NOVEL NEXT Past the Phase II.
After defeating the five PX-41 mutants, the team returned to their temporary base. But before leaving, Shido used {HESOYAM}*Rewind to revert the Mutants to their former self and took one of them for interrogation. The parting gift Shido gave to the former Mutants was a bullet to their forehead.
Knuckleduster was driving the car on the way to the hideout, and Danjuro sat on the passenger's seat next to him. Kaina and Shido were sitting in the backseat. Kaina rested her head on Shido's shoulder with her eyes closed and a slight smile on her face. Her hand was on Shido's arm, and Shido didn't mind it. Kaina showed him his childhood pictures with her in them, and they were a lot.
A few of them were pictures of 5-year-old Shido and Kaina making sandcastles in the playground, Him and Her standing with their backpacks, going to school, and other photos. These pictures justified Kaina's claim of knowing Shido since childhood, and Shido had to accept the fact, and he cannot live in denial anymore.
Shido always had a soft spot for family, which made Shido start building trust in Kaina as she was his sister. But even after seeing the proof and subconsciously trusting her, Shido still didn't understand why he could not recall those locked away memories he spent time with Kaina. So he decided to act as her brother; maybe he would remember everything if he acted as her brother.
But even if he decided to act her brother, he needed to set some boundaries. They are of similar age, and too much contact would look bad. That's why he let Kaina be intimate with him while people are around them.
Aside from his matters, Shido focused on dealing with Genesis' & Caos' Powers, especially Caos'. Caos was the real wild-card in the game. She said that she wanted Genesis to return to normality, which means she cares about him. If Genesis was in peril during Phase III and Caos changed her mind, then Shido would be doomed as he had no way to fight back the [Space].
His control over [Matter] & [Time] was not that good, and by using them to enhance the cheats, he could deal with [Electromagnetism], but [Space] was another thing. Caos has only used [Spatial Bind] to restrict his movements; he didn't know the extent of her real power. The same went with Genesis. [Law of Electromagnetism] gave him control over Electromagnetism, but what is the extent?
Will he be something similar to Magneto from the X-Men or something else? This was the problem clouding Shido's mind. How could he prepare to fight something of which he had no idea? One way was to spam every cheat and try to defeat Genesis with sheer force, but Laws' versatility made it harder for Shido to do so.
Suppose Genesis is able to control every aspect of [Electromagnetism]. In that case, he could just become current and move far away from him and spam Energy-based attacks made from converting Electric Energy.
Shido came out of his thoughts when Kaina's hair flew in front of his face and blocked his vision. He swept them away and was about to go back to his thoughts on how to deal with his new foe. But before that, Knuckleduster asked him.
"Night Slash... Have you given some thought to what I said yesterday?"
Shido recalled what the Old Vigilante told him yesterday before Genesis revealed the Phases. Knuckleduster suggested Shido leave everything related to the super society and go back to everyday life.
"I haven't thought about it... Since this morning, I took finding Genesis as my primary concern, which is now to defeat him. But thanks for the suggestion."
Knuckleduster smiled, "You know what, You aren't as bad as I thought..." He said while handling the steering wheel.
Finding moments like these is hard, but Shido didn't leave the opportunity to grab it when it appeared while being served on a silver platter. "It seems after seeing my handsome face, you have realized that I will be a good partner for your daughter, and you are buttering me... I would be more than happy to marry a great girl like Tamao, but sorry Old man, I have a girlfriend." Shido said with a smile. Provoking Knuckleduster was one of his favorite things to do in his free time.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY, YOU PRICK?! She doesn't need a reckless bitch like you who wrestles with his enemies on the bed. You are just an edgy Gaylord who sucked the President's dick to become a hero. I bet you gave a blowjob to his entire cabinet to become a hero.
Huh, look. Is it a Quirkless person? A Vigilante? No, It's the World First Gaywhore Hero, Night Splash!" Knuckleduster started shouting random insults at Shido. Shido and Danjuro started laughing, but Knuckleduster turned the wheel too much while shouting slurs.
"FOCUS ON THE ROAD!" Danjuro shouted and handled the wheel.
"Then tell that bitch sitting in the backseat to shut his trap and be the good amnesic brother he is," Knuckleduster said and handled the wheel again.
And like that, the ride continued.
__________________________________
[Temporary Night Raid Base, LA]
A guy around the age of 20-21 was tied to a chair in a dark room. He was looking down with a scowling smile on his face. After some time, he started laughing.
