"… adult villains will be imprisoned or admitted to mental hospital depending on their crime and mental stability. While the young ones, who weren't legally adult will be admitted into League's rehabilitation program to prevent them to grow to be an even more dangerous villain…."
"Kise, shut that down," Aomine shouted from where he laid himself on, clearly feeling annoyed. "I can't stand that woman."
"I want to, but I can't," Kise replied. "It's an interrupting, unskippable ad on YouTube."
"Then turn it down and find something else to watch, goddamnit!"
"It's all over other TV channels too," Midorima chimed in. He changed the channels, only to find the blonde woman—Alex Garcia, the official Justice League Spokesperson—all over each channel, talking straight to the camera in front The Hall of Justice building. "You can't escape this unless you live under the rock, apparently."
"We live under the rock," Murasakibara commented lazily, while still chewing his sweets. "And we knew all about it."
Aomine grumbled while the others were watching the announcement, not making any further comment. Akashi glanced from his printed message for the next mission assigned to his team by Makoto, watching as the woman on the TV as she was now taking questions from journalists present in the room. Behind her, stood the Green Lantern of Earth, Clutch Warrior, and Fate Stringer, The Trinity of the Justice League. They were serious about this rehabilitation, apparently. However, they didn't mention how they are going to do the Project Rehab . They quickly dismissed the word brainwashing , but they didn't confirm whether it uses psychic as a method either.
However they are going to do it, Akashi couldn't take that lightly. Fate Stringer is one hell of psychic. No doubt she must be the one coming up with the idea. And judging how she decided to make this program public for everyone to see, this is no doubt a warning for young metahumans who had a lick of metagene inside their system to behave, or we will get you .
Akashi won't dismiss that idea. Not especially when he was sure that the Justice League must have been testing whatever method they're using for launching this project and succeeded, and Akashi might have an idea who was the mouse lab.
"Miracles, we're going to do our missions carefully from now on until we figure out what's this Project Rehab about," Akashi suddenly announced, in an absolute manner, that it stole others attention, even Aomine's. He turned to face where Akashi stood, both eyes shot open. "No unnecessary ruckus, not taking any risks, and definitely not making any scene in and out of a mission. Every single thing must be consulted with each other, and do not wander off alone unless you have someone present with you as a backup. Do I make myself clear?"
"But Aka-chin…"
" Do I make myself clear ?" Akashi repeated, authority was radiating from his body and filling the room like a gas, eliminating every hit of defiance from his team. They nodded in agreement, while Aomine, once again, grumbled and turned his back from Akashi.
"Akashi-kun…" Satsuki whispered from where she stood. "You're worried. That's so unlike you."
"League's announcement was not to be taken lightly, Momoi. While I know that this might be one of their PR attempt to calm people down after the last incident in Tokyo, they sounded serious about it. And I can't lose any more of our clan on that stupid project," Akashi spoke, almost whispering. "Say, Momoi, as a Psychic, do you think it's possible to perform such a thing to…"
"Tetsu-kun!" Satsuki gasped, the glass she was holding in her hand slipped off, almost falling to the ground uncharacteristically before Aomine ran to her super quickly, holding the glass before it hit the ground and shattered.
"Oi Satsuki, what was that ab…"
His words were cut as he followed Satsuki's eyes.
By the door of their secret lair, stood a small, blue haired boy. He was using his civilian outfit as he stepped to the light of the room, showing his face.
"Tetsu!","Kurokocchi!","Kuroko!"
They were shouting the blue-haired boy name, who was now smiling lightly. "Hello, everyone," he greeted.
"Tetsu-kun!"
Satsuki practically flies to where Kuroko stood. She sobbed as she hugged him tightly, that Akashi was sure that Kuroko would died from choking in a matter of a minute. However, that thought was quickly dismissed as Aomine pulled Satsuki from the boy, and the other Miracles were surrounding the boy, asking the essentials like "where, when, how, and what" that Kuroko avoided to answer. Akashi squinted his eyes, trying to observe the blue-haired boy from where he stood. Kuroko looked like himself. He didn't look like he was being corrupted in any way.
But one cannot be too careful.
