Inside a secret laboratory…
"Subject's vitals are stable. Heart rate is as normal. Breathing is sound. Subject is still comatose."
While many scientists walked around the lab, Yuiko approached the pod containing Mr. Sato's son.
"I'm assuming there is still no known cure for him? Any way to wake him up?"
The scientists all shook their heads.
Yuiko clenched a fist. "Keep searching. Director Sato left the boy in my care. I won't fail him."
The scientists nodded and continued running their tests. While they did, Yuiko looked at a nearby news feed of Justice defeating the group of robbers.
"Hmph. I wonder if we won't have to wait too long for our answer…"
Meanwhile, inside of a club…
"FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!"
Mykhail, still masked, studied his opponent, eager for a thrill.
"Finally, someone not a deadly crook or dangerous felon," he thought. "Maybe I can finally get a real, clean fight!"
Yasuda charged at Mykhail, an unnatural smile on his face. "Taste my fist, challenger!"
"Taste my fist?" Mykhail wondered. "That doesn't even make sense! What kind of cringey one-liner is—-oh, I should probably dodge this."
He side-stepped Yasuda's attack, but Yasuda recovered easily, using his nimble size to land on his feet, and unleashed a barrage of punches at Mykhail, who narrowly avoided them.
"This guy's fast!" they both thought.
Mykhail caught a fist thrown by Yasuda, who struggled to pull his arm free. "Nice grip!"
With a haymaker to the face, Yasuda went flying backward. From the sidelines, some people cheered, while Kaori sat with her friends, watching with an almost bored look on her face.
"This matchup is terrible," she snorted. "Can't believe I was excited for this."
Her blonde-haired friend sighed. "Don't you wanna at least give it a moment to get good? Maybe it's a sleeper!"
"No. It's trash. Let's go."
She grabbed her belongings and left the room, with her friends following close behind. While they exited, Takehiro, Kurumi, and Kumiko entered the club.
"Alright, everyone," Takehiro ordered. "We should spread out and look for him. He could be anywhere."
They nodded and went to look in different directions. Takehiro scouted the bar, Kurumi went to inspect the cages, and Kumiko was drawn by the sounds of cheering to the left.
"Is there another big fight going on?" she wondered.
She went over to peer over the rail, and she noticed two opponents dueling it out below, one masked. "Is that…?"
One bystander handed Yasuda a chair to throw at Mykhail, which caught him off guard. "Hey! Don't you guys have any class?"
It hit him in the head, but bounced right off, impressing the crowd. Yasuda clapped his approval, before beginning to turn his body red with energy.
"Oh boy," Mykhail thought.
Time around Yasuda appeared to stand still, and the voices of those around him appeared to have stopped. He took a deep breath and focused on Mykhail, grabbing a sledgehammer out of one enthusiastic guy's hands.
"Hah!"
He swung it at Mykhail, but it broke on impact. As soon as it did, Mykhail sent him flying out of the ring with one punch to the face.
The referee came over and grabbed Mykhail's arm, lifting it into the air. "The winner is…Khail!"
He received tons of claps from the audience. Nearby, Yuuma picked his brother up and shook him.
"What have I told you about fighting in this place, idiot? You'll just get yourself killed!"
"Heh, no worries, it's super fun!"
"Well, fun's over. It's time for you to go home," Yuuma demanded.
"Okay!" Yasuda gave him a thumbs up.
Mykhail went to sit down by the bar for a moment, when a mysterious guy in a mask appeared, sitting right next to him.
"Congratulations on your fight," he whispered.
"Thanks?" Mykhail replied.
"If you're interested, I have a proposal for you. My organization is looking for strong fighters such as yourself, and you clearly fit our criteria."
Mykhail turned his head, interested. "And what organization is this?"
The man leaned in closer. "It's called the Villain Syndicate. It's a place where you can use your powers, fun and free. No limits, no rules, no restrictions, and best of all, no meddling heroes to stop you."
Mykhail internally gasped. "Villains? Real villains? Woah, okay, that's new. An actual villain organization? What do I say?"
Mykhail scratched his head. "Uh, sure. Send me the offer letter."
The man laughed and put a hand on his shoulder. "I'll do you one much better. Take this and follow the instructions. Whenever you've made your choice, we'll be there."
He handed him a slip of paper before quietly disappearing. Mykhail analyzed it for a moment before a new hand found itself on his shoulder, but not nearly as subtle.
"Mykhail!"
"Huh—-?"
He looked up to find Kumiko standing over him, clearly confused. "Why do you have on a mask? What have you been DOING here?"
"Fighting?"
She pointed to the paper in his hands. "What's that?"
"Personal stuff. Nothing to worry about," he quickly stated.
"Well, Kurumi and Takehiro are looking for you, so you should come on."
While they walked outside, she nudged him. "What happened to the whole secret identity thing? I thought you didn't want to expose your powers?"
He took off his mask and grabbed his bag from the bouncer, who made a gruff noise in response.
"Nothing's been exposed," he remarked. "I had a mask! Not like anyone's gonna piece together who or what I am anytime soon—-"
"Hey, Justice! Wait up!"
Kumiko turned to him. "You were saying?"
"Ahh, crap," Mykhail groaned.
He turned around and found Yasuda running up to him, excitement on his face. "You're that hero! Awesome! I can't believe I fought a real hero! That's…that's so amazing! Where's your sword? Where's your costume?"
"Hahaha," Mykhail nervously laughed. "I have no idea what you're talking about, pal. I'm no hero. Just a regular old guy."
"That can't be right!" Yasuda refuted. "The fighting style, the energy coming off of you, the muscle tone! It's all the same! It's you, no doubt!"
