Jikan: You know Kanade, I really don't know how I survived with you for a year already…
Kanade: Don't be so sullen all the time. *rolls eyes* It was just for fun.
Jikan: If that's your version of "fun" please leave me out of this.
Psycho: Guys it's not the time to argue. Argue once the readers are happy. :D
Jikan: Meh, whatever. Here's Chapter 3
Kanade: You know, I think we should have some more fun...
Disclaimer- I don't own Tiger and Bunny.
*As a quick note, Kanade is not her first name. Her full name is Mary Kanade.
Chapter 3: Don't Define Me By Who I Am!
BRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING! ~ BRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING! ~
"Ugh," Jikan muttered. He made a fist and tried to hit the off button on his alarm clock. He missed, and after a few seconds of his hand moving around, he connected his fist to the glass of water that was next to the alarm clock and promptly knocked it over, splashing cold water over him.
"Gah!" he screamed, springing off his bed and nearly catapulting into Kanade, who quickly leaped backwards, dropping the tray she had in her hands with a loud clang, and Jikan promptly fell onto the tray on what was going to be his breakfast. The scene seemed to drag on for an eternity, but Jikan got up within a few seconds, a piece of toast sticking on his cheek. They stared at each other in silence; the only sounds that could be heard were the ringing alarm clock and the chirping of the birds.
"Well," Jikan said, annoyance very clear in his voice, "This is a GREAT way to start of the day huh?" as Kanade attempted to hide a smirk. Sighing, he made his way to the bathroom to clean himself up. He really didn't want to go, but that Agnes woman probably would skin him alive if he did not meet the Heroes after his, what she called, "stunning debut."
30 minutes later, Jikan managed to clean himself up and was ready to leave. He wore a black button down shirt tucked into black jeans. He wore the sneakers and shades he got for his Hero suit. He straightened his hair a bit, but he usually left it at its natural look. He never told Kanade, but he didn't like the fact his hair was shaggy, but since she liked the look, he stopped bothering to straighten it. He grabbed the jacket that the maniac scientist had made and headed toward the door.
"I'm leaving!" Jikan shouted, walking out the door; stopping once he felt a tap on his shoulder. Jikan turned around and took an earphone out.
"What is it, Kanade?" Jikan asked, with mild annoyance in his voice.
"Here, it's your lunch!" Kanade responded, holding out a small box that was neatly wrapped in a black cloth. Jikan took the lunch and quickly left the house. The Hero place wasn't that far away so he walked to the place. It took him 10 minutes to get to the building. Before he entered, someone quickly shoved past him.
"Hey!" Jikan yelled indignantly, as the person continued to quickly walk away. Rude much, Jikan thought, moving toward the turnstiles. He swiped his ID card through the card slot and went up the elevators. In the elevator, Jikan wondered how life as a Hero would be like, as he only joined because of Kanade. He really didn't do well with people and a Hero, based on what he saw on HeroTV, had to be good with people. His train of thought was cut short as the sound of a bell notifying him that he had reached the floor where the Hero's trained and talked. Composing himself as the doors opened, he walked into the room.
This is not a room, Jikan thought. This is an exercise gym that has enough space for probably a quarter of a stage to exercise, but its only being used for nine people. He saw some blonde girl running on a treadmill, a girl even younger than the blonde sitting near a table, and some blonde guy with glasses working out on some machine. Agnes and her gang were currently filming the other Heroes in their costume. When the elevator door closed with a ding, it caught the attention of the blonde guy, the Heroes, and Agnes and her group. Ignoring their stares, Jikan walked right past Agnes and the Heroes and laid down on one of the benches with his arms behind his head. He closed his eyes and tried to drift off to sleep when he was rudely poked in the face. His opened his eyes rapidly and turned his head a bit to glare at the person who poked him. It was that young girl that was at the table. She had dirty blonde hair and green eyes. She looked around 12 or 13. Jikan removed his earphones.
"Who are you?" the girl asked. Jikan was already annoyed that some random 12 or 13 year old girl thought that she could just poke someone in the face.
"None of your business," Jikan responded icily, turning on his side so his back faced the girl.
"Come on, don't be shy," Sky High said, moving toward Jikan. "Why don't you introduce yourself? Are you a new Hero?" Jikan turned around and gave Sky High a glare that was enough to kill, clearing conveying the fact he did not want to be bothered. He then closed his eyes and placed an earphone back in his ear.
Dang, these Hero people are really annoying me. Jikan thought. Can't they take a hint that I don't want to be socially active right now? Unknown to all the Heroes, the camera crew started to video tape this little argument right now. This argument did not include Barnaby or Ivan who were still doing their exercising; both of them choosing to ignore it completely.
"Hey, hey, hey," Rock Bison said, "No need to be so cold."
"Yes, Mister Cutie," Fire Emblem gushed, "We just want to know your name. That isn't much, is it? Are you a new Hero?" Jikan turned around to face them with a glare that could have killed.
"Jikan," he said, "My name is Jikan." He then promptly turned around in hopes that the group would disperse. Unfortunately for them, the rest of the Heroes did not move. They were waiting for him to say more, such as about his interests or something more than just his name. Jikan could feel their stares on him. He let out a small sigh.
"Do you people have NOTHING better to do with your lives or something?" Jikan asked, head still facing away from them, "Or do you have no life to spare anyway!" This sparked a small argument from the Heroes, but Jikan wasn't listening.
