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80 years ago, the first super powered people showed up. They were treated with distrust, which was only heightened when some decided to use their powers to steal from others.
Seeing these super powered crimes, some people stepped up to handle the problems no one else could: Super Heroes.
Though the transition was slow and people with visible powers are still treated with distrust, things have gotten better, and now the third generation of superheroes has begun to grow up and help people.
Honestly, Akito had no interest in donning a mask and running around getting involved in other people's business, but when Toya decided to follow in Tsukasa-senpai's footsteps, Akito couldn't very well allow him to do it alone.
Armed with only a sword and hand-to-hand combat training from Ken, Moonlight joined Nocturne as new superheroes, and with Knockout and Beat Eater, they formed the team Vivid BAD SQUAD.
They mostly focus on things going on around Vivid Street, which has gotten a reputation as a friendly place for people with powers, inviting lots of people who need help, and people looking to cause trouble.
Right now though, they're hanging out at WEEKEND GARAGE, reviewing the last test that Akito technically passed but Toya still wants him to improve on.
"Ok so to figure out what the 0s are, how can we write (x 2 -169)?" Toya asks.
Akito thinks. "Ummm, it's uhhh."
"What's the square root of 169?"
"It's a square?" An asks.
"13!" Kohane says. "So it you can write it as (x+13)(x-13), and from there the 0 would be..."
"13 and -13?" Akito finishes.
"Yes," Toya says.
"Is there a reason we can't have a calculator for this?"
"Because you need to recognize the perfect squares," Toya explains.
Akito's about to complain some more when every phone in the cafe goes on.
ALERT: L'Artiste spotted in Shibuya. Please stay inside.
"Woah, L'Artiste?" An gasps. "He hasn't been seen in years!"
"W-who's that?" Kohane asks.
"He's a dangerous supervillain with the ability to warp reality," Ken says. "He creates a toxic paint-like substance that he can use to do pretty much everything."
"He takes a whole group to take him down!" An says. "Phoenix Man even struggled against him."
"But like he's usually pretty subtle and just steals things, right?" Akito points out. "What's he doing now?"
"Let's go find out!"
"No," Ken says. "This guy gave RADder at full strength trouble, you're not ready. And tell your friends to stay away too."
"Tsukasa-senpai would probably be encouraged if we told him that," Akito says.
"I'm serious about this. Do not try to fight his guy."
"Aww," An says, pouting.
Ken rushes out, and so do most of the customers, heading home.
"We should go too," Kohane says. "There might be trouble."
"I wish there was something we could do to help out," Toya sighs but Akito shakes his head.
"We'd get in the way," he says. "L'Artiste is pretty much on your level of complete bullshit powers."
Tsukasa, Saki, and Toya have all been blessed by Apollo, and as a result have a wide array of powers, so long as there's daylight.
"So they need our help!" An says.
"No I'm saying one wrong step and we get used as hostages."
"Gah you're such a buzzkill," An groans.
"Better a buzzkill than dead."
"Akito's right," Toya says. "Leave this to the experienced heroes, we can focus on—"
Suddenly there's a flash of bright light outside of the cafe.
"My beloved Princess Knockout! I've come for you!”
Toya and Akito groan, Kohane grimaces, and An lights up.
"Yay! Someone to punch!"
Takeshi Masaka is an alien warlord who'd captured Vivid BAD SQUAD to fight in his gladiatorial arena, and has been enamored with An ever since she punched him in the face so hard he flew out the window and skidded onto the moon.
Now he's constantly trying to win her affection, no matter how close Kohane gets to killing him every time.
An taps her bracelet and shifts into a light blue outfit inspired by a boxer, her hair changing to a side ponytail with pink dye, and finally a black mask.
Toya simply snaps to transform into a white suit, his with a matching mask.
Kohane taps the necklace An gave her and transforms into a black body suit with a pink sweater over it, a black hat, and a pink mask.
Finally, Akito takes off his outer jacket and hoodie, revealing a third hoodie that's white and embroidered to look like knight's armor, pulls the hood over his head, and grabs his mask and sword out of his bag.
