The sporadic crackles of lightning filled the air, reverberating off of each molecule like an orchestra of destruction. A man of snow-white skin held his palm forwards, straight towards his target.
"So, number one hero. Is this part of your plan as well?" His malicious smile taunted the woman below who grit her teeth in a final show of defiance.
Her dark skin was lit up like the night sky from the constant striking of thunder around her. Palace, the royal hero, as she called herself, was under the thumb of a villain she never expected to appear, or reappear.
"Ah, it's been a good run. Too bad this is where it ends." The hero's posture sagged and she unclenched her jaw, staring up at her enemy with a tired look. "Sparky, mind if you do me a favor?"
Sparky clenched a fist, sad to see his rivalry end in such a pitiful way. They'd fought hundreds of times, and he lost every single bout, but never gave up. Then there was this woman, one hailed as the strongest in her generation, but as soon as she met her match, she folded like paper.
It truly, truly was pitiful.
The villain eyed his opponents injuries, there was nothing dire that needed to be treated, or even threatened to leave a scar, so why had she given up?! "Spit it out." He was tempted to kill her mid sentence, but waited until she finished, out of respect for his once rival.
"Thanks. I've got a nephew over east in Japan, mind taking care of him?" She put her hands together and held them above her head.
Sparky, villain name, Sparkler, rolled his eyes and put his hand down to his side. The resounding booms of thunder stopping upon his call. Palace thought she had gotten through to the villain, before he suddenly grit his teeth and disappeared from his foothold with a sonic boom.
Without her guard up, Palace was defenseless as the man shoved his entire arm through her torso, a grim look on his face as he pulled it back in the next instant.
A sickening squelch followed as Egypt's number one hero fell on her back like a sack of potatoes. Her face still held a sad smile as she uttered her final words, her adversary looming over her. "Thanks… bud." Her eyelids slowly shut and the thunder clouds above began to pour down rain. Sparkler looked up at them, almost scowling as a tear dropped from his eye.
"Why the fuck did it end up like this?" He whispered, watching as the heavens wept for the loss of one of the few he respected, no, loved.
Their fights had previously destroyed cities and mountains, and the stage was set for their greatest clash in the middle of the desert, where no one would interfere. 'So why, why would you just let it all go?'
'This child better be worth something, or I'm going to chase you down to hell and beat the shit out of you, Edri.'
That day, a hero died and a villain disappeared. The news spread like wildfire, Egypt's number one hero had fallen in combat.
Hokkaido, Japan
"You little pest! Get back here!" The sounds of a mess being made always gave Araki stress, and incredible back pain, but mainly stress. He knew, just by looking at the clock, that it was the same little shit that had annoyed them for years acting up. The reason he knew? No other 5 year old would be this energetic at 3:30 am.
A boy with sky blue hair and tanned skin burst into Araki's office, his hair spiking up while lightning flickered around him. The boy quickly leapt under Araki's desk just as Kiri, the matron, ran in with the boy's clothes.
Araki hadn't even noticed the boy was naked before he was promptly snatched out from under his desk and dragged towards the main room, screaming obscenities. "Where did he learn such a colorful language?" The man muttered, his eyes scanning the room, and therefore the mess he now had to clean up.
"We have 30 children here, and I would gladly have another dozen in return for getting rid of that one." He growled halfheartedly, picking up papers around his office and neatly stacking them on the corner of the desk with a satisfied huff.
Deciding to take a break from his work, Araki laid back in his chair and turned on the TV, flicking across the channels until he paused on the international news.
The old box device's static was just decodable enough for him to not have to rely on subtitles. There were dozens of reporters swarming the street, following some woman that was on a stretcher. She had a hole through her abdomen, and judging by the cloth on her face, she hadn't survived.
"Egypt's number 1 hero, Edrice Harukaze, has been–"
Araki zoned out as he heard the hero's last name. It was familiar, but it could just be a coincidence. 'Harukaze…Rai…' His mind lingered on the thought of the energetic boy that had just hidden under his desk, Rai Harukaze. 'Surely not.' The man let out a huff and continued to change channels, he pondered the idea he was finally becoming senile.