God, he hated when he was the center of attention. He hated being around a group of people. He hated answering questions that people asked him when they really didn't need to know, especially when he really didn't like most of these Heroes. Most of them, in his opinion, were clueless, clumsy, or just not made to be a Hero. He really didn't want to socialize with these people and was hoping that by staying silent they would eventually lose some interest in him. He turned up the volume on his earphones when he thought that Wild Tiger and Rock Bison were getting too noisy and he wanted to block out their very mindless, useless, attempts to get him to talk. Finally, Karina, annoyed at Jikan's attitude, grabbed an earphone out of his ear and pulled on his collar to make him face them.
"Listen here, bub," Karina said icily, staring daggers into Jikan's bored eyes. "If you're going to be so hostile to the rest of your fellow workers, you won't be getting any friends to help you EVER!" There was a silence that followed the end of that statement. Jikan broke the silence by yawning, and then saying,
"Who are you to tell me what to do and what not to do?" he asked, voice devoid of any emotion. "Who are you my mother? Because if you are, I demand to be placed in an orphanage this instant."
"WHY YOU LITTLE…" Karina screamed, attempting to grab at him, only to be barely restrained by Rock Bison and Sky High.
"Calm down, Blue Rose!" Rock Bison shouted, attempting to get the outraged girl pacified. Jikan pushed himself up into a sitting position and yawned like nothing wrong was going on.
"So, you're the female dominatrix, Blue Rose," he said, though by his tone made it clear that he had no affection for her.
"So what if I AM?" she practically spat at him, still trying in vain to get herself free from Rock Bison and Sky High's grasps to throttle the kid.
"You know, for a Hero," Jikan said lazily and condescendingly, "You're pretty scared against normal criminals. How many times have you used your 'Cutie Escape' already, 15? 30? 100? That's really pathetic." Yawning, he leaned back down; closing his eyes again. Karina stopped trying to get out of Rock Bison and Sky High's hold, but instead, standing very still, her lips compressed and her hands were clenched so tight that her knuckles were white. Rock Bison and Sky High hesitantly let go of her but were prepared to restrain her again if necessary. No one said anything at all, as everyone expected a nuclear meltdown to occur.
"YOU'RE A HEARTLESS JERK!" Karina shouted at the top of her lungs, before running off, tears evident in her eyes. Now, even Barnaby and Ivan were among the group. Wild Tiger whispered something into Pao-lin's ear and she quickly grabbed Ivan's hand and ran off to go console Karina. Nathan quickly followed along, not really wanted to stay around any longer. The awkwardness that was currently residing in the Hero center was enough to keep anybody out. The remaining Heroes stood there, unsure of what to do next. Agnes, on the other hand, was immune to the awkwardness of the situation and glanced down at her watch. She quickly whispered something to Cain and he quickly told Barnaby that they needed to see how he lived life normally. Cain and his camera crew quickly left with him via the elevator as they didn't want to stay there much longer. The friendly atmosphere had dampened quite a bit. Agnes needed to end this dead conversation this instant as she had other plans to do to help increase the ratings of the interview and she couldn't have Sky High held up any longer. She quickly stepped into the conversation.
"Heroes!" she said assertively, "This is Jikan. He is going by the Hero name Endgame. He will be a fellow Hero whether you like IT or not." In an attempt to make friends with Jikan again, Sky High held out his hand.
"It's a please to meet you, Jikan!" Sky High said brightly, as if nothing bad had happened. Jikan yawned and swung himself up. He ignored the hand and talked directly to Agnes as if the other Heroes weren't there.
"You know Agnes, after this current annoyance," he said, "I think I need to spend some time out. This place really aggravates me."
"Whatever, as long as you're there for a call," she said dismissively as she grabbed Sky High's hand and dragged him away to do a commercial for HeroTV. Yawning again, Jikan turned around and started heading toward the elevator when he felt a painful thump against the back of his head. Turning around abruptly, he saw that Rock Bison had hit him squarely across the head.
"What…was…that…for?" Jikan asked calmly with fake politeness, although his eyes and body language told a different story.
"Because of the fact that you act like a complete ass and then tell Agnes that we're the ones being an ass to you!" Rock Bison shouted back, "We try to be friendly with you and you go off and act as if you're God himself! Look what you did to Blue Rose!"
"Well," Jikan said with the same tone as before, "Maybe you Heroes should get some brain cells. If someone obviously does not act very friendly in the beginning, what on EARTH is going through those brainless cells of yours that makes you think within the next 15 seconds they are going to suddenly be friendly Rock Bison?" Jikan's voice took on a more venomous tone. Bison lapsed into silence as he had no answer to the question and was actually intimidated by Jikan's tone.
"You could at least TRY to be friendly," Wild Tiger murmured, hanging on to his faith that everyone was nice. All Jikan did was glare at his direction.
"I'm tired of talking as if I were arguing to a brick wall," Jikan said icily, "Oh, and here's payback for whacking me." Jikan's body glowed blue and he moved faster than Wild Tiger and Rock Bison could comprehend. Suddenly, Rock Bison fell straight forward as Jikan kicked him on the back. He then seemed to speed to the stairs and left without even turning back.
Karina was still running at full speed when she left the Hero building. She was trying to put distance between it and herself. She hated being a Hero, she hated being in that building, and all in all, she absolutely detested that new Hero. Not once in her span of being a Hero has anyone ever laid a mention of her being a pathetic Hero, or of her little "Cutie Escape." Curse that Sky High and Rock Bison for not letting her throttle the kid to death. It was bad enough they had that egotistical Barnaby, who she will personally kill if he ever starts that "I am all high and mighty" talk again, but now she had to work with this…this… she couldn't even think of a word bad enough for Jikan.
