Sushi! Sushi! Sushi!

“But what I don't understand...” Sonata Dusk lifted the bottom half of her mask—just enough—to slip in the tasty end of a Pocky stick. She bit it off, chewed on the strawberry-flavored morsel, and lowered the mask back down. “Mrrmfff... is just why did they have to vault the tanks?” Rose-colored eyes blinked innocently through the holes of a facade that resembled a barracuda painted in the style of Katsushika Hokusai. “They were so awesome!”

“Because they were just too blasted overpowered,” Adagio Dazzle purred, pacing back and forth along the glass display. Much akin to her siren familiar, she too was clad in a dark lycra body suit, except her mask more closely resembled a great white shark—replete with metal jaws and a drooping “tail” that hid her enormous froth of frizzy orange hair. “Players were complaining all over social media about them.” She paced some more, black boots glinting under the bright electric light of the air-conditioned room. “You ask me—it's a good thing the programmers patched them out completely.”

“Really? They did?!?” Sonata Dusk's body slumped so hard that she nearly dropped a bag full of half-eaten Happy Turns, Puccho, and Green Tea Kit-Kats. “Ohhhhhhh—but that's so laaaaaaaaaame~~” Her pouting lips positively distorted the gills of her fish mask, and for a moment there it looked like her ponytail might slip out the back—hadn't Adagio reached a hand over to steady her in place. “Dagi, we gotta file a complaint or something! We're elite players! Surely they'll listen to us!”

“Stop QQ-ing,” Adagio grumbled, shifting her weight to make sure Sonata's disguise remained immaculate. “You'll learn to adapt to DMRs and Heavy Sniper Rifles like the rest of us!”

“And who ever came up with the idea of a 'Rave Cave?'” Sonata looked like she was going to vomit, so she reached into her bag and stuck an orange-flavored rice ball into her mouth. “Mrmmmfff... I'm tellin' you. This Season totally sucks ass!”

Before Adagio could retort, a shoulder-mounted radio squawked with Aria Blaze's tell-tale drone: “Are you dumb cunts still bitching about Fortnite?”

“I am!” Sonata Dusk caterwauled. “Silly Dagi here is playing devil's advocate!”

“Well get your heads in the fuckin' game!” Aria's voice further barked. “ The crowd's grown stupid-thick from where I can see the store! If you take any longer, I won't be able to make my mark without causing a massacre!”

“Copy that,” Adagio muttered into the radio and looked squarely through her mask at Sonata. “Save your mouth for munching.”

“Mrmmfff...” Sonata gulped another bite of Pocky down. “All juiced up. You gonna do the talking?”

“Hey...” Adagio smiled with a dagger-sharp glint to her eyes. She lifted a shotgun between them and pumped it loudly. Ch-Chtung! “It is my specialty, after all.”

Twirling, she marched over until she was once again looming above the three trembling salespeople who were nervously scooping handfuls of expensive jewelry into four canvas duffle bags.

“OKAY YOU SALARY-SHITTING COCKSUCKERS! HURRY IT UP OR YOU'RE ALL GETTIN' BLOWN UP!!”

A middle-aged man in sweat-stained business attire nodded, bumping elbows with his associates as the panicked trio emptied the store's stock of gold bracelets, diamond rings, and silver ornaments into the robbers' satchels. “We are g-going as fast as we c-can—”

WHAM!! Adagio gave him a good whallop across the back of the head with the butt of her shotgun. This sent his skull smacking into the counter top, cracking the glass and making him wince as his female co-worker shrieked at the sight of trickling blood.

“You bloated impotent pillow-humper! You'll bleed as fast as you can!!” Adagio spat through the jaws of her helmet as she pressed the barrel of the gun to the base of his neck. “Let me decide when you've done a good job and maybe you'll live to see your pathetic sniveling families by next sunrise!”

