"Currency exchange, currency exchange." Sparkler murmured, zooming in on his phone to see where the nearest business was. He barely noticed the looks he was getting as he made his way into the heart of Aomori, the first major city they were visiting. 'I need to get this kid a shirt.' His eyes lingered on the boy in his grasp for a moment before he looked up at the street light above him.
It quickly blinked green and he walked across the road with seemingly not a care in the world until a firm hand rested itself upon his shoulder. "Sir, are you this child's legal guardian?"
Sparkler turned around to see a muscular man wearing a gas mask. He had two swirling blue horns protruding from his forehead that aimed downwards towards his costume. It was a black hazmat suit with several leather belt accessories, with gas tanks holstered near the buckle. "Who are you?" Sparkler asked, giving the man a once over before he burst out laughing.
"Toxitank, the gas hero. Now please answer my question." The man explained, not removing his hand.
"Legal I'm not so sure about, but I sure am his guardian." A smile crept across the villain's face, the boy's antics earlier had him itching for a fight, a real one.
"If you could please let the boy down and step across to the sidewalk with me." Toxitank requested, taking a step away to try and lead the man until his head was snapped backwards from a punch.
"Whoops, my hand slipped." Sparkler barked, throwing the hero's hand off of him and stepping towards the other side of the street. As he stepped on the pavement, a much more firm grasp was slapped onto his shoulder.
"Stop right there." Toxitank ordered. Sparkler turned to look at the man, only to see him taking off his gas mask. His vision was filled with green as gas leaked out into the open, only for it to suddenly explode.
Sparkler snapped his fingers and the field of electricity surrounding him dissipated. The gas floated upwards, being much lighter than the air, and it revealed a clearly unconscious pro hero laying in the middle of the street. "Oh that must have hurt." Sparkler chuckled, beginning to walk away before he heard a grunt.
'The pros here… they're pretty good.' Sparkler turned around again, placing Rai on the ground as he immediately saw three gas canisters being thrown towards him. He quickly snatched each one out of the air, throwing them away like disposable trash, only for him to get blindsided by a lariat from the gas hero.
The villain was thrown across the pavement, rolling a dozen times until he stood back to his feet, massaging his throat. "Oof, you pack a punch."
"I don't want this to go any further, please come back to the station with me peacefully." Toxitank requested, preparing to grab another canister from his belt. Sparkler watched his hand reach for it and smiled kindly.
"Of course. But the thing is, I do want this to go further." Sparkler rushed forward at the speed of lightning, reeling back an arm before slamming it into the pro with a sickening crunch. "Oops! There goes your spine!" The man spun around before slamming a roundhouse kick into the man's back, further destroying it. Civilians around them began to run away, or gasp in shock as Toxitank was launched across the street. Sparkler laughed wildly, running a hand through his hair with a smile. "Come on man, don't tell me that's it." He called out, having waited several moments for the pro's return. After a couple more he sighed, picking up Rai and carrying him through the crowd to the currency exchange.
The chiming of bells alerted Ryuji to a new customer's presence. It was a young adult carrying a shirtless child. "Hey, do you guys accept USD here?" The man asked, surveying the shop's walls.
There were souvenirs and other toys lining the walls, all from Ryuji's travels across the world. Being a 48-year-old man, he'd grown fond of the memories each one contained, and the story that came with their acquisition.
"Yes of course, are you planning on taking a trip?" Ryuji asked, eager to hear the man's plans and perhaps share some of his own tales.
"Actually, I just arrived here. Do you have an USD/International ATM around here?" The man directed his attention towards the shop owner, who gestured to the corner next to the entrance.
Ryuji watched as his new patron pulled out a wallet full of credit cards. He heard him mutter something about 'Burner 7' before he placed a card into the ATM that soon spat out several bills.
He quickly snatched them from the machine and walked towards the main desk, placing them down gently. Ryuji counted them meticulously, making some small talk with the man about his travels.
"I've come from Egypt actually, had some business over there."
