Night of Fire in Osaka: First Response

BEEP BEEP BEEP
Taneka's eyes greeted a thick haze, and an unexpected deep darkness that buried his senses.
BEEP BEEP BEEP
Was it still night? There was no sun outside, and he felt like he was more tired and dazed than when he fell asleep. A light was flashing from the hero transmitter.
BEEP BEEP BEEP
He managed to muster enough strength to get up from his bed and check the blinking device, wondering if he had forgotten to shut it off. He pressed a button, and the beeping stopped, replaced instead by an audio message.
"ATTENTION, ALL HEROES OF OSAKA, THE CITY IS UNDER SIEGE. A MASS BREAKOUT FROM THE MAXIMUM SECURITY PRISON IS IN PROGRESS, DOZENS OF HIGH RANK VILLAINS ARE BREAKING OUT RIGHT NOW." Worry and terror colored Taneka's face, this was a catastrophe! So many villains out there, all at the same time, who knows how much chaos they would cause!
"THIS IS A CALL TO ARMS. ALL HEROES ARE ORDERED TO INTERVENE WHENEVER POSSIBLE IN CASE OF VILLAIN SEGNALATIONS, AND TO REPORT TO YOUR LOCAL AGENCY IN ORDER TO ORGANIZE A DEFENSE!" Yeah, report to the agencies, as if by the time they will come up with a response plan at least half of all those monsters wouldn't already hide in their crapholes.
The message from the transmitter repeated, while Taneka was already looking for his hidden costume. Tonight Blazing Bright would be the first to the fight.

The streets of Osaka are empty tonight, all possible bystanders are locked inside out of fear, and Blazing Bright is on the hunt for any signs of evil activity. and with all the villains that are wreaking havoc right now, it doesn't take long to find a trail of rubbish. No one is on the streets tonight, but the sounds of active alarms is unmistakable. Bright follows the source of the sounds, jumping from rooftop to rooftop until he comes across his first opponent.
From the height of a building, he sees a column of smoke and dust coming from one of the many houses of the district. As he slides from a brickwall, he tries to discern what is doing all this damage to one the buildings. As he lands on the opposite walkway from across the road, he sees the shiny reflections that break through the cloud. The thud of his landing makes the villain stop and come out of the house, ready to destroy whoever wants to interrupt his work. An huge man, at least seven feet tall, emerges with a clear intent to kill. His swollen muscles glisten with the lights of the night, the ground shakes at his steps, his entire body is coated with a familiar sheen. Blazing Bright recognizes his opponent.

"Well well, look at who escaped from the scrapyard!" Bright remarks, looking at his current enemy. He was the one to neutralize FMJ for the first time, and he cannot afford the precious instants that formulating a plan would take. He charges in headfirst, readying a turbo-speed punch that should be enough to knock him out at least until the heroes would arrive.
The attack connects, but before Bright would start running, FMJ assumes a guarding position. The punch connects, but unlike last time where it would've been enough to take him down, the bruiser resists and hits Bright in the gut with the force of a freight train, sending him flying on the asphalt. If he wasn't built different, Bright would've been incapacitated right there, but thanks to his abnormal resistance he manages to get up before FMJ follows up with a furious charge, aiming for the kill! In the time Bright manages to get up with his quirk inactive, he starts to think of another move.
"YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I SUFFERED BACK IN PRISON? THEY THOUGHT I WAS CRAZY BECAUSE OF YOU! THAT I'M SOME SORT OF SCHIZOPHRENIC BEAST! BUT WHEN THEY WILL SEE YOUR CORPSE I WILL BE VINDICATED!" FMJ lets out an harrowing battlecry and runs at a neckbreaking speed with a grappling attempt, only barely missing him by the breadth of an hair.
In a blur, Bright appears on the other side of the street, leaning on a pole. "What? They don't believe in my existence? Good news, after tonight, people will start believing you!" the aspirant hero cracks a joke before disappearing again.
FMJ starts looking around, checking nearby windows and corners. Did he teleport nearby? Is he allucinating again? Little the metal man knows, that Blazing Bright is currently on the other side of Osaka, stopping by the harbor for a second togaining more than enough runway to reach top speed. He has no time for games. He starts running back, eyes filled with determination; the small working buildings of the coastline gradually give way to huge skyscrapers, he jumps above cars, he runs around the glass towers of the centre, he dodges everything between him and his target on instinct without giving the slightest bit of attention, acting out of pure reflex. He returns to the battlefield-turned crossroads, laser-focusing on the clueless steel-man, and prepares for the impact.
Before FMJ could notice the speedster that is running towards him, he's struck by an hypersonic tackle, speared through an house's wall, into a living room, he's smashed into the bathroom, then into another house, and then another, until he goes through an entire block before being sent flying at supersonic speeds towards a last building with a loud crash.
Bright stops for a few seconds, to take a brief break and to register what he has done. Every breath is painful, the echoes of him smashing FMJ through several buildings still ring in his ear, and ihe is surrounded by curious bystanders. He runs to the villain's body, checking if he's still alive after all that. He's unconscious, but his heart still beats. One less worry. Bright runs away from the scene, unfazed by the destructive results of his justice, and resumes his hyperspeed patrol. He has no time to think of the consequences.

