Cutscene: Hiro in Training

“Knowing what we do about parahumans, it is in the benefit of our nation’s national security, financial stability, and simply peace, that we limit the reach of parahuman power to what is innate to them... and keep the financial, political and social influence in the hands of normal individuals.

Allowing parahumans to leverage their abilities to make millions or billions of dollars with little comparative effort allows them to go even further. We cannot let these rogues run roughshod over our industries. What’s to stop them from building armies of mercenaries, infiltrating the political sphere, indoctrinating our children through the media and who knows what else?

We can already see the situation on our streets. Local gangs all over the country are actively looking for capes to lead them, to give them legitimacy and importance. Mark my words, if this bill fails to pass, that will only be the beginning.”

— Anton Dick, Co-Sponsor of the NEPEA-5 Bill and Disgraced Senator

– o – o – o – o – o – o – o –​

Hiro Yasuda gulped nervously as his hands tapped at his sides, the fifth time this night he had swallowed down a mouthful of nothing but spit and fear. He held back a shudder, the chill of the night air affecting him just as much as his nerves.

After a few seconds of suffering in silence, the teen gave in and hunched in on himself, hands rising his hands from his pockets to rub them together, somewhat relaxed by the fact that he could see a few other people doing the same thing. It was oddly cold for May the last week or so in the city, and no one was really sure why. Some said that the smart money was on the cause being one of Bakuda’s bombs exploding unnoticed or something but Hiro doubted that much.

“You.”

The Japanese teenager rose up again and stood stock still as he heard the voice again, back and arms straight in his best imitation of a soldier, among a large crowd of others around his age. Like before, several did the same, either of their own volition or mimicking his actions. At his side, and a few steps behind, stood his bigger friend Eugene in his usual purple-trimmed tracksuit, the beefier Korean boy looking much more at ease and far less cold. Hiro shuddered again, hands entering his pockets, as he regretted wearing only a T-Shirt to this. Should have known better.

But then again, it really wasn’t his fault. After all, he had assumed this meeting would have been held in one of the old ABB’s furnished and heated safehouses and not…

Well, not this.

No matter what the situation, some old abandoned warehouse by the docks was not where the ABB had held meetings before, he knew that much. From what he heard of Lung’s pride and some of the older men running what had been the ABB for the short time he had been connected to it, that sort of thing — this sort of place — would be considered beneath them, more suited for people like the Merchants. Then again, Hiro was never invited to those meetings and he had only been a gofer for the gang for barely half a year so it wasn’t at all like he actually knew that much of anything.

Just earlier today, messages had gone out throughout what remained of the ABB’s information network, informing everyone that the new boss was holding a meeting, they being the younger wannabe members of what had once been the ABB. Normally this wouldn’t be important or relevant, as they were never invited to these things, being jun-ko-sein, trainees at best, gofers at worst. What made this so blatantly different was that they had been the ones specifically requested, the eighteen-and-under junkosei, the ones who had no real boss and were too green to even be considered real members.

Hiro had simply been on his way home after another not-so-boring day at Winslow, the only real highlight to his day getting to witness some Empire assholes getting their asses kicked by some other blond white kid who had gotten sick of their shit. That had been a sight to witness, especially considering the E88 kids had been walking around Winslow like they owned the place ever since school had started back up. Still, his good mood had wavered somewhat after getting the message that the boss wanted them to come in for a meeting.

For what, Hiro didn’t know yet, but it had to be important.

Still, though, Hiro couldn’t help but feel like it was very odd that the meeting was so short-notice and held in a place like this - I'm not even sure half the under-18s made it here - but even then, he wasn’t going to be the one to raise his voice and question the new boss.

Speaking of the new boss…

The reason Hiro stood there — along with everybody else — strolled past him, eyes glowing a bright blue behind his red face mask, giving him a ghoulish appearance that somehow managed to outdo the skull face mask the cape used to wear. It certainly didn’t help that his voice seemed to echo from behind his mask, seemingly coming from everywhere around you at once and making it impossible for him to go unheard.

“You.”

A red-gloved finger darted out and, without hesitation, another teenager stepped out from the crowd. Another girl this time, Hiro noted to himself as he watched her take a few more steps toward the line-up of five boys and two other girls standing several meters in front of the crowd. Pausing for a moment, she glanced back over her shoulder at the crowd behind her, a tight smirk on her face as she blew a kiss back and winked, several hands in the crowd that Hiro couldn’t quite see cheering her on. Sashaying forward, the newly chosen took her place in line and placed a hand on her hip as if striking a pose.

