MHA: The Tower Era

Droplets of rain landed on the bus stop's roof, streaking down the window and falling onto the floor. Broken buildings kept in disrepair and harsh conditions, the rain entered and flooded. The rain seemed endless, without stopping like the dark clouds that stood above your head.

In this enclosed, dark and obscure road that leads to equally similar buildings, there was a man with black hoodie that made it doubtful for anything to recognise his unique features.

Patter, patter. The sound of rain squelching echoed and the rats eating flesh ran away and the crows escaped. The man, known as Luke, put one foot behind the other.

His path barely lit with streetlamps, his steps majorly in the unknown, but the man didn't fall or trip because his eyes saw more than he should. His perception peeking into two realities, the soul reality and material reality.

Eyes glowing, but emotions dull. "Isn't this similar to Earth?" Montone voice and without emphasis, words that expected this mission to be the same.

"I have to save a lot more, so I shouldn't feel so down." Prep talk for no one, but himself. His shadow following alone, only appearing under the light of lamps.

"Boss? You've been tired more and more. Can we not target the so called Geise later?" An invisible guardian, turning against his organisation with the power of the man, Eifrig questioned cautiously.

"No. I need to help those who are suffering, who will save them if they don't have me?" Expressionlessly and spoken gracefully, Luke's emotions remained dull. "Isn't helping people, something I need to do?" Luke's eyes glance at Eifrig's featureless and dull face and return to the path.

A quiet that was only interrupted by sound of one man's footsteps and the whirling of a floating ball.

"Hey, AI. Do you know what's going on?" Eifrig whispered to the floating blue ball that orbited Eifrig.

A shake of left to right and the cutting of air was Eifrig's response, a reply that wasn't helpful for this situation. "If you don't know, wanna think? I think boss is cranky because he woke up in the morning. Or perhaps, boss is annoyed that he must kill again?" A whirl of sound was AI's reply, filled with emotion, but with indiscernible meaning, Eifrig continued to bring up possibilities.

"Stop muttering." Only to be stopped before he continued. "Fun Police." Eifrig rebuked under his ghostly breath.

Luke did a purposeful motion that interacted with the Tower System to bring up the date.

[3am, Tuesday. 2XXX Year. Outside of an abandoned building in Musutafu, Japan.]

The blue screen that floated revealed information that Luke hadn't seen before, "Being a Supreme Affinity changes things." Then, moving onto the time, Luke sighed.

"This is tiring." Luke looks at the dull buildings and black skies and felt that this was never going to end, bringing his hand out to capture the rain, but it being useless as they slipped past him before he could hold them.

"I should end this quickly to go sleep." His smile coming out and his grin white, but all of it hidden behind the hoodie.

Luke looked at the abandoned building's door, recognised through the memories of that one Geise Member, although lower on the member ladder. The man knew where his boss commanded, and so did Luke when he rummaged his mind.

His eyes that pierced the wall noticed fewer souls than expected and narrowed.

The door thrown apart when Luke clenched his fist and collided with the already broken door, the door becoming rubble that added to its broken surroundings.

The interior, which could be seen through the hole, was surprisingly repaired and well kept. The inside was a place where people could live. The sleek walls, scientific equipment and colourful furniture were what Luke saw.

The small cups still left hot and pizza still on top of dining table filled with open chairs that haven't been tucked in. This normal room had body parts on walls and breathing humans chained, underneath the buildings, inside a cage was where they were concentrated.

"No… NO." Luke looked around, denying his reality. His steps, once calm, became rushed as he turned every door as his piercing eyes became left aside. More of the same repeated, no criminals or Geise Members remained.

Luke was overly late.

"Why? Why couldn't I come here faster, it would have been easy!" His clenched hands creating cracks on the walls, red blood leaking with every step; more doors and chairs broken with every word.

"I shouldn't have let that thing do this." Regretting his mistakes to no avail. Luke continued to deny as he overlooks the people he should have been saving.

The person who believes saving people is his job and the people he doesn't save.

His hand swung down like a hammer and broke the fragile scientific equipment.

An invisible guardian and a whirling blackhole like ball watched the violent rampage. "You think? We should just get out of here?" A whirl came and the ball went back and forth a certain direction. "Ah? Humans? Why?" The ball twirled positively and repeated its pointing towards Luke. "For boss?" Another positive twirling AI replied.

"Alright, lets do it for boss."

