In the Yamagichi household…
Yuuma was busy humming and doing the laundry while listening to music. As he folded a couple of shirts, he suddenly got a text on his phone. When he picked it up to read, his heart dropped.
"Bring my money to the docks by 11 o'clock, or else. From: Neon."
"Crap!" Yuuma thought. "I didn't get to finish the tournament! There's no way I'll have his money in time!"
He began pacing around his room, holding his head. After a short while, he heard a knock on his window. "Hello?"
"Heard you're having money problems. Care to elaborate?"
He opened his window, finding Justice standing there. "Justice? Can I…can I help you?"
"You know who Neon is, right?"
Yuuma nodded. "Why…?"
"I need to have a little chat with him. Any ideas on where he might be?"
Yuuma gulped. "If I tell you, he said he'll kill me."
"But he's not here, is he?" Justice pointed out. "If I so happened to show up to kick his ass and send him to jail, that'd be doing both of us a favor. So what do you say?"
Yuuma thought for a long moment before sighing. "He told me to meet at the Southern Docks. That's where his people usually do business deals."
"Interesting. Thanks for the tip!"
Before Yuuma could utter another word, Justice flew away. "That guy seems familiar…"
Justice landed on a nearby rooftop, where Kita, Xenova, and Eclipse were waiting.
"Well?" Eclipse remarked, expectantly. "What'd he say?"
"He said they wanted him to meet at the docks," Justice replied. "Probably to extort him for his money."
"A big idiot like him would get himself in debt," Eclipse scoffed. "Ridiculous."
She tugged at her outfit. "Do I really have to wear this stupid thing?"
"Hey, you agreed. Unless you wanna walk into the villain territory as Kaori Sakuragi."
She rolled her eyes. "Fine. Then let's crash this meeting."
Xenova pulled Justice aside. "Do we really have to bring her? Look at her, she's no good!"
Eclipse was busy practicing fighting moves, nearly hitting Kita. Justice scratched his head. "Well, she already knows too much, so it's either we work with her or kill her and hide the body."
"I heard that," Eclipse interrupted.
"Just kidding!"
Xenova folded her arms. "Well, don't expect me to be nice to her!"
"Heh, uh, I don't. So, who wants to handle transport?"
Eclipse began to form a shadow chariot. "Get in."
Justice and Kira hopped aboard, while Xenova stayed behind, waving them on. "Go on ahead! I'll catch up!"
Eclipse shrugged and pulled off.
"Yep," Justice sighed. "I think she's pouting."
Hours later, at the Southern Docks…
Justice, Kita, and Eclipse landed on the roof of the dock's warehouse, where they saw a group of men collecting cash from various scared citizens.
"Damn, how many people did they put in debt?" Justice wondered. "How DO you guys get put in debt to a villain organization?"
"By being weak," Eclipse answered. "When you need someone to depend on, you're at their mercy."
Xenova landed next to them. "Did I miss anything?"
"Not much," Justice told her. "I think we're at the part where we survey and make a plan."
"Okay!" she said.
Justice scanned the scene. A large man was sitting in a chair with a desk in front of him. He was taking bills and checks from the people, and examining them before sending them off. "It's a long line down there, and I don't see any hint of Neon anywhere."
"Then why don't we go down there and talk with our fists?" Eclipse suggested.
"The people, though."
"So?"
Kita squinted, looking around. "Neon isn't here! His enforcers are collecting his payments for him!"
Justice recalled the last thing Neon said to him. "He said he had to be around for his Boss's…transformation. I wonder what that means."
Xenova shuddered. "He came to visit me in my cell right before he disappeared! He was so creepy, and he kept his hood over his face!"
"Like I said," Eclipse affirmed. "If you want answers, let's storm this place."
Justice rubbed his chin. "Wait, maybe we can gain a little info without using force. Kita, you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Yep!" Kita stated, pulling a fake check out of his pocket. "I've got this!"
