Kumiko walked inside her house to find the faces of her welcoming parents, Tatsuya and Akane Tabata, who were chatting on the couch.
"Hello, Kumiko!" Akane greeted. "How was your day?"
"It was good, Mom!" Kumiko replied. "I helped a lot of people!"
Tatsuya gave her a pat on the head. "That's good, dear! You're making a difference just like the rest of us!"
She beamed, and she headed to her room, where her cat was waiting for her.
"Hi, Zeus!"
She gave the cat a scratch on the head, and he purred into her touch. Once she was done, she sat on her bed, preparing to draw.
"Zeus, I think I'll draw you again today!"
"Meow."
She began to doodle in her notebook, but after half an hour of drawing, she heard a loud noise.
"What was that?"
She looked out of her window, but there was nothing visible. Tatsuya rushed into her room, with a shocked expression on his face.
"Kumiko, dear, have you seen the news?"
"Nope! What's going on?"
Tatsuya turned on the TV, and the news feed popped up. When Kumiko looked at it, her eyes immediately widened.
"This is Reporter Miku Nakano reporting in! A young man calling himself a superhero is currently performing some EXTRAORDINARY feats! Take a look!"
The camera shifted behind the reporter to a costumed individual lifting an entire office building. There was an old lady next to him, using a cane for support.
"Do you see any rats, Ma'am?" the boy asked.
She stepped forward and looked at the ground, while the boy continued to hold up the building, with a little strain.
"Ahh, there they are! Could you dispose of them, for me?" the lady asked.
"Got you!" the boy replied, holding out his hand. A giant sword came flying through, and as soon as it got close to the rats they all ran away.
The sword barely missed the boy's hand, clattering to the ground. "Damn, still gotta work on that catch!"
The old lady picked the sword up and handed it to the boy. "There you go! Thank you for all your help!"
Miku and her crew approached the pair, ignoring the building above their heads. "Hello, young man! What exactly is your name, and how do you do what you do?"
He smiled at her. "Just call me Justice! I'm the greatest superhero you'll ever meet!"
"Really? Where did you get those special abilities from? Were you created by the government? Did you undergo a top-secret experiment? Are you an ALIEN?"
His grip on the building began to loosen. "Uh, lady, I think you all should go!"
"Wait! I have more questions!"
Justice tossed the building into the air before quickly evacuating the old lady and Miku's crew. Once they were all gone, he caught the building and set it back down.
An entire crowd formed in the streets, watching with confusion and awe.
"How can he do that...?"
"The rest of us aren't capable of anything like THAT!"
"Did the government lie to us?"
Miku turned her attention back to the camera. "Well, there you have it! This world has a superhero, and his name is Justice!"
But by the time she turned back around, he was gone.
Back in Kumiko's room, she and her father stared at the TV, utterly silent. After a long while, Tatsuya finally spoke.
"There you are, dear. The world has a...a superhero."
Kumiko, still shocked, looked at her hands. "But...but none of us have that kind of strength...I...what...?"
Tatsuya sighed. "I'm sure the government will fix this! We're all going to be just like Justice, I promise!"
"Are you sure?" Kumiko asked.
"Of course! After all, we're all equal, aren't we?" Tatsuya answered, smiling at Kumiko.
He left her room, and she picked up her cat. "Zeus...what's happening?"
A thought immediately came to her head. "I should tell Mykhail and the others!"
She pulled out her phone to text them, and while Takehiro and Kurumi replied almost instantly, both as confused as Kumiko was, Mykhail didn't respond.
"Oh," she thought. "Maybe...he's busy."
She put her head down, staring at the ceiling.
BOOM.
Kumiko jumped back as a figure crashed through her window.
"Ahh! What the hell?"
When she recovered, she saw Justice, right in the middle of her room, sword in hand. He turned to look at her, making her crawl back towards the wall.
"W...what are you doing here?"
"Kumiko!" he said. "Look how cool I am now! Did you see?"
She stared at him, confused, but then he pulled off his mask, shocking her.
"Mykhail?"
He straightened up, putting his sword in its sheath. "Yep, I've become a superhero. Awesome, right?"
She relaxed a little bit but still remained guarded. Her cat began to hiss at him.
"Mykhail, what on earth? What's happened to you? Am I dreaming? Humans can't lift buildings!"
He pointed a finger at himself. "This one can."
"I know! That's the problem!"
Before Mykhail could respond, they heard a voice coming from down the hall.
"Kumiko? What was that?"
"It's...it's nothing, Dad!" she answered.
"Crap, it's best I take these clothes off. Last thing I need is someone else seeing me like this," Mykhail noted.
Kumiko watched as he ditched his superhero costume, revealing his normal clothes underneath.
"You still haven't told me...what's gotten into you...Mykhail...this is scary!"
Mykhail lifted his sword. "No, it's not! This is amazing! Everything I dreamed of for YEARS can finally happen! Do you see it now, Kumiko? This sword has changed my entire life!"
He admired it. "And next, the world."
"That sword...changed you?" she asked, perplexed.
"I guess. Once I found it in the woods and touched it, weird things began happening to my body. Now I can lift buildings, out-speed cars, and call this thing to me like a boomerang," Mykhail said.
"Why would you tell me all this? Does anyone else know?"
He shook his head. "Nope! Since we're best friends, I want you to be my sidekick!"