"Kuroko!" Akashi called, quickly silencing the voices of his groups that were still asking questions to the smallest Miracle. "I am thrilled that you're coming back. But first and foremost, I wish to make sure that you are not corrupted in any way and endangering us. I'm sure you understand..." he started as he levitated towards the group. "... If I order Momoi to examine your head and your memories as well? You had been captured for nearly a month. I cannot risk our clan, you see. Especially after the League's announcement."
"Of course, Emperor ," Kuroko replied. "I understand. Please do, Satsuki."
Akashi stared at the boy with suspicion as he mentioned their codename instead of their real name. That's one sign of a possible alteration of his mind. Satsuki stared at Akashi for a moment, asking for an order before nodding her head and levitating. She crossed her legs as pink aura was starting to surround her, ending in her eyes that were now glowing in bright pink color. When Momoi finally raised her hands to touch Kuroko, his eyes were also glowing the same manner. The youngest Miracle gasped for air, his body tensed for a moment before the glow was gone, leaving Kuroko panting for air and Satsuki set her feet back on the ground before turning his eyes to Akashi.
"He's still Tetsu-kun," she spoke. "His mind is not broken, physically and mentally. There was no mental transmission emitted or received, and he was not being tapped. He's still okay," she ended with a little hesitant smile. "This is our Tetsu-kun."
If she wasn't speaking to Akashi, her smile would go unnoticed. However, Akashi was the one with Emperor Eyes. He could see a slight hesitation in her pink eyes, and a slight was too many for Akashi.
"But something is not right about him," Akashi spoke. "Isn't that right, Satsuki ?"
The pink haired eyes widen, as does the others' Miracle. They turned to Kuroko, starting to be doubtful when the blue haired guy nodded.
"It is," he said. "I mentally asked Satsuki to be calm after seeing my memories. I got nothing to hide, Emperor. I am still me, however, there were things happening during my time in the team's headquarter. And some of them weren't so… in hero and villain manner, no. And she probably saw my decision to quit this clan too."
At that, the other Miracles started to throw themselves away from Kuroko, all tensing up while preparing themselves in defensive mode. Akashi couldn't quite be more proud of their quick reactions if he wasn't so busy glaring at the smaller boy.
"I knew it! I knew it by the moment he refused to call Satsuki's real name. Or Emperor's," Aomine hissed. "Goddamn it, Tetsu! You were corrupted by Meteora, aren't you? I knew you always have a soft spot for that hero."
"I am not!" Kuroko yelled. He then sighed, only to disappear before their very eyes, making the miracles tensed even more.
"Satsuki," Midorima yelled. "Satsuki, find him and capture him before he transmitted information to the outsider."
"Forgive me for using my power, everyone," Kuroko's voice echoed in their hall, making it impossible for him to be spotted. "However, I need you to listen to me and if I'm present, then you guys would interrupt me before I finish. I need to tell my story. I will not harm you in any way, nor will I force you to adapt to my point of view. This is why I also didn't refer to you with your real identity to protect it. After all, I couldn't trust all of those heroes. One of them could have planted a microphone on me," he said. "I still respect everyone and this clan."
Akashi gritted his teeth. He accessed his Emperor Eyes power, and even though he could spot where the core of Kuroko's soul with those eyes, it took quite a time. Kuroko's lack of presence is beyond low, that it is such a bother even for him.
"Okay," he spoke, seeing that there is no way for them to fight Kuroko in that state. " Talk ."
There was a silent before Kuroko's voice was heard once again. "Thank you, Emperor. As Satsuki mentioned before, during my imprisonment the heroes didn't do anything to alter my brain nor my mental state in any way. However, they did help me to see what we did from an angle that I… we averted our eyes from. It was torturous for me to see what we did, and I feel something that I couldn't before, given that I was blinded by my own insane wish to acquire, to claim things. I believe I partook in the missions because my power was overwhelming me, it made me mad and I saw no other option to channel it but to use it on missions. So I can have some sick excuse as a purpose."
The Phantom stopped for a moment, and Akashi couldn't decide whether he's giving himself a moment, or he just wanted to let all of that bullcrap sink in.
