Voltaic Storm

After indulging in Kiseki's cooking, Yuuto and Haji headed back home. Genesis was in the living room, waiting for them to arrive. Yuuto entered first and saw her. She was still crying, but seemed to have something important to tell him. Concerned, he asked:

– Genesis, what happened?

– Sorry for earlier, Yuuto. I shouldn't have treated you like that.

– I should apologize, Genesis. I killed your master, and I can't remember anything. But you don't have to believe that, I know it sounds like an excuse.

– I believe in you, Yuuto. Earlier today I heard several explosions and an electromagnetic pulse knocked me out for a minute. If the battle between the two of you reached this level, I understand why you had to kill him.

– Genesis… Wait. Did you say electromagnetic pulse?

– Yes. I don't know where it came from, but it affected a pretty large area.

– This is very strange. Neither I nor Wisedroid would use such an attack. It could only be one person.

– And who would that be? Yuuto, if that person killed my master, we should go after them.

Yuuto realized that handing Ria over would only make things worse. A nuclear war could break out if that gun maniac came into contact with Genesis. Deviating from the subject, Yuuto said:

– Well, I think I got things mixed up. How about we talk more at a maid cafe we just got back from?

– Yuuto, you don't need to be sure of the idea you had. Any clue is enough.

– If I tell you what I think, things will get worse. Why don't we calm down first?

– Right. Sorry again for cornering you, Yuuto. I still haven't accepted my master's death very well. I agree to go to the maid cafe.

Genesis forced a smile, like someone trying to hide their pain. Haji, realizing that Yuuto needed to talk to Genesis alone, decided to stay home.

Genesis and Yuuto were walking the streets looking for that maid cafe. Even though he had just come back from it, he didn't pay attention to the path.

Suddenly, Yuuto bumped into a strange figure. It was a boy about 16 years old. He had short black hair, but with bangs that covered both eyes. He wore casual clothes.

Startled, Yuuto jumped back. The boy continued to stand still, as if that were a normal occurrence. But he apologized:

– Sorry, young man. This fringe of mine covers my vision a lot, so I hadn't noticed you.

– Oh, right… You're not after me, right?

All the news still highlighted the death of Yuuto and Wisedroid, so Yuuto needed to confirm that no one recognized him. It seemed to be the case, as the boy didn't show any reaction of familiarity. Instead, he said:

– Of course not. Why should I be looking for you? Wait, this is a great opportunity. Why don't we become friends?

– Friends? Why?

– Why not? I was looking for friends. I haven't been to this city in a while, so I don't know anyone. Where are you going to?

– Right… We're going to a maid café.

– A maid cafe?! I love that kind of stuff, man. Can I go too?

Yuuto looked at Genesis, who gave an approving smile.

– Sure… I guess.

The three went to the maid café. Once again, Kiseki was waiting for new masters to attend.

She answered the three, with the most invigorating smile she could bestow. It was like a love spell. The boy said:

– This maid is very cute. I want to see her moe moe kyun.

– For sure, man. I've always been obsessed with those kinds of places, too.

Genesis smiled, but genuinely. She seemed to be relieved of the tension from before. The peaceful atmosphere polluted the air. 

Yuuto, still a bit suspicious of the boy, asked:

– Hey, man, what's your name?

– Oh, sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Tadahiro Ryosuke. But you can just call me Ryosuke.

– Nice to meet you, Ryosuke. My name is Ishigawa Yuuto.

– Nice to meet you, Ryosuke. My name is Genesis.

Ryosuke, remembering the famous association heroes, asked:

– Are you part of the association?

– I left that lifestyle a few years ago.

– And I was a maid, but I left the association recently.

– I still don't really know how this system works. My father is japanese, so it was easy for me to come here. But I've lived almost my whole life in France.

– Are you french?

– Yes, I lived with my mother. Well, I still live, but now in Japan. She works with criminal investigations, mainly for the French government. Going to the city of heroes would be the safest option, so I decided to come with her.

– Are you sure you should be telling all this so openly?

– Of course, you are my friends. What are your powers?

– Mine is Gravity.

– And mine is Creation.

– Nice. Yours are much better than mine.

– Do you also have a power?

– Yes, but I don't even remember when or how I got it. It's pretty dull, it just intensifies electrical currents.

Hearing that, Yuuto and Genesis shuddered. They remembered that rank #1 of level 7 had electricity power. Disguising his suspicion, Yuuto said:

– Man, your power is also very cool. But by some chance you wouldn't be a hero, would you?

– No. As I said, I came here a few days ago, and I wouldn't have time to enlist. Even if I did that, I'd be at level 1 right now.

