[CHIRP ♪♪]

FADE IN:

EXT. TOKYO — NIGHT

Gabriel stands in the alley, overlooking his cracked mask. The damage from the last fight left it undisposed. He’d have to rush home to grab another but the growing shadows entering the alleyway told him otherwise.

GABE (V.O.)
There are few things worse than being caught with your pants down; getting caught in your zipper, stepping in dog shit, and being mugged in the alleyway.

Gabriel turns around. He sees three people. LEADER stands in the center with a black leather jacket. MUSCLE is to his left, hulking with their tumorous neck. BRAINS crouches to the left, trailing back a few paces.

LEADER
How much do we need to break even tonight?

BRAINS pulls out a tiny abacus — a few beads here, a few beads there, and the math is done. BRAIN nods, tossing the abacus in the air before clumsily catching it.

LEADER
It’s your lucky day, handsome.

GABE
Aw, you really think I—

LEADER
Shut it. You look better when you’re quiet.

Gabriel uses his left hand to zip his mouth shut.

LEADER
Give us every stinkin’ shekel you’ve got, and we’ll spare your smile.

GABE
But what If I’m frowning?

Gabe frowns.

LEADER
Alright, boys.

Leader snaps his fingers.

LEADER (CONT’D)
Kick his teeth in.

---

junsuina

[junsuina]

[attr="class","bmsk"] in blackest night... It was a bad habit to not take the bus, but after her days as Nightlight Jun couldn't help it. She was accustomed to walking the streets at night, listening out for trouble. In all honesty, it made for training for future patrols worth it. Which is where the trouble tonight came in. She'd pass by an alley on her way home from work, and hearing some pretty aggressive things coming from it she couldn't help but stop and look down. And lo and behold, Gabe was there. She couldn't say that she liked Gabe, being the type to make her extremely uncomfortable, but at the same time she also couldn't let anyone hurt him. He was a weenie from the business department, and that meant that anyone that tried to mug him would do more than just steal every yen from his pockets. Gabe had a knack for mouthing off, and it could get him in trouble. Unfortunately, tonight she was feeling pretty apathetic. Her social batteries had drained her, and there wasn't much that she could feel at the moment. So this was going to be one of the few times she was going to try charisma. "Excuse me," she says, turning to walk down the aisle. "I need him for an important project in the near future, and robbing him of his money and dignity would be detrimental to both his health and yours. I'll just be taking this," she reaches out to grab him by the edge of the collar, intending to pull him back the way she came, "and leave you fine citizens to whatever it is you were doing. It better not be what I think it is, else I'll have to come back and straighten you out." CHIRP ♪♪

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[CHIRP ♪♪]

GABRIEL
I got no money. No dignity.

The group diverts their attention to Jun. They’re displeased but let her finish. They have no idea who she is. If she happened to be a hero, then…

No. Just a brat.

LEADER
Excuse me.

The henchman pause.

LEADER
Kick their teeth in.

GABRIEL (CONT’D)
I’m an artist. A film director. H-hey! My smile…

Gabriel breaks free of Jun’s grasp, in response to the wide swing the larger of the two throws at her. He can’t break his cover now, but he has to stay on his toes and stay conscious. Dodging shouldn’t give away too much.

He tucks his mask further into his coat.

GABRIEL
Jun, save me!

---

junsuina

[junsuina]

[attr="class","bmsk"] in blackest night... Jun knew better than to keep her back to potential opponents, so ducking under the attack was as simple as breathing. Because of this Gabe would have found a much better angle at breaking from her grasp, but that still didn't stop her from berating him in front of God and everyone. "Gabriel, you had one job, and that was to keep your mouth shut!" One of her rings lit up as she channeled her latent anger, sending a hammer flying at the goon in order to stagger him back. Because of her state it wasn't anything to knock him out, but it would be a warning. She'd step forward, interposing herself between the trio and Gabe. She'd glance back at him, a frown crossing her face. "Do me a favor and call the police. And try not to screw that up," she says, rolling her shoulders and looking back to the trio. "I'm no longer in a forgiving mood. Your options are surrender now and we all wait for the police, or I receive your surrender after I've broken at minimum your jaw," she says, pointing at the leader. "I'd suggest taking the less painful path. For all your sakes." CHIRP ♪♪

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[CHIRP ♪♪]

Gabriel picked up his phone. He wasn’t waiting for too long but it’d be longer than he would have been happy with if Jun weren’t here. Considering this close a call, however, he’d have to reconsider the way he operated. For now, he’d keep that mask of his close to his chest. If he needed to, he’d get out of here before the police arrived, too. He wouldn’t want to be caught with this out in public. He may not have made a name for himself yet but this could be evidence against him in the future.

