After it began to get dark, Mykhail went back to his house to lie down, taking off his costume.
"That was great," he said, putting his head on his pillow. "Now I need a nap."
He tried to close his eyes, but to his surprise, he didn't feel tired. In fact, he felt fully awake and energized.
"Uh, this is the part where I sleep. Hello? Body?"
Yet again, he felt no urge to rest. He sat up, examining himself. "All that work and I'm not even a little sleepy? What else has that sword done to me?"
He stared at his closet, where he put the sword. Between the doors, he almost thought he saw the faintest bit of glow from it.
"Well, if that's the case, I'd better find something else to do until tomorrow. Wonder who's up."
He texted Kumiko.
"Are you up?"
And after a few minutes, she texted back. "Yeah?"
"Good. Any ideas? Super bored right now."
"I'll…ask Takehiro."
"Okay."
Afterward, while he waited for a text back, he got on his computer and checked the news. "Let's see what headlines we've made."
Every single news website had pictures of Justice on their front page, asking about his origins and abilities. "Good! Maybe they'll wake up and we can form a fresh society!"
While he scrolled through news pages, he saw a video of an interview that caught his eye. Once he clicked on it, he saw a well-dressed, fair-skinned man with long black hair answering a reporter's questions.
"Hello, Mr. Toshiyuki Sato! I wanted to ask you what you thought about the recent events that's happened today!" the reporter stated.
The man straightened his jacket and cleared his throat before speaking. "I've taken notice of the…individual calling himself Justice. I would like to make it very clear, this person is not a product of our government. He is an independent and dangerous man, and I would like to emphasize to stay away from him at all costs."
"Really?" the reporter asked, giving him a perplexed look. "How could he have gotten such extraordinary abilities?"
Mr. Sato waited a moment before leaning into the microphone. "That…is a question I cannot answer at this time. Please rest assured we will find the answers that the public seeks, and we will do so in a safe and timely manner."
"Thanks, Mr. Sato!"
He gave her a nod, and the video abruptly ended. Mykhail read the caption below the interview.
"Justice: Hero or CRIMINAL? They think I'm a CROOK?"
Just then, he got a notification on his phone. "Oh, great. She wants me to come outside in five minutes."
He put his costume in a backpack and prepared to leave, but he looked back at the sword.
"Can't fit you in a bag, and I can't really carry you either…"
He held out his hand, and the blade started to come to him, slowly lifting off the ground. "That is still SO cool. Maybe I'll leave you here, for my time of need."
Once he was outside the house, he found Kumiko, Takehiro, and Kurumi standing in his driveway.
"Mykhail!" Takehiro greeted. "I heard you wanted to have some fun!"
"Yeah," he replied. "I couldn't sleep, so…"
Kumiko was in the back, nervously shifting around, while Kurumi put a hand on his shoulder.
"I've got the perfect spot! Remember that school trip we went on a few years ago?" she asked.
"The one to the fair?"
"Yeah! We can go there! It's LOADED with people and games!"
"Sounds like a plan!" Takehiro stated. "What do you think, Kumiko?"
She almost appeared to be in her own world, before she snapped back to reality. "Hmm? Yeah, sounds nice!"
"Alright! Let's take the bus!"
Takehiro and Kurumi jumped ahead, while Kumiko stayed back a bit, walking beside Mykhail.
"Mykhail, can I ask you something?
"What's up?"
As they approached the bus stop, she lowered her voice. "Did you read the news? Everyone is skeptical of you, they think you're a danger! I'm afraid that someone will…do something bad to you."
Mykhail gave her a pat on the shoulder. "I'll be fine! I've got SUPERPOWERS! You know, literal REALITY-DEFYING—-!"
"Shh!" she whispered, putting a finger to her mouth. "We can't let them hear you!"
"Meh, I don't think it would be the end of the world, would it?"
"Guys!" Takehiro called out. "The bus is here!"
