A few nights later, in a mostly abandoned warehouse district, several armed guards of KnightCorps' personal security force stood guard outside of one of the buildings, making sure no one, unintentional or otherwise, stumbled onto what was really going on inside, while looking down at them from the building across the way were four individuals, two looking with frowns on their faces, one with a frown behind his helmet, and the last doing his best to hold in a feral growl.
These were the Vigilant, a young group of heroes brought together to fight evil, especially those who hide their wicked deeds, like KnightCorps and, unlike other hero groups, keep their identities from one another, insuring that if one were ever captured or exposed, the rest of the team would be safe.
The first was the leader of the group, Responder, who wore a red tech suit that covered his entire being, where metal plating ran down his whole being, while set within his chest was a blue core, not only the source of his energy, but he too was able to cast off such energy as a weapon.
His face was concealed by a blue faceplate over his helmet, shaped in a V formation, where three spikes protruded from the helmet, one on each side and one running down the front.
Set upon his arms, shoulders and his kneecaps were smaller forms of the orb implanted within his chest, allowing for more long ranged laser attacks, while upon his back were a set of metallic golden lines, each flowing with a powerful blue energy, allowing Responder the added ability of flight.
Unbeknownst to his team, Responder's true name was Haru Shinkai, a junior at Odaiba High, a young genius and the one who not only brought the Vigilant together, but is the only one who knows each member by their really names, believing that this was the best way to protect those he considered his closest friends.
To the right of Responder was a smaller figure, a young boy that had wild blonde hair, small whisker-like markings on his cheeks, while a confident grin adorned his face.
The only thing keeping his identity a secret was the blue visor around his head, where a set of headphones upon his ears, leaving a small mic extending from the left side.
He wore a dark blue tracksuit, with an orange jacket over the top, with each of his arms lined up with what looked like small speakers set within the outfit, with the ends of his wrists lined up with a set of deep red bracelets.
A matching red belt was set around his waist, as were a pair of red anklets that connected to the orange boots he was wearing, where they too had been set with the same speaker equipment, set both around his boots and on the souls, while flowing around his neck was a deep red scarf.
This young hero was Frequency, known in secret as Torajiro Asuka, or Astora to those he called his close friends, and the youngest member of the Vigilant, where he used his love of music as his choice of signature weapon, where he was not only able to cast out sonic waves from the speakers set upon his being, creating sonic waves, disruptions to the sense of hearing and sight such as vertigo, but with his enthusiasm, he could cast it out through his speakers to invigorate his allies and those he believed need a boost in confidence.
As Frequency, Torajiro was carefree, determined, brave and a little reckless, the complete opposite to his alter ego outside of his hero persona, where he was more polite, quiet and behaved.
Neither Frequency or Torajiro's personalities were an act to throw off any who suspected him of being a superhero, this was actually how he was as was raised in a disciplined environment by his parents, who he loved and respected deeply, but as Frequency, he could let loose, to go off the normal rules he would abide by, allowing him a sense of freedom as he hit the town.
And continuing to keep up his grin, Frequency turned, admiring the lone heroine of their team, Cosmic Knockout.
Better known as Eri Karan, a junior at Odaiba High and member of the cheerleading squad, Cosmic Knockout used her fighting prowess as her superpower, having a set of metal gloves that covered her hands, adding to her superior strength.
Her outfit consisted of a skin tight light blue bodysuit, showing off her figure and her C-cup breasts, with a black jean jacket over her upper body.
She had tied her pink hair into a set of twintails on the sides of her head, where they spread out and just reached her shoulders.
And similar to Frequency's visor, Cosmic Knockout wore a light blue version, not only keeping her own identity secret to all, even her allies, but through the visor, she could keep in communications with her teammates, as well as monitor and access her surroundings, heightening her senses.
Lastly, and by Responder's left was the final hero of the Vigilant, though from his appearance, it was easily understandable for many to think this individual was a great threat to all.
Maintaining a humanoid figure, this being was covered in pitch black fur, having razor sharp fangs lined within his mouth, claws along each finger, as well as a furred tail that poked through a pair of ripped pants.
