Chapter 22: A Desperate Counterattack
Wolfheart
The search for any information on The Brotherhood of Humanity had stalled. Despite everyone's best efforts, no new information could be gathered. No matter how many members they captured, no one talked. No amount of threats, promises of leniency, appeals to decency would work on those members who were captured. All they had were the Flying Armors they captured, and the mind control helmets that were used on the kids in Boston and the hope that some kind of data could be recovered from their fried circuits. Some of the Heroes from other countries had technology-based Quirks and intelligence enhancing Quirks were working as hard as they could to recover what they could, but all of the captured technology was badly damaged. At this point, it seemed they could only wait for the enemies' next move.
Marie was busy in the gym now, squatting while holding a 300lb dumbbell without using her Quirk. She needed to do something sweaty and hard, or she'd lose her mind. She hadn't felt this useless since the day her Father and Step-Mother were murdered and she was blinded. She had a Quirk that gave her superhuman senses of smell and hearing; she could hear anything within ten miles of her and smell anything within a mile, she had enhanced strength when she transformed, she could bench press 3200 pounds when she transformed, and could even transform into an Ultimate Form that enhanced her strength 50 times, and yet all of it was utterly worthless in finding the terrorists who had slaughtered millions in one fell swoop. It was all driving her insane.
She finished her fifth set of squats and then laid down on the bench press bench and started lifting. She finished one set when she heard running down the hall. It was Denki and he yelled as he entered the gym, "MARIE! THEY FOUND SOMETHING! IT'S BAD! REALLY BAD!" Marie dropped the dumbbell and ran over to him, "What happened?" Denki explained as they quickly ran, "They found out what the real plan is. This is really bad! Everything so far was nothing but a distraction! All of it! The explosions, the attacks, the kids, none of it mattered to their real plan!"
They entered the room with all of the Heroes assigned to The Brotherhood of Humanity Task Force, all of them were there; teams from France, Mexico, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Philippines, Turkey, Australia, and South Africa were all gathered together for the first time since they had first spoken to the President. That felt like it had happened years ago now as they were all gathered around a table, Creati and three other Heroes were at the table surrounding the captured technology from the Brotherhood. Creati looked exhausted as she stood up and used her Quirk to create a speaker and microphone and started talking.
"Thank you all for coming on such short notice," she said in English, and other Heroes translated for their comrades that didn't speak it. "We've uncovered hidden data within the matrixes of the Flying Armors, that has allowed us to uncover their prime directives, and from these directives we've been able to uncover The Brotherhood of Humanity's plan. The terrorist attacks were a mere distraction, to keep us from their true goal. Their true goal is nothing short of the erasure of all Quirks!"
She stopped talking then to let everyone absorb this information. A million questions in many languages were asked, but she waited for them to quiet down before continuing. "They are planning a formula, a mutagen that will reverse the mutations that form Quirks and introduce this formula into the water cycle of Earth. They will do this by causing Mount St. Helens here in America to erupt, spreading volcanic gas and ash into the air along with the formula, spreading it into the clouds and from the clouds into the water cycle. Within a generation, there will be no Quirks. But this is not all.
"We have analyzed the chemicals used in this formula, and it is missing a crucial ingredient, one they have collected two hours ago. This is their final ingredient," Creati tapped a button on a remote and the screen showed an image of Eri. "Eri!" Marie, Deku, and LeMillion all yelled at once. "This is Aizawa Eri, a Japanese girl with a powerful Quirk," Creati explained, and then gave a brief rundown of Eri's history and her Rewind Quirk.
"From the data we've collected," Creati concluded, "We can be certain that they kidnapped Aizawa Eri to continue the monstrous research done to her by Chisaki Kai and use it for their own purposes. And, if what I have seen is true, it could work. However, not how the Brotherhood think it will. We've carefully analyzed their formula, and if it enters Earth's water, it will kill all human and animal life." She stopped to let her words sink in, and Marie asked, "Why!? Why would they do that!? It's insane!" Creati shook her head and continued, "They don't realize what they are doing, Wolfheart.
