Hello, everyone. It's time to get the last of the pieces on the Hokkaido Arc finale chessboard moving, and for the sake of keeping from middling or overwhelming myself, this chapter ended up coming out much shorter than even I had expected, but as long as it serves the purpose of giving characters their proper developments and getting them where they ultimately need to be, then length ultimately doesn't make a difference. I go into writing these chapters with the mentality as though they were actual chapters of the manga, and that's so far really helped me with knowing when and where to end each chapter so far.

Life has been keeping them extensively busy, but I'd still like to express my utmost thanks to my two beta readers and consultants, Mizu and Jonny, as well as all my artwork contributors on Fiverr and DA, Syyndev, Akane Kahomi and Sukichan2509. And of course, at the end of the day, I'd also like to give my utmost thanks to every single one of you out there who come to read this story every single day after all this time. It really helps to keep me going when I find myself at my lowest levels of energy throughout the week. So for your continued readership and support, I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

My Hero Academia is the property of Kouhei Horikoshi and Shonen Jump. I only own my original characters and the original events surrounding them.

A/N: [[]] indicates that characters are contextually speaking Russian.

Chapter 81

Or to Fight

(Или Сражаться)

The air inside Alyosha Stepanovich Mikhalkov's lab was too heavy and uncomfortable to possibly be overstated, as Jozef was standing dutifully at attention while Pietro was taking that opportunity to look over the still unconscious form of their recently retrieved Romanian comrade, Marius Lazarescu, lying upon one of the operating tables.

While he and resident scientist/doctor both were busily looking him over; likewise standing loyally nearby (albeit with slightly more awkward body language than even the scrawny goatee-wearing Slovakian) was another of their army's newest recruits from among the rest of the Gagaringrad citizens: a young adult woman who more resembled a human-sized bipedal white-coated mouse in humble and baggy clothes, large spherical bookworm-type glasses over dark blue eyes, and long messy white hair on her head. All the other Gagaringrad locals knew her as Yulina Zabarovka.

For someone who looked so unassuming, the reason she was here was for how instantaneously useful her registered Quirk had already proven, as indicated by the field name Pietro had already assigned her instead: Doorkeeper.

[[And you're certain none of the authorities in Asahikawa City ever got eyes on you before you got Comrade Blowback out of his cell?]] Pietro ultimately asked once Alyosha had confirmed the young Romanian's vitals to be stable.

[[That's right, sir. Following the signal on his earpiece like Dr. Mikhalkov said, it was pretty easy to figure out where he was from there.]] Doorkeeper meekly answered, even though the smile on the commander's scarred face reflected no disapproval, but rather great satisfaction.

[[Excellent work, Comrade Doorkeeper. You're already proving quite the indispensible factor in the campaign to come today…but there is yet further proving that needs to be done for both of you.]] The moment Pietro stated this, his clouded eyes fell now upon the rigidly-standing Jozef.

[[Comrade Spitfire, I told you I had a very important mission for you and Comrade Doorkeeper now, but first I must ask: do you know why it is that all those Heroes out there have already been managing to deal with as many of our forces in town as there are so well?]]

Even as at attention as he looked, Jozef couldn't hope to fight the urge to nervously gulp the lump in his throat. [[Is it because I let the Linguist, Leonid Viktorovich Briner escape, sir?]]

Pietro could see the fear reflected in Jozef's eyes, half-expecting him to once again kneel and ask for just punishment for his incompetence, but he already had a single hand raised to preemptively signal for the boy to remain silent. [[I won't insult your intelligence by saying that's not a part of it, but there's more to it than that. It's undoubtedly because, in the time since Comrade Ocean Master was forced to leave them behind after gaining us Comrade Giver; our former comrades, Knot, Angel's Eye and Ilya, have no doubt turned on us and given away all the details they'd know regarding our plans.]]

Pietro began pacing around the lab while Jozef and Doorkeeper were both nervously observing his every move, every facial tic he made. [[Today is the day we finally begin putting our campaign into motion…but all the same, we need to send a message, not only to the Heroes of this country, but to all the world to come, that we and our cause are not something to be trifled with, and we will not suffer nor tolerate traitors in our midst, no matter where they go.]]

There was an unmistakable icy edge to his words, which was why when his whole body came to a stop and he turned to address Doorkeeper, the bipedal human-sized mouse girl instinctively flinched and squeaked in surprise. [[That's why, Comrade Doorkeeper, I want you to use your Quirk to take Comrade Spitfire to the hospital they're being held at. Comrade Ocean Master said they'd been left unconscious by the time he had to withdraw, so that must be where they're currently being held. And then you, Comrade Spitfire, can remove them from the equation…permanently; those three and the Linguist all together.]]

There wasn't a single shred of hesitation to be heard in Pietro's language, but that could hardly be said for his two subordinates, especially Jozef, as he struggled to fight his nervous stuttering: [[F-forgive me, sir…but they were still our c-comrades o-once, no matter what they've d-done now. Would it r-really not be best to just…r-recover them and remind them of their commitments to the rest o-of us?]]

Pietro's pacing came to a chilling stop, and for but a moment, Jozef was instinctively bracing himself for a backhand to the face for not only speaking against his orders, but for speaking out of turn.

When Pietro finally looked the young Slovakian in the eye; Jozef could swear he could see actual fire reflected behind his cataracts. [[We're long since passed the time for second-guessing our orders and convictions, Comrade Spitfire, make no mistake of that. Our very enemies are kicking at our front doors as we speak, and we need to ensure we've tied up all loose ends before we finally set sail. We cannot abide or risk hanging on to traitors…but even more than that; the one thing we cannot have once we're out there, are people who aren't willing to give more than their 100-percent to our cause. Am I to understand that may apply to you as well? It was because of you that Leonid Briner was able to escape to begin with, after all. Such failures cannot simply be ignored any further, so should I consider you to be a loose end before we depart…Jozef Mečiar?]]

The fact his leader was no longer referring to him by his field name left Jozef feeling his stomach tie into a frightened knot. If Pietro was really insinuating no longer seeing him as a comrade simply for expressing a second opinion, then who knew what that was ultimately going to spell for him out here, and that thought currently scared him more than anything. Hence, in the end, he stood steadfast and resolutely shook his head. [[No, sir, you don't have to bother considering that! You gave us all our lives, and I'm willing to use mine for whatever task you assign me, sir!]]

Following Jozef's show of loyalty and willingness, Doorkeeper suddenly cleared her throat to gain Pietro's attention: [[Actually, Commander, I don't know if you were already aware of this with how busy we've been all this time, but I actually used to work at the hospital in Arakisu City for a good amount of time after we'd established ourselves here. I only recently had to take absence from there for getting sick, but I remember the layout of the place like the back of my hand, and there's actually a section specifically designated for hospitalized suspects in police cases. That's undoubtedly where they would be keeping them, but I know they also always keep even a small amount of police presence nearby for keeping watch on them. I know the right place we could slip in and out without drawing too much attention to ourselves.]]

