19 Count Down (4)

- Boom!

Without waiting for his curt speech to end, I dashed directly at him. Hoping to end it with a kick.

Sadly, a transparent wall-like substance protected him. The special thing about this wall was its elasticity.

The kick was pushed back with higher force, throwing me out of the shop. And the door automatically opened up, to bid me farewell.

"Kya!!"

"Woah, is that for real!?"

The nearby people were finally realized that this wasn't a prank and were scared.

"Don't worry, ladies and gentlemen. I, Gentle Criminal, absolutely abhor hurting others. I will be gone as soon as I get what I came for."

"Whoo~ So cool, Gentle!"

Feeling shy from the compliments of his own side-kick, Gentle looked away and coughed awkwardly.

"Now, Mr. Cashier. Could you please empty up your coffins?"

His polite manner of speaking didn't go well with his actions. He was mobbing the store yet his words seemed ever-so-kind.

"H-Here!"

The worker who pointed out the fact about cameras, gave everything they had.

La Brava, as the side-kick was called, started packing up the money in a suitcase while Gentle was brewing tea(?).

"It's done, Gentle!"

"I'm done here too-Ouch!"

Spilling the tea on his hand, he screamed because of a nasty burn.

"Gentle! Are you alright?"

"Hehe, such is the life of a criminal. Don't worry about it."

There was nothing criminal about spilling tea over one's hands but La Brava didn't point it out, instead just clapped her hands in amazement.

"Wow~ You're really dedicated, Gentle!"

That bluntness was the reason she fell for this 'bad boy' in the first place.

"Let's wait a bit for the heroes to show up, La Brava."

"Umu, Gentle. They should realize your greatness too."

"In good time, La Brava. All in good time. Hahaha!"

Hearing them talk, I scrunched up my brows and rubbed my temples.

After being thrown out, I was currently waiting outside the McDonaldo shop. For the moment when Gentle stepped out.

Fighting within the shop would cause a lot of damage. But damage wasn't the main crux of the problem.

'His quirk isn't actually destructive. It's more of a counter-type. If there is any damage in the store, I would be the one sued for it.'

Yes, I was worried about being sued by the authorities and the owner of McDonaldo.

After a few minutes passed, a few local heroes arrived.

"Hey, kid, have you seen a villain around?"

- Zoom!

When he asked that question, the door to the shop opened up, revealing a pair of villains.

"Welcome, my dear heroes. I am the Gentle Criminal. Here to leave my worthy traces in the canals of history for an eternity."

One look was enough for the heroes to know that Gentle was weird.

"Stop right there. Let's do this without any fight."

Among the 4 heroes, one was acting like the leader. He probably owned an agency and the other 3 were his assistants.

"Haha! In this entire world, there is no force capable of stopping love. And I'm the love of class, personified in human form."

The assistants drew out their weapons, ready to attack.

"Oh~ I wouldn't suggest you attack me."

After all, his power was [Elastic]. The ability that came in handy while countering attacks, not initiating them.

"Amazing, Gentle! You're so kind to your enemies!"

La Brava didn't forget to add a good word or two.

"Mah~ Mah~ La Brava, it's not kindness but respect."

Chiding his side-kick with a curt tone, he ignored the heroes.

"Tch! Should I take care of this guy, boss?"

The hothead among the assistants spoke up.

"No, first evacuate the civilian. I don't think he's someone we can underestimate."

Civilians? There was nobody around here, except the heroes and the villains. Maybe some people were still stuck inside the McDonaldo.

"Hey, kid, run away. That's a deadly villain there."

'Wait, am I the civilian?'

Now, things were getting difficult.

"Ah, it's fine. I'm a cadet."

"Huh? A hero cadet?"

Nope, just a normal cadet at a normal school. But he was free to misunderstand. The developed muscles did make me look older, helping to solidify the lie.

"Ahh!"

Our conversation didn't last long as the entire team of heroes were defeated in a jiffy.

"What? That's impossible!"

Yeah, the extra believes his team to be all-powerful. Did he think that he was a part of Almight's team? No, even Almight lost a few times.

"Why don't you go fight him? I will maintain some distance and call for other heroes."

The plan was to fight Gentle after the heroes were defeated but they didn't know that. Acting like I had no choice but to fight when they were defeated, would give me some extra defense in court.

"Okay!"

