by Rocco Ryg
“I’m serious. It’s like the animosity passed down in the bloodlines. As for me, I guess I’m just along for the ride. She’s just a stock enemy for me.”
“So she’s like our Joker?” asked Renka. “Or Dr. Doom?”
Despite her childhood spent reading her mother’s comic books, Chikara hated being involved in a geek’s conversation. “Renka, Nagasado Michiko is no Dr. Doom, Green Goblin or whatever. She’s just a stupid, selfish preppy girl who never thinks about others. She’s not our arch-enemy, she’s just a nuisance. Nokoribi is killing people, so I’d say he’s our number one concern right about now.”
“I hope you’re right,” said Gen. “It would be terrible if someone else is our arch-enemy. Someone we haven’t seen yet.”
“What do you mean?”
“Remember that Muslim girl that cancelled our powers? We don’t know who she is, how she did it, how she knew about Michiko’s ability, or what she really looks like under that cloak. I trust my instincts, and I have a feeling that this thing is bigger than we think.”
“We will know. If she comes back, we’ll get her.” Chikara had been wondering about the enigmatic spy as well, but stopping Nokoribi Kaijin’s rampage topped her agenda. “How much longer, Ren-chan?”
“It’s just a few miles away. Turn left at the second light there.”
***
Michiko, Yukiko and Chisato sat at their usual table in the club. Rather than mocking the bad singers, they tried to forget their latest problem with a little celebration. Chisato stretched her arms and said, “Thanks for taking us to that mall, Michiko, but why did we go so far? It had to be forty kilometers away.”
Michiko sipped her drink. “I just wanted to get away for a while.”
“With school cancelled, it was a special occasion.” Yukiko seemed much happier about the abrupt day off than the others. “Too bad Kaijin-kun couldn’t come with us. He looked so handsome yesterday.”
The henchmen noticed Michiko cringe. Yukiko asked, “What’s wrong?”
Chisato already knew. “Didn’t you see the news? Kaijin-kun’s house burned down and his father got killed, and he’s the prime suspect. The police have been looking for him all day.”
This surprised Yukiko. “Wow, that’s... that’s horrible.”
“It has to be a misunderstanding. Kaijin-kun wouldn’t kill anyone, right, Michiko?”
She didn’t answer. Gen’s disturbing phone call from yesterday dominated her mind, raising more questions than she wanted to learn the answers to. When Gen, Chikara and Renka unexpectedly showed up at her table, she groaned and said, “I don’t want to hear it.”
Chikara didn’t want to talk to her either, but she had no choice. “Naga... Michiko, look, this is important.”
Gen said, “We’ve been looking all over town for you all day. Why didn’t you answer our calls?”
Michiko replied, “I’m not in the mood.” Yukiko and Chisato then understood why she asked them not to answer their phones.
Renka took out Kaminari Mika’s manuscript and threw it on the table. “Chikara’s mother wrote this. It explains everything, especially Maxwell Chillingworth.” She then filled the henchmen’s heads with uneasy feelings, just as Gen had suggested.
Yukiko said, “I don’t feel good. I think I need some air.” Chisato joined her.
With her cohorts gone, Michiko stared at the story without any desire to read it. Renka felt her trepidation and forced it to change to curiosity. Thanks to this unusual change of heart, Michiko grabbed the document. Renka continued to scan her feelings, interested to discover her reaction.
***
Outside, Yukiko lit up a cigarette while Chisato kept her distance. “I wish you would quit those things, Yukiko. They shorten your life span and make you smell terrible.”
“I know. I’ll get around to it.” She inhaled another puff and felt her anxiety decrease.
“I don’t know why you’re so jittery lately. Is it because of graduation?”
“No.” Yukiko turned her head away, ashamed to be seen.
“What then? Is it because of our trip to New York?”
“I don’t think we’re going.”
“What? Why not?”
Yukiko exhaled deeply before admitting her secret. “I did something for money and... I think I got involved in something I shouldn’t have.”
“What did you do?”
“You know about my parents’ money problems, right? On Monday, someone approached me and offered me a lot of money if I did a favor for her. I had to convince Michiko to get a passport and become the Prom Queen.”