The lights of the reception room gave the already featureless walls of Osaka's central police station such a numbing feel that Natsu was about to fall asleep, only the little radio's rock music was keeping him from slipping into darkness. He was working the night shift at the station, the room's boring walls and the pile of documents on his desk often his only company. He hated that job, but it paid well and after having failed at hero school, he had no other choice. The receptionist received the news of the mass breakout, and was looking foward to an avalanche of bureaucracy. How fun.
Natsu jolted like a spring when he heard the doorbell, a mix of curiosity and excitement rejuvenating the worker. In a job like this, even the lowest scum that mankind had to offer piqued his interest; if he didn't put his focus on the various brawlers and thieves of the night, he would go insane with boredom. He got up of his office chair, expecting that on the other side of the door he would find a group of cops holding the usual drunkard.
Instead, outside of the door he saw a man wearing a white bodysuit, mask included, and a tattered cape. He was marked with blood, and he was holding a large duffel bag. Natsu raised an eyebrow, ready to call for backup.
"Good evening, sir." The man's breath was labored, as if he just took a beating. The way he leaned on the entrance's wall only reinforced this idea. Was he a villain? He continued.
"The Hirama jewelry has tasked be to take these to a safe place." He continued, revealing the contents of the bag: A mountain of diamonds, bracelets and necklaces of all shapes and sizes, glistening with dozens of colored reflections, and each worth more than a lifetime's worth of Natsu's paychecks. "Don't worry, I didn't steal these. You'd think a robber would give his jackpot to a police station? Only an idiot would do that!"
Natsu looked at the caped man with a mix of terror and absolute bewilderment. Luckily he had set off the silent alarm, and his backup would handle this sicko. "Yeah, only a total madman would come here to brag about his heist after a total slaughter, haha..." The policeman gave what he saw as the most suspicious man alive an half-cringing smile, before pointing at a stack of papers on a nearby desk. "Mind compiling a report regarding the transfer? You know, we policemen are VERY strict about this type of things."
The vigilante shook his head and raised his hands, he looked like he was in a great hurry. "Oh, I'm sorry, but I have no time for bureaucracy, I've got an assignment from the National Bank, and I'm kind of late..."
"We insist." Natsu grabbed the masked man's wrist in a spark of courage, walking him to the desk. His face was coated with sweat, he feared that at any moment he would get obliterated, but by the time the stranger grabbed a pen, he was still alive, so far so good.
Seconds passed one at a time, the white cloak man wrote a few words on a document describing his story, and Natsu's heart raced faster than a death metal band's battery. All the special forces' squads were busy in response to the mass breakout, only a few cops would save him now, and he hoped they would be enough. The villain was distracted with the report, he could take a better position and take a few steps of distance...