“Mruuf mreddha mrmmffsten mfroo mherrrr!” Sonata bit her way through a muffin, spilling crumbs across a huddle of trembling citizens all hunched together in the center of store, petrified at the assault rifle she was waving at their tear-stained faces. “Mruuf mrmfffn't mree mmh hfffroooo!!”

“The same goes for all of you!” Adagio reached behind her back and produced a sub machine gun. She aimed both weapons at the hostages like some cliché action movie thug—all the while strafing in the general direction of the wide glass windows that marked the store's front entrance. “Goddess knows this whole country's been chomping at the bit to eat the rich since the Lost Generation!”

“Mrmmmuuu mfffaid eefftt!” Sonata nodded, half-a-donut sticking out of her mouth.

“My sisters and I are sorely tempted to chop you to bits and deliver the appetizer!” Adagio tilted her body at a forty-five degree angle, braving a look through the glass entrance. Outside—just beyond the sidewalk—a mesmerizing line of police cars, armored vans, and SWAT trucks had assembled. Tokyo's Finest had fathered in a steel forest of flashing lights and turgid taser rods, and beyond them a sea of concerned people gawked with frightened eyes. “And it looks like dinner is served,” Dagi finished with a purr.

“Scrkkkk. You really enjoy listening to yourself, huh?” Aria's voice once again hissed through the radio.

Adagio looked at the army of police assembled just a sneeze from the glass that was currently fogging from her breath. She smiled. “Just bring your impatient derriere here once Sonata gives the signal.”

“You'd better save the fireworks for when I'm around.”

“No promises." Adagio glanced down at her chest. A totem dangled from her neck: a metal monkey's paw that was currently dull, tarnished, and inert. "Besides...” Adagio's eyes lifted out the window once again, scanning the distant crowd. She smiled. “...we're still waiting for the right audience.”

Outside, the streets of Downtown Tokyo were full of panicked, shouting, concerned voices.

“Everyone, keep back!”

“The police have everything under control!”

“Lieutenant! Reinforce that perimeter!”

“Yes, Captain!”

“What's going on in that store?!?”

“Oh those poor people!!”

“Do those thugs have guns?! What's this country coming to?!?”

“Just where are the heroes?!?”

“Yeah! Someone qualified has to get rid of those creeps!”

“Stay your distance and do as you're told!”

“It's for your own safety!”

More and more squad cars rolled up to the scene. A half-circle of state-issued steel formed a solid wall between the front store entrance and the rest of the block. As one of the last vehicles screeched to a stop, a young man in a tan trenchcoat stepped out into the bright sun of Japanese morning. He dusted off his hat, calmly placed it on his dark head of hair, and gazed thoughtfully at the faint figures beyond the glass entrance of the jewelry store.

“Hmmm...” He exhaled hard through his nostrils. “...pure pandemonium right after coffee.” One shoulder shrugged under the coat, and a tired smile flicked across his face. “Could be worse.”

“Detective Tsukauchi??” a deep voice called from aside.

The young man who had just arrived marched over to a sweaty-looking middle-aged officer who was currently trying to juggle two radios and a notepad at the same time. “Captain Kondo...” Tsukauchi smiled politely with a swift bow. “I presume.”

“What's left of me,” the Captain grumbled, pausing to shout orders to a subordinate or two. “Get that section cordoned off! This scene could go hot any moment!”

“Well, this is certainly tense.” Tsukauchi calmly inquired, eyeing the storefront across the street. “Seems like the suspects are all caged in already. Are you expecting things to get worse?”

“If you ask me, the worst is already taking place,” Captain Kondo grumbled. Bags had formed under his eyes and he looked like he hadn't afforded time for a haircut in months. He glared angrily at the jewelry store as if it was some unfaithful spouse. “Two psychopaths armed like a tiny militia rolled into the shop about half-an-hour ago and are now threatening hostages over what appears to be a classic diamond heist.”

“In broad daylight,” Tsukauchi droned, blinking in contemplation. “Despite there being an obvious silent alarm system. And armed with guns?”