"Hahaha, Yo! You guys think that you can stop us. Quirkless will be again the one controlling you Quirked-freaks! Tomorrow is the Judgement Day... We will be laughing at your sorry asses after tomorrow's Judgement! Now release me, and I will tell others to show some mercy at you!"
"What do we call this kid? A Quirkist? He is being discriminatory towards people with Quirks?" Knuckleduster asked Danjuro.
"Quirkist sounds like a specialist in quirks. How about Q-Racist?" Danjuro replied.
"Don't give cool tags to the bad guys... It only makes them look cool. Let's start the interrogation," Shido came out of the dark.
Seeing Shido, the youth started thrashing, "Oi Night Slash! What is the meaning of this? We are supposed to be in the same camp. You and I are Quirkless, ain't we? You should be killing these Quirked Freaks around you, not talk to them, and why did you kidnap me?"
"Kidnap? Bitch you got caught after trying to attack me!" Knuckleduster yelled at the young man, but Shido stopped him and asked the young man.
"What do you mean by the same camp?"
"You are the Ambassador Hero from our Quirkless Welfare Organization, aren't you? Then why are you siding with them?"
'Ambassador Hero? Quirkless Welfare Organization?' Questions were raised in Shido's mind, but those were soon cleared when La Brava came out with the details of the young man.
Name - Ross Diaz
Age - 21
Sex - Male
Occupation - Volunteer at Quirkless Welfare Organization
Quirk - Quirkless
Team - Mutant Squad
La Brava extracted this information from the servers of QWO (Quirkless Welfare Organization). According to the information on the website of QWO, the Mutant Squad is concerned with helping people hailing from Mutant-majority communities.
But the weird coincidence that the man is a member of Mutant Squad of QWO and him being a PX-41 Mutant arose suspicion in Shido's mind. He then searched a bit about the QWO and found that this Organization was started by the beloved of the masses, Mr. President Jakob Valdis.
Shido then turned to Ross. He had no time for the conventional mode of interrogation of threatening and torturing, so he went for the fast way. He placed his hand on Ross' face even if the young man protested to it by shaking his head and trying to break free. After this, Shido's hand started fusing with Ross' head.
Mind Stabilizer - «ULTRA»
The anger started draining down from Ross' face, and a stoic expression took over. This is the Truth Teller method of Shido that he once used on Himiko before the Rewind to make her say nothing other than the truth. But in this method, the person acts as a robot with no emotions, including Shido himself.
Shido - "Tell me who gave you the PX-41?"
Ross - "I don't know what you are talking about..."
Shido - "The serum which turned you into that Purple Monster... Who gave it to you?"
Ross - "My homie, Dubb."
Shido - "Who is Dubb?"
Ross - "He is the National Supervisor of the Mutant Squad at QWO"
Shido - "What did you mean when you said Night Slash is the Ambassador Hero of QWO?"
Ross - "Dubb told me that the Higher-Ups of QWO and President Valdis had convinced you to become our Ambassador Hero. This news is only known to a select few. With you endorsing us, there would be no one thinking of messing with us after tomorrow's Judgement Day. The Announcement of you becoming the QWO's Ambassador is to be made after tomorrow's action."
Shido - "What is the Judgement Day you keep mentioning?"
Ross - "That is the dream of every Quirkless & Mutant. President Valdis is an idealist person who wants to change the system through the system. He wants to fix this rotting system. We know and believe that he can bring the changes he promised us, but it would take time, and we do not have much patience for that day to come.
We will be taking over this country by force and flipping the whole system around. Tomorrow is the battle between the Quirk Society and us. And we would win. After our success, QWO would announce their new ambassador, Night Slash, and then the Organisation would take responsibility for the inserruction. You are stronger than Star & Stripes; With you being our ambassador, I don't think anybody would even dare to touch the Organisation."
Shido - "Very well, Is the organization colluding with Genesis?"
Ross - "Genesis is just a tool that the Organization uses to make the inserruction successful. He is nothing but a joker we have kept around and provided resources to create havoc, but who would've thought he would attack President Valdis. Genesis' support inside the Organization has been dwindling since the attack, and we will dispose of him after he has fulfilled his duties. We are just tolerating that traitor because he has a few uses."
Shido - "What is the plan for tomorrow's inserruction? And are the higher-ups informed of your collusion with Genesis?"
