At Mykhail's house…
Mykhail dragged Kaori and Kumiko through his front door when he saw Yasuda talking with his parents, Alex and Maria, in the living room.
"Hello, dear!" his mother greeted.
"You've been out late," his dad remarked. "Did you have a good time?"
"Mom…Dad…? What's going on here?"
His mother put a hand on Yasuda's shoulder. "We were just talking to your friend Yasuda! He said you're a big superhero fan!"
Mykhail slapped his forehead.
"Hello, Kumiko!" his dad waved.
Kumiko waved back. "Hi!"
"Who's this other young lady?" his dad asked.
"Uhh…" Mykhail replied. "We call her the Queen B."
Kaori glared at him.
"Anyway, I need to take Yasuda for a minute! Bye, you too!"
Mykhail dragged the three into his room as his parents watched.
"Look at those youngsters, they get along so well!" Alex laughed.
"They do!" Maria agreed. "I sure hope they aren't getting into any trouble!"
"Me too, dear."
Mykhail locked his door as the three plopped onto his bed.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Who said you sweaty brats could lie on my bed?"
They groaned in response, and Mykhail pulled his bedsheet from under them, causing them to fall.
"Hey!" Kumiko complained. "What was that for?"
"Sorry. I have a standard to uphold."
Mykhail turned to Yasuda. "Where's that doctor you snagged?"
"He told me to drop him off at his house! He needed to collect his documents!"
"Why did you save him?" Kaori wondered. "I can tell he's weak."
Mykhail sighed.
Kumiko was busy petting Rocky, who continued to bark at Kaori. "Haha! Rocky doesn't like you either!"
"You think I care?"
"So what does that guy know?" Mykhail continued. "I think this is the part where we go and grill him for information, since we let three baddies escape from our hands."
"His wife is one of the top members!" Yasuda clarified. "We can go and visit his house to find out more!"
"Okay," Mykhail said, picking up his sword. "Let's go right now."
"Mykhail!" his mother called out from the living room. "Could you do the laundry tonight? It's your turn again!"
Mykhail groaned. "Tomorrow."
"Wow," Kaori taunted. "The amazing superhero, still stuck washing his mom's underwear."
"Girl, please, don't tell me you don't have parents either?"
"I do. They work for me, not the other way around."
"Yeah…you've got issues."
The next day…
Kaori arrived at school, where she found Kumiko eating breakfast at the cafeteria table by herself.
"Where's Mykhail?" Kaori wondered.
Kumiko shot her a glare before resuming her breakfast. "He went to take Yasuda somewhere. Why do you care?"
"Why did he leave me with you?"
Kumiko drank her milk. "I don't know. I'll never forgive him for this!"
Kaori rolled her eyes. "So dramatic."
Her friends, Yumi and Tomoe, approached her. Yumi handed her a plate. "Here, Kaori! We saved you some food!"
"Good," Kaori stated. "Go find our table. I'll be there soon."
"Alright!"
Kaori turned back to Kumiko. "Inform me when he gets back, Kumiko."
"Yeah, yeah! Begone, Queen B," Kumiko demanded.
"Stop calling me that!"
Takehiro and Kurumi both came over to Kumiko's table as Kaori left, sitting next to her while they ate their food.
"Good morning, Kumiko," Takehiro said. "Did Mykhail call off again today?"
"No," she clarified. "He'll be back later in the day! He had to handle a couple of things!"
"That kid's been busy ever since this new era started," Takehiro mused. "He isn't doing anything shady, is he?"
"No, no, of course not!" Kumiko assured. "Mykhail would never become shady!"
"Yeah, relax, Takehiro!" Kurumi added. "Maybe he's just got a lot more on his plate now, since times have changed."
"You're right, you're right."
The bell rang, and the students all headed to their first class of the day. Kaori bumped into Kumiko in the hallways and stopped her before she could leave.
"What do you want?" Kumiko sighed.
