Jiro Yoshimoto (Psionic)'s Story

Kizakura Kamadake

Kamadake looked at the news using his smart phone. He saw the report on the bombings of the school and courthouse. “Well it looks like this city is going to tear itself apart even if I do nothing.” Kamadake said to himself as he chuckled. He was presently at the Kirkcroft aviation center. There was to be a big showcase of a new military jet that was created for the Kirkcroft military fleet. It was called the Valkerie B65. Kamadake sponsored the creation of the jet and needed to be present at the big event tonight.

There would always be a big propaganda concert to pump up the citizen’s faith in the Kirkcroft military force. People would come to the Aviation center’s large showcasing stadium to see the new jets take off and do cool tricks to showcase its power. There was usually a pop star featured as a performer there to draw a crowd. This year the performer was, Hanabi, a newly popular singer from Japan.

“Preparations for the events tonight are done Mr. Kizakura.” One of the venues’ workers said. He looked excited.

“Good. I hope all goes well.” Kamadake replied with a friendly smile. He secretly hated the Kirkcroft military for shooting his space ship out of the stratosphere and into Kirkcroft which stranded him there. There was indeed a reason for him sponsoring the creation of this new Valkerie B65.

Two of Kamadake’s assistants, Saburo and Taro, walked up behind Kamadake, “Sir there is news of a hospital being attacked in Kirkcroft. Shall we run Intel?” Saburo asked.

“No, leave the fools to their own devices. We have a little chaos of our own to create tonight. Taro, did you see to it that the Valkeries are loaded to capacity and that the pilots are ready?” Kamadake responded without turning to face the two assistants.

“Yes sir. Everything is as planned.” Taro replied.

“Great! I’m glad.” Kamadake smiled while adjusting his non-prescription glasses.

Hanabi: Guang Liang

“I’m so excited about tonight! I can’t believe Kirkcroft asked me to perform at such an event!! There will be so many potential fans here tonight!” Guang was excited this would be his second big concert in Kirkcroft. This was also good for him because he would be sponsoring the military letting all of Kirkcroft know that he sponsored the safety of the city.

Jiro smiled. “You should thank me. It was my expert managerial skills that got your name to the top of the list of considered artists for this gig.” Jiro peeked down at his watch. “The show should start in about an hour or so. I got news of something crazy going down today in the city but I want you to focus all of your attention and powers on lighting up that stage with your voice and fireworks tonight. All of kirkcroft is looking forward to hearing your new songs “Banana Moon of Love” and “Flying in my Valkerie” so don’t let them down. Got it?” Jiro said with a raised eyebrow.

“Yup yup you can count on me!” Guang smiled.

The people of Kirkcroft poured into the stadium. This annual military showcasing was always well attended by the citizens of Kirkcroft. The officials behind the planning committee apologized to the public for proceeding with the event despite the tragedies that unfolded and that were unfolding that day, the hospital shootings and the courthouse bombing. The official planning committee decided that cancelling the event for the day would be bowing to the chaos that plagued the city so they pressed forward.

Kamadake smiled as the cameras backstage showed all of the attendees. He was drinking a glass of scotch. In walked his Guardian and assistant Saburo. “Sir, Mr. Yoshimoto, the pop star Hanabi’s producer, and the star would like to meet with you. Shall I send them in?” Saburo asked with a smile.

“Sure.” Kamadake replied. He turned around as the J-POP star and producer entered. “Why hello! Thank you so much for agreeing to sing for the show tonight! I believe it’s going to be great.” Kamadake greeted them with a big smile. He shook their hands.

“Thank you for selecting Hanabi to sing! This is a great opportunity for him.” Jiro replied.

“Yes, thank you so much! I heard you had a hand in the selection process.” Guang asked Kamadake pleasantly.

Kamadake was noticing Jiro Yoshimoto and found him rather attractive. His smile grew bigger. He was almost not paying attention to Guang. “Oh, well… I just contributed a lot of money to the development of tonight’s Valkyrie jets so they decided to ask me to select from the list of singers. I’m actually a fan of yours. So naturally I choose you.” Kamadake explained. He had heard Guang’s debut song and it reminded him of the musicians on his home planet.

“I’m glad to hear it! Wow I feel honored!” Guang cheerfully replied.

“Guang you are one lucky guy to have one of Kirkcroft’s richest men as a fan!” Jiro exclaimed.

The group chuckled. Kamadake pulled a business card from his suit jacket pocket and handed it to Jiro. “Here is my card. Call me anytime, we could meet sometime for lunch or dinner and discuss business. I could personally use a PR specialist since I’m politically active as well.” Kamadake grinned. This was a perfect way to set up a date with Jiro.
“Thank you Mr. Kizakura! I will definitely do that.” Jiro replied. “Well we’ll be starting soon so We’d better get going so Guang can light up that stage!” Jiro said in a peppy manner. Jiro felt that Kamadake reminded him of himself a little. It was a little odd but intriguing.

The stadium was filled and the crowds cheered. Several Kirkcroft military leaders and Kamadake gave charismatic speeches to the crowd. They were ecstatic. The stadium went dark and the music began. (Hanabi’s song: Koi no Banana Moon/ Banana Moon of Love: http://youtu.be/OwaRCIBXh-Y / just with a male voice.) Hanabi illuminated the stage with beautiful lights and sang his song as the crowd went wild. The Valkyrie B65 jets took off into the sky and performed many tricks.

Unknown to anyone else besides Kamadake, Taro and saburo, the real Valkyrie pilots were knocked unconscious and replaced by crooked fighter pilots paid by Kamadake. The Valkyries were for show and supposed to be unarmed, ammunition less. However Kamadake ordered Taro to have the Valkyries equipped with full loads of ammo to be shot at the city. The performance went on and Guang began his second song “Riding in your Valkyrie” (http://youtu.be/v74OPNouRSU just with a male voice)

Kamadake stood backstage watching the show. He then paged the pilots of the Valkyrie to inform them not to attack the stage or the singer. A few shots into the crowd would be acceptable but focus all fire on the city. “Commence fire.” Kamadake said with a smile.

The Valkyries opened fire on the city three jets fired away. The people were horrified as the jet opened fire. Guang stopped singing and looked on in shock. “I can’t believe what I’m seeing! Why are the Valkyries attacking the city?” Guang ask Jiro who was approaching him.

“I think the Valkyries have been hijacked. You should try to shoot them down. Just be careful. Remember I’ll have your back if need be.” Jiro replied.

Hanabi flew into the sky to pursue the Jets. Kamadake smiled as the chaos unfolded. “That’s right ants. Scurry away to your burrows. This city is my fool.” Kamadake grinned.

Guang Liang & Jiro Yoshimoto

Hanabi began closing in on one of the Jets and saw the rogue known as Brightside teleport onto one of the jets. Hanabi was surprised that the rogue came out of nowhere. The jet seemed to avert it’s trajectory and began to fly away from the city. “Wow he’s here to help! I’ve always heard of him but I never thought that he and I would partner up! This is pretty cool!” Hanabi thought to himself.

Since Bright side handled the first Valkyrie and was starting to work on the second of the three, Hanabi focused his attention on the third. He caught up to it and shot at the wing of the Valkyrie with firework-like projectiles of explosive plasmoid light. It began to crash down toward the concert hall stands and Hanabi couldn’t stop it’s fall.
“I knew he’s need my help after all. This is not going to be light…” Jiro muttered to himself as he stood on the stage watching the event unfold. Jiro quickly used his telekinesis to gently guide the Valkyrie down to the ground before it could crash land.

Kizakura Kamadake, Taro and Saburo

Kamadake was a bit shocked to see the J-POP star take to the sky and apprehend the third jet. He was utterly annoyed at the appearance of Brightside. He wasn’t quite sure if Brightside was a hero or not but he did know that now Brightside was in his way. “I don’t want to have to call you an enemy Brightside but you’re getting close to a nerve…” Kamadake muttered to himself. He turned to Taro and Saburo, “Make sure those pilots don’t live to tell about their employers. Be discrete.” Kamadake ordered quietly his face looked very serious.

“Yes my lord.” Both Taro and Saburo said with a bow. The both teleported away.

Saburo teleported to intercept the pilot Brightside ejected from the first jet. He was plummeting from the sky when Saburo caught him in his arms in mid-air. The man was shocked and thanked Saburo. “I’m sorry but it is my lord’s will that you parish.” Saburo said calmly with a look of regret on his face. He formed a small energy sword and stabbed the pilot through the heart killing him instantly. He landed and placed the man’s body on the ground then teleported backstage next to his master.

Taro teleported inside of the jet, that Jiro had landed safely using his telekinesis, and crouched behind the cockpit seat. He formed an energy knife and stabbed the pilot through the seat. The man yelled and then died. Taro teleported to his master and stood alongside Saburo.

“Now only one pilot remains. I’ll deal with him myself, before Brightside can speak with him.” Kamadake stepped forward and began to create a force field inside the cockpit around the second pilots’ body. The force field electrocuted the pilot to death before Brightside could enter the cockpit. “Nice and expendable those pilots.” Kamadake said with a smile.

"Who are you and why did you do that?" Brightside asked a smug look on his face.

