After Hydra fell, but was not destroyed, the airspace cleared and the Ministry of Emergency Situations was able to evacuate 80% of the island's population, or approximately 7,000 people. The head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations argued with a general about this operation on the ship, which had been cleared of its containers and converted into a command post and evacuee reception center, where they would be temporarily housed on Okinawa. The containers were also unloaded there.
The evacuation commander reported:
—After Hydra was neutralized for unknown reasons, the airspace cleared, and we urgently evacuated everyone remaining at the dock. According to our estimates, approximately 15-20% of the island's population remains.
—So, there's no need to bomb the island now that Hydra has been destroyed,— the general consoled everyone around him. —But what happened to it?
—It's not destroyed, Commander,—said the UAV operator, who had just arrived. He brought up footage taken from the aircraft. The screen showed the Hydra's frame destroyed, but the Hydra itself alive, pursuing something...or someone.
—Damn, even zooming in, it's still unclear who it is. Is this the closest we've gotten?" The commander's response was simple: nodding. The commander had reacted immediately upon arriving on the scene after the emergency on the island. Japan rarely deployed naval forces, and this was his chance to earn his country's respect, especially against such a creature. But now that the creature, while not neutralized, no longer posed a threat.
—Did the Hydra catch fire? You didn't send incendiary shells?" He responded to the Hydra's frame catching fire.
—It's not ours, sir. It could have been a surviving special forces unit or a local. Regret was etched on everyone's faces after the loss of a dozen fighters. "According to several surviving Special Operations Team (SAT), one of them got separated during the coastal evacuation and is most likely still alive,— the Emergency Situations officer continued. —Unfortunately, we cannot continue the evacuation.
—Because the Hydra is still alive? It will be easy to deal with.
—Don't jump to conclusions,—said the bespectacled scientist, who had obtained a fragment of the Hydra tentacle. —After the Hydra's frame was destroyed, infected, hmm... well, worms were released. They penetrate the brains of even dead creatures, regenerate, and take control of the body. This poses a threat to the residents and will hinder the evacuation, because until you clear them out, you won't be able to evacuate everyone.
—And you're not wasting your time,—he remarked to the Okinawan naval commanders. —In that case, there's no point in evacuating the rest,— said the pot-bellied Japanese man in the uniform. The evacuation supervisor looked at him strangely, but the scientist nodded, understanding and explaining.
—We can't evacuate the rest, because that would create a danger for both the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the people, and in these conditions, we also need to provide military support. In short, the number of infected will keep growing; they'll flock to the sound and a crowd of approximately ten individuals. Before the frame's destruction, Hydra demonstrated an incredible sense of human presence and could tell where the evacuation was taking place.—The scientist adjusted his glasses and continued. The EMERCOM specialist nodded understandingly.
—According to our calculations, the island will lose power in a couple of hours due to a lack of personnel to maintain the substations, as well as the consequences of the destruction by Hydra,— the EMERCOM specialist added.
—Therefore, we need to send out information on the radio so people know how much time they have and how to act in such a situation. That's your job, EMERCOM. It's time to deploy our forces.—The commander went to give orders and prepare an operation to clear Kume Island of the Hydra's effects, as well as the Hydra itself.
Meanwhile, on the island
—Not bad,—Ohamaru said out loud, counting the provisions. —Considering how many healthy men and the wounded are here, it's enough for a couple of days at most.
—Sorry, I wasn't stocking up for you,—Grandpa Houkei, who had a drill for a finger, said venomously. Japan's fantastic diversity of quirks, what can I say? Ohamaru couldn't find peace because of his mother, so he tried to occupy himself with something that wouldn't disturb anyone.
Thoughts of leaving the shelter to go home and save his mother began to creep into his head, but Ohamaru, a rational person, had to rely on his wits and knowledge, which made him rational due to his useless quirk. He could bring trouble to these people in the basement, or attract the Hydra himself, and die along the way. How much he prayed for his mother's health.