Pietro's expression soon softened into one of deep thought. Considering Doorkeeper had initially described the function of her Quirk as depending on her ability to visualize exactly where she was going; to hear her admit such familiarity with their target's current location was a virtual godsend. [[Very well, Comrade Doorkeeper, you have my blessing to act on this. We have the utmost faith in both your abilities to pull this off. When you both return, we can finally set sail on our glorious campaign as a community, army and family at last.]]

With Pietro having expressed his blessing, Doorkeeper officially got to work, approaching the one empty wall in the lab before closing her eyes and focusing on exactly where it was she wanted to go, while Jozef hurriedly joined her side, taking deep and rhythmic breaths to calm himself down in preparation.

Finally, she proceeded to start tracing her finger along the door, only for a glowing line to follow after it. She continued with this until she had ultimately drawn a man-sized rectangle upon the wall, only to then follow up by tracing a single circle at one side of it. Once she had done this, the glowing lines she had traced started to grow brighter, before, with a single flash, they had formed a matching set of engraved lines in the wall, with a single doorknob protruding from it.

With but a single turn, what had once looked like just a regular wall easily clicked and opened like any other door, revealing what looked like a janitor's closet on the other side, with another door at the opposite end, through which could be heard typical hospital sounds and background chatter.

As Doorkeeper and Jozef stepped through and she closed the door behind them, all while keeping her hand on the opposite knob, she hurriedly explained to her Slovakian teammate in a hushed whisper: [[I'll stay here so that I can just slip us back into the lab on the other side once you return. This hospital takes foreigners for volunteers or employees all the time, so if you put on one of the janitor uniforms, you should be able to move through unnoticed. I'll tell you where to go to find them all so you can do what you have to.]]

Once the door had been closed, and it was just him, Alyosha and Marius' unconscious body in the lab, Pietro let out a tired sigh and turned his attention back to his fellows. [[Well, now that they're gone; it's finally time. Now, are you absolutely sure in this theory of yours regarding my Quirk, Alyosha Stepanovich? The last thing I need is getting my hopes up just to be disappointed.]]

While Pietro's uncertainty was clear as he approached Marius' body, Alyosha's demeanor was the exact opposite, all but literally aglow with confidence: [[There's no doubt in my mind, Comrade Pietro Dobrynich. It all so far lines up with everything I've been able to study about Quirks over the years. The fact I'm not the first one to have theorized it has to say something, after all.

[[Over these last three times Comrade Valera has resurrected you, the range of affect for your Quirk has grown exponentially. At first I would've thought that was simply a result of practice, but then I've noticed that the number of people you can affect simultaneously, and the thoroughness with which it takes hold of them has also been growing stronger. Granted, the complete loss of consciousness on either yours or their part is still an issue. Regardless, the fact is that your Quirk has grown so much stronger over such a short period of time that no amount of training would have been able to provide. It's only been after each time you've died and been resurrected.

[[This falls perfectly in line with the Quirk Evolution Theory.]] Alyosha sounded utterly ecstatic at this point, while Pietro was visibly milling over the last three examples; his scar-covered brow furrowed.

[[Has there ever been a proven example of such a thing actually happening, though? You would think the world would have been informed of such a marvel actually happening if it were so.]]

However, Alyosha still looked utterly unshaken from his train of thought. [[There have been a few theorized moments throughout history, but they're currently only speculation. However, the similarity between the theory and what we've both observed from you is simply too much to be mere coincidence. Think about it: the Quirk Evolution Theory goes that if an individual is pushed as close as physically possible to the brink of death, a drastic genetic change in their Quirk can occur to expand its range of abilities and subsequent strength, in an attempt to keep the Quirk-bearer and the Quirk itself alive, much like the gradual evolution of different animal species in order to better survive in a hostile environment.

[[Now, since you've technically died three times; then each of those times, your Quirk must have gone through that same forced evolution process in an attempt to try and keep itself and you alive, even if it isn't exactly the kind of Quirk that would save you in a direct confrontation. Because of Comrade Valera's Resurrection Quirk, you were able to come back with your Quirk having already undergone that desperate evolution three separate times, so three consecutive instances of evolution, that have made your Quirk that much more powerful. I wouldn't suggest going around getting yourself killed and resurrected just to test how much more powerful it can get, though. There's no telling what other limits the boy's Quirk may have when it comes to constant use, even with Comrade Giver's persuaded assistance through Comrade Petto.]]

The more and more Alyosha went on, the more he could see the seed of inspiration being planted behind even Pietro's cloudy gaze. It was true that the range of affect and the number of people he could rewrite the memories of all at once had grown exponentially; the whole town was now a testament to that. But now his own imagination was beginning to run wild as his eyes fell upon Marius between them.

[[Those are only two examples of how my Quirk has evolved, though. I can only imagine what the third time was able to bring about. If my Quirk could grow strong enough to where even the loss of consciousness wouldn't be able to sever it, or at least to a point where I don't have to rely on using a person as a plug to amplify my voice to affect them or others, that would be good enough. And now that we have Comrade Blowback with us again, what better time to test it out than now?]]

Pietro was already beginning to faze his fingers into the Romanian's cranium before Alyosha suddenly asked: [[Are you sure you want to test it out on him, Comrade? If he's unconscious, how can we be sure your Quirk will even take affect?]]

However, Alyosha's doubts went unheard, as Pietro calmly said with full self-assurance: [[That's the heart of science, isn't it? Testing theories to see if they work, and what to adjust if they don't. Besides, even for the boots on the ground we still have while the Heroes are being kept busy, there's still no telling just how this campaign will ultimately unfold. If something were to happen to me that even your machines and Valera's Quirk wouldn't be able to fix, then I need to have a failsafe in place. Now I need to focus; we don't have too much extra time left. Spitfire and the others will take care of the loose ends while we can finally get moving once we're done here.]]

With that, the scarred commander was already getting to work, while Alyosha could only sit back, observe and write down any and all visible changes there could possibly be, ultimately enraptured by the ideas and possibilities of what Pietro's Quirk could continue to become if things unfolded the way he instinctively believed they would.

Arakisu City Hospital

Despite having been informed by the Heroes of their intentions going into Gagaringrad before their departure, and even having done more than her fair share in telling them exactly what they were getting into and what to potentially expect; none of that had made the wait for any kind of updates on their mission any easier for Maja Kieslowska, as she was still thoroughly handcuffed to her hospital bed.

She had been informed by the staff and the authorities, as well as the Heroes themselves, of the large high pressure water wall that had been created all around the perimeter of the town, and it was not hard for her to figure out for herself what that had to mean; as well as the fact that if the man she once knew as Ocean Master's Quirk had gotten that immensely more powerful thanks to The Giver's Quirk; then it was no wonder none of the harbor patrol or the media could try to get any footage or advance on the town from the ocean itself. He would have easily knocked them out of the air or had them swallowed up in the depths with ease.