"What we did was mad, and cruel. Even though it was satisfying for us to finally see our power in action, but it's not worth other people's pain. We can still use our power for better use. Not necessarily to be a hero, but… To control our power so it won't harm people and so we can drown the insane voice that overwhelmed us when we don't use it. I know we can, the heroes can help us..."
Kuroko's speech was abruptly interrupted by Akashi's hand around his neck, and not a moment later, his body was back to everyone's view. He widened his eyes as they met a pair of heterochromatic ones, red and gold both glaring at him as he tightened his hold on Kuroko's neck. "Thank you, Tetsuya, It was really thoughtful of you. But we have to pass," Akashi spoke. "Now, why don't you invite your lover to come join us? It's very rude for you to keep a guest outside."
Kuroko choked out a question, before the cave's west wall suddenly glowed bright red and burnt into balls of fire. Aomine cursed, running towards Satsuki to protect her while Murasakibara jumped from where he sat, smashing the mini meteors into pieces to prevent them from falling upon his friends.
"Meteora, nice to see you again." Akashi greeted.
"K… K… g… What… you're…" Kuroko's voice was cut by his lack of breath, causing Meteora to glared dagger at Akashi.
" Let him go !" he yelled as he charged towards Akashi. The Emperor was dodging one of his meteor balls, throwing Kuroko to Meteora's direction to dodge his attacks. The redhead hero caught The Phantom, who was now gasping for air and staring at Meteora, eyes clearly asking questions.
He didn't know Meteora was following him. How cute, and terribly reckless. And he had the guts to say that he still cares about the clan.
Traitor.
"Enjoy each other's presence while you still can," Akashi said, rage started fueling his mind as he flew higher, focusing his power on his eyes. "As I do not forgive anyone who dare to defy me, let alone be the mole to our enemy. And as for you, Meteora," he turned his eyes to Kagami, throwing a sharp look that manifested into a dagger made of dense air, flying towards Meteora's direction. The hero dodged the attack, but not without a scratch as the blade slit his cheek. "I will make you regret ever laying your eyes on our Phantom and even corrupting his mind."
Meteora was smarter than he looks, Akashi could give him that. Before Akashi could throw another dagger made of his stare alone, the hero was flying outside through the hole he created a while ago. However, Murasakibara's hammer blocked his path, hitting the wall above the hole to cover it.
"Ugh, bastard!" Meteora cursed.
And that's all what he could do before Midorima could launch one of his chain, targeting it around Meteora's feet before pulling him to the ground. Meteora was trying to resist, but the angle that Midorima used was on his blind side, so he couldn't help but to fall and hit the ground. Aomine didn't spend too much time to launched himself at the hero really quick and kicked him. Meteora was thrown to the wall, the fire surrounding him was dimming while Kuroko was rolling not far from him, glaring at his clan.
Well, ex-clan.
Kuroko then raised his one hand towards Meteora, attempting to make himself and the red haired hero to be invisible. However, Akashi saw through his intention and shoot one air-dagger to Kuroko's hand, making him yell in pain as he lowered his hand.
" Phantom !" Meteora yelled. He then made a ring of fire that separated them with the rest of the Miracle. Kise then tsk-ing before tapping Aomine's shoulder, absorbing his blue aura before running around the fire to put it out with speed alone, leaving Meteora and Kuroko gasping for air in the process and weakening them.
They were good, but they were outnumbered. Akashi could see the result of their resistance since Meteora was charging in to their lair.
"Moniker, you bastard, ask for permission first," Aomine growled to his friend before turning his eyes to the weakened hero, his eyes were filled with insanity as he walked towards them. "Now, now, heroes. Don't die just yet. I still want to have fun with you. And believe me, hell would feel like an opening course on what will I do to you."
"That's called an appetizor, Aopanthercchi."
"It's appetizer , Moniker. And who cares," Midorima coming close behind them.
However, before Aomine could follow through his plan, the hole that Murasakibara blocked was now busted open once again, making way for some more people. Or rather… heroes.
A black crystal was coming out of the ground, separating the Miracles with Kuroko and Meteora, before a body with hawk wings came to their lair, flying and throwing his Metal Mace to Akashi. The Emperor had foreseen this attack, therefore he could dodged it easily and threw a set of his air-dagger as a counterattack. However, Hawkguy was dodging them, as well as resummoning his mace to protect the heroes that were now filling their cave.