“What? Who would pay you to do that?”
“Some foreign girl. She had red hair and spoke perfect Japanese, and she offered me 854,700 yen.”
“A foreigner? Why such a random number?”
“I checked and found that it’s about 10,000 dollars in the United States. I mean, I didn’t think much of it, and I needed the money... it all seemed harmless... but now with all these people dying and Kaijin the suspect... I don’t know what I’ve done.” She put the cigarette back in her mouth, and then spit it out when it burst into flame. Yukiko noticed Kaijin standing at the side of the building and accusing her with his stare.
“Kaijin-kun?” said Chisato. “What are you doing here?”
He kept his gaze on Yukiko and replied, “I’ve been looking for John Galt’s agents all day... when one was here all along.”
Yukiko asked, “Who is John Galt?”
“The man who wants to take my Michiko-sama away from me. For that, she needs a passport out of the country, and you helped him.”
“Kaijin-kun... just calm down... let’s talk about this...”
The two girls backed up in fear as Kaijin’s body exploded in flames, burning off everything but his fire proximity suit and Michiko’s ring. Chisato panicked and ran back into the club, but Yukiko could only stare in disbelief. “How... how are you...?”
“Michiko-sama gave me the power to protect her from all of her enemies... all of them!” Yukiko felt her skin boil as the air around her ignited in blaze. She ran after Chisato back into the club, and Kaijin followed, vowing to have his revenge.
***
Michiko put down the manuscript and shook her head. “I don’t believe this.”
“You better start believing it,” said Chikara. “These rings are dangerous in the wrong hands, like your boyfriend’s.”
“He’s not my boyfriend.”
“Whatever he is, he’s been killing people, and we need to stop him. Why did you even give him that ring in the first place?”
Michiko broke eye contact. “I just... I didn’t want to think about my dad anymore.”
Renka felt her inner pain and almost put her hand on Michiko’s shoulder to comfort her, but she stopped herself.
“But I didn’t even wear that ring until last Tuesday, and I’ve been controlling people before that.” continued Michiko. “Why didn’t I need it then?”
Gen said, “I’ve thought about that. I think your father passed this ability onto you, so you have it naturally. The ring just increased it. Wait, you wore it Tuesday?”
“Yeah, why?”
“That must mean your control has increased. Instead of a few hours, it may now be permanent. Did you... say something to Nokoribi to make him do all this?”
Her words from the fateful night she gave into weakness rang through her head. “I need you. Protect me.” Rather than share this embarrassing secret, she shook her head. “No.”
Renka felt the stinging sensation in her brain. “You’re lying. What did you say to him?”
The sound of screams ended the conversation. Chisato and Yukiko ran into the club in terror, a stream of blue flames following them through the entrance. The other partying teens could only look in disbelief as Kaijin ran through the door engulfed in fire and shot lines of blazes at the horrified girls.
“Son of a bitch,” said Gen. “There he is!” They all watched as K
aijin collected a huge fireball in his hands and shot it at Yukiko’s back. She screamed and fell onto the dance floor, no longer a girl but a sizzling ball of flame. Shrieks echoed throughout the club as panicked teens bolted to the exits.
Officer Maeda saw the boy with the burning hands and drew his gun. “Freeze! Drop the... fire...” Kaijin increased his heat instead, prompting the policeman to shoot him. The bullets passed through the field of intense heat and hit the silver fire suit as harmless blotches of melted metal. Kaijin then neutralized the threat with another jet of flames.
Renka felt the cop and Yukiko’s agony and ran to her side. Chikara kicked open the glass cover of a fire extinguisher and ran to help them, praying she wasn’t too late. Gen stood in front of Michiko and held her back.
His body still raging with blaze, Kaijin faced Michiko and tried to tell her of the conspiracy. He wanted to warn her of her friend’s betrayal and of John Galt, but the words wouldn’t escape his lips due to her earlier command. Michiko couldn’t speak either, as the horror of seeing Yukiko burning alive rendered her mute. Disguising his fear, Gen tried to calm him down. “Kaijin, listen... I know this is a lot to take in... I know you’re scared... but you have to stop now. Nobody else has to get hurt.”
