Chapter Text
Location: Earth
"Yo Naegi… what the hell happened to you?" Kuwata asked. The baseball star had been idly wandering the campus when he noticed Naegi barreling towards the entrance of the school, looking as if he had just gotten into a fight. "You look like shit."
"Hah, hah, I missed my train," the lucky student responded, stopping for a quick rest. "And then the second train ended up stopping earlier due to an accident. I tried taking a bus, but they ALSO shut off for the morning, so I had to run here. What time is it?"
"It's, uh, 9:30," Kuwata informed him.
"CRAP! I'm an hour late!"
"Woah, why are you even stressing? Classes aren't mandatory, 'member? I'm not going to class."
"Wait, why are you on campus then?" Naegi asked, him no longer panting like a dog.
"I live here."
"Right…" Naegi forgot about the dorms. "Well, I, uh, really don't have much going for me in the way of talent so I need to go to classes more than anyone else."
Kuwata shrugged. "Suit yourself. I'll be here for the rest of the day 'cause I don't have anything else to do, so if you wanna hang after classes, you know where to find me."
Naegi smiled. This was perfect. He had been meaning to get close to Kuwata so he could eventually ask the boy for help on building up his endurance. "Sure. I'll meet you here if that's alright with you."
"Sure. Oh! If you can, could you bring Maizono here? I wanna show her some of my musical talent."
"If I find her, I'll see if she's free."
"Thanks. She's probably in class so..."
"Ah crap! I forgot about classes!" Naegi then began running to the building. "See you later!"
Kuwata shot a small wave at the boy's disappearing form. "Fuck, what should I do now? Maybe I should go to classes...nah!"
0000
Flying into his classroom, Naegi had to face the shame of not only being late, but of also looking like a mess. Thankfully, not everyone was there and Ishimaru didn't lecture him after hearing his reasons for being late, so it wasn't too bad. Speaking of his classmates, as expected, both Ishimaru and Fujisaki attended classes. Oogami and Asahina were both attending classes, though the latter appeared to want to be anywhere but a classroom. Maizono also showed up to every class. Other than them, no one else attended classes, or at least attended classes regularly. Much to his surprise, Togami actually showed up for some math related classes, but once it was over, he left and never returned for any of the others.
In terms of the classes themselves, the boy found them challenging, as to be expected from an elite school, but fairly so. With some studying, he was sure he'd be able to grasp the material. If not, then it gave him the chance to speak with Ishimaru or Fujisaki. Maybe Togami, but he was more than sure that the other teen would shoo him away. Togami didn't seem to be someone who liked to socialize.
Eventually, classes ended and Naegi was given time to stretch. His body was stiff from sitting around after doing intense exercise.
"Hey Naegi, what happened to you? No offense, but you look like a mess…" Maizono asked him, interrupting his stretching.
"Ah, issues with public transportation," Naegi responded, awkwardly scratching his cheek. He was surprised that Maizono was still talking to him. He honestly expected her to have gotten bored of him after the first day.
"Do you really think I'm that cruel?"
"Ah! N-no! Not at all!" Naegi said, trying to cheer up the idol in front of him who looked hurt.
A smile then graced her face. "Just kidding."
Naegi sighed in relief. "Thank goodness. Did I say what I was thinking out loud?"
"Nope. I just have great intuition."
"Too good if you ask me," Naegi let loose a sigh of relief. "You'd probably give Kirigiri a run for her money if you decided to become a detective."
"Maybe," Maizono replied. "But I'm happy being an idol."
Naegi nodded in understanding.
"So, do you have anything planned today?" Maizono asked.
"Uh, not really…" Naegi admitted before giving the girl a questioning look. "Why?"
"I was wondering if you wanted to hang out, y'know, to catch up on lost time."
Naegi's eyes widened. "You sure? You could probably use that time for more important stuff."
"Don't worry, I don't have anything that needs my attention," Maizono assured him.
