Thunderclaps 2: Chapter 3 - Announcer’s Return

“At this school, I hope to teach you that your great power comes with great responsibility.”

(1964, from Headmaster Kusui Shirou’s speech at Tenyo Academy’s opening ceremony)

That was Japan’s first school for Offbeat children and it produced many superheroes.

 

In Mito, Ibaraki, Miki was curled up with her back against the steel beam on the inside of a 3D sign on a building rooftop.

After losing control in Shibuya, she had flown off at a ludicrous speed, crashed into this building’s sign, and finally managed to calm down. She had landed inside the sign so no one could see her.

That was when Captain Sky woke up.

He used his wristwatch communicator to let his Justice Circus teammates know he was safe. It was hard to believe he had been unconscious just a moment before. He felt as reliable as ever, so Miki was convinced she would be fine and everything would work out okay as long as she was with him. He had been working as a superhero since before she was born and she had seen his heroics on TV since before she could speak.

“I am so sorry for getting you caught up in this mess.”

That living legend of Japan’s heroes spoke with an upbeat and manly voice that was also thoughtful and pleasant to listen to. She could not help but be drawn in.

“Oh, um, what even happened?”

She glanced behind herself where the white wings pressed against the steel beam were squirming in confusion.

“It seems my power has transferred to you.”

“Yes, that much I can see. But, um, how did it happen?”

“Hm, it may have something to do with my Offbeat origin story. The thing is-”

“Wait! Isn’t that a little too important to tell someone like me!?”

An Offbeat’s origin story referred to how they received their superpowers. The term had originated in America with the original superhuman Super Offbeat, but it was now used all over the world. An origin story could reveal the structure of an Offbeat’s body or their weaknesses, so they were usually hidden just as much as a superhero’s secret identity. They would normally never let a stranger know theirs.

“You are- excuse me, but could I have your name?”

“Of course. I am Ozora Miki, an announcer for Peace TV.”

“You are a part of this now, Ozora-kun, so you have a right to know. I was not born an Offbeat.”

Captain Sky paused there to look up at the sliver of the blue sky visible from within the sign. The powerful wind was tearing apart and blowing the white clouds at a rapid clip. The eyes behind his mask were the same color.

“I became an Offbeat in college when a friend and I took a yacht out to sea. I was a yacht racer, if you can believe it. We were training together to reach the Olympics. But one night, a light fell from the sky and hit our yacht out on the Pacific. And it entered my body.”

“What was that light?”

“To be honest, I still don’t know the answer to that, but we think it is an extraterrestrial energy lifeform. My body underwent a change that day. It grew physically stronger, but more than that, I can temporarily materialize energy from my back, creating wings at will. I couldn’t compete in any normal sports competitions like this because the rules ban Offbeats, so I gave up on yachting, hid that I was an Offbeat, and began living an ordinary life.”

“But then…”

“Yes. On April 12, 1962, Super Offbeat arrived in Japan as a bodyguard for the human rights activist Harry Aaron. He was caught in a trap by the cyborg assassin Elfshot and rendered immobile, so without even thinking, I spread my wings and flew out in front of everyone. In that moment, I became Captain Sky, Japan’s first superhero. I have worked as a hero ever since, but that ends today.”

“What do you mean it ends?”
“I can sense it clearly and I know you can as well. The energy lifeform has left me. The Elemental Embodiment’s energy absorption must have transferred it to you. Why, I cannot say, but it still means I am no longer an Offbeat.”

He reached up and grabbed the throat of his mask.

“Eh? Ah, ahhh!!”

All too easily, that which never should have been revealed was laid bare before her eyes.

Captain Sky removed his mask and revealed his face.

“Wait, but, um, ehhhh?”
Miki stammered as she saw an older man whose face showed the years. His hair was still thick, but it had gone gray. Since he had been active for 39 years now, it made sense that he would be in his 60s by now.

But his body did not look remotely withered with age. His bright smile was full of life. That was probably thanks to the unknown energy that had resided within him.

“I am no longer Captain Sky. I will finally be retiring.”

“But you’re Captain Sky. Those white wings in the sky are Japan’s symbol of justice.”

“Those wings belong to you now.”

“No! I’m just a TV announcer.”

She shook her head hard. The wings on her back flapped in response to her confusion, rattling against the steel beam.

“At the very least, you are no longer just that. Look at this.”

