Justice Across Space and Time: Year 2
Chapter 16
This and maybe the next chapter will be the end to this short arc. I just wanted this one to show more of my own heroes as well as how certain nations would be handling matters after the reveal of true metas and everything else. After the arc I'll be discussing/showing and going through more of what's changed in Japan. On with the show.
(No POV)
Ours' looked over the information his sidekick had brought and could see the trouble that was likely brewing. "We knew about some of this, but to think the scale is this large," the bear man said while scratching his chin. "Yeah, it's a bit much to take in. But I figure a few good kabooms will fix this!" Wild Child or Samantha "Sam" Renard said while thinking about the various tools she could use for the mission.
Her boss and old friend though told her to calm down. "We won't be working alone on this one. But I have to wonder if they are up for this." William says before turning back towards the city.
"Are you sure I'll be up for this?" Eathan asked while testing out some of his transmuting powers. As well as firing shots of pure cosmic energy. He could fly somewhat, but he was unsteady about it. "Well, you're making progress. You can at least change things by choice now. And you're getting better at creating stuff on the fly. But you'll need to relax a bit to get used to flying under your own power."
And just as John was saying that, Drive shot off uncontrollably in a direction again. The young hero groaned before taking off after the man. Though he was happy to find that the learning true meta had found a way to control his speed somewhat. Talking the man down and helping him to land.
Eathan caught his breath and admitted it was nothing like flying a jet. "Well yeah. But the good news is, you probably won't have to do that on this mission. Leave flying to me, Hestia….. and someone else. If you managed to make what I had told you about." John said with a slightly conspiratorial eyebrow raise. The man's hair seemed to shimmer for a moment before he pulled something out of the pocket of his flight suit.
"You have no idea how hard it was to make this. Not to mention weird it is. What's this all about?" the man asks in confusion. Justice smiles before saying it'll be something special that a different hero will help him with. "Luckily, I still have the schematics. And hopefully she can make sense of them all."
They work with Eathan for another day before readying to fly to Canada. To the city of Roda and to meet with the hero Guardian Beast: Ours Défenseur. On the way though, they needed to disguise Star as well as John for the trip. With Eathan putting on a cap and glasses to cover his strange new look.
Kate asked why he did it though. "I mean, it's not like it's the oddest appearance in existence. Your hair and eyes just glow now." The man rolls his eyes and noted that was precisely why he needed the disguise. "It feels weird when people stare at my hair and eyes now."
Justice chuckled before admitting it helped in keeping secrets too. "You and I won't stand out much thanks to our average looks and the gear. And Kate here is the perfect camouflage," he said while sticking out his tongue in the woman's direction.
"Screw you. But fair." She relaxed into her seat after saying this while questioning what they'd be dealing with when they made it to Roda. Once there though, she had to dodge the various members of the media that were hounding her as she stepped off the plane.
Eathan laughed before saying, "you have the address, we'll go meet with Bernier! Don't talk too much about the job!" John laughed with him before they made their way to the baggage claim area and then to a taxi.
Upon arriving at Ours's address, they had another chuckle. As the location was actually a teddy bear emporium and custom stuffed animal shop on the first floor. "Think this was planned by him?" John asked, only vaguely understanding the commercial side of the hero world.
"Maybe? It does work for some heroes to be commercial like that." Eathan said while looking for a receptionist to alert the hero. But someone else called out to them. "Hey! You two from the USA?" the pair turned to see a young woman before them.
She had shimmery green hair with streaks of red and white through it. Her blue grey eyes seemed to light up at seeing the pair. And her joy grew when they revealed who they were. Especially John given the waves he made in the previous year. "Man, it is great to see an oddball like you here! Oh, I can't wait to test out some of my gear!"
John's eye twitched and he asked if the girl happened to be related to the Hatsume family. "No? Why?" she replied with a tilt of her head. "Oh no reason. Anyway, we aren't the only ones making their way here. But this is perfect timing. I was wondering if you'd be interested in working on something."
Samantha looked at the younger hero quizzically before gesturing to follow her. And leading them to her workshop to start work on the device in question. "So this gadget you want me to make. What's it for?" she asked while booting up some of the equipment.
