It was a warm day in Synthe City, even with the sun currently setting. People were walking about the streets, some happily chatting, and cars were driving by the rows of buildings, most around two to four stories. Everything seemed perfectly normal.

However, there was one thing amiss. Standing next to a tree planted in the sidewalk was a tall, muscular man. The only hair on his head was a black Dallas mustache, and he wore a white tank top, jeans, and brown boots. People walking by glanced at him, but he didn’t seem to be doing much. It looked like he was waiting for someone, but the store he was standing across had just closed for the day. So what could he be planning on doing?

Eventually, the man turned when he spotted someone else walking on the other side of the street. This man was lanky and had poor posture, but his hygiene looked even worse. His skin was tan, but it looked like he barely ever went out into the sun. His dirty blond hair was greasy and hung just above his eyes, which were covered by sunglasses, though he kept sticking his fingers under them to rub his eyes. He wore a dark red leather jacket, black leather pants, and a garishly neon green button-up shirt, and over his left shoulder he was carrying a shovel. And when he went down into an alleyway, the muscular man finally moved from the tree and followed him.

When the muscular man entered the alleyway, the lanky man was standing there, leaning on his shovel. This was “Greasy-Eyed” Luca Rogers, who’d been arrested several times for possession with intent. But he would always be back on the streets soon enough, and the police suspected he had connections to the Eight Passions of Death Port Mafia. They were a mob group that had territory in the city, and while they didn’t have a big reputation in the grand scheme of things, that seemed to be doing them some favors. After all, the Justice Association hadn’t sent any heroes to try and deal with them.

“So, you the buyer?” Luca asked, rubbing his eyes with his free hand. When he stopped, if one looked closely, they could see his fingertips had stringy droplets of yellowish-white goop on them.

“Aleksei, yes,” the muscular man spoke.

“Well then, you got the cash?” Luca questioned, not moving off his shovel.

“I do,” Aleksei responded, reaching into his pocket. “But five grand seems a little pricey.”

“Hey, you only need one hit of this, and you’re set for life,” Luca grinned, showing his yellowing teeth. “That five grand’s an investment.”

“Fine,” grumbled Aleksei, and he pulled out a wad of cash. “Now, let me see what I’m buying.”

Meanwhile, at an Italian restaurant on that same street, an old man wearing a fedora was sitting at an outdoor table for four, eating a chicken penne pasta. He had his phone out, and any casual passerby would think he was just using it to watch a video. However, anyone that took a close look at it would see that the video was of an alley not even a block away, and that the two figures in it were still there.

“That’s it,” the man, Joseph Colton-Joestar said aloud as Luca reached into his jacket. “Show us the goods.”

Edited by RapidFirestormer on May 1st 2024 at 4:57:36 AM

A strange person wrapped in bandages sat next to the man, sipping coffee through a slit in the bandages. "Did we really have to monitor the deal using some dinky cameras?" the strange person, Rebis Hargreeves, asked Joseph. "I could've just, I don't know, sent a spirit over and looked through it's eyes or something. I'm not just here for sex appeal." Rebis leaned back in their seat and pulled out a cigarette from a small ornate box. "Hey uh, you got a light?" they asked to a disturbed person sitting at the table behind them. The person reluctantly pulled out a lighter and lit the cigarette, to which Rebis put up a peace sign and said "Bond journo!"

Kenta

Life in America had ups and downs. He wasn't as infamous here as he'd been in his home country; some people gave him odd looks for his foxlike appearance, but with supers of various stripes running about he wasn't that remarkable.

On the one hand, he was grateful he didn't have to constantly fight off would-be heroes coming for his head. On the other, he was annoyed that people didn't show him the fearful respect he was used to.

He was Kyuubi no Yoko. The Nine-Tailed Demon Fox. Scourge of Honshu. Lord of the Underworld. Big Boss of the Bijuu Boys. And two minutes ago, a child had called him 'doggy' and tried to pet him.

It was a frustrating change to get used to. He was acclimating, though. He'd even dreamed in English last night. An omen, perhaps, though of what he couldn't guess.

Kenta dismissed the thought as he yawned in the setting sun. He was walking home after an uneventful day of napping in the park and gambling at a local parlor, and was not expecting anything out of the ordinary.

Then his keen ears picked the words 'five grand' out of background chatter, and his head twitched in the direction of a nearby alleyway. Casually, he crossed the street to move closer, zeroing in on the conversation while pretending to not care what was going on around him.