The bare-faced Captain operated the crown of his watch and a 14-inch holographic display was projected above its face.

It was showing a TV broadcast where an old man in silver-rimmed glasses spoke into a fixed microphone. She had seen that man when she entered her company.

“President!”

Peace TV President Yoshigiwa Nobujirou spoke in a solemn tone. The large monitor behind him was showing a loop of Miki, white wings spread, carrying Captain Sky, charging toward the Elemental Embodiment, and destroying the glowing monster.

“Peace TV could not be prouder to have one of our own announcers revealed as a superhero.”

The chyron in the right corner of the screen said “Breaking! New Announcer Ozora Miki Rescues Captain Sky!” At this time, Peace TV would normally be airing their afternoon talk show “Two on the Dot!”

“Wh-what is going on? President, I never agreed to this.”

“It is up to you whether or not you become a superhero, but those wings are yours either way. Take your time and think about how you want to use them. But first, there is a bit of a problem you are going to face with this.”

“What kind of problem?”

“This is a very awkward thing to explain to a young woman like you.”

The great Captain Sky looked truly troubled by this one, which worried Miki a lot.

“I-is something terrible going to happen to me?”

Her wings spread wide, clattering loudly against the steel beams surrounding them. They had moved on their own, knocking her off balance and making her stagger a few steps toward the Captain.

“Ah, ahh…what?”

They stretched up above her and changed shape. The large feathers making up the swan-like wings twisted together, forming something resembling white, glowing sea anemone tentacles.

The glowing white tentacles wriggled side to side inside the sign for a while. They had an otherworldly beauty, like watching sea lilies in the ocean current.

The Captain finally viewed the bright dance with the same troubled look.

“So it does work the same for you.”

“Th-the same? What is happening here- hyah!?”

All the glowing tentacles descended at once, surrounding her body from all sides.

“Ah, ah, ahh!”

She could not tell if the tentacles were partially made of matter or fully energy, but they phased right through her suit, skirt, blouse, and underwear to touch her skin directly.

“Ahh!”

The parts they touched burned hot and also filled with a pleasant throbbing she had never felt before. The hot throbbing appeared in her upper arms, thighs, back, and stomach.

“Ahh, ah, hh…wh-what is this?”

She did not know what this pleasant feeling meant. It only served to confuse her.

“I do not know why, but it seems the energy being inside you requires sexual pleasure from its host at regular intervals. When it initially fuses with someone, it is particularly aggressive about providing sexual stimuli to extract that pleasure. It was the same when it first fused with me.”

“B-but…ahh, nhh.”

The Captain’s explanation brought nothing but shock.

(This is sexual pleasure! But I’ve never felt anything like this before.)

At 23, Miki was not a virgin, but her sexual experience was far from abundant. She had only ever had sex with one person – the boyfriend she had met in college at 20.

Not everyone had the same amount of sexual desire and she and her boyfriend had been on the lower end of that spectrum. Neither of them had ever had a period where that was all they could think about and all they wanted to do. They had preferred just spending time with each other.

They had tried sex a few times in order to become more intimate, but they had not enjoyed it all that much, partially because they were both virgins. He had ejaculated, but she had never reached the climax she had heard about.

They had broken up on good terms. He had been an excellent biology researcher, so he had chosen to chase his dreams at an American college. Miki had not wanted to abandon her own dream of being an announcer to go with him, so shortly before she graduated, they had held a small farewell party for just the two of them, ending their pleasant time together.

She had not had sex since, nor had she been particularly interested in it. She knew different people were more sensitive to sexual pleasure and she had thought of herself as less so. But…

“Ahh, nh…nhhh.”

Across her body, pleasure burst like electricity in a way it had never done when her ex-boyfriend had touched her.

“Hh, khh, ahhh.”

She could not help but hold herself in her arms.

“Nhhhhn!”

The glowing tentacles had already made her body far more sensitive than usual. The touch of her own hands through her clothing sent tingling pleasure surging along her nerves. Her lower body went limp and she sat down on the concrete.

(This isn’t someone I love. Why does it feel so good when these weird things touch me?)

She was confused by her body’s extreme reaction, but then the Captain’s voice reached her again.