Aside of Black Mercy plus his crystal power and Hawkguy himself, there came Avalanche. He was followed by the worst of them all.
Rainbow Blade.
Akashi gritted his teeth. Now, Rainbow Blade might be the most human among metagenes, extraterrestrials and magic beings. But he was also the toughest and the most persistent one. Akashi didn't like being defied, and he was sure that Rainbow Blade here is the embodiment of defiance . It was surprising that he could be a part of a team, let alone leading them.
The ninja was lowering his grappling gun, jumping and backflipping until he landed in front of the black crystal created by Black Mercy, smirking smugly.
"I'm sorry, boys, can't have two of my team being harassed more than that even though they kind of deserved it, sneaking out from the base and stuff. But well, they're still useful," he smirked a smug smile as he unsheathed both of his sword, leaving a trail of colors in their wake. "Now, we're in a nick of a time and don't have time to fool around. So I'd rather for you to let us put a collar on you and be nice. The other option is you could try to resist and we do this the hard way, and although it could take quite some time, I'll entertain you either way."
Akashi stared at the man's black eyes under his mask. They were radiating confidence, and although Akashi hated them, he knew that those eyes promised victory. Akashi didn't like them a bit. This man had something under his sleeves, and Akashi just couldn't quite get his hands on his secret.
And it's really making him furious.
"Young Titan," Akashi spoke.
Murasakibara didn't have to hear his spoken order, he already knew what he had to do. Groaning, the huge human was growing even bigger and bigger so that he was as tall as a five story building, revealing his true form.
Avalanche was reacting quickly. He released a howl of wind as he raised his hands, followed by a bunch of snow spinning around them, making an indoor blizzard that reminded Akashi of a snow globe being shaken. However, the tiny snow couldn't affect the now titan-sized Murasakibara. He swung his hand forward, trying to hit the heroes like a bunch of flies. However, they're quick to dodge. Hawkguy was grabbing Rainbow Blade from where he stood fast, levitating him so he was safe.
Aomine and Kise, who were close in that direction, was running on Murasakibara's hand. "Oi, stupid Titan, you should see that we're here as well!" Aomine and Kise yelled.
"Haaa? It's not my fault you're there," Murasakibara answered. "Get out of the way and let me crush them."
Akashi left them to their useless bickering. It will not be long until they resolved their differences and fought side to side again, anyway. He was focusing on Rainbow Blade, who grunted something about "I don't have time for this". Akashi was quite agree. He hated that they attacked them in their lair, and he really wanted to beat some lessons to their puncturable organs as quickly as possible. Akashi then turned to Midorima and Momoi, ordering them to immobile those heroes with their powers, before widening his eyes.
Even among the blizzard, he could see Midorima and Momoi were freezing on their place, eyes looked empty and they were standing defenseless. They were surrounded by a glowing energy.
One that wasn't bright pink.
It was purplish blue.
"Projectile! Satsuki!" Akashi yelled, trying to wake them to their senses with the absolute voice of an Emperor.
However, before he could even approach them the glowing light was also covering Murasakibara, Aomine, and Kise, making them gasp and their eyes were turning blank in an instant. Akashi glared dagger at Rainbow Blade, who was now looked just as surprised, but content nevertheless.
He knew what's happening.
"Rainbow Blade!" Akashi yelled before squinting his eyes, focusing the energy around him to create air-made daggers and throwing them towards the ninja. However, before the daggers even reached their destination, Avalanche was making a huge ice dome around his leader, protecting him from the daggers. "What did you do to my clan?"
However, before Akashi could launch another attack, his sight was turning purplish blue too. He gasped as the light was claiming his vision, his muscles, his power.
Akashi tried to fight, focusing all of his Emperor power to fight the light. However, he could only resist for a few minutes before the light covering his vision back.
The last of his consciousness was filled by the Rainbow Blade, smirking at him. "You're not the only one throwing curveball, Emperor," Rainbow Blade spoke. "I have my surprises too."
Now you guys know their superlame superhero names xD but can you guess who is Black Mercy, Hawkguy, and Clutch Warrior? +100 points for those who can guess it right :D