Chapter 3: Prologue part 3

The message Iron Palm sent to his wife was simple: a fleeting moment of lust to indicate that the following moment would carry the real message, and then to relax for an instant. That was all Alisa needed to understand what he wanted to tell her.

After all, Alisa was one of the best therapists in the world, having treated all kinds of mental disorders, especially traumas suffered by heroes. Therefore, now he just had to wait and prepare his move; the moment his wife acted would be the moment to strike.

Moments after sending his 'message', Iron Palm felt his mind relax after a slight sensation of lust. He immediately knew that this was the response he had been waiting for and that his time had come.

Right after Alisa's response, BioBlast's furious speech came to an abrupt halt, and at the same time, his legs and those of the 15 figures surrounding him began to tremble. Using all the strength he could muster with his only functional leg, Iron Palm leaped directly towards those bastards in a single bound.

Iron Palm knew exactly what was happening to the villains in front of him; after all, he had been a victim of the same attack many times. [Mental Shock], the most powerful attack of his wife, which made anyone attacked feel their mind go blank, and the weakest even fainted on the spot from it.

Knowing that nothing would stop him until he reached his destination, Iron Palm turned his head to look one last time at his beloved wife and son, as the attack he had prepared would be his last, an attack he called the [Warrior's Farewell].

Iron Palm's or Jiro Saito's quirk was known as [Force Control], which allowed him to strengthen his body to superhuman levels and even divide his 'force' into specific zones, greatly enhancing the power he could exert.

But, although his quirk was quite powerful and versatile, it depended on his base physical strength, which forced Jiro to train to extreme levels and learn various martial arts. These allowed him to take his quirk a step further, managing to harden his body, greatly increasing his defenses, a fact that made him immensely proud and influenced his hero name.

In addition to hardening, his great dedication to martial arts allowed him to achieve something else. Jiro could overstrain his muscles beyond their limits to display monstrous strength for a brief instant, although this caused his muscles to literally explode.

The first time Jiro discovered this, he did it very briefly and lightly, but even so, the 'explosion' sent him flying and he almost lost his arm. He had to spend more than six months in recovery, even with the help of the best healing quirk users, though that arm was never the same again.

From this experience, Jiro devised a final move, one that could save his life in a moment of extreme need at the cost of losing a limb. He named it the [Warrior's Farewell], because in the best-case scenario, if he survived, it would be the end of his days as a hero. It would cause such damage that even walking would become a challenge.

As he turned to look back, what Jiro saw was his bloodied wife on the ground, holding their little son, who seemed to have woken up and was looking at him with tears in his eyes, reaching out with his small arms, trying to get to him. This broke Jiro's heart into a thousand pieces.

(Forgive me, Kai, my son, my greatest pride. Your father's dream of being a great hero has hurt you. And forgive me, Alisa, the love of my life. I won't be able to fulfill our promise of visiting a secluded beach on our silver anniversary. Goodbye, I love you both...)

The moment Jiro reached his hated enemies, he extended his arms as the entire front of his body inflated disproportionately like a balloon, and then 'exploded', releasing a colossal amount of energy that intensely lit up the area while producing a powerful roar that made the ground shake.

When the light faded, all that remained was an immense, irregularly shaped crater covered in burnt earth. On the other side stood a woman holding a child in her arms, who was crying uncontrollably, whom she was trying to console between painful coughs.

" MOMMY!!! MOMMY!! I CAN'T HEAR DAD'S 'VOICE' ANYMORE!!!"

"It's okay, sweetheart... it's okay... calm down... everything will be alright... calm down... mommy is here."

"MOMMY!! YOUR 'VOICE', YOUR 'VOICE' IS FADING TOO, MOMMY!! PLEASE, DON'T LEAVE ME, MOMMY. I'LL BE GOOD, I'LL ALWAYS DO EVERYTHING YOU SAY, BUT DON'T LEAVE ME, MOMMY!!!!!"

"Calm down, my love... mommy is just tired... after... sleeping a little... she'll be fine... don't... worry."

