Contrary to popular belief, powered exoskeletons, or alternatively exo-suits, have been used militarily much earlier than one from his time would expect. Publicly the first true so-called 'mobile machines' integrated with human movements appeared in the 1960s, in the name of Hardiman.
Behind the scene? After the conclusion of WW2, the US government and its allies started preparing for an impending threat called the Soviet Union under Stalin's rule, whereas the relationship between the two superpowers began to sour considerably and inevitably. One which was born out of necessity during wartime now found itself slowly crumbling due to tensions from different ideologies.
Thus, with abundant resources, along a newly-acquired manpower thanks to a particular Operation Paperclip—where more than 1600 Nazi German scientists, engineers and technicians were employed in the Federal Government—the Allies got to work.
First, the idea of creating a super soldier, inspired from a certain comic character who used his shield as the only choice of weapon and made his debut in 1941. As enthralling as the idea of forming a super team who could take on the most precarious missions and an entire army themselves, reality proved disappointing to all parties that were involved in this project.
Long story short, the said project was cancelled after the first trial run, which included immeasurable unnecessary deaths. Attributable to technological limitations during that time, there was no probable way to reduce the potent of the serum to a safe enough level for human's usage. Although, later on the same formula was used to develop the same serum which restored Henry's left arm, among many other things.
Then, the attention was diverted to weapons, to which some learned the hard lesson bigger does not always mean better; obtaining great power that sacrifices practicality is not worth it.
Which led to this question inquired by none other than the 'Mother of Combat-Ready Exo-Suit':
What if we could create something that can withstand the power of a nuke?
Realistically, such a feat is not achievable; yet the idea was there. If the best defense is a good offense, then the best offense is a good defense.
And where was the better location to test the first combat-ready exo-suit in history after years of both researching and building than the raging and bloody ongoing civil war in a South East Asian country called Vietnam?
It was a massive success. But at what cost?
Brief history lesson aside—would not want this to turn into an info dump, would we now?—what does it have to do with what Henry is doing at the moment, namely observing a particular warehouse that is situated in Musutafu's largest cargo port while keeping one certain blood-obsessed girl entertained by allowing her have fun with his now-longer hair, aka braiding his hair. A simple, harmless side-effect from administrating the same serum twice in the same day, nothing to worry about.
"Why in tarnation is your hair so grey when you're so young, Henry?"
The said man cannot help but twitch his eye as he puts down his monocular. "Okay. First, that hurts. And second, I already told you I'm older than I appear."
"How old can you possibly be? 30? 40? I don't really mind if you're my father's age though," Himiko whispers to herself the last part, which definitely does not go unheard by him.
He huffs and rolls his eye. "You wouldn't believe me if I tell you anyway."
"You can't be that old, right?" Himiko beams, yet upon hearing no response from Henry, she begins growing worried as cold sweat appears on her forehead. "R-Right, my love...?"
In return, the man simply tilts his head over his shoulder and sends her a smirk. "What do you think then?" Henry inquires. "Do take a good guess."
"...Ignorance is bliss from time to time."
"There. You're learning quickly, aren't you?" Henry chuckles and ruffles her hair.
The girl promptly puffs her cheeks and averts her gaze. "Stupid age gap..."
Shifting his butt on the firm surface of the top of this high-rise commercial building which overlooks the entire port, Henry makes himself comfortable in his spot and returns his attention to the port, as he places the monocular before his eye once more.
Himiko deflates, grumbling and directing a soft glare at him. Soon, she returns to her usual cheerful self and resumes braiding his hair. Granted Henry prefers having his hair shorter, the length—despite his hair is already resting over his shoulders—is not an issue. He could have trimmed it, though he was occupied in other more important matters. Then again, figured that if he is going to have a haircut, he may as well let the professional do their job.
On a side note, what is with heroines and their long hairs? Not that he has anything against them. A woman's hair is her crowning glory after all. But certainly, they could tie it up, make it into a ponytail or perhaps have them braided like what Himiko is doing, plenty of options.
Long hair in any fight has always been the perfect recipe for disaster, no more than granting yourself a handicap and an easy disadvantage your opponent would definitely exploit the crap out of it.
"There, all done~!" Himiko announces cheerily as she whips out her flip phone from her skirt, before opening the camera app and handing the device to Henry. "What do you think~?"
Putting the monocular away from his sight, Henry takes the phone and checks out her handiwork in her phone's screen. He gives an appreciative whistle; side braids on both sides to frame his face plus a braided pony tail in addition.