“Hey, authorities. My name is Gabriel and I’m kind of getting attacked by a bunch of crooks here.” His tone was far too light. The criminals were already insistent on finishing the job but he pressed their buttons even more. “No, no. I’m fine. Well, for now. My friend Jun might beat them all up if they try to put a finger on me! But, uh, anyway yeah we need help immediately! Thank you.”

Gabriel hung up.

“Ope,” He laughed nervously. “Forgot to tell them our address.”

The hammer connects... but not who you'd expect. It doesn't make sense but the smallest one of the bunch sacrifices themselves and takes the hit. They go flying and his eyes turn into those little circles as they fall limp onto the ground

"Did I say you could nap?" The boss says. Immediately, they snap out of their consciousness and awakens. They apologize via bow and ask for forgiveness. "I didn't say to beg, either. You know the drill."

The little guy prepares to jump in front of Jun's next attack and annoy the ever-loving hell out of her.

Meanwhile muscle marches onward and throws a haymaker toward Jun. One clean hit and she’ll be done for. After this brat is chucked to the side, they’ll give the real headache a world-o’-hurtin’.

---

junsuina

[junsuina]

[attr="class","bmsk"] in blackest night... Well, that was unexpected. The smaller of the trope not only intercepted, but got up almost immediately after. And he was getting orders to get back into things? That wasn't good. She watched the bigger of the group loomed over her, preparing an awfully telegraphed attack. Sure, she didn't want to get hit by it, but that was a very big "if". All she did was take a step to the side, latching onto her residual fear to create a chain around his foot, and at the end of his swing yanked as hard as she could in the opposite direction, intent to send him straight into the dirt. "Fine," she says, letting go of her anger to pull out her big guns, a nice little eight pound cannon set right in front of her aimed at the boss and the brain as she formed a finger gun. "But I gave you an out." BANG! CHIRP ♪♪

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[CHIRP ♪♪]

The behemoth fell to the ground causing the concrete to crack. His head slammed and he felt a wave of exhaustion rush over him. If it weren’t for the words of his leader, he would have fallen victim to his inner weakness. When his bed called him, he found it difficult to resist. Only the allure of duty could pry him from his comfortable sheets in the morning. His boss yelling at him, too.

“Get the hell up.” The words brought the muscle back in time to see a cannonball fire towards the big man. Instinctually he grabbed the brains and threw him in the way to intercept an otherwise undodgable attack.

The cannonball defied physics. But as it collided with the brain it defied it once again, but in their favor. The man was knocked unconscious… for good this time. Jun would notice the boss had given up giving his orders. Somehow, he knew this was it for his companion. It was the end for the cannonball too, as it stood in the air, immobile, holding the brains against some invisible barrier.

Both the body and ball fell to the ground.

“Maybe we should reconsider.” The boss understood the situation now. This woman was a psychopath. “We’ll call this a draw.”

“No!” Gabe called out. “Kick their ass Jun!” He was hiding behind a trash can. “You mess with me you mess with her!”

The threat wasn’t his to make but when has that ever stopped him?

---

junsuina

[junsuina]

[attr="class","bmsk"] in blackest night... Jun dropped concentration on the cannon, looking back at Gabe with an annoyed expression. "Keep this up, and I'll beat you up, too!" she says, knowing all too well that he said something to cause this before turning towards the trio. "I'm not in the mood to accept a 'draw', whatever that means. I gave you your two options, and you can either surrender, or I can follow through with my threat." She started to walk down the alleyway, rolling her neck as a hammer started to form in her hand. "I'll leave the choice up to you, since you seem to be in charge. But maybe you should be a little concerned about the state of your people before you make your next move. You're going to run out of warm bodies sooner rather than later." CHIRP ♪♪

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[CHIRP ♪♪]

“Plan C.” The boss would not accept Jun’s terms and conditions. The muscle had one last hurrah in him. And with this show of strength, breaking their bindings, returning to their feet, and making a final assault on Jun, the boss would run. “Thanks for the sacrifice, boys! I’ll see you on parole.”

Gabriel pulled out his phone. The photo didn’t need to be clear. Hell, it didn’t need to be a photo. He pressed record as he caught the man on camera he moved to the rest of the participants, focusing on the muscle charing Jun. If the boss escaped, he’d deal with him later. His thoughts were littered with clues — they always were.

The muscle couldn’t risk being outmaneuvered. He used his strong, tree trunk legs to jump into the air. Then, he’d belly flop on top of Jun hoping for the crush her and any other construct that got in his way. If he was still awake by the end of it, he’d roll on over and crush Gabriel, too.