“You must be confused. Anyone would be. The energy being uses some unknown method of directly stimulating a human’s nerves and brain. It arouses your body and fills you with pleasure in a way entirely disconnected from love. I was powerless to fight it and took matters into my own hands more times than I can count. So this is nothing to be embarrassed about. It is a biological reaction.”

(T-took matters into his own hands?)

Only then did Miki realize the glowing white tentacles were not even trying to directly touch her weakest points. The pleasurable stimuli had forcibly aroused her body, causing a change she had not experienced for a long while. Her breasts had firmed up and her nipples were stiff and erect. She also felt a sticky heat in her panties.

But the tentacles never touched those most sensitive points. They only touched her back, stomach, arms, and legs, poking and rubbing. She could tell instinctually that it would feel much, much better if they touched her inside her bra and panties, but they never did.

(I-I have to do it myself. I have to m-masturbate.)

She knew what masturbation was, of course, but she had never done it. She had never felt the need. Fewer women masturbated than men and Miki was one who did not.

“I-I can’t – ahh – do that – ahh – myself – nhh.”

“It is nothing to be ashamed of. Not even Captain Sky could resist it.”

The Captain spun around, turning his broad back toward her.

“I will move far enough outside the sign I cannot hear anything. Once things have calmed down, you leave too. I will rejoin you then.”

There was a door at one corner of the sign surrounding them, presumably for cleaning access. No one ever came here, so it had no lock.

He turned the knob and opened the door. A fresh wind blew in through the opening.

“Wait! Please don’t go, Captain Sky. Don’t leave me alone.”

She squeezed out her voice and sent it toward that muscular back.

“Please sleep with me.”

The veteran hero who had fought 100m robots, an invading army of aliens, the Grand Duke of the Demon World, and a copy of himself turned back to her, mouth gaping.

“What do you mean?”

“I-I don’t want to do it on my own. But if…if you’re with me, I think I can manage.”

“But, um, that would be…”

“P-please. I-I can’t stand this much longer.”

The tentacles gathered around her hips in something like a dance.

“Ahee!”

She gave a heated cry and her hips hopped up from the floor. She got up on her knees and started moving her hips back and forth like she was trying to seduce the Captain. It was an entirely subconscious action and she tried in vain to suppress it. Her lower body reacted to the pleasure against her will, making her behave so lewdly it would have made her chief announcer or program producer faint if they saw it.

“Ahh, ahh, ahhhh…I…I won’t be able to stop myself…ahhh.”

Tears blurred her vision and she thought she would lose herself forever if this lasted even a few seconds longer. If she ripped off her clothing and began pleasuring her exposed vulva, she knew it would bring more carnal pleasure than she had ever felt.

She knew that image in her mind would become a reality in just a few seconds.

Suddenly, powerful hands grasped her trembling shoulders.

She wiped the tears from her eyes and saw a kind face looking down at her. That man had dedicated his life to rescuing people and was praised for his unfathomable strength and kindness. But his face also contained male arousal. Even he had felt some desire after seeing Miki like this.

If she had said no, he would have stopped then and there, but she could not imagine saying no at the moment.

She had seen this hero on the TV news since she was little and she had dreamed of reporting his stories herself one day, but now they were staring into each other’s eyes.

“Ahn…”

Their lips touched.

(So hot.)

How many hundreds of days had it been since she kissed someone? She and her ex-boyfriend had not even kissed at their farewell party.

(So hot!)

The heat may have been coming from her.

“Nhh, C-Captain.”

“Kashima Kengo.”

“Eh!?”

He slowly clarified.

“My real name is Kashima Kengo. Call me Kengo.”

The glowing white tentacles continued to move. They phased through her announcer’s suit to stimulate her back. Her longing for pleasure was growing, but the shock won out now.

First she had seen Captain Sky’s face and now she had learned his real name.

She never would have imagined he would reveal that to her even if she had become a world-famous journalist.

She thought her heart would burst from a nonsexual excitement as she spoke the name.

“Of course, Kengo-san.”

“Ozora-kun.”

The living legend and the new announcer kissed again. The tentacles wriggled on her back, rubbing the back of her hips, butt, and thighs.

“Nhhh!”

The pleasure erupting from her backside led her to stick out her tongue. The Captain welcomed it into his mouth and gently sucked at it.

Surprise spread through her heated chest as she accepted this passionate kiss.

(This is so different!)

Her first adult kiss had been awkward and rushed. They had bumped their teeth together. She and her boyfriend had gradually improved from there.

