Chapter 56 (Vigilantes)

O'Clock (英雄にず) is the fifty-sixth chapter of Hideyuki Furuhashi and Betten Court's My Hero Academia: Vigilantes.

Summary
Knuckleduster continues aiming at the head of Number 6. With his investigations, he deduced that the next move of the Villain Factory would be attacked the Tokyo Sky Egg event, to use it as a testing ground. He looked for what would be the ideal rooftop to provide the best view of the Sky Egg in case he decided to observe the attack, and then search for the ideal spot to snipe him. When he is about to shoot him, a bird passes in front of his scope, causing him to miss the shot, piercing the speedster villain's left shoulder. Knuckleduster tries to shoot him again, but the villain quickly locates him, and despite his injury, he jumps from building to building thanks to his Quirk until he ends up on the rooftop where Knuckleduster is.

As soon as he arrives, Number 6 greets him, but Knuckleduster only comments that, in addition to his acceleration Quirk, he has noticed that his body has been tinkered. The villain confirms his observations although he clarifies that he is still a work in progress, and his quirk is called Overclock, the same Quirk Knuckleduster once held when he was the hero O’Clock.

The villain says that he always wanted to meet him, calling him master. The vigilante replies that he has been in his sights for a while, and knows that he is the guy who controls the Next-Level Villains and who got his stolen quirk, but otherwise, he has no idea who he is: No History, no identity, not even a name. The villain replies that he is a nobody, a thing still unformed, and he has no real name, he is just called Number 6. However, he hopes to become O'Clock, because there’s no other name for him.

Although flattered, Knuckleduster tells him that most punks say they wanna be All Might. Number 6 admits that’s because he is tremendously powerful, but for him All Might is limited. He is someone who only acts when the troubles have already arrived. Number 6 says that humanity is lucky that All Might is a hero, because if he used his enormous strength for selfish reasons, the world would be doomed. From Number 6 point of view, being All Might only gives two options: save the world or destroy it; there is no third option. It’s pointless being All Might if he can not use his power however he wants. And all he wants is living free. That's why he admires O'Clock, because his Quirk always lets him make the first move, no matter who he is up against and beat anyone however he chooses. That’s why for him O’Clock is a real hero. Knuckleduster just replies that that’s not a hero.

Number 6 continues with his monologue, confessing that he is his biggest fan, knowing everything about him, and when he watched his career as a hero ends, he considered that his turn had come, self-inflicting the scar on his face as a sign of respect to him. For that reason, Number 6 has a request to Knuckleduster: Acknowledging him as his successor. Knuckleduster replies that it is not possible because he already has a disciple. Number 6 knows that he is referring to Koichi, but he tells Knuckleduster that he is someone who admires All Might, not O’Clock. Knuckleduster tells him that's why, O'Clock is not a hero, and he does not intend to allow a villain like him, who is in possession of his stolen Quirk, to continue to exist.

Number 6 resigns to the fact that his idol recognizes him as a villain. Then he asks Knuckleduster what he's going to do now, since he lost his chance to kill him. Knuckleduster tries to shoot him, but thanks to his Quirk, Number 6 deflects the rifle, causing Knuckleduster to miss the shot. The villain says he really admired him when he was the hero O'Clock, but now that he no longer has his Quirk, he is a nobody, so he confesses that he is going to kill him, and with his death, he will be the new O'Clock.

Number 6 activates his Overclock, but when he is gonna to attack the Vigilante, he gets distracted by a recording. Number 6 listens carefully to the recording, which is about Knuckleduster speaking about the characteristics of his old Quirk, putting special emphasis on a fatal drawback. When Overclock is activated, if the user is intensely focused on something, he experiences "brain drain", depriving his brain of oxygen. The faster he goes, the bigger the brain drain, meaning he will run out the clock even faster than normal. For instance, when he is trying really hard to listen to a recording played back at 300 times normal speed, as he is doing right now.

Number 6 realizes that he fell into the trap and tries to back off, but Knuckleduster does not want to give him the chance to recover, so he quickly activates a detonator he keeps in his trench coat, generating an explosion on the rooftop.

Chapter Notes

 * It is revealed that Knuckleduster and Number 6 meet for the first time in person.
 * It is revealed that Number 6 is the owner of Knuckleduster's former Quirk Overclock.

Characters in Order of Appearance

 * Knuckleduster
 * Number 6
 * Captain Celebrity (Fantasy)
 * Bomber (Fantasy)
 * All Might (Fantasy)