Kamadake was a bit surprised when Brightside found his way to him, Taro and Saburo. He needed to keep his status as a villain under lock and key as best he could so he activated his ability to play dumb and innocent. He was pretty good at that. “Oh wow! Thank you sooo much for stopping those hijacked Valkyries! You saved us! I would also like to thank that Hanabi as well. Where are my manners? I’m Kizakura Kamadake, and these are my assistants, Taro and Saburo. You must be the fabled Brightside! Wow who’d have thought that we’d meet you in person?” Kamadake was hyper friendly to the Rogue hero.

“Oh right. You asked me why I did that? What is it exactly that you think I did? Do you mean why I stuck around? If that’s what you’re referring to, I stuck around because I paid for the development of those Valkyries you stopped. Oh and by the way I would like to know where the two that flew away went off to. They are my Valkyries you know. Well actually they were created for the military so they are government property. I just wouldn’t want them to come after you or anything. But if you want them you can keep them. It’ll be our little secret.” Kamadake gave Brightside a wink. “My thanks for you saving us.” Kamadake was almost believeing his own lies. Hanabi climbed up onto the stage and joined the group. Jiro followed suite as well.

Brightside rolled his eyes as Kamadake 'explained' himself. "Whatever asshole. I'm gonna be keeping them regardless." he turned around and started to leave the bots following him. He then teleported the bots disappearing as well. One managed to pluck a piece of hair out of Kamadake's head before it disappeared as well.

Kamadake’s smile slowly faded as Brightside teleported away. He was highly annoyed by the cheeky Rogue who felt he could freely insult him. Kamadake didn’t really give a damn about the Valkyries as they were solely a means to an end, simply tools to get back at the city of Kirkcroft.

Jiro and Hanabi approached the trio who stood on the empty stage. “Wow, so that’s what Brightside looks like in person? He’s pretty spunky. That kind of guy would make a popular TV personality.” Jiro said as he folded his arms and looked upward in a pondering fashion. Guang looked annoyed.

“Mr. Kamadake, are you and your assistants alright?” Guang asked with a smile. He was excited that he got to help save everyone and to fight alongside the fabled Brightside.

Kamadake turned toward the pop star and smiled. “Oh, why yes we’re absolutely fine! Gosh you’re one of my favorite singers and now my hero! A concert and heroics all in one night, I can’t thank you enough!” Kamadake wasn’t really bothered by Guang taking down one of the Valkyries and aiding in the thwarting of his plan. Until now he didn’t know that Guang was into the hero business. Kamadake now realized that it would be difficult to pursue Jiro romantically with Jiro being the manager of a super hero and Kamadake himself being a villain. However he wasn’t going to let that stop him from trying.

“Yes, my good sir, you are indeed correct. Guang is this city’s sparkling hero, literally. And I manage his talent. It’s a harder job than most realize. His power can be kind of destructive... and smoothing over property damages isn’t a fun task.” Jiro snickered a bit as he teased.

Kamadake stepped closer to Jiro with a flirtatious smile. “Well then, that’s exactly the type of public relations manager I need for myself. If you have the time, I’d love to have you work for me. I gave you my card earlier, are will still on for lunch or dinner sometime soon? “

“Sure I would most love that! I’ll call you.” Jiro patted Kamadake on the shoulder. “Well we’ve got to get going. This young one needs his rest for a recording session tomorrow, so I’ve got to get him in bed. Will you all be okay from here on in terms of getting home?” Jiro asked.

“Oh sure we’ll be fine. I wouldn’t dare ask you two to do a thing more for us tonight. We’ll be in touch! Night gentlemen!” Kamadake gave Jiro and Guang a bow.

Taro smiled, “Thank you Mr. Guang for your courageousness tonight. You are very strong. I like that.” He was always a fan of those who weren’t pushovers. He prided himself in being apt in physical strength.

Saburo shook Guang’s hand, “Yes thank you very much! Your powers are pretty cool to look at. You seem to be made for your line of work.” Saburo was really reminded of the singers on their home planet Azaka when he saw Guang perform.

Kizakura Kamadake

Kamadake had a long and full day at the office. There was an early morning press conference regarding the events at the conference. He spoke to the public and made a statement. The crowd loved him, he was somewhat of the city’s poster boy. He was one of the youngest, richest and most influential men in Kirkcroft. The Military was grateful to Hanabi and Brightside for saving the day. However the head military general expressed his frustration with Brightside for stealing military property and wanted to pursue him. Kamadake publically persuaded the general not to apprehend Brightside. Besides he could track those stolen Valkyries anytime he wanted. So Kamadake found them more useful in Brightside’s possession than in the military’s.

After the conference concluded Kamadake had a moment of rest in his office. He was doing some reflection on his grudge against the city and his rouse as kirkcroft’s poster boy. He liked being admired by the people of the city, although he hated them for marooning him on the planet, because the attention made him feel like the prince that he actually is.

Saburo entered Kamadake’s office and bowed, “My lord, the desk receptionists informed me that there are two men that want to see you in person. They claim to have a message for you from someone very important and refuse to leave unless they see you. Shall I call on security? Or will you see them?” Saburo asked as he stood in front of the office door.

“I will see them. I would like you and Taro to be present as well. Have them send them up.” Kamadake sat intrigued as he waited.

The free runners entered the room. They looked a bit off. Kamadake stood to his feet and stepped around his desk. He smiled at the two men. Taro and Saburo stood at the door to the meeting lounge. This was a special soundproof room that Kamadake would often use to talk in private with other clients regarding classified information. Kamadake had a feeling that this room would be necessary.

“Who are you two gentlemen? What business have you here with me?” Kamadake asked calmly. He looked most pristine.

One of the men snickered a bit. He had a crazed smile, “You Kizakura Kamadake?” The man asked in a gruff voice. Kamadake nodded yes. “Well, well… we have a message from Chaos. He said, ‘Ya tell Kamadake that if he wants to control this city both financially and politicaly then he needs to contact me.’ And also to send one of your face bashers to meet him in a place of your choosing.”

“You mean Chaos the hospital and courthouse bombing lunatic from yesterday? Why would he think I should give him a fragment of my time? How beneath me…” Kamadake smiled mockingly.

The second free runner interrupted angrily, “THAT’S CHAOS THE SAVIOUR OF ALL HUMANITY!! You are the one who is beneath his awesomeness!!!” The man lunged at Kamadake in a fit of rage and collided with Kamadake’s force field. The free runner was electrified, kamadake stood un-phased and smiling. The free runner fell to the floor in shock, his clothes smoking. He wasn’t dead but temporarily paralyzed due to the strong electrical impulses surging through his body.

“Fool… you and your savior are out of your minds.” Kamadake smirked.

“Sir, these men’s spirits are locked. It seems their minds have been altered by some external force.” Saburo commented. He and Taro were in tune with the spirit realm and they could see that the spirits around reacted differently when near someone whose mind had been altered by an external force.

“This is most amusing… alright then. Taro, Saburo, meet this Chaos savior at the Café de la lune tonight. See what he wants and report back to me.” He then turned to the free runner who was left standing with his strange grin. “You two men please tell your savior…, Chaos, that my assistants will speak with him there. Don’t forget the name now, Café de la Lune, 7:00pm tonight.“ Kamadake replied.

The two free runners were escorted out of the building. Kamadake spoke with Taro and Saburo privately. “Well what do you make of that?” Kamadake said as he sipped a glass of water.

“I am cautious my Lord. I do not trust this Chaos fellow. Why would he think to call us ‘your face bashers’? Has he seen us use our powers?” Saburo spoke worriedly.

“He couldn’t have seen us use our powers. We’ve been most careful. Either way he knows something and we shall meet with tonight.” Taro responded firmly.

“Be careful both of you. You two are my only friends and always will be.” Kamadake smilled.

While Taro and Saburo were away and meeting with Chaos, Kamadake called Yoshimoto Jiro up and arranged to meet with him that evening. The two men met at a quiet and classy restaurant not too far from the Café de la Lune. They sat and spoke about the possibility of Jiro becoming Kamadake’s PR manager.

“So as you can see I really need a Public Relations manager. You are excellent at what you do. Would you consider helping me? I will pay you whatever you ask.” Kamadake smiled innocently but unlike the many other times he put on an innocent smile this time he was honestly and innocently smiling.

“Well you make it really hard for me to say no. So yes I will definitely do it.” Jiro responded with a smile and the two shook hands.

“I also have a little confession to make… I actually am interested in you personally…” Kamadake began. He genuinely liked Jiro and was adamant about pursuing a relationship with him.

“You mean personally as in you like me? I thought I was the only one making eyes at you. Hahaha… well it looks like we ‘like’ each other. Also I don’t mind a work and play relationship so… I think we’re good.” Jiro replied flirtatiously.

The two flirted with one another and had a good conversation until the ambience of the restaurant was disturbed by a criminal. A couple of gunmen entered the fancy restaurant and demanded the valuables from the wealthy customers. Many were afraid and shrieked in fear. One of the gunmen ordered a woman to give him her priceless necklace. She was so afraid that she trembled unable to properly remove the jewelry from herself. The gunman grew impatient and threatened to shoot her.

