278 CHAPTER 273(Taking the bait)

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CHAPTER START---

---Tuesday, March 12th, 05:43 PM...

Standing atop Horizon Tower, looking out over Minato Tokyo, Horizon takes a few deep breaths, enjoying the fresh air.

"Are you sure you don't want us there?" Mudman's voice asks through his visor.

"Nah, I've got this," Horizon says. "And my source says villains are keeping tabs on my entire team, right now I'm showing my face in Tokyo so they relax a bit."

"Alright man, good luck with whatever big case you're working on," Mudman says before hanging up.

Horizon glances over his shoulder, seeing Scalpel, now recovered, hovering in the air behind him, alongside his hoverboard.

'Any second now,' he checks the time on his watch, then looks up as the sound of a helicopter reaches his ears.

He sees a news helicopter passing by the tower, the camera pointed directly at him, gladly broadcasting his location to put the city at ease.

Seconds later another call connects through his visor, "It's time, ready?" Pantu asks.

---HPSC Tokyo Headquarters...

Sitting at the back of a massive monitor room, Pantu looks out over dozens of agents coordinating teams of Pro Heroes.

There are four senior agents at one long desk just ahead of hers, before the ocean of other agents managing situations and Pro Heroes involved in this.

On Pantu's desk, there are only two monitors, showing a direct feed from Horizon's camera in his visor, and Endeavor's camera built into the chestplate of his new suit.

"Is everyone ready at Endeavor's Agency?" Pantu asks, glancing at the monitor to see the entire Endeavor Hero Agency assembled and waiting.

"Ready," Endeavor says.

"Horizon, sending coordinates now, you'll be 18 miles -30km- outside of Dagga city," Pantu says as she finally gets the specifics from Hawks.

The massive monitor at the far end of the room projects a map of Japan, showing Horizon Tower in Minator Tokyo, and Dagga City, 700 miles -1125 km- between them.

'Hawks was right,' Pantu thinks. 'They wanted this weapons test as far away from Horizon as possible, but that doesn't matter, we only need Kurogiri...'

"Got it," Horizon says as he receives the information. "Warping us there now."

"Track his jumps," Pantu orders her agents as she focuses on the screens.

In one instant he's standing atop Horizon Tower, looking at the incredible Tokyo skyline.

And in the next, he's standing in Endeavor's Hero Agency.

"53 kilometers -32mi-!" One of the agents yells out as he immediately marks Horizon's new location on the map.

As Horizon and Endeavor at talking, Pantu does her best to understand what she saw, or more accurately, what she didn't see.

'No materialization of another substance that helps him make space malleable, is this really Warping? Seems like, something else...'

She recalls his words during the UA Sports Festival, 'I simply tell the world what to do, and it does what I want, because it knows better'.

'Mystery Class monsters,' Pantu thinks. 'Probably close enough to compete with Start and Stripe right now, and only 16 years old, concerning.'

The view on her screen changes again, instantly appearing in a forest away from Tokyo, along with Endeavor and the Flaming Sidekicks.

"40 kilometers -24mi- !" the man announces once again, making the Warp destination and the number of people moved during it. 

After a few more of these jumps Pantu leans back in her chair and considers all that she just saw, 'his warping it...inconsistent, but clearly it's not exactly him affecting space, something is off here.'

Before she can finish her thoughts the Heroes arrive in a forest overlooking the ocean, 28 miles -45km- up the coast from Dagga City.

---With Horizon...

"We're here, how is the connection?" he asks Pantu.

"Clear for now, if anything happens I have people in place to figure something out, do you sense anything?"

"I still don't get why I'm here," Burnin says. "If whatever they have is meant to be used against this freak, what am I supposed to do exactly?"

"Act as support and distractions if necessary," Endeavor says while Horizon is focused on checking out the area. "Combat isn't just about who hits harder, matchup matters."

"Yeah yeah," Burning rolls her eyes, not liking how useless she's expecting to be in this conflict.

"President Pantu, did you contact Ryukyu?" Endeavor asks. "Her city is nearby, if we need more backup she'd be a good person to have ready."

"It's already taken care of, but try not to let it get to that," Pantu says. "Honestly, regarding backup, if you and Horizon can't win a fight, adding Ryukyu won't change the outcome."

"As if that guy knows how to lose," Burnin chuckles confidently.

"Got him," Horizon says, drawing their attention to him. "Kurogiri is a few miles West, inland, he's standing by a...communication device maybe, doubt that's the weapon."

"Are you ready to engage?" Pantu asks.

"Ready?" Horizon asks Endeavor.

Endeavor nods in response.

SHAMBLES!

Standing in a wide grassy field among the otherwise thick forest, Kurogiri is staring at an antenna device intently, playing along to Shigaraki's machinations under the orders of his true master.

Being the perfect bait.