"I look like a discounted Viking raider," Henry remarks with a grin. "I like it. Thanks."
"Yay~!"
Giving herself a proud and proud beam and a pat on her back, Himiko gracefully accepts her phone as Henry hands it back to her. Yet—to the girl's disappointment, the man carries on his observation, causing the smile on her face to be replaced with a small frown and a pout. Akin to a cat, she slides and rests her head on his lap as she lies down.
Himiko tugs his shirt while rubbing her cheek against his thigh. "I am bored~. Can we do something else, other than staring at that warehouse for hours?"
"What do you suggest then?"
"How about we cut somebody up—" Himiko pauses as Henry raises his brow. "...No cutting people up. But still, I'm bored outta my mind here! How're you able to do this? Don't you get sick of it?"
"Lots of practice and experience. And no, not really." Henry places his free hand over her head, stroking her hair. "You know, for a person who occasionally acts like a cat, you certainly lack the patience of one. That's going to bite you in your ass some day."
Thin slits in the eyes, wide smiles showing the pointed canines, and clingy whenever it is possible to do so? Place a pair of cat ears on her head, and Henry might start treating her like one.
The girl crosses her arms and averts her gaze. Her pout intensifies. "And whose fault is that...?"
"Not my fault you wanted to tag along in the first place," Henry defends himself. "Furthermore, you should've prepared better. I did say we were going to depart early. You have no one but yourself to blame for your own blunder, lass."
"Well, what kinda madman dragged someone out of their bed at FOUR in the morning just to monitor some warehouse anyway?!"
"Me."
"Exactly!"
Henry does not bother to hide his smug grin, further infuriating Himiko with her cheeks puffing out like a hamster's cheek with food stuffed within them. Inwardly though, the man is relieved the blood-obsessed girl wanted to come with him. That way he can keep an eye on her, lest her go somewhere and possibly resume her bloody streak of murders.
He is not dumb enough to blindly take her words for granted, at least not this early. Being paranoid with common sense helps in the long run.
"Besides, didn't you spend most of the time sleeping—" like a cat "—and watching YouTube? What's that guy's name again? Gentle something? Gentle Villain?"
"It's Gentle Criminal. But his videos got boring quickly, and I can't sleep all day! How am I supposed to sleep at night and enjoy cuddling?" Himiko points out dryly. "Still, 4:00 AM. Isn't it kinda extreme?"
"In my old line of work? Nowhere near."
Himiko says nothing, only directs a blank stare at Henry, her eyes twitching, as she spots the sky has already turned orange and purple with the sun setting in the horizon. The streetlights on the streets, along the ones in the buildings, are illuminating this near-empty corner of Musutafu, barring a couple of container coursing on the calm water and several semis heading in and out of the port.
The girl finally opens her mouth a few moments later.
"Why four?" she inquires. "And your stuffs are right there, right? Why don't you just go in, grab it, then head out? Should be no sweat, right?"
"Uh-huh," Henry says. "That said, I've yet to retrieve them due to something else."
"Which is...?"
"Confirming some dark web chatter," he elaborates. "There've been talks about a drug deal which is going to taking place here. Problem is there was no mention of the time, only the date. Forasmuch as I don't wish to take chances and miss the deal, I figured I might as well be here early to look out for anything out of ordinary."
"...Why don't you, y'know, take your stuffs first and deal with drug dealers later?"
"Good point. Still, can't risk getting caught in broad daylight with all the trucks loading and offloading their goods in the warehouse complex. The heat might've died down, but the same couldn't be said with the police Special Investigation Unit and that 2nd ranked hero, Endeavor. The bastard's certainly adamant on bringing me to justice."
If anything, the press conference seemed like where the guy flexed his influence. Still, is it just Henry, or that Endeavor has something for All Might, seeing how the number of times he mentioned the Symbol of Peace in his official statement regarding the vigilante 'Blood Demon'.
...Yeah, that is what the media dubbed Henry, Blood Demon, based on the fact his entire body was covered in blood when he made his appearance to the public and his manifested bloodthirst.
Still, Blood Demon? It sounds kind of edgy.
On top of this, the nickname seemed to fuel more of Himiko's already-growing affection towards the man when the duo watched the live conference because, you guessed it, it is related to blood.
Might as well live up to the damned name if they are going to call him that from now onwards.
"Still, why did it have to be four in the morning...? I was having a lovely dream about you taking off my underwear and—"
"Right. Going to stop you right there. Unnecessary details, lass."
Teenagers and their raging hormones. How could he forget such an important detail?