He lifted it up and showed the group, which was valued at $ 1 million.
"Perfect," Justice grinned.
Eclipse lifted an eyebrow. "The heroes using fake checks? By your standards, isn't that morally corrupt?"
"Not at all. We're using it to stop the real corruption," Justice corrected. "Yasuda, you go down there and wait in line. Me, Xenova, and Eclipse will sneak around the back and search for any traces of Neon or the other members."
"You got it!" Kita agreed, eagerly.
Justice pumped his fist into the air. "Stealth Mission: Go! Let's nab some baddies!"
A few minutes later, Yasuda walked into the warehouse in his normal clothes, holding the check in his hands as the line began to shrink.
"Next!" the big man ordered.
A trembling woman placed a stack of bills on the counter, and the man ran his finger through them, counting. After he was done, he stopped, his face a mask of disapproval.
"You owe 250,000, Minami," he growled. "This is only 190,000."
"Please, I'll have the rest by next week! I've already been robbed 7 times in the past two weeks!"
The man stood up. "My ass. Guards, take her away."
The horrified onlookers watched as two men hauled her into a back room as she screamed and kicked. People trembled and looked toward the door, but the guards in front made sure to step in front of it. Yasuda remained in line, an excited smile on his face.
Soon, he was next.
"Next!"
Yasuda stepped forward. "Hi!"
The man sized him up. "The hell are you? You can't be older than a middle schooler! Who let a schoolboy inside our secret hideout?"
"Here for Yuuma Yamagichi, sir!" Yasuda announced.
"Yamagichi?" the man remarked. "Why the hell isn't that boy here to pay his own dues? Did he send you to try and talk me out of his debt?"
"Nope! I've got your money right here, Mister!"
Yasuda pulled out his check, placing it on the man's desk. He narrowed his eyes and took it, examining it thoroughly before sniffing it. "Appears legit. Alright kid, go wait over there. We'll check it once I'm done here."
"Okay!"
Yasuda sat over in the chairs provided by the gang, where others were waiting for their checks to be cashed. One particularly nervous young man was busy biting his fingernails, sweating profusely.
"Shit, shit, shit! What am I going to do when they find out it's fake? I'm a dead man, dead man!"
"Take him away!"
Another man got pulled out of line and dragged into the back room, causing the frantic man to nearly have a heart attack. Yasuda looked at him. "No need to worry! My check is fake too!"
The man stopped and stared at him. "Are you crazy? Don't just say that out loud! Do you know what the Syndicate does to people who don't pay up?"
Yasuda analyzed the door to the back room. "Based on the faint sounds and scents coming from behind that door, it must be very unpleasant!"
"Unpleasant is an understatement, they'll literally HANG you and leave you to dry! I gotta get outta here! Quick, make a distraction!"
Yasuda got up and began clapping his hands, but as soon as the man turned to sneak out the door, a guard grabbed him.
"Going somewhere?"
He was pulled back to the giant man, who held his check up. "Next time you wanna cash a fake check, make sure it says the bank on it."
"Wait, please—-!"
"Take him!"
"No!"
He was dragged to the back room. Everyone else waited in silence, except for Yasuda, who remained humming.
Meanwhile…
"In, and out. We got this, guys."
Mykhail, Kumiko, and Kaori were crawling through a vent system connected to the warehouse, no longer in their suits but in ski-masks instead.
"Finally," Kaori groaned. "In something other than spandex."
"Why are we wearing these, Mykhail?" Kumiko asked.
"So if they catch us and unmask us, they won't know we're superheroes," Mykhail explained. "I've learned quickly that being a hero means backup plans for your backup plans."
"And if those backup plans fail?" Kaori inquired.
"Then I hope you lived your life with no regrets."
She scoffed.
With a few more minutes of crawling, they stumbled upon a vent, where they could see the inside of an archive. There was a small group of goons patrolling the area, while the Nurse sat at the desk, flipping through files.
"Hmm, pass. Too frail. Too short. Pass."
