Suddenly, Reaper's body erupted into a black smog that rapidly filled the entire room. It was as if the abyss itself had been unleashed, swallowing everything in its path.
Sombra was swiftly engulfed by the smog, interrupting her Quirk's activation. "What the fu—"
Abruptly, a large hand clamped over her mouth and nose, forcefully cutting off her breath. Sombra panicked, struggling to break free until a growling voice spoke directly into her right ear.
"Don't breathe," Reaper snarled, squeezing Sombra's mouth even tighter and pulling her away from the thick smog. "It's a high-density hallucinogenic gas that causes immense pain to the user. No, it's not poisonous, but very painful."
Sombra ceased her struggles, allowing Reaper to drag her out of the gas to a T-intersection. She witnessed firsthand the unsettling appearance of the black gas that permeated the room; she knew little of chemistry, but she understood that a gas shouldn't appear so densely black.
"It's one of Moira's inventions. I carry it in case I need to escape a troublesome situation... like this one," Reaper explained, removing his hand from Sombra's nose and mouth.
"I swear, Moira scares me more and more every time..." Sombra muttered, letting out a deep, tired sigh.
Reaper simply reached into his tunic—which had clearly seen better days—and pulled out a gas mask for Sombra. She carefully took the mask and put it on without much difficulty.
Both Talon agents simply watched the gas in silence, waiting for it to disperse enough to reveal anything.
"...Why didn't you kill them?" Sombra asked, breaking the silence, her voice tinged with disdain. "I saw you in I-Island, taking out those guards without mercy; you almost looked like you really were death itself! Then why—"
"Moira's orders," Reaper replied, interrupting Sombra's outburst. "Apparently that girl... Lena Oxton, is more valuable than you could ever imagine, and Moira needs Oxton's blood for her experiments."
"That doesn't tell me much..." Sombra mumbled. "But seeing... this... I'm glad I'm not the one who caught Moira's attention."
They both fell silent again before Reaper spoke. "His other partner has a Quirk similar to mine, which makes him very hard to damage... I tried to kill him by playing on his Hero morale, but Oxton stopped the attack before it connected."
"A spoonful of your own medicine, huh?" Sombra snorted with a grim grin before looking at Reaper curiously. "And by the way... where exactly are we? I know this isn't a hospital, or there would be dozens of Heroes around here by now."
"Long story—"
Suddenly, a large burst of green fire shot straight at Sombra from the hallway to her left. Acting swiftly, Reaper wrapped his body around Sombra, taking the full brunt of the attack, searing his entire tunic and severely burning his back.
Reaper gritted his teeth hard, letting out a grunt of pain.
"Reaper!!!"
"The cavalry's in the house, baby!" Burnin exclaimed, watching her attack strike Reaper full on before shouting instructions. "Impulse! Aegis! Go to the front and try to immobilize Reaper! Tat! Absorb that strange gas! I don't want anyone to die today, got it?!"
"Yes, Ma'am!" the three Heroes exclaimed, quickly going on the offensive.
Burnin ceased her attack, causing Reaper to collapse onto Sombra, experiencing small spasms brought on by the pain.
"Sombra... get us out of here!" Reaper snarled angrily, barely managing to stand on his legs. "Now!"
Sombra watched out of the corner of her eye as two shadows rapidly approached her position from both flanks. "Shit! Alright! But I need a few seconds!"
Both Heroes were dressed in what appeared to be green and blue Power Ranger-like suits with white decorations. The Green Hero was tall and visibly muscular, while the Blue Hero had a lanky, lean build and carried a staff on his back.
Reaper nodded, transforming his hands into mist for a moment before solidifying them back to normal, now holding a shotgun in his right hand.
"WELL, LITTLE BASTARDS, LET'S DANCE!" Reaper roared, taking aim at the two Heroes. His shredded clothes exposed a muscular body covered in large scars and cuts.