"Goddamnit Rai!" Kiri struggled to tug the shirt over the squirming boy's head, a herculean problem she faced daily. The energetic child shook his body side to side rapidly, throwing the woman off before he began to run away again.
"Little shit." A thundering crash echoed outside as Rai's hair was suddenly caught by a pale hand. The man tugged the boy backwards, holding him above the ground painfully.
"Yow! GET OFFA ME YA FUCKER!" Rai screamed, clawing at the man's hand.
"Oi, hag, how much for this one?" The man threw Rai into the air, before catching him and tucking him under one of his armpits.
Kiri had never seen such a beautiful man in her life, he had pale skin and sky blue hair akin to the boy he was holding. He was wearing a black button up vest with golden buttons and a navy undershirt, black slacks trailing down his long legs towards two freshly cleaned dress shoes. She ignored the hag comment, he was probably a foreigner, and that idea alone got her blood pumping.
"How much? You mean like buy?" She asked, still wondering why such a specimen had come to the town.
"Buy, own, whatever, just name a price and I'll cough it up." His tone was one of annoyance, like he had thousands of other things he'd rather be doing at that moment.
Kiri subtly laughed, thinking the man was joking. "Sir, by all means we accept donations, but not in exchange for children." The man's eyes narrowed before he sighed and undid his top button, beginning to shed his vest.
"Guess I gotta pay some other way huh? We doing this on the floor or–"
"I have a bed upst-… No, wait, that's not what I mean!" The woman blushed wildly as the foreigner nodded before placing the child on the ground. "We just need to do some checks in our system, a couple of meetings between you and the kid, and a background check. Are you a Japanese citizen?" The woman hurriedly walked into another room, carrying a laptop out.
"How much do I pay to skip that stuff?" The man watched Rai flail around his legs, trying to inflict as much damage as possible using his limbs. He lightly kicked the boy over and refocused his attention on the woman.
She was clearly not in her prime, probably around 40-50 judging by the wrinkles and her general aesthetic. She wore a pink shirt with a white apron that had a flower pattern, her hair was tied up messily in a bun. "Look lady, you've definitely just woken up and I don't have the time for this shit. So it's either I'm leaving with the kid with permission, or without." The man narrowed his eyes menacingly, and Kiri now understood how it felt to be a rabbit in front of a fox.
"C-Can I at least have your name? Phone number? So we can contact you." The man grinned ferally and reached into his vest, pulling out a business card.
"Sparkler, villain for hire." He passed a black card with lightning bolt designs on it to the woman, who just looked like she'd seen the grim reaper.
"V-V-V-V-Villain!?" She stuttered, almost dropping her laptop as she walked backwards. Sparkler smiled and nodded enthusiastically before waving goodbye and grabbing Rai. She was about to put a request out for heroes, but Sparkler disappeared with a thunderclap, just as Akira came down to investigate the noise.
"What the hell is going on?" He looked towards Kiri, who seemed to have aged 20 years since he saw her 10 minutes ago.
"What the hell is your problem you little shit!?" Sparkler had thought the constant lightning dashes would have knocked the boy out, but he seemed to be immune to the jolts. That, and he was constantly trying to escape from the man's grasp even when they were over 40m off the ground.
Sparkler was currently traveling to the mainland with the boy, and they were nearing the coast when he finally stopped. "I'M HUNGRY!" He shouted, startling the villain. Sparkly scowled and dropped down to the ground, throwing the child onto a pile of leaves.
"I don't know what the fuck your problem is, but you better solve it." The child rubbed his head lightly before looking at the older man.
"Who the hell are you?" He questioned. Sparkler deadpanned towards the boy before sitting on the ground with a sigh.
"Your new guardian, you can call me Sparkler-san, Lord Sparkler, Sparkler-sama–"
"Sparky!" The boy chirped, holding up a peace sign. Sparkler scowled again, something he found commonplace in the boy's presence.