"Hm!" Kurogiri's eyes widen as the device is suddenly cut in half.

Before he can activate his Quirk to fein a resistance Horizon swaps places with the top half of the device and thrusts Scalpel through his chest.

"Ugh!"

COUNTER SHOCK!

Large arcs of electricity dance around both of them and flow through Kurogiri's convulsing body as he drives the Nomu to the ground and pins him against the forest floor with Scalpel.

The current flowing in the ground causes some of the grass to blacken and burn away around them before Kurogiri goes unconscious.

As Horizon gets up and removes the sword, he swaps part of the device with Endeavor, who immediately glances down at Kurogiri.

Before the purple mist can hide it he sees the hole Horizon left in his chest before glancing at all the burnt grass and dirt.

"Is he still alive?"

"It, is a Nomu, so who cares?" Horizon asks.

"Aizawa," Endeavor says.

"Whatever," Horizon steps back and warps the device back to them for inspection.

"Looks like they were trying to set up a communications array," Endeavor says.

"Doesn't matter now," Horizon says. "We just rui---"

"Machia, wake up," Shigaraki's broken voice echoes through the forest as the ground begins to rumble.

"Horizon?" Endeavor's flames become hotter in response to the potential threat, remembering the fight Buakaw and Hodori had with Gigantomachia.

"I don't sense any speakers or other devices, and, huh," Horizon turns to face the middle of the clearing, as a massive rock rises from the ground. "Some kind of Stone Body Quirk to stay hidden…"

As the rock rises out of the forest floor, it begins to crack open and release brown slime that coats it, without spilling a single drop onto the ground.

It simply clings to the stone.

Then the stone shifts, changing colors to a deep purple as it unfolds itself, beginning to reveal a giant Nomu.

SHAMBLES!

Before the process can be completed Horizon warps it away, and in its place is a simple stone.

"They made Gigantomachia into a Nomu," Endeavor says in disgust. "Where'd you send him?"

"Bottom of to oce---"

As Horizon is speaking a ball of the same brown slime manifests in the space where Gigantomacina was, starting the size of a basketball and growing rapidly.

As it grows Horizon recognizes it, "All For One's 'Warp' Quirk," he says while slashing at it with Scalpel.

AMPUTATE!

Horizon slashes downward, causing a thin division through the middle of the clearing and extending into the forest, perfectly slicing through trees and earth alike.

But to their surprise the brown slime simply took the impact, becoming deformed for a moment that was nearly impossible to notice because of how fast it was expanding.

And when it became the size of a bus, the slime fell away to reveal Gigantomachi, standing upright.

He was two stories tall, shorter than when they last saw him, and much smaller as well, but he was magnitudes stronger, that much was obvious.

His muscles were more accentuated, covered by dark purple skin but only for a mere moment as the brown slime immediately manifests across his body and coats him entirely in a centimeter of it.

"Flashfire Fist!" Endeavor yells out and fires a blast of superheated flames at Gigantomachia, but the monster doesn't respond.

Not moving, not even turning to look at the Heroes standing in front of him, only remaining there like a statue.

"Fire resistance," Endeavor grumbles, noticing the Nomu was entirely unaffected by his attack. But then he sees the area where his flames hit glowing red for a moment before returning to normal, causing the muscles there to flex and tighten slightly.

"Metabolosing fire maybe," Horizon says.

SHAMBLES!

Horizon once again warms him away, and less than a second later the same brown slime appears to warp him back to the clearing.

AMPUTATE!

The slime deforms slightly but continues expanding.

"Maybe if I'm faster," Horizon says as he begins warping about the clearing and attacking from all sides.

AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE AMPUTATE!

He flickers all about the area, but the slime simply takes all the hits, some parts of it seem to dissipate, but eventually, it grows and Gigantomachia is warped back into the clearing.

"Any more ideas?" Endeavor asks as he gets ready for a fight.

"I'll think of something, but I'm guessing this is the weapon," Horizon says. 

"So that Quirk works," Shigaraki's voice echoes through the forest once more, causing all the heroes to look around.

Endeavor looks to Horizon who just shrugs, "he must be sending his voice through Machia' somehow."

"Stay on guard," Endeavor says.

Horizon looks back to Machia and addresses Shigaraki directly, "This is the part where you reveal your evil plan right? Can you make it fast, still have to drop this one off to jail," he gestures to Kurogiri.

"Plan?" Shigaraki asks, seeming genuinely confused. "What plan? There can be no plan while you're here, propping up Japan, being a pain in our side."

"Thanks," Horizon says. "Don't suppose you can keep this between just us, how about it?"

Shigaraki's broken laugh echoes through the forest, "no, that won't work for me. See, we had a plan, but then you decided to exist and ruin everything, everything!"

Endeavor and Horizon share a knowing glance, and he leaves Horizon to speak to the villain alone.

