Harper is finally free!! Woohoo!!! Phobos is the man!! And Daina..... has.... well, half a face now. Honestly, I could not wait to do that last chapter, it'd been planned for so long. And finally! FINALLY!! Harper and Phobos advance their relationship! But like they said, it's all gonna be for not if Ryan and them don't stop the nuke. And speaking of them, it's time we move on to what I believe is the most important battle of this arc, even more so then Cry and Markus' battles. They'e been put into a corner for too long and now they get to step back into the spotlight. Now let's get back into the action! Enjoy!

-POV: Third Person-

As some battles come to their dramatic conclusions, others still rage on, looking as if they'll never end. The heroes have currently captured or at the very least defeated 5 villains. However, 6 still remain. But after Phobos' heavy efforts, the villains have now lost a key component to their plan and have lost a major source of leverage. Harper has been recovered. But, with only 5 minutes remaining on the clock, it becomes a wonder if the heroes will be able to emerge victorious at the end of this day. 

-Meanwhile at the Football Stadium-

"32 minutes and the five of you have yet to do a single thing to me. Heroes in training, you make me laugh. The 5 of you are utterly pathetic." Gregory boasted as he still remained standing in front of the nuke, looking totally fine in every way. 

"This guy..... his quirk is.... unbelievable..... we can't..... even get close to him...." Ryan said, completely exhausted as Bruce, Holly, Midareka, and Stella all were in the same boat as he was. 

For over a half an hour, these 5 students have tried to rush, overpower, and overwhelm Gregory using their quirks and natural speed. However, each time they would get close, all Gregory had to do to counter them was take control of all their blood flows and simply push them back. No real damage had been done to one another, but the students had quickly exhausted themselves. 

"Let's see here..... 4 and a half minutes left, kids. I'd suggest you pull out all your marbles quickly. Otherwise, i'll make my swift getaway and all of you will become piles of ashes in the wind." Gregory told them all as each rose up to their feet. 

"We won't stop.... not until the job is done.... not until you're beaten.... we won't lose.... not today.... not ever...." Midareka said to him as she adjusted her Shiketsu cap and cracked her knuckles very loudly.

"Yeah..... Me and some others already took down your buddy in the stadium...... It's only a matter of time before..... before you go down like he did..." Stella said as she wiped sweat off her forehead.

"So, you did manage to best Killer after all, eh? Oh well. He was one of our weaker subordinates so that doesn't come as a surprise. Why, i'm sure some of our others have met their defeats as well. But so long as our stronger members remain standing, we will win this day, not you childish heroes." Gregory told them all as Bruce went in for another attack. He sprinted for Gregory, roaring and opening his shark jaws wide open to chomp down on him. 

"Or maybe dumb kids is more accurate....?" Gregory questioned as he pointed at Bruce with his left index finger. Bruce came to a full stop mid-step and just froze there unable to move at all. Gregory yawned as he then curled in and flicked his index finger forward, making Bruce fly back and slide along the ground until he was over 100 feet away. 

"Going at him head on like that isn't gonna do us any good. Hell, even going at him all at once wasn't very effective. We need to find some way to catch him off guard...." Holly said as everyone agreed with her. 

"I'll be kind to you kids and give you a bit of information. Exactly at the one minute mark of the countdown, our newest member, Cry, will open up a portal for me to get out of here. And it would also seem I'll be leaving Killer behind. But, with my exit, that does indeed leave you with just a minute to stop this device from detonating. But the chances any of you are capable of disarming a bomb in that time is 100, no, 1000-to-0." Gregory explained to them all as Midareka walked over and began whispering into Holly's ears. 

"Got it. Let's hope this works then!" Holly said as she picked up Midareka with her six arms and then brought her over her head. 

"Let's go! Max power!!" Holly shouted as she threw Midareka forward with all her might, sending her crashing right towards Gregory who only chuckled at this display of a foolish attack. 

"You children never learn...." Gregory said as he did the same to Midareka as he did to Bruce. He stopped her in midair by taking control of her blood them pushed her back. 

"Now, Holly!!" Midareka shouted as Holly then shot her webbing from her back and used her arms to control where they went. She stuck the webbing to Midareka's back and then swung her all the way around her until legging go, making Midareka fly back towards Gregory again. Only this time, she flew at twice the speed.