Unknown to her, or probably she was just trying to deny it, that was the major point that hit home when Jikan was insulting her. She was a female dominatrix that had control over ice, but if danger were to reel its ugly head in, she could do her "Cutie Escape." The rest of the Heroes would weather the attacks, but she would just run. Heck, even Dragon Kid didn't run and she was the youngest of the bunch. Blue Rose continued to run, until she barreled into someone, knocking both of them over onto the concrete sidewalk.
"OW!" the person shouted as they fell backwards onto the sidewalk. Karina was a bit luckier as she fell over her so she didn't hit the side walk. Some pedestrians stopped and helped the duo to her feet and continued on their way.
"I'm really sorry," Karina apologized to the person who she bowled over.
"It's no problem, really," the person said, "From the looks of it, you took a worse hit than me. Your eyes look a bit puffy and red from tears; did you break something?"
"Oh no, no," Karina responded, "Some jerk that I'm going to work with insulted me right off the bat when I tried to get him to respond to us." Karina felt some of her anger disparage when she said that.
"Really?" the person asked before Karina heard her name.
"Karina! Karina!" Pao-lin shouted. Karina glanced around nervously, unsure whether to run away or stay and let Pao-lin catch up.
"Is that your friend?" the person asked. Karina nodded.
"Friends are a good thing to have," the person said, smiling. "They can help you out in times of distress. Trust me I know. You should have a talk with her, and the teen she's dragging with if he's your friend as well." She noted the fact that Ivan was being dragged along, more worried about losing his footing in Pao-lin's maniac pace. Pao-lin managed to catch up to Karina with Ivan breathing heavily behind her.
"Karina, Wild… I mean Kotetsu told us to come comfort you," Pao-lin hastily said, remembering where they were.
"He did? That's nice," Karina said, Even though he is so clumsy, at least he's caring, unlike a CERTAIN someone who I just met.
"Well, it looks like you're in some good hands now," the person said, "I suggest going to get some ice cream or other treat to talk over. It helps release anger. Bye." The person walked past them.
"Wow, cool highlights!" Pao-lin said. The person had two small waist-long braids. The left one was dyed in a dark blue, while the right braid was dyed in a dark violet hue.
"Oh, thanks," the person said, turning around and smiling, "Have a nice day." They went their separate ways, Karina, Pao-lin, Ivan, and a tired Nathan, who had to catch up since he had to change into casual attire, went to the nearest ice cream shop. The other person continued walking in her direction. She wanted to go the Hero building to go meet up with someone. She got two blocks further when she realized she didn't have to.
"Hey! Jikan!" she yelled, getting his attention. He lifted his head to see Kanade running toward him.
"Hmm? Hey Kanade," he said absentmindedly.
"What's the matter? You look annoyed," she said, "Are you still annoyed about that mishap this morning?"
"Oh no," Jikan responded, "The Heroes were annoying the crap out of me. I decided to leave before I had to jump out a window. They seriously cannot take a hint."
"Really?" Kanade asked, "You really should lighten up a bit though; you can do it with me, so why not the rest of them?"
"Because I've known you for a while," Jikan responded with a twinge of annoyance on his face, "I hardly know them and hardly even like them and they expect me to be peppy and cheery with them. Idiots."
"Come on, don't be like that!" Kanade laughed, poking him on the stomach.
"Stop that! It hurts!" he said, taking a step back. Nonetheless, he smiled for the first time today. Smiling, Kanade grabbed him and dragged him off. She was going to go to go get Jikan from that training center for a quick break to meet with her sister in terms about his suit, and how to properly put in contacts. She noticed that Jikan did not have the lunchbox that she gave him earlier. He must have left it at the training center when he left in one of his personality fits. She really didn't mind that he got irritated when things went a bit awry with him, but she wasn't sure that the rest of the Heroes could; especially Barnaby and Blue Rose with the attitudes she saw them give off whenever Jikan watched that show. Not that Jikan will have any more time as he is on the show now. She wondered if it was a good idea to make Jikan join the Heroing business. Blind to almost everything that Jikan did for her, she knew the only reason why he even joined HeroTV was because she wanted him to. The duo quickly made it to the coffee shop where Kanade's sister was waiting. Unknown to Jikan, her sister was Dr. Kento's assistant.
"Let's hurry," Kanade told Jikan, who actually looked a bit tired. "My sister's really nice, but she is a bit stingy on being on time." They quickly got to the second floor of the café when Kanade's sister spoke.
"Hello, you guys took your time," the sister said, not looking up from the book she was reading. "I ordered your coffees already so you can get them; Order 102 should be coming up now." As she spoke Kanade and Jikan heard a ding and an employee shouted, "Order 102, 2 vanilla cappuccinos!" Jikan stared at Kanade for a second before taking the receipt from the sister's outstretched hands and heading down to get the drinks.
"So Mary," the sister asked, "How's Jikan settling into the Hero life?" Kanade didn't respond to the question as she was deep in her on train of thought on her sister.*
"Hello?" Cassie asked, while knocking on Kanade's head. "Anyone living in there?" It did the trick and broke Kanade out of her stupor.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Kanade apologized, "I zoned out; it's been a year since we've seen each other and you really haven't changed much. To me, you're still the quiet sister who just reads."