"But Henry..."
"All right, all right. I heard you." Henry puts away his monocular and lands his gaze on Himiko, his hand squeezing her cheeks playfully, as he chuckles. "Now that you've been with me this whole time since the morning, I'll cook the blood curds with soup as a late-night treat, give you a lot of headpats and ear scratches before we go to bed. What say you?"
Instantly, Himiko coos with a slow nod, then purrs contentedly the moment he moves his hand away from her squishy cheeks and ruffles her hair. At the same time, she rubs her face against his abdomen while pulling herself closer to her. Definitely a clingy kitty, that she is.
Soon afterwards, Henry's attention is diverted from Himiko. From the corner of his eye, he perceives two SUVs—something about their appearances screams mobsters—driving straight to the direction of the warehouse complex. He places the monocular before his eye again. At the gate, they are stopped by a guard, although promptly allowed inside after the mentioned guard takes the cash from one of the SUVs.
Right. Not suspicious at all.
"I'll kill them. I'll kill them. I'll them," Himiko suddenly murmurs repeatedly with her now-cold tone. "How dare they drew my love's attention away from me when he was petting me? Isn't that strange? I'll cut them and make them bleed slowly when I got to—it hurts!"
The girl yelps and clutches her head as Henry chops her, snapping out of her murderous intent. He sighs, staring at her with his gaze flattening.
"Calm yourself," Henry says simply. "You're not going to kill anyone here."
Himiko pouts, then beams. "Hey, you're about to bust their deal, right? Can I come with?" He curves his brow upward and stares at her in her eyes, silently urging her to continue with a 'why should I?' face. "Don't be such a worrywart, my love~. I can handle myself just fine~!"
In response, Henry ponders his options for a brief moment. "...Fine. Follow my lead and do as I say. More importantly, you can hurt them, but you cannot kill them. Do I make myself clear?"
"Crystal!"
"I hope I'm not going to regret this."
Better let her tag along to keep an eye on her. Himiko stands up from the ground, with Henry follows suit as he dusts the dusts off his pants. With the girl humming delightedly, he puts the monocular in his coat, going over and checking his gears one more time. He unholsters his reliable Berretta, which comes equipped with a match weight compensator, and unloads its magazine; its rounds are full. He holsters the handgun, making sure safety is on. Patting on his pants' pockets, he concludes everything is good to go and begins descending the building with Himiko following at his elbow, who practically is skipping with delight.
Retrieve his gears while looking after a reforming blood-obsessed killer, what can go possibly wrong?
The Musutafu which Henry knows was a small city, and the same could be said with this port which he and Himiko are approaching. As the city developed into a metropolis, so did it. From one simple fishing port, it was transformed into this massive cargo port it is today. However, his attention is not the port itself, but rather the warehouse complex that is adjacent to it.
When the size got over 100 times bigger than it was, it came as no surprise that finding the place that is hiding his gears proves to be a little difficult. Fortunately, from his quick online research, they did not demolish the old warehouses, but instead expanded the current complex from them. So, with some memory-recalling while consulting the map, Henry manages to locate the warehouse he needs.
Which also happens to be the very place that the deal will be taking place any moment soon. What are the odds of that?
"Feels suspiciously like a convenient plot device," Henry remarks offhandedly, confusing Himiko as she tilts her head. "Then again, I'm never going to say no to freebies."
"Okay...?" Himiko shrugs nonchalantly.
Hiding behind one of the larger boxes within the warehouse, Henry peeks from its corner, watching the transaction taking place. Two parties. The first are dressed in all kind of manners. Typical street-type gangsters. The second, however, is a more peculiar pair. One wears some sort of white lab coat while the other puts on a suit. They both share a same similarity though: plague doctor mask.
Henry deadpans. "Very interesting choice of costumes."
The leader of each party comes forward, a suitcase in their hands. The two only stares at each other, offering no word; before long they start exchanging the suitcases simultaneously. With a firm grip on their trading partner's suitcase, the head of the gangsters and the man in lab coat soon let go their grips. At once they both open their received suitcase to check over the content. A satisfied nod is shared between the two.
What appears to be glass reflecting the warehouse's dim lights in the suitcase holding by the gangsters' leader does not escape Henry's sight.
The man in lab coat turns his head to his companion as he closes his suitcase. The latter approaches him and places her hand on his shoulder. Then the next moment, they both disappear in a flash.
"...Teleportation Quirk, perhaps?" Henry speculates. His fingers twitching.
