《The Unexpected Heroes》 Prologue: E-23s story ¡°Hohoho~ well I guess like all good stories I¡¯ll start at the end.¡± ¡°The end? That isn¡¯t where you¡¯re supposed to start.¡± ¡°This is the way it¡¯s supposed to be! The rest is boring trust me.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± As she looked at the man in front of her, her creator, for what would quite possibly be the last time she started to remember all the fun things they had done together. The Director had been nice to her since she had first been taken out of the genetic replicator tanks. He had always read to her before she was put away into her cell for the night, a different book every day. She had always looked forward to reading time since he also brought a feast of foods from which she could choose any to eat. But listening to the stories inside the books was what she really enjoyed.'' Her favourite books were the ones about heroes fighting monsters. Sometimes the heroes would fight alone and sometimes they would work together but they were always having fun. They were free to do whatever they wanted to. It seemed like the opposite of how she was living her life. ¡°I¡¯ve decided that this is when I begin my new journey. One that¡¯s separate from the organisation.¡± The Director looked long and hard at her with an expression that suggested that he was seriously considering her words. He ran his hand through his hair and she sighed. The Director would always do this when he was troubled and she knew that in the end he would never be able to let her go free. She was too valuable to his organisation. ¡°There will be others. You¡¯ll make someone that can truly satisfy your desire to conquer the world.¡± She decided to get straight to the point but he shook his head at her words. ¡°You¡¯re the one that I want.¡± She smiled sadly at him, ¡°I¡¯m just an experiment. One of many, you know that. You can make something like me anytime.¡± His face lit up with anger and she stepped back at the unexpected display of emotion. She had never known the Director to show signs of emotion. ¡°Think of everything that we could do.¡± He shuffled towards her and she saw one of his legs trailing behind. She knew that it had a permanent limp. His leg had been irreparably broken long ago by one of the many enemies he had made after creating the organisation. ¡°I had always hoped that you would feel it too.¡± He reached out to her, his hand only millimetres away from her shoulder. She jumped back and out of his reach. ¡°I¡¯m not human enough for that. Don¡¯t even pretend otherwise.¡± Humanity. It was something that she knew she would never have. The Director had created her with blonde hair and blue eyes and added to her human looks by giving her clothes so that she would be different from the other experiments. But she knew the truth. From the moment she was created she knew that she was simply an experiment, a monster. ¡°I know that things are always changing. The organisation has already grown powerful enough that you don¡¯t need me anymore. The others are easily strong enough to accomplish your goals. When you created an intelligent being you knew that it would be able to learn and make choices. Well now I¡¯ve grown enough that I know that now¡¯s the time to go.¡± ¡°You have nowhere to go-¡± She sighed at his words. He was clearly grasping at straws and it stood in stark contrast to the usual Director who she knew as a man that could move entire countries with his articulate speeches. ¡°You have to stay here. I¡¯ll let you do anything you want to do. You¡¯ll be able to go anywhere you want to go.¡± She snorted at his suggestion. She knew that as soon as the Director had her back in his grasp he would never let go of her again. ¡°You say I have to be here.¡± The Directors head perked up at her words. ¡°But I just want freedom. Is that so much to ask for?¡± His face fell at and he looked around at his surroundings. It was as though he was seeing the laboratories sterile white walls and metallic floor for the first time. As though he was realising how cold and heartless her prison really was. The sight of this laboratory had been permanently imprinted on her mind over the years she had been here. The experiences of being experimented on every day had long ago left her with the impression that this was more than the place that she lived in, it was a prison and she needed to escape. He lifted his hand onto a nearby bench to prop himself up properly and gave her a look filled with distress. He ran his hand through his hair and waved the other at her as though he were trying to swat a fly. ¡°Go.¡± She looked at him in confusion. ¡°GO!¡± She turned around and ran out the door before he changed his mind. She wasn¡¯t sure but she could swear she had seen a tear run down the Directors face before she had left. But a quick shake of the head got rid of the impossible notion. As she exited the room an alarm blared out and she knew that it would be ringing across the entire base. The organisation had already been alerted to her escape and they would send someone to stop her, no, to destroy her. ¡°Nothing much happened after that. I basically ran around and beat a couple up of guys until I reached the exit.¡± ¡°Can you just skip bits like that?¡± ¡°Sure I can. That¡¯s what makes it fun!¡± A creature was blocking the exit. She stopped running as she neared it and she took a closer look at her opponent. It was an experiment which was based on the humanoid model similar to how she was. But its skin was metallic grey and with the exception of a zipper running across its face it had no features. Gathering from her experiences in the organisation she knew that humanoid models were reserved only for the strongest experiments. Its legs were strangely bulky and she could only guess at the modifications it had undergone since the organisation created it. It was most likely made up of titanium or some other strong material. It was so thin that any human it was based off of had clearly missed a few meals but the blows it delivered would be no less powerful than her own. Small bumps and a distinct waistline made the creature vaguely recognisable as a female. As soon as she came into its view it began walking towards her. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. It wasn¡¯t walking right. She couldn¡¯t put her finger on what exactly was wrong but the creature was moving with a strange swagger. It was as though it was thinking about every step it took so that it wouldn¡¯t trip. She brought her hands to face the creature and they began to glow blue. She would have no mercy for anything standing in her way. She sent a bolt of electricity flying towards it. There was a small chance it had been modified to be resistant to her electric powers but she made sure to send enough to incapacitate any living being. A loud sound began to scream across the room towards her and she realised that it was originating from the creature, more precisely, from its legs. Its legs separated into pieces and revealed a glowing mechanical pole underneath. They began to swirl around the pole which connected it¡¯s thighs to its feet. The pole began to emit a light blue glow and the creature disappeared as the lightning reached its location. She looked around for the creature. The sound continued to shriek across the room so she knew that the creature had sped up rather than teleported and it would have to be here somewhere. It re-appeared in front of her swinging its leg in an overhead arc. She raised her hands to block the creature and heard a loud crack as her arms met its foot. She didn¡¯t feel the pain of a broken arm. She looked around, confused, and realised that the crack had been the roof breaking from the air pressure generated by the creatures swing. Shards of metal rained down and stabbed into her. Her body ached from the attack but there was no significant external damage. The floor behind the creature was also torn up from its inability to hold against the creatures speed and strength. The creature cried out as its leg and foot broke from the impact. Her skin was itching. She looked at it and realised it had also been torn asunder by the kick. She looked curiously as the surface of her arm immediately began to shed the broken skin and grow a new layer. She knew she had been given a healing factor but she hadn¡¯t known that it was this strong. She rarely got hurt and the fact that the creature could damage her at all meant that it was extremely powerful. In seconds her arm was completely healed while the creature in front of her cried out in pain as it got up to attack her again. It appeared the metal it was made from had no self-repairing capacity. She looked at the creature in pity. It could do nothing else, it knew nothing else, but to get up to attack her again and again until it broke. That was the life an experiment would live as long as it was following the orders of the organisation. It reminded her of the time before she had escaped her prison. She hadn¡¯t had any control over her actions and she didn¡¯t know how to do anything other than doing what the organisation told her to. She felt as though she had been a different person back then. Well, she hadn¡¯t escaped just yet. ¡°But then again, I¡¯m the only one that¡¯s managed to free myself¡± She looked at the creature as she said this. For no reason that she could put her finger on she felt a connection to it. Perhaps it was because it had a distinctly female form. Perhaps this was the concept of being a sister in arms with someone she had fought. Just like in the books the Director had read to her. ¡°I guess this will be my goodbye to you.¡± She sent a punch towards the creature and it ineffectively tried to block the punch with its arm. It was a direct hit into its stomach and she sent sparks of electricity racing from her arm into its body. The shock incapacitated it and it fell writhing to the ground. She hadn¡¯t pushed her power to lethal levels as a small mercy. It didn¡¯t choose to live the way it did and she liked to think that there was always a chance that it too would follow in her footsteps. ¡°I¡¯m off to live a real life.¡± The creature reached out its hand towards her and then realised that it was a futile effort as a broken bone bent its entire arm at a downward angle. She could swear she saw its featureless face crumple in sorrow. *Bruu* the zipper around its mouth opened and the creature whispered out a single word. ¡°Why¡± She looked in shock at the thing in front of her. Excluding herself she hadn¡¯t seen any other talking experiments in the organisation. It occurred to her that it was possible that the creature kneeling in front of her was her predecessor. It would explain its female form and capacity for speech. ¡°I want to be free and make my own destiny¡± She had long ago decided this while listening to her favourite stories about heroes, something this creature would probably never experience. She would have left right there and then but she knew that there was one more thing she had to say. ¡°From one experiment to another, I hope you find a way to free yourself. There¡¯s more than just the organisation out there. At least by looking at me you¡¯ll know how it feels¡­ maybe.¡± The words weren¡¯t as articulated as she wanted but she was covered in bits of broken roof and her body was aching all over from the creatures attack. She moved past it towards the exit and began climbing the ladder which led to the surface. The last bits of metal exited her body and fell out of her clothes to hit the ground below. As she reached the end of the ladder an emotion swirled inside her. It was new. It was interesting. But she would have to get out before exploring this new feeling. There were boards covering the exit and she probed them to confirm that she would be able to break through them. She smashed a hole in the boards and jumped up with her hands in the air and a grin on her face. ¡°I¡¯m so happy!¡± A pair of eyes appeared directly in front of her and she jumped back, startled. ¡°Who the hell are you?!¡± A boy of perhaps eighteen or nineteen years of age was in front of her. His black hair was cut into a mushroom haircut and it reminded her of the Director. She realised he was talking to her and looked at him and as something suddenly clicked inside her head. She hit her right fist into her other hands palm. ¡°Oh that¡¯s right. I need a name.¡± Then she punched him. ¡°And that¡¯s basically the story of how I met you.¡± ¡°Right¡­ the foods ready now.¡± ¡°Yay! Now you have to tell me a story too!¡± Lukes story Part 1 ¡°Boring! It didn¡¯t have a good ending!¡± As I finished telling my story I heard the girl¡¯s voice cry out to me. She had been talking throughout the story and irritating me by asking for more each time I wanted to finish it. I felt a little annoyed. ¡°I told you a story. Now tell me why you¡¯re still here?!¡± I looked at the girl in front of me. She was sitting on my favourite chair, my only chair, and twirling a lock of her blonde hair in her hands as she gazed at me. She shook her head a little as though she was waking from a dream and trying to clear it. ¡°I have decided. From today onwards you will be my companion!¡± I stared at her in confusion. Her words weren¡¯t making much sense. ¡°You should be honoured by this opportunity I have given you. Now then-¡± She looked around and sniffed the air. ¡°What¡¯s for dinner?¡± I was both shocked and awed at this girl¡¯s ability to disregard my problems and simultaneously order me around. Besides, she had been eating as I talked to her. I had served her some food and I could see the empty bowl in front of her. ¡®She¡¯s a messy eater.¡¯ I sighed as I saw that her white top ¨Cwhich she had borrowed from me¨C had somehow become stained with dark brown colours while I had been talking. She had a neglected expression on her face as she gazed at me. ¡°A good companion should always be able to tell me a story while cooking at the same time. This is just common sense.¡± I¡¯m not sure where she was coming from but what she wanted from me sounded suspiciously like the work of a slave rather than a companion. ¡°Aren¡¯t you acting a little stuck up for someone that turned up at my door half dead? Not to mention you¡¯re wearing my clothes.¡± The girl blushed at my words and stared down at the now stained shirt I had lent her. ¡°I was not ¡®half dead¡¯! From the moment I saw you I could tell that you were a man whose stories were worth hearing! And so I came back and I was indeed correct.¡± She nodded her head as though to confirm what she was saying and looked up at him with defiant eyes. ¡°It didn¡¯t look that way to me. The floor and my window are still broken by the way, when were you planning on fixing that?¡± I pointed to the wooden floorboards that lay at her feet and then moved my hands towards the broken living room window and she blushed harder. There was a huge hole in the floor next to her and when I saw it I couldn¡¯t help but remember the events from a few days before. ~~~~ -(Flashback time)- ¡°Who the hell are you?!¡± I couldn¡¯t help but gaze in shock at the blonde girl that had just appeared from under my floorboards. One second I was sitting on my chair eating some instant noodles and the next moment I and my dinner had gone flying as the floor exploded and a girl flew out from underneath me shouting something about being happy. I picked myself up off the ground and looked around. My entire living room was covered in debris from the broken floorboards. The cause of the mess was standing in the middle of the room and watching me with her blue eyes. I didn¡¯t quite know what to make of her or her appearance. She was covered completely in black except for her arms where the fabric was torn and she seemed to be dropping pieces of metal onto the floor. As I looked at her she hit one of her fists into her other hands palm. ¡°Oh that¡¯s right. I need a name.¡± If this had been a cartoon I would have fallen on the floor with my legs hanging in the air but this was real life, and she had just broken my floor. *Fwoop* a strange sound came out of my chest. I looked down and realised that the girl had punched her hand into it. She was pretty strong. My body takes in most attack without me feeling a thing but it was still a shock to me that this girl was attacking me. I grabbed her shoulder. ¡°Listen I don-¡° ¡°Hohoho~ it appears you are no ordinary human!¡± She took her hand out and punched me again. I grunted at the impact. She was clearly a lot stronger than she looked. She probably had a power that enhanced her strength judging from the feel of her punch. A strange blue glow began to arc through her arm towards her fist, ¡°ELECTRIC PUNCH!¡± My eyes widened as agonising pain shot through my body and I could feel my body collapse onto the ground, twitching out of control. ¡°Hohohohohoho~ you¡¯ll never take me back!¡± *Squish* the girls annoying laugh rung in my ears as she stepped on my head and ran out the door. It took two hours for the body spasms to fully stop. I waited another hour without moving just to make sure that I was really okay and brushed myself off as I got up. It wasn¡¯t my first time being floored by a punch but it didn¡¯t make the pain any less real. I gazed miserably at the pieces of broken wood lying around the room as I lifted my chair off the ground, ¡®As if getting punched by a girl with powers wasn¡¯t bad enough she had to come in through my living room floor.¡¯ I definitely didn¡¯t have enough money to pay for the floorboard repairs. This had been a really strange day. ~~~~ -Three days later- -approximately three hours before the flashback begun- *Knock* ¡®Who could that be?¡¯ I wasn¡¯t expecting any visitors. Maybe one of my friends had come to visit me. Wait, I don¡¯t have any friends. *Knock Knock* I groaned. It was raining outside and I had planned to spend the entire day curled up under my bed sheets. *Bang* *Shatter* ¡®What the hell!¡¯ I jumped out of my bed and ran into the living room. Half of the window next to the entrance had been broken and a familiar head of blonde hair was poking through the newly created opening. I watched in silence as the girl that had punched me a few days ago and run out of the door laughing dragged herself inside the house through the window and plopped herself on the floor. ¡°I¡¯m back!¡± She smiled at me and I could tell from the expression on her face that she expected me to break out into applause or something. Her smile wavered and I saw that she was struggling to maintain it. Her black apparel was completely soaked and her hair was also dripping wet. I couldn¡¯t really tell because her clothes covered most of her body but from the looks of things she hadn¡¯t eaten in days. I couldn¡¯t help but feel sorry for the girl. ¡°Come on in. Although I think you already took care of that.¡± I took a white shirt and a pair of pants from my room and walked back into the living room where the girl was watching the rain come in through the broken window. ¡°Here-¡± I threw the clothes at her ¡°I can¡¯t do anything about your underwear but for now go take a shower or you¡¯ll catch a cold.¡± About half an hour later she exited the shower looking extremely refreshed and had a genuine smile on her face. She had been in there an incredibly long time and her pale skin was red from the heat of the water. I got up and pulled back my chair and so that she could sit in front of me. She looked extremely comfortable and brought her gaze to reach mine. ¡®Blonde with blue eyes, that¡¯s rare.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but think to myself. She looked around and twiddled her thumbs as she sat. She was acting as though nothing strange had happened. Now that she was bathed and relaxed I felt free to send her a glare. She avoided my eyes, ¡°I-I am guessing that you wish to know why I am here!¡± ¡°That would be nice¡± ¡°But first¡­ do you have any food?¡± The girl looked up at me beseechingly and I sighed. I walked to the kitchen and began boiling water in the kettle. I heard the girl talking to my back as I moved. ¡°To-to repay you for the food how about I tell you how I got here?¡± I figured it was better to have her talking while the water boiled rather than standing in awkward silence so I agreed. ~~~~ -Present time- I¡¯m not sure how it had happened but after that I had ended up cooking food for her and telling her a story while she ate. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡± She stared unashamedly at her feet. She was clearly not regretting her actions at all. Not only that but she seemed to have reverted back to informal speech at some point. ¡®She¡¯s definitely gotten too comfortable here.¡¯ I tapped my foot impatiently and she looked up at me with a pleading expression. ¡°But how was I meant to know that the organisations exit only appeared in random places! It¡¯s totally not my fault that your floor was in the way of my escape.¡±* This girl was spouting nonsense every time I saw her. I was still reeling from her unbelievable story. I wasn¡¯t sure how the perfectly gallant and noble girl from the story could possibly be this unkempt and rude girl in front of me. ¡®Wait a second Luke, if you begin to wonder about that then it would mean that you¡¯re taking her story seriously.¡¯ I couldn¡¯t help but agree with my brain. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. I wouldn¡¯t let her get out of this so easily. One way or another I would need to get those floorboards repaired and it would cost time or money, maybe both. ¡°And the electric punch?¡± She flippantly waved her hand in the air, ¡°I thought you were one of the organisations men. You took the first punch after all and no ordinary human can take that.¡± ¡°Right¡­¡± For a while now this girl had been talking about an ¡®organisation¡¯ that she had ¡®escaped¡¯ from. I don¡¯t know how she got under my floorboards but according to her she had climbed up a ladder and the exit just happened to be directly underneath my house. I had checked and there was clearly no ladder or hole under the floor like she had described. Even the insulation directly underneath the wooden boards was undisturbed. ¡°I think I would definitely have noticed if a giant criminal organisation was operating under my house.¡± ¡°They¡¯re not a criminal organisation. All they want is to rule the world!¡± I looked all around the living room as though I was expecting someone to come along and explain to this girl what the words she was saying meant. Instead I was just greeted by the howling of the wind outside and the pattering of rain on my broken window. ¡°That sounds pretty criminal to me.¡± The girl began pouting and placed the empty bowl on the living room table so that she could cross her arms over her chest. Even without the bra it was pretty small. ¡°And I already told you their exits move randomly from place to place. The exit I came from obviously wouldn¡¯t be there now!¡± I sighed. ¡°Then why hasn¡¯t this ¡®organisation¡¯ come back to get you?¡± If she wasn¡¯t going to let go of this story then I would play along with her. Maybe she would slip up and admit that she was wrong. Preferably this apology would also come with a check written to the exact amount it would cost to fix the floor and the window. She averted her eyes from mine, ¡°I-I sort of broke a lot of their stuff before I left. I had to make sure that they couldn¡¯t try and find me for a while.¡± She uncrossed her arms and began fiddling her thumbs again as though she was feeling guilty. She¡¯s a good actress I¡¯ll give her that. ¡°And if this ¡®Director¡¯ fed you luxurious foods and read you stories before bedtime everyday then why did you want to escape? It sounds like you were living the life of a princess-¡± She began to answer but I cut her off and continued. ¡°There is no possible way a criminal organisations leader would also be the kind of man to read a girl bed time stories.¡± ¡®Everybody knew that criminal organisations were run by men that would cut you down for simply looking at them wrongly.¡¯ I couldn¡¯t help but worry a little about my health as my brain started to think in a way that considered her story as really happening. ¡°I wanted to be free. If I had stayed then the organisation would keep me chained to them for the rest of my life.¡± She replied immediately. She said it so quickly and without hesitation that if her story wasn¡¯t so outrageous I would have been convinced right then and there. ¡°Fair enough.¡± She smiled and I quickly took the opportunity to attack another point in her story. ¡°Then why did you run out as soon as you punched me? Surely you should have known that this wasn¡¯t an ¡®organisation¡¯ hideout? That punch hurt a lot! Not to mention you also stepped on my head!¡± I found myself raising my voice after remember the pain I felt at that punch. *sniffle* I heard a sound and looked around. Then I realised that it was coming from the girl. ¡°I-I didn¡¯t remember that the exit was random. And I keep telling you that it was a mistake!