Looking more of a beast than a man, more like a werewolf, the figure had intimidated many with his appearance, but Responder and the Vigilant knew that he was to be trusted, able to control himself, not only through his will, but through the various cybernetics that ran along his being, where various wires and cables ran along his body, set upon his wrists were a set of long steel blades, while a specially crafted visor was set upon his head, giving him the same access to communicate with his allies and assess his surroundings.
This was Razor Wolf, also known as Yujin Ozoa, a junior at Odaiba High that was abducted one night but KnightCorps' thugs, where he was experimented on, giving him the ability to turn into the beast he looked like now as a means to creating a living weapon, before responder came to his rescue, helped him be able to change back and forth from his beast form, and gave him a position on the Vigilant to get payback against KnightCorps for what they had done to him.
"Is this the place, Responder?" Cosmic Knockout asked as she watched the signs of lights on the team's leader's faceplate, where he nodded.
"Yeah. There are several people in cells, along with more security, scientists, and a large energy source, one that's moving." Responder replied, seeing that Infiltrator's information was on the spot once again, knowing he could trust the mysterious hacker after Haru helped him out in the past.
"Then let's rip them in half already and get those people out of there!" Razor Wolf then said with a snarl, his beastial instincts and hate toward KnightCorps telling him to get his revenge, only to stop as he felt Responder set his hand on his shoulder.
"We will, and we'll do it together." Responder said with a calmness in his tone, understanding his friend's rage, but he didn't want it to cloud his mind and wind up harming any innocents, prisoner or guards that had not been told the whole truth.
"Let's move." The tech hero then said to the rest of the Vigilant, getting nods from the team as they leaped down, where Cosmic Knockout quickly punched both of the guards nearest her in the face, sending them flying a few feet and skidding across the ground unconscious, while Razor Wolf quickly ripped the metal doors of the warehouse open, allowing the heroes in but alerting everyone inside.
Inside, the young heroes saw several people in makeshift prison cages, while a pair seemed to be unconscious on metal slabs with devices on their heads, as though reading their brain activity, while the scientists working on them freaked out as the guards, including one large figure in a tech suit, pointed their guns at the heroes.
"Damn it, why here?! Do your job, merc, or Knight will hear about this!" One of the scientists yelled as he and his colleagues ran out the opposite end of the building, while Black Wyvern scoffed at their cowardice, before grinning as he looked at this new group of 'heroes' before him.
"You're the brats the boss wants me to exterminate?" He questioned, looking over the small group, where he then commented. "Easy pay."
Black Wyvern then pointed his gun arm at the Vigilant, opening fire and laughing maniacally as the remaining guards joined in, causing the young heroes to dodge as best as they could.
"Who is this guy?" Cosmic Knockout then questioned, dodging the hail of energy shots from the armoured merc, where Frequency fired blasts of sonic fire back at the merc, who used his jets to avoid the fire, which hit his back up instead, sending some crashing into a nearby wall.
"Whoever he is, he needs to lay off the caffeine." Frequency said in reply, trying to fire back, launching out a hail of discs from his wrist mounted blasters, but found Black Wyvern's speed too great for him.
But having other tricks up his sleeve quite literally, Frequency detached one of the speakers off his jacket and threw it toward the guards, where it began to produce a terrible soundwave through the area, causing many of the guards to drop their guns, fall to their knees and cry out as they covered their ears, trying to get the ringing out of their heads.
Meanwhile, Razor Wolf was all over the place, knocking out guard after guard, even throwing one out of the window, while Responder was flying around, firing blasts of blue energy at the remaining lackies, before joining in on fighting Black Wyvern as a pair of energy blades erupted from his gauntlets, catching the merc by surprise as he quickly turned, activating his own blade as he blocked the attack, both hero and villain glaring at one another through their helmets.
"You're tougher than I anticipated. I can see why my boss has had his hands full with you." Black Wyvern commented with a small chuckle, before quickly pushing Responder back, where the merc's eyes widened as he saw energy building up in the hero's chest orb.
