Chapter 258 - 257: Last Second

Location: Otheon, Humarise Secret Mountain Fortress - Security Booth

Time: 11:25 AM (Local Time)

Sitting in front of a bank of surveillance monitors, a low-level cultist took a slow sip of hot coffee.

He tapped the edge of his paper cup casually against the metal desk.

"I bet the World Heroes Association is completely losing their minds right now," the cultist joked, leaning back in his rolling chair.

Standing near the doorway, a second security guard let out a short, muffled laugh.

"They brought their entire global strike team just to kick down a bunch of dummy fonts," the second guard agreed.

He pulled a small cleaning cloth from his dark robe, wiping down the lens of his assault rifle.

"Master Flect really played them perfectly," the armed guard added, keeping his eyes on his weapon.

The first cultist nodded, turning his attention back to the exterior mountain feeds.

He scanned the rocky terrain displaying across the black-and-white screens.

Everything looked completely still.

Suddenly, a slight blur of movement crossed the edge of camera four.

The cultist leaned closer to the glass, squinting his eyes.

"Hey... pull up the eastern ridge feed," he ordered, his voice dropping slightly.

The armed guard stopped wiping his rifle, stepping up behind the desk.

CLICK.

The cultist tapped a few keys, expanding the specific camera view across the primary monitor.

A massive wave of heavily armed international Pro Heroes was sprinting directly up the rocky incline.

Right at the front of the formation, Endeavor flew forward with his facial flames flaring violently.

The cultist choked on his coffee, spitting the hot liquid across the keyboard.

COUGH.

"What the hell?!" the armed guard screamed, dropping his cleaning cloth onto the floor.

"They bypassed the cloaking field!" the first cultist yelled, his hands shaking wildly over the control panel.

He slammed his fist directly down onto the primary emergency button.

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

Blaring red sirens instantly erupted through the entire subterranean base.

--<>--

Location: Otheon, Humarise Secret Mountain Fortress - Armory

Leviathan sat heavily on a steel supply crate.

He scraped a thick whetstone repeatedly against his helical scythes.

SHK. SHK.

The towering brute grinned, listening to the sharp sound of the metal shaving down.

Standing across the room, Ena and Dio casually tossed a segmented whip-sword back and forth.

"The WHA is probably throwing a collective temper tantrum right now," Ena laughed brightly.

Dio caught the blade by the hilt, spinning it around his wrist.

"They're completely stuck sweating in the capital," Dio finished seamlessly.

Leviathan set his whetstone down on the crate.

"That rogue scientist is as good as dead," Leviathan rumbled, crossing his muscular arms. "Beros is tracking Alan Kay right now."

He cracked his thick knuckles.

"Those heroes will never get the coordinates," Leviathan stated firmly.

Near the weapons rack, Sidero rolled two heavy iron spheres in his palms.

CLACK. CLACK.

The gruff enforcer stayed entirely silent, waiting for his next set of orders.

Rogone simply stretched his thick neck, adjusting the heavy armor plating strapped tightly across his chest.

The emergency sirens suddenly echoed violently through the armory walls.

Ena stopped spinning his sword, his bright smile vanishing instantly.

Leviathan stood up from the crate, his thick veins pulsing against his skin.

"What's going on?" Leviathan growled, his sadistic grin returning in full force.

--<>--

Location: Otheon, Humarise Secret Mountain Fortress - Command Room

Flect Turn stood alone in the dark control center.

He stared down at his blue, reflective hands.

'This body is a disease,' Flect Turn thought quietly, clenching his fingers into tight fists.

He looked up at the digital timer counting down on his primary console.

And reaffirmed his fanatical goal to cleanse humanity of the Quirk curse completely.

The blaring sirens suddenly cut through his silent reflection.

Flect Turn narrowed his eyes, a genuine wave of bewilderment crossing his pale face.

He turned toward the heavy metal doors just as they slid open rapidly.

SWISH.

A dark-robed cultist rushed inside, panting heavily from a dead sprint.

The grunt dropped to his knees, sweat pouring down his forehead.

"Master Flect!" the cultist yelled, his voice shaking with raw panic. "The perimeter sensors have been breached!"

Flect Turn took a step forward, completely caught off guard.

"Explain," Flect Turn demanded evenly.

"The Otheon vanguard strike team is hundreds of meters away from our front gates!" the cultist reported.

Flect Turn stopped walking, his mind racing through the tactical variables.

'Alan Kay hasn't reached the authorities yet,' Flect Turn calculated rapidly.