"So what is it that you want then?" Horizon asks as Endeavor quickly backs away.

"You, dead," Shigaraki says plainly. "With the resources we dumped into Machia' we could have taken over Japan already, but while you're here that goal is impossible, so you have to die first."

"And you think this big meathead is enough?"

Shigaraki's boisterous laugh echoes through the forest, "This new Machia grows in response to threat and danger, and he hasn't grown an inch since you so-called heroes got there!

We sacrificed his mind and pushed his insane constitution to the limit and beyond to fit these unique quirks, all engineered for his body, just so he could kill you.

So you can't simply wave your hand and get away from your death. You've met your match, Horizon."

"Wow, you put a lot of thought into this."

"Killing you is all I've thought about."

"Huh, I rarely think about you," Horizon shrugs.

"Tch, make your jokes, you can't run from what's about to happen to you."

"You did all that just so I wouldn't warp him into the earth and be done with it, are you that scared of me? C'mon, I've never even touched you," Horizon says playfully.

The sound of Shigaraki's teeth grinding reaches their ears.

"You're an abomination, everything wrong with this hero-centric society, even if you pretend to be a True Hero! You're the biggest liar! You're the most cruel of all the government-hired muscle, eager to perform so-called 'lawful violence' against those who wish to be truly free!"

"What about the people who choose to live in a peaceful society, who don't want to have to fight for survival against their neighbors at every turn, what about their freedom?" Horizon asks.

"SHEEP! Brainwashed by your lies and propaganda! They don't know true freedom so of course they can't choose it, they're blinded to the choices in this superhuman society!"

"Just like All For One brainwashed you to be his pet monster, right?"

Shigaraki's low growl is all they hear for a moment before he speaks, "my master's plan failed, now it's my turn to take control."

"Yet you still call him 'my master', seems you're just a puppet that can't see the strings."

Shigaraki's frustrated grumbling is all they hear for a while, then he goes silent.

"Gigantomachia---"

Machia's head raises up, eye glowing, ready to accept the command.

"---Get to the middle of the nearest city, then start killing everyone, prioritizing Horizon, go!"

"RAARRRGHHHH!!" Gigantomachi's roar sends a shockwave through the clearing, nearly knocking Horizon and some other heroes off their feet before he breaks into a full sprint.

The draft from his two-story, bulky body moving that fast rips Horzion off the floor, forcing him to warp to the other side of the clearing to avoid being rag-dolled by the sheer force of the wind in Gigantomachia's wake.

SHAMBLES!

Machia' disappears once again, but only for a few seconds before he returns and continues running southwest through the forest, easily uprooting and snapping entire trees without even noticing.

"Endeavor?!" Horizon yells out before warping onto his hoverboard and giving chase.

Endeavor rockets into the air and flies beside Horizon, "good job stalling, Pantu contacted Ryukyu, evacuation is already going well!" Endeavor says as the wind is rushing past them. "How'd you know he would take the fight to the city?"

They can barely hear each other over the sound of trees being destroyed, the earth being excavated, and Machia's footsteps causing quakes with every movement.

"Shigaraki is a drama queen, he needs to world to see him win and acknowledge it, I'm just glad you got my hint, if Shigaraki wants Machia in the middle of the city fighting me, he thinks that's the only way to make me stay in the fight."

"Isn't it?"

"If the city is empty it won't matter, Machia can't actually hit me, we'll have time to figure out how to put him down."

As they're speaking and following Gigantomachia, Horizon constantly tries warping the Nomu away, only for him to immediately warp back to his previous location and continue his task.

TAKT!

Horizon rips a chunk of earth upward, directly in the middle of Machia's path, only for the Nomu to run directly through it, as if it wasn't even there.

"Tch, it's like All Might!" Endeavor growls out.

"I need to know what Quirks it has," Horizon says before warping forward, swapping with a piece of rubble as Machia is running, reaching forward to place a hand on his back and Scan him.

But the moment he's about to make contact, two dozen holes open on Machia's back, causing him to warp back to Endeavor just in case.

"Incoming!" Horizon raises a hand, ready to activate Curtain as the cannon-sized holes are aimed back at them.

But instead, each hole launches a cannonball sized sphere into the air, above the heroes.

Endeavor and Horizon look up at them, expecting an attack.

But instead, each sphere unfolds and expands into a high-end Nomu, each unique aside from the fact that every one of them can fly.

And with exceptional speed, they rocket back toward the clearing, past the heroes, past Burnin who was doing her best to keep up with her mentor and friend.

Looking back they all immediately realize exactly what's happening, and the situation becomes many magnitudes more difficult.

"They're going for Kurogiri!" Horizon says as he turns around. "Keep following Machia," he orders before warping away, back to the clearing.

Time until ascension, 10 minutes...

END CHAPTER---

No more waiting, the next chapter, is THE chapter.

Happy new year!