Focusing his energies, Responder then cast out a great surge of blue light from his chest, the beam attack heading right for Black Wyvern, who was quick to act, casting an energy shield around himself.
But even with the shielding, having his suit upgraded, he groaned, feeling Responder's intense power starting to push him back.
"Way to go! Responder, we'll..." Cosmic Knockout started to say as she rushed to aid her ally, before quickly dodging as a blast of pink energy fired past where she almost walked through, while Frequency dodged a series of blades thrown at him.
Razor Wolf, meanwhile, dodged a series of needles thrown in his direction, an action Responder mimicked as he stopped attacking Black Wyvern and dodged, landing by his team as the merc landed in front of his reinforcements.
"Master Knight was right to hire you, Black Wyvern, but you shouldn't take these... 'heroes' lightly." One of the figures said, while the Vigilant narrowed their eyes at seeing the three individuals that stood around Black Wyvern.
By Black Wyvern's left was the being that had attacked Razor Wolf, evident due to the remaining syringes he was holding, continuing to make Razor Wolf snarl, not only at knowing the individual all too well, having been the one who experimented on him, but at their more warped appearance as well.
Wearing green armour over his body, where various wires and tubes ran along his form, pumping in and out various chemicals and fluids, from what sections the armour cut off as to allow the figure free movement of his arms and legs, pale and blistering skin could be seen.
Upon his back were a set of thrusters, only they weren't mounted to his armour, but they had been fused within his back, protruding out of his skin, which formed and molded around the metal, adapting to the changes.
From his arms, small holes opened up out of his skin, extending long needle-like blades, his face was covered completely by a respirator, with tubes running out the sides and into the sides of his face and his neck, while a set of gleaming red eyes could be seen behind his makeshift mask, creeping out the prisoners from their cages at the horrific sight of what they guessed was a human.
This, the Vigilant knew, was Dr. Helix, KnightCorps' unofficial head of bio-sciences, and the head of Knight's personal security force.
"You're even uglier than I remember." Razor Claw growled, while Helix laughed and replied as his mask face scanned the Vigilant. "Science waits for nobody and sometimes she requires other volunteers to exceed."
"Good one!" The second of Knight's security force said with an insane laugh, drawing attention to him as most glared at him.
Resting his torso on Black Wyvern's right arm was a man dressed in dark jester-like get up, having a white mask with a creepy smile etched upon it covering his face, while a large hat that was divided into a shade of dark violet and light violet rested atop his head.
The figure wore a thin dark violet top, with red trimmings running along the chest, while the shoulders were outstretched, allowing a deep red cape to flow down the back of the comical character's costume.
Similar to his hat, his pants were divided into light and dark shades of violet, running down in a striped pattern, completing his ensemble as he remained in his comical mood, twirling a pair of daggers in his hands.
Jester, as he called himself, was a psychotic assassin Knight managed to tame and bring into his private force, using the clown to dispose of those who displeased or angered the corrupt CEO.
Lastly, and behind Black Wyvern, was a more femimine figure, the villainess of Knight's small team, Lady Beauty, though that was not her true name.
Relinquishing her old name and her very life years ago, she had agreed to partake in Knight's experiments, to gain eternal beauty, to stop from aging, where she had undergone countless and painful experiments to become the woman she now was.
And though the treatments were a success, she was left mentally unstable, having an insatiable and near obsessive side to her, to destroy, which Knight found a use for, having her work for him in exchange for keeping her in her eternal state of youth.
Choosing an attire to match her beauty, she wore a dark black dress, with silver sections of armour over her figure, covering her arms, legs and her chest, while a set of black and white wings adorned the back of her armour, where she continued to show herself off, having flew up and set her arms around Black Wyvern's neck as she looked down at the heroes.
"Such a pitiful bunch you are." Lady Beauty commented, her attention drawn namely toward Cosmic Knockout, glaring at the heroine and feeling spite toward her for her near perfect beauty, while Black Wyvern glared out the corner of his eyes in annoyance at the woman hanging around his back.
Not wanting to wait, however, especially at seeing the one who experimented on him once again, Razor Wolf let out a fearsome roar, before leaping at Helix, who dodged with ease as he moved back, dodging the swings and blows from the mutant beast's claws and bladed arms.