Jiro figured that he was the only one able to save the day here. He turned to Kamadake, “You may want to take cover okay. I’m going to get involved and I don’t want you getting caught up in any crossfire. We’re much too young a couple to let it end this early.” Jiro said playfully and gave a wink.

He began to use his empathic powers to make the first gunman feel bad about what he was doing. The man began to feel sorrowful and sympathetic to those he was frightening. The gunman started apologizing and the second gunman was most confused as to what his partner was doing. He realized that Jiro was messing with his partner’s head and turned his weapon on Jiro.

“YOU!! YO YOU THERE!! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING TO HIS HEAD?! Die mutant!!” He began to open fire on Jiro. Jiro then began to phase into astral matter causing the bullets to fly through him without harm to him. The gunman became further upset.

“That won’t work either.” Jiro taunted. He then made the first gunman filled with treacherous emotions toward his partner causing turn his weapon on the man.

“If you have him shoot me I’ll shoot her!!” The second gunman said as he raised his weapon to the innocent woman.

Kamadake had to decide what he was going to do. Jiro needed help if he wanted to end the situation without anyone getting hurt. He decided to help Jiro and reveal to him that he had abilities too. Jiro would at least think that Kamadake was a mutant like him and not realize that Kamadake wasn’t from the planet at all. He surrounded the woman with a force field. “You should you’re your telekinesis now. It’s okay she’ll be fine. I’ve got her and everyone around protected.” Kamadake said calmly.

Jiro, using his Telekinesis, slammed both men through a wall incapacitating them. As the men began to fly their fingers pulled the triggers of their guns causing them to fire. Had Kamadake not shielded the others around, someone would have gotten shot. “I suppose I owe you one.” Jiro smirked.

“You do. I’ll take physical payment…” Kamadake smiled devilishly.

“God damn loan shark! Hahaha…” Jiro joked. He was surprised that Kamadake was a mutant like him. He felt he could relate to the man even more now that they share this in common.

Kamadake received a phone call from Taro regarding the ended meeting with Chaos. He definitely needed to go home and speak with Taro and Saburo regarding Chaos’s proposal. Kamadake hated to end his business meeting turned date, turned heroic episode with Jiro but he needed to go. “I have to run Jiro. Something came up at home and I need to get there. I’ll call you tomorrow! And thank you for such a wonderfully eventful night.” Kamadake gave Jiro a quick hug and left the restaurant. Jiro found Kamadake to be quite enigmatic but he love that aspect about him.

Kamadake drove home to meet with Taro and Saburo. He came in and sat down. “Well what of it? What did this lunatic have to say?” Kamadake grinned in anticipation. He was most curious. Taro and Saburo told him of Chaos’ plan and Kamadake sat quietly for a moment.

“Well my lord, what do you desire to do? I personally don’t like the thought of him harming so many.” Saburo stated.

“I will help him. His plan is insane and genius at the same time! This makes me want to return home little less. It goes along perfectly with my will for this city. I’ll be the hand that feeds them and that kills them all at once. I am also curious to see how long this alliance will last before he turns on me. He just doesn't seem the type to play with others for long." Kamadake wondered what Chaos' root intention was and how would the two get along.

"Make preparations to carry out his plan. Stock up food of all sorts from as many countries possible. Secure the in storage all over the city to make it swifter to transport to the various businesses. Set up a system of prices and ordering for the various industries. Kamakura shall become involved in food provision as well. I will have to talk to Jiro about managing my PR for when things are set up. But I must keep him in the dark until the famine begins. If I know too much too early, he’d get suspicious. I like him but he is a hero’s helper. His conscience might not be thrilled to support my pursuits without them being dressed up as good first.” Kamadake plotted a loud to the two.

“Yes master… What about our plans to go home? We still need to collect energy from the citizen’s in order to power our ship. If the ship is fixed and ready to go, if things get out of control here, we can alwaysbe ready to flee to planet Azaka.” Saburo asked.

“That is a good point. Alright, we will also collect energy so that we can get our ship powered. Also, Jiro knows now that I am a mutant but not about our true origin. Just be advised. I want to take him to planet Azaka with me one day…. We’ll let’s get started tomorrow. I shall have to find a way to inform Chaos that I will go along with his plan.” Kamadake spoke as he peered out of the window and gazed at the city.

Guang had a full day of recording his new single “Light, Love, Flash, Star!” The fans were thrilled about his recording session and lined up outside of the studio to catch a glimpse of the pop star. He exited the building and signed a few of autographs before Jiro pulled him along. “We’ve gotta get going. I’ve got a meeting tonight with Mr. Kizakura.” Jiro said with a tiny smile.

Guang was a bit annoyed. He liked Mr. Kizakura because he was a fan, but he knew that there was indeed some form of mutual, non-work related, interest between the two and that made Guang Jealous. Guang and Jiro went home to their shared condo and Jiro soon left to meet with Kamadake Kizakura. Guang frowned like a frustrated child as Jiro said goodbye and closed the door behind him. “Now I’m going to have to figure out what I’m going to do for the evening… (sigh)” Guang said as he shuffled to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. He plopped down on the couch and turned on the TV. The news covered the incident at his concert and the hijacked Valkyries. Apparently the pilots were dead and presumed to have been murdered before they were discovered.

“I really hope the police don’t think Brightside, Jiro, and I killed them.” Guang said aloud to himself as he sipped more water. The authorities didn’t accuse anyone for the murders of the hijackers thankfully but it made Guang wonder who killed them and how did they have the time to do it and escape without being caught by him, Jiro, and or Brightside. “Geez… that is really demented…” Guang said as he sat in utter bewilderment and watched the scary mystery in amazement.

He grew tired of the Television and decided to go out. “Perhaps I’ll go to a dance club. I’ve been working pretty hard lately. I deserve a night of thrills.” Guang thought to himself. He went out to a popular dance club in the heart of the city. He wore a pair of large pink sun glasses that concealed his identity and were all around fun to wear. He liked them because they were very early 90’s in style.



Guang danced to the music while creating a flashy display of lights about him. He gained much attention and was as usual the life of the party. He grew tired of dancing and needed a break. “Perhaps I’ll get ailed up now!”Guang cheerfully said aloud to himself. He approached the bar and overheard a couple talking passionately about the growing campaign against supers. The guy ranted about how supers were plain bad news and caused property damage. The woman he was with cosigned lightly, saying that supers were considered mutants where she came from. Guang ordered a screwdriver from the bartender and listened in on the conversation as he leaned over the bar.

“I tell ya they are nothing but trouble!! People with powers like that are a damn mistake! What’s to stop them from taking us out huh?!” The guy ranted on.

“Well…. I think it’s kinda sexy! Think about it, a hot guy in a cool tight fitting costume that blasts away crooks and sweeps you off your feet… I think this city could use more men like that! Well maybe you’ll never understand because you’re a guy, all you’ve got to choose from are those amazon super women.” The woman giggled.

“Well he won’t be so cute when he doesn’t know his own strength and crushes you in his big strong arms!” The guy was really on a roll.

Guang had heard enough, “How ungrateful. I am totally gonna screw with this bloke.” Guang thought to himself with a childish grin on his face. The bartender handed him his drink and Guang thanked him. “Hey could you send over a drink to the smart-arse prat over there?” Guang asked the bartender who smiled. Before the bartender could give the drink over to the yappy guy, Guang tossed a small plasmoid light bomb the size of a marble into the drink. The man received it, initially flattered by the mystery drink, and it exploded causing all of the alcohol to splash over the guy and the glass to shatter. It had been years since Guang last pulled a plasmoid light bomb prank. He used to do it when he attended boarding school in the UK often. It was harmless and fun.

Guang went home and Jiro had made it back. “Oh, I was shocked to see you went out. What did you do?” Jiro asked, he had already changed into his night clothing.

“I went out to a dance club. You would have had much fun had you come with…” Guang was busy being jealous that Kamadake had Jiro’s attention. “How was your ‘date’? I’m sure you two had a nice and formally boring time.” Guang asked smugly.

“Actually it really did turn into date! And Kizakura Kamadake and I are now dating!! I’m seeing a cool looking billionaire! Isn’t that awesome!?” Jiro exclaimed. He could suddenly feel Guang’s emotional state turning for the worst using his empathic abilities but was too slow in reaction to change his behavior before Guang acted.

“Just fantastic!” Guang pointed at Jiro’s face and a bright flash of light illuminated the room blinding Jiro temporarily.

“OWWW!!! Hey Guang!!! Gosh…. Damnit grow up! Look, I mean listen, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to be insensitive… I can’t see a damn thing… Help, please guang!” Jiro pleaded. He knew Guang had feelings for him but he wasn’t quite sure how he felt in response. He personally felt he wasn’t good enough for the young man. So he avoided pursuing him.

Guang retired to his room and laid down. “What a night… I suppose I should help him.” Guang got up and tightly grabbed Jiro’s hand. He startled the lost man and quietly guided him to his room. Guang laid Jiro down in his own bed and simply said, “Sorry Jiro. Congratulations on your date tonight. See you in the morning kay.” Guang smiled as Jiro laid still on his bed. He left out of the room and went to bed.

