"This is surprisingly cheap." Sparkler remarked, looking at the prices for the group to get from Niigata to Tokyo.

"I think your sense of money is just warped." Ryuji responded. Sparkler quickly bought three tickets and they were soon waiting at the tracks for their vehicle to arrive. The two older men in the group noticed Rai bouncing on the balls of his feet and asked what he was so excited about.

"It's a really quick train!" The boy chirped, continuing to bounce from one foot to the other.

"Yeah I get that, but why are you so excited?" Sparkler asked.

"It goes so fast!"

"Yeah I know but–"

"Just let him have it, Sparkler. There are two groups of people you don't argue with, children–" He held up a finger, "and old people." He held up another and Sparkler flipped him off.

"The old bitch was asking for it." He growled, crossing his arms.

"I'm starting to wonder if I'm traveling with two children." Ryuji sighed.

10 minutes later, their train arrived. Rai quickly ran into the train, weaving in between a few groups of people before sitting at the largest window he could find. Sparkler followed him, sitting at the center seat while Ryuji filled in the row at the aisle.

A majority of the trip was spent sleeping, in the case of Sparkler, squealing, in the case of Rai, and looking at brochures in Ryuji's case. That was until the train began to slow down about 80% of the way to Tokyo.

"Attention passengers, the train will be making an emergency stop due to a villain attack. Please remain seated as heroes are enroute to assist."

The snot bubble Sparkler had been religiously growing suddenly burst and he sat up quickly. "Are we there?"

Ryuji didn't even look up from his brochure before responding with a negative. "There's a villain attacking up ahead, it'll probably be a few hours."

"Hours?" Sparkler groaned. He cracked his neck and stood to his feet, hopping over Ryuji's legs. "I'll be back in like 10 minutes, save my seat." He walked towards the emergency exit and pressed it, hopping off of the train and onto the gravel surrounding the track. He could faintly see the visage of a man sitting on the tracks playing the flute.

"What the fuck is this." Sparkler whispered to himself. He instantly used the power cables ahead to teleport in front of the man, startling him slightly. "Get off the tracks, my train can't go." He nudged the man with his foot.

He looked to be a homeless man, wearing stained rags and having shaggy black hair. The pipe in his hand was shaped weirdly, with the mouthpiece being shaped like a hook. He was sitting cross legged and refused to move.

"Are we going to have to fight this out?" Sparkler asked, only to receive no response from the man. "Talk." He ordered, nudging the man with his foot again.

'They said it was a villain attack, but this is the only guy here.' Sparkler looked around until he saw the stones around him shift slightly, like someone was stepping there.

"I see, you're a puppet!" Sparkler easily avoided the sword that was slashed towards him, the invisible blade not even clipping his hair. Another shift in the stones and Sparkler put his arm up to block.

Kaku was enjoying his morning. He'd thoroughly planned out their mission today and was almost giddy with the adrenaline rushing through him.

His brother, Uka, would create the presence of a hulking monstrosity on the train tracks by playing a high pitch note. When the train stopped, he would head towards the deluxe seating area and hold the passengers for ransom. It'd been leaked to them that a high ranking monk was traveling to Tokyo for a burial, something about the president's daughter.

It was a simple, yet effective plan. The only screw that came loose was the appearance of the man in front of him. His brother froze at the sight of him, one bad sign, he changed pitch to make him invisible, another bad sign, and he'd just dodged his sneak attack! Kaku quickly did the math in his head and realized he was fucked, but there was no chance he was going down without a fight.

Kaku quickly slashed again, praying in his head that the first dodge was a fluke. His theory was proven correct as the man put up his arm to block his sword. 'This idiot! He's sacrificing his arm! Even if he does something like cover me in blood, we have other techniques ready to win!'

His sword was mere millimeters from the man's arm when it suddenly surged full of electricity, frying his insides completely. Uka, the only one who could see him, gasped. The invisibility instantly wore off and Kaku hit the ground weakly, the boiling in his body was a sure sign of death.