"OSAKA POLICE! GET UP SLOWLY AND RAISE YOUR ARMS!" Sergeant Kamiwa shouted, giving the look of a man that faced hell and came back to tell the tale.
"I can explain!" The suspicious man screamed in terror. "I was working with Paladin to protect a jewelry, he was knocked out by a villain, I managed to defeat them and take the bag and..."
"HAHAHAHA! You? An hero? What's next, you fought Midas perhaps?"
"Actually, I did face Midas once, and..."
"Enough bullshit. You're under arrest." The chief sergeant voice became deadly serious. "Robbery, Assault, Hero Impersonation..."
Natsu gave a sigh of relief as he pointed his gun at the unknown man. Apparently six or so regular law enforcers with handguns would be enough to take down this villain, as long as he didn't freak out...
"I told you, I AM an hero! I capture villains just like you! I'm not a robber, I stopped the damn robbery! Just let me explain-"
"What is the third article of the 2080 hero agency regulation revision?" Natsu inquired with an annoyed voice. He was so tired of hearing this poser talk.
"What? What do you want-"
"How many members do civilian extraction squads have in case of the activity of multiple B-rank villains?"
"What do these questions have to do with-"
"What are the regular directives in case an S-Rank villain is captured in international waters?"
"I-I don't know-"
"A-HA! You're a fraud! Even a dropout like me would've answered those!" Natsu's long black hair shook like curtains in the wind as he laughed like a madman, enjoying this small moment of triumph. Only Serge's callout made him freeze in discipline once more.
White Cloak let out an annoyed sigh. His gig was up, there was no point in keeping up whis game. He suddenly regained his cool, as if he had nothing to lose, and cracked his fingers nonchalantly, ignoring the gunmen that were ready to shoot at the slightest sign of danger.
"Oh well, I just dropped here to secure these jewels, and this is how you thank an honest citizen? Do you have any idea of what I've faced just tonight? I've been punched in the gut by a man completely made of steel! I've been almost frozen to a popsicle! Hell, I took down a terrorist squad before you or your goddamn heroes even heard that they were a threat! Sorry if I'm not-"
"Enough talk! Now kneel to the ground, hands still up. Last warning." Natsu glanced over at Kamiya, the rookie couldn't believe the cool his superior was keeping. Did he fight in a war or something?
"Sorry again, but I've still got a LOT of work to do now. If you excuse me..." The villain took a single step before Kamiya gave the order to fire. Bullets whizzed in the air in a cacophony of gunshots, but before the sergeant would even pull the trigger, the target disappeared instantly. Hadn't it been for Natsu's shielding quirk, it would've been a disaster.
Moments of silence followed, with the squad trying to come up for an explanation for this, until Kamiya remarked: "Teleporters, always a pain in the ass." They all lowered their guns, frustration and uncertainty filled the air, and everyone was so confused. Was that it?
"What's next, Sarge? Do we follow him?" One of Natsu's colleagues looked around to check if anything was out of place, finding the room in general disarray.
"No, we shouldn't bother trying to follow someone that could escape to the other side of the city in a blink of an eye. The best we can do now is write down a detailed report for the Heroes to see, and notify them everything we know about the unknown threat."
"Yay, more paperwork, just what this night needed..." Natsu thought in his head, but nodded alongside the others. If Sergeant Kamiya says something, it must be done.

