"The hell we'll experience? What do you mean by that?"
Belinha asked Mishma with a cautious tone. Standing before Mishma was different from standing before Sinvula or Alala. Mishma was impossible to predict. No one knew what they were thinking or the reasons for their actions, if there was a reason at all. This entity was an enigma through and through.
"I mean what I said."
Mishma straightened his back.
"I feel sorry for your future."
"Hey, hey."
Impactor approached him.
"I don't like you coming here with all these bad vibes all of a sudden. We just completed our debut mission. Why are you killing the mood?"
Belinha's eyes almost fell out of her head with how hard she was glaring at Impactor.
(Why is this guy casually approaching someone who can destroy the world on a whim?!)
"Bad vibes? You're right. My bad."
Mishma didn't care for Impactor's tone.
"Once again, congrats."
"I appreciate it."
Impactor and Mishma dapped each other.
"....I don't care anymore."
Belinha chose to ignore logic for her own sanity.
"So, what did you do to everyone else? Can you stop time or something?"
Impactor casually asked.
"Don't be ridiculous. I can't stop time just like that."
Belinha and the rest of Kismet nodded in agreement with Mishma.
"I mean, I'm not really good at it, so it would take a lot of effort."
(So you can stop time....)
They all thought in unison.
"I just messed with their frontal cortex, parietal cortex, and cerebellum and turned off their chronoception. So, to them it's like time froze."
"......."
Impactor and everyone else silently turned to Belinha, the doctor of the group.
"Basically, he turned off their ability to perceive time by messing with their biological clock."
"Ah...."
Everyone nodded except Impactor, who visibly gave up after a few seconds.
"So, is that dangerous?"
"Very."
Belinha answered while glaring at Mishma.
"Don't worry."
Mishma snapped his fingers and the children on Impactor popped up beside him on the ground.
"I can reverse it like nothing happened."
"Just what are your powers, man? Or is it lady? I honestly don't know anymore."
Impactor was visibly confused.
"No one believes me when I tell them, so just don't worry about it. More importantly—"
Mishma popped up, standing on top of Impactor's head.
"How about we make a deal?"
"The hell?! Why are you standing on my head?!"
Impactor swatted at Mishma, but his hand only touched air. Mishma appeared between Mikel and Batu, wrapping his hand around their shoulders.
"....A deal?"
Mikel asked while keeping composed.
"Remember the thing I said about you guys experiencing hell?"
Mikel nodded.
"I wasn't joking."
Mira and Kira suddenly found themselves skipping in a ring with Mishma laughing.
"You guys are going to experience things that will break you over and over again."
He popped up in front of Bojana, placing a purple hyacinth in her hair.
"It will be the worst time of your lives."
He smiled at Bojana's horrified expression.
"How do we know what you said is the truth?"
Belinha spoke up.
"Even if it's the truth, why tell us?"
Mishma shrugged.
"Darling, I don't lie. It's not that I can't lie; I simply don't feel the need to. I'll speak the truth when I want, simply omitting things I don't want to say. However, I never lie."
"You sound like the villains from those old stories about making a deal with the devil."
Belinha spoke without hiding her displeasure.
"That's exactly what this is."
Mishma pointed at Belinha.
"You asked why I would tell you? I said it earlier, didn't I?"
A piece of paper that read contract appeared in his hands.
"I want to make a deal."
"You want our souls?!"
Impactor shouted with sparkling eyes.
"Why are you excited?"
Batu looked at him in confusion.
"Because we've just stepped into the realm of the supernatural!"
Impactor clenched his tightly.
"Devils, souls, we've left the Superhero genre and entered into an exciting new genre!"
"I don't want your souls."
Impactor deflated like a balloon and walked off with his head down. Batu grabbed him and brought him back to the group.
"Souls aren't my forte. I don't know what I would do with them."
Mishma shook his head.
"Instead, I want you to do something pretty simple."
He waved his hand and statues of Sinvula and Alala appeared beside him.
"Side with these two just once in the future."
"?!"
Everyone's eyes peeled open.
"Are you asking us to betray the GHF?"
Belinha asked with a shaky voice.
"In a sense."
Mishma was dismissive of their shock.
"In exchange for siding with them, I will eliminate the source of your future suffering."
He spread his arms.
"What do you say? A good deal, right?"
"We refuse!"
The entirety of Kismet shouted in unison. Mishma slowly brought his hands to his side and laughed.
"Well, I figured you'll say that."
He shook his head.
"And here I thought I could cut this saga short by ending it before everything truly started."
