My Hero Academia: The Dragon's Quirk

The following night, the air around Aokigahara was cold and heavy, as if the forest itself was holding its breath. In an old farmhouse converted into a temporary command post by Hawks, the atmosphere was filled with focused tension. The holographic map now displayed real-time data, a digital spiderweb laid over a sea of dark trees.

Leone, having returned after brilliantly completing her mission, presented her findings to the team. She had not only brought back information on patrol schedules and the commander's drinking habits, but also a rough map of the nearby town and notes on which guards could be "persuaded" or intimidated.

"They're overconfident amateurs," Leone concluded, pointing to several photos she had managed to take secretly. "But the 'ghosts' they talked about... that's a different problem. They are professionals. They are the real wall of defense."

"And tonight, we're tearing down that wall," Hawks said, his eyes shifting to the other two members of his team.

Akame was standing in the corner of the room, calmly and methodically checking her equipment. She cleaned the blade of Murasame until it gleamed under the lamplight, each movement a ritual she had performed thousands of times. She checked her steel wires, a few non-lethal sleeping poison capsules, and the small daggers hidden all over her costume. She was the embodiment of deadly preparation.

Nearby, Tatsumi wasn't checking weapons. He sat cross-legged on the floor, his eyes closed, the Incursio armor already enveloping his body. He wasn't practicing flight or combat. He was meditating, calming his mind and trying to merge his consciousness with his armor's sensors. His role tonight was not as a sword, but as the eyes. The sharpest and most vigilant eyes.

Before they left, Akame approached Tatsumi, who was now standing. They stood for a moment on the porch overlooking the dark forest.

"It feels... like the old days," Tatsumi said softly, his voice slightly muffled by his helmet. "The two of us, preparing for a mission in the middle of the night."

Akame gazed into the same darkness. "It's different," she replied, her voice as calm as the night wind. "Back then, we fought in the darkness against the false light of the Empire. Now, we fight in the darkness to protect a real light. The stakes are much higher."

Tatsumi nodded. He understood. This was no longer about revenge or revolution. This was about protecting their new world, protecting their friends.

With one final nod, they were ready.

Under a moonless sky, a silver shadow glided without a sound. Tatsumi flew low over the treetops, his dragon wings barely causing a ripple in the air. Akame clung tightly to his back, her body light and balanced, not disturbing his flight aerodynamics in the slightest. They moved as one, a stealth projectile penetrating the enemy's defenses.

They landed in a hidden rocky alcove deep within the forest, a blind zone Hawks had identified from satellite imagery. Their landing was perfect, soundless. Akame immediately released her hold and vanished into the shadows of the trees in the blink of an eye. She didn't even need to say goodbye.

Tatsumi immediately ascended back into the air, hovering high above the forest canopy, becoming an invisible guardian eagle. He activated the scanning mode on his visor. The world of green and black below him transformed into a map of heat and energy.

"I'm in position," he whispered through the secure communication channel. "Beginning scan of the outer perimeter."

At the command post, Hawks and Leone watched everything on the monitors. One screen showed the biometric data of Tatsumi and Akame. Another showed the video feed from Tatsumi's visor.

"All quiet on my end," Leone reported, her eyes dancing between several screens monitoring police communications and local radio frequencies. "No unexpected patrols. The stage is all yours."

After a few minutes of scanning, Tatsumi's visor caught something. An anomaly. Not a normal body heat, but a faint, fluctuating energy signature. The sign of an active Quirk.

"I've got the first target," Tatsumi reported, his voice calm and focused. "Three hundred meters southeast of your position, Akame. Hidden among the roots of a giant banyan tree. Appears to be alone. The energy signature suggests a possible illusion or camouflage-type Quirk." He marked the location on the tactical map linked directly to the device on Akame's wrist.

On the forest floor, Akame received the data without a word. She changed her direction, moving with inhuman speed and silence. She was no longer walking; she was flowing through the bushes and trees, her feet never stepping on a dry twig or a noisy leaf.

She arrived near the location and hid behind a large rock. She saw him. A man in a dark camouflage suit, standing so still he nearly blended in with the tree behind him. His skin seemed to shimmer and blur slightly, an effect of an optical camouflage Quirk. The first 'ghost' guard.

The man looked alert, his head constantly moving, scanning the darkness. He was a professional. But he was looking for threats from the front, from the sides. He never expected the threat to come from the shadow at his own feet.

Akame moved. She didn't run. She shot forward in a single, swift blur. Before the guard could even realize something was wrong, she was behind him. There was a cold, silver flash as the tip of Murasame touched the back of the man's neck, just a small scratch that was barely felt.

The sword's deadly poison worked instantly. The man didn't even have time to scream. His eyes widened in shock, and he collapsed to the ground like an empty sack, his camouflage Quirk fizzling out as his life ended. The silence of the forest enveloped everything once more.

Akame touched her earpiece, her breathing steady as if she had just been on a casual stroll.

"First target... neutralized."

In the sky, Tatsumi saw the heat signature on his visor flicker and then go out. A familiar chill ran down his spine, a reminder of his old friend's deadly efficiency. But it was also a sense of relief. The first step was a success.

"Good work," he whispered back. His eyes, enhanced by Incursio's technology, began to scan the sea of darkness below him again. "Searching for the next target."

The hunt of the ghosts had just begun.