"I want my rematch," she said. "No one tosses me into a building and just gets to walk away."
"Ugh. Fine! Whatever."
"Meet me after school," Kaori ordered. "Right around the back."
"Uh-huh."
Kumiko caught up to Kurumi and Takehiro.
"What was that all about?" Takehiro questioned. "Do you have problems with Kaori?"
"No! She's just a pain, is all!"
"I second that," Kurumi agreed.
"Well, don't go picking fights with superhumans as powerful as she is," Takehiro warned. "She'll hurt you."
Memories of Kumiko and Kaori fighting the previous night flashed through her head, and she smiled. "Haha! I doubt that."
"Hmm?"
"Nothing!"
Meanwhile…
Justice and Kira stopped in front of a small apartment complex in a suburban part of town. "Are you sure this is the place, Kita?"
Kita nodded. "These exact coordinates!"
"Why would a doctor live in such a run-down area? Can he not afford rent?"
Kita shrugged. "I can tell he's inside!"
They walked up and knocked on the door, and Hiroshi answered it. "There you heroes are! Where are the other two?"
"Left them behind," Justice explained. "They're a bit prickly at the moment, so we don't need them destroying your house."
"This is my mom's house," Hiroshi corrected. "I can't return to my own. My ex-wife will kill me."
"Some wife she is," Justice remarked. "Is she more loyal to the villain gang than her own husband?"
"Yes. Incredibly."
He opened his door wider. "Come in. I will tell you all I know."
"And what's the price for this information?" Justice inquired.
"Nothing, really. I just wish for you to take them down, so I can live safely again."
"Huh. Okay. That's doable."
He and Kita walked inside the apartment, and Hiroshi led them to an office. "Here are all my notes and findings from my time in the Syndicate. Is there anything specific you wish to know?"
Justice cleared his throat. "Yes. Like how a full-on supervillain club could form in only a week. Well, a week and a half now."
"We were collected by the Boss," Hiroshi told him. "Well, my wife and the other members were. I had to join because of her. She would have killed me otherwise."
"What's her power?"
"Disease Infliction. She can give anyone she touches fatal viruses that can kill you in mere minutes."
Justice shuddered. "So much for being a Nurse."
"The Boss is the one who organized the entire thing," Hiroshi explained. "Recruiting Neon, forming the Legion, having Serratine and The Nurse scout for more goons to fill the ranks, you'd be surprised how fast a group can come together under powerful leadership."
"But why villains? They could have done a million other things with their powers. Why become twisted evil?"
"Because," Hiroshi said. "Most people only care about themselves. Even the ones without powers. Once you showed up, the overwhelming response was jealousy, envy, and longing. Now that those people have gotten their own powers, they've chosen a more self-serving approach. The Boss merely gave them the tools and organization to act on them."
"Well, where does he come from?" Justice asked.
"No idea. We don't ask him such details. The most I've talked to him was about your friend's condition and vitals."
Kita raised his hand. "What about the Legion? They're the elite of the elite, aren't they?"
"Yes," he confirmed. "Thirteen of the strongest villains in the world. Each of them possesses at minimum two unique powers."
"That Axel guy," Justice recalled. "He was one."
"Lord Axel," Hiroshi noted. "He's their apex predator, a hunter among hunters. He's pretty tough, though a good number surpass him."
"WHAT?"
Hiroshi nodded. "Most of them aren't needed for the current operation, but they'll hunt you down if that sword means the Syndicate can grow in strength."
"And as for their boss's plan?"
"We don't know."
Justice prepared to say something, but Kita's ear perked up. "I hear something outside!"
"Wait," Hiroshi warned. "It might be dangerous."
Kita whipped the door open, but nothing was there. He scanned around the alleyway, until he found an object lying face down.
"Haha! Found you!"
Justice appeared next to him. "What is that?"
They both took a step closer, and they noticed it was a figure in robes, unmoving. "It's…a person?"
