Thunderclaps! Reborn: Parasite Crisis (サンダークラップス！リボーン パラサイトクライシス)
Fairy Force: Sexual Invader from Another Dimension (フェアリーフォース 異次元からの淫略)
Author: Hazawa Kouichi (羽沢向一)
Illustrations: Takahama Tarou (高浜太郎)
Label: 2D Dream Novels (二次元ドリームノベルズ)
Release Date: 7/11/2006
This is the only full novel in the Thunderclaps universe to not bear the Thunderclaps name. Instead of the Thunderclaps, it focuses on another Offbeat team called the Fairy Force while they deal with an invader from another dimension.
Welcome to the Offbeat Universe!
“My current fav is Fever-chan from DC Comics’s new Doom
Patrol series. She’s a new hero and it’s cute how she can’t control her powers
well and ends up boiling the people she’s trying to save. I want my next
heroine to be like that.”
When I (Hazawa) showed up to the meeting about my next novel
and said that, my editor Okada-san glared at me.
“You’ve gone soft lately. I need to knock some character
back into you, so come with me.”
Before I could say a word more, Okada-san was driving me to
the basement of a certain building in Ginza. A violent-looking young man
standing in front of a black door with no sign spoke with the frightening voice
of a checkpoint guard.
A large audience and the press were gathered in front of a stage constructed on Peace TV’s grounds.
That was inevitable with Captain Sky and Mister Shadow on
stage together for the first time in 30-odd years. That was why so much of the
audience was middle-aged or older. Old men had their eyes sparkling like small
children.
Those two were not alone. Comet Hawk and several other
retired Justice Circus members were in attendance. The current members were
there too, of course. The Thunderclaps had also been invited as special guests.
Several politicians and business leaders had also shown up to try and leech off
of the heroes’ reputation.
The veteran announcer Kayagi Nami was leading the event and
she made sure to introduce all of the famous attendees.
In the log cabin being used as a dressing room behind the
stage, Ozora Miki paced back and forth the central aisle, reading through the
event script over and over. Nanjou Shino watched in silence until she couldn’t
stand it any longer.
“Argh, must you pace!? Calm down, Ozora.”
Thunderclaps 3 – Chaos Arena (サンダークラップス3 カオスアリーナ)
“The Worst is a threat to the human race and all life on earth. We summon all the world’s superheroes here in the name of the United Nations.”
(1986, statement by the UN Secretary General)
At this time, the Offbeat known as The Worst had absorbed
the energy from the Soviet Union’s Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and reduced
1/3 of Siberia to scorched earth.
Blue lightning struck before Flare’s eyes.
The light was absorbed into Snow Wing and Cemetery’s backs.
The light was also flowing into the other heroes’ bodies.
“This isn’t right. The energy flow has reversed. Someone switch
on the lights! Hurry!”
The bowtie men or the maids must have obeyed Milk Crown’s command because the
many lights on the ceiling and walls came back on, flooding the Neo Arena with
light.
The rapid change in brightness briefly blinded them all.
When the white light dazzled Flare, she heard a daring voice.
“Hi there, Storyteller. Long time no see.”
“What? Who are you?”
The loathsome Kotodama master’s voice was followed by an earsplitting scream.
“Gyahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!”
“I protected him from a bullet once in this city and a second time in London, but I failed to stop the third one.”
(1980, Green Hood during his speech at a memorial service
in Liverpool)
Maids in miniskirts so short they did nothing to cover their
underwear went around the stands serving alcohol and meat while Milk Crown’s
voice rang loud.
“Flare has freshened up and returned to the stage for us!”
Large men in bowties dragged Flare from a tunnel located in
a gap in the stands and out onto the stage. The maids had washed off all her
milk and given her a new exhibitionist costume to wear. The only difference was
the lack of the three golden balls on the thread digging into her labia and
butt crack.
“For our second round tonight, we have the long-awaited
matchup of Flare vs. Silver Bullet!”
A man removed the bonds and ball gag from Silver Bullet. She
was lined up alongside Flare with her hands behind her back.
“My power and all Offbeat powers are a gift from god. Please use them to bring about peace.”
(1978, speech at the papal inauguration)
Polish archbishop and superhero Blue Cross became the
first Offbeat pope
“You…”
A gloomy voice slipped into Flare’s still unconscious mind.
“…cannot resist…”
The voice spoke clearly in her mind, but it was indeed
terribly gloomy and depressing.
