Overlay
Overlay
Overlay (Séamus Shiori Sato) is a 20 year old aikido instructor torn with grief over not having accepted the superpowers he gained after the Vanishing, which contributed to his brother's legs being so injured by a fight between Destroyer's forces and the Army that the doctors had to amputate his brother's legs.
Overlay gained the ability to minutely control electricity in very tiny amounts. He cannot even throw an electric blast, but he can tap into a person's optic and auditory nerves and see and hear everything they see and hear. He can also alter their perceptions if they're willing, and broadcast video, audio, even markups like TV football announcers drawing on the screen to indicate plays, to his allies, giving them better intelligence about their foes, resulting in their shots being more accurate and enabling them to dodge more incoming fire. Overlay can also cause any electrical activity to spike and cause damage, whether synapses firing in a brain or the electricity powering a CPU. Finally Overlay can also so disrupt the flow of electricity in a targeted area that an electrically-powered device will shut off and take a moment to reset. Overlay also has great control over the electricity in his own body, and 'overclocks' himself to enable superhuman reaction speed.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Séamus Shiori Sato was born to a Japanese father (Juurou Naoki Sato) and an Irish mother (Saraid Maura Ó Fionnagáin), both first-generation immigrants to the U.S. Séamus struggled as a child of two worlds, speaking English with his classmates at school and struggling to learn the Japanese language of his father, a research engineer (advanced protective materials) with no particular skill for teaching. His mother had been a successful second-story thief in Ireland, but eventually she felt the "heat" coming too close so, already fortunately having a passport, exercised her backup plan to fly to the U.S. on a student visa she'd applied for months earlier. Saraid enjoyed academia so much that she dropped plans to return to Ireland in a year or two once the "heat" had cooled, and majored in electrical engineering with a focus on security systems. Séamus didn't have an easy time with science and math early on, despite his heritage, but passed those classes, carrying disillusionment with him that he wasn't enough like his parents. After high school Séamus went to community college, but science and math still weren't clicking. Séamus hoped he was just a late bloomer in these areas. Séamus wasn't going to give up on college without getting *something* so he got his associate's degree, enough to qualify for a real university later, and annoyed his parents by taking a "gap year" to become a partner in a martial arts studio, hoping to excel in turning his martial arts passion into a business able to support himself until science and math 'clicked' for him. Séamus did have a knack for something besides martial arts, though: his mother taught him all she knew about security systems, mechanical locks, and so forth. Séamus isn't aware his mother was once an active burglar in Ireland, attributing her knowledge to her education and her many jobs in the building security industry.
By this time, Séamus was 20 years old and his younger brother Gearalt Juurou Sato was 16.
Then the Vanishing happened. One day (or night) moments before the Vanishing, Séamus and Gearalt were walking back to Séamus's apartment after Séamus's last class was done, so they could play video games, joke around, and razz each other in the way that made them happy to be brothers. Once inside, their plans changed because Séamus suddenly felt dizzy and collapsed on the couch. Séamus woke up hours later, seemingly unchanged, except his perception - what he was seeing and hearing - kept shifting, from normal, to seeing out of Gearalt's eyes, to seeing the view from a fly on the wall inside the apartment, to a grasshopper on the window ledge outside the apartment! Séamus took minutes to concentrate and finally got his perception steadily coming from his own eyes. Séamus didn't want to have superpowers, even though he suspected he might have some, so he just played the fainting off to Gearalt as having worked too hard at the dojo that day.
Then the normal humans who remained rose up to fight Dr. Destroyer... and lost badly. On another day (or night), Séamus and Gearalt were again coming back to Séamus's apartment for more video games and razzing, but this time they were interrupted on their walk home by a running battle between the U.S. Army and some of Destroyer's lieutenants and troops. A stray blast from a lieutenant struck a building overhang and rubble fell, wounding Gearalt. Destroyer's forces and the Army moved their running battle elsewhere, but the damage was done. Séamus pulled out his cell phone and called 911, and the response was delayed enough that by the time emergency responders got the debris off Gearalt's legs, and got him to the hospital, the surgeons were forced to amputate Gearalt's legs in order to save his life. Séamus sat in the waiting area, sobbing, struck silent by the realization that the powers he'd been ignoring could have let him look ahead on their path home, looking ahead from birds and insects on or near every rooftop, or maybe a person walking hundreds of feet ahead, and enabling Séamus to direct the brothers on an alternate path, away from the danger.
