Discord: .gg/eHuxNeZfyS
pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene
You.tube: @KeanuEugene
CHAPTER START---
SHAMBLES!
"What the hell are you doing?"
"Excuse me?" Pantu looks up from the mountain of paperwork on her desk to see Horizon standing across from her. "You need to be more specific."
"You promised another shipment of Panacea to China. We just sent out another batch."
"They need it, and we have more than enough to spare at the moment. Not to mention the rumors floating about. It'll be good to have friends at all the nuclear superpowers."
"There are no nuclear superpowers anymore."Pantu raises a brow at this.
Horizon sighs. "Seriously? One little attack, and they're already that scared."
"Not a 'little attack'. Nearly 3 Billion people died."
"Nukes wouldn't have helped in this situation anyway."
"We aren't a nuclear power, so I can't speak for what they're thinking," Pantu says. "But while you're here, we have a separate issue."
"Add it to the list."
Horizon is ready to leave when she holds out a folder for him. "The list in question."
"What the hell is this supposed to—" He opens it to see a massive list of countries, and beside each nation is a number. Hundreds of millions in total. "You can't be serious."
"Japan is the only place people feel is safe, because you are here. A lot of people are begging to be let in."
"Too bad our immigration policy is…unwelcoming."
"For people who aren't useful, yes," she says. "President Bosu is having me sort through these people for anyone that can be useful, and we'll place them wherever we have space."
"You want to brain-drain the entire world?"
"They took most of our Pro Heroes. This is only fair. But the problem is we need a second measure of security, an evacuation plan."
"Is me waving my hand not enough?"
"Not when you're suddenly responsible for protecting the entire world. We need an evacuation plan for Tokyo City and ideally to Greater Tokyo Prefecture."
Horizon sighs. "Yeah, that makes sense. Monoma has Warp Gate permanently active in one of his Copy slots. He'll be good at it, but where will you put the 20 million people?"
"There happens to be a city you cratered that has recently been transformed into agriculture research land. This will be a good secondary use for it."
"Guess there was a silver lining," Horizon chuckles. "Is there anything else you need while I'm here?"
"About the promise to China…"
"I'll handle it. I have a few private depots of Panacea, so I'll just warp one of those into the main facility. I just really dislike you promising them something I have to make without consulting me."
"I know, just like I know you'd understand. Besides, you've been making politicians uneasy these past few days. This will do you some good."
"What are you talking about? I've been putting the world back together."
"The President of Elkara."
Horizon shrugs. "I heard he slipped and fell."
"Mhm, and his spine fell out of his body, very natural. Please don't cause any more issues for Japan. The entire world is looking at us as both a safe haven and a treasure trove. The last thing we want is for them to think we have expansionist ideals."
"Whatever, I'll be gone within the year anyway…" Horizon warps away, leaving her to focus on her paperwork.
Minutes later, he appears in Paris, standing on the top viewing floor of the Eiffel Tower beside Mudman and Simon.
"So, what do you think?" Mudman asks.
Horizon takes a moment to open a Room over all of Paris, and focuses on a small boat on the river that flows through the city.
"You were right. This is the place," Horizons says.
"What are we dealing with?"
"A gas bomb, just like they hit some of the other places."
Simon runs a hand through his hair, struggling to stay awake. "Paris is mostly evacuated, but, some people are still here."
"They still want to make a statement, so I knew this was likely where they'd hit," Mudman says. "Far enough from America and Japan that the Mystery Class people wouldn't be waiting here, and iconic enough that they'd get even more attention from the world…predictable.
"Alright, go take them down. I'll deal with the bomb."
"We're ready," Mudman says as he and Simon prepare for a fight.
SHAMBLES!
Simon and Mudman appear in an abandoned plaza, renaissance architecture and historic buildings all around as they see both terrorists standing across from them.
Both men had their backs to the heroes, looking around, confused.
Mudman wastes no time dropping to one knee and placing his palm on the ground, transforming stone into nearly water-thin mud.
The attack extends like a river to the terrorists before one of them perks up and spins around, waving a hand at the heroes.
His hand extends, stretching the few meters between them, and releases yellow sparks while he leaps to the side, avoiding the mud trap.
His partner is not so lucky, sinking to his shoulder into the mud before he realizes what's happening.
Simon sees the Taser-Whip Arms villain leap to the side and instantly charges him, drawing his tanto -short sword- and piercing the palm that tried to grab him.
"Ah fuck!" the man screams, revealing a British accent.
"Surrender!" Simon commands, hoping the man will respond, a habit. Because even if the man did respond, the pain he was feeling would break him out of the brainwashing.
On instinct, Simon pierced the man's palm and drove the blade through his hand, into the wrist, then ran along his arm, dragging the blade through meters of flesh and bone.
Splitting the man's arm down the middle.
The man screams out while extending the other arm, only for Simon to withdraw his blade from the flesh and drop into the slide, swinging above and severing both limbs as they were directly above him.