"Betraying the GHF and siding with you Calamities, is like betraying the world."
"Pretty much."
Mishma readily agreed with Belinha.
"Yet, you want us to do it just because we'll suffer a little?"
Belinha's eyes sharpened.
"We're Heroes! We know what we signed up for and that is to protect lives, risking ours in the process!"
"Bravo, truly a heroic speech."
Mishma applauded, which caused even Impactor to frown.
"Are you mocking us?"
He asked.
"Why yes."
Instant reply.
"But I do adore your commitment and spirit. Which is why I respected you enough to make you the offer, knowing you'll reject it."
Mishma removed the mask and showed off a handsome smile.
"As a sign of respect, I'll watch your suffering and destruction with all of my being."
"Yeah, make sure to watch it all."
Belinha pointed at Mishma.
"Make sure you see the moment we rise above it all as the winners!"
Mishma looked at her and all of Kismet one by one before bowing.
"I'll be sure to burn it in my memory."
Mishma started to fade away.
"However, heed this warning."
But his voice was clear.
"Horses run wild when there's no one holding the reins."
With that, Mishma disappeared and those around them came to life again.
"......."
Belinha stood with a frown, trying to understand Mishma's last words.
Copenhagen, Denmark.
Mishma appeared in the sky over the city, looking down at the flames bursting out of the buildings and the chaos that engulfed those within.
"So this is their next stop."
His eyes scanned the city in a single glance.
"Not bad. They have some pretty strong guys here."
He lifted his hands.
"This should help Kismet achieve their goal of getting stronger."
He crossed them and the world around him distorted. It stabilised after a few seconds.
".......Huh?"
It took Belinha a long time to say anything after her surroundings suddenly changed.
"What the hell?"
The rest of Kismet started looking around with faces stained with confusion.
"Wait..."
Belinha's eyes slowly widened as the look of realisation dawned on her.
"We're in Copenhagen!"
"What?"
Batu almost broke his neck to look at her.
"Are you saying we travelled over 300km in an instant without knowing?!"
He scanned his surroundings again. With every second that passed, he became convinced Belinha was right.
"You guys were probably planning to carry out a similar operation to what you did in Aarhus."
Mishma watched Kismet panic with a small smile.
"However, you guys want to grow stronger, right? Then, unpredictable situations where you have no choice but to adapt or die will do that."
People started flooding the streets quickly surrounding Kismet. Some in the sky and others on the roofs, no matter where you look, all one could see were sinister people.
"You guys heard that voice too?!"
"The one who said Kismet was here to kill us? Yeah, I heard it!"
"Look at the arrogant pricks! Just because the Calamities play with them, they think they're bigshots!"
The thugs and Villains' voice drummed in Kismet's ears, all mixing together. Confusion grew in the members' minds, yet there were those who were able to react faster than any enemy or ally.
"Batu!"
"Already on it!"
And it was the #5 and #7 Heroes in the world.
"Harden!"
Batu swung his arms around in a circle before punching upwards. Belinha spread her arms and a pillar of flames surrounded them.
"Bojana!"
Bojana flinched at Belinha's shout but quickly placed her hand on the ground and it started to soften.
"First, you create a fortress. Second, you use fire to obstruct your opponent's sight. Third, you escape underground."
Mishma lay in the air lazily looking down on everything.
"It's not a bad strategy. It's pretty impressive considering you developed it on the spot."
Meanwhile, Bojana's eyes widened. The ground hardened on its own. She pressed the ground, but there was no change. She started slamming her hands on the ground. Even so, the ground wouldn't soften.
"While I like the strategy, I want to see something else."
Mishma spoke with a mischievous smile as the Villains and thugs started attacking the flame pillar by the dozens.
"No escaping. Stand and face your enemies."
Explosions erupted as the flame pillar and Batu's invisible fortress were under attack.
"You wanted a stellar debut, right?"
Belinha put her hand on Bojana's shoulder and shook her head. Bojana looked at her with dejection and slowly got to her feet.
"You wanted respect worthy of those chosen to fight the Calamities, right?"
Belinha's eyes glowed a burning red as she and her team prepared themselves.
"If you want all of that, then earn it."
The pillar disappeared and the noise of the fortress shattering reached their ears. Waves of enemies rushed them like hungry hyenas.
"I've set the stage; now announce yourself to the world, Kismet."
The Young Sovereigns took the first step to claim the thrones as rulers of the New Era.
"But do they have what it takes to even dream of their thrones?"
I smirked as I answered my own question.
"We'll have to see what happens next."