Séamus asked his father if Séamus could borrow one of the many pre-production advanced personal armor samples under the pretense that it was for his students' use, as Séamus wanted to help protect them more during the many throws and falls required during Aikido training. Juurou Sato, a busy man, frequently focused on his work, agreed after Séamus had pestered him enough over time that Juurou just wanted Séamus out of his hair for a moment. Séamus, of course, had other plans for this armor...
Personality Characteristics
Motivation
Séamus, once Gearalt had fully healed and adjusted to using a wheelchair, knew he had a new path ahead of him. There were rumors of new superheroes performing daring missions to undermine Destroyer's lieutenants and maybe, just maybe, to take back our lives from Destroyer! Séamus didn't want to injure or even kill anyone, but he knew that with practice he could become the perfect recon operative for the heroes, helping them evade capture, locate hostages, and prevent anyone else from suffering ever again the way Gearalt suffered under the heavy foot of Dr. Destroyer! Séamus doesn't have a deathwish, but he subconsciously is trying to prove to himself that he can make every risky mission easier for the heroes, providing them with life-saving intelligence and enabling them to easily strike Destroyer's weak spots with just the right... Overlay.
Séamus is a fun-loving twenty-year old with a chip on his shoulder to bring down Dr. Destroyer, and to be instrumental in enabling powerhouse heroes to strike the telling blows. At the dojo he is all technique and non-violent philosophy, and when battling you on the latest X-Station 350 video game, he is cutthroat, merciless, and quite the trash-talker. When speaking with someone knowledgeable in science or math, Séamus unconsciously switches to asking them questions and subtly trying to put them in teaching-mode so that perhaps that day, that is the day that science and math finally 'click' for Séamus and he can begin taking classes at night (online) to become an engineer like his parents while by day he fights a relentless war against Dr. Destroyer alongside his newfound heroic allies.
Age
20
Children
Gender
Male
Eyes
Green
Hair
Black
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Caucasian
Height
5'11"
Weight
165
Quotes & Catchphrases
"The only use of Aikido is self-defense. Do you know how said that? Ki Lo Ni, the great teacher."
Related Reports
Overlay and the New Champions enter “The Hollow!”
Seamus walked his apartment for the third and final time. He had tidied everything up. He made sure his brother Gearalt had a copy of the keys. He had written down key passwords and placed them in a drawer in case… the worst happened and Gearalt and his parents would need to take care of his remaining business on Earth.
Seamus had sworn Gearalt to secrecy for at least one week. If Seamus didn’t return by then, Gearalt was to tell their parents everything – Seamus’s powers as Overlay, that he found and joined the New Champions, and was going with them to help them put an end to Dr. Destroyer.
Seamus sometimes wondered what he was doing, trained in Aikido, believing in not harming others, but going along as a potential accomplice to… murder? To… justice? Seamus didn’t know, but every time he paused, he soon lived in the déjà vu of seeing collateral damage from Destroyer’s victory over the forces defending Millennium City resulting in building rubble falling on Gearalt, crushing Gearalt’s legs like a spoon on mashed potatoes, and Seamus helpless to do more than call for help, at that time having rejected his powers and pretending they didn’t exist, that they couldn’t be used to scan ahead for dangers in the middle of a war.
Seamus didn’t recognize his old self anymore, but his new self was going to help kick Destroyer off the planet and help lead a revolution to change things back to the way they were before.
Speaking with Sensei Kobayashi had been even harder. Sensei had great wisdom and perception, and appeared to know Seamus had powers, of some sort, without Seamus ever having told him. Seamus didn’t tell Sensei exactly what he would be doing to help get rid of Destroyer, or even anything about the New Champions, but looking into Sensei’s eyes, Sensei seemed to know everything without words. Privately, they bowed to each other, Seamus to his Sensei, Sensei to a hero going off to war with no guarantee of return, and then they hugged and cried for what felt like minutes.