"I'm not quiet all the time," Cassie said, her face turning red.
"My bad, you're quiet except when someone's late," Kanade said, rolling her eyes. Jikan then appeared at the table, holding out one of the drinks to his girlfriend.
"Thanks!" Kanade said, taking the drink from his hands.
"Kanade, you going to introduce me to your sister?" Jikan asked, "Although I'm sure we've started off on the wrong foot."
"Hmm, yes, sorry about when we first met," Cassie said, still not looking up from her book. "I'm kind of stingy when it comes to time, especially if the appointed time ends up with, let's say, 1 hour late?"
"Yea," Jikan said, "But, to tell you the truth, I don't work well with deadlines."
"And yet your NEXT ability is to manipulate the flow of time," Cassie said dryly, "But, you're right, what's past is past. I don't hold grudges at all." She looked up from the book and smiled at him. She looked quite similar to Kanade, albeit with a younger face and a bit shorter. Then she opened her eyes and it was all someone needed to differentiate between the two sisters. Her mint green eyes were a lot different than Kanade's midnight blue eyes.
"Anyway," Cassie continued, "Let's get down to business. Do you have any idea how to put on or remove contacts?"
"Umm," Jikan mumbled, thinking about last night when he tried to get the contacts off. It took him a good 15 minutes to do a task that would have taken others 15 seconds.
"I'll take that as a no," Cassie said, "Try putting these on." In her hand was another contact case, inside of which were two silver colored contacts submerged in some liquid. Jikan nervously took the contacts out. He opened his eyes and attempted to place the contacts in. It felt weird to be wearing contacts, but he managed to get both contacts in fine. He blinked several times to get used to the feeling. When he opened his eyes fully this time, they were silver instead of the normal black.
"Putting them on isn't the hard part," Jikan muttered, blinking several times, "It's taking them out that's hard for me." Jikan blinked several more times. These contacts were already irritating him out of his mind; it seemed to make him blink so much more.
"Removing them isn't as hard as you make it seem," Cassie said, smiling. "Take your left hand and use your index finger to lift the top of your eyelid. Use the middle finger of your right hand to pull down the lower part of your eyelid. Next look up use the index finger on your right hand to gently slide the contact off and out." Jikan attempted to copy the movements that Cassie just gave him, but ended up poking himself in the eye. Kanade laughed as Jikan quietly cursed to himself, wondering if this was even worth the Hero business. After an hour, Jikan was due back to the Hero Training Center where Agnes had a meeting for them to do.
"Catch you two later," Jikan muttered; glad to be out of there with those damned contacts off. It took him several tries to get those stupid contacts off. Putting them on was easy, but getting them out took several painful attempts. If this is how he was going to be when he was a Hero, he was a hundred percent sure that the Heroing business wouldn't last after the 1st call. Glancing at his watch, he saw that he had about 5 minutes to get to the Training Center. Not wanting to be late, he decided to use his ability to speed himself up. Glowing blue, he quickly dashed down the street at triple the pace a normal human could move.**
Luckily for him, the Hero Training Center wasn't that far away and he managed to get back inside just in time for whatever Agnes had in plan for him to do. It was also the only time he was ever on time for anything.
"Jikan!" Agnes exclaimed, grabbing him by the wrist the second he stepped into the building. "Perfect, you're right on time for your interview!"
"My what?" Jikan exclaimed.
"Why your interview of course!" Agnes said while shouting for a cameraman to come. "You're another new young hero and our viewers need to know about you. I can see the ratings go up now! Oh, by the way were doing a live interview, starting now." Although Jikan's brain really wasn't there at the point, he was trained to be able to act friendly enough during an important time so by instinct, he drew himself straight and gave a slight salute with his hand and composed himself with an aura of confidence.
This is going to be a lo-o-o-ong day, Jikan thought.
3 hours later… (Kanade: That is one long interview. What on earth could they be asking?)
"All right, and there you go folks!" Mario says into the camera, "Your newest Hero, Endgame!" Jikan nervously smiled at the camera. Behind the smile though was a very irritated teenager who wanted to crush the camera if another question was asked. Jikan was way past the end of his tolerance and the group had to take a 10 minute break after Jikan started giving only Yes/No answers. If this is what he would need to suffer for to be a Hero, he was definitely quitting tomorrow. He didn't mind acceding to Kanade's request, but this was seriously going to get him some grey hairs by the end of the month. He quickly exited the building and used his abilities to zip back home. He got to the front door when his wristband started beeping. Passing a hand through his hair, he pressed a button.
"~Bonjour Heroes!~" Agnes greeted them, "We have a hostage-taking in the Gold Stage. Barnaby and Endgame, I expect both of you to be there to give yourselves good names. Now move out!"
"Gaaaaah!" Jikan yelled in frustration. He contemplated whether or not to go help. Saving someone from a hostage situation would not help his already blown-off temper, especially since the idiot that was holding the hostage was probably going to do some empty threats, but if he didn't go, Agnes would probably throttle him. Grumbling, he quickly made his way to where the scene was taking place. It wasn't hard to locate anyway, just find a place that was fenced off and if you hear the HeroTV blimp, you were definitely in the right place. Luckily for him, he already had most of his Hero equipment on, with the exception of his fireproof jeans and shirt which had his logo. Oh well, it's not like they were going to complain. Some of the Heroes had already appeared: Rock Bison, Sky High, Origami Cyclone. All 3 of them were unsure of what to do. Apparently two robbers were holding a bank hostage. Dragon Kid, Wild Tiger, and Barnaby arrived onto the scene as Agnes told them the situation from their receivers.