¡± *sniffle* The girls head slumped down until her blonde hair fell over her eyes. *Waaa* ¡®Oh crap¡¯ *Waaaaaaa* ¡®Oh crap, oh crap.¡¯ I had made her cry. I couldn¡¯t handle crying girls¡­ or crying people in general. I wasn¡¯t really the comforting sort of guy. ¡°Alright, alright I said! I believe you!¡± The girl raised her head with a smile and her blue eyes locked onto mine. There wasn¡¯t any sign of tears or water in them. It was kind of suspicious how quickly she recovered. ¡°Do you really?¡± I smiled and put my arm around her shoulder. I looked at her closely. When she had first come in through the floorboards I hadn¡¯t had much time to concentrate on her. I had assumed she was a child since she acted like one. ¡®Correction, she¡¯s still acting like a child. But now that I look at her closely she¡¯s around my age.¡¯ Although this talk of ¡®organisations¡¯ and ¡®experiments¡¯ was obviously a lie, as I thought about her story closely I began to piece together what had really happened to her. ¡®It¡¯s obvious if I think about it¡¯ This girl had run away from her home and I couldn¡¯t feel anything but sympathy for her. It was all clear when I looked at the story closely. ¡®Okay so she said that she was fighting this ¡®experiment¡¯. It was probably a sibling, her sister? Did she run away from home?¡¯ Slowly her story started to make more sense to me. ¡®All kids feel like they¡¯re trapped at some point.¡¯ It was a common in most people to feel like they were trapped by their parents or perhaps society at some point in their lives. ¡®She clearly loved her father. That much is certain.¡¯ Maybe this sister of hers simply took advantage of her time of weakness to make her run away.¡¯ I hadn¡¯t encountered many people in real life that were that mean but I watched the news. There were some evil people out there. ¡®I wonder if I would have gone through that phase, if my mum had still been alive.¡¯ I felt a pang of compassion for the poor girl. If my thoughts were correct she had been through a lot. ¡°Of course I believe you. How could I not? I was just testing you before.¡± I lightly punched her shoulder in a gesture of playfulness. It would be better to be a friend for her, rather than just another enemy. If she ran away again there was no telling what would happen to her. She clearly wasn¡¯t equipped for outdoor survival, considering she had been borderline dead after her first attempt at running away from this house. ¡®So how did she get under my floorboards?¡¯ Judging from what had happened after I met her she clearly had enhanced strength based powers and could create electricity. ¡®Perhaps she has another power that I haven¡¯t seen yet and she used it to get under the house. Either way, I should really find out who she is.¡¯ I reached my hand out to her to get her attention but she suddenly stiffened and moved her head to look around. ¡°Good. Then we better prepare.¡± She spoke as she moved her head to look outside the window next to the entrance and frowned. ¡°Prepare for what?¡± I followed her gaze and looked outside but the cracks in the glass and rain made it hard to see anything through the window. *Scree* I winced as I heard a screeching sound. The girl had pushed my chair back suddenly and the metal legs scraped against the wooden floor. I moved to push the chair back against the table. By the time I put my chair back she had already reached my door. ¡°Hey!¡± She grabbed the handle of the door and looked at me. ¡°What are you doing?¡± ¡°They-¡° *BOOM* Just as she opened her mouth to talk the door exploded and she went flying across the room. I watched in horror as she crashed against the back wall and looked to where my entrance had previously been. The rain had begun to blow inside from the big hole which now stood where my door had been. The pieces of wood that were once my front wall where scattered on the floor alongside shattered glass and my table had been knocked over by the impact. ¡°What was that?!¡± I heard a cough from behind me and I felt the girl grab onto my shirt. I could feel her hands trembling underneath the cotton. I turned around to check on her and realised that she was her entire body was shivering and I could see the fright in her eyes. ¡°Hey you!¡± I heard a voice calling out behind me and I looked to see who was talking. As soon as I turned around my whole body froze I was looking straight into the barrel of a gun. I could feel the girl¡¯s breath brushing against my ear as she looked at the gun. ¡°They¡¯re here.¡± She whispered to me. I continued to stare at the barrel of the gun. ¡®Well no shit.¡¯ I could only watch helplessly as the gun fired and my vision turned dark. That was my first time experiencing death. *Read the prologue to know what her story was. Lukes story Part 2 ¡°So I guess it¡¯s time I told you about powers. You¡¯ll find that some people use the word abilities, but in the end it¡¯s all the same.¡± The girl nodded her head at the man¡¯s words. If she listened well she would be rewarded for it. ¡°The first thing to know about powers is that we don¡¯t know where they originate from. It¡¯s quite inconvenient really. The majority of powers naturally appear in subjects some time during puberty, but there are rarer cases in which people have unexpectedly gained powers in the latter years of their lives. The oldest known person to gain powers after puberty was one hundred and twelve years old.¡± ¡°Does that mean I¡¯ll get powers too?¡± The man considered her question with a grim expression. ¡®But then again¡¯ she thought, ¡®his expression is always grim.¡¯ ¡°You already have powers, not everybody can create electricity and punch holes in metal walls you know.¡± She looked at the man with curious eyes, ¡°Are those the only kinds of powers?¡± ¡°Of course they¡¯re not. Powers are as diverse as the people on this earth. Well, they never used to be actually, powers previously only appeared in about one in a hundred million people. The first case of powers appearing is thought to have occurred some several thousand years ago and since then powers have been appearing in people at greater frequencies. Most historical figures are suspected to have had powers in one form or another.¡± ¡°Like Deus Ex Machina?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a man that came a lot later. But we¡¯re getting distracted. Over the years powers have become a lot more widespread and have popped up in one in ten thousand people. Scientists researching into the development and creation of powers discovered that the appearance of powers coincided with certain genetic anomalies occurring within people. The problem lay in how supposedly normal people were developing these anomalies immediately and without warning. There have been many incidents of people developing powers in the middle of crowded places and accidently harming the people around them. Strangely enough, the highest chance people have to develop a power is right before a situation which would lead to their death. We¡¯re not exactly sure why that is at this moment but several tests have been conducted-¡± *Yawn* the girl lifted her arms and the wires that were running into them clattered against each other. ¡°You need to know these things.¡± The man gazed sternly at the girl. ¡°I know, sorry. When¡¯s story time?¡± ¡°After this if you listen closely to what I¡¯m saying.¡± ¡°Yay!¡± ¡°Although there are lots of different powers, the majority of them were quite easy to put into categories. A British scientist researching the power phenomenon, a man named Robert Richter, created the Richter table which categorised powers into five types, Strength, Manipulation, Knowledge, Creation and Unknown. About a hundred sub-categories were created for each of those, but I¡¯ll make you memorise those later.¡± ¡°Aw.¡± ¡°These categories were created in order of most common to least common. Powers from the Strength category appear in almost every powered individual and can be as simple as durable skin that can¡¯t be cut, to entire organic bodies being replaced with something else, perhaps a certain element or even something intangible like darkness or light. You yourself have two strength type powers. You¡¯re enhanced physical strength and your body regeneration ability. As for the Manipulation category, you don¡¯t have one of those abilities yet but we¡¯re hoping that you will soon develop one as the experiments continue along. You should be careful if you ever come across a manipulator. As their category name suggests, they can control certain things to some extent although this usually only extends to natural elements and minerals. Most manipulators can¡¯t use their powers if some sort of barrier, such as clothing or human skin, is in between them and their element. This is an important thing for you to remember if you ever find yourself running into an enemy that has manipulation powers. The weakest of manipulators can only manipulate objects that their bodies are touching whereas the strongest have been known to manipulate dozens of tons of their element from kilometres away. Some are powerful enough to manipulate elements past barriers. It¡¯s because of these beings that Manipulation is known as the strongest type.¡± ¡°But I can control electricity.¡± The girl lifted her arm towards the man and her arm glowed as blue arcs raced across it. ¡°No, you can create electricity. Alongside Unknown the Creation type powers are the most mysterious. People with these powers are able to create materials out of thin air. Similar to the Manipulation types they are limited in what they can create and most can only create things within a certain radius of themselves and not beyond walls and barriers. I think you know of the superhero Diamond?¡± ¡°Yes! She can create diamonds as big as a hundred feet tall!¡± ¡°Indeed, perhaps higher, but the most intriguing thing is that she can also make it disappear at will. We¡¯re not sure where creation types retrieve their materials from since no diamond reserves are known to disappear when she fights. Many of the other creation types would long ago have disrupted the cycle of this earth if the materials had been taken from within it. Even now we are still looking into where the materials conjured by these people are coming from.¡± The girl looked at the man impatiently. ¡°So that means that there¡¯s just Knowledge and Unknown left, right??¡± The man nodded at her. ¡°Knowledge is possibly the simplest of the power types to understand. They know things. Again, we¡¯re not sure how, but people with a knowledge type of power are those that suddenly find themselves knowing information that they did not before. Several of these people, such as the hero Photon, have gained knowledge dozens of years ahead of our time and use it to create complex machines. Our organisation works with several knowledge types to equip our personnel with the highest level of technology. The laboratory machines you see around you are also a result of their technological knowledge. There are also those that gain knowledge of past events and use it to change our view of history even now. Now then, that just leaves the Unknown category. The name is pretty much self-explanatory, if a power turns up that doesn¡¯t belong to any other category it will go into this one. As far as humanity knows there are only a few dozen of these types to have ever existed.¡± The girl fiddled with her thumbs, ¡°You mean like being able to tell the future?¡± ¡°No, all of the future tellers on record have fallen into the Knowledge category. And that¡¯s only if they¡¯re not charlatans. They possess knowledge of some future events but they can¡¯t tell the future per se, at least not at will. Once the event they know of is about to occur and they change it slightly they won¡¯t know what happens next because they have already changed the event that they know about. It is not true future telling since they don¡¯t know what happens once they have deviated from the path they saw. A true future teller would be able to both change the future and see the new future their change has made.¡± ¡°But what if we did find someone like that!¡± The man ran his hands through his hair. ¡°Well then, I think we would recruit them. It does sound like an incredibly useful ability. If we had someone telling us that what we did was bound to fail before we did it, then it would save us a lot of time and resources.¡± The girl puffed her cheeks and looked annoyed. She was incredibly bored right now. ¡°Well now E-23, I think it¡¯s time for a story.¡± E-23 looked up expectantly at the Director¡¯s words and he reached out to the nearby bench and grabbed one of the numerous papers that were lying on top of it. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. ¡°Let¡¯s see, File no.12258B was just delivered to the hero association today. It¡¯s Mouse¡¯s report on the capture of Earth Man.¡± The girl clapped her hands together with a smile on her face. She always loved story time. ~~~~ ¡°Oh hell no, don¡¯t you even think about it.¡± *Clatter* The woman stared in surprise as the gun she had been holding a second earlier was kicked out of her hand. I brought my foot to the ground and immediately moved it forward. I rotated my entire body forward and swung my arm around to smash her face with my fist. *Crunch* I heard a satisfying crack as my fist hit her square in the jaw and it broke. She fell to the ground writhing in pain and I stepped back to look my opponent. She looked young, maybe only around twenty years old, and she had bright pink hair. She wasn¡¯t wearing anything special except for a leather jacket that looked like it would suit B-rated movie bikies instead of a twenty-something year old girl. Something had flown out of her mouth, after I punched her, and it lay on the ground next to her face. I think it was chewing gum but it was hard to tell while it was covered in blood. ¡°You just shot me!¡± I shouted at her. She coughed and a glob of blood flew out of her mouth. She shot me an angry look. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about.¡± The nerve of this woman! Acting like nothing had happened when I had clearly just kicked a gun out my face. I ran my hands over my face and realised that she was right. I hadn¡¯t been shot. Perhaps it had been my imagination. ¡°Watch out!¡± I felt a pair of hands pushing against my ribs and the before I knew it I was flying through the air and crashing onto the bitumen street several meters away. I had time to see blonde hair fall in front of my face before I was pushed further into the ground as someone crashed into my chest. ¡°What did you do that fo-¡± *BOOM* My sentence was drowned out by a deafening explosion. ¡®Oh crap my house!¡¯ A flickering of flames lit up the area as what was left of my house blew to pieces in front of my eyes and the rest caught on fire. This was turning out to be an incredibly bad week for me. ¡°Hey¡± I had lived in that house for ages. ¡°Hey hey¡± I made my first memories in that house. ¡°Listen to me!¡± I- was interrupted from my reminiscing as a pair of hands reached up in front of me and started pulling at my hair. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you running, are you dumb?!¡± ¡®Oh right, there was a blonde haired girl next to me before.¡¯ *Smack* Ouch. *Smack* *Smack* ¡°Hey, stop hitting me.¡± *SMACK* ¡°No seriously-¡° *BOOM* My eyes widened in surprise as the girls back exploded into flames and she went flying behind me. *Crash* Standing in the middle of the street was a man dressed in black. He was only a few meters away and he was holding a weapon which looked incredibly menacing. If this wasn¡¯t real life I might have mistaken it for a rocket launcher. ¡®Oh wait, that is a rocket launcher.¡¯ And this is real life. The pink haired woman walked up to the man and lifted her hand in front of his weapon. The woman grunted and a canister appeared in mid-air, the man caught it with his hand. The man lifted the weapon and an empty canister fell out it. He put the new one into the empty slot to finish reloading his weapon. It took me a few seconds to realise what was happening. *Swoosh* The man fired the rocket launcher again and I could see a trail of smoke heading towards me through the rain. I stood frozen in place as I stared at it. There were several thoughts rushing through my head. ¡®I definitely did not picture myself going out this way. I sort of wished I¡¯d dated a girl before I died. Then preferably have died in her arms. Maybe not from a rocket launcher though. Although now that I think about it, that does sound sort of kick ass.¡¯ As my thoughts rambled on a shadow fell over my body and I heard the crunching of gravel. The bare back of the blonde haired girl covered my vision as she moved to stand in front of me. She spread out her hands in front of her. The back of her shirt had been blown off and the rest of it lay in tatters around her. But I could see no physical wounds on her body. I was sure she had taken a rocket to the back before. The rain was illuminated as a bolt of bright blue electricity fired out of the girl¡¯s hands towards the rocket. *BOOM* The area lit up as the rocket and electricity collided and I saw that several of my neighbours were running for their lives down the street. Luckily the woman and man hadn¡¯t noticed them. The woman moved towards us and the girl tensed. ¡°You know, when you left the Directors hair turned white.¡± ¡®That¡¯s kind of a weird way to start a conversation.¡¯ I thought, ¡®Director? Where have a heard that before?¡¯ The woman wiped her mouth and spat out another glob of blood. ¡°We didn¡¯t think that you would be able to make contact with another organisation so soon. We underestimated your resourcefulness E-23.¡± ¡®Organisation? Did they mean me? This girls name was E-23?¡± Questions kept popping up in my mind. E-23 moved her hands in front of her defensively but reconsidered and moved them to cover her sides, no, to cover me. ¡°He¡¯s just a bystander. Leave him out this.¡± The woman laughed and more blood trickled out of her mouth. The broken jaw seemed to have healed already. She must have a regeneration type power. ¡°You expect us to believe that you found a powered being lying on the street?¡± E-23 shrugged. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± I sighed and put my hand on the ground. I felt the wet bitumen crunching underneath my palm as I lifted my body up, ¡®Well, she did save my life. I guess I owe her one.¡¯ And the rain did look nice on a moon and fire lit night. ¡°That¡¯s wrong.¡± I said. E-23 cocked her head around to look at me and I smiled at the expression of surprise on her face. *Pop* The woman blew a chewing gum bubble from her mouth and it exploded over her lips. She traced her tongue over the pink substance and crossed her arms. ¡°So who are you then?¡± I smiled and placed my hand over the girl¡¯s, E-23¡¯s, shoulder. ¡°I¡¯m this girl¡¯s companion.¡± The woman and man looked at each other with stern expression, ¡°I guess that means we have to kill you then.¡± I shrugged and wrapped my hands into fists. ¡°Then I guess that means I have to get serious.¡± The rain stopped falling around me, although I could still see and hear it all around us. ¡°And they won¡¯t be fighting alone.¡± I heard a voice speak from above me and my neck cracked as I bent it backwards to look at the new arrival. What appeared to be a teenage girl holding a sword and an umbrella was hovering above us. ¡®Is she wearing a shrine maiden outfit or is it just me?¡¯ I double checked, ¡®she¡¯s definitely wearing a shrine maiden outfit.¡¯ It was just like the kind I see all the time in Japanese manga. ¡®Oh hey, she has a bunny mask as well.¡¯ She lifted her weapon to point towards the man and woman. A white glow began to surround her body and she shouted for all to hear, ¡°Flying down from the heavens, Lunar Princess has arrived to deliver judgement on all evil!¡± That aura, that mask and that corny battle cry, they could mean only one thing. A hero had arrived. Lukes story Part 3 *Whirrr* I could hear the sound of cogs resounding in the air as broken machines lay on the ground all around us. ¡°Please¡­ swear to me¡­¡± I felt blood splatter onto my face as the woman struggled to talk. Tears stained my eyes as the woman¡¯s blood soaked hand gently caressed my hair. ¡°Swear to me that you will always stay like you are.¡± I fell onto my knees and tears splashed down my face, ¡°I-I promise you that I¡¯ll always stay the same.¡± Her face was filled the most radiant smile I had ever seen but I knew that she hadn¡¯t heard my words. She was dead long before I had spoken them. I had gained my powers that day. But I had lost so much more in return. ¡°I promise I¡¯ll avenge you mother.¡± ~~~~ *Pop* The pink haired woman¡¯s voice carried past the rain towards us. ¡°Oh look, a hero. It¡¯s a B ranker as well, cute.¡± She was chewing her gum with a bored expression on her face. Lunar Princess kept her sword steady as she spoke to them. ¡°The association has received several distress calls of explosions in the area. Lay down your weapons and surrender yourself to me or I will be forced to take action.¡± The woman gave her the finger, ¡°try me.¡± Lunar Princess exhaled. ¡°Very well.¡± The white aura around her turned to silver and channelled into her sword. She swung her sword and the aura spread and flew out in an arc towards the pair. They jumped back and the ground around them exploded, sending clouds of dust into the air and knocking them back behind it. We had lost sight of them. ¡°It does not look like you are with those ones.¡± I looked up as the hero spoke to us and shook my head, ¡°Complete bystanders.¡± I turned to the blonde haired girl standing next to me. ¡°Come to think about it, I don¡¯t know anything about you.¡± The girl¡¯s blue eyes swirled to meet mine. ¡°You¡¯re name is E-23?¡± The girl shook her head, ¡°I left that name behind when I left the organisation.¡± It was understandable. I nodded my head. Any thoughts I had had about her story being fabricated were long gone by now. ¡°My name¡¯s Luke Hamilton.¡± I looked up at Lunar Princess and checked that she was listening. ¡°I am also known as the hero, Avenger.¡± Lunar Princess brought her wrist up to her mouth and I saw that she was carrying the personal helper device the hero association handed out to its members. She was talking into it and I realised she was probably checking to see that I was who I said I was. After a moment she nodded in acknowledgement. At the same time a gasp sounded out from beside me and I stepped back in surprise. E-23¡¯s eyes had lit up at my words and she was making grabbing motions with her hand, as though she wanted something really badly. ¡°Say it!¡± She continued to stare at me and it took me a second to realise what she was talking about. ¡°I¡¯m not going to say it!¡± Her eyes lit up more, with electricity this time. ¡°Say it!¡± She repeated. ¡®Can she shoot that stuff from her eyes? Can I take that risk?¡¯ I looked around at the wet floor and realised that my clothes were soaked as well, I couldn¡¯t take that chance. ¡°Listen, I¡¯ll shout it some other time.¡± Her blonde hair suddenly dried as bolts of electricity ran through it. ¡°I-I¡¯m not here on hero business you know, it would be wrong to say it.¡± Suddenly she nodded enthusiastically, she could understand my logic. ¡®Thank god I managed to fool her.¡¯ I really didn¡¯t want to shout my battle cry. It was too damn embarrassing. Besides I had left behind any association with my life as a hero a long time ago. ¡°Prepare yourselves!¡± Lunar Princess suddenly cried to us and I could see her pointing towards the section of the street where the organisations men had been covered in smoke. The pair was striding towards us. It was clear that they hadn¡¯t been harmed at all by her aura attack. Lunar Princess glided down from the air and landed in front of us. ¡°Avenger stay ba-¡± Lunar Princess¡¯s eyes widened and she stopped talking mid-sentence as she looked at me. I could feel it rather than see it. Seeping out of my body through my pores and reaching across my skin. My clothes and hair instantly dried and the rain fizzled and evaporated as it hit me, no, as it hit the aura which was encompassing my body. It was red, the colour of anger. It was the colour of blood. ¡°You have an aura?! You¡¯re only a D-ranked hero!¡± Surprise fluttered across my face. ¡®I have a hero rank?¡¯ This was news to me. A bright flash of light was accompanied by a trail of smoke in the sky as the organisation¡¯s man fired on us again. ¡°You stay here.¡± I motioned to the girl, more specifically I pointed to her clothes which were falling around her in tatters. ¡°Kyaa!¡± She screamed and dropped to the ground blushing and covering her body. I motioned her to move back and she looked at me, bobbing her head to show that she understood. I looked at the oncoming rocket. ¡°While I take down the woman use the chance to stop that guy from firing on us again.