“…the Dark Arena.”
She awoke with the words seeming to permeate her body.
She was still in her costume and seated on a black leather
sofa in the center of a small, cramped room. The sofa was surrounded by five
white-aproned maids who looked like they had stepped out of a European
aristocrat’s home.
But her attention was fully focused on the strange man
standing directly in front of her. He was skinny and his entire body was
tattooed with a writing system she didn’t recognize. His writing-covered lips,
teeth, and tongue moved to produce the voice that had permeated her body as she
awoke.
“Welcome to the Dark Arena, Flare of the Thunderclaps. You
are the last to wake.”
“Who are you?”
“Call me Storyteller. My role is to tell the stories of the
superheroes trapped in the Dark Arena. I am currently telling your story.”
“We cannot change the decisions made by our countries’ governments or stop the will of our peoples. But we refuse to use our god-given powers to assist this conflict.”
(1973, joint announcement made by Israeli and Egyptian
superheroes during the Fourth Arab–Israeli War)
“Huh? Where did she go?”
After losing sight of Flare, Snow Wing’s gaze wandered
around the 19th floor. Flare had vanished just as Snow Wing had her
cornered.
“This will not end well if I can’t find her.”
The announcer’s head moved nervously side to side until the
ceiling shattered above her.
She looked up in surprise to find a fist flying toward her.
She immediately used her wings.
“Too slow!”
Flare’s right fist caught Snow Wing on the neck.
“Agh!”
The single blow knocked Snow Wing unconscious. Her wings
went limp, her body lost its lift, and Flare caught her in her arms.
“I’m not about to lose to a rookie. It wasn’t my Offbeat
powers that won this; it was my combat instincts.”
Flare descended to the 16th floor with the
unconscious announcer in her arms and laid Snow Wing down in the living room
sofa there. She viewed the woman’s peacefully sleeping face and sighed.
“With a pretty face like that, I can see how she got a job
as a TV announcer. So is she being mind-controlled?”
“I will show you fools just how meaningless the goals of
progress and harmony are.”
(1970, from fliers distributed by Sun Thief after
occupying the site of the Expo ’70)
Sun Thief fused with the Tower of the Sun to become a
colossus that stomped through the city of Osaka.
One of the room’s walls acted as a giant monitor.
The single monitor was split into dozens of smaller screens,
each displaying different footage.
Suddenly, the division vanished and it displayed a single
large image. The blue sky filled the wall, a beautiful view that would put
anyone in a good mood.
Smiles appeared on the faces of the three people focused on
that electronically-reproduced sky, but one of them was far from healthy.
“Look, everyone. Here they come.”
Thunderclaps 2 – Sky and Shadow (サンダークラップス2 スカイ＆シャドウ)
Welcome to the Offbeat Universe!
I’ve done it again. This is
thanks to all of you who love the adventures and sexuality of superheroines. I
was delighted by the unexpectedly strong response from comics fans.
What’s that? It’s called
Thunderclaps 2 but the heroine is a flying announcer called Snow Wing instead
of Flare and the others? And the story isn’t even over at the end of the book?
Yes, the story will continue in Part 2, tentatively titled Dark Arena. Look
forward to it.
We ended up having to change
illustrators to Senbata Rou-sensei for this one, but swapping out artists just
makes it more like an American comic, right? Miki ended up more lyrical than I
had imagined in my head, so look forward to seeing more of her on that sexual
stage.
I am working hard to become the
Kurt Busiek, Grant Morrison, or John Ostrander of erotic novels, so I hope you
will read Thunderclaps 3 as well. Hm, maybe I should have used names my
Japanese readers might actually recognize.
April 2001, at the restaurant in
the Peace TV building. -Hazawa Kouichi
“We will never give up the fight, even if our enemy is the will of the universe itself.”
(1968, Captain Sky’s announcement broadcast from Tokyo
Tower)
Said shortly before the showdown against the Space
Enforcers who had constructed an asteroid guidance device on Tokyo Tower
Square spaces opened in the
stage’s floor. Four this time. Figures wearing four different colors emerged,
surrounding the four heroes gathered in the center.
The four newcomers all wore cloaks
that obscured their bodies. Each cloak was a different color: black, white,
red, and blue. The hoods were pulled deep over the face to hide them from view.
Once they had fully risen onto the
stage, the Forbidden Four simultaneously pushed a right hand out from their
cloak and reached toward the heroes. They each wore a bracelet which had a
metal key and a plate bearing one of the heroes’ names attached.
