Chapter 357: CHAPTER 348(Tech's Aftermath)
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CHAPTER START---
"This is bad. We're in more trouble than I expected," Shigaraki says as he looks at his television.
Sitting at the edge of his bed, he grit his teeth while watching the announcement, clenching and relaxing his fists with each word as his heartbeat quickens.
On the screen, President Skyline officially announced that the threat of Tech was resolved.
Earlier today footage was compiled from members of the operation, including footage directly from Star and Stripe's suit and Horizon's visor.
Showing everything, from the preparations to the journey, and the great sacrifices made.
They had officially expressed condolences to the people of England, noting the loss of London as a great tragedy that they wished they could have prevented by acting quicker.
But the world, surprisingly, isn't holding any grudge against them.
Instead admiring the heroes who saved them at great personal risk, blissfully unaware of how many people Horizon would have sacrificed to ensure victory.
And now with the entire world worshipping them, worshipping him, Shigaraki glares at the screen as President Skyline allows a fully healed Star and Stripe to answer a few questions.
And as expected, the first question is "Where is Horizon?"
Star and Stripe smiles at the crowd, "After healing me Horizon then healed himself, and currently he should be taking this time to relax and recover. But, he is Horizon, so taking personal time is the one thing he seems incapable of."
Star and Stripe playfully shrugs, like an exhausted older sister.
And the audience laughs, but even in that, Shigaraki could hear them worshipping him.
With a few taps, Shigaraki calls Spinner, who immediately answers.
"Come back to base, now," Shigaraki says.
"What? No way, I still need to find Himiko," Spinner says through the phone.
"They haven't even filed where they're holding her, which means it's likely Horizon tower, she's gone. Come back to base."
"What do you mean 'She's gone'?" Spinner asks. "They can't hold her like that forever, they're heroes. They have to send her to prison eventually, and I've already gathered up a few Nomu to hit it and bust her out."
Shigaraki sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Tomura, I can't just abandon her. We don't abandon each other."
"Do you think this is easy for me?!"
"..."
"I don't want to abandon my friends, but I also don't want you to die while playing into his hand."
"His hand?"
"Horizon just coordinated a battle against someone who was holding the entire world hostage, and won. Do you think he doesn't expect you to attack whatever prison they put her in? If anything, they'll probably hold her someplace far from Horizon tower and Tartarus, so you think the coast is clear to break her out, then they'll get you too."
"Then I'll just make some distractions!"
Shigaraki groans, getting annoyed at his love-struck friend. "Spinner, Horizon will be gone in a year or two, then we can just break into Tartarus and get her and All For One out, she'll just have to wait a while."
The call is silent for a while as Shigaraki hopes his friend listens, and Spinner considers every plan.
"Tomura," Spinner says, his voice low, dangerous. "Be honest with me. Do you really think Horizon won't kill her when he's done with her?"
Shigaraki doesn't respond. Instead, the deafening silence between them grows.
Spinner had finally come to the same conclusion Shigaraki did when he first heard of her capture.
And without another word, the call disconnects.
Shigaraki wipes the tears from his eyes, then gets back to work, knowing his soon-to-be-dead friends wouldn't want him to stop moving forward because of them.
With a few more taps on his phone, he calls another of his generals.
"Tomura, what do you need?" Mr. Compress asks.
"Plans have changed. I need you to get into the Hero Public Safety Commission server room. I'll have the doctor make something that tracks Horizon's Hero ID Card."
"Hmm, that's risky."
"It was before, but they have a lot of resources dedicated to secretly keeping eyes on Horizon, so all we need to do is upload a file into their system. The rest will take care of itself."
"I see, and why now? Why not sooner?"
"I'm concerned about the report they released, that part about Horizon warping from America to Japan in 'One step'."
"His range can't be that big, otherwise he'd sense us," Mr. Compress says. "There must be some trick."
