Disclaimer:
My Hero Academia was created by Kohei Horikoshi. Shin Megami Tensei was created by Atlus. This story uses plot elements and characters from them.
The Quirk War
By: RB3
Building the Foundation Ch 6: Lords of Mustafar
Atsuro and Manami reviewed the Mustafar Mall bombing footage and noted one boy running through its halls. Before the bombing, the young, black-haired boy ran past the shops. "Mommy! Mommy! I want lunch!" said the boy.
"In a minute, Sho. I need to buy some soap here first," replied Ms. Murakumo, the boy's mother.
Sho followed his mother into the bath store, which sold various things that would be used in personal care and hygiene. Its products included soap like his mother wanted, but also towels and floor mats for a bathroom floor. It also had an assortment of cleaning products for disinfecting tubs, toilets, and sinks. Ms. Murakumo picked out six bars of goat milk soap, which had a moisturizing effect to help with Sho's sensitivity to harsher regular soaps.
As his mother paid for the soap, Sho bolted out of the store and ran to the nearby food court. "Sho, don't run off without me!" cried Ms. Murakumo.
She finalized her purchases, then ran after Sho, who stopped by one of the nearby restaurants, which sold Italian food like pasta. As his mother followed after him, an explosion went off somewhere in the distance. "Bomb!" cried someone in the food court as the crimson gas started to spread out.
Ms. Murakumo recoiled in fear. "Sho! Where are you?" she called to her son. Sho, who had been terrified by the loudness of the explosion, came out of the gas running in terror without looking back. Ms. Murakumo gave chase and managed to lift him off the ground. "I'm here my sweet little boy! Mommy's here. I won't let anything happen to you," said Ms. Murakumo.
Both members of the Murakumo family were taken by the medics when the authorities arrived and checked for contamination. Despite a battery of tests, they could not find anything unusual no matter what test they tried. Eventually, they allowed everyone to return home. Two nights later, Sho ate a dinner of fried chicken, rice, and vegetables prepared by his mother. To her surprise, Sho went for seconds, then thirds, and even downed a fourth serving of his dinner.
"Sho, that's way too much food! You're gonna get sick if you keep that up!" scolded Ms. Murakumo.
"I want more! I'm hungry!" replied Sho.
"I don't have any more. You've already eaten enough for one night," said Ms. Murakumo.
"Aw!" groaned Sho.
"No more complaints! Go finish your homework!" scolded Ms. Murakumo.
Sho stopped whining and went to continue his homework for the night. When he went to bed, his newfound hunger continued to pester him until the next morning. It kept him from gaining a good night's sleep and he kept dozing off even after waking in the morning. Eventually, his mother drove him to Masegaki Elementary School for lessons with Class 3A. Throughout the morning, he was constantly bothered by this nagging hunger, even though he had eaten seconds for both his breakfast and lunch.
Yet, still his hunger persisted and continued to nag him. During afternoon recess, Sho felt no desire to play with the other kids due to hunger and retreated to a separate area of the playground. With it consuming his mind, he saw a shadowy, cloud-like monster staring back at him from the darkness with eyes of electricity. The monster moved closer and closer, coming just moments from engulfing the boy.
"Psst! Over here!" called a woman, breaking him out of his trance.
Sho was standing near the edge of the playground. He looked through the metal fence and saw a short young woman with long red hair. She was barely taller than the other children, yet was actually a fully grown woman. The woman waved for him to come closer. "Did you want something?" asked Sho.
"Yeah! Are you feeling hungry?" asked the young woman, who was Manami Aiba.
"Yeah! I'm starving here!" replied Sho, moving closer to the fence to talk to her.
"Normal food won't satisfy the kind of hunger you have. Take a look at this," said Manami.
She pulled out a strange red gelatin shaped like a muffin and showed it to Sho. When he laid eyes on it, his hunger got the better of him and he instinctively snatched it from Manami's hand through the fence. He wolfed it down, but whatever it was, it had cured his hunger instantly and completely. "That was filling. Thank you!" said Sho.