¡± Lunar princess nodded and her sword glowed as she sent more of her aura into it. I jumped into the air towards the pair, my fist flying towards the woman¡¯s face¡­ ~~~~ -But first, a quick flashback- ¡°Hey! What are these ¡®auras¡¯ that keep turning up in the stories?¡± The teenage girl interrupted the man as he was reading to her and he put down the file he was reading while groaning internally. He yearned for those years gone by when she wouldn¡¯t interrupt his reading every few sentences with questions or statements. ¡°The concept of auras has been around for almost as long as powers.¡± The girl yawned as she sensed another lecture coming. She¡¯d had a shorter attention span as she grew up. ¡°They are,¡± he laboured on, ¡°the physical manifestations of a person¡¯s life energy. The concept of aura is that people can use their own life energy, or chi as some people prefer, which is the very essence that drives them and let them live, as a tool like any old common weapon or power.¡± ¡°Does that mean that I can use it too?¡± The man ignored her question. He didn¡¯t ignore it because it was a bad question, but it was simply a question he could not answer. No matter how often they had tried they had never been able to insert life energy into E-23. ¡°People had discovered long ago that using your life energy is a lot harder than simply thinking about it. People use life energy in their everyday lives without noticing it or even knowing about it. But the people that can manifest their energy into auras are the ones that have an extreme abundance of it. Much like powers, life energy will increase exponentially in people randomly and when this happens they suddenly find themselves able to manifest auras which they can now use at will. It¡¯s as though they have suddenly gained enough life energy to fill them twice over, more in rare cases.¡± ¡°Can all heroes use auras?¡± ¡°No, life energy which can be manifested into auras is a rare occurrence, even now only people above the B rank in the hero association can manifest an aura and even then it is incredibly rare. There are people in the highest ranks that haven¡¯t been able to manifest their auras yet.¡± The girls twiddled her thumbs as she distracted herself from the man¡¯s long explanation. ¡°This part is important. For all intents and purposes aura can be used as both a weapon and a defence, it strengthens the body beyond what conventional means can do and can be considered an equal to enhanced strength powers.¡± The girl held up her chin with her hand and moved it up until she was facing the Director, ¡°So auras aren¡¯t a type of power?¡± The Director considered her question carefully. ¡°Life energy is placed in the Strength category of the Richter power types. But we discovered long ago that although the appearance of abundant life energy in a person may be random, it does not create the same genetic anomaly in people that powers do. The people that have auras are still the exact same as they were before they had them.¡± This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. The girl nodded her head. Even though she didn¡¯t look that interested in it, she wouldn¡¯t be forgetting about auras anytime soon. ~~~~ Lunar Princess swung her sword in an arc in front of her as I jumped into the air. *BOOM* I was pushed to the ground by the force of the air as it exploded around us. *clatter* Pieces of metal rained down on me. Lunar Princess had cleaved the rocket that had been flying towards us into two pieces. A shadow appeared above me and I rolled over. The bitumen next to me cracked as a fist hit the spot where my head had just been. Pink shoes entered my vision and I felt the woman kick me in the stomach and send me flying backwards. I landed on my back. She raised her fist and I saw her grinning at me while smacking her lips together. ¡°It¡¯s payback time.¡± I gathered my aura in my legs as I twisted my hands inwards and placed them on the ground. I pushed myself off the ground, landing both my feet on her shins, and I saw her flip over my head at the impact. *Crack* I heard the pavement break as her head hit it and I frowned. She must have been hiding some sort of durability power from me when I broke her jaw before. The woman disappeared in a blur and I jumped back as a sword sliced through the air in front of my eyes. The woman grunted and followed through with a stab to my chest. ¡®Damn she had a speed power. Wait, where did the sword come from?¡¯ I grabbed the sword mid-stab and broke it with aura infused hands. At least she wouldn¡¯t be able to use it anymore. The woman dropped the broken sword on the ground and held her hand in the air. I jumped to the side to dodge whatever projectile attack she would throw at me but to my surprise another sword appeared in thin air. The woman blurred again and materialised in front of me swinging the sword down to where I was landing. I twisted my entire body mid-air and sent out a kick. My foot hit the hilt of the sword and I heard the sound of it hitting the ground. I ducked my head to avoid getting punched in the face as I landed. ¡°Too bad, I have super speed too.¡± The woman¡¯s eyes widened as her arm overextended over my head and I smiled at her. *Crack*I didn¡¯t feel a single bit of remorse as I hit and broke it into two pieces. I moved back and saw that the bone of her arm had pierced her skin and gone through the jackets materials. ¡°You can give up now.¡± I didn¡¯t really want to have to break her anymore. She grunted, her other fist swung towards my face and it smashed against my cheek. I ignored it and used the opportunity to move in front of her to gaze into her eyes. There was something wrong with them. ¡®Some sort of pain killers. They must be pretty good too if she can still concentrate with a broken arm.¡¯ I smashed my left fist into her stomach to wind her and as she stumbled backwards I followed up with a right palm to her face. I felt her nose break as I hit it and she stumbled back more while gasping for breath, she still wasn¡¯t feeling any pain. I circled behind her while she was distracted and wrapped my arm around her neck in a choke hold. If I couldn¡¯t knock her out through pain I would make sure she suffocated into unconsciousness. *BOOM* My aura flickered around my body to protect me as both of us went flying in the air. Lunar princess landed elegantly behind me I found myself facing the man with the rocket launcher. The man and the hero stood staring at each other and I could see that Lunar Princesses mask had cracked even while she was surrounded by her aura. Her sword was nowhere to be seen. ¡°You¡¯re stronger than the average B-ranked hero, but you won¡¯t be able to defeat me. Give us E-23 and we¡¯ll go quietly.¡± The man pointed to the girl that had previously been known as E-23. Although she was out of hearing range she shivered as she understood the meaning of the gesture. ¡°You already know my answer.¡± The rain around the man exploded as he blurred and disappeared. Lunar Princess shot her aura out in front of her to block his attack. The attack didn¡¯t come and she turned around just after the man appeared behind her and sent a punch towards her head. She wouldn¡¯t be fast enough to dodge it. ¡°Wait a second there.¡± I wrapped my fingers over the man¡¯s fist and held him in place. ¡°You have some explaining to-¡± The man forcibly removed his fist and before I could react his other hand blurred and he punched me in the stomach. I took it easily and grinned as I grabbed both his arms. The man¡¯s eyes widened as he saw me. ¡°Avenger.¡± I let go of the man¡¯s arms and he jumped back. I stared at him in surprise. ¡°You know me?¡± The man motioned for me to stop with his hand and walked towards us. ¡°Move aside and let me collect my partner. We will retreat for now.¡± I could see from his eyes that he was serious. Lunar Princess moved to attack again and I motioned for her to stop while shaking my head. If he wanted to get away he could have done it without asking. He was simply being polite. The man picked up the woman and slung her over his shoulder. I could see that the arm and nose I had broken were already mending. By the time they returned to wherever they came from they would have healed completely. He turned around to face us and saluted. ¡°I thank you. In answer to your previous question, our organisation keeps track of all heroes. It is no surprise that we would know of a former A rank hero such as yourself. I personally have enjoyed reading many of your exploits.¡± ¡®Again with this ranking thing, I¡¯ve never heard of it until today.¡¯ I thought to myself. ¡°Encountering someone of your calibre was not in our calculations.¡± He was being awfully polite for someone that had been trying to kill us a moment ago. Just in case I moved between him and E-23 so that he wouldn¡¯t try to make a final run and grab her. He looked at me and turned his head to give a final nod towards Lunar Princess. He blurred and the rain exploded around him as he his body hit the droplets before they could reach the ground. By the time I blinked he had disappeared. We stared at the spot where the pair had been for a few minutes and the rain stopped. I turned to face the bunny masked hero, ¡°Sorry, but he would have gotten away no matter what. That guy was strong.¡± Lunar Princess walked towards me and I feared that she was going to try and punch me. ¡°I know.¡± Her aura disappeared and she started swaying from side to side. I rushed to grab her as she fell forward, unconscious. I sighed gently and smiled, she had held out against that man until she could barely stand and I could respect that. I lifted her up in a princess hold and spread my aura around her body to dry her off before I stopped emitting it and it curled back into my body. She was surprisingly light despite all of the folds in the shrine maiden outfit. I walked over to where the blonde haired girl was sitting, a lot had happened since she had first broken through my floorboards and I wasn¡¯t sure what to make of all of it. I could swear that her eyes had grown bigger by several millimetres and were somehow shining. ¡°So, you were an A ran-¡± I quickly motioned at her with one of my hands. ¡°First, we get put this hero on a bed and let her rest. Then we can talk about what just happened.¡± The folds of Lunar Princess¡¯s shrine maiden uniform swayed as I turned to walk towards my house. My house¡­ ¡°MY HOUSE!¡± Where my house had been was a large smoking crater surrounded by smouldering pieces of wood and broken bricks. Whatever the rocket hadn¡¯t destroyed the fire following it had scorched to cinders before the rain could put it out. I felt a hand running over my shoulder and turned around to see blonde girl looking at me sympathetically. Her eyes were still shining. ¡°Hohoho~¡± A smile crossed her face as she laughed. ¡°I think I have a solution.¡± She nodded to herself as she considered her genius idea and¡­ ~~~~ ¡­Tapped her chin as she gazed nervously at the various masked individuals surrounding them. ¡°Perhaps it wasn¡¯t the best idea after all.¡± As I looked around at the numerous guns pointed at us I couldn¡¯t help but agree with her. Lukes story Part 4 ¡°You know,¡± I looked at the girl walking beside me, ¡°We are never listening to your ideas ever again.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± she nodded her head in agreement. ¡°In fact, when idea time comes around next time, you are to actively avoid talking about any and all ideas you might have.¡± The tip of a gun poked my back and I stopped talking. The two of us were being herded towards a jail medical examination room. As soon as they had reached the security gate an alarm had gone off and they had been surrounded by armed personnel. ¡°Maybe,¡± I looked at her again, ¡°If you had actually existed on the civilian archives -or any records at all for that matter- as a person, then this wouldn¡¯t be a problem.¡± She shrugged her shoulders and looked at me with her big blue eyes as she pouted, ¡°The organisation wanted to make sure I didn¡¯t exist.¡± I whistled, ¡°They sure did a good job of that.¡± Their guard whacked me over the head with the gun. ¡°Stop talking. Once we get in there both of you are to undertake the examination in complete silence. Do you understand me?¡± We nodded and the hero looked forward as we continued walking. A genetic analysis would be taken to see whether or not he was who he claimed he was, and more importantly, to see who the girl that didn¡¯t appear on their records was. Being put in shackles and placed heavily under guard from the moment we entered the door. I smiled to myself, ¡®So it seems like the hero association hasn¡¯t changed much since I was last here.¡¯ ~~~~ The entire room was bare except for a single desk and chair. The head of the hero association adjusted her glasses as she looked outside and at buildings which lay below her. She had never regretted replacing every single wall in the room with glass. Even if bulletproof glass was harder to see through than regular glass, the view was spectacular. She glanced at the pile of papers lying in front of her. There was a lot of work to do and so little time to do it. *Knock knock* ¡°Madam.¡± The woman sighed. ¡°Come in Light.¡± The air in front of the woman shimmered and she blinked as the room filled with a bright light. When she opened her eyes a dark-skinned man wearing a studded white and red suit that used to look good on Elvis Presley before he got fat, and sporting the tackiest fluoro green runners she had ever seen was standing in front of her desk. The superhero known as Light was standing in front of her desk and waving papers in front of her face. ¡°We have doors for a reason Light. And how many times must I tell you, call me Flora. Madam makes me sound like I¡¯m an unmarried thirty year old woman that¡¯s too occupied with work to have a social life.¡± Light grinned, ¡°But you are an unmarried thirty year old woman that¡¯s too occupied with work to have a social life.¡± ¡°Just go.¡± Light spun around, finished in a dramatic bow and began to glow. A light started to shine from his bald head and Flora closed her eyes as the middle of the room became too bright to look at. *Creak* The door opened slowly and Light walked inside wearing a suit, tie and a pair of sunglasses he had probably liberated from some unfortunate soul down the hall. He was still wearing the runners. ¡°Photon¡¯s report on the intruder¡¯s genetic analysis is complete.¡± He waved the papers in front of her face again and she snatched them out of his hands. She also grabbed his sunglasses and threw them on the desk. ¡°So it was just as we suspected?¡± Light put on an innocent expression, ¡°I don¡¯t know what you mean Madam. ¡°I know you read the report Light, you always read the report.¡± Flora crossed her arms and tapped her foot impatiently. Light rubbed his head and nodded. She started to sift through Photon¡¯s report, ¡°So she¡¯s not human. Do we know who could be behind her creation? She¡¯s certainly well made, too well made for any half assed groups to have cobbled her together.¡± Flora groaned internally as she considered the possibility she had raised. The association¡¯s resources were stretched to the limits at the best of times and adding yet another evil organisation for it to deal with would only cause problems. ¡°I¡¯m afraid that it¡¯s a little worse than that, this is something we have to deal with as soon as possible. Right now preferably. I¡¯ll go down there myself if I have to.¡± Flora¡¯s head snapped up at Lights tone. He was being serious. Light was never serious. ¡°Flora¡­¡± He was also using her name, this was bad, ¡°Photon¡¯s checked and checked again to see if there was an error in his analysis, to see if there was any way his machines were wrong.¡± Light rubbed his head, it was a nervous habit he had never been able to get rid of. ¡°Spit it out Light.¡± Light shuffled anxiously and rubbed his head harder. ¡°She¡¯s not just a synthetic human, the insides of her match up completely with previous specimens¡­ She¡¯s a death machine.¡± The blood drained from Flora¡¯s face and she felt the report crumble as her hands balled into fists and destroyed it. ¡°Are you sure?¡± Light shook his head sadly, ¡°Photon says there¡¯s no mistake. It looks like a human, talks like a human, genetically parts of it are human and it¡¯s been modified in ways that he¡¯s not even sure he understands completely. It even has intelligence, emotions and bodily functions. It was created to fool anyone it came across into thinking it was human. It was designed to fool us.¡± To be able to create and improve a death machine, there was only one man in the world that could do that and they both knew it. ¡°But The Healers gone, killed by Destroyer¡¯s own two hands. We did every check possible on the body to confirm his death. Even Richter confirmed he was dead.¡± ¡°That may be so, but this is without a doubt one of his death machines-¡± Light looked into her eyes. She could see the fury blazing in them along with something else, something that she hadn¡¯t seen in those eyes for years. His eyes were filled with fear. ¡°-and now it¡¯s entered the hero association.¡± Flora slumped back into her chair as memories of a time long past rushed through her head. It had been a time of blood and death, a time where no one was safe. Light took her collapse as a sign and turned around, ¡°I¡¯ll go and dispose of it now.¡± ¡°Wait!¡± Light jolted as she shouted at him and looked back at her in surprise. Flora took a couple of deep breaths. ¡°Wait, we¡¯re not sure what it¡¯s here for yet. You reported earlier that she said she had escaped from the organisation that created her?¡± Light waved his hand in the air dismissively, ¡°It¡¯s clearly a lie fabri-¡± ¡°You¡¯re not thinking straight.¡± Shock crossed the superheroes face at her words but she continued. ¡°You¡¯re not thinking clearly. We all lost much in the war and we will never forget that, but this is a new problem. One we must tackle with a clear mind, you can¡¯t allow anger to cloud your judgment.¡± A simple nod of the head was offered to show that Light was listening and Flora continued. ¡°The Healer is dead but clearly there is a death machine in our midst. If there is somebody else with the resources, with the knowledge, to create more death machines then we have to find them and quickly. This¡­ girl¡­ is the only link we have to this person and I don¡¯t intend to lose her. If we destroy her now we may lose the trail forever.¡± Light¡¯s body shimmered brightly as he forced his anger down. He knew Flora was right. ¡°But we can¡¯t let it stay here, it¡¯s too dangerous.¡± Flora nodded her head, ¡°Agreed, she came in with Avenger? Do you think he knows what she is?¡± Balls of light fell out of the superheroes body and flew around the room as he shook his head violently. ¡°Avenger would kill her faster than any of us if he knew. You know that.¡± She considered her options carefully. They would have to tread lightly with this issue. ¡°Then we can¡¯t let him find out. We can¡¯t let anyone find out. There are too many people that have been affected by the death machines for us to control them all. Tell Photon to keep quiet as well.¡± Light put his hands on the desk and looked at her, ¡°And Avenger? When he finds out you knowingly let him work with a death machine he won¡¯t stop at just destroying her.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll deal with Avenger when the time comes. For now we do everything we can to prepare. Do not let him find out. We can¡¯t afford to slip up at this point. You and Photon will personally investigate this matter and report to me and only me when you find something.¡± Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°Then what do we do with it¡­ the girl?¡± Flora smiled, ¡°Avenger hasn¡¯t been active for years, and so his rank has declined to the lower D¡¯s. His house has been destroyed and since only B ranked heroes and above are allowed to live in the association living quarters we will have to extend our good will to him and give him a home. Of course, he will have to work for this new home by doing his duties as a hero and completing missions as we hand them to him. We can keep the girl close to us and gain a powerful asset at the same time.¡± Light¡¯s eyebrows rose at her explanation, ¡°Sounds like something you¡¯d come up with. Only one problem, how do you know he¡¯ll do what we tell him to? He left the hero association for a reason.¡± ¡°A young, blue eyed blonde girl has just escaped an evil organisation and is in need of help and a home to live in. I know his personality and I know what motivates him. He won¡¯t be able to decline our offer even if he wanted to.¡± ¡°Will we assign someone to watch over her?¡± It was Flora¡¯s time to shake her head, ¡°Avenger would never allow someone he sees as a guard dog near him, besides he¡¯s more than enough to handle the girl. Let him and the girl go for now, staying with¡­ the rank B36, Lunar princess?¡± Light nodded, ¡°Also, get me another copy of Photons report if you can,¡± she looked at the papers in her hands, ¡°I appear to have destroyed this one.¡± A single grunt of acknowledgement and a bright flash of light followed as Light left the room. Flora looked through the windows and wondered how the hero association today would have held against the troubles they had faced during the war. Emperor, Core, Destroyer, Avenger and countless others, some of their names had long been forgotten by the people while others were revered as legends, but the dangers they had faced were no less real. Dangers that were so terrible even the hero association had faced total destruction. The re-appearance of a death machine only brought worries to her mind. Perhaps she too would have to watch the city below her burn to the ground one day. ~~~~ I grimaced as I looked around at the pink walls covered in bunny patterns and curiously counted the various stuffed bunnies lying around the room. There were over a hundred by my estimations. But this wasn¡¯t just any old pink walled and bunny covered room. It was the living quarters of a hero. ¡°So,¡± I could tell that Lunar Princess had question marks in her eyes behind that bunny mask as she looked at me, ¡°You were an A ranked hero?¡± I stopped looking around and sighed. For better or worse I had finally returned to the last place on earth I wanted to be. ¡°Hohoho~ I knew all along of course!¡± A head of blonde hair and the white edge of a towel poked out of the shower room door as the girl tried to listen in on the conversation. She was curious about this topic as well. I had returned to the hero association. *Knock knock* With an expression of confusion Lunar Princess lifted herself up from the pink chair she was sitting on and went to open the door. She opened the door¡­ ¡°A-ah!¡± ¡­and walked back so quickly that she tripped over her own feet and fell onto the floor. Her bunny mask was staring at the entrance. A familiar red and white jumpsuit appeared and a grinning man walked in, I groaned and he kicked the door shut with his fluorescent green runners. ¡°Hey there Lukey, long time no see. I heard your house got blown up.¡± ¡°First things first Light.¡± Light raised an eyebrow at me, ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± ¡°I see they still haven¡¯t found a cure for boldness.¡± He grinned and I put a fist out. He hit it then went up top and down low. ¡°When I heard you were dragged into the associations jail under heavy guard and in chains I was surprised.¡± Sounded like the usual to me, ¡°Which part surprised you?¡± ¡°The fact that you brought a pretty blonde on one arm and you were carrying a brunette in the other, how are we supposed to stay friends when you won¡¯t even introduce me to the girls you meet.¡± He looked down at Lunar Princess who was still on the ground. She was staring at him with wide eyes and I could see her chin bobbing underneath her mask as her mouth open and shut repeatedly. ¡°I just met them Light, do you know how fast they¡¯d leave if I scared them with your face in the first few days?¡± ¡°Phew, that was nice.¡± A female voice called out. Light had moved his mouth to reply to me but immediately snapped his head to look at the new arrival. The girl known as E-23 pulled up a pink chair as she moved out of the shower with a towel on her head. She was wearing a shrine maiden outfit given personally to her by Lunar Princess. ¡°Oh my god!¡± She looked up in shock and Light moved towards her. ¡°You-you¡¯re Light!¡± He smiled and opened his arms wide, ¡°In the flesh.¡± ¡°The Dir- I mean, I¡¯ve heard so many stories about you! You¡¯re fight against Darkness and Dying, your rescue of 72 orphans two years ago. My favourite was when you teamed up with Perfect to fight Game Over!¡± I had warned her earlier to not go telling everybody that she had escaped from an evil organisation and I was glad to see that she took my warning seriously. Light shrugged and I couldn¡¯t help but think that he was secretly pleased. But something seemed a little off. ¡°It¡¯s always nice to meet a fan, so you know all about me do you?