Aaaah, my precious babies, destroy them all!
Bring chaos and despair to these miserable beings!
A large smile of satisfaction spread over Steel Demon's face as he observed the city from the top of a skyscraper. The robots that he and Dr. Yamagata had built were finally released from the lab, and they were out to do their sole purpose: destroy the town. The supervillain had spent six months by the side of the eccentric scientist to create these high-tech creatures of destruction.
In the beginning, they were supposed to be cannons that he could attach to his arms to blow up his old workplace. However, the mad scientist had a better idea that would create even more destruction and chaos. Thus giving birth to these magnificent metal giants that were rampaging through the whole area.
"Hey Metal Head!"
Dash ran up the building with his incredible speed, reaching the top in mere seconds. The supervillain cursed under his breath as he caught sight of the speedster. Raising his hands, he commanded metal to come out of the building, forming two long rods of metal that angulated like serpents, coiling and snapping with razor-edged precision. They both ensnared the young man, preying on him like hungry predators. However, the boy was quick-witted. He swiftly avoided them, launching himself into the air to get out of their reach.
The air suddenly turned hot as a fireball crossed through the sky, violently hitting the supervillain in an instant. Steel Demon screamed in agony as the flames continued to burn his body while he fell off the building. Dash followed him, kicking the man down onto the ground. Kinryu appeared beside him, quickly sending flame attacks at the supervillain. Meanwhile, his teammate ran around Steel Demon, running fast enough to create a tornado that engulfed the man in more flames. This combo attack was highly aggressive; nevertheless, the young heroes had no other choice, considering the class level of this supervillain.
When it came to S-Class Supervillains, they were to be dealt with using as much force as needed until they could not endanger anyone around them. These were the protocols of HALs, and they were to be followed without hesitation if they wanted to avoid a disaster. After all, S-Class Supervillains could raze entire cities without any remorse. They were the most dangerous villains with insane abilities.
The horrid screams of Steel Demon resonated across the area. He yelled his lungs out until his last breath. Then, there was dead silence. Dash slowed down, the tornado vanishing within minutes.
"Did we win?" asked the caramel-haired man, excitement overwhelming his senses.
"It was too easy… That can't be it," thought Kinryu.
"Let's stay on our gua-"
A sharp, stinging pain spread across his body while blood oozed out of his mouth. He let out a bloody scream, the pain writhing intensely with each small movement that he made.
"Ryu!" yelled Dash in horror, the latter quickly running to his side.
"Don't!" shouted the leader.
He groaned in agony, trying to wriggle out of the cold metal spikes that had pierced through his body. They had suddenly emerged from the ground, tearing through his skin and flesh. All his senses felt numb, his entire being overwhelmed by excruciating pain. His breath became haggard, while his blood dripped on the metal.
"How does it feel to be on the receiving end of violence, young hero of flames?"
The cold, unnerving voice of the supervillain brought chills and rage to the two heroes.
"Bastard!" snapped Dash.
The hot-blooded man dashed toward Steel Demon, launching his body forward to hit the metal-armoured villain. However, he was immediately crushed by a huge metal ball that sent him flying across the street, colliding against the surrounding building. Ryu screamed, helplessly watching his friend being taken down. The metal spikes retracted themselves from him, his body weakly hitting the ground as he bled profusely.
"Your convictions are not big enough to rival my rage toward this society. I have endured countless mockeries and insults, being humiliated by all those above me just because I was born a villain. No matter how hard I worked, no matter how good I was at my job, all of my efforts, down to my whole existence, were disregarded. In the end, they all used me for their benefit without giving me any credit, before throwing me out as though I were dirty trash that was not even worth being recycled.
All of these people are guilty of torturing me, physically and mentally, and they shall pay for their crimes with their blood painted on these streets. I will not stop this carnage until every single one of them disappears from this world. So don't get in my way, or you kids will have to pay too."
Ryu's body froze as he stared into the soulless eyes of the supervillain. His gaze was dead, without any focus on anything. His whole body was shrouded in a raging coldness that sent shivers down the hero's spine. He could feel it; something was not right with this villain. He was not just evil — he was hollow. The kind of emptiness that grows only in the absence of love, purpose… and hope. He was alive, yet it felt as though all life and purpose had left him, leaving only a vengeful spirit behind. This man was the result of the toxic part of this society, built on the perpetual prejudice against those born with the cursed mark. He was a monster created by those around him.
The young man could not help but shed a tear, both from fear and regret. If people had not treated that man poorly, then there would be no one suffering today. Unfortunately, things took a dark turn, and now everyone had to pay for it.
…..
Zero let out a long sigh, his fingers wrapped in anguish around his phone that had been vibrating for a long minute.
"Aren't you going to take the call?" asked Mr. Suzuki.
"It's HAL, sir."
"Another emergency, I suppose."
"Most probably," nodded the hero.
"Well, you might as well take it. Our candidate has not shown herself yet."
"..."
The man dressed like an assassin lowered his head in defeat. His whole body felt numb from a severe lack of sleep. His limbs ached, his mind fogged, and every nerve screamed for rest. Yet, HAL's calls never stopped.
