Comic-con.

If you had asked Kenji what that was two days ago there would have been a wide variety of answers, all of which were wrong. Frankly not knowing what it was would have been fine and the fighter could have left it at that. That all changed when Fujiwara got an urgent call from the Japanese police along with a considerable money offer for his assistance in security analysis. Due to the large pay for the job and the sudden urgency, Kenji believed that the situation was possibly some kind of terrorist attack of some kind.

As it turned out, he was wrong about that too. He only discovered this when he finally arrived into the main security office at the convention center. Sitting across the table from a police captain and several security supervisors, Kenji had to repeat what he thought they had just told him to try and grasp exactly how ridiculous the situation was.

"A group of criminals stealing clothing en masse?" Kenji inquired, a slightly confused tone and a raised eyebrow clearly indicating his thoughts on the matter.

"Correct, they're...cosplay thieves, sir." A security guard responded.

"They steal them and sell them on the black market." another security guard responded.

An awkward silence filled the room for a moment. Kenji turned his attention to the police captain with a look of disbelief on his face.

"Did the commissioner really approve of the funding for this?" the martial artist inquired.

"As ridiculous as it sounds at first, yes. He did, and these individuals are in fact of enough concern that we believed it warranted your help. Before they got involved in this the suspects were responsible for violent armed robberies and muggings and evaded police several times. We aren't sure, but we believe them to have enhanced abilities that made that possible. The commissioner asked us to reach out to you specifically." The police captain explained.

"If the possibility of them having special abilities is there, then it was a wise choice to contact me. Forgive my reaction. This wasn't exactly what I expected." Kenji stated apologetically.

"So, what should we do?" the security guard responded.

Kenji pondered in thought for a moment before responding.

"Judging by what I've read in the file here, we have photographs of the suspects already passed out to all entry points, undercover officers and the surveillance office. The best we can do for now with our resources is change the schedule for personnel rotations to nonstandard intervals. The last thing we want is to give the individuals in question a schedule they can follow to find an opening to get into the convention." the consultant explained.

"What if they're already inside?" the police captain inquired.

"Then its my job to detain them. I'll start patrolling the convention center separate from the undercover officers. Have them radio any suspicious activity to me." Fujiwara explained. Standing up from his chair, the dark-haired man turned back to the police captain. "Is this acceptable, captain?"

"Of course. For the time being you've been granted supervisory authority while on duty. I was instructed to also issue you a standard issue revolver, if you so desire."

"Thank you, but that won't be necessary. It would be best if we limit open weapon carrying on the floor even for the few individuals in the police who are authorized to carry. We don't want to raise suspicions." Kenji explained, turning and making his way for the door to the office. He was interrupted by the police captain speaking to him again.

"Are you sure? We don't know if the suspects are armed. Not having a firearm or weapon on you could put you at a dangerous disadvantage."

A small, somewhat cocky half-grin spread across Kenji's face as he looked over his shoulder back at the captain.

"I am a weapon, Captain. I'll never be at that kind of disadvantage."


Five minutes later and Kenji found himself out on the convention floor. He was honestly not fully prepared for it, even after having researched it online. The place was packed to the brim with people of all kinds, a sea of color, costumes, stalls for sales and all other sorts of things surrounding him. It was a sea of chaos and noise that for many people would be impossible to process.

But it wasn't for Kenji. His senses and awareness of his surroundings were razor sharp as he made his way quietly through the crowd searching, watching and waiting.

He didn't realize that his night was probably going to be more complicated than just dealing with a bunch of costume thieves...