"This is an extremely volatile mixture they have made, and the last component is Eri's biological tissue. Once that is added, then the formula will become carcinogenic, it will cause cancer to spread in everything that ingests it. They intend to use advanced explosives they made similar to those that destroyed Topeka, Kansas; Ann Arbor, Minnesota; and Madison, Wisconsin to cause Mount St. Helens to erupt, and spread ash as well as the formula into the atmosphere, it will be the largest volcanic eruption on Earth since the eruption of Krakatoa in 1883, which impacted the entire planet with its ash spread throughout the world. The formula they created will cause rampant cellular mutations which will lead to cancer growths throughout the world, every creature that ingests water will suffer cancer within a year of ingestion, and if our calculations are correct, life on Earth will end within twenty years.
"We have discovered their main base here in America, and we must reach them, we must stop them, today! If we fail, it will mean the end of animal life on Earth as we know it. We have discovered the location of their main base," Creati used her remote to change the screen to show a map. "This is the location of their main base, it's just outside of a town called Maceral Peak in Washington. We have to go now; we've already informed the American President and he has supplied us the fastest transports in America to get there as fast as possible! GO! GO! GO!"
Only those Heroes with superspeed Quirks were faster than Marie, she was running as fast as her body could move, only noting various government agents directing the running Heroes to the location of the planes. She was ready now; she would tear apart anything that tried to stop her from saving Eri. That girl was more than just her little brother's girlfriend, she was like a little sister to her and every other student of her generation of U.A. Deku might have reached the plane first, but LeMillion and the rest of her comrades weren't far behind Marie all of them determined to rescue her.
They soon arrived at the planes and by sheer luck her and Denki had the same plane. They were directed to seats and strapped inside, Marie and Denki next to each other. The transport jets were a new design, sleeker and more aerodynamic than previous designs with powerful jet engines that could get them to Washington in under an hour at top speed. "Do you think we'll be fast enough?" Denki asked as everyone finished strapping in. "We'll have to be," Marie angrily said. "Focus babe," Denki told her in Japanese, "Don't go rushing in half-cocked. I want to save Eri too, but these guys have been ahead of us the entire time. They might be prepared for this." Marie took a deep breath and calmed down.
The last of the transport jets was filled and everyone was strapped in, and then they all took off through the air. Everyone could feel the power and speed of the jets as they took off, Marie had to cover her ears and even then, the sonic boom that was made five minutes after takeoff shocked her. Once the plane's reached their peak velocity, everyone was handed ear mics so they could communicate with each other. She heard Momo over the ear mic, "Attention everyone, here is the attack plan!"
A holographic display then appeared in front of everyone, and Marie assumed it was in every plane. It was a map of the base, showing a large mansion surrounded on all sides by a forest. "We can assume that they will not be prepared for an aerial assault, therefore, all Heroes with flying Quirks along with LeMillion will drop off from the planes first to clear the area, in case they have any heavy weaponry in the area. Afterwards, the rest of us will parachute down and begin our attack on the base. We couldn't find any information regarding their weapons; we may be facing anything from handguns to Flying Armors to even worse weapons. We can only hope that we are ready for them if they are there. This is our only chance; we need to stop them now!
"There is no time for others to arrive, although various local Heroes are on the way to provide backup for us. Once we make our way inside," the holographic display changed to show an underground complex, "We will have to be prepared for anything, there could be numerous traps inside, but there is only one path to follow to their laboratory where we can destroy their equipment and rescue Aizawa Eri. Capture alive anyone you can…however…this is war. We must be prepared to do what we must to save the world. We'll arrive in thirty minutes, prepare yourselves."
Denki took Marie's hand in his and looked at her, and she looked back at him. He had the most serious look she had ever seen in his face as he said, "Be careful, Marie. This will be the craziest thing we've dealt with since All For One. These guys are fanatics, and we know they're ready to destroy the world to get rid of Quirks." Marie whispered back, "I'm not hiding, even if I am pregnant, Denki. If I don't do everything I can, I'd never be able to look our children in their eyes." Denki squeezed her hand tighter, so tightly that it started to hurt and whispered back, "I'd rather you live long enough to have our kids. Call it overprotectiveness, male chauvinism, whatever, but I am going to be worried about you until this is over."