---

junsuina

[junsuina]

[attr="class","bmsk"] in blackest night... "Coward!" she flung the hammer at speed towards the boss in the hope of nailing him before he escaped, but with the muscle bearing down on her she couldn't exactly guide the strike, only hope and pray that it met her mark. With the big man leaping up there wasn't a whole lot she could do to change his path. She was too angry to get summon up anything else...but! "Hang on!" she says, summoning up Mjolnir in her hand and beginning to spin it up. Turning right around and hooking an arm around Gabe, she'd fling the hammer back out the alleyway which they came, fully intent on avoiding the attack altogether. They would still hit the ground hard, but at least they didn't have the combined mass of a blue whale on top of them. "Seriously, how did you get yourself into this one!" With a few scrapes she got back to her feet, looking back at the muscle in the alley. CHIRP ♪♪

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[CHIRP ♪♪]

Sirens.

The cops were finally here. Just in time to save them from this big, muscley freak. And hopefully in time to chase down the one who got away. Gabriel never thought he’d be using the phrase like that. If anything, he thought he’d use it to talk about [REDACTED].

“I’m sorry,” Gabe was taken aback. “Are you victim blaming, right now?” The faux outrage was meant to buy him time to think of an excuse for later.

The cops left the car and pulls out their firearms pointing it at the large, bulbous man who had made their attack on two innocents. There was the whole ‘illegal quirk usage’ Jun would have to deal with later, but… that was self-defense that was only incidentally saving Gabe from the blow, right? They’d be fine! …Right?

“Police!” Gabe called out. “The boss ran off that way! Go on, git!”

They did not like that.

But they disliked criminals even more.

“Okay,” Gabe zipped his mouth with his hand. “Mmm nnt dlkng nneemmor.”

---

junsuina

[junsuina]

[attr="class","bmsk"] in blackest night... "I don't even know what this victim blaming thing is," she says, getting to her feet. By this point she would have let him go as her panic was beginning to rise with prolonged contact. With the arrival of the police she move to the side and out of the line of fire so that they could do their jobs. While she was a powerhouse and more than capable of bringing the hammer down, in this case it was better to let the professionals to take over. She was unlicensed after all, and the less trouble she could stay out of the better. As much as she wanted to follow through with her promise, it just wasn't feasible now. "Okay, now that the real heroes are here, seriously. How and why did you get into this mess? Every time something happens and you're involved, you're always doing something stupid." CHIRP ♪♪

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[CHIRP ♪♪]

Two cops pursued the criminals, one stayed by them. The muscle of the group was quickly dispatched as they chased the alleged boss. The cop behind interrupted them as he’d need them for questioning.

“Gonna need a quick report from the both of you.” He looked at Gabriel. “Starting with you.”

“Okay.” Reluctant. “Shoot. Er, not literally…”

“Obviously not,” The cop rolled his eyes. “What were you doing when they attacked you?”

“I was walking by and they ambushed me. Probably wanted to rob me.”

“Why were you walking in an alleyway at this time of night? Alone.”

“Again with the victim-blaming.” He muttered to himself. “I was taking pictures of the dumpster for a movie set. I’m a director.” Gabriel quickly added. “Self-employed.”

“Right.” The cop scribbles some notes. “And what about you?” He turns to Jun. “What’s your story?”

---

junsuina

[junsuina]

[attr="class","bmsk"] in blackest night... Jun let out a sigh, stretching out a little as she let the officer question Gabe. Honestly, his story made sense to her. He would go out of his way to do weird and strange things all in the name of his perfect movie. If it kept him from pestering her then she didn't care...well, okay, he was still causing trouble, just. Well. Not trouble like this, this could have been bad. The question brought her back to reality, tilting her head. "I was walking home form work. When I passed this alley I noticed the scene happening, and attempted to deescalate it. Things did not go as planned, and..." she indicated the Muscle down the alleyway. CHIRP ♪♪

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[CHIRP ♪♪]

The stories checked out. There wasn’t anything particularly suspicious. And the quirk usage they saw seemed to start and end in self-defense. There was no reason to keep these two preoccupied further.

“You’re free to go.” The officer said. Then, he went back to the car and radioed the other policemen.

“Jun,” Gabriel looked at her, teary-eyed — an age-old act she would have been tired of by now. If she ever believed it, it would have been during her freshman year. But with the amount of times he’s tried to pull this stunt… it was daring of him to do it again. “You saved my movie…” He wiped the crocodile tears. “I-I’ll walk you home.”

---

junsuina