From where he stood, Hiro let out a breathy sigh, eyes half-lidded as he took her in from head to toe, focusing on her face more than anything else.

She was pretty, there was no doubt about that, beautiful even with her hair tied back in a tight bun and two long bangs framing her face and jawline like fine art. She also knew how to dress herself to look her absolute best, even her casual outfit looking styled to perfection. From the choker around her neck to the black-and-red varsity jacket that hung just so from her delicate shoulders — probably from whatever huge sports guy she was dating — and the almost-too-short red skirt she wore made it hard to look her in the face.

After a few seconds of staring, Hiro came to his senses and let out another sigh, this one more disappointed than dreamy. What are you doing, Hiro?, he chastised himself. You’re not here to look at girls. Besides, she’s out of your league and she knows it, too. Truthfully from the look in her amber eyes and her knowing, superior smile, she probably knew she was out of most people’s league. Not like she’s even wrong. She’s probably used to dating big, strong, handsome guys lik-

“You!”

Hiro jerked himself out of his thoughts as the voice rang out, gloved hand pointing out again.

This time, in his direction.

What?

He blinked.

The teenager felt his heart rise in his chest, mouth already open and one hand going to his chest to confirm what he could barely believe. His mouth had barely formed the single syllable when a familiar figure walked past him and towards the line of teenagers, purple-lined tracksuit and large frame making him hard to miss.

All at once, Hiro felt his mood fall and his nerves dissipate.

Yeah, of course. He nodded, entirely unsurprised as he watched Gene join the line as the ninth chosen, the larger boy waving back at him with an easy grin. Hiro didn’t waste a moment to raise his hand and wave back, a slight smile on his face as he tried to ignore his own disappointment. I’d have picked Eugene too. The guy’s a tank.

The boss walked past again, red mask turning as he surveyed the waiting crowd of expectant and eager teenagers. Already nine spots, Hiro thought to himself. How many is he going to pick? Hell, why is he even pick-

“You!”

The mask turned towards Hiro again, the small teenager raising an eyebrow as he glanced around to see who else the cape could be pointing at. A few moments and a few confused looks passed between him and several others before the boy glanced back at the red-masked parahuman still pointing at him.

Him.

“What the fuuuuu-”

A hard shove from behind sent him moving towards the other line, but Hiro found himself coming to a harsh stop almost immediately after, meeting the eyes of the boss. His nerves at an all-time high as hundreds of eyes stared at him, it took more effort than he imagined possible for him to raise a shaky hand to his chest and ask the only question on his mind.

“M-me?”

If Hiro didn’t know better, he could have sworn the boss was actually smiling at him as he stared back. A heavy, gloved hand dropped down on his shoulder, eliciting a slight grunt from him even as he maintained eye contact. “Yeah, you. Now get over there.”

Hiro felt his cheeks heat up from several emotions, one in particular, but obeyed as quickly as he could manage. With his head down, the teenager scampered towards the spot next to Eugene, the guy already snickering at his red face before he even managed to get in line, taking the tenth place. Before Hiro could elbow him to stop laughing, the boss clapped his hands together, the sound echoing loudly throughout the empty, almost completely silent warehouse.

“Everyone here knows what the ABB was.”

There were murmurs of agreement from the gathered crowd of teens, most of them familiar with the gang’s activities.

“You all know what the ABB was, what it did, who it hurt.” The boss continued again as he stood perfectly between both the crowd of teenagers and his chosen ten, voice booming and bouncing throughout the warehouse in a way that just wasn’t natural.

Hiro gulped.

He knew better than most, really. He knew of the girls who were smuggled into Brockton Bay, the ones who chose to come here to work at the “party places”, the ones who fought back, the ones who stopped working suddenly, the ones he was told to stop asking questions about…

The bespectacled boy spared a glance at Eugene, relaxed by the fact that he didn’t know much about all that due to his own lack of curiosity. At times, it could be annoying, but Hiro would take it as the blessing it was.

"You’re all here because you were part of the ABB. Whether you were forced into it or if you chose this life yourselves, I don’t care. You had your own reason for not leaving when I…,” Hardkour paused to Hiro’s confusion, chuckling for some reason, “when my friend and I decided to finish things with Lung, Bakuda and Oni Lee.”

