Kaede watched the car fly at her, a lethal mass of red steel and black iron tumbling through the air, but before she could even scream, she left the ground, and she was flying, soaring, like she had a rocket under her feet, with a warm, solid force enveloping her. She heard the car crash, the scrape of metal and glass on stone, but the rocket kept zooming upward, taking her with it, so impossibly high…
After a few seconds, the motion stopped, and her weight settled back onto shaking knees. Kaede opened eyes she hadn't remembered squeezing shut. She stared at a bright blue glow, someone's NEXT power, along with the tattered collar of a green shirt and a distinctively trimmed beard. Her savior set her on her feet, then knelt beside her and smoothed her hair away from her face, smiling slightly.
"Dad!" she cried, activating her NEXT ability. "You have to stop! Obje—"
But she knew this feeling. It was familiar to her, the exhilaration in her every sense, everything a hundred times clearer—Hundred Power. Her dad swept her away from the impact just in time, and then jumped up to a rooftop with the both of them. Which means he had touched her, to save her life.
And now Barnaby was doomed.
"Sweetie, it's dangerous here. You could get hurt," Kotetsu said, pressing a kiss to Kaede's forehead.
"No way…" Kaede whispered, staring at her hundredfold-strong hands. The power's gone. Bellisair's power is gone!
"Daddy's sorry, sweetie," Kotetsu continued. "I guess I forgot you were supposed to visit today. I promise I'll make it up to you, but stay here for now, okay? I don't want you to watch me kill Bunny."
Tears beaded at the corner of her eyes, and she grabbed Kotetsu's vest. "No, Dad, don't go! Don't do it!"
With Kotetsu's Hundred Power outclassing Kaede's, he gently unwrapped her fingers and stood. "Stay away from all the heroes. Including me. Just so I know you're safe," he told her. "I'll be back soon." With that promise, he leapt away from the roof in a blur of blue light.
Kaede drew on the power deep within her and jumped after her father, but only cleared half as many rooftops. Nevertheless, she chased him, falling behind in their game of leapfrog, and she saw him charge up and leap from the Bronze Stage to the Silver Stage above them. His light vanished—his minute might have already ended—but Kaede still had time. She hopped to the same rooftop Kotetsu had chosen, and then jumped as high as she possibly could, still falling fifty or sixty feet short of the Silver Stage. Landing back on her rooftop, she tried again—and again—and again—
Another force plucked her out of the air by the wrists, and with her NEXT ability active, she felt the shift from the full-body tingle of Hundred Power to a sort of rush in her lungs and stomach, like pure oxygen.
"Miss Wild, you have to go back to the hospital!"
Kaede looked up at the costumed Keith as they started zooming through the air with his jet pack, away from the Silver Stage.
"But my dad—"
"You need Bellisair's power! I can get you to the hospital fastest, but we can't lose any more time chasing Mr. Wild! Trust the other heroes to stop him!"
Swallowing, Kaede nodded, and Keith adjusted his hold from her wrists to a firm hug around her waist, holding her beneath him in a hang-gliding position.
"Let the air carry you, gently! We'll go faster that way!"
Kaede took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly, feeling the air currents shift to her will. Their speed increased accordingly as Keith adjusted his own powers and urged the jet pack onward.
I don't want you to watch me kill Bunny.
Flying at a maximum wind velocity off the charts, Kaede could pretend her tears were from speed, not from fear. She didn't want to watch her dad to kill Barnaby, either. She didn't want him to kill Barnaby at all.
Janus Square, once a center of Silver Stage shopping, tourism, and culture, had fallen out of fashion recently. While the shops and cafes still did a brisk trade, very few people lingered or made use of the benches scattered around the square. Barnaby had no trouble identifying people as they passed—a blonde boy clutching his mother's arm, a redheaded girl with a scarf, an older couple walking hand-in-hand. Yes, here Barnaby and Kotetsu would recognize each other instantly, and probably wouldn't be accosted by eavesdroppers.