Then each stood straight, and Sensei, of course, had tissues ready for each man to clean their face and restore their stoic faces.
Sensei spoke first, “uchi-deshi, I know you. Whatever the circumstances, I know you won’t throw the first strike. Remember – every enemy carries within them the seeds of their own destruction. You need only allow their own actions to defeat them. Their own greed for wealth and power will do them in without you lifting your smallest finger.”
Seamus smiled and finished the conversation the only way he could: “Hai, Sensei.”
Seamus bowed, straightened, and left the M.C. Aikikai Dojo.
Seamus took the bus to the edge of Millennium City, and then walked for an hour or more to the designated transportation site where Cypher had arranged for his teleport to the New Champions’ base.
Soon enough, Cypher’s robot army had met him and then, in a flash, Overlay was in the base.
Overlay did a lot of listening in the leadup to the planned journey. It seemed every other day a New Champion was vanished, or reportedly made their way to The Hollow through some unusual route or another…
Standing with the New Champions at Socrates’ platform, Seamus felt a sudden bout of imposter syndrome – was he really here, not so long after embracing his powers, about to walk to… another dimension… with a rag-tag (well, not so rag-tag) group of freedom fighters with superpowers?
Were they, even united, powerful enough to defeat Dr. Destroyer? Overlay was barely into his 20s, had never entertained the thought of joining any military service, yet here he was, in uniform and armor, no weapons but those of his fellow heroes, and about to face the madman who’d turned the world into his personal dictatorship… who was worse, Destroyer or Hitler? Hitler killed many more, but Destroyer effectively exterminated freedom!
After a figurative eternity of waiting, Socrates said it was time to go, and go the New Champions (and Overlay!) went!
Overlay was thankful that the New Champions didn’t immediately enter battle after a transition between dimensions so strange Overlay thought he was watching the introduction to the original Tron movie. His new friends knew a lot more about the people ahead of him than he did, so Overlay remained quiet, watching and smiling as he learned that he was looking at the original Champions, and… wait, Overlay knew Ironside was an alien, but what about these others? Overlay tried saying “ahk-thale-ian” on his tongue but it was just to foreign, even to someone who grew up with exposure to Japanese, and, um, a whole lot of Japanese monster movies – his father had made sure the household always had some streaming service or some DVDs or Blu-Rays of Godzilla and the rest, both in the badly dubbed American versions and the original Japanese versions with subtitles.
And then… Judge Osborne killed Socrates. Who was this judge anyways? Apparently Overlay had missed out on a lot by not joining the New Champions earlier! And… an old man with an axe? And… THREE Doctor Destroyers?!?
Overlay knew right then, it was now or never. Just as they’d practiced at the base, Overlay’s overclocked nervous system leapt into action and Overlay reached through the quantum entanglement communication field with each New Champions and spoke to them all from his subvocalization causing spooky action at a distance, “I am online with all seven of you. I will keep red circles around each of the three Destroyers. I will add a yellow circle around their arms or guns whenever they’re about to fire. I will paint their blasts and bullets so you know where not to be. Aim true, strike hard, and free Earth!”
Overlay then focused on his augmented reality and began circling the three Destroyers in not just his vision, but in the New Champions’ vision as well ( + 3 OCV). Overlay wasn’t certain the old man was a true threat, but he red-circled the old man anyways since he had an axe, and some of the New Champions didn’t look necessarily axe-proof.
Finally, Overlay overclocked the nervous systems of his friends too, enabling them to more quickly dodge incoming blasts and bullets ( +3 DCV). In a split-second, before anyone else could move, the New Champions were hopefully now fighting at Destroyer’s level. The only problems of course, were that they were fighting THREE Destroyers!
The most powerful New Champions immediately began engaging the Destroyers. The Hot Shot, also a relatively new addition, wasn’t doing anything at first… and then she channeled J from Men in Black, leveled The Heater at the old man, and shot the most dangerous person in the battle. Aided by Overlay, The Hot Shot used her impressive aim to focus on headshotting the old man and… succeeded on the first try!
