CHAPTER 12

TWO STORMS

It was like a slideshow. Each reel flashed through Crush's mind, like a cinematic memory lane.

His father, Taiki. His mother, Haruna. His younger brother, Hinata. The next brother down, Shiro. And finally… Ichika, his baby sister. She was the only one to survive the bus incident, although it nearly took her life. The devastation from the bus incident crushed her shoulder, yet miraculously, she avoided a fatal injury. The imprint of a scar that went down her shoulder to her waist was the result of the stitches she received to patch up the wound.

The psychological damage took much longer to heal. Crush faced these nightmares every day and every night. Part of what tormented him was knowing that Ichika faced her own horrors as well. Even if he could relate, he felt powerless to help her cope with it.

But now, at last, he had the chance to have some power over it. He was in the presence of the Tornado of Terror, the monster who murdered his family and crippled his sister.

While he was in her midst, Crush could barely contain his emotions. As expected, he went through intense turmoil and stress from being close to her. In fact, he didn't even want to let his eyes fix upon her, since he was trying to avoid revealing his true intentions. The entire time they roamed the city on the ride-along, he suffered from the pressure. It was building up rapidly, and he had to let out steam occasionally. A few monsters faced his wrath, which helped distract him each time. But he was still reluctant to reveal his strength. For the time being, he wanted Tatsumaki to assume he was weak.

Meanwhile, Tatsumaki was moody, as Sitch had warned she would be. She didn't like having to watch over someone else, but she did enjoy showing off her powers. Whenever a monster showed up, she wouldn't strike right away. It was like she took pleasure in watching the creatures underestimate her, as if she were a child. Then again, she did appear to be very young, considering how petite she was. Whatever the case, monsters seemed to overlook her dangerous power every single time, and she made short work of them whenever they did.

Eventually, Crush came to the conclusion that Tatsumaki let the monsters attack her to help justify killing them. It made sense, considering who she was.

"If you decide to join the Hero Association," she began a lecture at one point, "They'll want you to fill a weekly quota. There's far too many weak heroes who want to pretend they have something to offer the world, so the association has to separate them from the heroes with real power."

The last thing Crush wanted was to engage in casual talk with Tatsumaki, but he had to continue to sell his position to her. "What you're saying is that the C Class heroes are there to help make the S Class heroes look that much more elite?"

She gave him a sly grin. "The sooner you understand the value of reputation, the sooner you'll find your place in society as a hero."

Somehow, he felt the urge to oppose her, if only out of spite. "Class C heroes help with evacuations and every day crimes. They have a place in society, too. Maybe it's not such a bad thing."

"They have their place, but amongst them are those who are incompetent." Tatsumaki hovered in the air as the two of them traveled down the street. One thing that Crush noticed about her was that she rarely walked, instead opting to fly everywhere. That meant she was utilizing her powers nearly every moment of her everyday life.

"What do you mean?"

She let out a smug humph. "The Hero Association wants to appeal to everyone. That includes regular people, as well as special individuals. Therefore, thousands of people attempt to register as heroes each year, and most of them are complete idiots."

Then she moved up ahead and spun around, facing Crush directly, her arms crossed in front of her chest as she stared into his eyes. "What's your story, anyway? And how did you come up with the name, Crush?"

His heart was beating with ferocity. She was so close to him. It was almost unbearable. The slideshow kept on playing, and the images of his family were there before him. They were counting on him, even after death. Their memories longed for him to avenge them. To deliver justice for them… and for Ichika.

With a deep breath, he maintained his composure on the outside. "I crush enemies with my power."

Tatsumaki raised an eyebrow as she looked him over, as if he had something behind his back. Her suspicion of him was intimidating, but she didn't stay on one subject for very long. As quickly as she would appear suspicious, she would shift to being apathetic. She resumed floating ahead, searching the streets for more monsters to destroy.

The sun was setting now, and Crush knew it was nearly time. He opened the GPS on his phone to double check his location. The warehouse district was still several blocks away, and he needed to steer things in that direction. However, with how suspicious Tatsumaki seemed to be so far, he was reluctant to dictate the direction himself.

"Have you even been to B-City before?" she asked.

"Yes, I have."

Tatsumaki rolled her eyes. "This ride-along is for you, so where do you want to go?"

An opportunity had arrived. But as Crush thought it over, he was still hesitant to choose the path. Something felt wrong about Tatsumaki's behavior. "I don't know where to go. Somewhere with lots of monsters."

She was losing her patience. "Don't you have any good ideas to contribute? The least you could do is come up with a suggestion. Some sort of hypothesis on where monsters would be concentrated. It shouldn't be that difficult for you to figure out."

