A taxi drove through the snowy landscape, its tires crunching on the packed snow. Inside, Saya held a phone to her ear.
"Yes. We've successfully acquired it and are now heading to the train station."
"Yes, we'll be back shortly."
In the back seat, Tetsu gazed out the window, watching the blur of spruce trees and snow-covered hills. The thought of a peaceful journey back to the base crossed his mind.
The mission is almost complete, he thought.
I just hope that... the drive back to the base is peaceful.
Far ahead of the taxi, atop a spruce tree, a tall, thin man in a cap sat in a squat. He held a phone to his ear.
"Boss," he said, his voice low. "They're coming. Are you sure this won't kill your should-be-captured-alive target?"
The voice of Kageyama, the mad scientist, crackled on the other end.
"I'm sure that to them, this is non-lethal. Now, proceed as planned."
The man sighed. "Okayyyy." He stood up and raised his hand.
From the surrounding hills, armed figures emerged, pointing their guns at the road.
A helicopter, hovering high above, its infrared targeting crosshairs fixed on the man, watched his every move. Then, the crosshairs shifted, locking onto the taxi.
Inside the car, Tetsu heard a new sound.
"What's that sound?" he asked, rolling down the window to look up.
A missile streamed from the helicopter's wing, and a second later, the car exploded. A piece of the vehicle was sent flying into the air, and thick smoke and fire billowed across the road.
The man on top of the tree watched through binoculars. "You call that non-lethal?" he scoffed.
The piece of the car landed on the ground and cracked under the force.
"Even the car had turned to ash, so a human body should turn into a void. I guess I've killed him."
Just then, a shimmering lasso shot out from the smoke, coiling around the helicopter's landing skids.
With a powerful tug, the lasso pulled the helicopter down toward the road. The horrified pilot pressed a button, detaching his seat and sending him away from the crashing machine.
The helicopter slid across the asphalt, spewing sparks, before it exploded in a fiery ball.
The man on top of the tree watched in stunned silence. Suddenly, bolts of lightning shot out from the smoke, striking all the armed figures on the hills and knocking them unconscious.
The smoke began to clear, revealing Tetsu, a bit bruised, who had shielded the taxi driver. Saya stood beside him, also slightly wounded.
"Run away!" Tetsu yelled to the terrified driver, who fled into the forest.
As the driver escaped, a new wave of armed people on the other hills opened fire.
Tetsu and Saya darted in opposite directions, dodging the bullets. One of the gunmen looked around, unable to find them, not realizing Tetsu was already sprinting up the hill toward him.
Tetsu leaped into the air, landing on the man's head and knocking him unconscious.
Other gunmen on the hill turned and aimed at Tetsu, but before they could fire, he launched a lightning-charged tornado kick, sending them flying.
"Hey!" Tetsu shouted.
"All done!" Saya's voice echoed back. He saw her on a parallel hill, having tied all the gunmen together.
The man on the tree, his name was Takahashi Isao, smirked.
"It's true that you're quite strong for a recently-awakened user."
"But..."
He suddenly moved at high speed, a blur of motion.
"Tetsu! Evade!" Saya screamed.
"... at your current level of power, you're nothing to me."
It was too late. Takahashi's fist slammed into Tetsu, causing the ground to crack.
"No!" Saya cried, throwing a lasso that coiled around Takahashi's arm.
But instead of pulling him, she was dragged toward him. Takahashi raised his fist to strike.
Suddenly, he sensed something and instinctively turned to block a kick.
It was Tetsu, with a trail of blood on his forehead from the previous punch.
Tetsu launched a rapid flurry of kicks, which Takahashi blocked with ease.
Takahashi then looked up and saw Saya swinging her flail toward him. He leaped backward, dodging it.
"That's an interesting weapon," he said.
Saya swung again, but he caught the spiky ball with ease and threw it back at her.
Saya panicked, but a lasso shot out from her hand, dragging the flail away just in time.
Takahashi was already charging a kick at Saya, making her instinct forced her eyes to shut
But Tetsu grabbed his waist and discharged electricity. The current coursed through Takahashi, immobilizing his leg.
Saya raised her flail. "I owe you this one, Tetsu," she said.
She swung the flail toward his head, aiming for a killing blow.
What she expected to happen eventually didn't come. Instead, it shattered upon impact.
"What?"
Saya and Tetsu said in disbelief. Suddenly, Takahashi moved again. He punched Tetsu in the face, sending him flying, and then pinned Saya to the ground with his foot.
He pulled out a gun.
"You two think those efforts are enough to defeat me? What a joke," he said, pointing the gun at Saya's head.
"I'll let you see our difference. This girl is your friend, huh? And now, I'll let you say goodbye to her."
He prepared to pull the trigger.
"No! Stop it!" Tetsu screamed.
Just as the gun fired, a figure grabbed Saya and pulled her out of the way. Takahashi, confused, he thought.
What just happened?
My body... had frozen for a half-second before I could pull the trigger.
Next, a metallic baseball bat smashed into his cheek, sending him flying.
The attacker was Sakamoto Izuki, a man in a gangster uniform with a lollipop in his mouth.
Takahashi landed against a tree, spitting blood.
"Jeez, who the heck is it this time? Another weakling came her to ruin my mission?" he sighed.
"Fine. I'll let you two escape. Just leave that yellow-haired boy here. My mission is to capture him."
"Me?" Tetsu thought. "He wants to capture me?"
Izuki yelled, "Huh? Escape? Are you underestimating me?"
Izuki took a stance with his bat, and as a few leaves fell from the tree behind Takahashi, Izuki appeared in front of him, the bat ready to strike.
The bat connected with Takahashi's head before he could react.
What the? Since when did he— he thought.
Izuki was already poised to strike again, but this time, Takahashi extended his arm, trapping the bat.
He countered with a side kick, but Izuki dropped to the ground, evading the kick.
Izuki then charged his power, launching a kick with both legs at Takahashi's chin, sending him airborne.
As Takahashi fell, Izuki raised one of his legs backward, a clear sign of his next move.
Takahashi's descent suddenly halted.
What? Takahashi thought.
Then Izuki's other leg struck Takahashi's face, sending him flying into a tree trunk, which he pierced through before falling to the ground behind it.
Takahashi's cap fell off, revealing a bald head. He slowly stood up, laughing.
"Hahahaha! You're better than I thought." Wiping blood from his mouth, he said.
"I'm really, really, really... pumped up right now."
Tetsu, watching the battle, felt a strange heat building up. He was still wearing the anomalistic jacket.
"Why is it getting hotter here?" he said, before a skeletal hand snatched the robe from him.
"Oh, thank you so m—" Tetsu began, but froze when he saw the figure. It was a humanoid skeleton with snow in its hollow eyes.
It held the jacket carefully and roared, releasing a wave of frost that sent everyone—Tetsu, Saya, Takahashi, and Izuki—dashing backward.
"What the hell was that?" Tetsu yelled.
"Tsk, another Anomaly now?" Saya said in frustration.
"Wow. The fourth unwelcoming guest has arrived," Takahashi chuckled.
"Damn it! If it wasn't for Destroyer Katsuragi suddenly deciding to send me here, I wouldn't have come to this ridiculous place," Izuki complained. "Why do troubles always find me?"