“You don’t understand, they’re after her. The foreigners want to take her away from me.”
Gen turned to Michiko. “Use your power on him. Make him stop!” Too frightened to understand or comply, Michiko pushed him aside and ran to Yukiko. Chikara had extinguished the flames, leaving only a scared, whimpering mess of charred flesh clinging to life by a thread. Michiko grabbed Yukiko and called her name, but her very touch hurt the burnt girl even more. Renka felt her agony as if it was her own, but she felt nothing from the cop, proving he was dead already.
Gen called out, “Get her out of here. I’ll take care of him.”
“Gen-kun, no! He’ll kill you too!” Renka cried.
“I’ll be alright. Just call the cops... and the fire department... call everyone.”
Chikara and Renka picked Yukiko up, despite her cries of pain, and ran her to the exit. Michiko followed, so Kaijin tried his best to yell to her with no success. With this distraction, Gen looked for some way to shut off the lights. He spotted the fuse box behind the drink counter and dashed to it, leaping over the incinerated guard along the way. Before Kaijin could react, Gen opened the box and switched off the main fuses, engulfing the nightclub in darkness.
Kaijin lit himself on fire to create light and wondered why Kagekuro would do that. Then a giant, dark figure with boxing gloves appeared behind him and punched him in the face. The light from his flames had weakened the attack, but it still had enough force to knock him to the dance floor. A small army of dark samurai materialized all around him and got ready to charge with their swords. Kaijin increased the brightness of his flames. “You have powers too? You must be working for him.”
Peeking from behind the counter, Gen asked, “Working for whom?”
“John Galt. The man trying to take her. Tell me… who is John Galt?”
“John Galt is a one-dimensional, cardboard cutout character from a poorly-written piece of capitalist propaganda!” Gen ordered his shadow warriors to strike. Kaijin shot two jets of flame to dissipate two, but four more closed in on him and struck their swords against his joints. He fell in pain and exploded again, taking the shadows out. Gen created more boxers, hoping to knock him unconscious, but Kaijin burned himself so brightly, the shadowy creations faded before they could get close enough. Realizing his opponent had figured out his inconvenient weakness, Gen decided on a new strategy.
As Kaijin continued to burn as brightly as he could, preventing the strange shadows from getting close, a table flew through the air and hit him in the back. The boxers threw bottles, chairs and other solid objects that would not disappear when exposed to light. Forming a shield of intense heat, Kaijin blew the projectiles away with his powerful force and searched for his elusive foe. “Let’s see you hide in this!” Charging the heat within his body, he blasted blue fire in every direction, setting the curtains and walls ablaze. With nowhere to hide, scorching heat everywhere and ashes flying through the air, Gen knew he had to finish this up close.
Outside, the escapees watched the building ignite in flames. Many called the authorities, while some used their phones to record the blaze and put it on the Internet. With the terrified Michiko and Chisato looking after Yukiko, Renka looked at the burning nightclub and said, “I have to go back.”
“Are you out of your mind? That place is an inferno! You’ll suffocate before you get in!” Chikara tried to hold her back.
“I have the power to stop him, Chi. You didn’t wear the ring, so you don’t. I have to... I have to save Gen-kun!” She ran through the crowd straight into the club. Chikara, now regretful of her rejection of the ring’s power, ran in after her.
Gen poured all of his concentration into holding his dragon’s form together, adding more darkness to it as the fire’s light weakened it. The black monster picked up the DJ’s platform and tossed it at Kaijin. Unable to blow it back, Kaijin blasted his full force to the ground and propelled himself backward like a jet. Dodging the platform, he ignited the air around the dragon and made it disappear. Gen coughed and ducked to the ground to avoid inhaling the thick smoke that grew with each passing moment. He knew he had to end this fight immediately, and that meant hitting Kaijin with everything he had.
Gen formed large blocks of darkness over his opponent and sent them crashing into him, but Kaijin’s personal field of fire destroyed them before they landed. Kaijin sent out more lines of flame in every direction. “Why can’t you all leave me alone? All of you! Why can’t I just have Michiko-sama without you all getting in the way?”
