Seven Heroes Redux

— I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be rude! I just thought you would be happy to see me again...

— Why would I? Your life is nothing, you serve zero purpose. You should kill yourself, now.

— Huh? Zenith-sama, please, I already said I'm sorry!

She stared at the helpless man for a moment, calmly smoking her cigarette.

— Lick my shoe, scum.

He desperately stuck his tongue into her shoe, seeing no other way to be forgiven. Zenith kicked him from inside the head, instantly blowing it up. Getting blood on her shoe and suit, Zenith felt disgusted. Her smile soon faded, realizing that her joke wasn't as funny as she thought it would be.

Fuck... What was his last name again?

Ria was in a police station, in front of a white cell with no windows except for the front wall, which had several functions. One was to dazzle from inside or outside, to control visibility. In addition, a gas was expelled from inside, so that the prisoner's power was almost completely nullified.

She opened it and walked in. She was about to interrogate a suspect. She had blonde hair tied in a ponytail, red eyes, and a red dress. She was sitting with her head down, as if she hadn't noticed the visitor.

— Catherine... Prime Minister of France.

— W-Who are you?! Stay back!

Ria approached the frightened woman, who backed away until she was sitting in the corner of the room. Bending down, Ria showed her a picture of a young man. He had short black hair, with bangs that covered his eyes.

— His name was Tadahiro Ryosuke. Why did you kill him?

— His mother was a threat to my country!

— Did you come from a distant country just to shut a spy?

— Y-Yes...

— You had another reason. Who sent you here?

— E... Elizabeth III.

— Faster than I expected. It seems like you want revenge.

— That bitch... she said I was stronger than most of the heroes here! I came here to test out those 7-Up everyone talks about, and then...

— ...you got caught. Did you know she managed to steal some boxes a few days ago?

— Wait, what?

— That's right, she betrayed you, more than once. She was your friend, right?

— I can't believe it... are you lying to me?

— My country lost some valuable items to her. It's only a matter of time before they reverse engineer it and the world goes into chaos. Do you think I have a reason to lie to you?

— No, it can't be... she said we would share it with each other...

— Can you help us? If you tell the truth, I will reduce your sentence.

— You can bet your ass I'll get my revenge on them. The answer's yes, bitch.

— Good, that's one less loose end. Besides 7-Up, were they after anything else?

— The executives mentioned a level 6 hero... her name was Kiseki.

— Kiseki?

— They said she can make anyone immortal.

Ria thought of something that had never crossed her mind: Kiseki's power as a rejuvenator. If she regenerated an individual's cells every time they grew old, that person would become immortal. Furthermore, it was a defensive power that could almost resurrect the target of an atomic bomb. She was more valuable than almost any weapon in the world.

Ria finally understood why the Brazilian delinquents were after her. The Pope had sent his followers to kidnap her for more than sufficient reasons. Ria asked:

— Was the Brazilian Pope at these meetings?

— Yes, and he was the most interested in Kiseki.

I must kill him as an example, otherwise the other leaders will keep fucking around.

— Where is he right now?

— Brazil, in a town called Pareto.

— Does he live there?

— Yeah, he does most of his rituals there. It'll be easy to spot from far away.

Ria walked away, leaving the cell.

— Ria-chan?

— Thanks for the cooperation, Catherine.

She left. Just to be on the safe side, she went to Kiseki's clinic. After ringing the doorbell several times, she called her. No one answered.

For fuck's sake... I told her to fight back.

She called Exwind, who answered right way.

— Tetsushi, have you seen Kiseki recently?

— No, why?

— I think she's been kidnapped, again.

— No way! Where is she?

— Can you ask Unizard?

After being dishonored by a supposedly unknown fat man, Zenith was searching for his family. She wanted to take out her anger and spend her time killing anyone who had anything to do with that pig.