"Egypt huh, have you heard what happened over there? The stuff with their number 1 hero." He saw the blue haired man's smile falter slightly before he nodded.
"A sad situation, who's your number one here?" He replied. Ryuji reached under the desk into a basket full of yen bills.
"You don't know? That's what most people coming here are after." Ryuji asked, sounding genuinely surprised. "All Might is our top top hero."
"All Might? The American one?"
"Meh, he may have debued in America, but he sure wasn't born there." Ryuji finally grabbed the last bill and put it on the table, where the man snatched it up immediately. "Do you want a shirt for the kid?"
His patron looked thoughtful for a second, but nodded, pulling out his wallet where he had just stored his money. "Free of charge, my kid's ain't using them."
The old shopkeeper disappeared behind the counter for a few minutes, and Sparkler could hear him walking up some stairs. 'So he lives here as well.' The villain scanned the room again, finding the homely atmosphere pleasant enough for him to relax. 'I wonder when the men in blue will appear.' He was a couple of streets away from where he had fought the pro, but it'd been about 30 minutes and he couldn't even hear sirens. 'Probably decided to get him medical attention first, how nice of them.'
Reappearing with a small shirt, the shopkeeper handed it over to the villain with a smile. Sparkler placed Rai on the floor, half expecting him to run away, but he didn't, he stayed silent and put the shirt on calmly. "Glad to see you're a man of your word." Sparkler offered with a smirk.
The kid scowled and looked away, making the shopkeeper laugh. "Did you promise him something if he stays quiet?"
Sparkler shook his head lightly. "Nah, we had a bet. If he lost, he had to stay silent until we got to Tokyo."
"Tokyo huh? That's about a day away. So you're going on a trip around the country?" Rai turned to the shopkeeper with his jaw on the floor, having underestimated the size of Japan.
"Don't be so silly kid, at my speed we'll be there by afternoon." The man smacked the boy over the head lightly, earning a pout.
"At your speed, so you're using your quirk to travel?" The older man asked, to which Sparkler nodded.
"What a useful quirk." The man said bitterly, clearly repressing a sigh.
"Any quirk is a useful quirk, old timer. So humor me, what's yours?" Sparkler asked.
"Not one fit for a hero, I'll tell you that." The man shook his head with a frown.
"Huh? Who cares about heroes?"
"Are ya serious? That's every kid's dream. Kid, what's your dream?" The old man looked towards Rai, who looked at Sparkler, who nodded.
"Have a hot girlfriend and cool cars." He responded simply, earning chuckles from both sparkler and the old man.
"That's what I like to hear, kid!" Sparkler ruffled the boy's hair roughly while the shopkeeper continued to laugh. "See, not everyone wants to be a 're dumb rule sticklers. What's your quirk, old man?"
"High speed typing. I can type over 190 wpm with ease, but any further than that and my eyes find it hard to keep up." The man explained, holding up a calculator for reference.
"That's… actually useful as fuck. It ain't combat oriented, but for everyday life your quirk is pretty up there." Sparkler replied, watching the man's fingers drift across the calculator keys at high speeds.
"Hah, I just wish my old bones could keep up. I'm even going to have to shut down this shop soon, not the best genetics y'know."
"Come on, you're not that old." Sparkler deadpanned, making a rough estimate of about 50 years of age, judging by his appearance. Brown, but mostly gray hair, a plump body wearing a flannel shirt and some denim pants.
"48, 49 in a month." The man shrugged.
"Alright,-" Sparkler dragged, waiting for the man's name.
"Ryuji Tatsuma, just call me Ryuji.
"Alright Ryuji, why don't ya come with us to Tokyo!" Sparkler offered. He was in need of an agent/assistant, and this guy didn't seem half bad.
Ryuji pondered the thought for a moment, but narrowed his eyes. "What's the catch?" He asked, tone shifting slightly towards one of intrigue.
"Be my assistant! You ask no questions of how things happen, and just do them."
"No way hotshot, I'm no slave." Ryuji barked out a laugh, but shook his head.