"All the more reason to keep tabs on him, and I'm also going to move around some of our bases. Be ready to help with that," Shigaraki says. "We need all of this done within two weeks. That's when summer will end and Horizon will come back to Japan."
"The bases? Why? Do we have a spy among us?"
"No, but Himiko and Spinner are about to be compromised, so let's assume Horizon knows everything they know."
"Spinner, when did he get captured?"
"He hasn't yet, but he's being hard-headed about this and going after Himiko."
"Which is likely what Horizon wants," Mr. Compress says. "I see, then I should go—"
"No!"
"Uh, sorry."
Shigaraki takes a deep breath, calming himself. "Sorry, I just…losing two friends is already hard enough. I don't want to lose you too."
"Right, I get it. I'll finish here and help move the bases immediately," he says. "Will we be sending Nomu to help him?"
"No, I'll call the doctor and revoke Spinner's ability to command them. I don't want to sink any more resources into that terrible mission."
"I see. I suppose this is the hard part about being the boss, huh, managing these many resources."
"Actually, no," Shigaraki says. "Managing resources is easy, but losing friends, that's always hard."
---Matani Tower, Manhattan…
Sitting on his couch, Law has his phone floating beside him as he watches the news recounting everything they did against Tech, combing over every second of the footage they shared with the world.
They acknowledged and credited everyone who helped, even in the smallest ways, and showed sympathy for those who they failed to save.
'Even after I sacrificed a few million, they didn't bother reporting that part of the plan,' Law thinks. 'But at this point, I don't think anyone would care. I saved the world, and all we lost was London…barely lost anything, really.'
SHAMBLES!
He warps a vial of the completed miracle elixir, which he appropriately calls Panacea, into his hand.
The glass vial was a cylinder four inches long and one inch wide. The glass was clear to show the glowing blue liquid inside.
"A single sip cures the common cold and boosts the immune system, and a single vial cures most diseases. Complete genetic modification and repair, and so easy to transport," Law chuckles. "I outdid myself with this."
He rotates the vial to see the top and bottom of it, both of which have Horizon's logo.
"Call Chitose," he commands, and his phone makes the call.
"Hello? Horizon?" Chitose asks as he puts the phone on speaker.
"Yeah, it's me. Want an interview?"
"Always," she says, voice barely containing her excitement.
"I'll be back in Japan in a few weeks, we can do a live interview then, I have something big to announce," Law says. "I won't be doing any interviews with anyone until then. I have important work to do, so I can't afford any more distractions."
"A juicy exclusive, alright, I'll start building anticipation for it," Chitose says. "Also, on behalf of everyone h—"
He hangs up before she can thank him for saving the world.
Law closes his eyes and continues listening to the news, until a few minutes later he feels a familiar presence enter his Room.
SHAMBLES!
He warps to Horizon's penthouse across Central Park, appearing in his full Hero Costume sitting at the edge of his bed.
He walks over to the kitchen and by the time he's reaching into the fridge to get a drink, Star and Stripe descends from the stairwell leading to the roof.
"So you just don't knock anymore?" Horizon asks, noticing her serious expression.
"Sentinel's remaining forces are all but gone now, massive portions of them surrendered after communications came back online," Star' says.
"Makes sense. After what we did to Tech, and what Tech was willing to do to the world, their silent sponsors probably pulled their funding, not wanting to be the idiots standing against the people who saved the world."
"Yeah," she says as he hands her a bottle of water and they walk to the living room.
"But that's not what has you all serious, is it?"
"There are some things…that I need to tell you, to warn you about," she says, giving him a genuinely uncertain look.
This surprised him, as in all the time they'd spent together, she always seemed so sure of her path.
"If you're here to confess, as incredible as our babies would be—"
Star and Stripe gently punches him in the shoulder, which was still hard enough that a normal person would have been crippled for life.
"Not like that you moron!" she scoffs and looks away. "Look, can you just, come with me? I'll explain when we get there."