"Not. That." He growled. Rai narrowed his eyes before tears began to form and he ran away.
"Kiri! Sparky is being mean!" He continued to swerve in random directions around trees until he was caught by Sparkler. He let out a scream and the villain was tempted to turn the child's head into paste before he decided to take a detour instead. The villain's visage appeared among the trees several times, each with their own sonic boom before he landed in the middle of a dead quiet street.
Sparkler looked down at Rai before placing him on the ground. For others it would have been a weird sight, an older man watching some shirtless kid roll around on the street crying, but they would probably chalk it up to a toddler's tantrum. "Come on kid, stop bitching."
Rai crawled away from the man, looking back at him with a smirk. "I want McDonalds." He said, folding his arms over his chest.
"How the fu– who do you think I am!?" Sparkler shouted, gripping a fist and shaking it menacingly.
Rai's face crumpled before he let out a scream, causing the man to quickly clamp his hands over the child's mouth. "Alright you little fucker, McDonalds it is. If I get you it, you have to listen to me, okay?"
The child nodded happily and Sparkler removed his hands, muttering to himself why even went through the effort for his rival. Sparkler took out his phone, an older model with quite a few cracks in it. He quickly asked the web for directions and found out the nearest one was only one dash away. "Come on kid, we're going to the store." He knelt down and offered his back to the child, something he hadn't thought of originally with all the lashing out Rai was doing.
Rai happily skipped over and threw his thighs into the man's arms, barely being able to reach up and see over the villain's shoulders. Sparkler stood up and activated his quirk, moving at the speed of lightning towards the restaurant.
It barely took a second and Sparkler was standing outside the restaurant with Rai on his back. "Decide what you want, kid, and be quick about it."
"Okay Sparky!"
"Why you–ugh, whatever." Sparkler accepted his new name with resignation before pulling the door to the building open with his foot. "Quite busy for 4am." He commented, trying to ignore the looks he was getting from other patrons, including a cute girl with burgundy red hair.
The villain placed his charge in front of the self order kiosk and the child rapidly tapped through menus, deciding to have hotcakes and a hot chocolate. He tried to use his phone to pay, only to realize it wouldn't accept the foreign, and encrypted, bank account. "Fucking hell." Sparkler sighed and walked up to the front counter.
Several workers looked at him, it wasn't everyday you saw a well dressed man walking a shirtless child around a fast food restaurant at 4am. Sparkler held up a finger pistol towards a female worker, the tip of his pointer finger glowing bright blue. "Girl, get me some hotcakes and a small hot chocolate for the kid. I'll take a large coffee. Make it quick or this building is ground zero." He shot a bolt of lightning next to the woman's head, ignoring her co-workers calling the police in the kitchen. "Come on." He flicked his head towards the kitchen and the girl shakily nodded before running into the kitchen.
Several patrons around the store quickly evacuated, while others minded their own business. He appreciated the ones who did.
His order was brought out quickly, and he made sure to give a warm smile to the girl he threatened before sitting down at a booth. "Alright kid, eat up and shut up, we're going to the mainland."
"Wayn–"
"Swallow your food."
"Mainland? Why?"
"To live, I'm in charge of you now."
"Why?"
Sparkler shut his mouth and took a sip of his coffee, noting the police officers preparing to open the door. Sparkler continued to sip as Rai narrowed his eyes. They eventually kicked open the doors and Sparkler quickly heaved himself from his seat, "well would you look at that, kid, I would tell you but the blue boys are here!"
"Woah, hello!" Rai ran up to the police officers to greet them, but found himself being put behind them as he was asked several questions.
"Who is this man? Where is your shirt?" The men in blue continued pestering Rai with questions while he answered them blindly.
"That's Sparky. I just met him when he took me from the orphanage, I wasn't even dressed! Then we got food, and now you're here!"
