A Hero’s Welcome
In the twilight hours of a dry Sunday evening, the air was filled with the joyful laughter of friends gathered to celebrate a milestone. Daisuke, eyes sparkling with excitement, had just received news of his acceptance into prestigious yukojiin, Chikara Koko, a dream he had worked tirelessly the past two years to achieve. Surrounding him were his closest companions: Michelle, the spirited musician with an infectious energy; Pascal, the quiet cautious artist whose imagination knew no bounds; and Enkai, the loyal friend whose presence brought a sense of stability to the group.
The neon glow of the fast-food joint bathed the group of friends in a familiar, almost nostalgic ambiance; the atmosphere was charged with anticipation and camaraderie as this was going to be the final time for a while that they would be able to hangout in their favorite spot together.
Michelle, smiling, energetic as ever, clapped her hands together in excitement as the server brought the group their food, a bowl of soup with spiced meats arrived before her, made from old world Eisinian recipes, as Enkai caressed the stitches in the chair they’re in.
“Can’t believe that we got in.” Daisuke said with jubilation.
“We made it, bud. Happy you’ll be joining me.” Pascal threw out as he escaped his jacket, throwing it on the back of his chair.
Amidst the hustle and bustle of the busy establishment, they found themselves confronted by an unexpected altercation, as a stranger from the table next to theirs called out, “Hey, zeroes, why don’t you people keep it down!”, sparking Daisuk’s stand-offish demeanor to clash with the hostile words, snapping a few curses. “Yeah, whatever, we’re all happy for you, but we’re trying to have our own celebration.”
This captured the group’s attention as they all looked over by this point, noticing the table was fairly large, a mix of eight people, mostly made up of women as there were only two men, roughly the same age as the group, with the exchanged words sending ripples of tension through the establishment.
“Not that the likes of any of you would even understand this.” One of the men says, “But tomorrow is the first day of evaluations. I was just accepted by none other than Chikara-Koko, so if you don’t mind, keep it down.”
“Ch- No.” Pascal said, as Daisuke gave a scoff, before saying with irritation,
“We’re in the evaluations tomorrow too, bozo!”
“Oh?” The second man questioned, “That.. That can’t be true.” Giving a look over Daisuke, a dark boy, no older than nineteen, with a wide frame. His hair curled and his skin smooth, indicating a lack of work experience, causing a bit of a laugh, “Someone like you.. In there?”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Daisuke sneered as Enkai spoke up,
“Why? Because you couldn’t make it you think others can’t either?”
“No. Because Sto made it, I know you lot are hopeless.” he responds as the girls, considerably younger than their male accomplices giggle amongst themselves.
“Alright, hold on!” Michelle whispers to herself as Daisuke stands and points towards Sto, the boy who started the whole argument as staff begin to show up.
“Look here, you stuffed up kuno. You have no idea who we are! I got into that school without even having a ‘tousia! And just like I beat those scores, I bet I could beat your ass too!”
“A bet, I hear?” Sto peeks, his interest still focused on belittling them. “I tell you h’wat. If you can touch me, I’ll give you one of these girls for the night.”
Daisuke, initially dead set on taking it, is forced into a pause as he and the rest of the people are caught in the confusion, “I don’t… I’m not interested in your cousins.”
“Cousins.” Sto and his lackey laughed, as the girls appeared to be almost offended. “They’re my dates. Everyone at this table is with me tonight.”
“Even your boy?” Michelle added
“My h’wat, no?” Sto stumbled for a moment as his lackey began to cough before saying,
“But if he was into guys, then yeah, I’d be his main man.”
“Hold on, that’s not,” Before Sto can finish his statement, his lackey stood up, knocking into one of the staff as they finally arrived to the group, and said,
“So, the girls are just a cover.” Michelle said with a smirk as Sto looked to his lackey and paused with a questioning looking,
“No, you’re not my man, Rhao.”
Rhao, the lackey, looked back to Sto and let out a small whimpered “What?” causing the girls to look between each other, no longer fully following what was happening in the scene.
“Alright, let’s just sit down and get back to dinner.” Pascal said, patting Daisuke on the shoulder, bringing him back down after a moment of watching a bit of banter between Sto and Rhao as Rhao’s eyes began to swell.
With chaos unfolding around them, as the staff have joined the bickering, and are beginning to ask Sto and Rhao to leave, the group return to their celebration,
“Assholes.” Daisuke let out, cooling down as Enaki questioned,
“So, how’s your food, Michelle?”
“It’s great, I might even get seconds.” She replies, having been eating during the whole argument between the groups, as Pascal looks down at his simplistic burger, it finally cool enough for him to enjoy,
“What do you think the evaluations are gonna be, Pascal?” Daisuke questioned, peering over before taking a bite, the juices flowing down his face sloppily.
