Part 2: Radiation

Taiki knocked on Sayaka's door and peeked through the window. He could see the living room of her house and slumped on the couch sleeping was Sayaka herself. Taiki chuckled and told Kiyo to teleport inside and open the door for him. After they were both in, Taiki walked over to the couch and nudged Sayaka, but it caused no reaction. After a few more taps, Sayaka finally opened her eyes and yawned. She looked up at Taiki and let out a confused noise.

"Sorry for intruding, but we need your help," Taiki said.

Sayaka rubbed her eyes. "With what?"

"We're gonna go take down a gang tonight."

"Ehhh!?"

"Yeah, the police are backing us up too, so it shouldn't be too hard, especially if you're there."

Sayaka stood up and stretched her arms out. She was a cute girl by Taiki's standards, on about the same level as Kiyo. She has long, wavy, blondish-white, and had light pinkish-purple eyes. She usually wore a plain white shirt and a frilly purple skirt, which she was wearing currently. As for powers, she had the ability to create invisible fields, including walls and platforms. She could also fly effortlessly and had a strong level of telekinesis. Sayaka also went to Ichimai Academy where she was ranked 8th among the students, though this was partly due to the fact that she rarely took part in official battles. Taiki, Kiyo, and Sayaka together were a force to be reckoned with in Osaka and while the three of them were often challenged alone, few people dared to fight all three of them.

"Oh, well I guess I could come," Sayaka answered. "What gang is it?"

"The one led by Reactor, the radiation guy," Kiyo explained.

"Reactor? Seriously? Isn't he like, super dangerous?"

"So what, he's not gonna be able to beat all three of us, even with the rest of his gang," said Taiki confidently.

"I guess that's true."

"Anyways, we're doing this thing at 10 at the construction site that was abandoned a few years ago. That's their current base."

"What are you going to do until then? You don't seem to have a plan, do you?"

"I don't think we're gonna need a plan. They're not expecting us, so we should be able to just go in and take them out."

"What if they are expecting us?"

"Then we'll deal with that if we need to. Until then, I say we just relax and wait."

"So can I go back to sleep?"

"If it gives you some more energy for later then go for it."

"Thanks!"

Sayaka flopped back onto her couch and quickly fell asleep. The minutes passed until it was time to raid Reactor's base. Taiki once again woke Sayaka up and the three of them left her house. Upon arrival at the construction site, Taiki noticed three gang members messing around with a lighter. He signaled to Kiyo and she teleported down into the middle of the three men. She immediately slammed her knee into one's jaw, which prompted the other two to jump back and launch bolts of energy at her.

"So they have powers," Taiki thought, watching the battle below.

Kiyo teleported in front of another thug and swept his legs out beneath him, then drove his head into the ground. As another bolt of energy was flung at her from the last gang member, she once again teleported and appeared over the man, delivering a forceful kick to the face.

"All clear!" Kiyo yelled.

Taiki and Sayaka jumped down from the beams of metal they were perched on and followed Kiyo deeper into the site. There seemed to be no one else present, but the base had clearly been recently inhabited. Suddenly, an explosion went off to the group's right, and a giant fireball came barreling out of it. Taiki quickly reacted and caught the fireball effortlessly, then launching it back at the explosion as an armor-clad person charged out of it. The man blocked the fireball with his arms and activated two flamethrowers located on his wrists. Taiki, Sayaka, and Kiyo all backed up and as Sayak was about to create a force barrier in front of them, she was struck by a shard of metal. Taiki turned around just in time to block another shard and saw someone lurking in the shadows. Without hesitation, Kiyo teleported behind the person and punched him in the head, but he didn't flinch. He pulled out a katana from a sheath on his back swung it at Kiyo, who teleported behind him again. This time, she created an energy sword attached to her hand and easily cut the person's katana in half. The person then brought out a handful of metal shards and threw them at Kiyo, who teleported away and back. She changed her energy sword into a chain and used it to wrap up the person and bring him towards her. She then switched back to the energy sword and thrust it into his helmet. Upon pulling it out, it was revealed that the person was just a robot.

Meanwhile, Taiki and Sayaka were double-teaming the armored man, who was struggling to keep with the two of them. He generated two fireballs and shot one at each of them, but Taiki deflected one and Sayaka created a barrier to nullify the other. As a last resort, the man activated self-destruct mode on his armor and proceeded to spray his flames all across the area. As his armor was about to overheat and explode, Kiyo teleported beside Taiki and Sayaka formed a force bubble around them, protecting them from the fiery suicide.

As Sayaka dropped the barrier, a wave of radioactive energy came flying at them. It knocked all three of them into a wall as the leader of the gang, Reactor, stepped into view.

"Shit," muttered Taiki. "Where the hell are the police?"

"I had my henchmen take their cars out on the way here," Reactor laughed.

"How did you know?" Taiki asked.

"When you took out my men at the store earlier today, one of them was smart enough to pretend to be an innocent bystander. He overheard you talking to the police and reported back."

"Dammit," Taiki spat. "Well, whatever. I'm not gonna have too much of a problem with you anyways."

"A little confident, are we?"

"Come on, I'm the strongest person in this city. You think some dude with radioactive powers is gonna beat me? I have resistance to that crap, by the way."

"Ah, I know you do. However, your friends don't."

"Huh?"

Taiki looked behind him to see Kiyo and Sayaka on the ground, suffering from radiation poisoning.

"That quickly?"

"Of course. My radiation is significantly stronger than any other type. Your friends won't survive much longer."

"If you want to save them, then you'd better beat me fast."

Taiki smiled. "Challenge accepted."

He started out strong with multiple bolts of electricity, startling Reactor. His armor easily protected him though, and he shot a beam of radiation at Taiki, who took it straight on. Surprised, Reactor stepped back sent out another beam, which Taiki simply ran through. Taiki reached Reactor and released a burst of fire in his face, sending him flying into a wall. Taiki quickly destroyed two beams of metal holding up the area around Reactor, causing the ceiling to fall onto him. Reactor disintegrated the rubble with a field of radiation around him. Realizing that he couldn't win, Reactor launched another wave of radiation, aiming not for Taiki, but for Kiyo and Sayaka.

"There. I just about doubled their sickness. If you don't get them to a hospital now, they'll die."

Taiki considered his options. He didn't want Reactor to get away, but he obviously couldn't let Sayaka and Kiyo die.

"I'll let you go this time," Taiki told Reactor. "But next time will be different."

Reactor laughed and ran away while Taiki picked up Sayaka and Kiyo. While he couldn't teleport like Kiyo, Taiki could easily fly by shooting flames out of his feet. He cruised over the city to the nearest hospital and landed in front of the door. He burst in calling for someone to help him and multiple nurses came and took Sayaka and Kiyo. Taiki told them that the two girls had gotten radiation poisoning and the nurses quickly found a room for them. Taiki was told to wait in the lobby while the doctor checked them out. About thirty minutes later, the doctor came out and told Taiki that they'd be fine. He explained that their technology would easily be able to cure them of the poisoning. Taiki thanked the doctor, relieved that his friends would be okay, and left the hospital to chase after Reactor.