"That five grand's an investment."

"Fine. Let me see what I'm buying."

A drug deal. Kenta's mouth curled into a foxy smile, as he leaned against the wall by the mouth of the alley, out of sight of the dealer and buyer. It wasn't even dark yet, and some idiot was trying to buy five thousand dollars worth of drugs.

Jackpot.

The fox didn't strike just yet. He waited to see the outcome - while it was unlikely either could match him, causing too much of a ruckus would draw attention.

Once the money and drugs were out in the open, he could move in, clobber them both, take everything (even if it wasn't something he indulged in, he could always re-sell the drugs for extra cash) and make a break for it before they got their wits about them.

Edited by kagescorpionakki on Apr 30th 2024 at 3:23:10 PM

Rooftop Above The Deal

Kareta sat with her knees tucked up under her chin on the rooftop of one of the buildings whose side made up a wall of the alleyway where the deal between Aleksei and Luca was taking place. Not on the edge of the roof - no, that would just be asking to be spotted. Rather, just close enough to the edge that she could jump in at a moment's notice. She was monitoring the situation below with just her hearing, waiting for the goods to come out or be exchanged.

Idly, she wondered where those "Bud Nipper" people she'd heard about were. Weren't they supposed to be looking into this same group? Oh well! There would be opportunities to find them in the future, she was sure.

Edited by darksidevoid on Apr 30th 2024 at 3:38:07 PM

Restaurant

Back at the restaurant, a young woman who was sitting across from the two chuckled a little. “I agree, buddy. I mean, I’ve never seen a phone in my life, but couldn’t I just sneak up to them and eavesdrop? I love sneaking!” She sighed a little and began poking at her tortellini. “This is “pasta,” right? I’ve never seen it before, only on the holovids Kom had. Tastes good. Better than soy. Anyways, what happens when we give these scoundrels what’s comin’ to ‘em? I wanna kick their asses!” She rubbed a clump of scales by her jawline. “All this sittin’ around makes me anxious. I wanna do some thin’!”

"Calm down Ann." Rebis said "I'm sure that once Jojo finds whatever the fuck we're looking for, you'll be able to kick as much ass as you want." Rebis took a puff of their cigarette and leaned over to watch the transaction occurring, when they noticed something; Kareta lurking above Aleksei and Luca. "Hey Jojo, I think somebody has joined our Peeping Tom Party." they said, pointing to Kareta on the feed.

Edited by nellyfrommovies on Apr 30th 2024 at 3:49:52 PM

Italian Restaurant

A teenager in a red coat approaches the three people at the table, asking "Is this seat taken?" and sitting down before any of them has a chance to respond.

"Sorry I'm late," says Jaden. "So, did I..." the brown-haired teen trails off, finding himself staring pointedly at the old man's plate of pasta. "...hold that thought."

The reason for Jaden's self-interruption is quickly made clear when he flags down a passing waitress and, without missing a beat, requests the "shrimp fra diavolo, per favore."

Then, Jaden turns back to watch the video feed on Joseph's phone. "So did I miss anything?"

"Well the transaction appears to be going smoothly, but we may or may not have an interloper of sorts." Rebis says, pointing to Kareta in the feed. "Let me check on our friend over here." they say, proceeding to send out their spirit from their body to float over to where Kareta was perched. "Man, I thought I was the only one who liked the watch drug deals! Glad to know I'm not alone" Rebis's spirit said, lurking behind Kareta. Rebis's physical body laid limp on the chair at the diner.

Joseph Colton-Joestar - Restaurant

"There was no way of knowing how long we'd be waiting for this meeting to go down," Joseph remarked to Rebis. "There'd be less risk using psychic observing for an extended period of time than using one of your spirits. I want this to be a simple job. So cool your jets, Ane. We're not jumping the gun until we're sure this has to do with the Eight Passions."

Joseph took another bite of chicken and pasta as he looked at the third person on the feed Rebis had pointed out. He wasn't sure what their deal was. Maybe the buyer or seller didn't trust the other party and had brought along a friend in case the deal went bad. Or maybe it was a thief trying to take the money or the product. Or maybe there was some vigilante in this town trying to bust the deal.

"Just be sure to keep an eye out for them when we move in," Joseph remarked to Rebis as the feed continued.