“No—with fish rods. Of course they have guns!!” Kondo blew out the side of his mouth and hissed like a disgruntled cobra. “It was crazy enough with the rampant villains and bio-organic nomu-freaks zipping all around, wreaking havoc left and right. Dear heaven, what is this country coming to?”

“Do we have confirmation of their quirks?” Tsukauchi asked. “Any positive identification in the villain registry?”

“No. They're just two random perps, clad from head-to-toe in black. Helmets too. Freaky fish intaglio. Not an inch of flesh showing. Roll those damned vans in tighter!!” Kondo barked into one radio while gesturing at the makeshift barricade. “I don't want those creeps to even see a single citizen beyond the line!” He coughed and looked over his shoulder at the detective. “So like I was saying—no identification. All we know is that they may be female.”

“And no quirks?”

Captain Kondo shook his head, sweating. “They have the arsenal of a small army, and our scouts have spotted approximately twelve hostages in total—all currently being held at gunpoint. For all that the officers under my command have confirmed, these cowardly punks are having to make do with equalizers smuggled in from God-knows where. You picked a Hell of a day to drop on by.” As if snapping out of a foggy dream, Kondo squinted at the trenchcoated man. “Just what are you doing in Tokyo, detective?”

“I'm researching a case for All-Might, but that's a conversation for another time.” Tsukauchi gestured at the space between them and the storefront. “Forgive me for echoing the crowd—but have you bothered calling in any heroes to deal with this?”

Kondo blinked at the detective as if his pants had fallen down. “The fire in Yokohama.”

“Yes, I heard on the radio while en route.” Tsukauchi nodded. “What about it?”

“All available heroes have been called in to stop the out-of-control blaze.”

“Is Backdraft among them?”

“Yes.”

“He should be capable enough to handle the blaze alone,” Tsukauchi stated. “I've worked with the man before. I know that he's capable.”

“Detective—from the last report I was told, the fire has spread to a third block. They could use all the help they can get.” Kondo looked back at the jewelry store. “My men are more than fit to handle two ingrates with weapons.”

“Are you certain about that?”

This time, Kondo flashed Tsukauchi a look of pure venom. “Are you questioning my competency, Detective? Might I remind you that you're out of your district?”

“No. No need for that.” Tsukauchi tilted his head back. “But should I remind you of the Edogawa robbery two years back? The one that ended with twenty casualties and the loss of two apartment complexes?”

Kondo bristled like a wet canine. “My predecessor was unprepared and undersupplied. This is different.”

Tsukauchi's eyes narrowed. “You're certain these robbers are quirk-less?”

“Then why would they enter the store armed to the teeth?!” Kondo spat. “It makes no sense!”

“Nor does a robbery in broad daylight... fully knowing that a force this large would assemble...” Tsukauchi rubbed his chin, gazing around at the dozens upon dozens of officers armed with batons, shields, and tasers. “It's virtually suicide...”

“Hrmmmff...” Kondo's lips curved for the first time since the detective arrived. “In which case, I will be honored to carry out such a burden—especially for these cretins.”

“But I must say—this also matches a pattern...”

“Ehhh?” Kondo blinked at the younger man hard. “A pattern??”

“Remind me, Captain,” Tsukauchi calmly asked. “These two perpetrators have been identified as female?”

“Yes...?”

“And you mentioned something about helmets with fish motifs...”

“Yes. That's right. I've told you these facts already!” Kondo huffed. “Please, Detective, I haven't any time for pedantic conversation. Just what are you getting at...?”

“I can't say for absolutely certain...” Tsukauchi exhaled heavily, leering at the storefront. “But you may need to put out a call for heroes as soon as you can.”

“Well, I am absolutely certain that my men can handle this, Detective,” Kondo grunted.

“So be it.” Tsukauchi folded his arms and weathered a tense breath. “It's your reputation. Not mine.”