"B-Brother." Kaku reached out, only to have his arm snapped in half by the man's dress shoes.

"Yeah sorry about this, but I want to go to Tokyo." The man said, not sparing a second before he threw Uka far off the tracks. Kaku gasped weakly, only to be kicked away himself as the man leisurely whistled while walking back to the train.

'That… was a really bad sign.'

Sparkler hopped on top of the bullet train, knocking lightly on the driver's cabin hatch. It slowly opened with 2 pairs of eyes looking at him fearfully. "Hey bud. I fixed the problem, so let me get back in my seat and we can set off!"

"R-Right!" The hatch closed and Sparkler hopped back onto the gravel before re-entering the train and taking his seat.

"So what was it?" Ryuji asked, idly flicking through another brochure, this one for Osaka.

"Just some fodder. Probably trying to mug passengers or something." Sparkler replied, lying back in his chair and closing his eyes.

"Sparky look! You can see Mt. Fuji!" Rai instantly interrupted the man's shut eye by shaking him.

Loki was exhausted. His body felt like it weighed 10 tons, his eyelids threatened to shut with each breath he took, and that wasn't counting the yawns he continued to suppress.

"Fucking Sparkler, running me ragged all the time." He'd finished transferring the money a while ago, but the small exposure to blue light from his laptop screen had fully set his mind into action, something he hated.

The man sat in his bed eating a cup of noodles while scouring high class penthouses in Tokyo, because that moron of a boss of his definitely planned to just walk in and expect there to be a red carpet laid out for him. "What's he even doing in Japan anyway?"

He scrolled through a few more pages before making a call. "Hello Mr. Akafen, I'm interested in your penthouse suite in building 56a, and would like to buy it outright."

"Buy it? Sorry kid, it's only for rental."

"Judging by the prices around the area, I'm thinking 3 billion yen, fair?"

"3 billion? Alright, send the money through and it's all yours."

Loki's first quirk, Silvertongue, allowed him to convince anyone to do anything as long as the deal had reasonable gain on both sides. For instance, the penthouse suite in the heart of Tokyo he was buying. Penthouses in that area usually retail for about 3 billion yen on average, so he simply requested to buy at that average and it was considered a reasonable request.

Of course, being the outcome of a quirk marriage, his second quirk only added to the function of the first. "Thank you Mr. Akafen, I'll have the money wired to your primary account within the next 10 minutes." Transfer gave Loki the ability to swap two things as long as they were worth around equal value. In this instance, 3 billion yen was transferred to Mr. Akafen in exchange for the deed to the penthouse.

With his abilities, it didn't take long for his popularity to explode in the underground, and after a certain incident, his allegiance now lied towards Sparkler. Though even while he grumbled about his circumstances, he truly enjoyed the job.

The man chucked his laptop onto the other side of his bed, walking into the bathroom and turning on the light. His light blonde hair cascaded down his back in a whirlwind of strands, eventually reaching towards his waist. He stared at his reflection with jade green eyes, scowling slightly as he grabbed the small amount of fat that had built up around his waist. 'He is soo going to bully me for this.' Loki sighed loudly and turned on the shower, hoping he had time to sort out a fake identity before Sparkler arrived in Tokyo properly.

"So what are we doing first?" Ryuji asked, landing on the train platform with a small hop.

"Checking out the new place." Sparkler yawned, holding up his phone towards the man. There was an address, and a collage of photos taken in some bigwig's penthouse.

"So we're renting a place?" Ryuji asked, helping Rai step off the train safely.

"Hell nah, this is mine now." Sparkler scoffed, switching over to his messages app.

Loki

'Loki: Got you a place in Tokyo. I'm taking extra commission for this. [Address]

Sparkler: Love you

/)/)

( . .)

c( づ

Loki: The fake ids are on their way.

Sparkler: Ok

Sparkler: I made some friends btw

'Sparkler sent a photo'

Loki: So children and old dudes are now considered friends?