"The attack before, it was meant to be blocked!? No matter, i'll just-" Gregory began to say as he tried lifting his hands up again to stop her. But he quickly realized he wasn't fast enough this time as Midareka blasted both of her legs into his chest. She sent Gregory flying back through the air, even hitting the nuke as he collapsed to the ground on his back. 

"Now that's some teamwork.... nice job...." Ryan said to the girls as they both gave him some thumbs up. But their moment of celebration was cut short real fast when Gregory got back up onto his feet and wiped some dirt and blood off his clothes and face. 

"Little cretins..... To think it took you 33 and a half minutes to land your first attack....." Gregory said as he rolled up the sleeves of his fancy looking outfit and cracked his fingers a bit.

"3 and a half minutes are left but that's enough to kick your ass and disarm that bomb." Stella said as she and Ryan both went in to strike Gregory. But unlike before, Gregory wasn't reaching out to freeze them with his quirk. He was letting them get close to him.

"Perhaps it is time for me to finally show you what i'm really made of...." Gregory said as his muscles suddenly began to expand. He was quickening and hardening his own blood flow to greatly increase his strength.

"Looks like you're getting buffer, meaning you're getting stronger too! Let's see if it can match my electric filled muscles!!" Ryan shouted as he threw a punch right for Gregory's face. But all Gregory did was raise his right hand up to catch the attack, bringing Ryan to a full stop with great ease. Stella did the same but the result was just like before. 

"I'd say I have matched and overpowered your strength, boy. When I use my quirk on myself, I can drastically increase my personal strength hundredfold. Each hit of mine strikes with a force of over 150 tons of TNT. Know that I do not want to kill any of you. But push me too far and you will come face to face with that level of power. Now then...." Gregory explained as he then brought his arms together, smashing Ryan and Stella against one another before dropping them onto the ground. 

"Which one of you is next? You might want to pick up the pace too. We're under the three minute mark now...." Gregory said with intensity in his eyes as Bruce went back in to attack.

"You can match a human's strength, but what about a shark!?" Bruce roared as he bared his teeth and webbed sharpened fingers at Gregory.

"Let's see what you can do, you ugly fish kid." Gregory said as he and Bruce interlocked their hands and entered a shoving match. But it was quickly determined who was stronger than the other when Gregory began to push Bruce back along the ground. 

"Doesn't matter if you're still stronger..... not if I bite you with all my shark teeth!!" Bruce shouted as he opened his gaping mouth wide and attempted to chomp down on Gregory's head. But Gregory leaned back and avoided the bite, but this made him briefly lose his footing which allowed Bruce to push him back a bit.

"I could use a little help here!!" Bruce shouted out as Midareka and Holly ran over and began to push against his back.

"What gives!? How is this guy so freakin' strong!? All of us can effortlessly push over several tons of force..... but even so..... HE'S STILL PUSHING US BACK!!!" Holly shouted in disbelief as all three of them were pushed along the ground, all the way across the stadium grounds until they were near the back wall. 

"Hold on, we're here too!!" Stella shouted as she and Ryan jumped back into action and onto Gregory's back, wrapping their arms around his head and neck. They pulled hard, trying to take Gregory back away from the others. 

"Get off of me, you pests!" Gregory shouted as he whipped his head back and bashed it against Stella's, forcing her to slip off him.

"Don't look away from me!!" Bruce yelled as he clamped his jaws down onto Gregory's right shoulder. Gregory grunted in pain as Bruce tore out a small chunk of flesh and swallowed it whole. 

"Girls, get away, quickly!! Ryan, Stella, you too!! I'M ABOUT TO GO WILD!!!" Bruce roared as his eyes widened and then sharpened like a wild animal on the hunt. 

"Wait, what's he gonna do!?" Ryan questioned as Holly and Midareka ran away as fast as they could. 

"Once he's got the taste of blood he goes full frenzy mode!! He's unstoppable!!" Midareka shouted as Ryan then got off Gregory, grabbed Stella and bolted away. 

"Finally taking this seriously, are you? Then show me what you're made of, shark boy!" Gregory roared  as he kneed Bruce right in the chest. But Bruce barely flinched as he tried to bite down onto Gregory again. 