"Razor, wait...!" Frequency started to yell, only to jump back as Jester closed the distance between them, missing the young blond by an inch with his blades, before the insane clown began to laugh wickedly as he tried to strike the hero down.
"Just hold still. I promise this won't hurt... me!" Jester let out, continuing to let out his clear insanity, swinging his blade and trying with each motion to plunge it into Frequency's body, but found the blond hero continuing to stay on guard, avoiding each attack.
Acting on her own, Cosmic Knockout then leapt into the air, ready to deliver a blow to Lady Beauty's face as the villainess got off of Black Wyvern's back, only for her to gracefully sidestep, where the young heroine's fist slammed into the ground, leaving a crater where her enemy once stood.
"Such brute force, not very ladylike." Lady Beauty commented, before she held up her left arm, displaying the silver shield set upon it and withdrawing a dark hilted sword from the sheath attached to her belt, a dark aura circling the blade as she said with a dark grin. "But if you want it this way, then who am I to deny your request?"
With her choice of weapon drawn, Lady Beauty lunged herself at Cosmic Knockout, moving her blade in a horizontal swing as she tried to cut down the heroine, but found Cosmic Knockout's reflexes sharper than expected as the pink haired heroine countered her attack and managed to clench Lady Beauty's blade within her gauntlets.
"You're a real pain in the neck, you know that?" The heroine asked, before pushing her opponent back, where she then delivered a swift kick to the villainess' stomach, sending her staggering back a few feet, where Lady Beauty looked at her enemy through her helmet in pure rage, hating Cosmic Knockout not only for her looks, but for trying to damage her own.
Meanwhile, Black Wyvern decided to go for the head in a sense, extending his energy blade as he rushed at Responder, who used his own blades to block the oncoming attack.
"I don't know who you are, but don't care, you're dead now!" The merc said menacingly as he then brought out his gun arm, hoping to shoot the tech hero down before he could respond, only for the villain's eyes to widen as he saw the orbs on Responder's body glow, especially the chestpiece, before a beam of energy shot through the clashing energy blades, shattering both of Black Wyvern's arm weapons and causing him stagger back a bit.
"Don't underestimate us." Responder said, bringing his energy blades in and the power then flowed into his gauntlet fists, where he rushed at Black Wyvern and began to deliver a series of punches at the villain, who used his energy barrier to try and protect himself, while groaning in frustration at the power this young hero seemed to have.
Back with Helix and Razor Wolf, the duo were going all out as they engaged in close combat.
Blades, claws and needles clashing and coming closely into contact with the opposition as the two continued in their fight.
"Such anger." Helix commented as he avoided Razor Wolf's right arm, where the blade just missed his head. "After everything I've done for you, you continue to express no gratitude."
"I didn't ask for this..." Razor Wolf snarled back as the terrible memories of his painful transformation at Helix's hand filled his head, where he then let out with a great rage. "You turned me into a monster, a weapon that you could use to bring suffering to others. But I swear I won't let you harm another person and make them suffer as I did!"
Expressing his fury, Razor Wolf threw his right arm forward, ignoring the pain he felt as Helix's needles jabbed through the fur and into his skin, before his claws made contact with Helix's chest and sliced clean through the armour, ripping it off of Helix's being and leaving deep cuts upon his horribly twisted form.
"Damn beast!" Helix yelled as the wing like appendages from his back swung around, trying to cut his former pet in half, only for Razor Wolf to easily jump over them as he rushed his foe, trying to strike at him once more as the villain dodged.
Meanwhile, despite her earlier show of force, Cosmic Knockout soon found herself on the defensive as Lady Beauty revealed her true power, channeling pink energy into her sword and shield, firing blasts of energy at the pink haired heroine as she tried to dodge all the attacks and get close.
"Quit moving, you brat! I promise not to harm that pretty little face of yours'." Lady Beauty said as she continued her attacks, continuing to unleash her series of energy shots at the fighter heroine, who brought her arms up, defending as bet she could with her gauntlets, but she could see Lady Beauty using her paralyzed state to move closer, drawing in on her.