Manami smiled. "No problem! Please don't tell anyone I'm giving you food. It'll be our little secret! A friend of mine is going to talk your parents about your hunger. You may not know it yet, but you're very sick right now. That's why you're eating so much," replied Manami.
"I am?" asked Sho. Then, he remembered the explosion at the mall and running through a strange red gas to find his mother. He had been in the gas long enough to touch it, even breathe some of it in. "Was it that red gas at the mall after the explosion?" he asked offhandedly.
"Oh! You're such a perceptive kid!" remarked Manami jubilantly. "I was going to tell you that myself, but you beat me to it."
"I saw a doctor and he told me I was okay and so was mom!" said Sho.
"There are diseases which doctors can't find, no matter how good they are. If they can't find it, they can't cure you," warned Manami.
"Sho, it's time to go back!" cried one of the kids.
"Coming!" Sho called back. "I'll see you some other time, lady."
"Sure. Bye bye!" said Manami, waving to Sho.
Later on, after Sho had returned home with his mother, Abel knocked on the door of their apartment. Ms. Murakumo opened the door. "Ms. Murakumo, I presume?" asked Abel.
"Yes. What do you need?" asked Ms. Murakumo.
"I'm here to speak with you concerning your son. I'm known as the Immortal Stranger. I represent a group which is trying to contain the spread of the Atma virus and prevent it from becoming an epidemic. Recently, there has been an outbreak in Mustafar City. We believe your son has been infected," replied Abel. "Has he been to the Mustafar Mall recently?"
"Do you mean the bombing?" asked Ms. Murakumo.
Abel nodded. "Our group believes that the MLA had released Atma through that explosion. I need to speak with both you and him. May I come in?" asked Abel.
"Okay. Please sit at the dining table. I'll call Sho," said Ms. Murakumo, who turned back to the other rooms. "Sho, please come here. I need to speak to you," called his mother.
Abel went in and sat at the head of the table before Ms. Murakumo and Sho. He explained to them about Atma and its effects upon its victims. Although it granted powers similar to a Quirk, it also erased any Quirks a person had. "Sho has lost his Quirk?" asked Ms. Murakumo.
"Not yet, but the first time he transforms, he will. It's only a matter of time. If he doesn't use the power himself, his hunger or the light of the full moon will trigger his transformation. Then his demon will take over," replied Abel.
As Ms. Murakumo listened, she remembered that Sho had been unusually hungry lately. "Wait, Sho, did something happen at school?" asked Ms. Murakumo.
"Someone visited you and gave you food, right?" asked Abel.
"Yeah. A nice lady came by and showed me something that looked like a big red gummy. Somehow, I knew it was food, so I grabbed it from her," confirmed Sho.
"I sent that woman to you. We were concerned that if your hunger persisted, you would transform at your school," Abel informed the Murakumo family.
"If Sho had transformed at school, what would've happened?" asked Ms. Murakumo, whose anxious expression revealed that she feared the worst.
"A massacre. He would have killed and eaten the other kids to satisfy his hunger. If his hunger had gotten the better of him earlier, he would've done the same to you," warned Abel.
"You've... seen people do that, haven't you?" asked Sho, anxious at the response he would get.
"Oh yes!" said Abel, recalling those incidents such as Izuku's attack against his own mother.
As he recalled those memories, Ms. Murakumo noted how pensive he became. "Is there any way to cure it?" asked Ms. Murakumo, now fearful for her son's future.
"There's no cure, only management. My group has made it their mission to help people suffering from Atma like Sho. Please allow us to help," replied Abel.
"Okay. Where do we take him?" asked Ms. Murakumo.
"Look for a tree marked with the spade in the northeast area of Mustafar Park and call for the Immortal Stranger," replied Abel, standing with Ms. Murakumo's and shaking her hand. "Thank you for your cooperation. Having told you all this, it's vital you maintain secrecy and not tell outsiders about this."
"You fear Sho might be labelled a villain, even though he didn't do anything wrong?" asked Ms. Murakumo.
"Sho never asked to be made this way, but there are dangers we must address. Not just Sho losing control, but demons possibly targeting him as a tasty snack. Even if they don't attack him, demons feed on the fear they create," replied Abel.
