Tokusatsu Academy: From Apprentice to God - Heroic Tales

Naobito Battle! | Center of Cronus' Eye! | Now!

Naobito was nearing the statue at the center of Cronus' Eye. He observed the mess that had become of the once pristine silver monument, now with its chest and upper portions shattered, and its legs covered in soot and dust.

Seeing the scene, the Asian man grew deeply irritated at the damage, considering it a complete disrespect to the history of the Unification and the heroes it honored.

Looking around for the culprit, he witnessed a sight that shifted his mood from rage to confusion.

(Augusto Zariani?) Hirofumi thought to himself, then exclaimed again in his mind: (I knew we shouldn't have taken him out of cryostasis!)

"So, a law enforcer has already come to stop my plans, eh? Damn, the world is always out to get me, man," said a man wearing a strange clown outfit, entirely blue with stone-like details on the fabric, lightning bolts in place of ears, and a triangular nose. He also wore yellow oval-lensed glasses.

(Why is he speaking in such a weird accent? Feels like it's from 500 years ago.) thought the man from the Land of the Rising Sun.

"Shut up with that nonsense, alien bastard," he retorted, which elicited a surprised look from Clown Zariani.

(N/A: I have no idea how we're going to translate the São Paulo accent into English, so don't judge me.)

"At least the memes survived, man. Now, Dr. Enéas, time for the show while I do my workout, man."

With that, a small robot appeared. It had a spherical head smaller than a soccer ball, a bionic spine, and a circular badge with a screen showing the face of the former world leader Enéas, holding a microphone at the end of the spine like a snake squeezing it.

"Augusto Zariani is a self-proclaimed philanthropist who lived in the 2000s, born in 1996 and accidentally frozen in 2023 while fleeing a police chase—a move I consider foolish, given that he wasn't even wanted at the time," the robot said passionately. Augusto, who was lifting weights, interrupted with a loud "HEY!"

"His cryogenically frozen body was donated to charity in Africa, and since they didn't know what to do with it, they gave it to a random cryogenics company, which is now the largest in the Congo and the world," the robot continued, then concluded: "My name is Enéas, and this moron is definitely not a clown girl."

Naobito was dumbfounded by the situation, his left eye twitching and his face blank at the absurdity of it all, especially as Zariani was now exercising with some strange contraption.

Before Hirofumi could react, Zariani suddenly appeared in front of him with a burst of speed and landed a right cross to his face.

Immediately after, he kneed Hirofumi's torso and finished with a stomp on the ground.

When Zariani stomped, a pole-like object with a spherical tip shot up from the ground and struck Hirofumi's face.

At that moment, Hirofumi felt an electric shock coursing directly to his skull and was sent flying skyward.

As Naobito was launched, Zariani kicked a rock toward him. When the small projectile got close enough—

ZIIIIIIIOOOUM

The rock transformed into the same kind of object that had struck the Asian man earlier, hitting him squarely and electrocuting him, sending him crashing to the ground.

As he landed, Hirofumi saw Augusto approaching. But before the clown could get too close, he was blasted away by a burst of compressed air.

"Sokayo…" muttered the Japanese man, formulating a plan in his mind. (Alright, I have an idea.) Hirofumi stood still, waiting for Augusto to close in. (Come on, corner me…)

Zariani charged angrily at Naobito, who began retreating toward a wall while staring at Augusto. Surprisingly, Hirofumi managed to walk up the wall effortlessly, as if it were flat ground.

Narrowing his eyes, Zariani stomped on the ground again, summoning another one of those objects that launched electricity toward Hirofumi.

Hirofumi quickly ascended the wall, staying ahead of the electrical attack. (5 meters, 6 meters, 8 meters… 15 meters!) He stopped at 15 meters, noticing the electricity couldn't reach him anymore.

(It seems his range is limited to 15 meters…) Hirofumi smirked. "Looks like your piece isn't as big as you thought, buddy. All those muscles—clearly you're on juice! That said…"

Hirofumi prepared a punch, releasing a gust of wind toward Zariani.

"FAKE NATTY!" Hirofumi shouted.

Zariani widened his eyes, quickly crossing his arms to block.

But to Hirofumi's surprise, Zariani managed to defend himself. (What?! That… should've sent this clown flying.) He looked at his own hand. (Am I… getting weaker?)

Looking back at Zariani, he noticed something. (Wait, why didn't he use one of those objects to defend himself? Instead, he tanked the hit directly—!) He observed the spot where Zariani had stood and saw that the objects had disappeared. (So those things attack based on proximity… including him!)

