I was at the airport inside a new host. His name was Leonardo, a guy who had just been here on vacation but, unfortunately for him, got stranded because of the mutagenic nuclear bomb I dropped. You're probably wondering: Why am I walking around with a new host? Well, I technically fused with him, but that's beside the point.
I've been practicing even more with the Lich's powers, gaining much tighter and more precise control over the mutants. By the way, those freaks are doing an excellent job keeping certain people from entering the exclusion zone and taking control of the radiation; plus, the bastards can infect healthy humans just by touching them. Not long ago, I felt through our mental link that someone—probably the government or the Hero Commission—tried to control or study one of my mutants. I didn't let them, though to be honest, I kind of want to let them experiment a bit next time, just for the hell of it.
Shaking my head to clear those thoughts, I boarded the plane. The body I have now is originally from the United States, so I'm heading straight there.
After going through plenty of security protocols—which they rushed to implement because of the bomb, trying to keep anyone from leaving the country if they turned out to be contaminated; too bad for them my biological control is flawless—I walked down the aisle and took my assigned seat. Not even a minute passed before I started hearing people whispering behind me, completely caught up in the gossip and global panic over the Yokohama bomb.
I laughed to myself. However, something I've been noticing about myself lately is how the line between the Lich and me is blurring. Am I actually the Lich with a different existential crisis? Or am I a human influenced by the Lich's mind? Those are things I prefer to leave for later, since I don't feel a single ounce of regret for what I do. The only thing I know with absolute certainty is that I am someone who has existed since before the dawn of time. I know it because I feel like I lived it. Or did I? Nah, as far as I'm concerned, I did. I am the end. I've been here since the beginning of the universe, and I will be here even when it ends. And after that... I'll move on to other worlds if this one isn't enough.
Oh, right, about that last part. You might ask: Other worlds? Well, if I exist in this universe of heroes, there should be more worlds out there, shouldn't there? So, how am I going to travel to other dimensions? Easy... more or less. Remember the hand I cut off, the one the rats have been enchanting with their agony and my magic inside the dimensional rift? Well, that hand will serve as the perfect catalyst to open multiversal portals. The raw power is there, ready to be used, but I still need to fine-tune certain specific spells so the trip is precise and the interdimensional pressure doesn't leave me drifting in a dead void.
I recalled things the original Lich saw in his timeline: the Enchiridion, mostly. Remember it? The Lich held it in his hands and read it, but only scanned it because his sole focus was Prismo's wish. A lot of good spells were hidden in that book of heroes, and thanks to my skills and expanded consciousness, I was able to understand several of them from a distance: advanced telekinesis, green fire boosting my base power, soul imprisonment, better mass mind control, mystical resistance, and much stronger bones. Plus, I'm secretly researching something massive to become even stronger, something I plan to use as my final form. I still don't know how to fully structure it in this physical plane, but I need some inspiration abroad to pull it off.
The plane started its engines, the cabin noise grew louder, and I felt the vibration of takeoff. I looked out the window as the lights of Japan grew smaller, leaving behind a country plunged into biological chaos, while Leonardo—or what was left of him—smiled on his way to the new continent.
Something that actually took a lot of effort was expanding the space of my pocket dimension, mostly because of the size of the nukes I have stored in there. The good thing is I modified the spell so that everything I put in there consumes the residual energy of my own magic, keeping them stable. Also, I left a small physical puppet hidden in Japan—a nod to the snail from Adventure Time—just in case I run into Star and Stripe, the No. 1 hero of the United States, in the future.
I closed my eyes during the flight. I didn't sleep, since my current body didn't need it at all; I just dedicated myself to further refining my spells and making them stronger. I had a master plan before completely screwing this world over. What is it? Well, first, absorb as many people as I can. Thanks to that, my bone structure will increase in density and become immune to almost any physical impact. Second is adding Quirks to my arsenal; right now, I'm looking for a way to structure a new spell to fuse skin directly with my death essence. That way, I can be in my pure skeleton form without needing to wear human skin over it, but without the risk of losing the Quirks I've collected, which are extremely useful to me.
One thing I have to keep closely in mind is that the Lich—or well, me—is fully aware of the concept of the soul. I can rip them out to feed myself, but I still can't modify them at will. I want to figure out how to alter other people's souls or my own, though I doubt I actually have a real one. After all, remembering the end of the original series, how exactly did the Lich die? Who really knows, but he ended up stranded in the underworld as an eternal reminder.