With the odd duo is now no longer present, the head of the gangsters shuts the suitcase and turns to who appear to be his subordinates with a hardened stare.
"Let's go."
That is his cue to act.
"Alright. A dozen of them. Mostly unarmed. A few carry their knives and their leader's with a gun," Henry observes. "Furthermore, only the leader and one amongst the rest have some form of fighting experience. No sentry posted. Big mistake. Should make this quick, nice and easy."
"What do you want me to do?" Himiko inquires with clear anticipation.
"You're good with the knife, aren't you? Aim at their weak points. Preferably disabling their legs but don't make them bleed too much, or they'll die from exsanguination. We'll jump on them—"
"On it~!" Himiko unsheathes the knife from the scabbard strapped to her thigh before she rushes in ahead of Henry with a gleeful beam.
"—together! Damn it, lass! Let me finish first!"
Hearing footsteps, the gangsters turn their attentions to them. A broadly beaming Himiko swoops in before anyone can react with a slash across the calves of her first victim; the cut deep enough to tear the poor bastard's muscles apart. He unleashes an agonized cry, falling to the ground while clutching to his bleeding wounds on his calves.
Startled, the rest looks to Himiko, whose twisted beam remains ever-so brightly on her face.
"Please fall~!"
Then, all hell seemingly breaks loose.
Like a predator, Himiko dodges every attack thrown at her as the thugs scramble and get themselves together, using their states of mind to her advantage and producing many cuts on their bodies while they attempt to defend themselves. The girl laughs all the way through her assault. However, one of the two experienced of the bunch, a large man towering the rest with his size and mountain of pure muscles, notices a window of opportunity and rapidly charges at Himiko when her back is turned to him, throwing his hardened fist at her back.
Before his fist connects, Henry joins the fight and blocks the punch. He twists the thug's arm, before his own rock-hard fist finds its way to his elbow. The cross bends the thug's arm with a sick, crunchy snap. The thug hollers in pain at his unnaturally-bent arm. Henry grips the thug's head, then pushes his knee straight at his face, shattering his nose. The thug falls face first to the hard ground like a tree that just got cut down.
"You're finally here, Henry~!" Himiko exclaims delightedly and looks back while avoiding a knife.
"Focus! Don't take your eyes off your targets!"
Henry promptly brings his arm up, shielding his neck and face from the hair-like needles; they pierce through his coat, seeking his flesh and bones. His sight switches to his next target. Full throttle—with his feet planted deep into the concrete floor as he takes off—he finds himself in front of the wide-eyed thug who shot the needles from his hair. Fist finds his face as he is sent soaring through the air before crashing through a crate.
Sensing the wind whistling harshly, Henry snaps his head back with his left hand up. A blade impales his hand, which originates from the elongated ponytail of a female thug. She grits her teeth, seemingly attempts to retract her hair-blade, yet to no avail. Veins materialize on his hand. The tensed muscles prevent the blade from leaving. Gripping the extended blade, with blood trails on the razor-sharp edge and drips to the ground, Henry yanks the woman towards him and throws a punch straight her chest and knocks the air out of her lungs. She spits blood, eyes rolling to the back of her head. Spotting another tries to take him, Henry swings the woman at him and let go of her hair-blade. The two immediately crashes into each other, then a huge box, before they are enveloped by a screen of dust from the impact, out cold.
Another jumps from the box behind Henry with the knife aiming at his neck. Though, Henry simply steps out of the way and sends a roundhouse kick to his temple the moment he touches the ground. Before Henry is able to follow up, he stops in his track. The earth protrudes from the cracked ground and snarls his ankles.
A speedster zooms across the hall and throws a clout at Henry's face. However, as soon as his attack contacts the man's cheek, the speedster wails as the pain kicks in, looking in horror as the hand that threw the clout is reduced to a bloody mess with bones sticking out of flesh and skin. Henry backhands the speedster in the face, reducing the number of the speedster's white teeth to only a few.
Henry hardens the muscles in his legs and breaks out of the earth's snarl. Almost instantly, it reacts, with earth-tendrils wildly rushing at him. Swiftly, he locates the caster. Her face is covered in sweats, while she is panting, seemingly out of breath. With a practiced motion, Henry grabs a knife from his belt and hurls at her. The blade stabs through her shoulder to the other side, with the woman shrieks agonizingly. The earth-tendrils drop dead soon after. Henry does not need to do anything, since she already passes out from the pain alone.
