Inside the sewer tunnels…
Justice, Kita, and Eclipse walked through the damp, dark tunnels, with Justice using his sword to light the way.
"Alright guys, everyone clear on the plan?"
"Yeah!" Kita replied. "Break in, save Kumiko, and take out bad guys!"
Justice looked back at Eclipse. "Eclipse?"
She blinked, almost as if she was coming out of a daze. "Hmm? Sure, whatever. How long do I have to wear this outfit, and how long are you going to keep calling me that?"
Justice slapped his forehead. "We've been over this…"
Kita pointed ahead. "The tunnels branch off into three different directions!"
Sure enough, when they moved closer, there were three different tunnels. Justice tried to use his sword to light the way, but all he could see was endless darkness. "Okay. We might need to split up."
Eclipse formed two shadow giants, sending them through the first tunnel. "There. That's one. You and I can investigate the middle, while the nerd goes through the right tunnel."
"Why do I have to be stuck with you?" Justice asked.
But Kita was already spiraling down the tunnel. "Wait, Kita, come back! Don't leave me with her!"
Eclipse grabbed his arm. "Well, looks like you have no choice now."
She pulled him into the middle tunnel, and after they had disappeared, a goon in a biker outfit emerged from behind, holding a radio in his hand. "They're on the way."
Kita sprinted down the first tunnel, scanning for any sign of danger. "Bad guys! Come out!"
He stopped in front of a large metal door, which was locked with a massive padlock. He analyzed the door for a brief moment before pulling out a lock-pick kit. "Glad I keep these on me!"
With ease, he picked the lock, only to find an old man with glasses sitting inside a library, reviewing a stack of papers at a table. The moment Kita stepped into the library, he lifted his head, setting the papers down. "Ahh, a hero! I was wondering when you'd show up!"
"Yep!" Kita announced. "Who are you?"
"A member of the Villain Syndicate," he answered. "My wife was very insistent that I join the organization. Threatened to kill and dissect me if I didn't."
"Wow! That's scary!" Kita laughed.
"Yeah," the man said, putting the papers down. "She's lost her marbles, but what's a marriage without a bit of crazy? Now, as for you, it seems we're going to have to fight."
"Yep!" Kita agreed. "Let's fight!"
"Wait, wait," the man interrupted, holding up a hand. "What's your name?"
"Kita!"
"Well, Kita, that's an interesting name. You can call me…The Doctor."
"Okay! Let's fight!"
"An eager one, are we?" he chuckled. "Let's begin."
His body shifted unnaturally, and he suddenly gained six arms. Without hesitation, he leapt into the air and slammed the ground beneath Kita's feet, though Kita managed to roll out of the way in time. Kita narrowed his eyes, scanning The Doctor's body, who suddenly transformed his lower body, gaining six legs as well.
"You can manipulate the composition of your body!" Kita realized.
"Smart one, aren't you?" The Doctor confirmed. "Yes, I can rearrange and alter my anatomy. It's not quite shapeshifting, but it helps me to improve my combat effectiveness. I was a doctor before I joined the Syndicate, and you don't seem to have any noteworthy physical power, but your mind and brain seem to be sharp. Do you possess a mental ability?"
Kita nodded. "Accelerated Perception!"
"Ahh, no wonder. You may yet be my hardest opponent."
"Good!"
The fists on the left side of his body grew larger, and he tried to smash Kita, but he managed to evade the attack, grabbing a table and whacking The Doctor with it, who stumbled before balancing himself.
"It helps to have extra legs!" he stated. "It's going to take a lot more than that to knock me off balance!"
Kita threw the table at his head, but he batted it out of the air before grabbing Kita with his arms. "Clarify my theory. You're here to rescue your friend, aren't you?"
Kita nodded.
"Yes, yes," The Doctor acknowledged. "She's a special one. The Boss and my wife have taken a great interest in her. I've run preliminary tests on her, but I don't even understand how her power works, or the origin of it."
The Doctor brought Kita closer to his face. "She's bonded with a LIVING entity. One of unknown origin. If we could crack her secret, having both her and the Sword in our possession would make us unstoppable!"
Kita broke free of his grip. "It could work! Only if you win, though!"
"Heh," he remarked. "I like your spirit!"
He picked up a bookshelf and tossed it at Kita, who got out of the way just in the nick of time. "Those reflexes you have, impressive!"
He extended his hand, and an arm shot out of it, reaching for Kita. Kita ducked behind a nearby chair as The Doctor picked it up and broke it in half. "Say, how many came with you to this place?"
"Three of us!" Kita answered.
"Perfect. My colleagues should be dealing with them right now."
Meanwhile…
Eclipse dragged Justice down the hall, eyes darting from side to side. "Where's the opponents? You said this place would be stacked!"
"I said it COULD be stacked," Justice clarified. "If it's fewer villains in this base, that makes our mission much easier."
"Pathetic," Eclipse spat. "Don't tell me you shy away from fighting?"
"No, it's just I prefer the easier things in life, that's all."
They continued moving until they found a massive operations room, with several floors and a giant command center in the middle. Justice took a look at the console. "Is this where they plan their moves? When did they have time to build all of this?"
"People adapt quickly," Eclipse explained. "Like when I got my powers, it only took me a few days. Now I'm better than everyone else."
Justice pressed a button on the module, which showed an image of his sword. "Primary objective? They want my weapon?"
"Your weapon is unique," Eclipse remarked. "I'd steal it too, if I could."
"Not helping!"
