Seven Heroes Redux

— I'm glad you're here! Kiseki isn't responding!

— What did you do to her?

— Nothing! We were talking and she suddenly became like this...

— Okay, I believe you.

— Thank you... Please tell me later if she's better...

Ria and Kiseki left the building. Kiseki's body was moving normally. They continued walking on the sidewalk. Ria looked at her and tried to start a conversation, but she wasn't responding.

Suddenly, Kiseki was pushed back and fell onto the sidewalk, fainting. A voice came from in front:

— This is the one, right? Why are there so many girls with green hair?

— That first one didn't have purple eyes, Roberto.

— You didn't realize it wasn't her, Jorge, so stop trying to lecture me.

It was the four Brazilian delinquents again. They were approaching Kiseki, who was lying on the ground. Bruna commented:

— She's weaker than we thought.

— Or maybe I'm just too strong.

Ria asked calmly:

— Who are you?

Bruna bent down to answer:

— Another cute girl! What is this, a soldier cosplay?

Ria kneed Bruna in the stomach, causing her to fall hard to the ground.

Roberto, in response to the threat, grabbed a knife with his left arm, as his right arm had been amputated. He swung it and cut the air. Somehow, it hit Ria's left eye, which began to bleed.

What? Why didn't my barrier work?

Then, Jorge raised his right hand and threw a harpoon at Kiseki's body, pulling her towards him. He started running towards an alley. Ria took out her right revolver and shot him in the head, making him fall to the sidewalk and release Kiseki.

Cleiton materialized a pistol and fired 14 times at Ria, but all the bullets ricocheted. One of them hit Roberto's left leg, which made him lose his balance and kneel. The last one hit his own forehead.

Roberto prepared to punch the air, but Ria ran towards him and kicked him hard enough to blow his head off, painting the sidewalk with blood.

While the fight was going on, Bruna tried to bear the pain and crawled to where Kiseki was. She touched her body and teleported to a sewer, below where they were.

— What the fuck?! Why do we always come across enemies like this?

Bruna started to get tired, because of her power.

— Shit! I can't stay here much longer... Get out of there, you miserable girl!

Unable to hold it in any longer, Bruna returned to the sidewalk where she had teleported. She was out of breath and desperate again.

— W-Wait, I can explain! No violence, please?

Ria didn't answer. She simply shot her in the forehead.

After all the commotion, Ria went to Kiseki and tried to wake her up. Her body was no longer with the harpoon hole that hit her belly.

— Ria… what happened?

— First, can you heal everyone?

Kiseki looked around and was surprised by the corpses of not only the delinquents, but also other pedestrians who were caught in the fight.

— W-What happened while I was sleeping?!

Kiseki healed the four of them. They had all their injuries healed, including Roberto's amputated arm. Kiseki was afraid that Ria would cross the line again and not be close enough to heal them, so she accompanied her to the police station.

Ria was sitting in a chair, with her feet up on the table. She was talking to the person in charge of the installation, while slowly unloading and reloading her revolver.

— Do you know why I chose this station, sir?

— Because it's the safest?

— No. I've sent countless complaints about this place. What happened to the items I requested?

— You know, Ria-sama... We've been broke for a few months now and-

— Do you really think you can lie to me? I know where all the money that was earmarked for the renovation of this police station went.

Ria handed over a list of items that every police station or prison should have. Among them were: handcuffs, cells, glass and gas, all energy-nullifying devices, to keep the powerful truly locked up.

The cells in that police station used iron bars, a model that had been abandoned for a long time. The new ones were white, windowless rooms with a glass wall in front, which served several functions.

A gas was spread throughout the small area to nullify almost 100% of the energy. But it could only be used indoors.

— Do you know why I'm here?

— To check if everything is working normally?

— If any prisoner escapes from the cell while I'm here, including the ones I just brought, something bad will happen to you.

— B-But why?! What if the equipment malfunctions?

— Exactly.

The four of them were in separate cells. Ria stopped in front of Bruna, who was sitting on the floor.

— Let's talk.

She tilted her head in confusion, as if she didn't understand what Ria said.

— I know you speak Japanese.

Bruna insisted that she didn't understand. Ria entered her cell and grabbed her right index finger and threatened her:

— Do you know what happens if I push this nail back?

— Wait, I'll talk!

The two went to the office. The person in charge shouted:

— Hey, stop right there! That place is private!

Ria ignored him and went inside. She closed the blinds, locked the door, and made sure she wasn't being watched. The room didn't have a camera, as it was private. She started questioning Bruna:

— Why Kiseki?

— Kiseki...?

— The girl you attacked.

— Ah, she... the Pope sent us on a mission to locate her and bring her to him.

— Why?

— I don't know…

— Who is the Pope?

— I can't say... it's not that I don't want to, I just can't!

— Why not?

— I just can't…

— Where do they live?

— Brazil.

— City?

— …

— I'll check those answers later. Surely one of your phones will be useful.

— O-Our phones? You can't do that, it's stealing!

Ria took Bruna back to her cell. She was leaving the police station when she saw the owner, who was sitting in the same place as before.

— If I find out that any of these four escaped from here, I will personally kill you.

She left before he could answer and closed the door. Ria took out her cell phone and saw several missed calls.

Exwind and Yuto were still chatting in the Italian restaurant. They had become friends at that time. They chatted freely about different topics, until Yuto commented:

— Ria's really busy...

— Oh, you're right... I'll call her.

Exwind called several times, but Ria didn't answer. Concerned, Yuto asked,

— Should we look for her?

— No, not really. She would call us if she was in danger.

Suddenly, he received a call. Ria finally managed to answer, so she returned the call.

— Hi, Ria. How was the mission?

— Fucking horrible. It was a prank, and Kiseki ended up getting attacked.

— Is she okay?

— She is. A bunch of Brazilians were trying to kidnap her for a certain Pope.

— Pope? Who's that?

— When I find out, I'll tell you. Until then, don't trust Yuto.

— Why? He's fine.

— Do you remember that man in the blue suit who was sitting next to him at the tournament?

— Yeah, what happened to him?

— Someone committed mass murder in an abandoned building. The description matched his.

— So what? They may not be related at all.

— They ran away from us together.

— Even so, they are clearly different people.

— I wouldn't be so sure, Tetsushi. Keep both eyes open.

They hung up the call. Yuto said:

— It was a pleasure meeting you, my friend. I gotta go.

He extended his hand to Exwind, who quickly shook it.

— The pleasure's mine, pal! We'll keep in touch about our little plan!

Yuto left the restaurant and called Haji, who quickly answered with a shout:

— Finally!

— Sorry, I didn't see your messages.

— Don't care. I'm home.

— Did Tatsuya take you there?

— No. That bastard ran into an alley and left me alone.

— That wasn't the plan. Are you okay?

— Yeah, nothing really happened along the way.

— That's good to hear. If you're in trouble, call me right away, don't text me, okay?

— Why do you think I texted you?

— Fair enough.

Yuto was on his way home. He was being followed, but he pretended not to notice. The stalker was really bad at stealth. They hid in trash cans and peeked through the crack in the lid. Then they closed it when Yuto looked in their direction.

He started to feel uncomfortable with the unwanted presence and shouted to the trash can:

— I know you're hiding in there. Come out!

The can moved in response to the scream, as if startled, but nothing came out.

Yuto arrived home. He found Haji and was relieved. The rest of the afternoon and evening was normal. The presence disappeared, so Yuto could relax.