Hirofumi regained focus, scanning the environment for something useful. Spotting the remnants of the statue, he had an idea.

(The statue is literally made of silver. Silver is 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper! Maybe I can—)

Before he could act, he noticed multiple shadows above him.

Looking up, he saw Zariani launching a rain of rocks, which transformed into those same objects.

The attacks came in a straight line, forcing Hirofumi to dodge. The lightning struck where he had been, sending debris into the air and creating a cloud of dust. When Zariani landed, the dust and debris temporarily blinded him.

Naobito seized the opportunity, appearing in a flash of speed and delivering a spinning kick to Zariani's jaw, making him spin from the impact.

Hirofumi grabbed him by the torso and slammed him headfirst into the ground, cracking the floor.

What followed was a frenetic exchange of blows. Punches collided, kicks clashed, and every attack from one was met with a counter from the other. The brawl ended with Zariani attempting a kick, which Hirofumi dodged, retaliating with a spinning capoeira strike to the clown's face, sending him sprawling backward.

Zariani recovered, grabbed Naobito by the leg, and smashed him into the concrete, creating a crater. But Hirofumi regained control with a swift acrobatic move. (Goodbye, ribcage…) he thought, gritting his teeth but smiling fiercely.

Hirofumi bursts into laughter and lands a punch that sends a blast of compressed air toward Zariani's face, breaking his teeth.

Immediately after, he rushes toward the Clown, delivering a flurry of punches to Augusto, repaying him in kind as his chest suffers the same fate as his opponent's.

As the man staggers, Naobito drives his fingers into Augusto's body, near and above his kidneys, causing his fingertips to glow.

"Bye-bye, adrenaline!" – As he withdraws his hand, as if pulling something out, a large quantity of adrenaline is extracted from Augusto's body, visibly perceptible to the naked eye.

That same amount of adrenaline is deposited directly into Zariani's brain when Hirofumi aggressively places his hand on his opponent's head.

The philanthropist's nerves are excessively stimulated—50% of the human body's adrenaline directly in the brain. What would normally kill an average person only causes Zariani severe mental confusion.

Taking advantage of this mental fog, Naobito grips Zariani's chest and tears away the air from his lungs, along with the skin on his chest, exposing his raw muscles and preventing him from breathing.

Augusto's mental confusion fades quickly, and he enters a state of rage, stomping on the ground to summon another of those objects that fires a bolt of lightning directly at Hirofumi.

Naobito is struck, thrown 13 meters away, smashing through the statue he intended to use. His body is scorched, and Augusto appears behind him, delivering a kick straight to his spine.

Zariani growls as he falls, kicking Hirofumi in the face, using his arms for momentum to send both of them airborne.

Following this, he begins to batter the Asian with consecutive kicks, driving them both to the ceiling, where Zariani breaks two of Naobito's ribs with a final kick.

The boy spits blood and is grabbed by Zariani. The two then plummet in free fall, with the philanthropist spinning as they fall, crashing like a comet into the ground and forming yet another crater.

Zariani quickly jumps up, and while the Asian remains on the ground, he touches some of the scattered debris from the impact and transforms them into those objects.

The straight lightning bolts cross, forming an explosion that strikes Naobito head-on, pushing him deeper into the ground and hurling Augusto into the sky.

Spinning in the air, injured but grinning, Augusto propels himself downward, preparing a punch as he falls.

Just as he's about to strike the Japanese boy, Hirofumi painfully rolls to the side and stands up, quickly throwing dust into the man's eyes, temporarily blinding him.

Before the philanthropist could react further, Hirofumi dashes as fast as his battered body allows toward the statue.

*(Please, let this work!)* – Placing both hands on the statue, he appears to merge with it as his fingers and arms emit a glow.

When Zariani regains his vision, he sees Hirofumi standing still, watching him with a sarcastic smile while crossing his arms. His body now emanates an orange metallic aura.

(N/CA: Depends, is oxidized copper green or-)

(N/A: SHUT UP!)

Without much creativity, Augusto stomps on the ground again, summoning one of those objects, which unleashes thick, straight lightning bolts directly at Hirofumi.

The boy's grin widens as he plants his feet on the ground, raising his arms to channel the electricity through them, surprising Zariani.

Most of the energy discharges directly into the ground via a conductive path.

"You surprised me, but how are you going to attack me now? You'll need to stay rooted to the ground for that to work," the bodybuilder remarks, and Hirofumi smirks.