Zenith broke down the door of the man's house, where he lived with his parents. Unfortunately, there were no relatives there, as they were away on vacation. Deeply irritated, she froze, not knowing what to do. As she lit another cigarette, she received a phone call.

Since the act of lighting a cigarette could not be interrupted, she let the cell phone ring for a few seconds before answering. The moment she answered the call, she heard a scream:

— ZENITH-SAMA? IS IT YOUR MAJESTY I'M SPEAKING TO?

— What the FUCK? SHOUT IN MY FACE AGAIN AND I'LL RIP YOUR FUCKING HEAD OFF YOUR FUCKING BODY.

— SORRY, BUT THIS IS MY NORMAL VOICE-

Impatient, Zenith ended the call. Before she could put her phone in her pocket, she received the same call. She paused for a moment and scratched his forehead, trying to muster up patience for that.

— IS THIS BETTER?

The man spoke with the same intensity as before, but this time the voice came from further away from the cell phone.

— Alright, what the FUCK do you want?

— DO... DO YOU WANT TO BECOME A GODDESS?

— Are you saying I'm not a goddess?

— NO, NO... BUT THERE'S ALWAYS A WAY TO IMPROVE PERFECTION. DO YOU WANT TO BECOME IMMORTAL?

— …

— YOU JUST HAVE TO BRING ME A HEROINE CALLED KISEKI.

Exwind called back.

— Ria, she said you would know the answer.

— Fuck... Tetsushi, pack your things.

— Are we going somewhere?

— Yeah, now. Get your fists ready.

Exwind was a peculiar guy. He always found explosions beautiful, even though their meaning was often a bad sign. That's probably why he got the power he had.

Many years before, they were at a festival, enjoying the fireworks.

— Ria, if you were a heroine, what power would you like to have?

— We can't choose our powers, Tetsushi. Besides, why would I become a heroine?

— That's not entirely true, the power is linked to the person. You would make a great detective, you've always enjoyed solving mysteries.

— I like justice, that's all. Punishing people who deserve it is refreshing.

— You're too harsh, we're still just kids. Why don't you try relaxing your facial muscles and smiling a little?

— I can't smile naturally, you know that.

— But people get scared when they see you. If they knew who you were inside, they wouldn't avoid you.

— I don't smile on the inside either, so I'm just being myself. I have you, Tetsushi, that's more than enough.

— I'm glad to hear that, but... nevermind, I may be thinking too much.

They looked at the fireworks again, seeing the beauty of each explosion.

— Tetsushi... I...

— I would like to have a power related to explosion.

— Are you sure? You always say you want to help people, not blow them up.

Tetsu laughed heartily.

— Yeah, but we can scare the bad guys with it, can't we? Besides, explosions are beautiful! Style never helped win a fight, but it never got in the way either.

— Functionality is more important.

— I think you would have a power related to guns. You like shooters, don't you? That Call of Du... ck.

— You like them as well.

— But your aim is way better than mine. That's why I always use shotguns and grenades.

— I don't hit every shot.

— You don't have to. Being better than most is enough, don't you think?

— ...

After a few years, they were researching some of their hobbies.

Tetsu was in a VR world, enjoying a nuclear explosion larger than any bomb ever tested. They were now tested in simulations as they were too destructive to the world.

Ria trained her aim in a VR world as well, so as not to waste bullets. She could also use any weapon without restrictions, since no lives were in danger.

Then something unexpected happened. They were in their village, when suddenly it caught fire. Several warriors invaded, killing most of the villagers. Tetsu ran to find Ria. Her parents were holding the door closed, keeping her inside. They pulled him inside and were murdered. After hiding for a few minutes, Tetsu said:

— Ria, stay here.

— What the hell are you thinking? Don't leave me here!

— I won't die, I promise.

He ran as fast as he could. There was a swordswoman with long black hair and silver armor watching everything burn. She looked like the general who commanded the attack. Tetsu stood in her way, challenging her.

— Get out of the way, kid.

— No way! Why are you doing this?