Power Surge, Part 1 - The Plot Part

Posted on May 29, 2016, for the benefit of /Toonami General/

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>You work for Power Surge Magazine
>It's kind of a big deal in most of the world
>Readership in the millions, carried in every first-world country, all that jazz
>So it makes sense that a magazine that well-read would send you all over the place for all sorts of reasons
>Which is why you and your team have been sent to Honoji City
>You're here to assemble a cover story about the city's high school, Honoji Academy, and it's management practices
>Specifically, the underground allegations of far-reaching corporate corruption in the school's administration, and reports of how the school's PTA board is also doubling as the city's housing and zoning authority, forcing the families of under-performing students to live in substandard housing
>Most of this seems to stem from the fact that the school's student body president is none other than Satsuki Kiryuuin, who's rumored to have built a cult of personality throughout Honoji that would make Joseph Stalin re-consider his PR strategy
>This may have something to do with how Satsuki is the daughter of none other than Ragyo Kiryuuin, the president and CEO of Revocs International, the world's largest clothing company, which happens to have a significant industrial and financial presence in Honoji

>So here you are, en route to your hotel from the airport outside the city
>Dash, your translator and itinerary director, has been going over a potential schedule for your trip during the ride
>Visits to the Academy proper, interviews with city and school officials, probably a few trips down to local bars and shops to get the layperson's viewpoint, etc.
>At some point, you'll undoubtedly have to go to either the Academy head office or Kiryuuin Manor itself to interview Satsuki herself
>Cail, your team's A/V technician, has been stripping, modifying, and reassembling his camera unit and microphone kit like he's a marine getting his rifle ready to storm a beachhead
>Probably some mixture of waterproofing, radiationproofing, crushproofing, and modifying it for whatever goddamn sound and light levels he thinks he'll encounter, all so that the people who pay for online subscription can have HD-quality audio and video of this crap on their iPads
>And then there's Buck, who rarely if ever alters his physical photography camera- or at least, you've never SEEN him make changes to it
>But somehow, he always manages to get photos that gel with whatever angle or atmosphere you're trying to deliver with your articles
>He also has some unnatural ability to produce whatever small items you or anyone else in the vicinity needs- gum, mints, pencils, tissues- even before they finish asking for it
>Buck scares you sometimes

>After a few more minutes, you arrive at your hotel
>It's a decently well-to-do place in what the residents refer to as the "1-Star District"
>You and the team unload all your shit from the van and take it up to your lodgings
>Amazingly, the magazine was willing to spring for 2 rooms, so you can all sleep in your own beds like civilized beings
>Coin flip deems the room you & Cail are using as GHQ for all purposes that would require you guys to cram into one room at once
>After calling the home office to tell them that no, your plane didn't spin in before it could land, you gather everyone together to figure out what to do next
>It's quickly decided that your best bet is to establish your presence in the city with the local authorities
>Which in the case of Honoji City means letting the Kiryuuins know that there are journalists running amok
>Ragyo Kiryuuin spends most of her time abroad managing Revocs corporate affairs, which leaves her daughter, Satsuki, as the de facto head honcho of the city
>Considering that it's only slightly past 10 AM, she's probably lording over her court up at the Academy right now
>On top of that, it would be easy to play to her ego by having your first meet-and-greet be at her little pet-project

>Half an hour later, you and your team are standing outside the front entrance of Honoji Academy
>This place is goddamn ridiculous
>For starters, it feels like you're standing on the summit of fucking Kilimanjaro
>Okay, it's not actually that high up, but holy shit, who the hell decided that building a city like this was a good idea?
>People are living in fucking mansions built UNDERNEATH the Academy for Chrissakes!
>And holy hell, do they launch goddamn satellites off the top of that spire? They probably have to put lights on that thing so the space shuttles don't ding it!
>How the fuck do they expect to teach anyone when you need a fucking Sherpa team to get up here and bottled ox-
>Your train of thought is abruptly brought to a screaming derailment by the sound of an explosion
>And it sounds like it came from inside the Academy