Luca reached into his jacket, and pulled something out. But Kenta would be able to see that whatever it was, it sure didn't look like drugs.

The item in question was a clear-gold gem, in a shape similar to an arrow head. Close up, Aleksei could see there were some patterns of circles and lines cut into it.

"That it?" Aleksei asked.

"Oh, this is it alright," Luca replied. "One genuine Power Arrowhead. The key to unlocking your own set of superpowers. Can't guarantee what they'll be, but they won't kill you, and you'll be able to control them no problem."

Aleksei crossed his arms. "And how exactly do I know this thing's real?" He reached out his free hand. "Let me take a closer look."

Luca made a fist around the arrowhead. "And let you get the power without giving me my money? No way, pal. You're not touching this until I have the cash."

"We exchange at the same time," Aleksei countered. "And you don't leave until you explain to me exactly how this works."

Luca stood still for a moment, considering the proposition.

"Fine," he said, and both men reached out to trade their respective items.

"Besides the time we got for when the meeting was supposed to take place, no," Joseph scolded Jaden. "Next time try to get to the stakeout on time."

Joseph then raised an eyebrow when he saw the Power Arrowhead in Luca's hand. The Bud Nippers had come to Synthe City because of reports of some product being sold that was granting people their own superhuman abilities, and this object matched the description he'd been given.

"Okay people, lets move in! Make sure they don't see you moving in until I say so," Joseph ordered as he stood up from his seat. He turned to Rebis' limp body. "Rebis, save our seats. We're not dining and dashing."

Edited by RapidFirestormer on Apr 30th 2024 at 9:04:46 AM

Rooftop Above The Deal

"Wha-MMMPHH!" Kareta almost shouted, managing to muffle her scream of surprise by burying her head in her knees.

"Don't scare me like that!" she demanded in a hushed whisper after pulling her head back up, glancing over and furrowing her brow at spirit-Rebis. "If they hear me, I'll lose the element of surprise and— actually, the spooky green ghost shtick is cool, but who are you, anyway? You wouldn't happen to be with the Bud-Nippers, would you? 'Cause a little birdy told me they were supposed to be on this case, and I want in!"

"Oh golly! Well you know, it is always nice to meet a fan." Rebis snidely remarked. "Listen if you really want to help us out, just stay up here and keep to your observing. Now if you will excuse me, I need to make sure nobody is freaking out at my body passing out. Toodles!" Rebis's spirit then returned to their body, and they began to fly over to their fellow Bud Nippers.

Rooftop Above The Deal -> Alleyway

Before Kareta could even reply to Rebis' sudden departure, the sound of the transaction happening reached her ears above.

"You know what? It doesn't matter if I stay up here or not!" she declared quietly, standing with a grin and cracking her knuckles, then reached her right hand out to the side. "Black Monolith!"

In response to her command, the tattoos around her legs glowed and unwrapped, rapidly spooling outwards and moving to the side until a massive rectangular slab of black metal was in Kareta's right-handed grip, courtesy of a convenient handle in the center.

"Geronimo!" she cried, jumping off the building into the alleyway slab-first, aiming to collide with and practically flatten Luca in particular.

Edited by darksidevoid on Apr 30th 2024 at 5:09:06 AM

Kenta - Alleyway

Apparently the shady dealer was not selling drugs, but superpowers.

Well, shit.

Kenta wanted to dismiss it as snake oil, but the buyer was apparently pretty convinced. If it was true, that meant the dealer probably had powers, since who wouldn't use something like that on themselves.

For a moment, he hesitated. But then he chided himself; he was Kyuubi. No matter what power this asshole had, it was nothing to the power of the Nine-Tailed Beast.

Wisps of red trailed off Kenta's skin as he spun into the alleyway, ducking low and charging on all fours, moving at inhuman speed with his fangs bared.

And simultaneously, an obvious vigilante leaped off the building to attack the dealer. Kenta shouldn't have been surprised, not with his superb sense of hearing, but he'd been fixated on the deal. Now he felt stupid. Of course some goody-two-shoes idiot would show up.

In an instant he had joined the melee, and he lashed out with a snap kick aimed at the buyer's head, aiming to take the man out quick before assessing the new arrival.

Italian Restaurant

"My bad!" Jaden sheepishly grins while rubbing the back of his head.

Jaden stands up with Joseph, but cranes his neck to continue looking at the video feed, where he notices not one but two individuals jumping into battle with the dealer and his client.