The lacking for information was bad enough, but the still-lingering guilt that bore at her chest ever since she had regained her consciousness and memories had only been steadily getting worse and worse as well. No matter what Nikolay, Mina, De-Condenser or anyone else could have said as to why she couldn't have come with to help in some way, it didn't change the fact that she had a part in making it all happen, and that remembrance and her inability to help continued to eat away at her inside. Anyone who at one point had wanted to become a Hero, only to find their aspirations and powers ultimately being used for evil, would have undoubtedly felt the same kind of deep wounding to their personal pride and conviction.

Maja couldn't even tell how long she had been going through this very same repeating cycle of thought since the Heroes had left earlier this morning. That was why it had come as such a surprise when the police had finally broken the monotony by coming into her hospital room, with further restraints and handcuff keys in tow.

"Hey, what's going on? Does anyone know what's happening behind that water? How're all those Heroes holding out?" She instinctively asked the moment she could finally see new-yet-old faces again, as the same older police officer that had been watching over her and listening to her testimony to the Heroes yesterday, was visible in the back, presiding over the whole procedure.

"Unfortunately, it's too soon for us to tell. The wall hasn't been showing any sign of weakening in pressure, which tells us the Heroes are still fighting tooth and nail to get to whoever's responsible for it. As if that weren't enough, any attempt by sea we or the media have made to get eyes on the inside has nearly been met with disaster. Whoever that 'Ocean Master' or 'Volga' character you and Solovei-kun described before; has one hell of a wide-reaching powerful Quirk, that's for sure. It took everything they had not to get wiped out just like that.

"As for what's going on here…well, the doctors have confirmed with us that the conditions of you and your two cohorts at the Kapenta Hero Agency have cleared, and have thereby granted us permission to transfer you all to holding back at the station. Once the Heroes neutralize the rest of your former colleagues in Gagaringrad, including this Pietro individual, you will all be properly moved into court to answer for all your crimes in this entire mess.]]

At the news of this, Maja's muscle instinct was to try and use her Quirk to melt her way out of her restraints and escape, but thankfully her sense of imploring and reason won out, as she looked the senior officer in the eye imploringly. [[Please, didn't you hear everything we'd discussed yesterday? None of us committed those crimes of our own will; we were all being compelled by Pietro Granin and his Quirk to do it! He and those goons of his: Ocean Master, Eliška Horáčková, Ljubomir Milošević, Hristofor Stoyanov and Alyosha Mikhalkov, they're the only ones that have been in on his scheme since the start! Didn't that damn polygraph test yesterday prove my case enough for you all?]]

To this, the senior officer's eyes fell as he solemnly shook his head in denial. [[It's not like any of us are unsympathetic, young lady. The test did indeed prove you were telling us the truth yesterday, and with your two fellow suspects and Briner-san's testimonies completely matching the details of yours from their perspectives, it's clear that you're all telling us the truth. However, the three of you and your colleagues, Quirk-affected or not, have committed a number of terribly serious crimes, and they need to be addressed and properly answered for when this ultimately comes to an end. Justice ultimately still needs to be upheld equally for all…although once the facts of your circumstances are made clear to the deciding judicial bodies in society; your consequences could prove considerably lighter."

"It sounds like I got here none too soon or late if you're bringing my name up, officer." The sudden tired yet formal voice of Leonid Viktorovich Briner suddenly broke the foreboding air in the hospital room, catching Maja and the officers all equally by surprise to find the bearded old man limping inside with a contemplative look to his eye.

"Linguist, what are you doing here in your condition?" Maja instinctively asked, only for Leonid to politely brush her concerns aside.

"It took a great deal of time for me to provide all the details I could to the police in regards to what I know is going on. As soon as I was able after hearing you'd recovered from the affect of Pietro's Quirk, I couldn't possibly not come here to check on you." Of course, once he'd made his reason for stopping by clear, his expression darkened with serious contemplation as he turned to address the senior officer.

"Forgive me, officer, but if you know for a fact Maja is telling the truth, then you surely must know her expressions of wishing to help those Heroes are genuine as well. Is there really no way for you to be able to help her provide assistance to them in any way; use that to show the courts her willingness to atone for hers and their coerced parts in Pietro Granin's crimes?"

The senior officer let out a regretful sigh as he removed his cap from atop his head, meeting Leonid's imploring gaze. "I wish there was a way I could help her, even if I was allowed to, Briner-san. The fact is, that whitewater wall has made it impossible for anyone to get through. The only reason the Heroes were even able to get through at all was because they knew they wouldn't be able to get back out before neutralizing Pietro Granin and this Ocean Master you both described in your reports. Of course, with all your collected testimonies, and especially your rundown of all the Quirks the townspeople in Gagaringrad possess, especially considering Giver-san's unfortunate forced role in the matter…their being able to stop Pietro and his schemes are ultimately a big 'if' that we have to bank on. It's so far the only viable solution we have. If it weren't for that water all and Ocean Master's manipulating the sea waters to keep us and the media as far from their territory as possible, it would be a far more promising scenario we'd be looking at right now."

All the other officers immediately present reflected similar looks of regret that nothing more could realistically be done, while Maja bowed her head down, clutching the sheets in her trembling hands. "I know the layout of Pietro's hospital base better than any of them do. Dammit!"

CRASH!

"Oh, I'm so sorry! Are you alright?"

"Y-yes, I'm okay. Don't worry."

A momentary ruckus from out in the hall broke through all other conversations in the room, though the police and Leonid were still too absorbed in what they were discussing to pay it any more than a moment's notice.

Maja, on the other hand, was able to pick up on the single most unexpected thing, since she couldn't find a place to interject in all the other chatter: from what she was able to pick up, it sounded like someone had crashed into one of the nurses outside, and whoever it was had a clearly non-Japanese accent…and it was a voice she immediately could recognize.

With all the officers' backs to the door, they had inadvertently served as a momentary blockade from anyone who was passing by out in the hall for her and Leonid both. However that didn't stop Maja from peering just past one of their shoulders to the doorway, just in time to see a foreign-looking young man in what looked like a janitors' uniform passing through; one with a distinct billy goat's goatee on his chin, and curly dark brown hair.

He was just halfway past the doorway by the time she'd laid eyes on him, but there was no doubt in her mind, as she immediately began straining against her handcuffs, enough to get all the officers and Leonid's attention: "Outside in the hall, the person in the janitor clothes who caused that crash, I know him! That's one of my friends who's been under Pietro's control with me, Jozef Mečiar! I don't know how, but he's out there heading for the next room!"

It didn't take long for her, and thankfully the police and Leonid as well, to figure out just what Jozef was doing out here in disguise, even if they were still momentarily dumbfounded how he'd gotten out here without anyone noticing and notifying the authorities.

