Omega Fury #1: The Queen City Sisters
After the events of Azure Justice, Hiroki decided to depart back to his hometown and work for his brother, who happened to be the CEO of Lazuline's sister company, Turquoise Foundation. He also had a promise with someone who happened to be his childhood friend, who wanted to see him return to his northern hometown after fighting alongside Rachel and finally putting an end to Inukai and his fellow Blood Gear thugs and the Kamiyamas' and Dark Nightmare's reign of terror was single-handedly ended by Alfredo for what they did to his family. However, there were still some unfinished business waiting.
Years later, Hiroki stayed in Polaris Sanctuary, Turquoise's equivalent of Sunshine City located in the cold Okhotsk Subprefecture of Hokkaido. He remembered those days he spent there back when he was still a child, and he was sent to Sunshine City by his brother to study in Rurigaoka, hoping that he will learn a thing or two from someone who happened to be a friend of Turquoise's chief researcher.
He wished that Hiroki would someday inherit his company, should he die of old age or any other causes, despite the fact that Hiroki was still a prodigy and has a fear of failure. Meanwhile, Turquoise was actively researching a phenomenon known as "Omega Factor", a mysterious Sigil which allows the user to switch attributes at will, and only a few had this Sigil. Turquoise had to go outside Hokkaido and even abroad to find those who possess this Sigil.
One of them being Gabrielle Charity Minato, a 21-year old Canadian-Japanese girl from Toronto, also known by her nickname Gabbie. She was taken away by force along with her younger sister, Rei Minato during their time in Thailand. The siblings were detected to be possessing the mysterious Omega Factor Sigil, so they had to be taken to Polaris Sanctuary for safety reasons. Their parents didn't knew about their children's kidnapping, and they were left in the dark.
Gabbie woke up and found herself inside a dimly-lit ward that she could describe as something resembling a hospital or an asylum ward. There was nothing there aside from a small table, and she was still clad in her pink boyshorts, matching gloves and a white sports bra with pink trim and polkadots. Her feet wore nothing but white bandages wrapping her ankles, usually seen on kickboxers.
"It's even colder here than back home in Toronto. I can't turn off the AC! And where's Muh-mah, Dad and Rei?!" said Gabbie as she looked around, panicking. She felt as if she was imprisoned for her misdeeds, despite the fact that she was a well-behaving yet kind person. She banged the door, hoping that it would open, but it won't budge.
However, it won't take long until someone paid her a visit. A woman with a long blonde twin-tailed hair with red tips told her to get out of the holding room, and she was delighted to hear about it. "Thank God…" said Gabbie as she followed the mysterious woman.
"So, tell me your name.. I'd like to know" said the woman. "Gabrielle.. Minato. And this is my younger sister Rei. We ended up here all of a sudden and we lost our Mom and Dad. We had nowhere to go now.." answered Gabbie with a rather grim tone, since she felt as if she lost everything. "My name is Touka Higurashi, I'm Mr. Fujimiya's aide and I will be looking after you two for the time being. I'll take you to where your younger sister is" answered the woman.
She went out of her room and met up with Rei. The two are about to be taken in by the woman as her adoptive children, under the Fujimiyas' behest. Hiroki knew that Gabbie was a childhood friend of his, and she did spent her time in Japan during elementary school when her Dad was working there.
Gabbie and her younger sister were born from a Canadian mother and a Japanese father, who migrated from his birthplace in Niigata. Gabbie was known to be a fast learner back in school, and she was also a prodigy kickboxer and MMA practitioner. Her mom was very proud of her, as she kept winning in amateur tournaments in her hometown and abroad.
After meeting up with each other, the Minato siblings were taken to the CEO's office, where they encounter Hiroki's brother, Hayato Fujimiya. He happened to be the CEO of Turquoise, succeeding his father who has retired from his previous position due to old age. The Fujimiya clan has been running the company for generations, starting from Hiroki's grandfather being its first CEO. Hayato saw the siblings and were amazed that Touka brought two new Omega Espers into his city.