"Yo, Joseph? It looks like those guys have already moved in - and unlike us, they could care less about whether they're seen or not."

Italian Restaurant

Anemone practically jumped up from her seat. “The kid’s right, we don’t want those two to hog all the action! Let’s get in there!” She took out a gun that had a grappling hook stuck to it. On one side of the gun, the word “Kombucha” had been stenciled in red letters. “I sure hope they lead us to something. Anyways, what say you, leader man? Shall we?”

Joseph Colton-Joestar

Joseph grinned when he saw that a distraction had just fell right into their laps. "I'm never one to turn down something that makes our jobs easier. Lets go!"

With that, Joseph ran towards the alley.

Aleksei held up the Power Arrowhead he'd just purchased. "So, how does this work."

"Lucky for both of us, it's fairly simple," Luca explained as he flipped through the stack of cash in his hands to make sure he'd been paid enough. "All you gotta do is-WHAT THE HELL!?!"

Upon hearing someone yell from above the alleyway, Luca had looked up to see who it was... and when he saw someone jumping down to hit him with a huge slab, he quickly dove out of the way. Luca quickly stuffed the money into his jacket, then gripped his shovel with both hands and swung at Kareta.

"Do what-?" Aleksei questioned, only to be cut off by Kenta leaping out and kicking him in the head. Fortunately, while he didn't have any powers, Aleksei was a strong man. The kick just knocked him off balance for a few seconds, and then he used his free hand to swing a punch at the fox-man.

Edited by RapidFirestormer on Apr 30th 2024 at 6:35:50 AM

Rebis arrived at the alley along with their fellow Bud Nippers. Seeing Aleksei begin to attack, they extend their arms and fired out their bandages, wrapping them around his arms to restrain him.

Alleyway

Kareta parried the oncoming shovel with a strong sweep of her free hand, the collision resulting in a metallic CLANG! that one might not have expected from someone who looked like a flesh-and-blood human, albeit oddly-pigmented.

With a "Hup!" of exertion, she jumped deftly up and over the dealer, and landed with her right arm and Monolith facing him, effectively boxing the pair of criminals in with her on one side and the unexpected help of Kenta and Rebis on the other.

"Nowhere to run~!" she taunted with a smug grin. "Thanks for the assist, by the way, Fantastic Mr. Fox!"

Edited by darksidevoid on Apr 30th 2024 at 6:13:28 AM

Kenta - Alleyway

Right. So the guy buying powers obviously didn't have powers. It was impressive that he was still standing, but compared to Kenta, this asshole was nothing.

"Fuck off." Kenta said, though it was unclear whether he was talking to Aleksei or responding to the girl from the roof.

He met the punch dead-on with a palm thrust, catching the other man's hand. Red energy surged up Kenta's arm at the same time, and with a flex of his power, a blast of crimson foxfire exploded at the other man point blank.

He saw the bandages rush past him out of the corner of his eye, and rumbled another curse. The commotion had drawn more heroes, it seemed. Just his luck.

Edited by kagescorpionakki on Apr 30th 2024 at 6:31:52 AM

Doppo Kishibe, Restaurant —> Alleyway

As the rest of the Bud Nippers watched the deal going down in the alleyway, one of their members sat off to the side, rapidly writing with a pen in a small notebook held in one hand and only looking up to watch the proceedings occasionally. He was Asian, and stuck out in the restaurant not just for that but also for his green hair which went well with his suit, clearly expensive yet also extremely worn. As some of the others voiced their opinions on how the situation could have been set up better, he angrily muttered something under his breath about "my ability", though that was about all that could be made out. Then, things started getting more hectic, and his eyes widened as he saw who had just joined the fray.

"Wait- that's- that's the Kyuubi no Yoko!" he spluttered, immediately getting up from his seat. "I thought his gang disbanded, what the hell is he- whatever, it doesn't matter! We have to be careful. He's no mere common criminal."

He began to join the others as they headed for the alleyway, clutching his pen and notebook in a death grip.

"His powers allow him to match the strength of whoever he's fighting, making him almost impossible to overpower with just brute force." he explained, his tone grim. "We're going to have to think on our feet."

As soon as he entered the alleyway, he rapidly wrote out a haiku in his notebook before tossing the pen with incredible force and precision at one of Kenta's hands, hoping to damage it and limit his ability to use the foxfire he was demonstrating at the moment. Betting this would get the criminal's attention, he thrust out his notebook for the foxboy to see.