Sparkler: When were they ever not?!

Loki: After the trip in Uruguay

Sparkler: You know what they say 'what happens in Uruguay, stays in Uruguay.'

Loki: That's a Vegas quote, and nobody says that anymore.

Sparkler: Buzzkill. Going to go check out the place now.

Loki: K'

"So you bought a penthouse?" Ryuji asked.

"Why do you act cute over text?" Rai interrupted. Sparkler bonked him on the head lightly with his phone.

"Shut it, it's just how I talk to him. Anyway, onwards to Tokyo!" Sparkler announced, marching towards a large stairwell leading out and into the heart of Tokyo. His two partners shared a pensive look, but followed along.

At the top of the staircase, Sparkler waited for his two companions, smiling widely as he looked out into the streets. "Hehe, this is what I like." He said, hearing Rai and Ryuji stop beside him. The crowded streets and buildings of Tokyo didn't leave much room for imagination in the city, but it truly was beautiful.

Ryuji pulled out his phone, taking several photos around the place while Rai stuck his hands in his pockets and waited patiently. "Alright, as much as I'd love to go shopping right now, we need to check out our place." Sparkler clapped his hands together and looked towards Ryuji. "Can you call a taxi?"

"Yeah, give me a minute." Rai waddled over towards Ryuji and looked at his phone.

"He's sending the photos to his daughter." He reported. Ryuji moved his phone away from the child and opened up the taxi app.

"It's not nice to look at other people's phones, don'tcha know?"

Rai shrugged. "I don't have a phone. Sparky, can I get a phone?"

"Can you get your finger out of your ass?"

"See?"

"Ryuji, you called the taxi?" Sparkler completely ignored his charge, turning towards his new assistant.

"Yeah, it should be meeting us any second." Ryuji pointed to a small black car. "That's the one."

"Shotgun!" Sparkler ran around the side of the vehicle and hopped into the passenger seat while Rai and Ryuji got in the back. "Just to this address please." The man chirped.

The taxi driver stiffly nodded before putting his car into drive and speeding off. "Oi, Rai." Sparkler called out.

"Yeah?"

"I'll pick you up a phone when we're settled in, but for now we're just getting set up." He finished, flicking through his phone idly while Rai nodded enthusiastically. "What else should be on our list Ryuji?"

"Definitely a school for the kid, furniture for the apartment, the usual stuff."

"Ah shit, a school." Sparkler groaned. "I gotta show up there sometimes don't I?"

Ryuji let out a small chuckle, "yep, enjoy it."

Sparkler groaned again loudly before opening his notes app and writing down the list of things he needed to do. "Alright school, furniture, technology, groceries, internet. Should I hire a maid or can you do the cleaning, Ryuji?"

"It won't be that hard as long as you two clean up after yourselves."

"No maid then. I need to contact an agent here for work, and then I'll need to introduce you two to my friends around the world." Sparkler continued to ramble on as Rai looked at Ryuji.

"He's having a bit too much fun with this." Ryuji said.

Rai nodded, "yeah, but I'm excited to get a phone… and school!"

"What kind of kid is excited for school?" Ryuji snorted.

"The bored kind."

The duo looked out their respective windows, enjoying the views of the street from within the taxi. After a few more minutes of travel, the taxi driver stopped and Sparkler paid him before hopping out of the car.

"Hehe, this is gonna be good!" Sparkler rubbed his hands together before running into the building in front of him. Ryuji sighed and guided Rai through the foot traffic until they reached two large glass doors with golden handles. They were easily over 10m in height, probably for those with giant quirks or freaks of nature.

Ryuji gently dragged the door open and ushered Rai inside. The floors were made of a snow white marble, leading towards a large onyx black desk where Sparkler was talking to a clerk. The woman had long emerald green hair and round yellow eyes that seemed to not close. The two seemed to be energetically chatting as Sparkler's partners trailed behind him.