¡± He put his hand underneath her chin, well, nearer to her throat than her chin actually. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± I looked at him ¡°You¡¯re acting strange.¡± Light¡¯s smile lowered a fraction but he quickly raised it up again and he disappeared in a flash of light, popping up in front of me, rustling his hands through my hair. ¡°Can¡¯t a single, good looking, and if I may say, quite rich bachelor try to work his magic on the ladies without being reprimanded by his wing man?¡± Laughter left my throat and it hurt a little. It felt weird doing something I hadn¡¯t done in years. ¡°Good to see you too Light, actually, I¡¯ll be living here for a little while. Do you mind doing me a favour?¡± He stopped messing with my hair and cocked his head to the side, ¡°What did you want me to do?¡± ¡°I got a message from the hero association that I need to work for my lodgings.¡± Light grinned at my words. ¡°So get me a hero name change.¡± A frown replaced the smile on his face, ¡°Yo-you sure? Avenger¡¯s been your name since-¡± I waved my hand in front of him to cut him off, ¡°I¡¯m sure.¡± He nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll look into it. I heard the girl also has powers right? Are you signing her up as well?¡± ¡°No she- argh!¡± Agonising pain shot into me from my ear as I was assaulted by the girl formerly known as E-23, she was twisting it as far as she could, ¡°me hero!¡± I looked at her and she repeated what she had just said, ¡°Me. Hero.¡± The meaning was clear. She wanted to be a hero too. I wasn¡¯t surprised at her outburst, the reason she had run away from the organisation had been because she had fallen in love with stories about heroes and their lives. ¡®Well, I guess it¡¯ll finally give me a name to call her.¡¯ I saw that Light was struggling to hold back laughter while looking at our exchange and frowned. ¡°Fine, sign her up as well. She can use her powers at least.¡± *Pff* He continued laughing, ¡°She¡¯ll have to take the standard hero test but I think at her power she should be able to get into C rank on the first try, unless you want her to stay down there where you are mister D ranker?¡± The frown on my face was replaced by confusion, ¡°What hero test? And what are these ranks people keep talking about?¡± Light broke into laughter, ¡°Ha, you always make me laugh Lukey.¡± The laughter died down as he saw the look on my face, ¡°You serious? I knew you¡¯d been out of the loop but I didn¡¯t think¡­ you have a lot to catch up on.¡± I looked around the room and saw that Lunar Princess was still out of action gasping like a goldfish at Light from the floor. The blonde girl seemed to have started walking around the room in a trance muttering under her breath about what her hero name and her battle cry would be. ¡°I got time.¡± Light pulled back a chair and put his runners on the table. ¡°Welcome to the class rookie. While here I¡¯m Mr Teach, but you can call me Awesome if you really want to. Wait, no, you call me Awesome no matter what. In fact, add a Mr to that too. Call me Mr Awesome.¡± I smiled, ¡°I remember that time in a certain cave when a certain ¡®Mr Awesome¡¯ got scared while holding it in and his crap went south before it was winter.¡± At my words Light shivered as though he was remembering something terrible. ¡°What¡¯s done in the past stays in the past.¡± He looked me in the eyes, ¡°It¡¯s time for me to teach you what it means to be a hero.¡± Lukes story Part 5 ¡°Stop right there!¡± The cloaked figure grinned as it turned to face the hero that had confronted it. ¡°Historian, the hero ranked 39th in B rank, powers include knowledge of ancient civilizations and their fighting techniques.¡± Historian stepped towards the figure tentatively, as though he was expecting a trap, ¡°So you know about my powers, do you know about this?¡± He lifted his hands and revealed a gun that was pointed at the figure. The figure held its hands up in a gesture of surrender, it¡¯s arms were covered in tattoos depicting dragons and other mythical creatures. ¡°Would you put the gun down if I told you I was here with peaceful intentions?¡± Historian laughed and the figure laughed with him. He frowned, ¡°Shut up and put your hands on the ground.¡± ¡°But I already told you I mean no harm.¡± He kept the gun pointed towards its chest. The intruder wouldn¡¯t have come in here without some sort of trick up its sleeve. ¡°I don¡¯t believe a word you¡¯re saying.¡± The figure sighed and knelt down so that both its claw-like hands were firmly touching that ground, its cloak had fallen back to cover its arms and it looked up at the gun wielding hero with glee. ¡°You should have shot me when you had the chance hero, I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s far too late for you now.¡± Historian¡¯s eyes widened as the words reached him and hastily fired the gun, but his hand fumbled with the unfamiliar weapon and when he looked up again the figure had disappeared, its cloak fluttering to the ground in front of him. He turned around and tried to duck as he saw a claw-like hand smashing into his face, it clicked the tip of his cheek and he felt his head crack open as he hit the wall behind him. A pair of hands lifted him up and when he looked at his attacker all he could see was a haze of red, slowly the intruders grinning face swum into view as it talked. ¡°Don¡¯t you know hero? Information is power and you lost because you didn¡¯t have it.¡± Historian coughed and pain wracked his entire body, at the same time he moved his arms behind his back, clicking a button on the personal assistance device wrapped around his hand under while hiding his movements as body spasms. ¡°Information Broker, male, a villain ranked with a danger level of B, why have you infiltrated the hero association?¡± He was fishing for information while buying time. The personal assistance device was transmitting his conversation and location to his teammates. Information Broker smiled and the heroes eyes widened, he went flying in the air as the villain threw him across the room. The hero¡¯s blood splattered onto the floor as he landed and the villain tiptoed delicately over it as he walked towards the injured hero. ¡°All information comes at a price Historian,¡± he looked down at his feet and saw the flashing screen of Historians personal assistance device, ¡°for informing the hero association of my arrival the price you¡¯ll have to pay-¡± Historian barely felt the impact as the villain smashed a clawed hand down onto his head and Historians vision filled with darkness, his body lay unmoving on the ground. ¡°-is your life.¡± Information Broker lifted his hand out of the hero¡¯s head and wiped off the trickles of blood dripping down his skin with his other hand while laughing, ¡°Not that telling your friends that I¡¯m here will do any good.¡± He froze in place as the air started to vibrate around him. He raised his tattooed hands while blinking and in the next moment three new figures surrounded him, ¡®more heroes.¡¯ They moved to cover Historian from him and he stood still as he analysed the newcomers. ¡°Rubic, hurry up and take Historian to the medical wing, we¡¯ll handle the villain.¡± He had information on all of the heroes, on the left was Green Box, A rank 98, heading towards Historian and kneeling over his body was Rubic, B rank 309, and shifting to flank him from his right was Sugar, B rank 45. ¡°It appears the teammates have come to avenge their fallen member. It¡¯s a pity that you¡¯ll just end up following in his footsteps.¡± Information Broker smiled and the heroes tensed as blue veins appear across his body and overlapped with his tattoos, he waved a single hand at them before disappearing into thin air. Rubic gasped as the villain appeared in front of her. She brought her hands up to create a force field in front of her as a clawed hand went through her shoulder, her hand slumped to the ground and he smiled at her. ¡°Rubic, my information tells me that you have the ability to create force fields which can be used to transport both friends and foes to an alternate dimension.¡± He twisted his hand and Rubic writhed in pain as her flesh was turn apart, the force field around Historian flickered and then disappeared as her concentration faltered, ¡°They can also be used to defend against attacks, you will be troublesome if I don¡¯t take you out now.¡± Information broker saw Green Box¡¯s hands curl into fists and a green aura began to seep out of him until it covered his whole body, ¡°You came prepared villain. I¡¯ll get you to tell us why you¡¯re here, after we beat the crap out of you.¡± Green Box and Sugar leapt towards Information Broker from both sides, he removed his hand from Rubic¡¯s shoulder and raised it up into the air. ¡°But of course,¡± he smiled as the heroes¡¯ fists rushed towards his face, ¡°this information will come at a price.¡± ~~~~ ¡°So first things first I guess, you should probably be told that since you left us the association has assigned several ranks to their members going from E to S. Clear enough for you?¡± I scratched my head at Light¡¯s explanation, ¡°You have fifteen ranks for heroes? Isn¡¯t that a bit too much?¡± Light laughed, ¡°Not fifteen, we have six ranks, E rank, D rank, C, B, A and of course the S rank.¡± ¡°That wasn¡¯t clear at all, what¡¯s the S rank for? Why even skip all those letters?¡± ¡°You know I never really asked about that. Anyways, I¡¯ll get to that, let me finish.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± ¡°Well basically at the bottom we have the E rank, they don¡¯t receive any payments from us but they¡¯re in charge of community affairs, public relations and stuff. They¡¯re those guys that joined to better our lives as a whole and they don¡¯t usually have much fighting prowess, they can sure talk up a storm though. Now D class is where the action really begins.¡± Light cleared his throat as he thought about how he was going to explain it, ¡°D class is basically where the people that want to fight evil with their fists begin at, I don¡¯t remember exactly but assigned to this base there should be at least ten thousand of them.¡± ¡°There are ten thousand powered heroes living in this place?!¡± Light looked at me and laughed at the shock on my face. ¡°Only people in B rank or higher get to live at the base Lukey, D ranks don¡¯t even have to be powered, they¡¯re just your average joes that want to help fight against villains, they get a small wage and generally handle non-powered aggressors. It¡¯s not surprising to see a D rank hero holding one or two part time jobs on the side. Basically this means that they¡¯re the lowest in the pecking order, and I¡¯m sure that I don¡¯t need to remind you but you¡¯re currently in D rank.¡± I nodded my head, ¡°That¡¯s because I haven¡¯t been active for a few years right?¡± ¡°Exactly! Which means,¡± he glanced over to me to make sure I was listening closely, ¡°That technically you¡¯re the lowest of the low, basically the scrub of the hero association, the bottom feeder. If you want to make ends meet around here you have listen to your superiors ¨Cthat¡¯s me ¨C at all times and obey any and every order I give you.¡± I looked over to the girls, both of them had were sitting around the table and seemed to be hanging on every word that came out of Light¡¯s mouth, ¡°So I remember this time in a cave when Light crap-glarbglergh.¡± ¡°Heyy!!¡± Light had moved his hand over my mouth, ¡°So as I was saying, time decay! All heroes have to do a certain amount of work each month or they¡¯ll get demoted through the ranks and if they fall low enough they¡¯ll be fired from the association.¡± I forced his hand off of my mouth, ¡°You mean a quota?¡± ¡°Exactly! Honestly I think the only reason that you¡¯re still a rank D hero is because we all know why you left us.¡± This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it I sighed and motioned for him to move on with his explanation. ¡°Yeh well, it works the other way as well, fill in more than your quota and you¡¯ll be promoted up the ranks.¡± I nodded my head, ¡°Makes sense, a reward based system is always a good one.¡± ¡°Basically all the ranks are similar to that, C has about a thousand members in it, generally quite powerful and most form teams once they reach this rank. B has a few hundred members and A has exactly a hundred, this number never changes so if someone gets promoted someone else will get demoted. Keeps the place competitive, you know?¡± ¡°I heard someone say that I was in A rank?¡± Light clapped his hands together in glee, ¡°Well the association took our contributions into consideration after the war and that¡¯s where we got placed, but unlike you I kept working for it and managed to raise myself to S class.¡± ¡°And that¡¯s good?¡± Light clapped his hand to his head and started swooning as though he were going to faint, ¡°Just so you know, there are only forty three ¨Cforty two actually, since Perfect died ¨C rank S heroes in the whole world.¡± I grunted and Light sighed, ¡°I¡¯ll make this easier for you to understand, Emperor is in the top four rank S heroes. So if you think about it carefully, as a fellow rank S hero I¡¯m on par with Emperor.¡± *Smack* Light fell out of his chair as my hand slid across his face, ¡°You¡¯re on par with Emperor?¡± I held his hand out menacingly, ¡°I think I ought to smack more sense into you, I think you¡¯ve gone crazy in the years I haven¡¯t seen you.¡± Light laughed while rubbing his cheek, ¡°I know that guys your hero or whatever, but it¡¯s true you know, rank S heroes are the cream of the crop, the best of the best. Even the public got it into their heads that the S stands for super and they call us ¡®superheroes¡¯ instead of just ¡®heroes¡¯.¡± I looked at Lunar Princess who was looking at the hand that had hit Lights cheek with a mixture of both fear and awe, ¡®That explains her weird reactions.¡¯ ¡°And you mentioned something about a hero testing process? Do I have to do it too?¡± Light lifted himself off the ground and sat back on the fluffy pink chair, ¡°Nah, you¡¯re already registered as a hero so the name change will be easy enough. But if the girl over there wants to join then she¡¯ll have to pass a written test and a strength test, but if she wants to become an E rank hero she just has to do the written one.¡± He looked at E-23 and she shook her head. ¡°Well yeh that¡¯s basically all there is to it. They¡¯ll test her powers and intelligence and then see where she places, highest you can get on the tests is the A rank though.¡± As Light continued to talk about the hero test I couldn¡¯t help but notice that E-23 was slowly becoming more and more excited. Light smiled at her, ¡°So when do you want to get started?¡± ~~~~ Light looked through the window of the judges room as E-23 was whacking into a machine for the strength testing part of the test. ¡°How¡¯s she going?¡± Light heard Flora¡¯s voice ring out at him from the nearby intercom. Light clicked on his personal hero assistance device to reply, ¡°She¡¯s doing well, no, better than well, her regeneration levels are enough to be considered the best the systems every recorded and her strength should be at around level 10 at the least. Considering she can create and manipulate Lightning it isn¡¯t a stretch to say that she would easily get into higher A ranks or even reach the S ranks.¡± ¡°What do you think we should do with her?¡± He couldn¡¯t see her but he felt as though Flora¡¯s voice was layered with worry. ¡°I¡¯ll tell her that she¡¯s assigned to C rank for now, she¡¯ll take her time to work her way up with Aveng- sorry, Traitor, and she¡¯ll be allowed to live in the outskirts of the hero association so that we can keep tabs on her without her being near anything important.¡± ¡°Is he serious about calling himself ¡®Traitor¡¯?¡± Flora asked in disbelief. ¡°He¡¯s already had it officially changed, I tried telling him there were already forty-six other heroes working with that name but he wouldn¡¯t listen. It¡¯s just his way of trying to annoy us, his way of annoying you.¡± Flora sighed, ¡°If that¡¯s how he wants it then I won¡¯t complain. Very well, I¡¯ll leave the handling of the girl to you.¡± The intercom cut off just as E-23 finished her test. Light smiled at her, ¡°Congratulations the written and strength tests have just been finished, and you¡¯ve placed into C rank 1059. It¡¯s pretty rare that we get a rank C person straight off the bat. She looked at him strangely, ¡°I didn¡¯t realise that an S rank hero would be supervising me personally.¡± Light gulped, ¡°Have you decided on your name yet?¡± Any suspicion in her eyes was immediately replaced with excitement and she clapped her hands together. ¡°My names going to be Runaway! Is it free?¡± It was a surprisingly normal name. He was expecting something more extravagant from the girl. Then he remembered that she had in fact run away from an evil organisation, at least according to what she had told Traitor. ¡°Its fine, we don¡¯t do a unique name system anymore since there are too many people around the world that are registered with the association to make them all take a unique hero name.¡± She smiled and started spinning in circles while laughing with glee. He smiled as well. ¡°So Runaway,¡± As he called her new name she grinned and faced him, ¡°now that you¡¯re a bonafide hero, would you like to spar a little?¡± Her eyes bulged so much that Light could almost see them popping out of her head, ¡°M-m-m-me¡­ w-with you?¡± She pointed to him and pointed back to her, then back to him again, ¡°I-I don¡¯t t-think I¡¯m strong enough.¡± Her face lit up with worry as she realised something, ¡°I do get to register my battle cry, don¡¯t I?¡± He grinned. Usually a hero¡¯s battle cry was the thing they wanted to put off as long as they could. He laughed at her worrying expression and made a hand gesture for them to start moving. They left the testing area and started to walk down the hallway, ¡°You¡¯ll be able to register your battle cry at any time through your personal assistance device.¡± She looked at the device wrapped around her wrist with awe, ¡°And don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll take it easy on you, I¡¯ll even ask Aven- err- Traitor, to watch us.¡± Runaway looked down while blushing at the mention of Luke¡¯s hero name. ¡®Luke, you¡¯ve turned into one hell of a lady killer since we¡¯ve been apart.¡¯ Light realised what he¡¯d been thinking and smacked himself in the face, Runaway turned around in surprise and he grinned, ¡°Sorry, it¡¯s nothing. Let¡¯s head over to the training area? I¡¯ll send Traitor a message.¡± He had handed Luke his own personal assistance device before he left to oversee Runaway¡¯s test, he sent the message and Luke replied, ¡°He says he¡¯ll be there.¡± Runaway nodded and moved in front of him, she was in a hurry to reach the sparring area. Light glanced at her back, it had been stained with sweat she¡¯d shed during the strength test, ¡®It¡¯s so human. It even looks tired.¡¯ ¡®I wonder how easy it would be to kill her right now.¡¯ He shook his head as soon as the thought crossed his mind, Flora would never allow it. They reached the training area and another thought crossed his mind. ¡®It¡¯d be a pity if an accident were to happen while we fought, a misplaced light sphere, a punch that¡¯s a little too strong¡­ it might even kill her.¡¯ Light took out some training gear from the nearby hangar and threw them to Runaway. ¡°Get changed over there. We¡¯ll start as soon as you¡¯re done.¡± She caught the clothes, ¡°Thanks. We¡¯re not waiting for Luke?¡± Light shook his head and she went into the changing room. He watched her with a sad expression on his face. ¡®Sorry Lukey, it looks like this is one friend you won¡¯t get the chance to leave behind.¡¯ Side Story 1.1: Ernestos story Hero: Revolutionary. Powers: I can heat up my hands and shoot lasers from them. Date: 11/27/2014 Time: 1800 hours Location: Hero association team housing accommodations, shower room. This is the hero Revolutionary reporting on the capture of the villain Pure Blue. Before writing this report I feel obliged to state that this was quite possibly the toughest day I have ever had while on duty as a hero. I will start at the beginning of the day and continue onwards. ¡°Ernesto are you almost done in there?!¡± ¡°Wait a minute!¡± ¡°Hurry up! We have to be ready in five minutes!¡± I, Ernesto Guevara aka the Rank 20C hero Revolutionary, was facing my greatest challenge since joining the hero association. I would not hesitate to call this my darkest hour. If it hadn¡¯t been daytime this would have been my blackest night. I was in the bathroom staring up at a metallic thing that could only be described as a monster. Its horrific metal mouths spewed forth steam and streams of water as it looked down at me. Its head was only the size of my fist but that didn¡¯t make it any less terrifying. That was because the head belonged to the one being my entire existence was devoted to defeating, my greatest nemesis. Time and time again I had experienced defeat against this heartless monstrosity, its mouths spewing forth liquid fire that prevented me from coming near it. I am of course referring to the device known as a shower head. Like I do around all my enemies, I moved cautiously and made sure to emit a deadly serious aura. I tentatively placed my bare shoulder underneath one of the streams of water jutting from its mouth, to test whether it was safe to enter. I was rewarded for my efforts with a direct hit to my life points as the scalding hot jet stream of water burnt my delicate skin and completely destroyed its untouched and innocent surface. ¡®Jet stream of water¡¯ is that the correct term? I dunno. Either way I swear it was assaulting me on purpose man. A lock of my fragile brown hair was also singed. I couldn¡¯t get near it. I had tried and tried again for several hundred afternoons in a row, but this monster doesn¡¯t have a moderate setting. It¡¯s either set to lava or magma with this baby. Crimson Cricket ¨CY¡¯know my teammate of course, the hero ranked 34C ¨C tells me that the shower gets sort of moderate in the mornings. But who takes showers in the mornings? That¡¯s just weird and unnatural on so many levels. As if that wasn¡¯t bad enough, the hot water kept turning off at random times and I was assaulted by the coldest water I have ever felt ¨CI swear it reached a negative degree at some point¨C and it didn¡¯t stay cold, it just changed temperatures at will. It was like being caught between a rock and a hard place. Like, seriously, I tried dipping my as- I mean my posterior into that water and I could feel the cold seeping past the fat and into my bones. So anyway, I bent over as far as I could so that only my ass caught the water and I felt the most intense chill I have ever felt. I swear it was like freezing cold spears of ice were raining down from that shower head and trying to stab my butt with subzero temperatures. -As a side note- I highly recommend that the bathroom utility services in the hero associations living quarters be improved. These showers have negative implications on my health. And by health I mean shrinkage. There was a lot of shrinkage. And by a lot I mean a lot. *BAM* ¡°I shit you not Ernesto if you¡¯re wasting time making soap bubbles agai-¡± My teammate, Dark Flower, bust the door down and charged into the bathroom, immediately shutting up as she saw me bending head over heel against the water. I saw that she was wearing the usual black tights and black tank top she wore on missions. Both of them had a flower pattern on them that I found pretty cute. I had asked her about it once. She said it fit her theme and the clothes made it easier for her to move. I didn¡¯t complain, after all, the black cloth contrasted nicely with her white skin. ¡°Oh my god.¡± She looked down at me as she began to speak again, ¡°So this is what the great Revolutionary''s packing.¡± ¡°What was that?!¡± I could hear the television blaring in the background as Cricket shouted at Flower from the living room. ¡°Did you just knock a door down?!¡± *Pff* Flower was muttering something under her breath. *giggle* She put her hand to her mouth to hide her laughter ¨Cunsuccessfully I might add¨C and ran out of the bathroom. ¡°He-hey wait! Don¡¯t even think about-¡± *crash* I tried to go after her but I tripped on the wet floor and landed into a pool full of shower water. I groaned. It was the cold kind of shower water. ¡°It isn¡¯t what it looks like!¡± Like I said, there was a lot of shrinkage. I emphasized the word ¡¯lot¡¯ on purpose here. Be sure to add that in the final version of this report. ¡°Hey Cricket! Come check out what Revolutionary¡¯s packing underneath his camo pants!¡± I couldn¡¯t but think to myself at that moment¡­ ¡®Oh god, my life is so ruined.