After several hours of travel where I focused solely on reviewing what I'd learned and refining my abilities, the plane finally landed. I made it to the United States. Not bad, by the way; in my past life, I never had the chance to travel to this country. Come to think of it, the Lich learned a ridiculous amount of languages over the millennia he was active before the fall of humanity in his world. To me, it was completely normal; English flowed out of my mouth like water in a river, smooth and natural, without me even noticing the language switch in my mind.
Leaving the New York airport, I didn't waste any time and went straight to a very specific spot in the city—the place where I planned to assemble and enchant the next bomb. I wasn't going to waste time messing around just to drag the story out; I'm direct. If I decide to do something, I execute it immediately. However, before reaching my destination, a local hero intercepted me on the street.
"Excuse me, sir. I'm sorry, but I need to check your ID," the hero said in a firm tone. He looked like a veteran, wearing a standard suit that was worn out by the years.
I didn't make a scene; I simply pulled out Leonardo's documents and handed them over. While he looked over the papers, I took the opportunity to read the surface of his soul. What I saw inside him put me at ease: he was a good guy, a righteous young man just doing his job. As long as he didn't bother me or interfere with my plans, I had no reason to do anything bad to him.
The hero nodded to himself after verifying the data and handed back the ID with a polite gesture.
"Sorry about that, we're looking for someone with features similar to yours due to a recent report. If you need any help, just head to the nearest agency. Take care!" the hero shouted before taking a pretty decent leap, reaching the roof of a low building, and continuing his routine patrol.
I just raised an eyebrow, amused by the welcome to the country, and kept walking.
I arrived at the safehouse apartment where Leonardo used to stay. I got settled, set my few belongings aside, and stretched abruptly while dropping the human illusion, returning to my base Lich form. I had already meticulously swept every corner of the place with my green magic just in case there were hidden cameras; in this line of work, it's way better to be safe than sorry.
Being in my original skull form, I felt all my mystical powers flow much better. Taking advantage of that connection, I opened my dimensional rift and materialized a massive nuclear bomb right in the middle of the living room, easily measuring about 23 feet tall. Good thing this place had high ceilings and just enough space to house such a monstrosity without breaking the structure.
I stepped closer to the cold metal of the device, extended my skeletal hands surrounded by an aura of green fire, and began whispering the ancient incantations from the book, letting the cursed words sink into the warhead:
"Death... healing for the pit, rot for the flesh. Three skulls for him, none for me. All cursed souls for the pit of power, none for him... none for the scholar of tomorrow. May the fire consume the gifts, and the essence be chained to my will..."
The structure of the bomb began to glow with a dull, greenish hue, absorbing every word of the spell as the metal transformed into the catalyst for the downfall of this new continent.
After spending the whole night working on it, I left the bomb. Now it was completely ready to go, and all that was left was to wait for nightfall to drop it off the docks of Jersey City—a massive port area plagued by mobs and local villain gangs that the police barely dared to patrol.
I sat in the darkness while continuing to enchant my own bones. I'm learning an ancient spell from the Enchiridion designed to make the fusion of organic matter into my body twice as resilient and adaptable, ensuring that Overhaul's Quirk doesn't end up so overloaded every time I assimilate new flesh.
After several hours spent entirely inside the house, I felt night fall over the city and knew it was time to act. Storing the heavy structure of the bomb back into my pocket dimension, I threw on a dark hood and changed my face to that of another person I had recently absorbed. Though, in case I hadn't mentioned it, I've been absorbing plenty of people along the way, though I have other long-term plans for them.
After wandering the city streets for quite a while, dodging hero patrols, police, and civilians, I reached the exact spot I was looking for. I climbed down from the rooftops and positioned myself on the ledge of a building, looking down into a dark alley. Down there were four Black thugs. Yeah, it was worth noting, since it was the first time I had seen Black people in this world; I mean, on my journey I had already seen mutant people who were green, orange, and every shade imaginable because of Quirks, but never a normal group like that. Damn, I sound racist thinking this, but whatever, I couldn't care less about their background. I scanned their level of internal chaos, and they all had enough to be useful to me.
I floated down from the building silently and stepped right behind them.
"Don't move," I said in a deep voice.
The four of them stopped dead in their tracks, frozen by the magical vibration. I quickly placed my hands on their heads, checking the nature of their Quirks.
