The rain wasn't just falling, it was an all-out assault. Every drop that hit the University District felt like a needle, and on the rooftop of a random apartment complex in Sector 4, I was feeling every single one of them.

  "Yuna, I'm going to die. Not from S-Korp, but from sheer, unadulterated, shame," I hissed into the comms, huddled behind a rusty HVAC unit.

  "Stop whining, Sparky. You look amazing in that outfit and it's going to work so well as a distraction mechanism."

  "I'm naked!," I whisper-shouted, peeling off the baggy gray hoodie. Underneath, the Smart-Metal outfit that Yuna had convinced me was a legitimate hero outfit was a cold, silver razor against my skin. I stepped out of the cargo joggers, feeling the wet wind whip against my bare thighs and the single, thin chrome string that was currently the only thing between my backside and the public air. "This isn't a super suit! It's a dare! I feel like if I sneeze, I'll be arrested for public indecency!"

  "It's thermal management!," Yuna countered ... then dropped her voice to a mutter that I could just barely make out. "Besides, you're already showing enough to warrant a public indency charge, but it's so worth it." Her voice grew louder once again, authoritative. "Now, mask on. Initialize the Scintilla protocol."

  I clicked the silver headband into place with a *Crack-Snap* as the electrical contacts activated.

  The world turned into a tactical grid around me as the veil shimmered into place, a heads up display popping into view. I watched my hands as the violet tattoos turned into flowing mercury. My hair whipped around me on the rooftop, the purple pigment bleached out by the silver ions until I was crowned in a halo of shimmering, metallic white. I stood up, the baggy clothes forgotten in a heap. I felt lighter, faster, and dangerously exposed.

  "Okay," Yuna's voice continued. "We've got three targets. Target 1 looks to be a 37-year-old male professor, his residence is two blocks to your north. Target 2 is a 19-year-old male student, he appears to be living 1 block to your west. And Target 3 is a 21-year-old female student. Her apartment is three blocks south, but ... huh."

  "What's wrong?" I crouched near the edge of the building's fire escape, staring out across the University District. It was late, but the neon lights kept things fairly illuminated. There wasn't a lot of foot or vehicle traffic at this hour, but a mag-lev train had just deposited a group of what looked like drunken students at a nearby station and departed once more. They spilled out of the station and began to separate, going their different directions.

  "So she's not at home. I was monitoring her social media and I think she was out with friends, but ... hang on. I just got a tower ping off her phone, I think she was on the train?"

  "Just saw the train deposit a bunch of people," I commented quietly. "Is she one of them?"

  "I think so ... Yes! Okay, she is. I'll send her picture to your HUD." A small window popped up in the corner of my vision showing a cute-looking woman of Western descent. I studied her features for a second, then dismissed the window. Glancing around from five stories up, it was hard to tell who was who - especially in the rain.

  One woman, however, was heading in my direction - southbound - and I suspected it might be her. Yuna hopped back on the comms to confirm. "Yep, that's her - yellow windbreaker, she looks like she'll be passing your location shortly. Maybe you can follow her back to her place?"

  "On it," I acknowledged, my voice modulated into a hollow, metallic echo by the veil. I ran to the fire escape, my chrome boots clanging against the rusted iron as I started to descend, my eyes locked on the girl below, blinking in surprise as she ducked into the alleyway that I was currently positioned above. This was working out nicely, I considered - until a low, predatory growl echoed through the alley.

  A matte black van roared around the corner and into the alley, super-bright headlights cutting through the rain like twin blades. It was moving too fast for the narrow space.

  "Kurumi, look out!" Yuna's shout came too late.

  *CRUNCH.*

  The van's reinforced roof-rack slammed into the base of the fire escape. The rusted bolts sheared off with the sound like a gunshot and the metal platform lurched, pitching me forward. I didn't have time to jump - I just fell, a streak of silver chrome plummeting through the dark.

  I landed with a sickening *thud* and a very un-heroic "Eep!" squarely on the roof of the van. The driver slammed on the brakes, sending me sliding toward the windshield. I dug my silver-etched fingers into the roof-rack, barely holding on as the van screeched to a halt.

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

  "Intruder on the roof!," a voice barked from inside. "Bravo, handle her. Charlie, get the package!"

  The side doors slid open and four men in full tactical gear poured out. Three of them looked about the same, but one was clearly a leader with a red-glowing visor.

  "Get her off there!," the leader roared.

  One of the grunts lunged, reaching for my ankle. I didn't think, I just reacted. I dropped from the roof, flipping forward so my legs caught him around the neck, basically straddling his face. My bare, silver-etched thighs wrapped tight around his back.