"You're not the only one who gets stronger, asshole!! When I acquire the taste of someone's blood, my power increases to incredible levels!! Your little boosting trick doesn't mean shit now!!" Bruce roared as he slowly began to push Gregory back along the ground. 

"Ha! You think I've already reached my limit!? Perhaps you have the brain of a real shark as well!! Tiny and stupid!! I'm just getting warmed up!!" Gregory replied as he increased the flow of his blood and hardened it even more. His muscles expanded once again as he began to tear up his fancy jacket. 

"Now let's see if you can compete with me now!!" Gregory roared as he lifted Bruce into the air with both his hands and then slammed him down behind him. Bruce roared in pain as he attempted to get back up, but Gregory was there to meet him. 

"I'm not done with you yet, fish!" Gregory howled as he grabbed Bruce by his dorsal fin, lifted him up and then threw him behind him. He threw Bruce so hard that he crashed right through one of the closed metal gates. 

"So much for his little frenzy..... now then...." Gregory said as he turned to face the rest of the students who had made their way to the nuke, trying to pry it open and find all its wiring. 

"I don't think so!!" Gregory said as he leaped right over to them and landed behind Ryan. He grabbed him by the head and tossed him away, then Midareka, Holly, and finally Stella. 

"Damn it, we were so close to getting that thing opened up!" Holly shouted in frustration as Gregory just laughed at them. But before he could even begin to say anything to them, an alarm suddenly started going off on the watch he was wearing. 

"Oh my. It appears we've reached the one minute mark..." Gregory told them as he turned to see the countdown on the nuke only have 58 seconds left.

"And that would mean that I must now make my exit...." Gregory said as a portal then opened up next to him which would take him to Cry. 

"A bid all of you adieu-" Gregory said as he went to walk through the portal. But before he could a huge burst of fire came blasting out of it and struck him, sending him flying backwards and away from the portal. 

"Wait, what!? How did that happen!?" Ryan questioned as a man suddenly fell through the portal. The students saw this man has dark grey hair, a black mask over his face, a black trench coat, dark brown army reg. pants, black boots, and brass knuckles on his hands. 

"You're on your own, Gregory!! I'm too busy here to help you!! See you in hell!!" They all heard Cry shout from within the portal as he closed it on them, leaving the new person behind, as well as Gregory still in the stadium. 

"Shit, no!! Gotta get back and help them!!" The mystery man shouted as the students began to approach him. 

"Hey, wait a minute, I know you! Yeah, you're one of those vigilantes from that one night! Your name is Pein!" Holly said as Pein looked over to them all. 

"Yeah, I recognize you. You're the spider girl. Look, I can't stay here, I have to get back to that building and help Twilight, Queen and the others fight that Cry kid." Pein said as he began to take off. 

"Wait, you won't make it in time!" Midareka shouted to him as he stopped. 

"That's miles away and we only have 40 seconds left on that nuke!" She told him as Pein turned back to see the bomb on the platform. 

"Aw shit..... alright, get over here!! We're disarming this thing now!" Pein said as they all jumped up onto the platform. Midareka was able to slip her fingers underneath a panel that she'd bent before and she tore it right off, revealing a bunch of wires below. 

"Only 30 seconds left. But which one disarms this thing?" Ryan questioned as Pein began to think about which it could be. Not many wires had labels on them, and the ones that did was for cooling systems and other pointless stuff like that. 

"You kids wanted to be heroes, right?" Pein asked them all as they gave him some slow nods. 

"Then you know heroes don't always make it out of situations alive, right?" Pein asked as again, they nodded and lowered their heads. 

"We see where you're going..... we're..... we're ready. Guys, in case we don't make it, just know that it's been a real blast getting to know you all." Holly said as everyone else agreed and said the same as Pein grabbed all of the wires inside of the bomb. 

"15 seconds left. Here goes nothing!!" Pein shouted as he ripped all the wires right out of the nuke. But the countdown was still going. 

"Oh shit...." They all said as the same time as only 5 seconds remained. 4..... 3..... 2.... 1.....0....

...........

"Wait..... what happened? Why didn't it, you know, explode?" Ryan questioned as they all saw that the countdown had indeed reached zero. 