"Hahahaha! Can you believe it, boys? We're free to do everything we want! Oh how much I missed the fresh air of the night! How long I've been without holding a rocket launcher, and especially how much I've suffered without the rush of some good old chaos!"
It had been twenty minutes since All-Out and his gang escaped from prison, and they were having the time of their lives bombing their way through Osaka's commercial district! Each time he shot a rocket at a skyscraper's facade, he imagined the face of the rich fucks who will wake up to his warpath, and he hadn't felt this alive in years! Shards of glass rained from the sky, which was illuminated by the lights of constant explosions; A thick mist of pulverized concrete engulfed the air, and the constant whir of heavy weapons gave this moment the symphony of fury and destruction it deserved.
"Yeah! Take this! And this! Burn down this fucking city to the ground!" Bullet Time, a short delinquent who appeared to be the youngest of the three, held a grenade launcher loaded with incendiary rounds, and lit up everything around him with seething flames that turned the block into an hellscape worthy of the worst infernal visions. Many naughty kids often dream of destroying everything around them when they're angry, but thanks to All-Out, he was doing it for real! Fires and smoke poured endlessly from the few facades that survived the explosions, a man in a suit that was still there to witness the cataclysm screamed in terror and ran away, trying to avoid getting incinerated; and thanks to that golden guy's help, no hero would come to stop them for a while, this city was their playground now!
"THIS ROTTEN SOCIETY REQUESTS A SACRIFICE, THE SOULS OF MILLIONS DON'T JUST SUFFICE! OPPRESSION AND RUIN MUST BECOME LAW, NO ONE SHALL ESCAPE THE HEROES'S CLAW!" All-Out growled lyrics of various metal songs about ruin, destruction and corruption, while shooting an army's worth of missile bombs everywhere and turning the centre into a devastated warzone. If not for those fascist blackboots that call themselves "heroes", he could blast, wreck and destroy the entire city to dust!

"Where are your glorified winged pigs, now?" The taller among the group, an middle-aged man who calls himself "Smoke 'n' Mirrors", was shooting all around himself with his minigun, aiming to mow down as much proprty as he could. "RAATTATATTATATATTATATA" The sight of mundane items such as trashcans and lightpoles being torn to shreds by a blizzard of lead put a sick smile on his face, and the best part was, even if one of those wannabe cops wanted to stop them, they would walk away scot-free thanks to his quirk!

Everything around the trio was either torn to smithreens, burnt into ashes or was about to become one of the two. But one discordant voice disturbed the wonderful nocturne they were playing.
"Stop right there, criminal filth! Your destruction derby is OVER!" A sickly voice, barely audible in the general chaos, called them out.
The three turned behind them to see the source of the voice: A dork with a white cape that tried way too hard to look cool was standing there awkwardly, leaning on a pile of wreckage, his costume was stained with blood, ripped in spots that revealed ugly bruises all over his body, and he looked like he could barely stand on his legs.
"And who the fuck are you?" All-Out greeted the low class hero wannabe. "A low-grade hero's reserve sidekick?" The trio laughed audibly, pointing their cannons at the idiot in front of them.
"Yeah, is this porkchop the best the leatherboots can send?" Smoke and Mirrors added to the mockery, pointing at the white "hero" like a baby. "No wonder their shitty society is falling if this is how they respond to us!"
"Any last words, kid?" Bullet Time was shaking his head at the aspirant. "Because when we'll be done with you, your ashes will be so unrecognizable that our memory will be the closest thing to a tombstone you'll have!"
"Actually, I have something to say. Surrender, now."
"Wrong Answer! You are now going-" the three criminals answered in unison like a gang of bullies, and fired everything they got at the white man. What a silly intermission for their demolition show!
But unluckily, things didn't go like expected. Bullet Time was the only one to notice anything wrong, as he felt the world around him, from his comrades' jokes to the whir of his minigun slow down to an halt.

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Villain Name: Bullet Time

Reflex Enhancement Quirk: Flash Mind

This quirk empowers the user's thought speed and perception, giving the impression of the world slowing around them, including their own body. In case of imminent danger, this quirk triggers automatically.