To clear his schedule for the next few months, he had to go on a major hunt party, tracking and bringing down multiple supervillains from dusk till dawn. But since he was asked to assess the villain candidate for the school's program, he showed up at the school, taking a day off from being HAL's hunting dog. Yet, here they were, still ringing his phone. He wanted to throw the device into the bin and go lie down somewhere. Nonetheless, he could not completely ignore their calls.
With much disdain, he took the call, "Hello."
"Zero, you are needed on the edge of Tokyo. An S-Class villain has been identified and confirmed to be the partner of Dr Yamagata."
"S-Class? The ones on this case were Cometz, right?" asked Zero, suddenly feeling sick in the stomach.
Those kids might be strong, but they were too inexperienced to go against an S-Class.
"Yes. They requested immediate backup from the HQ. They are the only ones on the scene alongside some SPF agents."
"What about Mitsugi's unit?"
"Team Zero is currently in Kanagawa, dealing with another S-Class."
This is bad.
Zero quickly turned to the director, who nodded at him. Mr. Suzuki immediately turned on the screens in his office to view the recent news. Gigantic robots were spotted in Itabashi ward. It was said that Cometz was on the scene; however, the reporters had lost sight of two of the members of the team, who were fighting the supervillain. The only one in sight was Raijin, who managed to take down one of the metal titans on his own, though he did not look like he would be able to take all of them down. The whole city was on fire, and the SPF agents on the site were taking care of the inhabitants by the side of a familiar face.
"Sir," called out Zero as he put his phone away to focus on the screen.
"There's no mistaking it, that's our exam candidate. She had already confirmed that she would be here today, so I thought that she was just caught in traffic, but it seems that she was trapped in a bigger mess."
All of a sudden, the old man burst into an eccentric laugh, surprising the hero.
"This is a great opportunity for us to test her. Forget the drafted exam model. Examine her on her performance there," he ordered, a large grin stretching across his face.
He wants me to do what now?
Zero stared at the screen, stuck in a dilemma. How would he be able to test her while he took care of the supervillain? He was not the type who could focus on the whole area while fighting. So, to monitor the girl in the middle of a fight sounded impossible. This was supposed to be an exam, not a battlefield experiment. Yet, the look on his boss's face told him that he was already set on using this event to gauge the abilities of the child. Left with no choice, the hero nodded before confirming his intervention with the HAL agent.
He put on his comms, connecting with his sidekick, Fixer, as he left the office.
"I've already readied the school's helicopter for you. It will take only a few minutes for you to reach Itabashi. HAL just dumped his entire file. I'll brief you on the way," said Fixer.
"Alright, I'll meet you on the roof."
Taking a deep breath, the hero made his way to the helipad. Once seated, it departed for Itabashi ward.
"Name's Kamura Jin, but he calls himself Steel Demon. His attribute is metal manipulation. He used to be a mechanical engineer at Ishino Corp., but got fired for excessive absences six months ago. How he met with Dr Yamagata is still unknown, but what's odd is that he was an A-Class up until now."
Zero raised an eyebrow, not liking what he was hearing. There were major gaps in strength between each class of villains. The higher their rank, the more powerful and dangerous they were. If villains were suddenly able to increase their powers and surpass their class, they would become even more of a threat to the country. Especially since there way a lot of A-Class villains in Japan. Were they to somehow gain more strength, the country would crumble down within days.
"It's not the first one to show this anomaly. Recently, C-Classes and B-Classes have been upgrading their ranks in the Underground world. There are rumours about an enhancing drug for villains to boost their nexus. My contact at HAL told me that they sent Hibiki's team to track them down, and apparently, it might even be related to one of the Barons of the Underworld."
The Barons, huh?
The Barons of the Underworld were the four most powerful S-Class supervillains in the country. They were said to be so strong that they could take down the entire national army. Only a handful of superheroes could deal with them, but not without getting severely injured themselves. All four of them were present in the Kanto Region of Japan, each one reigning over a ward. In Toshima was Enma, the youngest of the quartet, who dealt in illegal fights and gambling activities. Still, he was relatively well-behaved compared to the others. In Minato was Kurotora, who was deep into shady businesses and the most crafty one among the lot. In Yokohama, there was the only woman of the four calamities, Night Baroness, who had recently turned on a new leaf and wanted to clean her bloody files. Finally, in Shibuya, was the most dangerous of them all, the one everyone in the underworld called King, Hide.
He was the strongest with a nexus magnitude of 11.7. Just saying his name sent shivers down the spine of all the HAL executives. He was an unstoppable monster who had killed many for the sake of money. He felt no remorse or guilt and only cared about one thing: money. He would kill anyone for the right price. With the existence of such a morally-less being, HAL needed someone who could bring him down. And in the entire country, the only one who had managed to catch him was none other than Zero. Making him Hide's arch-nemesis.
That guy would not get involved in this; that was too unlike him.
"It must be Kurotora," said the hero.
"Most probably, he is the only one who would deal with drugs among the four of them. Since Steel Demon is one of these anomalies, he might be the only link to him, so HAL wants him alive and in a condition where he can speak."
Zero nodded, glancing through the window, his senses heightening due to the strong villain aura that was getting closer and closer. He could feel it; this one was strong.