However, such questions, they knew needed to wait, as the senior officer immediately addressed the two younger that had been attending to Maja's restraints: "Move out and apprehend him, men, but be careful! According to all the testimonials from the attacks, this is the one with the Machine Gun Finger Quirk! I'm calling in all backup at once!"

Without a moment's hesitation, both officers hurriedly drew their stun guns and ran for the next door over. In that span of mere seconds, before they could even reach the doorway that mere couple of feet away, they could already hear the sound of Ilya and Angel's Eye fighting against their bonds, clearly having recognized the young man the two officers could not see standing resolutely before their beds with his arms lifted straight out in front of him.

"HALT, POLICE! DOWN ON THE GROUND!"

Jozef visibly flinched when the first of the officers barked out his orders. However, that twitch was just as quickly followed by a sheer gut reaction from the young man, as he twisted his body weight back to the doorway, his arms still outstretched as he instinctively activated his Quirk with both police officers in his sights.

BRRRRRRAK!

It was nothing short of a miracle that one of the officers had reacted as quickly as he had once he'd seen Jozef's gun barrel fingers aiming their way, and thus threw himself directly into his partner just as soon as the deafening spray of machine gun fire erupted from them. Both officers went tumbling to the ground out of the open, but even that quick thinking hadn't been enough to keep the previous officer who'd just saved his colleague's life from getting a high-speed round straight into his left hip.

In that moment, in the next room over, the deafening burst of gunfire had already ignited a cacophony of panicked shouts all over the hospital from staff, police and civilians alike, even reflexively sending the senior officer and Leonid ducking down out of sight; but it didn't take long for the officer among them to hurriedly take charge: "Briner-san, stay here and out of sight! I'm taking care of this now!"

However, while he pulled out his own stun gun on his way for the door, Maja began forcefully tugging at her restraints to get his attention: "You don't understand, if Jozef's here, it's gotta be to eliminate the three of us you've been holding here and Linguist! Pietro must think we're just loose ends! Let me help you! Linguist could tell you I could easily just melt my way out of these with my Quirk, but please just give me a chance to try and make this right!"

Urgently looking between the Polish girl and the hall; the senior officer's face reflected total inner conflict on just what the right course of action to take here was. In the end, though, he relented and hurried over, undoing each of Maja's restraints while muttering anxiously: "It doesn't make sense; I've had eyes watching that water wall all over and haven't gotten any reports of any part of it weakening since the Heroes had broken their way in. How could he have gotten all the way in here without any of us noticing?"

At that particular question, with a momentary shared glance, Maja could see that Leonid had clearly figured it out for himself, and with her own mind racing, it didn't take long for her to figure it out as well, while the old man muttered: "I may know, actually…and it can only go to prove that Pietro's done what we feared most in the interim since that wall came up."

However, Maja knew she couldn't afford to stick around to clarify for the clearly curious officer, instead leaping from her bed, practically flying out her door and swinging right around into the next room over, just in time to find Jozef desperately lining up his aim on Angel's Eye and Ilya again.

[[JOZEF, STOP!]] Her cry was deafening as she instinctively threw her elongating waxy arm his way, ensnaring it around both his forearms and tugging with all her strength, pulling him her way just enough so that as he finally fired off the first shot, it didn't hit either of the soldiers before him, but instead smashed the chain to one of Ilya's handcuffs.

However, this disruption did little to throw Jozef off completely, as he hurriedly wrapped his grip onto the wax binds around his wrists, and fired from his finger gun barrels at once, shattering them and freeing himself, before finally setting his unnaturally intense eyes upon her. [[You traitor! How could you, Knot?! How could you turn on us like this?!]]

But even knowing the kind of danger she was putting herself in by standing right here in the open before him, Maja defiantly shook her head: [[Those Heroes out there are trying to save you all, Jozef! Pietro Granin's been brainwashing all of us back in town, he's going to get you all killed! Please, don't do this!]]

However, Jozef instead immediately retaliated with a swift kick to Maja's sternum, sending her into the opposite door across the hall, already lining his sights on her. [[How can you say that, Knot? That man is the reason any of us have been able to survive this long! Why would you turn your back on all of us after all that time? We were all family, dammit!]]

Maja was barely able to get her hands up to project a last-second shield of wax from them as Jozef opened fire. She could feel the rounds hammering against her defense; just as much as she could feel her energy was not where it should have been. There was no way she could maintain this kind of defense for long.

Worse yet, if Jozef was really this thoroughly affected by Pietro in the time since she'd last seen him, then the options for getting him to stop were down to one. She was going to have to face the Slovakian boy on his own terms, and knock him out if she was going to have any chance of really stopping him. With her energy as low as it was, and with his Quirk clearly much stronger (undoubtedly thanks to The Giver's imprisonment), that was going to be much easier said than done.

"GRAAAH!"

A sudden near animalistic battle cry suddenly erupted from within the room to Jozef's back, and the young man barely turned around in time to find a newly freed Ilya and Angel's Eye together (with broken handcuffs still clasped around their wrists and ankles), charging him with the broken off metal bars from the frames of their hospital beds, already in mid-swing, aimed for his head and ribs together.

BANG! KRAK!

A swift turn of his wrist allowed Jozef to blast Ilya's weapon coming down for his head in half before contact could be made, but Angel's Eye was just that much faster, managing to nail the boy in his right side, sending him ricocheting against the doorframe and down to the floor.

As the two men hurried out the door to finish the job; Ilya grabbing the other half of his weapon and holding the jagged end out; Maja's eyes grew wide with momentary shock as she saw the burlier of the men was now advancing on her with murderous intent in his eyes.

[[Wait, what the hell are you two doing?! You know what Pietro's Quirk does; you must know we're just as much his victims as you both were!]] However, she could already see her imploring words were falling on deaf ears, as Ilya had both his metal bars raised over his head for an impaling motion.

All the while, Angel's Eye was likewise keeping Jozef from being able to fight back, standing upon his forearms and lifting his own metal bar to bring down upon his head, while Ilya coldly answered her: [[That doesn't change the fact you all committed numerous terrorist acts on our home and countrymen…and you still need to pay for that.]]

BZZT!

In that instant, Ilya suddenly broke down in convulsions before just as quickly collapsing to the floor, catching Angel's Eye, Jozef and Maja all by surprise. Still seated against the wall near the door to their room were the two police officers from before, with the unwounded one having clearly seen what the two soldiers had been about to do, and had proceeded to act on the biggest of them. No matter the circumstances, they couldn't possibly sit back and condone cold-blooded murder like what had been about to ensue.

However, Jozef was exceptionally quick to capitalize on a distraction, as even with his forearms pinned down, he proceeded to flex his wrists so that his fingers were directly aimed for Angel's Eye while his gaze had been drawn away. At that same moment, Maja had glanced and seen what was about to happen; her heart plummeting into her stomach.