"Aw, come on, it'll be fun." Sparkler was hopping up and down in place, this guy was good to talk to, way better than the kid. He needed company or else he'd go insane.
"Why would I accept? You haven't told me about wages or nothing, just told me to shut up and do work. Have you never run an interview before?"
Sparkler squirmed in place slightly and the old man looked shocked. "You're going around hiring people and you barely have a head on your shoulders! The kid is probably smarter than you!" He chortled, laughing loudly as Sparkler frowned.
"Alright then, here's more details. You'll get a place to stay, free of charge, and an allowance. All you gotta do is keep an eye on the news and stuff, along with managing my contacts." The villain offered, sticking his hand out for a handshake.
Ryuji looked around his shop, eyeing the gifts and knickknacks he had bought. "What about after you leave? You're just here for a vacation, right?"
"Na, we're living here. If we leave, we'll take you with us, unless you decide to quit your position." Sparkler shrugged, keeping his arm extended.
"I may be going senile, but this seems just interesting enough for me to join you. What's the starting position? Money, necessities, all that stuff."
Sparkler smiled widely and laughed. "1.5 billion in the bank old dude, we'll be living it up in the city!"
"B-Billion!?" The man gaped. "Nah, don't kid with me." He shut up instantly when Sparkler showed off his bank account.
"So, you in?" He looked down to his still extended hand and his smile got wider when the man accepted it.
"Fuck yeah, been a while since I've had an adventure." Rai tugged on Sparkler's pants, and the man frowned in response.
"Come on kid, we were having a moment!" Rai whined, only to look where the kid was pointing to see a very, very, angry pro hero. "Ah, the hero guy. Sup man, are you feeling okay?"
Toxitank growled loudly, his horns growing slightly as a pink smoke blew through his gas mask. Sparkler's face hardened. "Ryuji, take Rai and meet me out the back of the building, I've got a problem that needs to be tended to."
The old man gulped and opened a side gate, to which Rai quickly hopped behind the counter. "I'll try to keep the damage to a minimum."
"Thanks." Ryuji replied, leading Rai out the back while Sparkler stood in the room and rolled his shoulders.
"So you're breathing pink now huh?" He mocked, hoping for a reaction of some kind. 'He's clearly off the rails.'
A growl escaped the pro's gas mask before he lunged forward, trying to grapple the villain. Sparkler easily weaved between the man's arms, landing a solid blow to his stomach and preparing to kick him in the back again until he felt a crushing grip around his shin. "Ugh, I fucking hate heroes." He groaned, right before being slammed into the ground by Toxitank.
Sparkler gasped for air and tried to pry his leg away before Toxitank squeezed his leg and slammed him against the ground several more times. A small trickle of warm life liquid trickled down Sparkler's upper lip as he decided to exert a little bit more force. He quickly planted his hands onto the ground, stopping another slam before he used his superior strength, and the hero's unwavering grip, to slam the man into the ground on his back.
The villain smiled as he saw a glob of blood escape the filter on the man's mask. The grip around his leg loosened, and he charged his hand with lightning. He picked up the hero by the throat with his uncharged hand, lifting him in the air before piercing his torso in a non vital point with his other arm. "Heroes may be lame, but I can respect you trying to save a kid. Good fight." Sparkler threw the hero through the front door and shook the blood from his arm, noticing the large stain on his shirt. "Fucks sake."
Rai and Ryuji heard a large crash inside, then several more. "He'll probably be fine." Rai said. Ryuji looked towards the boy with a surprised look.
"He may not look like it, but he's pretty strong… for a villain."
"A villain!? He's a villain?!"
"Sparky is, yeah."
"Oh no, this is going to be bad, what have I gotten myself into?"
"You can just say no."
"It doesn't matter, I already agreed. I'm a man of my word." The shopkeeper almost seemed to puff out his chest, despite the anxiety clearly racking his frame.
"Ok." Rai said simply, waiting several more moments in silence until Sparkler walked out the back of the shop with blood covering the right side of his shirt and a couple of cuts on his face.