They all got on the bus and sat in the same row. Mykhail sat at the far end, right next to Kumiko. She noticed him looking out of the window, smiling.
"Ahh, can't wait for what tomorrow's gonna bring," he said to himself.
She sighed, looking forward. The bus drove them near a beach, which had a massive carnival beside it, filled with guests. Everyone got out, checking out the area.
"Woah, it's even bigger than last time!" Kurumi exclaimed. "Amazing!"
They walked up to a ticket booth, where a worker immediately gave each of them a long strip of tickets.
"You kids have fun! Come back if you need more!"
They took their tickets and began looking at rides. Takehiro pointed out a large roller coaster. "That looks nice! Let's try that!"
The four got in line, and they were at the front in no time at all.
"Alright, let's see!" the ride operator stated. "Let's put you girls in front and you guys in the back! Wear your seatbelts!"
He directed Kumiko and Kurumi into the first roller coaster train, and then Takehiro and Mykhail got in behind them.
"This is gonna be EPIC! Right, Mykhail?" Takehiro asked.
"Oh yes, yes it is," Mykhail replied, looking at his hand with a smirk.
After more people got on the ride, the operator walked over to a control panel and pulled down a lever. "Have fun!"
The ride took off, very slowly. Mykhail sighed as they crawled up the hill of the ride.
"Forgot how dull this is," he thought. "But at least that won't be for long."
A couple of kids, including Kurumi and Takehiro, began to cheer and laugh. Kumiko simply looked at the ground, with a distant look on her face.
Once they got to the top of the hill, the ride prepared to descend.
"Here it comes!" Takehiro announced.
The car slowly rolled down the hill, as people began to scream and giggle. Kurumi held her hands in the air. "Weeee!"
The rest of the ride dragged on, and finally, they were back at the start. The ride operator released them, and Mykhail immediately jumped out.
"That's 20 minutes of my life I will never get back," Mykhail noted. "What's next?"
Takehiro motioned toward a Ferris Wheel nearby. "Do you guys want to get on?"
"Yes, yes!" Kurumi eagerly cheered.
Kumiko rubbed her arm, trying to appear normal. "Sure, but I'd like to get some food first. You guys go on ahead."
"Alright!"
Before leaving with the others, Mykhail looked back at her, noticing her meeting his gaze with a sad look.
"Is she okay?" he thought, turning around. "Don't tell me I've upset her…"
Kurumi basically dragged him along, pulling him toward the Ferris Wheel. "Come on, Mykhail! Let's ride!"
He reluctantly got in line for the Ferris Wheel, while Kurumi walked up to a nearby food booth.
"Hello, ma'am!" the vendor greeted. "What can I do for you?"
She looked at his menu. "Can I get some popcorn, please?"
"Sure thing! Hey, did you hear the rumors about a superhero? They've been spreading like wildfire!"
Kumiko looked over at Mykhail, who was climbing into a carriage. "Yes…I've heard."
"Wonder what that means for us. I mean a SUPERHERO? That's nothing like us normal people!"
As he prepared her popcorn, she fought the urge to speak, putting down a few dollars and thanking him before she left to sit down.
On the Ferris Wheel, the ride operator made sure everyone was in a carriage before pulling the lever. "Make sure you guys don't fall out of your seats, and enjoy the ride!"
Mykhail's carriage began to rise, and they got a good view of the city the higher they went.
The closer they got to the top, the slower the carriage went.
"Hey, have you guys checked out the news?" Takehiro asked. "There's a guy called Justice, I saw him lift a BUILDING."
Kurumi folded her arms. "Yeah, that's so unfair! And did you see his sword?"
"I know, I'm so jealous! Mykhail, did you see that guy?"
"Yeah? He didn't seem too bad to me," Mykhail remarked.
"Are you kidding?" Takehiro replied. "We should ALL be doing that!"
While they continued to discuss, none of them noticed a small black and green snake slither into their carriage and make its way into Mykhail's backpack.
"It's fine," Takehiro said. "I'm sure the government will fix all of this."