"Sure, where are we going?"
"Los Angeles, where everything started for me…"
END CHAPTER---
Chapter 358: CHAPTER 349(The Unforgivable)
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CHAPTER START---
"Just stay close to me, we'll be alright," Marissa says as her little sister clings to her. "Just pack your pack your things. I'll help you in a second."
"But where are we going?" Cathy asks as both girls are frantically packing their bags.
"Somewhere safe," Marissa says. "Just until we learn to control our Quirk."
After hastily packing her bag, she walks over to her little sister, helping her pack the essentials and still fitting her favorite stuffed bear inside.
"Look," Marissa kneels beside her sister and rests a hand on her shoulder. "We have a Quirk, the same Quirk. We aren't duds anymore. These people are just here to help us train them, then we can be Pro Heroes."
"But I don't want to be a hero," Cathy says.
"You don't have to be, but we should at least train our Quirk," Marissa says. "Don't worry, it won't take long."
"Ok."
Marissa ruffles her sister's short brown hair and adjusts her glasses for her, "now let's go."
Walking through the small San Diego apartment, both girls hold hands as they step into the living room, seeing their parents whispering with two heavily armed military men.
One of them is the young Captain Agpar, standing proud with his brother.
The man reaches up to his earpiece and then nods to his brother. "They've secured the route back. We need to move."
"Alright, everyone follow us, and stay close," the man says as he leads them out of the building and into the large military convoy waiting outside.
While getting into the six-wheeled armored vehicle, Marissa and Cathy see a few Pro Heroes standing nearby, and far above they see two Pro Heroes flying, acting as extra security for them.
That sight alone made them feel much safer.
It took twenty minutes for the convoy to arrive at a military base, driving right onto the runway, where a large cargo plane was waiting for them.
"Alright, let's get moving," Agpar says as he escorts them all onto the plane, strapping the girls in beside their parents.
And the entire time, they don't let go of each other.
Agpar walks over to his brother and the other members of his squad, having a quiet conversation and confirming the facility in Alaska is ready for them.
As they're talking the plane takes off, the back ramp sealing shut as the men grip the handholds, remaining standing as they continue their conversation.
"Any signs?" one man asks.
"Lookouts say everything is clear, the leak was detected late. But we got to them fast enough," Agpar says. "Base hasn't called in anything else."
"Who are we expecting anyway?" Agpar's brother asks. "I mean, Lightshot?"
"He's the assassination type. If they want these girls they'd have to capture them."
"So they'd need flight. That leaves only a handful of people," Agpar says. "And none of them can handle everyone that's onboard, so we're probably in the clear."
"Don't jinx it," his brother says. "Anyway, what do we even know about their Quirk?"
Agpar shrugs, "doesn't fit the classifications. The researchers mentioned something about…reality alteration at a subatomic level, whatever the hell that means. They're still trying to solve it."
His brother looks back over his shoulder at the girls, "they both have it?"
"Yup, and the people upstairs think this is supposed to change the world," Agpar sighs. "Whatever, that stuff is above my paygrade, we just have to get them from A to B."
"Let's just hope it—"
BOOM!
An explosion rings out, and then the aircraft begins a sudden nosedive; the entire plane shakes, the lights flicker, and the passengers are thrown all over the cargo bay.
"What the hell!" Agpar looked around to see both girls still strapped into their seats, but Marissa was bleeding from her forehead, barely conscious. "Get to the front, I'll keep them secure!"
"Copy!" his brother and the entire squad rush toward the cockpit as Agpar hardened his body, sinking his fingers into the metal floor and making handholds to crawl over to the girls.
Strapped to her seat, Cathleen holds onto her sister's arm with all her might, seeing Agpar crawling toward them before another explosion rung out.
Fire consumed the man, along with both girls and their parents, but as immense pain began flooding Cathleen's body.
Her sister leaned toward her and wrapped her arms around her, and the pain instantly stopped.