He looked back at the glowing screens.

'Beros is still hunting the briefcase... so how did they find this mountain?'

The heroes shouldn't know this facility existed at all.

Maintaining his cold composure, Flect Turn immediately pressed a button on the communications console.

"Contact Beros," Flect Turn ordered the radio operator. "Tell her to return to the base immediately."

He stepped past the kneeling grunt, walking directly out of the command room.

--<>--

Flect Turn walked into the wide, concrete staging area.

His Inner Circle was already waiting for him near the main exit.

Leviathan, Sidero, Rogone, Ena, and Dio stood entirely unified, their weapons fully drawn.

"Our primary location is compromised," Flect Turn announced, stopping in front of his subordinates.

Ena chuckled, resting his whip-sword over his shoulder.

"We finally get to slice up some diseased heroes," Ena cheered.

"I'll cut their quirks right out of their veins," Dio added, licking his lips eagerly.

Flect Turn reached inside his white cloak, pulling out a heavy metal case.

He tossed the container onto the concrete floor directly in front of Leviathan.

CLANG.

The case popped open upon impact.

Dozens of specialized syringes filled with a glowing red liquid rolled slightly inside the foam padding.

Flect Turn looked directly at the towering brute.

"The heroes possess far too much tactical momentum," Flect Turn warned them firmly.

He gestured toward the open case.

"Take the Trigger," Flect Turn commanded. "Intercept the strike team and eradicate the intruders."

Leviathan reached down, grabbing a syringe with a massive, bloodthirsty grin.

"My pleasure," Leviathan growled, staring at the thick needle.

--<>--

Location: Otheon Mountains, Fortress Exterior

FWOOSH.

Endeavor charged furiously up the steep, rocky incline.

His heavy boots cracked the dry earth with every single step.

Hundreds of gun-wielding cultist poured directly out of the steel fortress gates.

Wearing identical dark robes, the brainwashed humans raised military-grade assault rifles.

RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT.

A hailstorm of bullets rained down the mountain path.

The copper casings ricocheted violently against the surrounding canyon rocks.

Endeavor didn't even flinch.

FWOOSH.

He unleashed a wide, sweeping wave of fire from his left arm.

The intense thermal wall instantly melted the incoming bullets into harmless drops of liquid lead.

"Push right through their defensive line!" Endeavor roared into his comms.

Stepping out from behind a large boulder, Maestro raised an elegant wooden violin to his chin.

The Russian hero drew his horsehair bow across the strings with absolute precision.

SCREEEE.

A high-frequency sonic chord ripped through the dry air.

The auditory wave completely bypassed the physical gunfire, slamming directly into the front line of cultists.

Dozens of shooters immediately dropped their weapons, falling unconscious into the dirt.

"I've neutralized their vanguard," Maestro reported smoothly over the radio.

He casually adjusted the collar of his dark tuxedo coat.

Above him, Vespa launched herself directly into the sky.

BZZZZZT.

The Brazilian heroine darted through the air, her transparent insectoid wings buzzing loudly.

She dodged a volley of stray bullets with effortless aerial barrel rolls.

"Pinning the stragglers down right now!" Vespa yelled.

She aimed her striped wrists directly at the remaining cultists scrambling for cover.

THWIP. THWIP. THWIP.

She fired dozens of sharp, yellow stingers into the crowd.

The projectiles caught the cultists' dark robes, pinning them tightly against the canyon walls without piercing their flesh.

Down on the ground, a group of heavily armored cultist tried to push a thick metal barricade forward to block the path.

Pankration sprinted past Endeavor, letting out a deafening battle cry.

The Greek-styled hero slammed his shoulder directly into the center of the steel barricade.

CRASH.

The raw physical impact shattered the metal frame completely.

The armored cultists flew backward into the dirt, their defensive line entirely broken.

"The path is clear!" Pankration yelled, wiping rock dust from his leather chest harness.

Endeavor rushed forward, compressing fire into his palms to incinerate the massive steel doors.

Before he could release the blast, the heavy gates slowly groaned open.

CREAAAAK.

Five figures stepped slowly out of the dark interior shadows.

Leviathan, Sidero, Rogone, Ena, and Dio stood entirely unified in front of the entrance.

Their eyes glowed with an unnatural, terrifying red light.

Thick, dark veins bulged violently across their necks and arms, pulsing with erratic heartbeats.

Endeavor immediately stopped his charge, narrowing his eyes at the extreme physical mutations.

"Something is wrong with them," Endeavor warned his strike team over the comms. "Don't hold back."