Old Man Hokei took out an old radio and placed it on the table. After inserting a battery, he adjusted the frequency, and a new message from the emergency services came through. Turning up the volume so everyone could hear, they began to listen.
—...All island residents who haven't evacuated are requested to remain indoors and lock their doors and windows. Power will be out in the homes for a couple of hours. The creature is roaming the island and may attack anyone, displaying extreme aggression towards everyone. The armed forces are working to eliminate it; do not interfere with the work of the services. Any display of aggression or inappropriate reaction towards the armed forces may be considered an attack, and force will be used.—While they listened, Arata glanced at his pouch containing a flare, which no one present knew about, Houkei courted his wife, and Ohamaru wanted to rush out, but for now he restrained himself out of fear of the creature raging outside. Of course, the ensuing silence didn't inspire confidence.
Haruka sat next to the bandaged Nobu, surprised by their resemblance and the boy's scars. Even through the bandages, his toned muscles were visible, with the leanness characteristic of a frequently starved teenager. Ohamaru began after the broadcast ended.
—I-I have to go out, I need to save my mother, she's alone.— He reached for the handle of the basement gate. The old man interrupted him, gently pushing him away.
—I'm not letting you out! Just because it's quiet doesn't mean the creature's gone.
—Just shut up, my head's already hurting,— Arata interjected.
—No, Houkei, I have to go out." He now aggressively lunged at the old man, trying to knock him down. The girl flinched in alarm, instinctively grabbing Nobu's calloused hand. Arata moved to separate Ohamaru. Ohamaru, as a policeman, was in decent physical shape, but the old man could also give it a go and punched the insolent man a couple of times. Then Arata got punched in the face by Ohamaru, and a fight broke out.
Nobu's eyes widened, tired from the constant, intrusive noise and commotion that plagued his ears. It took him a few seconds to comprehend the situation, but he didn't notice the girl holding his hand; all he wanted was a drink of water and a snack. The commotion didn't bother him much, but a shelf of provisions, canned goods, and other food caught his eye. He looked closely at the bandages; they were securely fastened. The girl recoiled at Nobu's sudden rise. He opened several cans of food and began to devour them, washing them down with mugs of water.
Nobu sat down on a dusty chair next to the prone woman, continuing to devour his food, watching the entire brawl with a slight smile. This time, his gaze was drawn to a girl who matched the woman's description exactly. "Oh, really? I hope the woman is still alive. By the way, how long has it been? Six hours since the encounter with the Hydra." The yellowish light from the bulbs flickered before his eyes, causing Nobu's red, predatory eyes to glare uncomfortably, and the dusty air almost made him sneeze.
«Well, she looks just like me.» Nobu said to the girl,—You're the one I was looking for. Your grandmother sent me.— She looked incredulously at the continuing scuffle.
Nobu saw a flare pistol in his pouch and said, —We'll decide tomorrow. We'll evacuate everyone, everyone will be saved.— In the ensuing silence, the fighting finally stopped, and everyone stared at Nobu, who was wolfing down his food. He felt a slight pain. «Of course, it's not that simple. There will be more infected, but if the authorities are organizing a cleansing of the island, that means there will be missiles, bombs, military units, and other such crap.» — Nobu was also listening to the radio.
Arata caught his breath and asked, —Your ribs were broken, why so quickly?
—A quirk.— That's a lie; he finished the next can of bread. —It's too dark to go anywhere, it's too dangerous,— he said to Ohamaru.
—Hey, stop gobbling up the supplies...— Nobu's predatory gaze made the old man doubt his own right to the food.
Ohamaru stuttered, —I-I can't, I need to go there.— The man looked away.
Nobu's passive pressure, steady, mature demeanor, and predatory gaze conveyed the unquestioning nature of his orders. Arata was surprised by the boy's ability to suppress the desires of those around him.