[[FREE FIRE!]]

BLOOSH!

With time feeling like it had slowed to a crawl, Maja had thrown her left arm forward, sending a huge thick flow of wax from her wrist outward, slamming straight into Angel's Eye's center mass, knocking him off of Jozef and straight into the wall, just at the same moment Jozef himself had proceeded to let loose with a heavy-caliber buzzing barrage of gunfire from his fingers, riddling the ceiling and the next two floors directly above his position, floor to ceiling, into an utter smoking hole, prompting more panicked screams and finally fire alarms all across the hospital, with the intercoms already sending out pre-recorded instructions for all people inside to start evacuating.

With this sudden explosion of panic as a result of the strongest use of his Quirk yet, Jozef was quickly able to see that even restrained, Angel's Eye was still struggling to break his way out with the same kind of chilling calm yet homicidal intent in his eyes. Likewise, the two police officers were struggling back onto their feet, as was Maja while her arm was reconstituting. The sound of further footsteps from behind; the arrival of the senior officer; as well as numerous other approaching footsteps from both sides of the hall, all echoed deafeningly in Jozef's head as he tried to gauge his circumstances, and ultimately come to the one sensible conclusion he could if he was to get out of this in one piece, all the while mentally cursing himself once he did.

Like a shot, he bolted right for the nearest emergency exit door, with Maja immediately sliding after him on a trail of her wax to try and boost her speed. All the while, Angel's Eye finally managed to brute force his way out of his restraints, and struck a swift blow to the approaching senior officer's solar plexus, taking off after the two fleeing teens with the officer's actual gun now in hand. Almost immediately after, Ilya similarly fought his way out of his spastic state and took off charging after them likewise in pursuit, with many of the approaching police doing the same, turning into an all-around rat race in pursuit of the one fleeing Slovakian would-be assassin. By the time the police had all broken off into separate groups to try and cut Jozef off; Leonid had finally managed to get back up from the shock of what had suddenly unfolded, emerging back out into the hall himself.

As Maja continued to chase after Jozef, the desperate Slovakian ultimately shot out a nearby window before flinging himself out of it, rolling onto the roof of a connecting bridge to the next building of the facility, already swinging himself off the edge and through another window into the bridge itself by the time she had jumped down after him.

BLAM! BLAM!

Two piercing gunshots quickly rang out right on her tail, just barely missing taking her kneecaps out from under her. With the two heavy sounds of bodies landing on the bridge behind her, Maja didn't dare look back to see how close Angel's Eye and Ilya were behind her, instead focusing on swinging herself down through the same window Jozef had fled through, just managing to catch sight of him sprinting dead ahead.

However, his desperation was driving his actions, which with his Quirk made him especially dangerous, as a momentary glance back drove him to momentarily turn around and open fire through his fingers again, just as a couple of patients and members of the hospital staff were exiting out a nearby doorway in front of him in their panic from all the gunfire and alarms.

[[NO!]] Maja instinctively screamed as she slammed two trails of wax connected to her arms to the ceiling, swinging herself that much faster to get between Jozef's bullets and the civilians in the crossfire; all the while sending two enclosing splashes of her wax from her legs to collide into each other and form an especially thick wall, just enough to only collapse to pieces by the time Jozef had stopped firing and was trying to run again.

Continuing her pursuit, while also focusing on keeping her Quirk at the ready if he were to try shooting again when civilians were around, Maja's mind was racing: 'I've known Jozef for years, he's never been the kind of person to stick around when things get tough against him. If he got here the way I think me and Linguist both figured, then he's surely gotta be heading for that same way in and out! I gotta stop him before he gets there!'

BLAM!

Another gunshot popped out from behind her back, forcing Maja to practically dive into a forward roll so she could get right back on her feet in time to round the next corner Jozef had ducked into. 'If I can avoid getting my head blown off all the while!'

For someone who had never set foot in the Arakisu City hospital before, Jozef's evasive instincts were proving most impressive, as every time Maja was managing to line up a clear shot with her Wax on him, he was either managing to divert her with another blind fire shot from his hands, or managed to find a narrow hall or door to slip through that always managed to lead to somewhere else.

However, his constant shooting was hardly not leaving a dent, as on more than one occasion, his strengthened bullets had managed to penetrate the wiring in the walls, sparking a number of electrical and gas fires in his wake, slowly but surely drawing the pursuing and converging police off Jozef's trail in order to try and assist the civilians most in danger as a result of his recklessness.

By the time Jozef had made his way onto a stairwell making his way up, Maja knew this was as close a chance as she was going to get to finally stopping him. The moment she could see him, she latched onto the railing of the stairs two floors up, focusing her Quirk to pull her up along with it until she was in a position she knew she could intercept Jozef from. When that moment came and he realized she was taking a shortcut, the young Polish girl finally disconnected the melted line from her arm and let her momentum and gravity drive her right into Jozef's side, slamming them both against the wall, momentarily dazed.

As soon as her vision had started to clear, Maja all but threw herself after Jozef, throwing her other arm like a wax whip to clasp onto his waist. 'Yes! Now I just gotta pull him to meet and hit him in the right spot, and he'll finally be free from that monster!'

BLAMBLAMBLAM!

In the confines of the stairwell, the sound of Angel's Eye's confiscated gun firing was even louder than before, leaving Maja's ears ringing something terrible, even as she felt the wax connecting her arm to Jozef get blasted away; and her fleeing former comrade immediately start to take off.

[[JOZEF, STOP, PLE-!]]

WHAM!

The moment Maja had begun to take her first step after Jozef, she felt her whole body get tackled straight into the wall ahead of her face-first. She could just feel a couple of her teeth crack and blood start entering her mouth as her head rang even worse; thanks to Ilya slamming his colossal body weight straight into her and the wall with full force, while Angel's Eye hurriedly caught up, just then finishing with reloading his firearm with another auto-loader full of bullets he'd swiped from the officer before. [[Finally, we can at least put a stop to one of you animals.]]

Maja didn't know if she still had the wherewithal to try and put together sentences, or if it was pure instinct that drove her to bring her hands up non-aggressively and actually speak to the two soldiers. Either way, that was exactly what happened as she screamed: [[STOP! I'm not trying to escape, dammit, I'm trying to stop him! I'm trying to stop everything Pietro is planning with all those people and the equipment he stole, how can you not see that?! I don't want him to get them killed, I've known the people of Gagaringrad my entire life…but I don't want anything to happen to all the people in Russia, either!]]

Ilya instinctively let out a disbelieving scoff at this: [[Bullshit, whether that man used his Quirk on you like he did to us, surely there must've been a part of you that enjoyed the things he made you do to our countrymen during those attacks. After how we drove you and your kind away over all these years, how could you possibly not?]]