“Probably just some standard tests and general questions. They might have us do like a… Strategy game or something. I mean, it’s just to find out what dorm we’re supposed to be getting into.”
“Weird way to go about that.” Enaki said, sliding into the conversation as she twirled her finger around the rim of her glass of water.
“Sure, but there isn’t much common about this school.” Daisuke added.
“That’s for sure.” Michelle brought up, “I think it’s weird that we even need a permit to use our powers anyways, but it’s especially strange that a school way up in the clouds is supposed to be a big deal. I mean, some certificates wouldn’t do much if we were acting out in the precipices.”
“Whao.” Daisuke said, as Pascal added,
“Dangerous to be talking like that, Michelle, gotta be careful.”
“Oh, c’mon.” Enaki said, “It’s not like they’re always listening.”
“I agree” Daisuke said as Pascal added,
“But we can’t be too careful.”
“No need to go riling up some legal work.” Daisuke interjected.
“I just want to be rid of this chip so I can work in peace without having to worry if the Reles are gonna pop up at my house later.” Pascal said before taking a long slurp from his drink.
“Well, there are other ways to get rid of the chips besides having to waste all that time and money on some bullshit school.” Enaki brings up.
“OH MY GOD!” A sudden scream appears from the entrance, causing everyone to look over, even Sto and his company stopped to stare. “IT’S THE THROTTLE!” A woman called, fanning herself as the group felt as if they entered slow motion. Glass shatters from the front windows, as the entrance door leaves its hinges, flying right into the woman that noticed the Yoioshi first, sending her flying back into a table, tumbling over it, blood gushing from her face as a tall man suddenly appeared, within a blink, floating in the air where the woman had been standing.
Wearing a skintight suit of red, black and blue, with white seams that outline a strange rectangular symbol that appears to be a pattern on his back, is world famous Yoioshi; Absolute Throttle. A man that has never lost a fight, who has legends spoken of his ability to take on an entire army by himself. A man that is often compared to be the closest to god a person can be, and is occasionally questioned if he is even human.
His sudden appearance was especially a shock to the people of the diner as he was said to have been hundreds of miles away, helping build an outpost in the precipices to allow further travel between locations and expanding the habitable surface. The tension of his presence caused everything to stop, even hearts skipped a beat as everyone in the restaurant looked to the hero, ignoring the hostess whose skull was caved in from the force of the door as Throttle entered the building.
With a sigh, everyone hears Throttle’s strong voice commanded, “You need to calm down.” HIs hand raised just in time as, in a flash, another beast of a man appeared in the doorway, his hand being stopped by Throttle’s.
Skin darker than obsidian, and veins bulging from powerbuilder muscles, the beast’s nine foot stature added to his unusual figure, which became seared into the witness’ minds. A loud snort came from his wide nostrils as his hair appeared to slightly float, standing in a style of various spikes, running down his back, and glowing with a golden hue. His expression depicted that of animalistic emotion. After a brief pause, that only lasted a moment but felt like forever for Daisuke as he peered into the beast’s eyes from across the diner.
A flurry of punches broke the silence, the beast appeared in no mood for talking. Each of his swings whistled in the air, with blood flying across the diner with every smack of contact, sounding like gunshots, mixed with screaming as the two toppled tables. After just a moment of Throttle and the beast dancing around the diner, the beast had tired himself out and was forced to take a break to gather his breath, revealing that Throttle hadn’t received a single punch, in fact he didn’t have any blood on him. The whole minute of violence caused by the beast was him brutally punching several civilians who were behind Throttle as he jumped and levitated around the room.
Seeing the casualties around, the beast took a moment, sheer shock and horror running across his face as his fists gripped tightly and he began to shake. “Monster.” Daisuke heard the creature say quietly as Throttle tilted his head.
A smirk running across the hero’s face. “I told you.” Throttle said with a pause, looking around at the civilians, many of those who haven’t become casualties frozen in fear while those who have, lay in pools of blood and minced flesh, chunks of meat and bone now littering the walls and floor. Daisuke, having stood from his chair and watched the fight to this point, is yanked beneath their table by Enkai as she instinctively looks for the safety of her friends.
“Throttle.” The beast said, his throat letting out a natural gurgle, his heavy exhale fogs the air beneath him. His posture is in a constant squat so as to refrain from going through the ceiling. Suddenly, before the average person could comprehend what was happening, the black beast grabbed ahold of the nearest person by the head, his hand so big that his palm swallowed their face whole, and he raised them up. The roughness and speed of which he yanked the person likely snapped their neck, but if that wasn’t enough, the beast threw them at Absolute Throttle, who raised his hands, held together, creating a wedge which the body was split in half by, one half flying into a table of people, and the other half flying outside of the diner, where Daisuke could see several characters outside begin to run away, calling for help and screaming at the sight of Throttle fighting such a hulk.