"Such fine specimens, Ms. Higurashi. I can see that this blonde girl has the potential of becoming one of the strongest Espers, considering that she was a proficient martial artist back in her hometown. While the younger redhead? I hope she could walk on her sister's footsteps one day. Anyway, allow me to introduce myself. I'm Hayato Fujimiya, the CEO of Turquoise, who happened to be the sister company of Lazuline. I still can't believe how they lost their first CEO, Mizuki Futaba, or now known as Mizuki Takahitsuji. I will not go down to the same path as those Lazuline weaklings, letting their CEO to be murdered in cold blood and having someone so puny yet indecisive like Dr. Marika Takahitsuji to manage the company. The Fujimiyas will be the beacon for the Espers' future and safety. No longer governed by those pathetic boobie ninjas of the Futaba clan" said Hayato while expressing his displeasure towards Lazuline.
"Umm.. you might not want to say that. Mr. Fujimiya. Dr. Takahitsuji is a friend of mine since college. She taught me a lot about Esper biology, Sigils and their elemental properties. You better apologize to her when I'm video-calling with her again" said a bespectacled girl with a lab coat after hearing Hayato's rant. She happened to be Dr. Irene Shinohara, Turquoise's chief of research and a friend of Marika. Hayato apologized to her and she accepted it. "Anyways, what brings you two here? Are you Omega Espers?" said Irene.
"Yes we are, like what Touka said" answered Gabbie. "Great to hear. You see, Turquoise has been researching this one particular Sigil that is Omega Factor. It allows the user to change Sigil Attributes and switch their EX skills at will. Unfortunately, all we could do is perform temporary Sigil attribute change using drinks manufactured by our food and medical division. We call it.. Sigil Blazz. Naturally-flavored energy drinks that allows Omega Esper like you two to awaken your Sigils for a while and change its attribute. I'll give you a free sample" said Irene before she handed the Canadian blonde a can of peach-flavored Sigil Blazz.
Gabbie opened the can and drank the Sigil Blazz. Her irises turned pink for a while and a pink aura emanated from her body. She was able to use a Psychic attribute Sigil which allowed her to perform telekinesis and fight using Psychic energy. Her younger sister was amazed to see that Gabbie was able to awaken her Sigil thanks to the drink. "With this, I will be able to survive in this harsh city" said Gabbie after she experienced the drink's special powers. Rei wanted to try, but Touka couldn't allow her since Rei was still pretty young, despite her plea that she's already 18.
Outside the tower, another Omega Esper is fending her life for her own. She had a dirty blonde short hair and clad in a rather loose school uniform. She drank several cans of Sigil Blazz to awaken her Electric Sigil to fight several gangsters who tried to capture and kill her. They were all electrocuted and killed by the Esper's awakened Sigil combined with her martial arts skill. Just as she defeated her assailants, she saw someone walking by.
"Hey, who the heck are you? Are you looking for trouble too?" said the Esper girl as she clenched her fist and readied her fighting stance. "I'm here not to fight you, I'm here looking for a good place for me and Rei to live in this city" replied Gabbie. Without a word or two, the blonde attacked Gabbie by grabbing her to the ground, attempting to pin the Canadian martial artist down into the ground. She didn't knew that her opponent is an MMA practitioner, and in a flash, Gabbie flipped her assailant down and pinned her down instead.
"Wow, you're pretty tough! I like it when my prey fight back!" said the dirty blonde-haired Esper as she and Gabbie tusseled down on the streets. Rei could only watch the two fight in fear, though Gabbie kept overpowering her opponent. The two bashed each other with their fists and the dirty-blonde Esper started bleeding from her forehead. "Tch.. I sure do love the smell of blood, especially YOURS!" said Gabbie's opponent before she headbutted her on her face. Gabbie yelped as she fell on her back, and the girl's blood splattered a bit on her hoodie. Knowing that it will be an intense fight, she opened her hoodie and tossed it aside, revealing her white sports bra with pink trim and matching polkadots.
"Hahahahaha.. you wear THOSE to fight?! What are you?! A toddler?!" laughed and mocked the dirty blonde Esper as she saw Gabbie's fighting attire. "I wore pink because Mom was a breast cancer survivor. It's not easy for her to endure and recover from such disease, and she fought well through it. And now, I shall show you my rage for making fun of the color that honored her!" said Gabbie in anger. Just before the 2 fight, a beastly creature with spikes charged into the streets where the 2 are. It roared in anger and beated its chest like a gorilla. "Looks like we'll save the fight for later. We gotta take down this thing together for now!" said the dirty blonde-haired Esper. "Say, what's your name, if I may ask? When we cross paths again, we will fight once more" replied Gabbie.