They all began to relax, but Mykhail noticed a flying object in the distance, seemingly heading towards them.
"Uh, guys? What's that?" he asked.
Takehiro squinted his eyes, trying to get a better glimpse. "Is that a drone?"
Kurumi leaned over. "No way! Drones don't look like rockets! Maybe it's a new toy!"
As the object got closer and closer, it started to beep, and Mykhail immediately knew what was going on.
"OH NO. GUYS, WATCH OUT—-!"
BOOM.
The rocket hit the Ferris Wheel, destroying parts of it and sending carriages flying. People began to scream in horror, and others tried to help the injured riders.
Another missile hit the Ferris Wheel, causing it to topple over.
"RUN! EVERYONE RUN!"
Kumiko immediately ran over to assist Takehiro and the others, who were trapped under a carriage.
"Grab my hand, I've got you!"
She helped pull out Takehiro and then Kurumi, but to her shock, Mykhail wasn't under the carriage.
"Where's Mykhail?"
Takehiro peered under. "That's weird! He was just with us! Don't tell me he's hurt!"
Kumiko remembered the bag he had on. "No…he wouldn't…"
Another missile landed next to them, destroying a couple of nearby benches.
"We gotta go!" Takehiro exclaimed. "We can find Mykhail when it's safe!"
They all got up and started to run, but just then…
THUD.
A massive robot, weaponized with a missile launcher and minigun, landed in front of the group.
"Detecting Abnormalities. Abnormal DNA detected in the area."
It began to walk toward them, making Kumiko, Kurumi, and Takehiro back away in fear.
Just as it got close, the group heard a voice.
"YES! FINALLY!"
In the blink of an eye, they saw Justice punch the robot into the air, making it fall on its back.
"Someone to FIGHT!"
The robot sputtered for a moment before it stood itself up. "Abnormal entity detected. Preparing for capture."
Justice put his fists up. "Come at me, bot!"
The robot tried to grab him, but Justice moved out of the way and jumped on its arm, delivering a powerful punch to its face, knocking it clean off.
"Easy!"
The robot's eyes began to glow. "Requesting backup. Alpha 1-A, requesting backup."
Justice landed on the ground, noticing the shocked reactions of the crowd.
"It's him!"
"The Superhero!"
"Why did he come here? Look at the damage!"
Takehiro and Kurumi watched, their eyes wide.
"Dude…the rumors were real…" Takehiro muttered.
"Impossible…" Kurumi added.
Kumiko stepped forward, worry on her face. "Mykha—-?"
But she stopped herself. "What are you doing? You shouldn't be here!"
He simply gave her a wink and turned his attention back to the robot. "Justice 1, killer robots 0."
But then, six more robots, all larger than the first, surrounded him.
"Target detected. Preparing for capture."
People began to scream and run, and Kurumi pulled Kumiko by her arm.
"Come on, Kumiko! We've got to get out of here!"
"Wait—!"
Each of the robots prepared their miniguns. "Incapacitating subject now."
They fired, but Justice managed to get out of the way, and he ripped one gun off the arm of a robot and launched it into another.
"Pfff, that's light!"
Kumiko continued to watch as he dodged another's punch, punching it back with twice the force.
"He's even more powerful than I realized…" Kumiko thought. "But he's being too reckless!"
Justice jumped up and kicked a robot square in the chest, tearing a hole through it, and moved before another could shoot him.
"I'm like 1,000 men in one! Robots got nothing on me!"
As he continued to beat the robots, he didn't notice another one land behind him, much larger than every other bot.
"Alpha 1-A landed. Preparing missile assault."
While its hand shifted to form a cannon, Justice wasn't paying attention, still ripping apart the other robots.
"Anything else? C'mon, I'm not tired!"
But as the cannon began to fire, he turned around too late, oblivious to the danger.
And in the next second, Kurumi felt her grasp broken…
…and saw Kumiko push Justice out of the way, just as the missiles were fired.
—-