"You're wrong to think I can't move…" – He begins to step backward quickly, keeping his feet planted on the ground for 15 meters, causing the object's lightning to miss him. – "Moonwalk!"

"What the hell is that?!" – Before Zariani can recover from his stupor, Hirofumi springs into action.

"And you're wrong to think I couldn't attack!"

Hirofumi's left arm starts glowing with a certain amount of electricity, and a compressed electrical discharge is launched at Zariani like a punch.

"I've absorbed the electricity from your attacks into my body, idiot!"

The Paulista is struck directly in the chest, leaving a gaping hole as he growls and is sent flying.

However, contrary to Naobito's expectations, he stands up, smiling despite such a grievous wound.

His eyes are fixed on Hirofumi, his wild and insane grin plastered on his face like that of a demon.

"Finally… a worthy opponent!!" – The man begins exercising again, and then, at a speed the Japanese boy can't react to, his body seemingly adapts to the damage, making the hole in his chest a natural part of his form.

His body grows more muscular and compact, his skin taking on a grayish tone with hints of blue.

What's left of his clothing begins glowing with electricity, the lightning concentrating in the hole to form a sphere.

*(What the hell?! Adaptation?)* – Hirofumi ponders – *(No, not just adaptation… A customizable adaptation! He's made the injury an actual part of himself! But what's the cost of such-)*

He can't finish his thoughts as the electricity ball is launched directly at him.

There's no time to dodge; it hits him head-on and drags him 22 meters into an electronics store, causing a powerful explosion that obliterates the store and creates a massive crater 10 meters wide.

Zariani coughs blood and collapses to the ground, panting, seemingly suffering side effects.

*(Damn… this cursed law of condition and consequence!)* – He struggles to stand, his skin returning to normal and the hole in his chest reverting to a wound. *(30 seconds? Well, I beat my personal record… but I'll need to-)* He vomits a massive amount of blood. *(Haaaargh… extra recovery for my soul… as always.)*

Finally, all his adaptation comes to an end, leaving him essentially withered. The strength he had drains away, and his body becomes a thin, frail shell still clinging to life.

He raises his arm and observes something that terrifies him deeply.

*(Damn it! The boss still hasn't managed it?!)

Meanwhile, Hirofumi struggles to get up, utterly bloodied and exuding palpable rage.

"Grrrrrrrr…" – He forces himself to his feet, refusing to kneel.

He sees Zariani also rising, and the philanthropist smiles wickedly, beckoning him for another round.

The young Japanese boy merely scoffs at the scene and finally gets up, a scowl of fury on his face.

Wasting no time, Naobito summons the transmuter to his hand.

It's a belt with a black buckle and two green protrusions on either side, which light up as soon as Hirofumi fastens it around his waist. A green, irregular holographic rectangle resembling an eye appears in the center. Within this eye, a dark green square is visible, and inside the square is a golden diamond.

This square is divided by three grid-like sliders seemingly designed to move.

Placing his right hand on the hologram, he slides one of the squares upward, and then something is heard.

"STAGE ONE!" – Smiling fiercely, Hirofumi rubs his hands together as if devising an evil plan, then runs them over his head.

Sensing danger, Augusto musters his strength and dashes across the distance to interrupt the transformation ritual but is stopped by a barrier that sends him flying back a few centimeters.

"We're no longer in your time, Grandpa." – Naobito declares, placing one hand on his head and beckoning his opponent with the other. Finally, he crosses his arms over his chest in an X. – "TRANSMUTE!!"

He is enveloped in green light and soon appears clad in combat armor.

It's a nearly all-green suit with black details, with a gradient where the head is the brightest green and the feet a dark mossy green.

The helmet has two large compound eyes made of hexagons, and a sort of topknot made of antennae runs from the nose to the nape. This "hair" is so green it glows.

Above his head is an energy halo that shines in a lighter green tone.

The joints are solid black with a faint black mist escaping from them, seemingly concealed by small golden metallic connectors running throughout the body like a skeleton, converging in an X pattern on the chest.

On his back are two large transparent wings with a sepia tone, almost invisible except for the energy forming their outlines, resembling angelic wings.

"The Angel in Plague's Flesh… Jihai" – He snaps his fingers and points at Zariani. – "Time to buzz!"

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Hero

Name: Jihai

Age: 23 Earth years

Projection: Benevolent Beelzebub (Nature Class, Animal Type: Fly!)

Projection Power: Unknown for now

Standard Package: Can adhere to any surface like a fly and is capable of flight.

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This battle was about to get…

Serious!

... --- / ..- / --.- ..

To be Continued…