Kizakura Kamadake/ Taro and Saburo

It was a fresh morning in Kirkcroft City. Kamadake had Taro begin setting up a branch of Kamakura Corp. for the stocking and distribution/ selling of food during the time of the famine that was to come. The portion of Chaos’ plan that involved Kamadake was now under way. Kamadake had Saburo work on another secondary project. This task was the collection of energy for the empowerment of their space ship’s energy generation core. It was damaged in the attack that left Kamadake, Taro, Saburo and their men stranded on the Earth. It now needed the energy of living beings to become powered once again so they could return to the planet Azaka.

Saburo had devised a plan to collect the energy of humans in the downtown shopping district of the city. This area was always bustling with customers. Human energy yielded much more power than any other energy source on the planet. Saburo privately funded the showing of a new clothing line that was displayed in the most popular showcase window of Kirkcroft’s La Ritz shopping mall. Thousands of people flooded the store. Saburo went to the mall to set the plan in motion. The key element would have to come from his doing. He walked amongst the manikins of the store and summoned many malicious spirits to his call.

“Dark Spirits of the Earth, hear my call… Arise and obey my command at once! Saburo the Devil Caller claims your loyalty.” Saburo whispered to the air quietly. His voice echoed throughout the spirit realm. Invisible spirits slowly floated from the earth and possessed the Manikins of the mall. Other spirits possessed the dolls of a nearby doll shop. When the customers viewed the manikins and they reached a ripe energy peak they’d be drained of their strength. There was one head malicious spirit that oversaw the operation under Saburo named Jumeau. This spirit possessed the center piece manikin of the store.

“Collect as much energy as you can. I will be nearby sending what you collect to the ship’s core. Failure means your return to the Earth. Got it?” Saburo instructed the seemingly lifeless manikin.

“Yes… Lord Saburo… I shall bleed these humans dry….” Jumeau spoke in a dark cackle of a whisper. Her manikin body was motionless and her eyes glowed quickly and stopped suddenly.

“Good, I’m glad you understand the terms of your freedom.” Saburo grinned at the manikin and walked off.

Liang Guang / Yoshimoto Jiro

Guang woke up in the morning and the sun shined brightly through his windows. He wasn’t bothered by the light at all because his eyes were polarized. Bright light didn’t bother him in the slightest. He always welcomed the sunlight because he could use it to stock pile light energy and that always made him feel vibrant. He went into the kitchen and there Jiro sat finishing up the last of his breakfast. He also cooked enough for Guang. Guang felt bad for blinding Jiro the night before. Jiro could pick up on Guang’s regrets empathically.

“It’s okay kiddo. I understand how you feel and why. I should have been more sensitive to your feelings.” Jiro began to explain before Guang could say anything.

Guang smiled and sat down to eat breakfast. Jiro had to leave soon for work. He had a promotional campaign to work on. Guang had a free day so he was left to his own devices for the day. Jiro began to head out after a bit of conversation. Guang stopped him before he could leave. “Thanks Jiro.” Guang said with a smile and gave Jiro a gentle hug.

“See you later boom-boom.” Jiro said with a smile. Boom- boom was a pet name Jiro gave Guang because his powers were quite destructive when not used playfully and also caused booming explosions.

Jiro left and Guang decided to go shopping. It had been a while since he had a free day. He had been quite busy lately. He looked through the newspaper and saw an ad for the big shopping event held today. “Wow… this looks like a place where I could do some REAL damage!!” Guang said excitedly. He loved spending the mass amount of money he earned.

Guang arrived at the Shopping mall and it was packed with people. They were spending so much money. There was so much merchandise to choose from. Guang bought many things and was almost weighed down with bags. He happened to run into Saburo. He looked like he was quietly perusing the merchandise.


“Is that Mr. Saburo? I think it is.” Guang said cheerfully as he approached Saburo. “Hi Mr. Saburo! It’s nice to see you here.”

Saburo was initially surprised to see the pop star that he had met previously the night of the concert. “Hi there. It’s Guang right?” Saburo replied cheerfully. He was glad to see the pop star. But he realized that the Guang being there wasn’t a good thing. Guang was indeed a hero and not just any hero but the partner of Jiro. He couldn’t let Guang get hurt, Kamadake would not be happy about that.

“Yup, It’s me! Doing some shopping too? This stuff is really awesome!” Guang responded.

“Yes, I have the day off so I decided to do some shopping.” Saburo replied.

The amount of customer energy peaked and activated the energy sapping of the customers. Saburo could sense that it was time. So he found a way to draw Guang’s attention toward a different area of the floor that was unaffected by the malicious spirits controlled by Jumeau. The manikins began to glow and a smoke like force shrouded the customers and sapped them of their energy. They all shrieked and screamed in terror. Guang could hear and rushed toward the noise there he saw the malicious spirit in physical form. A tall ball joint doll like manikin woman with green hair stood ominously over a crowd of unconscious shoppers.



Guang told Saburo to stay clear of the danger and proceeded to confront the manikin woman. “You picked the wrong day to pull this stunt you creepy woman!” Guang was quite freaked out by the malicious spirit but pulled it together so that he could fight her. Saburo stood at the entrance to the room and watched the confrontation, nervous about Guang getting hurt by the spirit he had summoned. If she hurt Guang, Jiro would not be happy thus Kamadake would be upset with him. Saburo considered the fact that he might have to attack his own subordinate if things got too out of hand.

Guang in the guise of Hanabi, shot a concussive firework like plasmoid blast at Jumeau. She was blasted backward and fell into a display rack.

She then summoned the spirit possessed dolls to attack Hanabi. They levitated and their expressions grew frighteningly vampire like as they grew sharp vicious teeth. They flew at Hanabi, he was able to blast a few down with firework plasma blasts but there were just too many of them. One bit his arm and he blasted it away after shouting in pain. “I need help… If I use my full power these people might get hurt in the damages I might cause.” Hanabi thought to himself.

Saburo did not like how this was going. He didn’t like the fact that he had to harm so many people in the first place. Now Guang, whom he genuinely thought of as a nice person, was in trouble as well. “I might have to reveal my abilities… well I suppose it’s better to apologize to master Kamadake for having to reveal that I have powers, rather than for allowing Guang to get hurt.” He stepped closer to the battle and threw two talisman scrolls at a couple of demon dolls that charged at Hanabi. “Akuriyou Taisan!!” Saburo shouted. The scrolls banished the spirits possessing the two dolls and they fell lifelessly. Jumeau looked up in confusion at her master Saburo.

“What are you doing?!” The manikin woman shrieked nervously. Saburo’s power over her kept her from revealing any form of information that would give him away. Saburo helped Hanabi up and the two prepared to face the Manikin. Hanabi still felt they could use some help.

"Oh...yeah, I kind of ran off there, didn't I?" Malachai turned to Taro. "Do you happen to have a pen and/or pencil and some paper in that fine vehicular device of yours?" Malachai asked him.

“Why yes I do. One moment.” Taro replied as he turned to retrieve a note pad from his car. He got the notepad and handed it to Malachai. “Here you go.” Taro said as he handed Malachai the notepad and a pen.

Guang remembered the group’s burning question about the meeting regarding the suspicious meeting that took place at Kamakura corp. “Oh, Taro we heard about a secret plan to eliminate supers is afoot and Kamakura Corp. is involved. Do you know anything about it?” Guang asked. He was anxious to know if Taro knew anything.

“Sorry that’s classified information Guang and I’m not at liberty to talk about it. How did you come across this information? Saburo couldn’t have told you because he didn’t know about it. So it’s intriguing that you know something.” Taro replied stoically.

“How I found out isn’t the issue. The real issue is this possible act of genocide that Kamakura corp. may be involved in. I just can’t believe Kamadake would want to destroy supers!” Guang protested.

“There will be no genocide. And trust me my boss has no intention of harming supers. I’m sure you know by now, given a few incidents, that Saburo, Kamadake, and I are all super human. We’d be crazy to eliminate supers. I will say this, don’t pry into this for you will find yourselves in a lot of trouble if you do. Take my advice.” Taro warned. He didn’t want to seem mean but he knew that they wouldn’t be messing with Kamakura corp. if they snooped around the situation but they’d be messing with the Government. General Zhane was not to be trifled with.

“Saburo said he’d help Malachai and I investigate. If we shouldn’t do anything, are you saying that you’ll help us?” Guang asked Taro. He looked over to Malachai and nodded as to assume he’d cosign with him.

“Perhaps. But I trust my boss. I know things will work out for the better. Just make sure you don’t do anything rash and make the wrong group of people come after you.” Taro replied. “What about you Malachai, what do you plan to do? I would advise you not to try to interfere with whatever you think is going on.” Taro warned Malachai.

Yoshimoto Jiro and Kizakura Kamadake

Jiro had been working on a promotional event all day for Guang. It was a day of meetings and lots of work. In one of the PR meetings for the day, Jiro spoke with the rest of Guang’s PR team about the way they should promote Guang with all of the anti-super sentiment abound in Kirkcroft. A few members of the team began to sympathize with the anti-super sentiments. Jiro frowned and began to use his empathic abilities to control how the neigh-sayers felt. They began to retract their negative feelings regarding supers. They walked away from the meeting feeling like they were pro-super human citizens being treated fairly.

