The warehouse swallowed them in darkness as soon as the reinforced door creaked open. The stale, burned scent of scorched concrete and ash assaulted their senses. A few weak beams of light filtered in through holes in the ceiling, casting jagged shadows across the debris-strewn floor.
Reiji stepped cautiously inside, his boots crunching softly against shattered glass and metal fragments. His breath caught when he took in the destruction. It wasn't just wreckage—it was chaos, precise and terrifying. Blackened beams jutted like skeletal fingers from the floor. A giant claw mark ran up the far wall, and in the center of the space was a circular burn crater that looked unnaturally smooth—like something had vaporized everything in its core.
The silence was eerie. No insects, no wind. Just the occasional echo of their own movement bouncing off the damaged walls. Reiji instinctively slowed his pace, a knot tightening in his chest. Something was wrong here. Deeply wrong.
Endeavor led the group deeper inside, his fiery presence illuminating the way with a low flicker of heat that cast dancing shadows across the ruined warehouse. Hawks remained near the rear, his usual relaxed posture replaced by sharp, scanning eyes. His wings flexed slightly every time the floor creaked.
Todoroki walked beside Reiji, gaze flicking from surface to surface, absorbing details in silence. "These aren't my father's flame marks," he murmured under his breath. "They're too… scattered. And some of this burn damage came from inside the structure. Like something burst out."
Reiji nodded silently. He could feel it—that off-kilter hum of energy in the air, tingling against his skin. His fingertips twitched unconsciously as if reaching for something unseen. A strange, invisible pressure hung in the air, like the static right before a lightning strike.
Midoriya knelt near the crater, his ever-present notebook already in hand. He scribbled notes at high speed, occasionally muttering to himself. "The walls on the north side are more warped than the rest. Like they were exposed to high voltage… repeatedly. It's inconsistent with Endeavor's fire-based attacks."
Reiji crouched beside him, narrowing his eyes. The surface had faint scorch lines—spiderwebbed arcs radiating from a center point. They looked disturbingly familiar, the same pattern his own lightning left behind in training drills. Only this time, the signature was wrong. Incomplete. Wild.
Then the system pinged sharply in his mind.
[Warning: Residual energy detected. Match: 73%. Signature unstable. Proximity alert triggered.]
Reiji's heart skipped. He stood up quickly, taking an unconscious step back. "There's still something here," he muttered, not loud, but enough for those close to hear.
Endeavor turned sharply. His voice, though calm, carried authority. "Explain."
Reiji's mouth opened, then closed. The sensation beneath his feet grew stronger, like static crawling up his spine. "It's reacting to me," he said at last. "There's some kind of residue… and it's responding to my presence."
Hawks stepped forward, no longer playing the laid-back observer. "You mean your quirk?"
Reiji shook his head slowly, his expression growing more uncertain. "No. Not exactly. It's not just electricity. It's… mixed. Distorted."
Midoriya looked up from his notebook, eyes wide. "If that's true, it could mean the Nomu was exposed to artificial enhancement—quirk splicing or energy-based mutation. Maybe something it couldn't fully handle."
Todoroki narrowed his eyes. "Or it wasn't finished."
Suddenly, a low hum echoed from the crater. It wasn't mechanical. It was… organic. Wet. Wrong.
A section of the debris in the center shifted. Dust scattered into the air, and a strange smell—a blend of ozone and rot—filled the room. Something beneath began to pulse with a sickly violet light.
Everyone froze. Reiji's body tensed. He heard the faint intake of breath from Todoroki beside him and noticed Hawks' hand inching toward the hilt of a feather.
Todoroki stepped forward cautiously, flames kindling in one hand, his other forming a thin layer of ice along the ground. "Is it... alive?"
Midoriya's breath caught. "That's a Nomu tissue mass—what's left of one. It shouldn't still be reacting. They degrade once their core shuts down."
Endeavor raised a hand, halting everyone's movements. His voice was quieter this time, but firm. "No one touches it."
The pulsing mass twitched again—this time violently, sending out a small shockwave that pushed the nearby dust outward in a circular ripple. The air vibrated, and the lights in the warehouse flickered erratically.
The light inside flared suddenly.
And then it moved.
Veins of crackling black and violet energy snaked outward along the floor. Reiji took a full step back as the hum grew louder, vibrating through his bones. A deep, resonant throb began to pulse in his head, matching the rhythm of the mass's glow.
Hawks immediately shifted into a protective stance, wings partially extended. "Everyone stay alert. Reiji, back away slowly."
But Reiji didn't move. His eyes were locked on the core of the mass, his heart pounding in his ears. He could feel it pulling on something deep within him—not physically, but like a magnetic echo. Familiar. Like his power had been echoed back through a mirror—twisted and corrupted.
A sudden jolt struck Reiji's core. His system flickered again.
[Secondary Reaction Detected. Warning: External Energy Sync Occurring. Matching Template... Unknown.]
"It's not just reacting," he whispered, sweat trailing down his temple. "It's syncing."
Todoroki tensed. "With you?"
Reiji didn't answer. The pulsing mass surged—tendrils of energy coiling outwards like a living storm. And in the glow, Reiji saw something within the center of the mass: a distorted silhouette, humanoid in shape, barely formed—but unmistakably moving.
His breath hitched.
The silhouette jerked once. Then again. Its body was undefined, features shifting—like it was forming from energy and flesh simultaneously, an unstable hybrid struggling to shape itself.
Midoriya called out, "That's... that's not just residual. It's reconstructing. It's trying to regenerate!"
Reiji stepped back finally, panic flashing across his face. "It's feeding off my energy signature. It's using me to stabilize."
Endeavor's flames roared to life. "Move! Now!"
But the thing in the crater lifted its malformed head.
And
opened
its
eyes.
To be continued.
__________________________
🔥 Hey legends! Quick updates! 🔥
💥 Can't wait for the next chapter? Good news—ALL advance chapters are available on Patreon for just $5! No more waiting, just pure binge-reading goodness! 🚀
👉 patreon.com/cyci07
✨ Power Stone Challenge! ✨
If we hit 100 power stones, I'll drop 2 bonus chapters! Let's see if you guys can make me suffer! 😂
💬 Enjoying the story? Leave a review and let me know your favorite moment so far! It helps the novel grow and reach more readers!
Thanks for all your support—you guys are awesome! ❤️