Kumiko looked at Mykhail. "See, he knows too much. Now we have to kill him."
"Ahem, uh, no, no, no. Yasuda, right? Come with me."
"Okay!"
Mykhail led Yasuda to an alleyway, where he made sure no one was listening before pulling out his sword, which glowed a light blue.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm Justice. How the hell did you find out?"
He pointed to his brain. "My brain is modified! That's my superpower! I can think fast, and in turn, my body speeds up to match my brain! It's called Accelerated Perception! That's how I can tell who someone is! My brain scans for all the possibilities! Like your name! It's Mykhail Jordan!"
"Okay, so that's a pain," Mykhail noted.
"I get the sense you're not happy," Yasuda smiled.
"Listen, you can't tell anyone about this," Mykhail insisted. "It has to stay a secret. Otherwise, they'll have my head."
Yasuda gave him a thumbs up. "Will do! What about the other girl? Can I tell everyone?"
"No."
"Can I join you?"
"Wait, what—-?"
"As a hero! I wanna be one too! Just like you!"
Mykhail nervously began looking away. "Well, you seem a little young to be a hero, you know."
"I am! I'm eleven!"
"Yeah, I can tell."
He grabbed Mykhail's shoulders, shaking him repeatedly. "Am I in? Am I in?"
Mykhail sighed. "Listen, if you can find out where I live, and get inside without me knowing, then I'll consider it."
Yasuda jumped up. "Easy! See you there!"
And then he ran off to parts unknown. Kumiko walked over. "So, did you plan his murder?"
"Well, no, but I gave him a task so hard, he won't get it done. And if he does, then at least I'll have a use for him."
Takehiro and Kurumi emerged from the club, sweating and exhausted. They both collapsed in front of the entrance, leading the bouncer to pick them up and toss them into the street.
"What happened to them?" Mykhail asked.
"No clue," Kumiko answered.
Mykhail knelt beside them, trying to wake them up. "Guys! Hello? You two okay? Ahh, they're probably dead."
Takehiro slowly opened his eyes. "Mykhail, is that you?"
"Yeah, are you good, man? Why are you drowning in your own sweat?"
Kurumi rolled over. "Never…cross…a superhuman…."
And then they passed out again. Mykhail sighed and effortlessly slugged them both over his shoulders. "Ew. They're messing up my clothes."
"Just fly with them," Kumiko suggested.
"Uh, no?"
Kumiko rolled her eyes. "Fine."
Then she shifted into her symbiotic form, grabbing each of her three friends with a tendril as some horrified civilians looked on and ran.
Meanwhile, inside of a warehouse…
Jin woke up, tied to a metal chair. A high bay light shone in his face, nearly blinding him. He could hear the tapping of heels as a figure walked around him.
"This is him?" a female voice asked.
"Yes," another female responded.
"You snagged a cripple? Why?"
"His powers will be useful, even if he only has one good arm and eye."
"Hmph," the woman scoffed. "I'll be the judge of that."
Jin tried to move, but the chains kept him fastened to the seat. Two women soon came into his vision, one of whom was Akane.
"Rise and shine," she waved.
The second woman was a tall lady who appeared to be in her mid-late twenties, with a nurse's outfit on, and heels to match. She had a more cold and analytical gaze on her face.
"The hell are you?" Jin asked.
She stepped forward. "My name is Ms. Ana Rachel."
Her face leaned in close to his, her green-eyed gaze enough to unnerve even Jin himself. "But you can call me, The Nurse."
She walked away and grabbed a clipboard off a nearby table. "My job is to sort through the recruits and decide who gets in, and who gets out."
She then kicked over his chair and pressed a heel on top of his head. "So tell me, Jin? Why should I let you inside of my organization? What benefits do you offer, other than losing to a child playing dress up?"
"You unite me and you'll see!" Jin spat. "Or are you too much of a coward, keeping me in chains while you mock me?"
She and Akane stared at him for a long time, before she nodded to Akane. "Release him."
Akane took a blade and slashed through the chains effortlessly, and Jin dropped to the floor.
She stepped back. "Show me that you mean what you say."
She snapped her fingers, and an army of masked individuals emerged from the shadows, armed with weapons such as crowbars, chainsaws, and even flamethrowers.
"Crap, this ain't gonna be a fair fight…" he moaned.
A wave of lasers shot from his hands, blasting straight through the heads of the first batch of minions.
"…for you chumps," he mocked.
Ms. Rachel and Akane watched as he blasted more and more minions with his remaining arm, dropping them like flies. After another wave, Ms. Rachel held up a hand.
"That's enough. I've made my decision."
Jin sat down, breathing hard. "Well?"
"Your power might not be useless," she noted. "I'll keep you around, if nothing but to test the waters. Now, my loyal bodyguard will show you the ropes. Fujio! If you would?"
A buff man appeared, placing a firm hand on Jin's shoulder. "As you command, madam."
Jin was dragged away into the unknown abyss beyond, while the Nurse and Akane watched.
"I'm tired of these mere fish," Ms. Rachel complained. "I want a shark."
"What are you implying, Nurse?" Akane asked.
"Why try to find the perfect superhuman, if we can make our own? Why try to look for the strong, when we can CREATE the strong?"
Akane tilted her head. "I don't understand. We don't have the power to give power."
"You're right, we don't," Ms. Rachel confirmed. "But there's someone who does."
She snapped her fingers, and a TV in the background showed a video feed of Justice flying around, his sword gleaming in the light.
"I want you to bring me Justice, no matter the cost."
—-