He felt guilt and sorrow fill his mind fill. He dropped to his knees as his heart lost all will to live. He felt so sad and sluggish, he wanted to fall into darkness and never leave. He spotted Renka standing near the burning entrance concentrating on him. “You’re... you’re doing this! Go away!” Kaijin gathered the most powerful blue inferno he could imagine and fired it at her.
Time seemed to stop as the terrible stream of fire approached Renka. She froze in panic, too scared to even scream. Before the flames could reach their target, Gen jumped in front of her and held them off with a thick black shield. He emptied his dark force into his blockade, but the light and heat soon overpowered him, obliterating his shield and pushing him back into Renka. His body protected her but absorbed the full impact of the blast. Renka kneeled over him and looked at his charred body. She took off her jacket and smothered the flames on his clothes. Gen could only moan in pain.
Kaijin stalked toward them, ready and willing to finish them off for good. Before he could fire another blast, he heard footsteps coming from his right. Chikara ran at him, her bokken in her grip and more angry fire in her face than he could ever generate. She leaped off a table and held her weapon high, preparing to strike a mighty blow. Kaijin shot her in midair with a continuous stream of flames. Renka watched in horror, paralyzed from the fear, but Chikara ignored the flamethrower and pressed forward.
Kaijin could only stare in disbelief as the girl passed through his steam of fire and swung her sword with all her strength, bashing him upside the head with enough force to crack his skull. Kaijin fell over unconscious on the dance floor, and the flames covering his burning body finally extinguished.
Chikara patted away the flames covering her clothes. Then she removed the ring from the finger of her fallen enemy, slipped it in her pocket and carried him to the exit. “Renka, get Gen out of here now!” Renka did as she was told, and both girls left the nightclub before the raging fire covered the exit. Just as they reached safety to the amazement of the crowd, the paramedics and fire department finally arrived.
As the police questioned the witnesses and the firefighters trained their hoses on the nightclub, the paramedics lifted Gen onto a gurney and rolled him to the ambulance. The t
errified Renka followed him. “Gen-kun, are you alright? Speak to me!”
Gen removed the oxygen mask over his mouth and tried to talk. “Renka-chan... I don’t... think I can go to prom with you now.”
Although still fearful for his life, Renka was thankful that he would be alright. She also felt his own happiness, both from beating the villain and saving her. “It’s okay. You’re a hero... my hero... and that’s all that matters.” Losing all inhibition, she leaned over and kissed him. It kind of hurt his burnt skin, but he still loved it.
After seconds of true bliss, the paramedics forced them apart and loaded Gen into the ambulance. Before they closed the doors, Gen smiled back at Renka and said, “Don’t worry. I’ve got universal health care.”
Chikara watched the scene and felt her heart go numb. Gen showed true bravery back there, and he even took a blast of fire to save Renka. She watched the lovebirds kiss and decided to forgive Gen for his previous crimes. He had proven that he was right for Renka after all. She then looked to the other side of the parking lot and saw a less inspiring scene. Michiko and Chisato held each other and cried as the paramedics pulled the white sheet over Yukiko and rolled her into the ambulance.
Her heart full of rage, she walked over to them. When Michiko noticed her, Chikara lost control and slapped her as hard as she could. “This is your fault, you stupid bitch! You used your power selfishly and controlled Nokoribi, and now all these people are dead.”
“Chikara...”
“I hate you! I hope you die too!” She walked away in disgust, leaving Michiko shocked, insulted and guilty. Not even Chisato’s hugs could comfort her.
Chikara embraced Renka and asked, “Do you want to follow them to the hospital?”
Renka felt Michiko’s suffering from across the parking lot. She had never felt such a paralyzing sorrow in her life, even before she felt the sadness of others. She walked across the parking lot and embraced her enemy, letting her cry into her shoulder. Years of animosity, jealousy and hate seemed to rinse away as the two shared in each other’s misery. When she noticed the ambulance taking off, she let go of her and said, “It’s not your fault.” She wiped away her tears and told Chikara, “Let’s go.”