This continuous doubt and flow of accusations, on top of the ticking clock of Jozef's escape, had Maja's blood roaring with adrenaline through her veins as she all but flew with two wax lines from her forearms attaching onto the next railing of the stairwell up, yanking herself right past the two with force; Angel's Eye already lining up a shot with her back as he and Ilya continued to chase after her.

During all of that, Maja actually had the focus to even answer Ilya's words: [[I've never wanted to hurt anyone! I know my friends in Pietro's army, they're not the kind of people who wanted to do those kind of things; it's all because of what that bastard did to us! He told me he was going to help me train to become a Hero, and he lied to me! He and those goons of his lied to all of us! He tricked us into hurting people, killing people; people who had nothing to do with us…people I'd started to call my friends. I'll never be able to forgive myself for letting that happen, for letting myself and them get manipulated into doing those things! That's why I'm doing this, to put it right!]]

The sound of another door suddenly getting thrown open told Maja all she needed to know of where Jozef had just gone, thus kicking her way through it likewise, just in time to see him sprinting down the hall to her left. Like that, she was once again wax swinging her way after him, with Ilya and Angel's Eye once more proving to be right on her tail; the smaller sharpshooter, having actually been listening to her words, actually humoring her with a response: [[After the casualties you and your comrades accumulated, including our own, how can you possibly expect us to believe you never intended any of that, following that man like you all have? How can you possibly think you can atone for any of that?]]

Another sharp corner for Jozef to duck into, and Maja had another line of her Wax clinging to the corner, sliding herself right around in order to keep up her momentum as she shouted back: [[I don't know if I ever can, but I have to try! All my life, that's all I've ever been told about what it is Heroes are supposed to do: try with everything you are to make the world a better place for the people around you than when you found it, no matter how hard it is! We all know life has been nothing but hardship for all of us, and that's why I know people deserve Heroes now more than ever!

[[That's what I wanted to be, more than anything, no matter what it would cost me, because all people deserve to know there's someone out there wanting to help make life better for them…even the people that drove us out to begin with. They don't deserve to suffer because of our mistakes any more than the people of Gagaringrad itself do! If there's even a remote chance I can make it so nobody else has to suffer more than we all already have for all those years, then that's a chance worth taking!]]

Maja wasn't about to risk her chance by looking back to see if the two soldiers on her tail were even listening to anything she was saying or not; she could see Jozef once again blasting away a set of heavy double doors in his path so as not to lose his momentum; unintentionally granting her and her own pursuers the same advantage.

With the hall ahead of them extending for a good while, it was the perfect place for Angel's Eye to line up a shot to drive straight into Maja's back; maybe even both of them as they were perfectly lined up with one another. The sharpshooter was even bringing himself to a stop, with Ilya reluctantly doing the same, so the shorter man could get the sights steadied. His finger was already upon the trigger and the hammer cocked back.

Then the strangest thing happened, the one thing that had never happened once in his life when he had his finger on the trigger and his sights set…Angel's Eye didn't fire. And after the shot Ilya had been anticipating never happened, the larger man looked in disbelief, as Angel's Eye actually lowered his gun; his once cold and piercing killer's eyes now reflecting…consideration. [[What the hell are you doing?! If you aren't gonna shoot, then give it to me, goddammit!]]

With surprising swiftness and ease, Angel's Eye proceeded to not only unload his pistol, but from there proceeded to dismantle it with but a few precise movements of his fingers, letting the pieces clatter to the floor, leaving Ilya speechless, while Maja and Jozef had at last finally escaped both their lines of sight. [[W…why? What was this all for then? Are you seriously letting that brat's words get to you?]]

[[Are you seriously not?]] Angel's Eye suddenly asked right back, surprising his ally once more into silence. [[We're both mercenaries, we both know that reading people is essential to our survival out in the world, including being able to weed out their lies from their truths…and I haven't been able to pick up any lies in what that girl's been saying…just like I couldn't with any one of those Hero kids yesterday.]]

With this unexpected admission, it was all becoming too clear to Ilya just what was going through the sharpshooter's head as he continued: [[I know you don't want to hear this; hell, there's a part of me that hates actually saying it…but that girl's right. Everything we've come to accept about home all happened, not just because of the mistakes of a single Hero…but because for so long, we all let that fear and anger that followed, blind us from actually trying to make our lives better when things went wrong, and instead take it all out on the people we thought closest to being the ones responsible, even though they were suffering just as much as we were. We all let ourselves live that way with those feelings for so long, it just felt normal by now.]]

With the aggression and veiled anger that had once been lining Angel's Eye's words before now steadily fading, he looked back to the rest of the hospital from which they had been chasing Maja and Jozef through, already spotting the smoke from all the fires left in their wake; while Ilya now found himself reluctantly considering what the sniper was saying. [[So many years of sadness, fear and anger; how many undeserving people had to die because of that, just because they had Quirks, but were simply trying to keep living quietly? What does it say that, by the time we'd gotten this mission, it had stopped feeling like a patriotic duty, and more like just a habit, like second nature?]]

Ilya's eyes instinctively fell to his own hands as Angel's Eye's question hung heavy in the air. All the while, the man himself had his hands clenching into determined fists, as he actually began walking back the way they had come, spurring the larger man to follow after him: [[W-wait, Comrade, where the hell are you going?]]

Looking back, there was something now in the shorter soldier's eyes that resonated deep within Ilya's person as he answered: [[I can't speak for you, Ilya…but knowing what that girl is trying to do, in spite of everything she's been controlled into doing before, in spite of everything our countrymen have done to people like her and the rest of them…and knowing what all those Heroes are trying to do for the people here and at home…including the very son of the man who had caused things back home to become the way they are now to begin with…it's made me remember just what it felt like to actually have faith and hope in a person again…and how inspiring that can be.

[[There's no hope to be found in simply living to kill people, even for your own country. If all those Heroes are risking their lives to help save our home, even despite what we've all done to people like them…then it's only right that we try to help the people here in kind; actually do something to help people now. You can join me, or continue chasing after those two if you want, my friend…but I've made my choice.]]

With that, Angel's Eye broke into a near mad dash back into the further depths of the damaged hospital; leaving Ilya in a true spiritual and mental conundrum, as he kept looking back and forth in growing frustration and confusion, having at-first unwillingly taken Angel's Eye's (and ultimately Maja's) words into serious consideration and perspective, and now continuously asking himself the exact same question his comrade had: what was ultimately the right thing for him to do?

By this point, several of the electrical and gas fires Jozef's gunfire had caused had managed to spread to other parts of the hospital, and with the alarms and intercoms for evacuation still going incessantly, it was hardly surprising that by now, most of the patients, staff and civilians had managed to get themselves out, while the majority of the police had handled further evacuations for the less mobile.

