CHAPTER 9

AMBUSCADE

The day came when Moyra Kilshim passed away. She was only forty-five years old.

Her health issues stemmed from the loss of her family. It was impossible to measure just how deep it struck her. Her mental health spiraled out of control at times, with only her powers as an esper keeping her from destroying herself. Unfortunately, this couldn't work for the rest of her life. The combination of healthy diets and remedies, staying locked away in her home, and training Crush in his telekinetic abilities, was what kept her going. Until now.

There was no funeral service for Moyra Kilshim, per her request. All she asked for was to be buried by her husband's side in the E-City Cemetery. Crush saw to that, and he was her one guest when she was put in the ground.

He remembered her lessons. Training the mind was a constant struggle to balance a jar filled with water on one's head. If there was too much water, the jar was heavier. The easier it was to tap into his psychic powers, the more likely they were to spill over. In other words, the more power he had, the greater the chance he would put others at risk.

The truth was that Crush originally never sought out to become so powerful. His longing to improve his strength was in direct relation to the confrontation he had in store with Tatsumaki. The Tornado of Terror herself. Even after training almost every day for the past two years, Crush realized he was nowhere near as almighty as Tatsumaki was. However, he still had the element of surprise on his side, as well as the burden on his shoulders. When he made his move, it would be a life-altering decision, and he'd been spending many months pondering all of it.

On the other hand, Tatsumaki would be caught off guard by his confrontation.

Right now, there was a chance that Crush would have an audience with the Tornado of Terror. If it came to pass, then he knew it would have to do. He would be unlikely to ever acquire another opportunity again. And with his sister growing worn out from being restricted to the Children's Trauma Living Center, he was eager to free her as well.

His conversations with Moyra were fresh in his mind. They discussed the potential weaknesses that Tatsumaki would possibly have in her arsenal. Even a super-powered psychic phenom like the Tornado of Terror was not completely invincible. In fact, she was still a human being. And the source of her power was her brain, as it was with all espers. That meant Crush needed to find a way to target her brain.

Based on what he researched, Tatsumaki was so strong that she could even fight off against other monsters while unconscious. If it was true, that didn't bode well for his plans. Even so, he wished for a more fitting method of confronting her. Merely landing a fatal blow to the head was swift and painless. Hardly an appropriate means of justice.

Instead, Crush wanted to expose her. He had the video evidence of the bus incident, and he had documents with evidence of her dangerous behavior. Despite all this evidence, he couldn't count on the justice system to throw their darling hero under the bus. Until Crush was absolutely sure that Tatsumaki would face justice, he wouldn't confront her. When he made his move, he expected his life to be over. Even if he wasn't killed on the spot, the Hero Association would aim to make his life miserable at every turn. They'd never forgive him for going after one of their S Class heroes.

Before going back inside his apartment, Crush lit a cigarette. He felt strangely relaxed, apparently as a result of the somber mood at Moyra's burial. It was also liberating when he didn't have to worry so much about achieving anything, even if it were only for a short period of time. While he was standing outside his apartment right now, he got to enjoy several minutes of peace.

But peace was dangerous to him. That longing to settle down was an obstacle now, because he had something he needed to do. It would not do to be undermined by the longing to settle down when evil remained at large. It was paramount that he rid the world of Tatsumaki, regardless of what happened to him after.

With a final heavy puff, Crush flicked the cigarette butt into the street, not even bothering to toss it in the appropriate trash container. Now ready to go back inside, he first swung by the mail box, where he found a few letters. The bills went to the bottom of the pile as he hurried inside upon discovering the letter from the Hero Association.

Sure enough, the letter was the one he was hoping to receive. They had approved of his request to go on an S Class Hero Ride-Along. In addition, they arranged for him to be a single day guest of Terrible Tornado while she patrolled for crime. At last, he had achieved the first step of his ultimate plan. This was finally going to happen.

There was little time left to prepare. Crush's appointment with Tatsumaki was a ride-along in B-City, so that was where he traveled today. Once he arrived, he went to the warehouses set up in the industrial section of the city. Most of the suites were already leased out, but he found one that was unoccupied. There was a flyer with information on how to set up an appointment, and he did just that. The next day, he would arrange to rent out the space. It would serve as his location to set his ambuscade.