Sparkler deadpanned at the boy. "Ok, this is a large misunderstanding." He put up his hands placatingly, hoping to walk out of here on just a couple of charges. He suddenly found himself surrounded and sighed loudly. "Kid, I fucking swear to god the next time this happens, I'll throw you through a window."
Rai let out a small shriek and suddenly three sky blue afterimages of Sparkler appeared, each kicking one of the officers surrounding him in the neck. Sparkler then disappeared again, defeating the other officers in the blink of an eye before scooping up Rai's hotcakes and drink, his coffee, and the boy himself and leaping away.
Sparkler traveled at a slower speed, letting the boy semi-comfortably enjoy his food from his perch on the man's back. "You better not get any of the syrup on my hair you little shit." Sparkler warned, keeping his head still so as to not knock off the meal that was placed on top of it. 'This is such a pain…'
"What the hell?" One of the patrons who remained, a woman wearing a red striped sweater and a pair of black sweatpants, watched where the man that assaulted 3 police officers over some hotcakes disappeared. She looked across her table to her older sister and her husband, who were also in awe. "Should we have done something?" She asked.
The duo turned to her and shrugged, "no clue Shino. Seems even when we're on vacation danger follows us." She gave a dry laugh which her husband copied. Shino sighed, it was hard having a sister in heroics, though she couldn't say much since there were talks in her friend group about starting an agency.
"That guy was pretty hot though." Shino's quirk accidently went off, announcing her thoughts to her entire table. They both turned towards her rapidly, Shino's sister almost smirking.
"Oh? Little Shino got a crush?"
"S-Shut up!" Shino blushed wildly, covering her face with her hands as Hikaru leaned over to the table to pry her hands away. "Ito, help me!" Said man decided to let his sister-in-law get teased, adding in some comments to further her embarrassment.
When they eventually calmed down, Shino felt a buzz in her pocket. She whipped out her phone and saw several messages in the group chat, for some reason her friends hadn't slept yet.
W.W.P CENTRAL
"Yawara: 0_0, look at these prices!"
'Yawara sent a photo'
"Tomoko: Woah… You should just smuggle yourself in!"
"Yawara: I'm not doing that…"
"Ryuko: I've got exams tomorrow, all of you please shut up."
"Tomoko: Don't you mean today?"
"Yawara: …"
"Ryuko: Fuck."
"Tomoko: Language!"
'Ryuko is offline'
"Tomoko: Yawa! You should let me come with you!"
"Yawara: Pay for your own ticket and you can."
"Tomoko: Eh!? Come on, I'll owe you one!"
"Shino: She can barely afford her own ticket, let alone yours, dummy."
"Tomoko: Shinooooooo! How're you enjoying Hokkaido?"
"Shino: it's cold… Saw a good looking guy earlier though."
"Tomoko: Tell me you got a photo!"
"Shino: I didn't. He kicked three cops and disappeared. That was after holding up the Wc Donald's for hotcakes for his kid."
"Yawara: I don't suggest pursuing him."
"Tomoko: Go for it Shino! WWP OUT!"
'Tomoko is offline'
"Shino: You should probably go to sleep, Yawara."
"Yawara: That I should."
'Yawara is offline'
'Shino is offline'
.
.
"Mainland here we are!" Sparkler landed on the beach with a resounding thud, throwing up a cloud of sand. Rai coughed and wiped the sand out of his fast, trying to block it from getting into his mouth.
"Sparky, why're we here again?"
"To live obviously. That place is way too cold for me."
"Do you even have money?"
"I'm starting to not like your attitude, brat."
Rai stuck out his tongue before hopping off of the man's back. "I'm bored."
Sparkler groaned loudly, "well what do you want to do?" The man pulled out his phone, tapping a few times until he pulled up his gps.
"Fight!" Rai cheered, beginning to stretch. Sparkler turned off his phone and looked towards the kid.
"You wanna fight huh? Let's put a wager on it." The man smirked, thinking he could finally get the kid to shut up for more than a minute.