—It's dangerous. You can't.— Nobu said, cutting him off. —And if you try to go out at night, the pawns will kill you.
—Pawns?— everyone asked him.
—That's what I call Hydra-infected people. Can you imagine, they invade your brain and take over your body. I've never seen anything like that. However, none of you will leave here until some kind of evacuation helicopter arrives.—Nobu glanced at the bedridden woman, who needed better care than basement conditions.—So calm down,— he said, turning his gaze to Ohamaru. —We'll go get your mother in the morning.
Having finally calmed down all the worried and nervous men, Nobu lay down for a couple of hours of naptime, still in pain. Before bed, he meditated to focus his mind. It wouldn't relieve the pain, but it would allow him to think a little better in these conditions. Nobu also didn't understand Haruka's attempts to get closer. «She thinks because we look alike, I'm her friend.»— To which he chuckled and fell asleep.
Late that night, when everyone else was asleep, Nobu opened his predatory eyes as if he hadn't slept at all. The Tiger and Snake aspects were ideal in the darkness, when feline and snake vision allowed him to see objects and any living creatures in the dark. He crept past his snoring grandfather and Ohamaru. When the door quietly opened, Nobu felt the fresh night air, free from the basement dust. Only Arata couldn't sleep, lying on his side with his eyes open, listening to Nobu leave.
Arata didn't know what to think. On the one hand, the guy was definitely not simple and had his own story, his presence was as powerful as a snake's and as dangerous as a tiger's. He certainly wouldn't disappear. On the other hand, it was unwise to venture into dangerous surroundings, especially while wounded and at night. But he didn't jump to conclusions; there were probably reasons for that. In the short time they had known each other, Arata had found him far from stupid, but this particular situation seemed absurdly dangerous. The man himself was unpretentious, but reasonable. Gradually, fatigue set in. Serving the state had worn away his narratives; he wasn't prepared for this kind of situation. Even though he'd served and participated in some operations, Hydra was incomparable.
Despite his own words about the danger on the surface, Nobu still left the shelter. The fresh air hit his face, and he stretched lightly, looking around. «It still hurts. By the way, it healed pretty quickly; the damage was serious.» — There was still a hint of Hydra tension in the atmosphere, but there was something else here, something distinct from Hydra. "I need to find some clothes, some weapons, and go to the old woman. I need to bring her here." Something told him to keep quiet while the oppressive, deathly silence was setting in. Nobu's vision was excellent at capturing the outlines of every object, reacting very easily to the slightest movement, and something about this night struck Nobu as suspicious. He'd spent silent nights in the jungle, but even they were different from this silence.
«A bad sign, the calm before the storm.»— Nobu snuck into one of the houses in this village and began searching for clothes and something to eat. Rummaging through the nightstands, his eye caught a fine hunting knife. «Look, it's modern and has a holster...»— Nobu thought critically. «But the steel is of good quality.» — Snacking on food along the way, Nobu thought, «It's amazing this house escaped the Hydra's wrath.» — It itself is tiny, but has a concrete foundation and a fairly sturdy frame. It's a miracle it survived.
Finally making it outside, beyond a cracked fence, was the road, broken and battered by the Hydra's fury. The tracks led south, where the kindly woman was. Nobu wanted to kill the Hydra, to avenge his defeat. The Aspect of the Tiger would not allow such a thing. He sensed that if this woman died, he would be unhappy to see it. He didn't want to see her dead, especially at the hands of the Hydra. "But how much longer can I risk myself?" Essentially, he had almost completed the task; all that was left was to give the signal to the sky, and the emergency services would arrive, but things weren't so simple. Nobu headed in the opposite direction, through the pitch darkness. To where the Hydra had lost its shell. «There must be something to see there.» —A barely noticeable movement among the foliage, and an unknown object rushed toward Nobu. One of the Hydra parasites had retreated after its shell fell.