Justice continued reading. "Objective: Lure Team Zero into a trap? Oh, crap, I think we just—-!"
Eclipse looked up and immediately tackled Justice out of the way. "Watch out!"
BOOM.
The entire room shook as a figure crashed into the ground, followed by a fit of maniacal laughter. "You really fell for this trap? I'd imagine you'd be smarter than that, hero!"
The dust cleared, and Justice saw Serratine, with a young man in concrete armor standing beside her. "You again?"
"You know this woman?" Eclipse asked.
"Yeah. Some weird assassin girl. Clones herself."
"Aww. My feelings are hurt," Serratine mocked.
"So this was all some big trap?" Justice questioned.
Serratine nodded. "We'd hired Kazuma to find and capture you by any means necessary. Unfortunately, he can be a bit…over the top in his methods. When Plan A failed, due to that pesky sword, we moved on to Plan B. With one of you in custody, it was only a matter of time until the rest of you came for her."
Serratine pointed at Eclipse. "Though, I don't recognize her. Is she new?"
"Sadly," Justice replied.
Eclipse elbowed him.
"Either way," Justice continued. "This is your big plan? Some guy in a rock suit?"
"It's concrete," Serratine explained. "This is Fujio's nephew, Fumihiro. He likes to be called Stonewall. He can control and form concrete in any way he wishes."
Stonewall smashed his fists together, and Justice laughed. "Isn't it a bad idea to explain the powers of the guy you're using to kill us?"
Serratine cackled. "No. I'm just giving you a fair warning."
She placed a hand on Stonewall's shoulder. "Attack."
In the blink of an eye, he charged at Justice, swinging his fist, but Justice caught it in the palm of his hand. Without missing a beat, Stonewall delivered a powerful punch to Justice's face, who responded in turn with a headbutt that partially cracked his armor.
"You think you're tough?" Justice remarked.
"Take this, hero!" Stonewall shouted. "The world has no need for you!"
The ground shook, and a massive stone fist emerged from the ground, grabbing Justice. "Okay, that's…pretty cool."
Eclipse scoffed and summoned a shadow to attack Stonewall, and he punched it into the ceiling. "What a weak attack! Do better, little girl!"
"Okay," she obliged, face hardening.
With a wave of her arm, a dozen more humanoid shadows popped out of her body, all armed with blades and warhammers. "Kill him."
The shadows swarmed Stonewall as Justice broke free of the concrete trapping him. "Hey, I didn't know you could summon so many shadows!"
"Of course you didn't," she scoffed. "Did you think I was weak?"
"Uh, not anymore."
She glared at him.
As the shadows piled up on him, Stonewall broke free of them, using concrete spikes to impale them. "That's enough! This ends here!"
His body grew even thicker concrete armor, and he formed a concrete spike aimed for Eclipse, who formed a shadow that caught the spike between its hands.
"That girl is a pain," Serratine commented. "How about you show them a taste of your true power?"
Stonewall jumped up and slammed the ground, causing a massive wave of concrete spikes to randomly shoot up and down throughout the floor. Before one could reach them, Justice wrapped an arm around Eclipse and jumped into the air.
"You didn't tell me you could fly," Eclipse stated.
"Yeah, well we've both been keeping secrets!"
Stonewall moved his hands around each other before launching a giant spike directly in the air at them, which Justice blocked with his sword. Eclipse fired another shadow at Stonewall, breaking his armor and causing him to fall to the ground, unconscious.
"Weak," she dismissed.
Serratine sighed. "I knew he wasn't ready. On to the next."
Justice dropped to the ground, setting Eclipse down. "Next?"
"Why don't we just kill her?" Eclipse suggested.
"We're not supposed to kill people," Justice whispered.
Serratine yawned. "I didn't want to force them out, but I guess I have to."
She pulled a remote out of her hands. "Do you know what the Legion is?"
"The Legion?" Justice wondered.
Serratine nodded. "They're the apex of our organization. Even above me. They work directly under the Boss. They tried to offer Kazuma a spot, but he refused to take it."
"They're as strong as that guy?" Justice worried.
"Stronger."
She pressed a button on her remote, and an alarm began playing. Eclipse held out her hand. "That's it. I'm killing her."
"Eclipse, wait—-!"
As she fired a shadow, a portal opened and absorbed it, causing it to disappear. From out of the portal, a large man with shades and a tuxedo stepped out, cracking his neck.
"Serratine."
Serratine bowed. "Thank you for coming, Lord Axel."
Justice stared up at the imposing man. "He's even bigger than Fujio!"
Eclipse rolled her eyes. "Please. He's nothing."
Another shadow sprouted from her back, swinging its blade at Axel, but to her surprise, he caught it with his fists, turning into a large humanoid lion, which ripped his shirt into pieces.
"You have two powers—-?"
In a split second, he ripped the shadow in half. He tossed his shades to the ground, cracking his neck. "Serratine. Inform the Boss I'll be bringing the target in."
His sharp gaze made both Eclipse and Justice back up.
"Though, I can't promise he'll be in one piece."
Justice swung his sword at the man, but in an instant, he slammed the ground, causing the floor beneath them to crack, before shattering completely. "Whoa!"
Justice grabbed onto Eclipse and flew down, but before they could land, a large knee sent them crashing into the floor.
BOOM.
When they got up, they noticed they were in a large cell block, with flashing red alarms and prisoners watching. A portal opened above them, and Axel dropped out of it, his voice a menacing growl.
"Time to hunt."
—-