"Well if that's the case, then I don't mind catching up," Naegi told her, earning a smile from the idol. 'Though it's not like we talked back in middle school'. It was then that Naegi remembered something. "Shoot! I just remembered that I told Kuwata that I'd meet him after school and that if you were free, I'd ask for you. Could we invite Kuwata?"
For a second, Naegi could've sworn that Maizono's trademark smile twitched, but he brushed it off as him imagining things. "Sure. I might as well listen to his songs while we're at it."
0000
"So, what did you guys think?" Kuwata asked with a toothy smile. The three teens were currently inside the school's music room where Kuwata had performed some songs for them, some being covers while others were of his own creation. It didn't take a musical genius to tell that Kuwata hardly picked up an instrument beforehand nor does he have the innate talent to at least sound somewhat decent.
"It was...unique." Maizono replied, though the message was clear to anyone who wasn't oblivious. 'You suck'.
Naegi, being the sweetheart he was, offered his classmate some encouraging words. "I don't know much about music, but I thought that even though you were a bit rusty, you did well. I think if you keep practicing, you could become a great musician."
"Eh, not the feedback I was looking for, but I'll take it! Maybe you can help me out a bit, Maizono?"
"Sadly I'll be a bit busy, so I won't have a lot of free time," the idol responded.
"Ah, bummer. Maybe some other time then."
"Maybe…"
'I thought she said she didn't have much going on,' Naegi thought to himself. The boy was considering speaking up, but he decided not to. It wasn't his place to do so after all and surely the idol had a good reason to bother lying to Kuwata in the first place.
0000
"I can't believe it!" Naegi grumbled to himself as he ran. "How are the buses still out-of-order?"
While making his way home, Naegi tried taking the bus to his train, but as it turns out, they have yet to be fixed, so he had to run home. If he missed his train, he'd have to wait another hour until the next one arrived, and that wasn't something he particularly wanted to do.
"I know I wanted to get more exercise, but this isn't what I meant. How can this get any worse?"
*BAM!*
"AH!"
Curse him and his stupid mouth. As it turned out, things can seemingly get worse for he had ran into someone. Hopefully they weren't hostile.
"Akamatsu! Are you ok?" A male voice called out.
"Oh man, I'm so sorry!" Naegi said, having stood right back up to begin apologizing. He currently had his head hung down in shame. "I was in such a rush that I wasn't looking where I was going. Please forgive me..."
"Ugh," a female voice groaned. It was then that Naegi saw who he had bumped into, a blonde girl. Next to her was a boy with blue hair who had a cap on his head, it was tilted in a way that his eyes were blocked. Standing up, the girl gave him a small smile. "It's alright. We all have one of those days."
Naegi rubbed the back of his head. "Y-yeah, I've just been unlucky."
"I'm sorry to interrupt," the boy with the cap said. He had been analyzing the other boy, making sure that he wasn't going to cause any trouble, when something caught his eye. "But that uniform… are you from Hope's Peak?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah…"
"Really?" The girl asked. "That's so cool! What's your talent?"
"Er, it's nothing special," Naegi admitted. "I'm my year's Ultimate Lucky Student."
"Ah," the boy said, shyly nodding. "Well, I wanted to ask since we're from the 'Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles'."
"Wait, did you say you were from the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles?" Naegi asked. The 'Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles' was the rival school of Hope's Peak Academy, being equally as prestigious and also only accepting those considered 'ultimates'. Unlike Hope's Peak however, they didn't have the 'Lucky Student Program', but otherwise, the prerequisites for being accepted were the same.
"Yeah, I'm surprised you didn't notice the school," the girl mentioned before pointing to her right. As it turns out, the three were standing right outside the 'Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles' and just like Hope's Peak, the campus was quite large for a high-school.
"Wait, if you're students at the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles, you guys are ultimates, right? What're your talents?"
"Well, I'm Kaede Akamatsu, the 'Ultimate Pianist," the girl, Akamatsu, informed him. "Next to me is Shuichi Saihara, the 'Ultimate Detective.'"