"You guess have no freakin' idea..... Haha!! My god, we're so lucky." Pein said in a very happy tone as he dropped all the wires in his hand.

"Hold on, i'm confused, what happened?" Stella asked. 

"When I pulled out those wires, we were first of all lucky that the whole thing didn't go off. The countdown did indeed continue to go down but by pulling out these wires, one of them must've been connected to the detonator. We disarmed the bomb, just didn't stop the countdown. We just saved the entire city." Pein told everyone as they all cheered with great joy from their victory.

Every villain came to realize that their great plan had been ruined. All their efforts were now foiled by these heroes to be. But with this failure to destroy the city, it now gave all of them even more drive to destroy. If the bomb wouldn't do it, then they'd just do it themselves.

"You little fucking cretins...." Gregory said as he began to get back up from being blasted with fire. 

"Oh, right. I remember you from that night in the warehouse as well. You're the guy who can control blood, am I correct?" Pein asked him as Gregory gave him a nod before ripping off his heavily burned jacket. 

"You just ruined everything for us..... So much time for planning all gone now. But at the same time, now we have nothing left to lose...." Gregory said as he pulled out his syringe of Trigger and then stuck it into his neck. 

"WHICH MEANS I NOW HAVE A REASON TO KILL YOU ALL!!!" Gregory roared as he pulled out the syringe and began to scream in pain. But the screaming quickly ceased as he then began to laugh like a madman. 

"Students..... and you, vigilante.... know that even despite having stopped our bomb from detonating..... this will still be your final day to live!!!" Gregory howled as his own blood started to seep out of his skin. It began to cover his entire body, even his hair until it completely hardened around his body like a thick shiny red armor. 

"Oh this cannot be good...." Stella said as Ryan suddenly took off into the gate that Bruce had been broken through.

"Wait, where are you going!?" Midareka shouted as Ryan turned his head back to them all. 

"I've god a god damn plan!!! Just keep him distracted for a few minutes!! I'll be right back!!!" Ryan yelled back as he disappeared out of sight. 

"That idiot better hurry the hell up!! Because we're in some serious trouble now..." Pein said as Gregory approached them, shaking the ground a bit with every step.

"Everyone spread out and take him down!!" Holly ordered as everyone except for Pein moved around Gregory. 

"The first to die shall be you, vigilante!!" Gregory shouted as he began to charge Pein.

"I don't think so because none of us are dying on this day!!" Pein said as he raised up both of his hands and spread his fingers out, pointing to all of the students. He began to focus on all of them, taking in all their painful memories. 

"It hurts.... 4 people at once..... I've never done so many before.... but I can take it.... and it's enough.... to stop this guy!" Pein shouted as he'd never actually taken in 4 peoples bad memories before. The most he'd ever done was 2, and even that nearly made him faint. 

"And now..... all of their pain..... is yours!!!" Pein roared as he then pointed to Gregory, sending all the pain from those memories onto him. Gregory's head began to glow with a dark red aura and he slowly began to come to a stop as he reached up with his arms and started grabbing his head. 

"Get out of my head, weakling!! Your inferior methods to attack my mind will not overcome my strength!!" Gregory wailed as his charge turned into a slow march towards Pein. 

"Kids, now might be a good time to try slowing him down a bit more!!!" Pein shouted as the rest of the students made their moves. 

"Girls, back me up on this! We're gonna slow this guy down even more 'til he ain't moving!!" Holly shouted as she shot three different strands of webbing out from her back. She used three of her arms to control the webbing so they'd all go forward. They each stuck to a part of Gregory's armored back. 

"Each of you take one!!" Holly said as Midareka and Stella each grabbed onto one of the strands and began pulling hard, with Holly taking the third. All four of them with their efforts made Gregory now come to a full stop. Between all the pulling and the bombardment of pain to his head, he was struggling to find any way to mount a counterattack. 

"I..... WILL NOT..... BE STOPPED BY MERE WEAKLINGS LIKE YOU!!!!" Gregory roared at the top of his lungs as he began to turn his body quickly, taking the girls with him as they swung around and were bashed into Pein. They all crashed against the side of a wall and laid there as all their efforts came to an end. Gregory's head became clear again as he began to march towards all of them. 

