The death of a Hero.

A whip of white hot flame lashed out, slicing the crushed top half of the building, making it so that the top began to slowly slide off, instead of falling over and bringing down the other buildings around it, at the same time giving the heroes time to rescue the citizens and allowing the people below to escape the damage radius.

A lightning fast and decisive response.

As expected of the number two hero!

The people below began to run off as the buildings in the surroundings began an emergence evacuation.

Sirens rang out across the city in a matter of seconds, and I could feel the other heroes begin to move.

In the meantime, Endeavor shot out of the building, as did Hawks.

A huge web of spiralling flames whipped up from within Endeavor's palms before slicing the top half of the building into further cubed bits, about the size of a room, as bright red feathers wove in and out, rescuing the trapped civilians from the building as breakneck speeds.

Yeah, nope.

Both Endeavor and Hawks need to die today.

They're too dangerous and skilled to be left alive.

With the building collapse handled, Endeavor turned to the Nomus, his face warping in horror at the sight before him. The Nomus had taken to feasting on the evacuating citizens on the streets below, painting the streets a deep maroon red with blood and guts.

Horror turned to rage and Endeavor burst forth with the fury of the sun, landing on the ground with such force that the street near melted, trapping two of the Nomus for a second.

Not missing the opportunity, he hit the closest one with his strongest attack.

Prominence Burn!

A bright yellow-white jet of flame ripped through it, leaving behind nothing but charred flesh and ash.

The other two Nomus snapped to attention, splitting and heading off in two different directions.

Endeavor looked at the Nomu at his feet for the briefest moment before heading off after the hooded one.

The hooded Power Nomu, a super high end, was clearly the greater threat and having taken part in the Kamino raid, Endeavor knew as much.

The Power Nomu couldn't be allowed to escape at any cost.

Of course, he made one small mistake.

Not knowing that I was here.

Using remote healing rise and rewind on the near death Nomu, I brought him back to almost full health and in seconds it was ready to fight, in ship shape again!

Hawks looked down, just in time to spot the 'dead' Nomu rise back up.

"What?!" He exclaimed, "That...fuck!"

Hawks immediately moved to redirect his rescues as far away from the Nomu below.

Then it spotted him. And Hawks knew, he couldn't avoid this fight. Not if he wanted to make sure the civilians could escape safely.

With a thought he brought close all his feathers, pulling them away from the collapsing building.

Some people would have to die. They were trapped under rubble, or stuck behind furniture or blocked rooms.

In the time it would take to save the dozen or so people, the Nomu would reap more than twice that number.

It was a tough choice, but it was a sacrifice Hawks was willing to make.

He launched himself at the revived Nomu without another thought, just as it blew out fire from it's mouth.

"Ugh, why is it always fire!" Hawks moaned, dodging it, peppering it's back with his smaller feathers, luring him away, towards where the other non-hooded Nomu had escaped to.

In the distance, Endeavor was matching the Nomu blow for blow, even as his body heat rose to a feverish pitch.

His head was abuzz with a two dozen migraines, and his feet were beginning to boil beneath him.

Yet somehow the Nomu before him remained unaffected.

"Fire of this caliber won't even scartch me. And here I thought I was going to fight the strongest hero. But you're so pathetically weak? Are you really the number one hero, fire man?" The Nomu mocked.

"You can speak?! All the better. I'll capture you alive and then you'll tell me everything about All For One and his plans." Endeavor asked with shock.

Weren't Nomus supposed to be mute, dumb killing machines?

If they could gain enough intelligence and autonomy, at this rate, they'd overrun the heroes, no matter how many of him there were!

From within him, this brought forth more than just anger and shame.

It brought forth regret.

Not for his own actions but for the death of the symbol of peace.

As much as he hated to admit it, Endeavor knew that this would have never happened if All Might was here.

With his overwhelming power and that stupid smile, even he himself felt, at times, that everything would be alright.

And he hated himself for that.

How weak he must have been!

The doubts he had quelled within him, for so long, began to rise up again, and this time with a vengeance.

Did he truly deserve to be the number one hero?

Had he earned it, or was it just a hand-me-down from his rival of 30 years, like some sort of pity grant?

Maybe he should've just given up when he'd had the chance.

But no, he'd left behind friends, torn his family apart, tortured his sons until one of them killed himself and the other had to be rescued from his self-loathing by a complete stranger.

Some days lately, Endeavor didn't even feel like he was a hero at all!

The news helicopter circled around the block, trying to capture every juicy bit of the first foray of the newly promoted rank 1 hero.

Villain fights? They sold like hotcakes!

And a good reporter worth their salt wasn't anything if not the best panini man or woman!

"As you can see, Endeavor is having a hard time against the villain known as a Nomu.

This one is the same kind that attacked the students at UA high and back then All Might was the one to defeat it.

So the question naturally arises, can the new number 1 hero rise up to the task?

Because from where we stand, it's not looking good for him!