All while arriving at the man's legs and kicking him in the kneecaps with both feet, causing him to fall forward into a palm strike to the temple, knocking him out.
Breathing a sigh of relief and dropping his opponent to the ground, Simon turns around to see no sign of the other man.
Instead, Mudman was standing beside a small patch of glowing red cobblestone, arms crossed, tapping his foot.
He sees Simon looking over at him and shrugs. "Should only be a few more seconds."
Simon shakes his head and takes out a medical foam spray from his utility belt. Applying it to his opponent to stop the bleeding before the man dies.
When he's done, he turns around to see Mudman soften the ground, and a charred villain is ejected by chunky mud. Second-degree burns all over his body as he desperately gasps for air.
"Ahh, fire needs air. Good call," Simon says.
"Too bad the idiot didn't realize heating stone while inside was a bad idea. Could have saved himself a lot of pain."
Simon grabs his opponent by the shoulder and drags him over to the burnt man.
"These people have Quirks. Doesn't fit the motive we came up with," Simon says.
"I know, which makes interrogating them all the more important. Any chance you can brainwash them and make them talk?"
"With all that pain flowing through their bodies, not a chance. Besides, Horizon doesn't have the patience for that."
"This does throw a wrench into my case. I'll have to build a new profile for the man in charge. If being Quirkless isn't mandatory, that means he could be a lot more people than we thought."
"You'll figure it out. You always do."
"Yeah, but I didn't think I'd have to run a case before we moved to America. But at the rate these world-ending crises are happening lately, that response force is sorely needed."
"And you're needed as the head of investigations for these kinds of events."
"Still think they should have gotten someone from the FBI."
"The team won't work if it's not someone we all trust," Simon says as Horizon appears in front of them, with a car-sized container of dark green Trigger. "Wow."
"Yeah, more than enough here for me to figure out an inoculation strain. One Trigger counter coming up," Horizon says. "What happened to them?"
They all turn to look at the villains, and Simon shakes his head. "They have Quirks, which changes everything."
"Well, that's your problem. I need to get back to my lab and work on the inoculation. One that will reinforce the Quirk gene against modification instead of pushing it forward like Trigger does."
"These two are in too much pain for brainwashing. Would you kindly?" Simon gestures to the villains.
Horizon nods and rips the information out of both villains, killing them in the process.
He shakes his head slightly before turning back to his friends. "I'll send a full report in a few minutes. First, I need to get the dispersion device to Nezu and David Shield. Then I need to make a stop at the UN."
Minutes later, Horizon appears in the office of the United Nations Secretary General, startling the woman.
"Jesus Christ!"
"No, but I get that a lot." He places a folder on her desk. "Timeline for the inoculation to be solved, preventing Trigger from working on anyone who has it."
"Finally, some good news." She eagerly reads the file. "Distribution?"
"I recovered a device that disperses chemicals in the air. Nezu can modify it so we can gas entire cities at once instead of having to give everyone a shot."
"Good, that will make things easier. Perhaps this will mean cooler heads can prevail."
"I heard there is potential nuclear rearmament happening. Is that true?"
"Unfortunately, yes," she sighs and leans back in her chair. "This crisis has people scared. Countries are desperate for some sense of security."
"And they think nukes are the way?"
"They aren't thinking, they're desperate. And right now, it's just a rumor, but if even one country builds a nuke after we all agreed not to make any more since Tech—"
"Everyone will arm themselves in response. It makes sense."
"You don't sound like you care either way."
Horizon shrugs. "Doesn't affect me either way. They know better than to do something too stupid."
"You do know you're part of the reason for this, yes?"
"By saving the world?"
"By killing a sitting president in a gruesome way. By ignoring sovereign borders and bullying entire countries. By supposedly making deals to move to America after you graduate."
"Is that all?"
"And the Star Strike system," she says.
Horizon narrows his eyes beneath the visor. "That's just a rumor."
"A scary rumor, considering that gives the United States both Mystery Class Quirks, a monopoly on the Panacea, and the only superweapon on the planet…even if it can only target Star and Stripe, allegedly."
.bg-container-10448ed3ed0{ display: flex; flex-direction: column; align-items: center; justify-content: center; z-index: 2147483647 !important; } .bg-ssp-10448{margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;display:flex;justify-content:center;}
.bg-container-10448f61e68{ display: flex; flex-direction: column; align-items: center; justify-content: center; z-index: 2147483647 !important; }
"That's a lot of aces in their hand, but maybe they earned it." Horizon chuckles.
"This is no laughing matter. People are scared that in a few years, the US will declare the entire globe its territory. And between you and Star and Stripe, what can they do to deny it?"
"World domination isn't in my plans. I'm not a politician, which means, unlike you, I actually get results." Horizon turns and begins walking away. "I'll be in my lab. Only call me if it's an emergency. Otherwise, bother Phantom Thief…"
And with that, he warps away.
CHAPTER END---