Apparently a gang was holding a small convenience store. There were 4 gang members, and, according to some informants, the leader of the group was a NEXT, though unsure what he could do. There were 10 people held hostage inside the store and it was currently at a standstill.
"All right, Heroes," Agnes instructed them through their receivers as Blue Rose and Fire Emblem arrived on the scene. "Endgame, Tiger, Barnaby, and Bison I need you four to rush in as a surprise. Due to each of your abilities, you should have the least problem of dodging the bullets without causing too much harm, right Wild Tiger?" Wild Tiger grumbled something incomprehensible, but Jikan was pretty sure it was nowhere near nice.
"Once you four manage to break in, attempt to immobilize the gang members from hurting civilians," Agnes continued to instruct. "The rest of you can help the hostages escape once we have a hold on the situation. Get ready, we go on in 10." As Agnes counted down, Wild Tiger, Barnaby, and Rock Bison all glowed blue as they activated their powers. Jikan on the other hand wasn't sure if this was a good idea.
Unfortunately for him, Agnes hit zero before he could decide what to do. The other three Heroes barged right through the entrance and surprised shouts could be heard. Making a quick decision, Jikan used his powers and zipped into the store, barreling into one of the gang members as he went inside. Both of them went tumbling down the aisle and the gang member smacked his head hard against the floor, slumping unconscious. Jikan heard gunshots ring out as the gang members tried to hit the other Heroes, but their abilities kept them protected. However, when the Heroes tried to attack the gang members, the leader's NEXT ability became known. All three of the Heroes were thrown backwards and out of the store's windows. Apparently the leader had telekinesis.
Jikan cursed silently. This was going to be one long stalemate and he really did not have the patience to wait for the Heroes to eventually win due to superiority in numbers. The other Heroes filed in, but neither side did anything. Sighing in annoyance, Jikan grabbed the gun that the unconscious gang member had dropped and fired at the remainder of the gang. All three gang members yelled in surprise as each of them got some bullets into their arm. The Heroes all took a step back as a crimson spray of red spattered around. Discarding the gun, Jikan activated his NEXT ability and rushed right in front of the three gang members. He knocked each one unconscious with a well aimed hit with his fists. All three of the gang member's fell unconscious into their own blood; the wounds on their arms still had blood seeping out. The rest of the Heroes did nothing as Jikan bandaged up the wounds and carted out the 4 unconscious bodies of the gang members outside and pushed them onto the concrete. Unaware that the robbers had been injured due to Jikan firing at them, the crowd that had gathered around cheered when Jikan stepped out.
Agnes smiled in the HeroTV blimp, glad that Jikan, or Endgame as he should be called now, had started off very well.
Kanade, who was watching this from the TV in the coffee shop smiled as the point meter gave Jikan a whopping 900 points for capturing 4 criminals and saving the hostages, putting him ahead of all the other Heroes by quite an amount.
The Heroes, on the other hand, weren't quite as amused as Jikan was when they all returned to the Hero Training Center to talk about the current mission.
The Heroes all went back into the training center in silence. Agnes, on the other hand, chattered aimlessly to Jikan, although Jikan really wasn't listening. He thought that getting the arrests quickly done would have gotten him home; unfortunately, racking up 900 points wasn't enough. He was set for another interview on what he taught of on his first real appearance and how it feels to have earned so many points. He was definitely quitting after this event. Jikan grit his teeth and tried to rein in his anger the whole ride back to the place.
"All right, Endgame," Agnes said after everyone got into the room, "Your interview is in 5 minutes, please be prepared by then, everyone else do whatever you like." With that, she quickly turned around to prepare some questions for Mario to ask him. Everyone but Blue Rose could sense the aggravation and anger that radiated from Endgame's body and quickly stepped back a few steps, deciding to put the matter of him shooting the robbers to a different day. Blue Rose, on the other hand, with her own aura of anger, yanked at his shoulder to turn him around. Before Jikan could say anything however, she gave him a good smack across the face, leaving the area that she smacked red. Rock Bison tried to restrain her, but she quickly turned around and froze him in place with her powers. She quickly turned back to Jikan and started yelling.
"Are you INSANE?" Blue Rose yelled, grabbing Jikan by his shirt, "You're a HERO! You're not supposed to SHOOT anyone! What kind of a hero are you?" Suddenly, something snapped in Jikan's mind. He had to put up with these clueless Heroes, he had to sit through a 3 hour interview, he had to probably sit through ANOTHER 3 hour interview after this, and he was being yelled at by the most coward of all the Heroes for finishing the job up faster than any of them could have. Anger flashed in his eyes as he shoved Blue Rose backwards. He then activated his ability and was behind Blue Rose and before anyone could comprehend that he disappeared and reappeared behind her, gave her a round house kick cleanly to the back of her head. Blue Rose's didn't make a sound as she fell down unconscious to the floor.
"Don't worry, sweetie," Jikan snarled, "I probably won't be coming back after this." With that he stormed out of the room, completely disregarding the interview he had to give with Agnes. By the time Agnes came back with the interview cast, she practically barked at the Heroes as to why Blue Rose was on the floor and where Endgame was. Origami Cyclone tried to explain as the rest of the Heroes made a unified escape. After Origami's stuttering explanation of what happened, Agnes looked like she wanted to murder someone until she got a phone call.