>Maybe it's because you know that innocent kids might need dire medical help in the face of incomprehensible horror
>Or maybe it's because you're all glory hounds who want to be THE team who were first on the scene of a national tragedy
>Whatever the reason, it only takes a single shared look between the 4 of you before you're charging through the front gate to Honoji Academy's courtyard
>You hear another blast, this time seeing the cloud of smoke that goes along with it
>You duck into a roadie-run as you start scanning the area for the terrorists, and that's when you notice something amiss
>Instead of hearing screams and cries for help, you just hear catcalls and jeers
>Which are coming from a loosely-packed crowd of teenagers wearing school uniforms
>Who all seem to be standing surprisingly close to what you think is ground zero
>Another explosion confirms that yes, that is where the shit seems to be going down

>You move in close and begin pushing your way through the assembled students, most of whom automatically move aside as they see an adult coming
>A quick glance to your side lets you see that Cail and Buck are already armed and dangerous with their cameras
>Then you turn back to see what's in front of you, and stop
>You've apparently just walked in on a brawl between two students
>Or at least, you THINK that's what's happening
>You can't be too sure of that for two reasons
>First, you've never heard of teenagers punching with enough kinetic force to cause explosions
>And second, they're sure as fuck not wearing uniforms like the rest of these kids
>While they're moving too fast and too furiously for you to get a positive ID, you can get some vague impressions
>One of them reminds you of nothing so much as a rodeo clown, and seems to be on the losing side of this fight
>The other one is much more visually distinct, being a riot of red and black instead of the whites and blues that everyone else is dressed in

>"Come on Ryuko! You can totally kick this guy's butt!"
>You attention is drawn away from the fight
>The source of the outburst appears to be a girl with a coconut hairdo standing right next to you
>She's getting into this fight with more zeal than some football hooligans
>"Ah, excuse me, miss..."
>She stops cheerleading and turns to you with fast enough to make your own head spin
>"But I take it you know one of these... people?"
>She immediately goes back into full sugar-rush mode
>"Of course I do! That's Ryuko Matoi, my best friend in the entire world! Well, aside from my family I guess, but since they don't go to school with me they don't really count like she does! She's a kicking-rad warrior who's fighting against Lady Satsuki's goons and her regime of-"
>It quickly devolves into non-stop stream-of-consciousness rambling that you can't hope to follow while dividing your attention between her and the brawl
>All of which is being accompanied by wild gesticulations that constantly threaten to put out the eyes of everyone standing within a 5-foot radius

>Then, almost as quickly as the whole fight must have started, it's over
>Shadow the Spinball hauls back and bitchslaps the Ringling Brother with what looks like a bigass hunk of fiberglass while screaming at the top of their lungs
>This, somehow, results in all of Ringling's clothes flying off like they're Charlie Brown being beaned by a line drive
>It's a strange visual, to be sure
>Charlie Brown lands amidst the crowd of students, who quickly escort them off to what you presume would be a combination medic/tailor
>You then see Shadow touch back down to a clear patch of Terra Firma, and you become fairly certain that they're a girl
>Primarily because you know of no man who would voluntarily dress like someone who works at a gentlemen's club near the interstate
>This visual is quickly undone by a sudden burst of steam that makes you think she exploded (not that that would be terribly surprising, given how today has been going)
>When the smoke clears, what's left is a girl no different from any of the other students, except that her uniform is jet-fuel black instead of the white ones worn by everyone else
>You can also see that the fiberglass panel is, in fact, a fucking SWORD with what looks like a keyring attachment on the handle

>She's immediately accosted by Little Miss Coconut, who starts fawning over her with praise and claims of stupendousness
>As the crowd starts to disperse- remarkably calmly, too, considering what all just went down- you realize that there is some seriously whacked shit going on around Honoji Academy
>From what Mountain-Dew-for-Blood was saying, though, it seems that the Kiryuuins are indeed up to some shady shit around here- and Miss Matoi over there looks to be neck-deep in it all, though perhaps not on the inside angle
>You know what you must do
>"Excuse me! Miss!"
>You begin walking over, flashing your press credentials
>"I'm a reporter for Power Surge Magazine here on spe-"
>Ryuko immediately cuts you off with a grouchy look and hostile posture
>"Power Surge? You mean that perv rag they keep below the counter at the newsstands?"
>Like I told you, Power Surge is not famous for journalistic integrity, but we'll cover that later
>At least she's not launching into a tirade about moral decline and hypersexualization of the media; God knows you've had to deal with more than your fair share of that bullshit

