Outer Zone,
"You three!" a guard, standing near a Humvee, shouted. "Where are you going?!"
The three people he had pointed out were all dressed in the blue uniforms of the maintenance staff.
However, instead of going toward the malfunctioning drones, they were returning to the vehicle that had just brought them here.
"We just received an urgent call from the Middle Zone," Luke began, misdirecting the guard's thoughts. "Some drones there are malfunctioning as well."
Despite putting off Nyx-mask, and the weird, multicolored clown makeup, Luke didn't look like Luke. Combining a Magician's illusion and a Clown's inherent control with light makeup, he looked like a completely different man — a touch older, in his twenties.
He had done the same to both Kazuho and Iwao next to him as well.
However, he couldn't do anything about Kazuho being a girl, Iwao's huge stature, or his own body.
Not to mention, there was a limit to which Nyx could keep using Flesh Manipulation.
Because of the low Complexity of the Quirk and Nyx's lack of practice, she could only switch between a mask and her true self, other than stretching out thin tendrils to touch something.
So, even Luke had been surprised by Nyx's action.
It should have frightened him, as both Iwao and Kazuho had seen her… a raven.
But when Luke had truly thought about it, he hadn't felt anxious at all, only relieved. It was then he had suddenly realized that this entire Mission was as much about extracting Dr. Sam as it was about — the Apostles of Mr. Fool.
Despite recruiting them, Luke had always felt dissociated from Iwao and Kazuho. Perhaps the same was true for them when it came to him as well?
He could relate to them, true enough, but… could they relate to him? Was believing in Mr. Fool enough for them to have trust in each other — especially when it counted the most in dangerous scenarios?
Luke had found no answer to these questions until that moment.
It was that relief that had let him know that more than a shared belief, they needed an understanding between them.
Of course, Luke still wasn't ready to talk about his past.
Still, this… this was a step forward in building a solid Organization, he guessed.
"What?!" the guard asked, shocked. "Wait. Let me confirm…"
"No…" Iron Mentor barged in, putting his hand on the guard's shoulder. "It's confidential. The center's prestige is on the line. I think — there's an intruder…"
The guard gasped.
Luke nodded. "Let's hurry," he nudged him even more. "It's best if we leave without alerting anyone."
Sweating and thinking of a rogue Villain at the facility, the guard heavily nodded, throwing himself in the seat of the driver.
Against two experienced Swindlers, an ordinary Quirkless person like the guard had never stood a chance.
…
By the time the Humvee reached the entrance to the Middle Zone, the guard had already disappeared, Iwao taking his place at the seat of driver.
The Quirk Factors scanning equipment was so high-tech and sophisticated that it was only available at the Main Entrance of the Detention Center. Also, given the presence of hundreds of drones and a No-Fly Zone above the entire facility, it wasn't like anyone could enter it through other means, making the presence of multi billion-dollar systems quite redundant.
Still, the Middle Zone entrance had everything else. The moment they reached the large gate, the guards standing at the front stopped the vehicle.
"… One of the Maintenance guys caught a drone's blade," Iwao said, showing his ID card, and nudging toward his side with his chin. "Bleeding like hell."
Taking the ID and handing it over to his colleague, the guard peered in and saw a girl squeezing tight on a man's arm, blood spurting out in gullies. The odor of blood hit his nostrils even harder, making his squint his entire face.
"Damn…" the guard cursed.
"… Can you hurry it up?!" Kazuho screamed, crying. "You want my brother to die or what?!!"
The guard backed off and looked over his shoulder, his colleague nodding back at him as the ID Card verification came back positive.
"… Their IDs," the guard asked, returning the driver's ID, already regretting his words.
"Have you gone mental?!!" the girl glared at the guard, fuming. "Here! Shove it up your ass!!"
She threw two ID cards at the guard's face, which he then picked off the ground, almost running to get them verified. When they came back positive as well, he returned even faster. In his haste, he didn't even check that the photos on the ID Card didn't exactly match the girl and boy, the image of the bleeding boy taking over all thoughts in his mind.
"Let them go!" the guard shouted.
The large door opened, and the Humvee shot forward, entering the Middle Zone.
…
"No!" the doctor lifted his hand as two nurses took the bleeding boy inside the Surgery Room. "You two stay outside."
Iwao, holding a rifle and dressed in a black uniform of a guard, nodded.
Next to him, Kazuho kept crying, but she was having trouble faking more tears as well.
"Don't look directly into the cameras," Iwao warned, looking down at the floor. "Keep crying and rubbing your eyes…"
"… Yeah, because that's the only thing I am good for?!" Kazuho snapped. "Why don't you cry?! Is it because I am a girl?!!"
Iwao's mouth twitched.
And suddenly, the Surgery Room's door behind them opened again.
"OK," the doctor said, his eyes looking glossy. "You two can come inside now."
Silently, Iwao and Kazuho entered the Surgery Room and shut the door, eying the scene within.
The two nurses were lying in one corner, snoring, and then even the doctor walked up to them and fell asleep.
Meanwhile, on the Surgery bed, Dr. Blessed was frowning as he looked at the Pendulum in his hand, rotating with insane speed.
"We don't have much time," The Leader warned, throwing a white lab coat on his shoulders. "Let's begin Phase III!"
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