Alliance

***Two Days Later***

The sunshine landed high on the apex of Tokyo. Today was a grand day, a great day for the sorcerers.

They had all gathered - every single sorcerer - to attend this spectacular event.

All sorcerers are divided into different clans. The three strongest clans are the Nexus clan, the Blood clan, and the Hunter clan. For decades they have been fighting, but today, things were about to change.

The headmaster of the Nexus clan stood ahead, the strongest clan of them all. He stood high in a dark, large domain. They were standing in times square, however, a dark and twisted version of it. Nothing roamed the streets.

"I have a grand announcement to make today, sorcerers."

The entire domain paused, looking at the single man ahead.

"The three clans of Sorcerers have come together today to negotiate a treaty."

That one sentence shook the crowd of sorcerers, who looked ahead in awe.

"The Nexus clan, the Blood clan, and the Hunter clan have decided to put away their differences. Rather, we are now going to unite together to form the Sorcerer's League, a single clan combining all sorcerers. Weaker clans are recommended to join, though you can remain independent if you so wish."

The audience cheered in excitement, as the man calmed them down to continue.

"That's not all. Today is the day we commence 'Plan Zero', which is scheduled for tonight."

The audience got even wilder, as they began to jump up and down.

"Lockhart will lead the strike squad. Follow his orders carefully. The Ten Kings have decided not to participate, so he will take the place of a leader instead."

The crowd went wild as the man finalized his declaration.

"Prepare yourselves. Today will be a day to remember."

***

The winds flew and danced, slapping the trees to the side as citizens walked down the bustling capital of Japan, Tokyo.

Ace walked down the street, checking his watch. He wore a comfy hoodie and some basic jeans as he held a coffee cup in his hands.

'Well, I reapplied for the Heroes association yesterday. Looks like I got invited for an interview this time. No exhibition match?'

He took a sip of his coffee, before looking back ahead.

'Probably because of that incident.'

Well, I have a couple minutes to kill. What do I do…'

He looked around, sighing before looking ahead.

'I guess I'll just go there ahead of schedule.'

Ace walks towards the heroes association building for the second time, which was fixed mysteriously quickly. Then again, it was the heroes association.

'Men and Women in suits, it's always the same exact fucking thing.'

"Hey, I'm Ace Takahashi. I was scheduled for an interview today?"

Ace spoke to the woman sitting on the counter.

'She looks kinda good, not gonna lie.'

"Ah, give me a moment."

She begins to type some random keys onto the laptop ahead of her, before looking back at him.

"You're five minutes early. Fantastic! Your interviewer is currently preparing, though."

Ace nods, before looking back to her.

"Notify me when it's time to go in, then."

"Of course, have a seat!"

Ace continues to sip his coffee as he waits his turn patiently.

'Okay, it should be time.'

"Ace Takahashi. Please proceed to Room 2-C."

Ace nods and walks over, before knocking on the door and peeking inside to see a rather middle aged man, and then sitting down to face him.

"Hello." Ace speaks out.

"Good morning. I'm gonna ask you a few questions, run some tests, and you should be all good. Is that alright with you?"

Ace nods.

"Amazing!" The man optimistically responds, chuckling as he places his hands on the table.

"Okay, why do you want to be a hero?"

'I've never really thought of it, but…'

"To save people, and to stop injustice from spreading."

'That's my best reason, really.'

"Okay. Next Question: what does it mean to be a hero?"

"It means doing what's right, regardless of the outcome."

The man writes something down in a notebook before looking back at Ace.

"Last question. Are you a hero for the thrill of it, or are you a hero to protect others?"

'Only three questions?'

"To protect others and serve Tokyo fairly."

Ace responded, clutching his hand into a fist.

"Excellent. That'll do. Please place your hand on this measuring meter."

Ace places his hand and complies, before the meter beeps.

[ANOMALY DETECTED]

'Huh?'

[CORE DETECTION ERROR]

'It can't detect my multiple Cores…'

"That's weird." The interviewer comments, before playing around with some of the buttons.

"Okay, recalibrated it. Let me try it again…"

And lo and behold,

[MEASUREMENT SUCCESSFUL]

[ACE TAKAHASHI: E GRADE]

'E Grade…great.'

"Amazing! Looks like you're an E Grade. Please, head on over t-"

[ERROR! RECALIBRATING…]

'What the fuck's this thing doing?'

"Hold on, please keep your palm on the device, sir." The interviewer asks.

[ACE TAKAHASHI: UNSTABLE CORE]

'Unstable?'

[RESTARTING CALIBRATION…]

"Uhh, is this normally supposed to happen?" Ace nervously asks.

"No…it looks like there's some kind of error." The interviewer inspects the device closer.

[CALIBRATION COMPLETE! COMPUTING RESULTS…]

[ACE TAKAHASHI: E GRADE]

'....'

"Alright, sorry about that! Seems to be fixed now. Head over to the front desk."

Ace complies, standing up, waving to the interviewer and going to the front desk.

"Hey! I was told to come here."

The woman nods, and hands Ace a card.

"This is your hero card. You can use it to enter your room, which comes with all the amenities you need."

She then pauses as she grabs a small box, before opening it and handing Ace some type of single-eye advanced technology glass.

"This is your HeroTac. It can be used to give you information on anything, receive comms, send out comms, and even claim missions. Though you can mostly do that in the scouting room. There's so much more, but you'll just have to consult the HeroTac. It has all the information you need!"

Ace was confused. Was he approved as a hero this fast? He opened his eye device.

[BOOTING UP…]

[WELCOME TO HEROTAC! TO GET STARTED, INPUT YOUR HERO ID.]

Ace glances down at his Hero Card, before copying the ID into the device.

[HERO FOUND! ACE TAKAHASHI. IS THIS CORRECT?]

The device seemed to have a picture of him too. He pressed on a button in his eyepiece, which accepted it.

[WELCOME, ACE.]

"This is pretty handy…" Ace comments, before taking it off and placing it in his pockets.

'I'll probably be using this a lot.'

"Well, it was great. Where's my room, though?"

The woman smiles.

"Room H-579, as stated on your card, is on the seventh floor."

Ace nods, before chuckling.

"Ah, my bad. Thank you!"

Making his way to his room, Ace heads inside to find it neatly organized and quite decorated.

'Not bad…not at all. I could get used to this.'

He jumps down on his bed, closing his eyes to get some much needed rest.

But he dreams of a ruined Tokyo, one that is completely destroyed and filled with anarchy.

Ace felt afraid.