They all rush out to face Takeshi.
“Seriously, how many times do we have to do this?” Akito yells.
“Silence, I’m speaking to the lady!”
“You’ll be speaking to someone alright!” Kohane yells, folding space to appear right behind Takeshi and swing at him with her hammer.
Some of his robot guards jump out of the shadows to block her.
“Takeshibots, please keep the plebeians away while I charm the lovely lady.”
“Oh, you want a one on one beat down?” An asks, gathering energy into her fist and leaping at Takeshi.
While they duke it out, Akito focuses on the robot in front of him. Usually his sword is enough to dent it, but nothing happens.
“Ugh, he reinforced them!” Akito yells.
Toya blasts some away with a bolt of sunlight.
Kohane simply knocks them away and goes back toward An and Takeshi, who are in the middle of a punch off so fast Akito can barely follow their movements.
He refocuses on the robot in front of him, but despite his best attempts, none of their usual weak points are working.
Damn it! Looks like he’ll have to use his powers. As far as everyone else in concerned, Akito’s sword was enchanted by Toya and his hoodie can withstand super powered hits because it’s made of a special material.
The truth is, Akito’s hoodie has a hidden component which allows him to spray something in paint with a flick of the wrist. Akito can affect the physical traits of anything covered in paint, allowing him to set his sword on fire, make it stronger, or, in this case, spray the robot’s leg and make the metal weak enough for him to slash through.
He doesn’t have time to savor his victory however, when Toya yells from behind him.
“Moonlight! Look out!”
Akito turns and gets smacked by a robot and sent flying. Another one with a blade approaches, and Akito’s too dazed to do something.
It’s about to slice at his head when-
Akito is sucked into blackness.
He immediately recognizes the smell of paint and when he can see again, he’s on the ground next to his dad about ten feet away from where he was.
“Moonlight!?” Toya gasps, spinning around and looking for them. He looks confused seeing the situation.
Akito tries to get up and head over to him, but tendrils of paint wrap around him, keeping him still.
“Let me go, Dad,” Akito says, low enough that no one can hear him hopefully.
“Where’s Ena?” his dad asks. “You two need to come home.”
“Home?” An asks, holding Takeshi in a headlock. “Moonlight, what’s he talking about?”
“The paint, isn’t that L’Artiste?” Kohane asks.
“Moonlight!” Toya screams, launching forward.
Akito’s dad ignores him, spraying everyone in the street with a wave of his hands.
“Nocturne!” Akito yells, struggling against the tendrils as Toya collapses onto the ground.
“My… powers?” Toya gasps.
Kohane and An seem to be having the same problem, Kohane suddenly having difficulty weilding her hammer.
“Oh,” Shinei says, “there’s Ena.”
Then Akito feels the tendrils drag him into the paint along with his father.
-
After a long day patrolling, Ena and the others are getting a well deserved treat at a cafe.
Suddenly Kanade shivers. “Ena,” she says, “go now.”
“Huh?” Ena says, already getting up. Kanade’s psychic portents are too good to ignore. She turns and sees it’s too late.
Her dad appears out of nowhere with a struggling Akito behind him and tries to grab at her, but Mizuki’s ribbons cut him off.
“Hey, who are you?” Mizuki asks.
He ignores them and tries to reach for Ena again, and Mizuki summons more ribbons to pull Ena up and out of reach.
Now Shinei seems to notice them, flicking his hand and sending more paint their direction. “Go away, this doesn’t concern you.”
“Don’t let the paint touch you, it saps your powers” Kanade warns, allowing Mizuki and Mafuyu to dodge behind tables. “Enanan, your–”
“I know,” Ena says. She can bring her paintings to life, but her dad can take control of them easily.
“Go, we’ll hold him off,” Mafuyu says as Mizuki sets Ena down.
Shinei seems slightly annoyed, and sends tendrils out again this time towards Kanade.
Ena manages to grab Kanade and drag her away.
“I’m sorry I didn’t pick up on him sooner,” Kanade says. “He feels strange. His intentions aren’t hostile but he’s also dangerous.”
