Chapter 9- Heroes In Japan:

Third Person:

A whole flippin' month of hell- also known as school and training. Carmen didn't mind training, but after a full month of training for four hours was wearing her down- damn. Plus, she don't think they were any closer to finding out who the hell Draken was. Peter and Sam were convinced it was a guy at their school- but once they described the guy to be creepy beyond relief and the time frame, Carmen finally just dismissed it. Draken was too smart for that- he wouldn't just enter a school the same time he was spotted in Japan. Besides, if he was planning it for the past few months, she wouldn't be surprised if he had been in a school that whole time and become a class president just to throw suspicion off.

Hah, Carmen scoffed, Draken as a goody-goody student in a tie. Now there's an image... Still not as funny as a maid Coulson, but pretty damn close.

"So, uh, how's your injuries doing," Ritsu asked as they walked down the hall together.

In a course of a month, Carmen would dare call Ritsu her closest friend outside the team- her only friend outside the team. She met the guys at the syndicate and they weren't so bad either- though they were beyond shocked that Ritsu knew a chick and that said-chick could kick their ass. She wasn't exactly humble about showing them that part.

Ritsu looked over at Carmen with a slight smirk. He had to admit- she was pretty cool and badass. She was a lot different than the other girls and she scared them just as much as he did- if not more so- despite that she had a beautiful face. His eyes drifted slightly, looking at her clear skin, her piercings, the way her C-cup chest stretched the fabric of her neon green crop top, her toned stomach with the hints of scars,her ass that was hardly covered by the green and black checkered skirt that had a chain, her long legs that were covered by a see-through lacy thigh-highs that were torn slightly...

He ended up blushing. Carmen quirked an eyebrow,

"What the hell are you asking for? It's been a month."

"Yeah, but you get new ones a lot. Is some guy bothering you? I could take care of him.."

Her eyebrow stayed raised and he turned red as he stuttered,

"N-not like that! I mean, like, I could take care of him like-"

"-I can take care of myself, thanks," Carmen huffed, "And they're doing just fine..."

"Good 'cause with the exam coming up and all..."

"Exam," she stopped in my tracks, "Damn it! No one told me to study! Ah screw it, I'll just doodle on the paper... Maybe I'll drew a dick or a wizard... Maybe a wizard with a wand shaped like a dick..."

Ritsu surprised her as he burst into laughter.

"Not that kind of exam! The physical exam. They have it every once in a while. They get all these fancy doctors and everything. Load of shit, if you ask me."

Huh, I wonder if Gemeni knows about that?

"No kiddin', when's the exam?"

"Uhh now," Ritsu said, turning red as they reached a large room, "Where did you think we were heading?"

"Honestly, I thought that we were ditching."

They walked through the doors and Carmen noticed a whole bunch of doctors and nurses and a shit load of girls. She spotted what looked like Takashi and Hunny dressed as doctors in the back with girls swooning over them. She rolled my eyes.

"Sorry, but if we missed this," Ritsu said, " they would hunt us down and take the exams anyway. Might as well get it over with. I just hate how people stare at me in here."

Sure enough, there were plenty of stares in their direction- all of them were in fear. Even the doctors were hesitant to approach them.

"Yeah, they're not fond of me either," Carmen scowled.

"I think you're alright."

She turned to Ritsu and he turned red,

"I-I mean-"

"It's fine," Carmen smiled, "I think you're alright too."

Ritsu felt his heart stop as she smiled at him- her real smile. She wasn't as expressionless as she usually was. There she was, smiling and showing her perfect teeth that seemed to shine, showing her dimples, and her eyes were shining. It was at that moment that he knew exactly why his stomach was fluttering.

Wait a damn second here... I smiled. I actually gave a genuine smile. Damn. She hadn't given a genuine smile to anyone- anyone- except Draken and Gemeni, both because she loved them. Well, she used to love Draken.

"Are you ready for your exam," a nurse finally asked Carmen.