But having her team always on her back, a smile appeared on Cosmic Knockout's face as she saw Frequency leap above her, having managed to escape Jester's mad onslaught and to now fight by her side.
"Time to turn up the Frequency!" The music based hero announced as he crossed his arms along his chest, set his thumbs, index and ring fingers out with his call, before letting loose a stream of rhythm-shaped energy the speaker set within his chest and towards Lady Beauty, sending her flying back and crashing into the wall.
Smiling to see Frequency next to her, but acting quickly, Cosmic Knockout quickly turned and slammed her right fist into Jester's chest, just as he was about to impale the blond hero with his blades, sending the masked clown flying back and laughing at his own injuries, where the two heroes stood back to back, ready to take on whatever came their way next.
Out of all the Vigilant, the pair were in some ways the closest, always there when the other needed them, and felt close, even though they both had feelings for another.
Seeing his allies in pain, including himself, Helix yelled out. "Retreat! We will deal with these pests another day!"
Lady Beauty and Jester complied immediately, while Black Wyvern growled in frustration, hating to lose, before opening the missile ports on his shoulders, firing rockets at the remaining computers, destroying them and leaving the building unstable as the villains and KnightCorps guards fled.
"Leave them! Save the hostages!" Responder yelled in response to the instability of the structure, where the Vigilant quickly moved to break the cells, as well as carry those who were unconscious, bringing them all outside before the warehouse collapsed behind them.
As the freed hostages thanked their saviours, the sounds of sirens were heard, causing the Vigilant to nod to one another, disappearing from the scene and allowing the police to take care of those they had rescued, happy to have saved more innocents from KnightCorps' evil, and knew that they would be there to stop them again in the future.
-The next day-
Walking through the halls toward his classroom was Torajiro, only his hair was combed back, he wore a green sweater and a pair of brown pants, the polar opposite of his Frequency persona, where he was quietly minding his own business, that was until he came into contact with another student, causing his books to drop and scatter alongside the books the other student was carrying.
"Sorry." Torajiro said with respect as he bowed his head, before looking up and blushing at who he had bumped into, for ahead of him was the girl he had a crush on, one of the young cheerleaders, and the most beautiful girl in his eyes, Eri Karan.
"Allow me." The blond then said, quickly kneeling down and picking up Eri's books, only for his blush to increase as he reached out for one and found Eri's hand touching his own, quickly looking up and seeing the pink haired cheerleader crouching down on her knees ,picking up the books and staring at him with a faint blush of her own.
To Eri, Torahiro was a sweet, kind boy, one she wanted to know more about, to talk more with, but sadly...
"Eri? What are you doing with that loser?" She heard one of the cheerleaders ask, turning to see two members of her squad staring down at her and Torajiro.
"That dork was the one who bumped into you, so it's like totally his fault." The cheerleader then said with a condescending tone toward Torajiro, causing her friend to nod in agreement, believing that because of their popularity, they were better than the boy.
"Now come on. We're going to be late for practice." The second cheerleader informed as she grabbed at Eri's arm, pulling her up and leading her away, where she added. "Thank goodness Kari isn't a tyrant, so leave Tora whatever's his name to his books and let's go."
Watching as Eri slowly turned her head and began to walk with her peers, Torajiro, meanwhile, let out a sigh, knowing that he'd never be able to win over a beauty like Eri, failing to notice that the pink haired girl had looked back with a sad look on her own face.
'I'm sorry, Torajiro.' She thought, knowing the boy's name and knowing how kind and sweet he could be, but her feelings were conflicted due to her peer pressure as a cheerleader, wanting to befriend the blond and get to know him, but there was a deep part of her that remained afraid of what the other girls would think.
Meanwhile, from his own locker, Haru watched the scene and sighed, finding it funny that in their hero personas, Eri and Astora were both easy going and carefree with one another, with Frequency even a little playful and flirtatious around Eri, a complete opposite of their normal lives.
The green haired boy then looked and smiled to see Yujin, back in his human form, smiling as he talked with his classmates, glad to see his best friend back to his friendly and cheerful side, while still thinking on how he could undo the effects of Helix's experiment.