"Wager?"
"A bet, you know, like if you win I owe you something, and if I win vice versa."
The kid's eyes practically glowed as he nodded rapidly. "If I win, I want you to teach me the clone thing you did!"
"They– Whatever. If I win, you can't talk unless I give you permission until we get to Tokyo."
"What?! But you're an adult! Like a big strong adult while I'm a kid!" Sparkler puffed out his chest with a smirk at the kid's praises.
"Fine, you win if you land a single hit on me, alright?" The man leaned backwards slightly, putting his hands into his pockets. 'Wait, why do I feel like I'm on the los–'
"Go!" Rai began to glow a bright sky blue, sparks of lightning licking at his features. Sparkler narrowed his eyes and was about to take his hands out of his pockets until the boy vanished.
'He's quick!' Sparkler leaned back at a 90 degree angle, narrowly dodging the boy's kick as it sailed across his torso. The villain quickly twisted around, whipping out his right hand to block a barrage of punches that came his way. Each blow slammed against his hand with a crack, the sounds of flesh meeting bone echoing across the shore.
"C'mon!" Rai chanted, continuing to throw increasingly sporadic attacks until he suddenly stopped. The boy stumbled backwards, gulping down breaths of air loudly.
"Hmph." Sparkler snorted before reeling back his leg and kicking the boy in the chin, signaling his win. 'So that's why, it's because our quirks are similar.'
"Good work shithead, you actually surprised me." Sparkler picked the kid up, throwing him over his shoulder with ease. "Definitely need to work on that stamina of yours though."
Rai let out a groan in response and Sparkler took it as a sign for him to move on. "Let's head to Tokyo, there should be a huge currency exchange there." The man pulled out his phone, opening the phone app as he dashed through the empty streets of Aomori, mainland Japan's most northern city. He softly pressed a few numbers before calling the number.
"Sparkler? What is it? It's 1am you fucker." A deep voice groaned over the device. Sparkler held back a laugh before responding.
"I need you to decrypt and unfreeze my bank account, I'm in Japan right now."
"Japan? What the hell are you doing over there!?"
"Just a job for a friend, so how fast can you do it?"
The man on the other side of the phone let out a heavy sigh, and the sound of bed sheets being thrown around played clearly through the phone. "Give me like 20 minutes, I wanna wake up first. I'll transfer it to a burner account, is 10 million fine?"
"We talking in yen–?"
"USD obviously, dumbass."
"Yeah that should probably be enough, send through the details and take out a nice commission for yourself bud."
"I was planning on it, asshole. I'll send it through in a sec."
"Thanks Loki!" Sparkler chirped, hanging up the phone before he opened the messages app and took another leap across the ground.
Not even five minutes later, Sparkler had the details for a fresh new bank account with 10 million dollars in savings. 'Love how fast he works.' The villain smiled widely as he used an online calculator to figure out how much he had in the local currency. '1.5 billion yen, what a beautiful allowance.'
The man quickly sped through the rural terrain of Japan, leaping from streets to trees with a sonic boom to pair with each step. He was completely unaware of the panic he would later cause from his presence.
"Big sis…" A young girl, no older than 12, desperately clawed at the television in front of her. Tears stained her pale face a bright pink and her brown eyes were swollen. Her long black hair reached down to the middle of her back, where it blended into her navy blue shirt with a green swirl pattern.
The device in front of her was switched onto the national news, and she could barely believe her eyes. Her idol, her star, her big sis, had a cloth over her face and a hole through her abdomen.
She could feel a hole equally as big filing her heart as she clenched a fist to her chest, around a nametag spelling 'Nubi'
'I bet it was him, it had to have been. There's no other person, no, thing, that would mercilessly kill the greatest hero on Earth.' Her mind flashed back to memories of the hero in question and her boney fingers clenched into a fist before it was sent through the tv screen. Glass painfully stuck into her fist but she didn't care, the amount of unbridled rage within her being had her shaking.
'I'll kill him.'