Chapter 3: Attack of the Unlucky Valentines Crew!
The city of Deimon: a bustling town with filled bustling people, bustling to and fro from their bus jobs. Imagine if, for one second, something were to go terribly wrong, if some uncontrollable force were to be unleashed into the busy city. Imagine if that force was a team of a dozen men armed with specially designed bows and arrows. The chaos that would ensue would be catastrophic…
***
Sena Kobayakawa was walking on air. Not literally, though he might be able to considering that he had developed superpowers in the last twenty-four hours. He was actually in a coffee shop with a young woman by the name of Suzuna Taki, a girl he had saved just yesterday. The two of them had bumped into each other after Sena had gotten away from Yoichi Hiruma, a devilish upper-classman who was responsible for giving Sena super-speed. Even though he had decided not to be a part of Hiruma's ridiculous plan to be a superhero, he could not shake the idea from his mind.
Could I be a superhero? Nah, I'd be a terrible hero. I'm weak; I've got no backbone when it comes to violence. Besides, it's not like there are actual supervillains. There are just robbers and murderers, no Lex Luthor, no Black Mantis, and certainly no Professor Zoom.
"So then my brother says, "Sister of mine, I shall be heading to America to play American football! Do not worry, I will write you a postcard every day!" What he doesn't tell us is that he took a huge chunk of our parents' money to go! So now they have the police looking for him." Suzuna took a sip from her latte. "God only knows where he is right now. I just hope that he's in one piece, y'know?"
"I know what you mean. I've got this friend, Raimon, but, well, we call him Monta, who swears that he's going to be a big celebrity. He'll have money, power, and women. The only problem is that he has no idea how to handle his money, so he'll always spend it on these silly things. One time, he bought a ring for a girl he was going out with. It cost him every cent he had."
"What happened?"
"Well, the girl replied, "Sorry, I'm just not that into you.""
Suzuna and Sena started laughing uproariously. "Aha-ha-haha! Oh, oh man, that's…that's, heh, that's not supposed to be that funny, is it?"
"Hehehe! No, I suppose it, hehe, isn't."
The two first-years smiled at each other. They were having fun, more fun than they usually did with their own friends. At that moment, something just clicked between the two of them. This felt right.
"So, where do you want to go next?" asked Sena as they began to get up.
"Don't know. You wanna take a walk?" Suzuna picked up her skates from under the table and hoisted them onto her shoulders. She usually rode them everywhere, and abhorred walking, but she was willing to make an exception here. "The day is too beautiful to be cooped up in a movie theater."
"Sure. Let's go." They took their drinks with them and they headed out the door. As the two of them walked down the sidewalk, Sena felt Suzuna's hand wrap around his own, sending a warm feeling up his arm. They smiled all the way down the sidewalk, and they continued smiling all the way to the Deimon City Park. Yes, this felt very right to the pair.
***
Deep in the bowels of his lair, the hero Akumetsu perused his catalogue of meta-humans. So far, he had managed to locate all those in Deimon University, as well as those from the surrounding area. Now, all that was left was to locate those who showed incredible physical or mental prowess and set up a file for each and every one of them.
"Thank Satan I never have to sleep," he grumbled as he set up a file for a young man by the name of Sakaraba. Before he got very far into the catalogue, his partner waddled into the room. The Warrior had been feeling a little down ever since Sena Kobayakawa had left. He had honestly felt that this was a boy who would help them save the city, nay, the world.
"He'll come around, fat-ass."
"I forgot that you could read minds."
"It's not that. You've been asking me all afternoon whether or not that fucking bush-head would change his mind. Now, it's my answer for everything you say or do."
"Uh-huh, sure." The large man made his way into the kitchen that was built into the underground fortress. "I'm getting some lunch, do you want anything?"
"He'll come around, you fat-ass."
The Warrior sighed and removed his helmet. He placed it on the kitchen counter and pulled out some bread from the pantry. It looked like it was going to be one of those days where nothing happened, even though they had cameras monitoring the city to make sure there were no crimes going on. This was the solemn duty that they had taken on as middle school students: him, Hiruma, and-
"Get me some Coke while you're in there, fatty!"
"Sure thing, Hiruma!"As he set about making his sandwich and getting his friend's soda, Ryokan Kurita thought back to when he first learned about his own superpower.
He had been ten years old and playing on the playground all by himself. There were some older kids as well, but they did not pay attention to him very much. Kurita mostly stuck to himself, considering he outweighed them all by at least fifty pounds. Occasionally, one of them would call him a "fatty" or a "piggy", but this did not bother the little Kurita so much. He remained in his own world, a world where he was the mightiest superhero ever heard of.