"I understand. We'll keep this a secret," assured Ms. Murakumo.
"Thank you, Ms. Murakumo," said Abel. "Please bring Sho for training as soon as possible."
On the first day of his training, Sho and Ms. Murakumo joined Abel at the magic firing range, where some dummies had been set up. "This is your first lesson. How are you feeling, Sho?" asked Abel.
"I'm excited! You're going to teach me how to use my cool new powers!" replied Sho in boisterous glee.
"Good!" remarked Abel. "Your Atma is known as 'Darkening Cloud.' It has power over the elements of the storm, as well as darkness. For our first lesson, we'll have you take on its form. Look deep within and focus on that image to become the demon."
Sho closed his eyes and focused inward. He saw what looked like a mass of churning black clouds with two eyes made of ball lightning. This act caused Sho's body to leak dark mist until he had been consumed entirely and assumed the form in his mind. "Whoa! I'm Darkening Cloud now!" remarked Sho upon looking at himself.
"Let's conjure up some lightning. I've taken the liberty of setting up dummies over there as targets. To call lightning, simply picture it jumping out of your hands at the target," said Abel.
"Okay, here goes," said Darkening Cloud. He focused intently on the image of lightning arcing through the air. Reality bent to his will to make electricity leap from his fingertips at a dummy. It convulsed as though in agony and collapsed. Acrid smoke arose from the fallen dummy. "I did it!" proclaimed Darkening Cloud as he pumped his fist into the air.
"Yes. Good work!" complimented Abel.
"Wow! That was a beautiful lightning bolt!" remarked Ms. Murakumo proudly.
"Yes. Your son is learning quickly," remarked Abel. "Tomorrow night is the next full moon. Sho needs to hide here until it's over. If he's exposed to its light, he'll transform against his will and go berserk. Please make sure to bring him here for the night."
"Okay, anything to protect my boy," assured Ms. Murakumo.
"Darkening Cloud is a bit of a mouthful to call him by. I suggest we use the name 'Famfrit' instead," said Abel.
"So I'm Famfrit," remarked Sho.
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The next afternoon, Atma infectees across the city travelled to the Domain to hide away from the light of the full moon. The demons of the Domain fetched random items from blankets to toiletries to ensure the infectees had what they needed for their stay. Their supplies were endless, since they were simply created from the matter and Magatsuhi provided by the Domain. Sho and his mother had received a hotel room in the eastern annex of the colosseum where he normally trained with his power.
Some time during the evening, Yuzu found the duo's room and knocked on the door, to be answered by Ms. Murakumo. "Hello! I'm Pink Sleeves, working under the Immortal Stranger. I'm here to see if you're adjusting well," introduced Yuzu.
"Oh, we're fine! This room is so big and we get to stay here rent-free for the night!" replied Ms. Murakumo in awe of the room she had received.
Yuzu chuckled. "I'm glad you enjoy it!" she replied.
"I heard stories from the other people and they're frightening!" remarked Ms. Murakumo. "Ms. Midoriya's son became a werewolf and tried to eat her! I'm terrified to think that something like that could happen with my Sho!"
"I know. We're doing our best to take care of these people and hopefully let them have a normal life," said Yuzu.
"I heard it was the MLA who carried out those attacks at the mall. Are they going to make more people into demons the way they did to my Sho?" asked Ms. Murakumo concerned that the MLA was still at large.
"I hope not, but they're being backed by the demons. You never know with demons involved," replied Yuzu.
"Where is the Immortal Stranger right now? I haven't seen him lately," asked Ms. Murakumo.
"He went out to hunt for people who have been changed by moon light. He's gonna capture them," replied Yuzu.
Fortunately, the night of the full moon had passed by without incident thanks to the infectees quickly taking refuge at the Mustafar Park Domain. The next night, Abel had gathered his closest allies together for a meeting. "Our group is getting big, so it's time we create a front for our organization," said Abel.
"Since we're trying to manage Atma, how about a clinic?" David suggested. "We'd still have to keep the demon stuff secret, but as a medical institution, we can use medical confidentiality to avoid saying too much."