Crush shrugged, playing the act of inexperienced hero. He felt like he was doing a good job at least.

After giving him a few moments to reconsider, Tatsumaki finally made her decision. "I suppose we can go back downtown. There are lots of homeless people but monsters are there often." She turned in that direction and began to float off. It was the opposite direction from the warehouses.

Knowing he no longer had a choice, Crush spoke up at last. "I've heard that monsters lurk by the warehouses at night. That's close by."

She stopped in her path and slowly turned around, raising an eyebrow as she watched Crush closely. "About time you opened your mouth. Next time don't keep me waiting so long for you to come up with an idea."

He held both hands up apologetically but said nothing. Inside, he was thinking that it had been a close call.

After receiving the suggestion, Tatsumaki looked off in the distance and kept on shifting her gaze. "So… which way, rookie?"

This was part of the reason he didn't want to be the one to make the suggestion. It was risky to reveal he was familiar with the area, especially if he was the one to pick the location to patrol. But now he was forced to go with it. Hopefully, she wouldn't question him too much.

The two of them moved in the direction of the warehouse district and Crush had to think about how to contact the bat monsters. They knew he would be showing up tonight, and they were supposed to be ready to stage their attack. However, if they failed to show up, Crush had no backup plan. If the monsters decided to betray him, he would be powerless to respond.

What he needed was for Tatsumaki to enter the warehouse in suite B66.

Eventually, Crush sent the message to the cell phone he'd planted with the monsters. The text simply said 'It's time.' The bat monsters were capable of locating him. They were bats, after all, and they had echolocation to help navigate in the evenings.

Suddenly, Crush felt his cell phone fall from his hand, only to shoot through the air away from him… conveniently landing in Tatsumaki's right hand. "You know," she said with an evil smirk, as her body glowed with green aura from the trick of her powers, "It's unprofessional to be text messaging while being trained by an S Class hero."

Crush was powerless to respond. His failure to be more cautious had now cost him everything.

Sensing she had finally discovered that Crush was up to something, Tatsumaki lowered the phone and stroked her green hair with her left hand, acting like she now had all the cards. "Who are you texting?"

There was no way he could admit to texting monsters as part of an ambush. The phone number was unknown anyway, and he'd previously instructed the bat creatures not to send any text messages. Therefore, he'd avoid any evidence that would prove his trap.

But then… the cell phone beeped, indicating a text message had been received. Tatsumaki's eyes lit up as she smiled. "Looks like you've received a reply. Shall I read it to you?"

Although he wanted to say something, Crush was stumped. Anything he said could lead to him being exposed. But if he was silent, he could possibly play things off. The latter was his better chance of success.

"Okay, let's see it." With that, Tatsumaki lifted the phone in front of her face and squinted her eyes as she reviewed the text. During the tense several moments, there was total silence. Finally, Tatsumaki lowered the phone again and looked dumbfounded as she returned her gaze to Crush. "It says, 'Dinner? Supper? Chow? Banquet? Feast? Meal?' What is this? Some sort of code language?"

The tension faded somewhat, as Crush recognized the language. "It's just my little sister." It made him uncomfortable mentioning Ichika around Tatsumaki, but he had little choice at the moment.

Once she heard the term 'sister', Tatsumaki lessened her intensity as well. "She sounds hungry. You should respond to her text. Quickly, though. I want to finish this ride-along sometime tonight."

The phone returned to Crush's hands and he released the breath he'd been holding in. With that, he sent a reply text telling Ichika to just help herself to something in the fridge. He wanted to tell her 'thank you' for contacting him by phone, rather than sending him a mental message. Her willingness to use the phone may have just saved his life.

Just as Tatsumaki prepared to resume leading the patrol, a screeching sound rang out in the night air. She turned in the direction of the strange new audio, which surely came from a monster. Then more screeches rang out, indicating multiple creatures.

"Sounds like it must be ugly," Tatsumaki commented with a grin.

Crush knew the source of the noise. Now he just had to hope the bat creatures would do their job well. "What are they?"

"Monsters with sonar ability. Probably bats. And there are three of them."

It seem implausible that Tatsumaki figured all that out in a matter of seconds. For a moment, Crush reconsidered his plan. It felt impossible that he would succeed. Surely, Terrible Tornado would catch onto his ruse without difficulty, and then she'd shut it down effortlessly. With how easily she made determinations, largely thanks to her psychic powers, she was incredibly effective at her profession.

But after reaching this point, Crush couldn't back down. This was more than just a night of planning. This was a two year journey for him, and the end was just ahead. Therefore, he stayed the course.