“Now, use the key with your name
on it to unlock your collar. If you unlock all four, the brat’s execution will
be canceled. Will you acquire the key by defeating your opponent and taking it?
Or will you satisfy them with your body and convince them to hand it over? Now,
this is a special match, so no additional handicaps will be placed on the
superheroes.”
Milk Crown raised his right hand
high and then swung it down.
“Fight!”
“Behold this polluted ocean! You surface people are now an enemy of my kingdom.”
(1967, declaration of war sent to the Japanese government
by Lord Abyss of the Undersea Kingdom)
To avoid war, a battle was fought between seven of the
Undersea Kingdom’s warriors and a team of superheroes
“Miki-san, I won’t ask that you forgive us.”
“But we had no choice.”
The two Justice Circus women wore their superhero costumes
just like Miki did.
Madam Scroll wore a dark purple evening dress which did not
look conducive to combat. The low-cut chest and deep slits gave her a mystical
beauty befitting one of Japan’s leading sorceresses as well as a sexiness
befitting the Dark Arena.
Silver Bullet wore a shining silver bodysuit with a black
lightning bolt running across it. The skintight fit showed off the curves of
her athletic body, but that only inspired lust while in this indecent space.
The talisman rings around her neck, arms, and thighs only enhanced her
sexiness.
“We have been forced to participate in the Dark Arena for a
while now. But Storyteller told us we cannot let anyone outside of the Dark
Arena learn of its existence.”
“If anyone does sniff out its secrets, we were ordered to
immediately capture them. You should know now that there is no disobeying
Storyteller. But neither of us has given up. We will break free.”
“We thank the entire world and the cosmic rays which gave us our powers.”
(1966, written on the gifts handed out at the wedding of
Miss Fascinate and Integral Man, said to be the marriage of the century)
“Villains and rogues! Welcome again to the Dark Arena!”
A male voice was answered by thunderous laughter.
(Oh, the audience is loving it. Iyama-san is killing it
today.)
Miki pictured the host of the public variety show she had
worked on as an assistant after becoming Snow Wing. She imagined the bright
lights, the gawdy set, and the young entertainers they had on as regulars.
(Wait!)
It suddenly hit her that the show was starting, but she was
not in the studio. She was somewhere dark, but not a dressing room or behind
the set.
(Oh, no. The director is going to let me have it!)
“Sorry I’m late.”
She opened her eyes, bringing the audience into view.
Something wasn’t right.
“A mysterious metal woman rescued Hoshiyama Industry’s president from the terrorist group.”
(1965, from Sun Sports News)
The armored hero Comet Hawk was later revealed to be the
president’s wife, Hoshiyama Azusa.
“Ozora Miki, move out.”
An announcement rang through the announcer division. The
voice belonged to Sakuma Masateru, well-known as a skilled producer at Peace
TV.
A key station like Peace TV had a lot of employees, but the
only one told to “move out” was Ozora Miki.
Miki had just been returning from the break room with tea
for the more experienced announcers. She looked over to see another new
announcer, Matsuya Naoko, reaching out and taking the tray from her.
“Sakuma-san is calling for you, so go get changed already.”
Miki bowed apologetically.
“Sorry, Naoko. You always get stuck serving the tea.”
“I don’t mind, really. I mean, you’re keeping us all safe.
And you still get paid the same as a newcomer like me even though you’re
getting better ratings than anyone else.”
“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.
“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.”
“Hey there, Captain. You really do belong in the sky, you
know that?”
(From History of the Justice Circus Ch. 1 by Kashima Kengo,
Published in 1980)
1962, Super Offbeat’s first words to the first superhuman
he met in Japan while visiting to protect human right’s activist Aaron
Someone was speaking somewhere.
“My name is Storyteller. My job is to tell your story. Now,
let us begin.”
A beautiful woman’s body trembled in a dark room.
Long, delicate fingers touched her breasts and rubbed at her
skin.
“Your body is a terribly sexual thing.”
A tremor ran through her breasts.
“Your body constantly desires sexual pleasure, even in defiance
of your own will.”
The fingertips moved up to her throat. She gulped and a sigh
of anguish escaped her lips.
“No matter how much your mind resists, your body will throb
in its desire for pleasure and drive you mad in its longing for orgasm.”
The fingertips moved to her lower stomach and her hips moved
back and forth all on their own.
“Speak your name.”
“…Lily.”