Before the two halfs stopped, the diner shook, a gust of wind, strong enough to cause a minor tornado to whirl around it, sent the beast flying into the street, a few civilians, tables, and chairs joining him. A piercing ring that overtook all senses, causing several of the passerbyers around to throw up, followed. Disoriented and shaking from the power of the shockwave that just rippled through the establishment, Daisuke was able to put together that this was one of Throttle’s feats. His voice just spoke at some level of his power, unleashing such a devastating vibration.
Finally getting back his senses enough to look up without falling down and feeling dizzy, Daisuke peeked out from the table to see that an entire portion of the diner had collapsed under the power of Throttle’s voice. At least three more people must have been in the ruble, either dead or moaning in pain. These moans were met with a sneer by Throttle, who took a brief second to examine the blood and wrangled bodies of the civilians, and Daisuke knew; Throttle was about to avenge the people. This villainous Waruioshi isn’t going to get away with such chaos in the heart of Throttle’s home city of Tirasheppo.
“It’s a good thing I was on a personal errand in the city.” Throttle spoke, his voice returned to a normal level as he effortlessly floated over the debris, landing on the street just outside, where the beast had been thrown into a parked carrier vehicle.
“Personal? Everything is personal for someone like you.” The beast said between huffs. Struggling to get to his feet, the beast simply rested within an indent he had made in the engine of the carrier.
“Well, that may be. But this certainly became personal when you started destroying my city.” Throttle said, walking within arms reach of the villain that shadowed him, even in his downed position.
After a moment of silence, the beast gave out a light chuckle before forcing himself out of the engine and falling to his knees. The cuts and burns in his skin reattaching and healing as his muscles moved like tendrils beneath his skin. “This city… Belongs to the Zako-” before the creature could finish his statement, a speeder appeared above him, apparently manifesting in thin air and slamming into him, sending him into the ground, but strangely, there was no evidence of this beyond a handful of witness accounts.
“That was a neat trick.” Throttle said after a moment, peering above the diner and asking “I know I’ve been gone the last few years, but.. You seem new.”
“Yeah, I ain’t seen you since I was a kid, old man.” A voice called, familiar to all who could hear it. One of the newest Yoioshi to become trendy around the city.
“What’d you do with Sam?” Throttle questioned, ignoring the Yoioshi’s amiable words.
“You mean him?” The Yoioshi questioned as he pointed at the beast of a man in a loop of falling through a pair of apparent portals in the air above them. “He’ll be fine until the Reles get here to apprehend him.”
“I think it’s best if you just let me take care of him.” Throttle commanded, locking eyes with the unseen figure.
“Are you sure you don’t want any help?”
“I’m sure the Reles won’t have much of a chance against him.” Throttle’s words ran through the street, with an eerie silence accompanying them. After a few seconds, the unseen Yoioshi said with an audible smile.
“I mean.. When it was just you, a whole building was destroyed and several people died.” The tension becomes palpable almost immediately, a small crowd has begun to form. Throttle stares intently at the unseen man for a moment, his presence offering a pressure to the air. “Ah, I get it!”, The Yoioshi calls out with a lightness to his voice. “You’re just wanting to get the credit. First big bad you meet after years of being away and you need help to bring him down? That doesn’t sound like the famed Absolute Throttle we all know and love.”
Throttle’s serious expression lightens and he offers a smile to the Yoioshi’s words. “I remember you now.” Throttle’s words are met with him raising a finger towards the Yoioshi, pointing at him as he thinks about their past. “Gateway, right?”
“Yes, sir!” The Yoioshi responded, ecstatic that a legend knew him. Not just any celebrity, but the Throttle himself.
“You’ve really grown up. Thank you for being one of the Yoioshi to protect my city while I was away.” Throttle said with a smile, bringing his hand down to his hip and standing with a widened stance. “Go ahead and release Sam for me.”
“Look up!” Gateway called with a smile just as Throttle finished his statement, his joy boasting out of his words. Suddenly, the creature appeared just a few feet above Throttle, falling at a surprising speed, having gained the momentum from the falling loop he was in for several minutes as Gateway and Throttle spoke. All Throttle could do was look straight up as the giant flew right through him, stomach first, stopping half-way down, soaking Throttle in blood as the Yoioshi was unmoved, like a statue.
Spitting some of the blood that found its way into his mouth out to the side, Throttle raised the arm that he had just sat against his hip. Sam grasped at the ground below, his strength failing him as small croaking sounds escaped his throat before Throttle brought his hand, which he had begun to vibrate at such a high speed it was causing a type of optical illusion, down in a quick motion, cutting Sam in half. Grabbing the back of Sam’s head before it could actually fall, Throttle raised the beast’s face up to his own and smiled into the monster’s fading eyes.