Yuuto sighed, partially relieved. There was still a chance that the boy was lying, but that didn't seem to be the case. Ryosuke continued:

– As I was saying, I don't like this power of mine. I wanted one that could save people, but it's better than having nothing.

The cell phone in Ryosuke's right pocket vibrated. Actually, he had already received several notifications, but he did not notice it while talking with the two. He took out his cell phone and saw three missed calls from his mother. She didn't usually made calls, just send messages.

Suspicious, he called his mother back. Someone answered, but it wasn't her. It was the voice of a man, saying:

– Catherine-sama, the boy finally answered. What should we do?

The man seemed to be talking to someone else, as if he was ignoring Ryosuke. In turn, he replied:

– What did you bastards do to my mother?

The man approached the radio from which the voice of a girl on the cell phone was coming:

– Hello, darling. How audacious to ignore someone as important as me three times.

– Who are you?!

– Don't you recognize my voice? Did you really live in the same country that I govern until a few days ago and have forgotten who is in charge of it?

Ryosuke thought of all the possibilities. She was Catherine, the Prime Minister of France. She continued:

– I think you already know what happened to your mommy. She knew too much. Don't blame me, she asked for it.

Ryosuke, with an ingrained hatred in his heart, said goodbye to Yuuto and Genesis:

– Sorry guys, but something really bad just happened. I have to run!

Before they could respond, Ryosuke ran full speed to his house. It was a small condo away from there.

He used his power to intensify the electrical currents in his heart, speeding it up. He reached a speed of 10 m/s. Obviously, it wore him down a lot more than just running. But this way he could arrive in time to save his mother, if she was alive.

He got close to the condo, but stopped. He saw a crowd of personal guards surrounding Catherine, who was looking at his apartment. As she was distracted, he had to choose between attacking her or saving his mother. He chose the second option as he could defeat Catherine after that.

He circled the block and went to the back door, and there were guards there too. A control panel for the condo's electricity was near the door. Ryosuke intensified its current. The panel started making malfunctioning noises and burning. Suspicious, all the guards looked at it.

Taking advantage of the gap, Ryosuke stepped up his speed to the maximum to get to them before they retaliated. He kicked the nearest guard in the crotch and grabbed the pistol from his left pocket.

As his heart and mind were racing, he saw the time around him passing slightly slower. He aimed at each guard's head quickly and fired, killing them all. As the pistol had a silencer so that the infiltration in the condominium was as inconspicuous as possible, it did not draw Catherine's attention.

However, he felt an unbearable dizziness, in addition to an excruciating pain in his heart. He had pushed his body too far, and was in danger of having a heart attack. He knelt down, trying not to scream. Ryosuke 's power stopped automatically due to the pain he felt.

He got up after a few seconds, now better. He grabbed all the weapons and ammo he could. He ran to the least conspicuous staircase: the one at the opposite end from Catherine's vision. In all of them there were guards. Since he now had a gun, he just killed everyone quickly.

Ryosuke called his mother's cell phone, which was answered by the same man as before, and said:

– Pass the phone to your disgraceful boss.

– Catherine-sama, the boy wants to talk to you.

Before hearing Catherine's voice, Ryosuke ended the call. He just called to divert her attention to the call. That way, he could eliminate the guards that were in front of his apartment without anyone noticing.

He shot each one. As there was a great surveillance inside the apartment, he activated his power again. Before opening the door, he discreetly flicked the light switch. He stepped up the electricity in the bulb, causing it to burn out.

When the guards looked up, Ryosuke took aim at the head of the man in the center, the one answering the calls. But he quickly realized that something was wrong. He looked towards the door, spotting Ryosuke. He aimed his pistol and fired, hitting Ryosuke's left shoulder.

Ryosuke fired right after, but the shoulder shot threw his aim off balance and made him use a different strategy. When the bullet was passing point-blank into the man's head, it would cause friction. He would only need to step up the electricity generated from that contact to electrify the guard.

He managed to electrify the guard, paralyzing him for a few seconds. None of the other guards had time to react as this all happened so fast. Ryosuke then killed all but the main guard. He disarmed him and pointed his gun directly at the man's head, threatening him:

– Tell your boss to evacuate immediately, or I'll blow your brains out.

– No way. I would never betray Catherine-sama.

– It's your choice. 3… 2…

– Okay, I'll do that!

Ryosuke took the radio that communicated with Catherine and placed it in front of the guard. He hesitated for a while, but Ryosuke urged him on by pressing the pistol against his head.

– Catherine-sama…

The man looked at Ryosuke, who just stared at him.

– …an emergency has occurred. The boy is her-

Before he finished speaking, Ryosuke shot to silence him, complaining:

– Fuck! I should have been more careful with these assholes!