The more experienced true meta smirked before pulling out a few schematics and the piece that Drive had made for him. "I know you might want to try making it yourself, from scratch and everything. But we're a bit rushed for time." John said with a subtle smirk.
The sidekick and engineer gave him a slightly disgruntled look before taking the blueprints and analyzing them. Only to go wide eyed at what she was looking at. "Are you…. serious?" she asked in both shock and excitement. The smile and light nod from Justice were enough to start her up and get to building the device.
While she was doing that, she gave quick directions to Eathan on where to meet with Ours. "Billy will likely be brooding in his office or the conference room. Just tell him I'm working on a project." Wild Child said with a dismissive wave of her hand.
The two Americans shrugged before following along with her directions. And bumping into Malakai and a beleaguered Kathleen Bates along the way. "Thanks for waiting. Jerks," she said with a pout that didn't look right on her face. But she pushed that aside to focus and be diplomatic. After all, she was meeting the top hero from Canada.
"I'm glad to meet you all. My name is William Bernier. Or as I'm known here, Ours Défenseur," the literal bear of a man said. He towered over all of them, standing almost ten feet tall and very broad shouldered. His black eyes shimmering while holding a paw or hand out to Star and the others.
They each shook hands before getting down to some of the business. Namely the plan for intercepting the poachers and smugglers. "Hopefully this turns out better than the last time I dealt with similar types. Because I don't want to get depowered again." John said with a flat look behind his sunglasses.
A few chuckles were had at that, but the group refocused on what needed to be done. And how they could distract their foes with the idea that Star and Stripe was nearby. "If they're as interconnected as I believe them to be, I think they'll be causing incidents in the city and buying time to get away. We need a good way to get everyone in position."
"We don't have too much to worry about there Billy Bear! Thanks to our friend, I've got something special to help with more than one matter!" Samantha announced while kicking the door of the conference room in. With an excited and somewhat manic gleam in her eyes, she relayed a plan she put together to make the raid a success.
The number ones of each nation had a shared eye twitch upon hearing it. But the other heroes were having a few chuckles upon hearing it. "Well I suppose that's one good side to the whole commercial hero thing. This could be interesting." John said with a bit of a laugh.
For the next few days, Ours and Star were patrolling and advertising throughout Roda. Be it Star making and then posing with a teddy bears from the top hero's company (sometimes handing one to a little boy or girl) or her and Ours patrolling and defeating some villains in the city.
"Oh thank god. When I heard about those guys getting busted in her territory, and then she shows up here…. Well I was sure she was coming to let us have it," the lead poacher said while watching a video on one of his goons' phone. Noting that they were probably going to leave the matter be or it was out of their jurisdiction. "So let's get those next sets of rugs and skins boys….. and girls, sorry."
He said this to not only the few female hunters, but his own sister as well. The two worked as an efficient pair given his quirk let him track and find creatures easily, and she could make certain plants grow to trap or stop animals. Making them the perfect pair for poaching in the Canada forests. "Let's go. We need something big after those guys down south got busted," the sister said.
Her brother nodded and told the rest of the goons to catch smaller game while they went after the big stuff. Namely the largest elks, moose, and bears they could find. The man sniffed the air and caught the scent of their prey. Though it would take the pair over an hour to get to a river where the beast was waiting.
"*whistle* That is one of the biggest bears I've ever seen," the sister said while looking through the binoculars. Noting that the beast in question looked to be at least a ton in weight and over 9 ft long. "He'll make one hell of a rug once we get him back. But I gotta get closer. Think you can stop him?"
The sister nodded and manipulated a few plants in the area. Her quirk would never let her do much, just make some plants grow in quick spurts to cut off a path or make a few roots rise up to impede trails. And her brother couldn't really operate in a city due to all of the sounds and smells assaulting his senses.
It was why and how they fell into doing this. They didn't want to adapt to living in a city and were more at home as far from it. But that in turn led them to being seen as hicks or looked down on by those who came from larger cities. Though some of said people were more than willing to pay plenty to have them hunt for silly trophies and the like.