Leviathan cracked his thick neck, letting out a deep, guttural laugh.

"You diseased freaks are trespassing," Leviathan growled, raising his massive hands.

Thick, twisted red tendrils erupted violently from Leviathan's fingers and head.

The Serpenters rushed forward instantly, completely ignoring the international heroes.

SWISH.

Moving at blinding speeds, Ena and Dio morphed their arms into seven flexible, razor-sharp blades.

Burnin leaped directly into their path, her bright green hair flaring wildly into a column of fire.

"Not taking another step!" Burnin yelled.

She threw both arms forward, unleashing a massive torrent of flames toward the charging twins.

Ena laughed maniacally, spinning his whip-swords in a rapid, continuous circle.

The sheer rotational force of the blades completely deflected the incoming fire, splitting the flames harmlessly around him.

Dio slid right under the deflected heat, slashing his segmented sword directly at Burnin's legs.

Kido stepped in front of her perfectly, activating his Trajectory Quirk instantly.

He wrapped his bandages around his arms, altering the physical path of the incoming blade.

The spatial distortion forced the sharp metal to veer violently off course, striking the dirt instead.

"These two are incredibly fast!" Kido warned, stepping backward to avoid a secondary strike.

"Your flaming tricks are entirely useless against us," Ena mocked brightly.

He lashed his whips forward again, forcing Onima to step in and block with his reinforced gauntlets.

On the right flank, Sidero raised his knuckles toward the international heroes.

He generated massive, boulder-sized iron spheres directly from his skin.

BOOM. BOOM.

Sidero launched the heavy metal balls like cannon fire straight at Pankration.

Pankration planted his heavy combat sandals deep into the dirt.

He crossed his muscular arms together, bracing for the impact.

The iron sphere slammed into his forearms, pushing his heavy frame backward several feet.

"I'll crush you," Rogone growled, charging past Sidero's artillery fire.

The horned brute tackled Pankration directly in the chest, utilizing his Iron Armor Quirk to harden his skin into dark steel.

The two fighters clashed violently in the center of the battlefield.

They exchanged brutal physical blows, their fists cracking the rocky terrain beneath their feet.

Endeavor ignored the surrounding chaos entirely, focusing purely on Leviathan.

The Number One Hero raised his right hand, compressing his flames into thin, highly concentrated beams of heat.

"Hell Spider!" Endeavor roared, slashing his hand downward.

Dozens of searing hot fire beams sliced through the air, aimed directly at the towering brute's chest.

Leviathan simply sneered.

Utilizing his Trigger-enhanced Quirk, he spun the twisted red tendrils on his fingers into high-velocity drills.

WHIRRRRR.

He plunged the spinning drills directly into the ground, shattering the bedrock instantly.

Leviathan pulled his arms upward, manipulating a massive, highly pressurized current of underground water directly to the surface.

He threw the pressurized water straight into the path of Endeavor's concentrated fire beams.

HSSSSS.

The intense heat evaporated the water on contact, creating a massive explosion of thick, expanding steam.

The resulting shockwave knocked several nearby vanguard heroes completely off their feet.

Endeavor gritted his teeth, physically pushed backward by the sheer force of the water blast.

'His Quirk output is completely unnatural,' Endeavor analyzed internally, sliding his boots against the dirt to stabilize his footing.

Leviathan charged directly through the thick steam cloud.

He swung his massive, bladed tendrils straight at Endeavor's head.

"Die!" Leviathan screamed, his red eyes rolling back from the sheer euphoria of the Trigger drug.

--<>--

Location: Otheon, Humarise Control Room

Flect Turn stood silently in front of the glowing security monitors.

He watched the chaotic mountain battlefield through the external cameras.

Despite the overwhelming physical enhancements of the Trigger drug, the World Heroes Association strike team refused to break.

Endeavor continuously pushed Leviathan backward with a relentless barrage of concentrated fire.

The Flaming Sidekickers flawlessly covered their boss's blind spots, keeping the incredibly fast Serpenters entirely occupied.

Flect Turn clasped his pale, blue hands behind his back.

'They brought far too many pros to this specific location,' Flect Turn realized calmly.

He knew his inner circle would eventually run out of stamina against a highly coordinated, international siege.

Stepping away from the monitors, he walked directly up to the primary communication console.

He decided to abandon the waiting game entirely. If he can't eliminate all pro heroes altogether then getting rid half of them also works fine.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Typing rapidly on the keyboard, Flect Turn overrode the global communication networks.