Dashing forward, the hero completely trusted me, a boy he met for the first time. Trust was definitely a necessary thing for heroes. But this was clearly foolishness.

"Take this! Revolvo Thuder!"

Rotating at high speeds, the hero jumped in the air and kicked Gentle, only to be blocked by a screen.

The elastic screen absorbed all the kinetic energy that the hero threw and rebounded it against the hero.

"Ahh!"

- Boom!

Because of the recoil, the hero flew away and stuck an opposing building, denting himself in it.

"Shall we have some tea now that the heroes are defeated?"

"Gentle, we should hurry. A lot of heroes are coming here."

"Mah~ Mah~ La Brava, there's always time for tea.... But we should change the locations first."

As Gentle was about to leave with her, someone stood before them.

"Oh~ If it isn't the heroic boy from before."

"Yo~ If it isn't the cringey dude from before."

I stood against him. One looked like the epitome of showmanship while the other looked like he was walking towards school but passed through a bush, because of the first attack that threw me out of McDonaldo and on the street.

Perhaps the school uniform wasn't the best thing to fight in. Neither was his suit.

"Move aside-"

I dashed at him and slid next to his body, aiming for a quick end.

- Boom!

The elastic screen showed up again. But I didn't get blown away, using my hand to hold the ground and denting it in the process. It couldn't completely block the rebound damage to my leg but made sure that I was hurtled away, like that hero.

"Give up-"

- Boom!

The same thing happened on the opposite side. His back, front and sides were completely covered by a thin flim of elasticity.

'The 5th gate can break through. But that would be an awful shame to use here.'

"You're pretty diligent, Young Hero. But I have to go now. So bid you fare-"

- Crack! Boom!

"Huh?"

Gentle was shocked when a kick almost blew up his nose, missing the mark by a few millimeters.

"Ah~ I missed."

As I smiled sadistically, his temperament changed. He wasn't taking me lightly anymore.

"You're strong, Young Hero. Was it sharpness?"

His eyes landed on the sharp metal in between my fingers. I threw a sharp object between the leg and the elastic wall, puncturing the elastic quirk.

Elastic beats pure force. But can be cut through with a blade.

No quirk is completely invenerable. Neither was his [Elastic].

"Elastic beats rock. Scissors beats elastic. I studied Rock-Paper-Scissors for this day."

Definitely not because it was the most popular game in kindergarden.

"I see."

As for where the sharp objects came from, one could easy find them in the heap of fallen heroes, who had broken a part of their costumes and gadgets.

"Let's make our escape, La Brava."

He bounced up in the sky, trying to get away.

Jumping on the transparent walls, he used his quirk to maneuver midair. One of his arms held his assistant, La Brava.

"La Brava, do you know him?"

"No, Gentle. He's not on any known hero database."

La Brava checked something on her phone. A nerd like her was able to hack in the most advanced, security systems and could easily find more information about others.

"A hero cadet, then?"

"Hey, where are you going?"

Following their speed, I smirked.

Their speed, although faster than mine, wasn't untraceable. Thanks to the courtesy of the arrow which always pointed the shortest route towards the target.

They increased their speed once again, losing their accuracy only to lose their pursuit. Unfortunately, the extra-terrestrial system wasn't on their side.

"He will follow us back to the base if he keeps following us."

After a few attempts at losing me, they realized that wasn't possible.

"We have no other option but to face him. As a reward for his strength."

"You sure?"

I sneaked up on them and tried an overhead kick. 

He created a barrier above his head. I threw a metallic fragment between my leg and the shield. Kicked on the blunt side, the metal piece tore through the elastic wall.

"Close call~"

Gentle side-stepped it. Not with his speed but smarts. Creating an elastic barrier to the side, he bounced away from the kick.

But the chase wasn't over. No matter how many attack he dodged, it didn't matter.

"You're strong on land but can you fight in the air, Young Hero?"

Gentle used his quirk to keep jumping in the air, creating a huge distance between us.

"That should get rid of him, right?"

"No, La Brava. That boy is a tough case."

"Sure am!"

I showed up right before them and threw a punch, holding something sharp like a knuckle. Because of Stendhal's training, it was easy to use the nearby buildings as a footing to fly, even if it was for a moment.

"Wah!"

La Brava was shocked and let out an instinctive scream. Gentle, on the other hand, already created a shield above his head and pushed himself down.