The Captain gave him a side glance, brow furrowing. More than a few beads of sweat formed along his neck as he turned and gave the jewelry store a belated look of abject doubt.

“Dagi?”

Her ruby eyes reflected the monkey paw pendant in her gloved grasp.

“Dagiiiiiiiii...??”

Adagio's gaze narrowed. There was a shimmer of gold light, and one of the metal fingers of the pendant twitched. The siren's gloved hand rotated the totem, and the object's tiny finger pointed straight out the window, flickering again with gold.

Sonata's helmeted face leaned in; twin Pocky sticks jutted out from the barracuda jaws of the headpiece. “Mrmffff... what if they bring back the mechs?”

“Hmmmm?” Adagio blinked, turning to glance at her partner in crime.

“Ulp...” Sonata swallowed the last candied bit and gestured with a canvas bag overflowing with jewels. “If not the tanks—then they'll patch the mechs from several seasons ago right back in, yeah?” A crescent moon of teeth glinted beneath the fish mask. “Could you just imagine stomping into Tilted Towers with that stuff going all Rat-A-Tat-Tat-Tat-Tat!!!!” She waved a gun around while making mouth noises, which only caused the squatting hostages to flinch and shriek.

“Give it up, darling,” Adagio said, resting a hand on Sonata's shoulder. “I'm getting a positive signal.”

“Oh yeah?! Since when?!? Cuz my ping is always worse than yours and Aria's when I join up in Trios—”

“No, I mean Sarumaru's signal!” Adagio flashed a look at the crowd outside. “Our target's nearby.”

“OooOoooOooo!” Sonata did a little jig in place, dropping loose rings and pendants from the bags. “Pizz fah wizz~!”

“But he's not close enough. As I suspected...” Adagio cracked the joints in her neck while sporting a glare of hungry intent. “...we're gonna have to drag him out of hiding.”

“If what Sarumarumarumarumuuuu says about him is right—our target loves a whollllle lot of chaos!”

“And competition...” Adagio turned to face the other woman completely. “Hence, our trespassing on his domain.” She pointed at all four bags. “Are you quite finished with the pilfering?”

“What?” Sonata cocked a hip to the side, pouting. “Want me to strip their jaws for gold teeth while we're at it?”

“Maybe next gig.” Adagio shouldered her shotgun and reached a hand out. “Here. Give me two bags. You carry the other two.”

“Uhhhhhhhh...” Sonata squirmed while handing them over, spotting the gold and silver bits littering the floor of the store. “They're really stuffed to the chipmunk cheeks. We'll lose millions of yen with each step that we take!”

“It's not the real prize we're after,” Adagio whispered. “But we won't let them know about that.” Facing the hostages, she fired a few rounds of the machine gun into the ceiling. P-P-P-POWWW!! Shrieks and cries formed percussion to the falling bullet shells as Dagi loudly barked: “Anyone who tries something foolish will get more holes in them than this store! Thank you for being cooperative! Pray we don't cross paths again!”

“Want me to kick one of 'em on the way out?” Sonata asked.

“If you feel like it~” Adagio chirped, sashaying towards the door.

“Hrmmff!” Sonata swatted a frightened man in the butt with the sole of her boot. “GET A JOB!” She scampered to catch up to her eldest as the two stood before the glass entrance. “So when do I drop Number One?”

“When I tell you. Make sure whatever you summon is wild enough to clear a path for Aria—both in and out. And remember...” Adagio pointed a free finger at Sonata. “...no English.”

“Awwwwwwww...” Sonata pouted. “But all my catch phrases are in English!”

“Right now we just need you to belch in Japanese.”

“Well, if you insist.” Sonata smirked. “But I'm choosing where the squad drops next session!”

“We'll die for certain~”

“But it'll be funnnnnn~”

“One soiree at a time.” Adagio and Sonata placed their boots against the door with equal timing. “Side-eyes on the totems. Let's roll.”