The only blind spot consisted of an enormous statue in the center of the square, dominating the space, a towering sculpture of two human forms, back to back, facing opposite directions—an artist's tribute to the Roman god Janus, with the ability to look both forward and backward at the same time. Barnaby had never appreciated the ability to look in two directions at once, until he had someone to watch his back. Without constantly worrying about the evils behind him, he could focus more clearly on the problems before him, and Barnaby knew he provided Kotetsu with the same comfort by facing his troubles behind him. Together, nothing escaped their sight. Nothing could defeat them when they worked together.
Examining the statue, Barnaby noticed a few points where the human figures fused, touching each other at a few points along the legs, back, and at the back of the head. True, Janus wasn't really two people—he was simply a god with two faces, one looking forward and one looking back. Of course, that gave rise to the pop-cultural perception that Janus was also the god of liars and traitors, and otherwise 'two-faced' people.
Barnaby found a seat in the shadow of the statue, staring at the sky as it gradually grew pinker with sunset.
God of traitors? Ridiculous.
"Tiger touched Kaede? Did she at least give a new Objective?"
"No, he touched her before," Ivan reported to Karina and Pao Lin. "Sky High-san is taking her back to the hospital, and Bison-san is a bit… busy."
In the background of the call, the girls could hear a deep, booming voice, "You'll pay for what you did to my car, you bastard!" with Antonio shouting in return, "Calm down! It's just a car!"
"Tiger-san's on the Silver Stage now, too," Ivan reported.
"He's getting further from the hospital, and closer to Barnaby" Pao Lin said. "Sky High can fly fast, but he can't fly Kaede back."
"I know that," Karina mumbled. We're running out of time. "Can we shut down Janus Square?"
"Maybe with a false bomb threat, but that will involve the police, and we'll have to explain ourselves."
"Besides, Barnaby's a hero. He'd respond and find out it's a lie."
"And it'd put civilians in danger."
"Okay, okay! Bad idea!" Karina admitted, jittering her foot.
"Can we use our transports?" Pao Lin asked.
"They won't be fast enough. And we screwed up traffic on the Gold Stage, a lot of people are going to be taking detours in the Silver Stage."
"What about your Blue Rose motorcycle!" Pao Lin suggested excitedly. "That's light and fast!"
"But Kaede can't ride without holding on to one of us!" The pitch of Karina's voice rose gradually as she spoke. "And I'd have to go to Titan Industries and fight Robert to let me take it out since there's no call, and Fire Emblem's hero car is too far away, and it's not like we can take the Chasers from Apollon without…"
Karina suddenly trailed off, then suddenly started digging in her backpack.
"Blue Rose? Do you have an idea?"
"Just a second!" Karina found a bulky black purse and dumped a blue wig and matching makeup compact out into her hands.
"You have your costume with you?"
"Just the head and face stuff," Karina said. "If I do my makeup myself, it cuts my response time, and I score better."
"But what are you going to do?"
"I think Blue Rose can get us a new ride."
Kotetsu ran, past the people, past the stores, past the streets, finally free of obstacles and determined to make up for lost time. Janus Square was still a long distance away, especially on foot, but stopping was not an option.
He couldn't believe they had dragged Kaede into this. Such a dirty trick, to make him slow down. His horror and betrayal stayed a step removed from his actual feelings, but his friends had thrown his daughter into his path on purpose. The whole point of Kaede living in Oriental Town was to keep her away from all of this madness, let this be his burden, and no matter what happened to him, at least Kaede would be safe.
The Objective changed all of that. Though he had found the will to save his daughter over the terrible noise, Kotetsu finally realized that he was out of control. He couldn't tell what were his own thoughts anymore. He barely felt his actions. But, he had also passed the point of no return. The only way to get back under control was to kill Barnaby. Kill Barnaby, and this will all be over.
KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL!