"Nice to meet you," Saihara greeted, though Naegi could tell he was uncomfortable interacting with strangers. "And to be honest, I'm not that great of a detective…"
Akamatsu elbowed her companion. "Hush you. Please don't mind him. He has a bad habit of underestimating himself. He's actually really great at his job. We actually finished searching for a lost item and it was thanks to him that we found it. "
"Well, if you managed to get accepted into the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles, then you must be talented," Naegi said, hoping to inspire the other boy. 'Wait, how are there two Ultimate Detectives?' Typically, repeats in titles only happen when a former ultimate graduates and an upcoming ultimate takes their spot. This is also true when comparing the lineup of students from Hope's Peak to their rival school. They never had two students who shared the same title. This is the first time where both schools each had a student with the same title. Both were deemed the Ultimate Detective, so they must be equally talented, so did Hope's Peak and the Ultimate Academy of Gifted Juveniles make a deal on who receives which detective? Or did one of the schools completely miss one of them, allowing the remaining school to claim the other as their student?
"I-I guess," Saihara mumbled, still not convinced.
Snapping back to reality, Naegi smiled at him. "You might not see it now, but you'll see it in the future. I have faith in your skills."
Saihara tilted his head to the side. "But you just met me."
"I don't think the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles would admit someone they didn't think could be considered an ultimate."
"I keep trying to tell him that but he doesn't listen," Akamatsu said with a huff. "Hopefully if I keep drilling that into his head, he'll listen." The girl's eyes then lit up. "Oh, I never got your name."
"It's Makoto Naegi," Naegi replied, surprised she even bothered asking for his name. Sure, she seemed nice, but she was an ultimate while he was an average joe. He was still getting used to being around such amazing and gifted people. "It's nice to meet you two."
Akamatsu nodded. "It's nice to meet you too. Where are you headed that's got you in such a rush?"
Naegi chuckled. "I wanted to get home before nighttime, but the busses don't work."
"Oh, well, we were actually about to head home ourselves," Akamatsu told him. "While students normally have dorms at the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles, Saihara wanted to help out his uncle with some work while I never applied for one. If we're going the same way, mind if we tag along?"
"I don't mind," Naegi replied before telling them which train station he was heading towards.
"Oh, we have the same stop, though it looks like we're taking different trains," Akamatsu noted before she began walking. "C'mon, let's get moving."
The two boys followed behind, the three chatting all the way there. Throughout the journey, Naegi was able to learn more about his two companions and their class. Surprisingly, it seems that their class was somehow more bizarre than his. Not only did they have an actual robot for a classmate, but on the first day, the 'Ultimate Inventor' blew something up. Naegi on the other hand told them about his trip to school. The three were having such a good time that they weren't paying attention to the time, so they were surprised when they arrived at the station in what seemed like minutes.
"Well, it looks like we split up here," Naegi said. "It was nice to meet you."
"It was nice to meet you too," Saihara replied with a smile.
"Hold up!" Akamatsu lightly shouted. "Naegi, do you usually come this way when going home?"
"Yeah," Naegi responded, wondering why the girl was asking him about his commute. "Though I'll hopefully be taking the bus again starting tomorrow."
"I had a feeling this was the case," Akamatsu said, quickly thinking to herself before speaking again. "Naegi, give me your number."
"My number?" Naegi asked, tilting his head.
"Akamatsu! Aren't you being a little too forward?" Saihara asked the girl, embarrassed.
"Forward?" Taking a second to think about what the detective meant, it suddenly clicked to Akamatsu what Saihara meant. Safe to say, she was now embarrassed herself. "Ah, I didn't mean it that way!" She then turned to the lucky student. "It's just that Saihara isn't always going to be able to accompany me to the train station and if you want, I was hoping we could take the bus together. It's something I used to do with my old friends and it beats walking home alone. We attend rival schools too so our classes will eventually meet one another, and I think it would be easier for us in the long run if we each had a friend from the other school."