"Alright, problem dealt with. Let's head to Tokyo!" He clapped his hands together with a smile, and suddenly his two travel buddies were on each of his shoulders.
"I'm old, you know! You can't just carry me like thi–!" Sparkler leapt from the ground mid sentence and Ryuji clamped his jaw shut.
"You might wanna stay quiet during the run. Or else you might bite your tongue!" Sparkler had a wide smile on his face as he leapt between buildings at the speed of lightning.
The group of three stopped to eat lunch in the Yamagata prefecture, having to travel at significantly slower speeds due to Ryuji's pleas.
They stopped outside an American-style diner that Ryuji recommended, having previously visited the area himself. They got a booth and began to order, Sparkler allowing Rai to talk.
"So what're your kids like?" Sparkler asked, watching Rai attempt to use a fork and knife.
"Well one's a hero. And the–" Ryuji began, only to be interrupted by Rai.
"Aghee–"
"Swallow." Sparkler ordered.
"A hero? Which one!?"
"She isn't popular or anything, just a sidekick. I… can't quite remember her codename or whatever, but her name is Ryuko." Ryuji smiled at the thought of his children, one son and one daughter. "My son is an architect, working back in Okinawa with his mother."
"An architect huh, they make pretty good money." Sparkler commented, picking at his food mindlessly.
"A bit, not that I get any." The older man seemed to pout, which Rai laughed at. "I haven't got too good of a relationship with my ex-wife, and my daughter was the only one who decided to stay with me after all the proceedings."
"Does she send you money?" Rai asked, subtly ordering another cola. Sparkler was about to comment when Ryuji began to chuckle lightly.
"She bloody tries, I always send it back though. Always talking about how it's her turn to take care of me."
"That's a good kid, unlike this fucker." Sparkler gestured towards Rai, who flipped him off. "He just cries and whines all the time." Ryuji barked out a laugh while the boy tried to order ten more colas to piss off his guardian.
Sparkler let him do it but not before warning him. "You're gonna drink every single one of those, kid. Spend money all you want, as long as you're getting use out of it."
Rai paled slightly, he'd planned to just leave them there all full. He tried to scramble to cancel the order but found himself blocked by a smirking Sparkler.
The boy pouted and sat back in his seat. "So kid, what school do you go to?" Ryuji restarted the conversation in a heartbeat.
"Ah shit I forgot about that." Sparkler interrupted, slapping a palm against his face.
"What do you mean?" Ryuji questioned.
"Well uhh, you know what, I'll explain the situation later. Rai, you'll learn when you're older."
"Hey! Tell me now! I'm old and stuff!"
"And my secret identity is All Might or whatever his name is." He ignored Rai's exclamation of 'Woah, really!?' as stupid kid stuff. "Add my contact Ryuji."
"Ah, that's right, I don't even know your name!" The man laughed. He'd been traveling for hours, and left his house behind with a man he didn't even know the name of, truly a beautiful series of events.
"My codename is Sparkler."
"Sparky!"
"Sparkler–" The man reiterated, just as Ryuji added 'Sparky' into the name box. "I'll share my real name when we get a bit more settled."
"You some bigshot celebrity or something?" Ryuji laughed, only to pause when Sparkler shrugged. "Whatever, give me the number."
The villain slid his phone across the table, turning back towards Rai to see him chugging down cola like his life depended on it. Sparkler snorted at the sight before getting a waitress over so he could pay the bill.
"You know there are services for this, right?" Sparkler looked up to his right shoulder, where Ryuji was hunched over.
"What do you mean?"
"We could've just rode the bullet train and not had to make any stops."
Sparkler halted immediately, "are you serious?"
"Well yeah, I just thought you were trying to stay covert or something." Ryuji shrugged and Sparkler groaned loudly before feeling a poke on his cheek.
"Sparky, can I go to the toilet?" Rai requested, looking around the forest they were in for a private spot.