The determination in him was amazing, and in any other context Marie would have called it sexy, but now it showed her how worried her husband was for her and their unborn child, or children. Marie put her hand over his and then kissed him and said in Japanese, "I'll be careful, my love, I promise." Denki sighed a little before kissing her back. They were quiet for the rest of the journey, but still held each other's hands tightly.
It felt all too short when it was announced, "Look alive everyone, grab your parachutes, we're five minutes out!" All the Heroes that didn't have Quirks or equipment that let them fly quickly grabbed parachutes and got ready to jump. The back hatches opened and those Heroes that could fly all jumped out. Two minutes later the sound of gunfire filled the night. "They're armed with automatic weapons! Military gear!" one Hero declared, and soon the shouts of LeMillion and Deku filled the ear mics as the two of them knocked out the soldiers, "The grounds clear! Come on!" Deku reported. Marie and Denki squeezed each other's hands one last time, and then jumped out and quickly opened their parachutes. Below the ground was full of knocked out enemies, Deku and LeMillion were finishing restraining them.
Once all the Heroes were on the ground, Marie smelled the air. "Get ready everyone!" she announced in English and Japanese, "Most of them are inside. I'm smelling a lot of chemicals and people in the mansion. The real fight begins in there. I'm going to transform into my Ultimate Form, so I won't be able to talk after this. Watch yourselves." Marie then changed further, growing six more inches in height as her arms and legs lengthened proportionately while her mouth and nose merged into a snout as she gained fifty more pounds of muscle until she was a 6'3" tall werewolf creature. Marie howled at the sky after transforming and charged into the Mansion.
She crashed through the front door and noted it was a heavy metal and grabbed it. Two people wearing dark robes were inside, armed with assault rifles. She quickly used the metal door as a shield to block their bullets, and LeMillion charged through her and knocked them out. "Let's go!" he yelled as more Heroes went inside. Marie put her ear to the ground and heard machines moving under the floor. She howled to get their attention and pointed to the ground. LeMillion understood and went intangible to fall in. He popped out and said, "Everyone! There's a chamber under here! That's the real base. I think the entrance is over behind that big clock!"
The main room looked like a well-furnished room with a fireplace, couches, bookshelves with rare books, and a large grandfather clock in a corner. Marie moved the clock, it was sealed to the floor, but with her superhuman strength she ripped it out, sending wood splinters everywhere and found the door and opened it. Deku came over to her and he announced to the other Heroes, "LeMillion and I will scout ahead! Half of you follow us! The other half check the rest of the Mansion just in case!" The Heroes agreed, and soon Deku and LeMillion were far ahead in the underground tunnel, while Marie and others were left behind them; it was impossible to keep up with Deku and LeMillion thanks to their Quirks.
As Marie and the others made their way through the underground, they saw the signs of their comrades' path. Destroyed weapons and machinery, disabled traps, and unconscious criminals were scattered throughout the underground pathway. It was eerie to Marie as they moved, all of it was just…too easy. It wasn't right. Even though there was clearly resistance, it wasn't as much as she would have expected. She wondered if the Brotherhood had stretched itself too thin…or worse, they had bad intel.
They soon came to a room, and inside were Deku and LeMillion standing over a tall man in a dark robe and hood with a noose around his neck. The tall man was restrained, and to everyone's surprise, he was laughing! Marie approached them with Denki close by and he asked the hooded man, "What's so funny? You've lost! Everyone is captured here! Just tell us where Eri is!" The hooded man laughed even louder at this, and Denki angrily ripped his hood off. The man was handsome, with deep blue eyes and a square jaw with dark black hair.
"I didn't think the Old Man would be right about this! I thought it wouldn't work, but you idiots fell right into our hands!" the apparent Leader said. He smiled widely at them all and said, "All of this was a distraction, you idiots! Mt St. Helens was never the volcano we needed to erupt! But in order for it to work, we needed a larger, and more powerful volcano, with just the right wind and storm conditions at the right time, a once in a century opportunity, over Japan, and Mt. Fuji! Everything we did in America had only one goal, to lure the only Heroes who could stop it, Deku and LeMillion, to the other side of the globe, to make sure that they can't stop it! Even if you moved at your fastest speed, Deku, you can't get to Mt. Fuji in time!" Everyone was struck silent at this, and the only sound in the room was the Leader's laughter. They had failed!