She read another file, disgust on her face. "This one's just hideous."
"That's definitely not Neon," Mykhail remarked. "But she looks dangerous."
"That's the woman that tried to experiment on me!" Kumiko recalled. "She's that Doctor's husband!"
"That poor guy."
The Nurse browsed through another stack of papers before tossing them to the floor. A goon quickly picked them up.
"Find me real talent," The Nurse ordered. "Once the Boss returns, we will need a true army to stand against those heroes and get that Sword."
He nodded and left the room. The Nurse stood up and briefly glanced at the ceiling, forcing Mykhail to pull the girls out of sight.
"I think coffee would suit me today," she commented. "Yes, that should do."
After picking up her purse, she left. Once the coast was clear, Mykhail removed the vent cover and they hopped down one by one.
"What are we looking for?" Kumiko asked.
"Anything that can shed insight on their plans or locations," Mykhail replied. "The juicy goods."
They split up and began searching for evidence, and Mykhail began reading some of the files. "Looks like they're scouting. Bubblegum powers, changing eye color, turning limbs into tree branches…yeah, I see why she threw these out."
"The weak," Kaori said. "You'd be surprised how rare it is to find strong abilities."
"Well, I couldn't tell it from all the villains I face."
"That's why they're villains. Because they're not weak."
"That must be why they want my sword," Mykhail mused. "To boost their own army without relying on chance."
Kumiko handed Mykhail a folder. "Here, Mykhail! I found this!"
Mykhail opened it up and flipped through the pages. "Project Delta underway…? Permission of Director Sato acquired? How big is this plan of theirs?"
He continued flipping through the pages, which were written in a language he couldn't understand. "Must be code. Well, good work, Kumiko! Maybe we can have Yasuda translate this!"
She beamed.
Suddenly, the door was kicked open, and an army of goons held the three at gunpoint, with the big man from outside stepping forward. "Well, well. We got some snoopers, here, don't we?"
Mykhail quickly hid the folder in his jacket. "Heh, not at all! Actually, we're new recruits! We were just talking to the Nurse about joining!"
The man folded his arms. "Rachel doesn't conduct interviews here."
"Well, tell that to her, because she said we were kick-ass!"
His face got close to Mykhail's. "Hmm…"
"So, uh, who are you supposed to be?"
"A high-ranking debt collector and one of the underbosses of the Syndicate. They call me Capo Di Ombra, but you can call me: Baron Mors."
He stood taller.
"Now, you'll be coming with me."
"What, for initiation or something?"
He laughed. "Cute."
Not long after, they were chained up and hanging upside down over a shark tank, with the Baron and all his men watching. "We haven't gotten to use this thing yet! I appreciate you giving us a reason!"
"This isn't cool!" Mykhail protested. "We're on your side, dude!"
"Really? Then why didn't I see you come in? Everyone who wants to get to the Nurse goes through me or Serratine, no excuses. Now, lower the chains!"
The hungry sharks below snapped and waited as the chain slowly lowered the three toward the water.
"Mykhail…we have to do something!" Kumiko pleaded.
"She's right," Kaori agreed. "Now's the time to fight."
"We can't blow our cover here!" Mykhail pointed out. "If we do, who knows how many people will catch us?"
"Well, we can't just die!" Kaori argued.
From down below, the Baron laughed. "What's wrong? You said you wanted to be in the group! Is a little water too much for you?"
The chains began to lower faster and faster, and with a SNAP, they popped.
"Shit—-!"
But before they could hit the water, a barrage of glowing white chains wrapped around them, pulling them to safety. A more chains reached out and restrained the Baron and his men, to his shock.
"Hell's going on?"
Mykhail looked up. "Kita! Nice timing!"
But to his surprise, Kita was nowhere to be found. Mykhail followed the path of the chain, and he caught the faintest glimpse of something in the distance…
…a costumed individual in a white and black suit, who disappeared as quickly as he came.
—-