¡¯ Well, I suppose you just want an update on that guy we beat. But seriously, this was one of the most serious and live-threatening tragedies to ever happen in the history of ever. I just know it. So anyways, I had gotten changed into the camouflage coloured shirt, pants and Green Beret hat that made up my costume. We were on the way to the latest mission site after getting a distress call from a couple of civilians that were being terrorized by a villain, Pure Blue. Dark Flower was telling us what she had found out about Pure Blue. I¡¯m not sure why but she was smiling the entire time and looking at me while holding back giggles and laughs. She didn¡¯t look like she was trying very hard to forget about what had happened in the bathroom. I might miss a couple of words but this is basically what I remember her saying to us. ¡°Alright guys-¡± *giggle* ¡°-this is what we know so far, the villain Pure Blue was spotted in R Block and was attempting to attack and rob civilians. He¡¯s been given a C ranked designation since his powers mainly revolve around minor strength enhancement and a small control over nearby water-¡± she looked at me ¡°- You could say that he¡­ doesn¡¯t have the full package.¡± *giggle* I butted in at this point, ¡°Oh ha and ha, get on with the report already.¡± ¨COn another side note¨C I could never get used to how the association cut up sections of the country into ¡®Blocks¡¯ listed in alphabetical order. It still confuses me to this day. Dark flower was giggling and had to cough to clear her throat before continuing. ¡°Pure Blue is a known minor criminal that¡¯s been arrested a couple of times before. According to the case files it should only take us a few minutes to beat him and send him off to be incarcerated again. We have to be sure not to let him get near large bodies of water because he has been known to submerge himself completely and gain large amount of strength for a limited amount of time. Approximately five minutes. If not for the time limit and specific conditions on his increased powers he could most likely have been designated as a B rank villain. He-¡± she looked at me again ¡°fell a little short of the mark¡­ for the B rank list I mean.¡± ¡°Oh my god Flora if you continue I swear I¡¯m going to jump up up and away right here and now. You¡¯ll never see me again.¡± I was just a little pissed, I¡¯ll admit it. If you¡¯re curious about ¡®Flora¡¯ it¡¯s my pet name for Flower, she hates me using it. ¡°Don¡¯t call me Flora, tiny man!¡± It might seem a little harsh but Dark Flower and I always bicker like this ¨C just between you and I, I think she has the hots for me¨C and Cricket moved in to stop us anyways. ¡°Water powers, enhanced strength, got it. It doesn¡¯t sound like anything we can¡¯t handle by ourselves. We don¡¯t even need Silver and Splendid for this one.¡± I should probably mention that our last two team members ¨C Silver Casing [Ranked 45C] and Master Splendid [Ranked 23C] ¨C were taking their weekly day off to visit their families. Well the rest of the ride continued like that. It was a boring trip really and nothing important enough to note happened. Cricket stopped the car in a street that was near the crime scene. We walked towards the shop the distress call had come from and found a couple of old ladies being terrorized by the dastardly villain. The first thing I noticed about him was his hair. It was bright blue and to be honest after I got a good look at him I realized that he was a villain that was trying really too hard to stick to his colour scheme. Not only did he have blue hair but he was also wearing blue khaki pants and a blue shirt. Blue veins were pulsating above his skin just like they did on the aliens from those old films. This guy was really a ¡®Pure Blue¡¯ guy. Okay, I found the blue veins thing a little weird. ¡°Jumping onto the scene, Crimson Cricket is here to chirp the creed of honor! ¡°Bringing the change this world needs, the Revolutionary is on the scene!¡± ¡°Rising from ground, Dark Flower is here to spread her petals of justice over evil!¡± We said the usual battle cries as we arrived. Honestly that was the most enjoyable part of the day for me. The look of embarrassment on Flowers face when she says hers is priceless. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. I really think Cricket got the bottom of the barrel with his opening cry. Bet he regrets taking the team leader position now that he has to say his line first. ¡°More heroes¡­ you guys here to bring me in?¡± Pure Blue turned to face us and I stepped back as his eyes met mine. They were blue as well. Not the healthy kind of blue, they were bulging with dozens of blue veins and I could instantly tell that something was wrong with this guy. ¡°You know that we are. Come with us quietly and the courts will go easy on you.¡± Cricket took charge of the situation as per usual. All the blue veins that were running along his skin seemed to link back into his eyes. ¡°I want you to know¡­ I want everyone to know¡­ that I¡¯m not the weak man I was before.¡± He was talking weirdly. He couldn¡¯t seem to spit out a few words without taking a pause. It was like he was constantly forgetting the last words he had said. That should probably have been our first warning. Second if you include the veins thing. Well the next few things get a little complicated so I¡¯ll just write about it as I saw it. ¡°Get back Cricket. Something¡¯s wrong with this guy.¡± Flower put a hand on Cricket¡¯s shoulder and forced him back a couple of steps. Pure blue started moving towards the pair and lifted his palm up into the air. I moved into position to attack with my lasers but before I could move I felt myself being pushed back and I fell onto the ground. I looked down and realized that my torso had been hit by a bubble of water. An intense pain shot through my chest a second later as the water tightened and pushed against my torso and I realized that this guy¡¯s control over water was a lot stronger than we had been told about. This could get dangerous. ¡°Guys, get back! Dodge the water bullets.¡± Cricket and Flower instantly dodged the incoming blobs of water. I moved my hands over my chest to burn off the water that was crushing it. I looked around to see if I could find the source of water Pure Blue was drawing from and evaporate it. I couldn¡¯t spot anything that might be supplying Pure Blue¡¯s munitions in the immediate vicinity. Cricket moved behind Pure Blue and threw a punch at the same time that Flower flanked the villain and sent a kick flying towards his head. I blasted off the last few droplets of water that were left on my shirt and lifted myself off the ground to join in the fight¡­ just in time to see Flower crash into the fence right next to me. I rushed over to my teammate to check if she was okay but she just shook her head and pointed to Pure Blue. Blood was pooling on the shoulder of her black tank top. ¡°Careful, He can materialize water.¡± Crap, we weren¡¯t told anything about Pure Blue having a Creation class power. That explained where his supply of water was coming from. *Sploosh* *boom* the sound of a large body of water hitting something hard resounded in the air and Cricket flew through the air towards me. Luckily I managed to catch him before he could smash into the ground. ¡°Well hey there gorgeous, sleeping on the job are we?¡± I grinned at Cricket and pushed him to the side as another water bullet sped past where he had been just a second before. Since Pure Blue hadn¡¯t tried to change the trajectories of anything he shot at us I took a guess he wasn¡¯t used to the boost in his water manipulation ability. ¡°Come here you water throwing muscle head.¡± I jumped straight into Pure Blue and threw him to the ground. I kneed his chest as we landed and he tried to push me off. Luckily my enhanced strength outmatched his. That was until he put his hand onto my face and shot me with a stream of water. Not only that, it was stream of freezing cold water. This guy was bringing bad memories to my mind. He shot another stream of water into my face and tried to shake me off by using his control over the water to throw me back. I didn¡¯t let go but it was still pretty annoying. The guy was just constantly shooting out water from his hands and using it to push me back. If I were him I would have used the water more wisely. It was like he had been given a huge amount of power and didn¡¯t know how to use it. I felt my hands warming but I needed to get them dry before I could fire at the guy. ¡°Hey Cricket, hold him down for me!¡± Before I even finished shouting I saw a shadow fall over Pure Blue and me. I immediately rolled to the side to avoid being crushed by the flying Cricket. Pure Blue let out a screech of agony as Cricket fell onto him and crushed both of his arms. I already had my hands facing towards the two with my lasers flying towards the villain¡¯s body. They bounced harmlessly off of him, which was strange, but managed to evaporate the water that was pooling around him. If he submerged and powered up it could get troublesome. Pure Blue struggled to get out of Cricket¡¯s grip but I knew from experience that someone with his level of strength would never be able to break free. Not to mention his broken arms would probably make escaping difficult. Cricket¡¯s ability to jump so high into the air was terrifying when coupled with his incredible enhanced strength. I think that his drop would kill any ordinary guy. Pure Blue somehow managed to raise his hands, Cricket took a couple of water streams to the face and was forced to let go of the villain. Pure Blue looked pretty happy for a moment before he realized that he was standing in a shadow that was shaped like a flower. He looked up to see if someone was dropping on him again and fell over as the ground shifted from underneath and tripped him. ¡°What the hel- argh!¡± The villain cried out as Dark Flower¡¯s shadow flower rose from the ground and swallowed him whole. It sort of reminded me of chocolate being covered in a wrapper. Pure Blue would be transported to the alternate dimension that was inside the flower and we would be able to deposit him into a prison in no time at all. The two old ladies clapped and I gave them a bow and a little wave. I heard the ruffle of shoes sliding across concrete as Dark Flower walked up next to me. She was bleeding from a cut on her shoulder. I ran my hands over it to cauterize it and smiled at her. I knew her regeneration ability would heal the wound sooner or later but I wanted to stop the bleeding. Her durability made it painless and I could do the same for my lasers when I wanted them to be. As I finished I moved my hand over her head to ruffle her hair. She pushed my hand away and blushed. I let out a laugh. Cricket got up and checked himself to make sure that he wasn¡¯t hurt. Water splashed down from his head and he shook his hair until it was almost dry. He pushed himself off the ground and landed beside us. All in all it was a good day of work. We walked to the car and began the ride back to the hero associations living quarters. I might just go and rest for the day. I wasn¡¯t in the mood to finish my shower. There had been too much water hitting my body today for my liking. ¡°I¡¯ll send a complaint to headquarters about this. We were about this close to getting into real trouble there because of their misinformation.¡± Cricket made a small space between his thumb and pointing finger. Flowers eyes lit up, ¡°Oh wait, that¡¯s the size of Revolutionary¡¯s pe-¡± I jumped up and covered her mouth with my hand. ¡°Glarbleglarg¡± She grabbed my arm and tried to finish her sentence but I refused to let go. Cricket glared at us and told us to break it up. Dark flower burst out laughing at this point and didn¡¯t stop until way after our other teammates got home. End of my report. Ps: We really need help with this shower. Like I said, it¡¯s giving misinformation to my teammates and it¡¯s bad for both my health and my public image. It¡¯s a menace to society I tell you. ~~~~ A pair of hands dropped the report onto a desk and one of the two men that had been reading over it shifted nervously from foot to foot. ¡°It¡¯s another report about a minor villain turning out to be stronger than previously thought. This seemed to be happening a lot more lately.¡± The other man nodded his head. It was strange how often they were receiving these kinds of reports now. ¡°We should probably alert the association heads about this. It¡¯s turning into something more than coincidence or natural boosts in power. I¡¯ll send a message up when we finish off today.¡± The first man stopped moving and grabbed another report from the pile that lay on the floor. There was still plenty of material that needed checking and finalizing before they could hand it back to the hero association. ¡°So are you going to include the part about how it was shrinkage and definitely not his natural size?¡± The second man grinned at him. ¡°Hell no.¡± Author''s note: You may have noticed that this isn''t part of the main storyline ~ Since I do all my chapters in parts so that they interconnect i found myself completing parts 7-8 before I did 6, leaving me with a problem of what to post today. So instead of rushing it I decided to post this side story, which you will soon see is alluding to many future things happening throughout the next chapter and to be honest if I was going to add it in at anytime it would have been now since it actually helps a lot in understanding the next few chapters ~ Hope you enjoyed it! Just comment if you want anyone from the side stories to be seen in the main story. Lukes story part 6 ¡°You bastard!¡± Green Box¡¯s hands slumped to his side and his body fell onto the concrete ground. A round sphere dropped down beside it while trailing blood as his head rolled onto the flat surface. ¡°Oh I do so hate it when blood gets onto my clothes.¡± The head had come to a stop at the edge of his right shoe and he kicked it to the female hero kneeling on the floor where it landed on her lap. Sugar had both of her hands covering her eyes as she screamed, tears of pain and agony dropped from her face onto the head of her deceased teammate. Information broker wiped the blood off of his hands and he turned to face her, ¡°I would have let you live you know, if only you weren¡¯t so loud and annoying.¡± His hand swung through the air as he lashed out at the crying hero. *Clang* His eyes widened in surprise as his hand hit a blue force field and a jolt of pain shot up his arm. He growled, ¡°Rubic, I hadn¡¯t realised you were still conscious.¡± The hero he had left for dead on the ground struggled to lift herself up, her hands slipping as she tried to straighten it while surrounded by pools of blood. The villain could see that she still had a gaping wound underneath a shoulder. ¡®She must be keeping conscious by sheer willpower.¡¯ Information Broker shook his head, ¡®I¡¯m wasting too much time.¡¯ He gave the injured girls a final glare and their eyes widened. He could feel rather than see the blue veins that had begun to pulsate above his skin across his body, ¡°To-da-loo ladies.¡± He disappeared and the bloodied girls were replaced by a small, enclosed space. It was musty and filled with books. He looked around and spotted a single computer which lay on top of a table at the end of the room. He ran over to it and knocked over the various files that lay around it. He felt around the inside of his pocket for the USB he had prepared before coming and placed it into the computer. ¡®I have five minutes until they notice me, ten tops.¡¯ His eyes guardedly wandered to the entrance and he peeked at the corridor which lay outside the slightly opened door while waiting for the USB to do its work. His organisation had been offered a hefty sum by certain influential individuals to retrieve the personal information of several heroes. The USB had been modified by one of his associates to hack into the hero associations servers once he reached the archive room. He looked at the USB, even while the computer was off it was supposed to be able to retrieve the necessary information. *Bleep* A single sigh of relief escaped his lips and he put the USB back into his pocket as blue veins began to pulsate above his skin. ¡°See you later suckers.¡± A draft entered the archive room as the door to the archive room slammed fully open, ¡°Not quite villain.¡± Information Broker could feel the grin on his face being replaced with horror. His skin was being forcefully pressed downwards as though some sort of restriction was enveloping his body. Something was stopping his teleportation. He looked up and saw several heroes, including Sugar, looking rather pissed as they gathered in the hallway outside the room. He gazed at the hero that has spoken, a man in blue spandex with a large ¡®B¡¯ stitched into the middle of the torso. ¡°You¡¯re the A rank 30 hero, Barrier. Now I see what stopped my teleport.¡± According to his information, this particular hero had the power to stop any and all teleports. This would be troublesome since he was one of the only people with a power belonging to the Unknown category in existence. The villain looked at the blue covered hero and contemplated killing him. The thought was gone a moment later as the other heroes moved to guard him, ¡®Guess it¡¯s time to run.¡¯ He lifted his hand and jumped, smashing into the formation of heroes and running past them. Some of them shouted in surprise but the others ran down the hall after him. He could hear Barrier calling out orders to them from the back of the group. ¡°Hurry! If he gets out of my blocking range it¡¯s all over!¡± ~~~~ -Light¡¯s perspective- ¡®The training room doors are open, it might be troublesome if someone comes in and they¡¯re caught in the crossfire.¡¯ My gaze drifted across the vast area that was hero association¡¯s training room, one of many located in the complex of buildings. It was your basic setup for a gym with white and red lines on the floor to show where both basketball and badminton could be played by heroes on their time off and it was only slightly more spacious than your usual gym. Its walls were reinforced, ¡®good, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll break anything valuable.¡¯ *Clunk* It was impossible for me not to hear the sound of the change room door as it opened but didn¡¯t feel like turning around. I refused to really. I¡¯d faced off against death machines before, killed dozens of them with my bare hands. Cold, merciless and covered in blood, those were the opponents he had faced off against in the war. They didn¡¯t have faces or expressions, the only screams they gave off were the screams of unoiled cogs. The girl in front of me had all of those things and more. I didn¡¯t want to have to test whether or not she could scream. I didn¡¯t plan to make it last that long. ¡®Not to mention that she¡¯s young enough to be my own daughter.¡¯ I flicked the grim thought out of my mind as soon as it appeared with a wave of my hand. ¡°A-are you good? To, um, start?¡± I turned to face the new arrival. A teenage girl was standing in the middle of the training area and looking at him nervously. Her blonde hair waved across her shoulders and she clenched a hair tie between her teeth and moved her hands back to tie her hair into a ponytail. ¡®Pale, white skin and supple red lips, small breasts but it fits her, makes her seem cute even.¡¯ She was pursing her lips at him as though she didn¡¯t know what to do, either that or she was too afraid to antagonise him, ¡®You sure know how to pick the femme fatales Lukey.¡¯ ¡°Ready when you are Runaway.¡± I put my hands in front of my face, ¡®can¡¯t even remember the last time I entered a fighting stance and now I¡¯m doing it for a little girl.¡¯ ¡°G-going e-easy on me r-right?¡± She was stuttering over almost all of her words, I would have thought it was cute if I couldn¡¯t trust it to not be programmed into her. Clumsy, unassuming and subservient, the kind of girl people would like. The kind people would let down their defences around. ¡®Is this how she fooled you Lukey?¡¯ Luke had a soft spot for women so he didn¡¯t tend to see their killer tendencies and I could accept that. It had gotten them into a lot of trouble in the past. But then again, this femme fatale had the power to kill a lot more people than most of the girls her age. She wasn¡¯t putting her hands up to defend and I realised she was waiting for an answer to her question. I nodded. I felt it coming rather than saw it, a subtle shift in her footing, a relaxing of muscles around her shoulders. My danger sense, honed from years of battle, started to go off faster and louder than I had ever experienced. She disappeared, one moment she was a few metres in front of me and the next she was in the air kicking down onto my head. I spun around to the left and her foot missed my shoulder by a few inches, smashing the floor and tearing a huge hole in it. Her face passed inches by mine as she fell to the ground and I could see it even through her super speed. It was an expression that I had seen countless times in the faces of cornered villains that had nowhere to run, an expression of fear and anxiety. The expression of a wounded animal with nowhere left to run. She was going all out from the beginning. The room brightened and her eyes widened as my fist suddenly appeared in front of her face, sending her flying into the wall and smashing the layer of metal that was reinforcing it. She fell to the ground wheezing from the surprise attack but relatively unscathed. ¡®Then I better not disappoint her.¡¯ The room brightened more, I didn¡¯t have to look at myself to know that I had turned into almost pure light, I had done this so many times that it had become second nature to me. Before she had time to recover I was already sending my knee into her stomach and smashing her against the wall again. The force was great enough that she bounced off the metal and right back to him, he kicked her into it again and she bounced back, it was an endless cycle. It felt like hitting a tennis ball against a wall except the ball was a girl and the racket were feet or any other part of my body that I could do damage with. Out of the dozens or hundreds of death machines I had kicked, this was the only one whose skin felt rubbery against my hands, elastic to a point. It was human skin. I was hardly denting her, she was flying around the room helpless but any wounds I was making on her were instantly healing. Each injury was healing slower and slower compared to the last. But it still wasn¡¯t enough. ¡®This isn¡¯t working.¡¯ She cried out and I hesitated, was it fear? Or even pain? I didn¡¯t have the luxury of stopping to find out. As I continued kicking her I gathered energy into my hands and within a few seconds I could see that it had grown into a sizable ball of light, big enough to kill even the toughest of villains. The wall reverberated as the girl hit it and bounced back to me again. I kicked her into the air and jumped up after her. I would only get one shot at this or Luke might finally get here and see me. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°Sorry Runaway, it looks like I win this one.¡± I pushed the ball of light into the middle of her chest, right where her heart would be. She was looking at me with her big blue eyes. They were widened in surprise, blurry almost. ¡®Wait, blurry?¡¯ *Wham* I didn¡¯t have time to react before something hit me from behind and I slammed into the metal roof. It hurt just as much as it sounded like it did. My body bounced off the metal and I cursed in mid-air. The girl was trying the same tactic I had used on her and with her incredibly strength and stamina she could keep it up all day. I turned to face her¡­ and smiled as my body brightened and I was facing her back. She had covered her eyes to avoid being blinded by the light and hadn¡¯t noticed that I¡¯d teleported behind her. Her spine was in my reach, one good hit and it would be over. My hand brightened further as I gathered energy into, coupled with my light form it would have enough power to be the killing blow¡­ ¡°So I see you guys started without me.¡± The girl stopped rubbing her eyes and her head snapped towards Luke, towards Traitor, and then she turned around to face me with her hands on her hips. ¡®Guess that¡¯s my opportunity gone.¡¯ I hadn¡¯t even noticed that enough time had passed for Luke to walk here. ¡°Hohoho~ I guess it¡¯s time for me to get serious.¡± I¡¯m sure my face was looking pretty shocked as I realised that Runaway was laughing at me, mocking me. Where was the scared girl from a few moments ago? Her hands raised and I tensed. She had started stepping from side to side and her whole body swayed with her, it was as though she were trying to hypnotise me. Whether it was due to annoyance or anger I made the first move, I teleported in front of her and smashed her face before she could make a move. She didn¡¯t fly in the air or crash onto the ground. She stood there and took the punch right in her face. I jumped back and found that my feet were stuck, she had squashed my toes into the floor and both of my wrists were captured by her hands. She smiled menacingly and I saw her face dip down as she smashed her head against my chin. Her head passed through me and my boy disappeared, an afterimage of where I had been. I grinned as my perfectly fine toes pressed against her back and she went flying into the wall with a crack. ¡°Sorry girlie, but I¡¯m all light in this form, too fast for you and untouchable.