But all that effort was blown out of the water by Captain Sky. The skillful caress of his tongue had her offer her entire mouth to the older man.

(I had always thought of superheroes as pure saints, so I never imagined them doing things like this. But he is an adult man, isn’t he?)

“Nhh, nh, mh.”

He skillfully accepted her kiss, allowing it to continue on and on. They passed their saliva back and forth several times.

Once their lips parted and Miki took a deep breath, the Captain removed the blue elbow-length gauntlets from his arms. The hero’s bare fingers touched her heaving chest. He smoothly undid her suit’s buttons one after another. The delicate movements of his powerful hands reminded her again that he was an adult man.

She had always removed her own clothing with her ex-boyfriend, so it was kind of embarrassing having someone else do it for her. But she let the Captain remove her suit and white blouse.

With a swing of his arms, her clothing flew through the air and landed neatly on a steel beam. Her skirt soon followed.

“You are beautiful.”

The unmasked superhero’s deep eyes viewed Miki.

Only her white bra and panties still covered her body. The pure underwear drew focus to her small chest and slender hips.

Her full body flushed red with embarrassment. Unable to look him in the eye, she lowered her head while he stripped off his blue costume.

The thick chest and perfect sixpack made it hard to believe this was a man in his 60s.

Then he undid his belt and lowered his sky blue pants.

Instead of boxers or briefs, he was only wearing a jockstrap like a dancer. The small piece of elastic containing just his penis allowed its erect shape to show through. She could tell it was even larger than Stonemason’s she had seen back in Shibuya.

She was so embarrassed she could not hold still. She normally would have looked away, but the fire burning throughout her body would not let her.

She was reminded of The Dancing Girl of Izu movie she had seen as a child.

(A man and I are down to our underwear in the middle of the city.)

The metal walls surrounding them kept anyone but a bird in the sky from seeing them, but it was still an unusual location.

“U-um, please take yours off first.”

“Why not at the same time?”

The Captain placed both hands on the jockstrap where it was digging into the sides of his hips.

Miki could not refuse, so she reached behind her back and undid her bra hook. She gently took away the white cups like she was handling a dangerous object.

The breasts she had always wished were just a little larger were now exposed to the open air. She could clearly sense the Captain’s gentle but heated gaze on them. She felt a burning heat inside them like his gaze carried an energy.

(Oh, they’re erect.)

Her smallish nipples were already hard. That was due to the glowing white tentacles, but she felt like it meant she was an indecent woman and quickly covered them with her hands. When the nipples rubbed against her palms, a sweet surge raced out from her chest.

While she burned with embarrassment, Captain Sky pulled down his jockstrap.

The elastic caught on his penis, bending it down, and it sprang back up once it was finally released.

“Ohh,” gasped Miki.

The manly item was a perfect match for his well-trained body. A Peace TV producer had once inappropriately mentioned that the angle of men’s erections lowered as they aged, but the Captain’s stood tall, like it was trying to press back against his navel. Her former boyfriend’s had been no match for its length and girth.

(Th-that’s going to go inside me!? It might break me.)

She was worried now, but that was not enough to overpower the pleasure coming from the tentacles. They still refused to touch her chest or crotch, so no matter how much the pleasure grew, it was never sufficient.

But she could not bring herself to remove her hands from her chest. She could not remove her panties. The Captain noticed and decided to help.

“May I lower them?”

“Y-yes.”

When she gave consent, his powerful hands moved to her hips. He removed her white underwear like he was peeling the thin skin from a peach.

He stole her lips again before she could notice she was already wet down there.

“Nhh, nhh.”

His muscular arms moved behind her back where all those tentacles were growing. His fingers passed right through the white light and held her tight. Her two breasts, firm with arousal and embarrassment, pressed against his thick chest and flexibly changed shape.

Her sigh entered the Captain’s mouth. Being in his powerful arms filled her with an indescribable sense of relief, like when her father had held her as a little girl. But her body was no longer that of an ignorant little girl.

The Captain bent his arms. His superhero lips slowly moved down her chin, descended her throat, and tickled her collarbones. The way they crawled along her skin filled her body with a fiery heat.

“Ah, ahh, nhh…ahhh!”

Miki let out an especially loud moan when he pecked at her right nipple. It felt like every nerve in her body was focused on that one point.