She tilted her head. "Sidekick? What's that?"
"I read it in a comic. It means you'll be like...my helper, you know? When I go out and fight crime!"
Kumiko stood up, slowly putting her hands on his shoulders. "Mykhail, listen to yourself! Crime doesn't exist! This...transformation that's happening to you, we've got to inform the government!"
"No! No, no, no! Last thing I need is them trying to 'investigate' me because I don't fit their standards."
Kumiko had a conflicted look on her face. "Then...what are you going to do?"
He picked up his mask. "I'll be this world's superhero! And eventually, we'll get a more exciting society! A more...NORMAL society."
He heard footsteps coming towards Kumiko's door. "Anyway! Time I go!"
Before Kumiko could even process it, Mykhail had already jumped out of the window. The door opened, and Tatsuya and Akane were standing there.
"Hi, Kumiko! We know this may be a little stressful, so we made your favorite apple pie!" Akane stated.
"Really? Thanks, Mom!" Kumiko replied.
"What happened to the window?" Tatsuya asked.
"Well, Zeus broke it!"
Zeus turned towards her and hissed at her, but she scratched his back gently.
"Silly Zeus," Tatsuya remarked. "Both of you can come get some pie."
As Kumiko left her room, she looked out of her window one last time. "Mykhail..."
Meanwhile, Mykhail had made it back to his house, sitting on his bed.
"Phew! That was fun! Wonder what else there is for me to do."
Rocky came into the room, jumping on Mykhail. "Rocky, hey! Don't jump on the outfit!"
He checked his phone, seeing a notice of a fire in the city. "Perfect! Another chance at superhero work!"
He donned his suit again and ditched the house, leaving the stunned dog to bark after him.
In only a few minutes, he was at the site of the fire, where firefighters were busy attempting to put out a fire in an apartment building, while a crowd watched.
"Do you guys need any help?" a man in the crowd asked. "We need to help everyone inside!"
"We could use some water!" A firefighter replied. "Anything will help! The quicker the better!"
As the fires began to burn brighter, Justice landed next to the firefighters, giving them a charming smile.
"Step aside, boys! I've got this!" he ordered.
"The heck—-?"
Without warning, he entered the burning building, to the horror of the crowd.
"No, kid!"
But shockingly, one by one, people were sped out of the building. All the children, adults, and elderly.
Soon after, Justice appeared next to them, holding a massive water tank.
"Watch out, fellas! This might soak you!"
He tossed it at the building, and it burst open, dousing the entire structure with water. The fires began to cool and disappear, and the crowd watched in awe.
"There! I recommend not going in for a while, though," Justice said.
The firefighters all turned their attention toward him.
"Who are you?" one asked.
As he opened his mouth to respond, he heard a voice calling his name.
"Justice! There you are!"
He turned around, noticing Miku and her crew. "Oh, it's you again."
She put a microphone to his face. "Did you just stop that fire? Tell us how you did it, please!"
"Water," he answered. "Lots and lots of water."
"Is firing out water one of your abilities too?" she asked. "Please, let us know it all!"
"Look!" he pointed. "It's a flying spaceship!"
Miku looked up at the sky. "Where?"
But when she looked back at Justice, he was gone. "Dang it! Lost him again!"
One of the members of the camera crew stepped forward. "Boss, maybe we shouldn't chase him around. What he's doing is beyond anything we've ever seen!"
Miku jabbed a finger at him. "That's exactly why we must know the full scoop! Whatever secrets he has, I must know!"
Kumiko, from her dining room, watched the news on her phone, noticing Mykhail stopping the fire. Tatsuya and Akane also were watching it, and they shook their heads.
"That boy is something else. What do you think is his deal?" Akane asked.
Tatsuya put a hand over his face. "I don't know, but I expect a government solution, pronto."
Kumiko put her phone in her pocket, fiddling with her hands. "Thanks for the pie! I'll head back to my room now."
She closed her door and quickly messaged Mykhail.
"Please...don't be so risky. I'm worried about you."
Meanwhile, inside of a meeting room...
A giant screen showed a group of fancy-dressed individuals footage of Justice lifting the building to help the lady. One man crushed his pen.
"Damn it! What is this? How do we begin to manage this? This footage has 8.3 billion views! That's over 80% of the entire population!"
A lady put her feet up, clicking her pen. "We need answers. I suggest we kidnap this 'hero,' and figure out what makes him tick."
A quiet man tapped his finger on the table. "That's risky. If society sees our weapons in action, it could cause even more panic than what's already happened."
A man walked into the room, his face covered in shadows. Immediately, everyone gave a polite bow.
"Hello, Mr. Sato," one man greeted. "What do you think is the best course of action?"
Mr. Sato tapped his feet on the ground, studying the footage of Justice. "This boy...this boy disrupts the peace. Yuiko is right, we only have one option."
He extended an arm, pointing to a secured door. "Release the Alphas. I want that boy brought back here, alive. We'll figure out the source of his power, and we'll replicate it, allowing for all of society to manifest his abilities."
"Are you sure, sir?" the quiet man questioned. "Once we do this, there is no going back."
"It's already no going back, Udagawa. They've seen the impossible."
One of the men pressed a red button on the table, and many floors below, a noise could be heard. Inside a warehouse floor, a guard stepped back, watching as a giant robot emerged from the shadows, its glowing red eyes activating.
—-