Once again, he felt an excruciating pain in his heart, even more intense than before. If he used much more of his power, he would surely die. As he agonized in pain, he remembered his main goal: to save his mother. 

He looked around the apartment, and saw his mother's body sitting in a chair. There was a bullet hole in her head. She probably died while using her notebook and investigating the corrupt French government.

Hearing the message, Catherine understood what had happened. Ryosuke didn't react quickly enough to silence the guard.

Her power was Flaming Tornado. As the name said, it could create tornadoes hot enough to incinerate entire houses and melt heavy metals. It was equivalent to a level 6. She used her power to jump to Ryosuke's apartment floor. She ran to the half-open door, saying:

– Boy, you did better than I expected, congratulations. But your heroism ends there.

She entered the apartment and saw a strange scene: the floor was all wet. Neither Ryosuke nor his mother were visible. She commented:

– What is it, boy, hide and seek? I like the idea, too bad it will be your last joke.

Suddenly, the lamp that was still on became hot again. The container broke, releasing heat and electricity straight down.

The entire watery floor electrified strongly. Catherine was hit in the center of the shock, paralyzing her for a few seconds. The current was so strong that her skin suffered heavy burns.

Ryosuke came out of a closet while holding his mother's dead body in his arms. He had taken a small path without water just to escape. He ran with all his speed outside. 

He jumped from the floor he was on with all his strength, aiming for an electricity pole. There were several guards on the street, watching everything.

Ryosuke knew this, and jumped onto that pole while shooting one of the wires to knock it towards the guards. He intensified the current running through the wires and killed them all.

He landed on top of the pole and looked back. To his surprise, he saw Catherine jumping towards him. He didn't have time to react.

Catherine recovered faster than expected. In fact, the electricity was strong enough to kill her in less than five seconds.

For some reason, she survived. And that reason was her power. As Ryosuke fled the apartment, she created a flaming drill-shaped tornado to melt the floor.

She fell downstairs and destroyed everything in her path. She saw Ryosuke and used her power to fly towards him quickly.

She landed a flaming punch on his cheek, burning part of his face. In addition, a new heart attack began. Ryosuke fell to the asphalt. Catherine descended slowly, while saying:

– Well done, boy. But you underestimated me. Did you think I was just a rich preppy? I was trained for this kind of situation.

Catherine smiled, boasting:

– If that wasn't able to kill me, it means I'm the strongest in the world. Even level 7's don't stand a chance against me!

Ryosuke tried to bear the pain while ignoring Catherine's monologue. She noticed this and approached him. She stepped on his face, saying:

– Who do you think you are, bastard? I'm sorry your mommy died. But it's her fault for meddling too much in what she shouldn't.

Ryosuke tried to get up, but Catherine just pressed her foot against him, forcing him down. She was enjoying it, laughing at his miserable position. She completed his monologue:

– Come to think of it, I never got to test my full potential. How about we heat things up?

She started to literally heat up the surroundings in a gigantic area, creating a firestorm that could be seen from anywhere in the city.

Initially, Yuuto and Genesis waited for Ryosuke to return. But he was taking too long, and it seemed to be something urgent. Worried, they started looking for him.

They saw a firestorm form far away. It looked dangerous, so Yuuto used his power to quickly fly to the spot, taking Genesis with him.

At the epicenter, he saw Ryosuke being trampled by a blonde woman with red eyes wearing a red dress and laughing maniacally. As she looked up at the stormy sky, she boasted:

– Look how wonderful! I didn't even know I was that amazing! I just want to see a level 7 step in here to see what they deserv-

Without hesitation, Yuuto flew towards her and landed a blow on her head, ripping it off. The body fell right away.

Seeing Ryosuke holding his mother's hand while half his face was burned, Yuuto tried to help him, but Ryosuke didn't answer anymore. Yuuto took Ryosuke, his mother and Catherine to Kiseki's clinic. He asked:

– Kiseki, can you heal these three?

Kiseki did everything she could but managed to save only Catherine. She apologized:

– I'm sorry, Ishigawa-san, but there's nothing I can do.

– No problem, that's my fault. As usual, I arrived too late.

– What happened?

– It seems that woman killed Ryosuke and his mother. It is a pity that only she survived, but she can still be questioned by the police.

– Are you going to report her?

– Of course, but not for anyone.

Yuuto looked at his cell phone. The screen showed Ria's contact. He sighed and said:

– Actually, I think you'd better do it.

– Eh? But why?

– I can't meet with Ria for now. You have her contact, don't you?

– Yes.

– Could you hand this woman over to her, please?

– All right, Ishigawa-san.

– Thank you very much.

– That's no big deal. Whenever you need help, just ask me.

Yuuto smiled and said goodbye.