"Hey, check it out, guys! It's our favorite little porker!"
The mean older students had arrived and were monopolizing the playground equipment. This meant that everybody would be removed, including Kurita, but the older boys had more fun when they made fun of Ryokan.
"Look at the little piggy, digging around in the sand."
"Whatsa matter, porky? You gonna cry?"
"Aw, the piggy's crying!"
Indeed, Kurita was crying when they mocked him, but he did not know why. He did not know why their words hurt so much more today. Maybe it was the last straw; maybe Kurita was just tired. He was not sure. All he knew was that he was crying, and that he was running at the boys.
"What do you think you're gonna do, you fat- OOPH!"
When Kurita barreled into the older boy, he ran right over the boy's body, crushing him into the ground. The older boy's friends ganged up on Kurita and tried to beat him up, but the chubby boy did not feel their blows. He fought back and punched and tackled his way out of the evil boys, and then he started running for home. At home, he devoured twice as much as he usually ate, forcing his father to go shopping for the two of them before supper.
After defeating those boys, his father had him transferred to a new school, where he would be better suited. He learned, in time, that the strength he had projected that day was from a change in his body. His body was developing in bizarre new ways, forcing Kurita to devour a huge quantity of food each and every time he used his immense super-strength. The endless eating never did help him become more popular, but at least he had help from Yoichi Hiruma, a fellow outcast of the school cliques. Well, not exactly an "outcast", per se; it was more like he controlled the cliques, and this left him alone at the top.
The two of them had been planning since middle school to become superheroes someday, and they would even meet other heroes and work alongside them in an effort to protect the planet from the forces of evil.
"Damn it, fatty! Where's my fucking Coke?!"
"Coming, Hiruma!"
Kurita quickly made his sandwich and returned to the monitor room with his lunch and Hiruma's beverage. The boy was staring intently at one of the screens, I-579. He took the drink from Kurita's hands and took a long swallow from it.
"Eat quickly," he said. "I think we've got trouble."
"What kind of trouble?" asked Kurita through a mouthful of sandwich.
"There's some trouble in near the Koigahama High School. We're looking at twelve or so gang members, every one of them armed with bows and arrows. Get suited up and get ready for action!"
***
Around that time, Sena and Suzuna were walking through the park hand-in-hand. They had spent the past hour or so walking around in circles around the ice-covered pond, but they did not care. They were happy doing just this.
"Hey Sena, wanna have a little bit of fun?" asked Suzuna.
"Sure!" he exclaimed.
Suzuna let go his hand and took her skates down from over her shoulders. "Okay, see this button on the side? Watch what happens when I push it!" She pushed the small violet button on the side of each skate, and the wheels flipped into the shoe; a blade replaced each of them a second later. "See? They double as ice skates!"
"That's so cool!" The gears in Sena's mind began turning, and he realized just what she was planning. "Oh no, we can't go onto the ice!"
"C'mon! Where's your sense of adventure?"
"In bed with my sense of breaking the law!"
"We're not breaking a law, just…bending it!" She tugged him by the wrist and led him down to the shore of the pond. "Come on, there are other people skating around down there!"
Sena looked around and, yes, there were people down on the ice. Some were kids having fun, some were couples enjoying a good time. No one seemed to be falling into the ice, so he relented. "All right, but I don't have any skates with me," he said as his knees twitched nervously.
"That's okay," exclaimed Suzuna as she pulled him onto the ice, "it's easy! You just have to maintain your balance!" She stood perfectly on the ice, while Sena was immediately slipping. Suzuna reached out and gently took his hands. "Here, let me show you the way to go. Hold on and bend your knees."
Slowly but surely, Sena got the hang of sliding around on just his shoes. Maybe it was because he was holding Suzuna's hands, or maybe it was because his super-speed was doing something funky; he did not know or care to find out. Things were perfect just the way they were. Unfortunately, Sena slipped and fell onto the snowy shore of the pond. Since he was holding onto Suzuna, she went falling with him, and they landed in the awkward position of her lying on top of him.
Suzuna giggled, even though she was blushing. "I think you did that on purpose!" Despite being in such an awkward position in such a public place, she was not making any move to get up.