After the meeting Jiro received a phone call. He was just about to leave the office for the day. He looked at his cell phone and it was Kamadake. Jiro smiled and quickly answered the call. “Well well if it isn’t Kizakura… It’s good to hear from you.” Jiro teased.

Kamadake stood outside his development lab. He leaned against his car. “I know. Today was pretty long and stressful. I been wanting to hear your voice all day today.” Kamadake said in a flirty manner.

“I know. I’m empathic remember. You called at just the right time because I really need an excuse to get out of the office and see you. Why don’t we meet up for dinner or just to relax somewhere quiet?” Jiro replied as he smiled.

“I would like that very much Mr. Yoshi. Let’s just meet at my place and drink some wine or something.” Kamadake asked. He wanted to simply be in the presence of the one he liked and just relax.

“Sounds like a plan. You’re always equipped with a plan it seems.” Jiro replied.

“Nice. And yes I am a very planned person. I’ll text you my address.” Kamadake replied.

“Great I’m looking forward to it. I’ll call Guang and let him know I’ll be home late so he can get dinner by himself.

“Oh, that sounds a little lonely. How about this? I know someone that might appreciate dinner with someone nice like Guang. Guang would just have to keep an eye out for him though. He’s a friend of mine named Patrick. I can drop him off by your place and he and Guang can stay there for the night. And you can just stay at my place for the evening. Trust me he’s nice and would most likely get along with Guang. What do you say?” Kamadake asked. He knew Patrick trusted him and would greatly appreciate being snuck out of that cell for the night. He also knew that Patrick wouldn’t run away.

“Okay well, I’ll give Guang a call and ask him. I’ll let you know.”Jiro replied.

“Oh, and Jiro.” Kamadake said before Jiro could end the phone conversation.

“Yeah.” Jiro responded curiously.

“I’m glad you’re not a telepath. Don’t ask why okay.” Kamadake said in a concerned manner before hanging up the phone.

"I...I guess get the information through Guang. And I'll take that advice as if t were my life." Malachai replied to Taro’s question.

“Good to hear. I wouldn’t want you two to get into any trouble.” Taro replied.

Guang then received a phone call from Jiro. He was almost startled by his JPOP ringtone that interrupted the city sounds. He then dug it out of his pocket and answered. “Hi hi Jiro! What’s up?” Guang said in a chipper tone.

“Hey kiddo. I heard about your heroics today from the media hounds. It sounds like you’re alright. I had a long day and I got a call from Kamadake, so I’m going to spend the night with him at his place.” Jiro replied. He was hoping Guang wasn’t to put off by the news.

“Oh… I see. You’d better behave. Mr. Kizakura is a pretty high profile guy so don’t do anything to embarrass yourself okay.” Guang rebutted.

“Yeah sure.” Jiro replied sarcastically. “Oh and I have a favor to ask you. Actually Kamadake wanted to know if you wouldn’t mind entertaining a friend of his for the evening. He’d stay over our place. And before you shoot the idea down, know that he’s a super like us and he’s pretty nice. Also you can trust him. He’s just been under a bit of stress and could benefit from being around a friendly fun guy like yourself. Now what do you say?” Jiro questioned.

Guang was a slight bit apprehensive at first but then decided to go along with it. He figured that he’d be able to blast the guy away if he turned out to be bonkers. “Oh, alright. I’ll let him stay over. Maybe we could watch a movie or something.” Guang replied apprehensively.

“Nice! Thanks Kiddo! I and Kamadake owe you one! The guy’s name is Patrick Roberts, he’s a police officer. I’ll stop home and Kamadake will bring him over and pick me up. I’ll leave the car there in case you want to drive somewhere.” Jiro replied.

“Okay, well I’ll head home soon. Talk to you later. Bye Jiro-chan.” Guang then ended the call.

Guang then turned to everyone, “So that was Jiro. He’s going to be spending the evening with your boss tonight.” He said as he spoke to Taro and Saburo. “Also, I will be having a guest over tonight so I should be headed home soon.” Guang then looked to Malachai. “Hey if you would like to hang out sometime I wouldn’t mind. Just give me a call Malachai.” Guang said.

Jackson sat, slumping against the wall of his apartment. After Boxer kid, whose name he learned was Tricky, had answered all his questions, he'd asked Jackson a few of his own. After telling him everything he knew about Brightside and attempting to answer his other questions, Tricky just up and left. Before he jumped from Jackson's window, he said, "Jeez, you don't know much of anything about this city, do you?" He was right. Jackson had so little intelligence on the city's inner workings it was almost laughable. As much as Jackson wasn't the thinking type, he should still have known a little. Running his hands through his hair, Jackson decided he was more of the observant and acting type. Putting it from his mind, Jackson jumped onto his bed and flicked on the small TV he'd bought with money he'd made from his job at the gym. He was watching for a bit when he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. It was Kina. She sent him a text that read as follows, "Hi Jackson. Thanks for telling me this. Where are you? Do you need me?" Just as Jackson was about to reply, the TV switched channels. He was about to change back to Adventure Time(tm) when he noticed what was on the TV.

"Hello, we've interrupted your previously scheduled programming for an urgent report. My name is Lisa McMahon from Channel 5 News coming to you live from the Kirkcroft Museum of Natural History. Normally a safe learning ground for children, as well as a fantastic tourist attraction, the Museum today has been turned into a battle ground. A pair of villains have taken over the museum. Their intentions are currently unknown, however, we do know that they have made no attempt to release the civilians trapped inside. They are presumed dead. More on the subject as it develops, I'm Lisa McMahon, Channel 5 news." Jackson stood in shock. The outright audacity of this move was completely outrageous. Attacking children and the elderly in broad daylight? Jackson wouldn't stand for this. He grabbed the mask he'd flung onto his chair and pulled on his customary flak jacket. He texted Kina, "Have you seen the news? Huge break in at the Museum. The villains have taken the patrons captive and have probably killed them. I'm on my way over, meet me there. Further, if you have any super friends, bring them. The city's heroes need to start working together.

Wasting no more time, Jackson jumped from his second story window, using his right arm to brace the impact and shrug off the fall. After landing, he bolted to the Museum. "The innocent must be saved." Jackson thought. When he got there, Jackson was shocked. The place was swarmed with media coverage, but only a few police men were there to prevent people from going inside. The place should have been sealed off by the National Guard or the Army. There weren't even SWAT on scene. Jackson was furious. He was so sick of the super-powered villains of Kirkcroft doing as they pleased. Shouldering past an officer and ignoring orders to cease and desist, Jackson walked under the caution tape and started heading up the stairs. He was halfway up when he heard a scream. Someone had called after him. It was the reporter from Channel 5.

"Sir, you can't go in there, it's too dangerous! There are multiple villains inside, they'll kill you! Wait!"

Her concern had shaken Jackson momentarily, and when he looked up from his feet, every camera there was pointed straight at him. Though he was nervous, Jackson steeled himself. He knew what he had to do.

"Ma'am, I'm a hero. One of Kirkcroft's super-powered denizens, charged with the privilege of protecting and serving this city. I'm tired of these villains doing whatever they want whenever they want. This city is not their plaything, it belongs to the innocent civilians. My duty now becomes the right to defend these selfsame innocent from the nightmarish grip the villains seem to hold over Kirkcroft. I will create a tomorrow for the innocent. A tomorrow where they have control over their own destiny. I will not stop, I will not rest, and I will not back down. That's the way I roll. If there's an obstacle in my path I'll smash it down! If there's no path for me to follow I'll build one with my own hands! I have two things to say to the supers of Kirkcroft. To the Heroes: I'm disappointed in you. Why aren't you here? Won't you join me? Won't you help me defend this city? Finally, to the Villains: I am the Blood Claw. I am coming for you. I will not let you devour this city with your arrogance and greed. Just who the hell do you think I am?!"

At that, Jackson turned and ran the rest of the way up the stairs. There was no way everyone in Kirkcroft hadn't heard that particular speech. If the heroes were paying attention, so much the better. It was 2 vs 1 until Kina showed up, and Jackson wasn't looking forward to that. He had no idea what the villain's powers were. He had no idea who they were, and he was going into unfriendly territory blind. He might not live to regret this. Regardless, it was his duty. He couldn't back down, his pride demanded it. Bursting through the front door, Jackson was shocked to find the place nearly empty. It was almost eerie. Moving along, Jackson heard voices, two of them. Following them, he heard the whimpering of children and the elderly. Running at this point, he slammed through a door, finding the source of the noise. The two villains appeared to both be women, grinning wickedly, and absorbed in the slaughter of the innocent. There was no way Jackson could just abide by their actions, even if they were women.

"Excuse me," he said, getting their attention, "Why don't you two pick on someone your own size. Leave those people alone. I'll be your escort this evening."

Guang Liang

Guang went home leaving Malachai to his own devices. He was going to meet this Patrick person that Kamadake asked Jiro to have Guang entertain for the evening while Kamadake and Jiro spent the evening together.

Taro and Saburo

Taro and Saburo went their own way together as well after bidding the group farewell. While Taro and Saburo drove to their own apartment. Saburo told Taro about the results of the attack that he launched earlier that day. The malicious spirit collected tons of energy from the people at the shopping center. This energy would be used for powering Kamadake’s ship in case the three aliens needed to return to their home planet.