The short teenager nodded at that last name despite himself, having watched that last fight at least a dozen times since the beginning of the month, having managed to find a rip to download on his shitty laptop. Even though it hadn’t been captured in perfect Tinker Quality super-HD like the two Lung fights, that cape battle was still his favorite. No one had ever seen Oni Lee move like that or produce that many clones, and they certainly hadn’t expected some new young cape out of nowhere to fight him the way he did. Grainy and badly captured, sure, but it was still insanely awesome in an entirely different way than the White Knight fights.

“Whether it was for money, for power, for protection, I don't care. You chose to stay.”

Hiro knew that last one rang true to him, and he doubted he was wrong in assuming that was what most of the people here wanted more than anything else. Though, the boss might have had it a bit backwards. More than money, more than power, more than respect. They wanted to protect what they saw as theirs; their neighborhoods, their homes, their family.

Just like him.

“That makes you mine. My responsibility."

Gloved hands snapped to his back and Hardkour continued walking back up the line, only coming to a stop as he met the gaze of the first teenager he chose. The boy stared back at him with a relaxed smirk, a cool-looking half-Chinese guy with green stripes in his hair.

“Mine to lead. Mine to protect.”

Nodding as if confirming something he already knew, the boss walked down to the next person in line, a short Japanese kid in an Edison Academy boy’s uniform and slicked-back hair. On top of that, he seemed to have been cursed with what looked like a terminal inability to show emotion.

"The ABB no longer exists. You know this already.”

Another nod and Hardkour stepped forward to face number three, the eye-slits of his mask lighting up with bright blue light as he tilted his head back to make eye contact with the freakishly tall stern-faced Filipino.

“Your bosses told you, cause I made sure to remind them to pass it down.”

Number four winked up at him, a cute Japanese girl wearing a wig and glasses — both a shocking neon pink — that starkly contrasted with the red tartan of her Immaculata skirt. As Hardkour continued to stare at her, she stuck the tip of her tongue out and winked at him in a display that was oddly cute.

“No more theft. No more slavery.”

Fifth in line avoided the boss’s gaze, lowering her head and putting the large red stripe in her hair on display. Interestingly enough, she wore a long black-and-red striped scarf as if to copy the boss’s solid red one.

“No more rampaging gangs.”

The sixth chosen, a baby-faced Vietnamese kid, palmed his fist as the boss neared him, dropping into a light bow as the cape’s gaze landed on him.

“You are protectors of your neighborhood. That's all you need to be.”

Number seven, a chubby Japanese kid with thick glasses and hair that he had clearly spent time dying grey tied back in a ponytail, flashed the boss a grin and a peace sign.

"You protect your people, I protect you and make it worth your while."

The hot girl with the varsity jacket only smirked, eyes sparkling at the last words from the masked cape.

“Are we clear?”

Hardkour stood between both Eugene and Hiro, glowing eyes flickering between the both of them. Hiro ignored the sweat on his brow as he nodded back at his boss, trying his best not to think of how it felt like his soul was being laid bare the longer the cape looked at him.

"Yeah…" Eugene replied, seemingly not even bothered.

"I said, are we CLEAR?" A shout like a roar swept out as Hardkour whipped around to face the silent crowd, visible wind rippling over Hiro and the rest of the gathered ten.

"Yes, boss!" The warehouse was filled with the din of dozens of teenagers shouting back in unison, each one of them motivated by the sudden fear of an angry cape.

“Good.” Once again, Hiro was struck with the sudden odd idea that the boss had to be smiling at them behind that red face mask, but he had no idea why. “These ten…” the boss pointed at each one of them in turn, gaze still facing the larger crowd, “are my new bosses.”

Hiro felt his heart freeze in his chest. What.

“Your new big brothers and sisters. Each of them will choose two little brothers or sisters. The rest of you will be selected as part of their squads. You follow their lead. They follow mine.”

The teenager glanced around himself, all the other people in line with him looking much more eager and excited at these words. His gaze turned back to the eagerly-listening crowd of former wannabes, fresh faces, happy smiles and unscarred bodies staring back at him. All of us? Membership? Just like that? Him being chosen was weird enough, but Hiro was left unsure of what to think about an entire warehouse of teenagers promoted so quickly.

“They report to me and they keep you in line. You cross them. You cross me. Everyone who didn't make it to the meeting - make sure they get this message.Simple enough?”

An army nodded their heads.

"The Azn Bad Boys are no more,” the boss continued as he began walking back to the middle again, red scarf trailing behind him like a cape. “Sad thing is, that means you guys don’t have a name at all. Not yet, at least. And no, the ‘Reds’, ‘Blues’ and ‘Whites’ aren’t names. Ridiculous, really.”