Ross- "Genesis will start creating havoc and we will start our attack on the Heroes and the Government. Our target is to take the entire city of Los Angeles under our control in one day. And it's not just LA. All QWO branches around the US will start the inserruction in their cities, and soon the whole of America will be in chaos. It would be so quick that government wouldn't even know what hit them.
Every Higher-Up other than President Valdis is involved in this as they fully support our cause but it seems President Valdis is knowingly kept ignorant about this. He is a noble person who has worked for years to make a better life for us oppressed people. We will not tarnish his reputation by getting him involved in this blood bath. He would be guiding us after we have taken over the country, and we don't want our beloved leader to have blood on his hands."
Shido - "When is the plan is going to be executed? And Where will Genesis attack?"
Ross - "Tomorrow Morning, 8 AM. Genesis will start his attack at Downtown, Los Angeles. We will be attacking straight at the rush hour. Star & Stripes and Captain Celebrity are in Washington DC. But with the Monster Serum, We are invincible against them. I don't think they would be able to handle the Monsters."
(A/N: Ross uses the term Monster to refer to PX-41 Mutants.)
After getting his answers, Shido undid the fusion and looked at the young man panting as he erratically breathed in and out. He didn't know what Night Slash did to him, but it was not something he would want to experience another time.
"What did you do to me?!" Ross shouted at Shido.
"Nothing... but I am going to do something now," Shido raised his finger and rested it on Ross' forehead.
"No... No... Wait... I can give you more information."
"I got what I wanted and now you have to leave since your job is done... Reassemble"
Weird lines started traveling across Ross' head and then it started swelling up and in a split second, it blew like a water balloon, splattering the blood and brain everywhere in the room.
Shido turned around in a cool manner, and he was about to leave the room. But he stopped in his tracks as he heard the shouts of Knuckleduster.
"FUCK! We are leaving this house this week, and you just had to ruin the owner's floor and carpet. You could've killed him in a neat manner but NO! I am Night Slash and see me kill this small fry in the most bizarre and grossest way possible! What a bitch?! Now take this mop and clean the mess you made," Knuckleduster handed Shido a mop and left the room.
Shido turned to see the mess and it spanned the entire room. Shido sighed and went to the dead headless body of Ross. He again fused his hands with his body and used {HESOYAM}*Rewind. All the blood and brain that splattered away was returning as it happens in the reverse videos. Soon the body of Ross was complete but it was lifeless.
{HESOYAM}*Rewind could fix the body but it cannot bring the life of a dead body. Shido picked up the dead body and stored it in his Inventory to throw it out in the ocean tomorrow.
Shido went out of the room to find Kaina waiting for him outside the room.
"Dinner is ready Shido-Nii. Let's eat. Others are waiting for you," Kaina said and led Shido by his hand.
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At the Dining table,
After having their dinner, Shido told the details he got from Ross to the team. They listened to every word that came out of Shido's mouth with seriousness and was shocked to know the actual extent of Genesis' plan. It covered the entire US.
When they heard Ross addressed Genesis as a pawn for the QWO, with Genesis' powers and his personality, it was hard to imagine that he would be a pawn in the hands of others. Instead, the team concluded that Genesis was the actual mastermind, and he led the QWO to think that he was a pawn in their hands.
They didn't know why Genesis would do something this complicated, but they knew the guy had a few loose screws up there.
"It was good that Dubb was open-mouthed and told the plan to a low-level grunt. Now we know what is going to happen. But tomorrow morning, the whole country would be engulfed in the flames of inserruction. And I don't think we alone can handle all of this while fighting Genesis.
Therefore, Old Man, Call Ramsbottom. Tell him that we know what Genesis is up to and try to take the personal contact info of the President. I need to talk to him." Shido told Knuckleduster that he nodded, took out the GTA Phone, and called the AVL Director, Silas Ramsbottom.
While Knuckleduster was telling all the details over the phone, Shido looked at his teammates. All of them were serious and were quite determined to do their final mission. This could've become a melodramatic scene if Shido had shed a tear or two, but instead, he smiled.
"Okay... Okay... I will tell him. Okay... Try to do your part neatly...
Okay...
Okay...
Okay...
Okay...
HANG THE FUCKING CALL, DAMMIT!" Knuckleduster angrily hung up the call and looked at Shido.
"I could not connect to Ramsbottom, but I told his secretary about the situation. She said securing the people would be their task, and they want us to handle the fort in LA when the inserruction happens. Top Heroes like Star & Stripes and Captain Celebrity would be focusing on defending Washington DC.