And now they were lining up to get their newest trophy with the massive bear. The brother took aim when he saw the creature seemingly confused by the newly blocked trail. 'Scent blocker is still strong. And I've got an extra strength dose ready with a really long needle for a tranquilizer.'
He fired his shot and was ready to see it react in pain or panic upon hearing the gunshot. Instead, the bear shifted to the side enough to avoid the attack. "What?!" the man quietly said before preparing to fire again. His sister thought much the same and got her own gun ready. At least until they noticed something important.
"Hey uh….. why isn't it running away or roaring?" the sister questioned aloud. "That would be because I was anticipating this," the bear said before turning and standing at his full height. Bringing the siblings' thoughts to a screeching halt. As they jerkily turned to see the bear looking at both of them with what they assumed was a raised eyebrow.
He then popped his neck and cracked his knuckles before roaring and charging at the sister. And while he was, Wild Child leapt out with her own hiding spot. One made by a camo field generator she made. Firing away with some animal themed tools. Namely her Red Hawk Blaster (firing red stun blasts) and the Wolf Howl Sonic Gun.
The girl tried to bind or trip up the bear hero, but his friend had his back and blasted some of the roots she manipulated. "Have a taste of this! Grosse Prise D'ours!" he shouts while leaping in and falling atop the woman. Though not enough to crush her under his weight, it left her open to him picking her up and squeezing in the best bear hug he would manage.
The brother panicked and said he'd get help before running off. But not before taking a shot to the ass from another little gadget of Sam's. Namely, the Mosquito Stinger wrist guns. Which normally use tranq bullets or similar. But this time, she loaded them up with some tracer rounds. "Now then. Time to call in the calvary," she said with a thumbs up to William.
Who was also smiling while keeping a good grip on his current foe. At least until she passed out. "You are sure that new gizmo you built will work right?" he asked before asking if she had a spare pair of briefs for him. While passing the articles in question, Wild Child gave him a raised eyebrow. As if to say, 'of course it'll work.'
On a hillside overlooking the whole forested area, Justice and Eathan, or rather Nebulon-D, were waiting and listening for the signals. "Anything yet?" Nebulon asked both Justice and Soul Surfer over coms. "Nah man. Just feeling the waves out here," the wave riding hero said while floating out in the ocean. A few of his sea sidekicks were beside him as they were ready to intercept those in the water.
Driver's eye twitched and he was about to ask that the man take the matter seriously. "Hold up. I think I've got them." Justice said with his eyes closed. He focused his senses, namely hearing and EM energy sensing, and picked up on their foe's path. "Smart. He's going indirect and wandering around a bit."
"You sure he's not just panicking?" Eathan asked before floating up slightly. He couldn't fly perfectly, but it was enough to let him get the drop on a villain. "Not with the speed I'm sensing. He's making it look like he's freaking out. But in reality, he's likely going toward some trap areas to throw off his pursuers."
The new true meta whistled low before questioning what the next. Justice smiled before sensing their foe stop. And then, he seemed to take a more measured and yet still hurried path towards a hillside near the coast. With caverns that likely lead to the sea. "Okay. I think it's time to call her in."
Nebulon-D raised an eyebrow before questioning if Star would be okay with what was next. "Well we'll find out soon. I'm heading out first!" Justice said before super leaping away. The man sighed before pulling out his phone.
Back in the city, Star was posing with "Ours Défenseur". Or rather a rather well made robot in his likeness that Sam managed to make just before the mission. She was wearing a suit and making a public spectacle to attract attention. And put their foes off guard.
She was so happy however when she finally got a call from Eathan. "Sorry folks. But duty calls!" Star and Stripe said before quickly changing out of her three piece suit. With her costume underneath it. She winked to the cameras before leaping off with her current full strength.
"I really hope this works! Activating mass adjuster!" Star thinks aloud before pushing a button on the new belt she was wearing. What Wild Child had been working on was a belt that would cause changes in Star's mass and weight. Allowing her to be light enough to float or even fly with enough practice.