"Hey you two, you with Sparky here?" She chirped. Surprisingly, Sparkler didn't comment on the nickname, but nodded before the woman reached below her desk and pulled out a golden key and a keycard. "Mr. Akafen told me about the deal earlier, here's the key, and the keycard! If you need anything, just call me on the phone number on the back of this bad boy." She flipped over the keycard in her hand, thumb drifting over the number she mentioned.

Sparkler gave the woman a grin and took them off of her hands. "Thanks for the help…"

"Tomoko Shiretoko!"

"Shiretoko-san. We'll be heading up now."

"Alrighty! I'll be here if ya need!" Tomoko sneakily took a picture of the three, planning to show it to her friends later.

"I noticed, Sparkler, with both the diner waitress and the clerk down there you were quite nice. Any reason for that?" Ryuji inquired, following the villain into the elevator.

Sparkler swiped his keycard across an access panel before inputting his floor. "What do you mean?"

"You're a cunt." Rai replied.

"That." Ryuji agreed.

"I am not." Sparkler put on a look of mock disgust before beginning to laugh. "I just respect working people. They're just doing their jobs, so I don't want to make their lives any harder than they have to be. If they aren't in my way, that is."

"Like the pro hero you fought?" Rai deadpanned.

"He was in my–! I don't have to prove anything to you." Sparkler huffed. The doors to the elevator opened and the group's eyes widened when they got their first view at their new living space.

Cleanly polished wooden floors reflecting the sun's rays coming through the large window at the end of the room. Black marble countertops to the left comprised the outline for the modern style kitchen. To their right, a spiraling staircase led to a second floor where the bedrooms resided.

"Holy shit." Ryuji gasped. "I feel privileged just breathing the air in here."

"Damn straight." Sparkler huffed, already walking towards the stairs. "I'm going to go check out the rooms, and then I'll buy a laptop. You're going to need one as well, right?" He looked back to Ryuji, who nodded. "Shitty brat, do you want to do online schooling or in person?"

"In person. Old dragon, can you look up some schools for me?"
Ryuji sputtered before nodding slowly. "Where did the name come from?"

"You're old." Rai replied, walking up the stairs behind Sparkler.

"That does not answer my question." Ryuji muttered to himself before deciding to explore the kitchen area.

After buying 2 laptops and a phone, along with other necessities, Sparkler was heading back into the elevator when his phone started to ring. He slid it out of his pocket and answered, "hello?"

"You're going to be doing jobs over there, right?" Loki asked. Sparkler could hear the soft tapping of keys across the microphone, meaning the boy was doing some research.

"Yep, can't just be sitting at home all day." The villain replied, exiting the elevator and placing his bags on the countertop. "Ryuji, Rai, I got your shit!" He yelled.

"Sounds like you're already getting started. You have our net login memorized, right?"

"Nah, I'll just guess it until I break through."

"You're an idiot. I've talked with some of your old contacts and found someone working in the Japanese underground, just the usual stuff."

"The caveat being?"

"Heroes, quite a few of them. Japan has this group of heroes called 'underground heroes' that regularly patrol where you'll be meeting and working. They don't accept public rankings or anything to stop information from leaking."

"So we're working without info. What a pain."

"Exactly, so I recommend forming your own notes or analysis on your foes that you don't kill. We're working in the gray area, so maybe getting a few contacts on the brighter side of society might not be a bad idea."

"Is this your way of telling me not to be an ass?"

"Maybe. Is it working?"

"Maybe."

"Good. I'll talk to you later."

"Ah wait, one more thing. I got this new guy Ryuji, the older one in the photo. I'll get you two on a video call so you can divvy up your workload, been kinda working you to the bone recently."

"Heh, thanks for realizing. You know my number."

"That I do, cya!" Sparkler hung up the phone and shoved it into his pocket, only to be greeted by Rai staring straight at him. "What the hell!?"

"Can you help me set this up?" The boy held out his phone politely and Sparkler groaned before smiling.