Amidst all of that, Maja had finally chased Jozef all the way to another empty hallway on an upper floor for the original building this wild chase had originally started in. Despite all the abundant doors and other hallways he could have taken in his continuous attempts to lose her tail on him, he wasn't taking it any more, instead opting for a straight on run for a T-shaped intersection, with a single door for a janitor's closet standing at the end.

Nevertheless, Maja had figured that, since there hadn't been any gunfire nipping away at her from behind for the last few minutes, that had to mean she'd either finally lost Angel's Eye and Ilya, or she'd actually managed to get through to them. With that in mind, she finally had a clear shot to try and stop Jozef in his tracks, and ultimately did so as she swiftly came sprinting up to him before finally latching her melting right arm around his left leg, nearly wrangling him right off his feet.

[[Dammit, Jozef, please, stop this! That man Pietro is nothing like what he says he is! He's been lying to us all this whole time, don't you see that? I'm trying to help you! He's marching everybody in Gagaringrad into a genocidal death march! He's going to get so many innocent people killed; are you really willing to let him do that?!]]

Another quick maneuvering of his body allowed Jozef to get his left hand's finger barrels lined up with her center mass, once again forcing Maja to break her hold in order to build a shield of Wax from her forearms to take the ensuing gunfire, and thus allowing him to get back on his feet, barely leaning back enough to miss the spinning kick she threw in instinctive retaliation.

Letting the shields on her arms remain, the two foreign teens stared each other down; her pink eyes reflecting emotional desperation, and Jozef's eyes reflecting a desperation born from pure inner frustration. [[Goddammit…I just wanted to prove I was a strong soldier just like you and the others, that I'm not a loose end! But no matter what I try to do, it's never as easy as it is for you guys! I'm so sick of feeling like a liability…but the commander still gave me this chance, and I…I-I have to follow through and prove myself to him! He'll kill me if I don't, otherwise!]]

With that, the young Slovakian suddenly had his arms leveled to Maja's head in the blink of an eye; with her barely managing to duck down in time to avoid the gunfire to follow, throwing her body weight into his midsection and melting her hands and legs into the opposite wall and around his feet respectively, in an attempt to try and restrain him. [[So his idea to have you prove your strength is killing people laid up helpless in a hospital? I know you, Jozef, you're not a cold-blooded murderer; don't let Pietro turn you into one!]]

Alas, he continued to try and struggle against her restraints on him, throwing his body weight to the floor with her still hanging on just before her melted limbs could re-solidify, slamming them both into the unforgiving floor, forcing her to let go, and thus allowing him to line up his finger barrels on her head once more.

However, even as her head continued to spin, she could still hear an unmistakable conflict in Jozef's voice: [[But I can't let it end for me like he threatened he would, not after all the years we've spent together to get this far! I…I don't want to kill you, Knot…but why…why did you have to force us into this?!]]

Those words were about the best clue Maja could ask for that she still had a chance to try and get through to him. Was this simply his personality actually breaking through Pietro's conditioning, or was the man's Quirk actually weakening in the grip it had on its victims? She had no idea, but right now it didn't make a difference. After everything she'd said before, she knew she still needed to try.

[[That's just the thing though, Jozef: we haven't known Pietro for years, he only came to Gagaringrad a few months ago! I know everything he told you about our history with him feels so real, but that's just what his Quirk does! That's why he's gotten us to go along with all his plans as easily as he has! He's been lying to you just like he's been lying to all of us! If the way your head feels is anything like it has been for me, then you surely must have your real memories of all that time still buried deep inside! You know what I'm saying is true!

[[I'm not betraying any of you; I'm trying to help you, all of you! I was able to break free from the hold his Quirk had on me, and I know I can help you all do the same, too! We've all been friends in Gagaringrad for years, Jozef, that's the real truth. I don't want to have to fight any of you if I don't have to. No matter what Pietro's threatening you with, you're not the kind of person who can gladly hurt anyone, even if you've had to over this time. Please, let me help you, and we won't have to hurt anyone anymore.]]

Maja didn't know what else she could possibly say to try and further help her case, but the fact that Jozef wasn't riddling her full of bullets this instant was a good sign. After a few exceptionally tense moments of silence amid the panicked cries of the people outside, and the alarms all over the hospital…Maja felt her heartbeat suddenly stop when she saw the finger gun barrels hovering over her face begin to shake, and ultimately drop. Looking up from there, she almost felt her eyes beginning to tear up with hope and sympathy when she could see Jozef's face wrenched with the worst kind of inner conflict, tears running down his skinny bearded face as well.

Finally, he took a step back, allowing Maja to cautiously get back onto her feet, trying to watch his every bodily tic to see if it was safe for her to keep trying to talk him further and further down. If she could somehow pull this off without having to hurt him in the process, that would be a colossal win…hopefully the first of many.

That was when she caught only the slightest hint of movement from behind Jozef's back, and upon taking her eyes off of him for a moment, she saw the unexpected form of Leonid Briner slowly and quietly approaching him, mere feet away, with all his fingers extended and ready to jab at the boy's head, hitting him with the same Language Scrambling special move he'd stricken him with before. As far as the old man was concerned, it would disorient him just enough for Maja to finally knock him out and put a stop to Pietro's control over him.

However, since Maja had never even been made remotely aware of such a plan, and when seeing she was actually starting to get through to Jozef regardless, her protective nature quickly kicked in as the very first word she could think of came rushing out her mouth when she saw what Leonid was preparing to do: [[STOP!]]

K-KRAK!

The suddenness with which Maja's shouting had come, had startled Jozef so immensely that, when seeing she was looking at something behind his back, he instinctively had spun himself around with his finger barrels at the ready and immediately fired off a single warning shot the moment he saw the shape of another person…

…only for him to then realize, with a chilling sensation of horror running through his veins, that the warning shot had instead met its mark, directly into the stomach of their town's leader, the same kindly old man he could remember always looking out for him over the years; years that now began to contradict the years he'd been led to believe he'd lived up until this very moment.

The moment Maja had seen Leonid go down with a plume of red spraying from the small hole in his midsection, she had all but thrown herself at his side, trying desperately to tear strips away from her hospital gown to try and staunch his bleeding, the old man having already since lost consciousness from the shock alone.

Already, the cacophony of heavy footsteps converging on the scene could be heard echoing up and down the halls; the police clearly having been alerted by the sound of a single gunshot in contrast to the sporadic bursts of machine gun fire from before. But none of that registered to Jozef, as he couldn't take his eyes off of Leonid's wounded form, and the smoke trailing from his own finger gun.

All at once, he could hear numerous forces in his head echoing contradicting words to him against one another. He knew it was incomprehensible guilt he was feeling in the pit of his stomach that made his blood run cold…but at the same time, his head was telling him that it was simply one target down, with another standing right before him with no means to defend themselves against him.