“Hh, ah, ahhh.”

(It feels so good. How can a single nipple feel this good?)
A tingling ran down her spine and her hips would not obey her. Her first experience with such vivid mammary pleasure had her subconsciously reach out her arms and touch his body. She ran her fingers along the muscles of his shoulders.

He used only his lips and tongue to gently but passionately and thoroughly caress her nipples and the rest of the breasts as well. He kept his arms around her back.

“Hh, ah, ahn…”

Giving herself over to the pleasure coming from her breasts, she moaned and twisted her body, but she also wanted something more.

“Ahhh, p-please, Kengo-san. D-do it down there too.”

She could not bring herself to say it clearer than that.

(Will he lick me down there too?)

The thought of it had her brain boiling with embarrassment. She had never received oral or had anyone see her down there up close. She and her ex-boyfriend had always turned the lights out beforehand. She had never imagined she would do it in the light of the sun like this.

(The Captain is going to see me there when I’ve never even seen myself.)

Noticing her unease, the Captain kept his face at her chest. He slid just his right hand down her back, passing through the tentacles covering her skin, and arrived at her inner thighs which were pressed together.

His fingers skillfully stimulated her sweaty thighs.

“Ahhhh…”
Her muscles trembled and her legs naturally relaxed.

(Oh, he knows what he’s doing.)

Even without much experience herself, Miki was certain his technique was backed up by ample experience.

(I wonder how many women he’s done it with.)

Superheroes had groupies just like entertainers and athletes. There was even a superhero in America who had bragged about being a playboy…right up until several women accused him of assault.

There were always people hanging around in front of the Justice Circus HQ in Ginza, waiting for one of the heroes to emerge. Captain Sky was the most famous hero in Japan, so there would be any number of women who would immediately strip naked if he approached them. She doubted he would do something like that, though.

“Ahh, nhh!”

His fingertips touched her labia. He massaged her mons pubis to work the tension out of her.

“Nh, hhhn.”

Miki realized she was biting her lower lip. An almost pained breath escaped the corner of her mouth. Nectar dripped from between the labia below his fingers, wetting his palm.

“Nh, khh.”

She buried her face in his superhero hair and her aroused breaths blew at it. She could not see what was going on down there, but she felt greater pleasure than ever before and a throbbing that refused to go away.

“Ah, ahn, K-Kengo-san, mh.”

Her nails tried to dig into his muscles.

The hero’s thick left arm remained among the tentacles on her back, his face was showing her chest some love, and his right hand’s fingers spread her flower petals.

“Ahhh, Kengo-sannnn!”

A heated moan and more nectar left her body at the same moment.

The fingers that had served justice for so long now entered her flower. He stimulated the inner flesh while searching out the flesh bead at the top of her flower garden.

Her clitoris had rarely been touched, so it remained small and contained in hits hood even when her body was fully aroused, but it was still throbbing and pulsing in anticipation.

“Ahh!”

He softly held her most sensitive organ between his thumb and forefinger, causing her spine to arch.

“Hh, nh, khhh!”

He rubbed the flesh pearl and her arched body shook wildly back and forth as her pleasure grew. The tentacles glowed brighter and wriggled faster. Almost like they were consuming and enjoying her carnal pleasure.

“Hh, y-yes, that’s incredible! I’ve, ah, ahh, never felt anything like this!”

He altered the speed of the rubbing, although never reaching anything beyond gentle, to bring her to even greater heights. Her expression and voice grew much more desperate.

“Ahh, nhhh, kh, s-something’s about to happen…ahhh, no, I can’t stop it! Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!”

She arched her back even more and then went limp, leaning against the Captain. Her crotch continued to tremble and love nectar squirted out a few times.

“Ahh, ahhhhhh…”

Her woozy mind was filled by the Captain’s whispered voice.

“You came, didn’t you?”

“I-is that what that was?”

“Yes. That is what people call an orgasm.”

Miki told a man nearly 40 years her senior something she would normally have been too embarrassed to say.

“That was my first.”

He had guided her to that pleasure.

“Oh, but…”

Her body twisted around and fresh nectar dripped down her inner thighs.

“It isn’t enough, is it?”

“W-well…”

“That is not your fault. The fault lies with the wings that have fused with you. I experienced this for a very long time, so I know.” He gave her a gentle smile. “Can we become one now? I do not think I can wait much longer.”
When she nodded, relief appeared on the Captain’s face, but then he looked down at the weathered concrete at their feet.