The old villain was incredulous, why did his quirk activate? What was that half-dead klan boy going to do, awkwardly jog at him? He pointed his minigun, his body moving like it was submerged in jelly, lined up the perfect shot, and pulled the lever with all his strength.
The barrels of the machine gun spun slowly, like the arms of a clock. A satisfying bang slowly echoed across the air and in his ears, that silly idiot had no chance of dodging one of his perfect shots! Before the bullet even left the barrel however, he saw his victim move fast. Very fast. He was running so quickly Bullet Time thought his quirk wasn't working well! He focused as hard as he could, so much that everything effectively stopped. Shards of broken glass were completely still in mid-air, the minigun's imperceptible recoil pressed awkwardly on his immobile body, he couldn't even move his eyeballs! But something didn't change: That damn hero was still running, as if his legs, even if injured, were faster than his own brain! The only thing he could do was mentally brace for the impact before he saw him punch him in the chest, throwing him to the ground at an alarming speed. He saw him take his weapon from his hands and toss it away with great effort, the instrument of destruction floating away as if unaffected by gravity. The white figure did the same to his two companions, munching and disarming them, then ran away for what he perceived as five minutes, even though probably it was more like a fraction of a blink. What the hell was that thing?!
Bullet Time tried to come up with explanations, one more crazy than the other: An hero with the power to gain strength from his injuries and who had just broken his limits? A secret federal agent sent only to protect the richest? A demon of speed with truly supernatural abilities? God's punishment for his sins? He then thought of the horrible state he was in: What the hell could injure something like THAT?!
Before he could think of an answer, "God's punishment" ran back to the still falling trio, and he was holding a long rope. Clearly he wanted them alive. While the three criminals still drifted off in the air from the monster's hyper-speed punches, he caught them, and turn after turn of hard rope, he bound them tightly all together.
Whatever the hell it was, his quirk wouldn't help him.
"-down!" The villains finished gloating before blasting away the low-rate idiot, only they were now landing on their butts on the ground, and they were bound by rope like an ham.
While the other two bombers were completely silent from the sudden reversal, Bullet Time barked at whatever in the world had bound them.
"That... Cannot be human... You must be a fiend! A monstrosity! What are you?!"
The figure gave a sigh, and responded with an angry tone.
"I am the one who asks questions now. Understood?" Struck by a sudden terror, and aware that they had no other choice but comply, the three nodded.
"Good.. Let's start this thing, because the last thing that I want is to waste precious time. Who caused all of this?" If they hadn't witnessed his power, they would've laughed at the man's attempt to sound threatening.
"We did this! We wanted to cause as much destruction as possible, and..." Bullet Time instinctively screamed, shaking with terror.
"He's talking about the breakout, dumbass!" Smoke and Mirrors corrected him. "And anyways, we don't know who started it, and even if we knew, we wouldn't tell an hero like you!"
"Yeah, beat it! We ain't snitches!" All-Out added, stoic to the end.
The white cloak monster sighed again. "Of course it wouldn't be that easy" they heard him mutter under his breath. Then, he resumed speaking.
"I will tell you a secret. Technically I am a villain too. I promise you that I will untie you if you tell me who broke you out of jail. Or I could take you to the nearest Hero Agency and give you to the justice you deserve. Gauge your options well."
The three wreckers murmured between each other for a minute, unsure if to accept their captor's mercy.
"Why should we trust him? That fucker almost broke my ribcage!"
"What if he's for real? Heroes don't usually give offers like these!"
"What if it's all a trick to have us spill the beans?"
"Don't worry guys, we're free with this!" Smoke and Mirrors said triumphantly, before triggering a smokebomb that he had teleported under his sleeve!
An huge cloud of smoke covered the bound group, and he was ready to teleport them away, but they were flung away from the cloud before he could do anything. One end of their rope was in the unknown cape's hand.
"Nice try. I would love to punish you hard for this trick, but I feel magnanimous. Not only I'll let that slide, but I'm also going to free one of you!" He promised, before spinning a few times around the bound group. In an instant, All-Out was free.
The replicator was incredulous. He was freed from his bindings twice in one night! That must be a record, he thought. After looking around, he ran away free like the wind, screaming with joy! His plans of destruction were on hold, all he could do then was enjoy this absurd moment.
Meanwhile, the injured speed demon knelt down to meet the two remaining prisoners, face by crystal mask.
"Well, did you see it? I let him go, and I'll untie you too if you just ever so gently tell me whoever freed you from prison, OK?" He requested, with a forced kindness that betrayed his frustration.
Bullet Time and Smoke and Mirrors gave each other a long, reluctant look, before one of the two finally talked.
"It was two guys mainly. One was a tall guy, with white hair. Don't remember his name, but I know his quirks: A giant golden dragon he can summon, and something related to desires and mind influence, or so I've seen. He turned some of our "colleagues" into his crooks by talking stuff about "inner aspirations and deepest dreams", no idea of what he wanted, but it must be big if Midas is involved."
"MIDAS?!" The white cape roared, losing all of his composure. "HE IS INVOLVED IN ALL THIS CHAOS?"
"Yes! That greedy cunt helped in the breakout!" The other spoke, terrified of the demon's wrath. "Gold constructs, telekinesis, he has it all! And whatever he wants, the fact that not only he's showing up at all, but even outside of his beloved Kyoto is... Exciting."
"You know anything else? Whereabouts? Plans? Anything?" Crystalface sounded desperate and excited, and the two really wanted to help him if it meant that they would be free.
"All we know is that he was talking about some plans about Kyoto, that he and dragon guy were doing some sort of recruitment, and that they wanted as much destruction as possible tonight! We're sorry but that's as much as we know." Even with those grizzled faces, the two villains gave to the speedster a bead-eyed look, like a pair of guilty dogs. They were at his total mercy.
"You told me the most you could, and that's enough. Come on, I'll untie you." The vigilante quickly removed the rope from them, freeing them of their bindings and helping them stand up.
"You know what? Maybe you aren't as bad as the others." Smoke and Mirrors thanked the curious runner with his utmost sincerity. "Well, see you sometime!" They walked off the scene without bothering to pick up their weapons. they had a second opportunity, and they wouldn't waste it.
"Oh, and one more thing." They stopped, wondering what more the mysterious man in white wanted.