“Taro I realized today that when the spirit drained the energy of a super, the readings of collected energy were triple that of the normal humans. We should target supers if we want to collect energy faster.” Saburo explained.

Taro, driving the car, listened quietly. His eyes focused forward in a serious manner. He glanced over at Saburo. “That’s quite the news. I feel however that targeting supers would be better from this point forward.”

“I think we should save the supers as a back-up option. It’s harder to gain a mass of energy from supers because they are better able to defend themselves from our spirit minions. So although one super could give us the energy of ten humans we’d have to work harder to het that one super’s energy. We can gather more energy in the long term from humans under the radar. Then is we need to leave the planet quickly, we’ll drain as many supers as possible.” Saburo replied calmly to Taro.

“You’re the tactician Saburo. Whatever you decide is fine by me. By the way, I was really worried about you today. Do be more careful alright.”

“Alright, Taro.” Saburo said as he gently held Taro’s free hand. As the two drove they heard the radio announce an emergency broadcast.

"Hello, we've interrupted your previously scheduled programming for an urgent report. My name is Lisa McMahon from Channel 5 News coming to you live from the Kirkcroft Museum of Natural History. Normally a safe learning ground for children, as well as a fantastic tourist attraction, the Museum today has been turned into a battle ground. A pair of villains have taken over the museum. Their intentions are currently unknown, however, we do know that they have made no attempt to release the civilians trapped inside. They are presumed dead. More on the subject as it develops, I'm Lisa McMahon, Channel 5 news."

They wondered who was taking action. Saburo immediately called Kamadake’s phone. Jiro and Kamadake were already together at Kamadake’s apartment. Kamadake and Jiro hadn’t heard the news yet and Kamadake didn’t want Jiro to find out, want to help save the day, and subsequently ruin their date.

Kizakura Kamadake and Yoshimoto Jiro

Jiro saw the emergency broadcast while Kamadake was on the phone with Saburo. He wanted to go help out. After Kamadake re-entered the room Jiro explained the situation and urged Kamadake that their help was needed.

“Kamadake I’m sorry if this puts a damper on our plans for tonight but we need to go help them.” Jiro said as he stood from Kamadake’s couch.

“Jiro… please I’m sure there are others there and handling the situation as we speak.” Kamadake was indeed considerd a villain although not many knew it. He didn’t want Jiro finding out at he was a villain. Therefore staying out of the confict would have been better for him.

“Kamadake… this is life or death for those people. You have the power to protect people and you don’t want to use it. I’m not saying I want to spring into action at every chance but stuff like this is low and someone needs to put a stop to it. If you don’t want to go, I’ll go help alone.” Jiro replied.

Kamadake, after thinking for a moment decided to accompany Jiro. “Alright I will go. I’ll protect you. Just don’t get too reckless alright.” Kamadake said with a little smile.

The two went to the museum and saw a woman fly off in a hurry. They pulled up nearby and Jiro gave Kamadake a Kato mask. He knew that Kamadake was a public figure and would need to conceal his identity if he was going to be using his powers. They located a side door to the museum and entered. They could see a woman on the ground unconscious. Then there was a woman with a red Aura surrounding her and a clawed man. Jiro noticed Brightside was there as well. However something seemed a little different about him. Then the actual Brightside ambushed the look-alike and the two clashed briefly. One grabbed the unconscious woman and teleported away and the other followed suite teleporting himself away as well.

Jiro texted Guang, telling him where he was and what he was doing. Kamadake notified Jiro and Saburo of his whereabouts as well. The two of them stepped forward into the fray.“What is all of this madness?” The masked Kamadake asked the fighting heroes and Villains.

Auratic didn't even do more than notice their entrance, and prepare for their assault as well. She was relishing the pissing off of Jackson, and indulging herself in some good old mind games. Her visor had also told her that the distortion from earlier was gone, so she was able to rest a bit easier in that area as well. But then she got an idea, and cocked her head in their direction. "Oi, you two heroes or villains? Because I REALLY don't want to have to fight more people than necessary!" Her visor was going crazy on the tall and lean one's alpha waves, instantly branding him a psionic. She went through her mental logs for anyone who fit that power and body form, and came up with no one, which is quite a shock for someone who knows every hero, villain, and rogue in the city. These two were either new, or REALLY good at hiding their powers. She then also prayed they were on her side.

Guang Liang

Guang and Patrick spoke at Guang and Jiro’s apartment. It was a little awkward at first since the two were completely new to each other and impromptu put in the situation where they would spend the evening together hanging out. They decided to watch TV and chat over dinner in the living room.

“Guang I’m really glad that you agreed to put up with me for an evening. It means a lot. When Kamadake first mentioned the idea I was a little apprehensive but then when his friend, Jiro, spoke so highly of you, how you tend to make others around feel lighter, I just decided to go along with it. But it was true. You made me feel a lot better about things. Thanks.” Patrick said as he then took another sip of his beer.

Guang blushed a little. “I’m not that great, really. But thank you Patrick. So what’s it like being a telepath? I’m practically a living light bulb.” Guang chuckled.

“Well it’s kind of annoying. Sometimes I can hear the thoughts of others without trying, which results in hearing a lot of things I wouldn’t want to know about. Since I’ve gained a lot of control over my abilities it’s much better now.” Patick replied.

“That sounds rough. May I ask what’s going on that’s gotten you stressed out?” Guang said as he innocently looked at Patrick.

“Well… I can’t say everything right now. But I can at least tell you this. I went through life trying to use my power to help people. I joined the police force and did well. It was a simple life but I was proud of it. Then the people that I worked to protect turned on me. It’s been difficult for me lately because I will have to do some things I’m not proud of.” Patrick said in a solemn tone.

Guang felt sorry for Patrick. He could tell Patrick was a good man and wouldn’t want to hurt anyone without a good reason. Guang reached over and gave Patrick a hug. “I won’t ask what it is that you’ll have to do. But I won’t judge you for it alright. I’ll be on your side.” Guang didn’t understand why he felt the sudden urge to hug Patrick but he just went with his feelings anyway, they always served him best.

Patrick was surprised to receive the hug from Guang. He felt the stress rising when he spoke of his current situation but Guang’s embrace seemed to make it all melt away. Patrick returned the embrace slowly and nestled his head into Guang’s shoulder. “You really are a shining star of hope. I promise you, that even when things get difficult for supers, I’ll try my best to safe guard you.” Patrick replied trying to sound calmer than he was. He was very moved by Guang’s kindness and he now felt more resolve in his plan to strike a blow to the corrupt government of Kirkcroft.
Guang then received the text from Jiro about the attack on the Museum. Jiro said that he would let Guang know if he needed him to join in. Guang looked at his phone with worry for Jiro.

Jiro Yoshimoto and Kizakura Kamadake

The floating woman looked over to them after ignoring their entrance and said, "Oi, you two heroes or villains? Because I REALLY don't want to have to fight more people than necessary!"

Jiro smiled, “Let’s just say I’m a free agent for the forces of Justice. And this, madam, is seriously unjust. So if you’re the one responsible for this, then yes, you WILL have to count me among those who’d want to take you down.” Jiro said as he stood looking up at Auratic.

The masked Kamadake glanced over at the people that were injured and those that were dead and cringed a little. He was indeed a villain and has hurt the people of Kirkcroft because he had an alt against them. However he didn’t like this form of killing, it didn’t seem to have much of a purpose or reason even if a bad one. He then looked up at Auratic and spoke, “I’m here to serve as his shield. You can call me The Nobleman for now.”

Jiro picked up on Jackson’s fury using his empathic abilities. He knew that having Jackson in a blind rage would be a bad thing. He using his empathic power began to suppress Jackson’s rages and induce a calming in his mind. “It’s alright my friend you can regain control. You need it to face her. We’re here to help you.” Jiro spoke to Jackson calmly.

Kamadake looked once more at the suffering hostages and glanced at Jiro. He figured that Jiro would want to end this quickly if the hostages reached safety. He, using a concussive beam of projected shield energy, smashed a hole in a wall. “There quickly get out of here now!” He yelled at those who were still alive. They all took off carrying those that were wounded with them. Kamadake made sure to project a shied in their general direction to protect the civilians as they retreated. “See now they’ve escaped and we can go.” Kamadake said to Jiro impatiently.

(OOC: Jackson's going to be inside his own head for a bit, but at the end of this post he'll "wake up".)

Jackson opened his eyes. It was a bright and sunny day, and he had rested well. Looking down, Jackson noticed he was falling. "WHOA!" Jackson yelled as he plummeted to the ground and landed with a splash in a public fountain. Getting up and out of the pool, Jackson looked around, soaked as he was, to try and find a way to get dry. As he looked, he noticed he wasn't in Kirkcroft. He found some towels and a change of clothes. He was going to try to find a place to change, but when he looked back down, his clothes were already dry. "Strange..." Jackson muttered. He looked again, and noticed that he didn't know where he was. He didn't recognize the buildings and skyscrapers at all. He decided to walk around. Hopefully, he'd find out where he was.

