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MHA Paragon 2.0 Chapter 32: Three Piece
🕑 Added 2025-01-26 22:07:04 +0000 UTC"What the hell are you doing Jin?!" One of the robbers hissed at his companion, who had screamed after I managed to see past his obscuring quirk.
"Shut up, Yuichi!" Jin screamed back, "The kid managed to see through my Veil!"
"What do you mean he saw through you, Veil?!" The last unnamed robber asked with a slightly nervous voice
"It's exactly what it sounds like, Shinji!" Jin spat before turning his attention back to me and hefting his gun. I don't know how, but he did it, so now we've got to do things the hard way."
Yuichi groaned but didn't hesitate to point his gun at the store clerk, "Alright, you know the drill, cashier, and safe, open them up. Any sudden movements, and I'll put a bullet right between your fucking eyes."
The clerk nodded stiffly before opening the cash register and taking out the bills inside.
"Shinji, take these two to the back!" Jin ordered his accomplice, as he gestured at Mina and me with his gun, "Tie them up and make sure to get their phones as well."
"O-okay," Yuichi replied as he stepped towards us, "T-turn around and g-get moving!"
"Kenji?" Mina whispered to me as she took a hesitant step back her eyes focused on the shotgun barrel level at her.
"Don't worry," I replied confidently as I reached behind me and felt Mina's hand grab onto mine in a death grip, "If we cooperate, there's nothing we need to worry about, right guys?"
"S-shut up and turn around!" Yuichi demanded, his voice cracking as he started to corral us to the back of the store.
Turning around, I made sure that my body covered Mina's figure as she walked in front of me.
Reaching the storage closet, Mina pushed open the door and stepped inside with me right behind her.
"A-alright, your phones. Hand them over!" Shinji demanded as he stared us down with wide, nervous eyes, "S-slowly!"
"Just relax. No one wants things to get out of hand," I muttered before reaching into my pocket and pulling out my dead phone, which I hadn't charged since the USJ Incident.
Mina followed my lead as we put our phones on the ground. With a grunt, Shinji kicked the devices behind him before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a heavy-duty zip tie that he threw at my feet, "P-put them on now!"
Shinji then licked his lips as he trained his gun at Mina, "A-and you st-start stripping...I-I need to make sure you aren't hiding anything!"
Mina froze, her face paling, "W-what!?"
"J-just d-do it!" Shinji hissed as his pupils practically started to vibrate, "D-don't make this harder than it has-"
Before the would-be predator could finish his sentence, I dashed forward, sliding across the floor as flux surged across my body. In the time it took Shinji to blink, I closed the distance between us, and I watched his beady mud-brown eyes widen in terror.
"W-wait-" I cut the robber off with my flux-wrapped fist and an audible crack as his jaw snapped to the side. The man collapsed to the ground like a sack of potatoes, but just to be safe. I kicked his gun away before flipping him over and binding his hands and feet to the zip ties in his pocket. As I apprehended the robber, Mina retrieved her phone and quickly dialed who I hoped was the police.
"Yes, hello...I need an officer...some guys are robbing the store we're in...yes, three of them, and they all have guns... no, it's just me, a friend, and the clerk. We got taken into the back, but the clerk is still up there...no we're safe now. My friend took out the guy holding us hostage."
I only heard one side of the conversation, but it wasn't that hard to piece together.
Mina glanced up at me as I stood up, her face surprisingly calm, seeing as she was almost assaulted, "They're saying the nearest unit is five minutes away."
"That's too long," I muttered in response, "When their friend doesn't come out in a minute, they're going to come looking for him."
"What do we do?" Mina asked in a hushed whisper, still on the phone with the police.
"Well, there's only one option, really," I muttered before walking towards the door.
"Kenji, what are you doing!?" Mina hissed as she tried to grab my sleeve, but I was already out of reach.
I winked back at her, "Relax. If these guys have to rely on guns, they're some pretty low-tier villains."
"But if you get shot, your mom will be pissed at me!" Mina shot back, almost making me laugh, "Hey, don't tempt me."
Before Mina could say another word, I slipped out the door and quietly closed it behind me. Using my flux to muffle any sound made by my footsteps, I sleuthed through the store aisles, going around the back until I reached the front of the store.
"Open the damn safe, or I swear I'll paint this fucking counter with your blood!"