The next step was to figure out how to incorporate monsters into the plan. He had trouble finding any creatures, and was unfamiliar with the city, but he had his powers to help with that, too. He was able to track down inhuman presence, if he concentrated enough. While few monsters were in the city, he did manage to pick up the presence of three lifeforms close together. If it was a gang of monsters, that would help to serve his purpose.

It was dark out by the time he closed in on the location. There was a bridge that was erected to carry the highway over the storm drain for the city. Below the bridge was an opening that had been dug into the concrete near the drain tunnel. It appeared as though the monsters were using this as refuge for the time being.

Crush walked closer to the spot but waited. He was curious as to whether or not the monsters would be aware of his presence. After all, it was still dangerous to confront monsters at any time, even for heroes with powers. Crush had abilities but he was still relatively untrained in monster battles. Fortunately, there were no other civilians present, and no potential victims from combat. He had these monsters all by themselves, and thus he was sure he'd do fine.

Gradually, he went closer, until he heard a grunt and one of the beings appeared at the entrance to the tunnel. "Who dares intrude outside our home?" The voice was harsh, as if the beast were intentionally scratching its own throat. In the dark, it was impossible to make out its appearance, but the creature appeared to resemble some sort of bat. It had wings instead of hands, which were folded up while it was grounded.

Despite the sinister creature before him, Crush remained calm. "There are three of you in there. In a few moments, I can kill all of you. So, don't try to flee."

The bat creature's eyes suddenly lit up, revealing some features on its face. There was a picture of fear. "We are not bothering anyone. Do not hurt us."

They were monsters, but they were not his targets. Crush simply needed their help for his plan. "I have no intention to inflict harm on any of you. But I have come here seeking you monsters, for I have need of you."

"What do you want from us? Are you a hero?"

Crush rolled his eyes. Even if he had powers, he didn't consider himself a hero in the slightest. "No, I'm not. I am an esper."

The bat creature came farther out from the tunnel, now followed by two others. They had different colored bodies—black, brown, and dark green—and they appeared to be a family. Perhaps siblings.

"Whatever that is, we don't appreciate being threatened like that."

It made sense that Crush would have to prove himself. His eyes glowed blue and in moments, the bat creatures were lifted in the air, even while struggling in panic and surprise.

"What is happening? How are you doing this?"

"Like I said," Crush explained, still calm, "I am an esper. I can use my powers to easily destroy all of you. But I don't want to do that. I simply need you to do as I say."

He released them after that, and the bat creatures were no longer going to try and threaten him. "Do not kill us. We shall do what you ask."

Crush nodded in appeasement. "I must insist you do something dangerous for me. But in exchange, you'll be compensated." He removed his backpack and let it float in the air toward the monsters. It landed on the ground in front of them, causing them to look down at it curiously. "Take the money. All I ask is that you do what I tell you. After this one act, I'll leave you be."

The monsters were pleasantly surprised to see the money in the bag. Even though they weren't human, having money was still useful for them. They could trade it for food and supplies, since they still needed to make a living for themselves.

Crush hadn't been sure if money would have been helpful in the first place, but one way or another he was going to force some monsters to help him with this job. If he could properly commit them to the act, then he would be able to rely on it. After all, it was a risky job. "There's also a cell phone in the bag," he informed them. "I will call it and keep you updated. There's a warehouse not too far from here, Suite B66. When the time comes, I will need the three of you to be there."

While the brown and green bats were distracted by the cash, the black bat sensed there was a catch to all of this. "You want us to kill someone?"

"No. I simply need you to confront me… and the person I'll be with."

The black bat's large ears twitched in anticipation. "Who is this person you'll be with?"

"A hero." Crush was hesitant to reveal the name.

"Which hero?"

"You'll find out that night," he replied, as if it didn't matter.

"Sounds like you want us to risk our lives, yet you're unwilling to reveal more details."

Crush sighed and let his hand glow with blue light, threatening another psychic attack. "All I'm asking you three to do is to stage an attack. Before any real combat happens, I'll take care of the rest. And then the three of you will be free to leave."

"That's all?" Now all three bat monsters paused to watch Crush closely with nocturnal eyes.

"That will be all."

With things completed, Crush turned to make his exit. Now he had set up the components to his trap, but there was still more to do. Those had still merely been the easy aspects of the job. The biggest challenge still remained.

If he confronted the Tornado of Terror, he required a means of subduing her.