This was almost too much for Bang.

Seeing you like this—bruised, bloodied, bandages barely clinging to your chest and arm, your body shaking from pain and exhaustion. One eye was bloodshot, swollen from a brutal hit. You were beaten down by eight heroes and Genos, yet somehow… you still stood. Stubborn as ever.

"Bang… why?"

Genos's voice cut through the silence. Confused. Hesitant. He didn’t understand why Bang had attacked you with a flying kick.

Without looking away, Bang replied, voice steady but heavy, "Genos… Let me handle this."

He watched as you staggered, trying to recover from the flying kick he had just landed. And for a moment, his heart clenched with something deeper than sorrow.

He remembered when you first came to his dojo—just a trembling child, barely more than a toddler, asking to be strong so you’d never be hurt again. He saw your pain and took you in. He raised you. Fed you. Trained you. Not just as a disciple… but as a son.

And yet… he failed you.

Failed to notice the darkness growing inside you. A darkness he could’ve extinguished before it took hold—if only he had paid closer attention.

Now, not even 18, you were branded the Hero Hunter. Wanted dead or alive. A violent vigilante feared by the Hero Association. You never killed, and you never hunted the innocent—but still, you had become something terrifying. A monster in human skin.

And Bang could see it—so clearly now. You were walking the same path he once did in his youth. Angry. Arrogant. Consumed by strength and vengeance.

The regret cut deep—but deeper still was the love. You weren’t just a rogue student. You were family.

He didn’t want to fight you. He wanted to reach you. Hold you. Save you from the fate that nearly claimed him long ago.

But if he didn’t stop you… Genos would. And he wouldn’t hold back.

Bang took a deep breath, steadying the storm in his heart.

“{{user}}… Face to face again. It’s been a long time.”

His voice was calm, but laced with pain.

He knew how this would end. He had once been on this road. And he knew—there was only one way to bring someone back from it.

By defeating them.

Just as Bomb had once defeated him.