For a long time, he found nothing, just endless buildings. Jackson sat down on the ground, he couldn't even think straight. He thought he remembered fighting someone in a museum, but the more he thought about it, the more he forgot exactly what it was. Cough cough. Cough. Jackson started. Looking around he saw no one. Then he heard the cough again. It came from... up? "Come on now Sonny, you weren't this slow, were you?" Jackson looked only to find his worst nightmare. Standing on the side of the building, was the man who'd been there the day he killed his mother. There he was, standing on the side of the building as if he did this everyday. His full moon glasses glinting in the sunlight. "Why're you just sitting around down there like a little bug?" He asked. "There ain't no way for you to fly if you've stuck yourself to the ground like that." As he spoke Jackson felt his anger building. He wanted to kill him dead, but how the hell was he supposed to get up there? "Now now," the man said, "let's not be too hasty." As he spoke, his body began to change. His face melted and morphed like molten wax, his whole body shifted and shook. Finally, when he was done, Jackson was horrified to find himself standing on the side of that building. He was different though. His eyes were yellow, his hair blonde. "You know Jackie, you've gotten real complacent haven't you?" The fake Jackson asked. "You spent so much time fighting around with regular humans that now when you've got your first real fight with someone who's better than you, you can't even get them to take you seriously." He jibed. "You're a real puss man, a weakling. It makes me sick. So here's what's gonna happen. You're gonna fight with me. Come on then, let's see how you've grown!" He yelled at Jackson, jumping at Jackson with his right arm extended.

Jackson shifted left to avoid the initial impact, then jumped back so his doppelganger couldn't attack from the safety of the dust cloud. "Yeah yeah," Jackson heard from within the small cloud. "A nice dodge and prediction, real safe, real boring. Come on man, weren't you better than this?" The opposite Jackson stood, and the dust cloud faded. "This'll be boring if you don't take every opportunity you’ve got to end me. I just might kill you.” He said, rushing Jackson. For all of his bravado, the fake Jackson was strong. He ducked and weaved, avoiding every strike, every sweep perfectly evaded. He countered perfectly on more than one occasion. Jackson was exhausted after only a couple of minutes. “Is this what it’s like to face me at my best?” Jackson thought to himself. “Damn right,” he heard the fake say. “You were so damn strong and now you’ve got to draw out your useless anger for every fight because you can’t face who you are. You’re a killer Jackson, ruthless, strong, and terrifying. Give in to it, let it consume you. ‘Cause the you that’s outside isn’t the you who can take on ten people at once. The you that’s outside is barely enough to make your opponent scratch her bum. You’re protecting her by letting her deride you, by letting her mock you.” The fake Jackson jumped back, easily evading a desperate swing from Jackson. “You know what. I’m tired of this shit. I’m tired of your weak ass fumbling about with our body. I think I’ll just kill you, then I’LL be the one who fights. I’LL be the king!” Just as the fake was about to close in for the kill, his hand a hair’s breadth from Jackson’s chest, he stopped abruptly. “Someone up there doesn’t like us doing this. Here’s what I’m gonna do Jackie. I’ll give you one more chance, but the next time you fuck up. You’re dead. Then this body, this world, and all your little new friends will be mine for the taking. Don’t forget it.”

As soon as the fake finished speaking, Jackson felt a massive tug right behind his navel. He was flung upwards into the light. Faster and faster, higher and higher until…

Jackson’s woke up. There was the aura girl, and there were two other people here with him. Both were masked, both were completely unknown to Jackson. He’d never seen them before. He was worried that they were enemies, further, he’d lost track of Kina and the fake Brightside. The other woman who was here fighting Kina was gone too. Just how long had he been out? Jackson looked around frantically, trying to identify the situation.

“It’s alright my friend you can regain control. You need it to face her. We’re here to help you.” Jackson looked at the man before him, though he was worried, and he didn't even know this man, his fears seemed to disperse. The man had an incredibly soothing feeling coming from him. Like Jackson had known him his whole life, he was a friend, here to help.

“Yeah…” Jackson mumbled. “Thanks. There were others, allies of mine. A girl wearing black and… I know this is crazy, but the other one was a… red Brightside. Further, there was another woman, allied with the one I was… attempting to fight. They aren't here. Do you have any idea where they…” Jackson was cut off by the aura girl’s presence. He took a real deep breath, slowing his heartbeat and calming his mind. “Make sure there’s no one else who needs our attention, there could be others here we’re not aware of. However, even if you've finished, stay out of this, she’s mine.”

Brushing the man’s hand from his shoulder, Jackson strode forward. His eyes were no longer seeing red, his vision was focused. He recalled everything he knew about her power. The watching period had ended, but he still didn’t know everything. It was time to find out. Start fresh. Directing his focus at her, he called out. “Sorry about that, minor house-keeping issues. Shall we start from the beginning? You see, I’ve not finished with you.” As Jackson finished speaking he slid gracefully into a stance of Tai Chi Ch’uan. It had been a while since he’d recalled the teachings of Master Wu, but against this particular opponent, he needed elegance, precision, and above all level-headedness. Breathe. Let the opponent come to you. Breathe. Fight with your head, not your body. Breathe. Anger dulls the mind, ignore it. Breathe. Listen to your heart, it will guide you. Breathe. Looking up, Jackson curled the fingers on his front hand twice. “Let’s do this.”

She bowed to the both of them, pinning down their ethnic origin with their accents.
"A pleasure to meet you both, then. I must say, you two have me quite off guard. I'm on a first name basis with almost every super in this city, but you two seem to be either really good at hiding your deeds, or have only recently arrived here, by either out of state or out of orbit. Either way, you've both intrigued me. Either way, do what you will here, I won't stop you unless it involves me."
As the hostages took off, Auratic pointed down the stairs.
"There are some people downstairs, in case you guys want to get everyone taken care of. I seriously only killed two people tonight, one to get everyone's attention and one as an example. I'm sure some other villain is doing better tonight. I only wanted to help Prime get Brightside's attention. Now that she's up and gone, the only thing I came here for has left as well, and the only thing that's keeping me here is Jackson's offer of a fight. And now, if you two will pardon my rudeness, I must attend to the said fight." As she turned and faced Jackson, she let the Nemean Eye's power take effect, having taken into account the claw's sharpness and not wanting to experience that hitting her face. The blue aura cloaked over her, small wisps falling off like water vapor off a statue of ice, and she took a stance of her own, resembling a video game character from a fighting game. She smirked a little, and the aura flared up a little as she spoke to him four simple words.
"Show me your moves."

"Show me your moves." She said. She had obviously had some martial training, because she took a fighting stance with very few openings. She surrounded herself with a blue aura and stared at Jackson, anticipating his first move. Jackson simply stared, instantly fixing the flaws in his stance and shifting his own to combat and undermine her forms by moving his own false openings toward the front of her range and placing the true openings at the back of his stance, out of range. Her blue aura pulsed slightly... blue... blue? Wasn't it red earlier? Then Jackson had a thought. She had asked him a question earlier, before he lost control, "I just thought of something. What would happen if you were to copy someone who's powers were either gadget-based..." He didn't remember the rest of the question because he'd lost it then, but it intrigued him. He stood perfectly still, his muscles relaxed, and his eyes trained on her waist. An old tactic to spot motion. He pondered for just a second, ready at any time to counter her. If she's wondering about what I can copy, she knows I can do it, and she's worried about a particular facet of my power. Think. If the color changed, and she's worried about gadget related powers... She must have something on her person that allows her to shift it's color. Looking at her, and noticing the chill in the air, Jackson remembered the fiery punch from earlier. The aura had completely changed. It wasn't just the color that had changed, it was the polarity. Time to test that, just to be sure. Jackson began to circle the girl. He aura flicking out at him as he stepped, the chill lapped over his body in waves, but it didn't phase him. He hadn't trained on top of mountains during blizzards just to master Kung Fu for nothing. As he circled her, he looked for openings in her guard. There weren't many, and there were quite a few false openings, but just as he thought he'd lost it, Jackson found one. Her left side was purposely unguarded to create easy counters, this left her open at the temple and ribs. There was no way to get to it normally, it required the opponent to have struck, however...

Jackson feigned attacking a false opening and quickly closed the distance between them with a few short quick steps, not letting his guard down in the slightest. He attacked the false opening at her ribs. Snapping a quick kick at the seemingly open target.

If she blocked, she would immediately counter, however, the most logical place to strike would be at his own chest or head, which he could easily block to get her to over-extend. Then he could strike her weak spots at the ribs and temple. This could result in Jackson taking heavy damage, but he was nothing if not stupidly strong. It was time to start fighting smarter, not harder.

“Yeah…” Jackson mumbled. “Thanks. There were others, allies of mine. A girl wearing black and… I know this is crazy, but the other one was a… red Brightside. Further, there was another woman, allied with the one I was… attempting to fight. They aren't here. Do you have any idea where they…” Jackson was cut off by the aura girl’s presence. He took a real deep breath, “Make sure there’s no one else who needs our attention, there could be others here we’re not aware of. However, even if you've finished, stay out of this, she’s mine.”

Jiro and Kamadake had not a chance to answer Jackson’s initial question before he refocused his attention on Auratic. It seemed they would not really be needed much after all. Jiro sighed as Jackson brushed his hand off of his shoulder and approached Auratic.