Overlay was seeing the whole battle through every New Champion’s eyes, though with little detail or focus as he had to constantly adjust the red circles and such to where the Destroyers had moved to, but he froze for a split second when it looked like The Hot Shot outright murdered the old man! Sure he had an axe but… the echoing blasts of the Destroyers unfroze Overlay, and he was about to try to leap out of the way of an explosion, but then Hope came out of nowhere and flew him far away just in time, as the unimaginably large explosive blast from a Destroyer hit where Overlay had just been!
Hope said something about “stay here” but Overlay missed it, and happened to choose the same action anyways, resuming red-circling Destroyers, yellow-circling glowing power gauntlets and so on. Then… after the last massive explosion, all of the Destroyers fell, whether in sky or on the ground, and the battle was over! Overlay had a long run back to the group and was shocked to find out that the Destroyers had accidentally killed their master, helped along greatly by The Hot Shot.
Overlay’s maternal great-grandmother, of Irish descent, had once told Seamus as a young boy about the conflicting emotions she felt when the atomic bombs dropped on Japan, and the war ended soon thereafter. She’d been ecstatic that the Second World War was finally over… and then distraught and retching at the massive loss of life in two fell swoops, and then felt even worse when news accounts came out of the “survivors” who lived only days or weeks with portions of their bodies melted, damaged, irradiated. To her dying day she never knew exactly how she should feel that such an awful unnecessary war with millions dead… should have ended in such a way with the release of unimaginable weapons of destruction. She never offered a better solution, simply choosing, in her Irish Catholic faith, to thank her God that the war was over and no one else had to die in that manner… she had hoped.
Now here stood Overlay, enabler of Destroyer’s murder, virtually guaranteeing that The Hot Shot’s murderous impulse would end a man’s life, nearly exploding his head like a watermelon on Mythbusters… Now Overlay knew exactly how his great-grandmother had felt. Seamus was ecstatic that Destroyer would never harm anyone again, and retching with his perceived betrayal of his beloved Aikido teachings.
Then… Seamus recalled Sensei’s final words to him, before Seamus left the Dojo, “You need only allow their own actions to defeat them. Their own greed for wealth and power will do them in without you lifting your smallest finger.” The Hot Shot had only severely wounded the old man. Seamus didn’t know if medical care worked in The Hollow, but it was Destroyer’s own programming of his clones that delivered his death blow… and for now, that was enough for Overlay to rest and for Seamus to rise to the new order.
Seamus looked around at the inactive clones, the dead Destroyer, and lifted off his helmet. Smiling, Seamus walked the New Champions, shaking the hand of each. When he came to The Hot Shot, he added, “thank you for seeing the threat no one else could see.”
Seamus then, helmet in one arm at his side, walked over to the original Champions and said, “thank you for keeping everyone together while you were stuck here. You must have learned a lot about the geography of The Hollow. Now that we’re here with powers, perhaps we can combine our powers with your knowledge and then explore together to find a way back to Earth?”
Epilogue: Gearalt
It had been a full week since Seamus left – fool or hero, Gearalt didn’t know, but there was no point in delaying any longer. Gearalt wheeled himself from the living room to the kitchen where his parents were preparing dinner, and asked to speak with them about something serious.
It was the hardest thing Gearalt had ever done in his 18 years – how do you tell your parents that your only brother, their son, is probably dead at the hands of Dr. Destroyer himself, and not just him, but all of the New Champions who were the world’s last hope against Destroyer’s world dictatorship? The shared grief was unimaginable, yet it happened among all three, and only the sharing made it even slightly bearable.
It was a significant amount of time before it was clear that the world dictatorship was falling apart, and in that time, Seamus’s parents had made the necessary lies and excuses to friends and extended family – they couldn’t let it be known that their oldest son was a traitor to Dr. Destroyer – the world dictatorship would have them all executed! Instead, Seamus’s parents paid off his apartment lease, took all of his things home, and told the landlord that Seamus had moved and left his parents to clean up, and that the landlord was to advertise for a new renter right away.