  *BZZZT.*

  A massive silver discharge of silver static traveled from the skin of my groin directly into his head. His helmet shattered into sparks and he slumped backward, my thighs providing a high-voltage hug as I rode him to the ground.

  Kicking off his fallen body, I landed into a deep puddle. "Stay back!," I warned, my voice trembling. This wasn't how the night was supposed to go!

  A second grunt raised a stun-baton, rushing toward me. I slammed my palms into the water and a pulse of electricity shot through the puddle. He didn't even have time to scream before it reached him, sending him into a twitching heap.

  "You little bitch," the leader growled, lunging toward me. He was fast - much faster than his teammates. He swung a heavy, carbon-fiber reinforced fist that I barely managed to block, the force of the blow sending me staggering backward into the brick wall behind me.

  The leader lunged forward, capitalizing on my relative inexperience, and swung another fist at me. I dodged, but the Smart-Metal outfit was slick with rain and oil. As I twisted out of the way, his tactical glove - covered in jagged, hooked knuckles - caught the thin chrome strips of my output.

  He didn't just punch - he grabbed and pulled.

  *RIIIIIIP-POP*.

  The tension on the Smart-Metal gave way. The twin chrome strips that ran from my collar to my groin, normally only held in place by bio-magnetic tension, slid wide across my chest.

  The alley fell silent, save for the patter of rain.

  I stood there, completely exposed from the waist up. My chest heaved from the exertion of the fight. My breasts, pale and shimmering with silver-ion static, were fully bared to the night air, nipples already hardening. The leader's red visor literally hummed as the sensors zoomed in, his jaw dropping behind his mask. He froze mid-lunge, his brain apparently undergoing a total system crash at the sight of two massive, silver-etched tits staring him in the face.

  "DON'T ... YOU ... DARE ... LOOK!" I screamed, the sound echoing off the alley walls with the force of my fury.

  Driven by a mix of nuclear-level embarrassment and raw power, I slammed both fists forward into his chest-piece. I didn't just zap him, I vented nearly every shred of power I had in my body. A wave of brilliant light exploded between us. The leader was thrown backward, his boots leaving the ground as he slammed into the side of the van with a dent-forming THUD and slid to the ground, unconscious.

  "Kurumi! The last guy! He's got the girl!" Yuna's voice was a frantic squeak in my ear.

  I looked down, frantically grabbing the chrome strips of the outfit. I tried to pull them back over my nipples, but the Smart-Metal was apparently malfunctioning - the "re-seal" sensors fouled by the rain or ... something. Every time I moved, the fabric just slid back down, stubbornly refusing to stay put.

  "Stay! In! There!" I growled, shoving my nipples back into the suit and holding the strips in place with one hand while I sprinted down the alley.

  The fourth agent was dragging the girl toward the back of the van, a black hood already over her head. He was oblivious to the carnage on the other side of the van where I'd just knocked out his three companions.

  I didn't use lightning. I was too mad for lightning. I leapt, my silver hair streaming behind me like a comet, and delivered a flying kick to the back of his head. He slammed into the brick wall and crumpled like a wet paper bag.

  I stood there, gasping, one arm still clamped across my chest to keep my suit from falling off again. I reached down and ripped the hood off the victim.

  She was small, cute, with wide, honey-brown eyes and an adorable dimple on her left cheek. She looked up at me - this silver-haired, nearly naked, panting goddess - and her breath hitched.

  "Are you ... an angel?" she whispered, her gaze drifting down to where my hand was failing to keep my breasts covered.

  "I'm a delivery girl having a very bad night," I rasped. I ripped apart her zip ties. "Run! You have to get out of here!"

  The girl tried to stand, but her legs gave out. "I can't ... run? To where? I can barely feel my feet from however they stunned me."

  Sirens began to wail in the distance and I could hear the roar of the other two capture vans, headed in my direction. If I left her here, they'd just bag her again.

  "Oh, for the love of-" I groaned. I reached down and scooped her up into a princess carry. She let out a small, startled "Oh!" and instinctively wrapped her arms around my neck, pressing her face into the crook of my silver-etched shoulder.

  "Hold on," I commanded.

  I took off, a streak of chrome and silver light, leaping over a fence at the end of the alley with strength I didn't realize I possessed right as the first reinforcement van turned the corner. I ran through the shadows, carrying the girl like a prize, my suit popping open every three seconds, nipples bouncing wildly as I cursed Yuna, S-Korp, and the entire Shonen genre with every breath I took.