Nobu easily dodged it and drew his knife. The worm turned and again sought to burrow into Nobu's brain. A precise blow of the knife to the tiny body sent the creature falling into the foliage, writhing slightly before its death. "Even such a maneuver was quite painful." He examined the creature closely – the tiny pulsating hairs protruding from its main body were trying to reach its invisible prey. Finishing it off with a kick, he continued on.
Finally reaching a huge crater and a dead shell with tentacles, flies were perched on the carrion. Nobu's slight movement caused them to take off and fly frantically around the egg-laying site. Nobu, overcoming the nauseating urge to eat rotting flesh, climbed onto the Hydra's central shell. The stench was even stronger, but that wasn't the most important thing; several parasites were hiding and then jumped out at Nobu. He fell and slid down a rotting tentacle, trying to avoid picking up a parasite, as acquiring one could mean losing his Quirks and becoming a pawn.
Finishing off the parasites one by one while below, Nobu clutched his torso in pain. The pain in his ribs made it hard to breathe. Concentrating, he finally returned to the Hydra's shell, where the strange, pulsating mass lay. The mass was strangely alluring in its nature, and not just to Nobu. At the very top, he could see how some of the island's animals, drawn there by the mass's power, were feeding on the flesh of the tentacles. It lured the animals, and Nobu sensed it through his animal aspects.
Deciding to take the risk, Nobu picked up the clot. It felt completely harmless in his hand and made no attempt to harm him. He exhaled, but noticed how the animals, previously peacefully feeding on the flesh of the shell, had their heads tilted at an unnatural angle, and the tips of parasite hairs protruded from their ears. A heart-rending shriek rang out from hares, squirrels, nutria, mice, and other small creatures, no longer as small as before due to the parasites. Nobu glanced toward the pier and jumped down one of the tentacles again, sliding down like a slide. «I can try to hide from them there; in my condition, it will be difficult to fight.»
A dozen enlarged pawns raced after Nobu on their four tentacles, their mouths open. He ran as fast as he could, ignoring the pain. He rounded a tree, knocked down by a tentacle, and tucked his legs in to avoid being hit. —Fucking bastard!— Zigzagging toward the houses, he felt a horde of hell rushing behind him. Nobu abruptly turned into a narrow alley between the houses and, using Adhesion, climbed onto a balcony. He ran down the hallway and quickly opened a window, jumped out the other side, and hid among the trees.
The clot wriggled and amiably grabbed Nobu's arm, continuing to pulsate, calling more and more pawns to itself.
As soon as Nobu realized that the clot had begun to attract pawns from the entire island, he wanted to throw it away, to reach safety. But the clot was sending him positive impulses, influencing his mind. Nobu managed to focus again when a UAV flew overhead. Unfortunately, Japanese UAVs were only capable of observation and did not carry a combat payload.
Nobu's gaze followed the UAV as it flew off toward the sea and saw several ships. He climbed higher to see the movement on the ship. Squinting, he realized the ship's cannons were preparing to fire.
«But there are still people in the area.» —He sensed their fear somewhere, maybe even in this house.
—Fuck. They're going to raze the pier.— «But on the other hand, it's best for the military to destroy these creatures with minimal risk to themselves.» —Nobu saw a horde of pawns approaching and, most terrifying of all, the Hydra, which was greedily destroying its own pawns along the way. Nobu realized that the Hydra wasn't obeying its own pawns. «So, the Hydra's crown is in my hands...» — A volley of high-caliber high-explosive shells rang out.
Time stood still for Nobu. On one side, there was a horde of creatures eager to tear his flesh and claim the Hydra's crown. On the other, the volley would cover the entire pier; he wouldn't have time to escape, even if he miraculously escaped the horde. Everything around him darkened, his gaze focused solely on the clot.
—This is what power looks like...— he muttered into the void, clutching at what he thought was his only chance of survival. Nobu swallowed the clot, and the pier was immediately engulfed in an annihilating fire, leveling the nearest kilometer.