"Hello?" Agnes asked.
"Ms. Agnes, is your schedule busy right now?" Maverick asked through the phone.
"Oh, of course not!" Agnes said, "Is there anything you need me to do?"
"Yes, actually," Maverick replied, "Fortress Tower Building is our newest landmark that we made. Can you get Tiger and Barnaby to get some popularity in that place after you're done with all the other scenes? Have them spend dinner there or something."
"Certainly, Marverick-san!" Agnes replied. Glad to have something to transition the camera crew quickly to, she called up Kotetsu to tell him to invite Barnaby to have dinner over at the building.
Every cloud has a silver lining, Agnes thought as she quickly planned out how the night would go.
Still angry, Jikan kicked down the door on his entrance in and plopped himself on the couch.
"Wow," Kanade said, startling the crap out of Jikan who did not notice her sitting on the couch, "I have never seen you that angry since we started going out. Congrats on the 900 points though."
"Yeah," Jikan grumbled, "I'm going to get changed, I still smell like gunpowder residue."
"Well when you're done, I have a great idea," Kanade shouted after him as he went into his room, "It'll be a great time for you to unwind a bit. You look like you need it!"
"Ya think?" Jikan yelled back before he closed the door to the bathroom. Sighing, he turned on the showerhead and stood under the spray of water for awhile; the warm water calming his nerves a bit. He thought back to today's play of events. He really didn't get that much of a break. His temper had completely flared out today; something that really hasn't happened in quite some time. He thought back to when Blue Rose smacked him. He clenched his hands at the thought that, in his opinion, a second rate Hero had even complained to him. So what if he shot them, it's not like they were good people. Also, it's not like he did anything fatal, he shot them in the arm and even helped tourniquet the wounds once they were unconscious. He continued to reminisce on today's events until a spray of cold water caught him unaware. He had been in the shower until the water had run cold.
"Hey, Jikan!" Kanade shouted, while pounding on the bathroom door, "You ok in there? You've been in there for almost an hour.
"Yea, I'm almost done!" Jikan responded, turning off the water. He dried himself with a towel and then wrapped it around his waist. Kanade averted her eyes when he came out.
"Um…" Kanade stuttered, "Go get dressed…I'll tell you my idea when you're done." Raising one of his eyebrows, Jikan went into his room and got dressed. Based on the fact that Kanade was wearing a dress, Jikan assumed that she was going somewhere sophisticated, like a play (which he hated) or a restaurant (wasn't a fan of, but didn't really mind going to). He decided to wear some formal attire. When he was done, he glimpsed in a mirror to see a slight problem. He was still wearing his silver contacts and he really didn't like the look that the formal attire gave him. Discarding the look, he switched out his black dress shirt and suit for his only white T-shirt and a regular black hoodie. A bit weird considering that Kanade was wearing a simple purple dress with a midnight blue cardigan; but it fit him a lot better than the formal wear was.
"So Kanade," Jikan asked while entering the living room where Kanade was patiently waiting for him, scrolling through channels on his television. "What was the idea that you had?"
"You know that newest landmark place, Fortress Tower Building?" Kanade asked, turning to face him. Jikan nodded.
"Well, I was thinking that we could go there to eat," Kanade murmured, "Just the two of us, you know to have a quiet dinner for once…" She lapsed into silence. Jikan raised an eyebrow. He had expected a restaurant as a possibility for one of Kanade's ideas, and it did sound nice to have a nice quiet dinner after today. He needed something to calm him down.
"Eh, sure, I guess," Jikan replied, scratching his head. Kanade looked up, startled. She really didn't think Jikan would accede to her request since he hated going to public locations whenever he came back raging. She wanted to cheer him up, but her mind got jumbled and she just blurted out asking him to go to the restaurant.
"So, when do we leave?" Jikan asked, leaning against a wall.
"Let's go now, so we don't starve if we have to wait for a table," Kanade responded quickly. She got up and grabbed the keys and went out the door.
"Hey, Kanade!" Jikan yelled, "Slow down, what's the rush?" He quickly ran to catch up to her.
"Oh, it's nothing, I just want to get there quickly," Kanade responded. She smiled her reassurance before she got into the driver seat.
"Oooh kaaay," Jikan muttered before he got into the passenger seat. Kanade quickly drove the car through the Gold Stage until they reached Fortress Tower Building. She managed to find a parking space and both of them went up the elevators to the dining area of the building. Jikan glanced at the clock as Kanade asked the person in charge if there were any seats for two available.
6:50, Jikan thought as they were seated next to a window, not a bad time for a quiet dinner. The night sky looks great.
"You two have lucky seats today," the waiter said. Jikan grunted something as he stared at the night sky. Kanade gave the waiter a quizzical look.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"You'll see," the waiter ominously said while placing two menus onto the table. "I'll be back later to take your orders." He walked away, leaving Kanade slightly puzzled.
"Hey Jikan, do you know what that waiter means?" Kanade asked Jikan, who was still staring out into space. "Hey! Jikan, you there?" She rapped him on the forehead.