Then the Satos set about rebuilding their shattered emotional lives. With only Gearalt remaining of their children, they made sure his college education took top priority, and were pleased when he chose the path of science, and even more pleased when Gearalt eventually became a professor of Physics. The Satos didn’t know, but Gearalt had become obsessed with finding a way to reach other dimensions, to find out what this “Hollow” or “Cyberplane” really was, and if he could, to find a way to rescue Seamus.
Gearalt grew up, married, had kids, and then they grew up, influenced by Gearalt’s stories of Seamus and obsession with finding and rescuing their long-lost uncle whom they’d never met.
Then one day in 2071, with Gearalt in his 70s, SPOILERS FOR GM_CHAMPION’S SEASON THREE HERO!
The Hot Shot meets Overlay
Seamus Sato entered the M.C. Aikikai Dojo ("the Dojo") on Saturday for his teaching shift, following an exhausting cleanup of the Dojo after Spencer, Lucas, and Ed Rupertman had “trashed” Kobayashi Sensei and Overlay/Seamus while tracking street dirt all over the tatami mats. Fortunately for the Dojo and its students, Destroyer Command ordered the three away to go harass some other unfortunate souls before they had caused real injury.
Kobayashi Sensei had sent out feelers to other Aikido senseis to see if they’d be interested in putting on a show for the three Destroyer Agents before the next time the three came around, but it had been less than two days. Seamus was using industrial amounts of elbow grease to try once more to clean a stubborn stain Ed Rupertman’s dirty boots had left behind, when he heard a commotion outside. Seamus could have tapped an insect outside for a closeup view, but old habits die hard and he stood straight, still holding the sopping-west mop, and turned to face the sounds. Seamus visibly winced when he saw that it was The Three again, only this time they were hassling the students outside the Dojo.
Seamus took a moment to put on his best retail sales face, set the mop and pail against a nearby wall, and began walking towards the front door, signaling Kobayashi Sensei with a hand signal. Sensei shakes his head, but, perhaps still bruised from two days ago, does nothing to stop Seamus from going outside. The Three recognize Seamus and begin to prepare for another beatdown, turning towards Seamus. Providentially, their cell phones began to ring, they checked their phones, read for a moment, and Rupertman said, “eh… you’ll get your beating later. We have more important things to do, right boyos?” Ed Rupertman had apparently cheered on the Dreadnoks in G.I. Joe one too many times as a youth, bobbling and dropping a failed attempt at a “tough Australian accent.”
Seamus, sighed inwardly and quickly guided the Dojo’s students inside and away from The Three. Seamus sees The Three pause their march to huddle, and with a glance, picks a nearby insect and Taps its sight and hearing, unaware of the exact way his Vanishing-derived abilities create quantum entanglement between his optic and auditory nerves and those of the housefly’s, cloning the signals and making them appear as picture-in-picture within Overlay’s normal vision and the words of the Three received within Overlay’s ears as if he were looking over their shoulders himself. “Ok guys, we’re joining a team of twelve, at that location, and then we’re all gonna rush those resistance losers in their own apartments.” Overlay’s housefly transmits back an annoying mix of compound vision videos of The Three’s cell phones, but with great focus and strain Overlay reads and memorizes the address. Then The Three march away, laughing loudly and obnoxiously, like the bad guy animals in an old Disney film…
Kobayashi Sensei arrives at Seamus just as Seamus ends the Tap. “Oh, hey Sensei. Whew, they left, and I didn’t have to get beat up again,” Seamus grinned sheepishly. Seamus’ grin fell away in an instant, and he said, “…but I overheard them talking… they’re going to meet up with their friends and kill innocents…” Seamus then looked paler than Sensei had ever seen, despondent, even. Sensei considered, and replied, “It is a pity we do not have a connection with this Resistance that they mock so much.” Sensei, lacking in superpowers, nevertheless finishes his sentence by staring into Seamus’ eyes, almost mystically, the camera, if there was one, alternating back and forth between Sensei and Seamus as if to show the invisible point-to-point laser-focused communication between their optic nerves, putting the famous “staring speeches” of the Twilight vampire movies to shame. When Sensei was done, he said, “I can handle the students that are here,” and with that, Kobayashi Sensei turned 180 degrees and strode back into the Dojo.