The girl introduced herself as Serina Himekawa, a martial arts prodigy from Osaka. Back in middle school, she was infamous for being a bully who loves to pick fights with other students, while back in high school, she joined the local delinquent gang and caused a lot of mischief. As a result of her actions, Serina was dropped out of school and her family disowned her. With nowhere else to go, Serina was left to fend herself on the streets. With nowhere to go, she was captured by Turquoise personnels and sent to Polaris. Despite that, she managed to escape into the slums of Polaris and once again, she fend herself on the streets. She began to develop a mentality that everyone she sees is an enemy.
"You were a BULLY?! I can't believe it! Why would I work with you taking down this spiky monster?! Go fight it yourself you senseless prick!" said Gabbie upon hearing Serina's backstory. She never knew that her rival and soon to be friend was actually a bully and a delinquent. She then left Serina to fend for herself alongside Rei, only to hear Serina being curb-stomped by the stronger monster. "Help.. I can't.. fight this thing anymore.. I don't wanna lose.." said Serina as she was being injured multiple times by the monster. Gabbie turned her back and fought the thing. "Go pick someone your own size, you overgrown porcupine!" said Gabbie in a serious tone before she went for an enzuigiri to the monster's face. A spark of Psychic energy flared after she landed her foot on the monster's face.
The monster growled after being hit by Gabbie's enzuigiri and her Psychic aura. It seemed that the monster also has a Sigil of its own. Its spikes turned into crystals and it launched them towards the Canadian fighter. She quickly dodged them with ease and kicked a nearby vending machine. A can of Sigil Blizz whirled out of it, and she quickly drank it. Her Psychic Sigil reawakened upon indigesting the drink, and she quickly made short work of her opponent with a combo of her martial arts knowledge and telekinesis. Seeing that the monster has weakened, Gabbie helped Serina to stand up again to deliver a tandem finisher on their opponent. A mixture of Gabbie's Psychic Sigil and Serina's Electric Sigil caused the monster to roar loudly and perish.
"Woo-hoo! We toasted that spiky bastard!" said Serina. Just before she went for a high-five on Gabbie, she refused to do it. Gabbie still hated Serina after she revealed that she was a bully, and she still wanted to fight her. Serina kept thinking on how to cure her former rival out of her hatred. "Hey, how about if we both go for a lunch together? Maybe this'll make up your mind?" asked Serina. Gabbie's stomach rumbled after Serina asked her to go for a lunch, and she accepted it. She said that she loved curry rice, and even told that her mom used to cook it for her. Just as the 2 left the scene, Rei saw a writhing woman at the site of the fight against the porcupine-like monster. Turns out the monster was an Esper woman. Rei then called Touka on her phone to evacuate the weakened Esper out of the scene.
"I can't believe it, Polaris' security system has been breached. How could there be Deviants in Polaris? Yet this one seemed to be different from your place. They came from Espers that were infected by a mysterious virus that caused them to turn into Deviants, unlike yours that came from Dark Nightmare's spawn. This is new" said Irene as she video-called with Marika on her PC. "I believe they were infected by Dark Nightmare's cells. My younger brother defeated it, yet its cells still exists. Someone may have got ahold of them and planned to use them as an anti-Esper biological weapon. Can you provide me with the victim's name and case?" answered Marika. Irene then emailed the file to Marika for research.
"Hmm… Akashi Tanikaze, aged 28.. subject to a Dark Nightmare cell that turned her into Porcupine Deviant. Contained DNAs of Crested porcupine and Horrid stonefish. Apparently she had an Earth-attribute Sigil that allowed said Deviant to create crystal spikes and fire them upon its enemies. This is very bad… The usage of Dark Nightmare cells must be stopped" said Marika after she opened the file that Irene sent. She couldn't believe someone would turn innocent Espers into Deviants, even after Dark Nightmare's defeat in the hands of her younger brother Alfredo. Something fishy is going on in Polaris Sanctuary, and Hayato's claims of his own company being the new beacon of for the Espers' future and safety are about to come to an end.