After hearing such an earnest request, Naegi couldn't find it in himself to refuse even if he wanted. "Sure, I don't mind. Do you want my number too Saihara?"
"If you don't mind," the detective replied.
The three teens exchanged numbers. Suddenly, a train pulled into the right side of the station.
"Oh, looks like this is our train," Akamatsu stated to Saihara. Turning back to Naegi, she gave him a small wave. "Bye Naegi See you tomorrow."
"Nice to meet you," Saihara added as the two boarded their train.
"Nice to meet you too!" Naegi called out. As the two ultimates left, the boy couldn't help but smile. It turns out that bumping into them was a blessing after all as he was able to make two new friends.
Sitting down on a bench, Naegi began waiting for his train, only to groan upon noticing that he had managed to miss his train by two minutes.
'Looks like I've got to wait…' Naegi thought to himself, frowning. Watching some YouTube on his phone, the boy didn't realize that his train ended up arriving thirty minutes later than scheduled. Once it did arrive, he boarded it, not aware of what was to come…
0000
It would take an hour and a half until the train would reach the station closest to Naegi's home. Taking a seat near the back of the train cart he was in, the boy resumed his YouTube viewing session, where one of the videos may or may not have been a past concert of a certain idol.
When the video he was watching ended, he clicked on another one, and another, and a few more. Near the end of his ride, the boy proceeded to click on another video, unaware that the Blue Lantern ring in his pocket suddenly started glowing. A sudden wave of blue consumed Naegi's eyes for a brief second until he regained his eyesight. However, instead of being greeted with the train's interior, he had a high-angle shot of the exterior of a train.
'What's going on?' The boy asked himself as he continued to watch the odd scene in front of him. 'Is that the train I'm on?' It most certainly looked like it, though most trains of the same type looked like one another.
Continuing to view the scene, he noticed that the train was moving towards a stop, but it wasn't slowing down. At the stop was another train that was parked. Suddenly, the moving train collided with the still one, completely demolishing both. Right as it did so, the image disappeared, causing the boy to jolt upwards.
"What the?" Naturally, this earned him some stares, causing him to shrink back into his seat. 'What...just happened?' Whatever happened, it made him feel nervous. Despite him only viewing it, what he was shown made his body start shaking, as if he had experienced the crash first-hand.
'What you saw was a glimpse into the future', a voice echoed in his head, one he had grown familiar with ever since he received the ring. Digging into his pocket, he grabbed his ring, making sure no one could see it besides him. 'Life threatening danger is approaching near your vicinity.'
'Life threatening danger…' Naegi paled, realizing what the ring was implying. 'The train's going to crash!?'
'Yes, unless you do something about it,' the ring's A.I responded. 'It is why you have the ring after all…'
'Oh god, I don't think I'm ready,' Naegi lamented. Sure, he's been training, but he wasn't planning on officially kick-starting his hero career anytime soon, not until he learned how to handle himself in a fist-fight. Shaking his head, the boy attempted to calm his nerves. Ready or not, it was up to him to do something. It's either he tries or many people are guaranteed to die today. 'How much time do I have?'
'In about 2.5 seconds, an announcement by the conductor will play letting everyone know about the impending doom. In thirty seconds, the train will collide with the parked train.'
'That's not nearly enough time!' Naegi stood up, mentally panicking.
'It is for someone who can react fast enough, which you can. We've been conversing and less than a millisecond has passed since you've seen a glimpse into the future. You can move faster than the eye can even notice, and that's without using much power.'
Blinking, Naegi noticed that the ring was right. Somehow his perception of time has slowed down. No one was moving. Glancing at the man sitting next to him, the 'lucky student' saw that he was in the midst of blinking, his eyelids closing extremely slowly. He knew the ring enhanced his speed, but this was incredible! He might actually have a chance!
'Alright, how do I stop this thing?'
'The only way you're stopping this train is through physical force. The ring's got more than enough power to do so. You'll need to exit the train and stop it from the outside.'
