“Offbeats? Superheroes? They get no praise from me. Nothing
but attention-seeking troublemakers, and hypocrites to boot.)
(1962, from an editorial by the Daily Central’s
editor-in-chief)
“Kya ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!”
The naked boy called Barnstorm surrounded himself in a mini-tornado and flew
spiraling between the buildings. He shrieked with laughter with typhoon-level
winds blowing below him, dragging everything into the sky. More and more of the
fleeing people were slammed against the building walls or the asphalt.
“Burn, burn, burrrrn! Leave nothing but ashes behind!!”
Crimson flames erupted from Rapid Fire’s naked body while he
stood atop a streetlight. Innumerable fireballs followed, raining down on the
people’s heads.
Many men and women were enveloped in flames just like Rapid
Fire himself, but for everyone but him, that was a one-way ticket to hell.
Water Wraith said nothing. The naked woman’s mouth instead
released more water than could possibly fit in a human body.
The narrow stream of water rushed straight out to tear
through the building walls and sweep across the crowds with fearsome pressure.
When Miki saw the tragedies unfolding in Shibuya, she forgot
all about her own situation and confronted Stonemason about it.
“How can you do this!? It’s unconscionable!”
The leader of Natural Law’s cold face was unmoved.
“This is a reasonable punishment given their sins.”
“Sins!? What sins have these people committed!?”
“The sin of living within a manmade city. The sin of wearing
manmade clothing.”
“That’s absurd.”
“Hold your tongue. You are only allowed to live to convey
our message to the world.”