Then, gunshots are fired. Bullets penetrating his side, prompts Henry to look where they were shot. A petrified expression on the leader's face as he continues emptying his gun's magazine. More bullets shot at him, penetrating various parts around his torso. Then, one hits his face. At the same moment, the gun clicks with its slide to the back, locked.
A relived sigh escapes the leader's throat before he grins smugly...
...only for the said grin to disappear the moment he realizes the final bullet never hit anything.
Henry caught the bullet between his lower and upper teeth and spits it out. The bullet hits the cold ground with a metallic thud, clanking for a few more times before it finally stops. The leader's entire body pales as Henry shrugs off the bullets and starts walking towards him.
He tries to run, yet finds himself suddenly dropping to the ground, like a puppet with its strings cut. The pain gradually kicks in as he looks to his bleeding calves, then to the one who did this to him.
Himiko displays her bloody canines from her broad beam with a blushing face, gripping a knife with its bloody edge in her hand, as she stands before him with a trail of groaning and crying thugs laying across the floor behind her. Red blood trails across the edge and drips to the ground from the tip.
"You shot my love~," Himiko says in a singsong voice before her entire face darkens. "Now you are going to pay dearly for that, you utterly piece of trash—"
"Control yourself." Henry calms Himiko with a hand on her shoulder. "Do let me take it from here. And, uh, find some ropes to tie them up. There should be some lying around here."
"Rogers~!" And there she goes.
Kneeling down next to the leader's lying form with the suitcase in his hand, Henry places the suitcase on the ground and opens it, revealing several syringes containing red serum, along with a set of red cartridges with hypodermic needles. 15 in total, 12 for the syringes and 3 for the cartridges.
The leader snaps his gaze to the suitcase, then Henry, back and forth. For the man himself, he looks through the leader's jacket and comes across a combat knife, which he promptly takes. He eyes the blade and shifts his finger across the edge. Soon after, the bullets which penetrated Henry suddenly start pushing themselves out of his body and dropping to the ground.
"Nice knife," Henry whistles, then stares at the leader. "Alright, assclown, we're going to play a game called hangman. I'm going to ask some questions, and you answer. If I do not like what you have to say?" He puts the knife near the leader's face. "You get the idea. Is that clear?"
The leader says nothing, seemingly too shaken to utter any word.
Which Henry plunges the knife into the leader's thigh, eliciting an excruciating howl, snaps the thug's attention back to reality.
"Is. That. Clear?" Henry hisses lowly and coldly.
"ARRRRGGHHH! Yes! Fucking yes!" Veins pulsing in his neck, as saliva comes out the corners of his mouth. "Fuck! My leg!"
"Good." Henry's voice returns normal, still keeping his grip on the combat knife. "Now, do tell me, what exactly did you buy from the ones wearing the plague doctor mask?"
"T-Triggers! The red syringes! We bought Triggers!"
"Triggers? What the bloody hell are they?"
"Quirk's b-booster!"
"I assume these are illegal?"
"Yes! Yes!"
"And what're these cartridges next to the syringe? Triggers as well?"
"I-I don't know—FFFFUUUUUUUCCCCCCKKKKKKKK!"
Henry puts more pressure into the knife and slowly twists the blade. "That's not an answer I like."
"I SWEAR! I SWEAR TO GOD I'M TELLING THE TRUTH! I don't know what they're! I really don't know what they're—AARRRRRRGGGHHHH!"
"You're lying," Henry says slowly. "You think you can take me for a moron? You're not the first nor will ever be the last person to be interrogated by me. So, why don't you make this easier for both of our sake by telling me the truth? Not half-truth. Real truth."
"ALRIGHT! ALRIGHT!" Which Henry releases some pressure off the knife. At the same time, tears begin forming around the leader's eyes. "I-I really don't know what they're, really, I swear. B-But I... overheard the boss' conversation when he talked on the phone to buy the Triggers. All I-I ever know is that they'll do some fucked-up to a person's Quirk, but I have no idea what they are!"
"See? That wasn't so hard, right?" Henry smiles. "Anything else I need to know?"
"N-No! That's all, I swear—"
Henry silences the leader with headbutt to the face, knocks him out cold. He loosens the grip on the knife, not pulling it out since it will make him die from blood loss. As he is about to close the suitcase, his nose picks up a familiar stench. His attention is drawn to the suitcase, more exactly the cartridges. Narrowing his gaze, Henry inhales deeply, then his blood runs cold.
There are traces of a person's blood in those cartridges—
"All done over here, Henry~!"