She feels a surge of energy flow through her body as she shuts her eyes, eardrums nearly bursting as the metal and fire rages around her when they hit the floor.
She felt her body flung about and tearing through parts of the plane as the chaos ripped her sister away, leaving her face and clothes stained with blood on impact.
Minutes later, Cathleen woke up, lying atop a piece of crumpled metal.
All around her was metal, debris from the buildings they crashed into, and fire.
Sirens were blaring in the distance, and from her spot above the wreckage, she could see Los Angeles on fire.
Seconds later, another wave of explosions occurred within the city, bringing down buildings and setting off gas lines, killing tens of thousands in an instant.
The sight of it, the thought that all of this was because of her and her sister.
"Marissa." Cathleen immediately vomits up her lunch.
The thought that all of this was their fault was too much for her.
Her breathing became ragged as she dropped to her knees, holding her head while more explosions rang out into the night, causing massive plumes of fire and debris to illuminate the screaming city.
"Marissa, Marissa, Marissa—" she repeats over and over as the tears flow, only to be startled when a hand holds her shoulder. "Ah!"
A hand covers her mouth, silencing her.
The girl opens her eyes to see Agpar, bloodied and battered, but alive and kneeling beside her.
"Cathleen, we need to find your sister and move. Can you walk?" he asks.
"Uh, I…"
"Can you walk?"
"Mhm," she nods.
"Alright, stay close to me, and don't make any noise, no matter what," he says. "She's somewhere in the wreckage…"
"She?" Cathleen asks as she walks behind the man, his rifle ready as he stalks through the wreckage.
"Shh," was his only response.
Stalking through the burning wreckage, Cathleen moved numbly, overwhelmed by the experience and emotions to the point of simply not thinking.
Suddenly Agpar stops, dropping to one knee as he hears static.
A radio.
He reaches up to the radio on his belt and flips to a specific channel, then clicks the button.
The static stops for a moment, confirming that it was his brother's radio.
He moves farther ahead, seeing his brother leaning against a piece of debris with a metal shard in his thigh, bleeding out.
Turning back to Cathleen, he signals for her to get down.
"Lay down," he says, and she obeys. "No matter what happens, don't make a sound, understand?"
She only nods in response. Then he raises his rifle and begins moving toward his brother.
He stalks over to his brother, looking around and above at the wreckage, debris, and small fires in this area, adrenaline pumping like never before as he reaches him.
"Hey, you awake?" Agpar asks.
His brother stirs awake, looking up at him, but as he tries to speak blood comes pouring out of his mouth.
Agpar moves to help him, but the man shakes his head.
Agpar understands and halts his movement, only for a single gunshot to ring out, punching through his rifle and making it useless.
He instantly drops it and draws his pistol, aiming where the gunshot came from, but another shot destroys that gun too.
"Shit," he mutters, realizing he was now unarmed, but luckily, Cathleen was safe in a blind spot. "I'm unarmed. What do you want?"
"The real one," a feminine voice says before dropping from the wreckage above, holding a bloodied and battered Marissa slung across her shoulder.
Her outfit held guns, knives, grenades, and a few things Apgar didn't recognize.
But there was no mistaking who she was, that jet black outfit, concealing every bit of flesh and blood, inhuman.
"Real one?" Agpar asks.
"This decoy doesn't have a Quirk, so where the hell is the girl?"
"We don't negotiate with terrorists. Just do what you came here to do, you psychotic bitch!"
Agpar moves quickly and throws a knife at her chest, only for Arsenal to shoot it out of the air, then fires into both his knees.
"ARGHHH!" He screams while falling to the ground.
"One with no tongue, and one with no legs, what a duo," she says while walking over and dropping Marissa onto him.
"Fuck you!"
"Not even in your nightmares," she says while walking over to his brother. "Captain Agpar, I know who you are, which is why I didn't execute this one when I found him in the wreckage. The others weren't as useful."