Kita rolled the person over, and their robe fell off, revealing a shirtless older man with closed eyes, gray skin, and a hole in the middle of his chest.
"The hell?" Justice questioned.
Kita glanced over the body. "It appears this guy is dead! He's been dead for over a day, at the least!"
"But why is he here? Why is there a hole in his chest? Was he murdered?"
Kita lifted the robes. "These are the same robes those villain guys wore underground!"
"Did they kill one of their own to send a message to us?" Justice wondered.
"Hmm," Kita analyzed. "It's not clear!"
The body suddenly crumbled into stone just as Hiroshi approached. "Oh no."
"Uh, Doc?" Justice called over. "Can you explain this?"
"You two need to leave, now—-!"
A bullet shot through his head, killing him instantly as he fell into Justice's arms. "Shit! Kita, get down!"
Another bullet came flying toward them, but Justice blocked it with his sword. By the time he looked back at Hiroshi, his body had crumbled to dust.
And so had his apartment.
"Well," Justice commented. "We just let a man and his house die."
"They must have been watching!" Kita deduced. "He had information they didn't want getting out!"
"Well these murders have got to stop," Justice declared. "We're back at square one. Let's regroup with Kumiko and Kaori."
Later, at Sōgetsu High…
Takehiro, Kurumi, and Kumiko were playing volleyball against Kaori, Tomoe, and Yumi.
"You suck, Queen B!" Kumiko taunted.
"And yet I'm winning," Kaori scoffed.
"Eat dirt, losers!" Yumi yelled.
She spiked the ball hard into Takehiro's face, knocking him over.
"That was a cheap shot!" Kurumi exclaimed.
"That's rude!" Kumiko shouted. "Now we'll have to pummel you twice as hard!"
Takehiro got up. "Ugh, I hate the popular kids."
Before Kumiko could hit the ball, the school bell rang. Coach Hayashi blew the whistle. "Balls up! Class is over!"
"Aww," Kumiko grumbled. "I didn't even get to hit."
"Tough luck," Kaori mocked.
The class left the gym, heading for the bus loops. While the others went to the front, Kaori and Kumiko confronted each other in the back, sizing one another up.
"Finally," Kaori said, cracking her knuckles. "I get to annihilate you."
Kumiko yawned. "Can we hurry this up? I already beat you once, and I'm tired!"
"This will be quick, don't worry."
As soon as they moved to attack, Mykhail landed between them.
"Seriously?" he sighed. "I leave you two alone for a few hours, and you're already planning fights after school?"
"She asked!" Kumiko blamed.
"Because she embarrassed me!" Kaori shot back.
Yasuda laughed from on top of a trash can. "Fight! Fight! Fight!"
"Quiet, you little instigator," Mykhail ordered. "Anyway, we're back from our little journey."
"Did you find what you were looking for?" Kumiko asked him.
"Well. The guy died, all the notes he had inside got turned to dust, and there was this weird corpse waiting for us in the hallway, so if that's what you were asking, we found A LOT."
Kaori lifted an eyebrow. "Sounds like a declaration of war. We should meet them in earnest."
"If we can even find them," Mykhail pointed out. "All the important ones jumped ship when that place collapsed. Seriously, who leaves their own folk to die?"
"I would," Kaori admitted.
"Yeah, well it's you."
Mykhail turned to Yasuda. "Any ideas on how we can track them?"
Yasuda tapped his chin. "My brother! He's still in debt to Neon! He likely knows at least some clues to his current whereabouts!"
"Good idea, good idea!" Mykhail grinned. "Yeah, let's go chat with the big guy!"
"That weak fodder?" Kaori gasped. "You're going to HIM?"
Mykhail nodded. "We're going to the big guy."
Mykhail tossed each of them a bag. "Gear up. Instead of them going Hero Hunting, we're going Villain Hunting! Starting today!"
—-