She said it would take time to send reinforcements to deal with the insurgents, but she will send agents and call the city authorities about the situation. She added that the President is still recovering in the White House and if you have something important to tell, she said you can contact Vice-President Rogers. But I don't think this is going to help that much..." Knuckleduster said to him.
"I know. The news of people leaving the Downtown would surely reach Genesis' ears as well, and then he would change his plans. With this, we would be losing our advantage of knowing his plan and putting the people of other parts of LA in danger as he might just change the location of his attack. Right now, we know he is going to attack Downtown, so we need to make sure he attacks at Downtown without any changes." Shido then turned to La Brava.
"La Brava, I am going to record a video. Try to spread it across the US as much as you can." Shido said to La Brava.
"Don't worry, Chief. After Phase, I, the downloads of the 'Night Raid Wiki' App have skyrocketed. I will upload the video there. Then nobody would question the authenticity of the video. But why a video all of a sudden?"
"Because that guy is an attention whore, and he won't be able to resist when the entire world's attention is on him," Shido said and stood up from his seat.
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Two hours after the meeting,
A video started spreading like wildfire on the internet. The video of the newly announced hero, Night Slash, made sensations with his debut. He saved people, saved the President, and even killed top-level villains in his debut. Despite being a newcomer, he dominated the Global Popularity Ranking in a few hours. Anything related to him, be it T-shirts, Mugs, Posters, was selling like crazy.
After knowing all this, it was apparent why the video was viral. In the video, Night Slash can be seen speaking, and it was the first time people heard his voice, but there was another reason, and it was the content of the video. In the video,
"Hello Everyone, I am Night Slash and this is a message for Genesis. I am going to keep this very brief.
Genesis, I know you are watching this.
Since you started this game on your terms, I want to end this game on my terms. You started this, I will end this. So,
I challenge you... Downtown, LA. 8 AM. I will be waiting."
______________________________________________
After uploading the video, Shido turned to the teammates.
"Now the AVL can do their work of taking people out of the Downtown, and we are sure that Genesis will be coming to the designated place..."
"Now what?" Knuckleduster asked.
"Now... Now's the time to gear up and step up our game. Let's go," Shido said and left the temporary base.
To get the equipment, they didn't need to go much farther. It was right beside their house.
_______________________________________________
[Gru's House]
For the equipment, The team went to Dr. Nefario. Dr. Nefario initially refused to help Shido as he was a Hero now, but after a long explanation, Dr. Nefario gave in and provided the team with said equipment. They need to defeat Genesis, or the US would become a ruin if Genesis wins.
Dr. Nefario went on full working mode as he still had a little bit of work remaining to complete Shido's equipment order.
The Equipment for the teammates were:
Kaina Tsutsumi -||- «Nova» - Jet Boots, Helmet (Thermal Vision, Communication Device, Auto Lock-On, Aero-Vision, etc.), Lightweight Titanium Combat Suit, Plasma Assault Rifle.
Danjuro Tobita -||- «Mr. Fantastic»- Jet Boots, Anonymous Mask (Communication Device, Aero-Vision).
Iwao Oguro -||- «Knuckleduster» - Jet Boots, Helmet (Communication Device, Fast-Vision Processor, Oxygen Filter), Silica-based Quartz Sand Fabric Suit, Oxygen-Supplier, Plasma Blade.
Manami Aiba -||- «La Brava» - Jet Boots, Nanobot Protective Case, Plasma Pistol, Helmet (Communication Device, AI-Interface, Internet Connection)
Shido Kanzaki -||- «Night Slash» - Jet Boots, Advanced Flamethrower, Freeze Ray, Gauntlets: Whip + Electricity Release + Plasma Blade, Helmet (Communication Device, Thermal Vision, Aero-Vision, Team Stat Window), Suppression Bands (To suppress the backlash from Super Punch), Plasma Dual- Wielding Desert Eagles.
The equipment calibration was done around 7 AM. The team lunged onto the new equipment to wear it for the final fight.
[7:30 AM]
After equipping their new equipment, they looked at each other with a smile and a determined look on their faces. They all were feeling the same exhilarating feeling before their final mission. Since this was the end of the short Vigilante life that they lived, they were determined to end this mission successfully.
The teammates collectively looked at Shido, waiting for the signal. Shido smiled inside his helmet.
"Night Raid, It's Time to Roll Out!"
Shido said and all of them flew off in the sky using their newly-equipped Jet Boots.