I Accept
The volcanic ash burst apart and scattered. The divine pressure that had been crushing the air was gone.
Magma fell like rain back into the crater. Not a handful of it ran down the mountain.
The scattered ash gathered before me, shaped itself into a girl, and at last became a person who breathed and blinked.
"Pfaah!"
A young girl spat out ash and laughed, thoroughly pleased with herself.
"Congratulations. You made it through safely."
"Yeah. I nearly died, but I scraped by."
Pele patted my back, her voice bright and childish.
"You have no idea what I went through in there."
"I don't know. Looking at you now, I can guess well enough."
Before the revival, Pele had been a high-school girl. Now she was an elementary-schooler who barely reached my waist. That alone was enough to tell me the revival had been no ordinary thing.
"Ahh. This body..."
Pele looked herself over. Short arms and legs, and cheeks as plump and soft as fresh rice cakes.
"So long as I didn't die, it's fine!"
"How optimistic of you."
"It's all right. My true body is recovering, and this is only a divine avatar anyway."
"Your true body — that thing from earlier?"
"Mm-hm. That's the one."
Of course.
"Well... the true body isn't back to normal either. That's why the avatar looks like this..."
A divine avatar was flesh that stood in for a god, a power that showed a deity's influence in the flesh. Considering Pele's true body, the avatar ought to have taken the shape of a grown woman.
Pele clapped twice, as if to clear the air around them.
"It's already over! I've been revived, so it's only a matter of time before I stand at the peak again!"
"That's right."
"Come on, let's go. Those thugs tearing up your house — I'll give them a proper thrashing!"
Pele windmilled her arms and marched ahead. A little girl playing at being a grown-up. It was rather cute.
"Watch your step. You'll trip on the rocks."
"Hey! This is my house! Like I'd trip— Waaah!"
That had to hurt...
Captain Kid frowned at his watch. When are they coming?
More than two hours had passed since the call. Counting the time to gather their things at the hotel and make the drive, they should already have arrived.
Does this have something to do with the eruption at Kilauea? He knew there had been a minor blast. Fortunately, the ash had not been enough to keep aircraft on the ground.
The timing is too neat. Is it really connected? So many strange things had happened that he was no longer surprised, and still he could not imagine what they might have done to be mixed up in a volcanic eruption.
And I don't know enough. He could not set people to watch them from a distance. He had to chase every last detail himself, on his own two feet, and the frustration of it nearly rivaled the days he had fought in secret for a chance to buy limited-edition Captain Earth merchandise.
Not quite that bad, is it? He was giving them too much credit. Obviously, getting his hands on the Captain Earth figure had been the hardest thing of all.
An engine growled. A car appeared on the empty road.
"They're here."
A single van pulled up at the roadside — the rental Dan Miryu had hired. As Captain Kid drew closer, the door opened, and a masked phantom thief stepped out.
"Captain Kid. I'm sorry. We're late."
"Not at all. There is still time enough."
The man grated on him every time they met. Was it because he never showed his face? Or some instinctive refusal?
Behind Phantom came the young master, the wife, the wife's friend, and a girl.
A girl...? There wasn't a child like that before.
"Captain Kid."
"Ah — yes. Mr. Dan."
Dan Miryu's voice snapped him back to himself.
"Where should we go?"
A glance told him the luggage was already unloaded.
"If you would follow me."
"...Will passports and the like be all right?"
"They will. This is not the usual procedure."
Strange. Dan Miryu's expression eased, as if something in that had reassured him.
"Understood."
"Yes. This way, please."
"Is this the aircraft you mentioned?"
"Yes. The monster of the sky that our side takes such pride in."
Dan Miryu stared, unable to decide whether he was looking at an airplane or a fighter. The rest of the party watched with the same wonder. A flat nose, a fuselage like a manta ray, two boosters hung beneath the tail, wings spread wide — the black and gray of it was nothing short of art. It was a beautiful machine, the kind that woke the boy still living in a man.
"The model is the TA-04. Cruise speed, Mach 2 to 3. Top speed, Mach 4. Anywhere on Earth, in the time it takes to watch a film."
"Mach 4?"
Dan Miryu's eyes went round.
"It can actually reach a speed like that? This isn't a missile."
Captain Kid shrugged.
"Mach 4 is only the top speed. I doubt we could hold it for even ten minutes."
"Even so, it is extraordinary..."
Dan Miryu could not fathom where a thing like this had come from. Had modern science really come this far?
"OPEN."
With a whir, the aircraft answered a single word from Captain Kid, and the entrance opened of its own accord.
"Whoa. It's like a spaceship out of a movie."
Dan Chuyeon was in awe. A hatch opening to a sound that grand — no man could have held himself back.