Tatsumaki flew up high in the sky, seeking to get a vantage point above the warehouses.

Once he saw what she was doing, Crush hurried up into the air as well. If he was near her, he had a better chance of slowing her down intentionally. That way, the bat monsters wouldn't get pinned down before they could reach Warehouse Suite B66. Tatsumaki could easily kill them, unless she took her time.

Crush had to be the cause of that hesitation. "Let me go in first. I need to prove myself."

Although he figured she would remain suspicious, Tatsumaki was actually pleased to see him step up. "Very well. Let's see how you handle multiple enemies when they are in their element. If they are anything like bats, they probably thrive in the night."

"I'll keep that in mind." Crush flew in low, passing the warehouse facilities, subtly examining the numbers on the buildings. At night, it was hard to tell the buildings apart, but he found the numbers and figured out where he was. He just needed to take his time. As long as the bat monsters went to the designated building, then things would work.

More screeches rang out, and then they appeared. The three figures of the bats flapping wings as they flew through the chilly air. They were even cackling in creepy fashion, chattering amongst each other, as if they'd just pulled off a caper.

Crush was still thirty yards away from the monsters, but he was close enough to hear the sound of the warehouse door opening and closing. The number was on top of the building, lit up from a neon sign: B66. He felt his insides tingle in anticipation.

Meanwhile, Tatsumaki hovered farther back, watching him closely. Something felt off about this entire development. There was an essence to Crush which drew her attention. Considering he was an 'aspiring hero,' he was far too nonchalant being in this environment. Most other heroes, even those who were higher in the rankings, possessed some degree of fear or hesitation when pursuing monsters. But Crush was more than willing to take the lead. It was also suspicious how he didn't seem to possess that typical bravado of overconfident heroes that could lead one to charge in recklessly. Instead, Crush appeared cerebral, and experienced with his powers.

Whatever it was behind all of these deductions remained a mystery to Tatsumaki, but she was watching him closely.

As if he sensed Tatsumaki's suspicions, Crush turned back to relocate her, then he motioned for her to approach. He was capable of sending her psychic messages directly to her head, but he didn't resort to that. It remained important that he avoid revealing the full extent of his powers, at least for a little longer. Therefore, he waited until she came closer and spoke to her in a low voice. "I can hear voices."

She raised an eyebrow as she turned her attention to the suite before them. "I hear nothing, novice. I think the bats took off."

"But they went inside," he reminded her of what he saw. His hope was that she would get annoyed when he told her he heard voices that she didn't, thus motivating her to see for herself.

Sure enough, she was intrigued by the warehouse now. "They aren't humans. It's not like they're intelligent enough to be cooking drugs or something in there."

"Maybe they're just using it to hide out for the time being." Crush talked as if he were trailing off, like perhaps he was theorizing out loud. But then, he turned to look to her each time, as if eager to see what her opinion was. Hopefully, that would encourage her to take the lead. Because she had to be the one to decide to go inside, not him.

As if she were more than aware of the plot, Tatsumaki crossed her arms and let out another trademark humph. "You told me you wanted to go in to prove yourself. Now's your chance."

Bad news. Crush knew that if he went inside alone, the bat monsters would likely fly out and flee, thus spoiling the plan. There didn't appear to be a sure way to get Tornado to enter the building… but he had to try.

"I would like you to go in as well. If I engage them in battle, it will be beneficial if you are there to witness it, so that you can provide me adequate feedback."

"How convenient," she muttered.

He had to continue to commit to his plan, even while she looked more and more suspicious. Even if she thought he had something up his sleeve, she was unlikely to fear him. With the kind of power she possessed, fear was not a trait in her arsenal.

Crush took a deep breath and then nodded as he approached the door. Another idea came to him. He took extra time in front of the entrance, as if he were trying to use his powers to determine what was on the other side. Next, he held his ear to the door, trying to listen in on them more. Everything he was doing had no impact on actually accomplishing the task of stopping the monsters. Instead, he was trying to take advantage of Tatsumaki's reputation for being impatient.

It didn't take long. "Enough, already," she snapped, giving him a menacing glare. "You won't solve any crimes if you take forever to analyze things. If you don't open that door right now, I'll rip it out myself."

With no more time to waste, Crush opened the door, as quietly as possible. Even then, he left it open, hoping that when he went inside, Tatsumaki would follow him. As he stepped inside, he sensed the bat monsters with his powers. There was a good chance Tatsumaki could detect them as well. They were hiding somewhere in the shadows, hopefully not close to the front door. Although it was unwise to draw attention to it, Crush glanced up at the ceiling. There was a special door up there, designed to grant the bat monsters a means of escape. But if they fled too soon, it would be for nothing.

