibly, in spite of―our wishes, the world had a different way of functioning.

As if it was just another one of his many, many abilities, purple waves of electricity shot out of the leader's hands, slamming into Mt. Lady and Kamui Woods, sending them over his ally's head and sprawling through the street.

He looked up to the Musutafu News helicopter, his white cloak dancing gentle behind him. He raised his hand to the sky and clenched it, and all the feed from the helicopter was suddenly cut off.

Whether he destroyed the helicopter or not, I couldn't be too sure of.

As the static filled the screen and the feed was shifted back to the studio, I gave Tsuragamae a curt nod before stepping aside and pulling my phone from my pocket.

I knew of his injuries, and that combined with the importance of his alternate persona, made me desperate to not rely on him. I didn't want to end his reign as the Number One Pro-Hero so early, but it was situations like this one that caused me to think otherwise.

Before I could do anything, I was already receiving a phone call.

I answered and pulled the phone to my ear. The sounds of violent winds filled the microphone and my tense expression softened, just a tad bit.

"Worry no longer, Tsukauchi! I'm coming right now!" Toshinori Yagi―no, that wasn't correct.

All Might was on his way.