Carmen shrugged,

"Why the hell not? Sure, I'm ready."

"Good, I need you to strip and-"

The nurse turned pink as Carmen started to lift up her shirt. The green fabric went over her breasts, showing her breasts that were confined in a black lacy bra. Ritsu turned bright red and almost in seconds, there were guys starting to stare at her and whistle. Ritsu growled at them.

"N-No," the nurse protested, "Not right now! When we get into the private area!"

"Damn," Carmen muttered, pulling her shirt back down, which wasn't hard since it stopped just below her breasts, "You couldn't have said that sooner... Not like I give a shit."

Gemeni:

I watched as Carmen came in with that red head fury from her class, Ritsu I think his name was. I was glad that Carmen was opening her shell a little bit. Ritsu was most likely her only friend that wasn't a part of the team. I smiled at them.

I almost face palmed as a nurse came over and she started stripping right in front of everybody. Before I could run over and say anything, one of my own nurses came in and escorted me to my own dressing room, which was thankfully bigger than the one in the music room.

"The doctor will be in here shortly. In the mean time, I need you to strip," the black haired nurse instructed before she left.

To be honest, I didn't want to strip and show off my scars. People would ask questions. But, I did as I was told, and took off my shirt. Before I could continue with my pants, a brown haired came running in. He was hunched over, panting like he had just run a mile.

"Who are you," I said, instantly suspicious.

The man whirled around, looking at me with surprise. I was pretty sure he wasn't a doctor by the look on his face. He ran up to me and clamped a hand over my mouth.

When licking it didn't work I bit him. He pulled his hand back, but had no time to even look at it before I kicked him in his gut. He fell to the ground.

"GET OUT!" I shouted.

I was ninety eight percent sure that a lot of people heard me. I stood there just glaring at him until the people I wanted to see the least came in.

My face turned bright red as the host club stared at me in awe. Not because of the fallen man, but because I didn't have a shirt on. Not only could they see my boobs, but they could also see my two biggest scars.

"Odin's beard! Does this school not have any place for privacy?"

Their faces were bright red as well, as if they had been the ones to get walked in on while striping. At least I still had my pants on.

Then Carmen walked in through the curtain, glaring at the hosts.

"Get out."

They all but trampled over each other trying tp escape the curtain. I sat down on the bench and pulled my shirt back over my head as the guy I kicked ran out of the curtain.

"Some school, huh," I said.

"How much did they see?"

"Most likely everything."

Carmen's shadow rippled. I put a hand on her shoulder, but that barely helped.

"They're idiots, and I give you all rights to beat the shit out of them, but you need get it under control. Just look," I pointed to her shadow that was now melding with mine.

She nodded and took a few calming breaths to get her exemptions under control.

"Better?"

She never answered my question.

Third Person:

The hosts were still red, even after the 'quack' doctor had left. Takashi was glaring at the other hosts since they saw Gemeni half-naked and there was a tinge of worry in his chest since he did see her scars. However, he didn't a get a chance to get the image of the scars out of his mind since Carmen came storming towards them. Her normally gray eyes were turned pitch-black, though her shadow wasn't the one moving. The hosts' shadows were, however, rippling slightly- going unnoticed by everyone.

"You damn idiots," Carmen growled.

"I suggest that you calm down," Kyoya said, pushing up his glasses, "What happened wasn't on purpose."

"Purpose or not, ass wipe, you saw my lil' sister practically half-naked," Carmen growled, "And I will personally escort you to Hell myself."

Takashi stood up a bit straighter, going to his full height, and looked down upon her- trying to get her to stand down. The twins and Tamaki, however, cowered in fear at her glare and went to hide behind Takashi. Carmen clenched her fists, desperate to get her powers under control.

"Wait, little sister," Hunny asked cutely, trying to defuse the situation.

"Yes, she's a bit younger than me, but that's not the point. The point is that if you ever do a peeping Tom act like that again, I will hurt you."