“Believe me, I know. The problem isn’t with him,” Ena replies.
Kanade’s powers are good, if not reliable, but any warning is better than no warning.
“ENA! LOOK OUT!”
Akito’s voice rings out, allowing Ena to stop just in time before the paint tendrils could grab at her feet.
“Akito… why would you do that?” Shinei asks. “You’re going to disappoint your mother.”
“That thing is not our mom!” Ena shouts. Damn it, maybe if she can wrest some of the paint out of his control she can use it?
“What? Of course she is. You’re being silly, Ena, come home now. You’ve played on Earth long enough.”
“Leave us alone!” Ena screams. “Don’t you see this is insane?”
Shinei hesitates for a moment, and Ena reaches out to try and pull control of the pain wrapping up Akito. It gives just enough for him to wiggle out.
“Thanks,” Akito mutters.
“Pay me back later,” Ena says.
“Ena.” Shinei says, but there’s another voiced laced with it that Kanade can’t hear and makes both Ena and Akito shiver. “When a child won’t put away their toys, you have to take them by force.”
Suddenly, he reaches into a pool of paint and pulls out Mizuki, gripping them by the neck.
Akito and Ena share a look.
“K, go talk to Nocturne,” Akito whispers. “He knows everything.”
Ena looks up. “Ok, we’re coming home, just leave everyone alone.”
Shinei lights up and drops Mizuki, and with a wave of his hand, more paint swallows them up and their dropped in a facsimile of their living room.
“Dear, we’re home!” Shinei says, and the thing pretending to be their mom comes out.
Leia.
“Oh I’m so happy you’re home! I prepared a special dinner!” Leia says.
“Thank you dear, I’m going to go back to work in my studio, I’ll be sure to join you.” Shinei disappears upstairs, and Ena glares at Leia.
“No need to make that face, Ena, we’re so close to being a family again!” Leia says. “Look at you, all dirty and scruffed up—”
“That’s because you had Dad attack us!” Ena snaps. “You made him nearly kill Mizuki!”
Leia frowns. “Ena… must you still insist on treating me like this? I know I’m different now—”
“You are not our mom!” Ena yells. She was only two at the time, just barely old enough to remember their real mom before she fell into a coma, and before Shinei had started becoming obsessed with finishing a portrait of her.
Then he’d started talking like their mom was still around, or having conversations with no one.
Eventually he up and relocated them here, a magic paint dimension where Leia lived, saying Leia was their mom’s spirit and they had to help her regain her original body. Shinei listened to whatever Leia said, no matter what she asked him to do.
Ena could never get through to him, but she made damn well sure Akito knew Leia wasn’t their real mom and what she’d done.
Eventually she figured out how to escape back to Earth and took Akito with her.
“Akito, be honest with me, is Earth really that much better?” Leia asks.
“Yeah.” Akito says. “I have friends there, my partner is there.”
Leia frowns. “I expected this from Ena, even after all this time she refuses to accept me. But you Akito? I raised you, I nursed you I showered you with love, and yet–”
Ena smirks. “Just ‘cause Dad can’t see you’re using him doesn't mean we’re that gullible.”
“You know Ena,” Leia says, “you’ve got much more potential than your father in wielding the magic that flows through this place. If you weren’t so young, you’d have been the one I reached out to. But you’re so stubborn, you can’t just accept me despite everything I've done to raise you, and even worse you’ve turned Akito against me too. You’re my children, I love you both so much. When I can finally leave, I want you to be standing at my side, don’t you see that?”
“You’ve been having Dad hurt people,” Akito snaps. “Not just Amia, but civilians who get caught in his robberies, who feel the toxic effects of his paint, he–”
Leia gasps. “Oh, I just knew I should have step in the second you started playing with those so-called heroes.”
She looks at them and seems to decide on something. “Poor dears. I'm simply trying to grant your father’s wish for a happy family. But don’t worry, my power’s grown since we last saw each other. We can make everything perfect together.”
Leia’s eyes start glowing and Ena and Akito both collapse to the ground with pulsing headaches.
“Sleep now little ones. It won’t be long now. It will all be better when you wake up.”