Seamus looked puzzled for a moment… surely Sensei didn’t think he had any connections with the Resistance, or… powers? Seamus pulled out his car keys to his I’m-not-buying-you-a-new-car-son car that lacked a keyfob, unlocked the driver’s side door, got in, turned the ignition, and began a slow-speed pursuit, shadowing The Three to their apartment building destination. Along the way, Overlay Tapped a random rooftop insect every several seconds, looking for hidden Resistance soldiers, the New Champions, anyone who might be able to help, but despite sweat on his forehead for minutes at a time, Seamus had no luck, despite his ancestry.
The Three eventually turned onto the street with the apartment building, and Seamus took that opportunity to find a nearby parking space out of sight, and then began making his way down a parallel street. Seamus had removed some outer clothing in the car, replacing it with body armor, a trenchcoat, a hat, and Giffen Shadows over his face, and began running down the street towards a woman with some strangely huge rifle who was aiming in the general direction of the apartment building and yelling for the Destroyer Soldiers to pay attention to her!!! Overlay didn’t know if he should trust her or not, but, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” playing in his mind from a youth misspent, or maybe well-spent, watching OLD movies with his Dad, who, as a first-generation Japanese immigrant, impressed upon Seamus the importance of knowing American culture well enough to ingratiate oneself with those in power. Seamus of course had banged his head against college math just long enough to get an associate’s degree and went to work for a first-generation Japanese immigrant running an Aikido Dojo, but at least his father had tried!
The brisk wind whipping by his face as he ran brought Seamus out of his daydream and Overlay pressed on, emptying his calves of the energy from the doughnut he ate on the way to work, and he made it to just behind a lamppost, with the woman with the rifle… the… G.I. Joe laser rifle (?) on the other side. Seamus took a couple of seconds to wheeze and catch his breath (occasional sprints were in his fitness routine, but Seamus had truly pushed himself in this run and would likely pay for it later.), gasping out, “I’m here to help!” Jasmine (The Hot Shot) stole another glance at Overlay, having noticed his run up, but he was unarmed, and Destroyer’s Troops were advancing on her siblings inside the apartment building! Jasmine aimed The Heater at one of the approaching Destroyer Agents, flipped some switches (and made the activation roll!), put a soldier in her sights, and squeezed the trigger. Two gouts of heat and light burst forth in rapid succession, ZORCHING across the intervening space and KOs her target with a quick one-two zorch!
Seamus gains his bearings, and more of the distance duel plays out, with a soldier shooting Jasmine to no apparent effect, and Jasmine missing her next target. Overlay said, “Ma’am, I can help, if you’re willing to trust me.” The Hot Shot turned again, looking the armored and unarmed man behind her up and down again, and said, “yeah, whatever, I could use some help. Hope you can fly or shoot laser beams out of your hands or something” and turned back to the oncoming soldiers, taking aim again. Overlay said, “I will help you see your foes even when they are hiding. You’ll feel some static electricity…” and with that, Overlay stepped directly behind her, leaning to one side enough to see the barest angle of the front of her face, catching her eyes at that angle and… quantum entanglement! At the speed of thought, Seamus’ overclocked reflexes compared his view of the enemies to her, as a group of electrical signals visualized… Overlay picked out the signals that corresponded to the soldiers in his view and hers, “drew” red circles around the soldiers, and copied it onto her optic nerves, all in a fraction of a second!
Jasmine felt… supercharged! The armored man said there would be static electricity, but… and those red circles! She had almost lost track of one of the soldiers ducking down behind a car, but now he was outlined as clear as a player running a route on TV Sports! It was almost too easy, as now she saw where they were aiming, and then she jerked aside just as the red mini-circle around the soldier’s trigger finger glowed with urgency. Red circles appeared, disappeared, and moved within her vision faster than she could react, it was like working with Lil’ Rocket again! When she took her shots, however, they always hit home and hit hard!
