In the Conference Hall of the Apostles of Mr. Fool's HQ, which was now expanding as a set of horizontal towers, running longer and longer through the cold, old lava tubes, the Beyonders sat amid terrifying silence.
At the head seat, Dr. Blessed, a young man in his early twenties, with blond hair and blue eyes, sat, his fingers crossed over his mouth, his elbows resting on the table.
To his right, Trick*Step the Astrologer carried a pale countenance as well.
She kept curling a lock of her pink hair, her natural right eye blinking rapidly.
To her right, Shield the Clown typed on a holographic keyboard with the same rapidness, words, articles, and pictures appearing on screens that hung midair in front of all the Apostles.
To Dr. Blessed's left, Iron Mentor sat with his eyes closed, the Cryptologist's mind continuously trying to decrypt the situation, his brows twitching at the worst-case scenario.
Mushroom-nimi, who had only recently woken up, weaker than ever, sat to Iron Mentor's left on the ground, their head towering above all others. Strangely, losing a great number of their brains to the uncontrolled mutation had not only depleted their energy reserves, but had also bestowed upon them a sense of… cohesion.
Now, even if Mushroom-nimi still carried an air of childishness about them, their overall mental capacity had risen to that of a 14- to 15-year-old teenager.
Not only that, but they had also turned a great deal of Dr. Blessed's Spirit Points into their own, integrating the bestowed Quirks into themselves even more.
The Stats showed a much clearer picture than the words, though.
…
[
Blessed Stats:
Quirk — Bioalchemy
Sequence:
— Seer, Clown, Magician, Faceless
— Apprentice, Trickmaster, Astrologer
— Marauder, Swindler, Cryptologist
Stats:
— Spirit: 440/600
— Stamina: 180/200
]
…
Since the use of Blessed Gone Insane's Complexity Quirk, Fake Rewind, to save All Might that day, Dr. Blessed had regained four hundred and ten Spirit Points.
However, the greatest chunk of these Spirit Points was because of his Advancement to Sequence 6 Faceless. Second, it was because of him regaining a part of the Spirit Points that had vanished because of Fake Rewind. Then, third, came the hundred or so Spirit Points that Mushroom-nimi had released involuntarily.
Out of the remaining one hundred and sixty Spirit Points that Dr. Blessed had yet to regain, around a hundred or so still lay with the biomechanical cyborg.
But, no.
The Apostles of Mr. Fool hadn't arranged this emergency meeting to celebrate Dr. Blessed's renewed strength.
It was because of the call Shield had intercepted through the bug in Sir Nighteye's mobile.
It was because of the… Compound Monocle!
"Nothing…" Shield said, annoyed. "The higher-ups in the USA are keeping a tight lid on the matter. I can't get in without alerting their systems. Sorry, leader."
Dr. Blessed shook his head, leaning back into the chair.
He grabbed the edge of the table and tapped his fingers on it contemplatively, as Iron Mentor opened his eyes.
"He has Dr. Sam," Dr. Blessed said, mentioning Amon. "It wouldn't surprise me if He has come up with a way to replicate something like a Beyonder Potion, labeling it as Compound Monocle."
"Dr. Sam's area of expertise lies in Quirk Factors' mutations," Shield pointed out. "A Beyonder Potion, as you stated, leader, needs specific lifeforms which are not unique to our world."
"But…" Dr. Blessed interjected, "… he has contacts which He can exploit."
Silence.
Dr. Blessed had shared with his Apostles that the greatest secret about the Potions wasn't the unique lifeforms, but the Corruption; the constant threat of losing control.
The Apostles got their Corruption from Dr. Blessed, who got his directly from Mr. Fool.
So, in a way, it wasn't the source of the Corruption that troubled them as much as the Corruption-related consequences.
That wouldn't be the case with Compound Monocle, though.
If Amon had gathered a team of scientists, somehow creating Potion ingredients, then He must be adding Corruption by Himself.
"That…" Iron Mentor said, finally catching up with the leader's decryption, "… explains the sheer scale of it. It would have been impossible to extend His hands to international scum, otherwise."
"Let's do it!" Mushroom-nimi suddenly shouted, getting up with a mechanical hum, with many mushrooms squishing on their body. "Let's go to the USA and kick Amon's butt!"
The Apostles panicked.
Dr. Blessed instantly strengthened the Spiritual Wall, pouring in as many of his Spirit Points as he could. Shield's head shifted left and right as if she feared shadows taking shape in the next moment. Trick*Step shot over the table and jumped on Mushroom-nimi, wrapping her hand over their mouth.
Silence.
This was how Raven, the bird Apostle, found all of them when she flew in.
"To think you all have the time and mind to play when the Monocle bastard is fucking with the entire world…" the Magician cawed, landing on Dr. Blessed's shoulder. "Have you all lost your damn minds?!"
After a moment of shuffling, the Apostles resumed their seats.
"Let's not test the integrity of our Spiritual Wall, Mushroom-nimi," Dr. Blessed advised, smiling. "Moving on, do any of you have anything to say regarding this Compound Monocle?"
Mushroom-nimi scratched the back of their large mushroom cap.
Trick*Step raised her hand.
"You don't have to do that…" Dr. Blessed said, holding back a wry smile.
"Cough…" The Astrologer cleared her throat. "The call we intercepted mentioned two things. First, Compound Monocle is bestowing various abilities upon non-Quirk users."
"But they must be the abilities of only one Pathway and one Sequence," Shield countered. "Otherwise, the chances of losing control…"
"Would He care?" Trick*Step asked. When she got no reply, she continued, "Second, there was mention of this evil God. He could be this evil God that these… Monocles? Let's call them Monocles… are praying to. But what if He is not this evil God? What if He is not the only evil God? What if these abilities do not belong to the same Sequence? And… What if these abilities…"
Color drained from Iron Mentor's face. "… do not belong to the same Pathway…"
Dr. Blessed, who had already gone through these ugly scenarios, sighed.
"There's only one way to find out," he said, standing up. "We must get our hands on the Compound Monocle's shipment arriving in Japan."
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