The first one had a standard fire Quirk. This works, I thought, and absorbed him in the blink of an eye while the other three stared at me with wide eyes, filled with absolute horror. The second one had a Quirk that allowed him to transform his bone structure into steel. It was a perfect match; I absorbed him immediately and felt my own mystical skeleton compact, becoming a masterpiece of durability.
After that, I faced the last two. Both of them had practically pissed themselves from the shock, but I couldn't care less. I placed a hand on each of their heads while reading the record of their lives. One of them possessed a Quirk that let him store environmental energy and then blast it out as a concentrated beam, though it had a severe physical backlash that damaged his own muscles. With a shit-eating grin, I fused him into my being as well.
The last guy in the gang had a Quirk that made him invisible, but only to the ordinary human eye; security cameras and animals could still detect him. Even so, it worked for what I was planning. The guy kept crying and begging, but I grabbed him tightly by the back of the neck, forced him to look me dead in the eyes, and brought my face close to his.
"Serve me," I whispered.
A stream of green fire rushed straight into his ears, eyes, and mouth. The man didn't stand a ghost of a chance at resisting and was successfully controlled, becoming my perfect puppet.
Next, I did a partial fusion with him and temporarily transferred a levitation Quirk that only worked on a vertical axis from top to bottom; I had taken that specific Quirk from a low-life villain in Japan who only did petty robberies but conveniently had raped about 40 women, so I felt absolutely no pity leaving him dry. After undoing the partial fusion, I looked at the controlled gang member, whose name didn't even matter. His veins looked completely bulged from the pressure of the transferred Quirks and his body tension was rising, making him look visibly stronger and more monstrous.
"Do you understand what you're going to do?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.
The guy nodded rigidly. For my part, I cast a subtle suggestion spell around the area to hide this spot in the alley, causing any civilian or hero who intended to approach to feel a sudden wave of revulsion and think: I'd better go another way.
I materialized the 23-foot nuke from my pocket dimension and let it drop heavily onto the ground. I looked at my new servant.
"I hope you prove useful," I said with a cold smile.
He simply nodded again as he gripped the structure of the device tightly. Without wasting any more time, I turned around and left. Where to? Well, straight back to the airport, buddy.
Upon arriving at the terminal, I used my mystical perception to scan for a useful target. I spotted a businessman holding two plane tickets to Central America, heading straight to a country that probably not many people abroad knew about, but it suited me perfectly. I approached from behind.
"Come with me," I whispered as I walked past him.
The man's eyes turned pitch black for a split second before regaining their normal shine, completely subjugated. I calmly led him into the restroom area, and well, you already know what happened in there. After fusing with him and absorbing his body, I gained immediate access to all his memories. His Quirk was pretty interesting: it allowed him to store organic time so he could rejuvenate his own physiology at will. In fact, the guy had already used it quite a bit; he was actually 49 years old, but looked barely 20 in his physical state. Too bad for him his trip ended right there.
After breezing through the exact same security procedures and bypassing the airport codes thanks to my new biological structure, I boarded the plane heading straight to Central America. What exactly did I want to do by going over there? Easy. Central America is a region known for having high crime rates and being neglected by the big hero agencies, right? So, let's just say this will work as a series of perfect political strikes to destabilize the global chessboard once and for all.
After the plane cruised for a good while and crossed the airspace, I looked out the window at the horizon, mentally counting the seconds. After about three hours of travel, knowing I was at a safe enough distance so the shockwave or initial radiation wouldn't affect the flight path, I sent out the mental command with full force:
"Do it."
Back in that U.S. alley, the puppet I had left under my control activated the levitation Quirk and soared into the sky carrying the heavy 23-foot bomb, staying hidden thanks to his invisibility Quirk. Upon reaching a considerable height over the Jersey City port area, he simply deactivated the levitation, letting go of the massive warhead and plummeting along with it at full speed toward the ground.
After a few seconds of freefall, the firing pin triggered upon impacting the pavement.
KABOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!
The second mutagenic bomb went off with staggering force, completely wiping out the East Coast and plunging the entire country into massive panic. The entire United States jumped in shock at the magnitude of the tragedy.
As for me, while global chaos erupted behind my back, the plane began its descent maneuvers to land in Honduras, one of the countries with the highest crime rates in Latin America. Too bad for them that, with my arrival, that streak won't be lasting much longer.
End of Chapter 14.