Agpar turns his head to watch her as Marissa stirs awake in his arms.
She reaches for a grenade-like container on her belt, and as she turns, he finally sees her face as the light flickers onto it.
Her mask was like a void of darkness, covering her entire face like a helmet, and the rest of her outfit matched.
'Yeah, definitely Arsenal,' he thinks while trying to subtly grab a rock that's beside him.
She sees this and fires, this time shooting Marissa in the leg, waking the girl up and causing her to roll over in immense pain.
"Stop it!"
"When you tell me what's going on here," she says. "I refuse to believe my intel was wrong. There is a girl with a new type of Quirk on board, and I'm not leaving until I find her."
"It's me!" Marissa screams as she holds her leg. "It's my Quirk!"
Arsenal fires into her other leg, causing her to begin another fit of screaming.
"Children shouldn't lie," she says while holding the container above Agpar's brother. "Agpar, talk, or he dies."
Looking up at Arsenal, his brother spit a mouthful of blood onto her boots, gritting his teeth as blood flowed out of his mouth from where she cut off his tongue.
"Please!" Marissa yells out. "Don't hurt them, it's me, it's just me!"
Arsenal sighs as she pours liquid out of the container onto the brother.
Then she transforms her left arm into a sword and scrapes the ground beside him, causing sparks to fall onto his body.
While he's screaming, being burned alive, she casually walks over to Agpar and kneels beside him.
The man tries to reach up and hit her, only for her to transform her hand into a blade and sever his bicep tendons, leaving him limp on the floor.
"Don't look away," she says while forcing him to watch his brother's painful demise. One hand holding his head still while the other keeps his eyes open.
"You're a fucking animal, I swear to god I'll kill you!"
"There is no god on the battlefield," she says. "Now, what do you think I'll do to the decoy if I don't get what I want?"
"Fuck you!" he screams, struggling under her grasp.
"Shit," Arsenal grumbles as she hears sirens and helicopters closing in on their position. "No more playing nice."
Before anyone could realize what's happening, she walks over to Marissa and kicks her in the face, breaking her lower jaw and knocking some of her teeth out.
Leaving the twelve-year-old girl barely conscious, only kept awake by the immense pain flowing through her body.
"That's what you get for lying," Arsenal says as she lifts the girl off the ground by her hair, holding her aloft while reaching around to rest her other hand on the girl's throat. "Now, Agpar, where is she?"
Agpar just stares at the woman, not sure what to do, but knowing if he tells her about Cathleen, then both girls are as good as dead.
"It's just me—" Marissa's words are cut off as Arsenal squeezes his windpipe, causing her to gag and choke.
"Agpar, I'm going to kill it if you don't give me what I want. Where is the real girl?"
Glaring at the woman, Agpar makes a choice he'd never forgive himself for.
"This is the only girl," he says, not looking away from her.
The sirens and helicopters only get louder and louder by the second, and Arsenal knows her time is running out.
So she sighs, then casually rips Marissa's throat out.
"NO!" Agpar screams as loud as he can, expecting Cathleen to react and trying to overshadow her cries.
Arsenal doesn't hear her over his scream and the sound of Marrissa gargling her own blood, the warm liquid burning as it quickly fills her lungs and drowns her.
"This thing is useless anyway," Arsenal says as she drops the girl onto Agpar, her head smashing into his face, forcing him to look into her dying eyes as her life fades away.
Before Agpar could process anything else, he then felt a cool liquid falling onto his body as Arsenal opened another container.
And with the now haunting sound of metal against stone, both he and Marissa were lit on fire, unable to move.
The girl spasms and flails about as she both drowns and is burnt alive, while he screams until his lungs collapse from the immense pain and heat.
And while all of this happens, two dozen meters away, Cathleen Bates stares on in shock. Her mind collapsed from the trauma that she would never truly recover from.
END CHAPTER---
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