"Please, climb aboard. You may leave the luggage over there."
The party filled the cabin in short order.
"It's roomier inside than I expected."
Dan Miryu looked around. For so small a craft, there was more than enough space to move.
"Even a short journey should not feel cramped."
From the pilot's seat, Captain Kid pressed several buttons. The destination locked in, and the door shut.
"Please be seated. We depart shortly. Do fasten your belts."
A low thud.
"This is my first time on a plane. Are they always like this?"
"No. Ordinary planes are not."
The girl kicked her feet up and down. Dan Chuyeon startled and caught her.
"Hold on tight. Bite your tongue if you aren't careful."
It lifted in place like a helicopter and climbed fast to a set height, until an unobstructed path lay open ahead. With the clouds beneath them, an announcement sounded.
3, 2, 1 — GO!
The engines screamed, and the aircraft was hurled forward. The crack of torn air came chasing after, a heartbeat late.
"Mach... Live long enough, and you see everything."
Dan Miryu looked out the window. Clouds streaked past. Even with his exceptional eyesight, he could catch only their outlines.
"Remain with us, and you will see things stranger than this."
Captain Kid spun his chair around. The passengers on the far side came into his view.
"The controls...?"
Mi Soryeong's face had gone stiff.
"I do not know how to fly a plane. This is on autopilot."
"Autopilot can do this?"
"Compared with flying at Mach 4, it is easy."
Mi Soryeong blinked at technology that outran imagination.
"...Did you torture an alien or something? How do you even have technology like this..."
"Hahaha. You will have to take that up with Area 51."
Captain Kid brushed it off with a joke.
"Captain Kid. Now that we have accepted your help, tell us what you left unsaid."
Phantom spoke. The eyes of the mask seemed to roll.
"Yes. I should. Before that..."
Captain Kid worked a control set into the pilot's seat. A hologram rose and played several recordings for them.
"...This is..."
A low sound escaped Dan Miryu. It was intelligence gathered from Korean news and social media.
"As you can see, the Heavenly Punishment moved inland from Incheon International Airport."
A predicted route appeared beside the hologram.
"Korean police and soldiers launched kill operations all along the way, and every one of them failed. Everyone who tried to stop them is dead."
A ruined highway. Bodies discarded without care. The footage was raw.
"...What became of Korea's heroes?"
"They have been moving separately from the government."
From that, Dan Miryu could already see where this was going.
"...They cannot manage so much as cooperation. Even to the end."
"It is the Korean government's first time facing a case like this. Some confusion is only natural."
Even so, he thought, to cling to pride now is a foolish thing.
"They are scrambling to make contact with the heroes, but..."
"After driving people to die for nothing, now? They are only busy shoving the blame onto someone else."
Dan Miryu's voice had turned harsh.
"They must have been terrified. A demon of slaughter loose in their own yard."
"It is a mess."
Dan Miryu pressed a hand to his head.
"...So what is the point?"
Captain Kid folded his hands.
"Mr. Dan. We know that yours is a house of long standing in Korea. We also know that you have remained on the peninsula since ancient times."
"Yes. That is correct."
"More than that. After looking into the character, the ability, and the record of you and your party, we judged that it was acceptable to reveal ourselves."
"...Reveal what?"
"Our name is Terra. We are an organization that exists to protect the Earth."
Terra. Dan Miryu turned the name over in his mind.
"Protect the Earth... That is rather up in the clouds."
"I know. Most who learn that we exist say something of the sort."
But—
"Terra's conviction is firm. Firm enough that we would do anything for the Earth."
"...Will Terra help Korea?"
"Do you imagine I brought this aircraft for nothing?"
"..."
"The Heavenly Punishment are enemies of humankind. Perhaps a worse enemy than Ilshikgyo. Terra does not intend to miss the moment they showed themselves."
Dan Miryu weighed it. He had never heard of an organization called Terra, and he did not know its intentions. Even the vow to protect the Earth might be nothing but a smokescreen.
"...Is Captain Earth part of Terra as well?"
"Terra was founded by Captain Earth."
That noble hero had built it?
Dan Miryu's hesitation ended there.
"Why tell us?"
"Terra will pour everything it has into destroying the Heavenly Punishment."
Captain Kid's eyes went stark and bright.
"We do not yet know which of the Heavenly Punishment remain in Korea, but we are resolved to work with you to put them down. Mr. Dan — will you stand with us and defeat them?"
"..."
Dan Miryu closed his eyes for a moment. Behind him, Phantom was watching, and he said nothing. The thought did not take long.
The Guardian of Korea had decided.
"Thank you. You will not be disappointed."
It was the moment the alliance between the Dan Clan and Terra was sealed.