Amidst the neon-lit tranquility of Normal Shinjuku, at the heart of Block A, stood the nation's pillar of justice—the headquarters of the Hero Alliance League.

  The towering skyscraper stretched toward the limitless sky like an unyielding obelisk, a testament to its role as the guardian of national security. Encased by tall steel-and-concrete walls lined with electrified barbed wire, the fortress was further secured by turrets equipped with high-resolution CCTV, ensuring no threat went unnoticed.

  Within its perimeter, dozens of tanks rumbled in steady patrols while black-clad Special Forces—armed with cutting-edge weaponry—moved with sharp precision, their hardened expressions betraying no emotion.

  Tension thickened as a convoy of sleek black cars passed through the reinforced gates of HAL. Stepping out first was Minister of Defense Yamazaki, followed by Cabinet Office official Mr. Ikeda. Special General Arai of the Special Forces emerged next, accompanied by Dr. Higuchi Kaito, the chief of technological advancements at Neo-Vision, Japan’s second-ranking hero agency. Finally, all eyes fell on the main guests of the affair—Cometz, a rising star team from the number one hero agency, Legions.

  Inside, hushed murmurs filled the hallways as HAL employees exchanged speculative whispers, their curiosity ignited by the sudden gathering of high-profile figures. Yet, at the heart of the commotion, those directly involved remained silent, their minds focused on the gravity of today’s meeting.

  The recent arrest of Dr. Yamagata—a notorious scientist who nearly reduced an entire city block to rubble—had set a greater investigation in motion. After rummaging through his new underground lab in the deeper parts of Villain Town Shinjuku, several plans of an attack had been uncovered, alerting the higher-ups of HAL. Hence why, a meeting had been called, gathering all the available members of the board.

  As the important guests moved up the tower, they soon reached the last floor, walking down a quiet hallway with no soul to be found. This area was only accessible to the members of the board and their respective security assets. And at the end of the hallway was found a single door that led to the meeting room.

  Inside was the Director of HAL, Mr Izaya who was sitting at the head of the table, as the Chairperson of the board. Beside him was seated Mr Suzuki Daiou, CEO of Daiou Group, a multinational conglomerate that has invested a lot in HAL, whether in terms of funds or assets.

  Leaning against the wall at the back, with a strong cold and sinister atmosphere surrounding him, was the hero trained under the hero alliance, Zero. He was known to take care of the most ruthless S-class Supervillains and a lone wolf in nature. However, he had recently been working together with Suzuki Daiou in one of the eccentric man's new ventures. Hence his presence in the room.

  As soon as the other guests saw him, they all greeted with a nod except for Cometz who all bowed down, showing their respect towards their senior. They then stopped beside him whilst the others had a seat around the oval table in the centre of the room.

  On the walls were several large screens on which were displayed various events that had taken place or were taking place at the moment in the country. Above their heads hung the holographic projector that was switched on to showcase the evidence found in Dr Yamagata's basement.

  "Plans of a large-scale attack were found in the doctor's secret lab. They involved the dispatch of his most recent batches of weaponized robots, to destroy an entire city. And we have reasons to believe that he might not be acting on his own," started Mr Izaya, his eyes as unreadable as always despite the concern being raised.

  "The doctor, known to be a narcissistic man, has a partner?"

  Mr Yamazaki looked rather confused by this sudden move made by the supervillain who had a reputation of working alone.

  "The evidence shows that there was someone else aside from Yamagata who spent time in the lab. We have yet to identify his accomplice. All we have is a blurred image of him from an external camera of a store. In addition, from what we've collected, four of his batches are missing."

  "And how many robots would that be in total?" asked Mr Ikeda.

  "That would be twice the amount that was dispersed in the streets of Block E in Villain Town Shinjuku," sighed Mr Arai.

  Mr Higuchi let out a piercing whistle, grasping everyone's attention, "considering how the entire block went up in flames, it really would be possible for them to destroy a whole city."

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  "Hence why, this emergency meeting is being held. If his partner is the one in possession of the robots, we need to find him and deactivate them before a tragedy hits the country."

  Everyone nodded, having a mutual understanding of the situation and what had to be done in order to solve this issue. By the time they were done with their elaborated strategy to handle the problem, all of the respective leaders had yet another mount of responsibilities on their shoulders. Their aim was to reduce the casualties to a single digit, with no deaths. Hence why, this mission was of the highest degree as of that moment.

  One by one they left the room, a grave expression carved on their faces. Among them, were the concerned young heroes, who had their fair share of responsibilities in this matter. The task of apprehending the accomplice of the mad scientist had been placed onto them. Needless to say, the pressure was more than they could handle.

  Unfortunately, due to the limited number of pro-heroes in the city, they were the best next alternative. Thus, they had no other choice but to follow the orders of HAL, whilst keeping peace on the streets.