"Fine, but afterwards we're heading to the next train station." Sparkler let him off of his shoulder and sat on the dirt with Ryuji, who pulled out a box of cigarettes from his pants pocket. He chucked one in his mouth before offering one to Sparkler, who took the object pensively.
"How do people enjoy these things?" He asked, staring at it like it was some form of extra terrestrial technology. Ryuji shrugged and placed the filter in his mouth, patting over his pockets before sighing.
"Ya got a light?" He asked. Sparkler held up his thumb and pointer finger, forming a stream of electricity between them to light up the cigarette in Ryuji's mouth, doing the same with his own.
Sparkler took a long drag before coughing loudly, causing Ryuji to laugh. The older man took a drag of his own, exhaling into the air.
"Don't do that shit around me." Rai grumbled, walking back towards the two.
"Calm down kid, it'll make your lungs stronger." Ryuji chuckled.
"Sparky, stop rubbing off on the old man."
"Go fuck yourself." Sparkler laughed, coughing several more times after talking. Rai rolled his eyes and sat between them, looking out into nature.
They enjoyed the peaceful silence for a couple more minutes until Ryuji took his cigarette from his mouth and stuck it into the ground. "Should we get moving?"
"Who died and made you leader?" Sparkler laughed, stomping on his own cancer stick.
"Someone responsible." Rai murmured, only to receive a smack upside the head from his guardian.
"Come on everyone, hop on the Sparkler train." The villain leaned down and picked up the other two, leaping into the trees. "Ryuji, can you look up where the nearest station is?"
"I gotcha." After a few button presses the man continued. "Niigata station. Should only be a few minutes away with your speed."
"Okay." Sparkler leapt from the ground, leaving cracks in the pavement as he landed. Below him, the once rural area they were traveling through slowly gave way to old style Japanese homes.
Rai and Ryuji both put their hands over their ears to block out the sounds of cracking shingles as Sparkler destroyed people's roofs.
Pedestrians down below made their dissatisfaction very apparent as another ceramic tile was displaced under Sparkler's feet, he was suddenly hit in the head with an orange. He turned towards the attacker with a scowl, only to realize it was some old granny holding her groceries.
"Get down from there!" Her raspy voice barely traveled through the air enough to reach Sparkler's ears. Sparkler stopped, and the woman continued to berate him before he fully turned to her.
"Mind your own business ya old bitch!" He caught the next fruit that was thrown at him and tried to ditch it back before Ryuji and Rai held onto his arms.
"Control yourself, idiot!" Ryuji yelled, playing tug of war with Sparkler over the apple in his hand.
The old lady continued to yell and Sparkler shook out of his companion's grasp, hopping off of the roof down to the street level. "Fuckin' hag, don't tell me what to do!" He reeled back his fist and the woman leaned in.
She cupped a hand to her ear, "what did you say?"
Sparkler flinched and got closer to her ear before screaming as loud as he could, "fuck of you old bag!" The woman chuckled to herself and turned around. Sparkler got into a fighting stance, preparing for her to pull out a weapon when she suddenly hooked something onto her ear.
"Oho, sorry love, I forgot to put my hearing aid in. Can you repeat that?"
The villain growled, static electricity appearing around him as his shoulders rose. "You fucking idiot! Don't tell me what to do!"
"What is his problem with old people?" Ryuji deadpanned. Rai shrugged and continued to watch Sparkler's one sided screaming match from the rooftop.
"Ohoho, I'm so silly, I forgot to turn it on. Give me one second." The old lady reached up to her ear and a soft click echoed in the street. Sparkler began yelling again, listing off an extensive stream of curses.
"Should I tell him he's slipped into arabic? She's definitely not going to understand." Ryuji asked. Rai shook his head, watching as the electricity surrounding Sparkler continued to increase. "Who knew. The guy that can take two people across a country in a day had a weakness towards old people." Rai nodded solemnly as he watched the old person offer Sparkler an apple like they'd just met.
"I DON'T WANT YOUR APPLE YOU DUMB BITCH!"