But no matter how loud the latter sounded in his head, Jozef couldn't stop his heart from racing with despair as his stomach kept twisting and turning; his words sounding as though they were being spoken from underwater in his own ears: [[Maja…? W-what…M-Maja, what did I do?]]

It was only the revelation that Jozef had actually referred to her by her real name for once that had broken Maja's focus from Leonid as she saw the look of utter torture on his face. Somehow, in a way she couldn't begin to understand, the sheer emotional pain of what he'd just done seemed to be breaking through the veil of Pietro's control on his mind. His body was visibly going into spasms, just around the time the police were finally emerging onto the scene, many of them having already seen Leonid's bloodied form, and drawing their weapons on Jozef.

His fight-or-flight instincts went into overdrive the moment he could hear the sound of tasers and legitimate guns being drawn behind his back, and so with the speed and accuracy of a genuine gunslinger, Jozef proceeded to fire off a shot at his hip for a nearby fire extinguisher; the resulting explosion of mist cutting off the cops' line of sight on him, and thus allowing him to make a mad dash for the closet door at the end of the hall, and with Maja racing after him in both a melting wax-assisted swing and slide all together.

Every step of the way, Jozef's mind felt like it was shattering between the unbearable guilt of what he'd just done, and the agony in his brain that kept telling him to turn back and finish the job on Maja while she was coming after him. He felt like everything he'd believed to be real, one way or the other, was coming apart and leaving him floating in a psychological void of nothingness and unreality, just as he'd blasted the hinges off the waiting door, causing it to fall flat to the floor, and reveal the visibly shocked human-sized mouse Doorkeeper standing dutifully at the open doorway leading back to Alyosha's lab kilometers away.

The moment she could see Jozef's partner through the now-open doorway, Maja's mind now weighed heavy with a grim confirmation ('I knew it! I can't let them get through, or else!') as her adrenaline surged. She threw her arms up and forward, latching her Wax onto the ceiling and pulling herself forward with all the momentum she could, just as Jozef's running speed was near exceeding a sprint; all while Doorkeeper herself had spotted Maja and the police in close pursuit, and hurriedly pulled a small pistol from under her heavy sweater, aiming it right at the young girl's head.

BLAM!

The sight of yet another gun being aimed at her spurred Maja to actually release one of her grips on the ceiling just as the shot echoed down the hall, changing her trajectory just enough to where the bullet only managed to break apart a section of her turquoise-colored wax hair from the right side of her head, grazing the side of her skull in the process in a flare of immense pain.

Ignoring that and the wet warmth of blood running down the side of her face, Maja threw another glob of extending Wax from her right arm, latching onto Doorkeeper's gun, just for her to let go of her weapon and practically shove Jozef through her doorway, quickly following after.

With both her arms' worth of Wax extending from her arms onto the walls of the janitor's closet, Maja pulled and ultimately shot herself forward through the doorway after them like a human slingshot, her right shoulder slamming hard enough against the closing makeshift door to send her spinning before crashing against the first steel operating bed within Alyosha's lab, catching Jozef and Doorkeeper both by surprise just enough to keep the latter from finishing closing her door and officially cutting them off.

Maja's head was ringing and spinning too much for her to really take in the fact that, for the first time ever, Alyosha's lab had been left all but completely stripped of all his lab equipment, with the scientist himself nowhere to be seen. If she had, she would have realized the foreboding possibility this hinted toward. No, now all that mattered was that she was in a daze, and Jozef and Doorkeeper were both clearly in better shape to fight her.

However, if her vision had been clearer, she too would have seen just how much this was clearly not the case, as Doorkeeper's attempt at displaying an aggressive demeanor was nothing short of pitiful, as she was scrambling to grab a nearby forgotten scalpel without her hands shaking like crazy. [[Y-y-you shouldn't…y-you shouldn't have betrayed the commander, Maja! You b-brought this on yourself!]]

Maja's eyes had finally cleared enough in time for her to see her anthropomorphic opponent starting to advance on her while she was completely open and unguarded. Her instincts were already half-readying her to shoot another hand's worth of Wax straight into her face in order to buy herself some breathing room with Jozef…but the Slovakian boy himself; his face still twisted with conflict and flowing with torturous tears; took Maja completely by surprise when he actually proceeded to throw himself onto his partner's back, restraining her arms while she started madly exclaiming her surprise at what he was doing. [[What?! S-stop, what do you think you're doing?!]]

However, Jozef was blocking her protests completely, as his eyes looked onto Maja's with desperation. [[Maja…I can't take this! I feel like my head is coming apart! Please, do what you have to do! For all of us!]]

There was so much pain and imploring in his voice, it left Maja similarly pained that it had come to this, but it was still a damn sight better than the alternative. This was all she could remind herself of over and over again, as she built her right hand into a small sphere of hardened Wax and swiftly swung it hard across both their heads, sending them both collapsing out cold to the floor with a violent crash, while she could only look upon the aftermath of her desperate actions, heaving and gasping for breath, unable to even feel relief now that she knew where she was.

'Empty…oh no, please don't tell me I'm too late already!'

Just the thought that Pietro and his goons had already set sail before the Heroes had even been able to make it this far left Maja drowning in a horrible fear and anxiety all at once, and that was just assuming the Heroes had managed to even survive up to this point as it were.

However, in her momentary panic when taking in her surroundings, Maja did see something that was downright miraculous after how everything else had been going: the doorway from here into the janitor's closet of the Arakisu hospital was still just a little bit open, just enough to where the shortcut was still available, and it wasn't long before it was being pulled further open from the other side by several of the police who had come rushing after Jozef mere seconds ago; all of them reflecting similar astonishment.

However, for Maja and all of them as well, that astonishment had quickly turned into an ecstatic realization: this whole incident had just inadvertently granted them a secret passage into Gagaringrad without the threat of the water wall.

And alongside that, the realization that she was now as close to her parents and the rest of the imprisoned families of her friends as she could possibly hope to be, had filled Maja with a sense of hope she'd been so desperate for since returning to normal. With that thought in mind, she was already racing for the exit to the lab while addressing the police: "Come on, follow me! I know where they're keeping our families in here! We can get them out of here through that doorway! C'MON!"

The police didn't waste time with questions as Maja was practically flying down the hall as fast as she could, keeping her eyes open for any sign of danger as the authorities followed after her; all the while silently praying they weren't too late, for all their sakes.

And that's this week's chapter everyone: short, sweet and to the point. For anyone who was curious, I named this chapter specifically as like a spiritual answer to the previous chapter discussing Leonid's escape earlier, which I had renamed for the same purpose: serving as a nod to the Air Force motto: 'Fight or Flight.'

From here on, everything's about to ramp up big time for the rest of the Hokkaido Arc's climax. I hope you're all as excited to read it as I am in putting it together. I hope you all like what you've been getting so far.

I hope you all enjoy the start of summer, have a good rest of your week, and I will see you all with the next chapter on 06/18!