>"We've been sent here on a special assignment to investigate allegations of corruption and abuse of authority by city and school officials, specifically those with connections to Revocs International-"
>She loses some of her attitude at that
>"-and the Kiryuuin Conglomerate in parti-"
>Ryuko's eyes pop wide at the name drop and she finally seems to ease up
>"Oh, so you mean Lady Bitchsuki and her flunkies on the School Activities Board? Yeah, you're not the only one who's got a bone to pick with that dad-killing asshole."
>Well, it seems like you won't have trouble finding locals willing to ta- wait, WHAT?
>Did she really just drop that bombshell?
>"Did you just say that Satsuki Kiryuuin killed your father?"
>"Well I don't know that SHE did it specifically, but I know that she knows stuff about it..."
>Holy shit

>You and the guys immediately burst into a flurry of questions as Cail sticks a microphone over your shoulder
>"Are you suggesting, Miss, that the Kiryuuin family is potentially involved with the employment of contract killers?"
>"Are you suggesting that the Kiryuuin Conglomerate is using violence and the threat of use thereof to intimidate civilians into complacency with their activities in Honoji City?"
>"Are you saying that your father was deliberately murdered by the Kiryuuin Conglomerate because of information that he may have been privy to?"
>"Are you claiming that members of this Academy's administration are intentionally obstructing your search for facts concerning the death of your father under suspicious circumstances?"
>Ryuko seems slightly overwhelmed by the barrage of questions and requests
>You, in turn, are feeling a smidge overwhelmed by this godsend of material; what started out as an investigation into possible Shady Shit just exploded into a full-blown Discovery of Organized Criminal Activities
>You yell at the other 3 to shut up for five seconds before turning back to Ryuko
>"Listen, Miss Matoi, we could really, really use whatever you've got to say about all this business for the article we were sent to compile. I, personally, would be greatly indebted to you if you could agree to sit down for a full interview so we can get your perspective on what's wrong with this city."
>She goes back to her standoffish attitude from earlier, though you notice it's not quite as stony as it was previously
>"Listen, jackass, I've got better and more important things to do than sit around jabbering to a bunch of yahoos like you. Like figuring out how I'm gonna smack that high-and-mighty whore into submission so she'll tell me what I want to know. Now scram!"
>"Miss, please! Your story could be an important part of showing the rest of the world what the Kiryuuins are up to in this city; without it, anything we write is liable to be passed off as mere mud-slinging!"
>"Not my problem!"

>Suddenly, the sun just fucking vanishes out of the sky
>Except for a single ray of light, emanating from points unknown, accompanied by what sounds like the choir angelic
>Your attention is now focused on Coco-dome, currently poised to launch into what might be... an interpretive dance, maybe?
>With the manic energy of someone with more caffeine in their system than hemoglobin, she launches into a tirade aimed squarely at Ryuko
>You have difficulty following her after the first 3 seconds, but from what you can glean from word fragments and her own wild motions, it's something about dedication to one's cause, the necessity of service to your fellow man, and how nothing with lasting effect was ever accomplished through selfishness
>When it's finally over, Ryuko seems to have softened slightly... or at least, sufficiently for you to be able to present your case again
>"Look, there's a lot of people in this city who are undoubtedly suffering under Revocs' yoke just like you have, and probably other places across the globe as well."
>"Having someone like you tell their end of the story could help them see that it's not just isolated incidents, and might inspire them to stand up and fight against this corruption just like you've been doing."
>"Please?"
>Ryuko looks over to her little friend, and considers what everyone's been saying
>She finally responds by shrugging her shoulders and sighing
>"Ugh, fine, I'll do your stupid interview."
>Huzzah! Celebrations all around!
>"WILL YOU STOP THAT! It's not like I'm running to be the goddamn Prime Minister, sheesh!"
>The high-fiving and "Ooh-rah"s may have been overkill, admittedly
>You tell Ryuko about the hotel you're staying at, and manage to finagle a time frame for her to show up at your ad-hoc "studio"
>Her and her gal-pal wander off towards the Academy proper, reminding you that for everything that's just gone down within the past 15 minutes, it's still not even noon
>You and the guys start heading for the exit to head back into Honoji City proper
>With how successfully everything's gone thus far, a celebratory lunch is in order

=====END, PART 1=====