“We can’t exactly lie down here.”

“Eh? But what choice do we- ah!”

Large hands covered her butt and lifted her up. Her legs were dangling in midair.

“I may be getting up there in years, but I can still put on a heroic performance. This position will be a little embarrassing, but bear with it.”

He shifted his hands from her butt to grab and spread her thighs.

“Ehh? Ah, ahh!”

The announcer’s spread crotch was lifted up above the superhero’s navel. The head of his erection was waiting just below. She draped her arms around his neck because she could guess what he was about to do.

(But is that really possible?)

He slowly lowered her and the head touched her flesh flower.

“Ahhn!”

Tingling pleasure entered her body along with the superhero’s penis. Its overwhelming presence made her gasp. It felt several times larger than it had looked.

Her vagina had already climaxed once, so it accepted the erection, albeit tightly. She lost herself in the sensation of it rubbing against her vaginal walls.

“Ahh. Ah, ahn, ahh!”

He let go and gravity handled the rest of the penetration.

“Ah, ahh, wow!”
She was now supported only by the union at their crotches. Her feet were fully off the ground and Captain Sky supported her fully body weight with just the power of his erection.

She felt so full inside she could have believed his penis was directly below her skin. It was like she had suddenly regained something she had never even noticed she was missing.

“Here I go, Ozora-kun.”

After demonstrating his strength, he placed his hands back on her butt and thrust up with his hips. He moved his dick up and down and kneaded her butt with both hands, causing her hips to twist and wiggle. Both their movements created a complex rhythm that was soon forming a storm of pleasure inside her.

“Ahhh! Yes! Incredible!”
“You are wonderful too.”

Miki’s cries reverberated within the sign, but the Captain replied with a calm voice. However, the penis inside her was giving off a great heat of arousal, which caused her body to burn even hotter as well.

She was approaching another climax in no time at all. At some point, she had wrapped her legs tightly around his hips. That helped support his hips, but it also let her move her body herself, deepening their bond.

“Ahh, it’s happening again. I’m going to cum again.”

“Yes, I am too.”

Realizing the woman clinging to him and moaning in pleasure was close to climax, he sped up his thrusting for his own last spurt.

“Ah, ahh, I-I really am going to cum.”

She held his muscular body so tight it hurt her arms and legs. She subconsciously squeezed the superhero inside her even tighter. The movements of her body provided even greater pleasure, sending her to even greater heights.

“Ahhhhhhh, I’m cumming, I’m cumming!”
The tentacles squirmed on her back as they were given this pleasure. They instantly formed glowing wings once more and spread wide.

“Kengo-san, I’m cumming!!”

The wings glowed so bright it was like they had exploded. Countless feathers flew from that light and into the sky.

The feathers turned to small orbs of light in the sky, where they swirled around and descended upon the naked man and women bound in pleasure.

“What is this?” Even the Captain stared at the light falling upon Miki’s head. “This…never happened with me. It’s beautiful. Like snow.”

Captain Sky could launch glowing white blades from his wings. The blades would strike and paralyze living beings without causing any pain, but Miki’s glowing snow was different. The white light also surrounded the body he had spent many long years training.

“Ugh! What is this pleasure?”

When the white specks enveloped him, he felt like he was soaking in a medicated bath. He had spent more than 60 years experiencing things no normal person could even dream of, but he had never experienced pleasure like this. His entire body relaxed and he ejaculated inside Miki.

“Ahh…”

She squirmed again at the hot sensation inside her. Neither of them spoke a word and they remained joined as they enjoyed the afterglow.

Miki lost track of time, but then she noticed a change at her back.

“The wings are gone!”

“No, they are not gone. Their task is complete, so they have withdrawn inside your body. You can bring them out and put them away at will. Otherwise I never could have lived an ordinary life as Kashima Kengo. I am actually fairly well known as a reporter. No one gets better material about Offbeats.”

“That seems like cheating.”

“Maybe so, but I feel like I deserve a bit of a perk for saving the world on a regular basis.”

They both burst out laughing in each other’s arms.

“I have stolen your power, so I think I need to take over your responsibility. I don’t know if I can do it, but I’ll do my best.”