"Great idea!" said Abel with a cunning smile. "In that case, let's call ourselves the 'Atma Foundation' since our purpose is to manage the virus. We'll hire a few doctors and nurses and they'll form our front."
"We'll need to rent or buy a building for the clinic. Do we have enough money?" asked Melissa.
"I have an idea of how we can get the funds. My demons have found Sam. He retired to Sarasota, Florida in the US after he sold the data on the Perpetual Reactor. He got quite a hefty sum of money for that research. After some persuasion, I'm sure Sam will be chomping at the bit to make a generous donation," said Abel.
David's eyes widened to learn that the Spade Mercs knew where Sam was and what he was doing. "Please don't hurt Sam! I know he betrayed us, but he's still my friend!" begged David.
"We shouldn't need violence to persuade him. At the same time, we can get a little payback and find out who bought the plans from him," said Abel.
Some time later, the Wild Hunt demons, who resembled a group of cloaked hunters with dogs and horses, flew across the sky and found a house somewhere in the suburbs of Sarasota. Inside, fast asleep next to his wife was Samuel Abraham, who had purchased the abode with some of his earnings from selling the Perpetual Reactor plans. The Wild Hunt became pixelated lights and slipped through a crack in the window, then reformed surrounding their bed.
As Dr. Abraham tossed and turned, he eventually opened his eyes and noticed his room was different than normal. After rubbing his eyes, he finally noticed the ghosts there. His eyes and fatigue were not just playing tricks on him. "AH!" he screamed, throwing the covers over his face to hide from them.
"What's the matter Sam? Go to sleep," said his groggy wife.
"G... Ghosts!" he replied.
"What are you talking about? I don't see any..." said his wife, who then noticed the ethereal spirits surrounding her bed. "Oh my God!"
She quickly pulled the sheets over her head to join her husband beneath them. "W... What do you want?" asked Sam timidly upon peeking out.
"Donate... Atma Foundation... Stop demons," replied the Wild Hunt.
Some of the Wild Hunt changed into deathly men and women in torn and ripped lab coats. One was a woman, a corpse charred black by the flames which wreathed her. Others had mangled and fractured bodies, still bearing the wounds caused to them by the demons. "Oh God!" cried Sam, whose heart sank upon seeing them. "Okay, I'll do it! I'll donate!"
The Wild Hunt vanished, at peace with Sam's promise to make a donation. With the ghosts gone, Sam was finally at peace and went back to sleep with his wife. Moments later, Scarlet appeared in the room and put Sam under deep hypnosis with magic. He opened his eyes, which took on a faint pink hue, and stared blankly at the roof. "Okay darling, tell me, who did you sell the Perpetual Reactor plans to?" asked Scarlet.
"I sold it to Yuriko and Samuel Engel of the Gaia Group," replied Sam in a monotonous trance.
"Did you give anyone else the plans?" asked Scarlet.
"Nope, just them," replied Sam.
"Do you have any copies of the plans left? Where are they?" asked Scarlet.
"Yes. They're in my office computer. I also have a copy on a thumb drive," replied Sam.
"Thank you. Forget that you ever talked to me tonight and go back to sleep. Good night darling," said Scarlet.
"Good night," replied Sam, who went back to sleep.
The Wild Hunt reappeared in Sam's office, where they turned on the computer and attached his thumb drive. Outside with a laptop, Atsuro went through Sam's files and deleted all information pertaining to the Perpetual Reactor project. The next day, he reviewed his email and saw that Dr. Samuel Abraham had provided information to an offshore account with US $80 million dollars in it. Sam had made good on his word to donate to the Foundation's cause.
With these funds, the Spade Mercs purchased an unused apartment building from a real estate agent under the name of Tania Fey, an alias for the fairy queen Titania. The Spade Mercs and their allies entered the unused apartment and examined the interior. "We own this now!" proclaimed Midori.
"This will make a great clinic!" remarked David as he looked over the halls and rooms.