Overlay had moved ahead of The Hot Shot and to the side slightly, playing goalie, attracting and Matrix-Aikido-ing out of the way of every incoming shot. Finally three more soldiers came around a corner and charged at them. Seamus recognized them as Spencer, Lucas, and Ed Rupertman. When they were meters away, it was Overlay who strode forward and used Aikido to slam Spencer into Lucas and the pile of the two into the wall! They were hardly hurt, but now were prone. Next, Overlay channeled his inner Bruce Li and, moving faster than a hypothetical film camera could track, stepped and reached in the next 1 second to redirect Ed Rupertman’s velocity, and Rupertman, into the growing pile of embarrassed soldiers on the ground! Jasmine got a big grin on her face, and The Hot Shot adjusted the focuser on The Heater, squeezed the trigger and roasted the three of them, their screams brief as the intense heat and light dehydrated them and they fainted into unconsciousness. Less than twelve seconds after Jasmine’s first Hot Shot, almost all the soldiers were down and she yelled to the survivors to run and tell Destroyer not to mess with the Resistance! The remaining soldiers dropped whatever gear they had in their hands and ran far far away!
The Hot Shot and Overlay fist-bumped in victory, and Jasmine invited the stranger to meet up later tonight to discuss how he might be of further use to the Resistance. Seamus, still masked, thanked The Hot Shot for the opportunity, and suggested a particular park tonight at a particular time (which Overlay knew was exactly the time and place he was to meet up with Cypher about joining the team). The heroes said their goodbyes and Overlay took a circuitous route, taking his time before surreptitiously sneaking back into his car and driving away, helmet off and eyes constantly jumping between all the mirrors, and Tapping random insects all along the way to ensure that he was not being followed…
Danger at the Dojo!
Seamus Sato entered the M.C. Aikikai Dojo ("the Dojo") on Thursday for his teaching shift. Seamus smiled, reflecting on the progress of his students, as he walked over to the business counter to review the day's teaching schedule. Seamus stole a glance at Hayato Jun Kobayashi ("Sensei Kobayashi, or just Sensei") instructing a group of new students, now gathered in a circle around Sensei.
Seamus taught the class, and eventually everyone was sweaty and went to clean off before leaving. Seamus looked at the schedule again and saw there had been a cancellation, a family taking lessons together had gone on vacation this week. Seamus sighed, looking, reluctantly, at the mop and pail by the wall. He felt the rush of air from the Dojo's front doors and turned slowly to see three gruff-looking men walking in, shoes still on as they stepped onto the mats, approaching the business counter.
As Seamus took the few necessary steps to greet the prospective customers, one of them (Spencer, as Seamus would learn) said, "we want training. Let's get to it!" Seamus replied, "of course sir, here's the rate card. What subscription term would you like?" To Seamus’s surprise, things quickly went downhill from there. The men weren’t willing to remove their shoes, although the wads of cash they plunked down on the counter seemed real enough, for Destroyer Dollars.
Seamus surreptitiously stole glances at the men’s stances and postures. They’d had some military training and could probably beat up a person off the street easily, but Seamus could stall them all day in a fight if he wanted to show off. While Seamus spoke with Spencer, their leader, he also overheard the others, Lucas and Rupert, mutter under their breath about being tired of Resistance fighters kicking their butts in recent battles.
Seamus swallowed a bit at that, while Spencer was ranting about “wanting to learn how to kick butt right now.” Seamus wasn’t skilled at spotting someone packing a gun, but knowing they were Destroyer’s men, he realized this situation could get very bad very fast if they realized Seamus was making fun of them.
Seamus promised the men he would begin their training right now, and as they tramped their dirty feet on the mats Seamus winced at how many hours he would need to clean the mats after the soldiers left.
Seamus asked them questions about their martial training, and they expressed little more than impatience, so Seamus proceeded to train them one at a time, beginning with Spencer, on how to take a fall. The soldiers weren’t having that, and demanded combat contact training right then. Seamus sighed inwardly as he leaned slightly out of the way of Spencer’s first punch thrown. Seamus took their measure and then executed a leg sweep on Rupert – not enough to truly hurt him, but to go along with their desire for “real combat training.”