"Calm down," Takashi said firmly as he put a hand on her shoulder.

At that simple touch, Carmen lost what control she had left. She grabbed his wrist and twisted it. She ducked down slightly and with his arm in her grasp, she used what strength she did have to toss Takashi. Not expecting the attack, his eyes widened as he found himself landing on the floor within the dressing room- an even more undressed Gemeni screaming at him.

Carmen's eyes widened and she realized her mistake. Panicking slightly and her anger rising, Carmen shifted the shadows to the light int an instant, forming them into hands that grabbed the light bulbs and crushed them- taking out the lights within just a second.

She took that as cover for her escape. She took off through the room and into the one where everyone else was only to find that everyone was panicking and screaming. Carmen cursed, not realizing that she didn't just take out the lights in the exam room, but she took out the lights of most of the school.

"Carmen," Ritsu's voice called out.

A small tinge of something constricted in her chest and it got worse when she heard Takashi in the exam room calling Gemeni's name. So, she left the dressing room after the lights went out too?

As soon as she made it to the dark hall, where she could still heear the screams of panicked students, someone tapped her on the shoulder. Carmen turned around sharply, a fist in the air ready to hit. However, it missed as Gemeni dodged,

"Carmen, it's me! Come on, we have to go!"

Carmen could see through the dark due to her eyes- she could even see the darker masses in the dark suggesting other people's shadows. She was shocked to see that Gemeni was dressed as Zodiac- monkey tail and all.

"Go? Go where? And how the hell did you get dressed so fast? Why are you in costume?"

"Coulson called me before someone tossed Takashi into my dressing room. Oh! And I just got dressed after the lights went off and do you know how hard it is to get dressed in the dark?"

Carmen sighed,

"You still haven't said why Coulson called."

"Oh! Draken's been spotted! We got to go now! Get suited up!"

"Don't have to tell me twice," Carmen growled.

As the two girls ran, shadows encased Carmen's figure- showing just a pure black mass- as the shadows brought her the uniform for Umbra and clothed her.

When the shadows vanished from her, the two girls running were no longer Gemeni and Carmen. They were Umbra (an ex-villain gone hero) and Zodiac (member of SHIELD and Spidey's team).

"Umbra to Iron Fist," Umbra said into her watch, contacting the others, "Any sign of him?"

Both Umbra and Zodiac were searching the front of the school in hopes of finding Draken- and hopefully take him down. Iron Fist and Power Man were at the East side and West Side.

"I'm here," Iron Fist answered.

There was a loud BANG coming from the back of the school.

"Spotted!"

"Heading over there now!"

Zodiac turned into a bunny and jumped into Umbra's arms. She didn't roll her eyes at the antics of her sister as she used the shadows to travel from the front of the school to the back. Running there would only waste precious time that they did not have and could not afford to lose.

When they arrived at the scene, Zodiac jumped out of Umbra's arms and transformed back into her more human form- if someone could even call that since she had whiskers, a monkey tail, and animal ears. Iron Fist and Power Man were protecting someone from flying shards of metal.

When the dust in the air cleared out, Umbra spotted her ex. Like usual, he had dark blue hair and pitch black eyes. His skin was tanned slightly and not a single scar was visible. He had on black jeans, black combat boots, a black sleeveless shirt with a gray skull, a black leather jacket, and chocker necklace with slight spikes on it. He grinned maliciously.

"Stand back," Iron Fist ordered.

Umbra turned to see the Host Club and Ritsu standing to the sidelines, watching in pure awe and horror at the sight before them.

"What's with the civilians," Umbra growled.

"W-We were sea- searching for ou-our friends," Tamaki stuttered.

"Get them out of here," Zodiac ushered.

"Ah, finally you two are here," Draken said, his voice deep and smooth.

The metals shards that were flying around them stopped. The metal pieces all stopped in mid-air and pointed directly at Zodiac.