“No sir...” Captain Kando paced beside a squad car. He was somehow sweating even more now as he marched in a tight circle while holding a walkie-talkie to his ear. “We haven't begun negotiations, sir.” A pause. He paced and sweated some more. “No—sir—they haven't listed any demands. They haven't tried communicating with us whatsoever, sir.”

Tsukauchi gave the nervous Captain a sideways glance. “Is that Tsuragamae...?”

Kando did not directly answer the detective. “No, we were waiting to more properly assess the threat to the hostages.” Kando scuffled to a stop, blinking. “The 'roof?' What about the 'roof?'” He blinked. “Oh. Right. 'Woof.' Do carry on, sir.”

“Mmmm...” Tsukauchi looked once again at the jewelry store. The sight of two bodies emerging froze him in place. “Well then...” He tilted his hat back with a curious smirk. “...the death wish gets even deathlier.”

“Hmmm?” Kando did a double-take, wide eyes centering on the feminine duo. “Son of a bitch...~!” He winced, then grunted into the radio. “No—not you, sir. I mean—!” He winced again. “Never—ever you, sir! I mean—” With a frustrated huff, he tossed the radio to the asphalt and whipped out a bullhorn. “HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!!!”

All eyes—the police force's, the crowd's, the cameras'—instantly locked on the two sirens standing just beyond the edge of the sidewalk. They had stopped in place. However—despite the myriad of batons and tasers and scanners trained on them—they were showing no direct sign of compliance. In extremely casual bravado, Sonata and Adagio stood with hips cocked and jewelry bags dangling and rifles raised at the ready. Even though both women were clad from head to toe in black lycra, gloves, and boots—with fish ornamental helmets providing further obscurity—there was no doubt that the whole of Downtown Tokyo felt their devilish smirks from so many millions of heartbeats away.

If Captain Kando was just as intimidated as everyone else by their silence, he barked with desperate volume to hide any sign of it. “YOU ARE BOTH UNDER ARREST!!” His voice echoed off the labyrinth of steel buildings and concrete surrounding the scene. “For attempted robbery! Possession of firearms! Disturbing the peace! Endangerment of fellow citizens...!!”

“Mrmmm...” Sonata could scarcely be heard purring through the artificial barracuda teeth. She spoke beneath the continued bombastic declarations of the Police Force Captain. “I kinda like it when the list goes on and on and on like that...”

“Remember Osaka?” Adagio casually replied, eyes trained on the wall of law enforcement vehicles. “It took them about a full minute to list their grievances.”

“I hope Ari's recording this from afar.”

“Right.” Adagio's ruby eyes rolled. “As if she'd ever be that fun.”

“Scrkkkk! What are you shitheads saying about me now?” squawked the radios on the duo's shoulders.

Adagio hissed aside into the receiver: “Just get ready to hit the gas. Signal's coming up.”

“Copy that, fucknuns.”

“Sushi sushi sushi...?” Sonata asked, eyes sparkling like a puppy's.

“You have the stage, my dear,” Adagio hummed.

“HEY! FRUMPY!” Sonata hollered.

Captain Kondo was still barking: “And for loitering in the middle of the street—!” He blinked, his sweaty face twisted into a confused scowl. “What??”

“I don't like this, Captain...” Detective Tsukauchi murmured, looking over his shoulder at the furthest end of the street. “This is not about stealing diamonds and jewels. It couldn't possibly be...”

“WHY SO UPTIGHT?!?” Sonata Dusk grinned wickedly, delighting in the echo of her voice in the middle of such a tense standoff. “IS IT BECAUSE YOU HAVE A BUS TO CATCH?!?” With that uttered, she flicked her neck, causing the “jaws” of the barracuda helmet to open wide. Her actual mouth soon followed suit, and the woman pronounced a long, grotesque, out-of-this-world belching noise. “BRUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!”

