It lasted not more than half an hour.
In those thirty minutes, what happened at the LA Villains Detention Center became the most trending piece of news in the entire world.
Dr. Blessed, the Villain who had already been becoming one of the most discussed across nations because of the mystery surrounding him and his actions, had attacked the prison facility in the heartland of the USA.
His goal — Dr. Samuel Abraham — was the only scientist in the world, other than Dr. David, who knew how to create the Quirk Amplification Device.
By giving up on Dr. David's future research and letting the shareholders from other governments intervene, the USA had bought Dr. Samuel.
Because the man had no substantial Quirk, and because doctors had declared him clinically insane, no one had opposed the USA's tempting proposal either.
To the rest of the world, it had been clear that the USA was hoping to study the Quirk Amplification Device from a fresh perspective through Dr. Sam. How it had been planning to do it, though, none knew.
So, the matter of Dr. Blessed coming for Dr. Samuel soon became a matter of one Villain declaring war on the USA.
Of course, because the fact that it was Dr. Blessed who had saved Sam's life during the I-Island incident was not common knowledge, it turned the entire episode orchestrated by him reckless, pompous, and a deliberate attempt to destabilize world peace in the eyes of people.
Those who knew the truth — the core officials and government organizations — learned different, but equally shocking, findings from the USA.
Dr. Blessed was mad and strong enough to attack anytime anywhere.
He wasn't alone, as already proven by the I-Island incident, but, perhaps, he also had an Organization at his disposal with several members — related to this unknown mysterious entity, called Mr. Fool, perhaps?
Not only that, but Dr. Blessed had a Cyborg at his disposal who could rival the strength of any country's topmost Heroes singlehandedly.
And, this insane International Criminal was possessive!
Why else would he go after Dr. Samuel Abraham — despite knowing how well guarded the facility was?!
But, with great pride, the USA declared that they had thwarted Dr. Blessed's heinous plan, by not letting him take away Dr. Samuel.
The country also put a bounty of 50 million USD on Dr. Blessed and his whereabouts, other countries following the USA's suit, piling up the final value to over 100 million USD.
Dr. Blessed's topic wasn't the only highlight, though.
Another group of Villains had also attacked the Detention Center during the same hour, shocking everyone.
The USA failed to establish a direct connection between the two coincidental infiltration attempts.
Unlike Dr. Blessed's case, the goal of the second party of Villains wasn't clear either.
However, even though the officials had failed to capture Dr. Blessed and his associates, the USA took extreme pride in declaring that the same officials had killed one of the Villains and captured another alive!
And, sadly, that's it.
No mention of the Hero who had lost his life instantly under the hands of Nomu.
No mention of Nomu, Stain, and Shigaraki, as the USA refused to release further details regarding the actual battle.
No mention of Dr. Blessed's subtle infiltration distinguishing it from Stain's annihilating one.
No mention of how the Villains managed to run away, when the officials managed to kill and capture a few of them.
No mention of the foreign assistance that the Warden of the Detention Center had received.
As if that wasn't enough, the USA didn't even mention that they had failed to retrieve the single man, around him this entire fiasco had occurred.
Yes.
Dr. Samuel Abraham — had gone missing.
…
Two days later,
Luke put down the tablet on the table after scrolling through the news, slumping back into the chair of Conference Room at HQ.
Even though Mr. Iwao Ojiro had relatively come out uninjured, Ms. Kazuho and Nyx were in a much worse state. If it had just been a matter of running away with Dr. Sam, then it would have been fine. But with all that chaos, they hadn't managed to keep countering the increased gravity over them.
Now, both girls were admitted to the Hospital Wing at the HQ, Mr. Iwao keeping an eye on them.
"Sigh…" Luke let out a breath. "… All that for… nothing."
Not only did he fail to bring Dr. Sam back with him, but… he had also lost 270 Spirit Points…
A thud echoed to Luke's left as Mushroom towered over him — holding a cup of coffee. "… Try this one, Master," it said. "I tried Pour Over method of brewing this time…"
Luke mechanically took the cup from Mushroom and sipped, the bitterness failing to swat away the feeling of failure. "… Better. Thank you, Mushroom-nimi!"
All the little mushrooms on the cyborg's body glowed happily as it went away with a slight jump in his steps.
Luke sighed once again.
[I can't say that you were not at fault, Luke.] Miss Justice guided. [You were hasty, if not outright overconfident. Even the Tarot Club Members collectively advised you not to cross paths with Conformity and Singularity until you were at least a Sequence 5 Beyonder.
[Still, I have to agree that you couldn't have known about Their arrival to the Detention Center as well. Perhaps, this Alex was associated with Singularity, too. So, the Divination you did before leaving the Middle Zone was already a flawed one.
[In retrospect, what happened was completely irrelevant to you and your goals there. Stain would have gone there even if you hadn't, no matter the coincidence. A battle between Singularity and Conformity's followers would still have resulted in loss of lives and destruction.
[… And, if you really think about it… we got Mushroom-nimi…]
Luke rubbed his face, remembering the players on that battlefield. He still hadn't figured out how Bakugo, if that was indeed him, had arrived there… and how his Quirk seemed to have evolved overnight.
"… You are right," Luke admitted, looking at Mushroom who was hummin. "I need to… slow down."
Luke had thought that he had already known everything about Bioalchemy.
But Mushroom stood in stark contrast to that fact — an anomaly that went against Luke's all research.
Perhaps, through the Cyborg, he could figure out the mystery of Permanent Quirks…
"… Digesting Astrologer, Powering up, and Continuing research…" Luke nodded, wording out. "Let's…"
The phone he carried in his pockets suddenly buzzed. Startled, Luke took out the mobile and saw the name on it, making him instantly sit straight.
The call he had been waiting for ever since the I-Island incident — the one he had almost given up on — was finally here.
Luke took a deep breath, putting up his mask.
"… Hello, Miss Shield," Dr. Blessed greeted. "Have you made up your mind?"
…
Somewhere in the USA, with a painful grunt, Dr. Sam opened his eyes, a whiteness blinding his vision.
"… Woke up?"
Sam tilted his head and looked to his left.
It was a bearded man in white lab coat, smiling at him.
Even though Sam's mind felt cloudy, as it usually did, and even though he couldn't see properly, he noticed something very odd.
The man had glasses on his eyes, but… only the right side had a piece of glass and the left section of the glasses was empty.
"Who…" Sam was going to ask, but stopped. He remembered that it didn't matter anymore. All that mattered was that he was alive, giving him more time to pray, instead. Looking away from the man, he stared at the ceiling. "Praise be to…"
"… Mr. Fool?"
Sam's head snapped back to the man. "You know Mr. Fool?!"
"Of course!" The man smiled.
Sam was so excited that a smile surfaced on his lips as he pushed himself, staring into the man's eyes. "You are also one of Mr. Fool's follower?!"
"One of?!" The man's smile widened as he… grabbed the right side of his glasses and pinched. "Not one of… I am Mr. Fool's most devout follower! You can call me…
"… Mr. Klein Moretti."
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Volume 4 - Apostles, Claws, Radiants - Ends!
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Author's Note:
I hope you guys liked the Off-Cannon Arc. It was important for the novel, as it went against the most common trope, with things not working out for the main character exactly as he wanted to. Luke is a very delicate character for me as he has literally no experience, with only two years of activity in the society. He must build himself from the ground, and that means victories, failures, and... accidents.
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