For now though, she was using the belt to make herself lighter and increase the distance of her jumps. "Whoa. WhOoA! Okay, okay. Think I've got it and humph!" Star said to herself as she was returning to the ground. She landed with some impact, but her leap was far farther than she had ever been able to jump before. "Okay! I've got this!"
She leapt a few more times before eventually spotting an airborne sidekick from Ours. "Here ma'am. These will let you get in touch with the others," the falcon like hero said while flying alongside the super leaping hero. "Thanks. You ready for this. HaH!"
"Kinda have to be. I'm one of the ones watching the perimeter," he said before giving her a thumbs up and flying away. It took two more leaps, but she eventually caught up with Nebulon-D. "Going a bit slow, aren't you?" she asked before landing one last time.
Her old friend gave her a look before saying, "don't laugh. I'm still not in full control. So I'm not kicking the gas on too much. Luckily, we don't need to go much further. I noticed the signal from the kid earlier."
After leaping off, Justice followed his senses to find the base. And once found, he used both his sunglasses reflection as well as his earpiece to contact his allies. 'No telling if they've got a goon who can sense some signals,' he thought while keeping an ear and "eye" on the cavern the leader had run into.
It turned out they did have someone who could sense signals, and they alerted the leader to signal coming from his butt. "Shit! We need to get out of here! Move all of the stuff we've made so far. And take the other animals out through the sea cave. We can sell them off or process them later. Prep that as well. Let's give them something more to worry about."
A number of villains move the cages and crates filled with animals aboard the handful of boats they had. Others loaded up some of the trucks they had to take their rugs and other "products" to the black markets of Roda. The leader though, was looking at a special item they had purchased from a different dealer. "Think it'll be enough boss?"
"Probably. With some luck, we can take out the number one hero with this," he said with a conniving smirk. "Well, I guess that's more of a reason to take you guys down!" a voice in the cave said. And once again, the villains were ambushed thanks to Wild Child's stealth generator. Her and Ours Défenseur had met up with Star, Nebulon-D, and Justice for the final fight of this operation.
Ours roared before rushing forward and knocking his foes around with his mass and strength. "Have a taste of my Salmon Catcher!" he called out before using both paws to knock more than a dozen villains into the air. And then he leapt up with his Bear Flop to crush or knock around even more of the villains.
However, his way of fighting left him open to attacks from the guns of the hunters. He took a few shots in the shoulder before the two ladies of the hour aided him. "Hang on Billy! Tortoise Wall!" Sam called out before making a turtle shell shaped barrier to stop more attacks.
Star grinned before using her quirk to harden the air next to Ours. And then leapt in for a few strong punches of her own. Nebulon-D had her back as well with his own variety of tricks. "Focus on the guns and gear, focus on the guns and gear. Try this out!" he said to himself before firing a blast of energy. That rapidly transmuted the weapons in the villains' hands into water pistols.
Justice would have been fighting, had he not picked up on something very important. "What the Hell!?" he shouted upon finding the surprise the villains had. Namely, a small energy cell that had a similar wavelength to the power he had. He casually punched a few goons that were attacking him away. As well as walking through the bullets they were firing.
"How did you get something like this?!" he demanded to know after picking up one of the thugs. Not noticing the countdown that had started and that the others were moping up the rest of their foes. "What's wrong? Did you find… holy crap." Sam said before looking at the power cell.
She ran to the power couplings and systems to try and shut the power station down. Only for a villain to blast the area in a last-ditch effort to see some freedom. "You can't stop it. So let's just get out of here!" the leader said while being squeezed by Ours. The bear villain snarled but admitted they were limited on options.
"We have to get them out of here. As well as getting ourselves to safety," he said before telling the goons to load into the trucks to escape. "That won't help here. When this thing goes off, it'll take out over 20 square miles. Unless." Justice said while looking at the device and thinking. 'I can't just break and absorb the power again. I might lose control. So what do we do?'
Nebulon-D hummed before considering a few options. Namely, "what if you had a way to siphon the power. Even if it was a bit reckless?" He put forth the idea that he could reformat the cables with his powers. "There by letting Justice soak up all of this juice before it explodes! That's perfect! Get started. Will listen: you and Star should get these guys out of here. We've already got confirmation that Soul Surfer has caught the others. This is the last part to do. We've got this."