"You getting cold feet already?" Tatsumaki's cold voice was suddenly right behind him, causing him to flinch forward. She floated through the doorway behind him and was no longer hesitating. In moments, she was in the center of the loading dock, searching the shadows for the monsters. "Looks like we have them trapped in here."

"Yeah," Crush said in agreement.

Tatsumaki spun around, landed on the ground, and stood there with her arms crossed in front of her. Her green eyes had locked onto Crush's blue ones. "Now that we're here, I would like you to answer this question." Her body began to glow in signature green aura and wind began to manifest around her. "Why did you lead me here?"

At last, he knew without any further doubt that she was onto him. But it didn't matter anymore.

Crush shut the door behind him, which seemed to draw the attention of the bat monsters. The creatures screeched loudly as they flew with great speed to the special door at the ceiling, then they vanished off into the night. They had done their part without any problems.

But Tatsumaki didn't give them any attention. Her focus was on Crush now. "Guess you're not really trying to be hero after all."

He sighed and began to shift his mindset. "Nope."

"A pity. You seemed to possess some potential." She shrugged her shoulders and then moved her arms so that her palms were up, as if she were preparing an attack. "Do you have any desire to explain yourself before we do this? Or do you just want to die right away?"

Her words would terrify anyone who knew what she was. But Crush was prepared. "I led you here because I am accusing you of a crime."

"A crime? You lost your mind?"

"No. I've never been more focused in my life. You are a murderer."

The notion only caused her to laugh in amusement. "Heroes are permitted to kill monsters legally. Perhaps you really aren't cut out for this line of work after all."

"I'm not talking about monsters." Crush wanted to say his piece but he knew it would do him no good just yet. But it was so hard for him to hold it in.

"Well then, it sounds like a dark warehouse late at night is the perfect place for an interrogation," she said mockingly. "But since you chose this location, you really didn't give yourself much of a setting to aid your agenda."

"I wouldn't say that," he countered. Suddenly, the blue aura surrounding him revealed some items. A pair of shades went over his eyes, and a pair of headphones covered his ears. He reached in his pocket for a remote control. Once he had it, he pressed some of the buttons. In a flash, bright lights were activated, shining down from different locations in the steel bays. In addition, a high pitched alarm rang out, resembling a dog whistle.

The instant the devices were activated, Tatsumaki covered his face in irritation. "Damn you!" she screamed, and then she unleashed hell. Objects flew up in a rush and launched toward Crush. Anything that was caught in her whirlwind of psychic power. Pallets, loading jacks, shrink wrap, even a forklift. The debris became her weapons as she struggled to deal with the sudden disruption of bright light and loud noise.

With the trap activated, Crush got to work. He had to create barriers to defend him from the projectiles while he made his way deeper into the building. The forklift came crashing to the ground close to him, but he leaped in the air and levitated out of range from the vehicle. In fact, the forklift came to aid him, because he ended up sending it to the front door, to help seal the building better.

"You'll live to regret this," Tornado declared, struggling to relocate Crush. It was proving challenging with the lights and sound throwing off her senses. In fact, her powers couldn't be used accurately with so much disruption. Therefore, she concentrated on that first. She put up barriers surrounding her, in case Crush tried to attack her directly, and then she began to pick apart the lights. The bulbs began to shatter as she targeted them. Once she took care of those, she would be able to find the source of the alarm and disable that as well.

Before that could happen, Crush intended on subduing her. He used his powers to lift three rolls of shrink wrap in the air, and then he sent the tubes toward Tatsumaki. As they approached with great speed, the plastic wrap unreeled itself and floated around the esper. It looked as though it would surround her and bind her in place. But her barriers prevented the plastic wrap from getting close enough.

Tatsumaki saw the attempt and grew even angrier. She pointed her middle fingers at the shrink wrap which caused it to tear repeatedly, as if she were slashing it with a box cutter.

The truth was that the shrink wrap was never going to work, but Crush already knew that. Instead, he was concentrating on moving closer to Tatsumaki, with the intention of getting her to move back. Where she was standing currently, she was out of range of the next trap.

When she saw Crush coming closer, Tatsumaki ascended into the air and rained down waves of energy. He had to leap to the side, levitating himself to avoid the attack. Even then, Tatsumaki wasn't willing to let him off the hook. Next, she targeted the steel bays, which went three stories up. The bars were twisted and mangled, and then the steel began to collapse… toward Crush. There wasn't time for him to build barriers and he had to fight off the objects himself with psychic deflections. The pace was too fast for him and one of the bars struck his forehead, leaving a bloody bruise. For a moment, his powers were deactivated.