Turning to the voice, Henry spots Himiko waving at him in the distance. Next to her is a bunch of defeated and rounded up thugs, with their hands and legs tied up with thick ropes. How the girl was able to drag someone twice her size, he has no idea. Perhaps she is stronger than she appears?
That being said, Henry needs to have a talk with her regarding a certain matter asap.
Closing the suitcase, Henry rises to his feet and makes his way to Himiko. Her beam grows broader as he nears her, seemingly proud at her success with her chest puffing out. He takes a quick gander at the thugs—the still-conscious ones shudder under his cold gaze—before his eye sets on her.
"He-he-he~. What do you think—"
"What were you thinking?!" Henry explodes, immediately causing her to recoil at the sudden rise of his voice.
Her mouth trembles, as she blinks in shock. "Wh-What...? I... I don't understand. I-I did everything you asked. I took care of them. I-I didn't kill anyone, like I promised."
"I'm not mad about it." Henry pinches the bridge of his nose and exhales. His stern gaze sets on her, as she instinctively straightens herself. "You rushed ahead without letting me finish what I needed to say, needlessly putting yourself in grave danger and almost jeopardizing our mission by giving away our element of surprise. What if they decided to run instead? Were you able to guarantee you were quick enough to neutralize all of them before they decided they had enough and opted to bolt? And more importantly, why pit yourself against so many people, for what reason? If I didn't intervene, your back might've been a goner already!"
"I-I thought I made you—"
"For God's sake, no! Why'd I be happy if you get hurt, damn it!?"
Taking in his breath deeply, Henry places and drags his hand across his face, then messages his eye and temples. As he looks to Himiko again, however, the upset in his eye fades when Himiko hangs her head low, her hands gripping the helm of skirt tightly, as tears start dropping from her eyes.
"I-I'm sorry..." Himiko says quietly. "I promise I-I'll be better next time, so don't leave me... please... I'm really sorry..."
...
"Stay strong, my son. Mama is... sorry."
"Mama, wh-where're we going? And who were these men? Wait. Mama, what're you doing—"
"Please forgive me, Henry."
...
Realizing his hands are clenching, Henry shakes his hand and sighs deeply.
"Don't be sorry," he says, making Himiko flinch. "Be better instead."
Himiko blinks, looks up as her eyes meet his softened gaze. Henry puts his hand on her face, caresses her cheek while brushing away her tears with his thumb. In return, Himiko presses her cheek against his palm, feeling his warmth slowly warming her up.
"I'm sorry. I might've taken my anger out on you, lass."
"No. It's all right." Himiko sniffs. "I... deserved it. I almost messed up because I wanted to show off. I'm sorry."
"Either way, as I said, be better. Learn from this, and be better."
"I will, Henry. I promise."
"Good lass." Henry bobs his head and chuckles. "Now, collect yourself and wipe your tears."
Himiko wipes her tears with her sleeves, sniffing again. "What're we going to do now?"
"Since you took great care of them—" Henry glances at the thugs, narrowing his gaze, silently telling them to forget what just happened as they nod rapidly "—we get my stuffs, call the cops, and get the bloody hell out of here. I need to take a shower—"
Suddenly, Henry grows quiet. Before Himiko can say anything, the man puts his index finger to his mouth in a universal 'be quiet' gesture. His eye slowly narrows as he stares around the warehouse.
"Something doesn't sound right," Henry mutters under his breath. "Why's the wind so suddenly—"
"LUNA FALL!"
The ceiling of the warehouse breaks as something, or rather someone comes into view in a blur. The next thing Henry knows, he is already blocking a bone-crushing kick with his entire forearm while pushing Himiko out of the way. The force generated behind the kick blows away all the dusts around him and forms a massive crater underneath his feet.
Henry grits his teeth, feeling the strains in his arm.
"Henry!"
"Here!" Henry throws her the suitcase, which she catches with both arms. "Take it and go, now!"
"But—"
"Just do it!"
"Ya think I'm just gonna let her go—"
The newcomer is forced to put her arms up to shield a roundhouse kick as Henry steps back and let her fall to the ground. The kick sends her rolling across the hall, which she quickly recovers and rolls to her feet, standing straight once more. A faint bruise on her arm, slightly drawing some blood, making the woman smirk satisfyingly.
"What do ya know?" Her smirk widens. "You're pretty darn strong. I'm gonna have fun with ya!"
In response, Henry chuckles. "To think one of them big guns are here to greet this little old me this soon," he remarks while rubbing his neck, sighing. "Number 12th hero, Rabbit Hero: Mirko, eh? Such luck."
Might as well see how a professional hero fight.