The apartment building was five storeys high with four apartments on each floor above the ground floor. They were connected to each other via an elevator and a stairwell. The first floor itself was a commons area with an office for the building's managers. The building also had a basement with the building's HVAC system, water pipes, and water heater. The Spade Mercs connected their new clinic with their Domain, then brought over supplies made from the Domain's matter to renovate the building.
As the final touch, Atsuro installed a white sign on the courtyard of the building with "Atma Foundation" written on it in blue letters. Beside the words "Atma Foundation" was its emblem, a man's face with the left half resembling a werewolf and the right their normal human face. This emblem represented the dual nature of those infected with Atma, human and demon in one. The Atma Foundation's founders stepped back and admired their handiwork.
"This is it. We're open for business!" said Izuku.
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Later on, night had fallen on the city of Mustafar and its people had come out to enjoy the nightlife at bars and clubs with drinking and dancing. Beyond the city limits, north of the UA High campus was the vast wilderness. It was filled with trees, a great forest which had not been claimed by civilization. All seem quiet until a thunderous uproar ripped through the forest. A herd of bull-like demons with a single eye and red skin stampeded through the forest, trampling anything in their path such as small bushes.
This event had been detected by the Spade Mercs at the Foundation's Domain. They watched the stampede through Scarlet's eyes as she transmitted the footage from her eyes. "Look Abel darling! Those Stonka are going crazy!" reported Scarlet.
"I see," replied Abel.
"What could have made them go crazy like that?" asked Yuzu. "Stonka wouldn't just up and cause a stampede for no reason."
"We'll call in the others to deal with it," said Abel.
He teleported to the colosseum, where the demon hunters were hitting pads and punching bags for training. "Master Abel, what's up?" asked Izuku at the heavy punching bag.
"We have a mission for you. Please listen. A group of Stonka have been sighted in the wilderness north of UA High. Normally, they'd stay in their Domain, but for some reason, they're stampeding through the forest. I'd like you to calm them down and find out what caused such strange behaviour. If possible, avoid causing any lasting harm," replied Abel. "Think of it as an exercise in diplomacy. Despite us being demon hunters, it's important to talk to demons and build good relations with if possible."
"Our first mission in the field? Don't worry, we'll get it done!" assured Melissa.
Using the Domain's teleportation system, the five demon hunters appeared in the forest just outside the site of the stampede. They could hear the thunderous rumbling of the bulls' cloven hooves as they charged through the wilderness. Their motion kicked up large dust clouds, which revealed their location to the demon hunters. Izuku and company promptly transformed into their Avatars and approached the Stonka. As the same time, Manami had donned a theatrical mask, assuming her identity of Queen.
Metal Gear approached some of the Stonka. "Stonka, report on your status," demanded Metal Gear.
The Stonka either were unable to hear her over their own noise, or they did and simply ignored her request. "I don't think we'll get through to them that way. The Stonka are too afraid of something," reported Serenoa.
"Still, what would make them stampede like this? If Stonka are usually docile, what spooked them so?" asked Beast.
"We need to clear their braaains," replied Plant Zombie.
"I'm going to turn on the charm. Wish me luck," said Queen.
She called the Kingdom of Hearts to surround her. The castle's towers emitted clusters of small pink hearts at the Stonka. Upon being struck, the Stonka froze, as though in a trance. "Well, that did the trick," remarked Beast.
"Stonka, what were you so afraid of?" Serenoa asked of a pacified bull.
"It terrible! Stonka live in Domain, full of delicious grass to eat. Angel come and shoot us, cause pain. Angel too fast, faster than lightning, can't hit her. Angel chase Stonka from Domain," replied the Stonka.
"Oh, is that what this is about? If we can get rid of the Angel, can you go home?" asked Serenoa.
"Yeah. Angel too scary! Please help Stonka," replied the Stonka.
"We will. We'll tear that Angel limb from limb, and then you can return home," said Beast.
"Thank you!" said the Stonka.
Serenoa scanned the area through ESP and detected the signature of holy energy 3 km to the north of their current location. It belonged to an Angel. She was a woman with dove-like wings clad in a pure white dress. She had curled blue hair and an expression of serenity on her face. Plant Zombie and Queen deployed their reinforcements and sent them ahead to engage the Angel. The zombies and card soldiers eventually drew the attention of the Angel as they came into view through the top of a clearing.