Peaking out from behind a shelf, I surveyed the scene. One of the robbers was posted by the door, his eyes vigilant as he scanned the outside world. The other was currently behind the counter. His gun pressed into the back of the clerk, who was trembling like a leaf in the wind. " I-I swear I don't know, w-why would I lie to you? I-it isn't my money. I just work weekends here!"
"Well then, you better start guessing! Because we're leaving in five minutes, and if that safe isn't open, your chest will be!"
I recognized Rin's angry voice, meaning that Yuichi was at the door. Had it just been the two of them, I would have been confident attacking them head-on, but with a civilian in the mix, I couldn't go in flux blazing.
"Hey Rin, any word for Shinji?" Yuichi asked, his voice calm, almost nonchalant, as he continued to survey outside the store.
"No, but you saw that pink girl," Rin grunted back in response as the clerk started entering random codes into the safe to no avail. "He's going to be a minute."
Yuichi's lips twitch in disdain, "I can't stand that sick bastard."
"Well, unless you know someone else with his connections, tough shit," Rin spat back furiously, staring Yuichi down as if daring the man to refute his word. Yuichi only clicked his tongue before falling silent.
Their conversation was brief, but it was enough time for me to come up with a plan—though it was less of a plan and more of a design. Holding out my palm, I watched as a slim, weighted shard formed from my flux. It was roughly the size of a fountain pen with a slightly thicker middle section that tapered off into a blunt end on both sides. The shard was essentially a nonlethal version of a senbon, a type of throwing needle used by shinobi from the feudal era. It took a great deal of skill to throw one accurately and with enough power to deal significant damage; fortunately, I could cheat.
The senbon in my palm sparked with purple lightning as it floated above my palm, suspended in mid-air, thanks to the invisible but powerful magnetic field my flux was generating. I took one final glance from behind my cover. As I mentally selected my target, my brain lurched awake, solving a slew of calculations without my conscious thought.
It took less than a second before my mind came to a solution that my flux followed through on. The needle hovering above my palm flashed with a purple spark as it started to spin like a drill. A grin spread across my face, and with a thought, I sent the senbon flying.
There was a soft but audible buzz as the metal needle shot into the air, curving around the shelf I hid behind and down the aisle. Moving faster than a bullet, the senbon pierced through the air, leaving behind a trail of purple lightning in its wake.
There was no hiding the projectile's approach, but it hardly mattered with how fast the senbon was moving.
"What the hell is that noise-" Rin's voice cut off with a crack of electrified thunder as the senbon slammed into his chest, most likely fracturing his ribcage and electrocuting him with the voltage equivalent of a high-powered Taser.
"Rin!" Yuichi called out, and the moment I heard the shuffle of feet, I dashed out from behind my cover, shooting down the alise and locking onto the last robber standing.
The moment I stepped into the aisle, Yuichi paused midstride and turned to face me instead. Reacting faster than I expected, the robber raised his shotgun and, without hesitation, pulled the trigger.
My eyes widened, and on pure instinct, I thrust out my hand, and a tide of flux streamed into the air, but instead of forming a tendril, I shaped the flux into a large hexagonal shield that slammed into the ground. Despite the shield having the same thickness as a sheet of paper it stopped the bullets dead.
I could only imagine the look of surprise on Yuichi's face, but I wasn't done yet. Clenching my hand into a fist, I shot out a dense bolt of purple lightning that struck the shield, causing it to light up like a Christmas tree before levitating off the ground.
With a flick of my finger, I sent the shield flying forward, and it crashed into Yuichi, knocking him to the ground. The robber groaned as he tried to reach for his gun, but I wouldn't let him.
The shield that had just bowled him over liquified and washed over Yuichi, covering his body from the neck down before thickening into a glue-like consistency.
"What the hell is this!" Yuichi growled as he tried to free himself from my flux to no success.
"Don't worry. I'll let you go once the police get here," I replied helpfully as I stepped over the prone robber before making my way behind the counter where the clerk was currently staring at the ground.
Peaking my head over, I winced as I saw Rin on the floor, unconscious and slightly smelling of smoke with a large scorch mark on his shirt. My senbon, however, was nowhere to be seen; shrugging my shoulders, I held out my hand, which sparked once, and a second later, my senbon shot back into my palm before melding back into my skin, 'Automatic recall, nice.'
Comments
SacredLoneWolf
Thanks for the chapter đź‘Ť Nice Job
Romero
Great chapter. Thanks for your hard work