Hiro blinked in confusion, the act mimicked by many others as the tension that had just gripped the room began to fade as the boss continued speaking aloud.

“Honestly, if I really felt like it, I'd name you the Azn Gud Boys…” Hiro choked on an unintended laugh, the sound barely held back by force of will, “but that sounds TERRIBLE, doesn’t it? Like, just the absolute worst name."

It started with him, he couldn’t help it.

A giggle escaped his tightly clenched lips despite him trying his very best.

With him laughing, Eugene chuckled along, his voice much louder as he wasn’t trying to hold back at all.

Just like that, the floodgates opened and almost everyone in the warehouse laughed along with the boss’s joke, immature youth doing what they do best.

"Oh… so you think that's funny?"

And just like that, the crowd stilled, laughter vanishing faster than water down a drain.

"Cause I really didn't think the joke was that funny.” Hardkour shrugged his shoulders and let out a chuckle of his own. “I appreciate the laughs, guys."

Hiro allowed himself a smile as the tension faded again. He wasn't sure why he of all people was chosen to lead, but the boss had to have seen something in him. It had to be something important enough to single him out, too.

Justin Li

AGB Big Brother

HP: 250/250

A smooth wannabe playboy, Justin joined the ABB to rebel against his dorky white dad. Tough enough to hold his own in a street fight. Figures he might as well ride it out and see how the new boss will do things. Sees Hardkour as the biggest bad-ass in the city next to White Knight.

Shinichi Nobunaga

AGB Big Brother

HP: 210/210

A quiet boy, Shinichi had served as a small-time gofer for the former ABB under constant threat of violence. When Bakuda took over, he couldn’t stand by as people were strapped with bombs and began removing as many he could find from people as discreetly as he could. Decided to join the ABB purposefully after hearing about Hardkour’s leadership.

Chad Cheng Lv 14

AGB Big Brother

HP: 350/350

Strong and silent, Chad isn’t someone to be messed with. He joined the ABB after three Empire members tried to attack his mother. Has beaten three grown men to a pulp at the age of 16. Speaks four languages fluently and plays Spanish guitar.

Yumi Jakuzure Lv 9

AGB Big Sister

HP: 185/185

An acrobat and a member of the Immaculata marching band, Yumi has a habit of hanging out with boys on the wrong side of the tracks. Funny enough, that same side of the tracks has made her real familiar with how to shoot a gun. Hands-on type of familiar.

Amy Kim Lv 8

AGB Big Sister

HP: 170/170

Amy Kim comes from a nice conservative middle-class Korean-Chinese family. Her father does something dull at an office building Downtown. Amy met a nice white boy who ended up cheating on her for a not-so-nice white girl. Amy decided to rebel and joined the ABB to show she could be a bad girl, bringing along her father’s antique samurai sword - which is odd, because he’s Korean, not Japanese. Wants to learn from Hardkour on how to better use it.

Lance Quan Lv 10

AGB Big Brother

HP: 250/250

A Vietnamese orphan, Lance threw his hat in with the ABB to actually make something of himself. Well-practiced in Muay Thai and possesses a treasured pair of brass knuckles.

Yoshi Noboyuki Lv 9

AGB Big Brother

HP: 285/285

Proud Chuuni and gamer, Yoshi has been bullied since before middle school and has sent most bullies packing with his bulk and quick willingness to throw a punch. He keeps strong and bulky by lifting hard and eating a lot. Joined the ABB to learn how to be a ninja and stayed to get Hardkour’s autograph.

Aoi Huoyan Lv 8

AGB Big Sister

HP: 180/180

The ambitious Aoi knows what it means to be a boss. Leading her own crew of girls from Immaculata’s halls into the ranks of the ABB, she wants respect and power that she knows she’ll never get from a normal life. Thinks Hardkour is hot.

Eugene Hwang Lv 10

AGB Big Brother

HP: 300/300

A wannabe weightlifter. Regular boxer. Acquaintance of Hiro Asada. Eugene doesn’t have much going on upstairs but that’s more a matter of choice than ability. Prefers to live in the now.

Hiro Yasuda Lv 5

AGB Big Brother

HP: 170/170

Short. Near-sighted. Lactose intolerant. Gamer. Acquaintance of Eugene Hwang. Hiro Asada is many things but strong is not one of them. Eager to please and eager to prove himself, Hiro joined the ABB of his own volition to learn how to be tougher. Thinks Hardkour is super-cool, even more so than White Knight.

Whatever it was, Hiro knew he was going to have to live up to it.