Will this be another devastating loss for the heroes?" The lady reporter spun, fanning the flames of the metaphorical fire I'd set under their ass.

Hehehe, finally the news is of some use at least!

This is the one time their over sensationalizing is going to work to my favor, even without their knowledge, something these fucks in their ivory towers can't bear to see, and what I'll relish putting them through once the war arc goes into full gallop.

But for now, I had to wait.

Not for the news media of course, but for that one Endeavor fanboy to revitalize the public's belief in Endeavor so that I can crush him at the peak of their hype and hope, breakibg their hero like a chip, right in front of the whole nation.

One final blow to the public's belief in heroes, with the deaths of both the number 1 and number 2 heroes.

And naught had I thought it, that the boy made his way through the crowd, pushing, shoving, kicking till he reached the on-ground reporter who had access to the simulcast of the fight.

"Don't be stupid!" He cried, "Look up into the sky! Can't you see the flames still burning bright, his flames!

His flames are still burning! Endeavor hasn't lost and he won't lose either.

He's fighting for you out there! The least you could do is believe in him!

Endeavor won't ever lose!"

The public reacted positively to him, as expected, and slowly a round of cheer and encouragement broke out among them, in support of Endeavor, something the giant news screens in the public square broadcasted at full volume, loud enough for Endeavor to hear.

The cheers roused Endeavor from the encroaching unconcious and silent, dull throbs aching his body, followed intermittent flashes of piercing pain and the popping of his boils, blood oozing out of every orifice.

Yes! He was a hero! And he couldn't afford to lose here.

There were people down there who relied on him!

With a sudden burst of renewed vigor, he burst forth with a brilliant orange flame, bright as the sun, his flame whips thinning into razor sharp wires, turning the Nomu into mincemeat, as he let out a victorious shout, flames billowing high and far in all directions.

Just to be sure though, Endeavor geared up for one final punch.

Gathering his flames on his fist, he put all his power behind it, delivering a jet punch with such force, it even melted entire chunks off of the nearby buildings, like flame to a candle.

Ultra Prominence BURN!

The Nomu fell to the flames, it's body vaporizing almost completely upon contact.

The crowds below cheered as Endeavor basked in his glory, and for the moment relaxed, taking a deep breath he hadn't afforded himself all throughout the fight.

His lungs burned like coals, and acid trailed his body, his muscles cramping from the overexertion.

He thought to jump down and rest, only to be reminded of the boils on his legs with another one popping.

He looked down to see their slow creep had led them up his ankles, his skin so burnt, it'd likely never recover.

A small price to pay, he told himself, for the safety of the citizens.

He had fulfilled his duty as a hero and there was nothing more they coukd ask of him.

Even as his consciousness faded, a thought raced across his mind.

The other Nomu!

He snapped alert instantly, eyes twitching, neck cranking, as he scoured the city from on high, spotting it locked in combat against Hawks halfway across the city.

But there was something else he'd spotted that truly gave him a scare.

There wasn't just one Nomu, there were two!

"No! I-i killed that one! I'm sure of it!" He muttered to himself.

"Not sure enough apparently!" A voice came from behind him, as two black-purple limbs grabbed him by the arms and with an almost too fast jerk, ripped them off.

"Yaaaaaah!" He cried out in pain, now literally disarmed, and in a truly heroic display of willpower, pivoted by his legs, delivering a thundering kick at the still recovering Nomu, sending it flying through the air, crashing on the ground.

Not willing to make the same mistake again, Endeavor followed, crashing into the Nomu, shattering his own kneecaps.

"Die!" He shouted, as his flame engufled the two of them, flaring up in a tornado of plumes, before exploding forth in a giant mushroom cloud.

The force of the explosion was such that the entire street melted and collapsed beneath them, the water in the sewer below vaporizing near instantly, and atomizing, further propagating the already devastating impact of Endeavor's sacrifice, as the explosion consumed a whole eight blocks before coming to sputtering pause.

In the distance, the two Nomus were nearly done with Hawks too, his feathers nearly burned off, as he hobbled in the air, barely clinging onto them for dear life.

With one final, desperate blow, he too followed Endeavor, decapitating one of the Nomus, as the other crushed his head like a rotten grape.

And so ended the lives of Endeavor and Hawks, in glorious and heroic, but ultimately wasted effort.

I revived all the Nomus, albeit slower this time, to make it seems as if they were recovering naturally.

Then, with a flick of my wrist, they vanished into portals of dark purple mist, in full view of the news cameras, back to their pods under Jaku hospital to heal and recover.

With this one move, I'd finally achieved all my goals for the day.

The heroes had recieved a death blow to their reputation.

The people's faith in heroes would, by tomorrow, be gone almost completely.

And lastly, the misty portals were a clear sign to all detractors.

The league of villains is alive and well.

Undefeated!

And so begins the hunt for Red October and the heralding of the war arc.