¡± I had my bravado on but in truth I knew I couldn¡¯t sustain this form forever. She spun around in mid-air and landed on the ground after rebounding from the wall. This was something new as well, she had gotten tougher. I would have continued my wall tennis from earlier but she had recovered far too quickly. It was almost impossible to put her reaction in the same dimension as her earlier ones. I glanced at Luke who was watching the fight from the entrance. Was his presence making her stronger somehow? She blurred again and I ducked my head to the side so that the punch would slide past me, she was still predictable. *WHAM* I went flying as she changed the direction of her punch and hit my head with the middle of her arm. I flipped around in the air and did a backflip, landing on the ground and repositioning myself into a fighting stance. She was definitely fighting better than earlier. A weird suspicion was starting to grow in my gut, I gathered my light into my hands again but instead of positioning them into a ball of light I coated my hands in the energy, like gloved wrapping around my arms. I teleported beside her and before I had even left my position I was sending out an uppercut which immediately hit her as I appeared in front of her. My fist hadn¡¯t reached her though, where my punch was supposed to hit her chin it had been stopped by her hands which had blocked the attack. I gazed at her grinning face and I wasn¡¯t sure whether to feel awe or horror at her foresight. But she had fallen into my trap. The coating of light wrapped around her hands and spread out across her body. I lifted her into the air and shot her at the roof, the coating still clinging onto her and immediately after I was in the air on top of her, punching her as hard as I could into the ground. As she shot to the ground I didn¡¯t let up, I fired spears of light into her at point blank range and as we landed I gathered the coating on my hands again, pummelling her face down into the ground. She was completely in my grasp. I placed my knee onto her spine and placed a hand onto her head while gathering my energy into it. I was behind her, she was helpless, one shot at point blank range and she would die. The energy around my hand dissipated. I couldn¡¯t do it. It wasn¡¯t even because I would feel the regret of killing her in front of my friend, our friend. It was because I could see the potential in her as a fighter. As an enemy she could be likened to our worst nightmare¡­ but if she wasn¡¯t lying and she truly wanted to become a hero, I would be doing the world a great disservice by eliminating her now. I sighed and took my knee off of her spine, letting her breath. I powered down from my light form and I could feel the energy draining from within me as the toll of using the form was enacted. I wouldn¡¯t have my powers back for a while. I would think about the consequences of my actions later. There were more important things to do for now. ¡°I take back what I said before.¡± Luke put a hand on my shoulder. ¡°If that¡¯s what you call playing around then I can definitely see you on the same battlefield as Emperor. I looked at him in surprise as the realisation hit me, ¡®he thought I was just playing around with her.¡¯ He saw my expression and laughed, ¡°Don¡¯t get too cocky though, I mean as maybe like, one of his foot soldiers or even his stable boy.¡± I grinned and slapped him on the back. ¡°I¡¯d be the most powerful stable boy he ever had, probably the only one too since nobodies ridden horses for at least a hundred years.¡± Maybe what I¡¯d said wasn¡¯t that funny, but I laughed as I walked past him and into the hallway. As soon as I was out of his sight I started to run towards Flora¡¯s office. Even if I hadn¡¯t gone in with the intent to kill from the beginning the girl was clearly a possible S class threat and Flora would want to know about it. She was stronger than any death machine he had ever encountered, at least a hundred times stronger. I clenched my hands. I couldn¡¯t even teleport to the office since I had used all my energy in the fight. It wouldn¡¯t be back for a good twenty minutes. I stopped running towards the office. There were more important things to check beforehand. I turned left towards the elevators and pressed the button for the lowest floor. Underground floor 55 Photon¡¯s lab. ~~~~ Runaway sighed as she struggled to take off her trainer top and looked at it morosely. It had been drenched by sweat she¡¯d shed during the fight. She started to change back into her white shirt and pants. ¡®I made a fool of myself out there.¡¯ The severity of what had happened hit her like a truck. She had lost to Light. Worse, she had lost to Light when he was going easy on her. She hadn¡¯t seen him shed a single drop of sweat from the beginning of the fight to the end of it. ¡®Think about it, he¡¯s an S rank hero, of course you¡¯d lose to him.¡± The Director had read to her every day and all of the files on the S rank members were some of the first she had heard, she had memorised them by heart. There wasn¡¯t a single S rank hero that did have a huge accomplishment to their name. She was sure that if one of them put their mind to it they could take out an evil organisation or villain single-handedly and had exerted less effort than Light had to fight her. ¡®So why do I feel so sad?¡¯ Something wet fell down her cheeks and before she realised it, tears were splashing down her face. She lifted the training shirt to cover her face. She wouldn¡¯t lie. She had thought that she was strong, special, because her organisation had created her to fight evenly with people like Light. She had had her pride, if not as a person then as an experiment designed and created to be strong. That pride had just been shattered by the experience of getting her ass handed to her by Light. ¡®Oh my god, Luke was watching.¡¯ More tears threatened to splash down her face as she finished changing. She moved the training shirt away from her face and blinked as her eyes were suddenly subjected to the light of the room. ¡°Oh dear, I was hoping you would keep your eyes shut for just a moment longer.¡± She heard a voice call out from behind her. She felt a sharp pain shoot across her body from her chest and as she looked down to see what was causing it her body trembled in pain and her legs collapsed. A single, blood stained, hand entered her vision as she fell, blue veins were running across its surface and they seemed to run parallel alongside the trickles of blood that were swirling down from its tip. Her knees rubbed against something on the floor. Blood was pooling onto the ground below her and it tainted her pants as she dropped. The voice behind her said something else but she couldn¡¯t hear it, she had become deaf from the blood loss. ¡®That¡¯s my blood.¡¯ She realised. The hand was coming out of her stomach. ¡°Et tu, E-23?¡± Lukes story Part 7 ¡°Look what we have here.¡± Runaway could hear her heart pounding in her ears as she looked at the hand that had appeared in front of her. Its wriggling fingers were stained with blood. ¡®That¡¯s my blood¡¯ she realised. She looked down and flinched as she saw that the hand had gone through her back and come out the other side. She couldn¡¯t be sure of how bad the damage was with a cursory glance but she could feel the flesh of the arm piercing the bottom of her heart. ¡°Et tu E-23?¡± Runaway winced as she turned her head around to see who the owner of the voice was, her twisting body pushed against the hand and more pain spread through her body. She frowned, standing behind her was a man she had never seen before, ¡°Who are you?¡± He had tattoos running down his arm and she didn¡¯t recognise the brown hair or distinct blue eyes that were staring at her either. If he was part of the organisation then he was either a new member or someone that hadn¡¯t worked with her directly while she was being raised in the lab. ¡®Then how does he know who I am?¡¯ ¡°They call me the Information Broker, and no, I¡¯m not part of the organisation that created you if that¡¯s what you¡¯re thinking. Let¡¯s just say we¡­ have a mutual arrangement with them, one that will earn us a lot of profit for returning you to them.¡± There was a loud bang and the villains head snapped to the side as crack appeared in the wall. ¡°Hey you!¡± A voice called out as the cracks connecting the wall expanded and exploded, a single shape flitting through the opening. The villains face made a crunching sound as Traitor hit it with an aura infused punch, ¡°I thought I sensed something weird.¡± Runaway smiled at the sight of Traitor and she felt hope welling in her heart. She felt the villain tense as Traitor raised his fist to hit Information Broker again. A sharp pain coursed through her body, Runaway felt the hand sliding out of her stomach as the villain went flying across the room and smashed to the floor. ¡°Hey are you okay?!¡± Traitor¡¯s face was laced with worry as he looked down at the gaping hole in the middle of her stomach. She could feel that it was already healing so she waved her hand towards the villain, who was already getting up and looking pissed. ¡°Looks like someone troublesome has turned up,¡± Information Broker brushed himself off and raised his hands, ¡°I had been warned that you were guarding E-23 Avenger, or should I call you Traitor now?¡± Traitor grimaced at the mention of Runaways former name and she saw the villain grin at his react. Shouting voices were sounding out from the end of the training rooms and Runaway could see several heroes entering the room, they were probably chasing after the villain, ¡°I¡¯m afraid I don¡¯t have time to play games with you.¡± Traitor and Runaway¡¯s eyes widened as blue veins began to pulsate across his skin and he disappeared. Runaway cursed silently as the air shifted behind her and she felt the villain reappearing behind her. She moved her hand of her stomach but she hadn¡¯t recovered enough to move yet, she felt him break through the healing flesh with her hand and she was lifted into the air by his powerful arm. ¡°I see the hole is already regenerating, what a terrifying power. But the energy toll must be huge, you can¡¯t do anything else while you¡¯re recovering can you?¡± He shifted to the side as Traitor¡¯s fist flew towards his face and in a single elegant motion he grabbed the aura filled fist to stop it from hitting him, ¡°As for you, I have other ways to deal with you. ¡° Traitor visibly glowed with anger and his aura flickered around his hand as he struggled to free his hand, blue veins pulsated along Information Brokers body and Runaway tried to reach to Traitor to push him away from the villain. She wouldn¡¯t make it. *Crash* The heroes chasing after the villain smashed the door down and fanned out as they viewed the scene before them, the villain had pierced a hand through Runaway¡¯s chest and Traitor was being held in place with the other while blue veins were running across his skin. Several blurred and disappeared as soon as they realised what was happening but the villain just looked at them and laughed. ¡°I¡¯m afraid you are far too late, goodbye my friends, this has been a rather profitable evening.¡± Sugar jumped into the air and punched at him but before it could land the villain had already disappeared. Information Broker, Runaway and Traitor had all vanished into thin air. ~~~~ *Knock knock* ¡°Madam¡± Flora sighed, ¡°Come in Light.¡± Squeaking sounds filled the air as Light dragged his feet across the floor. He was too tired to lift them. He moved the chair in front of her desk back and sat down with a slump, Flora frowned. ¡°I heard you sparred against Runaway.¡± Light lifted his hands up defensively, ¡°I know, I know, ¡®we don¡¯t antagonise the death machine¡¯ or something like that.¡± ¡°Then why did you do it?¡± She asked and he shrugged. ¡°I just wanted to test how powerful she was. The answer is incredibly powerful as it turns out. I was going full power by the end of it.¡± She stared at him. It was hard to tell sometimes whether Light was playing around or just stupid. He saw the look on her face and rubbed his head. ¡°I would have won eventually.¡± ¡°The fact that she¡¯s powerful enough to make you become serious is a whole new problem in itself. You should be able to handle dozens of death machines by yourself, maybe even hundreds.¡± Light chuckled weakly, ¡°I don¡¯t think anyone except Emperor could handle hundreds of death machines.¡± ¡°This isn¡¯t a joke Light!¡± Flora found herself shouting before she realised it, ¡°If someone can mass produce death machines strong enough to fight on par with an S class hero then they could easily wipe us out.¡± Light shook his head and placed some papers on her desk. ¡°You don¡¯t think I thought about that? I checked with Photon. He says that since her genetic makeup was mostly human it¡¯s physically impossible for her to have simply been created over the space of a few months, or even a few years.¡± ¡°Meaning what, Light?¡± Flora was barely keeping her temper in check. She grabbed the papers and started flicking through them. ¡°Meaning that the machine, the girl, is as old as she looks, someone spent seventeen years raising her to be the person she is. Photon says it would have taken more money than any ordinary organisation could muster to build her in the first place and millions more to raise her. For now at least, we can assume that no organisation in the world, not even the hero association, could create more than one of these things without going bankrupt.¡± Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. Flora breathed a sigh of relief. At least that was one major worry out of the way. Light didn¡¯t have the same relief on his face. ¡°But that also means that she was built during the war-¡° *BEEP BEEP BEEP* Light and Flora jolted as the sound of an alarm rung out in the office. The doors opened and a pale faced hero walked in. ¡°Madam! The villain Information Broker¡¯s broken into the archive.¡± Flora sighed, ¡®It¡¯s just one problem after the other today.¡¯ ¡°Come with me.¡± Flora stood up and exited the office, the trio walked down the hallway. ¡°What happened to the heroes on guard duty?¡± ¡°They were stopped. The villain was a lot stronger than our files indicated.¡± ¡°Injuries?¡± ¡°Two dead, four injured. He managed to access and make copies of the files of dozens of heroes.¡± ¡°Light, I want you to teleport down there immediately and stop him. I¡¯ll send a team of heroes after you to help out.¡± *Smack* ¡°I can¡¯t.¡± She looked at him in surprise and saw that he was physically hitting himself in the face, ¡°I used up all of my energy fighting Runaway. I need at least another ten minutes.¡± Flora cursed, ¡°The information he copied contains their personal identities. If he were to make them public their lives and their family¡¯s lives would be at risk.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry Flora, I can¡¯t help, hold him off for ten minutes then I¡¯ll have recharged enough to fight him.¡± ¡°Madam!¡± Flora turned her head to the hero that had reported the news. She was looking at her personal assistance device and making an expression of horror. ¡°Information Broker has escaped the archive room and disappeared. According to the tracking devices he has appeared within D block.¡± Flora stopped walking and stared at the hero, ¡°D block? That¡¯s over five kilometres away!¡± She shook her head to clear her mind, ¡°Who¡¯s in the area?¡± ¡°The PADs indicates that there are five heroes in the immediate area, Killer, Runaway, Force, Halfling and Traitor are all there. All are ranked C except for Traitor who¡¯s in the lower D rank.¡± ¡°Impossible, they were just here!¡± Light shouted out in surprise Flora smiled, ¡®Avenger¡¯s there, good.¡¯ She motioned to the hero, ¡°Inform Traitor and Runaway to head towards the villain immediately and tell the others to stay back. They won¡¯t be a match for a villain that took down several B and A ranked heroes. ¡°Tell Force to fight the villain as well.¡± Flora shot Light a confused look as he gave the order to the hero. He would have to have a good reason for sending a C ranked hero into an impossible situation. The hero frowned, ¡°Information Broker has met up with several known villains, Halfling and Killer have already engaged in combat with them. Runaway¡¯s PAD is reporting her status as severely wounded.¡± Flora shot a glare at Light, ¡®Even if she¡¯s been weakened, they had someone that could take on an improved death machine?¡¯ ¡°Tell them to be careful and disengage when they have the chance. We¡¯ll have to hope that the others can hold off the villains until reinforcements arrive.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± The hero continued speaking into her personal information device and turned the nearby corner as Flora and Light continued walking towards the archive room. ¡°Kyaaa!¡± A scream ripped through the air and the pair ran back to where the hero had left them, she was trembling on the floor looking at the man looming over her. The man turned to face Flora and a chill ran down her spine as his eyes met hers. ¡°I couldn¡¯t help but overhear that my apprentice has been sent orders to fight a villain.¡± Flora¡¯s shock gave way to a smile as she heard the man¡¯s voice. ¡°I hope you don¡¯t mind if I tag along to watch?¡± Light blurred and appeared between the man and Flora and started to shimmer brightly as he prepared to fight the new arrival, he was trembling from head to toe. ¡°Wait, Light! He¡¯s a friend.¡± She called out to him. He stopped shimmering and blinked at her. She pointed to the man¡¯s face and Light gasped. The man chuckled, ¡°It¡¯s alright. I¡¯m used to that reaction.¡± Light hurried his hands to his sides and saluted at the man, ¡°I¡¯m sorry! I didn¡¯t recognise you, it¡¯s been so long. How have you been? Can I help you in any way?¡± Flora sighed at his shameful display, ¡°Stop grovelling Light,¡± She continued looking at the man, ¡°I see your pressure is as strong as always.¡± The man shrugged, ¡°Sorry, I can¡¯t just turn it off like a power.¡± She didn¡¯t mind, ¡°Seeing you today has been the first good thing to happen to me this week, and we¡¯d be honoured to have you along.¡± The man smiled at her words and nodded his head. ¡°Sounds like fun. Shall I fly us there?¡± Flora grinned, ¡°I won¡¯t be going, but Light can show you the way.¡± She pointed to the trembling hero and grinned harder as the man picked him up and held him in his hands. ¡°Greetings Light, I may be a bit weak but please take care of me.¡± Light chuckled faintly, ¡°If you¡¯re weak then I¡¯m an ant.¡± He looked at his personal assistance device and pointed out the nearby window, ¡°That way.¡± The man grunted as his feet shot off the ground and he flew through the window. Flora ducked as shards of glass and broken wall fell around her. The hero that had been on the ground watched the pair leave with her mouth open and Flora turned to face her, ¡°You know, I really wish he wouldn¡¯t break the bullet proof glass every time he came, it costs us a lot more than he realises.¡± The hero got off the floor and faced Flora, ¡°Madam, was that who I think it was?¡± Flora nodded her head and clicked her fingers at the hero, ¡°Send a new message to all the heroes fighting against Information Broker and his allies.¡± ¡°What would you like me to tell them, madam?¡± ¡°To hold their own until Emperor arrives.¡± The hero nodded and scuttled down the hall. Flora looked back to the spot where a wall had been just a few seconds ago. ¡°I wonder what Avenger¡¯s reaction is going to be when he meets up with Emperor after all these years. She began to walk back to her office and froze in her tracks. ¡®Did he say apprentice?¡¯ Lukes story Part 8 -Traitor¡¯s point of view- Information Broker grinned at me as he held onto my hand. A second ago I was trying to take my hand out of his grip and the next I was dangling off the edge of a building. ¡°So this is the infamous Avenger. I don¡¯t believe we¡¯ve been introduced, my name is Information Broker. I am sorry but I¡¯m going to have to take E-23 with me now.¡± I looked up at the grinning face and shivered, Runaways durability was no joke but he had punched a hole right through her stomach. ¡°Are you part of the organisation?¡± The villain shook his head and I swayed precariously in the air, ¡°Not the organisation you¡¯re thinking of, but that doesn¡¯t mean I can¡¯t profit off of this piece of information.¡± He looked at Runaway. I looked behind him and saw that there were several people fighting, Information Broker looked in their direction as well and frowned. ¡°Hmm, unexpected company, no matter. It was fun meeting you Avenger.¡± He let go of my hand and a found myself falling through the air towards the ground below. *CRASH* I groaned and my body ached all over as I got up, I had smashed into the sidewalk underneath the three story building and it had cracked under the pressure of my body and my aura had protected me from most of the damage. If I had been an ordinary person my body would have been crushed on impact. ¡°So Information Broker gave me a little treat did he? And who might you be.¡± A man grinning man wearing full body Velcro walked towards me and bent over me. A strange feeling swept over me, like I was getting weaker and weaker as he walked closer to me. ¡°You don¡¯t look so tough.¡± He lifted me up and I punched him, he took it and grinned. ¡°Without those powers of yours you hit like a girl.¡± My eyes widened in realization and he punched me back, then he kept punching me as he held me with his other hand. ¡°The name¡¯s Eraser,¡± *punch* ¡°if you can¡¯t guess what my powers are,¡± *punch* ¡°Then you¡¯re a fool.¡± My aura was gone as well. His ability wasn¡¯t a Strength or Creation type, maybe Manipulation? *Punch* either way, I wasn¡¯t going to go down without a fight. I gripped my hands into fists. ¡°I know what you¡¯re thinking and the answers Unknown type actually.¡± I punched him again and he grabbed my hand to block it, then he gasped as the knee I had sent out at the same time hit balls and he let go of me. I jumped backwards and my aura started to seep out again. ¡®Some sort of area of effect power.¡¯ ¡°What! I thought you were a hero or something, what kind of hero kicks someone in the sac?¡± He stopped groaning and got up again, I walked back warily since it was possible that his ability could be thrown at me. He lifted his hand menacingly and started running towards me. ¡°I¡¯m going to kill you-¡± *SMACK* A large shape smacked into him and he went flying into a concrete pillar and it broke on top of him, covering him in its broken pieces. ¡°Delivering the power needed to protect the weak, Force blasts onto the scene!¡± A large girl appeared in front of me while grinning, she was covered in muscles and her back was broad enough to fit mine twice over. ¡°Wasn¡¯t that Eraser?¡± She was frowning at the pile of stones covering Eraser and I grabbed her hand. ¡°There¡¯s no time, they have a hostage so we need to get to that roof. Can you fly?¡± I pointed to the roof and she shook her head at my question. I cursed. I had never felt so helpless from my inability to fly. Suddenly she wrapped her hands around my wrist. ¡°I got a way, since you have an aura it should be fine. Hold on I¡¯ll be joining you shortly.¡± ¡°Err, wait a second. What-¡± Before I could protest she swung me around in an arc and threw me into the air, I watched the side of the building getting closer and closer to my body and almost got cut in half by a rusty pole that was jutting out of a window. Then the building disappeared and I was flying in the air with the roof coming closer and closer towards me. *Crack* I hit the concrete roof face first and I thanked god that my aura and strength power prevented any series injuries. I looked around and saw that the heroes were still fighting and Information Broker was laying on the side watching them while keeping Runaway busy by opening the hole so that she would have to use her energy to regenerate. My aura swept across my body and I ran towards him. ~~~~ -Force¡¯s point of view- ¡°You¡¯ve grown stronger fatty.¡± The rubble in front of me began to move and I tensed as Eraser lifted the pile of rocks off of his body and stood up to face me. His face was grayed from the stone dust that had swept over him. ¡°But you¡¯re still no match for me.¡± I jumped away from him. I had faced off against his power erasing ability before. I knew his range for cutting off powers was around ten meters or so. He grinned and ran at me. His hands and face were covered in blue veins. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you?