Seamus hadn’t thought he was embarrassing them, but quoting Ki Lo Ni Sensei seemed to only infuriate the soldiers. Then wise Kobayashi Sensei intervened and offered to train the soldiers himself. The soldiers encircled Kobayashi Sensei and began throwing punches at him. As those punches connected Seamus realized Sensei was sacrificing himself for the Dojo. But Sensei was more than twice Seamus’ 20 years and if… WHEN… the soldiers injured Sensei, he would be a long time recovering, if Destroyer’s hospital would even take him after the soldiers reported in…
Seamus sprung into action and joined the fray, appearing to be overcome by their “great skill” as Seamus leaned into every blow meant for Sensei, knowing that even if there was serious injury, Seamus’ 20-year-old body would recover much faster than if Sensei took the blows. After about one minute, Seamus and Sensei were both on the floor, the soldiers towering over them and the novice students quivering in terror along the back wall. Suddenly Lucas’s phone beeped, and looking at it, he told the others to “leave these losers, we have go, now.” The soldiers sadistically laughed at the pain and bruises they’d given out, dropped some money on the floor, and Spencer said, “great training guys, we’ll be back again.” And then they left.
Before they left, Seamus used his position on the floor, beaten and bruised, to close his eyes and use his powers without suspicion, or so he thought. Seamus had spotted a spider hanging from its web above the fray and flicked the mental switch that quantum entangled a direct connection between the spider’s optic nerves and Seamus’s brain. Seamus was thankful it was a spider – spiders have simple eyes similar to people’s, so Seamus wasn’t straining to make sense of an insect’s compound eyes… As the spider issued more thread, descending lower, Seamus was able to read Lucas’s phone from the spider’s view while Lucas was holding the phone, and saw that Lucas and crew had been recalled to Destroyer’s nearby military base. Accessing that base would be a suicide mission, so Seamus settled for shifting his perspective to one of many ants loitering on the sidewalk outside and memorized the soldiers’ car’s license plate.
After the soldiers left, Seamus rolled onto his side, aching, and examined Sensei. Sensei was bruised, but not severely so. Kobayashi Sensei had likewise rolled onto his side to face and examine Seamus. Sensei said, “Sato-san… Anata wa daijōbudesuka (あなたは大丈夫ですか？/ are you all right) ?” Seamus wordlessly rolled himself sitting upright, took a deep breath and felt no pain (good, no ribs broken). “Hai, Sensei.” Seamus got up first, owing to his youth, and extended both arms for Sensei to grasp his hands, which Sensei did, wincing a bit as he stood up. “Sato-san, I… will be o-k… (turning to the students, Sensei bowed slightly) Students, I am sorry the peace of the dojo was disturbed. We will give all of you present one free class on your accounts. We did what we had to do so they would leave without hurting any of you. We hope you will understand that classes are cancelled for the rest of the day so we can recover and also clean and restore the dojo for your next classes.” The students looked sad, not at their class having been interrupted, but their eyes walked slowly and lazily over the bruises and cuts on Kobayashi Sensei and Sato Uchi-deshi (Seamus). As one, they all said, “Hai, Sensei” and obediently went to the back area to change clothes and retrieve their personal effects.
After the students left, Seamus turned to Sensei, “Kobayashi Sensei, what will we do if… when… the soldiers return?” Sensei replied, “I do not know, Sato-san, but we must have a plan. It is against our beliefs to simply bruise them, next time, as they have bruised us today…” Seamus paused a moment, and replied in a very low voice, “Sensei, I am in agreement with you, that we two are not the ones to put a boot to their head… but there are other practitioners of branches of Aikido who have no such beliefs. It might be risky to expand the Dojo with combat Aikido practitioners, but if we found some who were good at taking hits instead of dodging them, the soldiers could be placated enough that they would not attack our other students. With the right teachers, perhaps the soldiers could be given… weaknesses in their style so that others could quickly defeat them with the right knowledge?”
Kobayashi Sensei took a long, wincing, breath, less painful than before… and appeared lost in thought for a moment. Sensei came out of his meditation a moment later and said, “yes uchi-deshi, I think I know just the senseis, if they can safely travel to Millennium City…” Seamus smiled and walked slowly, carefully, over to the mop and bucket on the back wall, and began cleaning the Dojo of the stench of Destroyer’s Desecrations, plotting, planning harder than ever how to go about finding the New Champions and joining their ranks…
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