  "I understand that we are currently the only ones who are available but we are still rookies and excellence is being expected from us," sighed Dash, the young man shaking his head in disapproval.

  "Truth be told, we should have seen this coming ever since Sir Crimson went to the west. With him absent from the east side, the balance will start to crumble, so as his proteges we are to take his place, whether we are ready or not."

  Raijin words further plunged them into a deeper state of stress. They knew what they had signed up for. After all, they went through hell and back to become pro-heroes. It was not easy but they made it out of hundreds who could not. However, the road to their dreams of a peaceful city was still so far away.

  Their leader went behind them, clapping their back with such strength that the impact resonated across the hallway. His comrades groaned in pain, giving him a deadly glare while the latter chuckled.

  "Cheer up guys! Sure, this mission sounds super complicated. But who are we?" he said cheerfully.

  The two of them exchanged glances before sighing heavily, "we are Cometz."

  "Exactly! We are the new heroes of this generation and the ones set to marvelous achievements. Even if our limbs are cut off, we still save people because that's what heroes do. So let's not think too deeply about this and just do our job. Let's find the mad scientist's accomplice, kick his ass and stop the robots from destroying the city. Team Cometz, fighting!"

  "Aaah screw it! I'm a hero anyway! So I can't be down!" exclaimed the young Dash as he jumped around, pumping himself up.

  Raijin smiled, nodding in agreement.

  "Come on, let's go back to HQ and see if we can get some info. I also need to look into something," replied the golden headed boy.

  "What is it?" asked the energy hero, as he looked at his leader.

  "Remember the group of vigilantes who helped us against the robots?"

  "Yeah, the ones that the S.P.F had to push away from the scene when all was done?"

  The leader nodded, "one among them really stood out to me. The tall girl with long black hair. She was crazy strong and had good moving techniques. In fact, I even thought she was a future hero student but turns out that she is not interested.

  With her talents, she could easily join any top hero academy. It's seriously such a waste. So I thought I could find out more about her and maybe convince her to think about the hero path. I mean, if she's already a vigilante, what's stopping her from joining the government's side? She would get paid, more privileges and we would benefit from an additional talented hero in our ranks."

  "That's very admirable of you. But since when do you scout for heroes now?"

  The hero scratched his head, smiling awkwardly under the suspicious eyes of his comrades.

  "I just want to help... And well, I'm kind of jealous. At her age, I could not even throw a proper punch let alone fight a villain on my own. She went against an army of robots and that was a really cool sight. I can already picture her on billboards as one of the top heroes."

  "And here comes his hero nerd side. No wonder you are this invested, you are looking at her like a hero fan would. But well, you do have a point. If she has this much potential, it would be a waste to let her go. Still, keep this for after we find the supervillain," replied Raijin.

  Ryu nodded, but then, he stopped as he felt a strong hand on his shoulder.

  He turned around, frozen on the ground as dark grey eyes stared deep inside his soul.

  "S-s-senior Zero?"

  "Could we speak for a minute, Mr Kinryu?" asked the old Suzuki Daiou as he smiled at the young man.

  The hero nodded immediately whilst Zero let go of him. They then went to the Cafe area, where Mr Suzuki had some tea while looking at Ryu with an unnerving calmness that caused the young man to have an upset stomach. Especially since Zero kept his eyes on him.

  The hero, dressed in a pair of military black pants with several pockets where numerous weapons were stored, together with a black tight fit long-sleeved shirt under which was a solid armor and wearing a leather mask to cover his nose and mouth, with strips of metal on top of it, making it look as though it was a muzzle, and a pair of black boots, appeared to be more of an assassin than a hero.

  Nevertheless, all those who had been to HAL's building had heard or seen a glimpse of his shadow at the HQ at least once. After all, the man was a hero raised and trained by the experts of HAL in an attempt to create a weaponized hero. And he was in fact a huge success. Compared to regular heroes who intervene in the daily chaos caused by Supervillains, Zero would only take care of the Class S supervillains who were so notorious that nothing could reason with them except undeniable force. That was exactly what Zero was. A force so violent that could not be stopped by anyone except himself.

  Hence why, every time there was a heinous supervillain out there, he was the one HAL sent out. Thus earning himself the nickname of HAL's mad dog.

  For some unknown reasons he was now working for an eccentric wealthy man who was infamous for his adoration of superheroes. The man was so obsessed that he would be the first one to invest in whatever hero project that HAL or other organisation's would present to him.

  With such a combination of unique individuals in front of him, Ryu had reasons to be extremely nervous.

  "I happened to overhear your conversation about a certain individual with some commendable competence. Would you care to elaborate on the matter, Hero Kinryu," said the old man as he put down his cup.

  The hero, quite flabbergasted by the request, shrugged his shoulders awkwardly before detailing his interest in the dark headed girl vigilante who had intervened on the scene of Dr Yamagata's most recent attack.