"AAAAAAHHHHH!"

Alisa couldn't control her tears as she watched her son cry because she knew she didn't have much time left. She felt how her body had been shattered inside and was slowly failing, but that pain couldn't compare to the pain in her heart, knowing she would have to leave her son alone in this cruel and ruthless world.

She would never see her child grow up, go to school, get a job, or give her grandchildren. She would never be there for him again. Her heart seemed to bleed as her mind tortured her with the understanding of the difficult future her little one would have, the great trauma he would have to overcome.

But even knowing all this, Alisa bit her lips with all her strength to repress it all. After all, although her baby would have a very difficult future, he could still have a future, and as long as there is a future, there is hope. So, through her tears, she began to say goodbye to him, convincing him to go and seek help so he could survive.

"Listen to me, Kai... I want you to... promise me something..."

"YES MOMMY, I PROMISE, I PROMISE, JUST DON'T LEAVE ME!!!"

"Promise me you'll be a good boy..."

As she tried to speak, Alisa's mouth filled with blood, but with all her willpower, she swallowed it to keep talking, though her voice grew weaker and more fragile.

"Promise me you'll always brush your teeth... that you'll go to bed early and study hard... promise me you'll be a very happy man."

"I PROMISE MOMMY, I PROMISE."

"Kai, mommy is very sleepy and will sleep for a bit... so keep walking where we put the flags, do you remember them?... follow the flags and find someone to come for mommy, okay?"

"YES, THE FLAGS, I REMEMBER, I REMEMBER."

"That's right, Kai, you've always been such a smart boy... never forget that mommy loves you very much and will always be watching you from wherever she is... so run, run, follow the flags, find someone and tell them what happened…"

"YES MOMMY, I'LL FIND SOMEONE TO HELP YOU, I'LL BE RIGHT BACK MOMMY, DON'T LEAVE ME, YOU PROMISED!!! YOU PROMISED!!!"

As little Kai ran off into the distance, shouting, the last bit of strength Alisa had seemed to extinguish. She fell to the ground with a cascade of tears streaming down her face, filled with deep pain as she watched the small back of her sweet baby disappear among the trees.

…

…

…

In the middle of the building of the renowned hero agency Wild Wild Pussycats, the four members Pixie-Bob, Mandalay, Tiger, and Ragdoll are gathered due to an emergency request they just received.

Looking at her companions with a serious expression, Mandalay, who attended to the request, proceeded to explain the situation to her teammates, who, like her, were dressed in their iconic hero outfits. These consisted of tops and skirts in different colors for each, accompanied by high boots, gloves shaped like cat paws, and headgear resembling mechanical cat ears.

"We just received a support request from the local police. Apparently, there have been multiple reports of a strong explosion on a mountain near our location. We need to leave immediately. Any questions?"

After Mandalay asked, the only man in the group, who had considerable height and a robust, muscular body highlighted by his outfit of tops and a skirt, quickly raised his hand, to which Mandalay nodded.

"Yes, Tiger?"

"Do we know if the cause is a criminal threat or a natural disaster?"

"So far, the cause of the event is unknown. We are being sent primarily for reconnaissance and possible victim rescue. Any other questions?"

Mandalay quickly glanced at her companions, but seeing no one else raised their hand, she continued speaking.

"Alright, for this mission, Ragdoll will perform reconnaissance to determine the number of injured or possible suspects involved in the incident. Pixie-Bob will clear the way so we can reach the site of the event as quickly as possible. Tiger will be at the front in case there are injured people who need to be taken to a safe place, while I will stay in contact with the local police to send updates on the situation."

"Understood," the three remaining heroes responded in unison. Mandalay nodded and ordered as they swiftly left their base.

"The operation starts now."

With Mandalay's order, the team of heroes shot out through the mountainous area where they were located, demonstrating not only their incredible agility and strength but also their abundant experience in moving through such terrain, making it clear why they are some of the most famous heroes in Japan.