"I-I did not!" Sena smiled and wanted to look away, to move, but could not tear himself from her eyes. He noticed that the distance between them was growing less and less until…impact. The two shared a sweet and tender kiss there in the snow. It was perfect. They did not notice the shadowy figures that were moving toward them at a fast pace, and it was not until Suzuna was wrenched away from Sena that they realized what was going on.
A troop of men were running through the snowy park knocking people away left and right. Each of them was dressed in a black bodysuit that covered every inch of skin on their bodies, save the area from the nose upward. After that, they wore mirrored lenses over each eye and a hood over the top of their heads. All the men had golden bows hooked to the back of their suits, and they all had a quiver of arrows on their backs as well.
The leader of the pack, a man with long, brown hair that fell out from under the hood, was the one who grabbed Suzuna. He shouted, "Okay, guys, we got our hostage! Let's get to the bank and make this town remember the name "Unlucky Valentines Crew"!"
"Right!"
Just like that, they were gone, leaving Sena in the snow. He was frozen in fear for a moment and then he growled in fury. How could this have happened? How could he have let this happen?
I should have been able to stop them. I'm fast enough to take them all out in the blink of an eye! When I was watching them, they were practically like statues! What do I do? What do I do?
Hiruma and that big guy! They're the only ones I know who could help me with those guys! I just hope they already know what's going on…
***
Out on the soccer field of Koigahama High School the dynamic duo of Akumetsu and The Warrior stood amidst a sea of fallen criminals and hooligans. Several of them were wearing hoods and masks on their faces, but Akumetsu could tell who they were right away. Almost all of them were high school students who attended the school, and they were almost all fourth years.
Akumetsu lifted one off the ground and held him by the collar. The shadow-clad demon rammed the gang member against a tree. "Where's the boss?" he growled. "I'm not in the mood for small fry like you!"
"Th-The b-b-boss ain't here!" the student shouted. "He's w-w-with th-the main g-g-gang!"
"Damn," Akumetsu hissed, "there are more of them."
The Warrior looked down at his communicator, which was linked to Akumetsu's network, and saw a blinking message. BANK ROBBERY NEAR DEIMON BANK. SUSPECTS ARMED WITH SPECIALLY EQUIPPED BOWS AND ARROWS.
"Akumetsu!" he shouted, "this was a trap! Their real target is the bank!"
"Fuck!" Akumetsu ran over to The Warrior and grabbed his shoulder. "Come on! We've got to get there before he does anything stupid!"
"Who, Sena?"
"Yes. Read the rest of the message."
Kurita looked down at the small screen. It read: HOSTAGE HAS BEEN TAKEN. HOSTAGE IS A ONE SUZUNA TAKI. NOTABLE CONNECTIONS IN THE AREA: REBECCA TATSUHIKO; JUN WATAHARA; SENA KOBAYAKAWA…
"That's not good at all, is it?"
"Fuck, no. We need to get there before he does anything to reveal his identity to the world!"
The two heroes vanished into a puff of black smoke and soon appeared on the other side of town at the Deimon Bank. Sure enough, Sena Kobayakawa was right outside, trying to see past the large crowd gathered behind the police barricade. Akumetsu walked over to him, grabbed him, and teleported him to a spot with less people.
"What did you do that for?!" the bushy-haired boy shouted. "There's someone in there that needs my help!"
"And she'll get your help, kid." Akumetsu leaned in and whispered into the boy's ear, "Cerberus. That's the password that will get you into the Devil's Lair. Head to the room on the right at the end of the hall. Look in the glass case." The devilish man turned and headed back to the bank, leaving Sena to go and run back to the base.
The Warrior made a path through the crowd with his bulky body and asked, "So, is he really coming?"
"Yeah," replied Akumetsu, "he's finally come around, fatty."
A moment later, the two heroes were joined by a new face. Where once there was empty space now stood a tall man, trim and muscular, with the physique of a runner. The man was wearing a skin-tight costume: it was red with a black stripe down the center, with a crimson "21" in the center; his boots are a fiery red, and he was wearing red gloves with black undersides. On his head was a helmet that was patterned after his costume, and had stylized bat wings coming off the side. A green eyeshield obscured his face, though his mouth is let exposed, revealing a face that was filled with determination.
"Ke-ke-ke! Nice look, fucking runner!" Akumetsu cackled in glee.
"Are we ready to do this?" he asked in a very serious voice.
"We've got your back, Eyeshield 21," said The Warrior, who began cracking his joints.
"Then let it begin!" the super-fast hero shouted as he dashed into the bank, where the Unlucky Valentines Crew was set and ready for combat…
TO BE CONTINUED…