A silver flash inside one of the stores caught his eye. Pausing, the storefront advertised a Japanese restaurant, sushi and the like, and they had a long katana on the wall.
He was tired and weak. His power was on recharge. And he couldn't risk failing to kill Barnaby, because if Barnaby realized Kotetsu was out for blood, he'd naturally run away. He needed a weapon. He needed that sword.
Kotetsu entered the restaurant, brushing past tables and patrons and heading straight for the sword, mounted on the wall behind the bar.
"E—Excuse, sir, excuse me," a harried young waiter tried to catch his attention. "Can I—Can I help you?"
Kotetsu ignored him, pushed through the low swinging barrier separating behind the bar from the rest of the establishment, and judged the distance from the floor to the mounting. Yeah, he'd need to stand on the counter to reach it.
So he did.
A few people gasped in shock. That waiter insisted that Kotetsu wasn't allowed to stand there, but Kotetsu just lifted the sword from its mounting and lightly ran a finger along its edge. Real. Perfect.
"Sir! Get—Sir, get down from there!" the waiter insisted. "And put that sword back!"
Kotetsu ignored the second order, not only that, but also grabbing the sheath hanging right beneath the sword, but he followed the first one, hopping down from the counter.
"Look, I need to borrow this," he told the waiter, fishing in his pocket for his wallet. "You can have all the money. And you'll know I'll bring it back because it's got my ID."
"Sir, this is—you're crazy!" the young man insisted. "That's a piece of memorabilia, it's not for rent—"
Dropping his wallet on the counter, Kotetsu shifted his grip on the sword and swung it in a wide arc over his head, stopping half an inch above the waiter's skull. He hadn't practiced kendo since he was a kid, but the basic strikes stayed in his muscle memory. Unfortunately for the poor waiter, he had no previous experience with people swinging swords at his head, and with an undignified squeal, he crumpled to the floor, fainted.
Kotetsu stepped over his body, leaving the restaurant as suddenly as he had entered. He took barely a moment to sheathe the sword and sling the carrying strap over his shoulder before he once again broke into a run in the direction of Janus Square.
In the restaurant, a patron kindly revived the fainted waiter while someone else checked the wallet that had been left behind. The drivers' license said that it belonged to Kotetsu T. Kaburagi.
Where had he heard that name before?
The early crowd of regulars at Burning Rubber was already starting to trickle in, a hardened crew of motorcycle enthusiasts covered in leather, piercings, and tattoos. They greeted each other with hard back-slaps and loud insults, before settling down for the first round of drinks.
Barely a few sips into their whiskey, a figure appeared at the door, leaning against the frame and showcasing her curves. She had patent leather shoes, knee-high stockings, a skirt worn a little high to show off as much of her legs as possible, and a white blouse tied around her bust in the approximation of a bra, simultaneously showing off her midriff and ample cleavage. To top it all off, she had ice-blue lips and hair, and brought with her a chilling arctic wind.
"Lost, lady?" a grizzled man with a scraggly beard grunted.
The girl stepped inside slowly, approaching the bar with carefully measured clicks. "Help a hero out, would you, fellas?" she purred.
"A hero?"
"Why should we think you're a hero?"
As if it wasn't obvious, the girl raised her hands in the air and glowed with a NEXT aura, dropping a little flurry of snowflakes onto the collected patrons.
"You're Blue Rose!" a younger biker recognized her.
"Oh~! You got me…" Blue Rose turned away coyly and winked at the biker.
"Blue Rose is a schoolgirl?"
"Shh, don't blow my cover!" Blue Rose spun, letting her skirt flare dangerously. "I'm in disguise as a schoolgirl, see?"
"So what's Blue Rose doing in a place like this?" another biker asked.
She placed her hands on her hips. "Who's the owner of the motorcycle with the sidecar outside?"
A man with a red bandana and studded wristbands raised his hand. "That's mine."
Blue Rose approached him, standing with her weight thrown onto one curvy hip. "Mind if I take it for a little joyride?"