The invisible bodies flew and phased underground, tasking themselves with doing something, anything for their leader.

Luke smashed his hand threw a wall and splinters caught his hand and torn it apart. Luke stood against the red-splattered wall and leaned; his other hand also being caught inside the wall as he smashes again.

"I knew that Geise is small, I should have known they'd abandon everything to not get caught by heroes." His voice quiet and his earlier smile non-existent. "I even suspected that they are part of a bigger organisation, I should have been faster." His hands freed from the shackles of the wall, reached his mouth and transferred blood to his already red lips.

His pale face like a colouring book as Luke continued to smother blood on his face.

"Wha- cou- I have do-e di-eren-ly?" A small voice spoke incoherently, almost gasping for air.

"I failed, I didn't save them. I couldn't I didn't save them again I didn't save them I can't save them What happened WHY! What happened how did this happen it happened again…" A stream of words erupted and spewed out.

A normally sane person given the opportunity to change everything and become something that could achieve their dreams, couldn't achieve the dream and so broke down when faced with difficulty.

Blurry vision that looked towards nothing, the shaking of the world and pain that Luke would never usually feel came at once.

His back hitting the shards of glass on the floor. His head that rested on broken wood, Luke laid in an environment he created, full of pain and demise, an endless violence.

Luke stood up slowly and walked without thinking.

His slow steps and dripping crimson blood, Luke didn't stop walking even when he felt the most pain. Eventually, after an undetermined amount time, Luke found the people he was supposed to save.

A grey room, pitch black room who had never heard of the joys of sunlight, but one that didn't need to know as cages filled the room and inside those changes were people with chains wrapping their hands.

Luke blinked and the suffering weren't in cages or did they have chains. They were free and their cages ripped apart and their chains didn't restrict their hands.

Luke stared at the free who had their bodies intact and the one that didn't. Luke looked at his bleeding hands and then at the ones who didn't have hands.

A hand touched Luke's shoulder. "We took them out of cages, I thought you'd like it." Eifrig appeared behind Luke alongside a floating ball.

"Would you like for us to do anything else?" said Eifrig, but no response came from Luke.

"Why did I think I could only help the suffering, How could I? I couldn't even save the few who I could with a supreme affinity. Who says my ways are correct." Luke muttered so quiet that nothing could hear, almost silent and was like grasping for air.

Luke looked at Eifrig's face, which was featureless. "Eifrig. What should I, we do?" "Uh? Boss? That's too much responsibility!" Eifrig suddenly felt like he was on top of nails.

"Just say anything." Luke looked from Eifrig to the free. "Well… I tinkered around with the devices you gave me, and I found a number you call during situations like this." Eifrig suddenly tugged on the link between the storage cube.

His hands reached inside and brought out a phone, expertly Eifrig brought up a phone call application. "Certain numbers let us call the police here or something." Eifrig seemed uncertain.

"What should we do about those who escaped?" Luke asked as he returned to the upper floors, the free following him. "We should… I don't know. Perhaps having more people will help?" Eifrig suggested as a ball orbited around him.

Luke looked at the two helpers, no friends that suggested a plan.

"More people? I can do that." Luke's eyes that dwindled in intensity had rekindled. His dull face slowly moved, and smile came onto his face, a genuine smile.

"That's easy!" Luke placed his hands around Eifrig and walked forward almost joyfully.

The tens of people who were freed by Eifrig's invisible abilities and AI's collisions looked confusingly at the scene of a man who extended one of their arms out as if he was reaching for something.

Luke turned around to the people, "We saved you! Wait here, until the police come." And Luke ran out the building, noticing the hole he made. "That's embarrassing." Luke turned his head away and walked with Eifrig and AI.

Once he reached open space. Luke opened his arm and summoned a cube like Eifrig did with his storage cube. This cube, however, didn't have devices inside, but links or tethers that connected to other souls, specifically the four souls he killed.

The party of three, and the woman with eye abilities.

Luke had to convert these people like Eifrig, if he didn't want to risk losing the tether that connected to their souls. The tether connects the body and soul, and this link can only be removed when it naturally decays, unless someone like Luke who could manipulate these tethers come and intentionally removes the tether.

"They, hopefully, won't escape when we have four more people." Luke looked at Eifrig. "Right, Eifrig?" said Luke. "Right, boss." Eifrig's face smiled, and the ball whirled around Luke affectionately.

"This will hopefully, be the last time. Afterall, I'm not alone."