"Eh? Oh sorry Kanade," Jikan apologized. He turned back to face her, his silver eyes glinting off in the moonlight. Kanade looked away, blushing. She opened her menu and Jikan followed suit. They sat there in silence looking over the orders until the waiter came. They both ordered what they wanted and sat there in silence for a bit, Jikan was staring out at the night sky and Kanade was staring at the tablecloth. The entrée appeared quickly and they ate in relative silence. Kanade was too nervous to talk, while Jikan was too immersed in his thoughts, thinking back over today again. When they finished their entrée Kanade worked up the nerve to speak. Jikan glanced at her, expecting her to say something when something else caught his eye. He stood up quickly and pointed his finger at the two people who just came in here with a camera crew behind them.
"Ehhhh?" Jikan shouted, "What are you two doing here?" The two people he was pointing at were Barnaby and Wild Tiger. Agnes and her crew were following them. Most of the people had turned around to see what was going on and they instantly recognized the superhero duo as quickly as Jikan had.
"Oh, it's you," Barnaby said. Everyone glared at Jikan since Barnaby seemed to know who he was and they turned envious. Jikan, feeling the stares of people turned around and glared so hard at them, they quickly turned away and went back to their seats. Wild Tiger and Barnaby took the seats behind Kanade.
Perfect, Jikan thought. The superhero duo is sitting right behind us. I lost my appetite. He sat back down in annoyance and spent the rest of the meal glaring at the outside window. Kanade tried to get him to eat and started to prod him with her fork to get him to open his mouth.
"Kanade," Jikan said tiredly, "Please stop; I'm not in the mood for eating with THEM sitting too close to me." He faced Kanade and glared, but she knew that the glare was directed at the people behind her. In the background, they both heard some girls screaming. Jikan's glare hardened some more. Kanade turned to face outside, her cheeks red with embarrassment. She brought Jikan here to calm himself down, but it seemed that this trip did the exact opposite.
"Um…" one of the waitress said, walking up to Barnaby, "May I shake your hand?"
"Sure, I don't mind," Barnaby replied, holding out his hand. The waitress eagerly shook his hand.
"Thank you very much!" the waitress squealed as she went back to her friends who were also squealing. Slamming his hands down on the table, Jikan rapidly stood up.
"I think I need some time to myself," he muttered, and stormed out. Kanade was unsure of what to say and do so she just sat there, staring at the uneaten food in front of her.
Well, tonight didn't go as well as planned, Kanade thought. She sighed and called for a waiter to bring the check. She stared aimlessly out the window as she listened to Wild Tiger and Barnaby's random discussion.
"What's that?" Barnaby asked while pointing out toward a window.
"Figure it out your- -" Wild Tiger said before halting suddenly, "Which you don't have to do. What are you looking at?" Intrigued, Kanade turned around to see why Wild Tiger suddenly had a change in attitude when she saw that Agnes was glaring at him. Sighing, Kanade could see how these people could drive Jikan insane. Wild Tiger probably lectured him about how he should take Hero business seriously and all this and that. She wondered if making Jikan go for the Hero business was a good idea or not. It occurred to her just then on how Agnes even knew that Jikan was a NEXT and the fact that Jikan could manipulate time. Jikan didn't use his powers much and really didn't advertise that he was a NEXT. Her thoughts were cut short as an alarm rang out.
"Attention, all visitors…" a man announced through some speakers, "An alarm has just been set off in the building."
"What's going on?" Agnes asked in irritation.
"Please follow the staff's instructions and move quickly," the announcer continued.
"Please evacuate!" a guard yelled while running through the area, "Everyone! Please evacuate right away." Wild Tiger and Barnaby quickly intercepted the man.
"What's wrong? Is there a fire?" Wild Tiger asked.
"Oh…well…" the guard said uncertainly, not wanting to risk having a mass panic already since there were many people around hearing distance.
"Barnaby and Wild Tiger," Agnes interrupted, "They're both Heroes." The guard recognized the names and quickly briefed them on the current situation.
"To tell you the truth, we've had a bomb threat," the guard responded.
"Crap!" Kanade hissed to herself after hearing the news, "I have no idea where Jikan is right now." All she could hope was that he would be sensible and evacuate with everyone else. Little did she know that Jikan didn't even hear the alarm…
"Stupid Heroes, I don't need to see them or their confident ass attitudes after today," Jikan muttered as he plowed through the building to the bathroom. Everyone tried to stay out of his way and the guards didn't really try to stop him even though he was kind of disrupting the public mood. He found the door to the bathroom and slammed it shut on his way in. Luckily, no one was inside the bathroom. He moved the trashcan to block the door.
"I want nothing more to do with these god-damned Heroes," Jikan muttered to himself. "They act so egotistical and heroic when they're in public eye but completely trash talk you in private."
Out of anger, Jikan punched the mirror above the sink. It cracked instantly due to the force that Jikan put into the punch and it fractured, some shards fell off the mirror, while one shard managed to slice across the fingers of his hand. Jikan winced in pain and cursed, yanking his hand away as another shard sliced across managed to get a cut across the back of his hand. Small rivers of blood slowly flowed down his hand.
Traces of blood were on the impact site of his punch on several glass shards that was currently lying in the sink. Jikan quickly grabbed a paper towel and gently removed the glass from the sink, but not before managing to prick his thumb. He swayed slightly, and held onto the sink for balance. He felt like his head was about to explode. He quickly turned on the faucet and splashed some cold water onto his face, disregarding the fact that one of his hands had blood over it. After he felt like his brain wouldn't explode, he grabbed some more paper towels and wiped down his face. He put his injured hand under the water to get rid of the blood. He closed his eyes in irritation.