Reaper partially dissolved into mist as he quickly advanced towards the two Heroes, firing bullets from afar. The Green Hero raised his hand in front of him, forming what appeared to be a blue barrier, while the Blue Hero simply snapped his fingers, causing the bullets to lose all their power and fall harmlessly to the ground.
As Reaper confronted the duo of Heroes, Sombra ran off in the opposite direction, summoning her screen and rapidly entering lines of code.
The Hero in Green, Aegis, arrived directly in front of Reaper and swiftly threw a kick to his shoulder. But Reaper dissolved into mist, nullifying the blow, and reappeared right next to the Hero, delivering a strong hook to the jaw that sent him stumbling backward.
Aegis quickly recovered from the blow and turned his attention to Reaper, who was aiming his shotgun at him. Instinctively, he summoned his barrier, barely protecting himself from the attack.
"I won't let you off that easy!" Aegis exclaimed, taking a large step forward and reaching for Reaper.
Reaper, contrary to Aegis's expectation, approached the Hero, putting aside his shotgun, and they engaged in intense hand-to-hand combat.
Meanwhile, Tat, a Hero dressed as a hawk, arrived at the smog-filled area, successfully sneaking out of the main fight and positioning himself right next to the dense black cloud.
"My God..." Tat muttered in disgust as he stared at the thick black smog. Thanks to Kojo's Mental Passage, he could sense that Lena and Lemillion were trapped inside this substance. "I'm going to get them out of there!"
Taking a deep breath, he began to blow hard, unleashing a powerful gust of wind from his mouth, slowly dissipating the smog.
'It's really thick... what the hell is this gas?!'
As much as Aegis might deny it, he was quite inferior to Reaper in terms of combat technique. The mercenary wasted not a single movement, and the slightest opportunity meant a guaranteed hit to Aegis's body.
However, Aegis relied on his Quirk to shield him from his own carelessness.
But the slightest mistake could decide the entire fight.
In the middle of a punch, Aegis overextended his arm. Without wasting a moment, Reaper firmly seized his wrist.
Realizing his error, Aegis threw a punch towards the left side of Reaper's head in an attempt to hit him and break free.
But Reaper was not to be outsmarted.
Stopping the punch with his forearm and still holding Aegis's other wrist, Reaper quickly responded with a knee to the stomach, knocking the wind out of Aegis.
As he was about to punch him in the back of the skull, a burst of green fire forced him back into his mist form.
"That's not a fair move, you edgy idiot!" Burnin exclaimed from a distance.
Reaper reformed and was about to advance towards Burnin when he was forced to duck to dodge a staff strike to his face. Growling in anger, Reaper aimed his shotgun at the Blue Hero and fired.
But the Hero again quickly snapped his fingers, instantly nullifying the bullets. He turned his gaze back to Reaper with an unseen smile...
Only to realize that Reaper was no longer in sight.
Suddenly, a blow to the skull knocked him to the ground, rendering him unconscious. He heard a scream but couldn't discern anything as his vision rapidly blurred.
Reaper glared down at him.
BAM!
"One down..."
Lot and Mirko were engaged in an arduous battle to the death. Well, to the death for Mirko, at least.
Lot was one of the most annoying enemies she had ever had the pleasure of fighting. Not only was he ridiculously tough, but the slightest carelessness could lead to her demise in the blink of an eye.
Mirko didn't know when the warehouse had completely disappeared or when the surrounding area had become filled with collapsed buildings. Nor did she care.
What she did know was that she was reaching the climax of the fight, which brought a fierce smile to her face between breaths.
"Oh? Miss tired of playing?" Lot asked with a redundant grin. Despite the villain's apparent calm, his body was severely bleeding, and the bruises on his form clearly showed how badly he had been beaten, over and over again. "Um, looks like this is the end of the duel..."
"It's a shame, I was having fun..." Mirko took a low stance, channeling all her energy into her powerful legs. "But he's right, this must end."
"Sounds like a good decision to me..." Lot muttered, forming a triangle with his hands and pointing directly at Mirko.
And in an instant, they both attacked.
"LUNAE POINT!"
"UNTERRATE!"