Haru was then about to close his locker, before his cell phone vibrated, causing him to take it out and, recognizing the number, answered as he heard on the other line. "Glad to see you and your team are alright, I didn't know about Black Wyvern until after the fact."
"It's alright, your info was helpful." Haru replied with a smile.
"Sadly, it's not enough to take KnightCorps down this time." Infiltrator, known to a select few as Rei Katsura, who watched on the TV as Knight gave a press conference, disavowing the 'renegade' scientist who operated the lab the Vigilant hit the previous night, and with most apparently believing the young CEO's word.
Rei then narrowed his eyes as he heard Knight announced a new project from KnightCorps, a series of communication towers he plans to build all over Odaiba, ones that will make communication and internet instantaneous, an announcement that was met with a round of applause.
"Knight is up to something big, and I'll keep looking until I find out what." Rei said, trusting Haru ever since he saved the hacker's younger brother, Hajime, from one of Knight's experiments, where the hooded figure vowed to stop whatever the corrupt CEO planned, no matter what it took.
"And we'll be there when you need us." Haru replied with a determined look, before hanging his phone, getting ready to go to class.
"Haru, are you alright?" A familiar female voice then asked behind the green haired boy, causing him to jump a little from the sudden call, before turning with a blush to see a familiar blonde smiling at him.
"Sorry about that. I didn't mean to scare you." The girl said, allowing Haru to not only recover from his small scare, but to take in the sight of the figure.
Looking ahead of him was a young girl around his age, her blonde hair just stopping at her cheeks, framing her face and highlighting her sparkling purple coloured eyes, which seemed to liven up Haru's day.
"It... It's alright, Ai." Haru said with a blush, having Ai Kashiki, the girl he loved, so close to him, before the pair walked off to class, her positivity almost contagious as she happily walked by Haru's side, leaving him smiling in response.
-Meanwhile-
Within Knight's office, Kouki stood alongside Helix, Lady Beauty and Jester as the CEO finished watching his broadcast, before the Knight turned to them, with Kouki expecting him to be angry, even wanting to fire the merc, only for him to be surprised at the calm look on Knight's face.
"Do not worry, Mr. Tsubasa, I had not expected you to defeat them on your first encounter. If it were that easy, we would have done so sooner. No, this time was just for you to get an idea of what the 'Vigilant' are capable of." Knight informed, where he then smirked and added. "Nothing they do can stop my plans anyways."
Kouki was about to ask what he meant, before the door to the room opened and one off Knight's secretaries came in, where the merc was about to freak out at being spotted, only for Lady Beauty to place a finger on his lips, silencing him and wagging a finger his way.
"Here are the annual reports... Mr. Unryuji..." The secretary said in a distant voice as she handed her boss a file, where Kouki noticed with a confused look the glazed over expression on the woman's face, the vacantness in her eyes, as if she was not in complete control of her actions.
"Thank you, my dear, That will be all." Knight replied, causing Kouki to look at his employer, before his eyes widened to see Knight's eyes glowing red.
'Crap, he's a psionic!' Kouki thought to himself, realizing that the young CEO was controlling the secretary not to notice him or the others, and made him worry about what he thought around this man.
After the secretary left, Knight's eyes returned to normal as he then added. "Yes, I am a psionic, but no, Mr. Tsubasa, I won't use my powers on you, so long as you remember your place."
Moving to the window of his office and looking out at Odaiba, Knight smirked as he informed. "The Protectors are too busy dealing with the Night Queen and the Dark Legion to worry about us and the StarCorps and the Police department can't touch me. So long as we keep those brats distracted, nothing will stop my plans. Soon, this city will know its place, serving me!"
Author's Note: And here we have it, our three main hero groups: The heroes of the Protectors, the superpowered law enforcement of the StarCorps, and the young heroes of the Vigilant. As villains now come out of the woodworks, will they be able to stop the Night Queen from tearing their world apart? And what is Knight Unryuji real goal? Stay tuned and enjoy this evolving story of heroes and villains.
