LATOT: Fifth Division
924 Words
Police sirens screamed across the night as the transport vehicle of Heroes Academy arrived outside Billings Pinnacle Museum.
Smoke poured into the dark sky.
Emergency lights flashed red and blue across shattered walls.
Civilians cried outside the barricades while medics rushed injured people toward ambulances.
The moment Merson, Schizzel, and Kaiden stepped out—
They froze.
Bodies.
Everywhere.
One corpse had been ripped completely apart.
Legs on one side.
Blood across the marble floor.
Pieces of flesh scattered against broken museum displays.
Another victim’s intestines trailed across the ground horrifyingly.
Schizzel immediately covered her mouth.
“Oh my God…”
Her stomach turned violently.
She almost threw up.
Kaiden quickly grabbed her shoulder.
“Whoa— whoa— hold on, girl.”
Schizzel stared around in horror.
“Her creatures are getting stronger…”
Her voice shook slightly.
“Look at what they did to these people…”
Merson’s face darkened completely.
No words.
Just anger.
Pure anger.
Without waiting, he walked briskly deeper into the museum.
Schizzel and Kaiden followed immediately.
Broken statues littered the hallway.
Glass crunched beneath their boots.
The deeper they went—
The louder the growls became.
Then finally—
They entered the main exhibition hall.
And stopped.
Dozens of creatures stood throughout the massive room.
Huge.
Grotesque.
Their dark skin looked armored while glowing veins pulsed across their bodies. Some crawled on walls while others tore through ancient displays with monstrous claws.
Kaiden blinked slowly.
“…Okay.”
He stared at the overwhelming number.
“That’s a lot of them in one space.”
Suddenly—
One creature roared loudly.
Then another.
Then all of them turned sharply toward the heroes.
Silence.
For one terrifying second—
Nobody moved.
Then—
The creatures charged.
“MOVE!” Merson shouted.
Two lunged forward instantly.
SCHIZZEL blasted one backward with a burst of energy that exploded through its chest.
Merson grabbed another creature midair and smashed it brutally into the floor.
CRACK!
Kaiden thrust both hands forward—
FIRE exploded from his palms and consumed another creature instantly.
The battle erupted violently.
Creatures attacked from every direction.
Schizzel spun sharply, blasting through multiple enemies at once.
Kaiden created walls of fire to block incoming attacks.
Merson fought brutally hand-to-hand, crushing creatures with raw force.
But there were too many.
Way too many.
One creature leapt from above—
Schizzel ducked barely in time before Kaiden incinerated it.
Another tackled Merson through a broken display case.
Glass exploded everywhere.
Merson growled angrily and punched straight through the creature’s skull.
Then—
He saw it.
Across the hall.
One of the creatures was running toward a portal forming near the far wall—
Holding a book.
Merson’s eyes widened instantly.
“There!”
He pointed sharply.
“That’s it!”
Kaiden looked toward the creature.
“The book?!”
“That’s why they attacked the museum!”
One creature suddenly lunged toward Merson.
But Merson grabbed it midair and violently hurled it across the room—
Straight into the creature carrying the book.
BOOM!
The two creatures crashed hard against the floor.
The book slid away.
Merson sprinted immediately.
He grabbed the book before the creatures could recover.
His eyes scanned the cover quickly.
Ancient strange letters stared back at him.
LATOT FIFTH DIVISION
Merson frowned.
“What the hell…”
Meanwhile Schizzel and Kaiden continued battling the remaining creatures desperately.
“MERSON!” Schizzel shouted.
Another creature suddenly slammed violently into Merson from the side.
The book flew from his hands.
“No!”
The creature snatched the book instantly.
Then suddenly—
All the remaining creatures rushed together at once, surrounding the creature carrying the book protectively.
A dark portal opened behind them.
Merson charged forward furiously.
But too late.
The creatures disappeared into the portal instantly.
The portal collapsed.
Silence.
Only smoke and destruction remained.
Merson stopped breathing heavily.
Then angrily—
“s**t!”
Kaiden walked toward him quickly.
“We lost it?”
Merson turned sharply.
“Did we get the book?!”
Kaiden frowned carefully.
“…No?”
“NO, KAIDEN!”
Merson shouted furiously.
“We didn’t get the damn book!”
He kicked a broken museum stand violently across the room.
“f**k!”
His fists clenched tightly.
“I had it.”
His voice lowered with frustration.
“It was literally in my hands.”
Schizzel walked toward him carefully.
“Okay.”
She raised her hands calmly.
“Merson… breathe.”
Merson inhaled deeply.
Then exhaled slowly.
Trying to calm down.
Finally, he nodded once.
“…Okay.”
Kaiden crossed his arms.
“But you saw the title, right?”
Merson’s expression sharpened immediately.
“Yes.”
Schizzel looked at him.
“What was it?”
Merson answered slowly.
“LATOT.”
He paused.
“Fifth Division.”
Kaiden frowned deeply.
“What does that even mean?”
Merson looked toward the destroyed museum around them.
Bodies.
Blood.
Broken artifacts.
Then his expression hardened again.
“I don’t know.”
His eyes darkened.
“But we’re going to find out.”
He turned toward the exit.
“We haven’t lost yet.”
Schizzel nodded slowly.
Merson continued—
“But first…”
“…we talk to William Foster.”
Kaiden glanced around the destroyed museum one last time before sighing heavily.
“…I agree.”
Without another word—
The three heroes turned and walked out of the ruined museum together.
Back toward the academy.
Back toward answers.
And back toward the man who might be hiding the biggest secret of all.
- Writer