"It'll be a pleasure to kill you."

Zodiac turned into a rat just as the shards lunged forward where she had been seconds before. Draken frowned, looking at the empty spot, not noticing Iron Fist coming up behind him.

"Kyah!"

Draken smirked and ducked to avoid the attack. As he was doing that, Zodiac jumped out of nowhere, grabbed his head in between her legs, and sent his face into the ground.

The team stood before him, waiting for him to attack. Umbra was using her shadows to hold him down as best as she could.

He stood up shakily, with much effort. He held his hands out, forcing the metal to go towards the hosts and Ritsu.

"I got them!" Zodiac yelled.

Right before they struck she turned into a tiger and tackled all of them at once.

"Get out of here! You're gonna get hurt!"

They all nodded and ran away towards the building to watch from a safe distance. Zodiac turned back to Draken, turning into her half-Dragon form. She charged with lightning speed, weaving through the metal and to her team mates. She was just about to hit him, but he made a metal wall, blocking Zodiac from reaching him. Less than a minute later, the wall fell to the ground, along with Zodiac.

"Damn it! He got away."

"There's no time to go after him, we have to get back into you know who," Power Man said, running off with Iron Fist.

The girls nodded and ran back to the dark exam room.

"Kyoya," Tamaki demanded, "Who were those people?"

"I do believe that they were superheroes and a super villain," Kyoya said, pushing up his glasses, "That villain, I do believe, is the same one that attacked Tokyo not even a year ago- it is said his powers include metal bending... Oddly enough, the one that was using shadows used to be his partner in crime. According to my sources, she's now a hero in America."

"And what about the other heroes," Haruhi asked, "I mean, are they really super heroes?"

"As hard as it is to believe, yes, and I do think they are very heroes that Gemeni spoke about," Kyoya answered, "The ones that we just saw were Iron Fist- known for being his martial art skills and his fists that seem to glow with mystical energy. Power Man, the African one, is known for his skin being indestructible and his strength. Finally, Zodiac, known for her abilities to turn into any animal of the Chinese Zodiac."

"And the last one," Hunny asked, "She seemed kind of dark."

"Umbra. Her power is shadow manipulation- being able to control and distort shadows and the dark and even made them solid for a given amount of time. She used to be a partner in crime with Draken- the villain we just saw- and some rumor mills even said that they were more than just partners in crime and even in a relationship. Yet, after the Tokyo incident when the heroes from America came to take them in, she made a sudden switch to being a hero."

"Woah," the twins whistled, "That's some weird stuff."

"Hey guys," Gemeni greeted as she ran up to them.

The group was currently outside and she was just on her way back to the exam room when she saw them.

"Where have you been," Kyoya asked suspiciously.

"I got lost," Gemeni bit her lip and twiddled with her fingers as she lied, "When the lights went out, I freaked out so I ran out into the nearest light source and... I got a bit turned around."

The small blush on her face led them to believe her.

"Thankfully, Carmen helped me out," Gemeni said cheerfully as Carmen walked up.

Her face was still emotionless, but she raised an eyebrow at Gemeni, as if to ask 'helped you out with just what exactly?' Gemeni shared a look with her sister, 'just go with it.'

"Carmen," Ritsu greeted with a small sigh of relief.

"Yeah," Carmen greeted in her monotonic voice.

"Gemeni! Carmen," voices shouted.

They both turned to see Danny and Luke running up to them. Danny gave a cautious look Ritsu since he never had gotten a good luck at him before.

"Who are you," Ritsu asked blutnly, scowling.

"Ritsu," Carmen said, "My brothers Danny and Luke. Luke, Danny- Ritsu. Now what the hell do you want?"

Carmen turned to her 'brothers' with a scowl and a hand on her hip.

"School's out the rest of the day due to the lights," Luke explained, "Uncle Phil called and said to get back to the house."

Carmen and Gemeni shared a look. The time for school and fun was over because now- now it was getting serious.