Suddenly the water stopped flowing. Jikan was aware that something wasn't right, he tried getting the water flowing again, but no matter how he turned the faucet, water refused to come out. He raked his hair with his bloody hand until remembering that there was blood in that hand. He lowered his arm, and see if he caused any more damage when his eyes widened in shock. His hand was perfectly fine. He glanced at the mirror to see that it wasn't even broken. He slid his other hand down the mirror; not even a crack, but he was sure he broke the mirror and even more sure that the broken shards had cut his hand.
"I must be going crazy," Jikan muttered. Suddenly a girl's laughter resonated through the restroom. Jikan spun around to see who laughed and, to his surprise, saw no one at all. The trashcan was unmoved so no one entered or exited.
"I definitely cannot go on with this Hero work," Jikan muttered. He closed his eyes and took several deep breaths. When he opened his eyes, he swore his heart stopped. He was still in a restroom, except it wasn't the restroom that was in the Fortress Tower Building. The bathroom designed looked similar, but one major difference was that the mirror had a giant crack in the middle.
He tensed up again when he heard the same laughter. The mirror didn't show that anyone was behind him but suddenly he felt someone jerk him backwards. He tried to activate his powers, but to no avail. He tried to break free when he felt a knife being pressed onto his throat. He froze immediately. His eyes wandered to the mirror and he saw that he was being gripped by some invisible force. His body was forced back, but no one visible was grabbing him, but a seemingly levitating knife was at its throat. Suddenly a dark shadow appeared in the mirror. The shadow had the semblance of a human, but there were no distinguishing features. Jikan felt the shadow grip him harder.
"So," the shadow laughed, "Endgame, Master of Time. You say you're a Hero, but you were caught by me so effortlessly."
"Well," Jikan replied, "I really wasn't feeling well. You just happened to catch me at a bad time." The shadow laughed.
"Well, well," the shadow said, still laughing, "I see that someone hasn't lost their sharp tongue."
"What do you mean?" Jikan asked, baffled. He was pretty sure he did not know this girl and he hadn't really been a hero for long. "Have we met before?"
"Oh yes, we have met," the shadow giggled, "It's just that you don't remember."
"What do you mean?" Jikan asked, getting enraged, "Who are you?"
"You'll find out soon enough," the shadow said ominously, "But if you want to find your answer I suggest you continue being a Hero. But for now, I guess I could give you a little rest." Jikan froze as he felt the pressure of the knife increase, then he felt nothing at all as the knife sliced right through. Jikan slowly sank down and fell into unconsciousness and the last thing he heard was the shadow girl's laugh.
Strangely, even though he felt the knife cut him through the neck; no blood came out, nor was there a cut on his neck. Although the hand that he thought he had cut by punching the mirror had a drop of blood drip from the tip of his thumb and drop onto the floor…
To be continued in Chapter 4?
*Description of Mary's sister
The sister's name is Cassandra Kanade, but people usually call her Cassie. She's the youngest of the sisters; 7 years younger than Mary and 5 years younger than Reyne, but she is smarter than both of her other sisters combined. She has already skipped three grades and her IQ is above the charts. She is also the shortest of the bunch, the top of her head barely reaching Mary's shoulders. Like her sisters, she has black hair, but Cassie's hair was tied in one giant braid that consisted of two braids twined into one. Similar to her sisters, each braid is dyed a different color. Cassie has yellow and green streaks in her hair. She normally wears a green T-shirt with a yellow star in the center, blue jeans, and green and yellow sneakers. Also like her two other sisters, Cassie has two different colored eyes, although the sisters usually hid an eye color using contacts. Her left eye is yellow and her right eye is green. Mary's left eye is blue and her right eye is purple. Reyne's left eye is red and her right eye is orange. Cassie's contacts make it so both her eyes are green, Mary used contacts to make both of her eyes blue, and Reyne used contacts to make her eyes red. No one knows they have heterocromia other than their parents, family doctor, and themselves. Cassie is also a NEXT, though I'll keep you guessing on what her powers are.
** Jikan's powers over time manipulation mainly applied to himself. When they first manifested, he could only speed himself up 1.5X faster. Eventually, with practice, he learned to speed himself up twice, triple, and eventually quadruple normal time speed. He can also speed time with someone else if he is in contact with him. Unfortunately, his powers have a limit, in which he can only speed himself up for certain lapses of time. The faster he speeds time up, the lower the amount of time he can maintain his ability.
Kanade: Well, Cassie doesn't use her powers much. They'll probably never guess her ability.
Jikan: How come I'm always attacked by weird people? =.=
Kanade: Maybe cus your weird yourself? :3
Jikan: Thanks -.-
Kanade: Oh stop making that face.
Psycho: *Ahem* Anyway, sorry for the wait a bit; this was kind of a long chapter and I kind of wanted to go into the actual episode. I'm going to try to make a one-shot on how Kanade and Jikan met, but don't expect that for awhile. I'm kind of brain dead right now. Also, the Pairings won't show off for a few chapters as in the beginning of the series they really have nothing going on in the beginning other than glare at each other.
Jikan: You had a brain?
Psycho: Shut it!
Kanade: Guys! It is not the time to argue!
Jikan & Psycho: *ignores her and continues to argue
Kanade: Guys!
Next chapter – Nightmares are Windows to the Past
Hint/Preview: Doubt has been cast over Jikan on whether or not to continue being a Hero. Blue Rose gets over her doubt, but does Jikan as well? And who is this mysterious girl?