He forced a direct, unencrypted video feed of himself onto every major news station and WHA frequency worldwide.

BZZZT.

The digital screens in the command room flickered as his broadcast went live.

"Citizens of the world," Flect Turn spoke smoothly into the microphone.

He stared directly into the camera lens, keeping his face entirely devoid of emotion.

"I congratulate the World Heroes Association for locating my hidden sanctuary," Flect Turn announced flatly.

He adjusted his pristine white collar.

"However, your minor tactical victory changes absolutely nothing," he added coldly.

Flect Turn typed a final, irreversible command into the console.

"I have manually accelerated the global countdown," Flect Turn declared without a single trace of hesitation.

He looked down at the digital timer appearing on his screen.

"The Trigger bombs hidden across the twenty-five major cities will detonate in exactly ten minutes," Flect Turn finalized.

CLICK.

He reached forward, cutting the video feed completely.

--<>--

Location: The X Agency, Tokyo, Back Office

Kaito sat in his luxurious leather chair, staring at the digital tracking table.

Flect Turn's face vanished from the glass screen.

A glowing red ten-minute countdown timer instantly took its place.

Makoto gripped the edge of Kaito's desk, her eyes widening in sheer panic.

"Ten minutes?!" Makoto exclaimed, "That isn't enough time to evacuate twenty-five different countries!"

Mirai Sasaki quickly pulled out his secure WHA communicator.

"We need to scramble every single speed-based hero directly to the city centers," Mirai ordered urgently.

Tsunagu Hakamada nodded, pulling out his own phone to contact the Japanese government.

"If the heroes dig through the infrastructure fast enough, they might be able to manually disarm the triggers before they go off," Tsunagu added rapidly.

Kaito took a slow sip of his black coffee.

"Do not let the heroes engage those bombs directly," Kaito commanded smoothly, his voice easily cutting through their panic.

Mirai stopped dialing the secure number, looking up at the white-suited rookie in confusion.

"What do you mean?" Mirai asked, pushing his glasses up his nose.

Kaito set his ceramic mug down on the glass table.

"Flect Turn wants the heroes to panic," Kaito explained, tapping his finger against the red countdown timer.

He leaned forward, lacing his fingers together as he unraveled the villain's psychology.

"If thousands of pro heroes blindly rush the bomb sites with only a few minutes left, they will inevitably get caught right at ground zero," Kaito deduced instantly.

Tsunagu's eyes widened completely as the terrifying logic finally settled in.

"If the heroes inhale the ideotrigger gas..." Tsunagu started, his voice trailing off in horror.

"Their Quirks will go entirely berserk," Kaito finished bluntly.

He leaned back in his chair, watching the timer tick down to nine minutes.

"The heroes will inadvertently destroy the cities themselves," Kaito finalized. "It's a psychological trap."

Mirai and Tsunagu both broke out into cold sweats.

The sheer deviousness of the villain's backup plan was incredibly lethal.

Mirai immediately raised his communicator back to his ear, connecting directly to All Might in California.

"All Might, issue a strict global directive immediately," Mirai ordered over the secure line, fully utilizing his Shin Kudo alias.

He quickly relayed Hero X's tactical deduction regarding the gas trap.

"Order all vanguard units to completely avoid direct engagement with the devices," Mirai added firmly. "Evacuate a one-hundred-meter perimeter around every site immediately."

Tsunagu spoke rapidly into his own phone, connecting directly to Agent Mera at the HPSC.

"Mera, deploy containment specialists to the Tokyo grid right now," Tsunagu instructed the dispatcher, using his Tanaka alias.

He ran a hand nervously through his blonde hair.

"Tell Cementoss to bury the Japanese bomb under dozens of layers of solid concrete to choke the gas release," Tsunagu finalized.

While the two veteran heroes barked rapid orders into their phones, Makoto walked quietly around the desk.

She leaned down close to Kaito's ear.

"Hey," Makoto whispered softly, keeping her voice incredibly low so the veterans wouldn't hear.

Kaito looked up at her, offering a warm, reassuring smile.

"So you wanted to appear the last second?..." Makoto joked.

She knew her boyfriend could effortlessly bypass the entire crisis with a single snap of his fingers.

Kaito reached up, gently squeezing her hand to calm her nerves.

"Rest assured, I've got this handled," Kaito replied.

He looked back at the glowing countdown timer on the glass table.

'Besides, the main character is supposed to arrive at the very last second anyway,' Kaito joked to himself, enjoying the casual whim.

--<>--

(A/n: My bad, I forgot to schedule it.)

...

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