Simply that sound alone would have been enough to knock half of Japan off its feet, but the fact is that it was only the harbinger of the real shocker: an enormous blue cloud of ethereal gas issued out from Sonata's throat, taking shape as a translucent blob in mid-air. This globulous cluster of mist enlarged and took shape—forming legs, tail, and a freakish feline grin. By the time the frothy cloud formed solid fur and whiskers, it had also attained weight.

THUDDD!!!

Landing on the cracked asphalt was an honest-to-goddess merging of a cat and a public bus. And—in honest-to-devil fashion—it stampeded straight towards the line of police cars with malicious intent. Dozens upon dozens of frightened officers' faces were reflected off its Cheshire Cat grin, and soon those same bodies were being tossed violently across the block as the rampaging catbus barreled its way through the steel line of suddenly-fragile vehicles.

“Evasive actions—!” Captain Kondo fell on his butt, crab-walked backwards, and fumbled to pick his megaphone back up. “EVASIVE ACTIONS—!!!” An errant wave of the passing catbus' tail slammed him hard and propelled his body through the glass windows of a nearby clothes store. Smasssh!

“Mmmmff!” Detective Tsukauchi ducked swiftly, dodging bodies and chunks of wrecked SWAT Vans flying over his head. “Well then...!” He gripped his hat as he threw a sweaty glance at the ensuing chaos. “...so they're not quirkless after all!”

“Aaaaah!”

“Gaaaaiiee!”

“Run! Run!” citizens scampered away from scene in a frenzied panic as the catbus continued its decimating assault on the police's line of defense.

“Supervillains!”

“They're supervillains!”

“Just what is that monster?!?”

“It looks like the cat bus from My Neighbor Totoro!”

“My neighbor what?!”

“You're joking, right?!”

“Dude! I don't watch anime!”

Sonata Dusk, meanwhile, was yucking it up something fierce. “Mwa ha ha ha!!” She strapped her gun and reached into her snack bag. “Go forth, my pussy!!” She shoved more candied bits into her mouth, bringing a blue shine to her eyes that matched the belch cloud that manifested the catbus in the first place. “Mrmmfff! Spread culture, art, and merriment for children to imprint on the whole world-over! Mrmmfmff... burp!” Errant, pale-bodied kodama spilled from her lips as she munched away. “Plenty more where that came from—mrmmff!”

Adagio could afford no time to relish the carnage. “Aria!” She hissed into the radio. “Number One's a go! Now's the time!”

“Any sign of Sarumaru's bounty??”

Dagi's eyes fell to the totem dangling from her neck. One finger was glowing, and a second was barely twitching.

“No exact fix! But he's nearby! Now move! We need you!”

“Like shit on velcro~” Aria's voice cut off...

...and in its place, the enormous roar of a motor rolled straight down the panic-filled street.

Fleeing citizens and injured police officers stopped fleeing in their tracks, gasping at the sight of a metal object soaring straight towards the scene. Burning smoke rose as a pair of headlights flickered, reflecting off every wide eye in the district.

“Ah... I knew it...!” Detective Tsukauchi stood up straight, pressing his body cautiously against the base of a streetlamp. “There's a third perpetrator~!”

Vrmmmmmmmmm!!!

Planted tightly in the driver's seat of a classic muscle car, gripping the wheel with fully gloved hands, driving while dressed in dark lycra from head to toe...

...Aria Blaze grinned through the gaping jaws of a lantern fish helmet.

“Hold onto your asses, ass-holders.”

She jerked her hand to the shift and shoved the car into another gear. As she did so, a bright teal light issued from her limbs and into the body of the vehicle itself. The dashboard briefly lit up with otherworldly lightning bolts, then the chassis of the car itself, finally the axle and the wheels as—

SCREEECH!!!