"Oh?" the biker leered at her. "Well, if you give me a kiss, I'll let you."
The bar laughed. Blue Rose did not.
"How about I give you a slap across the face?" Blue Rose snapped coldly.
The man's eyes lit up. "Done!"
"…Seriously?"
The man nodded eagerly, so after a minute's hesitation, Blue Rose pulled back her hand and let loose, striking the man across the face with a resounding slap. Several people whistled and shouted catcalls, and a few more asked Blue Rose to slap them, too, in exchange for other favors: free rides, drinks, and 'bodyguard services.' She ignored the offers and waited for the man to pass her his keys, before retreating from the bar (blowing one last kiss over her shoulder, because she still had an image to maintain).
Out in the parking lot, Karina rushed to the motorcycle with the sidecar, Pao Lin standing beside it.
"Did you get the keys?"
Karina jingled the key ring at Pao Lin, then started re-adjusting her uniform back to normal—letting the skirt fall back to its proper length and untying her blouse, exposing her bra. Pao Lin gasped and covered her eyes.
"Oh, come on, they're nothing you don't have," Karina said, tugging a sock out of each cup. "Besides, these are yours."
"That's… not the issue here…" Pao Lin peeked around her fingers and gingerly took her socks to Karina could button up, just holding the cottony workout socks in midair.
"Then what? We had to, Blue Rose is bustier than I am," Karina said. Re-clothed as normal, though still missing her neck ribbon, Karina flipped one leg over the motorcycle. "Well? You get the sidecar until we get Kaede."
"Right!" Pao Lin stuffed the socks into her pocket and hopped into the sidecar. "Wait, where am I going to sit once we get Kaede?"
"Behind me, of course."
"Oh!" Pao Lin's cheeks flushed as the engine roared to life. "U-Um, if you want me to…"
Keith and Kaede landed at the front doors of the hospital, spooking a few visitors with their sudden fall from the sky, but they ran inside, the flustered Kaede occasionally causing a few eddies of air to swirl behind her. In the company of a (masked) Hero of Justice, the staff and patients gave Kaede a much larger berth than before. A few called for Sky High to stop for an autograph, a picture, a message of support, but Keith gently brushed them aside, citing an emergency, and making a mental note to visit everyone in the hospital at a later date.
Through the halls, to the elevator, through more halls to Bellisair's room, the torched criminal still lying unconscious where the heroes had left him, and then much more tentatively back through the halls, to the same elevator (Sky High commandeered a carriage for them, and turned away all other passengers. "This girl must not touch anyone!") back down into more hallways, then the lobby, and then the parking lot. The pair looked around for Antonio's car, or really, any sort of hero-affiliated transport.
"Where are they!" Kaede cried, scanning the rows of cars for any sign of other heroes.
"I don't know, and again, I don't!" Keith responded, warming up his jet pack for an aerial scan.
The roar of a motorcycle cut them off, and a blue-haired schoolgirl and another girl in a yellow tracksuit pulled up just in front of them. Pao Lin leapt out of the sidecar to sit behind Karina.
"Get in!" Karina ordered, and Kaede climbed over the metal side, keeping a safe distance from the NEXT powered heroes.
"A motorcycle! Good idea!" Keith complemented. "How did you get it?"
"I slapped a biker," Karina said. Pao Lin nodded as if to add, 'it's the truth.'
"All right! You have Miss Wild! Where should I go?"
"Everyone has to get to Janus Square!" Karina decided. "We've lost Tiger, but we know he's headed there! If you can stop Barnaby on the way, do it! Anything to slow them down!"
"Got it!" The Sky High jet pack ready, Keith leapt into the air and flew away, quickly shrinking into a pinprick in the sky.
Karina revved the motorcycle and pulled back out into traffic, weaving in and out of cars until they reached the freeway, at which point Karina really pulled out all the stops on engine power, zooming toward Janus Square, before it was too late.