“Hm. It seems the wings’ powers manifest differently in you, so you don’t need to copy me. You can search out your own form of justice. I and the rest of the Justice Circus will support you in any way we-”

The Captain was cut off by a sharp buzzer. The wristwatch lying on the concrete with his costume projected a holographic image just like with the talk show earlier. Silver Bullet’s visored face appeared.

“Captain, can you hear me?”

“Kyah!”

Naked Miki frantically moved to hide behind the Captain’s broad back, but he smiled and held her shoulders to stop her.

“Don’t worry. I have it set to only send my voice. Silver, I apologize, but this will have to be audio only.”

“Understood. Now, this isn’t an emergency, but we have some footage I bet you would be very interested in. It’s from the TV camera filming the incident.”

Silver Bullet’s face vanished before the Captain could respond and another image appeared in its place.

“Wait, no!” shouted Miki on reflex.

The communicator was projecting an image of herself giving the interview in front of the cultural hall. This had been broadcast live to the entire country for the Midday News just before the incident. It was of course her interview of Nanjou Shino, the girl in a black plastic bustier and miniskirt.

The video quickly reached the part where Shino shouted a word not allowed on TV, so Miki’s face grew bright red behind the Captain.

Then the footage showed something strange.

While Miki and Shiho faced each other, something moved that shouldn’t have. Their shadows began to ripple on the asphalt. The shadows moved up and down in a third dimension like the water in a tank when someone stuck their hand in and stirred it up.

The shadows only moved for a brief moment, but Miki and Shino were both swallowed up within them. They fell into the road like the shadows really were black water.

Then a boulder falling from the sky crashed down where they had been standing, cracking open the asphalt and peeling up the road.

“I had no idea that happened.”

Miki had not noticed it at all. She had only noticed that she and Shino had somehow teleported away just before the boulder hit.

The Captain responded even more intensely. He raised his voice like he had forgotten Miki was here at all.

“That’s his power. I would recognize it anywhere.”

Silver Bullet’s voice played over the repeating footage.

“Agreed. Her Offbeat power is identical to Mister Unfair’s.”

“No! Mister Shadow’s!!”

The Captain’s agitated voice echoed within the sign, causing Miki to cower in the nude. Even Silver Bullet sounded fearful through the communicator.

“I’m sorry, Captain.”

“No, I am sorry for yelling. Silver, do you know where this girl is?”

“Unfortunately, no. We know she was in Shibuya then, but she slipped away during the confusion caused by the change that came over you.”

“Umm.” Miki hesitantly joined the conversation between two superheroes. “That girl said her name is Nanjou Shino. But I only interviewed her by random chance, so I only know her name.”

She explained everything she had experienced to the Captain and Silver Bullet.

“Thanks, Miss Announcer. I’ll have Total Brain run a search on that name.”

Total Brain was the name of the Justice Circus HQ’s computer. It was one of earth’s greatest artificial intelligences, rumored to be a combination of technologies from multiple alien planets. It was on the same level as the Protectors HQ, base to America’s strongest hero team, and Data Dynasty, a mechanical lifeform hidden somewhere in Europe plotting the extinction of humankind.

The result was displayed on the holographic image in just a few seconds, but it was only a blurry photo, a name, and a few police reports.

“Real name: unknown. Goes by Nanjou Shino. A lone wolf known among the street gangs in Shibuya. Due to the tombstone drawn on her back, she is commonly called Cemetery. She has no record of supporting crime, but she has gotten in fights with street gangs and biker gangs on several occasions. Never arrested. Rumored to be an Offbeat, but no confirmation.”

“Wow, she was a really dangerous person.”

Miki felt a shiver down her spine, but the Captain shook his head.

“Yet she rescued you despite the danger to herself. And all of these recorded incidents have her fighting against criminals.”

“If I may interrupt.” Another holographic image appeared. Madam Scroll’s alluring face popped up in front of the Captain. “Natural Law’s leader has awoken and he said something unbelievable. I will send you the footage.”

The mature woman’s image was replaced by the bearded man whose face was burned into Miki’s memory. That face was now dyed red with fury. He was even more agitated than in Shibuya and he was shouting at the top of his lungs.

“How many times must I tell you!? We did not kill Lily Dynamo. Water Wraith found her while on a stroll through the ocean near Chiba. We only used her corpse. We have no idea who the murderer is!”