"Fine, come on." Sparkler took a seat on the floor, Rai patiently waiting while watching over his shoulder. "I've you on my data plan, don't waste it all." The man said, quickly tapping through the phone's various startup methods.

"Why did you buy me the new one?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Yours is old as fuck."

Sparkler barked out a laugh before pulling out his phone and showing it to the kid. "It was a gift from a friend, I don't want to replace it."

"That's dumb."

"Maybe to you. Here's your phone." The man chucked it over his shoulder and stood back up, unpackaging his laptop. Rai was soon called away by Ryuji, who'd apparently set up his laptop already and was using the data on his phone to search up schools.

Sparkler's phone buzzed again, this time from Loki sending the fake id for himself through. "Rai? What's your birth date?"

"I was born on May 1st, and I'm five years old."

Sparkler sent through a request for a second id for the boy along with the birthdate. "Going to need to make a training room here somewhere… Maybe we should transform the cellar?" The man put away his phone and continued to set up his new device.

"Alright what the hell is going on." Tsukauchi, a young new detective, was looking at the reports from across the country. He had a simple face, with black hair and square shaped eyes. "In the Hokkaido region, a kidnapping was committed by a man with blue hair. Toxitank, the No.211 ranked hero, was defeated and left in critical condition by a man with the same features. The exact same guy also destroyed several rooftops throughout the Niigata prefecture.

'He's moving fast and committing crimes… but why did the higher ups want him looked into so fast? Toxitank isn't that strong of a hero, so why was his case put on such high priority.' His eyes drifted towards his coworker's desk. 'There are far more important cases at the moment.' His eyes lingered on an aerial shot of an old underground parking tower.

9 days later

"Oi, Sparkler, I got a job for you." Ryuji brought his laptop into the man's bedroom, flicking the light on several times to wake him up.

"The one time I turned in early." Sparkler grumbled, narrowing his eyes at his alarm clock. He threw his blankets off himself and stood up, "what is it?"

"Loki told me you don't do anything with drugs, right?"

"Yes?"

"I found this. You've been pretty bored and you said you enjoyed fighting, here is an advertisement for a fight club! I found it while surfing around the deep web, but I've heard rumors of drugs being exchanged and sold there, so I'm not sure if you want to participate." Ryuji began explaining, his voice quickly changing to one of excitement.

"Sometimes you're intolerable." Sparkler groaned, turning the man's laptop around. "I guess I'll go. Should be some decent money to make since it's underground fighting. Want to come?"

Ryuji froze before he shook his head rapidly, "hell no! I'll be the accountant dude, you go do the hard work!"

Sparkler barked out a laugh and slapped the man's shoulder. "Alright, fight club it is. I'll make sure to grab a recording of it to show Rai for training."

"You're working that kid to the bone… what're you going to do when his school starts?"

"I'll cut out the morning training because of his commute." The villain replied, walking over to his wardrobe to grab some different clothes.

"Look, I don't really understand how much of a bigshot you are or aren't, but don't villains usually have costumes?" Sparkler looked down at the pair of tracksuit pants in his hands and shrugged.

"No clue, I just dress classy or casual." The man stripped his pants and put on the ones he got out. Black, with green lines going down the sides of each leg. He grabbed a gray shirt with a thunderbolt symbol on the front and yawned, beginning to walk out of the room.

"You may not have a costume, but you can't tell me you're going to a fight club in pajamas!" Ryuji exclaimed.

Sparkler narrowed his eyes before nodding. "You're right. I should grab my slippers as well." The man pushed past his assistant and grabbed said items from his wardrobe. Small green slippers with frog ears on them.

"I can't fucking believe this."

"What's the address?"

"Some old parking garage in Osaka."

"For fucks sake." Sparkler growled, grabbing a beanie as well. "It's cold down there."

"You're just sensitive."

Sparkler flipped him off before disappearing in a flash of lightning, choosing to travel through the building's electrical system.