Seven Heroes Redux

— A-Alright, I guess...

Tatsuya threw his keys to Yuto and approached Haji.

— What do you want with me?

— Come here.

Tatsuya squatted down and lifted Haji's body to eye level. Since Yuto already got in the car, a slash came to kill Tatsuya. But they both dodged. Another one came, but he stopped time.

He had to close both his eyes to stop time indefinitely. That's why he walked a bit faster than Haji a few days ago in the city: each blink stopped everything for a fraction of a second.

After taking a deep breath, he opened his eyes and started to blink repeatedly to slow down the slash. As soon as he saw it, he started running towards the car. When it arrived, he had more than enough time to dodge it.

Haji saw all that, because Tatsuya could bring anyone to his stopped time by physical contact. But she didn't have to close her eyes. She soon understood his power. When they were close enough to the car, Tatsuya closed his eyes.

— Haji, hold my hand until you're inside the car, okay? No need to rush.

— Alright, I understand.

She got into the backseat. Tatsuya got into the car and took the keys from Yuto's hand. He turned the car on, because he could interact with the world inside stopped time. After everything was right, he opened his eyes and looked at the rear view to predict the slash.

— Whoa! Tatsuya, when did you get here?

— It's my power. I told you I would reveal it.

— I'm not sure if it makes sense, but okay. Are you alright? You look pretty tired.

Tatsuya was indeed looking tired. His power could exhaust him if he used it too much, just like any power. But his exhaustion could travel in time, so he couldn't avoid it by returning a few seconds.

— I'm okay, don't worry.

— If you say so...

Yuto realized that he had stepped in a turd. He lifted his shoe and arched his back to look at the car's floor to see if it was dirty. Tatsuya only realized it at the last second.

— Get down, Haji!

— Huh?

Tatsuya dodged the slash in time.

— Haji, are you okay?

Tatsuya looked back. Haji was using the phone, so she couldn't react in time. Her head was cut in two again.

No, this can't be happening! What should I do? I am alive, Yuto's alive! I shouldn't waste this chance! Yeah, this is the best course of action!

As the car was still moving, Tatsuya accelerated it. He couldn't look back, because he would hesitate. As soon as Yuto looked at Haji's corpse, he couldn't say anything. He just stared at it in disbelief.

— Wait, Yuto, I can explain-

While he was distracted talking, a vertical slash sliced the car in two. Before he could even close his eyes to stop time, he was hit again.

Beheaded again...

Sliced into two...

Haji died...

Yuto died protecting him...

The car was broken even before arriving...

All them died at once...

Too tired to plan anything...

This is my limit. How many times did I use my power? A few thousand? I can't even predict the slashes anymore...

— Tatsuya, are you okay? You look pretty tired.

I'm more than pretty tired. You know what? I don't regret anything. I already accomplished my mission. Slade won't kill Yuto, or Haji, or Unizard. Genesis is still alive in Russia, I hope. This is the best timeline, for sure...

— Take Haji and Unizard and go to the car. You can go without me. I can stop time, so I'll be there in a minute.

Tatsuya threw the car keys again.

How many times did I throw these keys? At least the car isn't broken in this timeline...

— Are you sure? Wait, you can stop time?

How many times did I explain my power?

— Yeah, I'm Stopwatch, the 3rd level 7.

— Really? Wow, I didn't think I could be friends with a level 7! This makes things easier, now there are only two remaining!

— Yeah, you're right. We'll plan everything there, now go.

— Did something happen? We can wait for you.

— Nothing, really... I just wanted to explore the farm a last time before going back. It's nostalgic, and we don't come here often.

— Oh, I'm sorry... I didn't know you were so attached to this place.

— It's okay, don't worry...

Tatsuya forced a smile.

Yeah, it's okay... Everything's okay now... I did what I had to do, now I can rest...

— Okay, then! Bye for now, Tatsuya!

Haji waved and smiled at him, saying:

— Don't push yourself so hard, Tatsuya! Bye for now!

Bye, Tatsuya! You tried hard enough! Thank you, Tatsuya! You saved us! You did the right choice!

Yeah, this was the best course of action, Tatsuya, you did right. It's okay, you tried. At least your friends are alive.

— Goodbye, friends!

A tear ran down his face after they turned their back to face the car. They started it and waved one last time to Tatsuya. Since they were too far, they couldn't see his face.

— Bye bye, Tatsuya!

Tatsuya smiled at them one last time.

Yeah, bye bye, Tatsuya...

They disappeared over the horizon.

Beheaded one last time.

Inside a bunker.

— Alright, this should be enough!

Heavy winter clothing and hat, night vision goggles and a bit of blood. She didn't even look like herself, but the interior didn't change. She was the same joyful and energetic Genesis as always. 

She went to Russia to gather some information on how to make a Tsar bomba, but not only that. Any military weaponry she could find would be useful. After all, those were preparations for a level 7 fight.

Her power could copy an object to her storage and paste it anywhere. However, physical contact was necessary and she had to understand its composition. Since she was a super advanced android, her memory and learning were perfect.

Leaving the bunker and seeing the sun was refreshing to her.

— I can't wait to see Yuto and the others again!

A lot of soldiers and criminals were laying in the snow. They weren't dead, of course. Genesis had a lot of poisons in her storage, including paralyzing ones. She often visited Mifuyu, the scientist, to learn science and utilize her own power better.

Genesis raised her hand to channel her power. A holographic jet appeared in front of her.

— Alright, this should be fast enough to reach Tokyo in no time!

The jet model was the fastest one Russia had. It could exceed ten times the speed of sound. Her Creation had to wait a few minutes or hours to print the object, depending on how complex it was. The hologram was used to highlight its shape and how much progress was made.

— A few hours, maybe? Well, I guess I will make an army of unmanned ones to optimize time.

Her power didn't really have a cooldown, so she could spam it multiple times. In addition, the exhaustion generated by it was minimal. However, the process duration was individual to every object, so she had to time it.

— Well, if I had more time, I could train my power better. Maybe in a few months I'll make this jet in one minute!

Genesis smiled at her own progress.

— I can't be left behind! I need to make up for the time I spent here by protecting them!

At Yuto's home.

— Uh... What time is it now? Has Tatsuya arrived already?

Yuto got out of bed. He waited for Tatsuya for a few hours after arriving home. But it was already late, so he and Haji decided to sleep. Unizard went to her dorm.

— I need to return his car... People will suspect if it's parked in an ordinary house like mine...

He went to Haji's room. She was still asleep. He thought about asking if she had seen Tatsuya, but it didn't seem like that was the case. Yuto smiled, knowing that she was resting well. When he closed the door, she woke up, but she spent some more time in bed.

She heard some sounds from Yuto's bedroom and decided to check on him.

— Yuto, are you going somewhere?

He had finished changing.

— Yes, I'm going to the restaurant where Tatsuya's wife works.

— Wait, Tatsuya... hasn't he arrived yet?

— That's what I'll ask her. Maybe he went to his house instead and forgot to text me.

— Alright, sounds fair... Can you wait for me?

— Sure. His car is fast enough, so no need to rush.

Haji also changed her clothes and they both went to the restaurant. Luckily for Yuto, he didn't need a driver's license since the car had autopilot. When they got there, they didn't see Koharu. In fact, the establishment was temporarily closed due to some incident.

— Are you looking for his wife, Yu-chan? Don't worry, I got rid of her.

Yuto froze after hearing that nickname.