¡± A look of surprise crossed his face and he looked down at his hands, lifting them in the air so that the sun would reflect off them and he could get a better view. ¡°And by the way-¡± I dug my foot into the ground and pushed backwards so that I leapt towards him, ¡°Don¡¯t-¡± Before he could move his hands to defence I had already appeared in front of him, ¡°Call-¡± I smashed his face with my fist and he went flying back, ¡°Me-¡± I leapt in front of him again and smashed my hand into his face so that he would be crushed into the ground, ¡°-Fatty.¡± ¡°You¡¯re still sensitive about the whole being fat thing? You look like you¡¯ve improved your diet though. Don¡¯t those muscles weigh more than that layer of fat you used to have?¡± Eraser grinned from underneath me and I realized that he had caught my last punch in his hand. I felt my powers drain and as I was experiencing the loss something hit me and I went flying back. I cried out in pain as my back scraped against the pavement, my strength powers were returning to me now that I was out of his range but it hadn¡¯t returned enough to block the pain. ¡°Impossible, you don¡¯t have a strength power.¡± I looked up from the ground at the villain and he grinned. He lifted the veiny hand that had hit me and made a punching motion with his hand. ¡°Whole new set of powers fatty, don¡¯t think you¡¯re the only one that can cover your weaknesses.¡± The sound of an explosion came from the roof and I cursed, my personal assistance device told me that there were other heroes up there and I needed to join them. The area had already been evacuated so I could afford to let Eraser go if it meant saving a hostage. ¡°I guess in the end I still win, and Emperor isn¡¯t here to save you this time.¡± I placed my feet on the ground and as though he could sense what was going to happen Eraser ran after me. But it was too late. I was already airborne and heading towards the roof. I could hear his laughing voice calling after me as I flew. ¡°You can run fatty, but you can¡¯t hide!¡± ~~~~ -Killers point of view- ¡°What is this ¡®Killer¡¯ nonsense you got going on?¡± I stared at the villain, Air Master, who was grinning in front of me. Even though I was wearing a mask I knew he recognized me. I stayed silent and he grinned harder. ¡°Bet you didn¡¯t expect to see me here did you ¡®Killer¡¯? I ran towards him but before I could get close I was blasted off my feet by a gust of wind and sent back to where I started. ¡°Oh no you don¡¯t, I know your power. We worked together for years after all.¡± I glanced at the nearby hero, I think his name was Halfling, but he was engaged in his own battle and hadn¡¯t heard the villain¡¯s words. I sighed, ¡°You mention that again and I might have to tear you a new one. Working with these guys seems a little below you.¡± I lifted a hand towards him and released chemicals into the air but they hadn¡¯t reached him, he had some sort of wind barrier in front of him. ¡°Trying to control my mind again eh?¡± He appeared in front of me and his fist hooked my face. Blue veins were running down his face and I stared at him, he hadn¡¯t had super speed before. ¡°Surpised? I was a little more than surprised when you ditched me to go and join the association.¡± He appeared in front of my again and I lifted my hands to spray my mind control chemicals into his face but the barrier of air was only centimeters in front of him, not allowing anything to come through. ¡°A little note would have been fine-¡± He punched my face again and my head smashed against the ground, cracking the concrete. ¡°But you just up and left!¡± I wiped off a trickle of blood that was running down the corner of my mouth. ¡°Were you expecting a warning? I¡¯m not that soft Air Master.¡± He smashed my face against the concrete again, cracking it further. His face was seething with anger. ¡°You send a bloody squad of heroes to my house!¡± Oh right, I had done that. ¡°Blow me.¡± *BOOM* To the side of us something happened and the roof exploded, Air master was blasted off me and I tumbled across the ground. I pushed myself off of the ground and looked around. ¡°What the hell.¡± I saw Air Master groaning as he got up and ran towards him but he sent me back with a gust of air. He was just playing with me now. *Boom* A lesser explosion sounded and I looked around, an incredibly muscular girl had just jumped onto the roof. Since she was wearing a mask I could guess that she was a hero. ¡°Don¡¯t look away now ¡®Killer¡¯!¡± A fist hit my stomach and I blanched. This was going to be a tough fight. ~~~~ -Halflings point of view- ¡°A gun, brother. Really?¡± Blue pulses of energy blasted towards the villain in front of me as I shot at him with Righty, my gun. The bastard was dodging all of my shots. ¡°Brother? What brother?¡± I called out and the villain grunted as he dodged another shot. ¡°I found calling you guys brothers easier, the alternative is so much harder to explain.¡± I stopped moving and the villain in front of me did the same. I looked at him and took off the mouth piece of my mask to speak clearly. ¡°I like it.¡± The villain grinned as he did the same and I realized that we were wearing the same mask. ¡°Of course you do, I made it up myself.¡± I tapped my foot on the ground while pointing my gun at him, ¡°A villain is it? So what do you call yourself?¡± ¡°Gilgamesh.¡± I looked at his mask and realized that it was in fact the character Gilgamesh. ¡°Like the character of that game series I can¡¯t mention due to copyright issues?¡± Of course, commercial heroes like me couldn¡¯t mention the products of other corporations. ¡°That¡¯s right, I love that game series.¡± I laughed, ¡°Me too actually, what a coincidence.¡± Gilgamesh grinned and pulled a couple of swords out from behind him. ¡°Really, swords? They¡¯re so low tech.¡± Gilgamesh grunted and charged towards me with his swords slashing towards my heads from both sides. ¡°There can be only one.¡± I jumped back and fired at him again, he ducked and dodged the bullets. ¡°Oh, you watched that movie too?¡± Righty overloaded and I pulled the second one out from its holster, I called it Lefty, it was harder to dual wield but it would be a few seconds before Righty was ready to fire again. I looked up and saw that Gilgamesh had already covered the distance between us and was swinging one of his swords towards my neck. ¡°Of course, I felt that it was okay but it could have done better.¡± *Clang*I parried it with Righty and the two weapons held each other at bay. ¡°Bit vague, have you really seen it? I have, I liked it. It was aesthetically pleasing.¡± I sent back a reply by shooting him with Lefty but he deflected the blue pulse off his other sword. I jumped back and grinned, Righty was ready to fire again. ¡°Now who¡¯s being vague brother? I don¡¯t think you¡¯ve seen it either.¡± I jumped into the air and shot at him, he deflected all the shots with the blades of his swords and the force of the recoil caused me to flip backwards in a mid-air summersault. I continued firing at him while in the air to keep him at bay until I fell gracefully to the ground. I landed on my feet and grinned at Gilgamesh. He was surrounded by smoking craters where the bullets had hit the concrete, individually they could only stun him but together they packed a powerful punch. Unfortunately none of them hit him and both Lefty and Righty had overloaded. ¡°Okay.¡± He looked at me. ¡°That was pretty awesome.¡± I nodded, ¡°hell yeah it was, I spent months perfecting how to do that you know. It¡¯s my ultimate technique.¡± Gilgamesh sighed and pointed a sword at me. ¡°Let me show you a real ultimate technique.¡± He waved his hands in a semicircle with his swords facing upwards while screaming, ¡°Gwahhhhhh¡± ¡°What the hell are you doing?¡± He continued screaming and I watched. To tell you readers the truth I could hit him now but I¡¯m pretty interested in his ultimate technique. *Pop * *pop* *pop* *pop* I was grinning until he screamed louder and two pairs of arms covered in blue veins appeared from the side of his torso. Gilgamesh started growing and he was quickly over double my height and more than double my length and he took four more swords out of the scabbards on his sides. I looked at him in horror. ¡°Oh bull-crap, you actually look like Gilgamesh?¡± He lunged at me and his swords smashed into the concrete roof, cracking it, ¡°Face my ultimate technique, Final Form!¡± I put Righty and Lefty back into their holsters. ¡°As always you have a terrible naming sense.¡± Gilgamesh lunged into the air again while swinging his swords and I grinned at him. I pulled out another weapon from the bottomless knapsack I kept around my side and pointed it towards the villain flying towards me. His eyes widened as he saw it. ¡°Is that a freaking-¡± A canister pulsating with blue energy flew through the air towards him and I grinned, ¡°Your damn right it is.¡± *BOOM* He went flying back as the explosion hit him and I grinned, ¡°That¡¯s right brother, I got a freaking rocket launcher! I call it Bomby¡± Gilgamesh groaned as he got up and I stepped back. Bomby was supposed to have knocked him out for at least ten hours. *Boom* I heard the ground crack around me and Gilgamesh winced as something flew down from the air. We turned our heads towards the new arrival, a muscular girl with black hair had just landed on the roof and she looked pissed. Gilgamesh roared and I turned to face him. Our fight wasn¡¯t over just yet. ~~~~ -Traitors perspective- As I raced towards the villain he spotted me and grinned, Runaway had already lost consciousness from the pain. He threw her at me and I grabbed her body out of the air, when I looked up the villain had disappeared. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. ¡°Saving the lady before taking on the villain? How heroic.¡± I turned around and blocked the arm that had come chopping down towards my neck. Information broker grinned and sent a flurry of punches towards me and I was sent back, Runaway tumbled out of my arms and onto the ground. ¡®Super strength, teleporting technique.¡¯ Out of all the combinations he had come across this was one of the most annoying set of powers. It was a high level of strength too, enough to harm Runaway¡¯s extremely tough body. ¡°What could you possibly be thinking about at a time like this?¡± I was interrupted from my thoughts as I went flying into the air and slid over the side of the building, I clung onto the edge and lifted myself up but Information Broker had already gone back to Runaway and stabbed her again. *BOOM* An explosion lit up the air and I blinked, when I opened my eyes again Runaway was alone. I ducked as a punch flew towards me and kicked the villain that had appeared behind me. He went flying through the air and smashed into the ground. *Boom* A lesser explosion sounded and I looked at the person that had just jumped up beside me. ¡°Did you finish him already?¡± Force looked at me and shook her head, ¡°He¡¯ll be up here in a minute.¡± I pushed her out of the way as Information Broker¡¯s hand stabbed through the air that she had been occupying just a second ago. ¡°Teleportation and super strength, if he hits you, you go down hard!¡± I shouted at her, she nodded and leapt towards the villain with her palms out, he threw a hand out to stop her but she twirled around the avoid it and smacked a palm into his stomach, sending him flying towards me. I jumped into the air towards him and my aura gathered around my legs as I spun around and kicked him into the ground. Force grinned at me but I motioned back to the villain, he had already disappeared. Force flew into me and we tumbled across the ground as Information Broker grinned at us. This was going to be a long fight. ~~~~ -Killer POV- ¡°So how would the hero association take it if someone told them that ¡®Killer¡¯ isn¡¯t just your hero name?¡± Air Master grinned and smashed his leg into my crotch as he talked. I shifted my knee to block his foot and smashed my elbow into his face. His wind shield blocked the damage but he was still pushed back a few steps. I sent a kick towards his head as he was recovering but he ducked and another gust of wind underneath my leg sent me sprawling to the ground, ¡°Your words are worth less than you, and you¡¯re worth nothing.¡± The villain frowned and he put his hand into his vest, taking out the needles that were packed inside. ¡°Play times over.¡± I ducked to the side as he threw the needles into the air and another gust of wind blew them at me. I cried out as one of them struck my arm. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t pull that out if I were you, barbed edges you know? A little trick I added after you left.¡± He sent more needles flying through the air towards me and I jumped to the side to avoid them, right into the foot he kicked towards me. I slumped over as his kick hit my stomach and winded me. ¡°I could finish you right now if I wanted to ¡®Killer¡¯ but I¡¯ve got bigger fish to fry right now.¡± I stared at him and he laughed, a gust of wind blew the villain back towards a huge villain with six arms and the two started walking towards the others. ¡°Hey!¡± A voice called out to me and I found myself facing the hero I¡¯d seen before, Halfling. ¡°You¡¯re Halfling. No time for chit chat, shoot at them.¡± I pointed towards the villains. He shook his head, ¡°Can¡¯t, my guns overloaded.¡± I pushed him to the side as a needle filled gust of air swept by us and jumped towards the villains, even if Air Master was immune to my control his ally wasn¡¯t. ¡°New plan,¡± I spoke to Halfling as he ran with me towards the pair, ¡°We switch opponents.¡± He nodded in agreement and we split up to fight the villains, the six armed man grinned at me and his swords flashed as they reflected the daylight. ¡®Strength based mutation, probably not immune to my chemicals.¡¯ I dodged the swords that slashed out to cut me in half and jumped up towards the villains face, I had been creating my mind control chemicals for several minutes and I sent them all into his nose and mouth. He grinned in my face and kicked my stomach to push me back across the air. ¡°God damn it, Air Master.¡± Air Master looked at me as I called his name and smirked, he had set an air shield around his ally before I could get to him. A shadow covered the ground around me and I looked up, the six armed giant was already swinging his swords down on my head. I rolled to the side to avoid them and jumped back up. ~~~~ A gust of air blew past me and noticed something glimmering inside it, ¡°Oh no way, you shoot needles?¡± The villains grinned at me flashed his vest at me. It looked like there were over a thousand needles in the containers he had packed in there. I shot Righty and Lefty at him and he grew pale but there was some sort of shield blocking most of the damage from the energy pulses. He threw another packet of needles into the air and the wind shredded it open so that the deadly objects sped towards me. I holstered Lefty and grabbed the only thing that would save me. *Clang* ¡°Where did that come from?¡± The villains grin was wiped off his face as I blocked all of the needles with a steel shield. ¡°Inter-dimensional knapsacks are all the rage nowadays, don¡¯t you know anything?¡± I fired Righty at him again and he dodged, even if he was shielded it looked like he didn¡¯t want to take my shots head on. ¡°God damn it, Air master.¡± The villain smirked as the hero fighting Gilgamesh called out his name. His head bent out of shape as my shield smacked into it and threw him to the ground. ¡°Didn¡¯t your mum ever tell you that you should never look away during a fight?¡± I grabbed the shield and put it back into my knapsack, the villain was out cold. Or so I thought until he sent a packet of needles into my legs. I fell to the ground and turned around to see him looming over me with more needles in his hand. ¡°No cries of pain? Too bad too since I love that part. Stupid pain nullifying powers keep ruining the good moments.¡± I jumped up and punched his face, I followed it up with a shot to his stomach with Righty and he went flying back several meters and flopped still onto the ground. ¡°Nah, it¡¯s just good armor.¡± A pair of hands suddenly pushed me to the side and a sword flashed by me. I turned to find Killer jumping around as Gilgamesh slashed at him with his swords. ¡°Are you an idiot? Don¡¯t just stand around in the middle of a battlefield.¡± The guy was an ass. I took out Lefty again and shot at Gilgamesh with my guns, he blocked the shots with the arms on his left and held off Killer with the arms on his right. Killer¡¯s right arm was bleeding and I could see a needle sticking out of it. I signaled to him and we attacked at the same time, I blocked Gilgamesh¡¯s swords with my shield and shot his back while Killer punched his face. He frowned and I realized that his punch didn¡¯t have the effect he intended it to. He poked the villain¡¯s eyes instead. Gilgamesh swung his swords blindly around him, forcing us back. ¡°I thought you knocked out Air Master.¡± At his words I swung around and saw that Air Master was walking towards us, ¡°Damn, I thought I did but he¡¯s got some sort of shield.¡± ¡°His shield is made of air.¡± I dodged another blind swing by Gilgamesh and landed near Killer. ¡°How does that work?¡± He frowned at me and looked at Gilgamesh, the villain had joined with Air Master and his eyesight was returning. ¡°He speeds up the air around him, he can still breathe but it blocks most things.¡± I lifted my guns and we separated as another gust of wind brought needles speeding past us. I fired at the villains but all of a sudden a body flew past me and into Killers arms. Another two villains joined Air Master and Gilgamesh and I glanced at the hero that had been thrown at us. It looked like the other heroes had lost their fights ~~~~ -Traitor POV- As I landed another punch on Information Broker I felt my power draining away and jumped back, but the villain had already grabbed me by the neck. ¡°The old me would have trembled at your power, but your strength means nothing to me as I am now.¡± He threw me into the air and I felt myself being caught by a pair of hands, I looked up and saw a pair of green eyes looking at me from behind a mask. My aura wrapped around me again and the hero dropped me onto the floor, ¡°You look alright to me.¡± He looked away from me and faced the villains that had gathered together. I grumbled and lifted myself off of the ground. I was surrounded by three other heroes, the muscular girl from before, the green eyed hero that had just dropped me and another hero that was holding a pair of guns in his hands. In front of us were the four villains we had been fighting as well as Runaway who was looking worse for wear as the hole in her stomach repaired. ¡°Let go of the hostage!¡± I sighed as Force called out to the villains. It wasn¡¯t going to be that easy. As though sensing my thoughts, information broker laughed. ¡°Sorry babe, but this girls our meal ticket for the next few years. She¡¯s worth more than your lives combined.¡± I wrapped my aura around my hands, while Eraser was there it would be hard to fight but I had to hope that he wouldn¡¯t use his power while the other villains were in range. ¡°Shoot them.¡± I turned to look at the green eyed hero in disbelief but he was looking at the gun wielding man. The man looked at him the hero, ¡°Are you crazy? They have a hostage.¡± Information broker grinned and blue veins appeared along his body. ¡°No! He¡¯s going to teleport, stop him!¡± The other heroes looked up at my words but Information Broker grinned, we had already wasted precious seconds talking. Then he frowned and the other villains all dropped to the floor. I dropped to the ground as well and heard the other hero¡¯s knees hitting the concrete beside me. ¡°What the hell.¡± Erasers eyes widened, ¡°get us out of here. NOW.¡± The other villains looked at him as they tried to lift themselves off the ground but Information Broker was sweating as his veins pulsated. Then their eyes widened as they saw what he had seen and Eraser grabbed Information Broker. ¡°DON¡¯T YOU UNDER STAND ME. GO NOW.¡± Information Broker lifted himself up and pointed at us, ¡°What is this power¡­ It¡¯s disrupting my concentration¡­ I¡¯ll have to bring them with me.¡± ¡°WE¡¯LL KILL THEM WHEN WE GET THERE.¡± Eraser was trembling and the villains were all sweating as they fought against the invisible force. I realized that I had felt this before, but it wasn¡¯t a power, it was pressure. It was the pressure of one of the strongest heroes in the world. ¡°Emperor!¡± My head shot up as Force looked in the air behind us and confirmed what I was thinking. I looked back and saw a speck in the sky, if it hadn¡¯t been for the pressure I wouldn¡¯t have been able to distinguish the speck as a person, let be able to put a name on him. ¡°NOW.¡± The speck was growing larger and larger and I could make out the figure of Emperor, he was carrying someone. ¡®Is that Light?¡¯ Information Broker cried out in pain and I turned to face him just as he lifted his hand up into the air, ¡°No! Stop him!¡± Pulses of blue light shot out from next to me as the hero fired on the villains but by the time they reached him he had already disappeared. I looked around me and realized that I wasn¡¯t on the roof anymore. I wasn¡¯t sure where I was. ¡°Ow- where are we?¡± I turned around as I heard a voice speak out and realized that Force had been teleported with me. She was holding her hand to her head and wiping away blood that was flowing from a cut on her forehead. I looked around at the surroundings and I realized that I didn¡¯t know where we were. The villains and other heroes were nowhere to be seen. I had lost Runaway. ~~~~ ¡°Where did they go?¡± Light stared in disbelief at the destroyed roof. One second the heroes and villains had been facing each other as he and Emperor had flown towards them and the next moment they were gone. Emperor placed him on the ground and put his hands down where the others had been, ¡°Somebody teleported them out. I¡¯m not sure who since none of the people I saw has that sort of power registered in their files.¡± He frowned and sat down. ¡°Err, shouldn¡¯t we go after them?¡± As far as Light knew Emperor worked solo so nobody really knew his method for tackling situations. Even his powers were a mystery although they clearly included some sort of super strength and flying ability. He glanced at Light and gestured for him to sit down as well. ¡®Does he have some sort of teleportation power?¡¯ ¡°So, I can¡¯t reach them but,¡± Emperor looked at Light, ¡°First of all you¡¯re going to tell me two things.¡± Light found himself trembling as the full force of Emperor¡¯s pressure. To his surprise Emperor was smiling at him. ¡°First, when did my good friend Avenger re-join the hero association?¡± ¡°T-today, actually, he turned up at headquarters with a girl in tow and they joined under the names Traitor and Runaway. He¡¯s the one named Traitor.¡± Emperor¡¯s grin widened and he clapped his hands together, ¡°It¡¯s good to see that he¡¯s back.¡± ¡®Now that I think about it, the only heroes Emperor has ever been recorded as working with were Deus ex Machina and Lukey.¡¯ ¡°And since I know one of the girls personally then that means that the girl he came with. Was she the one with the hole in her stomach?¡± Light nodded weakly, he had seen the damage as well and death machine or not he wasn¡¯t sure if she could survive an injury like that. Emperor¡¯s smile disappeared. ¡°Then second, you¡¯re going to explain to me very slowly and very clearly why there¡¯s a death machine registered as a hero and why you haven¡¯t told Avenger about what she is, I¡¯ve read your files and so it¡¯s safe to say that you and I both know Avenger well enough to say that he would kill her if he knew. So you¡¯re going to tell me the whole story, from start to finish.¡± Light flinched as Emperor stared straight into his eyes. ¡°And don¡¯t even think about lying to me kid.¡± Authors note: Took me a couple of days to upload but in return it''s a couple of chapters long~ This marks the end of the introductory arc where I explained stuff and leads into the first real arc which will be starting in two days. Ps: A filler chapter will be added tomorrow since I am introducing character in them that will be added to the main story later. Side Story 1.2: Melody and Musics story The girl tiptoed over the rotting bodies which lay strewn on the floor around her. The gentle breeze coming in from the entrance to the underground parking lot was causing her rainbow hair to sway across her face. She looked around her and spoke into the empty space. ¡°I need some Music¡± She her body was bathed in a glow as man in golden attire appeared next to her holding a violin in his hands. He smiled at the girl and their steps broke the silence of the area as they walked on the concrete floor. As the man gently stepped over the corpses he lifted the violin and began to play a song. ¡°I got the music but now I need a Melody¡± Melody smiled at her partner but frowned as she saw that his golden jacket was buttoned up to the top. She laced her fingers around his front and undid the top buttons of the jacket. She had insisted that they get matching costumes and she wanted every aspect of them to be the same. If she undid the buttons on her jacket then he would have to as well. She moved back and swayed her body in time to the rhythm of the music, dancing over the corpses that littered the ground. ¡°What do you call this dear?