The Angel opened hostilities by firing bolts of holy light down onto a zombie. Being vulnerable, the undead servant was instantly flattened and disintegrated. The card soldiers fired muskets at her, but she banked left to evade. "Stop!" cried Plant Zombie as he and the other Avatars arrived to join the battle.
The Angel began bombarding him and the other demon hunters with orbs of golden holy power. They exploded all around, tearing bark and plants to pieces and scattering the soil, leaving devastation in their wake. One orb dissipated on contact with the Werewolf. That gap in the onslaught enabled Plant Zombie to retort with peashooter fire, which the Angel banked right to escape. The Angel unleashed another orb which blasted the dirt before him, blinding him momentarily as it got into his eyes.
Metal Gear spewed bullets which grazed the Angel as they passed by. The Angel struck back with holy orbs to be blocked by her heater shield. Meanwhile, Queen's card soldiers had loaded a catapult on the Kingdom of Hearts. Once lobbed at the Angel, the boulder connected cleanly with her ribs and knocked her out of the sky. Her abrupt landing put her in the midst of zombies, who crowded around and tore her to pieces.
With the threat contained, the demon hunters returned to the Stonka, who were standing around throughout the forest. "Stonka no feel Angel around. Thank you!" said the Stonka representative.
"You're welcome. Please go back to your Domain and be at peace," said Queen.
After the Stonka marched back home, the demon hunters reported back to Abel about the successful completion of the mission. "Good work. You resolved the situation without harming the Stonka, but that Angel has me concerned," said Abel.
"Why?" asked Manami.
"If angels are showing up, a confrontation between their forces of Law and the demons of Chaos is bound to break out. From what we learned from Dr. Samuel Abraham, he sold the Perpetual Reactor plans to Yuriko and Samuel Engel. Those are common aliases of the demons Lilith and Samael, major demons of Chaos. If such a fight breaks out, Hero Society would be trapped in the middle," replied Abel.
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A few nights later, Akira Sasaki, a leather-clad member of a biker gang, visited the typical haunt of his gang. Known as the "Mustafar Lords," they usually met at the rear of an abandoned JP Petro gas station. In its derelict state, the JP Petro station had become a sort of dumping ground for broken home appliances and electronic devices. Some of the characters on the shelter's top had fallen off, causing it to read as "JP P ro" with rust filling in for the missing letters.
Akira had dragged with him the corpse of a rival gang member and dumped it before his friends. "Ugggh! Are you telling me we need to eat this guy?" asked Kiyoko, a girl with spiky hair.
"Yeah. Ever since the bombing and our Quirks changing, it's been the only way to satisfy our hunger," replied Akira.
"I don't know about you, but I'm starving!" remarked Tetsuo, a Mustafar Lord with spiky hair.
He transformed into a king made of paper, the "Origami King," and sliced off the left arm of the corpse. He proceeded to eat the severed limb, which made Kiyoko nauseous enough to avert her eyes. "I'm gonna be sick!" she muttered.
"Eat up, girl! You'll be hungry if you don't," warned Akira.
Seeing no other choice, Kiyoko became the black clad, ninja-like Avatar "Shinobi" and proceeded to join in on the feast. Two other members of the Mustafar Lords in Avatar form joined the trio in their meal. While no strangers to violence, watching their friends cannibalize a rival gang member made the other Mustafar Lords feel nauseous as Kiyoko did. They looked away until the five ended their feast. Despite that, there were still leftovers since the rival's torso still remained. The five split up the torso and finished it entirely. After their meal, all that remained were the bones.
The five returned to their human forms to savour the feeling of satiety. "Now that we've eaten, what should we do tonight? Should we knock off a convenience store and get some moolah?" asked Tetsuo.
Before Akira could answer, a young man clad in a hooded black cloak appeared before them in a flicker of blue light. "Who are you?" asked Akira, as other members of his gang reached for weapons.