—the sports car burst sideways with a flash of teal light, “drove” off the vertical side of a parked semi truck, then proceeded to corkscrew fifty meters directly over the heads of the panicked citizens and injured police officers. Once it had finished four complete barrel rolls, the veritable missile of a vehicle neatly touched all four wheels down on clean asphalt and spun three times before parallel-parking with perfect precision just centimeters from the boot-tips of Adagio and Sonata.

SCRCHHHHH!!!

With twin bursts of teal light, the front and rear passenger seats opened automatically. Aria Blaze nodded her helmeted head from within.

“Hop in, cunts.”

“Splendid timing, Aria~” Adagio hummed, climbing inside.

“Butter me up after the honeymoon's over.” Aria squinted at their dangling totems. “My fist's dull as dogturds. You sure the target's nearby?”

“Zoop!” Sonata hopped into the passenger side opposite of Adagio. “Mrmmmf!” She spat out some flavored rice and pointed at her necklace. “Check it!”

Sure enough, a flicker of gold light intensified from two or three of the metal monkey fingers. Aria Blaze looked at her own neckpiece to see a matching glow.

“Christ on a cracker~” Aria chortled. “Guess the chaos drew him out of hiding after all.”

“And he'll get away if we don't move fast.” Adagio's brow furrowed. “Floor it.”

“Seatbelts...” Aria droned.

Adagio groaned. “You've gotta be kidding m—”

“I am not scraping your jellied asses off the interior before night's end!” Aria Blaze growled. “Not after my latest manicure!”

“Fine.” Adagio drew the belt over her waist as told. Click. “Sona—darling—keep 'em busy.”

Cl-Click! “Lookie lookie~ I've got bishie~” As the doors automatically closed with a teal light, Sonata stuck her head out the open window with pursed lips. “Chuuuuuuuuuuuuuu~~~!!” A blue belch cloud escaped her mouth, forward-“flipped,” then materialized as a tall one-winged soldier dressed in black leather and wielding a comically long Masamune sword.

Schiiiiiiiing!!! The police cars knocked over by the catbus shredded instantly in half. Chunks of metal and glass scattered across the street, forcing those who were already fleeing to leap to the floor and cover their flinching bodies. Soon the video game boss character and anime icon were working in tandem, driving the crowds into an even wilder panic.

Meanwhile...

VRMMMMMM!!!! The muscle car Aria was driving tore off in a stream of rubber and smoke, now having an unimpeded path towards the deeper heart of Tokyo.

Their escape was keenly observed by Detective Tsukauchi. The man bravely held his ground barely a few yards away from the rampaging cultural icons left in the sirens' wake. Peering around a lamppost, he watched as the one-winged soldier and catbus descended on a cluster of frightened citizens... only to dissolve into a thin blue haze around the time the getaway vehicle had put enough distance. Soon, all that was left was a shattered ring of broken asphalt, shattered glass, and wrecked police cars.

“No lethal force...” He rubbed his chin, turning to gaze at the jewelry store where two dozen frazzled citizens were slowly exiting. “...not even the hostages have been severely injured. Quite curious...”

There was a groaning sound to his side. Tsukauchi looked over to see Captain Kondo slithering out of the broken storefront, covered in cuts and bruises.

“Mrmmmfnngh...” Wincing, bleeding from the nose and lip, the exhausted Captain pulled a useless, broken radio to his trembling face. “All forces... pursue the... the...” His eyelids fluttered. “... … ...aspirin...?” And he fell down, unconscious.

“I... do believe that I will take it from here, friend.” Tsukauchi pulled a cell phone out from a trenchcoat pocket. “Good thing some of us have heroes on speed-dial.” Stepping out into the ruins of the wild confrontation, he spoke into the phone: “Yes. Nishiya? It's Tsukauchi. Yes—yes I know that you're officially on vacation, but I heard that you're in Tokyo with some friends and... well...” A pause. A blink. “No—no, not the fire. I would not throw you into that, good sir. But...” He looked down the street where smoke from the sirens' vehicle was still billowing into the sky. “...let's just say your timely expertise would be greatly appreciated.”