Midday, Sunday, Ginmura
The sun was brilliantly shining down on Japan's Silver City. Given it was the warmer months, many people were out on the streets, or on the beach, going about their daily lives without much worry. They talked, swam, ran errands, went on dates, did homework, worked... It was, of course, a day like any other. There wasn't anything particularly special occurring. At least, for the moment. Unfortunately, in such a world, there was always a risk of things suddenly changing. In a world where there were superheroes and supercriminals, monsters and the unknown, a normal day ran the risk of very suddenly becoming very abnormal in the blink of an eye. And yet, whenever this happened, the citizens of Ginmura turned their eyes upwards.
The SUPER Building stood, an imposing monolith towering over many other buildings in Ginmura. There were various rumors about it, few of them particular malignant given it was literally the base that superheroes operated out of. They ranged from it being built out of indestructible materials, to it being even bigger on the inside, to it actually being capable of flight. None of these were totally out of the question, not in a world like this.
Inside the imposing building, agents bustled about, busying themselves with their duties, monitoring anything unusual, keeping steady contact with any heroes on patrol. Some heroes, as well, were bustling about and interacting with the agents. This was, of course, mostly in the lower levels. At the moment, a level above where most of the heroes would have been, there was a single hero. She leaned over one of the agents, floating behind him with a look of irritation on her face.
The agent knew better then to complain by now.
The diminutive girl pouted and folded her arms, drifting back.
"It's all pathetic," she complained. "There's nothing they'll deploy me for!"
The agent didn't respond.
Instead, he kept monitoring potential situations, while the girl huffed behind him. It was all he could do to avoid being viciously insulted, and even that might not help him.
Besides, just what was going on...?
Market District
It kind of felt weird, now. Not just because people were looking at her... though that was a big reason! The girl with dark red hair blushed slightly as she tried to sink into her shirt, somehow. It was the tradeoff... move faster using the hoverskates, but get more attention, or miss out on good deals and stuff she could get for her parents, and... get way too much attention... but the hoverskates always felt so liberating! But today, all the looks she got weren't what was bothering her. Well, they were, but people always kept looking on account of the fact that there was a smallish girl rapidly floating along using a pair of armored boots.
No, the real issue for Aoyama Reika is that this was the first time she went shopping after that night. She'd heard what was happening, gathered all the courage inside of her, and gone. He'd been... he was a madman, he was trying to kill people. It was terrifying. But at the same time... she was a hero, right? So she had to fight! And she'd done it! He'd hit her but she'd only gotten a few bruises, and she'd knocked him out cold! A surge of pride warmed Reika's heart at the memory of one of her gauntlets slamming, hard, into his chin, knocking him off his feet and out cold. But the rest of the memory quickly followed. About how the SUPER agents had been showing up... and she'd run away. She had an opportunity! ... Even if she probably wasn't worthy of it... she'd still almost had a moment! But... they were going to talk to her and everything and it was just... just too much!
"... Ah jeez!" Reika cried, unable to contain herself. Realizing, quickly, she had said this out loud and garnered a great deal of attention, she slowly lowered, blushing in embarrassment at all the sets of eyes on her. However, they quickly went about her business, allowing Reika to continue onward. The grocery store she preferred was just up ahead. Now that she had the hoverskates, it was a lot easier to get there, wasn't it?
The store was fairly simple. It was called 'Meiko Mart' for whatever reason, and sold a lot of decent food and ingredients. Sometimes they had really good sales, too... like today! But she had to beat other people there... and that's where her hoverskates came in! ... Still, part of her mind was on the missed opportunity... it was even worse because Reika couldn't overcome her anxiety about attempting to just... go up to the SUPER building and try to register... it was too big and scary!
But she wanted to be a hero. She really, truly did.
So lost in thought was the redheaded girl that she didn't notice the rather shady looking people in oversized long coats hanging around nearby... and had never paid much attention to the fact that Meiko Mart was right across from a bank.
The Beach
On the beach, the place where things should arguably be at their most idyllic, things were in fact quite the opposite. Screams of various people in various swimsuits, from adults to children, echoed across the sands as the thing rose from the water. It was vaguely crocodalian, and as it turned its eyes to the fleeing beach-goers its lips parted in a wide grin, displaying a set of razor sharp teeth.
"Ahahaha!" it roared with laughter, throwing its head back, "Yes, fear, fear the world's new top predator, the invincible CrocoKill!"
It lunged forward, plunging up onto the beach and out of the water, sniffing the air. "Haaa... what to make my first meal? These beasts all look so delicious... but aren't the younger ones sweeter?"
Its yellow eyes centered on a small middle school girl with black braids in her hair, who had fallen over in the struggle to flee. He licked his lips, striding closer...
As it drew closer, the Beach District was issued an annoucement through the city's communication system.
"All civilians, please be aware there is a Downpour-Class threat currently active in the Beach District. Heroes are en route."