Sensing she had managed to down her enemy, Tatsumaki returned her attention to the lights and alarm. She smashed more of the bulbs, eventually revealing one of the alarms in the distance, resting close to the electronic terminal. Now that she found that, she smashed it with her powers. One alarm was shut down, and the effects to her senses were minimal now.

It was enough time for Crush to recover. He was back on the ground and he charged at Tornado, shouting loudly. It appeared as though he were getting desperate.

The sudden charge got Tatsumaki to dart backwards, while she attempted to pinpoint his location before she countered. By now, she was fuming, and eager to kill him. Even then, she wanted to find out why he was attacking her first, so she wouldn't end his life quickly. First, she would interrogate him… and then she would kill him.

On the other hand, Crush's plan was the same as before. There was another remote in his hand now, and he pressed the buttons on it. From there, smoke shot down from different pipes located around the building. In moments, the entire room was engulfed in smoke.

"What are you, some sort of wannabe magician?" she shouted irritably.

Her frustration helped him grow in confidence. Next, Crush launched psychic waves at Tatsumaki, prying away at her barriers. As expected, her defenses were too strong to permit any harm to fall upon her. But the real intention of Crush's attacks was to preoccupy her, while he concentrated on the true method of getting through to her.

"You're preparation is impressive," she acknowledged from somewhere in the cloud of smoke. "But your passion was wasted on this suicide plan."

Until he acquired control of the situation, Crush didn't waste his breath on words. He was focused on his traps, and on utilizing his powers to keep Tatsumaki at bay. The barriers he had around him were losing their strength, with objects still crashing into them repeatedly. As expected, Tatsumaki's power allowed her to attack and defend simultaneously and constantly. If another esper faced her in battle, they had the chance to last a while, but they would still ultimately lose the battle of endurance. Crush knew he would lose that kind of battle as well. But that wasn't his strategy.

Moyra had taught it to him originally. His game plan was to be a specialist.

With the lights mostly dispatched and two of the alarms smashed, there was no more need for the shades and headphones, so Crush ditched them. Now, he had a different focus, and the smoke would provide him with cover. Using his powers, he brought over a cart with some items on it. He closed his eyes, relying on his abilities to located Tatsumaki, even with the smoke concealing her. This next part had to be perfect.

Unfortunately, Tornado flew toward the ceiling, eager to escape the smoke cloud. Once she was above it, she began to target the pipes channeling the smoke, which would put an end to that part of the set up.

Even then, Crush didn't panic. He pulled on the light fixtures hanging from the ceiling and sent them like projectiles toward Tatsumaki. She saw it coming and deflected them, but decided to return toward the ground for cover, knowing that the smoke would soon disperse. Not to mention, she prepared another barrier which would keep the smoke out of her face. As soon as her feet hit the ground, she saw Crush coming from the front. Immediately, she held both hands up and launched a swift psychic attack. Crush had to hold his hands up in defense, resisting her attempt to pull at him. If she overwhelmed him here, he would be crushed. It would be a fitting end to his life.

Suddenly, Tatsumaki's eyes winced in surprise, and she glanced down to her left arm. There was a needle there, seemingly from out of nowhere. She angrily sent it away with a psychic wave. Her attention remained on Crush, even as he gritted his teeth in defiance, resisting her psychic strength. But she was gaining on him, and she knew it. Just when she thought she would overwhelm him, she felt her senses begin to fade. Slow at first, and then it was fast. Crush's eyes grew large when he saw what was happening, and he began to lessen in his strain to deal with the psychic pressure.

The general anesthetic was working. Even if it wasn't fully injected, it was enough. Tatsumaki's head spun for a few moments, and then she fell backwards. Her powers still functioned to protect her body from the fall, but she still fell unconscious.

That left Crush standing alone, while the Tornado of Terror was out cold before him.

He had little time to work. Knowing he had to make this count, he used his powers to break the glass windows on the ceiling, which channeled the smoke out of the building. Next, he sent some sledgehammers and knives over, setting them in the air, hovering around Tatsumaki. Even in this position, he was unable to land an attack on her. Tatsumaki was able to channel her powers even while unconscious, and that would prevent her from suffering harm.

But Crush had expected this as well. He had another needle with him, and he injected himself. Moments after Crush lied down on the floor, the general anesthesia took effect, and he joined the Tornado of Terror in the state of unconsciousness.

The confrontation would resume from there.