"Girls, get out of here. You stopped the bomb so get the hell out of here, right now!" Pein said as he tried to stand back up. But before he could, Gregory stomped down onto his chest to keep him there. 

"Get off of him!" Holly said as she tried to help, but Gregory stepped down onto her too and then grabbed Stella and Midareka in his hands, keeping all 4 of them from doing anything.

"Now which of you wants to die fir-" Gregory tried to say as suddenly, all of the field lights for the stadium turned on. 

"HEY, ASSHOLE!!!" Ryan howled as Gregory turned his head around to see the student standing in front of one of the lights. 

"How 'bout you pick on someone your own size!!" Ryan said as he crashed both of his fists into the lights and began to absorb all of their electricity. His hair began to stick up like crazy and his veins were actually starting to glow a bright blue from all that he has absorbed. Each and every one of the field lights then had their bulbs blow out, signalling they'd run out of power and had overheated. And once the last one blew out, Ryan jumped with one mighty leap down into the arena. 

"Didn't think I could absorb this much power. My highest before was around 950,000 volts. But this time..... i'd say I've taken in over 10 million!!" Ryan roared with pride as he began to charge Gregory from across the arena. 

"Then let's see what you can do, boy!!" Gregory replied as he dropped everyone, turned and then began to charge Ryan. 

"Has he ever had that much electricity inside of him before?" Midareka asked Stella as she shook her head. 

"No. The most we've ever seen was like 900,000. I think we should take cover!" Stella said as all of them got up and made a run for the nearest open exit gate. 

"I'm gonna tear you apart, blood bastard!!" Ryan shouted as he and Gregory approached one another. 

"Not before I snap you in two!!" Gregory replied as he reeled back his right arm and threw his punch. But before he could strike, Ryan leapt off the ground and went over his attack, going right above Gregory as he now reeled back his own right arm. 

"The thing about villains..... THEY ALWAYS LOSE!!!!" Ryan roared at the top of his lungs as came down and smashed his fist right into Gregory's face. He drove him straight into the ground and created a monumental shock wave. It was so strong that it made a massive crater and shattered every window and a bunch of the concrete walls within the stadium. And after the dust cloud that was made had cleared, it was clear who the victor was. 

"And you're no exception...." Ryan said as he stood over Gregory, triumphant. Gregory laid in the bottom of the crater, his body completely bruised and a heavy indent of a fist in his right cheek.

"Holy shit, Ryan!! That was amazing!!!" Midareka shouted as the rest of the students, even Bruce came running over to congratulate their friend on his victory.

"Just be glad my body could hold all that electricity..... if not.... who knows what would've happened...." Ryan said as he then collapsed to the ground, but not before Pein caught him in his arms. 

"Nice work, kid.... kicked this guys ass and all of you saved the city.... if I was actually a real hero i'd hire you all as my sidekicks...." Pein said as he let out a small chuckle. 

"Thank you, sir, but.... what now?" Holly asked him. 

"Now, with everything here settled, we go to the building where the rest of the villains are held up in. I've gotta get back to my partner. I'm not sure how many villains over there are still standing either. But as far as I know, the most dangerous one of them is still going strong. My partner, your teacher, and some of your classmates are dealing with that Cry kid. We need to get back there as fast as possible." Pein said as a thought just came to his head. 

"Shit, we can't just leave this villain here though. He might regain consciousness and escape." He said as Stella gave him a nod. 

"Don't worry about it. There's three more students in the stadium and they're watching one of the other villains who was here. They can watch this one too." She told him as he gave her a nod. 

"Perfect. Any of you who are seriously injured, stay here. Those of you who are not, come with me. We're rejoining this fight." Pein said as he, Stella, Midareka, and Holly left the stadium, leaving Ryan and Bruce behind with Jackson, Phil, and Colson to watch the villains. 

The tide had now changed in favor for the heroes. With Ryan, Pein, and the rest of the students having defeated Gregory and shutting down the nuke, the city had been saved. But with 5 villains still standing, the fight was far from over. And now that the villains primary plan had failed, they now had reason to let loose with killing intentions. For the heroes who were still fighting, their battles just got a whole lot harder....