'If that's the only way I can stop this train, then so be it.' Wasting no time, Naegi was about to rush out to the little platform located in between the train carts so he could change into his costume without being seen, but stopped when he realized that the train had security cameras installed inside his cart. While he can move at superhuman speeds, faster than the naked eye could track, someone could slow down footage from one of the security cameras to see him.
'Ring, any way you could shut down the security cameras?'
'Yes.' The ring flashed for a brief second. 'I disabled all cameras for the next minute..'
'All right.' Taking a deep breath in, Naegi rushed out to the little platform outside the train. Normally, a person would be at risk of flying off it, but with the ring casting an invisible protective aura around him, Naegi would be fine. Putting the ring on his ring finger, the boy summoned his costume. 'Here we go'. Releasing a breath of air, the boy leaped off, being thrown backwards by the whiplash, disorienting him for a brief moment. Thankfully, he was able to get to his senses and start floating before he could hit the ground.
'Oh man, that was terrifying', Naegi thought to himself. Never had he jumped off an object moving as fast as the train was. 'Why did I even jump so quickly?' The boy was honestly surprised about the fact he didn't hesitate too much when jumping off the train. One look at the train was all that was needed to see why. 'Right.' Shooting forwards, the boy began to chase after the train, the train having managed to pass by him while he was still coming to his senses.
0000
Meanwhile
Location: Earth
"Damnit!" The train conductor shouted as he tried pulling the lever that triggered the breaks of the train. "A stop ago, this was working, so why isn't it now?!" The man was clearly frustrated. "Wasn't this damn thing inspected yesterday?" Picking up his radio, the man began to talk to his subordinate who was at the end of the train. "Did you get the emergency brake working?"
"The emergency brake doesn't work," the other man replied.
"How the hell do two brakes stop working?!" Turning off his radio, the conductor turned on the intercom to let the passengers know about their upcoming doom. "Attention everyone, this is your conductor speaking. Unfortunately, it seems that the brakes have broken and we are quicly approaching the station. We'll most likely be colliding with another train so to increase your chances of safety, we ask that you remain in your seats while we attempt to get the brakes working."
It was safe to say that once the announcement ended, everyone began panicking. Some took the conductor's advice while others couldn't handle being seated while under such duress.
Turning off the intercom, the conductor continued to fiddle with the brakes. "It's going to take a damn miracle to survive this…"
0000
'The conductor warned the passengers about the incoming collision just now,' the ring informed Naegi as the boy continued to fly after the train. 'You have fifteen seconds until the train crashes.'
'Ok.' Naegi thought to himself. There was a problem however, and it was that despite his best efforts, he wasn't catching up to the train. 'What the hell's going on?! Why can't I catch up to this thing?!'
'You are currently exhibiting a lot of stress and fear,' the ring replied. 'Your abilities have been weakened as a result.'
It was then that Naegi noticed that his body was shaking and had been shaking since he was aware of the train's fate, it only getting worse after he had jumped off said train. 'Really?! There's got to be a way to calm down fast enough.' The boy tried thinking of positive memories, and despite typically being optimistic, nothing was working. It seems even his optimism has a limit.
'The Blue Lantern oath has the ability to calm down a ring's owner. Incite it and you might find yourself more at ease. Saying it out loud has a more profound effect on the wearer's emotions.'
'The lantern oath?' This was the first time Naegi's heard of such a thing. 'Why didn't you tell me about this while I was training?'
'The ring is still experiencing some hiccups.'
Naegi completely forgot that his ring was a bit busted. 'So, how does this oath go?'
'Repeat after me-'
"In fearful day, in raging night-" the blue aura around Naegi suddenly began to grow stronger. Already he was feeling the effects of the ring, him now moving faster. "With strong hearts full, our souls ignite-" The boy's rapid heartbeat dissipated, a wave of calmness taking its place. "When all seems lost in the War of Light, Look to the stars-" It was then that Naegi felt it, he felt the presence of everyone inside that train. Not only that, but he was given glimpses of all that was going through their minds. He could feel them begging for something to save them, he could feel how each of them wished to return home safe and sound. Some had family waiting on them and wanted to see them one last time. They were hoping for a miracle, and that hope was invigorating. It was giving him life, granting him far more power than he felt when he was training. Closing his eyes, Naegi focused on said hopes, practically feeling the power he's gained oozing off of him. Opening his eyes, the boy finished the oath. "FOR HOPE BURNS BRIGHT!"