"I'm the Immortal Stranger. It has come to my attention that members of your group were at the Mustafar Mall on the day of the MLA bombing," replied the cloaked man. He then noticed human bones with bits of flesh still on them. "It seems that you're aware of your condition. That makes my explanation that much easier."
"So?" asked Akira. "You'd better scram before we blow your head off!"
The Mustafar Lords trained guns at the Stranger. "I want to offer you an alternative to committing crimes to survive. I am a representative of the Atma Foundation. We provide support to people who are infected like you," replied Abel.
"Support?" asked Akira.
"Yes. We can provide food and shelter so you don't have to rob and kill to survive," replied Abel. "We'll have to insist that you stop doing these things once you accept our offer."
"You can take your support and shove it! We'll do whatever we want!" cried Akira, who shot Abel with his pistol. His eyes widened when he realized that the bullets passed into the Stranger harmlessly, leaving a flicker of white in their wake.
With a crook of the Stranger's finger, Akira suddenly felt an invisible force seize his throat, strangling him as he was lifted above the ground. The other Mustafar Lords opened fire, but found their shots were equally ineffective. "I'll ignore your pitiful attempts to attack me tonight. I'll back in a week for your response. Refuse and the hunters will deal with you!" scolded Abel with a scowl.
Once the Stranger vanished in a flicker of blue light, Akira became free from the telekinetic choke hold. Left reeling on all fours on the ground, the gang leader coughed to clear his throat. "Are we going to take him up on the offer? If we don't need to go around eating people to live, I say we should play along," suggested Kiyoko.
"What, and give up all this fun? No way! Who cares if we have to munch on a few chumps?" asked Akira rhetorically, coughing as he stood up. "With this sweet power, we can do whatever we want. We can take down those Alderaan Rebel punks. We'll show 'em that the Mustafar Lords rule!"
"So, are we still on for hitting the Golden Yen?" asked Tetsuo.
"Yep! Tomorrow night," said Akira.
The next night, all was quiet at a Golden Yen bank branch somewhere in the heart of Mustafar City. Everyone who worked at the bank had turned in for the night to rest. Only a few security guards remained to patrol its halls, scanning the building with flashlights for unusual activity. One of the guards reached the main floor, where he scanned the area with a flashlight, but found nothing suspicious in the building.
When the guard turned his back, a black tar seeped along the ground, inching its way closer to him. Once it was underneath him, it yanked him into the abyss. "Ah!" screamed the guard, before strands of inky tar wrapped around his body and mouth, muffling the sound of his screams. In a few seconds, the black tar had consumed the guard.
The tar flowed up a wall towards a security camera, then engulfed and destroyed it. It repeated this process for the remaining two cameras until security had been blinded on the first floor. It seeped back towards the vault, entering through the cracks, then engulfed the locks and slowly disintegrated them. As it worked on the vault, another security guard came down to find out why the first floor cameras went down.
As he looked around the floor, the guard did not see a shadow creeping up on him from behind. Once it reached his back, a ninja emerged and grabbed him. After a quick slash to the throat, he had been silenced permanently. The ninja proceeded to chomp on the guard's body like a greedy vulture. During this time, the black tar had corroded away the hinges and the door popped open. The tar flowed back out and coalesced into a devil's silhouette with burning red eyes.
"I'm in. Grab the money and run!" he told his accomplices.
News of the Golden Yen bank robbery spread around the city of Mustafar and reached the Atma Foundation members in the Domain. "Look! The Mustafar Lords were there!" said Midori.
She showed the team holographic footage of the news. "One guard had been found dead at the scene and another is missing and presumed dead. Witnesses reported seeing members of the Mustafar Lords, a local biker gang, leaving the area just after the crime took place. The police has named them persons of interest in this crime. If anyone sees any of their members, please notify the police," reported a news anchor.
"Looks like they're going to keep eating people and wreaking havoc," said Yuzu, shaking her head at the gang's insistence of committing crimes.
"There's still six more nights before I go to hear their answer. In the meantime, we'll gather intelligence and prepare a plan of attack. If they won't stop these games, we'll step in," said Abel.
END OF CHAPTER