Kamadake chimed in, “Well let’s just focus of the hostages downstairs that she mentioned and go home. He wants to fight her alone.” Kamadake placed his hands on Jiro’s shoulders.

“You can be pretty selfish I see.” Jiro said quietly.

“And it seems you have a self-righteous streak.” Kamadake countered. He let out a sigh and continued. “Look I’m sorry love but I’m no hero. So playing at being one doesn’t sit well with me. I am selfish and I want you with me and in my life. However, all of this… saving souls in mortl danger business just puts you in situations that could make me possible lose you, in more than one way. I don’t want that…” Kamadake’s voice began to quiver a bit as it trailed off silently. He genuinely liked Jiro and did not want to end up being declared Jiro’s enemy due to their opposing sides.

Jiro was slightly confused. “キザクラ・カマダケ、本当に何者ですか?” [Kizakura Kamadake who are you really?] Jiro replied in Japanese as he stared at Kamadake. The battle was being waged behind them, yet nothing but the two of them existed at this moment for them.

Kamadake placed a hand on Jiro’s cheek. “Am one who’d always be on your side. No matter what it looks like. Remember that Love. Now let go let those waiting people know it’s okay to go.” Kamadake said with a slight smile.

Jiro nodded in agreement and returned Kamadake’s smile. Kamadake and Jiro ran down to the lower levels of the museum to make sure no one was hurt. They found several people cowering in fear and they let them know it was safe for them to leave. As the people ran past some thanked the two and there was one man who ran up to Jiro and shook his hand. The man then quickly stabbed Jiro in the stomach with a small pocket knife. Jiro gasped silently and began to drop to his knees.

“Die you disgusting super!!” The angry assailant shouted.

Kamadake’s eyes widened in shock and anger. The man came at Kamadake in an attempt to run him through with the pocket knife but Kamadake generated a barrier charged with electrc arch energy. The man was shocked on impact with the barrier. The force generated some wind causing Kamadake’s hair and clothes to billow in the gusts of wind and light. The man collapsed and kamadake entrapped the man in a force field that constricted the man tightly. He was now stood upright in the crushing electrical forces that bound him. Tiny little wooden logs began to appear and encircle the man and as more of the logs appeared the tighter and electrified the force became. The man shrieked in pain and suffering.

“Parish you wretched human!!” Kamadake hissed at the man.

Jiro who lay on the ground holding his wound pleaded for Kamadake to spare the misguided man’s life but Kamadake had lost it. “stop!! Stop this please!! You’ll kill him!!”

“Yes Jiro. That’s the point my love.” Kamadake replied in a stoic and focused manner. The man had in moments been crushed and electrocuted to death. Kamadake quickly discharged the energy and knelt beside the wounded Jiro. “Don’t worry love, I can fix this. Just be still and reserve your strength.”

Kamadake formed a dome of energy around the two of them. The energy on the inside of the done was filled with healing energy. It began to jumpstart Jiro’s immune system and healing. Jiro began to heal from the stab wound rapidly and the soon the wound closed. Jiro was now healed and thus saved from death’s door.

“You saved my life… and took his…” Jiro panted as he lay in Kamadake’s arms.

“Earlier you asked me who I am. Well, I suppose I should tell you that ‘The Nobleman’ is a villain.” Kamadake replied.

(Dude, stop making Auratic go through motions. She wouldn't have tried to grab his hand, unless she felt like it was going to be an attack.)
Auratic just shook her head with a smile on her face, and formed a bladed whip with her blue aura.
"Naaaaaaaaaaah. It'll be more fun to torture you and leave this without a victor, come to think of it. So here's a quick present before I leave, to warn you not to fight someone with a power that essentially is a glorified set of armor by copying it. We know all the chinks." With that, the whip snaked around Jackson and gave him a symmetrical cut along each cheek, the sharpness of the blade passing through the very aura she had experimented on for years. After the cuts had been made, her aura changed to a pair of grappling hook launchers, she threw a couple smoke pellets on the ground, and then she took off into the night out of the hole she had made earlier, gone into the darkness between alleys before someone could catch up to her. As she swung through the night, running along the sides of the buildings she had grappled on to, she felt the meteorites she had stolen move around in her pocket. She'd have to run some research on the meteorites, and if her hypothesis was correct, she could make the Nemean Eye's current capabilities seem childish by comparison.

She soon came up on the skyscraper of a building that was the nexus of The Last Word's power, Rouge Tower, the only skyscraper in all of Kirkcroft that acted only as living quarters for a company's workers. She had switched to her red aura at this point and had also removed most of her costume when she had been sure nobody was watching, her helmet visor guaranteeing it, revealing a suit had been underneath her clothes the whole time. She had then packed all of her costume into her satchel, which also held a paper and pen, which she removed as she walking into Rouge Tower to begin writing about that night's events as if she had been there herself, which, in truth, she had, but this story was told under her pen name Morgan Blanch, who had been one of those held hostage, and then released by Auratic. This article would mainly focus on letting Prime take the credit for causing the fear, but would subtly hint that maybe Auratic was more powerful than she let on, leaving Jackson to be mentioned in passing as "a hero whom Auratic was calling Jack Sin", to help throw off any connections one could make, and also mentioned the arrival of the two new supes she had seen for the paper to be released in two days. As she worked on the article in the lobby, her mind turned to more important things. The Last Word was known for targeting the villains and had played Devil's advocate on at least one occasion to justify the villain's evildoing, one article of which had actually been used in the Bulk vs. Kirkcroft case very recently. It was because of this that The Last Word was so widely read, alongside it's sister paper Kirkcroft and You, the less super-oriented of the two meant for your daily bit of news. After all, no matter how many museums are robbed, there's always going to be little Timmy who'd just won the city Science Fair to need attention. She owned that paper too, of course. This was why she had the chief of police in her pocket so often: no one wants to go against the woman who could ruin your life with just a few pen strokes. Granted, Deanna was a law-abiding citizen more often than not, and didn't use this non-chemically enhanced power often, but she wasn't afraid to do what it took to keep both her and her employees out of harm's way both literally and fiscally. And as Deanna loved to say, everything has a price, whether you know it or not.

As she finished up her piece and walked up to her room power-free, she noticed two men standing outside her door, both looking like they spent their evening hooked up to protein IVs.
"Good evening, gentlemen, you must be mistaken, the gym's on the fifth floor. Unless you two happen to have a message that's important, you have five seconds to leave before sharp things start flying all over the place." This was a total lie, of course, the only things she currently had that were sharp were her tongue and swift kicks to the groin.

As she left, Jackson attempted to chase after her, she had to pay for her crimes. However, she was already out the window and long gone before the smoke had cleared. He walked back into the center of the room, surveying the damage. The building was at least intact, but the exhibits. The priceless works of art would never be able to be fixed or replaced. Finally, he found them. A pair of dead bodies, the only ones who'd died. Two people would never go home tonight. Their families would never hear from them again. Jackson turned off the stolen aura and the flames. He had almost all of his twenty minutes left, in case he needed them, but he most probably wouldn't. The two men from earlier might still be here, but they appeared to be on the side of justice. He'd check to see if they were still here, but for now, there were more important matters. He knelt down next to the bodies and said, "I'm so sorry. I wasn't strong enough to protect you. You should not have died this night. Rest now, and know that you will not have died in vain. I will devote myself to becoming even stronger. No one else will die because of my weakness."

Jackson bowed his head to them one last time before setting off to the basement, to see if the two men from earlier were still there. As he made it to the stairs, he was almost trampled by almost a dozen people running from the basement. They were excited, scared even. They were murmuring something, collectively, but Jackson couldn't make it out. He shouted. "Everyone!" Jackson said, "Calm down. There are currently no more villains in the museum. Head outside and bring any of the injured down to the authorities. Otherwise, it's all clear and you're safe. Now, I have only one question for you. I need you to tell me what's going on downstairs, why are you all so panicked?" One of them came forward, a little boy, "Please mister," he said, "They killed a man down there. He must have hurt one of them because one collapsed then the other man killed someone." Jackson's heart rate soared. He thought those two were allies, they were so friendly, they even helped him with the hostages. He grew so angry so fast, just as he was seeing red, he calmed back down and knelt next to the little boy. "Thank you son, now get out of here and go home. I'm sure you've had a long day."

Jackson waited after they left, making sure he saw them get to the main lobby before he rampaged down the stairs. There was no reason for a super to lay his hands on a civilian. Even if he'd hurt one of them. Just as Jackson was about to destroy whoever did it, he made it to the basement, in the room where the two from earlier were. One was laying down, being held by the other. They were surrounded by a field of, what appeared to be raw energy, they also appeared to be having a rather touching moment. Jackson was about to turn back around quietly to leave when the door slammed behind him after he'd flung it open in his hurry. Jumping with the shock and feeling his face go bright red as they noticed him, Jackson looked directly at the floor. "Sorry," he said, "I was worried how you were doing in here, and I heard someone died so I was just coming to investigate, but I can just leave now, sorry." Jackson turned and began walking to the door. He was going to leave, having already made a fool of himself twice that day.