A flash of blue light extruded from him. Once it dissipated, Naegi focused on propelling himself towards the train and found himself catching up to it with no effort.
"It worked," the boy said, smiling. "Everything's going to be alright! I just gotta stop this train."
Racking his brain for ideas, his first idea involved pulling at the train from the back, but he wasn't sure that the jumper cables holding the carts together would be able to handle the stress of him pulling the train. Immediately, Naegi flew in front of the train, an idea popping into his head. Making his way to the back of the train, the boy coated the cables and outside platforms in solid blue energy as a means to reinforce the train. Now back at the rear of the train, Naegi summoned four chains and wrapped it around the last cart. Pulling back, the boy had the train come to a close stop, making sure that any whiplash experienced wouldn't kill the passengers.
Waiting until the other train exited the stop, Naegi loosened his grip on the train he was holding and allowed it to edge closer to said stop, making sure it didn't move further than that point.
"Whew." Naegi sighed in relief. Despite his shaky start, he actually managed to save everyone, him still being able to detect all of the train's passengers. "Well, I should let the conductor know it's safe to let everyone off now, but I gotta make sure that this thing doesn't go wild once I let it go."
Thinking to himself, the boy came up with an idea. Using his ring, he summoned four giant weights and tied the chains to them. Releasing his hold on the chains, Naegi was glad to see that the train didn't barrel off. Sure, the ring gave him the precise amount of weight and force that would be needed to slow the train down and keep it moving, but the ring did sometimes fail to provide him with information such as how to fly, so he was worried it might have not worked.
Flying to the conductor's door, Naegi knocked on it and had small blue words appear in front of him, 'Hi. Train's stopped and won't be going anywhere. You can let everyone know they're safe'
Naturally, when the conductor saw a floating boy in a uniform similar to that of a Green Lantern, he was astonished. Still, he opened the door.
"The hell?!" The man said, still in shock. After the 'Day of Darkness', superhumans, aliens, and the like were thought to have left Earth for good. Yet, here he was, staring down a boy who was floating in the air and making constructs. This sight and the fact the train wasn't moving made the man let loose a laugh out of relief. "Oh man, I thought we were a goner and then you show up. You really saved our asses. I'll let everyone off and contact the station."
Doing as he said he would, the man opened the doors and spoke into the intercom. "Hello everyone, this is your conductor speaking. You may now exit the train. We are safe."
The passengers wasted no time and immediately darted out of the cars.
"Is everyone alright?" Naegi asked everyone once the train was emptied, still floating. He received several confirmations in response, but he couldn't help but notice that everyone was staring at him in awe. It was a natural reaction though, since no one was expecting to meet a superhuman.
"Is that a superhuman?" One of the passengers asked no one in particular.
"No way, I thought they were gone for good…"
"Did he save us?"
"He did," the conductor said, pointing to the restraints keeping the train from moving.
"I can't believe it… a Green Lantern in Japan…"
"Well, I'm actually not a Green Lantern," Naegi admitted.
"Yeah, you look like one but you're all blue and stuff," another passenger remarked. "Who are you?"
'Who am I?' Naegi asked himself. He hadn't given his superhero identity any thought. Thankfully, an idea immediately popped into his head. If Green Lantern was the superhero name used by all of Earth's Green Lanterns, why doesn't he call himself Blue Lantern?
"I am the Blue Lantern," Naegi introduced himself. "And this is my oath: In fearful day, in raging night. With strong hearts full, our souls ignite. When all seems lost in the War of Light, look to the stars- for hope burns bright!"