All-Out was running for his life. He had been spared from jail once more; and whatever that hero was, he had genuinely changed his heart. Maybe society wasn't THAT bad.
Suddenly, the guy who spared him appeared again, cutting his road. Before he could react, All-Out was sent K.O. on the ground with a full power haymaker to the face.
"Never trust a villain." Was the last thing he could hear before losing his senses.

After less than half an hour from when Taneka had been woken up by his Hero Transmitter, Blazing Bright stops to take a breather for the first time. After the encounter with the three bombers, he runs to a secluded shack by the waterfront, and as soon as he arrives, he collapses to the ground in exhaustion. What a night.
Taneka removed his mask, using the crystal part as a mirror to check his face. Luckily, despite his constant battle, he hadn't taken too much to the head, only some slight bruises. He wad definitely coughing some blood, but nothing too bad.
He also removed his costume, exposing his sturdy body to the night hair. When he saw his own state, Taneka almost puked. Massive bluish spots all over his body, A few broken bones. Every time he breathed, his abs begged for mercy. He was bleeding a bit from his injuries, but nothing he couldn't bandage.
"And they said that I couldn't be an Hero, that my theory was too lacking and that I was "extremely reckless if not downright suicidal"... All heroes should be "suicidal" if it meant saving lives and protecting what they love..."
Taneka was proud of himself. He was the first line. He was the vanguard. The transmitter beeped up for a bit, then he heard a voice of an hero.
"Team Lightning, engaging the target." "Fireball Squad, villain in sight!" "Indomitables, reporting on the field!"
The heroes were finally deployed to stop the crisis. His work was done. The only things Taneka had to do were patch himself up a bit, return home and come up with an excuse to explain his injuries to his mom.
Then his mind returned to those criminals' confession about the mass breakout, wondered who was this "Dragon Guy" they were talking about, and then thought of Midas.
"Damn it. If I had defeated him where I had to... All of this chaos wouldn't have happened..." He had fought him, he had stopped him from blowing up the Hyperion Labs, he could have stopped him if only he had been just a bit more...
"No need to beat myself up. What's done is done." Taneka said to himself. He was accustomed to failure, that was only one of the many. And he was going to fix this once and for all. He thought of the warning, that Midas was plotting "something big" with dragon guy and his army of recruited villains. "Sounds like someday I'm going to rain on the Night Parade."