¡± Her partner, Music, was playing a new tune for her. He smiled at her when she asked. ¡°I¡¯ve named it The Calling of the Night. It¡¯s rather fitting isn¡¯t it?¡± She gazed playfully at him. Her albino partner had played many a tune to her during their time together and he always managed to surprise her when he made a new one. ¡°Indeed it is. I like it a lot.¡± *Ba-thump* Her heart was beginning to beat in time to the music. ¡°Put me up dear.¡± Music¡¯s face broke out in a sweat as he concentrated and changed the pace of the music he was playing. His black hair changed to gold and began to sway around him as Melody was lifted into the air. She looked at the concrete parking lot underneath her and observed the current state of affairs. It was clear that this place had seen a terrible battle recently. The first thing that stood out to her was a black orb filled with darkness in the middle of the room. It was a few meters wide and tall and was surrounded by the dead bodies of several heroes. She recognised quite a few of them as people she had worked with before. ¡°It looks like that¡¯s our guy.¡± Melody could tell that the orb itself was some sort of manifestation of their targets powers. If she had guessed correctly then their target would be located within it. The stone pillars which were holding up second floor of the parking lot were worn from the battle between the heroes and the villain. Several of them had been cut clean in half. It looked as though the ceiling would fall from a single push and if the pair weren¡¯t careful the entire floor above could come crashing down on them. ¡°Oh dear, this is quite the wakeup call.¡± Music continued to play his violin as he observed the scene gravely from the ground. They walked slowly towards the centre of the room and looked at the orb of darkness. Their golden costumes seemed to lose their shine as they neared the blackened object. ¡°Put me down.¡± *Ba-thump* *Ba-thump* Melody felt her feet touch the ground and sensed her heart beating completely in sync with her partner¡¯s rhythm. She raised her hand and grabbed her partners shoulder. ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡± A golden glow seeped out of Music¡¯s hair and began to form an aura that connected the pair. It moved to encase them completely in its radiance and they walked up to the front of the orb. ¡°It looks like he¡¯s in a state of recovery.¡± Music frowned as he looked down at one of the corpses and when he turned it around he saw a familiar face on it. He looked at the rest of the bodies and recognised many of them as belonging to famed heroes. Several were rotting from being exposed to the elements for days. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t have been an easy battle.¡± Melody nodded her head in agreement with him. Music laughed at her use of gestures and she blushed. While they were synchronised he could already feel her every emotion. ¡°We should double check the information.¡± Melody continued to look at the orb as she spoke and looked reached into her jacket. She pulled a sheet of paper out of her pocket. She skim read it and read the contents for Music¡¯s benefit. ¡°The mark this time is known as Victor Wallace. He was previously known as the superhero Perfect. He was a man that won the hearts of millions with both his acts of bravery and his handsome looks. He began to remark that he felt alone even while with his teammates and was frequently found completing jobs solo. Although some found his comments strange most saw them as the way he used to dealing with the pressure he was under at the time. At some point he was consumed by the powers of the villainess Darkness and the two merged. He soon after killed his hero team and declared war on the hero association under the new name Perfect Darkness. There was little he could do alone and he has been trapped by the association in this town.¡± Music gave her a look at the last line and she rolled her eyes, ¡°Okay, I might have been paraphrasing a tiny bit but that¡¯s basically what the mark description says.¡± She bathed her hands in the golden glow and placed her palms against the surface of the orb. The darkness shifted around them as though it were trying to consume the golden aura. Music noted how the striking gold of her costume clashed with the opaqueness of the darkness. ¡°It¡¯s hard to believe he¡¯s even human anymore.¡± Melody commented as she continued probing the orb. After running her hands over the darkness she lifted her arm and gathered more golden energy into her fist. She swung her fist behind her and brought it around to punch the orb. Upon contact the orb shook and the entire floor started trembling. The pair jumped backwards as the orb swirled and lifted from the ground. ¡°Correction, it¡¯s definitely not human anymore.¡± The pair observed as the darkness sunk into the top and bottom of the orb, making its walls transparent and revealing a humanoid figure which had been contained within. Its skin was composed of a metallic grey coating and it shimmered with specks of light. It was as though flames were underneath the darkness, fighting it. The flames underneath its skin were a sign of Perfect¡¯s previous power to control fire but the darkness itself had consumed the man once known as a superhero and now encompassed him in a full body shield. The darkness spread across the humanoid and began to sway and jump along the surface of his body. The darkness was quickly absorbed completely and the being opened its eyes to view the pair. ¡°I know you.¡± The black flames surrounding it flickered as it talked. It touched the edges of the golden aura surrounding the pair. ¡°You are the assassins, Music and Melody.¡± The pair looked at each other and the being could see the displeasure in their eyes. ¡°Strictly speaking we¡¯re just musicians.¡± Music looked at the being in front of them. ¡°You¡¯re Perfect Darkness, correct?¡± As they spoke the being looked down from the air nodding and it waved its hand at them in annoyance. ¡°I have little time for pleasantries. Will you join me in my quest to bring down the association? I can pay you handsomely.¡± Music glanced at his partner who shook her head. ¡°We¡¯re already here on a job, nothing more and nothing less.¡± The humanoid growled and began to grow darker. Its metallic skin turned pitch black and the darkness surrounding its body shot out in every direction and the pair moved to dodge the incoming attacks. The pair glided over the corpses to avoid the tendrils of darkness but quickly spotted that the darkness was heading in a different direction. The pair gazed as the tendrils hit the bodies of the fallen heroes. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. The corpses slowly disappeared as the darkness absorbed them. The being gasped in pleasure and the dark aura around him began to grow and thicken with each body absorbed. Melody took advantage of the distraction and jumped up to punch it in the torso. A pillar of darkness rose from the things body and violently pushed her back, smashing her face and sending her flying towards the ground. She flew towards the ground but the golden aura surrounding her prevented her from crashing into it. She jumped back up and sent a flurry of punches towards the being but was simply flicked back to the floor. Music rushed over and checked to see if his partner was alright as Perfect Darkness let out a laugh. ¡°Look around you and see the corpses of those that have tried to fight me before you. Now that their powers add to my own I am UNSTOPPABLE!¡± At his shout the cracking pillars finally broke under the strain and the second floor of the parking lot began collapsing onto the trio. ¡°Dear-¡± ¡°I know darling.¡± Music began to play a new tune on his violin and the pair¡¯s golden glow grew brighter. The moment the ceiling collapsed on them they became intangible and rose above the dust and falling debris. They looked down at the ground and saw that the broken pieces of debris from the second floor covered the entire area. The weight of the broken pieces of parking lot had crushed the remaining bodies and blood was leaking across the floor and growing darker as it merged with the dust flying in the air. They looked at each other and Melody laughed. ¡°Surely he wasn¡¯t wiped out by something as small as that.¡± Darkness began to seep through the debris and the pair closed in on it. ¡°Can he get out?¡± As soon as the words escaped Melody¡¯s mouth the debris exploded outwards and the humanoid glared at them. The stones and rocks passed harmlessly through the pair and Melody began to glow brighter. ¡°You know he makes me want to shout.¡± Music smiled as she began to speak. ¡°C¡¯mon now, I know you will either way.¡± Melody gave flashed him a quick smile and turned to face the humanoid before her. As though it could sense that something was about to happen it sent more tendrils of darkness from its body to attack the pair. The darkness passed harmlessly through the intangible pair and Melody began to sing. ¡°Say that you love me.¡± The humanoid balked at her words and the darkness surrounding it stopped firing at her. The being looked up at her and Music could see in its eyes that its instincts were fighting against Melody¡¯s influence. He had seen it happen countless times before but no matter how hard it struggled it wouldn¡¯t be able to stop Melody from controlling it. ¡°Say that you need me.¡± The humanoid fell to its knees and looked at itself in dismay. It was as though it had lost control of its body. ¡®No-¡¯ Music thought to himself, ¡®it had lost control of its body.¡¯ ¡°Say that you want me.¡± The darkness began to seep from the humanoid, leaving it, and began to surround Melody. Music tensed but quickly relaxed as he saw that the being had returned to its human form. ¡°Th-thank you for freeing me.¡± The superhero known as Perfect began to talk but Music could hear Melody¡¯s voice piercing through the darkness as she continued the last part of her song. ¡°That you want to please me.¡± The human looked around at the fallen debris of the parking lot. His face was a mask of horror as he grabbed the nearest rock and began to pound down on his own head. His arms continued to swing down on his head until his brain was completely destroyed. He soon lay dead in a pool of his own blood. Music couldn¡¯t help but feel awed every time he saw Melody¡¯s power at work. Anybody that heard her songs were forced to become fools that didn¡¯t know anything other than what the song told them. ¡°I don¡¯t really like the song but I do feel as though the effect was appropriate.¡± The darkness had disappeared and Music saw that his partner had her arms crossed. ¡°He got what he gave in the end.¡± He thought for a second, ¡°I enjoyed the song.¡± Melody blushed and laid her hand on Music¡¯s shoulder. He began to finish his tune and the pair glided to the ground. As the glow surrounding them released and his violin disappeared he felt a slight sense of sadness. Perhaps he was getting too old for this business. ¡°Perhaps you are.¡± The pair tensed and saw that the dead human was slung over the shoulder of a flying man. The man pushed his golden hair to the side as he looked at Music and smirked. ¡°Getting too old for this sort of thing, I mean, just in case I wasn¡¯t clear.¡± Music felt a flash of anger cross his face and walked towards the man. ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s any of your business. Where were you? And let go of our mark.¡± ¡°Mark?¡± The man looked at the corpse he had flung over his shoulder. ¡°Oh you mean this guy? Here.¡± He threw the body into Melody¡¯s hands and she staggered backwards. Music relaxed, but only slightly, as long as the body was in their hands they would be able to hand it up for the reward placed on the mark by the hero association. ¡°As for where I was¡­ I knew you two could handle things.¡± The man shrugged as he spoke. He clearly considered the matter to be of little importance. ¡°Heroes died because you weren¡¯t here to help them fight. Aren¡¯t you supposed to protect them?¡± ¡°They died because they charged in unprepared. It was a foolish mistake on their part. I don¡¯t wish to associate myself with those that disguise personal greed as justice. They were after the man¡¯s bounty just as much as you were.¡± Music spat at the man and the glob of liquid whizzed under the man¡¯s legs. ¡°You call yourself a hero?¡± The man smiled. ¡°I find it ironic that an assassin is lecturing me on heroism.¡± Music glowered at the man. ¡°Besides, you¡¯re just angry you¡¯ll get less money for this job and you know it.¡± Music knew that the man was right, this guy was always right, but it didn¡¯t make him feel any better about it. The payment given to them would be a lowered significantly when the hero association finds out that the assassins hadn¡¯t gotten there in time to save their members. ¡°Thank you for giving us the mark.¡± Melody spoke slowly to the man in front of her as though she were choosing her words wisely. The man simple nodded at her and grinned. ¡°It was yours from the beginning.¡± The pair turned around left him where he was. They knew from experience that it was better to leave when they were given the chance. Music balled his hands into fists as they walked off. The man behind them was someone that even they would have to be careful in handling. Music glanced back over his shoulder as they left and the superhero known as Deus Ex Machina waved at him with that smirk that seemed to be eternally stuck on his face. Melody pushed her partner in front of her when she saw where he was looking. ¡°Dear-¡± Music interrupted her, ¡°I know darling. I won¡¯t be picking any fights with him. That man is more terrifying than any other assassin or hero I¡¯ve ever met.¡± Melody placed her arm around Music¡¯s shoulder, ¡°Let¡¯s go to that Japanese ramen place you like. I¡¯ll pay.¡± He gazed at his partner and grinned, ¡°You mean the one run by those Vietnamese people? Consider it a date.¡± Melody let out a laugh and the pair walked off. At the end of the day the pair had gotten their mark and that was all that mattered to them. Authors note: as you can tell this side chapter is basically made up of song lyrics XD but it was fun to write. Side story 1.3: Destroyers Story ¡°What shall it be Destroyer, your sidekick or the world?¡± The Healer cackled as he held my sidekick in the air, the metal talon grabbing my sidekick¡¯s head was viciously swinging his body from side to side. I couldn¡¯t help but think about how I had gotten into this situation. Ten years have passed since the beginning of the Legend War, ten long years for the insane villain in front of me to kill millions in the war he waged against the world. He healer grinned maniacally as he saw me struggling to bring my hand up to deliver the final blow. He had been a good man, once upon a time. He had developed technologies centuries ahead of our time and used them to further the development of mankind. Whether it was because of the infinite food supplies he created in famine inflicted countries or the cures he made for incurable diseases, he had been known as a saviour to millions of people. He had been one of the few people on earth deemed to be a true hero. The moniker ¡®The Healer¡¯ was a name given to him by the people he had saved and along the way he had accepted the title grudgingly. He stated that even though he had a title he was simply a man that was doing something that anybody else in his position would do. But he had grown insane with power. Ten years ago The Healer declared war on a group of people that he declared were ¡®impure¡¯. At first the world hadn¡¯t understood him, no, they refused to try and understand what he was telling them. So he made it clearer. He claimed that even if he died trying he would cleanse the Earth of those without powers. The amount of destruction that followed far outweighed the help he had given. At first it wasn¡¯t even a war, it was simple and pure slaughter under the guise of ethnic cleansing. All the people his army encountered that didn¡¯t have powers were taken by the death machines he had created and killed on the spot. They were helpless to stop him. Then those that couldn¡¯t stand the slaughter any more created the hero association. ¡°Don¡¯t let me slow you down, kill the bastard! I looked into my sidekick¡¯s eyes and saw that they were steeled in preparation for what was to come. It had been exactly seven years this day since we and five others had joined together in a small room and agreed to create the association. We vowed to use our powers to fight against The Healer, to fight against all evil. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry.¡± My hand rose to deliver the final blow to the villain, a blow that would go right through my sidekick and destroy both of their lives and both of our lives. He had been my best friend. ¡°If it costs me my life to put an end to this war then I give it willingly. It was fun working with you all these years.¡± A single tear rolled down his cheek, I had known him long enough to recognise it as a tear of happiness. My hand grew cold as I materialised large crystals of ice over my fingers, the claws which had killed thousands of machines would now be used to end this war. I closed my eyes and stabbed forward. I could feel the ice piercing flesh and then metal as it passed through my sidekick and then The Healer. Warm blood splashed across my face. I heard The Healer laugh and I opened my eyes in time to see his body explode. A metallic shape jumped out of the remnants and struck me. As I flew through the air I felt it clamp onto my leg. I screamed in agony as the death machine began to destroy my flesh and bones. I was a fool for not expecting this. We had encountered these types of machines countless times during the long years of the war. The death machines had killed thousands of people well after The Healers men had died. As I hit the ground I knew that I didn¡¯t have the strength to destroy it. The machine would continue to consume me until I died. ¡°Destroyer!¡± I blinked as a bolt of lightning shot down from the sky and struck the machine, cleaving it in half. The booming of thunder followed soon after and a shadow rolled over me. I looked up and saw a man dropping out of the sky and speeding towards me. He stopped right before hitting me and looked at the remains of The Healer. ¡°Why did you not save him?¡± I reached up and grabbed the new arrivals arm. The man was Robert Richter, the hero known as Core. ¡°WHY DID YOU NOT SAVE HIM?!¡± We had fought in countless battles together. Time and time again I had seen his control over electricity, the power which could destroy the world if that was what he wanted. If only he had been here sooner. If only I had had that power, I might have been able to find a way to resolve this without the needless sacrifice. I tried to lift myself up to face him eye to eye but found that my body wouldn¡¯t move off the ground. I looked down and saw the reason why. My leg had been crushed by the machine. Judging from the pain I felt my leg had probably been damaged further than what I could heal through regeneration. The Healer had had his final laugh, his final revenge on the one that swore to stop him. Perhaps it is a fitting price to pay. I would have paid more if it had meant saving my sidekicks life. Core grabbed my shirt and lifted me into the air. I wanted to see anger in his eyes but there was only pity. ¡°He¡¯s still alive. But not for long.¡± I looked past the smouldering corpse to the fallen body of my sidekick. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Take me to him.¡± Core nodded and the gentle breeze felt like the stabbing of a million needles as it rushed past my destroyed leg. I felt Core put me down on the ground rather than saw it. I was barely keeping conscious. I heard the familiar whoosh of air as Core left my side and I silently thanked him for leaving. This time was meant to be spent between me and the person in front of me. I crawled over to the dying man and cupped his cheeks in my hands. As I looked into his eyes for what would be the last time I remembered the life we had spent together. It had been a good one. ~~~~ The man that would come to be known as my sidekick hovered in the air as he viewed me trying to jump up and catch him. ¡°You know, just once I¡¯d like to be known.¡± My brother sighed listlessly. ¡°But you are already well known.¡± I looked at him in confusion and he laughed at my expression. ¡°I¡¯m well known as the brother of Destroyer. I just mean that I want to become my own man, that¡¯s all. I want there to be a time when people sing out my name in praise and joy. Without them mentioning your name right after.¡± He lifted his arms as he spoke and motioned the cheering and shouting of the crowd. He whistled through the air and broke into laughter as he fell to the ground, his butt landing square on the floor. I took a single look at him and punched him over the head ¡°I-I guess so.¡± I laughed with him but to be honest my heart wasn¡¯t in it. I wasn¡¯t sure what he meant, even if people always talked about us together it was just because we were partners, I definitely didn¡¯t outshine him in any aspect. He looked at me and smiled, but it was a sad sort of smile. ¡°Maybe you¡¯ll understand it one day bro.¡± I kicked his leg and looked at him. ¡°If you ever feel like that just do what I do, kick it. Then it will go away.¡± My brother looked at me and I stepped back. The face that was permanently filled with laughter had turned deadly serious. ¡°I¡¯m not like you bro, you could always play and somehow you would always be on top. I was always the one that had to work for it, that¡¯s just the way it is.¡± I gazed in horror at him, had he been feeling this way the whole time? ¡°That-that¡¯s not true!¡± Normally my brother would just turn away at this point and just accept what I said. But right now he was acting differently to how he usually did. ¡°You know bro, while you rise above the rest I¡¯ll rise with you too. But in the end I¡¯ll prove myself as my own man, if not to others then to you. I¡¯ll change the world someday.¡± He suddenly shook his head and I saw that his smile had returned. ¡°No, we¡¯ll change the world.¡± I nodded my head and agreed. ¡°Together.¡± ~~~~ ¡°You did it brother. You changed the fate of the world.¡± Although I was sure that he couldn¡¯t hear my words, he lifted his hand and his fingers ran across my face. ¡°Thank you.¡± As my brother closed his eyes for the last time tears splashed onto his face, my tears. He had been a companion with whom I had gone through battles of life and death, a person who had been my friend for as long as I could remember. He had been more than just family to me. I was the one deemed the Destroyer, the man that had been thought untouchable, unbreakable, and I couldn¡¯t stop the flow of tears. I had been broken. ~~~~ ¡°Hey!¡± A pair of tiny hands grabbed onto his white coat. ¡°Why did you stop reading?¡± The man ran his hand over his hair and moved it in front of his eyes to cover them. He doubted that they would let out any tears but his body had been known to betray him before. It had been a long time since he had thought about the events of that day. ¡°Sorry E-23, story time is over for today.¡± The little girl sitting on the ground pouted and the Director allowed a fleeting smile to cross his lips. Only for a second though. So much had changed since then that he doubted any of his old friends would recognise him now. He had found a new purpose in life. ¡°Go back to your room now. I¡¯ll be back tomorrow.¡± ¡°Okay!¡± The girl obediently pulled the wires out of her arms and walked to her holding cell. The bars on top of the entrance slammed down as she walked past them, trapping her. She wouldn¡¯t be able to get out of there until he came back to get her. After a few minutes the Director saw the cell illuminate with an eerie blue glow. E-23 was playing with the power he had given her. Years of experiments had finally been a success. He had managed to give someone the power of electricity. He sighed as he pushed himself out of the chair. One of his legs lagged behind the other as he limped to the exit of the laboratory, handing the file to the personnel guarding the entrance. As a guard took the file away the Director couldn¡¯t help but let out a little whisper. ¡°I¡¯m sorry old friend. But it looks like the next time we meet you might not want to talk to me. I intend to finish what The Healer started¡­ even if it costs me my life.¡± When his mission was complete he would watch the world burn.