Kyuubi no Yoko

Halt your assault and give in.

Do not attack us.

Edited by SushiKraken6414 on May 1st 2024 at 4:27:37 AM

Restaurant -> Alleyway

"In that case, let's get our game on!" Jaden exclaims as he rushes out to the alleyway with the others, but not before putting the menu on his seat to indicate it's taken.

In the short journey to the alleyway, Jaden removes a white device from his coat pocket and clasps it to his wrist, then powers it on causing a small five-segmented platform to extend from it like an arm blade.

At the alleyway, Jaden will draw a hand of five cards from his deck and immediately place one face-up on the Duel Disk, calling out the name "Elemental HERO Burstinatrix!" A hologram of a long-haired woman in orange Spandex appears behind Jaden, but more importantly, a ball of fire appears in his free hand. The teenager wastes no time launching this fireball at Luca's legs so that even if it misses, it'll detonate on impact and hopefully knock him over.

Edited by TheGoldLeaf on May 1st 2024 at 8:21:33 PM

Alleyway

Anemone for her part was very excited to beat some bad guys up. As she ran to the alleyway, she pulled her gun and launched the grappling hook attached to it high up at a wall. Wrapping it around her arm, she launched her self into the air and barreling towards Lucas. The trick was to go against the wind so the cape flutters dramatically behind. “I got somethin’ for ya,” she shouted as she swung. “It’s comeuppance!”

The Alleyway

Aleksei cried out in pain and reflexively pulled back his fist as soon as Kenta's foxfire touched it. However, he then saw Rebis' bandages wrap around his arms, and though he struggled, he was unable to free himself.

Luca, meanwhile, was too caught up in the fight to question the sound his shovel's impact had made and tried to smack Kareta in the head with a downward, overhead swing... only to yelp in surprise as a small explosion sent him a foot into the air, and then get knocked to the ground when Anemone slammed into him. He attempted to get up, but a thin, metal cable glowing with a crackling, purple energy wrapped itself around his legs.

"Nice work, team," Joseph remarked, the cable extending from his left wrist. Then he addressed Kareta and Kenta. "Thanks for the assistance. However..." he turned his attention to Kenta specifically. "Kishibe, is this Kyuubi fellow still active? 'Cause the way I see it, he hasn't done anything wrong here, so I figure there wouldn't be any harm in letting him carry on with his life..."

However, as Joseph was speaking, Luca nervously rubbing his eye as he tried to think of a way out of the situation. Clearly, this team were professionals and had powers. Most likely, that meant they were part of the Justice Association. And if the JA knew about their operation, he'd have to make sure the Overking knew about it. So he'd have to get away and warn the boss. But how?

Luca looked around for something that could give him an edge against the team... and his eyes fell on the struggling Aleksei. It was a gamble if it would get him out of there, but it was his best shot.

"Prick yourself with it!" Luca yelled to his client. "Anywhere will work as long as you draw blood!"

Aleksei was confused for a moment... but when he felt the Power Arrowhead still in his hand, it clicked. He tightened his fist, and winced as he felt a point jab into his palm. From between his fingers, a golden light shown, and then... he began to change.

The already tall man began to grow even larger. Orange and green metal plates grew from his body, bulking him up even further. Cracks formed on the ground under his feet from the increased weight.

When the process was finished, Aleksei was now about sixteen feet tall, though he didn't look entirely natural standing up. His limbs were green with mahogany red plates covering the joints, and his much bulkier torso was orange, as was his head, which had a blue face with eyes spread farther apart than they had been before, and a pair of horns on the top of his head, the front one noticeably bigger than the other.

"TRY AND HOLD ME NOW!!" the armored Aleksei yelled with a deeper, metallic voice as he violently twisted his upper body to try and free himself from Rebis' restraints.

Rebis is knocked back by Aleksei's attack, the bandages tearing away from their control. They readjust their shades and shout out "That's it you bitch, you're on!" They then stretch out their hands, sending an onslaught of angry spirits after Aleksei.

Alleyway

Nemmie, who was since landed from her heroic swing, has just witnessed Aleksei’s transformation. She looks up and lets out an impressed whoop. “This guy’s compensatin’ for something, huh? Hopefully he goes down quick.” With that, she takes out a white and gold boomerang and chucks it at the brute.