The number one of Canada looked uneasy, but the rapidly reducing countdown and his friend's look on confidence was enough for him. "Move now or be left with the possibility of dying!" he roared before chucking a number of goons into a truck.
Star followed suit and threw a few others in vehicles while the others got to work. They only had a minute, but Nebulon-D's power let him reformat the cables and attach them to John. "Last time I dealt with gear like this, it drained me. You think this'll work?"
"Probably. Just need to make sure it's flowing towards you. You know, before we all blow up." Wild Child said while helping Eathan with the formatting and positioning of the cables. John sighed before nodding to the pair. And then he tried to pull the energy towards him. It worked for the most part. It was slow pulling, and they were running out of time.
Be that as it may though, Wild Child and Nebulon-D refused to leave Justice. Even as he yelled at them to get away as the power was painfully pouring into him. The most they really did was the inventor putting up a shield wall and the true meta reinforcing it with his powers.
"Don't say it didn't…. oh SHIT!" John shouted as he felt the energy cell explode and more of the energy rush out. Though it was a far smaller explosion than what it would have been. Only collapsing the cavern and a major portion of the hillside compared to taking out miles of land and sea.
And in that collapsed hillside, Justice was currently buried. 'Okay. This kind of sucks. But at least I'm alive. As are the other two. But I'm not 100% sure how long. I want to move, but if I do, I could cause more damage and get them hurt. And why are those rocks melting or changing?'
While he had been trying to think of a way to turn his situation around and save Eathan and Sam; they had come up with their own ways to get out. Driver used his powers to turn a number of rocks into either air or similar. And Wild Child had used her gadgets and weapons to find Justice and melt him a way out.
"Ya know…. I could have busted myself out." Justice said while blushing at being saved. Nebulon-D smirked at him before saying, "yeah. But you were also worried about hurting us and how you could save us. Right?" Justice *urked* at that and turned away.
Wild Child laughed and reminded him that they were both heroes too. "So we know what we're doing when it comes to saving people. Even those who could maybe save themselves. Maybe learn to rely on others more."
The young man, more or less, looked up at her before thinking back to others who had said the same to him. Not just in this world, but in others as well. Especially the world he came from. 'Guess I forgot or got too caught up in facing the threat Asmodeus and the others warned me about. I forgot that there are some who have plenty of potential. And probably plenty who I can trust.'
With that thought, he considered a few more things before wanting to talk about the power cell they found. Noting that it was an energy source similar to some of what had been stolen from him. "So does that mean these guys bought it from the villains who almost killed you?"
"I don't know Kate. The wave form was different. I think they took the energy, siphoned it into smaller cells, and then worked with it to be sold to whoever needed it. That means, they could have who knows how many of these out there. And I don't know how I'm going to find them all."
Bill and Sam both knocked John upside the head before reminding him that he wasn't alone. "You aren't the only hero. There are plenty of the best heroes who would help you. Just like we will." Ours said with warm smile on his big bear face.
John couldn't see that, but he could feel that his allies meant it. He thanked them before saying the job had only just begun. And they all would spend the next two months searching for even more of the power cells and those who were dealing in them. With minor success.
"Trail's drying up. Whoever is selling or passing these things out, they're keeping a pretty tight lid on things." Eathan said while they were comparing notes back in the USA. Kathleen agreed and noted that they were running out of ideas in the Americas. "Even Turbilhão in Brazil hasn't found anything more than a few who bought them. What's next?"
Justice hummed before thinking back to how many of them had acted. And the few details they could or would give pertaining to the sellers. But none of them had anything more to offer and some were just gone. So, he made up his mind on the matter. "I think it's time I go back. To where this all started. Back to Japan and UA."
Sorry if the villains seemed shallow this time, but that was something of the point. With how many they have in the MHA world, it's hard to keep track of them all or even really give them names. But they do have something of a link to the story from earlier. As you readers have seen. Next chapter though will be about getting back to the current UA and the adjustment back for the 2-A and 2-B students. And what other troubles could come their way. Please review!
